happy day
Friday, April 30, 2004, 08:21 p.m.

Speech day. Had lunch at Sakura with the Math department, then everyone dressed up formally for the occasion. All the students who saw me told me I was especially handsome today. Ha ha ha ha.

Roped in Derek, Kailiang, Victor, Weisheng Chee (tables), Nicholas (curtains), Zhengrui (fans), Yanhao and Kenny (pots) to be my backstage crew. With the help of Ryan, I also managed to get Amos, Edmund, Razali, Weisheng Lee and Zhenxu (rostrum and pots). The backstage sequences went very smoothly, and there were no hiccups on my part. Was so happy with the boys that I brought some of them (some had to go home) to Swensens and they really appreciated it as it was their first time in a restaurant for some of the guys. Elizabeth, Irene and Ariel also joined us. As it was Weisheng Lee's birthday, I got him a birthday ice-cream. He was almost on the verge of tears when he thanked me and made his birthday wish.

hower
Tuesday, April 27, 2004, 09:44 p.m.

Michelle was on leave today, so I had a relief teacher for my violin lesson. Her name was Hower (erm, I am not sure whether it should be spelt like that), and she seemed to be a better teacher than Michelle. She's younger, gentler (but still firm) and she played together with me when there were duet pieces so I could hear the nice harmonies (Michelle simply asked me to play both parts separately). AND she had an awesome violin (she said it's German)! Beautifully flamed with a two-piece back... and the lines were so... BREATHTAKING (I can still see the violin vividly in my head)! It looked like a Jurgen Klier, but I don't suppose I know violins well enough to differentiate between what's what. I guess she saw me drooling over her violin, so she told me she started out with a China-made violin too... Hmm... Ok. Nice of her to have tried consoling me.

ghost images
Monday, April 26, 2004, 08:59 p.m.

Don't read on if you're timid...

My student showed me the Straits Times for 24 April 2004. On the frontpage, where it is reported that the search for the final missing man in the Nicoll Highway collapse is called off, there are two ghost images. One is in the righthand top picture - on the left of the picture, there is a white patch which eeriely resembles the pale face of a man desperately shouting for help. The other ghost image is in the middle picture on the right - in the center of the picture, there is a blur skin-coloured face looking to the left - looks like the face of a dead man.

Go search for the papers if you don't believe, and see them for yourself. This is the first time I see REAL ghost images besides those I see on TV and emails. There may be scientific explanations to them (camera angles and reflections and whatnot), but they are really freaky.

voiceover
Saturday, April 24, 2004, 09:41 p.m.

Finally, after spending four hours on each of four consecutive Saturday mornings, the Voice Training & Care course is over. Although Irene kept telling me about how beneficial it was after she attended the course months ago, I didn't find it to be particularly useful. In fact I felt what the lecturer said was really quite commonsensical (erm, I am not suggesting that Irene didn't have much CS) and he kept repeating the same points again and again - he could have covered the same content in just two hours. In any case, I never felt I needed any help in my voice - students always have to cover their ears when they have to walk past me during lessons cos my voice is too loud. I only have problems projecting my voice to the back of the class when I am in the science lab where the place is big and the students are generally more excited and therefore noisier. But the lecturer couldn't help me in this aspect as I am supposed to "avoid getting myself in difficult situations" - erm, hello, I thought I signed up for the course precisely to overcome my "difficult situations"?

The only helpful tip I learnt from the lecturer was, eat Danzen whenever you feel like you're getting a sore throat. It is cheap and available in all pharmacies, and it has proven to be very effective for everyone - myself included.

rehearsal
Friday, April 23, 2004, 08:07 p.m.

Showed the Aardman animation Wallace & Gromit - The Wrong Trousers to 2E4 today as we have completed the syllabus and I thought it would be nice for them to watch something out of curriculum. Asked them to write a short review on the creative and scientific ideas presented in the short film. Most of the class liked it, but I think some of them were quite bored as the film didn't have much dialogue and background music. Some of the students told me they'd love to watch something like that again when we have the chance.

