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...

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.



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?

___________________________________________________________________

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!

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!!

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? 

Tidiness vs Cleanliness

I admit that I am an extremely untidy person. Those who have stayed with me would know that I have things strewn all over my room. But, I must say, although my room is messy, I do clean up my room. I am quite particular about cleanliness, just not the tidiness. :P

I normally become very particular about tidiness when my stress level is very high. Then, I will throw a lot of things, drag a lot of things out and tidy them up. Of course, almost every time after I do that, I will regret later because I would find a lot of new things which I have kept for a long time and got new ones because I forgot about them, and also because I wouldn't be able to find the things that I normally would be able to find when everything is everywhere.

I really don't know how Jimmy is taking my untidiness. He is almost as messy as I am, but I am better than he is in the sense that at least I clean up! :P But then, I dislike the fact that people complain about my messiness. Hey, I am living in it and I don't/didn't ask you to live in my mess! So, what gives you the right to complain? Anyway, if you don't like it, don't look at it la. What's your probrem? That's why I get very agitated and offended when my current housemates complain about the many things in my room. "Suka hati gua la! U blow ar?"I wish to shout at them when they say my room is messy.

Sigh~~ unfortunately, the past few weeks have made me look at the state of my room (and the state of my school table) and smile shyly coz they are really in a mess!! So, before I go and study for my exam this Friday, I'm gonna clean it up! Will show you the after picture when I've cleaned it up. :P

P/S: Don't complain! I'm just showing it to you to share. You don't have the right to complain. :P

My table full of unmarked books due to the Sports Day rehearsal.

My untidy working table with my coffee mug, printer and what nots.

My unmade bed because I was almost late this morning.

The worst, most untidy part of the room. Gosh...mandarin oranges from February! Ewwww...

Haha...phew..that is relieving...I'll show you the after pictures in a few days...watch out for the transformation. :)

Funny but true...

Read this in an e-mail and couldn't help smiling. :) Jimmy, study this carefully!

NINE WORDS THAT WOMEN USE:
1. FINE: Used to end an argument and cue for you to shut up.

2.5 MINUTES: Depending on situation. If she wants you to wait for 5 minutes, it could mean 5 minutes or half an hour. If she tells you that you have 5 minutes, it means 5 minutes.

3.NOTHING: The calm before the storm. You should be on your toes. (Arguments normally start with NOTHING and ends with FINE)

4.GO AHEAD: It is a dare, not a permission. DON'T DO IT!

5.LOUD SIGH: In women's vocabulary, it is a word full of meanings but often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means that she thinks you are an idiot and she wonders why she is wasting her time and effort arguing with you about NOTHING (Refer No.3).

6.THAT's OK: The most dangerous phrase a woman can say to a man. She is thinking long and hard how to make you pay for what you have done.

7. THANKS: Just accept it. Don't question it. Reply with a courteous "You're Welcome"

8. WHATEVER: A woman's way of saying FU** YOU!!!

9.DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, I'LL DO IT: Another dangerous statement, meaning there is something that she has asked you to do several times but is now doing it herself. This will normally result in you asking her "What's wrong?" for which she will respong NOTHING. THEN YOU SHOULD RUN!

Blur me...

I was determined to try the famous fish ball noodles today. I walked purposefully to the stall and asked if they had "lou shu fan". When the lady said they did not have it, I said then just give me the fish ball koay teow soup. She said okay and then asked, fish ball? I said yes, and she turned to the old man next to her stall and shouted, "UNCLE, FISH BALL LOU SHU FAN!"

Yup, I walked to the lonely stall next to the stall I intended to go to and ordered something that her rival sells. -.-"

Malu-nyer....and the best part is the aunty whom I always go to for economical rice was staring and smiling at me. Sigh...I think I need to bury my head somewhere...or get thicker glasses. :P

Jiawen is sick...cough cough

Hello everybody. Phew...keeping up to my resolution is truly difficult. By the 3rd week, I'm burnt out, and as you can see from the title, I've fallen sick by the fourth week. I really don't know how people cope with stress and virtually not much rest. I am a sleep addict. If I don't get my daily eight to 10 hours of sleep, I fall sick. Luckily, this time around, I am hit by my favourite sick bug, fever. Hehe...yeah...some of you would wonder why I have a favourite sick bug. It is because I hardly ever have fever before I work in my current school. I always get the flu, which does not guarantee a medical certificate and makes it difficult for me to sleep at night. I used to get migraines, which guarantees a medical certificate but makes me feel vomittish and makes me want to guillotine my own head to make me feel better. Fever, on the other hand, guarantees a medical certificate and allows you to sleep and sleep and sleep. Get it?

