ARGHHH!!!!

Sometimes things just conspire to make you so irritated. I had this premonition that I was going to have to a lousy Sept, and so far I'm right!

Actually it started just slightly before Sept, but as you know, Teachers' Day usually falls in the middle of the one-week break, so we'll usually celebrate it last day of the school term. Not A Good Day for reasons that cannot be mentioned. Let's just say it was an accumulation of many things that resulted in a lousy day. By the time I was alone enough to let it sink it, it was too late. You know how there are some things that has to be sorted out, or else you just become numb to it?

Then something happened during the one-week break which left me quite devastated. Not A Good Week for reasons that cannot be mentioned also. (Are you getting a sense of how this entry's gonna turn out?)

AND THEN the coup de grace happened last Friday. I went to the canteen with Der, took my purse with my phone, and as I slid open my phone... Nothing happened. So I thought, oh dear, battery flat. I didn't bring along my charger, so went around looking for one. Had to go for invigilation, so only starting charging my phone a whole hour and a half later. THEN I had to go around finding an available socket as the bloody socket at my table is irritating low and the charger couldn't fit into the space. So anyway, switched on phone, and first thing I do, always, is to look at my messages.

THEY.
WERE.
ALL.
GONE.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had quite a fit and I was hoping against hope my messages will return. BUT NO!!!!! And you know what, this isn't the first time my phone pulled this trick. It DOESN'T hang. The first and only time it hung, it was about two weeks old, and the same stupid problem occurred. ARGH ARGH ARGH!!! In the end I was so frustrated that I went to sit at Crystal's table together with the Malay & Der and had lovely durian mooncake until 5plus.

AND THEN at the end of the day when I was doing up a worksheet and saving my work, I closed some extraneous MS Word windows. A message popped out, "Do you want to save the changes in Document(1)?" Thinking that it was a file I opened to copy something from, I clicked, "No." And then I looked for my worksheet. AND THEN I REALISED I CLOSED A WINDOW CONTAINING FIFTEEN MINUTES WORTH OF WORK. ARGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

My colleague next to me looked over and said, "It's not your day. Go home."

So I did.

Went to Nokia Care on Sunday, and they said it's a software problem. So they recommended upgrading it, which resulted in my phone being reverted to factory settngs. SIGH! And I still doesn't know if it solves the prob of my messages being completely wiped out cos of a hanging of a phone. I lost ALL my drafts on my Melbourne trip, which is why I don't really feel like blogging about it anymore, cos I CANNOT REMEMBER.

So anyway, September's not shaping up well at all. Plus something sparked me off again today, and that's why I'm ranting away. I keep telling myself, think positive! But a bit hard ah, esp when it seems like the fingers of fate are being wiggled in your face and going HAHA at you. Sigh.

Okay although there's one good thing that I can see from my mishaps of the last couple of months. Remember my accident in March? (Well, now you do.) AIG refused to reinsure me about two months ago, so my mother had no choice but to go source for another insurance company who would be willing to insure my car. Seems like AIG is in trouble now. Actually the whole world's in trouble, so tighten those wallets and chin up.

---

Apologize - Just for you, Der. I know it's your favourite song. Now it's one of my favourites, too!


Cover of Gregory & the Hawk - Boats and Birds
Something about this song just gets to me.

you can skyrocket away from me
and never come back if you find another galaxy
far from here with more room to fly
just leave me your star dust to remember you by

book list

Lazy to update Melbourne pics! So here's something I koped from my friend.

“The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed. Well, let’s see.”

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ. (mine not LJ ah.)

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee [Read it too long ago. Plus I just watched a play on it, so gotta refresh my memory.]
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens [I've only read the abridged version...]
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger [Want to buy it!]
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky [I still can't believe I read this book.]
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis [Read the entire series just before the first movie came out. Still can't believe I missed Prince Caspian!!]
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis [Um... isn't this a repeat?]
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini ["For you, a thousand times over.]
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres [Should have totally bought a dirt-cheap copy of it a while back... "Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident."]
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez [Saddest ending ever - the futility of living.]
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon [Nice one!]
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon [One of my favourites! Have two copies of it, and I bought neither of them.]
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez [Draggiest book ever.]
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold [Just finished re-reading it the other night.]
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett [Even did this for a book report when I was in sec sch.]
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker [I can't seem to find my copy.]
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro [I can't believe I actually read this.
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom [Just read it, and I cried BUCKETS.]
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [I actually have the entire anthology.]
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton [Name the book, I've read it. Really.]
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery [Classic.]
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So! I've read about 27 books. How many have you read?

Melbourne Day 1

Yes, the long awaited entry.


01: 6.30am (Melbourne time) at the airport, waiting for the rest of the tour group to clear customs.


02: Something familiar.


