The Lady ♥

Friday, August 29, 2008 Y

Teacher's Day celebration at LSH was really amazing! It's a day when children and teachers totally relax and enjoy the different performances put up my the children. Of cos, the teachers also had their share of fun. =)

When I stepped into the class, the children were all busy playing. But when I greeted them, everyone stopped playing and came over and hugged me, and wishes me "Happy Teacher's Day". Esp AY, he kept on saying and saying and it was really adorable.

And my first rose was given by Y.S...Awwwwww How sweet of him! Then came K.E with a present for me, then Cherry came over and gave me a card made by herself. Aww..... ^_^ And then while I was playing with the children, Mini came over to the N2 class and gave me a ferrero roche. She looked so cute and I was smiling the whole time. And her hand was small, so the whole chocolate took up the size of her palm. ^^ Adorable! And when I was about to leave, Sam gave me a present he saved for me even before I came into the class. Lucky he caught me before I went out. They're all so sweet!!!! =D

The performances were very enjoyable, and goofy! Cos the teachers teach the kids, and then let the kids perform for the teachers. Hehes! The youngest classes performed first and danced to the music, and slowly move from the youngest class (toddlers) to the oldest (K2). It was memorable.

Hahahahs...Took tons of pictures, duh. The teachers gt on the stage for games with the children or just the teachers... it was rather fun. Every teacher gt chosen to go up, including me, Wendy and Yvonne. It was cool!

For my part it was dress-up, Wendy was my partner and she dressed me up using toilet roll and a black rubbish bag. LOLZ! ROFL! It was hilarious! Sad thing, the teacher in charge of my cam did not capture my final look, maybe it blacked out suddenly. Of cos, there's no winning or losing or competition, it was plainly pure fun!!!

Sat together with X, sharing a seat with him, and he sat on my lap in the later part of the whole performance. Being able to be with the children once again was really a ride for me and a great memory! Best teacher's day celebration I've ever had! Nv once in my attachment years did I spent the tacher's day celebration with the other attachment centres... This was the first and what a GR8 1st!

Extremely glad that my jackflatts were such a hit in the centre. Was a lil worried cos I cut down on the butter and added more oats. But the teachers had it and they love it! Phew! =) Well, I had plenty to spare.... so gave them 2 boxes. I had 3 more containers(microwave transparent kind) at home.. Still, I like the previous times, the whole thing sticked together better than this time, but in terms of sweetness and oilyness, this time was better than the previous times. Love both times actually!! Hahahhas!

Y The Lady @
1:33 PM

Saturday, August 23, 2008 Y

Operation Surprise Mun Ling was carried out in NTU, with me as the "stall-er". Meaning I had to stall her time, so she doesn't leave the campus before the celebration even started. Actually it was a fun job, but I'm terrible at it. LOLZ!

Y's that? Okay.. firstly, I had to take out Jia Ji from everything I said, I gotta think of what and how to say things to her, paraphrase a lil here and there so that the words sounded reasonable to her and rational to me. But something happened that was sorta pre-planned. Cos I did mention to her I wanted to see her hostel suite, so it was fine for me to suggest to her again yesterday. Didn't seem out of place, even though she was already packed and rdy to go home. So the excuse for gg to see her hostel gave us a chance to go to her Hall, where the surprise was taken place.

Start from the top:
Met up with Jia Ji at abt 12pm to get a b-day cake for Mun Ling in JP. Didn't know what flavour to choose, so we got the most common flavor: Chocolate. And it was a chocolate moose cake. Side track a lil...this chocolate moose from Prima Deli tasted MUCH better than the one I had in Mache during the outing with Mr n Mrs Tan, Miki, Hui and Val. Kkz, back to the main thing. After we gt the cake, we went to NTU, and had lunch at Canteen 2, which was near Hall 2. Both of us had chicken rice, which was rather delicious, and cheap... $2.70 with a whole plate of rice, 3 diff veg, quite an amt of chicken, an egg and a bowl of soup. And it was very filling.

Then we took shuttle bus from Hall 2 to Hall 11, there's a canteen there where we got the Western Food Stall Uncle helped us store our Chocolate Moose cake until it was time. Speaking of the shuttle bus... sheesh! We missed 2 buses consecutively! We were standing at the bus stop looking at the map, and realized which bus to take (there were 3). 2 bus A kept coming towards us and quite a few 179. And then right across us, a bus went off and we were like "Huh?" Then before we could react, another bus went past us in the opposite lane. =.=lll Turned out we were standing at the wrong direction bus stop and missed 2 bus C. Sheesh!!!

We decided to walk from Hall 2 to Hall 11 after reading the map. The walk was quite fast, but according to Mun Ling and Wei Ling, it was a long walk. Hm... we didn't really realized, maybe like what Mun Ling said, we were fed up with the bus so the walking time didn't bother us that much. ROFL! =D Then I took Bus B from Hall 11 to the NIE Lib where I was suppose to meet Mun Ling. And to not let her on this surprise, I had to change my story so she doesn't know I took the bus from her hostel, which was, in my opinion, rather a pathetic story. Jia Ji then took 199 and head off to Boon Lay MRT where he meet up with the rest of the gang that was in the surprise gig: Wei Ling Wei Cheng, Wei Jie. All the 'Wei's, including me (Fang Wei) LOLZ!