But, my on and off fever is making me feel all wonky. I have alternately felt the chills and sweat that I don't even know whether I am sweating because of the heat or because of the fever and feeling the chills because of the fever or because the fan is blowing at me. But at least I have an excuse to sleep and sleep and sleep...poor sleep-deprived creature that I was. Hahahaha...

Anyway, Jimmy and I have decided that his time to be the baby is over now that I am down with fever, so he has been my slave for the past 2 days. Buy me dinner, bring my medicine to me, be my temperature checker sometimes, be my chauffeur and...and...hmm...need to think of more tasks for him to do. Hahaha..

2 days off work has made me a bit relieved but I don't think the teachers in school took it well. "Young teachers these days keep taking MC, I've worked for ten over years and I never took a day's MC" I heard some time last year after one of my bouts of migraine. Well, aunty, you are built of stronger stuff ma...younger generation these days grew up on chemicals and are so pampered that if a dust flew into their lungs, they get pneumonia. You think we enjoy getting sick? Erm...let me rephrase that, you think we are so lucky that if we want to be just sick enough to not go to school, we get it? Hahaha...

Ok...I am skipping my masters class today also. Feel so dizzy that I don't trust myself to be able to take the public transport to UM and to my faculty. Cross my fingers that nothing very important is being taught. Gotta read up lots coz next week is another test. SIGH...

Resolutions...to keep or to throw? Let's keep it in view first. Haha

Doing my work yo...

Phew...another productive day at school. I wonder how long this can last? Hehe..so far, I am still holding true to my resolution of not procrastinating. Erm..but of course, workload now is not too heavy that I can fool around for a bit. Hehe...

Ahh...I do hate/love Facebook games. I've been wasting 3 hours of my time trying to get a high score of more than 150 000 for Bejewelled Blitz to no avail. Hmm...gotta get back to work before Jimmy comes over. Hahaha...

Hmm...Maybe another 3 tries. :)

Enjoy the mid-autumn festival!

Haha...hey, I still have visitors to the blog! Thanks Willie! And...I was multitasking (kind of)... Playing game, blogging and erm...thinking about doing my work! Haha....

So anyway, after blogging yesterday, I managed to finish 25% of one of my work. Good lah...considering that I was on the verge of not doing anything at all.

What do I have to do on this Mid-Autumn Festival? Not that it is a tradition for my family to celebrate it, but it would be nice if you could spend it with your loved ones, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, I had to go back to school for some training this morning. So, off to school at 7 in the morning. After 3 hours of rather interesting talk about story-telling, I got restless and started yakking with my housemate. I could no longer take it when the speakers asked us to do group work. I mean, although it is interesting, we know that we will not be able to apply any of it in a classroom of 40. So, what did I do? I skipped the final hour. It is not good...but I think I wasted enough time.

The journey home was quite slow because of massive jam everywhere. I guess a lot of people still spend the day with their families. When I called one of my loved ones, he was more interested to spend the time with his friends. My sister, on the other hand, needs to be with her in-laws...So, in the end, I am going to spend the day with my TRUE loves - my parents and my DOGS. But I also need to spend it with something that I do not love at all, which is my work. Haha...

Well, another nonsensical blog post...which by the way, should be the title for this blog. I mean, I don't have many sensical stuff to talk about anyway. Hehe...have a happy mid-autumn festival!

To-do or not-to-do?

I have been sitting in front of the laptop for approximately 4 hours now and I haven't even started with the work that I am supposed to do. Gosh...seriously, at this rate, I am never going to finish any of my work today. O, thou evil internet games! :)

I am trying to be more disciplined. Professionally, I have picked up a lot of bad habits which is not very good. Personally, well, I need to make good use of my time. After all, youth will not always be with me. So, help me out, whoever who is still reading this...what do I need? Checklist? To-do list? Files? My to-do list always has at least 5 or 6 things to do every day, and I could only complete maybe 1 item or 3 items a day. What am I supposed to list down in my to-do list? I have many goals...work-wise and to be a better person kind of thing. So my normal to-do list would look something like this:

1. Drink 8 glasses of water

2. Finish marking 46 pieces of karangan

3. Type out the meeting minutes

4. Photocopy notes

5. EXERCISE

And then, at best, I'd complete item number 3 and the rest will just go into the next day's to-do list. Haha...what am I doing wrong, I wonder?

