Sunday, January 23, 2005 , 9:45 PM
><))o> Jimmy liao Book- half price!
#Yeah...no kidding! I found Jimmy Liao's book at half the usual price! Haha...if you are wondering where is the sale going on...its not a sale!! Yesterday my bf and i went to IMM before we head to Clementi for some dumb choir performance, we were at IMM because hafiz wanted to try the food at Banquet Bagus (its a halah foodcourt that works like Mache)...we ordered a plate of fried hokkien mee (its $4 but very big plate...big enough for two person and its very nice!) and sassuage rosti (its expensive and sucks!). After lunch, we walked around IMM...there was this $2 Japan outlet...its very big and has got alot of nice little things like cardboards that can be folded into many holders, boxes, pretty japanese plates, stationerys, etc. After walking around that $2 store, we walked into a China bookshop....its something like Popular and Kinokuniya...and since there's alot of chinese books around, i told my bf that it would be nice if i can find jimmy liao's book. Initially, i couldn't find the book and suddenly my bf saw it and unlike the books at Kinokuniya, the books were not wrapped...so i showed one of my fave book , Moments, to my bf...and i turn over the book to see the price. Surprisingly, its priced at $10.80, half the usual price! I took a few more other books (Beautiful Solitude, Turn Left Turn Right) and similiar, the books were priced much lower that those books at Popular and Kinokuniya!! At first i thought the books were pirated...but after close inspection of the printing, paper quality, i deduced that it couldnt have been pirated books...so the reason my bf thought of was probably the difference in publisher (there's an extra publisher logo)...yup...but its very cheap and i really wanted to get it once my pay comes in. My bf quietly took one of the book (Moments) and told me he wanted to go toilet. He came back and we left the bookstore. Outside at the escalator, my bf ask me to open his bag to get the newspaper for him and lo and behold, i found the book in his bag! He actually bought the book for me...! Aww...i love that book...yeah....i so happy...maybe tomorrow when i get my pay, i will go and get Beautiful Solitude...hehe
Sunday, January 16, 2005 , 8:13 PM
><))o> Photos...
#Here are the photos that my bf and i took when we went out a few days ago to buy my tote!
Saturday, January 15, 2005 , 1:08 PM
><))o> My teaching experience thus far
# It's been two weeks since i stepped into school as a teacher (relief teacher i mean) and so far, the experience has been amazing. First of all, teaching sec5 classes weren't that bad as i thought. I was really encouraged and of course happy to know that quite a handful of them are very willing to learn and they always pay close attention to whatever i've taught them. Quite a number of them were also an inquisitive bunch and asking questions is an indicative sign that they are thinking and processing whatever i have said. Sadly, next monday will be my last day teaching these students and if time table changes again such that they do not have math lessons on monday, i will not even have the chance to step into the classroom and say my goodbyes *keeping my fingers crossed*.
#As for the sec1 class that i've taught, i have already taught my last lesson with them, which was yesterday. Yesterday, we had 3 periods of lessons. 1 period before recess and two periods after recess. During that two periods lesson, the class actually planned a birthday party for all the jan and feb babies cum a farewell party for me! I was so touched by their actions! When i got to the classroom, i had to wait outside for their "preparation". The know-it-all glances and cheeky grins were exchanged between the students and they seemed more hyper than usual. And when they finally allowed me to go into the classroom, the room was in pitch darkness and someone or rather a few of my students spray the...(eh...i dunno what's that called but its this spray can that produces strings of foam)...yap...so i was made the clown lah. THen the "sprayers" went around the classroom, sabo-ing all those jan and feb babies. The scene was just hilarious!
#After that intial surprise, there was the cake cutting, singing of birthday songs (in chinese, english and malay mind you!)and of course the feasting. In a way, my two periods for lesson were gone but it doesnt matter because i was going to close the chapter anyway so there weren't much to teach for that lesson. As a result, the lesson was filled with laughter and fun and of course a tingling bit of saddness. I distributed every student a small bar of tabolone (not sure if its spelled correctly)...and told them to be guai and blah blah...they are really a bunch of angels and i will really miss them.....
