Showing posts with label Teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teaching. Show all posts
Sunday, February 01, 2009
hands
“‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand.’ First single. Fucking brilliant. Perhaps the most fucking brilliant song ever written. Because they nailed it. That’s what everyone wants. Not 24-7 hot wet sex. Not a marriage that lasts a hundred years. Not a Porsche or a blow job or a million-dollar crib. No. They wanna hold your hand. They have such a feeling that they can’t hide. Every single successful love song of the past fifty years can be traced back to ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand.’ And every single successful love story has those unbearable and unbearably exciting moments of hand-holding. Trust me. I’ve thought a lot about this.”
-Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
My thumb, under your thumb.
Der is going to declare my blog a dead zone again! But there's no time to blog when all the time is taken up by students needing help, by work that needs to be done, by friends who need waterbottles to be filled up with delicious chocolate.
Week 5! And the JC1 kids will finally be starting school tmr. I miss the feeling of being a JC student. Best years of my life!
And now it's back to work and exhaustion.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
yet another one from a musical
Came across this when I was going through my usual LiveJournal stuff. Actually it was the lyrics I came across first. So anyway, I was also taking some time to pick photos to put into my FaceBook, and I came across some old photos. I wondered for a while whether to put it up, but then I thought, Nah, no need to tell the whole world. So I wouldn't.
It started out like a song.
We started quiet and slow,
With no surprise,
And then one morning
I woke to realize
We had a good thing going.
It's not that nothing went wrong,
Some angry moments, of course,
But just a few,
And only moments, no more,
Because we knew
We had this good thing going.
And if I wanted too much,
Was that such a mistake at the time?
You never wanted enough,
All right, tough, I don't make that a crime.
And while it's going along,
You take for granted some love,
Will wear away.
We took for granted a lot,
And still I say
It could have kept on growing,
Instead of just kept on.
We had a good thing going, going, gone.
-"Good Thing Going" from Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along
Also!!! My plans have been finalised, and I am proud to say that travel-phobic me will be going to Melbourne during the third week of the school holidays for a short trip to recharge and refresh myself. Do you know, I have to go back to school tmr, but I don't remember what time? Anyway, I have to meet parents in the afternoon, so I guess that's how I'll be spending my Tuesday: in school for lessons and meeting parents.
Don't you just love my life?
Monday, April 14, 2008
new developments
Okay I have got exciting news, but I won't divulge it until I get things confirmed. No point getting all hyped up and then it doesn't materialise, right? But as things stand, 99% confirmed! Left that 1% possibility of hopes being dashed.
Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice balance in my bank account last night. I was going to go online to check what exactly contributed to the nice balance, but was unfortunately logged out of i-banking cos the lousy website didn't accept a) my user-id; b) PIN; c) IB secure code; d) all of the above. )= I haven't been logging in for quite a while; I'm not one of those crazy people who check their bank account balance fervently everyday praying for a sudden influx of money.
Which reminds me, I still owe my mother money.
School-wise, it's a mad rush for time to complete the required syllabus before the exams. Losing two periods earlier this week due to a learning journey that the kids had to go on really pushed my plans way back. And the kids are all so busy! So Saturday lessons it is.
The five-day week is a myth.
I plan to take some time off for myself next week on one of the afternoons. The headaches are coming back, especially on really long days of talking non-stop to students who stare back at you blankly. Otherwise, they make so much noise until it gets to you. Maybe it's the air in the staffroom that's causing my headaches hmm.
Okay it's late and I must finish preparing my lessons before sleeping. Thank goodness for light Mondays!
Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice balance in my bank account last night. I was going to go online to check what exactly contributed to the nice balance, but was unfortunately logged out of i-banking cos the lousy website didn't accept a) my user-id; b) PIN; c) IB secure code; d) all of the above. )= I haven't been logging in for quite a while; I'm not one of those crazy people who check their bank account balance fervently everyday praying for a sudden influx of money.
Which reminds me, I still owe my mother money.
School-wise, it's a mad rush for time to complete the required syllabus before the exams. Losing two periods earlier this week due to a learning journey that the kids had to go on really pushed my plans way back. And the kids are all so busy! So Saturday lessons it is.
