take a walk around town with...

Monday, January 31, 2005

this is pretty interesting!

i posted this new thread on togoparts about riders who love to send you to watch over aeroplanes...

Sunday, January 30, 2005

after seeing this photo... i would probably take part in the saca race when it's to be held at tampines...

from my current understanding, most of it are gravel flats, which can be unwieldly when wet. non-technical, i hope, because i'm not that technically handling inclined!

tracer is now bugging me to take part in next weekend's mtb race at bt, 2 laps "only". *gulp* 25 bucks for the race registration, oh man, how to really make the decision?

Saturday, January 29, 2005

went out with shihan to dairy farm in the morning, since she wanted to ride there, and since i was going to bt anyway. she survived the ride, thankfully. pretty good riding, since she wasn't flailing and all like a chicken on a bicycle!

i went into bt via diary farm road, and had to ride out to the visitor centre to meet my good friends mavic and adenan there. but when i got into echo valley, i met ee ming with his recently built up s-works fsr + forx 100rlt. it was pretty hilarious, because just moments after i opened my mouth, another rider, clad in similarly coloured apparel, appeared with an almost identical bike!

did two loops (well, two and a half loops) of bt, had one fall, because i kalan-kaboh-ed, but all i got was only some small bits of blood coming out from my left shin. later in the day when i got back, i was thankful it only had the propensity to leave a small scar. also popped by eclipse1's workshop after the ride, it was an eye-opener alright!

met ee ming at tiong hin in the evening - we had a good long chat. good that he's enjoying his riding with his new bike...

called up kian hong yesterday, and i was told the 80rlt would only arrive in about a month's time. so no worries about oweing my friendly lbs (local bike shop) money over cny.

it was a night of porn, all in the heart of nus. we saw a penis... really! gonads, ovary-testes...

we saw all those things that i mentioned, at the mollusc workshop - held in s2. there was this young lad, who's only in primary two, and he showed so much interest in knowing about molluscs and wildlife - and to boot, he's in alwyn's school!

met kee seng (don't know if that's the right spelling), who happens to be on clubsnap as well - we had a great time chatting on the bus back home - and he gave me a lift from his place back home... we sure did have a great time talking about photography!

Thursday, January 27, 2005

couple of reasons why not to be a teacher... at least for singapore.

1. your single-session school hours has the likelihood to become the same as those in double-session schools.

2. you can't go back to school to mark your stuff on a saturday.

3. life? what life?

4. the kids - there are still angelic parents, but there's also the fair share who will complain at anything.

5. if you have a significant other, i wonder how you are going to find time to balance work and personal life.

but i remember telling dr teo-koh that i was granted this chance by the Lord, who allowed me to go in, and meet some of the best friends i've ever had. being a decision by Him, i will press on.

i had a scary dream (nightmare?) last night.

i dreamt that while i was in this shop, someone took off with my bike, and despite having two friends who happened to be around who tried to give chase, the bike thief just vanished when i got out of the shop. somehow i convinced myself, that i'll get back my bike eventually (within the dream?), which was a little hopeful.

somehow or other, before the dream ran out, days later in the dream, i spotted this man with my bike, and i retrieved the bike back.

scary dream (nightmare!)!

can't believe it too. everyday, i've been trying to get maximum sleep that i can, but i still feel very much tired out. why is this so?

yesterday, i received a sms from anne asking me if i could get her a livestrong band, so i replied to her instead, not to get one if she doesn't know about the lance armstrong foundation.

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

i'm warning you, you're getting on my nerves.

when i find you, i'll make sure you'll die a death most terrible.

you #$(&*^ mosquito...

just 30 seconds into typing this blog entry, i felt one around my legs. hope my leg hairs can trap it and let it die of starvation... hahaha... and upon inspection, i just killed one more, and it landed smack on my keyboard.

it's wartime. no chance for a truce. why? because mosquitoes are suckers!

update: i just swatted three of them mossies in my room just about 15 minutes after publishing this entry...