# After school, i went to marina mandrain hotel for vocal consort performances. It was a Southwest CDC (community development centre) dinner with all the big shots there like Lim Boon Heng and Dr Amy Khor (actually i only know this two.). Dr Amy Khor is so pretty in person...i mean...i like the way she brings out her point directly in simple yet clear english, putting her point across in parliment in a very frank manner. To see her in person was an overwhleming experience! The performace was great..the acoustic was favourable to the choir and with hafiz standing opposite me, we just cannot stop giggling especially during the song "When i;m 64"...its a song about how couple grow odd together watching each other's teeth drop, doing things like scrimping and saving together that kind of stuff. Its a very humourous song and i just cannot stop smiling when i'm singing that song. After the performances, i went to change only to come out of the toilet and learn that the organisers were expecting us to sing another song! What the *(@#(^*&@#%! In the end, the choir was forced to change back into gown and suit and go upstage just to sing another pathetic song!
#After the performance and the "changing-in-and-out-of-our-costumes" routine, we were finally allowed to go home...yeah! I was so tired by the time i reached home and fall alseep immediately after i bathed.
#Ooo...by the way, i'm so happy! For the past few days, my mum and my boyfriend got a few things for me which i wanted so badly for a very long time! My mum and i went shopping at arab street together on Thursday. We bought a piece of linen cloth which has a base colour of peach and little yellow strips decorating the fabric to make a skirt for me. The cloth has a very oriential kind of look like one of those pashima shawls! Afterwhich, i went to bugis and saw a long skirt with brown embriodary at the bottom (one of those skirts that i have been eyeing for quite a while) and my mum bought it for me! My bf on the other hand, went walking around with me in the town region for about 2 days looking for a nice, practical bag which i could bring to work. After much viewing, judging and considering, we finally settled on the bag that i saw at far east plaza and have wanted to get since a few months back but didn;t because of the pricey tag. Its a regular tote with floral-liked print, decorated with glitter and this oriental-looking metal with leather strings tied to it, acting as both a decorative piece and securing the opening of the bag. The bag was such a beauty and my bf got it for me~! Yeah...i so happy! Now i dont have to carry my brown carrier to work anymore. Its really very small and bearly enough for me to put all my things inside. With the worksheets and books that i have to bring home to mark and mug respectively, the carrier was totally impractical!
#I'm a happy girl at the moment...my job is going smoothly, my bf has changed and become nicer, i'm feeling more settled at vocal consort..everything is smooth sailing at the moment...hope it stays that way for the next few months to come!
Monday, January 10, 2005 , 6:41 PM
><))o> Romantic night out
#Went out with my bf, hafiz today. Actuallly my bf and i were supposed to meet jac, meimei and leena today and go to the fish and co at the glasshouse (beside Parkmall). But eventually my bf and i went alone because some family problem cropped up and she couldnt make it for the outing...so meimei and leena didnt come along also...
#My bf and i met at around 3pm at my house area and he told me that my friends couldnt make it. Because of that, his little plan had failed. Well..wat he intended to do was to give each of my friend a piece of ferero chocolate and they will eat infront of me while i just have to look on. He presumed that i will start to complain and even when i do, my friends are supposed to continue be their sadistic self and indulge in their chocolates and not share it with me. After sulking for a while, hafiz would bring out a heart-shaped box of ferero chocolates to surprise me. In addition to the chocolates, there would be a mystery gift hidden among the chocolates. As my friends didn't join us eventually, hafiz just gave me the chocolate box and immediately i can tell that there was something below the tray of chocolates....i lifted the tray and beneath it was a beautiful butterfly necklace! The pendant is in the shape of the butterfly, formed using sterling sliver metal. Half of the pendant revealed the sliver metal while the other half was decorated with little crystals and stones. The butterfly however, was not complete. The right-hand corner of the pendant was a gap and dangling at the corner was another crystal-studded butterfly (a much smaller one) that when placed intact with the main pendant, formed two butterflies...it was such a lovely and unique gift!