Erm...time management? Maybe...but 24hours a day is simply not enough. See, I spend about 8 hours at school, one and a half hour for meals, about an hour to shower, 8 hours to sleep, maybe an hour and a half to travel to places (for dinners etc) and I am left with 4 hours to clean up my room, do my laundry, take a breather... sigh...I seriously wonder how working mothers do it!

Well, I have another 3 hours to go to at least tick off one item on my to-do list today. So, I'd better go and do now. Ta-tas!

Cracking, cracking, CRACKED

Ok...most of the times I think of myself as an unfilial daughter. I didn't spend enough time with my mother or father (I'd prefer to sleep or go out with my friends). I am not patient with my mother (nowadays I snap at her when she cannot comprehend what I am trying to say). I don't like the fact that my mother gives stinging comments (I know I am fat, you don't have to keep reminding me AND tempt me with food while you do it).

I appreciate the fact that I am VERY lucky to be born into this family, but I am not contented. I love the fact that I have a lot of time to spend with my parents, but the thing is, when you know that someone is waiting for you and just hawking on the time to spend together with you every single time eventhough you were thinking of doing something else, is tiring...that's why I never thought having children is a good idea. Haha...

I mean, I know that my mother is lonely. In many ways, I am like her. I don't need many friends. Leave me alone with some money and space and I can spend my time happily and fulfillingly. My mother, unfortunately, has had too much alone time that she is just waiting for company, which her children can't provide. And accompanying her is not a problem at all...I mean I love my mother...but I can't stand it when she grumbles at me for not tidying up my room, or when I sleep in (on weekends, for God's sake!), or when I changed my mind about doing some chores. Give me a break...I've been doing things at my own pace for 5 days a week, I can't change my habits just because I come home on weekends! I've been tempted to not come home for the weekends. It didn't work out because of the guilt factor and the fact that I can't stand being in the house with my housemates the whole weekend either (more on that in other post). I mean, I admit...I AM WEIRD.. I AM A LONER, so LEAVE ME ALONE!!

Sigh...am I really that bad? I mean, working from Monday to Friday (and sometimes Saturday), I just want to spend a day of doing nothing or doing things that I want at whatever time that I want on the weekends. I don't know if other people feel the same way as I do. Torn between wanting time alone / time to spend at your leisure versus time with family members / fulfilling their wants? I see that my siblings will advise me to be patient and just spend time with our parents, but I hardly see them doing the same...

Sigh...a week at home has taken its toll...and the stress of my sister's family coming home, and the fact that my boyfriend was almost non-existent the whole week, and that I am just a whiny, lousy person over all. Hate you, world. Hate you too, God! Hate MYSELF the most!

Woo hoot~ I didn't waste the day away!

It has been a productive day today. I had a to-do list of 10 items, and by 10:30 p.m., I have completed 7. The other 3 that I haven't done? Well, they are for me to run on the treadmill, to do at least 30 sit ups and clean up my room. Haha..well, I guess the first two can be postponed. Anyway, my abs are still aching from the 20 sit-ups I did yesterday. :) I watched one a too many diet programmes on Discovery Home and Health and on Hallmark (Oprah and The Biggest Loser).

So anyway, I have finally done 80% of the application for the Master Programme. The uploading of the certificates and the postal order was the most troublesome part of the online application. You would think that online application means it is a faster and more convenient way of applying. Well, I can tell you, it is still a hassle. Perhaps the only convenience is that you do not have to run to UM every other day to get a form or another item. You just had to call the IPS til it rings off the hook and run to IPS once or twice. Haha...

Well, I also managed to bank-in the airplane ticket to Tisha finally. I had to queue up for about half an hour in a bank. Malaysian inefficiency. Similar to the so-called high tech idea of online-application, this is a bank which was the pioneer among the Malaysian banks to have lots of machines for cash deposit, cheque deposits and bank book update. However, the machines are not maintained properly. The fellow in front of me must have been at the machine for at least 15 times trying to get the machine to accept the RM 50 notes. When he finally gave up, I was already impatient. I tried twice and gave up. Off to another machine and voila! a foreign worker was withdrawing money for his friends and I had to wait for another ten minutes or so. Grrrr...

