Term 3 officially starts in a few hours’ time and somehow I'm not exactly looking forward to it, esp with the thought of having all the H1N1 duties to be done. Just read an interesting article cos I went to do some research having spent some time thinking about my life and I think I am probably experiencing burnout based on the causes and the symptoms described in the article.
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/burnout_signs_symptoms.htm
But I realise that I'm already trying to turn things around (based on the suggestions on how to recover from burnout) like taking a break from work (not totally but not working as hard as I've been the last few years), trying to socialise more and I guess eventually I'll sit down to take stock of what's really important to me. Anyway, looking to seriously take a break from work after the A-Levels. Maybe even consider taking no-pay leave if I feel the need to completely stay away from work and just go on a long holiday!
Anyway, the last 2 weeks have been pretty good I guess. Stayed at home most of the time for that 1 week since I touched down in Singapore except last Fri to celebrate my birthday with people whom I would never have expected to know at the start of the year haha. Strange at what fate has in store for you and I'm thankful to them for sparing some time for me to go eat and shop! Thanks also to everyone who wished me a happy birthday via SMS and Facebook and also for 08S114 for inviting me to the Jun babies celebration! =)
As for last week, began to slowly turn up the gears again preparing for the new term as well as attending meeting on H1N1 as well as our Chrystal Workshop which I thought was very interesting during the talk by a psychologist. I've always been fascinated by psychology and interested in knowing how people think and why they think in certain ways. I should go read up more during my free time. Anyway that's why I'm a fan of "Criminal Minds" - a brilliant show imho related to behaviour of criminals, especially the episode I watched last Thur titled "Mastermind" - very gripping!
Took some time out also for some shopping and food as well as to get some things done, some gaming and pool with friends before I get caught up with work again.
Before Term 3 starts, I guess I should update on some of the funnier incidents that I can still remember in Term 2 looong ago before I totally forget them in my life.
08S114 - (1) Mentioned during a tutorial that they need to turn around fast after the MBT to reemphasize what our principal said to them and somebody very amusingly literally started turning around fast. (2) Before a tutorial, they asked me to look at a set of equations related to money, time, work, and chemistry which concluded that chemistry = evil cos they said they paid much more for chem than other subjects but I explained that it's just because they're paying for quite a few things earlier cos we compiled some stuff. Quite cute though haha. (3) During an electrochemistry tutorial, somebody answered my question on shift in equilibrium position by singing "to the left, to the left", which apparently was from Beyonce Knowles' "Irreplaceable" but I didn't know that so I got suanned by some of them who asked if I only know chemistry songs haha. Anyway, I went to check out the song and used in back on them in the next tutorial to show I wasn't that sua ku haha. (4) Last tutorial of Term 2 after our school holiday was on Group II/VII and I don't know why but I was super high, which was good cos inorganic chem can be rather dry so at least I kept them entertained.
08S201 - (1) Caught someone stoning and staring outside the window and I said, "Why are you looking outside? The good stuff is right here in front of you!" LOL. (2) Suanned some students after a test by saying that they need to reflect on their performance cos they lost to somebody in the class.
08S416 - (1) Talked to some of them about my expectations for the class and said that I need to squeeze A's out of them by hook or by crook (2) Somebody did starjumps suddenly in front of my face after tutorial! Funny sia. (3) I don't understand why sometimes people feel like telling me the reason for people going to the toilet. Just tell me that they need to go and I'll leave it at that. =p
08S202 - Took them for relief one of those days and had time to do my trick of looking at the class photos 10 min before the lesson and memorising their names before stunning them in class matching their names to them haha. I always love to see those incredulous looks on their faces lol. I do enjoy occasionally relieving for others (if I'm not swamped with too much work) just to have a change of environment and people...
Lectures - (1) electrochemistry - had 2 rather last-minute substitutions to teach a topic that I never really liked (and so do most chem teachers from what I know). But I guess I learnt a lot more after the entire experience though I didn't really have time to actually go through everything beforehand and I'm sure it showed up to some people. Cracked the lamest joke I've ever done before though - about my last-minute substitution and not being a FRS, ES, or NS. Must be hanging around too many lame people!
