Friday, March 30, 2007
Another Hectic Week
This week has zipped by so fast that it has left my head spinning in exhaustion and confusion. There are many important dates and deadlines to store in my memory chip which isn't operating very well lately.
Take the Meet-the-Parents session for the graduating pupils tonight for instance. I'd forgotten 4NA wasn't involved and thought that I had to stay on for the session. -_-'' Well, then again, it wasn't a really a big issue actually. I had to stay until my brother was ready to go home from work anyway - I had the car today and he asked if I could drive him home. Since I haven't been driving around much, I thought why not.
Anyway, I'm tired. I'm not even sure why I bother blogging now. Maybe because it's been a few days since I last blogged an entry.
I have to go back to school tomorrow. Mr Wan reminded me that I had signed up for duty. Thank goodness he did actually because I'd totally forgotten about it! I realised I'd forgotten to store the date in my mobile phone. -_-''
SYF Central Judging of Choirs is drawing near and everyone is going crazy. The kids are tired and so are we. Two afternoons are for SYF practices, one afternoon for Sports Heats, and another for Speech Day rehearsal. It is no wonder they have difficulty completing homework and staying awake during lessons. Some pupils, of course, seize the opportunity -not- to do their assignments. -_-
I'm feeling frustrated. I think I'm falling ill again; throat's terribly itchy. =(
jOyZ blogged at 9:32 PM
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Saturday, March 24, 2007
My Endless Woes
The Meet-the-Parents (MTP) session last night ended at around nine plus for me. Thanks to Grace who gave me a lift to Tanglin Road where I took a cab for the rest of the way home. Sigh. I really miss those days when I lived so near to town and to the school! I could reach home easily within ten to fifteen minutes. Now, to get home, it's double the time - even by cab (you know how some cabbies can really speed).
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I reached home slightly after ten. By eleven, I concussed in bed. It was a terribly exhausting day. My schedule was packed during curriculum and thereafter it wss Choir. As usual, Ai Ming was late and so were quite a number of the kids. Many of them came even later than she did, claiming that remedial lessons ended late and they needed to eat lunch. Sigh. Do they need AN HOUR for lunch? How I wish I had that kind of luxury. I have to gobble down my food everyday within ten to fifteen minutes - that is, if I'm free enough to get the chance to eat at all. -_-
Then a couple of hours earlier, I had an encounter with a parent who demanded that I should meet him at once because he had to go to work. I didn't exactly have a war of words with him, but things weren't exactly pleasant between us because he wasn't reasonable. He said a whole lot of things which were mostly about how busy he was and how he wasn't able to attend the MTP in the evening because of his problems among some other things which were completely lost on me; he was speaking too fast and in a different form of Singlish. Before I could tell him about my observations of his child, he walked off and, peeved as I was, I felt relieved and thought that was the last I would see of him.
Somehow though, thankfully, Mr Lau intervened. I was asked to go to the foyer where the parent was - he still hadn't left and was talking to Mr Lau. There, I was told that I had supposedly made an appointment with the parent and had kept him waiting when, in the first place, I had no prior communication with him at all - let alone made an appointment with him! Apparently, the pupil had asked the father to come to school without my knowledge. I guess the father assumed that I was the one who asked the child to do that and it was my way of arranging to meet him. SIGH.
I guess it was a case of extremely bad timing and miscommunication (or rather, no communication). In the midst of trying his best to show his child his concern, he had his own problems to deal with, while I - after my on-and-off absence from work due to the irritating flu that couldn't seem to go away - had several issues to settle with my form class. I think I'm going to declare myself insane very soon.
Next Friday, there is another round of MTP session - for the graduating classes this time. I hope things won't be as bad as yesterday. *tired*
With SYF Central Judging of Choir fast approaching, I'm tied up with the practice sessions which are held twice a week. There is also the Speech Day rehearsal which is taking place once a week. There you have it: 3 afternoons in a week taken up by Choir. I'm not blaming Choir - I enjoy watching and listening to them, especially when they've improved so much. Unfortunately, I'm unable to meet up with my 4NA pupils as regularly and as often as I'd originally planned. Then, there are several urgent issues to settle with my form class - a small class but no less manageable - but I hardly have time for them. I've never had such a hard time collecting forms from any of my previous form classes before, so the paper work for this class is extremely messy. ARGH!!!!! I'm ready to go berserk!!!
