I'm moving!

hey friends, I've set up a new blog addy www.azukimochi.blogspot.com

kindly refer to the new addy for updates. would not be posting anything in this blog in future.

take carez..!

Reality bites

Was just clearing some of my old forwarded emails and deleting those meaningless ones. Found an article which I would like share at this point in time, in this
frame of mind. I'm a sucker for any form of encouraging, inspiring words at this time la. haha. -_-;

Read this article countless times and am amazed at how true it was, speaks for everyone I'm sure, at different phases of our lives, in one way or another.

Doesn't only apply to relationships... like meeting the right job at the right time.. ? Always wondered if I would have liked teaching without the experiences in my other corporate jobs. If I had gone into teaching right after I graduated, I might be right now paying the idemnities for bond-breaking and featured on ExtraOrdinary People for taking up numerous jobs so as to pay back my hefty debt. lol.

I would not have met the bunch of wonderful colleagues in OC and never have gotten closer to my colleagues at Shin-Taiyo. I would never have known that backend processing job is not my cup of tea and I would never have been so sure that I wanted to teach.

Of course I do lament at the fact that I could have decided to teach earlier as I could have gotten the $6K bonus for successful undergrad applicants. But yet, I do not regret as what I've gotten is far more than what $6K can give me. eh..mushy but true.

Maybe it's all fated too coz I met naz during my time in OC. hmm..so it turns out this way after 1 year, I expected but didn't know how much it'll hit me. but never regretted upon remembering the good times we had..

Regretting less will make one happier.

Maybe it's destined for me to go through this heartbreak to make me a stronger person, to enable me to know myself better... maybe god thinks my life is too blessed and slack and I need some setbacks to wake me up and make me learn and see the world differently from the frog-in-the-well way I always perceive things. haha. black humor. eeks. BUT please, i've gotten my fair share of heartbreaks... no more from now on!! please... onegaishimasu. m(-_-)m

okay..talk too much. Here's the article:
http://www.geocities.com/bluewindsc/WhenMrRightComesAtTheWrongTime.htm

Escaped, now thrown back to reality

I'm back..! ただいま！

A passport scare when sharon san found out that her passport is valid for less than 6 months the day before we were due to set off. Thankz man my tomodachi. Since the booking was under her name, it's not transferrable. so it's either we try our luck, or just forfeit the trip.

So I practically spent the night calling up all my friends to ask if travelling to m'sia strictly needed 6 months' validity. and the answer was obvious. When I was about to give up, I thought of calling zhen coz she's a PR and her family are converted singaporeas citizens. and she said she had a similar experience before and as long as the passport is valid for 3 months, it should be okay. but we have to check with the officers first to be safe. Think it's strictly an exception for singaporeans going m'sia.

we crossed our fingers as we crossed the customs... we made it! They just asked sharon san to renew her passport once she comes back.

So now we know. But I trust that noone is so blur like some people la huh.

Character analysis from the way we responded to the incident.

Me:
I was so looking forward to the holidays and was totally disappointed, disillusioned when I knew I might not be able to make it. I screamed and tried all means and ways to see if I could get around it. My take was to die die also must go to the customs to ask the officer and hear it from the horse's mouth before I am willing to give up.

It was either go for the holidays or I just stay at home and not anywhere at all. I would not take any alternatives.

Sharon:
Upon knowing it might not be possible to make it and after making a few half hearted calls to the agency only to get negative replies, she immediately went online to check if we could book a chalet at sentosa or JB instead and even suggested going Vivo City to shop. ??!!? or go to East Coast to cycle?!! I don't want to go east coast! How can?! They aren't substitutes!

It was either the trip or nothing. for me.

So there she was all relaxed over the phone and joking at how we can spend our day at Vivo City. Life is wonderful and the sun is bright and cheery. She was happy.

While on the other line, I was still disturbed by this huge hiccup which was so unneccessary and rejected all her suggestions. (err..Sometimes, I think I enjoy making myself unhappy and grumpy.)

Though my perseverence was proven right this time and I even boasted to sharon san as to how smart I was, at the back of my mind, I knew how my obstinate, stubborn character and rigidity had ruined my plans countless times and made myself and people around me unhappy.

It's part of me already. I've tried to be more conscious about it but unfortunately, to totally stop myself from doing it is quite impossible.. well, no one is perfect and since I don't expect perfection in others, others must be able to accept my imperfection as well. It's only fair isn't it? ..yes!

Anyways, I was down with sore throat and cold during my trip (as usual) and the long jammed trip home didn't help at all.

I make a bad companion when I'm sick as I tend to get snappish and grouchy. Sorry sharon san. Maybe that was payback for the boohoo you created by not checking your passport diligently. haha.

I want to start anew.. so tired.

During contact time, I was surprised to receive a congratulatory letter to inform me I've been upgraded from contract-untrained to permanent-untrained teacher. I was happy coz I thought I would be enlisted into NIE in January.. and there'll be an increment.. After I read the next line, it stated clearly that my salary would remain the same. nan de!? it was just an "upgrade" of the name of my position. doshite!?! -_- and nope, no NIE for me..yet.

Frankly, I don't know whether it's the class I'm taking or what. I'm getting tired of asking pupils to stop talking and pay attention. I like to teach.. but I can't coz discipline is a huge headache here. So embarrassing as I needed 2 teachers who walked past my classroom to come in and discipline my class.

I really can't be bothered. If you don't want to learn, please get out. I'm here to teach. FYI, the pupils are quite happy when they're made to stand behind the classroom. What's wrong with the education system here? or is it just modern kids who are simply way too hard to tame? or could it be how they are brought up at home or just the basic change in culture of modern society?

I don't wish to bug myself with these inane questions now.. I quickly wish for 2006 to be over. Then, I'll be able to take a brand new class by myself and start afresh.

デフノート

Really liked the guy in white.. "L" desu. He was a genius in the show who keeps himself awake by downing loads of sugar. He would string marshmellows, doughnuts, chocolates, cakes on a skewer and munches on them while he is deep in thought, trying to solve the case. The best part was that his coffee stirer is actually a skewer of sweets and chocolates. eeeks. haha.

BUT! wait. he's supposed to be fat! but he's not! he's scrawny like shit.

I want to be like him! been eating loads of cookies and cream ice cream these few days.. too much. having a terrible throat and cough and I'm sure I've piled on some fats as well. -_-"

I want to be like "L"..!

12月2日倒数计时。。

决定了。。12月2号出发。刚到CTC 订了7天日本之旅。。还蛮兴奋的。我想出国！

http://www.esnips.com/doc/80e27365-085f-438c-911d-2e3eb857b3b4/7DaysCentralJapan.doc

到哪儿都无所谓。。out out of singapore就满足了。

最近真的是口袋大出血。因为太闲了吧，跑去买了一个电脑桌。之前我的电脑都是摆在一个超低的“zen” 系列，被家人遗弃的小桌子。所以用电脑时，我是做在地板上的。不可思议吧。看起来房间很凌乱，才去买个正式的桌子。

心情很糟，很想出国散心，又碰上好友刚巧在换工的transition period，便决定陪我去吉隆坡买东西，吃东西，买东西，吃东西。

最后一样奢侈消费当然是日本之旅啦。$2148。。闭上眼睛，将卡一刷，下个月再来想吧。

一直都想去日本。算是完成我的一个小小心愿唷。我一定要尽兴而归。。一定要。

我就是这样，一旦心情很差，不开心，压力大，我会借助“消费治疗法” 的力量，在精神上找寄托。对我来说还蛮管用的。忙着买东西，买了后想要怎么处理它们，再花点时间欣赏战胜品，时间就没那么难熬了，脑袋也能趁机休息一会儿，没空想一些有的没的。

兴奋过后，现在必须努力存钱了。。好辛苦啊。

我想没什么能比得上友情和亲情。我会好好珍惜的。

晴天快出现吧。。

This Jap weather doll is supposed to bring good weather if we hang it outside our window.

I hope the haze subsides soon.

The week has gone by without me even experiencing it. I wake up everyday and go to school as per normal. Not much recollection of what happened exactly. No bouts of extreme happiness or unhappiness, don't recall feeling extremely excited, angry or irritated. haiz.

My tuition kid asked me if today was 21st, I told him 22nd.. dead sure about it till I saw my computer clock just now 21/10/06

I packed my gym bag, planning to go gym after tuition and as I reached, I peered up into the gym and saw the usually packed treadmills empty. I thought I was in luck! Went to the counter and was told the gym was closed already. I felt stupid asking Why.The auntie looked at me disbelievingly, almost can't be bothered," Today is public holiday..deepavali.."

Decided to drop by the mart to buy some tuna and cheese as I recalled I just bought a loaf of bread this morning. Tuna bread for dinner. As I took out a slice of bread, the bread felt rock hard and even looked abit yellow. I checked the tab and realised the expiry was today. I repeat.. I bought the bread today..and the expiry was today. どして~ I hate stale bread.Can don't find fault in my food not.. eating is like the only thing I really enjoy doing now, then and always.

I haven't felt happy in a while.. I mean genuinely. I can't remember the last time I've had a good laugh. It's not me and I don't like myself behaving this way. irrational dekinai yo natsuri san.

