He is A.T.T.A.C.H.E.D.

He is attached. No wonder he didn't ask me out on my birthday. I will never get my ruby gems from him. SIGH. Whatever will happen, will happen. What is not mine, will never be mine.

Journey 2007

Journey 07 ended yesterday night at NAFA Theatre. This year we didn't have much time for rehearsals. That explains why my bowings were messy as well as I can't manage a few parts of the repertoire. SIGH. Never felt this helpless before. I even felt like pulling out at the last minute.

Rehearsals were screwed up. But luckily, we managed to pull through the concert. Barber in Seville was never-ever so nicely played. I was like "WOW" after the struck of the last chord.

Harold in Italy was ok. Not as bad as I thought it would. Tchaikovsky's String Serenade was ok. Managed to do Waltz properly. Sun Ke's Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto was good!!

There were alumni who came to watch. Some unexpected faces, and some older alumni were back. It's heart-warming to see alumni giving us their support! Yiting gave me a blue flower!! I LOVE BLUE FLOWERS!! THANK YOU YITING!

After the packing up, we sat at Mr Bean's. The usual thing we always do after concerts. The food is quite nice! HEHE. Left the place at about 115am. Was really very tired. Burnt-out over the whole week's daily rehearsals. My left shoulder and arm is very very tired! Have to put YOKO YOKO. And got a red mark on my shoulder. PAINFUL!

Some photos:

Andeline and I

Me, Gerard, Yiting

Violin I Section

Full Orchestra with Dr Yeo in Viola Solo

Full Orchestra Group Photo

NOW IT'S BACK TO WORK!

BOO HOO

The website I pay to download music is now closed!!! AND I HAVE CREDITS WITH THEM!!!! NOW I CAN'T GET MY MONEY BACK!!!

And I only realised it today!!! IT WAS CLOSED DOWN 3 MONTHS AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBSSSSSSSSSSSS

Flowers for Jiehui on her Birthday

Changes

Hiiiii, it has beeeeeeen so long since I blogged. Ever since school started, I have been kept super busy. Cannot really take it anymore. Everyday go home at 6pm, and I was locked in the staff room last Friday!!! Just feel like crying inside!!

Anyway, so many changes took place in school. Feel like crying!! Now need to draw markers and only got one ream of white plain paper for the whole semester. Why must we be restricted to all these when they are a necessity??? I just don't understand the management. They always decide things without consulting us. And stick a piece of dumb white paper on the wall above the photocopy machine one early morning to "inform" us of the change. I mean, can't they just inform IN ADVANCE during the torturous weekly staff meeting?!?!?!?! ARRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! And now, they want to rearrange the tables in the staff room. I think I'm going to get affected. Anyway, maybe one day when I reached school, I won't find my things there. BECAUSE they will take action before informing.

Was so stressed up over the second observation. In the end, Number 2 wasn't free to come in. So only RO came in. Damn damn stressed. Cos' it's my second chance to prove myself. Luckily, the review was good. I hope Number 2 won't have time to come in in Term 4 and RO can submit this observation for evaluation.

MH is coming home this Friday!! YEAH! Don't know to feel happy or sad. Happy because there will be someone to enjoy food with me. Sad because the house will be noisy and the toilet will smell and more plates to wash. BOO HOO.

Went house hunting for the past few weeks. Most probably the en bloc will be successful. So tiring to go house after house man!! Cos our criteria is so high. Mum wants a good and big kitchen, MK wants a room by himself which means the house must have four bedrooms, rooms must be big enough to put study tables, wardrobes and beds, and for me, another piano. Then the house cannot face east or west, must be accessible, and most importantly must give a good home feeling. SO you say la, how difficult it is?!!??! Then there were a few choices to select from. Eventually, we got the last house we saw. Haha. 145 sq m. Expensive, cos' property prices are so damn high now. Now still undergoing paper work. It'll be done maybe in Nov. Then we'll renovate the house, and move in hopefully by June 08. Hehe. When MH comes back, we can show him the house.

1st Blood Test

There was a free blood test for all staff today. With MUCH effort making time out of my heavy timetable today, 200 cc of my blood was taken out from my left hand. I even signed for extra tests to be done on my blood. Total cost was $188. ZZZZZZ heart pain.

The needle didn't make much pain at all! I was so surprised by the gentleness of the nurse. But my blood flowed so slowly, I sat there for more than 5 min to get 200 cc of blood out. And my left hand was numb throughout cos' the nurse did not loosen the constriction band on my arm.