Well, it's 1135 p.m. now. I still have that one thing on my to-do list to complete...or I wouldn't have spac eto lie down on my bed. Hahahaha...

Cheerios!

Update for the sake of updating

OMG...I have been missing for a long time, it seems. Haha...not that anyone would have noticed.

So much has happened since the last I blogged. Just realised that Celcom broadband doesn't work well at my place, so I am basically without internet connection when I'm there either. Hmmm...spent lots of money but didn't get the service I expected.

Work-wise, I've been swamped with work. Marking never-ending books. Getting more wrinkles and hypertension when I enter certain classes. I used to love Fridays because that would be the day I come home to Charlie and my family. But I hate Fridays now because the new Senior assistants revamped the whole school's schedule, putting me in a class I dislike the most in the last two periods. However, I always breathe a sigh of rlief when the class is over for the day. And I always go home with a sore throat. Haha... Can't complain much, I suppose.

Baby is getting older these days. She had an ear infection last month and she nearly bit me because she was in pain and she looked accusingly at me when the vet put a muzzle on her and put her on the surgical table. She's all right now albeit suffering from a little arthritis. Hunter, on the other hand, ran away from home the other day and did not come back til 2 days later. My parents and the maid searched high and low for him but could not find him. When he ran home yesterday, he was so skinny and dirty that I could have mistaken him for another dog. And he had a traumatized look in his eyes. Thought that he would have learnt a lesson and not go out of the house, but he still ran out with the mother when I opened the gate this morning. Grrr...dogs never learn!

It's 3 a.m. and my mom wants me to go to bed already. Hmm...25 and my parents still treat me like a kid. Haha...Well, maybe will blog again tomorrow morning. Hopefully, before next year. Haha...take care you people who still drop by! :)

Ms Sour Face

Phew...I finally finished setting the question papers for the Year 6 pupils! It is actually quite easy to set the questions, I just hope the level is low enough for most of them to pass.

I was a bit disappointed with myself and the Year 6 bunch for the last few days. I used to believe that strict teachers do not equate to good teachers. In that sense I mean that an effective teacher does not necessarily have to be feared. I used to think that Year 6 pupils are old enough to understand the concept of "I treat you nice, you treat me nice". I thought that they would know how to be responsible for their own learning. How wrong I was!!

I am essentially not a strict teacher. I am quite easy-going and I think my best virtue as a teacher is that I am very patient. I learnt to be patient when I was asked to teach Year One kids during practical and in my first 4 months in Sepang. My approach to teaching, which is to be nice to the pupils, was accepted and well-liked in my practical school and towards the end, in Sepang. Applying this approach in town chinese-medium school is a huge mistake.

For three weeks, I struggled with class discipline, getting the pupils to pay attention, to do work. I used psychology on them, advising them, nagging them. It would work for a while and then everything would be as though I was not in the classroom the next day. Worse part is that the classes would be more in control when there wasn't a teacher in class!

The girls who are willing to study, who are more matured and more susceptible to my approach felt that my classes were boring because they don't learn anything. I was stunned. What do they mean by they do not learn anything during my classes? What have I been doing for the past 3 weeks screaming my voice hoarse in front of the class? Quickly, the girls changed what they said, said that the boys were too noisy that they could hardly hear my explanations. Hmm...it is something for me to think about, I told them. "Teacher, use the cane on us." I went berserk. These kids actually prefer a teacher wielding a cane before they could do their work, before they could learn?!

I am disappointed with myself, the kids and the chinese school system. I came from a national school. I am lucky I was a good student. I didn't have very strict teachers, I remember all my teachers were quite nice. I didn't have to be caned. A word of advice and most of my friends would feel regret and be more proactive in learning. I didn't have to be drowning in homework to learn to be responsible. But my friends and I turned out well.

When I went home, I cursed the school system. No child of mine is ever going to this kind of school. No child of mine is going to want to be caned before they learn some thing. No child of mine is going to be turned into an animal which needs to be trained and whipped!