#We took a train to Orchard and started walking around there because we wanted to commemerate our first date where we had walked from dobhy ghaut all the way to orchard. But this time round, we walked the other way instead - from orchard to dobhy ghaut (because the glasshouse is there).
#We were famished by the time we reached the glasshouse...thankfully we were there early (around 5 plus) because by the time we were dinning, the place was so crowded and those who came in thinking that they could have a quick meal were utterly disappointed. Dinner was a very sumptous Seafood Platter for Two. Actually we hadnt had any intention to order that. We wanted to order two sets of Seafood Platter for One. Our conversation with the waitress went like this....
Hafiz: Can i have two sets of Seafood platter for one please?
waitress: (flipping the menu) why not you try Seafood Platter for Two instead? (she got distracted by something else later on giving me and my bf about 30 seconds to talk)
amy: So what are we going to tell her? That Seafood Platter for Two is not filling enough for us? (actually its kinda true lah...not filling enough for the both of us...we are huge eaters...moreover, both of us are not mussles lovers and mussles happens to come only with seafood platter for two).
hafiz (to the waitress): Eh...we don't take the mussles....
waitress: (happily suggested) Then you can change it to something else...like more rice, more calamari or prawns (seafood platter btw is a huge pan consisting of rice cooked with rasins, prawns, calamari, grilled fish and chips - absolutely delicious!)....
hafiz: (puzzled that the mussles can actually be changed...i'm equally puzzled as well because we didnt know that it could be done) well...i'll have the calamari then...
waitress: grilled or fried?
amy: huh? got two kinds ah...(tots shot like electric curcuit through my brains...memories of our last pathetic encounter with grilled calamari resurfaced....it was such a torture to eat it because it was so chewy and just chewing it could get your mouth tired - i'm serious!)
waitress: i recommand the fried one...
hafiz: we'll have the fried one then...
#ANd boy was that a good recommandation! The fried calamari was so so so so much better than the grilled one! Because not only has frying the little squid made it harder and therefore easier to chew (like eating keropok like that)...the taste of the squid was also so much sweeter compared to the grilled ones....and i must say, this fish and co meal was the best ever...because not only the calamari was nice, the grilled fish was given to us in the largest quanity we've ever seen and the atmosphere of the glasshouse was just so romantic! You see...it was raining and therefore the evening seemed to darken faster than usual...and softlights inside the glasshouse were turned on earlier....moreover, the decor at the glasshouse was one of the best for Singapore's fish and co outlet...and therefore the dinner was fab!!
#After dinner, hafiz and i walked down to City Hall because he wanted to bring me to Millenia Walk where a new chocolate cum candy store has just newly opened. He assured me that i would be thrilled when i see the store...
#We took the escalator up to Millenia Walk from Suntec City and took and right turn into the entrance. Standing right smack at the entrance like a little wonderland was....
CANDY EMPIRE! The store was made up of two units combined into one to form a gigantic store filled with probably thousands of types of candies and chocolates all imported from Germany, Austria (European countries) and Australia which means these are cool stuffs that you cant get from Cocoa Tree or NTUC! I was practically jumping like a little small kid...(you see, i'm a sucker for chocolates)...
#We took our time to look at every kind of chocolates...there were so many chocolates in different shapes and sizes....there were the heart-shaped ones, the frog-shaped ones, even chocolate with wine (and shaped as wine bottles of course!)...it was a dream come true for chocoholics like me! After "close examination" of the shop, we bought two sticks of chocolates (its another kind of ferero chocolates just that its core is made up of hazenuts milk chocolate...it was also one of the first food gift that hafiz gave me when we first met. During that time, this precious little chocolate could also be found in Europe...he bought it when he was on a choir tour there previously...)....btw...one stick of that chocolate isint cheap...its $3.50 for just ten balls (per stick)! Talk about having class! The shop owner also commented that we had very good taste...(alamak...of course lah! That goes without saying!)...we also bought a package of strawberry candies...yummy!