HMMMM..... even more thoughts has to be put in if I want to donate my blood. My brother always asks me to donate blood, but I fear that HUGE needle. Now with my blood flowing so SLOWLY, how much time will I need to fill that bag of blood?!?! Oh man, I think my whole body will go numbbbbbbbbbbbb.

Back from Beijing

Oh I'm back! The trip was overall - FUN. Of course, there were many times when I was pissed off by my students. The food was not bad, despite most of the meals were vegetable-based. The best of all is I managed to eat my MA LA NIU WA and SHUI ZHU YU.

The hotel stays were memorable - all alone by myself! HEHE. Then some teachers and I went drinking beer and eat meat-sticks and talked. It was a really enjoyable time together. The tour guides were also nice. I managed to have some good chat sessions with them.

Didn't buy much there. Only a HU LU SI (chinese musical instrument that is like a flute blown vertically). A top that I can wear for racial harmony day. A packet of dried MA LA steamboat paste.

I think I don't mind going again next year. Just hope I go with the same company again. ^_^

Trip to Beijing

Tom afternoon, I'll be flying to Beijing. Taking Singapore Airlines there! WOW! I wanna watch movies and listen to music and play games!!! I hope my students DON'T bother me!!! It'll be a 6-hour flight there, reaching there around 11pm. Then we have to take the coach for about 45 min, then perhaps wait another 1 hour to check-in. I just hate the process of checking-in. Then have to unpack, bathe and check on the STUDENTS!!! Then, sleep. I think it'll be around 2:30am already!!! SHUCKS LOH!! And guess what? Have to wake up at 6am again! And they will have breakfast, travel to school in coach for half hour, and hopefully reaching the school by 730am where the school will welcome us with..... Lion Dance perhaps? HAHA!

Oh man! I'm foreseeing SUPER boredom when students go for their lessons. Maybe I'll just nap in the lounge. I HOPE THERE IS A LOUNGE FOR US!

Ever since Minkie went to serve the nation, the house is left with 4 members. A nice number to sit round the coffee table for table while enjoying the 7pm drama serials and MH complaining about brown rice. Then MH left for US, leaving 3 members. So I made a point to always be home for dinner. Now I'm going Beijing tomorrow, the house will be cold with 2 members. =( And when July comes, it'll be left with me cos' my parents will be away in Japan and MH won't be back yet. LONELY LONELY ME!

I hope to be able to relax and have fun during the China trip. Then when I'm back, it's hectic cos' next day gotta give out report books and surely got SJAB camp stuff to settle. Then 3rd June will be going Subang Jaya, then to Redang!! WAHAHA! Alrite, I must remember to work too. Time is not enough.

Happy 22nd Birthday Carey!! *Ribit Ribit!*

Letter from Management

*To:*

*Subject:*

Letter from Management to All Employees

*To all Employees: *

*Effective January 2007*

*Dress Code *

1. It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a pay raise.
2. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a pay raise.
3. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a pay raise.

* Sick Days*

We will no longer accept a doctor's certificate as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

*Holiday Days*

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday & Sunday.

*Compassionate Leave*

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend to the arrangements. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

*Toilet Use*

1. Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the cubicles.
2. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the cubicle door will open, and your picture will be taken.
3. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company notice board under the "Chronic Offenders" category.
4. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sanctioned under the company's mental health policy.

*Lunch Break*

1. Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more so that they can look healthy.
2. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.
3. Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. Remember we are an employer of choice and we are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

* Management*

Overseas to Beijing

3 more days and I'll be in Beijing already. This time is not with my family, but STUDENTS. Yes... they are going for an immersion trip. Good thing about going there is I get to eat "MA LA" food again!!! YUMMY! And I get to go to BIG bookshop to buy books!!!!! YEAH!!! BAD side is the boring part with the kids and no free time to do own stuff. Anyway, I will look forward to coming back, because I'll be going Redang again!! This time is with my parents and auntie and uncle. YEAAAAH!! I'm going to the clear waters and nice beach with fine sand!!!!

Look at what I found on the internet!! A newspaper generator!! So cool!

This is the Nike bag I bought! The borders are lime green, and the bag is dark navy blue in colour. NICE NICE??

The Phantom of The Opera

I must say the opera was SUPER DUPER FANTASTIC!!!!!!! CP, JH and I went to watch the matinee show today at Esplanade and our seats were very good!! Close to the stage and eye-level!! Everything was so perfect!

The stage was very cleverly put up, with many beautiful backdrops, props, curtains and smooth transitions between the scenes. And there were gun shots and some pyrotechnics that blinded my eyes!!

