Dog license (I)

So, all was busy with the Land of Dogs.

On Sunday, Jimmy and I went back to Rawang to have a gathering with my family and my sister's family from Singapore. Before we returned to KL, we took a photo of the two dogs (but Charlie kay-pohed and was running around). Taking a photo of Baby was a breeze albeit Charlie was also in a few of the photos because he was excited, so we had to take a couple of shots of Baby minus Charlie.

1st attempt to take a photo of Baby...Charlie is in the picture.

2nd attempt of taking Baby's photo. She was following me everywhere so I had to make her lie down first before taking her photo. (And of course, ask Charlie to get into the house.)

Taking a photo of Hunter was not as easy. He is truly hyperactive. And in the process of taking his photo, Jimmy got scratched and I got scolded for being slow. Let's take a look at the few attempts:

I was too slow to press the button, so he moved out of the frame.

He was sitting before this, and by the time the image is captured...well, this is it.

I squatted down to take a photo of him. He tried to jump on me and Charlie looking on blur-ly.

Sent Charlie and Jimmy into the house. Asked Hunter to sit and took a photo of him FINALLY. And if you notice, his eyes have an unfocussed look. Sigh...my crazy dog.

So, it was with the photos ready and all photocopied documents ready that I took them both to be vaccinated. Phew...was it a chore! Baby was all right. But Hunter was definitely more than a handful. He was so hyper that he moved around like a crazy dog and scared everyone at the vet's. When it was his turn for his vaccination, it was as though we were trying to kill him! I was trying to put on a muzzle on him and he was so scared that he rolled, growled (so the vet's assistant was scared and left me to it), shat and peed at the same time. So, there I was being scratched by him, while trying to calm him down, in his pee and poop. The vet looked at the situation and zoomed in from behind and gave him his shot (I wonder now why the vet didn't come in earlier...hmm...)

Hunter just doesn't trust me. It's probably because I don't spend enough time with him. With the mother, I could just hold her and she'd calm down. This fella was hysterical! I got scratched on my left arm mostly and one long scratch from my neck to my chest area. My silver necklace broke when he scratched me at my neck.

With the vet's card in hand, I quickly went home to change into a long-sleeved shirt to cover the scratches and rushed to the City Council branch in Rawang at 3:45 p.m. to get the license but..."kena ambik kat Selayang la, dik"... =_______="

So, after dinner, while every one was joking that I might have rabies and start biting the kids, the angry welts on my arm became swollen and one wound in particular developed a slight dark circle around it. My mom rushed me to the clinic and I got a tetanus shot. Sigh...what a day...and the license has not been obtained...

(to be continued)

Dog-haters should leave dog-lovers alone

Isn't it unfair that you have to have license to have dogs? I mean, I'm sure it is for safety reasons that they have such a ruling. But to give the owner 7 days to get a license or action would be taken is a bit harsh, don't you think? And the worst part is that I had wanted to get a license for my dogs long ago but I don't know how and where to get it! I used to ask my friend from Terengganu to buy them for me as it was very easy for her to get until I found out that you have to get the license for your dog from your City Council or Majlis Perbandaran (MP). After being sent on a wild goose chase from one department to another, I gave up. After all, life was peaceful for me and my dogs for years.

Somehow, someone in the neighbourhood must have lodged a complaint and my father received the warning letter last Thursday. I wished I could go and settle it but I am having examinations this week. So, my poor dad who never liked my dogs had to go on a wild goose chase. First, someone told my father to go and get the license from the MP. RM 20 only for a license. Then, another person  told my father that he should actually get it from the local government animal clinic. When my father went to the clinic, someone from the clinic told my father that he has to get the dogs over to any vet to be vaccinated so that the vet can write a letter or something so that he can apply for a license in the MP. And I have to take a photo of the dog. Mug shot and side view.

My dad gave up because he cannot handle the two dogs alone. I normally had to bring the maid along or bring the dog on two separate trips to be vaccinated. Luckily the two dogs enjoy car rides, but to get them out is a problem because they know what awaits them at the vet: injection and de-worming pills.

Sigh..sometimes I feel that the government is just trying to make life difficult for us nons who have dogs. Why don't they start a ruling to make cat-owners, hamster-owners, iguana owners, snake owners to apply for a license as well? They can be health-hazards, a nuisance and dangerous as well, right? And the fact that you have to renew the license every year? Just trying to make money, I think! It used to be RM 5 a license, a year. Then it went up to RM 10. Now, God-knows how much they are charging. *edited...RM50 a year a dog* And even then, you have to apply, not just buy like last time.

And I curse the person who lodged the report. Baby has been with the family for 12 years!! And the dogs have been trained to stay in the house compound until recently when Baby is a bit senile that she loves to go out for a run round the neighbourhood. And even then, we make sure that she doesn't disturb anyone (she would avoid people and animals on her runs out since she is half blind and helpless). I hate the injustice of it all! Hope you step on dog poop every day even when there are no dogs around!

Does anyone know the proper procedure to get a dog license? Please help. *For those who live in Selayang, can download the form from their website. But only 1 dog for an area of 300m squared allowed. You also need to bring lots of document along*

Once upon a Paris...

