The past four weeks of experience in the school that shall remain anonymous (i'd call it "Anonymous Secondary School" but then its initials would spell, er, well, you know =p...) totally surpassed my expectations - which, granted were not much to begin with. I won't plunge again into my spiel on how i was hitherto under the impression that all so-called neighborhood schools were the same until i was blissfully enlightened upon getting posted there (eh although that's the basic jist of it), but suffice to say that there were so many cool surprises and learning experiences along the way that have most definitely helped to prepare me for what lies ahead.
Unfortunately, between now and what lies ahead is one full year of stuff that i'm not very enthusiastic about. Prior to this, i really did not know how to respond when asked how i was feeling about the year ahead, especially since the responses i'd received from those who've gone before have been extremely polarized - i.e. people either love it or hate it. And thus it was with this in mind that i approached this past introductory week with as open mind as i could.
However, sad to say the way in which the past week's programs have really awakened my uber-cynical negative side - eh dunno how safe it is to elaborate on that here, but well to put it briefly, the nature of most of the activities organized over the past week, seemingly for our benefit, have really not been worth the three hours and $5 taken for traveling every day. There are some redeeming points, of course, like meeting new (and similarly-minded) people and getting more familiar with the campus (and even then they have more to do with externalities than with the institution as a whole), but by and large if i were to do nothing about my attitude in the year ahead i foresee a lot of complaining about all and sundry to myself and to others - honestly, its stuff like this which makes me unable to envision staying in this place (as in this country) in the long run. For example, if even the slightest component of ne stuff is going to trigger the good ol' roll of the eyes from me, imagine how much mileage mine will chalk up over the course of this upcoming year - and that's just one of the many things which don't sit well with me.
But more on the good side of things (to try and distract me from all the complainables) - i've quite a good timetable (at least compared to some others i've seen) and in terms of relations with people things have for the most part gone on fine. There's also the unique circumstance (and believe me, this is used ad nauseaum by the people there as a manipulative mechanism via attempted emotional blackmail) of us actually being paid, rather than paying, to go for class. So bearing that in mind, imagine my glee upon reading thursday's st home section p.2 on the failure of even that to come through (and yes, i am one of the four hundred) - facial egg, to say the least. Oops i'm back to the bad stuff again :p
Anyways, this week was ameliorated by various school-related (as in the Anonymous Sec School i.e. *SS) teachers/students outings. When comparing notes with people who were in other schools, one thing i realize is that at least in terms of the support and friendship of the community in the school *SS has come out tops - it's far from perfect, of course, but nevertheless it's been a real great community to be around over the past month or so - part of the reason why i'm definitely more than open to going back there next time. There are reasons against too, though, but no point in going through them here eh.
Showing posts with label future employers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label future employers. Show all posts
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Thursday, July 03, 2008
molding/molded
Looking through the travel classifieds in the staff lounge today, the relatively cheap offers caught my eye - then i looked at the dates offered (July, August, September...) and realized that in my (at least) near future, i won't be able to take advantage of such good deals anymore - instead i'll be competing with the tons of S'porean families at marked-up peak period prices to go to places during the december holidays where chances are i'll encounter some of these families again, making a beeline for the nearest Chinese restaurant and the cheap shopping as well, not failing to embarrass themselves (well, if not themselves, then definitely me) and cause real negative impressions of S'poreans to form in the eyes of locals in the process, prompting me to try and distance myself from them as far as possible, putting on a fake accent for starters. Hmm of course it's not as exaggerated as that (or at least i hope not), but the general idea is there.
And i'd admit, my personal need to get out frequently (re: at the very least, once a year) from here for a sufficient (re: at least two, unhassled weeks) break has been one of the key factors behind me constantly saying that i don't see myself in this job for too long a period of time - it's too monotonous and restrictive for me in that way - how to trek across Europe/ do a roadtrip across the States (of course i'd need to learn how to drive first for that one) like that?
At the same time, there's the possibility of being called to other things of a less secular nature by then, something that has been at the back of my mind ever since Urbana - but for that think the next few years would entail a lot of (particularly spiritual) change on my part - ah but these are still early days yet so won't go too into that now.
In any case, the past two weeks have been real helpful in helping me to put into perspective what i'm about to get into - real thankful for that cos think that's something i needed in the wake of all that's been going on recently - so the next two weeks ought to be real exciting =)
And i'd admit, my personal need to get out frequently (re: at the very least, once a year) from here for a sufficient (re: at least two, unhassled weeks) break has been one of the key factors behind me constantly saying that i don't see myself in this job for too long a period of time - it's too monotonous and restrictive for me in that way - how to trek across Europe/ do a roadtrip across the States (of course i'd need to learn how to drive first for that one) like that?
At the same time, there's the possibility of being called to other things of a less secular nature by then, something that has been at the back of my mind ever since Urbana - but for that think the next few years would entail a lot of (particularly spiritual) change on my part - ah but these are still early days yet so won't go too into that now.
In any case, the past two weeks have been real helpful in helping me to put into perspective what i'm about to get into - real thankful for that cos think that's something i needed in the wake of all that's been going on recently - so the next two weeks ought to be real exciting =)
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
hush hush
a lot of what would otherwise be going in here has to be the victim of rather brutal (but nevertheless wholly necessary) self-censorship, in order to minimize the possibility of any complications arising in the future, so when all the school stuff is taken out of the picture i don't seem to have much left to talk about. At least not immediately... (So if you want to know about that then catch me one day)
Um, so then what's left? (i'm asking myself that question) Well suffice to say that i'm (quite surprisingly) looking forward to the remaining two-and-a-half weeks here, less so to the months following that at nie, and have no clue what to make of what follows that (but we'll worry about that when we get nearer there)
Oh goodness i'm watching a wimbledon update on now, and the two people talking are trying to pronounce "Zheng Jie" properly, and are failing badly (zhheng zhhee anyone?). Hey, i just realized that that's (i mean zheng) my chinese surname - harhar...
I do wish i had more opportunity to get some time off - of course Vietnam was all of less than a month ago, but still, no real chance to get a prolonged (and at least predominantly solitary) retreat, ideally away from S'pore. There's been a lot to think about recently, and the inability to do so has taken its toll on several levels. I don't mind settling for a nice long bike ride but as my bike has been stolen, i've recently had to resort to borrowing my brother's one whilst i procrastinate getting my own new one, and as things would have it, the last two times i wanted to go out the bike was unavailable. I really should be running too, but i can't bring myself to run near my place for various reasons - that's probably the biggest thing i'll miss about pgp life. And in fact at this point there's not much else i'm sentimental about regarding the darn school...
Um, so then what's left? (i'm asking myself that question) Well suffice to say that i'm (quite surprisingly) looking forward to the remaining two-and-a-half weeks here, less so to the months following that at nie, and have no clue what to make of what follows that (but we'll worry about that when we get nearer there)
Oh goodness i'm watching a wimbledon update on now, and the two people talking are trying to pronounce "Zheng Jie" properly, and are failing badly (zhheng zhhee anyone?). Hey, i just realized that that's (i mean zheng) my chinese surname - harhar...
I do wish i had more opportunity to get some time off - of course Vietnam was all of less than a month ago, but still, no real chance to get a prolonged (and at least predominantly solitary) retreat, ideally away from S'pore. There's been a lot to think about recently, and the inability to do so has taken its toll on several levels. I don't mind settling for a nice long bike ride but as my bike has been stolen, i've recently had to resort to borrowing my brother's one whilst i procrastinate getting my own new one, and as things would have it, the last two times i wanted to go out the bike was unavailable. I really should be running too, but i can't bring myself to run near my place for various reasons - that's probably the biggest thing i'll miss about pgp life. And in fact at this point there's not much else i'm sentimental about regarding the darn school...
Thursday, May 17, 2007
while the rain continues to fall...
I was intending to get out of the house for a spot of cycling this afternoon, since i've been finding myself rather free and lounging round the house doing nothing much more than sitting in front of the com, eating and sleeping for the good part of the last couple of days. But then the sudden afternoon downpour has put paid to those plans so here i am back in front of the com again... Meanwhile Bingo sits outside in the hallway after i chased him out of my room and closed the door cos he was affected by the thunder and hence was drooling all over my floor.
Well, since i've not been doing much i've actually not much to say heh. Let's see - what was there? Oh yeah i finally got to eat at Astons yesterday and it was well worth the wait. I can't believe i've stayed so near to this gem of a restaurant for so long and have only been to it now. And how convenient that just as i finally experience for myself what so many people have been raving over that i find myself not more than three weeks away from shifting out of this house...
Anyways i decided to try their much ballyhooed (and very tackily-named) ieatSuper Burger and it more than lived up to its billing. Methinks it can compete with the Sutton's double bacon cheeseburger (the one on my current fb profile pic) back in Chapel Hill for the title of best burger i've ever eaten, although admittedly they're of two separate pedigrees. And how ironic that both these burgers have medical affiliations - the Astons burger being put on the regular menu at the recommendation of a local doctor, and Sutton's being a diner that is fronted by a drug store. Whatever the case, if anyone would try these two burgers for themselves, i'm sure they would not question me anymore as to why i've resolved never to eat McDonald's ever again... Aiyah really so wasted that i'm moving house leh - think even after i move i'll be wanting to spend time in the east. Got ecp, got Astons, got friends - that's three up on what i've at my new place...
