my favourite holiday of the year is christmas, because that's when you see many pretty lights, magnificent christmas trees, melodious carolling, jolly santas, and much more. i enjoy going around singapore to look at the christmas decorations in the different shopping malls, it is a really jolly season full of cheer =)

jolin and i were feeling kind of down so we went to have dinner at nydc orchard and camera-whored with some christmas decorations after dinner. it was fun, and jolin smiled =)


my girlfriends rock!


***


my mp3 player went flat yesterday while i was on my way home from nie, so i "observed" people in the mrt carriage in order to pass time. this guy was sweet, he held his wife/girlfriend's hand and did not once let go while his wife/gf was trying to sleep.

it made me think of how ping would hold xiaopei's while he drove her around in her car (an automatic, so no need to use clutch often). i would be sitting at the rear seats, gushing and going awww. he was really the positive epitome of love for my cousins and i then. i think he can't hold gillian's hand while he's driving now because my uncle's car is a manual, lol.

now that i don't get my hands held often, i'm a green-eyed monster when i see such displays of affection. i'm such a sucker, lol.

how do you feel when you're feeling really down?

do you get this sour feeling in your body, or is it a chill which passes through your body?

it's just not a very nice feeling =(

and i seriously do think emotional pain is far worse than physical pain even till now. that's why i do all the things i do and i'm not proud of it.

***

when i was young and had the emotional range of a teaspoon, i always wondered why actors often cry out "my heart is dead" when their screen boyfriends dump them, or books narrate sadness with phrases like "heavy heart" or "tingle of sorrow". these were supposedly good phrases which i had to memorise to use in my compositions though i never fully understood what they were supposed to describe.

when i got dumped myself, i finally understood what "my heart is dead" meant. the heart really goes very, very cold. other sad experiences correlates with the "heavy heart" and "tingle of sorrow". so you really need to have experienced these emotions to know why people describe them as such.

so you see my students, when i tell you to "show me how you feel, not tell" during composition writing, i should ask myself whether you have felt such emotions before. otherwise there is no enduring understanding >.<

this is so random.

the geography girls celebrated the end of nie training at one of the aloha changi bungalows and it was a simple but fun affair =)

the theme was royalty, so all of us had to wear something royal hehe. i chose a tiara, together with most of the girls, and we were the princesses of the night =) georgie aiai was empress dowager because she wore a bling hairpin, xiaohui was our beloved king, complete with a paper crown and moustache. i think yijun was either king number 2 or the crown prince :P then diana, wana and hani came with pink sashes sewn with black fur, they really put in a lot of effort to make them!

i koped the pictures from minghui's facebook, so the quality is not very clear. must remember to get from her next time!


the girls preparing the bbq food. i wasn't around because i was at ttsh with my mum.


royalty :D check out the tiaras, crowns and the pink sashes!


glorious food =D


i love my geog besties! <3<3<3


i look absolutely fat here, i need to shed some pounds.

今晚我不能再哭！
但我好心疼他哦。

***

i've been quite free lately and since im not in the mood to game, i've taken to blog surfing. its quite amazing, you just need to google something random and tonnes of blogs will just surface. some are crap, some are irritating, and some are actually quite intriging. i was in need of blessing and inner peace and i was really glad to stumble on this "owlet" blogger.

i'll share my favourite story from her blog:

By the time the Lord made woman, He was into his sixth day of working overtime.

An angel appeared and said, "Why are you spending so much time on this one?"

And the Lord answered, "Have you seen my spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable and able to run on diet coke and leftovers, have a lap that can hold four children at one time, have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart - and she will do everything with only two hands."

The angel was astounded at the requirements.

"Only two hands!? No way! And that's just on the standard model? That's too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish."

"But I won't," the Lord protested. "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She already heals herself when she is sick AND can work 18 hours a day."

The angel moved closer and touched the woman.

"But you have made her so soft, Lord."

"She is soft," the Lord agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."

"Will she be able to think?" asked the angel.

The Lord replied, "Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason and negotiate."

The angel then noticed something, and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek.

"Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one."

"That's not a leak," the Lord corrected, "that's a tear!"

"What's the tear for?" the angel asked.

The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love, her loneliness, her grief and her pride."

The angel was impressed.

"You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything! Woman is truly amazing."

And she is!

And said the Lord, "My ideal women have strengths that amaze all. They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love, and joy. They smile when they want to scream. They sing when they want to cry. They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous. They fight for what they believe in. They stand up to injustice. They don't take "no" for an answer when they believe there is a better solution. They go without so their family can have. They go to the doctor with a frightened friend. They love unconditionally. They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards. They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding. Their hearts break when a friend dies. They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left. They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart. Women come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They'll drive, fly, walk, run, or e-mail loved ones to show their moral support. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning. They bring joy, hope and love. They have compassion and ideals. Women have vital things to say and everything to give."

"Praise God, for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. -- Psalm 139:14"

灰色的大星 提不起笑容 是暗淡无光的

粉红色的小星看见大星不开心 开始也变灰色了

要怎么样才能使大星再度发光呢？

小星好没用哦。。

i'm trying to cultivate the good habit of blogging again. the brain deteriorates if it is stimulated by only games or shopping. let's see how long this lasts *winks!

***

my last nie assignment is due 16th november haha. 要加油！

i attended the cme workshop today and it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. i actually learnt something, lol. let's just hope the 2nd session fares better =) next session i'll receive the certificate of participation which qualifies me to teach cme, hehe!

i'm so glad jolin has been posted back to tkss! other updates on the girls: xiaohui's going to millenia institute, grace to anderson jc, yinjern to northbrooks sec and angeline to punggol sec. in total, 4 from the class of 15 have been posted to jcs. now all we need is for miss lian and dr ivy tan to sayang us one last time before we leave nie!

i called st andrew's today to confirm my posting, and they called me back almost immediately to chat about my deployment - many geog classes and few english classes >.< i suspect that i'll be getting sec3s so i better start brushing up on physical geog!

***

random pictures:


guides rules!


the sec2 boys whom i taught last year are slightly grown up now =)


some of my teacher's day presents! =D

the postings are out and i've been posted to st andrew's sec. =/

yes, an all boy's school.

i'm really worried, i don't think i can handle boys very well. when boys are grouped together they can be quite bad. and i miss bowen so much. i miss my students, and i really miss my wonderful colleagues/mentors who have been so nice to me in everyway. i was so set on going back to bowen, i already know my possible deployment and where i would be sitting at.

but now there's a total change of environment.

i don't get it. why st andrew's when bowen itself is short of geography teachers? i taught there for both contract and practicum, i applied through principal and principal requested for me too. dorothy and terence got back bowen, but not shuhui (who's going srjc) and i. even zhonghua is short, and i have to be posted to a school that's quite some distance from my place. i know st andrew's is only 1 stop away from serangoon mrt or a half-hour bus journey by 147, but bowen is a 10 min journey and zhonghua is within walking distance from my home. i detest the posting by equal misery concept, grr.

there's a critical shortage of geography and social studies teachers nationwide, so the posting has been really weird. so far i know minghui's posted back to kranji (lucky her), georgina's posted changkat changi (poor aiai) and yijun's posted to zhenghua sec (which is really far for her). im crossing my fingers for jolin to return to tanjong katong sec, and all the rest to schools that they'll be comfortable with.

i shouldn't be upset, it's all in god's plans, he knows what's best for me.

but i can't help feeling sad because this is really too sudden.

i better start preparing my lesson slides during the holidays. heard that there's only 1 geography teacher there, how sad >.<