The five-day week is a myth.
I plan to take some time off for myself next week on one of the afternoons. The headaches are coming back, especially on really long days of talking non-stop to students who stare back at you blankly. Otherwise, they make so much noise until it gets to you. Maybe it's the air in the staffroom that's causing my headaches hmm.
Okay it's late and I must finish preparing my lessons before sleeping. Thank goodness for light Mondays!
Monday, February 11, 2008
i'm alive!
It's been a hectic few weeks since school started. And there's still four more weeks to go! Towards the end of the 5th, 6th week, I started feeling like I couldn't teach, couldn't make lessons interesting, couldn't get the facts across. It started from Chap 7, when I realised my kids were BORED. They looked bored, they sounded bored. I guess it's because half of them have tuition, and their tuition teachers have gone ahead already.
But anyway, I was tired, I wasn't finding any joy from my lessons, followed by a unexpected change in classes. I thought I was the only one who was feeling this way, until I shared with Der, and realised that she was feeling washed-out too. So she told me that we all need a good break, and that is why I relaxed for most of the CNY break. Only picked up work to do on Sunday, and I did work all day!
Okay, I just wanted to update so that you know that I'm alive, that's all. Haha. It's back to the grind, and I've to face two new classes of kids. Thankfully it's not the full class, just half of them. But it's still uncomfortable cos it's Feb and I still don't know most of their names. Nvm, I'll give myself till the third week of Feb to remember all their names.
Here's a song that I heard on the radio the other day. I heard another song, but I can't remember the lyrics now! Something about "when heaven and hell can compromise" or something like that. Anyway.
Cover of the song Always the Last to Know, originally sung by Del Amitri.
so you're in love with someone else
someone who burns within your soul
it looks like i'm the last to know
But anyway, I was tired, I wasn't finding any joy from my lessons, followed by a unexpected change in classes. I thought I was the only one who was feeling this way, until I shared with Der, and realised that she was feeling washed-out too. So she told me that we all need a good break, and that is why I relaxed for most of the CNY break. Only picked up work to do on Sunday, and I did work all day!
Okay, I just wanted to update so that you know that I'm alive, that's all. Haha. It's back to the grind, and I've to face two new classes of kids. Thankfully it's not the full class, just half of them. But it's still uncomfortable cos it's Feb and I still don't know most of their names. Nvm, I'll give myself till the third week of Feb to remember all their names.
Here's a song that I heard on the radio the other day. I heard another song, but I can't remember the lyrics now! Something about "when heaven and hell can compromise" or something like that. Anyway.
Cover of the song Always the Last to Know, originally sung by Del Amitri.
so you're in love with someone else
someone who burns within your soul
it looks like i'm the last to know
Saturday, January 26, 2008
phew!
School has been crazy busy! But on the bright side, we still have time to sit down and have beloved Der blow out candles on her birthday cake. Happy quarter of a century! Next year's my turn. )=
Lessons are going well, I like my kids except for a minority who still don't know the seriousness of streaming. Wake up!
I went to the library the other day, hoping that the copy of Daywatch will be on the shelves, but no! It wasn't! And I refuse to pay $1.55 to reserve a book that is supposed to be 'available'. So I'm going to try my luck on Monday.
I didn't go back to school today, so while after dinner with my parents, I was thinking, "What must I prepare for tmr?" And then it hit me that tmr's only Sunday, and today's only Saturday. )=! My mother commented, "Occupational hazard."
I went for a haircut today. =D Basically, I can't tie my hair now, cos there's not enough hair to tie. Haha! The last time I had hair this short, I was in JC. Ahh... the good ole days.
Great changes ahead, looking forward to them!
Lessons are going well, I like my kids except for a minority who still don't know the seriousness of streaming. Wake up!
I went to the library the other day, hoping that the copy of Daywatch will be on the shelves, but no! It wasn't! And I refuse to pay $1.55 to reserve a book that is supposed to be 'available'. So I'm going to try my luck on Monday.
I didn't go back to school today, so while after dinner with my parents, I was thinking, "What must I prepare for tmr?" And then it hit me that tmr's only Sunday, and today's only Saturday. )=! My mother commented, "Occupational hazard."