I mentioned in my blog post long ago that I was posted to a very small town about an hour plus away. In that small school in the small town, I was perhaps something out of the ordinary. You see, I was different. My first day reporting to the school, I went with my father and his driver. Since the school did not need me in the first place, my father just took me there for formalities' sake and had wanted to take me to Putrajaya to sort the problem out. (By the way, my dad got himself a driver after his by-pass surgery a few years ago and not because we are very rich or anything like that).

So anyway, since the department made the blunder, the headmistress received a call from them to tell her to take me in (even though the quota was full). So, there I was for 4 months. The town was so small that there were only 4 blocks of shophouses in the 'town centre'. And most of the time, the shops are not open. ALL the shops are also closed by 6.30 p.m. So, my arrival and the special case of the department asking the HM to take me in must have been something rather exciting to the folks in that town.

I travelled daily for a week and a half when the price of petrol was at its peak. Transportation alone cost me more than RM 70 per day (coz my car guzzles petrol like crazy and the toll fare was more than RM 10 per trip). I travelled because I didn't have anyone to rent a place with. Rather than having me to travel almost 4 hours daily and spending so much on petrol, my father said that I should rent a whole house on my own since the place wasn't too expensive either (big news to people around there as well).

My kind colleagues were worried because I was going to be staying in a house with 4 rooms alone. I told them not to worry as I planned to bring Charlie along to accompany (and protect) me. Yup, Charlie, who is friendly to everyone. But, hey, my landlord wouldn't let me bring bigger dogs over. So, anyway, I suppose in the eyes of the town folks there, I was their local Paris Hilton. LOL...

                                                           

                    

                    Low Quality Imitation

                        ====>

The pupils look forward to see what I would wear to school every day. They scrutinize the brands of bags that I use. They complimented me. They whispered to each other in front of me, talking about what they liked about my appearance that day. Their comments spurred me on to look better every day. And, at the beginning, I didn't even try to look better to please them. It was just that I was the only Chinese lady teacher who had more than 10 different outfits to school. No offence to the other teachers intended.

However I hated the "no-lifeness" in that small town and however I dislike their scrutiny of what I did and when I did what with whom, I basked in the adoration of those people. I enjoyed being praised. And I took the effort to look good so that they have more nice things to say about me. Hehe...that is a good cycle, I think.

Transferring to this current school, the people aren't as simple and nice. Whatever you do would attract criticism. You wear nice clothes, some would praise you while some would say that what you wear is not appropriate or wouldn't even notice that you are wearing nice/new clothes (which is better than being criticized). You wear make-up and the teachers strongly criticizes you at the back for not allowing your pores to breathe. When you are in this kind of place, it just gets you down and you end up not doing anything to make yourself look out of ordinary or look good. This, my dear friends, is a very bad cycle. We'll all end up looking like old aunties very soon.



By the way, I googled for this image. Somehow, I ended up with Indian 18+ photos for my search for "aunty"! What has become of this world?? Sheesh!

I think I'm not going to care about what those people say. I wanna look good! I wanna be local Paris Hilton again! I'll lug Charlie to school in my back pack tomorrow! LOL...

The not-perfect housewife

I think I'm a hoarder...a mild one, that is. Since I was home because of unexpected holiday on Thursday and Friday, I managed to catch the show on Bio.. Hoarders. As I was watching the case of a young lady who uses the entire floorspace as her office because she doesn't have enough space on her table, I see a striking similarity between myself and the woman. I have a lot of books that I don't read anymore: children's books that I keep buying because I know it is a good one but I don't have the target readers (yet). Magazines that I buy but never throw because there are handy make-up tips in there (that I never use). Magazines that I subscribe to because I thought was cheap but never even got it out of the mailing packet. Paperwork that I copy and kept because you can never know when you would be asked about it again. GOSH...no wonder so many people complain that I have too many things in my room.

So, motivated, I drove 45 minutes back to my rented room and moved all the things that I have not seen in ages into my car. 2 hours later, I've cleared only a small portion of my room, and found countless pens, paper clips, files that I've "collected" over the years because I couldn't find them when I needed them. Hmm...

When I left my room, I can see that my gigantic bookshelf still cannot fit into the area that I just cleared. Sigh...

45 minutes drive home again. And now it's my mom and the maid's turn to sigh. LOL...love you, mum! =P

So anyway, is anyone interested in Newsweek? They are all brand new and I don't read them. I've subscribed to them up to next year...sigh...good money gone to waste. Leave a comment. I'll mail them to you. :)

Now, to minimize the clutter area. I gotta remind myself to throw or donate! Throw or donate! Throw or donate!! Yeah...

A B C D E...U P S R

It's raining cats and dogs outside and I'm still waiting for my gigantic bookshelf to arrive. Sigh...Jimmy finally spoke up and said that my room is really just a little messy, so he decided to buy me a bookshelf so that I can get organized. Sigh...

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UPSR results were annouced last Thursday and how did my pupils do? Better than I expected for two classes and not so good for the other. But I am happy, overall. I didn't sleep well the previous night and my pupil told me that I looked more tensed up then they were. Well said, SY! LOL

The express class that I was teaching had 7 people who scored a B in their English. The other, supposedly slightly weaker express class had only 3 Bs. The first piece of news I got about the UPSR was that. The other English teacher loudly exclaimed that her 2nd class only had 3 Bs while the 1st class had 7 Bs. Well, granted, the school expected all to get A in their English paper. Sigh...