(2) transition elements - 2 double period during the Jun holidays and quite entertaining to teach esp the 1st session and here are some of the funnier moments (at least imho)
(i) I was talking at the start that the lecture series would take about 4 periods and somehow some of the people in front looked at me with huge eyes and shocked expression and I explained that it was over 2 double periods and they heaved a sigh of relief haha. Funny leh they all... Anyway I told them I would die before them if it was 4 periods straight. =p
(ii) explanation of atomic radius and I.E. - intonation changes for "slightly" and "drastically" repeated for comedic effect (and to help them rem the difference between transition and main group elements)
(iii) question on full electronic configuration of Ti - asked a student to answer, who used the shorter notation ([Ar]3d24s2) and I joked " the question asked for the full electronic configuration so don't be a fool"
(iv) towards the end of the 1st session I suddenly had problems talking, probably cos my throat was too dry after about 1.5 hours of talking and I tried to cough it away and continue talking but the sounds that came out were really weird and got the students laughing. Then I asked for some water and got a water bottle from a student in front and started to squirt some water into my mouth. When I got back onto the mike, my voice was suddenly very clear again, much to the amusement of the students who were laughing. Then I said something like they should drink more water cos it's good for health haha.
(v) apparently one of the power switches wasn't turned on so during the last 5 min, my laptop suddenly switched off, much to the cheering of some of the students but I manage to quickly figure out what went wrong and when I went back to teach I said with a grin, "Let's carry on. Sorry to disappoint you all" Got them laughing again. They seem to laugh at every little thing haha.
(vi) second session - explanation of heterogeneous catalysis was funny when I started relating the process to match-making and relationships haha.
Speaking of match-making, I dunno why but over the last few months there seems to be a lot of talk linking me with various people, or so my sources have led me to believe. All the stories seem pretty amusing to me though and sometimes I wonder if they are too oversensitive or think too much lol. Anyway, having gone through various experiences and seeing the people around me, I think I'm pretty particular about who I'll be with and unless I feel absolutely certain about someone I'd rather stay single to avoid all the heartache and stress.
Final random funny things - (1) One of the Wed apparently my dressing was like a cowboy cos I drew a lot of comments from people who said I looked like one and some of my students were amused at the look (2) On another Wed apparently my dressing was nice cos some people said so haha! Felt good! Didn't expect though cos I didn't think too much of it but it gave me some idea on the kind of clothes I should buy...
Ok, time to sleep! Bring on Term 3! All the best to everyone who are taking the MYE! =)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Back from Japan!
Actually, it's been a few days since I've been back (on Mon), but have been slacking away big time and taking a break to chill out. Generally it was a very enjoyable trip and it was kinda different cos often I felt like I was the caretaker cos of the company I was with, lol, but dunno why it felt kinda nice also and I miss the feeling...
Day 1 - Reached early at the airport (with my new haircut the day before) and had breakfast at Mac's before boarding the plane, which was exceptionally empty to my surprise. There were hardly anybody and we were free to move to other seats, and so I eventually shifted myself to a window seat, which was nice!
Anyway, the flight was pretty non-eventful though we met a really pretty and friendly airstewardess (apparently her name was Angeline) who spoke to us and helped us to take photos. Asked her for some help regarding the transport in Japan and she helped us to ask a Japanese airstewardess for info - good service! After we got off the plane, the group kept talking about her and made fun of me and the seat belt story that was made up was very amusing.
After alighting we had to fill in some forms due to the H1N1 virus before taking the Skyliner (tip: buy the Skyliner ticket and 2-day Metro pass package!) to Ueno again. Dinner at the yakiniku place again though this time it didn't seem as nice as the last time, think cos of the cooking and maybe the weather - somebody said that when the weather is very cold (as it was last March) the food tastes better though I'm not sure how much truth there is to that!
Then we headed to Tawaramachi towards our hotel - Toukaisou Hotel - a simple place but quite comfy and pretty cheap also (considering that accommodation in Japan is generally pretty expensive). The room is small but that's fine since you don't spend much time in there anyway - recommended if you're on a tight budget!
Day 2 - Walked to the popular Sensoji temple in Asakusa which I visited last year and it was so empty maybe cos it was still early. Went to Harajuku and spent a bit more time along the shopping street this time. Had crepes at this shop called Angel's Heart and it was nice! Then walked towards Shibuya before finally heading back and having ramen for dinner at a cosy place run by a friendly old man.
Day 3 - Went to DisneySea and it was definitely the most enjoyable day of the trip! Haven't had sooooo much fun for a really long time and I think the last time I entered a theme park like that was in 1995 when I went to Brisbane, Australia. Took a lot of pictures and videos and there were relatively few people there. Many people had told me beforehand that they can only take about 3-4 rides there cos they have to queue for hours but we barely had to wait for most of the rides so we managed to go on almost all of them and even managed to catch some other shows! The longest wait was only 10 min and for many rides it was just walk-in - cool!
Let me do a review now of the rides/shows that we took/watched for the benefit of those who plan to go DisneySea next time. I shall go in order of the themed ports (there are 7 in total)
(i) Mediterranean Harbour - BraviSEAmo (10/10) - the grand finale of the night (at 8.05pm) where there's a performance at the harbour complete with dazzling water and fire display and fireworks! Must watch!
