v14: Le Petit Prince

回到最初

2009-11-19T16:48:00.000+08:00

回到最初 - 蔡淳佳

最近都流行粉紫色
最新最潮的都有了
为什么富有了什么都不缺了
简单地快乐会不见了
为生活忙碌的跑着
为爱情又被伤害了
当所有变复杂变难懂变苦涩
你流的泪水是不是真的

能不能回到最初最自然最灿烂的笑容
没有钻石的爱情我也会被感动
让自己放空恢复漂亮的脸孔
你吻我一下脸就红

（就）回到最初最晴朗最开阔的天空
伴着摩天轮别挡住彩虹
我崇拜的英雄和最爱的拍拖
全都出现在（我）今夜的美梦

为生活忙碌的跑着
为爱情又被伤害了
看自己变复杂变自私以后
简单的快乐怎么不见了

能不能回到最初棉花糖在手中的笑容
钻石换不了爱情的心动
让自己放轻松
什么都能想通
说爱你爱我脸就红
回到最初再也梦不到的梦

my cambridge experience so far

2009-11-11T05:55:00.002+08:00

I realised that it's been over a month since I last blogged. It had been very eventful since I arrived at cambridge and I must say that it is a totally new experience for me to be studying here.

a noticeable difference between singapore and UK is the weather. firstly, its rather cold here, even though it is only autumn. and the temperatures have taken a dip over the past week and are now in the range of single digits. the skies here are almost always gray, and you will have to be lucky to see a bright sun and blue sky. after the change in daylight saving time, it gets dark very early, at around 4ish, and so the nights here seem longer. it took me quite a while to get used to the weather, but thankfully, after getting some nice warm scarfs and gloves, im more ready to combat the adverse weather here.

the food in my college is passable but not exactly fantastic. there are some nice desserts to look out for though, which im often unable to resist :D food is generally quite expensive, especially if u want something good. an alternative to that will be to cook something on our own, and we often hold cookouts where we invite fellow singaporeans to taste our cooking (:

im glad that there are a number of singaporeans in my college (fitzwilliam college). coincidentally, 3 of the 4 singaporean freshers are living side by side in the same block along the same corridor, and its great that we have much in common to talk about. my other corridor and course mates are also very friendly, and some of them are impressively smart and really knowledgeable in their respective fields.

generally, cambridge is a nice place to stay in. the buildings and scenery here are also very beautiful, not to mention the river cam, which flows through several nice bridges such as the bridge of sighs and the mathematical bridge. the only problem about staying at fitz is that it is located at the top of a hill, so ill have to cycle up and down hill to the town centre for lectures everyday. the uphill ride was quite tiring at first, but i gradually got used to it so it became better after that.

on to my math course. the math course here has a really steep learning curve, and i really struggled to keep up with the course. a lot of new concepts and ideas are continually thrown to us to grapple with, which may be very daunting for a first year. nevertheless, im still learning to adapt to the challenging nature of the course and hopefully i will be able to keep my head above the waters :D

that pretty much sums up my life so far... which is quite different from my study experience in singapore. life certainly hasnt been a bed of roses so far. perhaps it is because i was not fully prepared for my studies as i was working right up till a few days before i flew over... i just feel that i am not mentally ready to take on, and fully benefit from all the challenges that my course has to offer. or perhaps it is because i have very high expectations of myself, but so far, i feel that i have been underachieving, and not fully maximising the opportunities here in cambridge. but im still working, learning, and adapting, and i hope that this new experience will be allow me to become mentally and intellectually stronger.

last moments before the flight

2009-10-02T16:56:00.003+08:00

the day has finally arrived, and in a few hours, ill be embarking on my study trip at cambridge. the past week had been a flurry of activities, and im glad that everything has all been properly settled and im all packed and ready to go (: monday was my last day as a teacher in rjc. i know i said the same thing a few months ago, and ended up joining back the maths department, but this time, it is for real. its sad to part with my students, but im glad that i have spent almost an entire school year with them. i hope they will all do well in promos and do me proud (:

on tuesday, i went back to rj to do my clearance and to join the math department for mooncake festival celebrations. there was a nice buffet spread by manna catering, and i found out that the new manna cafe at rjc is the first cafe venture by manna catering. there were also delicious snowskin mooncakes from swensens, and i tried the mangosteen one (which apparently was so popular that it is sold out and no longer available in the market), and it is quite delicious :D didn't eat many mooncakes though, cos i still had a cough, and many of my favourite flavours such as chocolate were very heaty.

over the next 2 days, i did a fair bit of packing, and cut down my luggage weight from 55 to 40. one of my students commented that she cannot imagine me lugging around 55kg, which is kind of true, cos that is almost my actual weight. hopefully the airlines staff will be nice and i wont encounter much difficulties with my luggage tonight (:

with just a few hours left, i now have mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety. on one hand, im looking forward to my course of study, and to all the fun in cambridge, but on the other hand, im feeling a little reluctant about leaving my family, friends, and nice food in SG ): still, at the rate at which time flies, before i know it, ill be posting something along the lines of my last day at cambridge! so for now, goodbye, Singapore!

saying goodbye is always difficult

2009-09-20T23:12:00.003+08:00

its emo time again! ): i knew its coming back just didnt expect it to come so soon! im referring to the end of my stint as a relief tutor in rjc. i remember how sad i felt about leaving my classes on my last day a few months back. due to some unexpected circumstances, i was given another chance to take back my classes and teach them again shortly after my "last day". and ive agreed to stay on till i cover the syllabus for their promotional exams, so i have essentially taught them for an entire school year. never expected myself to do something like that.

and now that im back for a second time, leaving is going to be much harder. for some of my classes, next week will be the last time ill ever see them in class again. i think im going to miss them all alot. and shortly after my last day at RJC, ill be preparing to leave SG and embark on an important leg of my journey. and ill have to bid goodbye to my parents, friends and relatives in SG too ): oh... and also say goodbye to the wonderful SG food! (i still cant cook many dishes decently!)

2 more weeks left in SG! ill make good use of the time and make sure i treasure the last moments with my students, friends and family.

anyway, heres another nice song :D

让我照顾你 - 张芸京

你一个人失了魂清晨哭到夜深
不要别人问
我不出声一直等听你说你心疼
当时好傻好天真
如果可以我愿意这样陪你到永恒

让我照顾你面对再大的风雨　
也能微笑做自己像个孩子躺在我怀里
让我照顾你在这荒芜世界里
就算有新的剧情在明天等着你
然而在你最需要的此刻请让我轻抚你

总有一天会有人一个懂你的人　
让你从此不心疼
如果可以我愿意这样陪你到永恒

让我照顾你面对再大的风雨
也能微笑做自己像个孩子躺在我怀里
让我照顾你在这荒芜世界里
就算有新的剧情在明天等着你
然而在你最需要的此刻请让我照顾你

你看破了虚伪拆穿爱的假面
後悔曾经为他付出一切喔~
我会在你身边当你伤心欲绝
不奢望你涌然泉源喔~

让我照顾你面对再大的风雨
也能微笑做自己像个孩子躺在我怀里
让我照顾你在这荒芜世界里
就算有新的剧情在明天等着你
当你对这世界失去信任请让我照顾你

永远的朋友

2009-09-09T22:51:00.002+08:00

one of my favourite songs from weilian's new album! i think he has made tremendous improvements to his voice in this album, and he even composed several songs on his own! very impressed by his performance in this album (:

永远的朋友 - 陈伟联

如果你很忙
我到街上去晃一晃
身为一个朋友
有些事情不该勉强
看你黑着眼圈
今晚很长我睡不着
到底是谁害你这么想

因为太爱你
拼命达到你的需要
虽然只是朋友
总比什么都不是好
借你肩膀依靠
借你关心也借你微笑
我很想给你却不要

爱着你却伤心的只能守候不能拥有
真挚的做一个永远的朋友
看着你旧旧的简讯内容
我看见爱情向我大声嘲弄
爱着你却大方的陪你恋爱替你加油
虚弱的做一个永远的朋友
几次累的想断绝联络
却听见你说情人比不上朋友

我总是有让你想出声的方法
我却没有让自己离开的力量
也许友情才能地久天长

on a side note, Singapore Hit Award voting has opened! If you are a c-pop enthusiast, head over to this link to vote for your favourite singers:
http://www.singaporehitawards.sg/awards2.htm

my votes for the various categories are:

最受欢迎男歌手 - 周杰伦
最受欢迎女歌手 - 陈绮贞
最受欢迎新人 - 梁文音
最受欢迎团体 - 五月天

quite a tough decision for the female singer category though, cos there were many nice albums by female singers in the past yr. in the end i chose cheer chen because i thought she made a breakthrough in her latest album, by striking a nice balance between commercialising her songs so that they are more well-received, and maintaining her personal feng ge (: all the best to all the nominees of SHA 09, though im pretty sure it will be another 分猪肉 ceremony :/

Happy Teachers' Day!

2009-09-01T16:56:00.002+08:00

my blog had been terribly dead for a while, and it's time i post another entry (: anyway, today's teachers' day, and it is a different experience for me this year, as it is the first and last time i am celebrating it as a teacher.

for once, im both on the giving and receiving end of the gifts. since im working back at rj, i could conveniently give all my teachers a teachers' day gift (: it was a pleasant surprise to some of my tutors, except cheekie, who, as usual, said something hou lian pi like: "oh, don't need to get me a present, just get my bank account number and go to the ATM downstairs to transfer some money into my account."

the teachers' day celebration was quite nicely done, and i helped ms ong and the 29ths council with some of the preparations the day earlier so i got a mini sneak preview haha. after the celebrations, some of the teachers went to the staff lounge to sing on the karaoke system, and i joined in the fun. it was certainly an interesting experience to sing in the staff lounge with my teachers.

sat and sun were quite crazy for me. on sat, i went to the cambridge freshers' chalet, where we played several icebreaker games and got to know each other. after that, we played a variety of games like saboteur, random card games and mahjong. a number of them even stayed up throughout the night. i eventually conked out and fell asleep at around 3+ to 4 in the morning.

the next day, after leaving the chalet, i went home to get a quick shower and rushed down to kwanie's BLING birthday party @ kbox. it was the first time i kboxed with so many people + strangers (: but it was fun, and the birthday cake was good. given that im a non-cake lover, it means that the cake was really awesome :D after that, sheenie's parents were rly nice and gave me a lift back to bishan where i had my dinner and then went home to catch up on my sleep.

today, i had to wake up at an ungodly time of 5.45 AM, so that i could rush down to the uk visa application centre to get my application done. i reached there at around 6.55 AM, and CAN YOU IMAGINE there was a queue outside already! and the application centre actually opens only at 8am. i was the 9th person, and after i arrived, more and more people started queueing up behind me. by the time the centre opened at 8, there were around 30 people queueing outside already, so good luck to anyone who arrives promptly when the centre opens. thanks to the advice of my friends, i was cleared very quickly and was done by around 10.30. im so glad i sacrificed a little bit of my sleep and saved up on so much waiting time at the application centre :D

on to cpop songs... soda green is releasing their 2nd album of the year! (not surprising, since they already said they are releasing 4 albums in 2 years, which will be named after the seasons of the year) anyway, following their first album, 春.日光, they are now releasing the 2nd album called 夏.狂热. im really impressed at how they managed to come up with so many songs to be able to release 4 albums in 2 years, and how the songs are organised in the albums according to their themes. so the first album contained many warm songs, whereas in 夏.狂热，the songs are all very lively and rock-ish. i really love their first hit, 狂热 (:

during this time, i also sampled a few older albums which i havent had the chance to sample, and found this nice song in 徐佳莹's album, which i would like to recommend. 词曲 both written by 徐佳莹 (:

一样的月光 - 徐佳莹

倔强的表情就这样隔离了
我们想触摸的脸庞不在体贴退让
沉默的对话就这样取代了
我们想聆听的愿望不在交换悲伤

太自以为的世界
被你离开的反作用力
锁进黑暗陷阱

一样的月光
怎么看得我越来越心慌
你留下最清楚的步伐
竟是指引我孤单的方向
喔~ 一样的月光
怎么照不亮未来的形状
喔~ 就这样吧我的爱
让寂寞的月光占据我的窗

自由的路况就这样阻挡了
我们想加速的逃亡不在戒慎坚强
独处的时光就这样取代了
我们向搜集的拥抱不在殷切需要

太多理智的世界
被你离开的反作用力
锁进黑暗陷阱

一样的月光
怎么看得我越来越心慌
你留下最清楚的步伐
继续指引我孤单的方向
喔~ 一样的月光
怎么照不亮未来的形状
喔~ 就这样吧我的爱
让寂寞的月光占据我的窗

一样的月光
其实看得我越来越心慌
怎么你留下最真实的回忆
都是提醒我失去他声音
喔~ 一样的月光
已经照不来未来的形状
喔~ 能回来吗我的爱
让疯狂的爱情占据我的窗

谁

2009-08-08T00:24:00.005+08:00

谁 - 蔡健雅

现在的我
还是对爱充满疑惑
没对或错
还不想给什么承诺

保持沉默独自走过
空虚和寂寞它们陪伴着我
装作洒脱其实很懦弱
有太多的借口终究没有结果

谁让我感觉他最了解我
眼神交错话都不用说
就抱紧我让我感受
他多爱我

谁让我感觉不需要再躲
过去心痛从此被淹没
就抱紧我让我感受
让我感受他多爱我
让我相信他是爱～爱我的

未来的我
一个人过也算不错
冰冷的手插入口袋也算暖和

日出日落都差不多
若有谁陪我那一定更好过
天空为我一直闪烁着
用太多的借口我在拒绝什么

ive always enjoyed tanya's compositions, and this time round, her first hit certainly lived up to my expectations!

apparently tanya was travelling in france, and saw this guy chatting happily on the phone, with a smile that can only mean that he is speaking to his loved one on the other end. and a short distance away, she saw another lady who was also on the phone and was also carrying the same smile of one that is loved. as the man and lady walked towards each other's direction, tanya wondered if the 2 were actually speaking to each other. her question was answered when the 2 met in a warm embrace, and the rays of the sun seemed to encircle them with a glow. it was such a beautiful scene that it inspired tanya to compose this song immediately.