I've been sorta figuring out what to do traveling wise, as i really have to get out of S'pore for at least a bit before the new school term starts. Have been keeping the option of following the parents to Japan (cos they've to use their miles as well) but well, they're moving at a similar pace of procrastination as i am (now i know where i got it from) so i can't confirm anything on that side. There's also lots of other possibilities but i'm rather fussy when it comes to choosing a holiday destination which hardly helps matters. This holiday also appears to be lacking in enough big blocks of time available for me to be away for. Ideally, i'd like to be away for at least a week but depending on how things go such an extended period out of S'pore may be impossible in July (which is when's best cos there's probably more options available than say for June). Ah i shall just comfort myself by assuring myself that something will work out...
I do wish that i was more daring when it came to planning holidays - like to go to new places which don't speak English, possibly alone, and for an extended period in time. Have been looking at Greg's awesome Eastern European graduation trip itinerary and wondering if i'd have the guts for something like that next year. Of course a trip of that scale would only be possible next year [since think that graduation is one of those life events that warrants one times tua zhong (sp?) trip like that] - the problem being that the dear folks at you-know-where appear to want all those moving on to nie to be available from mid-June, and even for stuff in May, which leaves me with precious little breathing space in terms of planning a big trip of say a month's duration... There's also matters of finding people (if there's any), funding, carbon emissions etc...
Hmm so that's holiday plans for ya. One more pertinent matter at this point in time of course what to do in the year ahead. Hopefully decision for that will eventuate within the next couple of days...
Trust no one will read this before then, so suffice to say be prepared for a big shock if you're watching idol results tonight. I know on my part that i'm done with watching the show for the season =(...
Well, since i've not been doing much i've actually not much to say heh. Let's see - what was there? Oh yeah i finally got to eat at Astons yesterday and it was well worth the wait. I can't believe i've stayed so near to this gem of a restaurant for so long and have only been to it now. And how convenient that just as i finally experience for myself what so many people have been raving over that i find myself not more than three weeks away from shifting out of this house...
Anyways i decided to try their much ballyhooed (and very tackily-named) ieatSuper Burger and it more than lived up to its billing. Methinks it can compete with the Sutton's double bacon cheeseburger (the one on my current fb profile pic) back in Chapel Hill for the title of best burger i've ever eaten, although admittedly they're of two separate pedigrees. And how ironic that both these burgers have medical affiliations - the Astons burger being put on the regular menu at the recommendation of a local doctor, and Sutton's being a diner that is fronted by a drug store. Whatever the case, if anyone would try these two burgers for themselves, i'm sure they would not question me anymore as to why i've resolved never to eat McDonald's ever again... Aiyah really so wasted that i'm moving house leh - think even after i move i'll be wanting to spend time in the east. Got ecp, got Astons, got friends - that's three up on what i've at my new place...
I've been sorta figuring out what to do traveling wise, as i really have to get out of S'pore for at least a bit before the new school term starts. Have been keeping the option of following the parents to Japan (cos they've to use their miles as well) but well, they're moving at a similar pace of procrastination as i am (now i know where i got it from) so i can't confirm anything on that side. There's also lots of other possibilities but i'm rather fussy when it comes to choosing a holiday destination which hardly helps matters. This holiday also appears to be lacking in enough big blocks of time available for me to be away for. Ideally, i'd like to be away for at least a week but depending on how things go such an extended period out of S'pore may be impossible in July (which is when's best cos there's probably more options available than say for June). Ah i shall just comfort myself by assuring myself that something will work out...
I do wish that i was more daring when it came to planning holidays - like to go to new places which don't speak English, possibly alone, and for an extended period in time. Have been looking at Greg's awesome Eastern European graduation trip itinerary and wondering if i'd have the guts for something like that next year. Of course a trip of that scale would only be possible next year [since think that graduation is one of those life events that warrants one times tua zhong (sp?) trip like that] - the problem being that the dear folks at you-know-where appear to want all those moving on to nie to be available from mid-June, and even for stuff in May, which leaves me with precious little breathing space in terms of planning a big trip of say a month's duration... There's also matters of finding people (if there's any), funding, carbon emissions etc...
Hmm so that's holiday plans for ya. One more pertinent matter at this point in time of course what to do in the year ahead. Hopefully decision for that will eventuate within the next couple of days...
Trust no one will read this before then, so suffice to say be prepared for a big shock if you're watching idol results tonight. I know on my part that i'm done with watching the show for the season =(...
Friday, March 02, 2007
looking back on the weeks of work
Aiyah actually this is supposed to be the last pic but me and tech... well...And i used to say that i wouldn't be caught dead in a soccer jersey -
well in my defence that was borrowed cos my short was too dirty already...
Ok this is really totally irrelevantbut just to note that there's one "dollar" too many there
- talk about doubling your $...
Well the above pic was taken in school on the mon of our dear term break which really was anything but a break. Ok, i take it back, it also was not a holiday, a time of relaxation, an opportunity to finally sit down and reflect fully upon sep, a time to spend with friends and family... Hmm i guess i'll say instead that it was anything but fun...
Why was i in school on mon? Cos i needed to watch a video and only could do so on campus, but the silly library was closed so i had to be content with finding some obscure corner in the forum with a powerpoint. Super annoying ah...
That night had dinner at a family friend's place. One of the guests there was a guy from VS (not there anymore so can reveal the name of the school liao), where of course i was attached to previously and had a very interesting time in the process. Was quite funny cos we got talking about school stuff and i realized that in the future i'll be at the receiving end of such talk... Hmmm...
Ah well, moving right along...
Why was i in school on mon? Cos i needed to watch a video and only could do so on campus, but the silly library was closed so i had to be content with finding some obscure corner in the forum with a powerpoint. Super annoying ah...
That night had dinner at a family friend's place. One of the guests there was a guy from VS (not there anymore so can reveal the name of the school liao), where of course i was attached to previously and had a very interesting time in the process. Was quite funny cos we got talking about school stuff and i realized that in the future i'll be at the receiving end of such talk... Hmmm...
Ah well, moving right along...
Ha? Sure or not?Well wed had a project meeting in Chiam territory of all places cos we've to do a survey of the area. Pretty ironic that i used to stay just across the road in Sennett Estate for like five years but almost never ventured across to the hdb area. Anyways, have never seen such a quiet hdb estate in my life - the 'lunchtime crowd', if you can call it that, at McD's consisted of a handful of people plus one group of SAJC folk and that was it. But actually come to think of it i actually do like the place. I treasure my peace and quiet and Potong Pasir is definitely a good place where one can treasure one's peace and quiet very well... Chiam actually has done a good job considering the cards he's dealt with... I just wonder how the poor folk there can cope with just one measly bus service going through the town and not having a reasonably-sized supermarket in sight within the estate...
Thu it was arts cf cny visiting day and thoughthere were only a small group of us at both Florence's and Jocelyn's places, it still was fun nevertheless. Pit is actually quite a fun game to play despite its rather simple premise. For me too it was a good break from doing my essay (though in actual fact i hadn't technically started on that essay yet - nope, i only started typing that one on sun morn, the day before it was due...). Anyways, this was definitely hands down the most fun cny visiting experience i've had this year (and i didn't even get any $ that day either, so there...)
And with regards to this week, well, i'm just glad the workload, which is as far as i can remember the most work i've had to do within a one week timeframe; was bearable by God's grace. Throughout the whole week i kept on harboring grand visions of how i'd keep sleep to a minimum and hence maximize time spent on typing essays, such that i'd be able to end sooner. Well suffice to say that after the first day when i slept for all of two hours, it went downhill all the way from there, with me constantly oversleeping in spite of alarms and also constantly deciding in the middle of typing an essay that i needed a nap, which would inevitably upgrade itself into an full-fledged snooze fest. As a result, i was late for tutorial for the first time i can remember in my university career cos i woke up late and also was left doing each essay till mere hours before the deadline came. In the midst of all that, however, i really do recognize God's hand in all of this, cos He knew that i needed sleep and grandted it to me in spite of my lofty desires to the contrary, and at the same time never let me oversleep to an extent that i did not have enough time to finish any piece of work. Well, now that my so-called hell week is all but over, the postponements to the other things that i've been delaying considering and praying about have to finally reach an end. And boy is there a lot of stuff now that i think of it... And people have been (albeit understandably) swarming around me for various reasons - sheesh... Guess it's the right moment to just take time and really just listen...
Thursday, August 24, 2006
My dealings on the first day
The above is just a little indication of how chaotic things were today on the first day of school (btw i felt like soooo touristy standing at the edge of the pit taking this picture - if i were to see someone taking random people pics at say the forum in NUS i'd give a puzzled look, wondering why in the world this person may be wanting to do something like that...). Well today's classes went quite well, at least am more in tune with the system here now, and potentially what's in store for the next couple of months.
Am kind of dreading how at least for the history courses there's so much writing involved - like in handing in weekly written assignments on top of all the readings and all that - think i may be getting in way over my head here, especially since of the courses i have at hand (or at least hope to get), three are higher-level history courses which will definitely require a lot of writing and reading, while my intro to American government class is full of, well, Americans, who obviously would know more about their government than i do so that means i'll have to do a lot of reading up. The saving grace of my courses is the linguistics class mandated by the people upstairs in the national potters' ministry (geddit?) cos it appears that though i mapped it to a course that i've never done in nus, the content overlaps somewhat with another course i did last sem, so it shouldn't be too bad methinks (the prof brought his young daughter into the class to play btw - a perfect indication of the more relaxed teaching atmosphere that is prevalent here...) And of course i am really interested in what's to be covered in all of the classes so far, so i guess that's a step in the right direction =)
And of course there's also the issue of buying of the necessary books - which in case you haven't heard are beepingly expensive - did a rough estimation and in the student store (which does have higher prices) the total cost of the books that are part of the reading lists of all my courses adds up to almost US$200 (though think that it's actually more, owing to my bad math) - i'll have to start scouting Amazon and the off-campus stores really soon...