...I'll post another doll!! for myself this time. Hope it works.

Meanwhile, happy deepavali and hari raya. enjoy the hols!

Ceteris paribus.. hoshi tai ne...

Was just sorting out some stuff when I stumbled upon a list in my organiser. A list of things to be done which wasn't. Of course, the list included inane stuff like eating Kenny's, buy eraser (coz I lent an eraser to a pupil and she lost it..dam) and so on..

It was a long list.. like 20 items. They help me to focus on what things I have to complete. A huge flaw was that I do not state exactly by when I should complete each task. Going by gut, intuition, I just knew I'll finish them soon..somehow.

So now as I looked at the list, it dawned on me that it's only true if everything else is ceteris paribus.

(Ceteris paribus is a Latin phrase, literally translated as "with other things [being] the same," and usually rendered in English as "all other things being equal." A prediction, or a statement about causal or logical connections between two states of affairs, is qualified by ceteris paribus in order to acknowledge, and to rule out, the possibility of other factors which could override the relationship between the antecedent and the consequent.)

Yup.. reminds me of my economics essay.

So when things aren't ceteris paribus, when change sets in, what I had wanted to do, activities I've planned for, perfect plans that I've drawn up, where should they go?

Some of which I wished I could place them somewhere, or improvise to make them applicable to current situations.... or..

Nope. It's not possible. Or am I not trying hard enough..

~ am tired already and now dying under piles of survey forms waiting for collation~

For the 1st time..

so not used to spending this day alone. urghz.

thanks to all my tomodachis for your encouragement. I struggled to decide whether I should blog about it actually. I prefer to remain low profile about such stuff.

But I decided that I want to keep a diary of both happy and unhappy events that had taken place in my life.

In case if I suffer from dementia when I'm old, this would be a back-up copy of my memory. cool huh..the wonders of technology.

I thought it would be a perfect way to update you guys also since breaking the news face to face definitely isn't my forte. heh.

Enjoy this day everyone... !

Pieces of me and you

For at least half a year, it had been an indispensable accessory. It's so close to me like part of my skin and now, to instruct me that it's no longer possible for me to wear it is just too painful.

For the past two days, I've not been my usual self. sorry sharon san, that I'm not in the mood to talk to you and I guess my parents were the most affected. It really touched me when my dad came over to me and told me this cheem theory of : To be loved is more blessed than to love someone 被爱是幸福的, in the most fatherly way I've ever seen spoken before. I thought I believed in it but I'm now I'm thinking twice. It was meant to console but results weren't too good as I started crying again. oh..He bought me my favourite durian puffs too. Thanks dad.

My mum, hyper tensed up, was more tensed up than me. She would be awaken everytime I go toilet in the middle of the night. Don't worry mum. I won't commit suicide. I'm stronger than that. Life is precious and I've got the future generation to mould. She taught me that using ice to soothe swollen eyes would not work, instead I should dap my eye lids with a hot towel. It worked. Thanks mum.

I decided not to make them worry anymore and wallowing isn't enjoyable..though sharon san thinks it's a neccessary phase to go through before I gain enlightenment again.

I learnt something about myself. I'm not smart but actually a pretty stupid onna no hito when it comes to handling relationships. I talk alot, but am always at a loss for words when I face my loved ones. I can be very sarcastic and skeptical but I lose all of that when listening to reasons my loved ones give for doing what they did.

I'm judgemental and I always believed in my judgement of people (sharon san can attest to that)...so much so that I'm so blinded by my own faith that I can disregard others' point of view.

I held onto the faith that my love one is what I perceive him to be regardless. So I probe and ask for the reasons why, to make sure that my faith in him still stands.

Garnering the little strength I've left, I go to work. It's not too bad if I can just bury myself in my own little cubicle with only the computer. But my work requires me to interact with little devils. It doesn't help at all, does it.

The only way to coax myself to sleep is to chant repeatedly: It's all for the better. It will be. Even then, I don't get much sleep.

I've been busy and it's good. It takes my mind off things. for a while.

What am I writing?!~ all in drips and draps. urghz.

help..Too much memories and thoughts to pen down each and every one, don't know where to start and reluctant to let it end.

~sharing my suffocation with you~

T_T

~Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars ~

We'll do it all Everything On our own
We don't need Anything Or anyone

If I lay here If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I don't quite know
How to say
How I feel

Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

If I lay here If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
To show me a garden that's bursting into life

Let's waste time Chasing cars
Around our heads

I need your grace To remind me
To find my own

If I lay here If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
To show me a garden that's bursting into life

All that I am All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes,
They're all I can see

I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all

If I lay here If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I can't monopolize.

Monopoly is not my cup of tea.

super 邪.

If you're familiar with the game, you will have to pass "Go" to collect $200 after every round, some sort like to top up your finances. but just before "Go", there's a square for "super tax -pay $100" and right after it, there's one that says "Income Tax-Pay $200".

I think we played about 30 rounds and I only managed to collect only $200 from all the rounds! I super stepped on the tax squares like nobody did ever before. 29 rounds I stepped on the tax squares! I couldn't believe my luck! 1st few times i thought maybe i was just unlucky.. when it persisted, I started thinking if there was a fourth person in the room helping me to roll my dice and wanted me to die.

oh. on top of that, i went to jail like 3 times. It was an eventful game for me. Any obstacles you name it, I experienced it. I was perpetually in debt coz i couldnt' pay when I stepped onto zhe's and sharon's houses and even had to mortgaged my bloody worthless Pentonville house to get money to settle my debts. I went to jail so many times that I had to bargain with sharon san to sell me her "Get out of jail free" card so I would not miss a turn. But alas, I had no money to even buy the bloody card from her. Not to mention that the price she quoted was way exorbitant and I'll rather go to jail than to buy it from her.

While serving my term in jail, I wasn't updated with the latest happenings in town and when I was released, I was shocked that most of the houses were bought by my 2 tomodachis and the road to "Go" seemed arduous and never ending as I pay all my way to advance to the next round. As if it wasn't bad enough, I could just predict in the ancient way by counting my fingers that I'll have to pay the tax later on. ..which.. I did. graciously.

The remaining rounds of the game was gloomy and boring as my financial status neared bankruptcy.

My total earnings after the game was $18.. compared to $500 and like $300.

It wasn't fun at all. I don't think I'll play it again.

all about beans..

The Mid-Autumn Festival's here! dunno why, but not much cravings for mooncakes this year. Used to quite enjoy all the dou sha and lotus paste ones... basically i'm quite a red bean person. those breakfast mee jian kuay (red bean pancakes), red bean on beancurd, or just simply red bean lotus seed paste dessert.. oh ya! red bean on green tea ice cream and red bean paste mochi... i can go on and on la. love beans. oh..and i love Mr Bean too!

been having soya bean milk and cheese pancake from Mr Bean.. yummy. almost everyday. got this beanified sense of satisfaction after eating it.

besides beaning, i've been pea-ing as well. in love with this sizzling hot snack by Calbee, Snow Pea Crisps.. taste heavenly coz the peas are baked in the form of the orginal pod it came in..cool huh! and it melts nicely in your mouth. I've just bought a pack, it won't see daylight tomorrow! heh.. go grab one everyone! and no! i don't get any form of royalty promoting this here.

care and share is my motto!

Bad Day

it's been so hazy recently!another forest fire? sorry..me not updated with the news...as usual. heh.

thought i'll have to make use of weekday movie ticket pricing to watch a movie since monday was childrens' day holiday for me. chose "The Night Listener" over "Rob-B-Hood" coz we thought it'll be more cheem and more thought provoking. it was more thought provoking indeed. coz we kept thinking through out the whole movie when it was going to end. robin williams is supposed to be a gay in the show.. not convincing right. eeeeks. anyway, weird show. not as good as i thought. i thought it would be "the 6th sense" type of movie.. and it ended up not in the least horrific. so sad. i want more of "shutter" type of good horror flicks!

anyways, wasn't in a good mood yesterday so you can say that i've spoilt my 1 day of holiday. sighz. all spoilt by me, myself and i. can't believe it. so stupid. think PMS la. coz my auntie came and attended my lesson today also. urghz. lucky. nothing embarrassing happened as i discovered in time. heh. ya. experience matters lor.

got a remedial lesson like...now. ciao.

i like bitchy high school flicks

watched "John Tucker Must Die" just yesterday. Like how I liked all teen high school flicks, I totally enjoyed this one as well! quite bitchy and funny and got cute guys to oogle at.. oh..ok..only 1 cute guy to oogle at la. highly recommended by 周老师!

oh my god..talking about 周老师. I went to my grandma's place for dinner today and the first thing her maid shouted out when she saw me was 周老师.. i quickly corrected her and asked her to call me by my usual name coz I get kinda castrophobic when I hear these 3 beautiful chinese words, like i'm thrown back into the tiny classroom setting with 30 kids raising their hands chanting my name. and worst of it all is that i've got nowhere to run.. wouldn't it be just fantastic if teachers could play truant too...

yup.. i think i've mastered this tactic of watching ANY HK drama showing on tv..even though the show has got all the actors i dun like and i can still plonk there and watch it for like a good 4 hours. and i actually enjoy the shows..cool huh!

going to be a fattening day tomorrow. planned to go california pizza kitchen and ben n jerrys w naz... woohoo. *guilt* I think if I wish for any dreams tonight, i hope i'll dream of myself jogging!

uncover the truth

A crazy mad rush in celebration for childrens' day.