Sunday, January 23, 2005

went to bt in the morning, after a futile wait for siaochichi at jalan kayu - when i couldn't wait any longer, i left jalan kayu for bt at about 8:50am, and reached bt visitor centre at about 9:45am.

went into the bt trail, still shaky handling, so adenan decided to show me the butterfly trail. indeed, it was quite fun, but slightly more technical than bt itself. he was right, going to butterfly will help me to improve my handling!

saw this boy at tiong hin last night, looking at the way he's spending his money on fitting on a lx crankset, lx brake levers and shifters, cassette, makes me wonder if he knows what he's doing. his frame is bleah, and essentially it would be a waste of money and effort on that bike, until he can go for something more worthy. to top it off, his lx crank comes with the plastic bashguard...

Saturday, January 22, 2005

read about how teaching may help to save lives.

i wonder if i could do anything close to what mr. kearney has done - having the student carry over knowledge to save lives.

he is indeed a blessing to those who managed to survive, after tilly smith forewarned of an impeding tsunami.

and read how watching television programs can save your life, too.

Friday, January 21, 2005

on the topic of skewered parents - after our bt ride today, quite a few of our bikes got scratched because some parent didn't watch how the kid tried to squeeze between our bikes. my downtube, and toptube, received some scratches courtesy of the child. nothing wrong, really.

but what went wrong? the mom was defensive immediately, or was it the dad, saying that the walkway (outside the rows of eateries beside boon tong kee, bukit timah) wasn't meant for our bike parking.

hello? at least four to five $1000 bikes (some $3, 4k) fell over, not due to our mistakes or what, and got scratched, and that's what we get?

really, i wonder what do these parents gain from shielding their child from admitting and apologizing to their wrongdoing. lack of integrity from parents, will definitely get into the child. i'm so disappointed - and heart's a little aching because it's only the second time i've brought my bike for an offroad ride - and get this - it got scratched after the ride, and not during the ride due to my incompetence. otherwise the ride was really fun.

Thursday, January 20, 2005

badly behaved?

one of my p2 form class boys - he stuck on a hansaplast on his shin at about 11am in class, just after we returned from recess. then he'd pulled it off and reapplied it again for a few times. by noontime or so, he got out of his seat and walked past the boys who were sitting down on the floor at the front of the classroom. he actually tried to stick the plaster into another boy's hair!

not bad enough? no problem. he was playing with coins throughout the day on his desk. when i'm having class, though i'm not a good teacher (yet), he has been caught by me cutting papers, biting all sorts of stationery etc, fingers etc. i then told the class, should i catch anyone biting anything in the class again, i'll buy a pacifier for that boy.

nearing the end of the day, after i had given out another set of consent forms to the boys who were seated again on the floor, i had a couple of boys who didn't get them. so i'd thought it was probably because i didn't count through the whole set before giving them out. i looked around for extra copies, and so i saw this same boy with what seemed like five or six copies in his lap. just after i asked him what were the papers on his lap, he dropped them on the floor (he was sitting on his chair), and kicked them away.

i'll call the parents, for sure.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

had a good time shooting a little badminton action, as well as football back in school today.



sometimes, i feel that we've just got to hand it to the kids to show adults how to play, minus the technical handling, of course...

my boys were eeriely quiet for the first two weeks. now their little horns have just popped out, and out comes all the stuff from pandora's box...

Monday, January 17, 2005

God, how should i teach a class of kids who can't stay still for a single moment when they're out of class or in the class; one of whom is autistic, but listens to me, but with a handful of apparently hyperactive boys who are still running all over even though it has been minutes that i asked the entire class to gather around me so that i may talk to them?

i'm tired scolding them again and again. i don't feel good when they miss their pe lesson. what can i do?

i'll probably ask to swap classes with another teacher. i'm getting so much closer to point break.

Sunday, January 16, 2005

was just looking through the ndp 04 website, and i just found out that a photo of wendy that i took during the actual day, is actually featured in the site!


photo at http://www.ndp.org.sg/images/photos/ndp_aug9/crowd/crowd_21.jpg


this morning's ride was pretty fun, but hairy... because my offroad handling skills are next to non-existent... so this friday good chum mavic's gonna do some tutorials for yours sincerely...

just watched about half of stomp out loud! that i borrowed from amy back at school. quite interesting - but i wonder if i can decipher the timings for brooms from the show...

i'll be going for the togoparts brunch ride later this morning. time to zzz!

