Off to Ho Chi Minh

Looking forward to my short getaway to Vietnam. Will be spending two nights in Mui Ne, a beautiful beach place. Then I'll be back in Ho Chi Minh city for one night, to do some shopping and pho-eating before flying back to Singapore. Mmmm.. can already taste the delicious Pho!

I'll be back on 22nd, then on 23rd, I begin my new job.

Life's gonna change again.

June Holidays

June Holidays has finally begun.

They were supposed to begin two weeks ago but since I've started doing part time teaching, there were holiday lessons for the first two weeks, so I've still been waking up at 5.30am everyday to go to school. Today.. I woke up at 10am. Shiok.

Went to the PC Show today to take a look at the new Nokia N97. I've actually been very very VERY tempted to buy it since I started reading about it a couple of months back. But when I looked at it and had some hands-on time with it, the excitement kinda died down. It's a nice phone, but I think the touch screen interface is still not as fantastic as it can be. I guess nothing can top the iphone at this point of time. But I still can't bring myself to buy one. Maybe I can look forward to the new Sony Idou instead.

I'm looking forward to the next weekend. I've taken advantage of the Singapore Airlines offer to Ho Chi Minh City...only S$228 which includes taxes!! Incredible. Will be going with a few friends. Looking forward to lovely bowls of Pho and authentic Vietnamese food.

I'm actually also looking at another big change in my life soon. Will blog more about it when things are more firmed up.

Happy June Holidays!

Think.RI (updated 11 June)

Here's one for the history books....

I met up with some former prefects over last weekend and as expected, we started talking about stuff when they were in RI. One of the things which popped up was the famous Think.RI. I admit I've pretty much forgotten all about it and it sure brought back fun memories of how we tried to practice/make-fun-of Think.RI back then.

We tried hard to recall what it stood for and the most memorable phrase was New Day New Discovery. Couldn't remember all though. Anyone can remember those left empty below?

T -

H - Have a Plan (Thanks KM.. updated 11 June)

I -

N -New Day New Discovery

K - Keep an Open Mind (Thanks Anon.. updated 13 May)

dot - dimensions of thinking

RI - obviously we know what this stands for. :P

Star Trek - A MUST SEE!

I think I might need to seek counselling.

The new Star Trek movie has only been released for 6 days and I have already watched it three times.  Yep... THREE.  

Yes, it's that good. 

JJ Abrams has done an extremely commendable job in rebooting the Star Trek franchise for a new generation.  The movie is accessible to both fans and non-fans and there's plenty of action, humour and drama for everyone.  I'm impressed with how he had handled each character, giving them plenty of personality and presence. 

At the same time, despite the character-building, the action almost never stops.  Within the first 10minutes of the film, I could already feel my eyes tearing up and the sacrifice.  Even at the third viewing, it was still a touching moment, handled with much class.  My favourite dramatic scene has got to be the one where Captain Pike challenged the young and rash Kirk to join Starfleet.

The special effects for this movie are also pretty impressive.  From the massive battles to the remodelled USS Enterprise, almost every scene filled me with a sense of wonder and awe.  My favourite effects scene is probably that of the Enterprise rising up from the rings of Saturn.  

Of course, to the true trekkie, there are plenty of plot holes to pick on.  But I think the beauty of this movie is that when you are watching it, you get so caught up with the story and people that you don't really think or care too much about the few inconsistencies.  Yep, it's that good.

So if you haven't caught this movie, please do yourself a favour and go watch it.  I strongly recommend Grand Cathay cinema for this coz of the THX sound system and Digital projection.  I've caught it at three different cinemas (Grand Cathay, GV Max and Iluma Bugis) and trust me when I say Grand Cathay offers the best experience for this movie.  :)

Now... when will be going for my FOURTH screening.... 

  

The original USS Enterprise... over 40 year old!

The new USS Enterprise... all iMac-fied!

It's been three weeks since I started doing part-time teaching again.  I have to admit that I am enjoying this simple pleasure of just teaching and not being bothered by other duties which normal teachers have to do.  Everyday, I just go to school to teach, spend my free periods marking and preparing worksheets, thinking how best to revise topics or get the students to understand something and then go home and do my personal stuff.  It really brings me back to the days when I first started teaching many many many moons ago.  The students aren't angels but since when are students angels in any school?  I admit I do get frustrated at times, especially when I find that I'm not able to get them to understand what I am trying to explain.  But the challenge for me right now is to push beyond that frustration and try to find some way or better method to get the message through.  I think in some way, that's what teaching is all about. 

