Will be away...

Yesterday was the first string practise after about 2 months of break. But not many people turned up, and there wasn't electricity at Nanyang House, plus we were practising at the lounge. It was so noisy because the band people were there. Grrr... how many rooms do they need? First they occupy the music room, now they occupy the function room and the music room. What are they thinking?

First thing after I sat at the usual seat, the conductor asked,"Still not willing to change your violin?"

!!!!!!!!

"No money la!" I replied. He only smiled back. Then I continued,"My violin really that bad meh?"

"A bit loh!"

SIGH. Means I won't be able to improve with my current violin. But where got money to buy violin? Unless I sell away my piano?! NoOOoooo! I was a bit disheartened upon hearing this. I was the only Violin I there. It was a good thing I practised before going. Managed to do the parts quite ok. Phew.

Going Genting tomorrow and will only be back on Friday. No, not on a holiday trip. It's a school trip with the band kids. I hope nothing bad will happen during the trip.

A Happy Day Dated 23rd April 2001

I was packing through some stuff today and found this printed-out email when I was working at I Bee Am. I was sharing the story with a few colleagues there while temping. A very happy day that day cos' of a guy. Here's to share that email with you before I throw it away. Hopefully Blogspot doesn't shut down. My previous blog was terminated after the trial period, and I didn't have a backup for that. SIGH. Here's the email (typed out exactly as in the email):

Hahaah...it's Tale-Time!
Yesterday, I went to have dinner with him, as well as to see him off. Hehehhe..
The story goes like this:
- Saturday night, 21st April 2001, he SMS me asking whether I want to go along with him to buy his army stuff - bath powder
- Sunday morning, 22nd April 2001, 7+ am he SMS me, saying he fell asleep last night so didn't reply me. So I asked what time he wanted to go and buy. He said ASAP. But he didn't know what type of powder and don't know where sell. So he said he go ask around. Thought he would msg back, but waited till 11+ am, no reply. Coincidentally, my friend called, so shun bian ask her what type of powder that was. Then I sms him to tell him.
- He said he know liao. So I asked whether still need me to go with him. He said no need. His house there got supermarket. So instead he asked,"But do you want to see me off?"
- So I replied,"You want to see me is it? ... etc" But he didn't reply to this question. So in the end, I met him at Pasir Ris White Sands foodcourt for dinner.
- So met him, he told me about his life inside the army, his whole body aching la, bla bla... u know what? Oh ya, the significant part was he actually told me that he wouldn't be bringing his handphone to the 6-day field camp. So kind of hinted me that he wouldn't be messaging me for the rest of the week. Then he said if he msg me on Wed, meant that he had got hurt, bitten by scorpion!! Hahah!
- After finishing dinner, we went to the interchange to sit and talk. Btw, he suggested that. Hehe..
- Talked about camp, school, work...etc...bla bla...
- Then one of his bunk mates arrives. (He meeting his bunk there, he was earliest there). His name was Federick.
- So the first question Federick asked was, "Ta shi shui? Ni de mei mei? Heng xiang ni leh..."
- He replied,"Bu shi la... wo de fren."
- Federick continued,"Zhen de heng xiang ni leh!!!" He and I were stunned. We are not alike at all loh!! Confused Confused!!
- He then said,"Peng you la!!"
- Federick asked,"Nu peng you?"
- HE answered,"Peng you er yi lah!!"
- Federick turned to asked me,"Ni shi bu shi ta de nu peng you?"
- I answered,"Bu shi lah!!" Wah lao, he real chang qi!
- Federick then mumbled something to him that I can't hear quite clearly. But heard him saying,"...bu yao embarass ni..."
- After Federick finally understood we were just friends, he asked HIM,"Oh... na ge ni mei tian da dian hua de na ge ah?"
- He,"Bu shi la, wo na li you da dian hua? Wo msg er yi la."
- Federick," Shi meh? Msg er yi ah? Na ni mei tian da gei shui?"
- He,"Wo mei you da dian hua la!! Msg er yi!!!" So Federick also realised/noticed HE every night also messaging that someone la? And it was me all the while? Damn happy!! Hahahahah~~~~
- Then he received a call. He was asked to get black trash bags as he was early there. So we walked to NTUC. But along the way, met more of his bunk mates. It was quite a large group by the time we walked to the MRT entrance. They were talking loh... and I was like a bit extra there. So I called him and told him that I go off first, but hor, he turned back and stood real close to me. Then my hand got brush across his arm...those feeling...hmm...u know la! So he said bye bye.
- I bye bye him also la then asked him to xiao xin. Then he said,"Xi wang xia ge xin qi ke yi kan dao ni..."
- I wanted him to repeat... so I said,"Huh?"
- He replied,"Xi wang ni xia ge xin qi kan dao wo de shi hou bu shi zai yi yuan."
- I said "Choy! Bu hui de la! Ni bu hui you shi de!"
- Then the bye bye and the bye bye. Btw, he was standing very close at those last moments.
- Went home, he sms me saying he would be late for book-in. Then I replied.. bla bla.. impt part was I asked him whether I really looked older than him. He replied," No la, you look younger ok?" Not sincere enough....
- Then he sms saying that he would help me scold that guy. And said he knew I feel hurt. Hahah! So I told him don't scold the guy. After some days, I'll forget. But he didn't reply after this.
- At about 11pm, he sms saying,"This is the last time I SMS you for the week. Good night and take care" Hmmmm... so sweet...

