two meetings, and one more later
Monday, January 31, 2005 @ 11:20 a.m. Had two meetings alone with two key persons in the morning and I am having a headache now. The first was with the Vice Principal Ms Chew, who had a few ideas to share with me regarding the Environment Club which I am pioneering from scratch. It was quite fruitful as I learnt about some enrichment programmes which I could get my students involved. She's also someone who's very passionate about nature walks and the environment, and she shared with me her experience at the TreeTop Walk. I guess I could organise this some time soon cos I'm interested in the TreeTop Walk myself and I think the students will be thrilled to see the nature and the monkeys.

The second meeting was with Ms T, my HOD, who went through my targets and her high expectations of me for the new year. She also promised a few things which I shall not divulge here, but I'll only take her promises with a pinch of salt - afterall most promises are either forgotten or broken. :p

Going to have a third meeting in the afternoon, about Project Work. Think my headache will get worse by then.

shichinintai
Sunday, January 30, 2005 @ 10:22 p.m. Just finished watching the Shichinintai saga of Inuyasha - it's the longest chapter yet, spanning twenty over episodes, bringing together all five groups of main cast led by Inuyasha (with Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara, Myouga), Kikyou, Sesshoumaru (with Rin, Jaken, Aun), Naraku (with Kagura, Kanna, Kohaku) and Kouga (with Ginta, Hakkaku, Ayame). The new cast of the saga also added much color and depth to the series with their vivid characterisation, especially Suikotsu and Hakushin Shounin, who both had struggles with their inner self in their final moments and fell into darkness when they doubted whether the good deeds that they'd been doing all their lives were worth their while... It is so much easier to let go and be a "bad" person...

696th entry
Saturday, January 29, 2005 @ 11:13 p.m. Yep. This is the 696th entry. Looked through my archives and noticed that I'm blogging less frequently now although the entries have increased in length. The most number of entries in a month is 40, the least is 19, and the average is around 27. Here are the statistics for the number of entries in each month:

2002: Dec-30
2003: Jan-35, Feb-24, Mar-25, Apr-40, May-37, Jun-29, Jul-30, Aug-40, Sep-29, Oct-27, Nov-24, Dec-32
2004: Jan-21, Feb-19, Mar-19, Apr-15, May-22, Jun-20, Jul-23, Aug-19, Sep-21, Oct-25, Nov-27, Dec-39
2005: Jan-24 (up to this entry)

Yeah, I am bored. :)

hi to all anonymous readers
Saturday, January 29, 2005 @ 07:36 p.m. Haven't checked my guestbook for a long while. Quite pleasantly surprised that among those who've recently signed the guestbook, there's a violinist, a liuqin enthusiast, and a guy who's from the same army unit as me (he came across a mess plate that had MY buddy's name written on it). There's even someone in Brisbane who has been reading my blog on and off for a year...

It's a weird feeling how internet allows people from all over the world to be connected in such an intimate manner, how someone far away is able to know so much about my life even when I do not (and may never ever) know him/her. Not a bad feeling though.

welcome a board
Saturday, January 29, 2005 @ 03:38 p.m. Yay! Got a new messageboard, thanks to Ennui who has so generously shared his self-written codes with me. Now I have more flexibility with the messageboard settings and I no longer have to bear with the Tagboard.com server, which is sometimes down or laggy... Am still appreciative of Tagboard.com nonetheless, for being free and ad-free for the past two years. THANK YOU TAGBOARD.COM!

adhd
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 @ 07:46 a.m.

Here are more pictures of Hougang Chinatown. Somehow it looked prettier last night when I took the pictures. Tentages were being set up so by next week they should be filled with stalls selling New Year goodies. Wonder if the street will be as bustling as the original Chinatown.