Anyway, today was a good day overall - after classes ended i went to meet up with Greg and his friend for dinner - haven't seen him since he left S'pore - went to eat at another great Mexican place on Franklin [btw think i've eaten more avocado since arriving in the US (by means of guacamole) than in the rest of my life combined] and once again stuffed myself silly. After i said goodbye, i was walking along Franklin on the way home when i bumped into Jon and Clement and SJ and Stephanie and Carol and ended up following them to - yup you guessed it - dinner - though i was way to stuffed to eat anything else. Met up with SJ's roomie, her brother and her friend - was great to meet them too. For dessert i had what basically is the frozen yogurt equivalent of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - no complaints there =)
Well, tomorrow i have to approach the prof of the final class that i really want to add - hopefully there'll be no problem with doing that - or i may have to do a last-minute search for another available class, and then after securing it, take on the daunting task of attempting to map it with an nus module solely through online communication with the other side, and then forwarding all this to the national potter's ministry for their reference...
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Allow me to wax philosophical
Ok first a couple of pics from the wedding of my JC teacher on Saturday - unfortunately some problems with uploading the picture of the happy couple themselves but anyway here's my class people who turned up...
Well, before i knew it, the thirteen days of school attachment have drawn to a close - so long to waking up at five thirty every morning, wearing on a daily basis the type of clothes that this year i have otherwise only worn at wedding dinners, feeling hungry enough to on occasion eat three meals within three hours, and of course having to adopt an entirely different persona so as not to appear as a total goofball in front of the boys.
Yup but in spite of all these minor inconveniences, i've come to appreciate the time that i've spent there - at the start before the first day i was like super sian, yet today as i left the school for the last time i lamented to the others, as we all did to one another too; that this whole thingy passed really fast, and that in the end we're not exactly the happiest of people to have completed our last day there.
Of course it helps that the school was on a whole very hospitable towards us (a few hiccups and arrows shot our way notwithstanding), and that the four of us were similarly able to get along well with one another. A lot of the staff, including many of the higher-ups are extremely friendly folk, and i both respect and have learnt quite a bit from them. While not every experience with them may be a pleasant one, but still overall it was good to get a much better picture as to what teaching is like, and what i have gotten myself into at least from graduation all the way to 2013 (gasp!).
One thing that i also appreciate about this attachment was the fact that it was my first experience in a secular (i.e. non-Christian) formal school environment since primary school, where seriously, i was too young to know what was going on. No chapels once a week, nor any devotions read every morning, or even an identifiable group of Christians meeting together. It reached a stage when i was heartened even to see a teacher wearing a cross pendant, or sticking Bible verses in his or her cubicle.
Yup, this has made me thankful and more appreciative for stuff like that when i was in AC (not to say that the 'Christian' environment there was always an immaculate one - but that's another story for another day...). And it also reminded me of what the message at FOC was talking about - how do we reflect our faith to the glory of God in whatever environment we are placed in? Well, to me the secular school environment is a better representation of the so-called real world of the education system here, especially in this school, where the racial profile of the country was much more accurately represented by the makeup of the student population than in AC or even NUS. So how identifiable are we as Christians when placed in such an environment - especially when as a teacher the chance to influence others is perhaps greater, while having to bear in mind the need to be mindful of the limitations that are in place? While i was in the school, i felt a semblance of a burden especially for some of the pre-believer staff, and even my fellow attached personnel (not so much with the boys because of my limited interactions with them)l - and the Lord was reminding me to pray about how to in any possible way show His love to them (and to do so in love too, and not out of obligation)... In this short period well not much was achieved so to speak, but i'm thankful for the Lord reminding me of this - something to pray about... (and i could go on and on, but of course it would take forever...)
Well, before i knew it, the thirteen days of school attachment have drawn to a close - so long to waking up at five thirty every morning, wearing on a daily basis the type of clothes that this year i have otherwise only worn at wedding dinners, feeling hungry enough to on occasion eat three meals within three hours, and of course having to adopt an entirely different persona so as not to appear as a total goofball in front of the boys.
Yup but in spite of all these minor inconveniences, i've come to appreciate the time that i've spent there - at the start before the first day i was like super sian, yet today as i left the school for the last time i lamented to the others, as we all did to one another too; that this whole thingy passed really fast, and that in the end we're not exactly the happiest of people to have completed our last day there.
Of course it helps that the school was on a whole very hospitable towards us (a few hiccups and arrows shot our way notwithstanding), and that the four of us were similarly able to get along well with one another. A lot of the staff, including many of the higher-ups are extremely friendly folk, and i both respect and have learnt quite a bit from them. While not every experience with them may be a pleasant one, but still overall it was good to get a much better picture as to what teaching is like, and what i have gotten myself into at least from graduation all the way to 2013 (gasp!).
One thing that i also appreciate about this attachment was the fact that it was my first experience in a secular (i.e. non-Christian) formal school environment since primary school, where seriously, i was too young to know what was going on. No chapels once a week, nor any devotions read every morning, or even an identifiable group of Christians meeting together. It reached a stage when i was heartened even to see a teacher wearing a cross pendant, or sticking Bible verses in his or her cubicle.
Yup, this has made me thankful and more appreciative for stuff like that when i was in AC (not to say that the 'Christian' environment there was always an immaculate one - but that's another story for another day...). And it also reminded me of what the message at FOC was talking about - how do we reflect our faith to the glory of God in whatever environment we are placed in? Well, to me the secular school environment is a better representation of the so-called real world of the education system here, especially in this school, where the racial profile of the country was much more accurately represented by the makeup of the student population than in AC or even NUS. So how identifiable are we as Christians when placed in such an environment - especially when as a teacher the chance to influence others is perhaps greater, while having to bear in mind the need to be mindful of the limitations that are in place? While i was in the school, i felt a semblance of a burden especially for some of the pre-believer staff, and even my fellow attached personnel (not so much with the boys because of my limited interactions with them)l - and the Lord was reminding me to pray about how to in any possible way show His love to them (and to do so in love too, and not out of obligation)... In this short period well not much was achieved so to speak, but i'm thankful for the Lord reminding me of this - something to pray about... (and i could go on and on, but of course it would take forever...)
Saturday, July 22, 2006
can't come up with a decent title
Went for a wedding today - that of my JC class teacher Mr Koh, at KKMC. Realised that over the course of the month before i leave i'd have had reunions of sorts with classmates from primary school, secondary school and JC. All that's left is for Ascension Kindergarten to organize a Class of '89 reunion (like that would ever happen heh). But back to my point - it's good to finally see him settle down after so long - wonderful how God's appointment was clearly evident in how they met... Also had the usual "oh, i haven't seen you in soooo long!" moments with teachers, and also saw other familiar faces too.
After that it was time to head down to school for anniversary celebrations where i was more or less just a flower vase (hua ping) save for the occasional smile to a guest or a token hand gesture directing them towards their seats. The school really put in a lot of effort - reminded me quite a bit of AC Founders' Day celebrations - though think that since this time i see things from a different perspective, i really appreciate all the effort that goes into such celebrations, unlike last time when these things were very much just touch-and-go - which is why i am not one for organizing gatherings/parties etc... The highlight of my day? Maybe it was getting to shake the hand of the oompa loompa lookalike - he was the guest of honour - he's a really affable guy - was just being my flower vase self in one corner, together with a fellow attached personnel - and when he passed us he even stretched out his hand first to greet us... Considering the sheer number of hands he has to shake at any public appearance, i thought that he'd be totally sian about it... Must give him kudos for that...
Due to this school job, i have had to resort to taking a cab three times within one short week - on tuesday i took one back to school from the embassy cos i didn't want to be late, then today i took one to the church cos i figured in the oppressive heat i didn't want to be walking in the sun to the bus stop and then to the church wearing a thick long-sleeved shirt which i needed to wear for the subsequent anniversary celebrations cos i knew that i'd soak it in sweat if i did, and then lastly after the service when i had to rush down again to school in order not to be late... Think in total it's cost me almost $30 - and i wonder, why does it seem to hurt my pocket so much when i have to change bus and threfore pay more for bus fare, but i don't even bat an eyelid whenever i have to pay the cab fare?
From this point onwards till i fly off i realise that i'll have an extremely packed schedule ahead - with school stuff, final sep preperations, worship practice and worship itself (of which i am still very much in the initial prayer stage of planning), saying last goodbyes to people (and there still are more that i want to arrange), preparing for and (in faith) clearing ippt, and then some... And it's guaranteed to tire me out - i mean already now as i type this i have almost no energy left and hence have decided to go to sleep once i post this - sleeping at ten - almost unheard of...
So i shall sleep now - nitey...
After that it was time to head down to school for anniversary celebrations where i was more or less just a flower vase (hua ping) save for the occasional smile to a guest or a token hand gesture directing them towards their seats. The school really put in a lot of effort - reminded me quite a bit of AC Founders' Day celebrations - though think that since this time i see things from a different perspective, i really appreciate all the effort that goes into such celebrations, unlike last time when these things were very much just touch-and-go - which is why i am not one for organizing gatherings/parties etc... The highlight of my day? Maybe it was getting to shake the hand of the oompa loompa lookalike - he was the guest of honour - he's a really affable guy - was just being my flower vase self in one corner, together with a fellow attached personnel - and when he passed us he even stretched out his hand first to greet us... Considering the sheer number of hands he has to shake at any public appearance, i thought that he'd be totally sian about it... Must give him kudos for that...
