Saturday, December 02, 2006

Why no pics?

I always try to put in some pictures for my blog entries, as many pple prefer to read blogs that have lots of pics and photos. After scrolling down my blog, I realised that I haven't posted any of my own photos this year.

What happened? First of all, I've taken very few photos this year, even though I've been to places like China, Bali and even Batam (yeah, your eyes are not playing tricks), but I was just quite tired of snapping photos everywhere I go. It might be a good thing though, all of you are getting less nightmares? =D

Anyway, my Panasonic Lumix FX-1 is no longer with me, so without a camera means lesser chance of taking photos too. Three months back, my baby sister decided to migrate to the US to join her bf there, and as a very very nice older sister, I passed some of my unwanted (zen micro mp3 player) and not-so-unwanted stuff (camera) to her.

Upon reaching there, she had had her ROM 1.5 months ago, on the same day as my colleague PL. As she always been the baby of the family, I still find it very amusing that she's already married, even when we received her wedding photos. Just want to wish both couples a very blissful marriage here. =)


I went through some of the old photos and found this one taken when we went Perth two years back, many people feel that we are more alike in terms of looks, as compared to my elder sis.
Anyway, for memory sake, I still feel that I'll need a camera for all those scenery and group photos when I'm in Perth. Therefore, I went to my elder sister.

"Eh, jie.. can lend me your camera? I'm going to Australia."
"Huh? Cannot, I'm flying to London."
"You've been to these places so many times still need to take photos?"
"......"

Even though she boh-chup me after that, I didn't give up. I've decided to use the most well-practiced and effective method.

"Mum? I'm going to Australia but jie don't want to lend me her camera!!"

The next day, after I reached home, my elder sis was already gone but I saw her camera left on my desk. Hehehe.. evil? Sometimes, complaining to the authority does helps.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Just when the hols finally started..



Ah Choo!!! I'm down with flu. Sad huh? I'm hoping to fully recover before I depart for my trip, as it's really terrible to be sick when I'm overseas. I'll feel too sleepy and sickly to enjoy it.

Many of my colleagues had been taking turns to fall sick eversince we started to clear out our mess of papers and books last week, it was super dusty and we were in the air-con staff room doing paperwork most of the times. The virus is super powerful and I thought I'm quite strong as I was feeling quite alright despite sleeping so little everyday (just can't get used to early morning hours).

It started with a bit of headache yesterday, after I rushed back from my medical screening to take a nap. I then decided to give my colleague's wedding dinner a miss as I was too tired to get up. This morning I started to feel a bit of soreness in my throat, so I went to school to get my supplies of lozenges and anti-swelling medicine. I always keep my own stock of all these things as I'm very wary of getting sick with sore throat (just see the picture above, so kiasu right? =P). Then I just kept sneezing and sneezing the whole day..

I came back home feeling so sick and went to sleep right after drinking the chinese herbal tea mum made for me. While I was sleeping, she went out to get the panadol cold relief tablets and sachets of hot remedy for me. So I'm fully armed to combat the flu if it doesn't get any better!

Thursday, November 30, 2006

The land of 'Down Under'..

Good news! I've passed the medical screening with no obstacles, except for the fact that I was so sleepy when filling up the form.. I wrote my birthday as 03/03/06. The therapist connecting the ECG nodes to my body was so astonished when she tried to key in my info and the data couldn't be processed. Blur me! (=.=)"""

Anyway, more about the trip.. I'm really quite excited as I'll be going with 3 other closest friends, Shumin, San and Danping! We havent been able to organise any overseas trips on our own this year as all of us are already working and schedule is really hard to meet.

And best of all, it's fully sponsored for teachers! Other than my own shopping money and a few meals over there, it's all paid for by the NPCC welfare training fund.

About the programme, this was sent out through the circulars when we were invited to apply:

NPCC hereby extends an invitation to 20 officers for an overseas
leadership adventure course to Margaret River area, Western Australia on 3
to 10 Dec 2006.

2 This overseas leadership adventure course aims to provide our NPCC
leaders an enhanced insight in the facilitation of team building, character
development, leadership development and an exposure to nature survival. It
will be ideal for our leaders who wish to be exposed to an advanced
learning opportunity that is uniquely customised for NPCC.

3 The programme consists of Abseiling (at least two locations), Caving
(at least two non-tourist caves), Kayaking (e.g. Blackwood River) and
Forest/Beach trekking among others. Accomodation will be in the form of
barrack type sleeping in a campsite with an outdoor overnight camp
scheduled within. As a part of outdoor survival experience,leaders will be
engaged to assist in cooking and cleaning as part of training for the
course. Participants will also be divided into groups and will be engaged
in tasks throughout the course to facilitate training and exposure to
leadership and management. Trained australian facilitators and trainers
will oversee the activities and learning during the course. We also aim to
incorporate a learning journey to a Police Youth Community Club (details to
be confirmed) within this course.