Thank you for your time to read this. Pls feel free to voice out comments! =)

****End of Email*****

Wah so long, hehe, sorry for the poor english. At that moment, just wanted to convey the thoughts out, and was typing out very fast. Now I think I want to keep the printed email afterall! Haha. Cos' there are also replies from my colleagues. Sweet right? That was so long ago! After so many years, I believe he liked me that that time. Right now, he's still studying, but we're still in contact. I intro some tuition kids to him, and he wanted to treat me for dinner, but I rejected recently cos I was too busy with my stuff. I also know we won't be a pair, cos' he wants financial stability before getting attached. Somemore, he wants to go overseas to work after he grads. So? Conclusion: A Happy Memory.

Pains and Aches

Went to sign the TTA today. It went successful except the personnel there wasn't too friendly. And saw Nicole and Bryan and perhaps her sis there too! Nicole is going to become a teacher too! She's teaching Maths and CPA! So glad to see her again after a year plus, and glad that Bryan and her are still together!! *Clap clap*

After that, we went Congress in Suntec for our brunch. I had wanton mee. It is SUPER oily. Cost me $3.80. And the taste was ok only. My mum over-rated it. JH and CP had prata. CP said it's quite normal. Over-rated again. Anyway, the wanton mee wasn't filling.

Then we took bus 36 to East Coast Park. There I had my first blading session of 2 hours. After I got into the smelly pair of blades and guards, it started pouring and we had to seek shelter at a nearby tent. Luckily, the rain stopped 15 mins later. We then proceeded to the Newbies' Corner. Haha, there I had my first fall. Then a second. Then a third. We tried the roads during the remaining half hour. CP and JH went ahead of me. But JH said I was not bad already on my first try. Then had countless number of falls, and one of them was especially hard on my butt. I still din manage to cross the humps today. Sigh. Well, there were still a few kind souls that offered to lend a hand upon my falls. HAHA. My back started to ache a bit and I couldn't balance myself at the end, and ended up falling and falling. Sigh. It was quite a relieve after taking off the blades. But cheers, I must say I did quite well! HEHE. We proceeded to Mac for drinks and also to meet up with Von.

She came by cab, and we went cycling. JH continued to blade. We went really far this time, and I must say I'm impressed with JH's blading skills. HAA. But her left leg started not to take her mind's control, and she removed her blades. Then the dark clouds loomed, and all of us had to hurry back to return our bikes. Silly her was afraid to let me "ferry" her back. She wanted to walk the looooong distance back. But the 3 of us force her to take the lift. Haha, she was so afraid she didn't dare to move or speak while I was cycling. The always poor-stamina me began to pant, and CP took over. We were just in time to get into the shelter before rain began to pour.