After meeting up with Mun Ling, that was about 3.30pm i think. We walked to Quad to grab a bite, a BIG bite. Ordered 1 American Brownie, 1 Blueberry Cheesecake, and 1 bake rice(which I didn't know she was gonna order after our 2 slices of cakes). We shared everything, I was beyond bloated, considering the fact that I just had my lunch at about 1+ with Jia Ji. It was easier for Mun Ling to swallow, since her last meal of the day till that point of time was at 11. I couldn't let her on the gig, so I didn't stop her from buying. If I knew she was gonna get a bake rice, man I would have stopped her! My heart dropped when I saw her carrying the bake rice back to our table. Hahs... really interesting afternoon tea.

& she brought our class photo! YAY!!! ^_^ I totally have no recollection of what-so-ever, but the photo brought back some memories. And it's really sad.. I recognized only half of my classmates when I looked into the photograph taken 10yrs ago. Since I was scanning the pic in for all of them, I had Mun Ling tell me the names of the classmates whom I couldn't recognize after all these years. Then got an sms from Jia Ji when I was jotting down the names and chatting with Mun Ling, which say that we can now make our way back to Hall 11. LOLZ! And the transition had to be subtle, or else she's gonna know about the gig. So i tried my very best to divert her attention back to her hostel. This was when I proposed to visit her hostel.

We really did visit her hostel, even though we were running late cos of the shuttle bus -.- How could we not visit her hostel suite after I propose we do so?? Right?? But then I pestered her to bring me to the canteen with a really really stupid and lame reason of wanting to check out the food there. It was weird for me even as I said it, u know... Since we just had a very very bloating session at Quad with food. LOLZ!!

Alas!!!! We arrived at the canteen after visiting her hostel suite. And my job was done! Had a wonderful time singing b-day song(EL & CL), cutting the cake, and eating the cake and sharing a few stories.

Now... Why did I say I was really bad as a "stall-er"?? Cos, when we were chatting, Mun Ling was like, "No wonder I keep feeling something wrong, cos Fang Wei keep insisting of visiting my hostel even after I was pack, and keep wanting to see the canteen." Hahahahahahahahahhahs!!!!!!!!! =D =D =D =D =D

She also asked, "Did you really ask people how to get to canteen a? Or you already know before hand?" Hahs! Yep, I did ask, seriously and truthfully.. On the bus. I sorta had an idea where after Jia Ji told me about Mun Ling's Sci block. I had to cmf again so i asked a lady (a student) on the bus if I was going the right way.

And she actually asked me "Did you actually go to JP?" Hahahas, my story was flawed people!!! FLAWED I SAY! But that was true, I did went to JP, to get the cake... It was true but flawed, cos she was a lil doubtful. It's hard to believe I used to lie when I was young. Man! I TOTALLY sux at it.. Hhahahahs! So now you know why I said I was a bad stall-er? Lolz!

Hahahahas... I'm smiling like a goofy now as I thought of the moments I've shared, the stories I've paraphrased for Mun Ling. Hahahahhas!!!!!!!! Hilarious, but enjoyable no doubt! ;)

Y The Lady @
10:22 AM

We headed off to Boon Lay MRT station to meet up with Yang Thong and Jia Ying. Jia Ying wasn't one of the 4JS,but she knew a few of us from 6M (Same class after streaming), and house mate with Yang Thong =) Small World... Then met up with Jasmine at AMK MRT station. I recognized her from afar, she didn't change much. We didn't really change much since we can still recognize one another. The person who changed the most was Wei Jie..

Went to AMK for dinner, not much of fuzz there, since we all stay pretty near to one another. ATS mah, wouldn't be too far away.. The farthest would be Wei Jie who lived in Sembawang and me in Yishun. The rest of us were either in AMK or YCK, or Bishan. Finally decided on Mac to be our dinner. Some of us were financially challanged. Everyone ate, 'cept for me and Mun Ling. We're both still very much bloated from the American Brownie, Blueberry Cheesecake and Bake rice we shared in Quad @ NTU.

We shared TONS of stories from our past, it was like taking a trip down memory lane with your group of friends whom you still have contact with after abt 10yrs.. Stories about us, about the teachers, funny things, happy things, punishments, hahahahs... We realized we were so naive 10yrs ago, now we think back of the times. Hahahahahs...

Took some pictures, unfortunately Jia Ying had to leave before the photo-taking session. But the rest of us had fun posing for the pictures. We started at about 7+ and ended at 10...

It was really fun to just get together with a bunch of friends and share stories of our lives. We wouldn't be afraid of silent moments with Jasmine and Jia Ji around. Hahahahs! =D Gonna do it again soon, shall let our welfare head(Jia Ji) be in-charge of it, since he org this gathering, which was more than just a surprise celebration for Mun Ling's birthday. It turned out to be much more than that.

Labels: Lovin' The Trip Down Memory Lane with fellow 4Js

Y The Lady @
9:58 AM

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Y

When your effort goes appreciated, it's a wonderful feeling. And hearing it from Grams and Sis and Mom and Dad, the appreciation and satisfaction doubled and even tripled! =)

When there's no limit to what time to cook, what time to eat, the preparation of dinner at your own pacing is really relaxing. Still, of course there're the phases to follow, but I'm getting use to the fact that I'm gonna cook dinner for my family with whatever ingredients. And it's ALOT less stress when you stick with what you know and stop doing experiments with food.