Sounds cool.. haven't been in the outdoors for a long time!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Medical screening


I was informed earlier that we were supposed to do a medical screening before our trip.

We are actually going to check in at the airport for the trip coming Sunday night, but the details of the medical screening only came to us last Friday, so apparently its quite a rush. I quickly called up the clinic as I have to report to school until this Friday, working office hours (Yeah, I know it's school hols..don't ask me why I still gotta work). To my horror, the clinic is fully booked till end Dec on weekends and it's only opened during office hours on weekdays.

I decided to play by ear and see if I can get off early any of these days to do my checkup, if not I shall delay it till Saturday, which is just one day before our trip! San went for it yesterday and her ECG report was abnormal, so ended up she had to clear the screening by going to another specialist. This made me even more nervous, as ten years ago when I was applying to go OBS Lumut, I failed my ECG test as well and the condition forced me to give up the trip. Was quite devastated at that time as I was only in Sec 3 and going overseas was a rare opportunity. Of course, after the heart operation done a few months after that, I'm supposed to be in good working condition again.

This morning, I called up the clinic and its unfriendly office hours didn't leave me with much choice, but to apply for permission to leave the school earlier tomorrow to go for the medical checkup. When I filled up the form to take time off for tmr, I noted that I'll have to go to my RO and P for approval. BUT, to my horror again, my HOD informed me that the new procedure is to go through my VP before they can sign on the forms! The VP is known to reject application for leave, and I was really quite anxious as I'm quite sure she will say 'no' since there's quite a few colleagues on MC, leave, courses and etc lately.. Luckily, after I explained the whole situation to her, she said 'Okay, can go'. Really heng (lucky)!

Now just need to cross my fingers for the medical screening tomorrow..

Friday, November 24, 2006

Online shopping


A colleague is into online shopping lately and I also jumped onto the bandwagon to get some pretty accessories from taiwan. Afterall, a girl can never resist the temptation to keep buying those funky cutie accessories, though we don't have hundred pair of ears for all those earrings.

Online shopping had never appeal to me, and I am always quite skeptical about it as I'll never buy clothes off the rack without trying (unless I'm having shopping spree in Bangkok). Anyway, the taiwanese seller who is aunctioning her accessories in yahoo has really sweet things and I ordered this clover necklace. More because I'm quite attracted by the nice colourful gems rather than the common belief of getting clover to give me good luck. The best part was, the necklace was delivered looking as nice as it was on the website. =)

P/S: Hehe, forgot to add, my collegue has this site where she is helping friends make orders from Taiwan.. take a look if you like exclusive accessories from 'Gong' (Korean show) etc.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Tis the season to be jolly...falalalalalala...



Woke up this morning with people sms-ing me and colleagues discussing it in the office today. We are getting 2.2mths of year-end bonus this year!! Yeah... this is the best news so far as I'll be dead broke by the time I come back from the land of Down Under.

Although this is nothing much compared to the private sector, it should be able to tide me over for the holiday seasons! Yippie!!

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Counting down to.. HOLIDAYS!


It's quite cliche but times flies! The school year is coming to the end and I'm left with a week with the kids. Strictly speaking, only left with three more days with them as I'm on course on Wed, and on Friday we are holding the Graduation Ceremony for the P6s. Actually, this year I have a very nice bunch of kids, they had made my job a lot easier for the whole of 2006, think I'll miss them. Who knows? I might be meeting some real devils next year. *shudder*

Officially, we can only go for holidays in December, as usual, we have to go back for meetings and other stuff till end November. Three more weeks and I'm off to Australia for my adventure trip! =)

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Haze


The haze is back every other day, and the PSI is shooting up to over 100 occassionally. Today is one of these days and the current PSI is at 113 (3pm). Sigh..

Effects of haze:
1. My mind and brain turns hazy.
2. The smoky smells suffocates me, making the air stuffy.. especially in the afternoon.
3. I have to give up on outdoor sports and activities, draw the curtains and switch on the air-con to combat the bad air.
4. As far as I can remember, the last time it was this hazy was during my O levels. Erm...seems like a long time ago. But anyway, the haze just reminds me of my secondary schooling days.
5. I kept wishing that either it stops, or shoots up so much more that school closes. Heheh...

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Triskaidekaphobia


There's all kind of phobia in this world, since human beings are naturally paranoid creatures.

A few days ago it was Friday the 13th, legendary a very unlucky day. I managed to survive through the day without much harm, other than screaming at kids for most part of the day (maybe they're the unlucky ones). And now introducing a new term that I've learnt from my sis's MSN nickname: triskaidekaphobia

Main Entry: triskaidekaphobia
Pronunciation: "tris-"kI-"de-k&-'fO-bE-&, "tris-k&-
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek treiskaideka thirteen (from treis three + kai and + deka ten) + New Latin phobia
: fear of the number 13

I really wonder what these people do on the 13th day of every month.. hide under the bed??