Due to this school job, i have had to resort to taking a cab three times within one short week - on tuesday i took one back to school from the embassy cos i didn't want to be late, then today i took one to the church cos i figured in the oppressive heat i didn't want to be walking in the sun to the bus stop and then to the church wearing a thick long-sleeved shirt which i needed to wear for the subsequent anniversary celebrations cos i knew that i'd soak it in sweat if i did, and then lastly after the service when i had to rush down again to school in order not to be late... Think in total it's cost me almost $30 - and i wonder, why does it seem to hurt my pocket so much when i have to change bus and threfore pay more for bus fare, but i don't even bat an eyelid whenever i have to pay the cab fare?
From this point onwards till i fly off i realise that i'll have an extremely packed schedule ahead - with school stuff, final sep preperations, worship practice and worship itself (of which i am still very much in the initial prayer stage of planning), saying last goodbyes to people (and there still are more that i want to arrange), preparing for and (in faith) clearing ippt, and then some... And it's guaranteed to tire me out - i mean already now as i type this i have almost no energy left and hence have decided to go to sleep once i post this - sleeping at ten - almost unheard of...
So i shall sleep now - nitey...
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Wah, sir must be very boring...
No, i did not overhear the boys say that, but i suppose that was definitely the impression that they must have gotten when i took over their class today. Why? Well here's a sample of the dialogue that went on during the class today.
Boy A: "Sir, do you play dota?" (and he asked this twice btw)
moi: "No."
Boy B: "Sir, then what online games do you play?"
moi: "Erm, none."
Boy C: "Sir, then what's your hotmail contact, erm, i mean msn?"
moi: "Sorry, i don't have one."
Boy C: "Wah sir so low tech one ah? *chuckles*
moi: ...
Boy D: "Sir then do you like sports?"
moi: "Not really..."
Boy B: "Sir, got girlfriend or not?"
moi: *shakes head*
(and so to elaborate on my response to Ade's question on the tagboard there ------->, one step at a time lah - not even attached, then think about possibly pesky children for what? And come to think of it, no, i don't want to have kids - cos i ain't no billy goat =p)
Anyway, this was a sec one class, the first one that i've taken - and i tell you - it's boys like this which remind me why i get irritated by children so easily. Of course, they're already thirteen this year - but at least some of their actions today didn't correspond with their supposed age. Suffice to say that i've never shouted so much in a class in my life as i did during this class (though to be fair to them, that was only my fourth out of four classes), to the extent that whenever they were making unnecessary noise and one particular boy saw me inhaling deeply, he would go: "wah, going to explode again!" then he and certain other boys would cover their ears... Was just thinking, since it was in school and not say, in an army camp, the good old "whole lot knock it down!!!", which was always my last line of defence with my men last time (though said in a strange tone cos my attempted fierceness always can never make it one...), would only land me in hot water... By the end of the class i had given up on shouting for fear of aiding the growth of throat polyps so i just wrote a note on the board - something to the effect of "you don't keep quiet for three minutes and you can stay back with me after the dismissal bell rings" - worked like a charm =)
Well, i could get extremely irritated by them and be extremely thankful that when i do finally teach for real chances are i won't kena sec ones again, but then i realised that all of ten years ago my sec one class (full of playful young boys as was this one ten years on) did all sorts of horrible things (which i can honestly say i played but a minimal part in) - what takes the cake of course was how some of the boys succeeded in delivering a mild but dramatic electric shock to our old lao shi (back in the days when i still was xue-ing hua yu - which meant i couldn't stand her as much as any other of the boys), dramatic because it resulted in a big flash of light and a loud boom, and also threw back the poor lao shi a few metres (but she was still standing) and made her hair even frizzier than it already way. I dunno if this incident played a part in her hasty departure from the school only six months after she had become our teacher (but in the defence of our class, she actually said that she liked our class when compared to the other sec one classes that she taught - i'll leave it to your imagination as to what they did to her...)
Ah, but pesky sec one boys aside (need lots of grace for that one) actually am beginning to see myself a bit comfortable in the shoes of a teacher - was rather enjoying explaining to a sec three class (whether they actually were interested i dunno though) more about the origins of the Malayan Emergency of 1948-1960, so much so that i ran out of time only having covered but bits of what i wanted to cover - gosh i feel like such a history geek...
In other news, went for another mega run today of 51:40 minutes at ecp again, then went to try pull-ups again and finally reached my (puny but realistic) target of six - which is the minimum needed to pass - laid my mind to rest quite a bit - though am not out of the woods yet... Over the past few times that i've been running (sparked by a train of conversation at Jasmine's sacred-secular divide workshop at FOC regarding how running could become a so-called sacred activity by praying while doing it), i've been trying just that to very limited success (have had better productivity when swimming or cycling) - but today went on fairly okay, less disruptions than usual...
Was subject to S'pore Idol torture just now cos my mother was watching it while i was eating - practically everyone i heard was really flat -terok sia...
Boy A: "Sir, do you play dota?" (and he asked this twice btw)
moi: "No."
Boy B: "Sir, then what online games do you play?"
moi: "Erm, none."
Boy C: "Sir, then what's your hotmail contact, erm, i mean msn?"
moi: "Sorry, i don't have one."
Boy C: "Wah sir so low tech one ah? *chuckles*
moi: ...
Boy D: "Sir then do you like sports?"
moi: "Not really..."
Boy B: "Sir, got girlfriend or not?"
moi: *shakes head*
(and so to elaborate on my response to Ade's question on the tagboard there ------->, one step at a time lah - not even attached, then think about possibly pesky children for what? And come to think of it, no, i don't want to have kids - cos i ain't no billy goat =p)
Anyway, this was a sec one class, the first one that i've taken - and i tell you - it's boys like this which remind me why i get irritated by children so easily. Of course, they're already thirteen this year - but at least some of their actions today didn't correspond with their supposed age. Suffice to say that i've never shouted so much in a class in my life as i did during this class (though to be fair to them, that was only my fourth out of four classes), to the extent that whenever they were making unnecessary noise and one particular boy saw me inhaling deeply, he would go: "wah, going to explode again!" then he and certain other boys would cover their ears... Was just thinking, since it was in school and not say, in an army camp, the good old "whole lot knock it down!!!", which was always my last line of defence with my men last time (though said in a strange tone cos my attempted fierceness always can never make it one...), would only land me in hot water... By the end of the class i had given up on shouting for fear of aiding the growth of throat polyps so i just wrote a note on the board - something to the effect of "you don't keep quiet for three minutes and you can stay back with me after the dismissal bell rings" - worked like a charm =)
Well, i could get extremely irritated by them and be extremely thankful that when i do finally teach for real chances are i won't kena sec ones again, but then i realised that all of ten years ago my sec one class (full of playful young boys as was this one ten years on) did all sorts of horrible things (which i can honestly say i played but a minimal part in) - what takes the cake of course was how some of the boys succeeded in delivering a mild but dramatic electric shock to our old lao shi (back in the days when i still was xue-ing hua yu - which meant i couldn't stand her as much as any other of the boys), dramatic because it resulted in a big flash of light and a loud boom, and also threw back the poor lao shi a few metres (but she was still standing) and made her hair even frizzier than it already way. I dunno if this incident played a part in her hasty departure from the school only six months after she had become our teacher (but in the defence of our class, she actually said that she liked our class when compared to the other sec one classes that she taught - i'll leave it to your imagination as to what they did to her...)
Ah, but pesky sec one boys aside (need lots of grace for that one) actually am beginning to see myself a bit comfortable in the shoes of a teacher - was rather enjoying explaining to a sec three class (whether they actually were interested i dunno though) more about the origins of the Malayan Emergency of 1948-1960, so much so that i ran out of time only having covered but bits of what i wanted to cover - gosh i feel like such a history geek...
In other news, went for another mega run today of 51:40 minutes at ecp again, then went to try pull-ups again and finally reached my (puny but realistic) target of six - which is the minimum needed to pass - laid my mind to rest quite a bit - though am not out of the woods yet... Over the past few times that i've been running (sparked by a train of conversation at Jasmine's sacred-secular divide workshop at FOC regarding how running could become a so-called sacred activity by praying while doing it), i've been trying just that to very limited success (have had better productivity when swimming or cycling) - but today went on fairly okay, less disruptions than usual...
Was subject to S'pore Idol torture just now cos my mother was watching it while i was eating - practically everyone i heard was really flat -terok sia...
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Je suis très fatigué
(by the way, a French-titled blog post titles indicate utter sian-ness on my part)
I've been very physically and mentally tired over the past few days for some strange and unexplainable reason(s). Perhaps part of it had to do with the rollover effect of having too little sleep last week because of school. Averaging five hours a night is seriously not the brightest of ideas... That aside think that the pace in school also has picked up over the last couple of days, with projects to prepare and present and classes to supervise, definitely more so than last week.
The net effect has been to leave me falling asleep for practically the whole afternoon on Sunday, as well as most of yesterday once i got back home as well, in lieu of the original intention of ippt prep of some kind on both days, though think that if i had done that instead, i'd be even more dead beat now so i suppose in the larger scheme of things it's ok - everything in moderation...
Today marked the first time i got to handle a class - two in fact - though it was only to administer a test and then to screen a WWII-related film. Had to try and appear more serious though, even though today's classes did not entail that much effort on my part. Didn't help that i was feeling a little tired, having gone in the morning to the embassy to settle some visa stuff (which thankfully is near it's rightful completion), but in the end everything went alright. Ooh, did i mention that to spend so much time in the staff room, behind the scenes so to speak, is a very amusing experience indeed - i hadn't a clue as to what i was missing on the other side of the staff room door all that while...