its such a sweet story, and i guess the scene must have really touched her so much, that she filled this song with so much emotions. :D this song is highly recommended, and im definitely looking forward to her new album in late aug (:

back where i started

2009-08-05T21:15:00.002+08:00

the number of hours im sleeping can be described as a strictly decreasing function for the past month. and the strange thing is, i dont feel tired at all. in fact, my body has kind of adapted to the lack of sleep and is requiring less and less sleep by the day.

this week was supposed to be my long-awaited break, but quite evidently i cannot allow myself to relax, and im back teaching all my 5 classes in rj once more. it had been quite a struggle for myself. on one hand, i wanted to give myself a break after having packed schedules since the start of the yr. on the other hand, i was really excited to meet my students again, and also, teaching them pure maths would be a different experience from stats since theres much more room for exploration in pure maths. thus, when the opportunity presented itself, i debated with myself for a long time, but i guess the largest deciding factor were my students, and i gave in and agreed to return to teach my classes till the end of term 3.

and theres another problem. now that im back, its harder to leave than ever. im even contemplating to see my students through promos (leaving me with only 1-2 days before i fly to UK for my studies). there are so many decisions i have to make... and amidst all these considerations, i still need to do much preparations for the upcoming lessons (since i was asked to come back at a short notice). the next few weeks now seem quite intensive, but i dont think ill ever regret this decision. and the warm welcome by my students really helped me affirm that i made the right choice (:

anw, today afternoon i came across this interesting intellectual game in the maths department, which was called "tipover". it was one of the "rush hour" series kind of games. for tipover, u had to push over crates across the board so that u can get from one place to another. it was very fun, and i spent an hour solving the puzzles together with another math dept teacher. after that, he showed me some tricks which he used to introduce some mathematical concepts and they were really quite impressive :D i tried doing some of the tricks but realised i was always too obvious and will let slip some part of the trick. and my teacher pointed out that at the crucial part i will probably turn red anyway and hence the trick will be a failure. LOL

Kenneths 21st and Back to Work

2009-07-28T21:02:00.000+08:00

went to celebrate kenneth's 21st last sunday. met up with matthew, grace and vanessa before that to make him a puzzle card. we wrote our messages on the card, then cut it out into many odd shapes, unlike a regular puzzle, so he would have to put in quite a bit of effort before he can read our birthday messages to him :D

anyway, the whole party was very well planned, and the food was good too (: met tons of random friends -- some from work, from army, from pri sch etc... so it was quite interesting to find out that i actually have so many mutual friends with kenneth! zhaowei also came, and he brought his gf along, and introed her to us.

after having our food, we had a photo presentation showing how kenneth grew up over his 21 years and how he met us along the way :D it was quite amusing and nicely done up (: following that, it was the special item prepared by his bro, which even kenneth had no idea about. we soon found out it was his bro acting as lady gaga. it was quite funny at first, but then it started to get a bit wrong as he tried to flaunt his body HAHA. and when the performance was finally over, we had cake cutting and gift presentation, and then people started making kenneth drunk haha. when we left, he had already downed 7-10 shots, poor him haha.

and that was the last day of my 3 week "break" from work. so im back to work this week, to tidy up my report and then ill have some time to myself to settle all my uni stuff before i fly overseas. but as it turns out, surprises come when u least expect it, and i think i can say goodbye to any thoughts of a break for the next 1 month or so already! its a pleasant surprise which i dont mind having, but it means that ill continue to be BUSYYYY ):

PDC

2009-07-28T20:32:00.000+08:00

my 3-week long predeparture course concluded last week with the scholarship award ceremony on saturday. looking back at the experience, even though it had only been a short 3 weeks, it was really fun and enriching, and i have grown in some ways after the course.

the fun came from OBS and cooking lessons. even though i had been to OBS several times, it was the first time i climbed the inverse tower there. seemed easy on the ground, but the spaces between footholds and logs seemed to be 10 times wider when u are actually up there haha. we also had some trebuchet making competition, where all the materials cost money and had to be purchased with points earned from the completion of team games. it was quite fun cos our trebuchet was built by this phy whiz so it actually worked :D and the finale was a sea ex followed by a land ex the next day.

for our cooking lessons, we went shatec, where we learnt how to make some really simple fool-proof dishes. so now at least im assured i wont starve... but of course, how nice the food actually is will be yet another story. oh yah i kind of cheated and teamed up with a cooking pro so "our" final products tasted quite delicious ;)

however, i felt that the most memorable part of my course was my 1 week community attachment with HCA hospice. quite unlike the other community service that i had done in my secondary school and jc days, working at hospice does not necessarily bring u the satisfaction which usually comes with helping people out. the patients are terminally ill, and many of them have only days to live. some of them are really discouraged, and merely lie in bed and stare blankly into space the whole day, when they could possibly be doing something more enjoyable. others are ridden with much pain because many of their organs are failing, and its really heart wrenching to see them undergo so much suffering.

the experience really makes me treasure what i have at the moment -- my health and my family members. and i am very impressed with the dedication which the doctors and nurses have displayed. they could be working in hospitals and clinics, but they chose to work in hospice, where they have a much larger job scope, which may even include helping to resolve family problems. most importantly, they try their very best to allow the patient to live their last days to the fullest. as their motto goes: we cannot add days to life, but we can add life to days.

my internship experience (part 3)

2009-07-24T21:31:00.005+08:00

im quite amazed at how much i have procrastinated on the blogging of my internship experience. but ive finally reached the final entry, and guess what, in 2 days time im returning back to my internship. ah. so i have timed my blog entries well. oh... but i have a 3 week PDC to blog about after this. my blog entries are terribly outdated.

anywayy... after much distractions, we finally reached national museum. we wanted to pose beside the thinker statue but could not find it. but we saw some rock walls outside the museum and decided to use the space between each wall as an "expression corner" for ourselves. so each of us thought of an action to do inside our own expression corner and here's one of the interesting photos:

haha i had a brainwave and thought of a theme for this photo:

see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil :K

after that, we began taking band photo shots. we will randomly group ourselves to form a band, think of a theme for the band, and then pose for a band shot. here are some of the shots which i thought were nice.

S.H.E album cover?

haha i thought i posed quite well for this photo... comments? :D

oh and here's our second attempt to squeeze the group onto a small space.

speak to the hand!

we ended our eventful day at fort canning park. it was at this point in time when our camera died on us and we had to take our last few shots with a camera phone. but it was quite amazing how long the camera lasted haha... we took a few hundred photos in one afternoon alone -- i think thats more than the number of photos i took in the past year!

nice buddha shot... everyones well hidden!

of course, our internship is not all fun and play, just that i chose to feature the more entertaining moments we had together! we had individual projects to fulfill, and i am sometimes quite surprised to see how my fun-loving fellow interns can become super serious (especially close to the deadline!) when it comes to work.

apart from completing our projects, we also had the opportunity to assist in organising certain events, and sometimes the work can be quite stressful, but there will surely be someone to cheer the group up, and brighten up our day. im really blessed to have met such a fantastic group of fellow interns!