Of cos so far experiments had been rather successful: Mango Salsa! That was really successful!
Gonna just put in the mango, tomatoes, lime juice, sugar, chilli and coriandar or pasley, and take away the cucumber...
And also gonna lighten up the lime juice to just 1. 3 was totally extreme. It was an experiment! The lime juice was a failed one...made the whole salsa too sour. Not my fault =X Hehes!

When I stick with what I know, with the amt of availability of ingredients, and I work at my own pacing, the food turned out nice and the amt are just right. And getting external help from my sis made the whole cooking and washing up easier and faster. And listening to mp3 while doing the cleaning up all by yourself makes the job seemed less like an obligation but as a process of enjoyment and not a chore. Even if it's part of the household chore.

& today I realized 3 things:

1. We're really getting use to Krus' absence just as Krus is coming home this Sat :\
It's just like a cycle. Every day at this particular time I'll prepare for dinner and cook it and clean (when I'm cooking that evening). However, I still very much miss her. Esp like today when I'm extremely tired and fell asleep til about 5.30pm. Gosh, I really wished she were back and preparing dinner so I could sleep longer... Lolz! =p

2. I truly love cooking ^_^
I totally love cooking, and today when I saw the flames I was ecstatic! My sis was adding water into the pan while I fry the carrots and garlic, and cos the fire was big, when she added the water, I moved the pan so the sides touches the flame and "WOOSH!" red flames flared up beneath the pan. All I did was to shift the pan a little and there was the 'flame effect', like those u see in movies. TOTALLY COOL!!!!!!

3. Somehow I'm addicted to sink-washing. =.=lll
After doing the dishes, somehow or rather, I kinda like to wash the sink. As if it's like a switch in me telling me to wash it. Automatically. And I only feel like taking a break after I'm done with the sink when it's clean and washed. Weird...... *shrug*

Lucky I don't have to do it every single day. Can't imagine how Krus managed it. As much as I love to cook and clean the kitchen after dinner, I still can't see myself doing it every single day. Thankfully it's my holidays now, so I can still do the entire househole.

Labels: Feeling appreciated

Y The Lady @
11:33 PM

The outing was really fun... ate at Mache @ Vivocity. My 1st time visiting there... I visited once, the branch at Suntec... When I was in Pri Sch. So you can imagine how LLLLOOOOOONNNNGGGG it has been!!!!!

Arrived there early, went to shop around Candy Empire, and still can't find the Turkish Delight my sis brought back last time (comes in a box instead of a wrapper). That was the delicious one, and apparent delicious ones are hard to find.

Then headed over to Mache to reserve a table for 6: Mr & Mrs Tan, Me, Miki dear, Hui and Val. When i went in, the aroma of the food made my stomach cringe in hunger protest, but not gonna eat until they arrive, and we scratched off the idea of waiting inside. COS WE'RE SOOOO GONNA EAT AND NOT WAIT IF WE WERE TO 'WAIT' INSIDE!!! LOLZ! =D

So went to the arcade (Timezone), but only for awhile, cos the VIPs arrived. I totally suck at the video game =.= I'm not a fan of street fighter, but I just like playing it, pressing buttons and doing combos(by guess work and not knowledge. Miki and Val played bubbles, a game which we're all very familiar with.

We got what we wanted to eat, too many variety so Miki and I shared everything and split the cost later. & Hui joined in later. We chatted during dinner, from Mr & Mrs Tan's lives to Miki's nursing, to my attachment, to Val's piano, to Hui's University and everything else we could think of - inclusive of future plans, their lives in Aus, future gatherings like the upcoming Teacher's Day celebration(which I'm considered as a student celebrating with my teachers, as well as celebrating as a teacher with my teachers! COOL!!!), NDP, and work and fun experiences and etc.

In the beginning, w/o Princess Adel's presence, there really seem to be less to talk about, but still I'll say it was a very rewarding evening, cos we started at 6.45 and ended at 9pm, and no 'silent treatment' from anyone for anyone. Though, somehow it still felt weird w/o princess' presence... She's like a continent away lolz =p

Went back to the arcade after we paid the bills and sent Mr & Mrs Tan off... Competed with Val on the race car, Initial D. Kept on losing to her!!! *fumed* Then Miki took over and she got creamed by Val the same way I was. Finally before we went away, I had another round of racing with Val and guess what? I WON!!!! I FREAKING WON!!! It was unbelievable, and racing with her, you can feel your hands sweating, and heart thumping, trying to find ways to out-speed her and not make her cut right past you(when you're leading). It was only towards the end when I realized about the speed of the car....And I chose red - for good luck or whatever. Hahahahs!

Ultimately, it was fun: the dinner, the gatherings, the conversations, the food, the photo-taking(can't do w/o it at gatherings), the people, the arcade and the walk in the rain even(after dinner)! Hahahahas....

Can't wait for Teacher's Day Celebration ~ Still Planning ~~~

Y The Lady @
12:00 AM

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 Y

~PICTURES~

Our salad...... Tomatoes, ham, cucumers, sprouts, brocolli, mushrooms, potatoes. (All fresh!)

Val drinking her soup, I nv asked what soup it was...

Candid shot, also to test out the reflections and angle and distance and light and mirrors!!! It was one stretch across the wall!

Hui's dinner... er... mushroom wrap perhaps?