Then originally i again had the intention of going for a run after school, but decided to tag along with some cf folk to catch Pirates 2 (and just for the record i can't for the life of me figure out what made me decide to watch Pirates 1 as a midnight show on the eve of army half marathon three years ago - sleeping all of two or so hours and eventually waking up the next day after the tortuous, cramp-filled run practically bedridden due to the pain). Wasn't the best of shows, i thought, and well, come to think of it i didn't really care much for the ride at Disneyland either... Went more for the fellowship (especially since i won't be seeing these people for a whole five months really soon) than for the movie, cos i could do without watching it since the first one didn't exactly knock my socks off. Was still rather tired though, so so much for the fellowship - since too tired (and consequently, moody) to talk much. Also meant that i probably couldn't appreciate the movie for what it was worth (though that was mainly the funny antics of Johnny Depp). But overall still ok lah (though i got pretty turned off by the abundance of seafood in the movie - almost to the point of nausea - yuck)...
So have decided to try and sleep a little more tonight - another long day ahead tomorrow - the fact that this tiring life will be over in a week, and that i am leaving in almost two weeks (plus a few hours) is just plain surreal - yes so surreal that i shall only ponder over it in my sleep... Nite folks...
I've been very physically and mentally tired over the past few days for some strange and unexplainable reason(s). Perhaps part of it had to do with the rollover effect of having too little sleep last week because of school. Averaging five hours a night is seriously not the brightest of ideas... That aside think that the pace in school also has picked up over the last couple of days, with projects to prepare and present and classes to supervise, definitely more so than last week.
The net effect has been to leave me falling asleep for practically the whole afternoon on Sunday, as well as most of yesterday once i got back home as well, in lieu of the original intention of ippt prep of some kind on both days, though think that if i had done that instead, i'd be even more dead beat now so i suppose in the larger scheme of things it's ok - everything in moderation...
Today marked the first time i got to handle a class - two in fact - though it was only to administer a test and then to screen a WWII-related film. Had to try and appear more serious though, even though today's classes did not entail that much effort on my part. Didn't help that i was feeling a little tired, having gone in the morning to the embassy to settle some visa stuff (which thankfully is near it's rightful completion), but in the end everything went alright. Ooh, did i mention that to spend so much time in the staff room, behind the scenes so to speak, is a very amusing experience indeed - i hadn't a clue as to what i was missing on the other side of the staff room door all that while...
Then originally i again had the intention of going for a run after school, but decided to tag along with some cf folk to catch Pirates 2 (and just for the record i can't for the life of me figure out what made me decide to watch Pirates 1 as a midnight show on the eve of army half marathon three years ago - sleeping all of two or so hours and eventually waking up the next day after the tortuous, cramp-filled run practically bedridden due to the pain). Wasn't the best of shows, i thought, and well, come to think of it i didn't really care much for the ride at Disneyland either... Went more for the fellowship (especially since i won't be seeing these people for a whole five months really soon) than for the movie, cos i could do without watching it since the first one didn't exactly knock my socks off. Was still rather tired though, so so much for the fellowship - since too tired (and consequently, moody) to talk much. Also meant that i probably couldn't appreciate the movie for what it was worth (though that was mainly the funny antics of Johnny Depp). But overall still ok lah (though i got pretty turned off by the abundance of seafood in the movie - almost to the point of nausea - yuck)...
So have decided to try and sleep a little more tonight - another long day ahead tomorrow - the fact that this tiring life will be over in a week, and that i am leaving in almost two weeks (plus a few hours) is just plain surreal - yes so surreal that i shall only ponder over it in my sleep... Nite folks...
Thursday, July 13, 2006
the mundane and the (for lack of a better word) not-so-mundane
School so far has been largely uneventful (which of course is a good thing) apart from some arrows shot in the general direction of the four attachees (the term "teaching scholar" carries with it a lot of positive implications which at least i don't feel i can live up to so i prefer the label "attachee", if such a word exists (and of course not as in attaché case) (and after all, as they say, "nothing without labour" =p so work is expected lah). Of course there's nothing that i can complain about [cos from the group discussions at FOC have decided that my life can do without (excessive) complaining], suffice to say that it's been a rather interesting and quite enjoyable experience so far - as i've said before the staff and my fellow attachees are generally very nice people to work with. While i haven't even started handling a class yet (note i said "handling a class" cos won't actually have to teach in the strictest sense of the word), am in any case thankfully getting into the whole swim of things...
Had a good break from school today since a good portion of thursday cg and friends gathered at Orchard (which btw looks different every single time i step into it - which is hardly a surprise considering that nowsaday i step into it all of once every two months or even less, compared to the so-called heyday back when i was still studying merely up the road at barker, and would go down to Orchard at least once a week) for a gathering facilitated by Debs' imminent departure to what one prof in my department (and he's from that very country so he's entitled to call it that) the white trash nation of Asia... Anyway, almost everyone seemed so busy - loads of working folk there especially...
Bumped into Chong Yak, my bmt mate who's now in smucf exco whom i have not seen for the longest time at the mrt station, and then into Lily, one of my primary six classmates whom i just met at the gathering that our class had only a few days ago. That was rather cool...
I must say that the attendance was impressive - around twenty or so of us from past and present alike (future a bit the hard lah...) - haven't seen some people in ages and it was good to catch up, even if time was a bit rushed. Good of Kumuthan to organise such an event, think he put in quite a bit of effort into it =) The community of believers whom i've grown accustomed to over here is definitely something that i'll miss when i'm away...
Which reminds me - quite a few people have asked me whether i am looking forward to going on exchange. Well the matter-of-fact answer that i give is a flat NO, or at least NOT YET, as i think it'll only sink in once the rest of the annoying bureaucracy and what not is cleared- and there still is some way to go for that. And after that there is the pre-term travel to plan, which i also am not looking too forward to. Only then once all this is settled, then i shall look forward to going on exchange...
Had a good break from school today since a good portion of thursday cg and friends gathered at Orchard (which btw looks different every single time i step into it - which is hardly a surprise considering that nowsaday i step into it all of once every two months or even less, compared to the so-called heyday back when i was still studying merely up the road at barker, and would go down to Orchard at least once a week) for a gathering facilitated by Debs' imminent departure to what one prof in my department (and he's from that very country so he's entitled to call it that) the white trash nation of Asia... Anyway, almost everyone seemed so busy - loads of working folk there especially...
Bumped into Chong Yak, my bmt mate who's now in smucf exco whom i have not seen for the longest time at the mrt station, and then into Lily, one of my primary six classmates whom i just met at the gathering that our class had only a few days ago. That was rather cool...
I must say that the attendance was impressive - around twenty or so of us from past and present alike (future a bit the hard lah...) - haven't seen some people in ages and it was good to catch up, even if time was a bit rushed. Good of Kumuthan to organise such an event, think he put in quite a bit of effort into it =) The community of believers whom i've grown accustomed to over here is definitely something that i'll miss when i'm away...
Which reminds me - quite a few people have asked me whether i am looking forward to going on exchange. Well the matter-of-fact answer that i give is a flat NO, or at least NOT YET, as i think it'll only sink in once the rest of the annoying bureaucracy and what not is cleared- and there still is some way to go for that. And after that there is the pre-term travel to plan, which i also am not looking too forward to. Only then once all this is settled, then i shall look forward to going on exchange...
Monday, July 10, 2006
all about moulding
Last night i had a primary six class reunion, the first one in a long time and the biggest one by very far. It all started around a week ago, i got a call from one of my old classmates whom i had not talked to, let alone seen, since circa post-PSLE time 1995, to inform me about a class reunion barbeque at a pavilion near the house of our former class teacher. Being one for these sort of things i made it a point to go, even though the house was around my old haunt - the North East Hougang/Serangoon/Sengkang area, or in other words, VERY FAR AWAY FROM MY HOUSE. Ah but rekindling of broken bonds supercedes distance anytime, so...
It was great to see so many people whom i have not seen in very long - in fact think at least a third of the people who turned up were people whom i had not seen since 1995 - a frighteningly long eleven years ago (which gasp- is almost half my life ago). Mdm Azlina, our class teacher included. [At this point i'd just like to make the note (which i know i've made before) that my primary school is ROSYTH school - that's R-O-S-Y-T-H, and not roadside or lao sai or any of that stuff] Most people were rather recognizable, though maybe that's because since this was an old class gathering, we knew who to expect to see, so we could agar agar guess who the random person making his/her way towards us was... (of course - and i'm being honest here - i look roughly the same as eleven years ago, so no one had any trouble recognizing me)
My class and i circa 1995
Eleven years on...
Would like to think we look much better now heh...
And you'd agree, wouldn't you? =p
Speaking of jobs and majors - i dunno why almost everyone either raised an eyebrow or grimaced at my mention that i am a history major and am gonna teach - hmm... Am i really worlds apart from them? Well maybe, considering that the dominant language there was indeed Mandarin - which reminded me of the fact that i was the only one from our class (supposedly the best em2 class) to be relegated to the 'special' Chinese class in the depths of the building - where i eventually toiled hard enough at the %$@# language to get a C - which in my eyes was even better methinks than getting As and A*s for the other subjects... In fact, that was one of the things that some people remembered about me, that i struggled and struggled with the language - well, just like my appearance, think that my command of the language, or rather the lack of it, too has not changed much since then... (Oh and just to note, all this started even BEFORE i had even stepped into an AC school thank you very much...)