A colleague remarked to me yesterday over dinner that I appear jaded now. Another word for it is probably 'sian'. I think i am. Not that teaching doesn't pose anymore challenges for me, but I'm very, very tired. There are days when I easily lose patience with the kids and give them a earful - especially the older pupils because they have the capacity to understand better but yet they misbehave.
It doesn't help, too, that I'm losing my beautiful voice. SNIFF. I don't think I can ever sing like how I used to. Or maybe what I simply need is to stop talking everyday for a year in front of 15 to 44 pupils who like to talk at the same time during lessons. HAH.
Anyhows, it's been a lengthy entry. I will now end my endless woes here. Till I blog again...
jOyZ blogged at 8:42 AM
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Thursday, March 22, 2007
What A Day
After a two-day MC, it's finally back to work for me. As usual, work was overwhelming after a short recuperation at home, especially when Thursday is my worst day of the week. Sigh. This is one reason why I hate going on MC. Crap.
I think it's impossible for me not to scold a single pupil just for one day this year. I miss 2005 when there were days when I actually had a great time teaching my 5B pupils - didn't have to scold any of them on certain days. To say I never scolded them at all is just ridiculous. It's as good as saying all humans are perfect. But, to be honest, they were my main motivation to go to work everyday during that period of time.
Etched in Memory: The Family of 5B'05
Anyway, I don't want to talk about my crappy day at work. I had to rush off for SYF Balloting at CCAB. It turned out that the carpark in front of the building was meant for authorised vehicles. *rolls eyes* So I had to drive to the next nearest one which was like a good 10-minute walk away. If I'd known this, I'd have taken a cab instead. }:\
Anyway, I was about 30 minutes late but the balloting didn't start until 4pm or so. Well, our school choir will be performing on the 19th of April at 10.15am, one day before our Speech-and-Prize Giving Day. This year, CCAB has grouped all the SAB and SATB choirs to sing within the first 4 days of SYF Choral Central Judging while the TBarB and SSA choirs will perform on the last 3 days. No mutual swapping of slots were allowed this year! What a waste of time for teachers to go all the way there just to pick a plastic stick (come to think of it, I think it was a spoon) from a tin. So when the CCAB staff asked if it was alright if they did it on our behalf and then inform the schools, almost everyone raised their hands in agreement. Haha... Let's see what happens when SYF 2009 comes.
Oh, I met a very old friend at the balloting - Yah Hui! We were in the same class during the first 3 months in JC, continued to stay in touch all through NUS years and went to work together for a temporary stint upon graduation. She came into teaching half a year after I did and now she's teaching at Cedar Girls' Secondary School. We stopped contacting each other after that due to hectic work schedule and other commitments. I think we chanced upon each other's myedumail addresses a few years back and she invited me to her wedding shortly after. Unfortunately, I was too busy to attend and lost touch with her again until today.
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It was really great to see her again. Haha... the first thing she did was to show me a picture of her daughter on her mobile phone. I'm so glad that she's doing well and has a happy family. We went to the prata shop opposite CCAB and chatted for almost an hour, catching up on what has been going on in our lives. She's still the same... as sharp-tongued as ever. Hehe. I still have lots to update her on our old friends. Hm, perhaps I'll ask her out when we're less busy one day. Hah, yes. WHEN WE ARE LESS BUSY. ONE DAY. *nods*
Well, what a day. It started off badly enough but - thank God - an old friend found really made my day. =)
jOyZ blogged at 8:19 PM
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Wednesday, March 21, 2007
What I Miss Most
I give up trying to get back to sleep. I had to make certain calls and send certain messages via SMS to certain people to settle certain problems that cropped up at work. It's really impossible to have proper recuperation from sickness for yours truly, a working adult in Singapore - despite being on MC. So much for heeding my doctor's advice about getting more sleep. =\
Anyway, why the above title? And what has it got to do with my rest? Haha...
