My 3-week hiatus has officially ended, (*&^%$#@#$%^
If you have been waiting anxiously for an update on my attempt to clock under 10min for e 2.4km run, I have gooder (dun go tsk tsk tsk, cut me some slack. I am entitled to some bad English at times, especially given the exposure I am subjected to on a daily basis) than good news. Not only have I managed to achieve what I set myself (09:48), I came in ahead of two 20-year-young officers. lol. At the end of the run, I sat quietly at a corner and indulge myself in effervescence of pride and huge sense of achievement. Looks like the weeks of running with Dave has really paid off and it just goes to buttress the notion that there will not be success without hardwork. Really looking forward to experiencing this again in Aug 2008.
With reality rearing its ugly head and leering at my impending doom, the only consolation I can get is the teacher exchange to suzhou. Getting kids to love and appreciate the language is what I want to achieve in Suzhou unlike what I have been doing in SGP which is to get them to do well at the EL O levels. With the success that I have experiencing at preparing the kids for the O levels, I would like to see if I can ignite the love for the language which I think SHOULD be the mark of a true language teacher.
Tennis this morning was spiced up by this guy who approached us and asked if he could join us. Since there were only 3 of us, why not. And woah, is he good. While playing, three 1-week-old balls (the new ones we used when we played on Wed, yes with you) went cui. This just goes to show that the usual 3 musketeers haven been hitting the balls hard enough as we have never encountered this before. Anyway, we had a hell of a time trying to defend his shots and tire him out. Naturally, we played a little longer than usual since it was more fun, until Dave needs to zao. Looks like we still very amateurish despite having bought control racquets and played for close to 5 years.
so it's 2 weeks of pandemonium before I get to spend 2 weeks in Suzhou. Then the whole cycle starts again. Wish me luck and I know you will be there always =]
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
self praise
managed to clock 48 mins for my about 10-km run. thanks to an invisible pacer, lol. Looks like I am prepared for the 2.4 run this fri. wish me all the luck.
also pray for
1) good weather
2) mozzie free
3) no sudden urge to crap cos I dun look forward to doing my business in the wild
also pray for
1) good weather
2) mozzie free
3) no sudden urge to crap cos I dun look forward to doing my business in the wild
Saturday, May 03, 2008
No. 4 and CV
din manage to get the marksman at the combat shoot. our team did pretty well in the day shoot by hitting a 72 out of 90. i contributed the most to the score for i only missed 1 out of the 15 bullets that we were given, :P morale was rather high and the prospect of getting $200 each was making the grown men act like a child in a candy store. Raymond even exclaimed, "$200 can buy alot of milk powder for my baby. so all must tau ka cheu hor."
in the midst of shooting, also needed to be the safety officer to look into the erm... safety la. what else. there was this LTA who placed his rifle down after shooting, whipped out his mobile and started texting. WTF! walked over, threw an empty cartridge at his helmet and said, "nnm, bo message eh si ah! can you do this later!!!" sheepishly, he kept his mobile and apologised. for goodness sake, you are in your 20s and here you are acting like one of the kids i have in class. "Do the right thing at the right time," i blasted and he apologised again. LOL. scary cat.
night shoot came and it was a disappointment. we were given the wrong targets to shoot and it was disastrous. not that if the targets were right, we would have been $200 richer. tho it does affect somehow, the truth is we are bo-bo shooters at night la. so for the entire day's work, there was no monetary award for us. only a pass. looks like the $200 has to be earned at my IPPT.
the weeks of running have done some good to my fitness level, lol. at my recent IPPT, i managed to cut a further 22 secs and clock a decent 10.23sec for my 2.4km. (stop rolling your eyeballs) yes, it is still far from my personal best when i was 18 years young, but at least better than letting the timing increase right. the best thing was, the guys in my platoon are ALL between 23 - 25 years young and i came in first. when the official results were released, the guys then proposed that i take the test again and try for gold so that i would get $400 instead of $200. so on 16 may, all of my guys will take turns to pace my run. *stress* with this hurdle down, will have to start training for the army half-marathon in aug. looks like as we grow older, we constantly engage in activities that make us feel young and alive. sigh, let's hope viagra would NEVER be a facet in my life.