We managed to get a cab to Marina Square, which was only $5.30, cheaper than to take bus! After washing up, we had dinner at Dian4 Xiao3 Er4. Long queue even before the shop was opened! We managed to be the first batch of customers to get a table. We had their house speciaties: Shi2 Quan2 Shao1 Ya1 (herbal roast duck), pork ribs and mushroom broccoli. $12 per person. The service was good, food was not bad, but the portion was a bit small.

Then we had coffee at Pacific Coffee cos' GV only left the first 2 rows of seats for Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. Sat there till 9pm and went home. We were all tired.

A fruitful day, but filled with pain. Think tom will be worse. Hehe.

The Sun is UP, yet I'm not.

It has been raining hard for the past few days. Gloomy skies and wet roads. But LOOK at today! SUNNY AND BRIGHT AND DRY! Ah, the beautiful sun!



However, I was out at Orchard with Jiehui and Yvonne on Tuesday although it was raining. JH and I met first and went shopping at Wisma. Then we had Sakae at Heeren. I found the restaurant manager very familiar and told JH he might be from the West Mall branch. Before we left to pay at the counter, I actually asked a waitress if he was transferred. And BINGO! He was! JH was stunned by what I did. Then we went to Paragon to look for presents. And guess what we saw:







They are actually earrings! And there's a mini switch behind the earrings to turn on/off the blinking lights! HAHA, what a creative design that adds to the lively mood of Christmas!

Then Yvonne came and met us at Starbucks, B1 of Paragon. She picked up a 50000 dollar note!!! But.... in Rupiah la. Haha! There was a money changer there and they were buying rupiah at 16.2. 2 grads and an undergrad could not figure out how to convert 50k rupiah to S$. OMG! We calculated from S$8100 to S$810. It turned out to be only S$8.10. HAHAHAHA! At Starbucks, we bought her a slice of warm chocolate cake cos' it was her birthday. But she was too full from her dinner at Crystal Jade and end up sharing it with us. We sat there till about 1045pm before we decided to go home as we were all very tired.

Staff dinner was held at Singapore Island Country Club (Adam Road) yesterday. They did not wear very formally. I was considered the better-dressed there. OMG, some came in jeans, tee-shirts, some even tattered. No standard karaoke competition, kelong judges for table performance item and best-dressed. Food was a disappointment. We had 12 people to a table, so squeezy. Food wasn't enough for the table.

Menu (in order):
1. Salad and fruits lobster (can't see lobster)
2. Shark's fin with fish maw (no shark's fin detected)
3. Roast Chicken (quite good with crispy skin)
4. Steamed Promfet (fishy but I like)
5. Stir-fried prawns (small ones)
7. Sea cucumber with broccoli and mushrooms (small mushrooms with small light brown sea cucumbers, a bit like fake ones)
8. E-fu noodles (half a small bowl each)
9. Yam lotus paste (yu ni) (a small scope each)

Sigh, what a let-down! I was hoping for more! And I thought people will come in pretty dresses and shiny shoes, and many people taking photograhs, but none. I expected too much. There wasn't even a lucky draw. SIGH!

The letter came. HAHA! I'll be going into NIE 3rd Jan 06! Dunno if it's a good thing or not. I'll be signing the 3-year contract this Saturday and found my 2 sureties - JH and CP. Sigh, what to do without them! So many guidelines regarding choosing of sureties.

I went back NTU a few days ago and got Chronicle. There's this article which is quite interesting: Dummy's Guide to Responsible Blogging

1. Be politically correct - Respect for others. Get your facts right about other people. This is to avoid being sued for slander. Also never say anything that would lower another person's reputation.

2. Master the art of abbreviations - Don't use names of places, schools, people on your blog that others can easily detect through search engines.
Example: Dear Diary, my name is E****** and I study in End Tee Yew. My teacher, Ms H, is so motivationally-deficient, she failed to turn up for lecture again.

3. Use a lock - some blog host requires a visitor to key in a password before the blog can be viewed.

4. Avoid taboo topics - Avoid topics on race, religion, politics and the Internal Security Act. Don't promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore.