Well, you see, my room happens to face the back of an all-girls school. As I was tossing and turning on my bed to get back to sleep after having settled the 'problems' at work, I heard children's voices doing choral reading in Mandarin. It was all too cute. And it brought back memories. This is the second reason why I gave up getting back to sleep.
Feeling too nolstagic to sleep, I decided to blog. So here I am: What do I miss most?
1) My schooling days
I hated my primary school but it helped me to discover and nurtured my interest and passion to perform (singing and dancing - no time for these now unfortunately). I loved my secondary school but I was forced to join a CCA which I never grew to enjoy despite trying very hard. During these 4 years, however, I discovered my passion in reading and writing - in English of course. I loved and hated my JC years. I had a lot of fun but at the same time being in one of the top JCs in Singapore meant extremely stiff competition in ALL areas. No matter how hard I tried, I felt mediocre. I was truly happy to pass all my subjects at A levels so that I could move on to the next phase. NUS years were sheer fun. I played too much but somehow survived and graduated with a bachelor's degree. Despite all the stress and growing up problems I encountered, I had great friends and I had great fun.
2) Reading
These are some of the books which I bought over the past 9 years and never got down to reading them. There are more, of course. My shelves are deep enough to stack up two walls of books. So, as you can see, I don't simply mean reading (or flipping through) of newspapers and magazines or surfing of websit
es and weblogs, but books. REAL BOOKS with ENDLESS STRINGS OF WORDS on pages that come without pictures. I miss the time when I could easily finish reading a book (of about hundred over pages) and get to experience the life (or lives) of the character(s) within a few hours.
3) Swimming
I definitely miss this! Not to mention the health benefits that come along with it. I used to swim every weekend when I was still studying - completed all the swimming tests and even took up the life-saving course at beginner's level. It was fun. Swimming helped to clear the fogs in my thoughts and I could think better, study better and sleep better. I continued swimming until I started working and now, I don't even want to be seen in my swimming costume. Read: FAT! Bah!
There are other things I miss as well, especially moments I spent with friends (past and present). Working life is so different. Sigh.
Well, anyway, what I miss and NEED now is food. Lunch time! I'm thinking of porridge with fishballs. I'm not exactly excited by the prospect of eating that, but an ill person's gotta eat what an ill person's gotta eat. x(
jOyZ blogged at 11:29 AM
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Monday, March 19, 2007
Perhaps The Dust Will Never Settle
I'm upset over something. Actually it's been bugging me for quite a while. Not many people will know - except maybe one or two, or three at the maximum.
It's not exactly very convenient to blog about it here. I'm just suddenly very overwhelmed by this whole thing and since there's no one I can talk to at this crazy hour, I can only blog to release my frustration. I don't know how will blogging help though especially when it's inconvenient for me to blog about it.
I want to say it doesn't really affect me? I want to tell myself, what the heck, why bother? I don't know. I guess I care too much to want to pretend nothing is going on. I'm so afraid I'll turn into someone I hate. Perhaps I already have. But I don't want to be worse. So whatever that is going on just isn't helping.
This was not how I'd pictured my 2007 to be. I'd wanted to start everything afresh after an extremely depressing 2006. Why can't people just cooperate and make my life less miserable? Have I not suffered enough? Have all of us not suffered more than enough? As if all of us humans don't have enough problems in our lives to make us unhappy.
Is a simple exchange of pleasantries so difficult to achieve in this society that's so obsessed with material gains and high social status? Why have we allowed pressures from family and society to conform us into such cold creatures? Will we and our loved ones be truly happy then?
Perhaps the dust will never settle.
jOyZ blogged at 1:25 AM
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Sunday, March 18, 2007
Movies And Music
jOyZ blogged at 11:04 AM
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Saturday, March 17, 2007
A Hectic March Holiday (edited)
It's been a really hectic week. Marilyn and I organised Choir sessions and an overnight camp for the kids. Here goes...
Monday: Choir practice from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.
Tuesday to Wednesday: Choir Camp from 8.30am (Tue) to 6.30pm (Wed).
Thursday: Choir workshop at Gan Eng Seng with 3 other schools from 2pm to 6pm.