Speech Day rehearsal today. I am the overall in-charge of the backstage. All the helpers who volunteered to help me (from my form class 2E1) wasn't there when the rehearsal was about to start. Called Derek, and to my horror, they were at Tampines Mall happily shopping. Barked at them and they eventually took a cab and came. So I had Derek, Say Chiak, Nicholas, Ernest, Zhengrui, and some extra helpers Victor, Qin Koi and Kenny (they volunteered at the last minute when I was panicking as I couldn't find my guys). Though I was angry at first, I soon cooled down as the guys were very enthusiastic in their work, moving props and running errands for me. It was also quite fun at the backstage when the guys crapped and joked and some of them even showed me a few hip-hop stunts. When the rehearsal was over, all of us went to Tampines Mart for a drink (my treat) and chatted for a while before I chased them home at 6 pm.

jump
Thursday, April 22, 2004, 05:25 p.m.

Yesterday's TCHS-HCJC CO concert at Esplanade was generally good. Didn't quite like TCHS's items though cos they were mostly monotonously loud (okay, they were impressive at the start but it became quite tiring to the ears when it was fortissimo all the way). HCJC had more variety in their pieces and there was more music in their songs. The last time I went to the Esplanade, it was a musical and they made use of microphones so I couldn't really tell whether the place was really good. This time, even without mics, the sounds were crystal clear, so I really have to say that all the money poured into building the durians is really quite worth it. In addition, the music hall does not beautify sounds (which is good), it amplifies sounds (which wasn't very good for this concert when the plucking section wasn't very cohesive sometimes).

Just came back from conducting the NAPFA test for the upper secondary students. I was stationed at the standing broad jump, which happened to be my forte, so I was able to give many tips especially to people who were failing. It was quite gratifying to see them pass (some even with flying colours) after using my tips. The only person who was good enough to compete with me was Hsin Chang, so at the end of the test we were challenging each other. Quite fun. :)

decisions
Tuesday, April 20, 2004, 05:43 p.m.

Recently I feel very detached from CO. I feel no enthusiasm towards going for practice, and the numerous little performances are putting me off as they are time-consuming and do not make me feel any sense of accomplishment. I told JJ several days ago that maybe it is time for me to focus on what I like most (to teach) and let go of some things that I have been stubbornly holding on to (like CO). She said I ought to discuss this with the rest of the committee members. Okay, they may be able to give me some suggestions, but am I going to be bounded by their suggestions?

indielicious
Friday, April 16, 2004, 03:41 p.m.

Sports Day in the morning. Several girls in my form class took part but only Dalinah won. Derek got first for his individual events and won for other group events too. Wenjie got second for most of his events. So happy for them. But at the end of the day Wenjie found that he lost his wallet, so it sort of dampened everybody's mood.

Went to an Indian restaurant at Tanglin Mall with Denise, Noreen, Tahiya, Wee Teck and Ms Wong Ah Lew. The food was so good! Never knew Indian food can be so nice - I can't remember the names, but the dishes were all vegetarian and they tasted so different, with all kinds of vegetables and sauces - unlike Chinese vegetarian which serves mainly flour.

And we talked about how Denise (an Indian) kept her relationship with Kevin (a Chinese, also teaching in ESSS) under covers for full two years, and how they fought against all odds and managed to settle into marriage (the ceremony is in the coming May). When news of their marriage was released a few weeks ago, the whole staff room was like - WHAT? HOW CAN THAT BE? - cos they never seemed to be together or even possible and the equally amazing thing is that their circle of closer friends (Huda, Selena, Sakinah) actually managed to keep the secret among themselves for two years... Wow. This can never happen in BH. Haha.

the art of violin
Sunday, April 11, 2004, 07:28 p.m.

Hearing is believing.

The DVD was AWESOME. I never knew the violin is capable of making those sounds produced by Joseph Szigeti, Mischa Elman, Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Zino Francescatti, Eugene Ysaye, George Enescu, Fritz Kreisler, Ginette Neveu, Jacques Thibaud, Isaac Stern, Henryk Szeryng, David Oistrakh and Yehudi Menuhin... (the commentaries are made by Itzhak Perlman, Hilary Hahn, Ida Haendel, etc) the technical wonders of the great fiddlers are out-of-this-world (clean string-crossing at demisemiquaver-speed aside, have you ever heard pizzicato and bowing done together, or a whole passage of left-hand pull-plucking at allegro?)... the tornados and dramatic horrors that can be created with just four fingers and a bow, the tenderness of various types of vibrato, the "coldness" of intense emotions...