5 weeks of intern life seemed to fly by, and before i knew it, i had to say goodbye to my fellow interns and leave for my pre-departure course (PDC). here's some interesting parting shots which we took.

this is me reading out the cards which i wrote for each of my fellow interns.

and my fellow interns' messages for me! :D

our drawing board featuring characteristic representations of all of us! uhh... i think i should be quite identifiable!

here are some funny parting shots which we took.

*lurks*

internship over! time to dispense of courtesies ;)

thanks for colouring my life!

亲爱的

2009-07-24T19:42:00.000+08:00

instead of recommending emo / shu qing songs all the time, heres a cheerful and cute song for a change! a very light-hearted childhood memory kind of song. i particularly like the part where the children 合唱 :D

亲爱的 - 潘玮柏

我叮咚的弹奏着故事里那首儿歌
缤纷的音乐盒木马还旋转着
我叮咚的弹奏着童年的纯真快乐
亲爱的这时刻有梦就大声唱歌

我们迎着风边走边唱
边坚定来自于远方那坚定的信仰
沿着那溪边走有水车的声音
我走着看着风中摇曳可爱的蒲公英

经过凉亭我们穿越竹林
看着山顶如棉花糖的白云
面对着阳光就不需要那阴凉
拥有不同心境相信你会看到更特别的风景

闭上眼睛静静聆听
屋檐那串轻脆的风铃
许愿要找个流星
幸福就要彼此互相扶持互相关心

Oh 他们说玫瑰象征着爱情
那插满一把玫瑰花的花瓶
是否证明不是不笃定
是不是真的有童话这件事情 hey

我叮咚的弹奏着故事里那首儿歌
缤纷的音乐盒木马还旋转着
我叮咚的弹奏着童年的纯真快乐
亲爱的这时刻有梦就大声唱歌

我们手牵手一直的走
紧紧的相依的努力攀过吊桥绳索
在脚下经过的一条蜿蜒小河
心里面联接的是满满友情难以割舍

整个山坡苹果树已红透
还有干净泉水大口畅饮
橘子也成熟田里面还有泥鳅
真的快乐却是好多朋友陪着我们一起走

闭上眼睛静静聆听
屋檐那串轻脆的风铃
许愿要找个流星
幸福就要彼此互相扶持互相关心

na hey--- 爱让我更自由
na hey--- 一起大声说出口
跟我一起手牵手真心到永久
这就是爱的生活

我叮咚的弹奏着故事里那首儿歌
冰棒呢配可乐爆米花还温热
我叮咚的弹奏着童年的纯真快乐
开着车遥远了回到最初的选择

我叮咚的弹奏着故事里那首儿歌
冰棒呢配可乐爆米花还温热
我叮咚的弹奏着童年的纯真快乐
开着车遥远了回到最初的选择

我叮咚的弹奏着故事里那首儿歌
冰棒呢配可乐爆米花还温热
我叮咚的弹奏着童年的纯真快乐
开着车遥远了回到最初的选择

my internship experience (part 2)

2009-07-14T23:10:00.005+08:00

its been some time since i last blogged about my internship experience, and ill be continuing from the last entry.

anyway, we saw some pencil rubbing thing, and all grabbed a paper and crayon and started playing. heres a pic of us with our masterpieces :D

the proud artists (:

after that, we invaded the kids playground (oops!), and even the kids were giving us weird looks when we posed at the playground HAHA. we then left changi airport and took a train ride to town to watch transformers 2. before our movies began, we hung out outside at the ticketing counter area, and noticed many posters of upcoming movies. and so we began posing for photos again, trying to mimic the characters in the posters.

grumpy old man

ok. about transformers 2, i felt that it was a rather draggy and plotless movie. the fighting scenes were exciting, and the effects were great and all, but i felt that it was all excessive. plot was kind of typical and expected too haha...

after the movie, we went around the town area to take pictures at scenic spots. our first stop was at istana park. we took several shots with the fauna around there, and also took group shots and several jump shots beside the water. it was quite amusing as everyone tried to coordinate their jumps :D

排排坐

welcome to istana park (:

jump shot!

after having much fun, we headed down to dhoby ghaut where we wanted to take a photo beside the LOVE structure outside fish n co, but apparently its been removed for some time already. but heres a shot which we took along the way, with everyone (the camera was timed) inside the picture. quite an amazing feat huh

like a team building game!

our next stop was national museum, and we continued our cam-whoring along the way. we also came across this wall leading to a carpark. there were many facial expressions on the wall and we each chose an expression and attempted to pose like it. heres me trying to give a dreamy pose HAHA. i think it was quite a failure though!

abstract :D

(to be continued)

my internship experience (part 1)

2009-07-05T23:07:00.006+08:00

friday was my temporary last day for my internship stint at MHQ. why i say "temporary" is because ill be returning to the place in 3 weeks' time, after my predeparture course, which commences tomorrow.

anywayy it was the last time i got to meet my fellow interns in our familiar working environment. ive really enjoyed my time at MHQ particularly because of their company, and really thank them from making my first experience working in civil service a colourful and memorable one. work at MHQ is quite busy and sometimes we may be loaded with a few tasks to juggle with at hand, but the important thing was, we had each other to seek advice and encouragement from, and to break the monotony of work life (:

other than the random fun we have daily, such as scouring for nice food in the region for lunch, and our HTHT talks, we had several activities together too! heres a chronological recount of the major fun activities we had (:

we had a nice dinner @ kuishin-bo, where we each took turns rushing for the special dish :D and then i discovered that some of my interns have a love for seafood just like myself! we chatted about lots of random things during the session and i got to find out more about my fellow interns.

we also had a pot luck session where we each had to bring a dish that we prepared ourselves. as i am terrible at cooking, i made pizza instead, by buying the pizza base, and the various ingredients, and making a DIY pizza. heres how our sumptuous feast looked like! (pizzas still not microwaved yet)

stuffed zucchinis... asparagus with bacon... shrimp cocktails... yummy!

let the feast begin!

following that, we had a kbox session where we sang lots of emo songs as well as high songs (: the favourite emo song of the night was 612 xing qiu, which is also one of my favourite SHE songs from the previous album, because it is about the little prince!

and on last friday, we claimed our off from the HT exhibition, and we went to changi airport to send our fellow intern, beryl, off to korea. we took random shots together before we bid her farewell, and then went to popeye's for a late breakfast / early lunch.

group shot (:

feeling energised after the meal, we decided to have some fun around the airport, and that was when my first major cam-whoring experience began.

(to be continued)

pc show (late blog)

2009-06-19T23:16:00.000+08:00

I realised I haven't been blogging for a while, ever since I started my internship. I guess it is not only because I have been busy, but also because I am not allowed to disclose my job scope and department related stuff. I realise I just can't blog properly about my experience without talking about the things I do, but generally, the experience has been a fun one so far, and I've been enjoying myself (:

Anyway, I finally have some non-work related updates to post about! (: Last Saturday, I went down with my parents to the PC show to buy my new laptop and mp3. As usual, it was crowded, but at least the organisation is neater this time round, and they channeled the people entering and leaving to 2 separate queues, so there was less confusion and i guess that helped to speed up things a little.