By the way, the buzz topic in our school for the past few weeks has been ADHD. It stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Children with this disorder are characterised with overactivity, impulsivity and distractibility. Our school just enrolled a Sec 1 boy with ADHD, and he has been causing a lot of problems and horror for both students and teachers. The boy looks just like any regular teenage boy when he is fine under medication, but at times when his medication wears off and he suffers a relapse, he'll hurl vulgarities and hammer punches on anyone he sees, so he's basically a time bomb that is capable of exploding anytime anywhere. On many occasions, this boy simply couldn't control himself and would suddenly run to his classmate and punch him without reason or warning. The teacher in the classroom would be terrified and students had to hold him down, although those boys who were brave enough to do so would inevitably get a few punches as well because the boy was rather big-sized for his age. Now, in order to avoid him getting agitated or having any chance of releasing his frustration on people, he's being isolated during times like recess, and he'll have to report to the office to be tended by the office staff whenever he shows the slightest sign of irritation.

All teachers had a short law lesson yesterday about our legal responsibilities and liabilities if any student in the class should get hurt because of this boy and if the parents were to sue the school or the teacher present. Sadly, since the boy is within the premises of the school, teachers have the duty of care to ensure that he is not posing a threat to the rest of the school community. Even though he's beyond control (and we're really sympathetic about his condition), the school still has to bear the bulk of the blame if any mishap occurs.

This really makes me question the relevance of education for such disadvantaged kids. Will he benefit from such forced education (his parents insist that he continues with school but teachers say he doesn't learn anything at all in class)? Won't he be better off in a special school to learn to curb his anger, or spend his time undergoing treatment to cure his illness? Will he be able to apply what he has learnt in school if he can't possibly work in an office with such impulsive behavior? Should a boy be forced to live a 'normal' life even when he is obviously special?

the quieter chinatown
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 @ 07:50 a.m.

Any idea where this place is? Yep, if you have been watching the news, this is that little Chinatown in Hougang that the media has been advertising, and it's right beside where I'm living. There's really nothing to see here except for these lightings, but there's always a huge crowd around that God of Fortune. Can't understand why the people are standing around for (are they waiting for the idol to suddenly start moving?), maybe they feel that'll make them luckier or richer in the new year.

desperate and pleased
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 @ 07:35 a.m. Desperate Housewives was nice! The pilot was so well-scripted that not one minute was dispensable, and I was hooked to it after watching the first 15 minutes.

Also met up with the MP3 seller at Serangoon last night to get my FM radio cum flashdrive cum voice recorder cum MP3 player (256MB). Now I have the choice of 16 CDs' worth of songs in my pocket. Quite pleased with its size and functions although it's brandless. Don't know why iPods are so expensive... the extra storage is probably unnecessary (battery life can't be that long to play all the gigabytes of songs at one go anyway) and it's so big. Hmm.

worldly desires
Sunday, January 23, 2005 @ 07:03 p.m. Hell I am feeling rich. Just bid for a cheap MP3 player on eBay (am leaving this to fate: if I lose the bid, then I'll just forget about the idea) and bought a digital metronome-cum-chromatic-tuner. Quite pleased with the purchase cos I've been wanting a tuner for ten years, and as my sis always says, "What are you saving all your money for? It's not as if you can't afford it." Besides the metrotuner is really cheap! Only $48! Value for money, ya?... Also tempted to buy a secondhand erhu from Yanxin. She says it's brand new cos she bought it some time ago but never used it. Not something on my wishlist, but definitely on my don't-mind list. Argh, all this buying is so sinful!

juniors and uncles
Sunday, January 23, 2005 @ 01:57 p.m. Liangsheng and Guojun came to BH to join our practice today! So happy to see them cos it feels good to have my TCHS juniors among us in the orchestra - and they live at Woodlands/Admiralty! Takes a lot of effort and sincerity for them to come and join an unfamiliar and small orchestra. Really appreciate it. (By the way, I am quite proud that we're small - it's cosier and we have a cleaner sound.) Been trying to get WK to join us but he's procrastinating. Hmph.

Anyway, we did Qin Qing today. Did only the last two movements though, so I didn't get the chance to play on my liuqin. (It's a duet concerto. Both Zewang and I play the liuqin for the 1st movement, the 2nd movement is Zewang's solo. Zewang plays liuqin while I play the zhongruan for the 3rd movement.) The 1st movement is my personal favorite cos I think it shows off the harmonious sound quality of duet liuqins very well. Too bad we didn't practise it today.