(ii) American Waterfront - Tower of Terror (10/10) - Our first ride and we went in with completely no expectations. In fact somebody even said her friends said it was nothing much so we didn't think anything of it. The introduction was in Japanese also, so we didn't really understand what was going on though the image disappearing was impressive and surprised us. But the most surprising was the elevator ride itself. It SERIOUSLY caught us by surprise. I don't want to have any spoilers here - all I will say is, "MUST GO ON THIS RIDE!!!" (but not for very young kids) Anyway it was quite funny cos I was laughing away during the ride though my heart was beating very fast. Think it's just my way of laughing off the fear instead of just screaming (though I did scream on another ride hahaha)
DisneySea Electric Railway (8/10) - A nice ride to get to Port Discovery (another themed port) with a good view as well as saving some walking if you're tired!
DisneySea Transit Steamer Line (8/10) - We took it during the evening and the view was good! The route only took us to the Lost River Delta (another themed port) and we wanted to continue taking it to Mediterranean Harbour but sad to say we had to get off the steamer...
Big Band Beat (10/10) - Very slick performance with a very solid mini-band (really enjoyed listening and watching them move and swing their instruments around - excellent showmanship!), as well as singing and dancing which were very well choreographed (also includes Disney characters such as Mickey, Minnie and Donald). During the finale, Mickey was even playing the drums - how cool is that! Thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm glad we managed to rush back to catch the last performance of the day cos I chased them to walk quickly to the Electric Railway to catch the train then run into the performance theatre. But our efforts were worth it! Again, MUST WATCH!!!
(iii) Port Discovery - Aquatopia (7/10) - A relaxing ride and what fascinated me most was the automated system because on first sight I thought it looked like some peddle-boat kinda thing but all the boats are actually controlled by the computer and they move on fixed tracks (which you can see if you look down carefully enough) and at certain spots you'll be spinned around. Quite interesting!
StormRider (5/10) - Expectations were high after Tower of Terror and the queue was relatively long from what we saw so we expected more but it was just a simulator. The graphics and in-house stuff (e.g. spraying of water) was nice but overall it was just so-so for me.
(iv) Mysterious Island - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (5/10) - Took a vessel that went underwater and basically it was a short tour. So-so for me also.
(v) Mermaid Lagoon - Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster (6/10) - a simple ride which I think would be just nice for young kids cos got some excitement and the vehicle is quite cute but for me it was decent. Fun but not adrenaline pumping.
Scuttle's Scooters - (2/10) - Eh, it's nice for kids, cos it's cute, that's all. Other than that, it's like your normal merry-go-round?
Jumping Jellyfish - (4/10) - Basically just go up-and-down. A kiddy ride.
Blowfish Balloon Race - (4/10) - Again another cute ride.
(vi) Lost River Delta - Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull (8/10) - Nice fast-paced ride with a lot of sharp twists and turns as they promised. I like the video just before entering the ride - it's quite cool!
Raging Spirits (10/10) - Rollercoaster which brings you up till you can have a very beautiful view of the entire Disneysea resort before the drop. Hard-core adrenaline junkies will think this is still chicken-feet though cos actually the drop height is not really high but I'm not a HCAJ so this was just nice for me - enough to get my pulses racing. MUST TAKE THIS RIDE!!!
Mystic Rhythms (7/10) - An interesting performance which was kinda like Stomp? Not too sure but there was a lot of music and dancing to the rhythm (not the jazzy type though as in Big Band Beat) which was supposed to tell a story within a rainforest. The finale smoke effect was way cool!
We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant (Miguel's El Dorado Cantina) which had a live performance called Musica Mexicana (not really v original is it?) by 3 guys who sang some Latin songs and strummed their guitars.
(vii) Arabian Coast - Sindbad's Storybook Voyage (4/10) - Would be much better if you could understand Japanese and if you watched Sindbad before, both of which I don't/didn't.
Caravan Carousel (4/10) - It's a nice building with nice figurines to sit on, but in the end it's still a carousel. Nothing spectacular but nevertheless it was my first time!
We also took some pictures with Disney Characters at various places, such as Cruella (from 101 Dalmatians) at the American Waterfront, Panchito Pistoles (from some old Disney cartoon) at the Lost River Delta, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine (who was very pretty and really look like she was straight out from the cartoon!) at Arabian Coast and Prince Eric and Max the Dog (from The Little Mermaid).