Anyway, my last English class in which I was doing remedial lessons with 10 of them (remedial as in doing kindy things because they are at that level) had 10 failures while I expected more. It is the worst in the whole of Year 6 but I am so happy. I was actually expecting more to fail. But the same teacher who boasted that she had only 3Bs was going on and on about how her worse class had 9 failures after she found out that my class did worse. If I hadn't told her about that class, she was just talking about the 3Bs compared to my 7Bs. Dang...should have just kept quiet when she asked me about the other class.

A pleasant surprise was my BM class, which I was struggling with, has the highest passing rate among the normal classes! 80 over per cent! Woo hoot!! 7 failures for Penulisan and 6 failures for Pemahaman. =)

Well done, kids. And to the teacher who kept harping about your better results. It is not YOUR results. The kids did well because of their hard work and their ability to take in your teaching. If you don't take the blame when students do badly in their exams, don't take the credit when they do well. Phew...that is cathartic. LOL what to do? I don't have the guts to tell it to her face. Hehe...

Have a good day y'all!

I love my old man

I was reading a blog post about a day out with papa and was suddenly inspired to write about MY days out with my beloved papa. :)

The way with typical Chinese family where both parents are Chinese-educated is that the children will never be really close buds with the parents. My family is one of these families. I grew up knowing that my parents love us very much but in their own ways. There never was any outward displays of affection. My father was strict but he never raised his hands on us (except for one time, which I still complain about until today).

So anyway, my siblings and myself were always closer to my mother when we were younger. Then, when my eldest brother and sister went to study overseas, my father must have suddenly realised that children grow up very fast and that he must spend some time with his younger two. So, my elder sister and myself got all my father's attention from the time when I was about 9.

Being the youngest, I got away with a lot of things with my father. And to be fair, my sister was my mom's favourite, and I became the apple of my father's eye. My dad and I used to quarrel a lot...and we actually enjoyed the tongue sparring. =)

Recently, (well not so recently actually), I went on a movie-date with my dad. A lot of people looked at us in a strange manner, possibly thinking that I was my dad's young wife. LOL We were at the airport once and my dad was buying me bottles of perfume when the cashier tactfully asked for our relationship and I had to call my dad "Papa" so many times because people were giving us looks.

And my friends all think that it is so nice to be going out with your dad because our dads' generation just don't do these kinds of thing!

Ooh...I also go shopping with my dad quite often...as in buying household stuff. Hehe...Sigh...and to the little sprouts' mama: don't worry, your children will understand that their papa loves them very much when they are a little bit older. :)

To all you Chinaman papas out there, go take your kids out la. It's really not that bad! ;)

Googled for image. Love the warmth. Can you feel it? :)

He loves me, he loves me not...

Ahhh...the smell of coffee wafting through the air is the best wake-up call for a non-working Monday! Hehe...yup, that's what you can expect, being a teacher/student, so don't be jealous. LOL

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Anyway, I don't get it with kids these days. They want to grow up fast and they grow up so fast that it scares you. The boyfriend-girlfriend thing in the Year 6 classes is rampant after UPSR. And I am actually surprised that the "smarter" students are especially keen and excited over them. They profess their love and relationship openly on Facebook and in the class. Gosh...I don't know whether to laugh or to shout at them. I mean what's the rush? I hope they are not doing anything else that is not for their age...

Thinking back, my first crush was my best friend in Year One. He's now married to his high-school sweetheart. LOL...yup, we used to play together all the time. Erm...actually, do you even consider that a crush?

I remember my first real crush was on a Indian-Muslim senior when I was in Form 3. Yup, emotionally-late boomer. But I thought it was all right. Of course, I didn't do anything about the crush because I knew nothing would come out of it, and if he had liked me too, I would not go on with a relationship because I knew that studies are more important.

After that, I had a crush on my ICQ friend. And that was when I was in Form Five. I almost started dating him until my mom put a stop to it and that was that. From a young age, I told my dad to match make for me. You know, I always thought that parents know best. And I actually asked my dad for permission to go out on dates and told him the funny things that boys do/talk about when they were courting his youngest daughter. Gosh...I miss those days.

My next huge crush is on my Indian classmate, especially when he was singing and playing the guitar. And I almost had a second date with him until he found out that I was on the verge of going steady with our schoolmate. Shucks... =P

And at the age of 22, I started dating seriously. Yup, I was 22 (not 12!!). My own choice, but after 2 and a half years, we broke up.

Meeting Jimmy at the age of 25, I think my days of crushes and flirting with other guys are over. My dad is happy. His parents are happy. LOL. But, I don't think I'm ready for marriage yet though. Maybe it's because he hasn't asked me properly yet *hint*! Hahaha...

The first time he actually planned for a surprise. 2nd bouquet of flowers after a year plus together (at that time). Hahaha...

Dreading THE day...

Dear all,

Meet Hunter. I was browsing at my photos and I realised that I have not uploaded this photo from a few months ago. And sad to say, this is the only photo I have of that crazy dog because he wouldn't stop moving/twitching/howling when he saw me. He looks beautiful especially when he is running. Jimmy sometimes gets imaginative and says that it is so touching to see Hunter run towards me from very far away when he hears me call his name (ala long-lost Lassie with its owner)...until Hunter crashes so hard into me and then runs away again. LOL.