As one of the first to arrive, and being a guy, i naturally felt obliged to help out in the setting up - and from this experience i learned how to fan dying but glowing embers into flame (and btw i tell you it's hard work - woke up this morning with arm muscles aching to a degree comparable to the time when i was kena tekan in taurus coy in bmt), as well as how to skewer chicken wings (which thankfully turned out far better than the other time a few years ago when i was tasked to skewer of all things, PRAWNS - yes - PRAWNS - so then i managed to withstand breathing through my nose for the whole duration, only to then accidentally puncture myself with a sharp and short spine at the backside of the wretched creature while attempting to skewer it- which of course did no good to my aversion to them...)
Oh, and another thing, many of them drove there - which was enough to get me kicking myself again and again for procrastinating getting a licence up till now, and probably till long after i return as well...
Then today was the first day of school for me - honestly i dunno how in future i am gonna do it - cos if school life entails reaching the place by early 7ish in the morning, that means if i want to do my quiet time first then i'll have to get up around early 5ish every day - which would in the long run entail sleeping by latest eleven pm on average - highly impossible for me...
So needless to say i couldn't wake up early enough to do my qt prior to leaving the house, but anyway got there and then i had to make a conscious effort to adopt a more serious persona - for exameple when they introduced us to the school, i was about to give them one of my cheesy grins that i normally give when i bump into people along the corridors of nus, when i realised that i should be more teacher-ish, so i just smiled simply and raised my hand instead. Yup it had to be Mr Tay, not blur and moody me who was there today...
But anyway, it was quite enjoyable i must say, even though the work in store promises to be a lot and the learning curve very expotentially shaped... The staff are generally very friendly and accomodating people as are the other three guys also attached to the school (all easties =). Haven't had a chance to really see how the boys are like, but think they should be fine lah - or at least i hope...
(Oh, and i must say that you really should check out an all guys school the morning after the world cup finals - if you get my drift... I'd like to think that yours truly, not giving two hoots about the match, would be wide awake in comparison for once heh...)
It was great to see so many people whom i have not seen in very long - in fact think at least a third of the people who turned up were people whom i had not seen since 1995 - a frighteningly long eleven years ago (which gasp- is almost half my life ago). Mdm Azlina, our class teacher included. [At this point i'd just like to make the note (which i know i've made before) that my primary school is ROSYTH school - that's R-O-S-Y-T-H, and not roadside or lao sai or any of that stuff] Most people were rather recognizable, though maybe that's because since this was an old class gathering, we knew who to expect to see, so we could agar agar guess who the random person making his/her way towards us was... (of course - and i'm being honest here - i look roughly the same as eleven years ago, so no one had any trouble recognizing me)
My class and i circa 1995
Eleven years on...
Would like to think we look much better now heh...
And you'd agree, wouldn't you? =pWas very heartening to hear everyone's, particularly Mdm Azlina's reflections on our class eleven years ago, and how things have changed since then. Personally, it's rather hard to believe that now i have an ex-classmate who should be getting married soon, one doing her masters, one who smokes, a regular, a chemist, and many others too...
Speaking of jobs and majors - i dunno why almost everyone either raised an eyebrow or grimaced at my mention that i am a history major and am gonna teach - hmm... Am i really worlds apart from them? Well maybe, considering that the dominant language there was indeed Mandarin - which reminded me of the fact that i was the only one from our class (supposedly the best em2 class) to be relegated to the 'special' Chinese class in the depths of the building - where i eventually toiled hard enough at the %$@# language to get a C - which in my eyes was even better methinks than getting As and A*s for the other subjects... In fact, that was one of the things that some people remembered about me, that i struggled and struggled with the language - well, just like my appearance, think that my command of the language, or rather the lack of it, too has not changed much since then... (Oh and just to note, all this started even BEFORE i had even stepped into an AC school thank you very much...)
As one of the first to arrive, and being a guy, i naturally felt obliged to help out in the setting up - and from this experience i learned how to fan dying but glowing embers into flame (and btw i tell you it's hard work - woke up this morning with arm muscles aching to a degree comparable to the time when i was kena tekan in taurus coy in bmt), as well as how to skewer chicken wings (which thankfully turned out far better than the other time a few years ago when i was tasked to skewer of all things, PRAWNS - yes - PRAWNS - so then i managed to withstand breathing through my nose for the whole duration, only to then accidentally puncture myself with a sharp and short spine at the backside of the wretched creature while attempting to skewer it- which of course did no good to my aversion to them...)
Oh, and another thing, many of them drove there - which was enough to get me kicking myself again and again for procrastinating getting a licence up till now, and probably till long after i return as well...
Then today was the first day of school for me - honestly i dunno how in future i am gonna do it - cos if school life entails reaching the place by early 7ish in the morning, that means if i want to do my quiet time first then i'll have to get up around early 5ish every day - which would in the long run entail sleeping by latest eleven pm on average - highly impossible for me...
So needless to say i couldn't wake up early enough to do my qt prior to leaving the house, but anyway got there and then i had to make a conscious effort to adopt a more serious persona - for exameple when they introduced us to the school, i was about to give them one of my cheesy grins that i normally give when i bump into people along the corridors of nus, when i realised that i should be more teacher-ish, so i just smiled simply and raised my hand instead. Yup it had to be Mr Tay, not blur and moody me who was there today...
But anyway, it was quite enjoyable i must say, even though the work in store promises to be a lot and the learning curve very expotentially shaped... The staff are generally very friendly and accomodating people as are the other three guys also attached to the school (all easties =). Haven't had a chance to really see how the boys are like, but think they should be fine lah - or at least i hope...
(Oh, and i must say that you really should check out an all guys school the morning after the world cup finals - if you get my drift... I'd like to think that yours truly, not giving two hoots about the match, would be wide awake in comparison for once heh...)
Sunday, June 25, 2006
of pigging out and sliced guitars
Lots of things happening over the past few days - resulting in a lot of people met and a lot of $ drained from my wallet and ezlink card...
Finally got to watch X3 with the team on Thursday - it was very entertaining, though not always necessarily in a good way - a little too campy for my tastes but fun nevertheless. I especially enjoyed Callisto's death because i absolutely couldn't stand her when she was alive (and the glowing piercing was farny too). The scene when Jean Grey seduces Wolverine was also strangely reminiscent of Goldeneye, since in both cases Famke Janssen's character (in Goldeneye the very intriguingly named Xenia Onatopp) wraps her legs around men when seducing them, although in the case of Goldeneye she then proceeds to crush them to death with her thighs (a good testament to the effectiveness of the thighmaster =p). Camp!
Yesterday, met up with Sida for lunch and dessert to catch up. Lunch was a very full plate of chicken rice with shao1 rou4 added at lagoon. Then we went to use my $20 Häagen-Dazs voucher at Siglap, since it was expiring that very day. Melon flavour is rather good actually - though nothing really comes close to Macadamia Brittle. Yum.
For dinner i somehow found myself at a Japanese a la carte buffet place called Honjin on Robinson Road with Renshao and Hannah - as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat and eventually we ended up there - not my ideal meal (cos it's $32+++) but was good nevertheless. You can order as much of many stuff as you like such as sashimi, sushi, zaru soba (my favourite), yakitori, tempura etc... And keeping with my 'always hungry' persona that plagued ("plagued" because it wreaked havoc on my weight) me almost throughout the MEET trip - i just kept on eating and eating, and at the end what stopped me wasn't the feeling of fullness (which never came) but rather the last order time... I even almost single-handedly devoured a complimentary stewed salmon head - even though as some of you would know i don't really like fish, particularly if it's fishy (both literally and figuratively), maybe unless it's fried to eradicate traces of fishiness... And can you imagine, i had that appetite more or less throughout the whole trip (yet somehow, according to my mother, i lost weight)...
Today, went over to friends' house to compare notes regarding our respective trips and to see his trip photos and videos (Thailand trip ones coming soon btw...) Before that had lunch at the nearby hawker centre, where as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat (sounds familiar?). Eventually we settled on chicken rice, and the two of us (with me again being in my 'always hungry' mood, and friends, well, being friends =p) managed to finish half a chicken... Oh well, it's always good to talk to and pray with friends =)...
After that joined the cell for gathering at Daniel Vai's place. More food (i claimed to be full but still ate like crazy anyway...), this time cooked by him. Good stuff. Also great to see everyone again and catch up after quite some time =)
I had a bizarre dream last night. Dreamt that we were still in Thailand, and somehow someone with butter fingers (the team would know who this is...) dropped Alan's (our host missionary) guitar and case. And the guitar as a result got sliced in to at least four pieces. I showed it to Alan, and he somehow looked annoyed, then rode off with the broken guitar on some sort of giant white animal (the exact variety i forget - think it was either a horse or a swan) and disappeared in the nearby woods (which btw looked nothing like Thailand). Maybe this has something to do with the sheer amount of time i spent there playing guitar - played almost every day till now the calluses on my left fingertips are so thick that i get a numb feeling whenever i touch something with them, and my right index fingernail is practically flattened from all the strumming on the acoustic guitar strings. Of course on the upside i'd like to think that i've improved quite a bit heh... Though now that i'm back to using the classical i have at home it just sounds bad whatever i play on it (except the opening lines of qing tian, since they're plucked and the classical is meant for plucking), because the acoustic just sounds much better in comparison...
Got my attachment school assigned - am posted to an established boy's school in the siglap-east coast area. Knew i'd get a school near my house but never thought it would be this one... Ah well, we'll see what happens...
And i know this is like the millionth time but i really need to exercise if i am going to attempt to even pass ippt in slightly less than a month's time - i feel horribly unfit in any case, and i eat so much nowsaday that i'd better start doing something - any running/swimming/cycling kakis?