All of us went to S11 for lunch after that. And Jiajia reminded me that I forgot to blog about an incident that happened last Sunday: I WAS CALLED 'UNCLE' BY A YOUNGSTER! It happened at the S11 coffeeshop when I took a chair away from that guy's table and that guy grunted, "Uncle, the seat is taken." That was the first time in my lifetime that I was called an uncle and it probably marked the beginning of my 'unclehood'. Quite traumatised cos I AM NOT THAT OLD! (No, Jiajia, I am not in denial, and I DO NOT HAVE A RECEDING HAIRLINE!) Then again, I think it would be weird for that guy to call me "brother", "gor-gor" or "mister". So, that guy is forgiven. But, Jiajia, you are not forgiven! Bleah! :/

information please
Friday, January 21, 2005 @ 10:28 a.m. A nice story from Qinyin's blog:

The Old Phone

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know.

"Information Please" could supply anyone's number and the correct time. My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information please," I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. "Information." "I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. "Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's home but me," I blubbered. "Are you bleeding?" the voice asked. "No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts." "Can you open the icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.

After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts. Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called "Information Please" and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child But I was not consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?" She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Paul always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone, "Information Please." "Information," said in the now familiar voice. "How do I spell fix?" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please." Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. "Information." I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?" There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now." I laughed, "So it's really you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?" I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your call meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls." I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister "Please do," she said. "Just ask for Sally."

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, "Information." I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" she said. "Yes, a very old friend," I answered. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago." Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute, did you say your name was Paul?" "Yes." I answered. "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said, "Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean." I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant. Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.

rambut berduri
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 @ 10:09 a.m. Have always loved to learn languages. Right now I already know Chinese, English, Hokkien, Cantonese, and a bit of Japanese (I'm better in written Japanese) and Bangladeshi. Today, as I'd covered quite a lot of content in my 4T1 class, I decided to stop teaching when I still had 15 minutes of lesson time left. Chatted with some of the students and picked up a few Malay terms (wrote them down and pinned the paper at my desk), some of the terms were quite interesting! For example, 'duri' means spikes (hence durian), 'rambut' means hair (hence rambutan), to which I commented that spiky hair would be 'rambut duri' but they corrected me and said that a 'ber' needs to be added whenever I want to convert a noun into an adjective (hence 'rambut berduri')...

Shall learn 5 Malay words after every 4T1 class. :)

showoff
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 @ 10:16 p.m.

Here's showing off my first ABRSM cert. :) Only got it today after n months.

Also got the DVD for last year's Edvox concert which I had my solo violin debut. Both the video and sound were very clear - a little TOO clear cos I could see my eyes exceeding big when the cameramen did closeups. Hmph. Watched my own performance and it was... erm, not very enjoyable. Luckily I didn't have any close friends in the audience that day. Phew.

rush
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 @ 11:42 a.m.

The past two weeks have been a series of mad rush, a race with time to settle miscellaneous admin matters regarding my CCA, lab arrangements, form class and subject classes. It's so draining that I don't feel like doing anything else except to just lie down and sleep - the fact that I managed to convince myself to go for BH, guitar and violin practices is a personal achievement.

Am zealously looking forward to the holiday on Friday...

nature and concerto
Sunday, January 16, 2005 @ 09:43 p.m. Racked my brains out for the 30-week programme for Environment Club. Surfed websites and tried to include as much variety as I could... partipating in the Green Audit Awards, birdwatching and mangrove trails, visit to the incinerator, heritage trees tour, educational talks at Botanic Garden, Omnimax movie on Forces of Nature... Hope the budget gets approved.