003: My favourite food! I had Subway there, just one evening, at the outlet near my hotel. However, the guy who was serving us had a poor attitude. Maybe he wanted to go home and relax on his couch, but that didn't meant he could wrap my sandwich badly.


04: First stop on our city tour of Melbourne - St. Patrick's church. It was closed cos that day was the Queen's Birthday, which was a holiday. Too bad, I'd have liked to go in and see the interior. Heard there's pretty stained glass.


05: Closer look at the front of the church.


06: Another view of the church.

Okay, so we just took lots of pictures, breathed in the cold air, and then bundled up the bus to our next destination.


07: Fitzroy Garden. I was wondering why there were descriptions in Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Not that I saw a lot of Chinese, Korean and Japanese people around Melbourne.


08: I wouldn't mind going to this park every morning for a stroll.


09: James Cook's cottage in the background.


10: And then I saw this. !!!


11: I can't resist. MUST take picture with pretty tree.


12: Leaves changing colour.


13: Another view of James Cook's cottage. Wasn't open as well.


14: My sharp eyes spotted these banners! I wish the musical would come to Singapore. )= I am a Great Fan

Didn't get down the bus after Fitzroy Garden. Was so tired, cos I didn't sleep much on the plane. I tried to sleep at 12, but it was too cramped, and I had interrupted sleep, so I got up at 2am, which also happened to be breakfast time. Hence, I just couldn't stay up anymore.


15: Passed by the Yarra River. Yes, it was rainy. It was raining on another night when I went to the Crown Casino, so I didn't get a chance to walk along it this time.


16: I thought this was a pretty strange ad. I asked a friend who lives in Melbourne about it, and I was told this was an advert for the late night trams or something. Cos after a certain hour, all trams stop running, and if you're stranded in the outskirts, there's no way you're gonna get home, cos the cabs don't travel that far out.


17: Saw this sign when walking back from the restaurant we ate at (Shark's Fin Inn - and no, we didn't eat any shark's fin. I guess it's just the name of the place). And to think that we complain parking in Singapore is expensive!

One other thing about parking in Melbourne is this: There are plenty of signs telling you that you can't park at a certain spot. However, every sign tells you that under certain exceptions, you may park there. For example, the sign will say, "No parking from 10am to 7pm | Buses parking for less than 2 hours excepted". My friend said that it makes parking in the city area very hard, cos you never know when you can park, and when you can get a ticket.

To be continued...

---

Someone was asking me how to pronounce a certain word, and when I was told how the majority pronounced it, I thought, It really makes no difference. Then I thought of the song, "You say to-mah-to, I say to-meh-to..." So I went to trawl Youtube and found this:



I kinda like old American movies. I started liking them after taking a film module back in NUS. Ahh, the good old days...

funny things

Today I went to see a polyclinic doctor, despite my morbid fear of people in white coats. Actually, I'm not that worried about them; I just don't like to take time to go somewhere and get asked weird questions that I don't really have the answers to, like, "What is the matter? How long have you been feeling this way? You sure?"

So anyway, the reason I was at the doctor's is because I acquired a bruise that would not go away. The bruise is named Kang Ryung Bo, after the guy who kindly gave it to me. It looked somewhat like this:



The bruise is officially nine days old as of today, and it is still lurking around and hurting, so I thought I'd better go visit the good ole people in white coats. My mother was pretty smart, she said, "They close at 4.30pm. You go at 3pm. They'll rush everything, cos they want you out by 4.30pm." And I was right! Queues were amazingly short. Or maybe it's just my really good luck.

So anyway, the doctor was this Chinese guy with a thick Hong Kong accent. I complained about the bruise, and then he decided to send me for an X-ray. Now, you know how pregnant women aren't supposed to go for X-rays cos of the radiation and what not, so when the screen on his computer popped up asking whether the patient (i.e. me) was pregnant, he asked me politely when was the last time I menstruated. After I told him, he actually looked a little stunned, and he contemplated for a while before asking the Most Ridiculous Question in the Universe: "Are you very sure you are not pregnant??"

All together now, what the...?!

Do I even look PREGNANT?! Maybe he mistook my healthy glow to be an expectant mother's glow. But still. This is ridiculous. I told him, "Yes, I'm pretty sure." I could hear my mother's sharp intake of breath. And then the worst thing happened.

I got an attack of the giggles. I couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of the question. I covered my mouth to hide my laughter, and thought of sad things and unrelated things to make me stop laughing. BUT I COULDN'T! I kept thinking, How can the doctor think I'm pregnant just because my period was three weeks ago? It's only three weeks! Are pregnancy test kits able to detect at three weeks?! Plus I am single!

