strange isn’t it?

i dont feel so close to people that i thought i was close to anymore. why is that?
i think i know what the answer might be though.
or maybe i am thinking too much?

an old friend.

that was what one of my old students put as the title when he sent me a message on facebook.

with kids being really savvy with computers these days., it is of little wonder that they know how to tweak their age and lie to get themselves a facebook account.

they have been messaging me that they miss me, (i am not giving myself an ego boost here) and of course i miss them too!

and its everytime i get this little messages (regardless of topic) that i think i made the right choice. or did i?

hmmm… nuhbbad

this week has been a good week with a series of good news that came one after another.

i managed to clear my ippt in one attempt, as compared to the previous time where i had to take the test twice. when i say clear i mean GOLD. show me the money!!!! 

my low key for chong suah reservist has been cancelled cause my encik used his mojo to do some magic. ok, i kid. 

i cleared my ept! although i ought to be ashamed of myself if i didn’t clear it cause after all i am a MASS COMMUNICATIONS student from NGEE ANN POLY. shame shame if i didn’t clear it. 

i managed to eat healthy stuff for dinner the so far, although i am sure i will make up for it on saturday. 

woot.

LOL

i came across this and thought it was really funny.

“The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.”

is it my fault?

so the start of my weekend ran into a roadblock today at work. 

after being saved by the last bell, i went back to my desk with the intention of giving my students extra remedial cause in this society of ours, if you’re not bright enough, you’re finished. 

then, i saw 2 slips of paper on the desk demanding my attention. i picked it up and saw that both notes belonged to one of my kid’s parents, asking me to phone her back.

on the note it said, “URGENT.” 

out of courtesy, i called her and asked what was the “urgent” matter?

she started screaming on the other side of the phone and this was roughly the conversation. with no exaggeration. 

G: Hi, is this J’s mum?

M: Yes. Why did you call me back only at this time???

G: Hi Mdm, I was with the class the whole day and i only come back to my desk after class. 

M: BUT I CALLED THE OFFICE AND ASKED THEM TO GET HOLD OF YOU BEFORE THE LESSON ENDED?!?

G: Yes Mdm, please try to understand, the office is occupied with their own work and I can’t leave the class during lesson time. 

M: But this is URGENT! MY SON LOST HIS LIBRARY BOOK IN SCHOOL! THIS IS A NATIONAL LIBRARY BOOK!

she went on to scream over the phone for the next 10 minutes on how the school is so irresponsible that her son lost the book and no one is around to help him, that she has no money to pay for this kind of extra burden, and i am sure there was more but i actually put the phone on the table and waited for her to finish screaming before putting the phone back to my ill-treated ear drums. 

she then finished up by screaming a lil more demanding that i find the book for him if not she will hold my school responsible for her son negligence, wanting me to stop my work and look for his book, before slamming the phone down on me.

before the conversation ended, i told her i will look into the matter.  

my thoughts were ok… YOUR kid lost the book, is it MY fault? YOUR kid was careless, was it MY fault? now that your son lost the book, I have to GO AROUND THE WHOLE SCHOOL AND LOOK FOR A BOOK I DIDN’T LOSE  AND NOT KNOW ABOUT? i have other kids waiting for me to help them with their work but now, because you called and asked me to go look for a BOOK, i have to stop all my work? WOW. since when did i become a librarian? or a book investigator? DO I LOOK LIKE ADRIAN MONK TO YOU?!?! i guess parents have to look at themselves before pointing their fingers. 

GO LISTEN TO MICHAEL JACKSON’S “MAN IN THE MIRROR”. Recommended. 

i think i am always a tad rebellious by nature. the more you want me to do something. the more i wont do it. 

i didn’t even know the title of the book.

my (never fulfilled) 2009 resolutions.

out with the old and in with the new. 2008 has been a good year but as the eternal optimist, i want 2009 to outshine 2008. 

so here is what i want to achieve with 2009, no matter how unrealistic. dont laugh. 

1 ) my own car. 

2 ) no more procrastinations. 

3 )change my middle name “handsome” to “productivity”

4 ) reach my ideal physique. (i’m not boasting.)

5 ) throw away stuff that i have been keeping forever.

6 ) be better tempered. 

7 ) strike rich! (as with everyone else)

8 ) may goodwill and greatness happen to ALL my close friends. 