the one-week break from school has done me some good. i dun have to face people who like to mark their territory by peeing all over the place, dun have to put up with bad english (students and teacher alike; nope, there's no missing 's' after 'teacher'), dun have to stop whatever i am doing and entertain questions that has nothing to do with me etc... but but but, i miss being in class. so to fill that viod, made a trip back on fri after i booked out primarily to collect marking and confront students who have conveniently forgotten to hand in my work. once i stepped onto the field and saw some of my kids, i knew i was at home. and this cannot be bought with all the money in the world.
the shop is doing fine, money is coming in but parents are very tired with the close 15-hr days. looks like i have to make my presence felt more often at the shop to lighten their burden. really hope that things will turn out fine so that things at home can start to look up.
said enuff. mitch, am counting down already... ...
in the midst of shooting, also needed to be the safety officer to look into the erm... safety la. what else. there was this LTA who placed his rifle down after shooting, whipped out his mobile and started texting. WTF! walked over, threw an empty cartridge at his helmet and said, "nnm, bo message eh si ah! can you do this later!!!" sheepishly, he kept his mobile and apologised. for goodness sake, you are in your 20s and here you are acting like one of the kids i have in class. "Do the right thing at the right time," i blasted and he apologised again. LOL. scary cat.
night shoot came and it was a disappointment. we were given the wrong targets to shoot and it was disastrous. not that if the targets were right, we would have been $200 richer. tho it does affect somehow, the truth is we are bo-bo shooters at night la. so for the entire day's work, there was no monetary award for us. only a pass. looks like the $200 has to be earned at my IPPT.
the weeks of running have done some good to my fitness level, lol. at my recent IPPT, i managed to cut a further 22 secs and clock a decent 10.23sec for my 2.4km. (stop rolling your eyeballs) yes, it is still far from my personal best when i was 18 years young, but at least better than letting the timing increase right. the best thing was, the guys in my platoon are ALL between 23 - 25 years young and i came in first. when the official results were released, the guys then proposed that i take the test again and try for gold so that i would get $400 instead of $200. so on 16 may, all of my guys will take turns to pace my run. *stress* with this hurdle down, will have to start training for the army half-marathon in aug. looks like as we grow older, we constantly engage in activities that make us feel young and alive. sigh, let's hope viagra would NEVER be a facet in my life.
the one-week break from school has done me some good. i dun have to face people who like to mark their territory by peeing all over the place, dun have to put up with bad english (students and teacher alike; nope, there's no missing 's' after 'teacher'), dun have to stop whatever i am doing and entertain questions that has nothing to do with me etc... but but but, i miss being in class. so to fill that viod, made a trip back on fri after i booked out primarily to collect marking and confront students who have conveniently forgotten to hand in my work. once i stepped onto the field and saw some of my kids, i knew i was at home. and this cannot be bought with all the money in the world.
the shop is doing fine, money is coming in but parents are very tired with the close 15-hr days. looks like i have to make my presence felt more often at the shop to lighten their burden. really hope that things will turn out fine so that things at home can start to look up.
said enuff. mitch, am counting down already... ...
Monday, April 28, 2008
giving in to demands
1) i am away from school for 3 weeks due to national service. hence while you are sleeping tightly in your comfortable bed and duvet, remember that at some corner of Singapore, there is someone watching the sky for you. and that person is, of course i am not the only one but you wont know the rest of them, ME. though i still have to get out of bed at the same time, i have always seen my reservist as a chance for me to "get away". notice it's within inverted commas; so this is a good chance for a language use question, :P Every in-camp training brings back fond memories of the crap and hell that we had to take but the good thing is that there are no watchful eyes, or rather ears, over my choice of words when i am happy, sad, angry, irritated. *&^%$#$%^&^%$&
so when i get back to the "exciting" (tsk tsk tsk, i am at it again) world of teaching and learning, there is only 1 week left in the term 2 and it's the june hols and it's gonna be the same old internal oral exams, june supplementary lessons, mid-year reviews etc .. .. .. So far, confirmation wrt to my suzhou trip is still pending due to pple's indecisiveness coupled by unnecessary worries held by people who feel that they are important enough to worry for me. sorry for the very ambiguous statement. this is to cover my backside for the fear of repercussions. *free speech*
if i get to go to suzhou, it's gonna be a 2-week stint that coincides with the dumpling festival which means i get to feast on my favourite chestnut inside the dumplings. the rice and meat can give u, if u wan.