I went for a haircut today. =D Basically, I can't tie my hair now, cos there's not enough hair to tie. Haha! The last time I had hair this short, I was in JC. Ahh... the good ole days.
Great changes ahead, looking forward to them!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
KL Trip Dec 2007 - Day 2 (city tour)
Sorry for the extreme lag in updating my KL trip. Blogger refuses to cooperate with my internet connection. What can I do? *shrug*
It's time to continue the next series of pictures. I hope it'll take me less than ten years this time.
We checked into the hotel quite late, about 11 or just slightly earlier. Got the rooms settled, gave the kids their room keys, and then did room checks once they were settled down. Sigh! They couldn't settle down! I guess it was the excitement of being in an unfamiliar place with friends. I get that kind of excitement too, but it's hell when you're a teacher and have to get them to settle in. I bet the kids hated me and my colleague hahaha!
We passed by this mosque, very big and beautiful, the Blue Mosque, I think? The hotel is right next to it, which is why our hotel is called The Grand BlueWave. Or at least I think that's why it's called Grand BlueWave. Sari was lamenting on the lack of view from our window. She said wistfully, "It'd be so nice if we could see the mosque..." Well, certain wishes do come true:
Pic 532: The view from our window as the sun is rising. This is the mosque! It's even more beautiful at night when it's lit up. I don't have a picture of it, though.
We set off pretty early, but the loading up was very slow cos everyone didn't do their P&P (Poo and Pee) before falling in. So after that, the instruments were loaded up, and off we went on a city tour of KL!
First stop, the national palace. Or at least, that's what I think it's called. I'm so terrible with the names!
Pic 533: Two of these guards on either side of the main gate. That is a Real Horse, k. Everyone was trying to take a picture with the guard and the horse. There was this yellow semi-circle drawn on the ground in front of the guard, probably to demarcate how close you can stand to the horse. But of course, none of the visitors gave the yellow line any respect. Haha.
Pic 534: Right next to the guards on horses, there was a pair of guards wearing a different uniform standing in the little guard houses flanking the main gate. They are closer to the main gate than the guards on horses.
The students took a group photo, and then suddenly we were told to clear the driveway, and the gates were opened. We were wondering what's going on, then the guide told us that probably there were some foreign dignitaries coming out, and that we're really lucky to see the main gate open.
Pic 535: Expectedly, people started crowding the driveway again to take pictures of the view of the palace up the long driveway.
Pic 536: The guards standing on the inside.
Pic 537: The people quickly dispersed as two police motorcycles came out first...
Pic 538: ...Followed by a long black limo containing some country's ambassador.
There was nothing much to see after that, so we went off to the next destination. Some war memorial place. I tell you, I'm really bad at remembering foreign places.
Pic 539: At the entrance of the place, the kids were all taking pictures of it for some reason, so I took also. Haha. I'm such a sheep.
Pic 540: A monument dedicated to the war dead. Was made by an angmoh.
Pic 541: We walked towards this structure to see a sculpture (also done by an angmoh) of seven men.
Pic 542: The back side of the seven men. Apparently each man means something, but I don't quite remember what.
Pic 543: The sculpture of seven men. There's an almost identical structure somewhere in USA, cos they are both sculpted by the same guy. Mahatir (I hope I got the right prime minister) liked it so much when he saw it overseas that he commissioned the sculptor to install one in KL. It arrived on Mahatir's birthday, so
he was very pleased.
Pic 544: Me and Sari in front of the sculpture. The sun was so hot, I got so tanned. Well, as tan as I can get, that is. I'm squinting at the camera actually, and I think I was probably muttering under my breath, "LIONEL CAN YOU QUICKLY TAKE THE PICTURE PLEASE."
After that we took a walk in this garden. I shan't bore you with pictures of flowers. However!
Pic 545: This is a information sheet describing what can be found in the garden. Yep, more sculptures. Wanted to take a picture of all the different ones representing the ASEAN countries, but kinda got bored after the third one cos they all looked the same.
Pic 546: I know, I said no scenery pics, but water lotuses are too pretty!