Went for BH practice in the morning. Had our first practice of Zew's Qin Qing duet concerto. The last time we did a recording of the song was about ten years ago and we never touched the three-movement piece ever since. The piece bore a certain significance for our secondary school life and I've always wanted it to be performed onstage as it's so beautifully written - that's why this was the first thing that came to my mind when XB asked for one of our compositions to be included in the July concert's repertoire. Glad that we're able to relook it after so many years.

it takes courage to enjoy!
Friday, January 14, 2005 @ 10:36 p.m.

Big Time Sensuality
Bjork

I can sense it
Something important
Is about to happen
It's coming up

It takes courage to enjoy it
The hardcore and the gentle
Big time sensuality

We just met
And I know I'm a bit too intimate
But something huge is coming up
And we're both included

It takes courage to enjoy it
The hardcore and the gentle
Big time sensuality

I don't know my future after this weekend
And I don't want to!

It takes courage to enjoy it
The hardcore and the gentle
Big time sensuality

a late reflection
Wednesday, January 12, 2005 @ 06:29 p.m. Quite glad that I took up teaching about two years ago. Money-wise, I started with a considerably good pay and it has since risen by around a third. Satisfaction-wise, I feel accomplished when students thank me for my teaching - some of them even "promote" me to their friends and teachers by telling them how I'd helped them (things like "I won't be where I am right now if it wasn't for you" and "Mr Tan teaches best!" may sound extremely cliche and superficial but I just fall for them without fail). Lastly, the friendship and rapport built with students are invaluable - I still have lunches with my past students, and many of them still ask me for advice whenever they come across problems. The job makes me feel like a FULL person. Can't imagine how I'll be like if I'd become a civil engineer. Higher pay maybe, but definitely not as satisfied.

nice bed and bad singtel
Monday, January 10, 2005 @ 11:14 a.m. Went to visit sis yesterday at East Shore Hospital. She's feeling quite okay already, but the doctor wanted her to stay for one more day for observation. The place was very comfortable with remote-control beds (to adjust height and tilt - I had a fun time playing with the bed) and reading lights... I wouldn't mind paying a bit to stay here sometimes - the environment and hygiene were much better than cheap hotels... Also wonder if I can buy such an exotic/interesting bed for my room in future. Haha.

Didn't have time earlier to talk about my bad experience with Singtel last week, shall talk about it now. Went to TP Mall Singtel shop to help sis upgrade her handphone. The first of all the unhappiness arose at the registration counter, when I was asked to produce an authorisation letter from my sis even when I'd brought her IC. I asked for the relevance of the letter as I was reluctant to make another trip another day just for the letter, and they said it's absolutely necessary cos my sis had to certify that she's willing to upgrade her handset with an extended phone plan. Fine. Reason accepted. But I didn't want to come another day, so I forged a letter (my sis encouraged me to do that too) and returned. To my disgust, the receptionist merely took a glance at the letter and shoved it aside (in fact she used it as rough paper later when she wanted to illustrate various price plans). If the document wasn't that essential, why did she want me to make another trip just to get it? Luckily I was smart enough to forge it. Fine.

Then, when I said I wanted to buy the Sony Ericsson K508i, the lady quoted its price as $338 when I distinctly remembered it should have been $298 as I'd asked Singtel a few days ago about it. The lady insisted that she was right and said the price could have changed in a matter of days and I wasn't updated with the new price list. Fine. I was outdated. Fine! But when I went to the cashier to pay up, the cashier said the price should have been $298. If the cashier wasn't honest, I would have been cheated of $40 for nothing! The lady apologised profusely when the cashier told her she had made a mistake. Was quite unhappy by then, but okay, since she apologised, fine.

Then I left, boarded the bus and called my sis, and she told me that the Singtel people had (conveniently) forgotten to give me my free gifts (a SIM card replicator and 2 movie passes) - these were stated to be free on the Singtel website. Didn't want to make the trip back and decided I should not traumatise myself with another argument for free stuff.

Grr. To hell with Singtel. (Oooh, it even rhymes.)

picking discovery
Sunday, January 9, 2005 @ 07:05 p.m.

