Finally the end of the Practicum

Yeah! The practicum has finally ended!! I do not have to wake up at 530am everyday and can sleep as long as I want to. I smell Freeeeedom!

Here are some photos taken during the last few days. Memories...

Stressed out with all the last minute work.

Table shared with another NIE Trainee Teacher. The shot was taken from the pantry. Now do you understand why I felt like I was an animal in a zoo exhibit?

Now to "show off" what the children got for me as farewell presents. Haha!

Tada!

This drawing really tickled me. I nearly fell down in class the other day coz I was "playing" with my heels. And this girl saw what happened and we had a good laugh over it. In the end, she drew this picture for me. Haha!

A card drawn by a very sweet Pri 2 girl. Hmm.. Is there a hidden meaning to the card? Why tiger?? Haha!

Although the appearance is not very attractive, but it's the thought that counts. From the boys in my P2 English class. =)

=)

The inside of this card touches me. It has the drawings of all the Maths activities I have done with the students. I didn't know the activities left such a deep impression on that student but I'm glad they did.

A really fulfilling 5 weeks. I kinda miss having a class of my own. I have a lot of plans in mind and hopefully, I will be able to carry them out soon. Hmm.. Maybe not so soon coz I wanna cross over to the degree programme. =P

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On Saturday, my club's Freshman Orientation Camp '08 was held in NIE. Finally... After months of preparation, seeking of sponsers and meetings, I'm glad that everything went well. Phew~ I was happy when I heard that they like the goodie bags. I have my Vice-President to thank for helping me along the way. I couldn't have done it on my own. Kudos to him!

The goodie bags station.

The goodies in the bag!

After the event, we went to this restuarant called "Ju" at Paradiz Centre for lunch/dinner. They served steamboat and there was one steamboat for each of us. It was a really good recommendation from my ex-roomie!!! The food was damn good and the service was unbelievable! It has entered my list of favourite restuarants!

That was the appetiser. Can you see the egg?? The egg was really amazing! It had a secret....

The inside was half-cooked! And it tasted sweet! Yummy! The manager treated us to a second round of eggs coz my ex-roomie and I pestered the manager for the recipe. Keke!

Hold on to your seats. I am going to introduce the main dishes....

Fish steamboat! A WHOLE FISH!! And it was super-duper fresh! We were halfway through our meal when my roomie exclaimed out loud! The friend who ordered the fish steamboat was eating the fish raw! A bit wild, huh! But it proved that the fish was fresh.

Chicken and pork combo.

My chicken set. It was really, really delicious.

Photo of the girls.

Photo of us! (I was ordering a cab on the phone. Keke!)

Now with all these behind me, I am ready to take on new challenges that may come my way in Year 2. Jia you, jia you, jia you!

Wan Lin's and Collin's Convocation

I've seen them graduate from Commonwealth Secondary, different JCs and now, University!! Time really whizzes past!

These two girls are some of the brightest students I know. So there isn't any doubt whether they could survive University. It was just the matter of grades. Well, both girls scored 2nd Upper Honours! Smart, right?? Haha!

I am sooo happy for them! It was the time to reap what they have sown for the past 15 years. Here are the photos from their convocation!


We were commenting that the background looks so "NDP". Keke!


The two graduates. =)

The 5 of us. Sherlyn was absent. =(

We were lamenting that the strangers we approached had no phototaking skills. So we rather take our own pictures. =P

The not formal photos. Haha! I think we were the only ones doing that in the Auditorium.

Lastly, wanna wish the girls good luck in their new jobs! I believe they will continue to excel in the next stage of their lives! *Nods*

A Little Corner in Singapore

I guess I really have to thank Ethel. Because of her, my dad always bring us out occasionally and we will explore the different corners of Singapore, trying to dig out interesting places to visit or dine from.

This time round, we discovered Pasir Ris Park. You might be thinking, "Erm... Hello.. We all heard of it before. Big deal." Yeap, it is a big deal because at Pasir Ris Park, you can see these!

Ponies and horses! You can get to feed and ride them! How cool is that! (The ponies look like they have rebonded their hair. Haha!)




We bought a packet of Alfafa to feed the ponies. At first, I was rather scared because I wouldn't want the ponies to chew off my fingers. In the end, I gritted my teeth and allowed the ponies to snuffle my palms and lick the alfafa. Super disgusting yet fun! Haha! My hands were covered in ponies' drool after feeding them. Little Ethel had no qualms about feeding them. Brave girl, she is. If the ponies could bite away my fingers, they could bite away her whole palm! Luckily, those ponies are tamed enough for us to feed them. I also tried to feed the white horse but I stopped when I could feel its teeth rubbing against my palm. Scary...