I am suddenly saddened by the thought that his mother, Baby, might not be with us for long. I just found out that her brother from the same litter suddenly died 4 days ago. Her health has deteriorated rapidly since the beginning of this year. And as you can see from the photo, she has cataract in one eye. Jimmy and myself noticed that in the past two weeks that she may be almost completely blind now as she bangs her head against our legs and follows us everywhere that way. =(

I really can't bear knowing that she may have to leave me soon. My companion for 12 years. I really wouldn't know what to do if I receive the heart-breaking news. God, please, let her be with us for at least another few years. Or, let her leave the world peacefully without much suffering.

Argh...I don't know! I want her to be with me but it is sad to see that she is no longer herself!  Sigh...how do you deal with this kind of loss, or this kind of dread? My family can't understand my feelings. Of course, they love her (as much as they could love a dog). But to them, a dog is just that...a dog. SIGH...

I love you a lot, Baby. I hope you know that even though there are two other dogs around, I still love you best...

Spare the rod, spoil the child

Oops...sorry readers. The blurry photo actually showed the child writing "bite god" as one of the vegetables that he knows. Now, can you guess what vegetable is that? :)

Anyway, something disheartening happened in school this morning. The school piano was obviously vandalised and the discipline master managed to find the culprits. So, the parents of 5 children were called to school. All the parents denied that their child had done anything wrong eventhough the children have admitted that they used sticks to bang on the piano keys (and they could still afford to snigger when they were telling the discipline master how they spoiled the piano! Too bad their parents did not witness the admission ).

One parent said that it wasn't the child's fault if he was a bit too rough while playing the piano: if the school had left it in the hall, it was meant to be used by the students!

One parent said that it was the school's fault for not locking up the hall. Erm...ok, this one maybe can accept la. But your kids are not supposed to be in the school already at that hour. The hall is open for the afternoon session students to use, ok?

One parent said that the child was very remorseful when he went home as  he had witnessed his friends vandalising the piano. So, obviously, as a witness, he shouldn't be held responsible for the payment for the repairs. Oh, and the parent shouted at the senior assistant for telling his/her child that the school would report the case to the police, making the child too frightened to go to school. Hmm...

I forget if the other parent said anything (as 5 children are involved) but the classic retort of a parent is this:

It is the guard's fault for not realising that the kids had climbed over the wall to get into the school after school hours. It is the school's fault for leaving the hall open. A damaged piano is of small matter. If his child had injured himself in the school premise (by climbing over the wall, mind you), he would sue the school and everyone in it!

Whoa....B-R-A-V-O parent! You have succeeded in turning your child into a gangster and a nuisance to the community!

Sigh...just another day of a teacher's life. Let's take a look at another classic work of a child:

Have a great day! :)

Back from the busy days

Phew...it has been a while since I last updated my blog. I really don't know how did time fly by so fast. I was swamped with work because I am teaching 3 Year 6 classes this year. Before I knew it, the UPSR is over and I had to deal with other work such as my university assignments and erm...spending money. LOL

So what has gone on? Well, there is the arrival of my darling niece. Meet Anabelle. Isn't she adorable? She's only a few weeks old and she has stolen the hearts of all who have seen her. She does the cutest things: not suck when her mummy gives her plain water to rinse her mouth after milk, smile and coo when you talk to her, calls for you when she knows that your attention is not on her etc etc. Ahyi loves you a lot!



And then here's something funny to share with you. Look at number 7 and guess what vegetable is the child trying to write. :) Have a great weekend ahead.



Red hot chilli

Ouch...I caught a piece of bomb this morning when the headmistress lined the language teachers up and fired at us from many directions. Amazing, how some people are so skilled at "murdering" - everyone was shot yet no one actually knows who the headmistress was really aiming at. Hahaha...I guess the Malay adage of "siapa makan cili, dia rasa pedas" is true. Though the meeting this morning seemed as though those who didn't taste chilli in the first place felt prickly in their tongues and throats.

But it was obvious that the one person who caught the bomb in her hands before it exploded, so to speak, was my subject supervisor or "ketua panitia". And inadvertently, guess who caught it too before it exploded because she is the secretary? Hahaha...

Funny how some people would want to make a hill out of a mole hill for no reason. I mean, it doesn't benefit her when all the language teachers have to face the firing squad. In fact, it only makes the language teachers dislike her more, since we have also have a mole among the non-language teachers who told us the real reason behind the headmistress' wrath.

True, a handwritten backdrop for the story-telling competition was a little too "cincai", the standard of the participants was too low and the paperwork involved was given out a bit too late. But no one noticed or cared much about the ugly backdrop until the teacher kept saying how lousily it was done for 2 hours to anyone who was present and willing to listen to her (headmistress included). How can we control the standard of the participants? We gave them the stories and speeches 2 months before the competition. Threats and persuasion for the pupils to memorize the stories and speeches didn't get us anywhere, so what else do you want us to do? And I admit, the paperwork was really last minute. My subject supervisor gave me the things late, I gave her the things as soon as I could (which also took at least a day or two), yet it was still. So, there you go. I feel that some of the experienced teachers are also not right in the sense that they were having a jolly good time criticizing new teachers who were unable to do things as good as they did last time.

Sigh...going to go lick my wound now (although Jimmy insisted that I was just sensitive). Haha...what to do? I did eat chilli! :)

Bleak future

Thanks +Ant+ and mNhL for your comments. :) I haven't tried eating grubs although I had plenty of opportunities in China and Thailand. How does it taste, +Ant+?