I was feeling really awful last Sunday and ended up snoozing the whole day. I didn't turn up for my nephew's one-month old celebration and dinner plans with Mag and Zhiwei were cancelled. I felt a lot better on Monday, so I was able to drag my feet to school for Choir. I shouldn't say 'drag' really because I enjoy watching and listening the kids. They've improved quite a fair bit, though they didn't sound very good on Monday.
Tuesday morning came and it was a flurry of mad rush to check all the paper work and get their lunch ready by noon. It was such a headache trying to tally the number of kids with the amount of food I'd ordered so much so that my fever returned. I decided to pop a couple of panadol pills (courtesy of Mr Lau who noticed, weeks ago, I was sick when I was at the General Office and passed me some tablets) before running around with my errands again. Thank God for Marilyn and Shilin, who came back to help out. I drove to Redhill market to get more packed lunch with Shilin because I'd ordered less. By then, I was perspiring quite a bit. The fever subsided when afternoon came so I felt a lot better.
Then we had another problem. I found out (AFTER searching high and low for and checking with all other CCA teachers who had organised camps during the holiday week) that Choir couldn't use the AVT between 8.30pm and 10pm after all. Guorong had booked it for Badminton. In the end, Marilyn and I decided to hold our mini-concert at the foyer, praying and hoping hard that no other CCA groups would be using the place for their own activities that night.
Thankfully, we had the foyer all to ourselves! All six groups took turns to perform a song and an advertisement jingle. It was sheer fun! I think most of the kids enjoyed themselves. I know I did. I nearly died laughing watching how entertaining they kids were. One group had a really hilarious advertisement jingle: a whole bunch of them stood in the centre and sang the jingle while, in the background, this fella crawled on all fours from their left side to right. Then suddenly, in a deadpan manner, he mooed (REALLY like a cow!) and recited the entire string of words (not a single word missing!) from the advertisement. Everyone roared in mirth. It was priceless! I wonder if Marilyn had recorded it down on her digital camera. If she had, I'll try to post it up here soon.
After the mini-concert, we had the night walk. Red Cross had it at the same time as us. I'm glad most of the kids enjoyed themselves. However, as usual, I had to tick a couple of students off for being passive and uncooperative during debriefing.
The next day, we had mainly 2 activities in the morning. The first one was a puzzle game which required every member in the group to participate actively. It was clearly not an easy game because only 1 group (out of 3) managed to come up with the solution. The other 2 groups got frustrated due to several factors (one of which was some of the group members were not cooperative) and gave up halfway. The group that found the solution broke into 2 groups and went to help the other 2 groups. Even then, I observed that the other two groups relied very heavily on help and not everyone was actively contributing ideas other than the group leaders.
By the time every group was able to solve the puzzle, we were running behind schedule but went on with our station games anyway. The groups ran around the school while I went about snapping pictures of them performing various tasks. Hm, I must get the photos from Marilyn soon.
The camp ended with an SYF practice session which finished off at around 6.30pm. Everyone went home while Marilyn and I stayed on to clear our tables and some paper work. My dad came to fetch me home and I concussed right after dinner.
Thursday's workshop at Gan Eng Seng wasn't too bad. I'm sure every school choir brought home at least one learning point from the rest. I've been praying that we'll get Silver this year. When I see how hard the kids have been working each week with Ai Ming, I can't imagine the disappointment we have to deal with if we can't achieve Silver. Our efforts to gel them through the camp and to get them to be more confident of themselves proved rather effective when they appeared less afraid when they stood on stage in Gan Eng Seng's school hall. They were a lot less confident during the workshop we had at VCH 3 weeks ago. I hope this confidence doesn't back down as the SYF date draws nearer.
I popped by school on Friday morning to grab some work - with every intention to do marking with Cheryl and Pei Chin today. (Sigh, but see what has happened now.) Then I drove to town for my appointment at BioSkin and walked over to Paragon to get a new toy! Woots! I spent the rest of the day exploring my new toy. I love the reflection, which you can't really see from the pictures below.
I was so busy that I didn't have sufficient time to recuperate from my flu. I've been coughing since CNY. Man, it's such a horrid feeling. =\
Well, school's starting soon. Another 10 weeks and then it's the June holidays. I can't wait for THAT!
jOyZ blogged at 11:58 AM
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Sunday, March 11, 2007
After A Lengthy Nap...