2) the grand opening of Serangoon Nasi Padang @ Blk 150A, Bishan St. 11, #01-173. this shop (since 1983) has enabled me to become what i am today; my pocket money, my education, lessons on humility, perseverance and service etc ...
if you happen to be at bishan one day and have a craving for some nasi padang which serves food like bbq chicken, bbq sotong, curry chicken, curry fish, rendang etc ... please support la. especially after all that i have done for you guys. but dun keep ur expectations too high, cos even if you say u know ET, won't ensure u a discount. probably u get better service from my other-wise "black-faced-due-to-fatigue-not-cos-she-dun-like-your-face" mother.
look out for this sign.
asked my old man why take a picture of "achar". He replied, "See already will cause people to lau chui nua (salivate) ma." Tell me if it does, at least i can tell my dad he is right (for once).
just added the shop to the local picks application under FB. so if u have eaten there, please give a review, LOL.
so when i get back to the "exciting" (tsk tsk tsk, i am at it again) world of teaching and learning, there is only 1 week left in the term 2 and it's the june hols and it's gonna be the same old internal oral exams, june supplementary lessons, mid-year reviews etc .. .. .. So far, confirmation wrt to my suzhou trip is still pending due to pple's indecisiveness coupled by unnecessary worries held by people who feel that they are important enough to worry for me. sorry for the very ambiguous statement. this is to cover my backside for the fear of repercussions. *free speech*
if i get to go to suzhou, it's gonna be a 2-week stint that coincides with the dumpling festival which means i get to feast on my favourite chestnut inside the dumplings. the rice and meat can give u, if u wan.
2) the grand opening of Serangoon Nasi Padang @ Blk 150A, Bishan St. 11, #01-173. this shop (since 1983) has enabled me to become what i am today; my pocket money, my education, lessons on humility, perseverance and service etc ...
if you happen to be at bishan one day and have a craving for some nasi padang which serves food like bbq chicken, bbq sotong, curry chicken, curry fish, rendang etc ... please support la. especially after all that i have done for you guys. but dun keep ur expectations too high, cos even if you say u know ET, won't ensure u a discount. probably u get better service from my other-wise "black-faced-due-to-fatigue-not-cos-she-dun-like-your-face" mother.
look out for this sign.
the bbq chicken cutlet, sotong and fish that got people asking for more
asked my old man why take a picture of "achar". He replied, "See already will cause people to lau chui nua (salivate) ma." Tell me if it does, at least i can tell my dad he is right (for once).just added the shop to the local picks application under FB. so if u have eaten there, please give a review, LOL.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
counting my blessings
2008 hasn't been good to me...
1) the chatbox on your right just went bonkers and i have no idea what i have to do to fix it. so let's jus heck it
2) i have succumbed to the flu bug once every month. keep burping as well cos my stomach is experiencing a lot of difficulty digesting what i put in my mouth. sianz... while i am typing this, the breakfast and lunch that i had eaten is still rolling around in my stomach.
3) had a nightmare that i was the prime suspect of a murder. woke up every 2 hours and kept telling myself that i have to prove my innonence before gg back to sleep. think i am going crazy.
BUT we must also learn to count our blessings...
experience a relative respectable amount of moolah for work done last year, hehehe. more dough for my "buy a car" fund (tho I must say is not making a lot of progress, but hey, at least the fund exists). yup, so far only 1 blessing.
