T_T

This year has been a pretty good year if I might say so myself. Full of wonderful family and friends who made life bearable when things got tough. Special thanks goes out to my darling J who's been a fantastic source of support in almost any situations possible, Nat and Ra for your wonderful companionship, Nat(L), Bhai, Shinasorous and even Ah gu(even though you have been MEAN) for bitching with me over all the bitch-able topics and wonderful support in school and outside. The ex-nuskk peeps for just being there! I can't believe it's been more than 1/2 a decade since I first joined nuskk!

You guys made the unbearable bearable. Love you all! *mucks*

Soon it will be the start of another year. Work and School... disgusting to say the least. I have to keep reminding myself... 1.5 years to go. It's not that tough if I just grit my teeth and work it through. My 4e5 won't be around this coming year but I have to learn to let go. =_= It's not as though we'll be together forever. Kids will graduate and move on all the time. I have to focus on the new class. =) But it's still kind of sad in a way. New year resolutions don't really work too well with me. But! If I have to decide on one this coming year, its just to get a firmer grip in life. Vague though that may be... its all I can manage. =) Have been getting invites to go out to "celebrate" the coming of a new year... but frankly speaking... what's there to celebrate? 2008 means the start of school and work which I'm definitely not looking forward to. *shrugs*

Right now... all I want is to watch more anime and rot for at least 1 more month... since that's not gonna come true... there ain't nothing to celebrate. T_T So I'll just sulk and watch more anime while I still can!

The Perfect Man

He's my absolute fav korean actor! god... he's so yummy!

Adopt a Bear!

Meet Makoto! Aka...Xiao Hei

Suave in his uniform!

It's the same bear by the way. He just had a change of clothes. I blame Shupz for bringing me to the "Workshop" but all the stuff toys there are so adorable! So I ended up buying something I had totally no intentions of buying... But it's still fun picking out shoes and clothes for him. I'll bring him to school and put him in the staffroom.

Bkk 2007

Was supremely bored this Sunday afternoon despite sleeping more than 1/2 the day away. Met up with the Akers last night and ended up reaching home only bout 5.30. It's crazy! But they're fun folks.

Since I'll only think of food if I have nothing else to do, thought I'll blog bout BKK and upload some pictures. =) At the very least I'll not crave for food in the time I'm blogging.... though I highly suspect that I'll still munch on snacks after I blogged. =_=

BTW, BKK was fantastic! Very different from the first time I went. Not that it was not fun the first time round. But we did limited stuff in the limited time we were there. =) This time round, we had 5 days and it was cool just walking around, taking in the sights and sounds and of course... getting lost in the process. Correction: we were never really lost due to the superb direction sense of Ra. =P

Taken on the streets of 2nd day in BKK

JTJ Weekend Mkt! Full of cheap stuff if we know how to bargain... but I didn't really buy much there. But was fun though, just walking through the stalls.

Attended a Jazz Festival at a public park in the evening with Ra's friend. She's very nice and chatty. My kind of person. Hahaha... and there was a cute Jazz pianist performing... so all's good!

After that! It's dinner at a roadside store near suan lum. Really nice food! Yum! Then shopping shopping and shopping all the way at Suan Lum Night Market! My god! I nearly went mad there! Who knew there were so many stores there! The last time we went there, we merely skirted the circumference it seems!

The third day was more shopping at various shopping malls in BKK! But we got to take in the sights and sounds because we WALKED most everywhere! Yupz! You read it right the first time round! WALKED! And it was actually rather fun! Full of decorations everywhere in preparation for the King's Birthday on Dec 5th. People walking around in yellow all over BKK.


Oh, but we did take a bus to Kau San... as in a real bus with a real life bus conductor! Haha... the weird thing bout these buses was that... they never really stopped at the stops... you got to hop on when they're slowing down.... and hope that you'll get on without any accidents. But it really was an experience!

The Roti Mutaba there was fantastic!

So's the cake we had for desert. (not at the same place though) Overall, the rating for food in Thailand is A***** for FANTASTIC. =)We sort of decided to go watch a movie at MBK in the night.... managed to find our way in, only to discover that there were no more movies after 10pm and then, we almost couldn't find our way out coz the entrance we entered was locked by the time we went downstairs. In the end, we had to walk around the deserted mall and at last exit thru the rubbish area. =_= All things considered though, a very good day it was!

The next day, we decided to go look for a bookshop! This one to be more specific. We ended up... not quite lost... but we could not find it for the longest time and ended up in their version of Sim Lim Sq and slipped A&W root-beer float! But after much persistence and perseverance, we managed to find it only to discover that it was closed for lunch. =_= So we up and left to do more shopping!