Miki and Mine dinner... Crepe of the day which was salmon wrapped inside. Pretty neat eh?

Val's cheesecake, which was more cake than cheese...

My chocolate moose... quite nice... can be even richer in flavours and more 'fluff' factor..

Miki's chocolate fudge. A disappointment to her. It was more of a chocolate cake than a chocolate fudge (which was suppose to have 2 different sensation in the mouth)

Group picture, take one =) With Mr and Mrs Tan!

Group Picture, take 2... SAME GANG! This looks nicer actually compared to the previous one. =)

Labels: picures for outing today with mr 'n' mrs tan

Y The Lady @
12:22 AM

Saturday, August 16, 2008 Y

The Olympic fever brews all over the nations. Whenever possible, one will switch on the tv and tune into Olympic games, channel 5 or starhub cable channels.

I'm not much of a fan in Olympic, I don't watch it much because I don't really support any particular person or event. I watch it sometimes out of fun, and curiosity. And sad to say, I don't really support my own country. Not because I'm not patriotic or anything, but Sg is gonna get creamed by other countries like the USA, UK, Aus and China.

USA reins over in what.... Swimming, B-Ball and etc. UK pretty much consistent overall, Aus over Swimming in a few categories and etc, and China reins over the gymnasium(males), etc. and even tennis(a game against Venus Williams).

But I'm really proud of the table tennis player from Sg that creamed the opponent. She totally creamed her opponent! Based on her consistency in the game and her patience. But that's the closest Sg's gonna get in terms of medal: Silver. And if we're lucky, gold...in the history of what..40 over years??

Speaking of swimming, Michael Phelps reins over the rest in men. The guy that won 7 Gold Medals. His destiny with his 8th Gold awaits him in tml's final relay race. He's gonna depend on his teammates, but I don't worry abt that. He's already made swimming history, on par with the legend Mark something who had won 7 Gold.

And my sis is crazy over him, which influenced me to look forward to his matches. Viewing those swimming relays and swimming races ignited the flame within me to wanna jump into the waters and swim a few laps.

So today morning after viewing Michael Phelps breath-taking winning on channel 601, me and my sis went down to the pool just downstairs and swam for abt an hour or so. Gosh, the win was amazing and the difference between 1st place (Michael Phelps) and 2nd place was like 00.01 second. Michael Phelp's timing was like XX.58, and 2nd place winner's time was like XX.59. Incredible!!!!!

The 1 hr swim for me totally made my arms and legs muscle sore. It's been years (minus away the fun time in pool during my attachment with my kids) since I've jumped into the pool and swam. But I'm so in love with it, gonna swim again - This time head over to OCC and swim in their Olympic pool. That will be totally awesome, with enough pressure and enough depth and enough ambiance.

Wanted to head over today, but cos of the going-to-rain sky and weather, we made do with the pool at our house. If not I could drop by LSH and take a look at their open house. =)

Y The Lady @
12:43 PM

Friday, August 15, 2008 Y

Headed back to LSH to giv Rachel her b-day present. Wanted to get something for her, but then saw Pudding (the cute mouse she made for me), so decided to make something for her - STARS! A lil old school, but in my case i find it appropriate.

So anyway, I stepped into the centre, and the kids (being kids) greeted me in their own adorable way - jumping up and down and calling my name. Rachel called them "my lil fan club". Hahahahs! Couldn't agree more. But they were more than just a fan club, seeing them seeing me, and hearing their voices was like having a huge dose of energy supplied into my exhausting casing. Of cos, the teachers as well... Man, the welcome I got... that was more than I expected! All warmth and big grins!! ^v^

& Nemo and Bubbles came back!!!!! They came back just a few hours before I stepped into the classroom... wow and were they big!?!? Bigger in sizes compared to the ones we brought before, and it's the same price as the small ones I've brought. It's like the WHOLE package this early evening - The teachers, the kids and the fishes!!! ^_^

Spent a wonderful time with the children just before they gotta pack up and go home.
And spent a wonderful time with the teachers helping out for their open house tml.
Not paid for it but who cares? Enjoyment rates more than money in this case! =D

Y The Lady @
10:56 PM

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Y

My beloved lappy!!! Oh how I've missed you!

The adaptor finally died and you no longer able to read the power from the adaptor whenever the batteries in your body is running low.

Had a hard time battling with the adaptor just to get your batteries to charge up to 72%, but still the adaptor finally died on us.

Since then I gotta use dad's lappy(hp), but still preferred you as ur my 1st and very own laptop.

Called on Miki Dear and replaced the adaptor, and now...

YOU'RE ALIVE ONCE AGAIN LAPPY!!!

I've missed you!!!

YOU'RE FINALLY WORKING AND CHARGING!!

Which I'm really glad! ^_^

Y The Lady @
11:27 PM

Days without Krus have been hard, full of sweat and messy hair and late showers but at the same time with an element of fun. Like Mary Poppins said it, "In every job that has to be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and... Snap! The job's a game."

It's been ages since I've handled the laundry and the cooking and the cleaning.. Of course, occasionally I do the washing of dishes and the cooking even with Krus around... But since Krus went back to Indonesia for holiday, I took over her job, taking over the cleaning of the whole house, the laundry, the cooking. Well, I don't mind the cooking part cos I enjoy cooking! It's a good thing it's holidays for me right now, cos I won't have the energy to do it every single day if it's on sch nights.