After a quick tour around the major booths, I quickly narrowed down my options to 3 different laptops, namely a vaio CS36, HP DV3 and an acer model. Here's how the 3 laptops look like:

Basically, in terms of specs, the vaio loses out to the other 2. and the acer has the best specs of all. It is also the lightest and cheapest out of the 3. however, acer laptops are not known to be reliable. on the other hand, the hp laptop will be more reliable, and still reasonably light. the vaio has the lowest processing speed of the 3, BUT i was so in love with the red vaio. plus the cs36 has some cool LED light feature (useless but brightens up your day) which will flash to the rhythm of your music AND when u touch the laptop cover to open it, it will flash :D when u press buttons on the laptop there will be a silver glow too. so design wise, i thought that the vaio beats the other 2 options hands down.

Acer

Vaio

so i was quite torn between the HP and vaio. if i went with my mind, i would choose HP for practical reasons. but if i went with my heart, i would choose the lovely vaio. the RED vaio was practically saying: BUY ME BUY ME to me. my dad had this idea that if i made an uninformed and hurried decision, i will regret my choice later, and wanted me to go home and check up more about the 2 laptops that night, and make some careful considerations before going back to the pc show to make my purchase on sunday.

and so, after mulling over it for a night, I decided to go with my heart and chose the vaio :D went down the nxt day to the pc show to make my purchases. bought a new mp3 player first. haha decided to stick with creative and bought the zen mx. after that, i bought a portable hard disk, before finally buying my vaio! :D its nice and red, and the matching red case is lovely too i think im totally in love with my new laptop... the only gripe i have is that it is heavy!

anyway, i spent quite a while playing with my new purchases that night. the vaio has the cool LED light bar, which flashes lights to the rhythm of the music which u r playing! also, when you boot up and turn off the laptop, the LED light bar flashes too! (:

later in the night, i found out that a student in rj is down with h1n1 at the end of last week. its quite scary to realise that the virus is now affecting the lives of people that are so close to me (esp since my bro is from rj). i really hope that the sch management will be able to handle the situation efficiently so that the school will be able to run as normally as possible.

交响梦

2009-05-31T17:33:00.003+08:00

my latest favourite song (: a very image intensive song with a nice, warm feeling!

交响梦 - 苏打绿

午后时分睡得很沉嘈杂鸟儿也全都充耳不闻
行板如歌歌里在等等你来和和一篇雨季解渴
雷声铺陈嘹亮地哼大地与河万物屏息这一刻

蛰睡了一世纪的下午被你惊醒
迷雾从身后穿起扣成水滴
透明的伤口漂亮的残忍藏到土壤里
雨的铿锵临盆比梦的合奏还静

阡陌牧车因你饶舌雷声如灯敲开了一年兴奋
急板成歌歌落成河河在狂奔奔击了乾涸混沌

蛰睡了一世纪的下午被你惊醒
迷雾从身后穿起扣成水滴
透明的伤口漂亮的残忍藏到土壤里
雨的铿锵临盆比梦的合奏还静

埋伏了一整季的思念被你剥离
棉絮爬上了头发换算年龄
气候的成长季风的回忆收进课本里
我自己来缝补我自己
修剪自己迎接你淋湿我风乾的心

雨停时分洗澈烟尘新的花梗正期待炫耀颜色
黄昏人们敞开了家里大门
宁静很深世界迎接你这一刻生命来了

and this was how it ended (part 2)

2009-05-30T22:01:00.003+08:00

and so, after saying my farewells to my classes, i headed back to the staff room. finally got to see the posters that i was supposed to hunt for. luckily i didnt have to walk around the school looking for them... if not many people would have seen my unglam photos before that! :D

anw, the first thing which the teachers noticed about all the farewell messages which my classes wrote for me was that they are generally pink/red HAHA :D seems like my students all thought alike (: was quite hungry then, and thankfully, the math HOD bought 豆沙饼 (omg i actually forgot what this is called in english) for everyone, and ms wang forced me to eat at least 2 HAHA. really thankful to my teachers who had been looking out for me all this while. sometimes i get so engrossed with my work that i forget to take a break, or forget to have lunch, and they will ask me down to the canteen to have lunch with them, or just to drink something.

after the food, it was time to get my exit clearance signed. there were 4 signatures i had to get before i was cleared to leave the school... HOD, library officer, IT dept, estate dept. sounds like ORD clearance haha. HOD's signature was easy to get. library officer's signature was easy to obtain too. just walked up to library, check that i do not have any books on loan, and then i was cleared.

next was the clearance with the IT department. i didnt have time to clear up my desktop, so the hebe wallpaper was still in the comp, along with the MSN program which will auto log in... so i hope they will like reformat the comp or something before they pass it on to the next user. i checked and ensured that all the accessories were in place, and quickly returned the laptop to the IT department before the staff left school. and so i said goodbye to my best companion for the past semester too. without the laptop, i think i would be seriously handicapped, and wouldnt be able to explain things as clearly. IT department clearance took quite a long time, cos the person who was supposed to sign wasnt inside the office. waited for a while before i got that settled.

after that, i headed to estate to return my VGA cable, and asked for an extension for the return of the staff pass. i wasnt in the mood to pack up my table there and then, and if i rushed the packing up, i would most certainly leave something behind, and then i wouldnt be able to come back and collect it anymore. and so i asked if i could keep the pass for one more day and return it the next day, and thankfully they consented. i then went back up to the staff room, and prepared for my last consultation with a student, before i concluded my last day of work at the RJ math department.

by then, all i wanted to do was to quickly get back home. but i had things to do too. i had to shop for some gifts and cards for the math department tutors, to show my appreciation to them. stopped by j8 and purchased some random items which shockingly amounted to over $50. i didnt really check the prices before buying... just saw what i thought was nice and took them off the shelves. turned out that some of the cards which i picked for a few teachers were rather expensive.

after that, i made my way home and finally got my nice hot bath :D then i had dinner, and was really really tired after such an eventful day, so i plonked onto my bed and fell asleep. it was a nice and peaceful sleep cos i dont have to worry about completing the syllabus with my classes, for once! :D im so glad that it all ended well, and i managed to complete the stats content with all my classes. hopefully they will all do well for CTs and do me proud (: and i hope to see many many students from my classes on the deans' list. i didnt really have much time to think back about the events of the day though, cos i promptly fell asleep.