So I kept giggling and trying to hide my laughter. The moment I stepped out of the room, I started laughing like a maniac. The patients at the polyclinic must have thought I'd gone mad. Who comes out of a consultation room laughing like an idiot?! I laughed all the way to the X-ray room, and I laughed so much, tears came out of my eyes.

"Are you very sure you're not pregnant??"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Okay I know my Melbourne trip pictures are due. Next entry, promise!

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?

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!

Quotes

I think it'll be quite weird if Ju posted the following quote on her blog, saying that it's one of my favourites, and yet I've never posted it.

I like it because I read it at an appropriate time in my life, and it just described exactly how I felt. Maybe in a couple of years, or maybe even a couple of months, I won't think the quote is that true any more (as with some of my favourite quotes in the past), or that gut-wrenchingly true.

*

"We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime. It's easy.

But there are certain people you love who do something else; they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. These are the most important people in your life, and you'll meet maybe four or five of these people over the span of 80 years. But there's still one more tier to all this; there is always one person you love who becomes that definition. It usually happens retrospectively, but it always happens eventually. This is the person who unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of those qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable.

You will remember having conversations with this person that never actually happened. You will recall sexual trysts with this person that never technically occurred. This is because the individual who embodies your personal definition of love does not really exist. The person is real, and the feelings are real--but you create the context. And the context is everything.

The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and they're often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really, really want to love someone. But that person still wins. They win, and you lose. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone else."

-Chuck Klosterman, Killing Yourself to Live

*

And this is something I got off Facebook, of all places, and off an application called Bumper Stickers, of all things!

But very true. And it is currently my guiding principle.

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do.
The hard part is doing it." -Norman Schwarzkopf

*

I went to the library today. Yay to books!

sad song

Because my car was unfortunately sitting in the workshop awaiting repairs from my latest careless act of driving, I was listening to a Chinese radio station late yesterday. Then this song played on the radio, and I found it to be really sad.



至少走得比你早 by 卢巧音

你没有想过我会说分手
也许太习惯我在你左右
虽然离开你有很多理由
可看见你这样惊讶
也足够

我想得比你多
陪你一起更寂寞
我性格比你强
怎能做你的绵羊
我年纪比你小
不信快乐找不到
抬起头开了口
最后我比你骄傲

从此不坐你的牢
想不到你的好
记得和你的争吵
想到老可到老
可是和你做不到
如果你爱得比我少
至少我走得比你早

你没有想过我会说分手
除非以为我什么都忍受
就算你这时候努力挽留
不过是你不能接受
我先走

幸好我走得还早

啦~~~啦~~~啦~~~

轰轰烈烈的开口
最后我比你骄傲

从此不坐你的牢
想不到你的好
记得和你的争吵
想到老可到老
可是和你做不到
如果你爱得比我少
至少我走得比你早

And I've also been listening to the Cantonese/Chinese duet, cos the lyrics are a little bit different (even though I don't understand a word of Cantonese).

funny things

I swear, the things that my kids say are the funniest things ever. Like today, one of my kids came into the class, came right up to me, and said in Chinese, "Ms T**, I am very scared." ??? So I asked him quizzically, "Why are you scared?" He replied, "I scared the JI guy come and bomb me." Haha! I think it's quite adorable. And he's in Sec 3! Then one of his classmates overhead him, and said proudly, "I got that guy's face as my handphone wallpaper! Then when I see him I can recognise him." Things like that just make your day. Underneath their jokes, you can see that they are doing their part to help their country, better than some who just delete the mms that the police sent.

Anyway, here's what was transported to my place the other day:

After more than a year, my piano is finally here! One of the reasons why the piano wasn't moved from my old place is because we thought we might eventually move off somewhere else. But my mother likes our current place so much, that we finally decided that we're going to be staying here indefinitely. So! My piano! I'm going to start learning up all the old pieces that I used to play. I love my piano!


I met up with Baobei and Darling last Saturday. The place is situated across from Plaza Singapura, and the waiters/waitresses are all dressed in some type of really casual wear. Think khaki berms and sandals. Anyway, the waiters were so-so eye-candy, though they didn't really come around. The food was okay, had something called Seafood Laksa Spaghetti, which wasn't too bad, but got pretty sweet towards the end. Had a drink which wasn't very nice, and the ginger ale came in cans rather than the bottles we were expecting.

Food: 3***
Ambience: 4****

So anyway, IT fair on Thursday, barring any last minute incidents. I want to get my headphones! Sigh, my 1.5 year old Creative ones have finally sounded their last. It was good while it lasted.

Before I go, here's a really interesting song. The video is kinda addictive too, you just keep watching to see what other strange movements the guy will do. Frankly speaking, I stopped watching about midway through. Haha!


David Jordan - Sun Goes Down

work

This is quite sad. I work all week, and then I sleep all weekend. And despite all my talk about going for training... Well, it's just talk.