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Another day of having my body cells die by the millions: what has happened to our children these days? It is sad to know that many children these days are emotionally unstable or just plain spoiled to the point that you wish to blame their rudeness to a less-than-happy family upbringing.

What would you do, parents, if your child tells you that he/she cannot show you the exam paper because the teacher has kept the exam paper from him/her? Would you believe your child and blame the teacher or would you clarify it with the teacher first? Or what would you do as an adult, or put yourself in the shoe of a teacher, if a child tells you that another teacher has asked 4 of them to stay in the class to finish their work when the entire school (inclusive of the said teacher) has to be at the assembly? Would you believe what the child says?

I think many people are blinded by their love/guilt/protectiveness over the child that they would leave their logic behind. I mean, why would the teacher keep the child's paper when he/she has returned all the papers to the others? And, would a small fry of a teacher dare to excuse 4 children from an assembly when even he/she has to attend it?

I am really afraid of how our future leaders would turn out to be. Liars. Rude boors. Spoiled brats. Unthinking generation.

What is your take?

Day 3 of Challenging myself - failed

Yup, as the title says, I have failed in the challenge that I have given myself. Everywhere around me is tempting me with sinful, high-calorie, high-fat food! For the past few days, food would magically appear on my table because my colleagues would 'belanja' for one reason or the other. And since my table is in the middle, it is where everyone puts food to be shared by our island. Furthermore, Hari Raya is almost here, so the clerks are giving out samples of kuih or cakes or cookies that they are making to sell on my table.

Hmm...I suppose I have more fate with food than anyone else I know. Hahaha...Jimmy complains sometimes that the photos that I take are always with food or of food. Hahaha...

Which reminds me of a few photos of food that I took when I went to Vietnam last June. Just a random question, when you go for holiday overseas, would you prefer to eat the local food or would you prefer to find a Malaysian restaurant or a Chinese restaurant? I know a lot of people cannot stomach the food of other cultures. I am the more adventurous type. I would prefer local delicacies and would eat almost anything except for raw animals/insects/fish, snake, dog and cat.

And, a lot of people shudder when I showed them that I have eaten this in Vietnam:

Behold the "Duckling Egg". It is an egg with a fully-formed duckling. Specialty in Vietnam. Tastes totally like hard-boiled egg yolk except that as you chew, you would chew soft bones and feather. I stopped eating when my second or third spoon scooped up a chunk with fine feather.

Ok...I'll let you digest on that while I go and digest my food in calorie-burning exercises. Haha...have a happy weekend!

War in the Making

War is brewing under the seemingly-peaceful unit that I share with my two colleagues. Why? Because of the electricity bill and tuition. Huh? Yup, they are not very happy with each other because of the electricity bill that is creeping higher every month. With an air-cond each, one shouldn't be surprised that our electricity bill is in the RM300s range. But, there is amazingly the dissatisfaction that one stays at home more often than the other, thus using more electricity. Erm...I mean, I have stayed out since 2002 and I never encountered that kind of problem before (thank God, actually).

And what has tuition got to do with anything? Before we moved in together, my colleague and I agreed that the place that we live in should be a place for us to relax after work. When my second colleague moved in, she was in need of money, so we let her use the living area to give tuition in the evenings on alternate weekdays. And somehow, a student in my first colleague's class joined my second colleague's tuition and I believe that is the root of the other half of the dissatisfaction.

Hmm...what do I do? I keep to myself like a hermit. Once I come home, I stay in the room and do not go out unless I need to use the washroom. Even without much interaction with the two warriors, I get annoyed sometimes because of petty things that they do: my detergent container is filled with water and extremely dirty toilet. By which the latter encourages me to go to the gym more often just to use the shower. LOL

I totally miss my 2 and a half goofy housemates and the blur roomie. Those were the days when we could have enjoyed ourselves but decided to sleep our time away. :)

Don't have a photo with my blur roomie. Woon, come let's go lepak so that I can put your blur face on my blog! :P

Begone fatty tissues!

Thanks Melwin and mNhL for the comments.

Update on my sister: she was cleared of diabetes by the doctors, but it is a warning to all of us. However, she is still waiting to meet the neurologist to rule out a transient stroke. Hmm...

It's sad that some people who know that they are at risk do not take good care of themselves, saying that they would get whatever disease sooner or later. And then there are people who take good care of themselves and still get whatever disease that they are trying to avoid.

After my sister received her early diagnosis, I was determined to lose weight and make full use of my gym membership. Unfortunately, the determination only lasted for 3 days. LOL...joining the gym was my idea, but I hardly go now except for my appointments with my personal trainer. Yes, I engaged in personal training because I knew I would not go if I do not have a personal trainer to torture me.

6 months later, I actually GAINED 0.7 kilogram. How did that happen? I actually lost 2 kilos after 4 months of training but I got contented and ate and ate and ate. Hence, the gain of 2.7 kilos in the last 2 months!

Haih...

My goal now is to lose a kilo by the end of August. My plan: Milo Fuze in the morning with 3 pieces of biscuits, rice in the afternoon, coffee in the evening and soya bean for dinner. Let's see how long I can last this time. :)

Any brighter ideas?

Change your destiny? Dream on...