Then there was the beautiful songs and voices from the cast. The price for the ticket was totally worth the show!! You should have seen the chandelier moved up and down, and the Phantom suspended in the middle of the hall. Read: HALL, not STAGE! And in the Phantom's lair, the water was so real-like and the boat moved with perfect ease. The water was done by lotsa smoke from the dry ice. Then there were "electric" candles that were so pretty and they actually "reflected" in the water. I love that scene best!!

After the intermission, Act 2 was the Masquerade and I was totally dazzled by the bright and colourful costumes and lightings!! It was REALLY spectacular!

The show ended with the Phantom performing a "magic" trick! He covered himself with a black cloth and POOF! He disappeared right in front of everybody!! WOW!!! REALLY GREAT SHOW! If you would like the full story, you would have to see the film version because the show ended with Meg holding onto the mask and looking at the audience. I WANNA WATCH IT AGAIN! This is the best musical I've watched!! SPLENDID!! Or as Raoul said when Christine was singing "Think of Me" in Hannibal: BRAVO!!!

I bought the program booklet ($25) and mug ($15) as momento. The mask on the mug appears when hot water is poured in. HAHA! I LOVE IT!

Looking for A New House

My area has finally been successfully en-bloc-ed. I have always wanted to move to a new home. Now the chance is here.

The problem now is the search for a new house. My mum wants to stay back in Tampines. *SIGH* So we are searching for flats around Tampines MRT. I want to renovate my own room. Paint nice colours, make a L-shape table, a TV point, LAN point, phone point, AIR CON unit, music corner with my piano and jigsaw and nice curtains. Oh man, this is just too exciting!!!

On the other hand, I think I'm going to miss my neighbours. They are so tolerant with my heavy banging of Beethoven's Sonatas and chicken-screeching violin out-of-tunes. You have seen or heard so many stories of nasty neighbours. I am afraid to meet one!!!!

And I'm going to miss this current flat I'm staying for 19 years - the familiar route from Qiaonan Primary School to my home, the CC where I first learnt piano, art, tuition, reading room which I used to study to survive my O levels, the 292 bus stop where my first bf picked me up from, the park where I broke up with my last bf and the view out from my bedroom's window. There are just too many to state.

But there are also many unhappy moments which I want to forget - the piece of wall where my mum banged my head into, the window in the kitchen which I wanted to jump off from, my bedroom's door where I used to close to cry inside...

Anyway, I look forward to my new home.

Life

My colleague's mother passed away. The second impact came to her less than a month later - her husband contracted cancer. My primary. secondary and JC friend cum neighbour lost her mother too. It was an unexpected death. I attended two wakes in a week. During the wakes, they grieved over their mothers' death and recalled the good old days with their mothers. Unknowingly, my tears also struggled around the rims of my eyes, and dripped uncontrollably.

I'm glad my family members are well. Treasure them before it's too late.

1st break

CNY was over very soon. It was not the first time I didn't enjoy myself much. Maybe the time spent with cousins was too short. Maybe I felt left out by my cousins. But the food was good this year, because my mum spent lotsa time preparing food in SG and bringing it over to MSIA.

Since I don't know when, I started to change. I became anti-social. Is it due to my busy schedule? Friends jio me out, but I just don't feel like going out. I prefer to spend time with myself. Why am I like this?

I'm not producing good results at work. It's really disheartening. Sigh, and I know I cannot satisfy everybody and make everybody like me. The one week break is coming. I'm looking forward to take a good break.

Last week I went for SPA course. And I met my secondary 4 form teacher!! Oh man! I was so delighted to see him again after 9 years!! And the best is HE REMEMBERED ME!!! Then I realised he is actually quite tall leh! I think he is taller than 1.8m We chatted quite a bit and I got to understand him a lot more. I even asked him a question whether is he a jovial person in realistic. He replied it was his first year of teaching and he heard many terrible stories about my class, and many teachers were telling him about my class. Hence, he had to put a stern face. But he added that my class was his best class with 100% distinction in Science. After our class, he used our results to motivate his other classes. He also added that he would used a different appraoch for my class now - show more care and concern. He also said that many classmates were spoilt. But I didn't ask who. One thing that didn't change was that he was still defensive of himself. The second day of training, he was only there for 2 hours. I'm touched he remembered me.

Teachers will touch your hearts. Even though my whole class hated him, I am glad he made a difference in my life.

I hope this will push me on. Meanwhile, I must take a good break. 2 sets of Korean drama are waiting for me.