1/ I need to cut down on the amount of time I spend in school. But it's so hard when you know that there are a thousand and one things to do (and a thousand and one questions to mark), and that you don't really want to bring them home.

2/ I need to get my ass back into training. But it's hard when all I want to do is to sleep in on Sundays cos my Saturdays are often spent in school. Which is linked to the first point about cutting down amount of time I spend in school. But if I don't go to school on Saturdays, I'd feel like I'm not doing much work! It is a vicious cycle, I tell you.

3/ I need to get out more and meet people other than my colleagues. I mean, I love my friends at school, but I need to meet more people! I'd like to meet new people also. But the opportunity doesn't seem to arise that often. And I don't seem to even meet up with people from my school days.

4/ I need to stop procrastinating about training. I even missed the visit by my first sensei cos I'm too damn lazy. )= Actually, it's also due to other reasons, which shall remain privy to only myself.

5/ I need to move away from the past.I need to stop drowning in my work to escape from reality. The reality is that I no longer know what to do on endless Saturdays, so I try to occupy myself with school so that I don't need to think about how free I am and how there's no one I can possibly go out with at the drop of a hat. The reality is that I miss you and I don't know how I can ever stop missing you whenever something triggers my memory. When I walk by your old block sometimes, I remember you. Which is why I hate to walk about my neighbourhood because there are some places I don't particularly like to go without recalling you. I hardly go to the National Library, not only because of the ERP charges and the insanely expensive parking fees, but because we went there often. I don't like to go to Marina Square cos we spent so much time there. You see, you are on my mind, and I don't want you to be there. So I kill myself with work so that I can forget about you.


I keep hearing this on the radio! I heard it three to four times on Saturday.

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

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!

excessive book rant

Forget about the third day's pictures of the KL trip. Nothing exciting. If you wanna see pictures of the same big toy soldier repeated ad infinitum... You're not gonna find it here.

Actually it's because I'm really tired of putting up so many pictures. And also because I have other more fulfilling activities to occupy my time. Such as reading! I have been reading and reading. In fact, I spent the last two days reading novels. I can never understand why people don't like to read, and prefer to play computer games or watch TV. I mean, I do other things too, but my main form of leisure is reading. Reading is the best form of relaxation, ever. I was so pleased when the signs for doubling of loan quota was put up at all the libraries. I have been maxing my loan ever since. Haha.

Anyway, I've been reading lots of Margaret Atwood, a Canadian author/poet. I'm still wary of wading into her novels. I bought one of her novels, cheap - The Blind Assassin. It'll take a while for me to build up the courage to read it. Yep, it takes courage to tackle a book that's probably filled with so many images that it'll take ages to seive through. Her short stories are enough to make one swoon with the rich descriptions.

I've been reading Neil Gaiman (yes, of Stardust and Sandman comics fame) as well. Actually, I was pretty lucky to get hold of a copy of American Gods the last time I was at the National Library. I don't really go there often, so it was quite a decent haul. I feel like rereading Anansi Boys just so I can link some of the back stories. Because of the deluge of Gaiman writing, I am suddenly quite interested in Northic mythology. I have a weakness for myths. It's like, how I like to read alternative versions of fairy tales (think: Gregory Maguire's Wicked, or Donna Jo Napoli if you read YA fiction). I even bought a book on Greek mythology. I just haven't opened it to read yet. It's been about two or three years since I bought it. Oops? But I like the fact that I have a book on Greek mythology on hand, so that I can refer to it when possible. Another nice one on Greek myth that I've read is Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, which is a very short book on Penelope's side of the story when Odysseus goes on his decade long journey after the Trojan War.

Currently, I'm reading Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch. It's good! I mean, it's translated, which means some things were lost in translation. The essence of some things will always be lost when translated, but there's no way in hell I will ever be able to master enough Russian to read the original text. Just like how I'll never master Spanish and read Love in the Time of Cholera. Maybe there's a reason why some books, while widely acclaimed, don't really resonate with us. It's because the original intention and meaning has been lost due to translation. Don't you agree with me that sometimes English is a poor substitute for some words in Chinese? Like, I still don't really know how to translate 幸福 into English. Any suggestions?

So yeah, Night Watch is better than I expected, so tmr I'm going to go to the library and borrow the other two books in the trilogy. Actually, I really shouldn't be reading so much. I still need to prepare lessons. It'll take me probably two or three days? (I'm just being really really optimistic here.) But I think most of my lesson planning will be done during school time. I only can get to work when I'm in school. Which is why I don't really bring work back home. Can't really concentrate at home, actually. But now with a nice new clean table, that might just change. Haha. As though I'm not working from 7 to 7 every day already!

I have waxed lyrical about books for far too long.

What could you possibly want for your birthday? It's in four days.

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!

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. (=