To my surprise, all the teachers propose to teach instead of totally cancelling all lessons. They would rather teach than spend 2 solid hours playing games with kids in the classroom. We shudder at the thought of 2 hours of continuous noise.

haha.. yes.. so you know how we teachers truly feel.

hope i can make use of this long weekend to sleep, sleep, sleep. been a long and tiring week.

to ease everyone's query about my feelings about teaching so far. hmm. I think my mental health is still good as of now and I really enjoy the super not-deskbound aspect of the job. I get to walk around quite a bit (actually quite a lot) so my favourite food now is carbs now..all forms..potatoes, fries, rice,noodles. somehow the food seem to disappear at an amazing speed and i end up eating loads nowadays. so friends, don't be too shocked at my food intake k. eat with me!

能吃是福唷！
direct translation for non-chinese readers (actually only 1 la):to be able to eat is a fortune!

the story of 白眉 ..revived

ya.. i love this pose of baimei! baimei means white eyebrows in english.. how apt rite! keke

the way he sits exudes this indescribable sense of charm, confidence and authority which makes us want to bow and call out to him 师父!请收我为徒！

his long white beard and brows signifies wisdom and years of worldly experience in the pugilistic world. the photographic angle of this pose compliments his x-factor as it's taken from a lower angle up focusing his face, as if we are looking up to him in awe and respect for this informidable legendary character.

i aim to be like him, where i'll command such authority, fear, respect and charisma from my students.

白眉万岁！

a whole new meaning to “compromise”

~pics taken at school's 10th anniversary carnival~

如果能把各种不同的学生写成一本书，肯定会有不计其数的sequel。可是应该不会很畅销吧。。嗯。

以前以为只有好的或坏的学生。简单、单纯。现在加了一个古怪的category。

懊恼归懊恼，若能看穿他们心里古灵精怪的想法，我觉得会挺好玩的。嘿。

因为最近接手全全负责教小一班，让我发现魔鬼的化身。这位小一的学生平时在另外一位老师的课时还算蛮听话的，也算是比较聪明的一个。这是我在旁观课时的观察。每当轮到我教，她180度变成了小流氓大姐大，衣冠不整，不听我的指示，不停地干扰其他同学。我说走左，她偏走右，气得我根本不想理睬她。刚开始我会不停地留意她的举动，然后时不时训她。最后，我根本不管她，因为我猜想她是想引起我的注意罢了。所谓的“attention seeker” 咯。

忍无可忍，我拉她到班外问她为什么特别在我的班那么捣蛋。顺便告诉她如果是想引起我的注意，那会是大错特错。我不但不会理睬她，更加不会点她出来回答任何问题，也不会得到我的青睐。sorry。

我只会叫和喜欢听话的乖孩子。嗯。。是的，很罗唆hor，但对7岁的baby就是这样的。当然，“逼” 她道歉后，看他还蛮后悔的表情，就暂时放过她。

过后，好像说中她的心事，她态度真的改善了很多。我也遵守了我答应她的：如果她乖，我一定会常教她回答问题 (是的。。小一超爱回答问题。。) 。

现在师生关系讲的是compromise。

突然我想起了陶子的~太委屈。。

it's cold cold outside..

~another dino ball i got recently... 3 winter froggies which can fit into each other to become the big froggie.. errr.. u know what i mean la...haha.. cute huh.~

weekend just flew past again.. what's new leh? nothing much besides school and the usual stuff. oh! and i went to cut my hair.. that stupid woman super layered my hair..so now it's kinda qiao4.. urghz. i try to tell myself it's more stylo. the out of bed look ma! ...literally... (-_-ll)

it's been raining for the past few days and if i'm the president, i'll make use of weather forecast and declare all rainy days public holidays! the weather is really not conducive for anything strenous or work related. haiz. but reality is always cruel.

Officially Jay!

~*Wallpapers for your desktop! part of the 10 rules!*~

I declare September 2006 as the Jay Chou Month! Jay san no gatsu!

10 rules to follow during this period:

1) Any audio devices (mp3, discman, mobile, pda, notebook…..) you carry with you should have Jay Chou’s songs inside, particularly songs from his new album “Still Fantasy” coz..the album is new! Duh.

2) When you go ktv, Jay Chou’s songs must be the bulk of your playlist.

3) Just for the month of September (don’t try too long as your life would be at stake), try as much to irritate any friends who doesn’t like Jay by humming 千里之外 everytime you see them. To increase the irritation, can try to imitate the Fei Yu Qing’s way of singing.

4) For guys (hmm..not sure whether any guys read my blog. If not, galfrens, do remind your guys), please learn up the ballads from the new album namely 退后，心雨，白色风车.

5) For my teacher friends, learn up 听妈妈的话 and play the song to your kids. Explain the lyrics to them word for word in as many languages as you can. Nowadays, kids don’t really understand English or Chinese.

6) For a relaxing gathering, can consider going to a fren’s place, play Jay’s CD, chit chat… sheer indulgence desu ne! (that’s what I did with babu, maria and ahmad!)

7) Play the CD over and over again when you are bored.. or when you’re not bored.

8) If you have been having nightmares recently, listen to a few tracks of Jay just before you sleep. Assure you only sweet dreams ahead! I’ve tried it! It works! No more dam-to-search-for-eternity nightmares.

9) While chilling out with your friend with nothing much planned, let your friend listen to the songs. Trust me, it passes time fast and is the best time to convert your friend to a Jay-natic. Sharon san as proof of successful conversion! At least she can sing the 1st line of the chorus of 千里之外 now. ^_^

10) When you’re free and looking for a place to shop, Far East Plaza is the best place to go. Not only you can shop, you’ll be drowned in Jay’s songs! And..that’s good!! Ii ne! Shopping can never get more enjoyable lo.

can't figure it out..

A pang of nervousness hit me suddenly as I was just enjoying my lazy Sunday.

I’ve completed my lesson plans and stuff but still feeling uneasy on carrying it out. So many things to think about and I’ll have to act on my feet there and then if my “creative” ideas don’t work out. Come to think of it. I’ll rather be teaching in University or JC where the lecturer prepares his power point slides in advance and just read it out to the class. no games no gimmicks.

I feel abit sick and took a short nap. Worse.. I woke up seeing that it was 5pm which means Monday is coming even earlier..

I don’t know if it’s the caffeine in the tea I consumed in the morning which makes me feel so hyper restless and making my brain activities overly active, as I can’t stop thinking about school.

Sighz. Or it could just simply be the withdrawal symptoms due to the extreme fear of the ending of a holiday.

Why I want to t0k ab0ut Ne0 prInts....

I don’t understand. Neo print machines have been around for a number of years already.. but why aren’t the service in neoprint shops improving huh. Besides being doubly efficient in changing your notes to $1 coins and providing scissors for you to cut your neo prints, there is nothing more.

Wanted to take a neo print card and ended taking stickers instead. Okie. So my japanese language isn’t quite there yet.. I think it would be very helpful for them to translate the instructions into English. Especially when the machines start to get more complex with all the additional features, translation is a must!!

Part 1 of our pic: the pic on the left was done by watashi! hah..turned out quite jap looking huh.. the one on the right not my work ah..ahem.heh

It was quite a $9 hysterical experience yesterday. With 2 cameras facing us, we were suppose to choose which way we wanted the camera to angle in as we could change the colors of the backgrounds (by shifting the colored boards behind us). And the only translation is 21 shots at a go.. excuse me, who the hell can pose 21 times…..properly. ?! they’re out to cheat our money la.

We settled that and realised that coz we were too slow, the machine could only take like 8 shots. Then, we were supposed to choose 6 shots out of those 8 shots. And coz we’re too slow again busy figuring out how to do that, we only managed to choose 4 shots.

We pressed “ok”! (that was like the only legible language on the mess of nihon go..(-_-;)

Then, silence… it was supposed to be printing.. but we couldn’t find the bloody slots. Huh.. how can?! We haven’t even decorated our pics! Cheater bug.

Both me and naz ran frantically around the machine looking for traces of our pics.. nan demo nai.

I heard a shriek from naz, “here here ! come quick!..... QUICK!!!”

“QUICK!! DECORATE!! NO TIME ALREADY!”
ya..so we picked up the pens and started any owe how decorate….coz we couldn’t read the words, we couldn’t find the stuff we needed.

~check out the crooked rainbows! and the misplaced hearts and arrows!

... p.s. kindly ignore the unsightly finger over there, super dupa childish! urghz. the stars and halo quite nicely done though! heh. the double "s" ,after confirming with the creator, was supposed to signify odour from the armpits.. really can't tell.. can we??! haha

Food hunting @ World Food Fair 2006

Visited the food fair at Expo yesterday and it was better than I thought. Maybe coz I went in the day so it wasn’t as crowded as expected and that gave us the fantastic chance to up our calorie and fat intake. Heh. Especially naz.. he really ate non-stop… non-stop. My god.. I got a 大胃王as a bf! If we really poor, can ask him go for those “how many burgers can you swallow??” kind of competitions. Can win quite a bit of okane ne. Hah.