Then, I talked to my sister. Remember Mr. Tan Bong Leong? she asked me. Yup, a teacher so nice that noone bothered listening to him when he was in class. A teacher whom everyone knows is so good at BM that those who are kiasu went to his tuition but do not listen to him in school. A teacher so lenient that copying is rampant when he is invigilating during tests. That is the kind of attitude Form 4 and Form 5 kids from the best class gave him because he is too nice and lenient. What do you expect from Year 6 kids?

So, the next day, I went to school with a resolution. To hell with being nice to unthinking kids. I was Ms Sour-puss the whole day and the kids were actually easier to teach. They listened. They did their work. They spoke in English because I did not bother about them when they asked me questions in another language.

And it is hard for a happy-go-lucky person to be sour-faced the whole day. I don't know how some people can be unhappy all their lives. Hahahaha...gotta make myself angry for the whole year! Wish me luck!!

The last weeks of 2008

2 days to Christmas, 8 days to 2009, 13 days to new school term.

What have I done with my 6 weeks' holiday? Erm...nothing much yet actually. A summary would be that I met some of my friends, I went on a very memorable and interesting holiday at a homestay, I met with more of my friends, I went to Bali with my family members while building muscle in my left arm, and I read a few good books.

An expansion on the things I've listed once I've got some of the photos and a computer with internet access at home. :)

In the meantime, enjoy being crushed by the crowd during Christmas eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Years... I am going to avoid the crowds by staying in after certain time. Have a good one y'all!

I thank God(s)

I wake up this morning feeling absolutely great! I am so touched that I am so loved by my family, friends, pets and the Gods above! Why am I suddenly so grateful (seeing that I have been an absolute ungrateful brat before this)? I don't know. Enlightened, I suppose. ;)

I thank Gods above for my beautiful family. I realise now that my parents, brother and sisters and their families love me unconditionally and are worried about me all the time. They would walk on fire or shelter me from rain with their own bodies if there is the need. It was unfortunate that there is the communication break down within the family that makes each of us forget how much the other loves us sometimes. But I am determined to not let that happen to me again.

I thank Gods above for my extended family. Without you, Ah Yi and Ashley, I think I will not realise how much my parents have done for me. I'm sorry for my MIA status for over 2 months, but I did not want to repeat myself like a broken recorder and be reminded of the difficult times. :) Now that all is well, you can question me all you want. :)

I thank Gods above for Brian. It is definitely quite unusual among the people I know to still be friends with their ex. It is great that he is such an awesome and understanding guy. Girls, this guy is amazing! (Hey B, lemme know if my advertisement for you works, k?) ;)

I thank Gods above for my lovely friends...William, Linesh, Vilo, Melwin, Woon, MeiJu, Hwa Cheat, Sara, Ming Keat, Jarrod, Siaw Hui, Sin Yuan, Sophia, Joshua Paul, Jono, KY and others who were truly worried about me when they heard rumours of the break up but dared not ask for fear of intrusion. Haha...you guys are the greatest...And again, sorry for my MIA status.

I thank Gods above for my good looks and kindness. Hahahahahaha...You people who have/had crushes on me, better 'fess up or risk losing me to another person! Muahahaha...I know Vilo, you have told me so many times, let others have a chance! Hahahaha...

I thank Gods above for my job (and with that, my patience). Teaching brings much satisfaction sometimes. And some of the kids make you really passionate about teaching and helping them do better in their lives.

I thank Gods above for my lovely pets - Baby, Charlie, Hunter and Kristy. Baby for not biting me much these days and only welcomes me with a helicopter tail. Hehe...when she was slightly younger, she'd be so excited to see me that she could fly bottoms up because her tail was spinning wildly. For other family members, she would just wag her tail. :) And those of you who have seen Charlie would know that he follows me around as though he can't bear to be apart from me even for one second (except when my mom is eating snacks in the kitchen). Hunter, for all his craziness leapts as though his legs were springs when I'm at home. And poor Kristy who used to snap at me is on her last legs after my mom bought Bobby(which is dead after 2 weeks) home to accompany her. I didn't know that turtles are even more violent than dogs when they fight for dominance.

I have much more to be thankful for. Right now, it is for KFC. Hahaha...am off to have my finger linkin' good lunch now.

Amen, Amin, Namo Amitabha, ohm Shanti shanti shanti...