Talk about bring your work home!!! Usually when I cook, I juz look for whatever's in the fridge, and try to whip up something from whatever ingredients I could lay my hands on. But then, since Krus is away and the fridge isn't stocked with a wide variety of food, and I juz had to slap myself in the face and give myself more work by wanting to cook something out of the ordinary...I did what I can.... I brought my work back home, literally.

Using the phases I use when I teach:
1st, I plan - What to cook for dinner, who's my target, what do I have in the fridge and what are my limits.

2nd [part 1], I implement - I brought ingredients(materials) which I lacked or can't find in the fridge, then I try to create dishes out of the ingredients I have obtained, together with an idea of the final product in my head with the recipe in my mind(from memory, from experience and from imagination).

2nd [part 2], After I cook, I eat, and then clean.

3rd, I evaluate - Was it too salty/bland/sour/spicy? Was my estimation of the quantity enough? What were the problems faced during the cooking phase? And what can I do to solve this problem?

Tell me... does it sound alot like bringing work back home? LOLZ!

Thinking abt my mom made me clean harder, faster, more precise. It's hard not to when you picture your mom having to do all these AFTER she returned home from a whole day of hard work in the office.

So I clean the whole kitchen as if I were cleaning it and transforming it into my dream kitchen: floor's swept, stove's oil-free, sink's clean and dried, bin's washed and put away to dry, plates and cups dried on rack and put away in cupboards, lights on and off necessarily, and NO CHANCE OF LETTING ANY PESTS ENTERING THE KITCHEN. Had help from sis..she cleaned the stove and the big bin, I did everything else.

Then I swept the whole house... -.- I can't recall when was the last time I did that...Probably when we first moved in when Krus was back at her hometown the very first time...? But seriously, cleaning the whole kitchen yesterday was my very first time, ever. Usually I just do the dishes...

After these few days, it made me realized that I haven't appreciate Krus enough. The usual "thanks Krus" for dinner, cleaning and everything else was just so fleeting and light. These few days made me learn to appreciate her more than just what she does, evenwhen she has her faults at times and do (in my opinion) a sloppy job and I just couldn't see eye to eye with...

Y The Lady @
11:04 PM

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 Y

Chapter 4: Final Chapter

Tess had a heart-to-heart talk with the head gardener and finally realized her job scope.However,by the time she did that, Tess was already having second thoughts about staying on.

Even through the conversation with the Head Gardener Mil when Tess knew her job scope, and also why she had that job, she realized that after talking to Mil and stopping the job to focus on her studies, Tess felt better and suddenly relaxed in her heart.

The Head Gardener understood Tess' situation and granted her the wish. They both bid a due and parted. Tess felt that she could answer to herself as well as to Mil, even though when Mil said Tess did not have to feel oblidged to the position - Afterall, Tess was hired as an assistant.

-The story ends-

Y The Lady @
3:37 PM

Friday, August 08, 2008 Y

WOOHOO!!! Love today's NDP celebration @ LSH!! This day finally came, and I was so excited. Since it's the celebration of National Day, I wore a red polo shirt & beige trousers...which made me look like a Singapore flag...Plus the flower necklace I added on later in class, I looked like an MP. Hahahs!

Went in and the kids all greeted me, calling my names. WOW! I missed their voices,their hugs. I carried a few of them up in the air and swung them around. Gosh, missed them so much! I was eating my breakfast when K.L and C came over and hugged me and tugged on my shirt. Then when the rest saw, Y.S, T'vis, Cheri, R'an also came over and hugged me.

So i literally shoved down my breakfast and drank my milo within seconds. Then before the children headed for the open area at a lobby, we gotta tie corsets on their wrists...real flowers. So while I was tying, I heard a kid(i didn't notice who said it cos i was bus tying the corsets) said, "Miss Janice, we all miss you when you never come." Aw.... I missed them too!!!

And then when everyone was decorated with the lovely corsets, Teacher Deng suddenly had this crazy idea that the teachers wear the flower necklace. So Teacher Deng, Rachel and Me wore one each. That was what completed my "MP" Look...LOLZ!!! Then since there're still plenty left, the girls got added 'deco' on their hair--the flowers. Even the teachers also put. We're so united!!! Each of us(the teachers) wore colour coded clothes(red & white), a flower necklace each and one flower tugged in our hair. ^_^

I totally enjoyed the performances! From all classes!!! N2's performance was special... The rest of the classes were dancing and singing, only my class' kids took the Singapore flag and ran...with no music. And the rest of the children looking at them were going "Jia You! Jia You!" I couldn't stop grinning when I saw their performance. Took tons of pictures.. had a lil trouble when the N2s are performing.. cos I was handling 3 cameras!!!

Helped with their lunches... K2 was left with SO MUCH FOOD!!! So I took some myself and took some for Rachel and Teacher Deng in another room cos they didn't have their lunches when the children were having: Neither of them and there were so man variety of food....

Then....there was a surprised birthday celebration for Rachel. Gosh...she was being sprayed all over her hair and the back of her maroon top with the party foam spray. Hahs.... her and Aunty Ang were being "attacked"! But I could see that they had tons of fun....the teachers had fun spraying and Rachel n Aunty Ang had fun being sprayed...?

I helped the teachers took group pictures... Love taking pictures and it's the teachers?!?! Sign me up!! And haiz...my cam went out of bat when I wanna took pics..so Gotta borrowed Wendy's to take.