Of course, I know I am working in an unreal situation right now.  The moment I decide to take on teaching full-time, I will be swamped by admin work, cca work, department duties, school duties, meetings and who can forget... reports, reports, reports.  Isn't that quite an irony?  I enjoy teaching enough to want to teach full-time, but if I teach full-time, I end up getting my joy in teaching drowned in a sea of non-teaching duties?  

Anyhow, that's what I'm contemplating right now.  I'm currently on MOE's flexi-adjunct scheme, which basically means I get paid for every hour I work.  No work, no money.  It's as simple as that.  If I convert to other schemes, the pay is probably a little better but I wonder at what expense?  That's something I have to grapple with as I decide what I intend to do for the next few years.

Two other things have caught my attention in the past two weeks.  First is the whole AWARE saga.  Simply put, politics in Singapore is quite boring.  Nothing like politics in US and UK.  So this little political drama being played out in AWARE is quite exciting.  I'm not going to bother talking about what my stand is.  I just think the whole saga is kinda fun.   The other is of course the threat of a Swine Flu outbreak.  Talk about a double whammy.   We had the economic crisis... and now, we have a health crisis.  Wonder what could be next.  On a larger scale, it's scary to think what an full blown outbreak could result in.  On a personal... more selfish scale... an outbreak would probably mean the schools which I am supposed to bring to Japan in June will probably cancel their trips. :(  

One bright spark though... next week, the new Star Trek movie opens!  I am quite a fan... I've already bought a new Star Trek T-shirt to wear to the movie... :P

No bus or slow bus?

Don't know which is worse.  No bus or slow bus.

Was waiting for the 136 bus this morning.  Missed the first bus by seconds but thankfully, the next bus came in less than 5mins so I was pretty happy.  But my happiness was shortlived when I realised the bus driver was making sure he went at the slowest speed possible.  My guess was he didn't want to catch up with the first bus.  So here was I, in a bus rushing to catch my next bus,and not being able to do anything coz the 136 was happily plodding along.

Well, as fate would have it, when I finally arrived at my bus stop and was crossing the road to catch the connecting bus, I saw my connecting bus pulling up and leaving the bus stop.   Ended up waiting for almost 15mins for the next bus and was almost late for school.  If only the stupid 136 had gone at a normal pace.

So I was left with the question... which is worse?  Having no bus or having a stupid slow bus?

Back to school

The big change this past week is that I've gone back to doing some part-time teaching.  I've actually been toying with that for quite a few months and I've finally overcome my inertia and fear of change and returned to the education service (on a part-time basis anyway).  There was a strong inertia because I must admit I had become quite accustomed to my flexible lifetsyle and the thought of returning to a 7.15am to 4.15pm work life just didn't sound right.  There was fear involved because I was worried if I would choose the right school and if I would be able to get back into teaching.  Well, as usual, the argument simply comes down to the simple fact that there is no such thing as a sure thing in life.  If I don't try, I'll never know.  So, since the door appeared to be opening in the right places, I've joined Junyuan Secondary School as a part-time teacher.

It's hard to imagine that I am actually travelling to JYSS in tampines, all the way from Serangoon.  At first, the thought was quite daunting.  But the surprising thing is that it actually takes just about an hour from my doorstep to the school.  That's not too bad actually, considering that it took me more than 1.5hrs to get to and from NUS wben I was studying there.  

I'm currently on a part-time basis with the school, which means that I only need to report to school when I have lessons and I can leave school whenever my lessons end.  In a way, I still get some freedom like before.  The tough part is having to report to school at 7.15am 3 days a week.  This means I basically have to get up at 5.30am for those 3 days.  5.30am.  That's a freaking crazy time.  Even when I was in RI, I could get up at 6.30am and still be in school in time.  That's the toughest adjustment which I am still trying to get used to.  

It's also been quite interesting trying to get back into the rhythm of teaching.  It's been more than 2 years, (actually, I think more than 3 years) since I've taught.  It's always a challenge to try to adapt to different students.  One thing which I cannot escape is the fact that I'm really much older now and it's a little harder to connect with the students.  I've already met all my students and I'm glad to say that so far, I quite enjoy my lessons with them.  Hope I can continue to say that all the way to the end of th year.

It's only been a week and I'm still busy adjusting to this new routine.  At the same time, I'm still handling some tour projects.  So I think things should be quite busy for me until the end of the June holidays.  Of course, at the back of my mind, I do wonder if I've made the right decision to return to teaching.  I guess only time will tell. 

Oh yes.  I did something quite silly last week... last Tuesday, I actually went to the new Iluma mall at Bugis to catch a glimpse of David Archuleta!  haha... can't believe I actually did that.  No regrets though.  Hearing him sing live was quite a treat!  He's every bit as unassuming and bashful as he appears to be on tv.  I did feel a little out of place though.  The whole place was filled with screaming teens!