The next stop was the National Museum. We went to one, but it was closed for renovations, and the exhibits were moved somewhere else. So we hung around the compound for a bit before heading over.
Pic 547: The exterior of the closed musuem.
Pic 548: M'sians love fountains. There are SO MANY.
Pic 549: One of those rare shots. Can you see the aeroplane flying by, and the visible half-moon?
Pic 550: See! Another one of those things with water spouting out. This was seen on the way to the museum.
After the museum, we headed off to the chocolate factory before going for lunch.
Pic 551: An ornamental pineapple. It can fit nicely into the palm of your hand. Even if your hands are quite small. Cos this pineapple is really small. It's not meant for eating, but for display.
Pic 552: I shall end off with a picture of the National Library. For a book-lover like me, a library is always a must-go! But I think I won't be able to read most of the books, cos they would be in Malay. )=
Next up will be the band performance at 1utama and day 3. No pics on day 4 cos camera batt died!
It's time to continue the next series of pictures. I hope it'll take me less than ten years this time.
We checked into the hotel quite late, about 11 or just slightly earlier. Got the rooms settled, gave the kids their room keys, and then did room checks once they were settled down. Sigh! They couldn't settle down! I guess it was the excitement of being in an unfamiliar place with friends. I get that kind of excitement too, but it's hell when you're a teacher and have to get them to settle in. I bet the kids hated me and my colleague hahaha!
We passed by this mosque, very big and beautiful, the Blue Mosque, I think? The hotel is right next to it, which is why our hotel is called The Grand BlueWave. Or at least I think that's why it's called Grand BlueWave. Sari was lamenting on the lack of view from our window. She said wistfully, "It'd be so nice if we could see the mosque..." Well, certain wishes do come true:
Pic 532: The view from our window as the sun is rising. This is the mosque! It's even more beautiful at night when it's lit up. I don't have a picture of it, though.
We set off pretty early, but the loading up was very slow cos everyone didn't do their P&P (Poo and Pee) before falling in. So after that, the instruments were loaded up, and off we went on a city tour of KL!
First stop, the national palace. Or at least, that's what I think it's called. I'm so terrible with the names!
Pic 533: Two of these guards on either side of the main gate. That is a Real Horse, k. Everyone was trying to take a picture with the guard and the horse. There was this yellow semi-circle drawn on the ground in front of the guard, probably to demarcate how close you can stand to the horse. But of course, none of the visitors gave the yellow line any respect. Haha.
Pic 534: Right next to the guards on horses, there was a pair of guards wearing a different uniform standing in the little guard houses flanking the main gate. They are closer to the main gate than the guards on horses.
The students took a group photo, and then suddenly we were told to clear the driveway, and the gates were opened. We were wondering what's going on, then the guide told us that probably there were some foreign dignitaries coming out, and that we're really lucky to see the main gate open.
Pic 535: Expectedly, people started crowding the driveway again to take pictures of the view of the palace up the long driveway.
Pic 536: The guards standing on the inside.
Pic 537: The people quickly dispersed as two police motorcycles came out first...
Pic 538: ...Followed by a long black limo containing some country's ambassador.
There was nothing much to see after that, so we went off to the next destination. Some war memorial place. I tell you, I'm really bad at remembering foreign places.
Pic 539: At the entrance of the place, the kids were all taking pictures of it for some reason, so I took also. Haha. I'm such a sheep.
Pic 540: A monument dedicated to the war dead. Was made by an angmoh.
Pic 541: We walked towards this structure to see a sculpture (also done by an angmoh) of seven men.
Pic 542: The back side of the seven men. Apparently each man means something, but I don't quite remember what.
Pic 543: The sculpture of seven men. There's an almost identical structure somewhere in USA, cos they are both sculpted by the same guy. Mahatir (I hope I got the right prime minister) liked it so much when he saw it overseas that he commissioned the sculptor to install one in KL. It arrived on Mahatir's birthday, so
he was very pleased.
Pic 544: Me and Sari in front of the sculpture. The sun was so hot, I got so tanned. Well, as tan as I can get, that is. I'm squinting at the camera actually, and I think I was probably muttering under my breath, "LIONEL CAN YOU QUICKLY TAKE THE PICTURE PLEASE."