Do you know that some famous people like Napoleon and Franklin D. Roosevelt were triskaidekaphobic? Hmm..maybe it does pay to be superstitious, somehow you'll become successful and famous.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Sianz..



Have you ever experienced this feeling? The feeling that you don't wish to go to work anymore. The feeling that you just want to laze in bed, play games, idle around.. and sadly, its not even mid-week.

Or it may be the feeling that you don't wish to do ANYTHING AT ALL. Just wishing the day will pass unnoticed.

The feeling that life is nothing fantastic, there's no motivation to keep you going.

I just experienced that kind of feeling, but I don't wish to say life sucks because I know for that fact that my life really doesn't. I hope that tomorrow I'm going to wake up and meet my students with much zest and enthusiasm again. Go go go!!

Monday, October 09, 2006

Short Notes

While waiting for the bell to ring, I have this sudden urge to blog. I'm at work actually, feeling quite happy as it's already the last and final week of lessons before we break for PSLE markings and exams.

It's revision, revision and revision this week. I really glad the haze had cleared these few days, otherwise it's just going to give me more headaches on top of the markings that I have to complete by the end of the week. All the backlogs..arghh..

In class its also quite chaotic as papers are flying around. I hate this part of the year when we give back all the worksheets, do corrections and file them step by step (some kids can never keep in steps). For primary school kids, it's a lot of spoonfeeding. We punch holes for them, we even keep all the files and worksheets in class in case they'll lose it once they bring the files home.

I wonder why during our times the children are much more responsible and independent. Pondering..

Sunday, September 10, 2006

My Teachers' Day



That was the day in the whole year when teachers were being 'remembered' for their hard work. I received lots of sms wishing me Happy Teachers' Day, and I felt that it was just like Christmas!

Anyway, regarding the $250m that the gahmen going to pump into the service, it sounded so good in the papers. Many people (note: non-teachers) were very envious, but frankly speaking, most of us were disappointed. Many people asked me why it seemed so attractive yet I wasn't too excited, the answer is simple.. It doesnt' affect me at all!

I'm not among those who are going to draw a higher starting pay, simply because I'm already in service. In fact, I was employed in first quarter of 2004, right after the SARs period. That was the only year in many years of history of civil service when people had to get their starting pay lowered. And dammit, of all times, I went into education that particular year. =.=

I'm just over one year into teaching, still a beginning teacher. So CONNECT is really too far for me to get excited about, and I don't think there's any leave granted for me to further my studies in the nearer years to come.

Sigh.. why not a pay raise across the board??? Nevertheless, I'm still a happy teacher, I hope.

Look at all this presents I've gotten this year. =)



These are some gifts that are more 'extraordinary'..

My P1 Japanese-Chinese boy proudly came up to me with a tub of homemade potato salad. He claimed that he helped his mummy to make this, and the black sauce on top was actually Japanese sauce. It tasted quite good actually...





This is a set of matching lipstick and nail polish from Loreal, branded yah? Hmm, this was the most 'grown up' gift I had ever received, more surprised as it was given by a P1 girl.






A set of name labels printed for yours truly, very practical.. =)

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Blog Freedom


For a long while back, I've chilled off blogging. Sometimes, I'm really not sure whether I can talk about work on my blog. Blogging is an avenue to vent my frustrations, yet I don't want to get into trouble from lamenting in my blog. I'm wary of privacy issues. I'll freak out if my students chance upon my blog and everything about my life will be exposed.

However, day in and day out, its a cycle of sleep, work, eat.. if I don't blog about my work, I lack inspirations, seriously.

It's no secret that blogs are no longer safe places where people can write anything they want. We are all responsible for what we put online for people to read and comment, therefore I'm sure the Big Brothers will come up with a set of Blogging Laws and Bloggers' Act.

Recently, there's a few blogs written by fellow teachers to complain about the local educational system, some are anoymously written and some are not. Frankly speaking, most of their views are quite valid and I'm glad that there are voices out there. Its quite negatively slanted but it got me all excited, very interesting readings!

Extracted these blog links from tomorrow.sg., written during the Teachers' Day period:

Damned it if you teach, damned it if you don't
Dark Sides of a School
Why I hate Teaching

Updated: Coincidentally or uncoincidentally, the first blog link was removed and deleted shortly I posted. Hmm..

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Pluto no more?


Was reading 'my paper' on the streets today, and came across a interesting yet shocking news: The International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of its official status as a planet.