#After all the excitement and fun, hafiz and i bidded goodbye at night and i went home feeling happy that i had an enjoyable night and wonderful memories for our 3 year anniversary celebration.
Monday, January 03, 2005 , 7:22 PM
><))o> First day in school
#Went to css today to report and found out a few shocking things today....
Shock number 1 : The previous principal of CSS, Miss Dorothy Tay has resigned and a new principal ( i dont know what's her name yet) previously from Pasir Ris Crest Secondary has taken over her. This new principal (i heard) is pretty strict about attire....the sandal which i wore today (i have about 3 of such casual sandals and they take up 3/4 of my shoe collection) cannot be worn! I was like...what the hell!! So...i have to take out my choir court shoes and start to make sure i get use to them again....getting used to the shoes is not simply just putting it on and walk around....its more like getting through the "blister phase" (u know...how certain shoes esp court shoes can cause horrible blisters at the back of the ankle? *ouch!)
Shock number 2 : All along, i tot i was supposed to take over some sec3 classes (i was thinking, "bless me!" at that time) but today i found out that for the first two weeks, i'm supposed to teach not one but TWO sec5 classes! I nearly fainted when i heard this appalling news. And i also got to learnt that some of them actually knew me....ooo....how nice....i can forsee that it will take me quite a great deal of effort to draw the line between teacher and students.
Shock number 3 : Well...as i was saying, i thought i was supposed to teach a sec3 class so i was expecting to teach the topic "simultaneous questions" (quite an easy topic) but because now i gotta teach sec5, i am told to teach "probability" instead. Hmm....honestly, i gotta admit that probability was never my forte. Infact, its my worse and most hated topic for math c statistics...now that i have to take over the role as the one teaching, i can predict that tonight i have to come up with some lesson plan, making sure that tomorrow when i teach probability, the students would not be confused and most importantly, i dont get confuse myself!
#Shocks asides, i have learnt afew lessons today....
Lesson 1 : Always have a book or newspapers or some magazines (times or FHM or whatever lah) with you....because i realised it is terrible borring to kill time by staring away (in the process you look like some idiot)....i had to wait for nearly 2 hours before i finally met up with the teacher i'm supposed to relief...boy! THat was the most boring 2 hours of my life!
Lesson 2 : Always keep your foundation solid (as in for basics in maths or eng or watever you have learnt)....i hate to admit this...but when i was in sec1, i was always dazing during maths lessons and practically all that i was taught, was returned back to the teacher. Today, i found myself staring at familiar terms with unfamiliar definitions when i was looking through the sec1 textbook (i'm supposed to relief a sec1 class)...things like natural numbers, prime numbers seemed like such a "long-time-ago" affair....hmm...now why didnt i pay attention to my teacher in the past?
Lesson 3 : Always remember faces together with the names. Today, i went back and saw many familiar faces but i couldnt find the name to tag to those faces. I was painly embarrased by my memory that always seem to short-circuit. As those familiar faces greeted me, i could only hear myself saying, "Hello Mrs/mdm/mr....*mumbles*", hoping that they wouldnt realised that i have longed shoved their names out of my brain to make way for those bombastic info that my jc tutors feed into me.
#Thats all for now i can say of my experience today....i certainly pray that tomorrow, everything will go smooth for me! After settling my stuff at CSS, i went to JP to watch Phathom of the Opera with my bf. THe show was fantastic...with a proper script and setting in place, the broadway musical magically transformed into a movie that makes the story more comprehandable by normal people like me. The songs were also skillfully aligned with the plot so there's never a dull moment in the movie...its always some conversation, and lots of singing! Its really a great show not to be missed!