Ok, that more or less wraps up my review of DisneySea. Basically very fun and I enjoyed looking at the map and bringing them around. My only regrets were I lost my ticket after entering, not bringing my extra XD card hence I couldn't finish recording BraviSEAmo and not buying more from the Disney store. Anyway if it's crowded when you're there you know what are the rides to go for!
Day 4 - Had breakfast near our hotel and shopped around the area before we went to Ginza and bought a Burberry Bag as well as tonnes of clothes from Uniqlo!!! Then went to Akihabara for dinner at Yamachan again (very yummy chicken wings!) before walking around and we went into a shop selling really ancient TV game sets (such as Sega Saturn, Super Famicom). Was very tempted to buy but I had too many other things to buy and bring back plus I wanted to check out what games I really want to play and what I could actually download and play on the computer so that I don't end up buying something unnecessary. Went to the Uniqlo there also where my group played the role of fashion consultants and started to get me to wear a variety of clothes to give me a fashion makeover. It was really funny for all of us!
Day 5 - Went to Tsukiji for lunch and met up with my colleague's Japanese friend there. Had a good and very filling meal and for the first time I saw a really big piece of tuna meat which we could scrape ourselves to eat. Then we went to Jiyugaoka and had high tea at St. Christopher's Cafe, which was really pretty ex (as in not really worth it) and for those tai-tai sort of people. Interesting experience though! Somehow I seem to have eaten too much and I was feeling very bloated in the night, so much so that I didn't feel too great and for once the group had to take care of me instead haha.
Day 6 - our final day and we shopped around our hotel before going to Ameyoko Street for some final shopping. Bought 2 pairs of shoes and 2 shirts at pretty cheap prices ($30 for each pair of shoes, $7.50 per shirt) so I was quite pleased with my buys, chosen by my fashion consultants again. Was so tiring lugging our luggage from the hotel to the train station!
The flight back was very entertaining - not least because we saw Angeline again! The group like went crazy and they were sooo excited to see her cos it was sooo coincidental having been on the same flight to and from Japan. I watched "Gran Turino" and "Dostana" on the plane and both were quite nice, esp the "Dostana" which was actually a Hindi comedy about 2 guys pretending to be gays (one of them won the Best Actor award) but it was really funny!
Overall view - an excellent shopping trip with 2 new pairs of shoes, 15 pieces of clothing and a very memorable trip to DisneySea. Enjoyed all the moments spent together, our chit-chat at the hotel's rooftop and calling of names. Quite hilarious at times. Kinda miss the times already haha. Ok, time to sleep!
Day 1 - Reached early at the airport (with my new haircut the day before) and had breakfast at Mac's before boarding the plane, which was exceptionally empty to my surprise. There were hardly anybody and we were free to move to other seats, and so I eventually shifted myself to a window seat, which was nice!
Anyway, the flight was pretty non-eventful though we met a really pretty and friendly airstewardess (apparently her name was Angeline) who spoke to us and helped us to take photos. Asked her for some help regarding the transport in Japan and she helped us to ask a Japanese airstewardess for info - good service! After we got off the plane, the group kept talking about her and made fun of me and the seat belt story that was made up was very amusing.
After alighting we had to fill in some forms due to the H1N1 virus before taking the Skyliner (tip: buy the Skyliner ticket and 2-day Metro pass package!) to Ueno again. Dinner at the yakiniku place again though this time it didn't seem as nice as the last time, think cos of the cooking and maybe the weather - somebody said that when the weather is very cold (as it was last March) the food tastes better though I'm not sure how much truth there is to that!
Then we headed to Tawaramachi towards our hotel - Toukaisou Hotel - a simple place but quite comfy and pretty cheap also (considering that accommodation in Japan is generally pretty expensive). The room is small but that's fine since you don't spend much time in there anyway - recommended if you're on a tight budget!
Day 2 - Walked to the popular Sensoji temple in Asakusa which I visited last year and it was so empty maybe cos it was still early. Went to Harajuku and spent a bit more time along the shopping street this time. Had crepes at this shop called Angel's Heart and it was nice! Then walked towards Shibuya before finally heading back and having ramen for dinner at a cosy place run by a friendly old man.
Day 3 - Went to DisneySea and it was definitely the most enjoyable day of the trip! Haven't had sooooo much fun for a really long time and I think the last time I entered a theme park like that was in 1995 when I went to Brisbane, Australia. Took a lot of pictures and videos and there were relatively few people there. Many people had told me beforehand that they can only take about 3-4 rides there cos they have to queue for hours but we barely had to wait for most of the rides so we managed to go on almost all of them and even managed to catch some other shows! The longest wait was only 10 min and for many rides it was just walk-in - cool!