My first reaction was 'huh???' ...Its rather shocking because I didn't know planets are like humans, can be promoted and demoted and stripped of its rank. Its also shocking because for the past 25 years of my life, there had always been 9 planets and now we have to get used to the fact that there's only 8.

Really, what will happen to 'My Very Efficient Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas', no more pizzas??

Being quite curious, I did a bit of research and here are some facts(no kidding):
1. Pluto was discovered in 1930.
2. It is smaller than any of the other 'official' planets.
3. Unlike other planets, it had been not visited by any spacecraft.
4. It is now classified as a dwarf planet instead of a planet due to new definations set by the IAU.

Oh yah, one last bit, this voting out of Pluto took place on 24th Aug 2006.. which was only 2 days ago. So if you read my blog, you're not outdated. =)

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Podcast: Mr Brown Show!!


I'm quite outdated. Podcast is the 'in' thing among bloggers now, but I just heard my very first podcast today at Mr Brown Show. I downloaded it in school in the midst of my markings as I was really bored. Danping had always been a fan of Brown's podcasts, but I didn't bother to download any as I thought it will take up too much time. Easier to just surf and browse through the blogs.

Oh my.. I really almost rolled on the floor laughing when I heard the PM's rally: 'mee siam mai hum'. Go check it out, man! Hilarious, it really made my day..

I'm subscribing to the podcasts now, it's easier than I thought since I'm using iTunes for my iPod Nano, just a click away actually.

Train Man 电车男


Bought this book a week ago as I needed some readings to kill time, was quite horrified when I opened the book and the whole novel was all cut and pasted from posts of a forum. Upon reading on, it became quite interesting.. allegedly a true story of a geek who gain advice from the messengers of a chat board to date his dream girl out.

Anyway, I came across this website from one of the threads in the book. And surprisingly, the link worked! It's quite hilarious.


Finally, somebody in a chicken costume who will do whatever you want. Check it out: http://www.subservientchicken.com

Sunday, August 20, 2006

New Balance Real Run 2006



Just went for the New Balance Real Run this morning, it was quite a gruelling 10km for me as I did very few training jogs before this. But I managed to finish it, nevertheless... =P

Next week, its the Sheares Bridge Run & AHM, and another 10km for me. I sort of got addicted to joining all these runs to force myself out of my bed and exercise more.. which I rarely got the chance to after I started working proper.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Ahh.. its season of the fireworks again



As part of our National Day celebration, there's a series of fireworks being put (up/off) at Marina Bay area starting from tonight. Having nothing to do this weekend, I went to view the fireworks with my friends.

As I approached the area, I realised that LOTS!! of other Singaporeans had no entertainment for the weekend as well, and the whole esplanade area was really crowded. As my friend said, "half of Singapore was there". Therefore, if you'd missed it, you probably belonged to the other half.

Tonight's theme was "Italy", we had a good pool of Singaporean audience who provided 'wows' and 'ahhs' at the correct timing. There was applause when the display started and ended. And did this just make us more patriotic? I guess not. Its just a FOC and everyone's-going-so-you-better-join-in that kind of event.

As you could see from the snapshot, the whole display of fireworks were nicely framed by two coconut trees from my view. There were people in front, behind, left and right of me so there was no way I could get away from those trees. =.=

Nevertheless, the Singaporean in me decided to be back again on Tues to catch the Singapore-themed fireworks. Hopefully, no trees in front of me then. No inconsiderate people holding up their camera phones right in front of my face. Hopefully.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

A blog-less year


I used to enjoy blog surfing, clicking on blogs of friends and famous bloggers to find out about their lives.

I used to enjoy blogging, taking note of details in my life and trying to formulate an interesting blog in my head as I go from place to place.

However, I've realised I hadn't been doing that for a long time.

I've stopped blogging for about a year, I guess. I hadn't been visiting my friends' blog, only occasionally click on some links as I'm waiting for webpages to load. Can't explain why. Juz out-growing this part of my life. Or, maybe not?

Anyway, the photo on the left was taken last year when I brought the kids to the NE show. Was quite proud to capture this with my digicam as I thought it was quite cool. Just wanted to test if I'm still able to put up photo here, and randomly chose this as National Day is coming up. =)

Oh yah, on a sidenote, uploading pictures to blogger is so much easier now and I didn't even realise that we can upload photos straight from our comp. It's just a click away!

Friday, March 17, 2006

2006

Yes, this is my first post of the year, and almost a quarter of the year had gone. I will repent. I promise, I will.

Hmm.. what shall I write about?

Oh yeah, my birthday was over 2 weeks ago. I'm officially 25 and suffering from quarter-life crisis, mid-life crisis and all sorts of crisis. Heheh.. kidding! It's not too late to send me presents and well-wishes though. =P



A 'hand made' birthday e-card... Posted by Picasa