Well.. here are some of the pics I randomly took while he was busy… eating.heh.


this snack is super oishii and is healthy compared with other chips!


the bags of tabemono we bought!

oh ya..apparently bak kwa is cheap according to what i heard from the aunties...they all swarmed the bak kwa stalls.. so.. if you like bak kwa, err.. can check it out.

adOpted babies after my dIm sum...

urgh..this is a super belated post la.. happened on 2nd of september, a 凉风习习星期六早上(haha..a result of overdose of primary chinese compo..my god. they can even write 谅 and 习 wrongly..might as well dun use lor..-_-ll ). met naz and his family for dim sum at the Singapore Recreation Club, located just beside Padang.

Dim sum was good! i liked it...but buffet for dim sum is really not so worth it. coz can't eat much as we feel gerlark very soon with all the deep fried stuff.. but before the marginal utilities went downhill, we really enjoyed the tabemono. yummy!

After lunch, we went だいそ(Daiso!..** an urgent need to practise my jap**) coz I felt like getting some cheap $2 stuff from there..yup. FYI, if you all dun already know this place. heh. it's located at IMM and they sell all sorts of knick knacks at $2 nett. they sell....every thing..... really. I remembered i bought a nice little box from there like 4 years ago so suddenly felt like revisiting the store. Started a massive outburst of my shopoholic instinct and threw a few things into the shopping basket almost immediately. it's all $2! so cheap! buy la..just in case i need to use ma. just like the stall holders shouting 199 baht.... 199 baht.. in BKK.

well, i ended up spending only $4 = i bought only 2 items...sighz.. coz naz put back everything i threw into the basket, lecturing me on how i shouldn't be buying so many of just-in-case items. think got $20 worth of my items was placed back onto the lonely shelves of daiso.


<<----- check this out!! the front, back, side views of my newly adopted baby dino

got this dino for 1 buck by the dino egg machine (i call it the"dino egg machine".. dunno what's the real name for the machine..those you slot coins and turn the knob and an egg pops out) ..it was so cute so we decided to try our luck at getting it. the yellow head can be turned to get 2 different facial expressions of the dino! cool huh..hehe..



next up. my newly adopted mouse.... seated on a fiery red mushroom!

ha.. i was checking the various characters on the face of the machine and set my eyes on this mouse.. i dunno what it's called (i'm a cartoon idiot.. )..think it's a character from My Melody.. but i only know it's kawaii.. so naz tried his luck and we actually got it on the 1st try! yayz..... this tiny weeny useless mouse cost 2 bucks! haha... whatever. who cares.. it lights up when you press the red button on the stalk of the mushroom...! cool ですね! (^_^)v

left with no choice to plan my holidays

It’s the Sep Hols! Don’t feel as excited as I was thinking about it 2 weeks ago. it’s the stupid lesson planning getting me abit fidgety and panicky. Urghz. Really reminds me of my Food and Nutrition time when I gotta do cooking plan. Like 2 min to whisk the eggs, 10 min to preheat the oven, 5 min to knead the dough.

Just that the context is different now. 10 min of revision,15 min to interest the pupils, 30 min of actual teaching… blah. And in a total different language as well.. Chinese ! woah. !

Sighz. Thinking of “how to do it” really drains out my poor brain cells which are recently already extraordinarily slow in procreation.

Looking at the week ahead.. 2 days of courses and 1 day of supplementary classes for the P6s.. remaining days will be all dedicated to planning lessons I guess.

esther san, I’m afraid I can’t go back to help you sort ur accounts this hols! Maybe dec! I’m drooling already thinking of the number 12.

I need the power.. I want a Spicy Italian sub!!!

it seemed too real....

Today, I'm going to talk about dreaming..dreams.

I really hate dreaming. They disrupt my sleep and I end up feeling tired and restless for the whole of the next day. It definitely doesn’t help that I gotta wake up at 6.30am every day.

I had a dream again yesterday.

I was supposed to be going genting highlands…alone. Uh..yes. Taking the 3.30pm (note the numbers) bus from golden mile (who says dreams are detached from the real world huh?). I hailed a cab and realized I did not bring my bag of clothes. So I asked the cabby to wait at my void deck while I go get my stuff. While searching for it, I realized I forgot to bring a whole lot of things like passport, shoes, jacket etc.. now the problem was I could not find all of them. My house was turned upside down,inside out..messy to the max.

So I kept searching…rummaging..searching…rummaging…. for maybe a few hours?

It’s like I was damned to search for eternity.

I woke up, totally drained from all the searching (but of coz!)..really. I feel so bloody tired now.

Yeah.. now I’m trying to make out 4 lucky digits from this whole crappy dream which could possibly change my life forever… come on, think think think!

这才是真正的爱唷。

今天，我见证了母爱的伟大。

代了3节小一的课。。原来“鼎鼎大名” 的walter 就读于这一班。
有名不是因为他坏，是因为他有自闭症。最引人瞩目的不是他，而是他的贴身保姆-他的妈妈。。在挤满小孩的学校，有一位带着显眼粉红色的visitor pass，默默的坐在一旁的女士，一起参与升旗礼。

今天，在课室里，她有如个大学生，坐在教室的后头，拿着笔记本，在我讲课时，埋头抄笔记。在抄的当儿不忘凝视着小walter。一有状况，她便立刻上前安抚他。

坦白说，会蛮有压力的。毕竟有父母在场，好像under observation一样。但教着教着，压力慢慢消失了。

我错以为自闭的孩子完全封闭自己，不讲话，不理会周遭的一切。其实只对了一半。。他们会说话，可是说的好像跟你问的一点关系都没有。就像活在自己的世界里。因为世界对他们来说是隐形的，所以他会随意在课堂上走动，想说什么就说什么，望着你的眼神是空的。

要同学画图，walter便闹情绪。他不想自己的世界被干扰，所以就发脾气。妈妈就坐在她旁边，耐心的推他的手，叫他画画。他就画了一笔，便停下来了，嚷着不想画。她又耐心的在把笔硬塞进他的手心，叫他继续画。时不时看见他的妈妈生气又无奈的看着他，walter 也似乎知道妈妈生气了，红着眼眶，安静的看着妈妈。

1个钟头就这样过去了。铃声响了，我看见walter 上前把完成的画教给我。皱皱的纸，凌乱的颜色和线条，但总算看得出动物的模样，也算是有努力吧。

回到家，她会变身成补习老师，用笔记帮walter复习。

天生感性的我在想，妈妈能陪walter 到几时呢。。这个答案，我想他的妈妈也不晓得。但我相信应该会到永远吧。

my week..

Shucks.. I’ve just been informed that I’ll be taking over a teacher who would be going on maternity leave,after the sep holidays. Shucks.

It’s P5 EM3 Class.. only 7 pupils actually. So I hope it would be manageable. Urghz. Must I be put through such test at such a vulnerable part of my career??

Anyway, got to punish a P1 class today.. hyper active and hyper talkative. So late recess is for them!

I realized that I want to save my throat for singing and thus will not shout at the kids. I keep very quiet and just look at them.. it’ll be their own responsibility to get organized. Anyways, the school advocate “Minimize yelling” as part of what we want to achieve. Imagine if it was in the olden days, all teachers would have been sacked on the 1st day of school..

Enjoying a little break now before class..

This week had been hectic coz of lesson planning and stuff. I got to teach a class 1 chapter of Chinese and it was doubly stressed with the teacher doing observation. It’s so weird.

And yes…..TGIF! finally meeting naz and ahmad, maria and babu today.. hah. Talk about efficiency.. yup.

Looking forward to 1.30pm..

叫我第一名~

今天分发了prelims的考卷给小六的班。。考得超级。。无敌。。的。。差。唉！

当大家都在讨论答案时，周老师(我的co-teacher 也姓周。。嘿) 叫我去帮助一位叫胜永的同学。

他的卷子大部分都以白色为主，除了MCQ。理解问答部分答案短得可怜，字数只能用寥寥无几来形容。最近常常一对一地教他，所以他也慢慢跟我熟络了，开始讲多一点的话。发现他比起其他同学，他的识字能力比他们强，理解能力也不错，就是搞不懂为什么考得那么差。可能写和表达方面比较差吧。。太可惜了。

但今天我发现了另外一个理由。除了知道他住在boys‘ home，对他没有什么了解。今天他告诉我他是转校生，2005年才刚过来的。小五的时候，他说他在5。2班(我校班级是以学生程度来分班的。。5。1是最好的班。。5。4是最烂。。) 。。到了小六，退步到6。4。他说6年内，他转了4次校。。还没settle down 便又得搬家了。原因？他说自己也不知道。

他说话很小声，在班上非常静。。但人不可冒相啦。。也不敢多问。。但我觉得和家庭背景有关。第六感吧。。

教书让我接触到不同种类的学生，真正看见家庭对孩子成长的影响。

问他为什么写得那么少，胜永说他一打开卷子就想睡觉，眼睛无法睁开。(？！？！！)他说话的眼神简直真诚到了极点，不像在开玩笑咯。所以他就快快地乱做，就能快快地睡觉。我告诉他重考是很浪费时间的，希望他不要浪费升上中学的机会。接下来，他长篇大论地和我分享他想先去NT(normal tech) ，然后进步到NE(normal express？) 。。然后上ITE。

我告诉他。。。。。你想得太远了！先考好PSLE再说吧！唉。也顺便劝告他别只aim去NT。。因为把目标设得高一点，万一表现没那么理想，还有空间让你退步。aim NT，搞不好会留级咯。

听了后，他笑了起来。好笑meh？？我超担心的。。只希望那15分钟的口水没有浪费。

这大概是所有从事教育工作者的心态吧。永不舍弃的精神。

我看到了。

breaking d gaming addiction

Just watched “The Break Up” last night. My guess guess buddy junyi san la..never warn me about the movie since he had watched it liao. Told me it’s oookkk la.. but don’t expect too much. Then ask me to enjoy the movie..Errr.. what’s that supposed to mean leh.. anyway, due to past records of having the neck of choosing lousy shows, I didn’t quite trust his taste.