5. Make friends with an NUS law student - This is when you don't have the money to hire a lawyer.

*Adapted from The Nanyang Chronicle - October 17, 2005, Volume 12 No. 5.*

Sigh, so much to consider when writing a blog entry. Can't let out all the frustrations, sharing of happiness and sadness!!! Sigh, what can I write then? How sad.

Hiss Hiss

Went for a concert by myself on Tuesday - Camerata de Lausanne at VCH for $18.There were 13 of them - 3 1st violins, 3 2nd violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos and 1 double bass. What attracted me was that they are chamber ensemble and their repertoire. Their repertoire:

1. Mozart - Divertimento in D Major, K 136
2. Bach - Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D Minor, BMV1043
3. Shostakovich - Prelude and Scherzo Op 11
4. Balissat - Traumerei (Dreams) for String Orchestra
5. Dvorak - Serenade for String Orchestra in E Major Op 22

They were very cool! Listened very carefully especially to the first 2 pieces because they are familar pieces to my string orchestra. A very pleasant concert. I just love Classical pieces! Don't mind Romantic too!

School closed yesterday with their Open House. It seems like its the in-thing now for schools to have open house. It dragged from 230pm to 730pm. How torturing it is. Cos there is nothing much to do. Time past more slowly when there's nothing to do. Things that happened in school for the past 2 weeks are so unclear to the new teachers, and I got a bit frustrated with the management. And had been eating out everyday, cos' the canteen was either closed or half-opened or food was becoming yucky. Sigh, it's a bit tough on the wallet. Not to mention, CCA was horrible, total a waste of time. Hate CCA duties! *too much cannot be mentioned here*

Invigilation for the 'O's will be starting coming Monday at another posted school. Those days not on invigilation duties will have to go back to school, working hours 830am to 1230pm. Well, some work needs to be started soon. Need to rearrange some 30 over schools' papers into topical revisions!!

Went for dim sum buffet lunch last Sat. It was on JH's treat. We went to Harbourfront's Dragon Gate Restaurant. Heard good reviews about it. But personally, I think it wasn't comparable to the one we had in HK!

Today, was CP's turn. We went to Mushroom Pot at Orchard Point. The soup was not bad. A simple, light and soupy meal. And full too! After dinner today, we went to TCC near Hotel Rendezvous for desserts. That was on JH's treat. Woo... It was so generous of her! $55 leh! Recommendation there is their Hotlava chocolate cake. NICE! But the portion is small and ex! After tat, we walked back to PS to get home from there.

On the way from Orchard Point to TCC, outside PS, JH told me Mr Poh actually walked past us. He was with a guy. I turned back immediately to see. But he was about 10 metres away le. She said he looked in my direction. But I was wondering if he saw me, he would have stopped me and talked to me, right? Sigh, I should look at people when they walk. I always miss people out. He still looked the same, well-built as before. He was with a guy. I miss him quite a lot actually. =~(

Went shopping with JH in Shaw Centre Isetan. Had to buy a bag for short travels and some working clothes and shoes. Got a $200 voucher from my Dad, cos' he has got around $1000 Isetan vouchers redeemed from one of his credit cards rewards. Bought this Billabong bag:



Wanted to get the black one, but no more new one le. So got this Navy blue one instead.

Other that the bag, got a skirt! Very nice checked skirt from Iora. And a cute top from the same shop. And another skirt from BYSI. Total cost was $164.90. So left $40 worth of vouchers. Will get shoes from the TM Isetan next time. Ran out of time today cos' needed to meet CP for dinner at 6pm.

I suspected one student of mine to be the younger sister of my secondary school mate. Same surname, same built and same facial features. And she addded me in her Friendster recently. Should be her, no doubt. Too bad, I won't be teaching them again. I will miss some of them.

Finally registered for my Grade 8 theory exam for next March. Gonna work hard ya? And try to get a Distinction this time!