woke up at around 11 cos i had one last thing to do... writing a personalised message for each of the 12 math department jc1 tutors. ive worked with them for quite a while, and they have all been very nice to me, so i thought the least i could do was to write each of them a personalised message. i started at around midnight, and started writing to tutors that i was less close to, and ended off writing to the tutors that i was really close to. and as i continued writing, somewhere around the last few cards, i realised i was crying. the thought of all the help which the tutors had rendered me with, the concern they had shown, the lame jokes and stories they told to brighten up my day, the numerous lunches we had together... all these made me realise how much i missed the math department already! thankfully it was late at night so noone could see me cry haha. when i was done, it was 3... so i spent 3 hours writing 12 cards! felt very proud of my "杰作", and after this, i probably wont expect to stay up late again in the near future. :D

having rested, and completed everything i was supposed to do, i started reading all the farewell messages which my classes wrote for me. it was then that i was really overwhelmed by the sadness of leaving my classes. i guess i was too tired during the day itself to feel sad, and im glad for that... if not my classes will see my unglam crying moment :S i was very touched by the comments of some of my students, and i didnt know i made a difference to so many of my students. and i think my sadness was accentuated by the loneliness and serenity of the night, and so, in the end, i did cry at the thought of how much ill miss my classes.

after the emotional message reading session, i went to sleep. woke up quite early this morning to go to school and pack up my table, as well as distribute the cards and gifts to the math department tutors. there was some major cleaning session in school, and the old ah-huay-auntie cleaning up the staff room. greeted her for the last time (she remembers me for some reason haha), and then went to clear my table.

its amazing how much stuff i suddenly realised i dont need. ended up chucking away huge stacks of paper. i decided that i wanted to keep the class mugshots of my classes, even though i can remember all my students' names... and so i made photocopies of the mugshots and kept the originals, leaving the photocopies for the next tutor who is taking over. after which, i updated the latest assignment scores for my classes, and the attendance books and that marks the end of my duties as a relief tutor.

next up, i went around to distribute the thank you cards and gifts to the math department tutors. felt like a santa claus cos i had this bag of cards and gifts and then i was walking along the empty aisles of tables and placing gifts on the tables of the tutors, who will be pleasantly surprised when they next return to their desks :D lastly, i had to hand back my pass, but i had a nagging feeling that i might have left something behind, which i have yet to pack in my bag. so, i decided to take a walk around the school first before coming back to do a final check of my desk. i also thought it was a good idea to make use of the staff pass for the last time to access areas that are inaccessible to students and visitors. and so, i walked around school, and enjoyed my last few moments in RJ (sounds dramatic, but i really do love the college). bumped into several of my students and chatted with them. also paid a visit to my most hated tutorial room A56. good riddance to that cursed tutorial room (:

and when i was finally done with my mini tour, i went back up to the staff room to do my final packing up. took a last glance at the staff room, and was quite reluctant to surrender my pass, but i did in the end, and signed out of the record book for the last time and that officially ends my stint in RJC as a math department relief tutor.

i am so glad to have met so many awesome students, and had the opportunity to have permanent classes attached to me. there was one time where i almost had to give up one class, but thankfully it was sorted out and i got to see my classes through till the end of the stats course. i am also glad to have the opportunity to work alongside my teachers, and even though they are more experienced than i am, they do listen to my suggestions during unit meetings, and let me voice my opinions on certain teaching points, common mistakes, and even on test questions. im really grateful to work with such a supportive department, and to have taught such wonderful classes, and they have all played a great role in making my stint at RJC a really memorable one. a big THANK YOU to all of them! finally, i am relieved of my duties, and i can really sleep in peace now (:

ah, but a new job awaits on monday! but till then... :D

and this was how it ended (part 1)

2009-05-30T18:03:00.003+08:00

the end of term 2 has finally arrived, and its time to say goodbye to my classes. the last few days were really crazy, but i am glad it all turned out fine. wednesday was the deadline i gave to my classes to submit any written work for me to mark. and so, i had this huge pile of assignments (which even included back-dated assignments) to mark on wednesday, and i had to get them all marked by friday. had to sleep really late on wed and thur nights, but i survived with music (SHE and mayday!) and sweets.

the challenge was keeping a clear mind for lessons on thur and fri, despite sleeping late the night before. thursday wasnt so bad, because my timetable wasnt that crammed. but it was also my last day with 3B. had a double period with them, with a break in between, so i had my last lunch with them during the break. then during my 2nd lesson with 3B, alvin and kakiong came into the class and shouted "SURPRISE!" it was quite a pleasant surprise, with a huge PINK placard containing messages from 3B, a red balloon which says SHE (Hebe) loves you and a nice cake :D there was also a packet of dried prawn (which is hei bi in dialect, which sounds like HEBE), and i thought that was quite creative. anw, the cake was nice and chocolatey and i loved it alot! was really pleased that they prepared so much for my farewell, and i was really touched.

then on friday was my last day, and my timetable was crazy as i had taken the GP lessons of all my classes. so it was a 1 hour lesson, followed by a 1 hour break, followed by 4 and a half hours of lessons, a half hour break, then a final 1 hour lesson. i was a little afraid i might be talking nonsense towards the end (especially since i havent had much sleep). thankfully that never happened.

started the day off with my last lesson with 3D. got A57, the spongebob class, and the projector in that classroom was really cooperative, not like the A56 projector which eternally hates me. anw, unlike 3B, 3D wasnt very discreet with their "farewell surprise". when the lesson ended, all of them raised a piece of paper which contained a letter, and it spelt the message "WE LOVE MR TANCK". the effect was quite nice, and touching too... and i was closest to crying then, but i controlled and managed to regain my composure and made my farewell statement. we then took some photos before i left. i was told that there would be posters of me pasted around school, but thankfully that didnt happen. :D

next up was lesson number 1 with 6T. they were quite surprised that i took their GP lesson, because it was all quite last minute and the GP tutor only approached me in the morning. completed the last tutorial with them, and so i was just left with assignment review and recap with 6T for my 2nd lesson in the afternoon. after that, i headed for my lesson with 1F. it was the most stressful lesson of the day, since i had most things left uncovered with the class. i was rushing through the lesson really fast and the students were asking me to calm down and relax and not look so stressed. i really breathed a sigh of relief when i managed to complete the syllabus with that class! haha it was really a great experience teaching an arts class, and trying to get them to love maths, and i think i did fine :D

then came a 2 hour session with 6N. had not much worries for that class, since it is my fastest class in terms of covering of content, and i had more than enough time. i even had some time to do some practice questions with them. close to the end of the lesson, i was told that there was a surprise for me, and i had to close my eyes. turned out they took a few funny shots of me with my eye closed. and when i opened my eyes, there was a cake placed dangerously close to my face :D the cheesecake was for me, but it was quite large, so i got my math rep to split it up and share it with the whole class (: i also got another placard of messages from 6N... a red one this time. we then took photos, and i chatted with several people in the class, and also the councillors. hopefully the 29ths will be able to make their mark in the college and all the best :D

there was supposed to be a half hour break before my final lesson, but i spent it with 6N, so i had to rush off to my last lesson with 6T after that. by now, i have repeated the slides countless of times i became like a recording machine, reciting out what i had said in the previous classes. was also quite tired by then, cos i had been standing for a long long time. and so i was reliefed when the lesson ended, and then i found out 6T had messages written to me on a huge RED paper too. some of the messages were really funny, including one which says "see you at cambridge" :D

and so, that was the end of my crazy day, and it was REALLY REALLY REALLY sad to part with so many of my classes in one day. thankfully, i didnt cry in front of them, (which would have been so unglam and awkward), partly because i was really tired and hungry, and all i was thinking of was to complete my clearance (YES i still had one last thing to do before i could go home), so that i could go home, get a hot bath and enjoy my dinner.