Finally got to watch X3 with the team on Thursday - it was very entertaining, though not always necessarily in a good way - a little too campy for my tastes but fun nevertheless. I especially enjoyed Callisto's death because i absolutely couldn't stand her when she was alive (and the glowing piercing was farny too). The scene when Jean Grey seduces Wolverine was also strangely reminiscent of Goldeneye, since in both cases Famke Janssen's character (in Goldeneye the very intriguingly named Xenia Onatopp) wraps her legs around men when seducing them, although in the case of Goldeneye she then proceeds to crush them to death with her thighs (a good testament to the effectiveness of the thighmaster =p). Camp!
Yesterday, met up with Sida for lunch and dessert to catch up. Lunch was a very full plate of chicken rice with shao1 rou4 added at lagoon. Then we went to use my $20 Häagen-Dazs voucher at Siglap, since it was expiring that very day. Melon flavour is rather good actually - though nothing really comes close to Macadamia Brittle. Yum.
For dinner i somehow found myself at a Japanese a la carte buffet place called Honjin on Robinson Road with Renshao and Hannah - as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat and eventually we ended up there - not my ideal meal (cos it's $32+++) but was good nevertheless. You can order as much of many stuff as you like such as sashimi, sushi, zaru soba (my favourite), yakitori, tempura etc... And keeping with my 'always hungry' persona that plagued ("plagued" because it wreaked havoc on my weight) me almost throughout the MEET trip - i just kept on eating and eating, and at the end what stopped me wasn't the feeling of fullness (which never came) but rather the last order time... I even almost single-handedly devoured a complimentary stewed salmon head - even though as some of you would know i don't really like fish, particularly if it's fishy (both literally and figuratively), maybe unless it's fried to eradicate traces of fishiness... And can you imagine, i had that appetite more or less throughout the whole trip (yet somehow, according to my mother, i lost weight)...
Today, went over to friends' house to compare notes regarding our respective trips and to see his trip photos and videos (Thailand trip ones coming soon btw...) Before that had lunch at the nearby hawker centre, where as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat (sounds familiar?). Eventually we settled on chicken rice, and the two of us (with me again being in my 'always hungry' mood, and friends, well, being friends =p) managed to finish half a chicken... Oh well, it's always good to talk to and pray with friends =)...
After that joined the cell for gathering at Daniel Vai's place. More food (i claimed to be full but still ate like crazy anyway...), this time cooked by him. Good stuff. Also great to see everyone again and catch up after quite some time =)
I had a bizarre dream last night. Dreamt that we were still in Thailand, and somehow someone with butter fingers (the team would know who this is...) dropped Alan's (our host missionary) guitar and case. And the guitar as a result got sliced in to at least four pieces. I showed it to Alan, and he somehow looked annoyed, then rode off with the broken guitar on some sort of giant white animal (the exact variety i forget - think it was either a horse or a swan) and disappeared in the nearby woods (which btw looked nothing like Thailand). Maybe this has something to do with the sheer amount of time i spent there playing guitar - played almost every day till now the calluses on my left fingertips are so thick that i get a numb feeling whenever i touch something with them, and my right index fingernail is practically flattened from all the strumming on the acoustic guitar strings. Of course on the upside i'd like to think that i've improved quite a bit heh... Though now that i'm back to using the classical i have at home it just sounds bad whatever i play on it (except the opening lines of qing tian, since they're plucked and the classical is meant for plucking), because the acoustic just sounds much better in comparison...
Got my attachment school assigned - am posted to an established boy's school in the siglap-east coast area. Knew i'd get a school near my house but never thought it would be this one... Ah well, we'll see what happens...
And i know this is like the millionth time but i really need to exercise if i am going to attempt to even pass ippt in slightly less than a month's time - i feel horribly unfit in any case, and i eat so much nowsaday that i'd better start doing something - any running/swimming/cycling kakis?
Monday, May 22, 2006
presenting the duh statement of the day
And i quote directly from the televised excerpts of the news conference on mediacrap just now where the person in question said:
"Our people will grow up to be the men and women that they will be for the rest of their lives"
Aiyoh, how to connect with the populace by making them understand you if you will churn out nonsensical soundbites like this on a regular basis?
Anyways, the past few days have been spent in minimal (and i couldn't emphasize the word minimal any more...) preparation for both MEET as well as exchange, together with housing Greg at my place in transit between trips... In fact, i went just now to the airport with Sida to send him off back home to Charlotte. After sending him off, as the two of us were stoning by the viewing gallery and watching five or so garuda planes balek kampung in slow progressive succession, i realised that the two times when taking a flight out of Singapore would be as unexciting for me as ever would both be for flights to Thailand - back in 2003 when i was flying to Thailand for exercises at Kanchanaburi Training Base for a month, and in two days' time, when i'll be flying to Thailand for MEET trip to Salokbat (see post below).
For the former, well, that's only expected given my general aversion to anything to do with military training (though in retrospect i'm glad i spent that one month there). And for the latter, well i am looking forward to it to some extent, but at the same time there are so many unknowns and semi-knowns that make the whole pre-trip picture that much more hazy and complicated, and which at the same time prompt you to look to God even more... My general negativity towards unfamiliar situations is probably why i remarked to Bobbert that i really meant every ounce of what i said when i told him that i can't wait till the next time i see Greg - cos apart from the fact that i'll see him again is also the fact that the next time will also be when i'm finally in NC, after MEET, moulding the future of our nation and exchange prep will all be over...
Another highlight of the past few days? Meeting up with my ALLO buddy Melvin before i leave - and taking the opportunity, since we agreed to meet at Pasir Ris, to cycle there and back from my house, since i predict a general lack of exercise for me within the next month or so [the only exercise i foresee possibly happening is people jio-ing (sp?) us for soccer while we are in Thailand, which is an experience hardly anywhere on my list of my most highly-anticipated things to do while over there =x...] But i digress, anyway, it was a good time catching up with him after almost a month methinks, and the exercise was good too - Katong to Pasir Ris by bike in 35 minutes - which depending on the circumstances may even be faster than taking bus 12 over there from my house as it meanders in and out of Tampines and Pasir Ris before finally reaching the interchange... Quite fast hor - any takers come the next time?
"Our people will grow up to be the men and women that they will be for the rest of their lives"
Aiyoh, how to connect with the populace by making them understand you if you will churn out nonsensical soundbites like this on a regular basis?
Anyways, the past few days have been spent in minimal (and i couldn't emphasize the word minimal any more...) preparation for both MEET as well as exchange, together with housing Greg at my place in transit between trips... In fact, i went just now to the airport with Sida to send him off back home to Charlotte. After sending him off, as the two of us were stoning by the viewing gallery and watching five or so garuda planes balek kampung in slow progressive succession, i realised that the two times when taking a flight out of Singapore would be as unexciting for me as ever would both be for flights to Thailand - back in 2003 when i was flying to Thailand for exercises at Kanchanaburi Training Base for a month, and in two days' time, when i'll be flying to Thailand for MEET trip to Salokbat (see post below).
For the former, well, that's only expected given my general aversion to anything to do with military training (though in retrospect i'm glad i spent that one month there). And for the latter, well i am looking forward to it to some extent, but at the same time there are so many unknowns and semi-knowns that make the whole pre-trip picture that much more hazy and complicated, and which at the same time prompt you to look to God even more... My general negativity towards unfamiliar situations is probably why i remarked to Bobbert that i really meant every ounce of what i said when i told him that i can't wait till the next time i see Greg - cos apart from the fact that i'll see him again is also the fact that the next time will also be when i'm finally in NC, after MEET, moulding the future of our nation and exchange prep will all be over...
Another highlight of the past few days? Meeting up with my ALLO buddy Melvin before i leave - and taking the opportunity, since we agreed to meet at Pasir Ris, to cycle there and back from my house, since i predict a general lack of exercise for me within the next month or so [the only exercise i foresee possibly happening is people jio-ing (sp?) us for soccer while we are in Thailand, which is an experience hardly anywhere on my list of my most highly-anticipated things to do while over there =x...] But i digress, anyway, it was a good time catching up with him after almost a month methinks, and the exercise was good too - Katong to Pasir Ris by bike in 35 minutes - which depending on the circumstances may even be faster than taking bus 12 over there from my house as it meanders in and out of Tampines and Pasir Ris before finally reaching the interchange... Quite fast hor - any takers come the next time?
Friday, December 23, 2005
report book
From the time i woke up today till eleven am sharp when i pressed the ENTER key on my keyboard i was one distracted being...
7:10am: Half-awake me wonders why i bother to set an alarm in the first place when i know that i will just switch it off and go back to sleep again. However, half-awake me also notes that it is less than four hours till results come in.
7:40am: Finally pull self out of bed. While brushing teeth, think of the results of only slightly more than three hours away.
8:00am: While doing quiet time, can't help but have the thought of results at the back of mind.
8:30-10:30am: While having little success in trying to memorise 2 Corinthians 5 by MEET camp and doing other stuff as well, am having much greater success in distracting self to no end with thoughts of results and the inevitable "what ifs".
10:58am: Tried to see if could get results two minutes earlier. Not successful.
10:59am: Tried to see if could get results one minute earlier. Same outcome.
11:00am: Finally it came...
And once again my silly fears and what ifs proved totally unfounded and unwarranted...