I love hugs

~Sigh~ I so do love hugs... and I just realised this not too long ago. It is not just me. Melwin has been feeling the same way too ever since she came back from Sabah. Too bad it is not in the Chinese culture to hug. Of the Chinese I've hugged, I think my aunt and cousin (love you lots, ah yi and Ashley!) are the only family members (ooh..and Willie). Heck, I hugged my friends' fathers and mothers and aunts and sisters but never hugged my own! I did attempt a half-hug with my father when he gave me my car but I don't recall him hugging me back. And my eldest sister's first hug for me was when she was leaving for UK and I stood there like a log feeling disgusted at being hugged. Hahahaha...that is/was the culture of my family.

Growing up imagining myself being open minded made me enjoy hugs. Somehow the hugs were only shared amongst the ones who went to national primary schools. Very rarely were hugs given to those who went to Chinese primary school unless they were really really close to you. I think the only one whom I hugged from Chinese primary school was Yoke Thing on her 21st birthday. And I remember her feeling awkward because she wasn't expecting a hug. Haha..or maybe it was just me giving her an awkward hug. :P

And then in Maktab days where my closest friends are Indians, I embraced the culture of hugging. Meeting someone after a long time *hugs*, before leaving *hugs*, family members *hugs*, just so that you know you are important and loved *hugs*...Before being posted and separated from my dearest friends, I had thought that it was some kind of obligation or habit for people to hug for no apparent reason. But I have since realised that it is not an obligation or a habit, it is just a need and a rather effective way of showing that you care...

I've been really lucky that I have been able to meet up with many of my closer ex-coursemates over the past 2 weeks. And I had a glimpse of the very different culture of the 3 main races in our beloved country:

My first outing was with Daus, Aisyah, Azee, Hakimi, Apai, Ikin, Sarah, Is (and Nana) and Vilo. Yup, a rather muhibbah outing we had at KLCC. Even though I was not close to some of them, we met and shared the particular 3-time hugs of the Malays. And even though it looked like standard hugs, the different levels of affection could be felt. For me, it is very natural to hug the one I am closest to or am friendliest with first before hugging those whom I am not that close to. And the ones I am closer to will hear the "muah, muah, muahs" while those whom I am not close to will just feel me doing the obligatory three time hug. Haha... Of course, religion and culture dictate that guys and girls shalt not hug (or touch) each other, so this "culture" was only exchanged among the girls. I would not mind giving Daus a hug though...hahahahahhaha...he's such a great friend! Besides the hugs, it was great to be able to meet and chat with them about everything and nothing again. And to go to the Skybridge together (the ticket collector was surprised that Vilo and I were together with them). Too bad Daus and Aisyah want to keep our photos close to their hearts and do not want to share them with others *hint*. ;P

The second outing I went to was with the Indian girls...the ones whom I almost always went out with. I am very bad but I would always try to hug the person that I miss most first even though it would be out of the way. So, without noticing it, I (kind of) ignored the person who was standing closest to me and went and hugged Melwin first. The Indian hug is different from the Malay hug that it is only done once but is felt by intensity. So, if I hug Vilo (hahaha) it would be a tight squeeze as opposed to me giving the obligatory hug to erm...Vilo's aunt. Great fun to be with the girls again...Mindy, Vilo and Melwin, we should go bowling and watch movie again soon! Miss chatting with you gals and laughing for no apparent reason! Haha...

The third outing which lasted for almost a week was with the Chinese gals. Siaw Hui, Hwa Cheat, Sin Yuan and Woon were in KL. And guess what? No hugs at all. Hahaha...we just waved and stood awkwardly saying hi to each other even though we are quite close, closer than I am to the Malay girls, at least! I only hugged Sophia and Dasha in the outing but not with any of the others who joined us after that...Ming Keat, Mei Ju...It's a little sad because now I regret not giving them a hug. But something about the culture holds us back... Chinese just don't hug...

Like, the culture in Chinese school is to stay away from the teachers. The children just don't want to get to know the teachers better. It is very different from national school children who would love to be closer to their teachers. The Yr 6 graduation ceremony is so stiff and awkward compared to the time when we left our practical school with hugs and kisses from the children. Sigh...it is sad that we don't adopt some of the better cultures of other races. Perhaps one day...one day, Malaysia will be truly be made up of Malaysians...