9 ) world peace.

let’s paint our canvas of life in 2009 with nothing but greatness.

whatdoimakeofit?

so this year’s standard chartered marathon came and went, quite quickly and quite unexpectedly. 

my initial target was a personal best, cause a PB should be comforting enough no? 

then my competitiveness kicked in, and being a somewhat copycat, he said he was gonna gun for a Boston timing. I thought, why not? since i am always up for a challenge. truth was, my training probably wasn’t gonna garner me a 3h 10 mins or below. 

but, tee kee ness is many a splendid thing. my tee kee ness actually got me a podium (sorta) finish. 

ya… the unexpected thing was i actually did a 3h 5min 22s for a full marathon, and that got me a 9th place in the men’s local category. 

and then my vanity caused me to lose 8th place to another man cause i, as usual, wanted to take my own photo and not want anyone in it. that vanity caused me the 8th spot, which was double in prize money. sucks to be me. so please, learn from my mistake and be a tad less vain. it won’t do you any good.  

anyway, downside was, i missed the prize giving ceremony as my runmates and i went to settle our hunger instead of hanging around for some stupid results. (i know, who’s the stupid one now…)

anyway… here’s the mara pics! courtesy of marathon-photos. hur hur. i stole if off the webby. every 50,000+ runner is going to do that. don’t shoot me that dirty look.

adel’s real 24th.

 

this time around, adel did show up at her real birthday party. i have pictures to prove it. 

while we waited for adel with bated breath (machiam compo), we found dead kids

 

 

 

ronald thought henry thia was passe, so he tried emulating liang po po.

 

me trying my hands at being "bad ass".

 

kris trying his hand at "shanghai tang boss".

ronald tries his hand at being serious.

 

and adel arrives! (albeit a million hours late, as expected)

 

wasabi chicken with mayo sauce. its basically fried chicken with wasabi and mayo sauce.

 

the eel was anything but ewWWw... ok, once again, futile attempt at joke. i've got to stop that.

no, this wasn't the only gift adel got. it was however, the ONLY picture i took. Go me.

 

ashley arrives and tries to seduce the cameraman. me.

happy with her new wallet.

ashley seems to be saying "CHOO" as she devoured her chicken.

 

jack gets disgusted with ashley devouring her chicken.

“and this was how i became limp wristed”

adeline with her birthday cake. just for the record, kris ate half of it. *whistles*

 

its probably fashionable these days to take pictures with mouths opened.

 

everyone had a go at the "ghostbusters" glasses.

“the toilet is THAT way.”

 

ashley tries her hand at being "shanghai tang secret society kept woman".

“How you doin?”

 

geek in the green.

 

HAPPY 24TH BIRTHDAY ADELINE LOH YAN PING!!!

rafflesmarinaattuas

so came the day when ashley and i decided to bring our babies to raffles marina bay at tuas to shoot some yachts.

ofschoolrulesandschoolkids.

so going back to relief teach was a tad nostalgic. missing my kids was probably the main reason for going back. on the other side, i think once again i have lost people skills and was feeling a little apprehensive with the colleagues. apprehensive cause i didn’t really know how to tell them why did i choose to go back after telling them a few months prior that i am gonna kiss teaching goodbye for good. 

as usual, i always end up eating my words. *note to self – i will never strike the lottery* 

still, it was nice to see the colleagues that i was close to… or rather those that i felt was really nice. enough about them and more about my kids. 

i was assigned to a P4 class today, not the usual P3. and some of my kids saw me during their recess and tried to come visit me. They got stopped by another teacher (cause it was exam time) and got scolded. still, instead of running away, they kept laughing and kept trying to outsmart the other teacher to get to my class. 

i think i taught the rascal-in-them to keep trying to out-brat the teacher. (case in point – me.) i ended up laughing for a good half an hour. 

when school ended, i met them at the concourse and i ended up feeling like a celebrity (again, completely different scenario from Keppel) with them shouting “Mr Ho! Mr Ho! Mr Ho!”

ya, call me an attention seeker but i felt good, and i think it’s the first time in such a long time that i felt like hugging them (with none of the pedophiliac intentions mind you).

i think this is what keeps me going somehow.

 

i was trying to out-play, out-brat and out-rascal them.

 

The kids.