After Pasir Ris Park, we went to the new games complex beside Downtown East. It is filled with games stores and eateries! You can find arcade, bowling alley, children's indoor playground and ice-skating rink, board games cafes, etc, all under one roof. There is also an indoor ferris wheel and we tried that out!



The little child inside me is awakened whenever I spend time with Ethel. Guess I had as much fun as her. It is a good thing my dad is crazy over her and the boys. =)

Roller Coaster Day

Today is one of my most "happening" day. I have experienced moments of sadness, happiness and embarassment.

Today, there was a speaker from SPCA who came to our school to give a talk on animal care. She told us a story and when she finished, I was holding back my tears desperately. The story goes like this. When she was a volunteer in SPCA, she once handled a case. One day, she saw a man arrived at the SPCA with a dog. She showed us a picture of the dog and we could see that the dog was in a terrible condition. It was old with wrinkles. Most of the hair had fallen off and there were batches of bald skin all over his body.

The man strolled up to the building, kicked the door open and approached the receptionist. He said something which made me want to hit him. He said, "I want to kill my dog." He wanted to put the dog to sleep! Helpless, the receptionist gave the man a form to fill in.

Meanwhile, the dog was looking downcast. However, when the man came out of the building, the dog became happy again. It bounced up and down and barked at its owner. But you know what the owner did?? He slapped the dog! Bastard!

The speaker saw what had happened and ran after the man. But the man drove quickly away. She went back to the dog and tried to elicit a response from it by making the clicking noises. The dog ignored her. She lifted the dog's chin and the dog was crying! I didn't know dogs can cry! I really feel for the dog. In the end, the dog was put to sleep. Sad ending.

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That was the sadness part. The happy part of my day is that I finally found my dress for Maggie's wedding! You know where I found it in? After soooo many days of searching in town?? Jurong Point!! And you guess which shop? Ice Lemon Tea!! Haha! So amazing right?! I also bought a lot of things today. Shoes, socks and blouse. The best part is that I forgot to bring my wallet out today. Luckily, my mum accompanied me today. Hee!

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The embarrassing part happened during dinner. After shopping, my mum and I went to Fish n Co for dinner. We had the seafood platter for 2 and I asked for fried calamari but they gave me grilled ones. Grrr... And the grilled calamari nearly killed me. I don't know if you realise that sometimes calamari has this "skin-like" thing that is difficult to chew. I choked on that thing during dinner today. It was so bad that I had to reach into my throat and tried to pull it out. But it slipped and I started gagging. Luckily, I didn't vomit. It was still SUPER EMBARRASSING, though! I don't know how many people saw me reaching into my throat. Argh...

So, today is really a roller coaster ride for me. So happening...

Miss Complain Queen

I've been debating with myself whether I should blog this post. I do not want to get into any form of trouble. Maybe I thought too much because 1) nobody in my new company knows my blog address 2) I didn't mention any names of my ex- and new companies before 3) It is not as if many people read my blog. But I am a very cautious person and I've seen enough examples of people getting caught over what they wrote in their blogs.

BUT I want to write about this! I have few people to complain and whine to now so blogging is my solace. (Friends (you know who you are), please meet up soon!!)

It is natural for people to compare their companies, I believe.. I am no exception. Now, I am blogging from my new company at my desk. Hmm... My desk = one table shared by two people, no cupboards, no powerpoints. And my "desk" is in front of the pantry.

I understand that there are not enough tables in my new company. I really understand. But that does not make me happier. I feel like I am an exhibit/animal in the zoo. When my colleagues want to have a drink, they have to walk pass me and inevitably, they will look at what I am doing. I cannot even have a 5-min nap. The worse thing is, some of my colleagues do not treat this "desk" as my workplace. They left food packages on my desk, had meeting on my desk, wanting to dispose visitors at my desk... Argh! No privacy! And so.. I leave a mess on "my" desk.. Just like how a dog will pee in a place to mark his territory.

Another thing that irks me is that I have to wear convered shoes or shoes with back strap to work. Argh! My "octopus-tentacle" feet are back! I have to spend money on plasters so that I can provide some sort of protection for my poor feet. I remembered that when I was 19, I talked about acquring the kung-fu of wearing heels. I have learned that skill and now, I have to train the skin on my feet to be thicker. Another form of kung-fu. Urgh.... It is so tough to be a woman.

Actually, these are the only 2 things that I am unhappy about at this moment. There are plenty of things I like in this new company. But people tend to dwell on the unhappy stuffs. Hmm...

Baby Blues

It is back to school tomorrow after the weekends. Haiz.. Getting a bit depressed again..

Alvin (my baby nephew) has fallen sick. He was running a fever. When he coughed, I could hear the congestion in his chest. Poor thing.. Really makes my heart ache..