Sunday, January 02, 2005 , 6:57 PM
><))o> New year resolutions
#Hoho! Its the start of yet another year...!! But the year hasnt really started in a nice kind of way...because it has been raining practically non-stop for 3 consecutive days! Well...hardly a way to start the new year huh? Anyway, i was reading meimei's blog just now and she was saying that there's no school to look forward too...yeah...i'm kinda feeling the same way....no more dashing to school before the last bell and cannot see Mickey Tan (AJ's principal) and Minnie Tay (VP) liao...kinda miss all these....
#So...with my schooling life gone (for the next six months at least), what resolutions am i going to make?!? I mean...the usual "study hard, get good results" thingy is no longer valid....hmm...let me think....
#AH haa!I'm gonna work very hard and earn alot of $$$$!! Just an update on my career: my ex-maths teacher from CSS has called me up to do relief teaching for maths because her husband will be going for a course which will last for 4 months long while another teacher is going for reservice for 2 weeks...so that gives me about 5 months of job at css! So tomorrow, i'm gonna report to CSS at about 8am to settle the handover stuffs! Thinking about it just makes me so excited! I've always wanted to do relief teaching after my As and now my dream has come true! Furthermore, its at my alma matter!! Of course i'm not expecting it to be a bed of roses....but i will take watever difficulties that come, in stride!
#Also, i think its high time that i use those muscles of mine...therefore, my second resolution would be to hit the gym at least once every week! YOu know...exercising is no doubt a tiring thing but you will really feel refresh afterwards. On top of that, you know that you can always count of your fei mao tui (flying feather leg - direct translation hor) to catch up with that bus or MRT which you cannot miss or run away from bandits or run after them (whichever way you prefer)!
#Oh well...two resolutions for the time being! =)
Saturday, January 01, 2005 , 5:33 PM
><))o> growing up
#I remember when i was young, my mother would always tell me, "eat more veggie and you will grow taller" and i really believed that! So every meal, i ate alot of veggie and also because i keep stuffing myself with these chlorophyll-filled stuff that i grew to like eating vegetables. At the same time, i find myself growing rapidly, way too fast for even my male peers (not to even mention female peers!) to catch up.
#In kindergarden, at the tender age of 4, i was already towering over most kids and throughout primary school and secondary school, whenever the class is to line up, i would always be the person standing at the every back of the line, along with all the guys.
#Growing up has always been an awkward period for me. Being a head taller than everybody else, it also confers greater strength to me.....i'm among the best althete during my kindergarden and primary school years and of course i enjoy all kind of sports simply because i am good at them - from running to jumping to skipping. Being stronger (physically) then everyone else, it also means i can affort to be a bully (HO HO HO) but of course i never bully my classmates....i bully my brother! We used to always fight (for some stupid reasons) and he would eventually get hurt physically. Once, i jumped onto a bed where he was lying on with hands stretch upward (its a game lah) and because i was too heavy, my brother's arm got sprained and because of that, i got a trashing from mum.....
#Buying clothes or shoes was especially difficult too! When i was a teenager (around 12, 13, 14) and desperately trying to keep up with the fashion trends, the sizes available were always too small for me. I rememeber during that time, bell-bottom was in the trend. I went from store to store searching for bell-bottom jeans of a suitable length for myself. Eventually, i settled for a pair of bell-bottom that was about 2 inches shorter but it was the longest i could find....of course i looked hilarious wearing that jean...but i couldnt care less....(thinking back now, i think i was stupid to not settle for skirts...i mean...u get what i mean right?)
#Now, after years of being a head taller than everyone else (most people la)...i think i am finally at ease with myself....the awkwardness is still there at times especially when people looked at me in awe and go "oh my god....she's so tall!" but i think i've gotten used to that...and at least now there are more clothes with bigger sizes and jeans with longer lengths...
#Being tall has it advantages...it means that when you are stuck in a crowd, while most people cannot see anything beyond other's head or shoulders, most of the time i have a clear view...and also because of this, i'm grow to dislike having tall people around me because they block my pleasant view...=P
#Anyway one thing i know for sure, eating veggie really has got nothing to do with growing taller....