The Passion Didn't Die

My new Sec 3 class is ok, minus away the noise they always make. They are ultimately talkative. They're quite a nice bunch of kids, except they are quite slow at grasping concepts. Perhaps, they were talking amongst themselves? Perhaps I wasn't good enough. But I have put in my best. They are going for their final exams next Friday. With that, I will be teaching 4E2, cos their Maths teacher is down with chicken pox.

School has been really busy. 2 weeks I've been reaching home after 6pm. Sigh. Lotsa remedials, meetings, CCAs and staying back for invigilation for the Prelims. I wasn't spared for anything. No time to rest, always gobbled down my lunch and coffee. Coffee has become a necessity to keep myself going. It's non-stop from 750am to 330pm. After that, I usually collapsed on my chair and stoned literally. Sigh, I'm afraid fatique will once again conquer me.

There's so much stuff I can't write it here. Sigh. So much to grumble about. But at least there are a few close colleagues to grumble to. 2 out of the 5 contract teachers have undergone observation by their HOD and VP. My HOD didn't inform me of any. Am I going to be left out? Am I not going into NIE in 2006? I WANT TO GO NIE!! I want my pay increment! My pay now is pathetic. Sigh.

Will teaching become my career or my job? Will I make it my career or my job? This is an important decision to make.

Long time no blog

A new week is ahead. I've got my second month salary. Suddenly, the joy of seeing my money growing is wonderful. And suddenly, the thought of making more money comes into my mind. I registered myself with a tuition agent. Hopefully, I will be getting students soon.

Went for SE chalet at Aloha Chalets in Changi on Tuesday evening. How I wish I could stay over and join them in their majong!! We had own-made steamboat there! Was pretty good! And very enjoyable! HAHA! Took a cab back home.

From tomorrow onwards, I'll be teaching 3E4 Add Math. The current teacher left the class cos' they complained to change teacher. I wonder what is behind it. I worry they are a problematic class. There will be 3 teachers in the class for every lesson. One of them is their another current Maths teacher, and the other is a contract teacher like me. He will be teaching them E Math. Sigh, have to pray hard.

Will be going Genting Highlands with the school band in Dec for 5 days. The teacher I/C had to come up with the teacher-student ratio of 1:20. Many teachers will be away for the English trip, so she came to approach me. I agreed the same day. What's there to lose? The whole trip will be paid for!! And we will be staying in hotel! Somemore the contract teacher in charge of band is going too. At least got company!! And also a getaway frOm Singapore!! And to revisit Genting after more than 5 years!! Wonder how great it will be! Hopefully, Hacken will go there for concert in Dec! HaHa! I'm dreaming......

My piano teacher agreed to teach me Diploma. Guess I'll be busy practising piano again!

I bought my micro hi-fi for $186. Best Denki sold it for $199 and Courts at $209! I bought it at Gain City. Coincidentally, outside the Gain City in Tampines, they were having Nets-It promotion. It's something like spend $1 using Nets will be rewarded with 1 Nets point. Somemore registration is free and life-long. With the sign-up, I got a 200 points voucher. So the hi-fi was actually $195, but using 100 points, I can buy it at $186. Hehe. But the 100 points remaining gone to waste.





My new micro hi-fi on my shelf!

It has blue backlight and vertical CD loading. Two things I don't like about this is it doesn't have a wire antenna; it uses the traditional type of antenna that you have to pull out and turn in various directions to get signals. And also it doesn't have a glass cd lid for me to look at the spinning cd. Other than that, the sound is pretty good! Finally a micro hi-fi of my own after wishing for 7 years! Music is finally coming to accompany me everynight! There was an even chio-er one I saw in Courts.



Look at the lights! So nice! And when the CD spins, it's gonna be pretty!! Somemore the cover slides up!



Look at the thickness! I didn't get this because the cover slides up and I don't have enough room on my shelf to accomodate it.