Kanchanaburi!! (Death Railway)

This is actually the first time I travelled alone. And to my surprise... I kinda LIKE it! Before I went, I was actually quite worried about bringing back certain "things" with me since it's a notoriously...well... infamous place. But the place was actually very commercialised. Too commercialised in fact. =_= But it was overall a good trip. I got to visit the War Museum and War Cementary, experienced a train ride (3rd class) and travelled on the Death Railway and even sat on a speedboat along River Kwai. Some people actually thought I was still studying!! Wahahahaha.....

Nothing much there I would say... but still... not a happy place

Rows and rows of graves tend to put me in a bad mood so I'm not putting it up. Though I would show my kids next year when I'm covering WW2 with them.

The Bridge over River Kwai... but then again... it's no longer the original... except for the pillars...

The infamous Death Railway

The train! So old school right?!

The inside of it. Some Thai teenagers actually gave up their seats for me. Hehe... Do I look so auntie? But I guess they were just kind. Poor tourist cannot stand for 1 hour plus plus. =P

At certain point of the train ride, the train was actually hugging the side of the mountain... if you would stretch your hand out, you could have touched the rocks. Overall, the train ride was fun.
Speedboat on River Kwai

Waiting for blogger to upload pictures is killing me. I've lost my patience. *sigh*

hello from bkk!

I-pod touch is truly fantastic! I can even blog using it. Painstakingly sure...but it can be done. Bloody flight's been delayed and I have nothing much to do to pass the time. Am thankful for the fact that I bought the travel pack charger. :) it's really worth every cent!

It's really tiring to type using I-pod touch, so i'll stop here and update when I'm back! :)

Lost and Found

I found my old pair of specs I thought I'd lost in Ubin when I was packing for BKK just a min ago. =_= Turned out... I didn't lose them after all. Arghhh....my $310!!! Not that my new specs are not nice or anything... but my $$$.... T_T

Oh ya... I'm officially broke. Bonus... however meager it is... already gone. How? I'm not too sure myself. But I'm off to BKK tomorrow with Ra and Kitty! I guess I'll worry about $$ when I'm back!

Facebook is really incredible. Found an old friend thru fluffpets. Here's to "lost" friendships! =)

Gradnight 07

My very first form class graduated this year. Its kinda a weird feeling being at their graduation night. The kids were so beautiful that night. But the thought of not seeing them again the next year brings a tinge of something akin to sadness.. for myself more for them I guess. I guess I'll be lonely not seeing them next year. I guess I worry a little for them if they can do well in the "real" world. But I think I'll not forget this bunch of kids for a long time yet.

Some of the pictures from the night. Mostly of the teachers... but oh what the hell...
















Later that night, a few smses came in from some of them... asking me my whereabouts and why did I disappear on them. Haha... of course there were some nonsense with the other smses but I ignored that. I'm sorry kids... I wanted to take pictures with you guys too... Oh well, I will be able to see them when (and if) the class bbq comes through. =P They are my first form class and no doubt will always be just a little bit more special than the rest.

As I'd said during grad night, even though I'd been naggy, autocratic, "abusive" and lost my patience with them countless times, they're still my fav. Life's gonna be very different without them next year.

End of the big Os... well, at least for me.

Well, today concludes the end of the full history paper. According to my kids, it was a killer. Haha... frankly speaking, I don't really think so. It's not so bad... the SBQ were pretty straightforward. The SEQ wasn't as easy as the previous years. If the kids had studied, I'm sure they'll be able to do it. But from what I saw... they don't seem too happy after the paper. I'd better moderate my expectations for their results next year. T_T

*Sigh*

Its really a weight off my chest! I think I can rest easy for the rest of this holiday! =)

Back to civilisation!

I lost my specs in ubin. T_T

And i'm burnt black by the sun. My feet and various parts of my body are aching.... and I'm just so fucking glad its BLOODY OVER!!!!!!!

Paper 2 is over. I sure hope my silly kids can do the paper. Mr S's predictions came through! Maybe they can do ok for the paper. I sure hope so! =)

School Culture?

Was blog-surfing and came across several interesting blogs about my industry. One of the blogs' recent post brought the topic of school culture to mind. He was comparing the "Elite" schools to the "Neighbourhood" schools and his opinion was that there's really not much of a difference in the end result. Well, of course there's a difference but responsibility ultimately lies with the individual and not with the school.