Let me do a review now of the rides/shows that we took/watched for the benefit of those who plan to go DisneySea next time. I shall go in order of the themed ports (there are 7 in total)
(i) Mediterranean Harbour - BraviSEAmo (10/10) - the grand finale of the night (at 8.05pm) where there's a performance at the harbour complete with dazzling water and fire display and fireworks! Must watch!
(ii) American Waterfront - Tower of Terror (10/10) - Our first ride and we went in with completely no expectations. In fact somebody even said her friends said it was nothing much so we didn't think anything of it. The introduction was in Japanese also, so we didn't really understand what was going on though the image disappearing was impressive and surprised us. But the most surprising was the elevator ride itself. It SERIOUSLY caught us by surprise. I don't want to have any spoilers here - all I will say is, "MUST GO ON THIS RIDE!!!" (but not for very young kids) Anyway it was quite funny cos I was laughing away during the ride though my heart was beating very fast. Think it's just my way of laughing off the fear instead of just screaming (though I did scream on another ride hahaha)
DisneySea Electric Railway (8/10) - A nice ride to get to Port Discovery (another themed port) with a good view as well as saving some walking if you're tired!
DisneySea Transit Steamer Line (8/10) - We took it during the evening and the view was good! The route only took us to the Lost River Delta (another themed port) and we wanted to continue taking it to Mediterranean Harbour but sad to say we had to get off the steamer...
Big Band Beat (10/10) - Very slick performance with a very solid mini-band (really enjoyed listening and watching them move and swing their instruments around - excellent showmanship!), as well as singing and dancing which were very well choreographed (also includes Disney characters such as Mickey, Minnie and Donald). During the finale, Mickey was even playing the drums - how cool is that! Thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm glad we managed to rush back to catch the last performance of the day cos I chased them to walk quickly to the Electric Railway to catch the train then run into the performance theatre. But our efforts were worth it! Again, MUST WATCH!!!
(iii) Port Discovery - Aquatopia (7/10) - A relaxing ride and what fascinated me most was the automated system because on first sight I thought it looked like some peddle-boat kinda thing but all the boats are actually controlled by the computer and they move on fixed tracks (which you can see if you look down carefully enough) and at certain spots you'll be spinned around. Quite interesting!
StormRider (5/10) - Expectations were high after Tower of Terror and the queue was relatively long from what we saw so we expected more but it was just a simulator. The graphics and in-house stuff (e.g. spraying of water) was nice but overall it was just so-so for me.
(iv) Mysterious Island - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (5/10) - Took a vessel that went underwater and basically it was a short tour. So-so for me also.
(v) Mermaid Lagoon - Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster (6/10) - a simple ride which I think would be just nice for young kids cos got some excitement and the vehicle is quite cute but for me it was decent. Fun but not adrenaline pumping.
Scuttle's Scooters - (2/10) - Eh, it's nice for kids, cos it's cute, that's all. Other than that, it's like your normal merry-go-round?
Jumping Jellyfish - (4/10) - Basically just go up-and-down. A kiddy ride.
Blowfish Balloon Race - (4/10) - Again another cute ride.
(vi) Lost River Delta - Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull (8/10) - Nice fast-paced ride with a lot of sharp twists and turns as they promised. I like the video just before entering the ride - it's quite cool!
Raging Spirits (10/10) - Rollercoaster which brings you up till you can have a very beautiful view of the entire Disneysea resort before the drop. Hard-core adrenaline junkies will think this is still chicken-feet though cos actually the drop height is not really high but I'm not a HCAJ so this was just nice for me - enough to get my pulses racing. MUST TAKE THIS RIDE!!!
Mystic Rhythms (7/10) - An interesting performance which was kinda like Stomp? Not too sure but there was a lot of music and dancing to the rhythm (not the jazzy type though as in Big Band Beat) which was supposed to tell a story within a rainforest. The finale smoke effect was way cool!
We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant (Miguel's El Dorado Cantina) which had a live performance called Musica Mexicana (not really v original is it?) by 3 guys who sang some Latin songs and strummed their guitars.
(vii) Arabian Coast - Sindbad's Storybook Voyage (4/10) - Would be much better if you could understand Japanese and if you watched Sindbad before, both of which I don't/didn't.
Caravan Carousel (4/10) - It's a nice building with nice figurines to sit on, but in the end it's still a carousel. Nothing spectacular but nevertheless it was my first time!
We also took some pictures with Disney Characters at various places, such as Cruella (from 101 Dalmatians) at the American Waterfront, Panchito Pistoles (from some old Disney cartoon) at the Lost River Delta, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine (who was very pretty and really look like she was straight out from the cartoon!) at Arabian Coast and Prince Eric and Max the Dog (from The Little Mermaid).