And sad la, the movie turned out really so-so only. It’s not funny at all and hardly romantic. Think they have no chemistry at all. So I spent like half the time oogling at Jennifer’s hot bod and flowy hair. Well, at least, I got something from the movie.

And one thing. They portrayed Vince as a guy who loves gaming.. so like most of the time at home in the movie, he was playing gaming. I watched a play sometime back and they also portrayed how gaming addiction in guys can lead to a strained r/s. I think all guys need to get a life man. Even my dearest bf is no exception. Shit. Haha.. to be fair, he’s not an addict but it’s definitely part of his daily routine.

He always retort saying that we women can’t get enuff of shopping also. But you can’t say the same for shopping!!

You know. It’s different. You don’t only get to shop, you also get to window-shop and you get a good lot of exercise too. You get the chance to get out of your couch and breathe in some fresh air which is proven to be good for your health. While shopping, you’ll get to exchange views with your friends and in the process, you get to hone your communication and observation skills.

Gaming only exercises like…. Let me think where…….hmm. your fingers, one, to control the buttons and two, to scratch your face when it’s itchy halfway killing the monster.

There you go my dear. As if you know I’m blogging about you right now,.
I just received an sms that reads “Honey! I’ve just finished killing the monster! You can call me and chat till 5.30pm if you are free now!”

So summarizes what I have to say huh..haha.

to say or not to say...sssh.

Ta daaa! Sharon san.. I’ve taken ur Golden advice to change the title of my previous post.. u said it’s romantic janai rite…. Better now?! Sighz. 做人真难。。。

Anyways, it’s a humid and hOt Sunday noon which means Monday blues is on the way again. Next target! The Sep holidays! Yay.

Spent a quiet day at home yesterday and also bought a pair of sports shoes and another pair of adidas sneakers. I paid $130 in total. The sports shoes cost $123 and the sneakers cost $7! Yess… the guy charged me wrongly.. wahahah… supposed to be $76 lor.. shit. I was so surprised and exhilarated that I had been telling the whole world. Guess not long after, I might be on their wanted list liao. Not my fault ah.. I only found out after I stepped out of the shop.. and of course who would be so stupid to go back rite? I paid by Nets so..ermm.. hopefully they can’t track…or can they?! Well… I shall enjoy the discount till then la.. hahah.

Check out my buys!

Oh my god... looking at the pics, realised I've got giant's feet man.. i actually wear a size 8. @_@

1st Lawry's experience and 1st year anniversary..

Went to Lawrys for our anniversary dinner on Mon... yess.. the place above Paragon with waitresses wearing milkmaid uniforms. Remembered in secondary school when I could only look up into the restaurant and told each other that some day..some day we would be able to dine there. 1 main course is like over $70 bucks! it's crazy la.. though I swear by the I live to eat motto, I value my okane more.

Naz chose the place ( I think it's more to satisfy his carnivorous cravings for the super takai beef there... (-_-ll). I was merely the follower and even when we were within 50m from the restaurant, I still couldn't stop complaining about how pricey the food was and how we shouldn't waste the money. Anyhow, he decided to go ahead with the plan. As if they heard my complaints, we were pleasantly surprised by the promotion ongoing..50% off on the 2nd new item main course with any ribs main course ordered...

This was the prime roast beef which cost like $95!!!!! its crazy man.. the cow was probably fed with gold... and it looks so disgusting.. it's 500g!!!! 1/2 a kg of beef.. that's so stomach turning. check it out.

I ordered a 3 tail lobster set and it was simply oishii.. it better be lor.. for the price tag it comes with.

Yummylicious...especially the lobster with the chilli dressing on the left.. i liked that one the most.

our meal ended with 3 different types of desserts called "dessert sampler" where we can get to taste all 3 if we can't make up our minds.. from the left:Mudpie, some custurd thingy and green tea tiramisu... oishii!

what's new...it's food again! haha.. naz got me a white choc macadamia cookie from Mrs Fields... my fave flavor... so I had my 2nd round of desserts. man.. i really need to jog!

~~p/s: this blog would be super boring to you if you aren't a gourmet and you eat to live... aka. sharon san... ~~

kids like anyone who is new

was leading a P1 class today back after recess when a P1 gal, after shouting 周老师! Several times, ran in full speed and bear hugged me from behind.

I was glad it was a gal. If a boy, then I’ll have some problem here. Scolded her for being rude and asked her to get back into line.

Then after class, a real pretty gal (yess..she looks like a little princess..super chio) came up to me and told me it was her birthday today..err… okie. So I wished her Happy Bday! And she said “Thank you!” in such a cute tone and with a satisfied smile on her face.. hmm知足是快乐的。

Then, just yesterday, this pair of twins came up to me to ask me to tie their hair for them and I rejected them. Reason being I was nice to accede to their request the other time and like 5 other gals came up to me with their hair bands. (-_-ll)…so today I’ve decided not to repeat my mistake and rejected them. My god.. they actually looked quite grudging lor. Give me the you are so mean now kind of look… what d hell.

Flaky temptations

This was the chocolate that left me euphorically blissful... I've decided to finish the bar today!! yes.! i must!

Did some research on the choc and here's what I've got! :

The Cadbury Flake bar was originally launched in 1920. The concept of the Flake was discovered by a Cadbury employee who filled the chocolate moulds. Once the moulds were full, the excess chocolate used to spill over the edge and fold down in a stream of chocolate. Once this stream cooled, the Flake product was created as the texture had many thin layers of chocolate and was very crumbly and flakey!

:)

Go, boys and girls, go get one now!

the devil permanently residing in him..

When the vcd of "Click" comes out, I'm going to buy it and force my bro to watch it (as if he would). I'm going to try anyhow.!

He's really like the main character of the show played by Adam Sandler.. taking family for granted, thinking that the whole world owes them something ( I dunno what?!) and ever so self-centred, selfish and pathetically lacking in basic communication skills ( especially with family members..). I dunno. I really hope something would just help to jolt him out of his sucky mentality and sick behavior.

We're still waiting for that something.. which never came. Ever since he was a teenager, my mum particularly, has been patiently giving in to his ridiculous behavior and temper (so as not to weaken her own heart), believing that he would change as he grows older. A leopard never changes its spots lor.

It would be so sad to see him end up like how the character ended up regretting what he had been doing but was already too late to rectify his mistakes.

Here I am blogging about all these shit about him, feeling pissed and all. What for huh. When he probably doesn't care at all.

Not at all a pretty sight..urghz

This couple we saw at Jack's place while having our dinner
really disgusted me. What bad luck that I was sitting facing them all the way.

The err part is not that the guy is scrawny and the woman is humongous (though aesthetics wise, can be pretty attention grabbing), they were cuddling, kissing and touching each other through out the meal. and yes. the woman's posture was like that --------------------->>
perpetually - arms folded behind her head and armpits facing, yes. me.

haha. but! this pic was totally unintentional okay and I just noticed it while flipping through the pics. Would anyone snap them intentionally??!

Answering that very important call

It’s a long 2 day break from school! Okie.. no envious hrmphs from all of you out there..

Was involved in the sports carnival today and the experience set me thinking. I would like to change to specialise in Physical Education. So much free-er and more fun. Well, not really, coz schools are usually quite concerned that the kids dun get fried in the hot sun.

Ya. But the point is, I feel like changing my specialisation. I wonder if there’s a age limit as to how long you can stay being a PE teacher. Ermm. Actually, the more relevant question for now is whether there’s a way for me to change my specialisation.

Will give myself half year more la to do test it out. But the grass on the other side is definitely calling out to me.

My Candy Empire

Looking at the pathetic list of movies available, we decided to watch the Tiger Dragon Gate.

Kept telling him that the vcd will come out very very soon coz it's a chinese movie (sad huh?but it's reality.). But since we're out of choice, we decided to just go for it. After confirming our seats and all, the lady was about to confirm the booking when naz suddenly told her to cancel the booking. Reason being he scared it'll suck. haha. I understand. For him the action and storyline is critical. For me, if all else fails, I still have Shawn Yue and Nicholas Tse to oogle at.