Well, I do agree to a large extent. Its ultimately your life and no matter which school you go to, it's your decision to sink or to swim. My school (as in the current one) is a typical neighbourhood school. We take in average and below average kids. We see them change over the years, pick up bad habits and behaviour from their seniors, lose interest in studies, lose confidence in their abilities, get into trouble with the police. We also see kids who put in effort. We see them excel and produce intelligent pieces of work. We see kids who entered with below average PSLE scores but graduated with single digit L1R5 and got into top JCs. Granted, they don't make up the majority. But they exists. It's really their choice. No one can force them to study if they don't want to.

The main difference between students from "elite" schools and "neighbourhood" schools is really the school culture. In the non-neighbourhood schools, the students are proud of their school. They are proud of their uniform, no matter how ugly it may be... argh... take for example the green pinafore. =_= Even years after they graduated, they'll look back with a certain measure of pride. Well, it differs from individual to individual but at least it was that case for me. I still feel a sense of kinship when I see kids wearing the same uniform as i did so long ago. And in those schools, students have the mindset that they are near the top of the pile. No matter how much you suck in school, you'll always have that mentality that you are good. It could lead to students being over-confident or arrogant, but it sure beats having no confidence in yourself. Failure is not even considered. And because when you tell yourself you must do it, you will do it.

Our kids on the other hand, do not like the school too much. One kid was so ashamed of our uniform that he would rather wear home clothes out and change into the uniform nearer to school. Sure they love their friends. They are warm kids who like most of the teachers etc etc... but when it comes to school pride, I'm pretty sure they have little or none. They don't have much respect for authority and basically have no standards to aspire to.

Expectations for the students of "elite" schools are high. School pride and culture propels them to strive hard to meet those expectations. When there's no culture in a school to speak of, or when the culture is negative instead of positive, all we can do is to have expectations of our kids. For some of them, the very idea of other people having expectations from them is so foreign that they haven't even consider it before. And I think that this very absence of expectations is widening the gap between the students of different schools.

Argh... I just need to get it all out! Although responsibility lies with the individual, most teenagers CANNOT handle this responsibility. They THINK that they can but are influenced by the culture within the school. The school therefore plays a huge part in making or breaking these individuals. And yes, there IS a difference in "elite" and "neighbourhood" schools.

Yosh! I'm going to train up my level of fitness! or at least TRY

Am going to try and train up this holidays! Or at the very least... start training up. Next year, I'm going to try out for this course that's going to be quite strenuous. Physically as well as mentally. It's definitely not compulsory... but I see it as... well... sort of a challenge. If I can pass it, then anyone can do it! So I'm going to try for it! But as things go... we'll see how things are next year. Haha... hopefully come 2008, I'm still enthusiastic about it!

Random stuff...

As the year approaches the end, I do fear that my secondary four students had not been sufficiently, adequately prepared for the O’Levels. There is this secret fear that I might have been the deciding factor or the weak link in the chain. That the students were actually capable, given a better teacher, one much better than myself. I’m not angling for praise or anything. I don’t really want the students to think that I’m the best teacher in the world or anything like it. In fact, I do know that I’m far from the best. What I do want is to know that I’ve done my best by them. And this fact eludes me. I honestly cannot say that I’ve done my best by them. There’ve been times when I feel like giving up on them. There’ve been times when I look at them and don’t actually believe in them. There’ve also been times when I look at them and wonder how can other people not see them as I see them, people with potential if only they would put their minds to it. So intent of squandering what potential they have, for a little fun right here and now. And at the heart of all these ponderings, I wonder if I’ll blame myself for not bothering hard enough to get them to try harder. I think I can safely say that in terms of academic teaching, I’ve not let them down. I’ve taught to the very best of my abilities. If my abilities are lacking, I can only say sorry, but better luck next time. But what I do have a problem with, is my inability to motivate them. I see them as people with potential but too short-sighted to make use of it. I see what could have been. But I’m clueless as to what I can do to make them see it as well.

Maybe the stress of the O'Levels is really getting to me. Some of them are really trying now, and that's really good. But for some others, they're still living in whatver lala land they've always been living in. =_=

The Perverse Guide to Sun Signs

Hehe... found this from J's blog. Thought it was pretty funny. And kinda true for some people I know! Hehe...

The Perverse Guide to Sun Signs

Submitted Anonymously


ARIES (Mar23-Apr22)
You have a wild imagination and often think you are being followed by the FBI or CIA. You have minor influence on your friends and people resent you for flaunting your power. You lack confidence and are a general dipshit.

TAURUS (Apr23-May22)
You are practical and persistent. You have a dogged determination and work like hell. Most people think you are stubborn and bullheaded. You're nothing but a damned communist.