I just woke up from a really, really lengthy nap (5-6 hours!) and the fever is gone. I hope it doesn't return. Panadol pills don't go very well with me - I choked on the huge tablet once as a kid. It left a horrid taste in my throat after I finally managed to cough it out.
I realised, too, that I'm all alone at home. No wonder I could sleep for so many hours. No parents around to disturb me from my much-needed rest. Heh.
There's no dinner though, but I'm not feeling hungry at all actually.
There's going to be Choir practice tomorrow, but since it's in the afternoon, I don't have to wake up so early. It feels good not having to wake up when the sky is still dark on a Monday morning. Still, I think I'll sleep early tonight - just to make sure the fever doesn't return. Even if it comes back, I don't have to consciously suffer from it. Heh.
jOyZ blogged at 9:38 PM
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Third Time!
This is the third time I've fallen ill during the year. It appears that I'm falling sick on the average of once a month. Sigh.
I had a three-hour nap yesterday afternoon and woke up with a fever. In fact, I didn't realise I had fever until a while later. By then, I'd already agreed to watch Letters From Iwo Jima with Cheryl, Keith and Zhen'ai. I quickly popped two panadol pills and went back to sleep. Somehow the fever went down when I was watching the movie. I drove home feeling a lot better despite the depressing movie and very late dinner. Unfortunately, I woke up again this morning with a fever - this time with a very bad headache.
Now, I'm wondering if I should go for my cousin's one-month old baby's birthday celebration. It wouldn't be good if the baby catches the flu bug from me. I'm not even sure if I'm able to go over to Mag's place for dinner now. The weather is so beautiful today too.
What bad timing. Sigh. It's now the March holidays and there's going to be the Choir Camp from Tuesday to Wednesday. I hope to recover before the camp. *crosses fingers and toes*
Third time. Bah. I guess I should go back to bed and sleep the fever away.
jOyZ blogged at 10:23 AM
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Saturday, March 10, 2007
Recent Contemplation
I'm contemplating on rearranging the furniture in my room to make way for a TV set. My parents (especially my dad) will probably kick a huge fuss about the TV because he doesn't like it when my brother or I stay in our own rooms for too long. As it is, I am already spending too much time in front of my laptop or sleeping in the room. Haha...
Oh well, whether I'm going to buy a TV or not, I'm still thinking of rearranging the furniture in my room. There are too many things on my table. Sigh. It might have been a mistake to have bought such a huge table. I was thinking about all the marking I have to do, you see. Then again, I have been doing quite a bit of marking here, so it's actually a good choice. I should not regret having bought the table, really. It has been serving me well. x)
Hm... Should I rearrange the furniture? If so, how? Hm...
jOyZ blogged at 11:32 AM
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Thursday, March 08, 2007
End of Term 1
Term 1 is drawing to a close. How time flies! It's the last day of Term 1 tomorrow and my timetable is horrendous. Sigh. Anyway, I'm still glad. Then again, the March holiday has never been much of a vacation - even more so this year because there's Choir.
I'll be going back to school from Monday to Thursday for Choir. Sigh. There are so many things to be done and so little time left. I have a feeling I'll be staying late tomorrow to settle some things for the Choir Camp. There's the Secondary 2 Meet-the-Parents in the evening anyway, so the school will stay opened later than usual.
I'm feeling kind of drowsy now. I suppose I've eaten too much in a day. It's my worst day of the week in fact so I'm pretty exhausted as well. >_<
[A short break...]
Alright. Guess what? I actually dozed off while blogging halfway. x\ I'm more tired than I realised. I suppose this is where I should end the entry. Au revoir.
jOyZ blogged at 10:18 PM
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Sunday, March 04, 2007
A Pleasant Evening
I just came back not too long ago from Mel's place. I wish I could have stayed longer with them. Unfortunately, my dad had to wash the car, so I had to drive home earlier than I had wanted to. Anyway, dinner was great. I love the salad and the pasta. Thanks, Mel, for a really delicious dinner. All in all, I had a pleasant time.