Ok, that more or less wraps up my review of DisneySea. Basically very fun and I enjoyed looking at the map and bringing them around. My only regrets were I lost my ticket after entering, not bringing my extra XD card hence I couldn't finish recording BraviSEAmo and not buying more from the Disney store. Anyway if it's crowded when you're there you know what are the rides to go for!
Day 4 - Had breakfast near our hotel and shopped around the area before we went to Ginza and bought a Burberry Bag as well as tonnes of clothes from Uniqlo!!! Then went to Akihabara for dinner at Yamachan again (very yummy chicken wings!) before walking around and we went into a shop selling really ancient TV game sets (such as Sega Saturn, Super Famicom). Was very tempted to buy but I had too many other things to buy and bring back plus I wanted to check out what games I really want to play and what I could actually download and play on the computer so that I don't end up buying something unnecessary. Went to the Uniqlo there also where my group played the role of fashion consultants and started to get me to wear a variety of clothes to give me a fashion makeover. It was really funny for all of us!
Day 5 - Went to Tsukiji for lunch and met up with my colleague's Japanese friend there. Had a good and very filling meal and for the first time I saw a really big piece of tuna meat which we could scrape ourselves to eat. Then we went to Jiyugaoka and had high tea at St. Christopher's Cafe, which was really pretty ex (as in not really worth it) and for those tai-tai sort of people. Interesting experience though! Somehow I seem to have eaten too much and I was feeling very bloated in the night, so much so that I didn't feel too great and for once the group had to take care of me instead haha.
Day 6 - our final day and we shopped around our hotel before going to Ameyoko Street for some final shopping. Bought 2 pairs of shoes and 2 shirts at pretty cheap prices ($30 for each pair of shoes, $7.50 per shirt) so I was quite pleased with my buys, chosen by my fashion consultants again. Was so tiring lugging our luggage from the hotel to the train station!
The flight back was very entertaining - not least because we saw Angeline again! The group like went crazy and they were sooo excited to see her cos it was sooo coincidental having been on the same flight to and from Japan. I watched "Gran Turino" and "Dostana" on the plane and both were quite nice, esp the "Dostana" which was actually a Hindi comedy about 2 guys pretending to be gays (one of them won the Best Actor award) but it was really funny!
Overall view - an excellent shopping trip with 2 new pairs of shoes, 15 pieces of clothing and a very memorable trip to DisneySea. Enjoyed all the moments spent together, our chit-chat at the hotel's rooftop and calling of names. Quite hilarious at times. Kinda miss the times already haha. Ok, time to sleep!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Almost the holidays!
Finally updating after a VERY VERY long break. So many things I think I shall go through them starting from the more recent events
(1) Karaoke on 4th Jun – More or less the usual gang and it was pretty cheap to me (about $12 with free flow of drinks for 5 hours) and towards the last hour it was quite crazy cos we starting singing a lot of retro songs with dancing, swaying of hands, using make-shift mikes (such as an umbrella) cos everyone wanted to sing and taking a lot of extremely funny pictures and videos of the performances. A good thing that the staff didn’t walk in or else they’ll think we’re crazy hahaha.
(2) “Unpacked” on 3rd Jun – Went down to the National Library to support my army friend’s exhibition cos he’s finishing his studies in Industrial Design and his faculty had a 4-day exhibition showing the works of the final year students as well as some of the juniors. It was interesting to see the various products and apparently they even designed abstract things such as experiences (e.g. during gaming, learning music, etc.) rather than just concrete things such as the actual products (ranging from just about everything such as tea-cup sets, foldable tables, floating stationery – one of my personal favourites cos I found it so fascinating)
(3) Wedding on 28th May – Attended a colleague’s wedding at Amara Hotel and it was a nice event, the highlight for most of us being the cartoon video created that showed the love story of the couple. It was extremely cute and very funny! Very very unique I must say. Point to note (if it ever comes to my turn)
(4) IGC CIP with Park View Primary and Colosseum on 27th May – CIP was quite fun, though not surprising since we did it with them before though we’ll probably shake-up some things to improve the next time come Term 3. The Staff Race was as usual competitive, with everybody wanting to win, strategizing and warming up haha. Anyway our Callisto team won this year and I’ve had the pleasure of running with a good team. There was never any doubt we would win when I knew the lineup and I told our captain we’re going to win it. So finally some form of redemption after the disappointing 2nd place last year which kept playing in my mind (Used to have a t-shirt that says “Second sucks!”).