GEMINI (May23-Jun22)
You are a quick and intelligent thinker. People like you because you are bisexual. You are inclined to expect too much for too little. This means you are a cheap bastard. Geminis are notorious for thriving on incest.

CANCER (Jun23-Jul22)
You are sympathetic and understanding to other people's problems, which makes you a sucker. You are always putting things off. That is why you will always be on welfare and won't be worth a shit. Everyone in prison is a Cancer.

LEO (Jul23-Aug22)
You consider yourself a born leader. Others think you are an idiot. Most Leos are bullies. You are vain and cannot tolerate criticism. Your arrogance is disgusting. Leo people are thieving motherf*ers and enjoy masturbation more than sex.

VIRGO (Aug23-Sep22)
You are the logical type and hate disorder. Your shit-picking attitude is sickening to your family, friends and co-workers. You are cold and unemotional and ofter fall asleep while f*ing. Virgos make good bus drivers and pimps.

LIBRA (Sep23-Oct22)
You are the artistic type and have a difficult time dealing with reality. If you are male, you are probably queer. Chances for employment and monetary gain are nil. Most Libra women are whores. All Libras die of Venereal Diseases.

SCORPIO (Oct22-Nov22)
You are the worst of the lot. You are shrewd in business and cannot be trusted. You shall achieve the pinnacle of success because of your total lack of ethics. You are the perfect son-of-a-bitch. Most Scorpios are murdered.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov23-Dec22)
You are optimistic and enthusiastic. You have a reckless tendency to rely on your luck since you have no talent. The majority of Sagittarians are drunks. You are a worthless piece of shit.

CAPRICORN (Dec23-Jan22)
You are conservative and afraid of taking risks. You are basically chickenshit. There has never been a Capricorn of any importance. You should kill yourself.

AQUARIUS (Jan 23-Feb22)
You have an intuitive mind and are inclined to be progressive. You lie a great deal. You make the same mistakes repeatedly because you are stupid. Everyone thinks you are a f*king asshole.

PISCES (Feb23-Mar22)
You are a pioneer type and think most people are dickheads. You are quick to reprimand, impatient and full of advice. You do nothing but piss off everyone you come in contact with. You are a prick.

The right to drive?

My room overlooks a rather busy road quite a distance away. The headlights of cars never seem to stop, no matter how late it is. Of all the cars I see zooming past my window, there will be lady drivers. In spite of all the stereotypes of how lady drivers are lousier than the men and what not, it's an established fact that women have as much right to drive as the men. I think that in this time and age, we sort of take this fact for granted. I was reading the BBC news online and came across this article about Saudi women lobbying for the right to drive in their country. Apparently, it's bloody illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia!!! I mean, I don't have a licence myself but I sure would appreciate the fact that in the event I want to get one and start driving, I WILL be allowed to! It's not even about the religion! There's no where in the Koran that states that Women are not allowed to drive a car! So, BBC asked for people living in Saudi Arabia to write in with their views regarding this issue. As one guy puts it, "There was no problem with women riding camels and donkeys in the past. What's wrong with cars?"

Trip down memory lane....

Happy Teachers' Day!! And more importantly... it's the Sept holidays! Woohoo!!!

No lessons on Friday! Ah... Happiness! Bliss! But I had to walk round the neighbourhood with my form class kids for ACES Day. =_= Tiring... but also rather fun because of the silly things the kids tried to do during the walk... I'm glad I walked that single round with the kids coz I won't see them anymore next year. Hopefully. =P

The ex-students came back to visit their teachers and it was heartwarming to see them so enthusiastic about seeing their secondary school teachers. I do wonder if my kids will come back next year to see me. =( I do hope that they will!

I have my fair share of presents this year. Loads of stuff toys(upper sec), mugs, home baked cookies and chocolates. Cards I like the best because they're words from a student's heart. The cards and chocolates from my darlings in the lower sec also touched me a great deal, seeing as I'm always yelling at them or making them clean up different places for detentions. But I'll still see them in the years to come so I'm not feeling particularly sentimental about them. Plus I think they spent too much on Teachers' Day. The poor things. I feel kinda bad.

But it really makes me wonder if it's just a popularity contest. When I first decided to join the profession, my brother told me that it's not a popularity contest, so I don't have to bother if the kids like me or not. The important thing is to be an efficient and effective teacher. I've since realised that his words are true and yet lacked an additional dimension to the reality. It is indeed gratifying to be appreciated. As one of my colleagues put it, once a year, we accept their "lies" without further questions. It does feel real good when your kids (for whom you have suffered and slaved hellishly the entire year) called you out and celebrate the day with you with something THEY had planned. The gifts made me feel..."awww... you guys are so sweet". Right until one stupid kid told me he bought me the soft toy because it reminded him of me and it was piglet from Winnie the Pooh. =_= Needless to say, he got smacked on Teachers' Day.
My form class... well, some of them at least. =)

My kids, with dan in the background playing with one of my gifts... a giant banana... =_= Thought it looks rather obscene in his hands. =P

Oh well, there will be good years with nice kids and there will be lousy years with horrid children. The important thing is to take each year as it comes and look forward to a better year.