Because Alvin is sick, we brought his twin brother, Aaron, out during this weekend. We hope that he will not catch anything from his brother. Alas.. Just now, Aaron started to run a temperature. *Big sigh!*

Really hope that they will get well soon! It is heart-rending to see their little bodies suffering from the illness. *Prays*

Monthly Sinus Day

Welcome to the monthly Sinus Day Carnival! We promise you loads of running, rubbing and releasing! Explosives, such as sneezes, will be released throughout the day to welcome in the Sinus Day! It will be a mucus-filled day! Woo hoo!

Sinus Day has been passed down from generations to generations. It is a tradition celebrated when there are weather fluctuations, flowering season or dusting day. It usually begins with the onset of sneezes and the celebrations will slowly... begin! There is no traditional costumes for this day but there is a must-have traditional accessory... the wonderful, super absorbent tissue papers! How ever can we forget them?

During the Sinus Day, loads of tissue papers soaked with mucus will be produced. Alas, there is no real purpose for the "mucused" tissue papers. "We are trying our best to find a use of the mucus produced. As oil prices are soaring these days, we hope that our group of scientists will invent machines that will run on mucus in replacement of fuel." Quoted by Ho Shi Yin, president of the Sinus Day committee who is also a counsellor in the Sinus Support Group.

To celebrate the monthly Sinus Day, we have prepared a series of games to spice up the carnival. There will be "See-who-can-shoot-the furthest-distance" competition, "Basket that Tissue Paper" challenge, "Longest Sneezes in a Row", and many other games! The Guinness World Record judges will also be present to count the number of the mucus-soaked tissue papers to enter us into the records. So people, let us do our best!

Enjoy the monthly Sinus Day while it last! I'll see you at the next Sinus Day!

Back to School

Depressed yet excited

Nervous yet looking-forward

Bored yet alert

Sad yet optimistic


Stress and worried and down and tired and trembly and scared...


Think it is the PMS period.. Damn..

End of Holidays

That's it. The end of my holidays as a bummer. Tomorrow, I will enter my new school for the staff retreat. I am rather apprehensive as I do not like adapting to new environment. I will just clam up and turn into a hermit. And yet, I chose to go to another school rather than returning back to my old school. Such irony, huh.

*Big sigh!* I don't know what to wear! I have already planned what I want to wear when I received an email saying that we should wear "something comfortable for physical movements" and the place to report is in the hall. (They didn't specify the instructions for the trainee teachers (us) and so I assumed we are included in the instructions.)

I don't know what to wear! I want to create a nice and professional first impression. The outfit that I planned includes heels and a cardigan. And the outfit that I have in mind for physical movements are my brother's shorts (berms to me) and an adidas shirt. The difference is so drastic! I have no clothes that fall in between these two styles. Argh! Why make life difficult for me?!

Funny huh.. The night I spent before entering a new school is about worrying what to wear. I hate it.

Ubin Camp!

Finally, I received most of my Ubin's camp photos! And I came to one conclusion(besides that the camp was fun, tiring, etc) - I have put on a hell lot of weight! It is so obvious in EVERY SINGLE photograph! URGH!!! More gym sessions, please!

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Day 1

I went to meet the tents rental company early in the morning and managed to carry the tents to Clementi Mrt Station where I would be meeting the peeps. I was there quite early and I watched the sky turned cloudy and grey. Eventually, it started to rain cats and dogs.

Dark and cloudy

Some of the blocks of flats were hidden by the heavy rain

I was rather worried at that time because we had no wet weather plans. I was afraid the others might scrap the camp.

Luckily, we have some enthusiastic and crazy people who are not going to give in to the weather. And so... We decided to travel to Changi and then made our decisions there. Phew..

The sky looked clearer at Changi village and the rain seemed lighter. We decided to check out the jetty and see if the boats were running. (They may stop if the weather is bad.)

Luck was on our side! We finally made it to Ubin!

Now, I shall let the pictures do the talking.

We started the long journey on the train...

Up and down the escalators..

On the bus...

On the boat..

Arrived in Ubin and were all suited up to go! I kept complaining that we looked like green peas and carrots but no choice, it was that or get wet. =P

We pitched out tents at Mamam Beach, known for its flying insects. 16 of us had to help to pitch the 8-man tent! What happens if there are only 8 of us?

"What are they doing?"
"Trying to set up a makeshift shelter from the rain."
"Out of 2 ponchos?!"
"Yup."
"Can't they see the big hole in the middle of the 2 sheets?"
"Ego blinded their eyes."
"Are the ponchos big enough?"
"I don't think so."
"So why are they still continuing with that?"
"Ego is their (only) main motivation and reward."
They took half an hour to realise that their efforts were in vain.

The tents were up! A group shot of us!