Although I had a certain peace at the time of the exams knowing that my focus was certainly more upon Him than it had been the previous sem, which meant that i saw going for morning prayer and evening worship and other so-called Christian activities as of being of no detriment to my studying, but rather as helping me to maintain the right focus, the skeptic in me was still a little worried come results time, particularly for the silly el module. I tell you, even though I eventually came out of the paper trusting that the Lord would see me through it, silly thoughts still drifted in my mind even till this morning as to what might happen if i actually did fail: drop in cap, some unhappy people knocking at my door making my future uncertain, that sort of thing...
So all this being said, i am so humbled once again to see that the Lord has blessed me with a B, cos the whole sem i was thinking that it could be much worse than that...
Two lessons learnt: One, to be very careful when picking el modules, and to try to do at least one of them on sep should i be going, so that i can s/u it, cos el modules are, at least for me, really very hard... Two, TRUST GOD!
For the results overall, am truly thankful as well.
cap score managed to rise a leetle bit, my long-term aim is to stay within the second-upper range (first class is really waaaaayyyyy up there in the strato-nimbus or whatever you call those high high clouds)...
and finally i can say that i am comfortable with being a history major, after a long struggle in my mind starting from the first sem, when i wondered if my B- for hist in a sea of distinction grades for my other exposures was a sign that i ought to reconsider my major, to now, when my hist cap has finally surpassed my general cap...
a couple of regrets, but no point in moping and dwelling on all this...
i must admit, am still am quite preoccupied with grades, but i do believe that it is a struggle that is under control, by God's grace...
Well, part of the reason why i was so eager to check my results was because i also was due to meet my AnnTIC group, Zechariah, for lunch at 1130. Good thing that the bus came at the appropriate moment and that my house is near town (hear that all you ignorant non-easties who think that my house is ulu) so i was able to reach raffles place mrt on time...
We ate at Carl's Jr [my new favourite fast food available in Singapore (some of the stuff i have eaten in the states is still better - but this is S'pore lah, what to expect...)]! Great to meet up with some of the group again and to catch up over good and filling food (quite happy with self that managed to finish a super star + beef chilli cheese fries) (am gunning for the portobello mushroom burger next *drools*)
I wonder if a video of the *wo yong wo de jian lai ca ni* thingy actually exists... As much as i'd hate to admit it, i actually wouldn't mind taking a look, to see how siao i was on that day (blame it on the lack of sleep)
Had to find a way to kill time between lunch and watching acjc choir carolling at 6ish, so tagged along with Lester and Linus in their Christmas shopping (something that i myself have an excuse not to do since i won't be seeing most possible recipients of gifts during Christmas anyway...) Picked up a bit of stuff along the way...
I realise that even after so many years, i can still more or less remember my parts for the carolling songs. Was good to catch the choir in action again, especially where carols are concerned, have some great memories of carolling experiences with the choir...
Dinner and talking with Denise and Yuemin followed. Once again great to catch up, i definitely feel that i have been spending too little time with some of my friends as of late... Hmm i shan't elaborate...
2 Corinthians 5 is one tough passage to memorise...
7:10am: Half-awake me wonders why i bother to set an alarm in the first place when i know that i will just switch it off and go back to sleep again. However, half-awake me also notes that it is less than four hours till results come in.
7:40am: Finally pull self out of bed. While brushing teeth, think of the results of only slightly more than three hours away.
8:00am: While doing quiet time, can't help but have the thought of results at the back of mind.
8:30-10:30am: While having little success in trying to memorise 2 Corinthians 5 by MEET camp and doing other stuff as well, am having much greater success in distracting self to no end with thoughts of results and the inevitable "what ifs".
10:58am: Tried to see if could get results two minutes earlier. Not successful.
10:59am: Tried to see if could get results one minute earlier. Same outcome.
11:00am: Finally it came...
And once again my silly fears and what ifs proved totally unfounded and unwarranted...
Although I had a certain peace at the time of the exams knowing that my focus was certainly more upon Him than it had been the previous sem, which meant that i saw going for morning prayer and evening worship and other so-called Christian activities as of being of no detriment to my studying, but rather as helping me to maintain the right focus, the skeptic in me was still a little worried come results time, particularly for the silly el module. I tell you, even though I eventually came out of the paper trusting that the Lord would see me through it, silly thoughts still drifted in my mind even till this morning as to what might happen if i actually did fail: drop in cap, some unhappy people knocking at my door making my future uncertain, that sort of thing...
So all this being said, i am so humbled once again to see that the Lord has blessed me with a B, cos the whole sem i was thinking that it could be much worse than that...
Two lessons learnt: One, to be very careful when picking el modules, and to try to do at least one of them on sep should i be going, so that i can s/u it, cos el modules are, at least for me, really very hard... Two, TRUST GOD!
For the results overall, am truly thankful as well.
cap score managed to rise a leetle bit, my long-term aim is to stay within the second-upper range (first class is really waaaaayyyyy up there in the strato-nimbus or whatever you call those high high clouds)...
and finally i can say that i am comfortable with being a history major, after a long struggle in my mind starting from the first sem, when i wondered if my B- for hist in a sea of distinction grades for my other exposures was a sign that i ought to reconsider my major, to now, when my hist cap has finally surpassed my general cap...
a couple of regrets, but no point in moping and dwelling on all this...
i must admit, am still am quite preoccupied with grades, but i do believe that it is a struggle that is under control, by God's grace...
Well, part of the reason why i was so eager to check my results was because i also was due to meet my AnnTIC group, Zechariah, for lunch at 1130. Good thing that the bus came at the appropriate moment and that my house is near town (hear that all you ignorant non-easties who think that my house is ulu) so i was able to reach raffles place mrt on time...
We ate at Carl's Jr [my new favourite fast food available in Singapore (some of the stuff i have eaten in the states is still better - but this is S'pore lah, what to expect...)]! Great to meet up with some of the group again and to catch up over good and filling food (quite happy with self that managed to finish a super star + beef chilli cheese fries) (am gunning for the portobello mushroom burger next *drools*)
I wonder if a video of the *wo yong wo de jian lai ca ni* thingy actually exists... As much as i'd hate to admit it, i actually wouldn't mind taking a look, to see how siao i was on that day (blame it on the lack of sleep)
Had to find a way to kill time between lunch and watching acjc choir carolling at 6ish, so tagged along with Lester and Linus in their Christmas shopping (something that i myself have an excuse not to do since i won't be seeing most possible recipients of gifts during Christmas anyway...) Picked up a bit of stuff along the way...
I realise that even after so many years, i can still more or less remember my parts for the carolling songs. Was good to catch the choir in action again, especially where carols are concerned, have some great memories of carolling experiences with the choir...
Dinner and talking with Denise and Yuemin followed. Once again great to catch up, i definitely feel that i have been spending too little time with some of my friends as of late... Hmm i shan't elaborate...
2 Corinthians 5 is one tough passage to memorise...
Sunday, October 23, 2005
to go or not to go?
Ok i do realise that there are many more important things that i could be doing at this moment (such as actually start on my due-on-thursday essay) but i decided to take a look at the sep website instead...
Now, i suppose the answer to the titular question is a bit of a no-brainer (YES), especially in considering that the cash factor is not an issue, due to certain provisions that have come by God's grace (i shall not elaborate here due to my irrational fear of these provisions somehow evaporating into thin air - with blogs nowsaday one can never be too careful)...
But still, anyone who knows me knows that i am not one for hassle (i.e. i am lazy - i refer you to my now three-year-old struggle to just head down to register for basic theory), and the whole sep process is just one such bothersome thingy...
Furthermore, there are so many sub-decisions to make in the course of the whole thing, and decision ranking doesn't rank very high on my comfortability meter either (i.e. i am indecisive - i refer you to how i choose where to eat when at a shopping centre - go to the mall directory, close my eyes, and randomly point my finger in the direction of the f&b section of the directory, eating at wherever my finger lands)...
And after reading Sida's mid-sem progress report, the slacker in me is having second thoughts...
That being said, i have already been making grand plans in my head as to how i could use sep to my advantage to siam some modules back here that i really dun want to do (with special reference to my cs2 modules *bleah*)...
Also, finally a chance to go overseas for an extended period of time and just recharge in a whole new environment, away from all that is *insert random negative word of your choice (once again, you never know which dubious character could be reading this)* back here.
Once again, for me the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
(btw the above also applies to my ongoing struggle with my dear essay that just refuses to get started in my head...)
Now, i suppose the answer to the titular question is a bit of a no-brainer (YES), especially in considering that the cash factor is not an issue, due to certain provisions that have come by God's grace (i shall not elaborate here due to my irrational fear of these provisions somehow evaporating into thin air - with blogs nowsaday one can never be too careful)...
But still, anyone who knows me knows that i am not one for hassle (i.e. i am lazy - i refer you to my now three-year-old struggle to just head down to register for basic theory), and the whole sep process is just one such bothersome thingy...
Furthermore, there are so many sub-decisions to make in the course of the whole thing, and decision ranking doesn't rank very high on my comfortability meter either (i.e. i am indecisive - i refer you to how i choose where to eat when at a shopping centre - go to the mall directory, close my eyes, and randomly point my finger in the direction of the f&b section of the directory, eating at wherever my finger lands)...
And after reading Sida's mid-sem progress report, the slacker in me is having second thoughts...
That being said, i have already been making grand plans in my head as to how i could use sep to my advantage to siam some modules back here that i really dun want to do (with special reference to my cs2 modules *bleah*)...
Also, finally a chance to go overseas for an extended period of time and just recharge in a whole new environment, away from all that is *insert random negative word of your choice (once again, you never know which dubious character could be reading this)* back here.
Once again, for me the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
(btw the above also applies to my ongoing struggle with my dear essay that just refuses to get started in my head...)
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