(5) Soccer Finals between MJC and VJC on 25th May – a heart-breaking loss (3-2) with a late goal. After going 1-0 down and 2-1 up, it was a dramatic finish (and us hitting the post just before the final whistle). Missed the 1st 2 goals because we left TM late after a nice lunch at Crystal Jade and there were some very nicely taken goals in the match including a direct free-kick (apparently we missed another goal from a free kick – both were MJC’s goals). An interesting incident that left many people talking about it (and even discussing online) was when one of the VJC players made an inappropriate gesture towards the MJC students after VJC equalized 2-2. It wasn’t obscene but it certainly was poor sportsmanship and their coach immediately pulled him over to rebuke him and apologized to the MJC teachers.
(6) Wedding on 23rd May – Attended my army buddy’s wedding at Ritz Carlton Hotel and it was pretty posh I must say (6-star hotel) though the service wasn’t really great. My friend commented that he used to work there as a waiter before and it’s common for hotels to employ part-time students for such events due to the lack of manpower. Apparently he even spilled something and knocked somebody’s head when he turned. Quite funny…
Anyway, as my army buddy gave his speech, he started thanking a lot of his past teachers (he’s a teacher also) and it was a pretty long speech (about 15 min I figure…). Also had a live band, which was nice I guess but sometimes unappreciated because a lot of people are talking most of the time. Bumped into Roy (not the Lau) of all people hahaha. Small World!
(7) Marking course from 18th to 20th May – Attended a marking workshop conducted by 2 examiners from Cambridge and it was pretty interesting for everyone to find out some of things and how they marked. Saw some sample marking schemes and scripts and most of the people tried to bombard them with a lot of questions. Good thing was that Teacher’s Network is much closer to my home than MJC so it was a good break I guess haha.
(8) Chemistry Brothers Lunchtime Concert on 23rd Apr – Didn’t have time to prepare and in truth I wish we hadn’t agreed to perform but in the end we manage to spend about an hour the day before to rehearse two songs (“Stand By Me” and “A Better Tomorrow – JC2 Version”).
The first song was because the 3 of us (we included a guest performer) were in the car on the way to our Chemistry CIP last week then we suddenly thought of the song and started singing together in the car acapella and it was pretty fun!
The second song was because I wanted something motivating after the March Block Tests and many people were getting tired in school so I modified my lyrics from 2006 to suit the context. Only managed to finish it the morning itself so again I had to refer to the screen for part of the lyrics during the performance. It was quite funny cos I didn’t have time to do the Powerpoint so I just used Journal and somebody commented that it was like tutorial cos I got somebody to help me reveal the lyrics as I sang and there was miscommunication because it was totally unplanned.
We had another song (on organic chemistry) which I didn’t manage to get musical accompaniment due to technical difficulties so I ended up singing it myself.
Overall it was pretty entertaining I guess and the students seem to have enjoyed it – at least we hope they did! Thanks very much to everyone who came down to support!!! =)
(9) Chemistry CIP on 17th Apr – Our first department CIP and we went to the All-Saints Home in Tampines. Very interesting and good bonding experience for all of us and gave us some food for thought about future preparation also because there were certain issues like the games that were prepared not being feasible because of the physical disabilities which we had underestimated. The singing session was extremely funny at least when I performed with a friend cos we were both pretty dramatic and I had some cheesy actions also as we sang some retro hits such as Yu Tian’s “Rong Shu Xia” and Liu Wen Zheng’s “San Yue Li De Xiao Yu”. =P
Went to Tampines One’s Say Cheese after and our conclusion was that it cannot make it. Some predicted it to close within 3 months because of the poor service (they were slow to serve and forgot some things here and there) and also the pricing and quality of the food wasn’t really worth it.
Ok, that’s it for now. Back to work! Will try to update on school the last few months before I fly off on Tuesday morning. =)
(1) Karaoke on 4th Jun – More or less the usual gang and it was pretty cheap to me (about $12 with free flow of drinks for 5 hours) and towards the last hour it was quite crazy cos we starting singing a lot of retro songs with dancing, swaying of hands, using make-shift mikes (such as an umbrella) cos everyone wanted to sing and taking a lot of extremely funny pictures and videos of the performances. A good thing that the staff didn’t walk in or else they’ll think we’re crazy hahaha.