I'm envying Joce so much! She's going France this Thursday for a holiday. Yes, yes. I know I've been there before but it was only Paris. I want to see more of France - not just Paris. Besides, that was like eons ago. I wonder when it will be possible for all of us to finally go on a trip together. I can already imagine how fun and crazy the whole trip will be. LOL.
Alright, I think I'm going to watch Slam Dunk before I go to bed. It's my daily dosage of dramedy... cartoon, actually. It's hilarious and so dramatic. Ho ho ho...
jOyZ blogged at 12:39 AM
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This week has zipped by so fast that it has left my head spinning in exhaustion and confusion. There are many important dates and deadlines to store in my memory chip which isn't operating very well lately..jpg)
I reached home slightly after ten. By eleven, I concussed in bed. It was a terribly exhausting day. My schedule was packed during curriculum and thereafter it wss Choir. As usual, Ai Ming was late and so were quite a number of the kids. Many of them came even later than she did, claiming that remedial lessons ended late and they needed to eat lunch. Sigh. Do they need AN HOUR for lunch? How I wish I had that kind of luxury. I have to gobble down my food everyday within ten to fifteen minutes - that is, if I'm free enough to get the chance to eat at all. -_-
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It was really great to see her again. Haha... the first thing she did was to show me a picture of her daughter on her mobile phone. I'm so glad that she's doing well and has a happy family. We went to the prata shop opposite CCAB and chatted for almost an hour, catching up on what has been going on in our lives. She's still the same... as sharp-tongued as ever. Hehe. I still have lots to update her on our old friends. Hm, perhaps I'll ask her out when we're less busy one day. Hah, yes. WHEN WE ARE LESS BUSY. ONE DAY. *nods*
I hated my primary school but it helped me to discover and nurtured my interest and passion to perform (singing and dancing - no time for these now unfortunately). I loved my secondary school but I was forced to join a CCA which I never grew to enjoy despite trying very hard. During these 4 years, however, I discovered my passion in reading and writing - in English of course. I loved and hated my JC years. I had a lot of fun but at the same time being in one of the top JCs in Singapore meant extremely stiff competition in ALL areas. No matter how hard I tried, I felt mediocre. I was truly happy to pass all my subjects at A levels so that I could move on to the next phase. NUS years were sheer fun. I played too much but somehow survived and graduated with a bachelor's degree. Despite all the stress and growing up problems I encountered, I had great friends and I had great fun.
These are some of the books which I bought over the past 9 years and never got down to reading them. There are more, of course. My shelves are deep enough to stack up two walls of books. So, as you can see, I don't simply mean reading (or flipping through) of newspapers and magazines or surfing of websit
es and weblogs, but books. REAL BOOKS with ENDLESS STRINGS OF WORDS on pages that come without pictures. I miss the time when I could easily finish reading a book (of about hundred over pages) and get to experience the life (or lives) of the character(s) within a few hours.
I definitely miss this! Not to mention the health benefits that come along with it. I used to swim every weekend when I was still studying - completed all the swimming tests and even took up the life-saving course at beginner's level. It was fun. Swimming helped to clear the fogs in my thoughts and I could think better, study better and sleep better. I continued swimming until I started working and now, I don't even want to be seen in my swimming costume. Read: FAT! Bah!
Well, I went for a movie with Cheryl and Zhen'ai last night. I couldn't drive the car because my dad wanted to wash it. -_-'' Anyway, we caught Music and Lyrics. It was madly hilarious - especially the opening scene! It caught me by surprise and I had to stare a while before everything sank in. Beside me, Cheryl was already laughing away.
Speaking of which, I think I'm going to get the VCD for Kate and Leopold, a romantic comedy which came to the box office five to six years ago. That was the first time I saw Hugh Jackman on screen. Woo! What a looker. Meg Ryan was cute as usual. =]
I'm contemplating on rearranging the furniture in my room to make way for a TV set. My parents (especially my dad) will probably kick a huge fuss about the TV because he doesn't like it when my brother or I stay in our own rooms for too long. As it is, I am already spending too much time in front of my laptop or sleeping in the room. Haha...
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