(to be continued)

last week of school

2009-05-25T20:33:00.002+08:00

i really can't believe it is the last week already. i think i will experience a myriad of moods this week. anxiousness, of trying to complete the syllabus with my classes. relief, when i complete the stats course with my classes. joy, knowing that i have done a good job. sadness, for having to part with my classes. hopefully my classes won't make me so sad and emotional that i'll cry. but i'll really miss them all.

and now, as i type my assessment of my students, writing the comments for each student is like saying goodbye to them. i wonder how permanent teachers cope with this on a yearly basis. ): it would take me quite a while to recover from the sorrow of parting with one batch! so mebbe im not suited to be a teacher after all HAHA.

放肆

2009-05-22T22:50:00.002+08:00

lots of new songs this week! cao ge, zhang dong liang and mayday :D i love the new mayday song alot! in fact, i like alot of the "high" mayday song (: possible kbox song in the near future!

放肆 - 五月天

就放肆爱放肆追放肆去闯放肆是我的信仰
再不去闯梦想永远只会是一个梦
想太多忧伤太重的梦想还不如干脆不多想
每一个身后的浪都会有浪花绽放
我确定边冲边欣赏
如果要我们都活在地上偏偏我就想要飞翔
要挣脱命运捆绑要推翻玻璃围墙
要站上巨人的肩膀
梦想永远是逆向一路都有人阻挡
人们说的荒唐却是我的心中的天堂

就放肆爱放肆追放肆去闯放肆的大闹一场
不能原谅如果很多年后我还是这样
就放肆爱放肆追放肆去闯放肆是我的信仰
再不去闯梦想永远只会是一个梦想

哥伦布只要有一颗星光就胆敢横越大西洋
我还有一把吉他我还有一群死党
为什么还不大声唱
达尔文假设生命是战场就让我轻易不投降
把伤痕装满手掌把不顺装满心脏
把歌声装满肺活量
梦想永远是逆光只有坚硬的模样
会有什么世界什么体验不要去猜想

就放肆爱放肆追放肆去闯放肆的大闹一场
不能原谅如果很多年后我还是这样
就放肆爱放肆追放肆去闯放肆是我的信仰
再不去闯梦想永远只会是一个梦想

再不去闯梦想永远只会是一个梦想

on a side note, i found out that gary's new album is called Supermarket. wow. i wonder if he will have a song called that. so he is carrying on his "super" trend. from superwoman to superman to super sushine... now supermarket. HAHA. i really wonder what the next album will be called. super star sounds decent, but knowing gary and his weird ideas, its bound to be something as shocking as supermarket. dont quite like his first hit though... on the other hand, i like zhang dong liang's new hit, 沉默的瞬间, alot. it is a rock ballad, which is a slightly different genre from his previous songs.

and so another week has concluded! it had been a hectic week, no doubt. think i spend a 2 digit number of hours in school each day this week! had tons of makeups with my classes, and giving my best shot at completing the syllabus with my classes! hopefully ill be able to wrap up everything nicely in the final week, and then its goodbye to my classes. i really cant imagine how id say goodbye, but its definitely going to be very sad. ): till then...

我知道

2009-05-13T20:39:00.002+08:00

我知道 - BY2

从来没想过不能再和你牵手
委屈时候没有你陪着我心痛
一切都是我太过骄纵以为你会懂
一直忘了说我有多感动

我知道你还是爱着我
虽然分开的理由我们都已接受
你知道我会有多难过
所以即使到最后还微笑着要我加油
我知道你还放不下我
才会在离开时闭着眼没有回头
我们都知道彼此心中
其实这份爱没停过

从来没想过不能再和你牵手
委屈时候没有你陪着我心痛
一切都是我太过娇纵以为你会懂
一直忘了说我有多感动

我知道你还是爱着我
虽然分开的理由我们都已接受
你知道我会有多难过
所以即使到最后还微笑着要我加油
我知道你还放不下我
才会在离开时闭着眼没有回头
我们都知道彼此心中
其实这份爱没停过

曾经完整幸福的梦在脑海里头
我多希望你还在我左右

我知道你还是爱着我
虽然分开的理由我们都已接受
你知道我会有多难过
所以即使到最后还微笑着要我加油
我知道你还放不下我
才会在离开时闭着眼没有回头
答应你我会好好过
不让这些眼泪白流

another nice song (: quite a lot of nice songs recently! theres wilber, SHE and tank's new song, and i just listened to ou de yang's new EP. even though there is only 1 new song, 1 fan chang and the rest are instrumentals, i kind of liked the EP. the instrumentals sound equally touching haha... and the fan chang of peter pan (pan yu wen)'s wo he ni cong wei fen shou is a lot nicer than pan yu wen's original version in my opinion.

AAAH. its week 8 now, and i am struggling really hard to complete the syllabus with my classes. i think i wont even have time to say a proper goodbye to my classes. i feel really sad that my term at rj is coming to an end. ill really miss my classes, and miss teaching maths. ): if only i had a little more time.

Be With You

2009-05-13T17:03:00.002+08:00

OMG im addicted to this song :D

Be With You - 潘玮柏 + Akon

I know they wanna come and separate us but they can't do us nothing
You're the one I want and I'm a continue loving
Cause you're considered wife and I'm considered husband
And I'm a always be there for you

我不管你用任何眼光看我我都不会选择放弃
我要坚持到底忽略那些冷言冷语
爱是如此珍贵值得我们彼此相信
两颗心才越靠越近

And no one knows
Why I'm into you
Cause you'll never know
What it's like to walk in our shoes
没人会懂是我们的梦
懂再多困难只要牵手就变得不同
That's why we'll break through

And I don't care what they say
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I wanna be with you
我不在乎怎么做
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you

Seems like every day that go by things are gettin' harder
Want to be the one that give you the whole enchilada
Cause I know what my baby like, I lean you on that Prada
You ain't got to match with the shoes

我知道每一次的沟通就会让我爱你更多
跟一次的拥抱温暖让我不再怯懦
爱是真实的触摸美好或相同
Keeping it always true

And no one knows
What I'm into you
Cause you'll never know what it's like to walk in our shoes
没人会懂是我们的梦 Yeah
懂再多困难只要牵手就变得不同
That's why we'll break through

And I don't care what they say
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I wanna be with you
我不在乎怎么做
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you

You are everything in my life see the joy you bring
And ain't no one I compare you to
And I know that you will never
walk away from me no matter what
And that's why I plan to do the same thing for you
And I want you to know

Be in my life with me
You know you my queen B
I show you the finer things in life and places you wanted to be
It's trips in Miami, rockin Tenjune NYC
Party up at club Bling till 6 in da morning
Don't want yo body figure sexually
I wanna pop you figures annually, showing you so security
You dun gota worry B, satisfaction guaranteed
You dont need another G, you can have it all on me,
Eh! you are like morphine you soothe me
Thru da pain and da struggles it gets hot you cool me
Coz you's wifey quality qualified, Warranty you certified,
You know how to get me high, hotter than a super ride
You know when you want it, you need it, you know I got it
You know when you want me, you need me you know I give it
So whenever in doubt you can count on me,
Whatever it is you be under my wing.
Whatever you down you can put it on me,
And wherever you go you be rocking my ring (ring ring).