Thursday, January 13, 2005

it's up! it's up!



now, only a fox 100rlt and a thomson elite stem next month to go... yum yum...

Sunday, January 09, 2005

friday was a stressful day. never had i been so worried about the consistency of my signatures... because now i have to counter-sign the cheques for the staff welfare council!...

yesterday was a fun day at chek jawa. saw one keyhole sand dollar, a sand collar, and plenty of sea stars. only downside? i cut myself unknowingly, when i turned over a rock to hunt for porcelain crabs for ria to photograph.

i have learnt to buy a pair of diving gloves before i go again.

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

yesterday, i had the chance to know of this boy who is different from the rest. i do not know if he has adhd, or autism. but i was glad that he was able to talk logic instead of gibberish. he is bright, and can tell me stuff that boys his age can't tell me. just that he can't control himself in some ways, not a fault of his. i brought him to the library in the end; i was pleasantly surprised when he took a book and sat right beside me.

may he be blessed, let him be more aware of his actions that he isn't too aware of. i'm sure he will be a fine lad one day.

today, our principal showed who moved my cheese? to the school, and when she asked some of the boys to come up and share what's their idea of "cheese", we had answers like "it is important to us", to "it makes us healthy" or something along the lines of "it is nice". umm, maybe we older kids think too much... thankfully for me, i now have a better understanding of the story, more than two years after coming across it.

in the evening, i had a candid talk with shirley, and i learnt of more about the work in the school. i also shared with her, that i would like to stay on as a "farmer", instead of going for a degree, and mentioned that i would be happier with a bike instead of a girlfriend.

and as i was leaving school, i was surprised to learn that one of my form class boys' father, was one familiar face in the moe pe unit.

i also had this grilled chicken foldover set meal from mcdonald's, upsized. but i really wonder, for $7.25, was it as filling as would have for the same price, almost three plates of chicken rice at my regular stall? used to be that 5 bucks was a big deal, 6 was monstrous, 7 was unheard of. but here i am today, 7 bucks and i still ain't full. ok, once bitten twice shy.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

class was alright, generally.

is it me, or is my form class quiet or what? have always had that kind of "problem" with a class. a class that's quiet... too much of it for a class of 40 in size. obviously, i don't want excessive noise either, so right now, what's going on that's causing it, i'll find out along the way...

will bring up the boys sitting right at the back end of the class to the front - some of them are caught up playing with their water bottles, stuck in fairytale land... you know the idea.

Sunday, January 02, 2005

just came back from bishan, after passing alex four livestrong bands, and two to siangling - he gave me a lift from my home to bishan too, for me to join in my folks and fab and sis for dinner at... crystal jade. how come this restaurant is everywhere?

siangling's dad had cancer, but passed away last year eventually. so the band, i gave it to him, since he has been my longtime friend since 1997. as for the other band, he wanted to give to a colleague of his who is afflicted with it.

gotta come up with my emergency s.o.p. for my platoon now, before i sleep. uh, i mean, class rules etc...

by the way, there's two less lurking bloggers who are at my site. so here they are, in case i forget them... here's presenting, tricia and terence!

had a long chat with siaochichi who gave me some fantastic ideas about starting triathlon in the school, given shirley's and my combined enthusiasm. siaochichi just mentioned this...

me: so probably i might come up with once monthly biathlons. so once a month, at the pool + track
siaochichi: wonder wil the parents agree to tt

and it just struck me - why don't i marry the sport with the parent volunteers? i'm sure so long there are housewives, if they consented to kids' triathlon, they will naturally go down and support the kids in training, helping out in manpower shortage by helping out with drinks and a little food... and they could help out with walking the kids over too...

heck! it's almost like little league baseball! kids and parents together - wouldn't that also help to build more family bonding?

furthermore, there's no swimming and no athletics cca in the school... isn't this going to be able to practically kill three birds with one stone?!?!

oh my God. i'll share with with shirley later today or on monday for sure!!!