It is worrying, this thing about life and health. My family is basically a ticking time-bomb. My parents have almost all the hereditary diseases that you can name: heart problem, diabetes, kidney problem, hypertension...so my 3 siblings and I are basically just waiting to catch any of it. I, myself, am waiting to catch the diabetes ball. Well, my mom had diabetes when she was pregnant with me. After I was born, my mom was clear of diabetes for about 3 years. Although, subconsciously, I know that I have to be extra careful with my diet, I could not bring myself to eat the way my mom does...

Today, I am overweight and probably tripled my chances of getting diabetes at a very early age. I got a wake-up call this morning when my most health-conscious sister fainted and the doctor thinks it is most probably diabetes-related. She is only 34. I mean, how unfair can the world be? She is gorgeous, has a great life, eats healthily, exercises regularly and is probably diabetic??!!

What is God's intention? That we should not strive so hard to achieve anything because it can be taken away from us in a blink of an eye? That He has the power to give and to retract? That He loves us all equally and would therefore give us a little impairment in return for the blessings we have received so far?

Well, I don't understand it and I sure as hell do not like it. But what can we mere mortals do, right? To hell with we make our own destiny. It is all in His hands. Have mercy, won't ya mate?

Random

What would you do if you need to be with your beloved and they are either:

a) locked up in the cage because the kids are afraid of it; or

b) coming up with excuses of having to finish their work because they do not want/have the courage to be with your family?

I think I would rescue the first one and elope far, far away and dump the second one. Agree?

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Haha...my sister's family came over for the long weekend. I love my nephews in my own way. I don't PLAY with young kids. So, stop forcing me to. It will not happen no matter how you cajole me to do so. Wait until they are older. I'll play language games with them. :P

Long weekend...I love 'em. Going to continue with my movie marathon now. Have fun!

Happy Teacher's Day and a heart-felt thank you

Ok, I take my words back. Kids still enjoy Teacher's Day because there were no lessons for the day and they could be as rowdy as they liked. I, admittedly, also enjoyed my Teacher's Day celebration. No lessons for the day, everyone in good mood, and we could see how we are appreciated/not appreciated by the others.

Best appreciation from pupils, however, was shown a day and two days after the celebration. The first was when 3 of my 7 special pupils in Year 6 English class whom I am doing remedial lessons passed their English paper. Of course, I didn't tell them that the paper is rather easy compared to the other times. One of my pupils whooped with joy and thanked me, saying that this is the first time he had passed English since Year 4. Yay! :) Another looked at me unbelievingly and said that it was the highest he had ever got for English. He got a 52. I feel rather sorry for the other pupils, especially the average ones because my attention is more often than not spent on the very weak and the better ones during class time, but I can't do it all. Maybe after this, I'll try to push the average ones to at least a B.

Today, my pupils from my BM class came and asked me why they got so high marks for their BM paper. Only 7 failures this time compared to 22 failures in the last exam. Reason being, the Section A and Section C of the paper is extremely easy this time. They were happy but still in the disbelief mode. :) Kids. Give them low marks, they complain. Give them high marks, they don't believe you. What do they want?

The life of a teacher. Love it or hate it? Or maybe both? :) Have a good day!

Teacher's D-Day celebration tomorrow

Teacher's Day...how I used to enjoy the celebration at school because that would mean a day without lessons and performances by the pupils for our teachers. I think I stopped giving my teachers presents from Year 4 onwards. I only gave presents to selected teachers - my favourite teacher to this day, Puan Zaiton Mahmud, my favourite spoil-me-rotten Mandarin tuition teacher, Mrs Cheong / Liu Lao Shi and my mentor, my idol of a teacher, Mrs. Mahinder. Other teachers would not get presents from me. I don't remember where and how I got the idea that it is pointless giving teachers presents just for the sake of giving presents.

Fast forward to my first Teacher's Day as a teacher trainee. I got little presents from kids who are strangers to me because the kids thought I was cute (coz I smiled a lot). Second Teacher's Day was also the same, but with more meaning because I have taught the children for about 3 months. I still keep all their gifts, their cards and even their wrapping paper. I cherish the gifts as my first meaningful and really memorable Teacher's Day presents.

My first Teacher's Day as a trained teacher, however, was not so eventful. I didn't mind not having many gifts. I appreciate those who did give me gifts and thoughtful hand-made cards. I still keep them. I didn't mind the celebrations were cut short because it is not the culture of the school to celebrate the whole day. At least an hour of the day must be used for teaching. I minded the fact that the Teacher's Day Dinner was done in a not-so-happy manner. We heard that the President of the PTA complained that the teachers were only good at eating and not working. Hmmm... it didn't really bothered me then because I was rather new.

This year, however, Teacher's Day celebration is going to be a full-blown whole day affair. Teachers are complaining about the extra work that they have to do because of the celebration. (No wonder the complain I heard last year) To not attend the dinner, it is as though we do not give face, to go for the dinner, we are 'only good at eating and not at working'. Hmmm...dilemma, dilemma.

I keep telling my family, you know what is the best teacher's day gift? Let us off for the day. Let us enjoy the celebration like the workers do on Labour's Day. 'So many school holidays, still not enough?' you ask? If you think we are asking too much, then no need to celebrate Teacher's Day lo. It is like the idea of Mother's Day and Father's Day. I don't see the point in celebrating and appreciating these people only a day in a year.