I think Shawn Yue looks better while he thinks Nicholas Tse is more hansamu. What you think??? I think Shawn! Nicholas's features looks abit more girlish lo.

Movie was out in our To-do List so next up would be the place to have our dinner. We went to the Asian Kitchen where i ordered my fave duck la mian. Carnivourous Naz as usual ordered his fried rice w/o vege and the bad thing was that it came with loads of spring onions in it. The service captain came round to ask how our food was and we said it was good besides the vege thing. Then, we ordered mango sago and they served us mixed fruit sago.

We were too engrossed listening to the horrible song on naz's mp3 to bother about the mistake they made.

In the end, we got a free mixed fruit sago and a mango sago complimentary. guess is to make up for the boohoos. hmm.. quite cool huh? great service I think.

not to forget that we ended the day with a walk in Candy empire. bought these Cadbry Flakes chocolate bar.. it's a pricey $2 for the small bar of choc but it was heavenly when I bit into it. it was dam oishii!!!! I was so ecstacized that we went back to buy another bar. wahahah.

I've placed it on top of my desk at home, just like on a mini alter. I promised naz we'll share it the next time we go out. I hope I can wait till then.

I'm more sunny than you think

Weekend had been busy and tiring.

Saturday was a full day of managing a booth at the funfair in school in celebration of 10th anniversary. Frankly speaking, I do appreciate these adhoc stuff that makes teaching a little less mundane. I felt as if I was back in school, making banners, wrapping things, decorating our booths. The only difference was that now I’ve got the power to command the help of any students bumming around in school to do the more manual work. Haha.

Naz and Sharon san came over near the end of the fair (really dunno what’s the point.) haha. Ok la.. more like to wait for me and go home together.

Nope. No luck of winning that BMX bicycle in the lucky draw. Sighz.

Another teacher was commenting on how she admired me for being able to remain so perky and energetic through out the day ( 8am to 5pm!!) without perspiring much, while she kept looking for a chair to rest her feet (err..could it be that she’s got a sprained feet?). The weather was extremely unforgiving and given the super strategic location of our booth, we were busking in the sun for a great part of the day.

I’m okay at standing for long periods of time actually. My legs are pretty hardy and strong as compared to my feeble arms. I also tell myself it’s a form of exercise so it shows that positive thinking is important in anything you do. As for the sun, I like the sun! I like tanning. Treat it as free tanning lor. I was perspiring quite a bit though. Maybe I’m more sensitive when it comes to ensuring my face look normal, as in not overly oily, by wiping it more often. I hate my over-productive oil glands..! haiz.

Anyway!!!! Announcement!:::  next week is going to be pretty short week with all the school holidays and National Day. Yeah. Only 2 days of school!

Countdown with moi! (

Not going to be a mentally ill perfectionist..

Was late today. Lucky for me that I could wear PE attire to school, everyday! If I like. And I do! Its so comfy wearing my sports shoes walking around in school. Really appreciate it looking at the amount of stairs I climb while moving around.

bought Mayday Final Home VCD just now..yeah. it’s like a cool 4hrs of concert and footage!!! Cant wait to watch.. but I’d really need a lot of free time to be able to sit down and really enjoy it. Sighz. Too many activities taking place and I really need a breather. And the only breather I could afford now would be an hour of TVB serial OR a trip to HG mall. So hard to choose hor. *eyes rollz*

but!... when I opened the packaging, I found a huge crack across the CD cover… huh!!!!i screamed in my heart but gone is the feeling of going back there to change the CD. Heck la. As long as can watch, appearance isn’t as critical to me.not anymore.

I almost couldn’t believe that it was ME having such thoughts. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to this type of minute, teeny weeny, wu liao things. Guess with limited time and much wanted rest, I can’t have the best of both worlds. I decided to grab the sleep and let go of the broken cover.

A couple of discipline cases in school today. Kids nowadays. It’s not uncommon and we just have to take it with a pinch of salt (difficult..yes.) to be among the far and few sensei who is healthy psychologically.

It’s important I told myself. Friends.. help me. Remind me, nudge me on msn, nudge me when you see me, give me a whack on my back, anything, if you see me on the verge of wandering onto the road of no return.

it's coming true..whether you like it or not.

It’s really funny to see how all my previous posts about the life being a typical office worker…… going for dinner gatherings, having the dreadful feeling of seeing card bills every month, having to overcome the urge of overspending, thinking of what to wear to work everyday, trying all means to prevent blisters erupting on your feet, rushing datelines at work, coping with oh-so-no-EQ colleagues and handling the basic stress of having to force your butt down on that chair whole day long…….. is coming true for my ii tomodachi. ..

whahahah. good luck my friend. Welcome to the working world.

Being confused as usual around during flag raising today, I glanced around in panic for P1s. My panic was unfounded coz once they started singing the national anthem, I knew exactly where the P1s are located. They usually sing the loudest (I mean like real loud) till , with pride, gusto, enthusiasm (too much of it..killing the tempo of the song totally) and angst. There they are. So cute. Don’t laugh la. I was once like that too. Ha.

As the years passed, we became quieter and quieter in school and in class. Remember how eagerly we rose our hands to answer any…any questions… till the time when the lecturer had to almost coax us into reluctantly whispering our answers. How people change huh. .. no comments on whether for better or for worse. It’s debatable I think.

Anyways, it’s time to sleep… I can’t wait. But it’s a good sign that I’m feeling less tired now.

Hopefully when I wake up, I’ll feel less confused, more confident and of course…less tired. (-_-)zzZz
  

Unforsaken..

The start of my new job equals the end of my blogging.. okay..regular blogging. Cannot! I cannot forsake www.natsuri.blogspot.com !! ganbatte!!!!!

The fact is, I’m too tired to even type or check my emails..blah. stuff which I used to enjoy. It’s a matter of getting used to everyone tells me…my mum, naz and Sharon san.  The new waking up time (6.30am..and no, I don’t go home at 1.30pm everyday.), new job routine, new things to absorb, new expectations to meet and rowdy pupils to tame. Yes. Shouting is tiring. Not even shouting. Talking loudly is tiring.

But yeah.. people in my school are nice. Have yet to get to know them better though.

Amidst my shouting schedule, I managed to catch The Lake House. An adaptation from Il Mare. Loved it loads coz of Sandra and also the storyline. Making use of different time dimensions to bring out a long distance relationship which seemed unconceivable. I like movies which leaves us pondering over what exactly happened and to decipher the knotty, confusing parts due to the time dimensions. After a long argument, we finally came to a consensus on what the movie was about… hmm.. and The house was beautiful! A must watch!

Right now, I gotta do something very important.

Nap. ZzzZz

The not-so-perfect 1st day

Tired. The perfect word to describe my 1st day. And omg. It’s only training. Haha.

Thanks to the super efficient aircon that was blowing straight down on my head which nearly brain-froze me.. defreezed again when I went out for lunch and refroze when I went back into the lecture room. The result was a super bad headache.

Learnt quite interesting stuff today about class management and the lecturer is ..can you believe it… 71 years old. He has been teaching for 52 years! He told us he really love teaching for him to stay that long. Impressive. So you can imagine the countless examples he could give us when he was lecturing. That made the class pretty bearable.

That’s all folks. I’m going to sleep now (it’s like 9.45pm… haha…I better get enough sleep lor). Stay tuned for more updates.

Lights off!

Hands clasped in anticipation..

A brand new start.

I hope it’ll be a meaningful and prosperous first step into my new job as an educator. Err. Think the prosperous part will come in only very much later.

Visited the school today for a briefing. A small but cosy place. People there seemed friendly and nice. Got a cup of the tarik from 1 of the students coz it’s racial harmony day for them today. Okie. No connection. But well, quite cute la. Heh.

After my 2 day prep course, I’ll be attached to this senior teacher. Heard that probably only next year I’ll be given the full load of teaching. That’s good ne. I definitely need some adjustment to the simple and school environment again. As well as to adjust my taste buds to simple canteen food.. no more subway, Mr Bean, tom yum fish soup or Italian, jap or Korean food within my reach. Anyway, lunch is only half an hour, am already thinking of da-baoing food from home already. Next plan! To draw up a list of easy to prepare bento lunches!

It’s weird la.. moving from a busy bustling Raffles Place to a work place that’s only a 10 min bus ride away. The short travelling time is the most welcomed out of this whole change of job. Well, I’ve to reach school before 7.30am (ahhh!), so guess it’s a kind of tradeoff. We were forewarned also working hours can be pretty long.. urghz. Another trade off. Beginning to think if it’s worth it.

Idealistic it may sound, I hope the satisfaction I get from teaching is powerful enough to banish all these horrible trade offs to Mars..

**~trivia!~~**

What is the urban way of spelling the color "purple"?
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Pur pur!

Free & easy for awhile...

My last post was about 1 week away.. nope. I wasn’t busy with work. In fact, I’m on a 1 week break now… urgh. It’s ending soon.

I’m happy-ING!! Did stuff which I’ve been wanting to do but no chance to do while I’m a normal 9-5 working class routine.