It was fun fun fun fun fun today!!!! Aw......My life is complete! ^_^

Y The Lady @
2:17 PM

Thursday, August 07, 2008 Y

Chapter three of the plant story. The story continue...

Now, Tess was getting a little used to the environment, but still she felt awkward in a surrounding that doesn't seem to connect with her. She wondered if it was karma or fate or whatever.. When sometimes some things or some people just don't click. The week finally ended for Tess, with the time crawling like snails.. It was hard to get pass Tue and Thurs, she skipped Wed because she wasn't feeling well.

There's something about the garden readers should know about, is the name of the huge garden: Enchanted Garden. It's called Enchanted Garden for a reason, because flowers and plants come to life. So there was something fun for Tess when she found out the magic of the huge garden. So one day, Tess saw the flowers and plants walking around looking for something. She was a little startled but soon overcame it and became puzzled.

"What are you looking for little flowers?"
"The seed of fun," one flower replied, "And we will be in big trouble if we can't find it."
"Where did you last seen it?"
"We were playing with it over there, but we only saw three. The gardener claimed there was a forth."

So Tess helped the little flowers looked for the seed of fun but to no avail. Other than the fun that day, it was pretty much slow. Tess wondered if she was at the right place, as she still can't shake off the attachment feeling she had for the previous garden. Tess fed the flowers, and helped cleaned the environment so the flowers and plants can have a nice and conducive environment to grow and nurture.

However, Tess was relieved that this week finally ended. It hadn't been a long week, but it passed so slowly each day and every day was a torture. Getting up seemed like a chore in the morning. She realized she had to really have a heart-to-heart talk with the head gardener Mil.

**End of chapter 3**

Labels: can't believe I'm writing this kind of story...

Y The Lady @
1:34 PM

Wednesday, August 06, 2008 Y

Thinking about 8th Aug reminded me of my kids.. *heartache* This kind of heartache isn't those that prolongs over a period of time. It's short, painful but sweet at the same time. Yet the more painful it is the more I want it exist.

Could still remember the kid's reaction on my last day(Mon-28th July) when I talked to them and gave them the goodie bags I put together myself...

They hugged me, 1 by 1 and I held them close, some a little tighter with kisses in their hair. A few children held on tighter and twice even, especially K.L, X, C and Y.S.
When I called the names of the children and it wasn't Y.S's turn yet, he looked at me and asked in his very innocent voice, "Miss Janice, what about me?"
I couldn't bear to see him that way so the next name I called was his. And his face just lit up like an angel.

When I told them that day was my last day...
Sam said, "Miss Janice, tomorrow you will come again right?" It was as if the reality hadn't sunk into him.
Xavier said, "Then Miss Janice tomorrow will be your first day again!"

And when it was at 1pm where the half day kids went off, K.L said to me, "Bye bye Miss Janice."
And I said, "I'm not going yet my dear."
And K.L replied, "But I scared later I never see you and cannot say bye bye to you anymore."
That reminded me once again it was my last day.

The children all came around me and gave me hugs like never before. Hugs that made me lost balance and fell onto the floor, but that didn't stop them from hugging me. Hugs that made them look up and smile their lovely smiles or buried their faces in my shirt as their little arms tightened around my waist. Hugs that had all of them came rushing to me all at once without cares and worries.

I did what I could do.
I held them closer, each and every one of them.
I didn't stop hugging them even when I fell onto the floor. They didn't stop even when they fell to the floor with me.
I didn't stop hugging them even when one of them accidentally made my spectacles and I had to remove it.
I didn't stop hugging them because they went over the line or got loud.
I simply couldn't.

On that day, since the morning when they knew I wouldn't becoming back, they came to me after lunch, wanting to sit on my laps. I let them. I held them close to me and broke down the barriers completely as a teacher, and just being a kid with them around. No boundaries.

When they asked me to read them a book, I gladly obliged, no matter how many books they took from the shelves. Usually when I read them stories at the Language Corner I would have them seated in front and around me. But that day, I held onto them, sitting on my laps, beside me with my arms around them and still able to flip the pages.

It was a miracle that I didn't cry that day... Even until now, my conversations with the children are still fresh in my mind.

***

The next day(Tue-29th July) I went back to clear my things and the children were all glad to see me. Hugs were all over the class again, and they started calling my name when I stepped into the class. For a short moment I had the class to myself, cos' Rachel had to go to the back of the centre to get some books for the children. And the conversation started with "is it my last day or first day back?" to our class pet to my math corner(which i was in the midst of tearing down that day so I could put back their original home corner).

Though the time was short, it was blissful. When it was time to go, I told the children I was going. Their faces were sad, some didn't want me to go. Some knew I would be going and kept asking what time I would be leaving. When they knew I wasn't going that early they were glad, and when they knew I was leaving at that time, they came around me and sent me off with smiles on their faces which I'll never forget.

***

Thursday came, as told to Rachel, I would be coming back to collect the library books I've borrowed for them(from NLB and Sch Lib). When I stepped into the class, Rachel was the first to see me. She greeted me with a smile and spoke to the children, "Look who's come to visit you?"

When the children saw me, they came over and hugged me once again. This time it was like before... I almost fell but I didn't and I hugged them back. I could have went home after collecting my books, but I stayed and played with them during the outdoor time in the evening. It was fun and hot(was wearing a navy blue tee shirt) running around with the children.