(2) “Unpacked” on 3rd Jun – Went down to the National Library to support my army friend’s exhibition cos he’s finishing his studies in Industrial Design and his faculty had a 4-day exhibition showing the works of the final year students as well as some of the juniors. It was interesting to see the various products and apparently they even designed abstract things such as experiences (e.g. during gaming, learning music, etc.) rather than just concrete things such as the actual products (ranging from just about everything such as tea-cup sets, foldable tables, floating stationery – one of my personal favourites cos I found it so fascinating)
(3) Wedding on 28th May – Attended a colleague’s wedding at Amara Hotel and it was a nice event, the highlight for most of us being the cartoon video created that showed the love story of the couple. It was extremely cute and very funny! Very very unique I must say. Point to note (if it ever comes to my turn)
(4) IGC CIP with Park View Primary and Colosseum on 27th May – CIP was quite fun, though not surprising since we did it with them before though we’ll probably shake-up some things to improve the next time come Term 3. The Staff Race was as usual competitive, with everybody wanting to win, strategizing and warming up haha. Anyway our Callisto team won this year and I’ve had the pleasure of running with a good team. There was never any doubt we would win when I knew the lineup and I told our captain we’re going to win it. So finally some form of redemption after the disappointing 2nd place last year which kept playing in my mind (Used to have a t-shirt that says “Second sucks!”).
(5) Soccer Finals between MJC and VJC on 25th May – a heart-breaking loss (3-2) with a late goal. After going 1-0 down and 2-1 up, it was a dramatic finish (and us hitting the post just before the final whistle). Missed the 1st 2 goals because we left TM late after a nice lunch at Crystal Jade and there were some very nicely taken goals in the match including a direct free-kick (apparently we missed another goal from a free kick – both were MJC’s goals). An interesting incident that left many people talking about it (and even discussing online) was when one of the VJC players made an inappropriate gesture towards the MJC students after VJC equalized 2-2. It wasn’t obscene but it certainly was poor sportsmanship and their coach immediately pulled him over to rebuke him and apologized to the MJC teachers.
(6) Wedding on 23rd May – Attended my army buddy’s wedding at Ritz Carlton Hotel and it was pretty posh I must say (6-star hotel) though the service wasn’t really great. My friend commented that he used to work there as a waiter before and it’s common for hotels to employ part-time students for such events due to the lack of manpower. Apparently he even spilled something and knocked somebody’s head when he turned. Quite funny…
Anyway, as my army buddy gave his speech, he started thanking a lot of his past teachers (he’s a teacher also) and it was a pretty long speech (about 15 min I figure…). Also had a live band, which was nice I guess but sometimes unappreciated because a lot of people are talking most of the time. Bumped into Roy (not the Lau) of all people hahaha. Small World!
(7) Marking course from 18th to 20th May – Attended a marking workshop conducted by 2 examiners from Cambridge and it was pretty interesting for everyone to find out some of things and how they marked. Saw some sample marking schemes and scripts and most of the people tried to bombard them with a lot of questions. Good thing was that Teacher’s Network is much closer to my home than MJC so it was a good break I guess haha.
(8) Chemistry Brothers Lunchtime Concert on 23rd Apr – Didn’t have time to prepare and in truth I wish we hadn’t agreed to perform but in the end we manage to spend about an hour the day before to rehearse two songs (“Stand By Me” and “A Better Tomorrow – JC2 Version”).
The first song was because the 3 of us (we included a guest performer) were in the car on the way to our Chemistry CIP last week then we suddenly thought of the song and started singing together in the car acapella and it was pretty fun!
The second song was because I wanted something motivating after the March Block Tests and many people were getting tired in school so I modified my lyrics from 2006 to suit the context. Only managed to finish it the morning itself so again I had to refer to the screen for part of the lyrics during the performance. It was quite funny cos I didn’t have time to do the Powerpoint so I just used Journal and somebody commented that it was like tutorial cos I got somebody to help me reveal the lyrics as I sang and there was miscommunication because it was totally unplanned.
We had another song (on organic chemistry) which I didn’t manage to get musical accompaniment due to technical difficulties so I ended up singing it myself.
Overall it was pretty entertaining I guess and the students seem to have enjoyed it – at least we hope they did! Thanks very much to everyone who came down to support!!! =)
(9) Chemistry CIP on 17th Apr – Our first department CIP and we went to the All-Saints Home in Tampines. Very interesting and good bonding experience for all of us and gave us some food for thought about future preparation also because there were certain issues like the games that were prepared not being feasible because of the physical disabilities which we had underestimated. The singing session was extremely funny at least when I performed with a friend cos we were both pretty dramatic and I had some cheesy actions also as we sang some retro hits such as Yu Tian’s “Rong Shu Xia” and Liu Wen Zheng’s “San Yue Li De Xiao Yu”. =P
Went to Tampines One’s Say Cheese after and our conclusion was that it cannot make it. Some predicted it to close within 3 months because of the poor service (they were slow to serve and forgot some things here and there) and also the pricing and quality of the food wasn’t really worth it.
Ok, that’s it for now. Back to work! Will try to update on school the last few months before I fly off on Tuesday morning. =)
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