On Sunday, went cycling at Pulau Ubin. I really like going there la. Peaceful, natural and can spot different fruits during different seasons. This time was the durian season! I love durians! Everywhere were people waiting around packing durians and some were waiting around for the durians to drop. Quite scary coz the durians are hanging above you while you’re cycling, …so pray hard.

Me and naz wanted to stop and maybe try to pick a durian just to see if it taste nice. When we parked our bikes at the side of these few aunties, they all turned and stared at us really hard like this is our durian territory kind of look. We were outnumbered, so we decided to go. Urghz.

Completed the next task on my Most Wanted List… swimming & tanning! Weather was so perfect for tanning that I’m so badly sunburnt now. itai ne. Naz tried to teach me freestyle but I’m a gonecase at that… think I’ll just stick to my leisurely froggy style.

Did some shopping as well coz found my working clothes a little too casual and skimpy for teaching. Hopefully I can still wear my sleeveless tops.. the weather is too hot la. Then I imagine standing for hours in the classroom without aircon…. … omg.. okie.. Positive thoughts, only positive thoughts please.

A few birthdays coming up which means there goes my resolution to save for the month and gives me another legit reason to shop. Yay.

Goodbye seems to be the hardest word

Last days are always tough.. how to bid farewell without making it a teary one, or how not to make it seem indifferent in an attempt to hold back your feelings. I like to make everything end on a happy note, if I can help it that is.

Bought some really oishii secret recipe’s “chocolate indulgence” and “chocolate banana fudge” for my colleagues. One of the best cakes I’ve tasted so thought it would make a nice farewell treat for them. Dinner was their treat to LingZhi restaurant…my 2nd time there. The 1st was a treat from them also for my birthday. Maybe coz I like vege just like them so we form good kakis for vegetarian food. Heh.

Not forgetting some really sweet farewell gifts.. Esther got me a crystal handphone accessory and Pat got me a little denim pouch big enough just to hold my wallet, hp and tissue. She couldn’t tahan the way I hold my wallet and hp in my palms whenever we go out for lunch. Hah.

It’s a norm to take pics on last days (I’ve gone through quite a number of last days…).. provided the place holds wonderful memories for me la. I totally forgot about my digi cam when I was in GE and intended to leave as quietly as possible. Haha. No thanks..

As much as I would love to make every farewell a happy one (the “let’s keep in touch okie!” type),  there were ironically, countless ones which were sobby and sad. Okie la, I shall stop being sunny and positive. Farewells are always sad la!

The 1st was during my Sec 4 graduation. Sec 4C rockz la..who wouldn’t cry.

Then the other few would be occasions when I send friends off at the airport. Somehow it must be the stupid gates with the immigration police officers standing waiting to check your tickets. Looks like they’re redeeming a ticket to jail, and they’re all set to escort you to jail.. so.. it seemed sadder than usual.

Especially when sharon san left for America on work & travel USA trip.. dam, she went there to have fun, why cry for her argentinnnaaaa~~.  Then it was her again when she left for Sydney.
Guess the saddest one for me was when she was sending me off at the Sydney Airport after my tour there. Sighz. Coz my tour ended with my ichiban tomodachi, which means I gotta go back to work, and on the thought that she gotta go back alone to face the bitches, crying was normal. It was a sad farewell to my harry’s pie and krispy crème. Won’t be back there for a long long time coz the air taxes are crazy! Same price as the ticket… madness.

My jap boss wished me good fortune all the way… I thought Chinese new year was here liao. Wahaha.. but.. yes!! I wouldn’t mind good fortune anytime….

十万个为什么。。

Kids nowadays are way too ba gua.. or inquisitive, to put it nicely.

Was on the phone with sharon san coz she was buying some ipod accessory for me and my tuition kid, instead of doing his way backdated math problem sums, was happily eavesdropping. Next, I was bombarded with questions like “teacher, you want to buy ipod ah?” “it is very good rite? But very expensive”

I told him I already own a nano and even showed it to him..of course as a sensei, I told him he can forget about buying until he can earn his own money. Wahhahah. He nodded. So cute.haha

The speed of the advancement in technology is incredible. I wished I had the money to keep up with all the new gadgets… !!!

Hmm.. my next splurge shall be on a pair of Birkenstocks…others gotta chotto matte.. one thing at a time only, I psycho myself as always. .

Mutsu apple must have came from paradise

A late pic (a pun.. again! meaning the already eaten, hence, dead apple. Also meaning a late posting of this pic..) of the takaii nihon no apple … 2 apples for $10. It’s crazy! Best part is that they tasted 100 x worse than those 4 for $2 apples my mum buys. Tasteless, non-juicy, unpalatable skin, dry and foamy textured flesh. You name it, they have it.

We got cheated by the Japanese la.. lucky I managed to dissuade naz from buying the honey dew.. $78 per honey dew. Insane. Insanely pricey and insanely oishi kunai.

the irritated post.. it's long..beware.

Glad that Ms Chean came back from South Africa in one piece. Heard her stories about the crocs and hippotamus that were in abundance everywhere she went. She told me that hippos are the most dangerous animals in Africa, causing the highest amount of casualties and death among tourists and locals. Kowaii ne.

Saturday was shopping day with sharon san and zhe san. As usual, zhe san had the most shou1 huo4…I hereby bestow upon her the title of “The Shopping Queen”.

Had subway for dinner and was greeted by super bad customer service. They will omit putting in some vegetables unless you specially request for it. Default is supposed to be all vegetables lor. I wanted 2 6-inch subs and the stupid guy made a 1 1-foot long sub wrapped as 1 looong sub, cut into 2. isn’t it obvious it’s for 2 people meaning they have to be wrapped separately?? I brought the long sub there and requested for him to wrap it separately. He said he couldn’t do it coz…. it’s parmesan chicken sub…. ??!!!! nani o hanasuru ka?! Thought maybe he spoke Mars language so I asked for another wrapper and I’ll wrap it myself. Then he said, oh! It’s 1 foot long ah… can can… I wrap for you… huh!!!!????!

Sharon san wanted to fill her cup with some ice and only few pathetic cubes came out no matter how hard she pressed the button. Fine. Just as we were eating our subs, the ice came tumbling out of the machine ..macham retarded reaction… just like the people who served us.

Anyway, earlier on, this stupid ocbc salesman tried promoting some credit cards to me. As if he hasn’t made sales since 10 years ago, he asked me to apply the Titanium card impatiently. Calmly, I told him I have that card already (and I really do..). Then he started to promote the Gold Card to me, repeatedly telling me, “this card is verrry good ma’am, really verrrrrry good you know. Got 3 years waiver… it is really verrrrrrry good.” Think I know why he’s so hungry to make sales.

Well, I told him I have the card as well. He said, “this card?? This one leh? You have?” …YESSS! Just didn’t see the point of telling him I was an ex-employee of the bank..if not I would, just to shut him up.. he’s so irritating!

Next up he’s forcing me to shop at Robinsons by telling me the card is verrrrrrry good and can get discount. Seriously, I really think his knowledge of the cards is way too pathetic, only good to target at 10 year olds and below. I told him that I don’t shop at robinsons and like a spoilt recorder, he repeated that it is verrrrry good and can get discount.

The ultimate was he told me if I apply for the card, I could go out with this other guy at the booth. ??!!! No meaning! The poor guy was shocked and kept shaking his head to signal him to stop his rubbish.

I finally told him I’m not interested and walked away. After we walked a distance away, sharon san told me that stupid idiotic shit scolded Ta ma de when I walked away. Sharon san then glared at him and he then pretended to give sharon san a pathetic doggy look (described as how sharon san demonstrated)

A pity I do not have his name man, if not I’ll present him with a complaint letter. Hmm.. that reminds me, think I can write in also even without his name. I’ll get naz to draft the letter! Haha…can always trust the complaint letter pro to do the writing. He should go get a life, he’s not cut out for sales… and also not cut out for anything.

Luckily the shopping trip was too fun to be easily affected by all of the above. (

10 July 2006 - a date with my favourite car & potato

Sunday went well. at least no stupid people to bitch about.

Was surprised I ended in the theatre watching Cars with naz san. A show which I was so sure about not watching. Sighz. This is the result of kena forced to 爱屋及乌. It’s ok la.. since he will be the next to 爱屋及乌by watching The Lake House with me. Wahaha. He might be saved coz I don’t like Keanu Reeves. Hmm so I might still change my mind.

But it didn’t turn out so bad, though I still maintain my opinion of animations. But it’s not fair. The sneak snippets of upcoming movies showed like 3 new animations coming soon…..~ take my breath away….woohoo..~

Had dinner at Jack’s place where I finally remembered to use my long forgotten digi cam…trigger- happy me took loads of pics! Yay.. check it out.. some taken outside the esplanade after our dinner.

Check out the sinful and generous dose of sour cream and bacon bits on the baked potato... .haha.. but it's so so oishiii.. i love it. not the escargots though. eeks.. the thought of putting snails into my mouth. no thanks. after much cajoling by naz to try try try, i took a small bite ans insisted for it to be totally drowned in fried garlic.. so it didn't taste like anything to me..

my black thursday 6/7/06

Stuff are predestined, most of time.