Went to a pavilion near the centre, and there were snails, big snails... As the children asked questions (some of which I couldn't answer) it brought me back to my attachment days when I got stuck at some of their questions(most of them came from T'vis). I was smiling as I answered their questions and helped Rachel and Teacher Deng looked after the children(when they were out of their sights), having small moments of incidental learnings with the children and just letting the children lead me to where they wanted to go. It was hot and humid and I was sweating, but I couldn't care less.

Thinking abt the upcoming 8th Aug made me took a trip back down the memory lane.. the moments that I've shared with the teachers and the children. Simply can't wait for Friday to come. How I wish I have the power to make time go faster.

Y The Lady @
10:11 PM

Dominoes... Really fun! Especially when played with my sis, aunt, and cousins. Thx to Hong & Jun, they brought dominoes to Grams house last Saturday. Had a blast making use of the whole pack of dominoes to build our own things, F1 Race track all over the oval shape table etc. It was fun.

In the beginning we were only experimenting with the distance of each domino piece, and also the angle in which we should place so it falls perfectly when it's placed in curves instead of straight lines. Then once we get the hang on it, we juz do what we love to do... MIX AND MATCH - Long straight lines, short ones, big angle curves, small angle curves, all kinds of things we could think off.

This Sat, Bei Nian is gonna bake cake for us to try on National Day.. Yummy! Can't wait! =)

***

National Day Eve (8th Aug), a day which I've been looking forward to since even before my attachment ended... Heck, since I've been told abt it which was like even before I conducted any of my lessons (Early July)...

Not really looking forward to National Day.. Or I should say, I look forward to the EVE of National Day than the actual day itself, this year. It's always the usual.... NDP on TV with cool marching and dances and songs and fireworks. What I really love abt NDP is the fireworks... Whoosh! Boom! They shot skywards and then BOOM! Big old explosion and the little lights come down like confetti falling down from the night sky. Wow....breath-taking. Of cos, can't compare with places like US, UK, Aus or etc, but it's still magnificent.

Counting down the days to the eve of ND: 2 more days ^^

Y The Lady @
9:40 PM

Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Y

Let's review the story...

A new lady Tess came to town and got hired by Mil, the head gardener of a huge garden. She's a stranger and unsure in a new environment.

The story continues...

Tess had her second day of work at the garden, tending to the section where she was assigned to. When she arrived at the section, she felt the flowers had missed her and likewise. However, in her hearts she wasn't sure if this was the garden she belonged. In the morning, she was left all alone tending to the flowers and plants, trying her best in keeping order.

For some reason, she was looking forward to the end of her day, even though her day had just began. The rest of the gardeners arrived slowly and took over the taking-care-of-the-plants-and-flowers, leaving Tess alone as usual. She observed how the gardeners worked, after all flowers and plants are grown in different ways in different gardens, even though the "ingredients" needed were identical.

Tess was relieved that she did not have to handle one set of 15 flowers all by herself on her second day of work, but time crawled slowly for Tess. She wished that she were back home putting her feet up or catching some sleep, even though she liked to be around flowers and plants.

As she watched the gardeners at work, she learnt a few things from there, however, she still think of the gardeners back at her previous work garden and the flowers that she had a part in cultivating. Tess realized that this huge garden she was currently working at is VERY different, and the types of flowers and plants are different as well. She still couldn't adapt to the change of environment and accept the way things work, but at least she was sure of what she could do there...Well, a little more sure than her first day.

**End of chapter 2**

Y The Lady @
5:37 PM

Monday, August 04, 2008 Y

Story time...

Let me share a story with you...

Once upon a time, there was a huge garden that belonged to one of the greatest gardeners. he head gardener's name was Mil. This piece of huge garden was where it cultivates flowers and plants ever since they were all seedlings: With love, care, water, food, air, shelter. As it was a huge garden, it was divided into a few sections, each section requires 2-3 gardeners to look after so that the plants and flowers can be taken care of properly. All of the gardeners worked hard to help the seedlings grow, helping one another. However there wasn't enough gardeners around for that huge garden to be working to it's fullest.

One day, a lady, Tess, came to town. She loves to be around the flowers and plants, and her passion soon spread to the ears of the head gardener. This lady has a passion in growing flowers and plants, and the head gardener rang her up and brought her to this piece of huge garden, and seek her help in growing the flowers and plants. The lady was keen but she has never handled anything so huge before.

Her first day of work at the huge garden was filled with uncertainty, but her love around the flowers and plants were present in her hearts. She was assigned to one section of the garden, a section where it lacks gardeners to look after the flowers and plants. She worked together with the other more experienced gardener and try her best to adapt to the surrounding and just be happy around the flowers.

The flowers loved to be around the lady and vice versa. The day went past slowly, with the lady trying her best to help out in a totally new environment for her, with not much communication, instructions or help from the other gardeners. She was left alone to fend for herself, trying to make sense of the whole situation, her situation.

In this lady's heart, she knew she had to continue to stay at this garden, because being around flowers and plants is what she likes, and she is trying to break out of her comfort zone of tending to just a small garden where she was attached with. What this lady hated was the fact that she seemed to be in a stranger world where she's all alone with no instructions or help given to give her an extra push to get things along or answer whatever doubts she has in her ways of cultivating the flowers and plants. After all, in a whole new different environment, seedlings are cultivated differently.