I am so, so inspired right now. I wish I can set my hands on the scores of those beautiful music, though I don't think I can even get past the first five bars of any of them. ;)

treasure
Sunday, April 11, 2004, 12:16 a.m.

Found the DVD of the documentary film The Art of Violin at Gramophone. Feel like I found treasure cos it contains archival performances and interviews of past great violinists - it's going to be a big motivation for my learning. But still haven't found time to watch it in full - spent the past two days setting the Science and Math exam papers... Argh! I wish Monday comes soon so that all this paper-setting will be over!!

say, stephanie
Tuesday, April 6, 2004, 10:30 p.m.

Thought I'd write this down as I feel there will be more chapters to this thread later on. Wenjie, Stephanie (Steph is Wenjie's new girlfriend whom he just knew after he broke up recently with Annie - his girlfriend since primary school), Derek and Lynn (they broke up last week but got back together again) came to my house last Friday. We watched 8 Miles (the guys are mad over Eminem) and chatted for a while. It was the first time I spoke to Steph, and I commented that she was very quiet that day. Then the next day, Steph's mom called me, I thought I did something wrong, but it turned out that Steph told her mom that she liked to talk to me so the mom wanted me to talk to Steph as Steph is now going through a difficult time - Steph had been in depression since she broke up with her ex-boyfriend, and she didn't get along well with her classmates - to make things worse, two of her girl classmates actually offered her cigarettes which, thank god, she rejected. The mom wanted me to tell Steph that no matter what happens, she always has her family to fall back on.

Say Chiak is staging a cold war against his parents now. Wenjie gave him a skateboard on his birthday (Say's dream come true!) and Say was so eager to start skating but his parents are against the idea and he is banned from touching the skateboard. Say's parents will be seeing me on Thursday as they missed the PTD on Saturday, and Say wants me to talk to his parents and convince them that there's nothing wrong with skating. I told him I cannot interfere in his parents' decision, and I will see what I can do...

if i were slightly richer...
Tuesday, April 6, 2004, 06:27 p.m.

... I'd take taxi to and from the school every day. (I took a cab home today cos sis wants my laptop for her presentation in the evening - the trip only took 10 minutes!)

... I'd buy a new handmade violin.

... I'd buy a classical and an acoustic guitar.

... I'd change a new set of frets for my liuqin.

... I'd buy the limited edition of the LPs and EPs of Bjork, Beck, Eminem (which I cannot find anywhere anymore, even on the internet) etc.

... I'd get a digital camera.

(I am not very unrealistic or asking for too much, am I?)

Ok. Back to reality.

passion
Sunday, April 4, 2004, 11:27 p.m.

Watched The Passion of The Christ with Caleb today - complimentary tickets from his church. A very powerful movie with brutal scenes that are almost painful to watch...

Spent hours setting the Physics mid-year MCQs. Argh... so tired now...

parent-teacher dialogue
Saturday, April 3, 2004, 07:31 p.m.

Parent-teacher dialogue. Didn't know I was supposed to be in formal. Wore a smart casual shirt and a pair of jeans (thank god, I didn't wear a t-shirt!)... I couldn't do much about the jeans so I just tucked in my shirt and made myself look as professional and formal as possible in my jeans. Irene said she saw the VP smile especially broadly when he saw me as I was introduced to the parents and I stood up to bow.

The session was very fruitful, I learnt many things about the kids in my form class straight from their parents, and I enjoyed talking with them as we tried to find out ways to help their children.

hidden feelings
Thursday, April 1, 2004, 05:39 p.m.

I suddenly realise that I am starting to like Irene. Although she can be irritating at times and she keeps pestering me, I am certain I feel something for her now... an unexplainable kind of feeling - and it could possibly be L-O-V-E... Hmm. *clear throat* HAPPY APRIL FOOLS'! :)

My class played a very mean prank on Li Ling today. Kai Liang wrote a love letter to Li Ling, saying that he had been secretly loving her. Li Ling was overjoyed, and wrote back a letter saying that she thought Kai Liang was already with someone and she didn't want to interfere with their relationship. At the end of the day, the group of guys behind all this then announced that it was all just an April Fools' joke.