Some of went to sent off the non-campers to the jetty. After which, we cycled to Chek Jawa. It has undergone a revamp currently and we were curious about its new image. Here we are, on top of the watch tower where we can see most of Ubin.

At the boardwalk which leads us out into the sea.

This used to be a dilapidated haunted house/school. They renovated it into a exhibition hall. We love the cottage-like appearance!

Trying to be artistic but failed terribly.

It was ODAC Sing-a-long session after dinner. ZR printed out the song sheets for us! Haha! It was rather funny because we really poured our guts out singing! Unique experience..

After that, we went for a night walk with only 6 of us in a group. No photos though. I was damn scared.

Day 2

Woke up at 7am and started to unpitch our tents. We wanted MacDonald's breakfast!

One last group photo before we leave.

I really really enjoyed this camp! After we put on our yellow ODAC tee, it felt like we went back in time and was back in our JC days. The guys were real gentlemen during the camp and they really wowed me with their sensitivity and gentlemen ways. I felt like the girls were truly looked after during the 2 days. I like... =)

Really look forward to our next camp......

Gym Sessions

Capitalising on Birdie's holidays, I've managed to ask her to accompany me to go gym. So far, we have tried two gyms. One is at Clementi Sports Hall and the other is at Civil Service Club at Bukit Batok. The amazing thing is that both have very very good-looking guys as receptionist! Black brows, big eyes, broad shoulders, you'll get the drift. Well, source of motivation, huh? =P

Birdie and Jiang Hao is the most sociable couple I've known. On both occasion, Jiang Hao came and meet up with Birdie and I will tag along for meals. Ya, like one huge glowing light bulb. But they totally put me at ease and the conversation was fine. Thanks, Birdie, for accepting this light bulb on both occasions! =D

I cut my hair again! Now, my bangs are super short (according to my standards). Hope it will grow longer soon because short bangs do not make me look fierce enough. Haha!

(Ubin post up as soon as I received the pictures!)

Birdie: Wah.. The (reception) guy is very very good-looking!
Me: Yah!

Birdie: And he is so tall, too.
Me: I bet he's gay.

Birdie: ??!!
Me: Good things never happen to me.

Ubin Camp, Here I come!

Yeah! In a few more hours, I will be making my way to Clementi Mrt station to meet up with my odacians for our ubin camp! Like finally... The last camp we had was back in 2004! Wow... It has been 4 long years..

That is why I decided to organise one this year. Otherwise, it will all be empty talk again. Keke! Managed to rent tents from Tent Motel since I can't contact Jia Hui who is in Australia. I hope the tents are in good condition!

Damn! Just realised I have not packed yet! Gotto go! Ubin, here we come!!

Between Coke and Water

A lone man is walking in the dessert. His feet drags at the dry sand and in his eyes, there is a vacant look. “Water”, his dry lips crack. It has already been 3 days without water. His skin clings to his bones as he clings to the last hope of finding water.

Suddenly, he sees something shiny on his right. He turns and looks and behold! It is a glass of water! He musters the new energy hope brings, shoots out his right hand and grabs the glass of water. He takes a gulp from the glass. He smiles. The water refreshes his soul and new life pour into him. His eyes lose the vacant stare as hope, once again, glimmers in them. He raises the glass again and is about to take a second gulp when he notices something on his right.

It is a glass of ice cold Coke! He cannot believe his eyes! Coke! If water gives him life, then Coke gives him the will to live. Thirstily, he reaches out for the glass of Coke.

“Stop, my friend.” Is he going crazy? His mind recognizes the speaker but his heart cannot believe it. In front of him stands the devil, red and glowing and on his face is a recognizable grin.

“I am here to offer you a proposal. In your left hand, you are holding onto a glass of Coke. In your right hand, you are holding onto a glass of water. Should you wish to drink the glass of Coke, you will have to forfeit your glass of water and vice versa. Now, make your choice.” The devil grins even more widely. It seems that he is enjoying this little game he is playing with the man.

The man looks at the glass of Coke. Oh, how mysterious and dark it looks. He can almost remember the taste on the tip of his tongue; to feel it sliding down his throat and swishes in his stomach. The man grasps at the strand of the memory as the desert sucks it out of him.

He looks at the glass of water. How bland and uninviting. Moreover, he has tasted it and has lost a bit of interest in it. Why should he still choose it?

“No! Water has saved your life! How can you discard it after it saved you?” He asks himself.

“You are going to die soon anyway. Why not have some pleasure before you are gone?” The devil must have an acquaintance living in him.

“Water will quench your thirst and you may survive this ordeal! You can drink coke for the rest of your life if you get to live.”

The man looks at the glass of Coke and water. The mind argues back and forth. Which one shall he choose? Which one.


Which one will you choose? Coke or water?


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This is what happened when I can't get to sleep at night. I'll start thinking of stories.