After that we took a walk in this garden. I shan't bore you with pictures of flowers. However!
Pic 545: This is a information sheet describing what can be found in the garden. Yep, more sculptures. Wanted to take a picture of all the different ones representing the ASEAN countries, but kinda got bored after the third one cos they all looked the same.
Pic 546: I know, I said no scenery pics, but water lotuses are too pretty!
The next stop was the National Museum. We went to one, but it was closed for renovations, and the exhibits were moved somewhere else. So we hung around the compound for a bit before heading over.
Pic 547: The exterior of the closed musuem.
Pic 548: M'sians love fountains. There are SO MANY.
Pic 549: One of those rare shots. Can you see the aeroplane flying by, and the visible half-moon?
Pic 550: See! Another one of those things with water spouting out. This was seen on the way to the museum.
After the museum, we headed off to the chocolate factory before going for lunch.
Pic 551: An ornamental pineapple. It can fit nicely into the palm of your hand. Even if your hands are quite small. Cos this pineapple is really small. It's not meant for eating, but for display.
Pic 552: I shall end off with a picture of the National Library. For a book-lover like me, a library is always a must-go! But I think I won't be able to read most of the books, cos they would be in Malay. )=
Next up will be the band performance at 1utama and day 3. No pics on day 4 cos camera batt died!
Sunday, December 09, 2007
KL Trip Dec 2007 - Day 1
I'm going to take like, ten years to finish this entry.
Left on the morning of 3rd Dec. Woke up at an ungodly hour of 4.30am cos of last minute packing and travel time. Loading the bus was a nightmare cos the students were slow and barang barang plentiful. But! We managed to load up and head to Second Link.
When we reached the checkpoint, it seemed like half of Singapore decided to go on holiday at the exact same time. Customs at Singapore side was a nightmare to clear. I also found out that I can use the computers to clear customs using my passport. =D Next time at Second Link, I'll use that to clear customs rather than stand in front of an unsmiling customs officer and let him/her scrutinise my really ugly passport photo.
Had an unpleasant incident at the M'sian customs because of the bus driver. To cut a long story short, he used vulgarities in front of the students, which got me and the conductor very upset. Other than that, the M'sian customs was actually easier and faster to clear, contrary to popular belief. Because it was so late, we stopped over at a small coffee shop for breakfast.
Pic 510: The inside of the coffeeshop.
Pic 511: ...And the outside. I have two more pictures of the surroundings, but if I put up every picture, I'd probably take twenty years to finish this entry.
Then we were off! The bus ride was long, and luckily most of the kids fell asleep. So did I! Woke up along to way to take a few pictures before plonking back into bed.
Pic 512: One of those random road trip pictures. Took this cos the kid sitting in the seat next to aisle next to me (did that make sense?) was called Jasmine. She was quite excited when she saw the sign. She said, "That's my name!" Yes, sweetie, that's your name.
Pic 513: Blurry picture of above-mentioned kid's shoes. Nice, hor? I want a pair like that to walk about in.
Pic 514: Another one of those random road trip pics that you simply have to take cos at that time it seemed vaguely interesting and suitable to be put on your blog.
We stopped over at Malacca to have lunch, cos we were too late to head to KL to eat. It was at a nice golf club called Orna. I think it's called Orna Something-Or-Another Club. The food wasn't too bad, quite nice. I went around to check on the kids' progress, and they ate their veggies! They ate up almost everything, which is good. Don't waste food!
Pic 515: Entering Malacca.
Pic 516: I know this is something interesting, cos the guide said so. But I don't remember exactly what it is.
Pic 517: A view of the golf course from the restaurant's window. I didn't manage to capture the entire view, so you'll just have to be satisfied with a restricted view.
Pic 518: FOOOOOOOOOOoooOOOOoooOOOOOooOOOD!
Pic 519: Heading towards KL.
More specifically, we headed towards Putrajaya, which is the administrative capital of Malaysia. See! I do remember some things that the guide said. She also mentioned that different parts of Putrajaya have different street-lamp designs. I took a thousand and one pictures of buildings in Putrajaya. Here are some samples:
Pic 520: First sighting of Putrajaya. The name means Prince something. I forgot already!