At a Cross-Junction

Long time no post. Haiz. Firstly CONGRATS to my conductor on his marriage! Playing Wedding March at his church was a very great experience. YT actually teared during the solemnisation. Oh man! The bride was so PRETTY!!

Have been very busy everyday ever since the opening of school. 6pm is my average daily knock-off time. *sobz* There is so much work to be done. After I go home, still need to work till 12 midnight. Some days I am just so tired that I sleep at 10pm. In school, there is hardly free time to do markings too. Not even say to reply SMSes. *SOBZ even louder*

I haven't been going out, very long time never go catch a movie. Only been to Eastpoint Mall and Tampines Central to buy necessities. Basically, biscuits, coffee and Pokkey (is this how you spell?) to put in office. And I have developed 10 photographs to put them on my softboard. Part of my softboard is magnetic, so I lined them up and stick them using magnets. So when I'm down, there is you supporting me! I needa get a life soon!!

I'm feeling quite sad today. "Do you understand what I mean, Jessica? You cannot write in this way." my supervisor was telling me. She was going through the Work Review Form with me. Basically this form is like Appraisal Form. Somehow I felt reprimanded. I'm supposed to typed in my targets for the year and let her vet. It's SO difficult to type the stupid form, because there are so many guidelines to follow. Plus my poor command of ENGRISH, I just hate to do it!! Plus plus the stupid brain of mine in its stupid shell. Hello, I don't even have a sample on how to write that thing loh! I HATE ADMIN WORK! IT'S ENDLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just wanna teach and do marking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't even have time to come up with a creative lesson!! WHY is my job so contradicting!?!?!??!?! I'm so confused now! What am I assessed for? Whom do I care first - me or the students? WHO comes first?!?!!?!?

Rain's New Movie

Look at this! Muahaha!! Although critics say the movie is not good, and Rain himself said, "You have to watch this movie to see Jung Ji Hoon, not Rain.", I will go watch it!

Till now I don't really understand why he said that. Maybe I'll let you know when I've watched it.

Rain's World Tour: Singapore

I WENT I WENT I WENT!!!!!! Although it was the cheapest ticket, I could see him because my seat section is nearest the stage at the circle seats. I grabbed MOS Burger from TM and took cab down to Indoor Stadium. TM was full of people waiting for cab, so I went over Century Square and there was no queue at ALL!!! Easily, I reached the stadium around 730pm. The concert is at 8pm.



The overview of the stadium. People are slowly going in. And I saw Renfred from Campus Superstar there too!



Then I found the East entrance and there was so many people. So I queued and got into the indoor stadium.

There was sales of Rain's limited edition stuff!!! OMG! There were many people crowding around the table. Hence I decided to go toilet first. And the queue was LOOOOOOOOOOONG. After toilet, I went to grab Rain's limited edition stuff! I got his calendar, program booklet and handphone strap. Total damage to wallet = $68. I regretted not getting the cap because when I saw people wore them, it was so chio loh, with his signature at the side of the cap. There was also towel set, postcards, facial masks, notebook, pendant, POP poster, DVD... And I met this IDIOTIC guy who cut my queue. TMD. Not gentlemanly at all. That explains why he is ugly, cos' he has negative kharma. BLEAH.







8pm. People were still going in. I found my seat at 815pm after waiting to buy Rain's stuff at the stall. It was then that I realised my seat was not bad. HAHA.



View from the top. See... the stage is so near me.

830pm. Fans were shouting "Jung Ji Hoon" repeatedly. And there were cheers. It's starting, I tell myself. Heart is feeling excited.