Am reading this book by Paulo Coelho's Witch of Portobello and came across this excerpt that struck me:
"I'm finally coming to accept that I was only a temporary inhabitant, there as a favour, like someone who finds himself in a beautiful mansion, eating exquisite food, aware that this is only a party, that the mansion belongs to someone else, that the food was bought by someone else, and that the time will come when the lights will go out, the owners will go to bed, the servants will return to their quarters, the door will close and we'll be out in the street again, waiting for a taxi or a bus to restore us to the mediocrity of our everyday lives."
so please count your blessing. Relax, live, let live, forgive, sacrifice and donate. we come here with nothing and will leave with nothing.
So start giving. and a good starting point is my fund.
1) the chatbox on your right just went bonkers and i have no idea what i have to do to fix it. so let's jus heck it
2) i have succumbed to the flu bug once every month. keep burping as well cos my stomach is experiencing a lot of difficulty digesting what i put in my mouth. sianz... while i am typing this, the breakfast and lunch that i had eaten is still rolling around in my stomach.
3) had a nightmare that i was the prime suspect of a murder. woke up every 2 hours and kept telling myself that i have to prove my innonence before gg back to sleep. think i am going crazy.
BUT we must also learn to count our blessings...
experience a relative respectable amount of moolah for work done last year, hehehe. more dough for my "buy a car" fund (tho I must say is not making a lot of progress, but hey, at least the fund exists). yup, so far only 1 blessing.
Am reading this book by Paulo Coelho's Witch of Portobello and came across this excerpt that struck me:
"I'm finally coming to accept that I was only a temporary inhabitant, there as a favour, like someone who finds himself in a beautiful mansion, eating exquisite food, aware that this is only a party, that the mansion belongs to someone else, that the food was bought by someone else, and that the time will come when the lights will go out, the owners will go to bed, the servants will return to their quarters, the door will close and we'll be out in the street again, waiting for a taxi or a bus to restore us to the mediocrity of our everyday lives."
so please count your blessing. Relax, live, let live, forgive, sacrifice and donate. we come here with nothing and will leave with nothing.
So start giving. and a good starting point is my fund.
Monday, February 25, 2008
singapore airshow
sigh. reached pasir ris mrt only to be greeted by an anaconda. the Q is worse than queuing for 199 to get to NIE!!! and it din help cos people were cutting Q left, right and centre (which includes me)
Luckily it's a complimentary ticket. If I was one of those fools who paid a good 20 bucks, no amount of listerine can clean my mouth of the dirt caused by spewing all kinds of profanities.
in the end, settled for a nice lunch in the comfort of aircon.
so instead of seeing the A380 flying in the air, i will be in it very soon. and mitch, hopefully, I can take the a380 when i visit u in the near future. Fyi, they are flying the A380 for SQ322 (e flight that u always take when u fly back) in March. I managed to take a photo of a plane flying whilst at Bedok MRT station, so who says u need to be at the airshow to take pictures of planes.
looking forward to the vertical marathon on sun. will be hellava time. wish me luck, energy, good lungs and strong legs.
Luckily it's a complimentary ticket. If I was one of those fools who paid a good 20 bucks, no amount of listerine can clean my mouth of the dirt caused by spewing all kinds of profanities.
in the end, settled for a nice lunch in the comfort of aircon.
so instead of seeing the A380 flying in the air, i will be in it very soon. and mitch, hopefully, I can take the a380 when i visit u in the near future. Fyi, they are flying the A380 for SQ322 (e flight that u always take when u fly back) in March. I managed to take a photo of a plane flying whilst at Bedok MRT station, so who says u need to be at the airshow to take pictures of planes.
looking forward to the vertical marathon on sun. will be hellava time. wish me luck, energy, good lungs and strong legs.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
the red monster call "nian"
am still able to keep to my goal of making 1 posting per month... phew...
sigh, CNY is approaching and as always, i am not really lookin forward to it. what is with all the preparation etc... i just treat it as a break for my family to stay home and rest. period. no house calls or wat not. thanks but no thanks.
sigh, CNY is approaching and as always, i am not really lookin forward to it. what is with all the preparation etc... i just treat it as a break for my family to stay home and rest. period. no house calls or wat not. thanks but no thanks.
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