Pic 521: The istana.
Pic 522: Another view of the istana, with the flags all in front. Taken from a moving bus!
Pic 523: I'm going to lump them all together as one picture. I don't remember what these buildings are, but I'm sure I can find out in some brochure or whatnot. We were on a moving bus as these pictures were taken, so I don't quite really remember what the guide said.
Pic 524: The Prime Minister's office. It's right at the end of a long road. They sure know how to create suspense. It's like, you can see it, but you gotta travel down the longest, straightest road ever to reach it. What a tease!
Pic 525: Another nice picture of architecture.
Pic 526: I quite like this bridge. I thought it was pretty unique until we passed by another bridge of the same design. Then I realised the same type of design was everywhere in Putrajaya. -_-
Pic 527: Me and Sari!!! It was so freaking hot, we were squinting at the camera and muttering under our breaths, "So hot, hurry up larh, Lionel!"
Pic 528: Okay, I just had to take this picture. I was very amused by the 'nudle', and also the 'nando'. OKAY so I am easily amused, can???
After taking some group pictures with the prime minister's office as the background, in the blazing sun, where I got a tan (I tan really easily), and nearly ruined my eyes cos of the bright sun, we zoomed off to Kuala Selangor to see fireflies! But before that, dinner first. (=
Pic 529: The seafood place we ate at.
Pic 530: Can you believe it? We had crabs! (The crustacean, not the disease.) Only the teachers' table though. Not really a good choice, actually, cos it wasn't a good setting to have crabs in. Crabs should be eaten when you have plenty of time to sit around and get your hands dirty.
After dinner, we took a short drive down to the jetty to see the fireflies. There were some people selling lightsticks for RM1, and our kids, being kids, were suckers for it. I bet these people earn a lot from groups of students visiting and buying lightsticks at a whim. Actually, I got one also, but I didn't buy it. The conductor gave one to me. =D
Pic 531: This is the fireflies place. You can go visit if you want to.
Since no photography nor video was allowed, I have no pictures of the fireflies to show you. But actually, all you need to do is close your eyes, and imagine the Christmas lights along Orchard Road. Those twinkles when the lights catch the sun, that's how the fireflies looked like. Of course, there's no boat ride and absolute quiet to enhance the experience, but that's about it.
Okay I'm going to stop here and continue Day 2 another time. This entry took me a good two days to write, cos blogger died on me last night. (=
Left on the morning of 3rd Dec. Woke up at an ungodly hour of 4.30am cos of last minute packing and travel time. Loading the bus was a nightmare cos the students were slow and barang barang plentiful. But! We managed to load up and head to Second Link.
When we reached the checkpoint, it seemed like half of Singapore decided to go on holiday at the exact same time. Customs at Singapore side was a nightmare to clear. I also found out that I can use the computers to clear customs using my passport. =D Next time at Second Link, I'll use that to clear customs rather than stand in front of an unsmiling customs officer and let him/her scrutinise my really ugly passport photo.
Had an unpleasant incident at the M'sian customs because of the bus driver. To cut a long story short, he used vulgarities in front of the students, which got me and the conductor very upset. Other than that, the M'sian customs was actually easier and faster to clear, contrary to popular belief. Because it was so late, we stopped over at a small coffee shop for breakfast.
Pic 510: The inside of the coffeeshop.
Pic 511: ...And the outside. I have two more pictures of the surroundings, but if I put up every picture, I'd probably take twenty years to finish this entry.
Then we were off! The bus ride was long, and luckily most of the kids fell asleep. So did I! Woke up along to way to take a few pictures before plonking back into bed.
Pic 512: One of those random road trip pictures. Took this cos the kid sitting in the seat next to aisle next to me (did that make sense?) was called Jasmine. She was quite excited when she saw the sign. She said, "That's my name!" Yes, sweetie, that's your name.
Pic 513: Blurry picture of above-mentioned kid's shoes. Nice, hor? I want a pair like that to walk about in.
Pic 514: Another one of those random road trip pics that you simply have to take cos at that time it seemed vaguely interesting and suitable to be put on your blog.