Sigh...tomorrow's celebration is going to be a BLAST...I just hope I'll survive it...

Lousy service providers

Oh my...Malaysia's network service providers are really lousy!!

My Celcom broadband has been rather hopeless for the past week. Maybe it is because of the thick rain clouds, but the connection was horrible. I haven't been able to log on to Yahoo for 2 weeks now. And my facebook is also neglected. Sigh..."bik chik".

The other day, my phone line got barred. Ok, so I forgot to pay last month. Since the line is under my father's name, I pay in advance as though I was using pre-paid to avoid my father paying for me. So, my last payment of RM 500 was in December and I forgot to pay last month. When I got the message of possible service interruption, I went to the nearest branch to pay. But they only open during office hours (coincidentally, the time where most people would be at work). So anyway, I saw a new payment machine that was not there the last time I paid. So, I paid using the bank card, thinking that it is so convenient for me to make payments now. Two weeks later, my phone line got barred. I could only call the customer service.

Me: Hello, my line got barred today but I paid via the machine number XXY. This is my transaction number ABA.

Woman: Oh, the system was not updated. How much did you pay?

Me: RM 200. Can you un-bar the number for me?

Woman: May I know who is on the line?

Me: (My name). The number is under (DAD).

Woman: Oh, then I need to speak to your father to un-bar the number.

Me: What for? I can give you his IC number and details. Just un-bar the number.

Woman: Sorry, Miss. It is the procedure. Just ask your father to call us and we will un-bar your number.

Me: That is ridiculous. You barred my number. My father is not anywhere near me. How am I supposed to ask him to call you? I can give all the details that you need!

Woman: I'm sorry Miss. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Angry, I was ready to go to war with people in DiGi. I had to wait for an hour before anyone served me. Most of the customers were there because their Iphones had problems (hahaha...too high tech dy...use the traditional phones, no problem one...). So anyway, the person who served me was very nice and unbarred my number right away. Apparently there was some problem with my bank or something. I was given the transaction number as though it was completed even though the transaction was not successful. So, I had to pay a second time at the machine, using cash.

Seriously, sometimes I wonder...procedures are important, but I am making payment. I am not asking for an extenion of credit. Why the heck do you need to speak to my father to un-bar my number??!! If I had just asked any man to pose as my father, the person wouldn't know either right?

Sheesh!!

Challenging the pupils

Hmm...Voon, thanks for the comment but you didn't try typing it out. :P

See, what happened was I was teaching a chapter in Bahasa Melayu about lagu kebangsaan. And I think although I could write the lyrics out since my primary years, it was not until my secondary school years that I truly knew what the songs really meant. It is disheartening that Malaysians forget the lyrics to the national anthem after leaving school. Yup, don't deny it...how many of us can actually remember the entire song and our state song if we have not been singing it for years? (I'm glad that both my parents who are in their 60s could still remember the lyrics. I tested on them so many times!)

I digress. Anyway, I was teaching that chapter and the song lyrics were there for all to see. So, I tried my best to explain the lyrics to the Year 6 children and tried to instil in them the love for our country through an understanding of the song lyrics. After explaining the lyrics, I challenged them to write the lyrics of the Selangor song. The pupils were excited. Some started singing the song the moment I challenged them.They have been singing it for 6 years every week, no problem! My old school in a small town had problem after the first two lines and would start to murmur. The headmistress had to hold a competition to make them memorize the lyrics. This school, they didn't have problem with the lyrics, as far as I could see, they just had problem with the pronunciation of one or two unfamiliar words (or so I thought, how naive!).

So, the class of 33 pupils, 19 boys and 14 girls competed to write out the lyrics on the board. All 33 pupils did not get it right. The girls had a good start and wrote the first few lines well but the final 2 sentences were disastrous. The boys were rather hopeless from start to finish. I was laughing my head off. After correcting the lyrics and explaining the meanings, I erased the board and asked them to rewrite in their exercise books. I think many of them cheated, but still, there were still the few over-confident, don't want to listen in class, and do cincai work boys who produced the below for me. Take a look:

Pening oh...

Challenge

Ok..here's a challenge to all Malaysians and Selangor people who are no longer in school:

Can you type out the entire lyrics of these two songs without Googling/cheating? Negaraku and Lagu Negeri Selangor. :)

More tomorrow. Cheers!

I didn't realise until when I Googled for these flags' images that the star on the Selangor flag is slanted. Is it supposed to be so? 

A scientist works in a ...

Yay! I love Dr KK! He really tested us on what he had taught. Haha...finally, my motivation to continue next semester returned as I wrote pages and pages of answers in the freezing room. :)

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Poor kids. I didn't sleep well last night due to the exam this afternoon.

Not enough sleep + stress = Monster

I normally am very relaxed with the kids. This morning, they got my blood pressure high when I saw a bunch of the Year 6 boys running around the basketball court eventhough the bell has rung. My shouts at them went unheard as they squealed in delight of being chased by one of their classmates.

I rushed into the class and asked the monitor to borrow a cane. After the pupils in the class had handed in their homework, the 7 boys walked in all sweaty. Uh-oh...something did not seem right. Teacher looked angry and was wielding an unfamiliar-looking cane in her hand. They walked in meekly through the front door.