The lights went out. ~~~~~SCREAMS~~~~~~ The backdrop fell and drums thump!! Fire sparks went up. Music came. It's the arrival of a submarine. Pyrotechnics went beaming around the whole stadium. One of the central screens lifted up, and a white life-size submarine appeared. It then "exploded" into two, sideways, and there was Rain, half-kneeling, in white overall suit and Aviator sunglasses.

~~~~~SCREAMS~~~~~~

The concert started with the song - It's Raining. Fans were cheering and screaming. The atmosphere was high; warming-up was not needed. A few songs followed with great dancing steps and perfect music-dance-action-effect timings. Effects were like the stamping of his foot in-sync with the drums and fireworks. Yes... there were REAL fireworks!! And there were lotsa them!!! OMG! It was SPECTACULAR!!!

Rain spoke in English. It was not bad, though some of the words wasn't pronounced accurately. But it was good enough to let him communicate with the audience. He teased the audience when they screamed as he attempted to take off his sunglasses. He's so cute!!!! Then there was one segment where Rain changed into Chinese Kungfu clothes and demonstrated Drunken-Fist. COOL!!! At the two sides of the stage were also long red translucent cloth that wrote "Zui Quan" in Chinese and his concert logo.



Of cos, there was RAIN. It is his famous segment of all his concerts - singing, kneeling under the rain. Rain called all of us - his babies.

All his songs were with good dance steps. The song on the two conveyor belts was quite an eye-opener. He was singing with a standing microphone studded with crystals and moving sleekly on the two contrary motion conveyor belts. Who says only Stephanie Sun has crystal-studded microphone? Rain's one is a standing microphone. More crystals than Stephanie Sun. What's the big hoo-ha about her microphone?



Back to the concert.... Then there was throwing of towels after he wiped his sweat to the audience, and a bouquet of flowers. *Meltzzz* He was holding on to his left hand at the last few songs. I could feel his hand hurt but was still performing at his best. Towards the end, Rain was saying his thank you's. I was sad it was ending. I was tearing a bit because he was so sincere in saying his thanks - thank us for supporting him, and that he will always perform his best, work hard and also his uncertainty in breaking the US market. The last song was Friends. And he stood in the central stage, got elevated up, and wings appeared on the screen behind him.



Then he kissed goodbye to all of his audience. He is so dashing, so charismatic... *meltzzzz*

Encore piece....... he was dressed in red cotton sporty overall with "Rain's World" printed at the back. It was a lively piece, ending the whole 2-hour performance.

Curtain call.

Rain once again kissed goodbye to his audience.

************************************************************************************

I hope Rain will come give a concert in Singapore again.

East entrance was nearest to the bus stop. At the bus stop, there were 3 buses waiting there! Each going to Boon Lay, Tampines, and Woodlands. WOW! Got direct bus! I didn't know SBS would do this kind of arrangement. I wonder whether it was Unusual Productions who arranged for these buses. Nonetheless, the bus journey cost $2 but brought me back home in half an hour. While waiting for the bus to depart, I saw a crowd of people outside the stadium. Then there was flashes of light from cameras. I wonder if those people are taking photos with Rain!!! Cos' there wasn't many people at the bus stop!

Rain, hope you have a good rest and all the best for your world tour. I'll support you.

Sweet dreams tonight. ^_^

Screwed

Screwed my first lesson with my form class. Didn't want to. It's all because I didn't prepare well enough. Haiz. Must put more effort from next week onwards.

I went to search for my student's blog. Enter a few keywords and you can actually find them very easily. And once you find one, you find the rest. Because they are all linked.

Note of warning: It might be demoralising to read their comments.

So well, I found one. And it was on this screwed lesson. And I realised one thing - besides giving stern faces on the first day, the first lesson is equally important. It determines the impression you give the students - whether you're a good teacher or not. And this first impression is screwed by me. I hate myself.

Everything just started wrongly. We should never NEVER NEVER be introduced as trainee teachers. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT MAKES MY LIFE DIFFICULT.

Only You

Finished another Korean soapy before school opens! This show is quite nice. The starting is fast. But however when it gets to episode 4 onwards, the show becomes draggy. It kind of spoils the good starting. Nevertheless, it has a happy ending, so you should watch. Haha!



The second female lead (in pink) is also the second female lead who acted in Sang Doo! Let's Go To School (together with Rain). She looked prettier in Sang Doo. However her role in this show wasn't bad.

The male lead (in white) has charisma. Hoo hoo. I wonder why they always never fail to charm me. Hiak hiak.

New Year's Eve Dinner

Happy 2007!! Von, JH, CP and I met at Taka Crystal Jade Ginseng Chicken Restaurant for dinner last night. It's supposed to be Korean cuisine. The cost is not cheap, plus we needed to wait for quite a while even though we made a booking. Here's what we ate:



Ginseng chicken, seafood in spicy soup (inside there's cod fish, flower crab, scallop, prawns, golden mushrooms, udon, toufu, mussels, seaweed, Japanese fish cake) and Teriyaki chicken. SO filling loh!!! I couldn't even finish my rice. Worth to eat! Will go there again if I have the chance to!!!

After drinks at Coffee Bean, CP drove us to his condo in his white Mazda 3. At his place, we played poker where Von made a lot of stupid yet funny stunts. Then she went to watch Goong on CP's pc and the 3 of us played 3-legged majong.





JH fell asleep very quickly after we turned in. Left me and Von there doing stupid things - disturbing each other on bed. Haha... in the end she also fell asleep. But it was fun. She has her cute side.