We stopped over at Malacca to have lunch, cos we were too late to head to KL to eat. It was at a nice golf club called Orna. I think it's called Orna Something-Or-Another Club. The food wasn't too bad, quite nice. I went around to check on the kids' progress, and they ate their veggies! They ate up almost everything, which is good. Don't waste food!
Pic 515: Entering Malacca.
Pic 516: I know this is something interesting, cos the guide said so. But I don't remember exactly what it is.
Pic 517: A view of the golf course from the restaurant's window. I didn't manage to capture the entire view, so you'll just have to be satisfied with a restricted view.
Pic 518: FOOOOOOOOOOoooOOOOoooOOOOOooOOOD!
Pic 519: Heading towards KL.
More specifically, we headed towards Putrajaya, which is the administrative capital of Malaysia. See! I do remember some things that the guide said. She also mentioned that different parts of Putrajaya have different street-lamp designs. I took a thousand and one pictures of buildings in Putrajaya. Here are some samples:
Pic 520: First sighting of Putrajaya. The name means Prince something. I forgot already!
Pic 521: The istana.
Pic 522: Another view of the istana, with the flags all in front. Taken from a moving bus!
Pic 523: I'm going to lump them all together as one picture. I don't remember what these buildings are, but I'm sure I can find out in some brochure or whatnot. We were on a moving bus as these pictures were taken, so I don't quite really remember what the guide said.
Pic 524: The Prime Minister's office. It's right at the end of a long road. They sure know how to create suspense. It's like, you can see it, but you gotta travel down the longest, straightest road ever to reach it. What a tease!
Pic 525: Another nice picture of architecture.
Pic 526: I quite like this bridge. I thought it was pretty unique until we passed by another bridge of the same design. Then I realised the same type of design was everywhere in Putrajaya. -_-
Pic 527: Me and Sari!!! It was so freaking hot, we were squinting at the camera and muttering under our breaths, "So hot, hurry up larh, Lionel!"
Pic 528: Okay, I just had to take this picture. I was very amused by the 'nudle', and also the 'nando'. OKAY so I am easily amused, can???
After taking some group pictures with the prime minister's office as the background, in the blazing sun, where I got a tan (I tan really easily), and nearly ruined my eyes cos of the bright sun, we zoomed off to Kuala Selangor to see fireflies! But before that, dinner first. (=
Pic 529: The seafood place we ate at.
Pic 530: Can you believe it? We had crabs! (The crustacean, not the disease.) Only the teachers' table though. Not really a good choice, actually, cos it wasn't a good setting to have crabs in. Crabs should be eaten when you have plenty of time to sit around and get your hands dirty.
After dinner, we took a short drive down to the jetty to see the fireflies. There were some people selling lightsticks for RM1, and our kids, being kids, were suckers for it. I bet these people earn a lot from groups of students visiting and buying lightsticks at a whim. Actually, I got one also, but I didn't buy it. The conductor gave one to me. =D
Pic 531: This is the fireflies place. You can go visit if you want to.
Since no photography nor video was allowed, I have no pictures of the fireflies to show you. But actually, all you need to do is close your eyes, and imagine the Christmas lights along Orchard Road. Those twinkles when the lights catch the sun, that's how the fireflies looked like. Of course, there's no boat ride and absolute quiet to enhance the experience, but that's about it.
Okay I'm going to stop here and continue Day 2 another time. This entry took me a good two days to write, cos blogger died on me last night. (=
Monday, October 29, 2007
Celebrations
It's late, but I'm in a bloggy mood! The family celebrated my father's fiftieth birthday earlier tonight. I was doing some calculating: When my father is sixty, my sister will be in Sec 2. When my father is seventy, my sister will be almost my age. Scary thought.
Had dinner at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, and I had like, the most cholesterol-laden (it's spelt with an 'e', I remember cos I spelt it as 'cholestrol' in a Sec 2 home-econs test, and I've never forgotten since) dinner ever. There was this terrible dish known as LOBSTER:
Pic 500: The orange-ish stuff is some salted egg paste.