那天托孟醒从他的琴厂带来了各种拨片（有玳瑁、仿玳瑁、尼龙、透明赛璐璐、白赛璐璐等），今天拿来试弹，发现其中一种尼龙拨片弹来十分顺手，而且令我对持拨的姿势与运用有了新的领悟。十几年来弹琴的程度已经僵持，忽然有所发掘，自然非常高兴。

cca recruitment day
Saturday, January 8, 2005 @ 06:18 p.m.

CCA Recruitment Day for Sec Ones. I have been assigned to start a new CCA, the Environment Club. Having no resources and no members at all, I designed and printed hundreds of pamphlets and posters and stuck them all around the school for promotion. Also borrowed from the Science lab many exhibits which were made from recycled materials by past year students. Knowing that I won't be able to handle my CCA booth alone today, I called many of my last year's students at the last minute to be my helpers: Junyong, Jianwei, Wenjie, Kailiang, Victor, Derek (mainly from my former form class 2E1)... all of them agreed to help without the slightest sign of hesitation, Wenjie even brought along Hizam and Stephanie (Derek overslept and didn't turn up but later sent me an sms of apology).

So I had a lot of help from these students, who helped to decorate my booth with the exhibits, carry tables and benches upstairs from the canteen to the hall, distribute pamphlets to the Sec 1 students, Wenjie also stationed himself at the booth and used his loud voice to attract "customers" and promote the CCA. I was really grateful. Didn't expect them to be so ready to help even when I'm not teaching them anymore now - 不枉我去年那么疼他们. Took them to Mac and gave them a small treat when the activity ended.

Then went to Tampines Mall to stroll while waiting for my guitar lesson at 4 pm. Wenjie went home to bring his guitar for me to help him string, so we sat down at Yamaha's browsing corner and I stringed the instrument while a few people walked past and peered with curiosity, thinking I was doing a demonstration or something.

So tired now... Need a good and long sleep tonight.

awake from a dream
Friday, January 7, 2005 @ 10:23 p.m. Just came back from a dinner with Meng Xing and Junhui at Lau Pa Sat. Meng Xing is a liuqin player, the young son of Meng Xianhong - a major liuqin maker in Shanghai who caters for exquisite liuqins made for liuqin maestri like Wang Huiran, Wang Hongyi, Wu Qiang and many others. After a round of satays, carrots cake and Indian food, we went back to his hotel room and chatted for quite a while. Cos he's only 26, the way we talked was rather different from how we'd talk with those masters - more relaxed and more like 'chatting' (he wasn't afraid to laugh at himself).

Every time after talking to such CO people, I'll feel very inspired and I'll ask myself why I don't spend more time or even go further into CO. But the novelty wears off after a few days when reality sinks in and I'll remain buried in mundanity.

perfection and impressions
Thursday, January 6, 2005 @ 09:40 a.m. Just had a PCCG/CME lesson with my form class 4E2. The topic was "Body Image and Individual Differences", about first impressions, what they perceive as being "attractive", and how/where they gained such perceptions (e.g. media, "evil ploys" of people who want to make money out of it). When I asked each student to think of the Perfect Man and Perfect Woman in their opinion, Danny said I am his Perfect Man and that sent the whole class laughing. I knew he was trying to be funny and the way he explained why I am "perfect" was so hilarious that I laughed along with the class. Then when I asked for each person's "wrong first impressions", Nasyitah said she used to think I'm an unreasonable person because I scolded her for getting out of her seat to retrieve her pencil when she was in Sec 2. Gasp, that was back in 2003! Girls really do remember such tiny things very vividly huh? Gotta be more careful with my actions. ;)

poor sis
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 @ 09:08 p.m. Sis is not getting better. She is now all pale and lying on her bed, trying hard to breathe. Last night we sent her to the hospital cos she was breathless and having a high fever, but the hospital sent us back home after a few routine checks and giving us some medicine, saying that all she needed was rest. But her conditions are evidently not improving! Feeling quite helpless cos she doesn't want to be disturbed but we could see her crying from the discomfort and breathlessness.