*Thwack* *Thwack* *Thwack* went the cane for 7 times. The boys looked at their palms after the cane came in contact with them. For once, they looked at me guiltily, rather than insolently and went back to their seats. And one boy, came near to me and said "Sorry, teacher. Thank you, teacher."

Sigh...Now, I feel guilty for caning them. But they were too much la...running around the middle of the school as though the bell meant that they could have the entire school compound to themselves!

Then, I gave them spelling....Laboratory. Look what my best student in that class of below average students wrote:

The boreh tree...apa tu??? :)

Another day of a teacher's life

"Jiawen"...uh-oh...must be some work that she wants me to do again. Sigh...just as I sat down to mark the piles of books that are quickly taking up my entire surface of the table, my subject supervisor asked me to "help" her with the sorting of books to be put into the new cupboard in the staffroom. Help meaning that I had to do it on my own while she rushes off to her class. I mean, why couldn't she have chosen her free period to sort the books if she had really wanted me to help? I mean, it's not as though I am lazy and don't want to do anything extra at all, but she should be reasonable also la, right? Write a report for her because she doesn't know how to (BS!). Prepare the material for the in-house training (okla, I was supposed to be the trainer. So, fine.) Print out the labels for the cupboard. Sort out the books. And when she asks you to "help", she expects the things the next day. Hey, I got other things to do one you know??
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Sometimes, to motivate the pupils to learn BM, I give them quizzes. My lessons are just before their recess or the last period, so I'll tell them that they have to answer my questions before they can leave the class. So, I was asking my questions as usual and a few of my pupils, who were not participative at all before our one day trip to Putrajaya last Saturday, ventured to answer my questions.

And I was speechless when I got this particular child's answer. I asked the pupils the difference of three Kata Hampir Sama Makna: lembik, lemau, lembut. Her friends are able to tell me what lembik and lemau are used for. And when I came to lembut, she raised her hand excitedly and shouted "NIU!!"

-_____-"

After 6 years of studying BM (and doing her homework diligently), lembuT (Soft) is "NIU" (Cow in Mandarin) ?? She mistook lembuT for lembu! Oh my...how to help them to pass their UPSR BM??

Hmm...I'm soft what...mooOOOOha ha ha ha ha

Stress-relieving food

OMG...this is another emo post as I was thinking of what to have for lunch and dinner. I don't know why my craving is always for fast food...fried chicken in particular. A call to Jimmy and I received an earful, telling me many reasons why I should not be thinking of having fried chicken for lunch and/or dinner. And then I was like, "why did I call him in the first place? I could have had my fried chicken and he wouldn't even notice!"

So, after a refreshing shower, I was all dressed up (in proper T-shirt and jeans as opposed to my big T and shorts) and ready to have fried chicken in the fast food restaurant so that I don't leave any evidence for Jimmy to pick on. Just then, I saw my reflection in the mirror. And I lost my appetite to have fast food. You know, I read somewhere that losing weight is not just about exercise, it is 70% control of food intake. I can exercise every day for hours and still not lose any weight if I continue to eat the way I eat and more.

Humph...but the craving was bad. I really don't know what chickens did to me in my past life. I must have been a squirmy worm for many lives and been eaten by chickens over and over again, hence my intense love for chicken meat especially in times of stress! :P

To have fried chicken or not? I was still battling with the decision. I was hungry. The cheaper food stalls were already closed at that time. The ones that sell dinner were not open yet. My options, a ridiculously high-priced coffee shop, fast food, a "restaurant" that sells cakes and western food, or dim sum. As my legs carried me towards the fast food restaurant, I had a glimpse of some healthy looking girls in nice clothes. SIGH~~ I only had that kind of figure for 2 years max. Sadness crept into me.

To reflect I looked like this: (not too bad right? almost at my skinniest from the time I hit puberty)

to the whale that I look like now. Hmm...dating really made me fat. Ten with the previous one, and three with Jimmy...OMG!!

Really need to go exercise more often. Who wants to join me to cycle at Taman Pertanian on a kid's bike?? :)

Cannot touch the ground with my feet with the adults' bikes la...



P/S: Oh, what did I have in the end for lunch/dinner? A cup of coffee, a slice of swiss roll and loh mai kai. :) Need to lose weight babeh!

Cleaner table

Yay! Do you see the table now? After 2 days of staying back to mark the piles of books, I can finally see my table again! :)

Been wanting to post this for some time. Classic examples of my students' work:

The piece of work from the boy who couldn't write a word at all. Can you identify the words that I taught him?

Saya, dia, kami, Jumaat, ibu :)

A pupil who really tries hard to write but I have no idea what she wanted to say.

Very good memorized beginning...

Sigh~ another exam is coming. I hope they do better than the last time!

Presents, presents, presents

My family loves me! ^O^

Although I complain all the time about petty things, being the youngest definitely has its perks. My brother and sisters have been working long enough to pamper me with some things now and then (not to mention the generous ang paus I've been getting from them for years!) :P My parents are retired and have lots of time for me. Muahahaha....

You know, sometimes, when people say that the youngest are normally the spoilt ones, I can definitely agree to that. :)

My favourite present...Charlie :) 21st birthday present!

My 25th birthday present

On the right, a partial image of my 23rd birthday present. On my right in the photo, my 24th year's Christmas present ;P and in his arms, my 21st birthday present. Hehehe...

Ooh...and my most recent loot. :) A Burberry bag! Love lots!! :)