Then there was PEPPER CRAB (no pictures) and PEKING DUCK (also no pictures). The peking duck was nice. They cooked the duck, then a waitress stood behind me and carved up the skin of the duck onto a plate. Then we wrapped up the duck skin in some egg roll thingie with cucumber and celery. Not forgetting the sweet paste. Nice! But fattening. The crab was nice. I haven't eaten pepper crab in a long time. It was my favourite food when I was a kid. I like black pepper crab better than chilli crab, probably cos my father only ordered black pepper crab, and I just followed.
Pic 501: My father, the birthday boy, blowing out his candles.
Pic 502: My father and my sister.
Pic 503: My stepmom and my sister. She has this strange way of smiling these days. My sister, not my stepmom.
Pic 504: My sister and I! I'm going to ask that perennial question, Does my sister look like me??? My father's eldest sister (my aunt) says that she looks more and more like me when I was younger. Haha. Okay, I'll stop.
Pic 505: My sister taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.
Then we also had cake. Bye bye diet, hello fats.
Then there was a colleague's wedding earlier in the week! Congratulations to the happy bride! She was super pretty, as is befitting a bride. =D
Pic 506: Blurry pic of me and Motobabe. I refused to take off my shawl all night, so I was all wrapped up like an Arabian princess. My excuse is that it's cold. Actually I just didn't want people to see my flabby arms. And also because it's a tube dress and I didn't want anything to accidentally fall off.
Pic 507: Two of my favourite people in the WORLD.
Pic 508: Handiwork of the person who appeared the most in the above two pictures. That's her fingers, too!
Pic 509: The three stooges. No larh. The only reason why I'm putting up this pic is because they are all single and extremely available. Interested parties, please leave a message and I'll arrange a meet-up. Only female parties welcomed! I am such a match-maker.
Enjoy the pictures. I need to play around with the settings a bit more. Maybe it's time to take out the manual and figure out what cool functions my camera has.
Had dinner at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, and I had like, the most cholesterol-laden (it's spelt with an 'e', I remember cos I spelt it as 'cholestrol' in a Sec 2 home-econs test, and I've never forgotten since) dinner ever. There was this terrible dish known as LOBSTER:
Pic 500: The orange-ish stuff is some salted egg paste.
Then there was PEPPER CRAB (no pictures) and PEKING DUCK (also no pictures). The peking duck was nice. They cooked the duck, then a waitress stood behind me and carved up the skin of the duck onto a plate. Then we wrapped up the duck skin in some egg roll thingie with cucumber and celery. Not forgetting the sweet paste. Nice! But fattening. The crab was nice. I haven't eaten pepper crab in a long time. It was my favourite food when I was a kid. I like black pepper crab better than chilli crab, probably cos my father only ordered black pepper crab, and I just followed.
Pic 501: My father, the birthday boy, blowing out his candles.
Pic 502: My father and my sister.
Pic 503: My stepmom and my sister. She has this strange way of smiling these days. My sister, not my stepmom.
Pic 504: My sister and I! I'm going to ask that perennial question, Does my sister look like me??? My father's eldest sister (my aunt) says that she looks more and more like me when I was younger. Haha. Okay, I'll stop.
Pic 505: My sister taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.
Then we also had cake. Bye bye diet, hello fats.
Then there was a colleague's wedding earlier in the week! Congratulations to the happy bride! She was super pretty, as is befitting a bride. =D
Pic 506: Blurry pic of me and Motobabe. I refused to take off my shawl all night, so I was all wrapped up like an Arabian princess. My excuse is that it's cold. Actually I just didn't want people to see my flabby arms. And also because it's a tube dress and I didn't want anything to accidentally fall off.
Pic 507: Two of my favourite people in the WORLD.
Pic 508: Handiwork of the person who appeared the most in the above two pictures. That's her fingers, too!
Pic 509: The three stooges. No larh. The only reason why I'm putting up this pic is because they are all single and extremely available. Interested parties, please leave a message and I'll arrange a meet-up. Only female parties welcomed! I am such a match-maker.
Enjoy the pictures. I need to play around with the settings a bit more. Maybe it's time to take out the manual and figure out what cool functions my camera has.
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