transformers and the transformed
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 @ 02:22 p.m. 4T1 was surpisingly tame today! They were very, very attentive even though my topic was Transformers (one of the hardest and most boring topic in my opinion), and I knew they were not so bored that they fell asleep, cos when I asked questions, they responded very positively and constructively. At the end of the lesson, when I asked a few students to draw and label the diagram of a transformer, they could actually do it perfectly. I also collected the notes they copied during my lesson and looked through them - they were very well-done, with sufficient details. Was really impressed. And they were totally different from yesterday! Either my speech yesterday worked, or this was just one of those days when they're in a good mood (NT students are known to have mood swings). Hope they behave like that for the rest of the year.

challenges ahead
Monday, January 3, 2005 @ 06:56 p.m. First day of school. It didn't start well cos I got an unpleasant surprise before the schoolday even started - my form class has been changed from 2E1 to 4E2. Not that 4E2 is a bad class, in fact it's a very nice class with rather motivated students, but I was already mentally prepared for 2E1 and I like being the form teacher of a secondary 2 class cos that's the age when they're so innocent and spontaneous... Oh well. I guess there's no point complaining, 4E2 isn't too bad anyway.

It was a full-day schedule for me after spending an hour with my form class (having no time for breakfast or lunch), and the schoolday ended with 4T1, the MOST notorious of ESSS. E-V-E-R-Y teacher who had taken the class last year had horror stories to tell, they'd shudder at the mere thought of going into that class, and they were literally counting down the days that they had to see the class cos every single lesson with them had been a torture. This class was, according to them, totally uninterested in all subjects. No matter how hard the teachers tried to make their lessons interesting or tried to understand the students on a personal level, the students simply COULD NOT BE BOTHERED. They'd just talk among themselves ('shout' would be a more appropriate word) and walk around or even wander out of the classroom as if the teachers were transparent.

So, with much apprehension, I entered the class and chatted with them for an hour, asking each of them what were their hobbies and favorite subject. The class was expectedly noisy, to which I paused several times and waited for them to settle down before I continued. They were especially silent when I said I only shout to children and I hope I can treat/respect them like adults. They were also quiet for a while when I commented that only children and animals shout and make noises when nobody is listening to them (some students were just making noises by themselves). But these only worked for a brief while, the class soon became rowdy again and I had to repeatedly pause to talk sense into them. I can't imagine how I can still do this when I start formal teaching. But I have a feeling being friendly with them MAY work eventually (though Gek Hong told me it didn't work for him last year). Will give it a try anyway.

After school, we had a two-hour project work meeting (yawnz) before I could finally sit down to settle my own stuff. I was so tired I could faint any second while I filled up the record book and categorised a pile of miscellaneous documents. By the time I signed out of school, it's already 10 hours of nonstop work (with no breaks). Took a cab home (cos I was famished and I didn't think I could drag myself to the busstop), bathed, then slouched on my bed to read the Normal Tech textbook.

I hate this year's class allocation because I have to prepare for so many different levels of lessons! One class of sec 2 Science (2E1), one class of pure Physics (4E1), two of Sec 4 combined Physics (4E2, 4E4), one of Sec 5 Physics (5N2), one of sec 4T Science (4T1): that's FIVE sets of different preparation work!! (By the way, it's more efficient and easier for the teacher when he teaches more than just one class of the same level.) I want to concentrate on my graduating classes!! How do I do that when I have to be distracted to prepare for so many different sets of worksheets, powerpoints and tests?? Argh. This is going to be a very tiring year.

what a great way to start the new year
Sunday, January 2, 2005 @ 09:37 p.m.

Accompanied sis to get her SIM card replaced as she lost her handphone on New Year's eve. Now she's in my room, frantically searching for clues of her colleagues' number cos she has lost all her contacts along with the phone, and of all times, she has to be so sick that she can't go to work her shift tomorrow. Her rising fever and the prospect of having to work tomorrow (cos she can't find someone to replace her) are pushing her to the verge of tears. And the persistent rain isn't helping our mood at all.

Lousy day.