Nat and Wen

The Classic Wen Pose! Haha... with the Bhai gal trying to squeeze in at the corner.

Me and the spastic Beng. Thought I'd include his face since he's forever taking pictures for others.

The Humanities Dept!!

Oh btw, dinner was disappointing... but I guess that sort of bonded us together even more... complaining about the food after dinner over drinks at Bar Stop. Drinks were ok I guess but Loser Tan was tired and I guess I was too, so we decided to leave earlier and ended up waiting at least 40 minutes for a cab. Murphy's Law really does hold true. Whatever can go wrong, WILL go wrong. The moment we walked out of the small street, empty cabs started to turn in. The moment we crossed the road, empty cabs started to zoom down the other side. Even calling a cab doesn't work because of the heavy call volume. =_= But we made it safely home in the end. =)

This year (so far) has been a good year for me. My only wish is that it will be a good one for my graduating kids as well.

Tension Headaches

Well, I've finally seen a doctor for my frequent bouts of headaches. As it turns out, I've got tension headaches. At least that's all the symptoms seem to point to. I sure as hell hope it's just that and nothing more serious. =_=


Last week of the term is upon us! I'm really exhausted. Maybe that's why I get these headaches so often now. 1 week of holidays will be used to clear backlog of work. No rest for the wicked I guess

A step away from financial ruin...my darling FFD, we're bad for each other!

Heh. Met up with J, my FFD (Fellow Financial Disaster) today for dinner and some shopping. Had a great time talking, laughing and singing (or rather... attempting to sing) Mika's songs. Oh... and we spent lots of money too. An outing wouldn't be complete without us signing away loads of our hard earned cash. =_= That's why we're living from hand to mouth most of the time... T_T

Bought something new. Made me happy. Hehe... maybe the fact that I don't have to go to school tomorrow is making me happy as well. hehehe...

Ps: I'm also extremely consoled that some of my kids actually assured me that they would study for my mock exam on wed and some actually called me up to check which chapters are going to come out for the exam. Coming from them... it's pretty rare and I'm actually pleased by their actions. =)

Friday is over... T_T

2 more days and it's back to school for me... T_T

But at the very least, I managed to get away from the sickening place for a while. Haha...

Went shopping today with PN (psychotic nat) and the Bhai gal. Didn't find anything though... *sigh* but it's ok! Need to save some money anyways. After Bhai left to meet her mum, we met up with Loser Tan to watch this Bollywood movie starring Shah Rukh Khan!!!!


Oh gosh! He's so cool! And it truly was an experience watching a Bollywood movie in a cinema! People were cheering and clapping at exciting parts of the movie. Instead of watching a match in the movie, its as though you're watching THE match, live in the stadium. Pretty cool!

Wasn't really busy today but had so many things to do that I didn't think about it the whole day! I reckon it takes time to forget. But at the very least, I'm making an effort! =)

Drinking party at Alcoholip's place...

Went to WP's place last night with the tampinisians(and some ex-tampinisians)... and we had quite a bit to drink. We ate, talked, laughed, played ridiculous games and had basically a whale of a time. Pizza, KFC, Sushi, Ice-cream... and of course, lots of alcohol. I was quite smashed though. I blame the stupid Beng. =_= Though it could be that I was just lousy.


Beng and Alcoholip acting gay...


A group picture of sort...


Alcoholip posing...


Psychotic Nat (super serious when playing computer things and other stuff that requires competition *shivers*)


Some of the drinks we had...


Me and Pawi!... halfway gone at this point in time...

No hangover the next morning! It's a miracle! =)

Finally!

Finally! I can breathe again... Hurray for the long weekend! I've not felt so good for such a long time! =)

Today was the celebrations for national day and I took lots of pictures... as usual. =P Most of the pictures are of my form class. Am going to miss them when they're gone no matter how irritating they can be... After all, they're my first form class.

2/3 of my class. The 1/3 who's Chinese did not turn up. =_=

One of my favourite kids. Ain't she sweet?

My idiot boys... adorable sometimes... only sometimes


They're cute when they're not being irritating... haha...


My 'adorable' kids. Not so ‘adorable’ and all grown up… hahaha…