Yesterday after practise, YH drove RT and I to Suntec. Cos' RT was having dinner there, and Angela will be there too. So after that we can all go Changi Airport together to send KY off to Germany as a surprise. But halfway thru the journey after sending KY and YT home, YH's car suddenly had funny noises coming out of his accelerator pedal. After a while, YH suddenly suspect his engine was overheating!! Quickly, I took out the street directory in his car, and flipped for the nearest pertrol station! After turning into 2 wrong short roads (I hate city roads, it's damn confusing), his engine died about 50m from the petrol station. It was while making a turn outside Albert Hotel, and the car stopped in the middle of the road. Had no choice, YH asked me to steer the wheel while he and RT pushed at the back. I was a bit gan chiong. When I sat in the driver's seat, I suddenly forgot what to do. I didn't even have enough strength to release the handbrake. I think I was lost cos' it's the first time the car I sat in broke down. But I quickly re-composed myself and got the car nearer to the side of the road. YH opened up the bonnet, then opened the coolant tank and smoke emerged. Not much smoke. But the fact that the car couldn't start worried him. YH then called the tow truck. RT took a cab to rush to Suntec for her dinner. So both of us waited for the tow truck for about an hour.



The uncle was directing him how to position his car.



YH got in his car, which can be restarted after cooling down. He was relieved the engine was not burnt.



Positioning the car wheels with the "tow-er".



His car was elevated.



Last goodbye to his car......

Both of us had dinner at "Gao Ji" outside Bugis Junction. Was pretty expensive, and the air-con wasn't cooling. YH was full of imagination how suay he can get after his car broke down and handphone on NO battery. Funny guy he is.

Then we took MRT to Changi Airport. We reached there at 910pm. We checked out KY's flight which was at 1105pm and found out he would check-in at Row 2. He wasn't here. So I sms him, trying to find out where he is. He replied saying he checked-in very early, and was having dinner with his family. Not wanting to let him know we were sending him off, I tried to probe for further detailed locations of him. But he didn't reply my sms, so we went to the customs entry to try our luck to meet him. 945pm. We started to get worried. RT and Angela hadn't reached too. YH then called KY to ask directly where he was. Haha, in the end we met. He was about to go in already! How lucky we were. 10 min after we met, RT and Angela came. We took photos and gave him a card and loitered there till 1040pm when his Dad said he better go in. We said our last goodbyes and he went in. I'm gonna miss someone suaning me and a listening ear.

Jealousy

You are 30.16% jealous!
For this test, the average jealousy percentage is 35.54%.
266505 people have taken this test to date.

This percentage means that :
- You are not a jealous person, but sometimes can be.
- Occasionally, you over-react to situations.
- Most of the time, you trust the people around.
- Jealously will not be a major issue in relationships, but you might want to improve your self-esteem.

Try for yourself too:
http://tests.studentcenter.org/jealousytest.php

Feeling

How long will the feeling last? It's so difficult to like somebody, and so easy to un-like somebody, for me at least. The feeling of liking is good, but liking without him knowing is miserable. It's worse if he treats you coldly. Is he THE ONE? When will I meet THE ONE?

Comex 05

Weilian won Superstar. Sigh.

Condolences to my Principal who lost her dad. Hope she is fine.

Went Comex at Suntec after school today. It was damn crowded. MRT was crowded, City Hall was crowded. Marina Square was Crowded. SUNTEC WAS EVEN MORE CROWDED! The crowd was made worse with the rainy weather. Met up with KY to go Comex. Took a few brochures here and there, and tried out some cameras. Tried EXILIM S500! HAHA! Very chio! And saw many sleek laptops!! Wheah, all nice and sleek lappies are above $3k! How long must I save to get that?! Cry man.

At 830pm, we went to have dinner at Marche. Long time since I went Marche. There were quite a lot of people inside, but we got our seats quite fast. Stayed there till 11pm. Talked so much crap and stuff. In the end, when we got to the MRT station, the last train to Boon Lay already left, so KY had to take a bus back instead. Luckily I still have my train. Hehe.

School holidays started. Need not go back school. No need go for netball duty. Hehe. So glad! Need to make use of this one week break to do lotsa things! Finish my music theory!! And catch up more on Physics and Maths! Pack my room! Clean my room! Sigh. Maybe go swimming too. Long time haven't swum. Meanwhile, relax and enjoy!