The lady was frustrated and felt like crying due to the uncertainties. She wanted to keep on going and holding on, but she needed confirmation that the rest of the gardeners are willing to work with her on it, to make her job easier. She doesn't mind the hard work, or the slow-crawling hours, but she needed that small gestures from fellow gardeners so that this lady knows this place is a place for her to be.

**End of chapter one**

Labels: Do you know what story this is?

Y The Lady @
9:48 PM

Sunday, August 03, 2008 Y

Had an outing with my Primary School best friend, Mun Ling. WOW.... Counting back the years... it's our first outing since Pri4 when we streamed to different classes. It's been like what?....almost 10 years?!? I remembered those days when we're close and all... good times, good times =) Hehs! And it's still is! Next outing, gonna try to ask out Yang Thong, who's another one of my best friend (I had quite a few back at ATS).

And it was fun fun fun, alot of fun and laughters and stories. Like some sort of informal story-telling / story-exchanging sessions over Mac. Caught up with her and her lives, & vice versa. I'm surprise we had so much to talk about after sooo long! And it's nt as if we chatted for all these years.. I juz got her contact recently abt a mth ago.

Went to Mac for lunch (we're on budget), then head over to the cinema for the movie: The X-Files. It's one of my 'have to watch' movie list. We wanted to catch Mummy3, but then since our outing was on Wed, and the premiere is on the following day, we settled for this. And since I promised my sis to watch The Dark Knight with her, I can't watch with ML, so we settled for X-Files.

The movie was amazing, with a couple of scenes that gt me covered my mouth with my hands...rather disturbing. But on the whole it was great. Seriously, it's different when you read the book or watch the tv series, compared to when you watch the movie... I didn't read the bk or watch the tv series, but the X-Files is similar to "Supernatural".. Those kind of paranormal stuff.

Then we walked to Suntec after the show, and ML intro me a few biscuits, which sad to say I haven't try it out yet. Gonna try it later =) So while walkin on the 2nd lvl of Carefour, we smelled tealeaves eggs, but then after we bought our biscuits and went in search for the eggs, we can't seem to find it... Until we walked almost to the end(in a circle).

Gosh, we had a hard time getting the shells off our 1st egg, cos the membrane was stuck to the egg and only the shell came off. Hahahahs... The egg we shared was pipping hot, you could still see steam coming it.

After one whole day of outing, we were totally exhausted! While walking towards the MRT station, we saw this incredibly beautiful water fountain. The water doesnt only flow down, but it flows up and do little wave actions from side to side. It's nt the water, just the lightings, but it was still cool. Really something special! =) & Of course I took pics, as usual. For those who know me, cam in my hands means ALOT of pics. Hahahah!

It's really hard to maintain friendship, but friendship like this that can withstand the test of time, it's worth the effort to keep it going. =)

Y The Lady @
6:49 AM

Mun Ling & I: Waiting to get into the cinema for the movie "The X-Files: I Want to Believe"

Eating popcorn =)

Solo shot of ML.... "Hui Ge" looks like he wants some popcorn! Hehs

ML's tealeaves egg. Had a hard time just getting the shells off

Y The Lady @
6:32 AM

Last day of attachment,it was really amazing.

Treated the teacher to Rite Pizza.... 4 LARGE, 12 pieces each. We were like.... "order 2 nt enough, so juz order 4".. But cos the serving was bigger than the original idea of ordering Canadian, so we all were bloated after stuffing down slices of pizza, nuggets, wings and a few cups of drinks.

We served the teachers! They juz gotta sit there and wait for the food to be brought to them. I saved 2 plates: 1 for Teacher Deng and 1 for Rachel, the rest of the teachers pretty much ate on the spot once the pizza was here.

Lemme tell you... SHEESH! Time was c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g like hell while we waited for the pizza. Cos we're hungry, the teachers were hungry. A so-call surprise was called off cos the teachers knew(those from downstairs).

I knew they knew when I saw them eating bananas or small bowls of porridge... -.- "Gig" called off! We had to go in and out of the centre just to check for the pizza and everything.

The 3 of us(Wendy, Yvonne, Me) went to NTUC to get some drinks in the morning. Then Yvonne and I went to get the chicken wings and the nuggets, and Wendy and I got the pizza from the delivery guy(who didnt apologize for letting us wait).

Not alot of work, but then it was like hell while waiting for the pizza. I bugged the person lke 2-3times cos our pizzas aren't here!!!!!!

After everything was settled, the 3 of us finally sat down and have a mini party of our own. To celebrate our passing in supervision, as well as last day! Then while I was eating, Rachel suddenly gave me Pudding. I couldnt take it cos my hands were oily, so she placed it down for me. I was really shocked when she gave me this =D

Then I gt her a drink to go with her food. Nt sure if she drank coke, so I gt her green tea. THEN I realized she does drink coke. O'well.... =)

And the teachers loved my cheese cake! Well, most importantly is Rachel and Teacher Deng's reaction. Cos that cake was specially for the both of them afterall. The cake was gone by the end of the day, every teacher had a share, and a few K2 kids and my friends. I didn't take a piece cos there's another cake waiting for me in my fridge ^^

All's well that ends well! Happy ending, no doubt!

Y The Lady @
6:19 AM