It’s like you tell yourself you don’t feel like eating hokkien mee for dinner and your mum will come back with a packet of hokkien mee. You are destined to eat hokkien mee. No escape.

Woke up earlier than usual. Decided that rushing for work is bad for my health. The strong wind was messing my already messy hair with the stormy clouds looming above me, as if all determined to make my day start off on the wrong note. As I quickened my pace to beat the gloating clouds and rain, I got a call from my otosan asking me if I needed a ride to the MRT as it was already raining.

I told him I was already reaching the station, no need, I said. As if he sensed an omen, he asked again  if I was sure, yes, I replied.

During that span of 1 min, for no reason, I looked down at my sandals and tried to recall when I bought it. Aug last year. Wow. They’re so durable lor, I thought.

1 min after, my sandals broke. I looked at it disbelievingly recalling the offer my otosan offered. It’s so xie2.

Dragging the slipper clumsily to the bread shop which I was heading to (ya..against all odds, I still would like to have my satay chicken bread), I called my otosan and accepted his offer, disbelievingly. Urghz. Doshite. It’s so scary.

Couldn’t help feeling so unlucky and complained to the bakery shop lady about my stupid shoe. She knew me by now coz I patronize her almost everyday, always buying the same bread, one of her most boring customers she must have thought.

From afar, I spotted my otosan’s car. For that moment, I thought I saw my otosan in the bodysuit of Superman, to the rescue of daughter in distress. Not much difference from superman except for the pouch and minus the curl of fringe.

Changed and was driven to the MRT. Arigato watashi no ichiban otosan.

Everything can only get better from here surely.

Stepped into the train and found myself plonked right in front of a lady, in her 40s, and clutched under her armpit was a lime green bag. Looks familiar, ya. it was the exact bag I was carrying!!! How suayz.

Wasn’t possible to move away so I stood there, trying hard to pretend engrossed in the ad promoting a new kind of flu tablet.

******** I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful, it’s true…… james blunt********************

take my breath away...hoohoo..

I’m left breathless as I look at how everybody’s life had changed since secondary school. We were from the same school, same class, maybe even stayed in the same HDB estate.

Kei started the ball rolling by being the 1st in our class to get married at age 23..*glupz* A recent email from her informed of us of her pregnancy, 13 weeks pregnant! Ii ne. but we are shocked like.. wow. a baby kei is coming into this world…

Next up was Jane who’s the organizer of all our gatherings and only SHE could make it happen. The rest of us belong to the N.A.T.O. club (a phrase that naz loves to use).. no action, talk only. Yeah.. I bao an angbao for her last year too. And she just moved into her new flat.. her new flat. It was like a childhood dream to be able to own a place of your own…Wow wow.

Hmm..  then there was Parie who updated that she is in Vancouver now doing her Masters and soon her Ph.D. Happily attached to a Scottish guy for 2 years now. Remembered her a reserved but artistically inclined girl.. look at how far she has come! Wow.

And weiwei who got married secretly for a year already and right now in Tokyo, with plans to develop her career and start her family in Nihon. Wow.

Others who got themselves high flying careers whether in high disposable income or literally the privilege of able to travel frequently for job purposes. Wow.

Then.. as the bottle tilted towards my direction, I saw the bottle shed a little tear, shaking her neck side to side at the same time.

….. but… I couldn’t care as I’m Happy-ING and 知足-ING…

buddy ng! Let’s shout out loud: 知足长乐! v(^_^)v

Spot Crouch!

As I watched the soccer matches during world cup, l was amazed at how the players sweat their guts out chasing after that ball and strategise on how to score that goal which could perhaps change their life forever.
I got bored after seeing beckham got sent off the field during the match England vs Portugal and began wondering whether I had any particular passion in life, a sport or hobby maybe, where I’ll go all out for.
Netball? Nah.. I was only fit enough to play for recreational purpose. But I really have a huge passion for netball. Passion vs reality. Reality is cruel.

Ok.. calligraphy? Ya.. I held positions like secretary and even president in the chinese calligraphy society.. my god. President lor. I should be proud.. might be the only time to hold this position in my life. My writing was so so. Maybe I got selected coz I wrote the best out of the worst. Haha. Yup. I wasn’t too passionate about calligraphy. Just liked the idea that my beautiful Chinese handwriting can be magnified 10 folds by writing with a brush. I’m crazy about my own handwriting! Ha.

Yeah.. that lasted me through college and that’s the end of my passion for calligraphy. I know it can be revived but if it needs to be revived, it can’t be called a passion anymore right. Having a passion for something means the person should be constantly enthusiastic about it, always seeking to attain a new or higher level in that passion and it should be ongoing regardless of circumstances.

Hmm.Think my greatest passions (not bad, adopting a diversified investment approach in many passions now) now would be to catch any tvb serial I can, updating my lyrics collection and to continuously expand my photo collection.
Look at Peter Crouch from England. He can’t play soccer but yet you see him dribbling and running as if he could. Standing at 6 foot 7, he’s a perfect example of a passionate individual.

must find a guy to sing melody...coz i want to sing the harmony!!

Recently am in love with this song.. esp the harmony, their voices blended quite well… unlike Jay & Lara’s 珊瑚海.. Lara was singing to an ant. And jay sang too loudly during his part of the harmony.. overall sad for my jay…

This is better! Gomen.. I can only provide the lyrics.. no audio available..=P

心动心痛 唱：刘耕宏/许慧欣

曲:周杰倫 詞:劉畊宏/陳劍龍

畊宏: 黑夜滲透了思念
偷不走微光閃現的千種畫面
我背著傷痛離開 孤單 拖著記憶支離破碎

慧欣: 原以為不會改變
眼淚在臉頰上乾枯失去知覺

合:我的心掙脱了愛 跟隨著夕陽埋進了海洋

合:為什麼相愛的人卻又為愛而紛爭
現實的翅膀擾亂原本幸福的氣氛

畊宏:我有我的過錯 慧欣: 我有
畊宏:我有我的疑惑 慧欣: 我的疑惑
藏在面對面的 沉默背后

為什麼讓愛躲進烏雲密布的天空
隨著風漂流在外一天一點的散落

畊宏:慢慢遠離的夢 慧欣: 漸漸
畊宏:漸漸冷卻冰封 慧欣: 冷卻冰封

心痛當初相遇的心 動

Super . . . man.

I never really idolized superman when I was young. Preferred captain planet, carebears, smurfs and xiao3 tian2 tian2.
*Must put the biao dian fu hao for the Chinese words, to assist sharon san to read them properly. If not, she’ll most prob read it as xiao1 tian1 tian1. She lacks the skill of the contextual understanding of sentences. The problem becomes more severe when it comes to Chinese words.

Went to watch Superman with little hope of making the movie tic worth it. Yup. Fly around and rescue the people and I predicted the show would end with him saving the damsel in distress. Bingo! Heh. Just that he saved not once but many times. Wooah. Super….. man.

Was glad to say I wasn’t disappointed partly coz that Brandon guy is quite eye candy. Heh. Can’t really remember how Christopher Reeves looks like exactly, but the feel seems quite similar.

One thing. Just don’t really understand why they translate the movie title “Superman Returns” to 超人再起. zai qi?? Nani? Broken Chinese! Sounds weird. I think that even 超人回来 sounds better。

My Li-Sir died. How can?? He’s a good man and he’s Boqiao’s father. They reunited for barely a minute before Li-Sir said gomen nasai, sayonara and breathed his last breath. (T_T)

the art of attention-seeking...

Yup… it’s “the entire human race”… a correction to the lyrics in my previous blog. Heh.

Was on the topic of attention seeking people today. Yup. There’re this group of people who tries to grab your attention by pretending to be pitiful, emotional, pensive and trying to look and sound bothered.

Okie. So they are troubled. Aren’t they trying to induce people to probe so that they could talk about it?? But when they are probed, they try to act mysterious and refuse to talk about it. Ok la. Star award belongs to you k.

I don’t like it. It really pisses me off to see someone trying hard to wallow every minute in his/her own misery. If you can’t take it, tell it out loud and complain. If not, it’s ok to wallow actually. But please don’t affect others with your wallowing. Onegaishimasu.!
m(-_-)m

little things that matter

Haven’t done much during the weekend. Perhaps the most substantial thing which I’m about to do would be ironing.

In a supermarket mood now.. wished I had loads of okane to shop at Carrefour. Pushing the trolley down every aisle and throwing almost everything I can into the cart. No need to worry about the payment. That’s dam therapeutic….

Talking about ironing, I got a shock when zhe said she actually pays her younger sis to iron her clothes for her coz she hates ironing. Her sis is in JC la.. so that’s not considered child labor. Erm.. well, she gets paid, so can’t accuse her of child labor as well.

I dunno la. But I think it’s really meaningless if you gotta pay another sibling to do simple stuff for you. That’s what I always thought. But beginning to waver after hearing how my colleague wouldn’t mind paying her kids to do household chores. What’s the world coming to huh.. it’s so weird. They are staying in the house too but why should they get paid for doing little stuff to maintain the house.?! It’s just too bizarre.

Call me traditional… but still…??!..

~heal the world… make it a better place… for you and for me and the other human race~