And I don't care what they say
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I wanna be with you
我不在乎怎么做
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you

And I don't care what they say
I gonna be with you
I gonna be with you
I gonna be with you
我不在乎怎么做
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you

amazing race finale, and a NEW SHOW to watch!

2009-05-11T22:15:00.004+08:00

woke up super early today to watch the amazing race finale! their first task was to carry a 145 pound pig across a beach and properly cover it for cooking. it was really amusing to see how the teams struggled with the pig, and they dropped the pig in the sand/seawater a few times. and the pig was supposed to be for cooking later.

after that, teams are supposed to head to the maui surfboard fence and create a mini surfboard fence with pictures representing each leg of their race. despite reaching there first, luke was the last to complete the task, while victor breezed through it, thus landing his sister and himself in first place. i was kind of shocked when they were told to make their way to their finish line after the surfboard challenge. was really expecting a few more tasks or at least a detour! so basically there wasn't much excitement in this finale in my opinion. which made it a little anticlimatic haha. i was even expecting some twist before the teams could check in on the finishing mat... but i think i gave the producers too much credit!

on a side note, i thought it was really funny how jamie and cara always end up with CMI taxi drivers. is it just their luck or something? but their drivers always do not know their way, or mess up things for them. and they will be bitching all the way in the taxi, which is highly entertaining haha.

anyway, i havent had time to blog about survivor on friday. i must say debbie getting voted out was quite a surprise to me. and as usual, coach continues to rant about him playing the game with integrity and honour, which is really funny. much as i hate coach, id love to see him stay around a bit more to see what other kinds of contradictory comments or fanciful stories he can weave up!

and today, i just found a new show to watch - harper's island! it should help me overcome my withdrawal symptoms from heroes for a while! :D watched the first 2 episodes of harper's island and thought it was awesome! and it fits the suspense / thriller genre show that i love to watch (: after watching the 2 episodes, i proceeded on to prepare the tutorial for the next chapter and i cant believe i spent 8 HOURS on the slides for half the tutorial! but im very proud of my work, and the slides look really nice (: hopefully my efforts will be appreciated haha.

amazing race!

2009-05-04T22:17:00.002+08:00

wow it was a really exciting race for a final 3 spot on amazing race today. first of all, the racers did not get any rest from the previous leg, as it was a double leg race. so after checking in at the pit stop the night before, they had to continue through the night to head to their next destination. i thought that by itself was physically demanding, given that they had just swam many laps in their previous task.

and the untimely u-turn was just evil. tammy and victor were smart, they u-turned jen and kisha, who were the most athletic of them all. if they stayed, they would be a big threat when it comes down to a foot race.

anw we finally see some more chinese-culture related tasks! haha... seeing the teams race around in opera performers' makeup and dresses was just amusing. and of course, there was the gross task of having to eat larvae, starfish, scorpion and grasshopper. i didnt know china sells those kinds of food as street food! jamie and cara were unable to overcome the language barrier, and fell from 1st to last spot. and jamie's quote at that point in time sounded funny, seeing how she actually looked serious saying it: "That's why I did not want to go to China. It sucks."

the race for the 3rd spot was just exciting. there was jen and kisha VS jamie and cara. jen and kisha had a headstart, but jen needed to go to pee, so that delayed their checking in at the pit stop, and jamie and cara beat them by seconds. it was a really dumb reason to lose their chance at a million dollars, and it was sad to see jen and kisha go, since they fought really hard to make a comeback after their disastrous performance in the previous leg.

so, it's the finals next week, and monday is a public holiday, so i will be able to watch the live screening! i think tammy and victor have been working quite well as a team, and im rooting for them! i doubt jamie and cara will make history by being the first all female team to win the race though... but it would certainly be a huge shocker if they do!

an extremely ardous month

2009-05-02T19:32:00.002+08:00

went kbox with tzekwan and her friends (ok, and friends of friends too) yesterday. as i left something important in school the day before, i made a trip to school first before heading for kbox. despite yesterday being a public holiday, there were numerous people in school! and to my surprise, i wasnt the only staff member in the staff room! after getting what i needed from my cubicle, i made my way to AMK central. i almost couldnt find my way to the kbox centre there, but after trying very hard to recall the route which kai took me through the last time round and the random comments we made of the shops that we bypassed, i managed to locate the kbox centre.

i love the 2-7 slot! sing for 5 hours, super shiok! haha! the group of us sang a large variety of songs, from very new songs (mostly chosen by me) to very old classics (mostly sang by tzekwan haha). and we had several common favourite singers, eg SHE and fish, so at one point in time, there were a few pages of SHE and fish songs on the "已点歌" list :D sang a few "high" songs, which ill always sing when i go kbox. wanted to sing hihi byebye, but noone there knew that cute song, and tzekwan didnt appreciate cyndi. maybe nxt time! and i realised ive never seen fish's "wei wo hao" mv before! so when i reached home i went to watch the full mv, which is close to 11 mins! haha... before we ended the kbox session, we chose leo ku's 12 min song. lol. the kbox staff had to chase us out towards the end. she was probably wondering how come we could continue singing for so long.

its so fun to kbox! its always a good way to destress for me. but it didnt help much. after all the fun and laughter yesterday, i sat down and reviewed my lesson plan for the remainder of the term. my stint at rj is coming to an end, and ill be leaving my classes very soon. the problem is, theres still a lot left to cover, before my students r fully prepared for the upcoming common tests. there are quite a number of teachers who are slower than me in terms of tutorial progress, but they are having make ups during the june holidays, something i am unable to do due to my upcoming internship. so the best i can do is to hold many make up sessions and attempt to cover the syllabus before the term ends.

to make matters worse, the possibility of schools being closed down is hovering around. i really dont know what im going to do if schools were to close down, so i am really hoping that there wont be a H1N1 outbreak in singapore. *crosses fingers really hard*

the math department teachers keep reassuring me that there is no need to worry, as they will pick up the pieces from where i left off, but it will never be the same for me. i guess im just a perfectionist. i signed up for the job to complete the entire stats course with my classes... if i do not get the chance to do so, ill just have this tinge of regret. ok, its an understatement to say "tinge". i think it will just continue to bug me for a long long time.

and so, this morning, i just stared at the calendar, looking at the little time i have left with my classes, and thinking about the massive amounts of content i still have to cover, and i basically just stressed myself up again. how i wish i have a shi2 guang1 ji1 and slow time down. im already feeling very sad that ill be leaving my classes soon. and now i feel further burdened by the stress of completing the syllabus, and the possibility of schools being closed down (which means the possibility of having to say an early farewell to my classes).

an extremely ardous month of may lie ahead. arghh. i need more kbox therapy.