Just The Wei I Am

Movable Type kena saboed by cPanel's automatic driver updates. Buggy Perl MySQL driver proves a bane to MT. Blog spammers contributes to mayhem by increasing database traffic, causing my disk quota to jam up!! Couldn't blog even when I wanted to.

My Thinkpad's LCD backlight conked out! :_(
now I need to send it for repair ... waaaah ...

Should I hack my DVD drive's regioncheck?

2 weeks have passed! I've lost the idealistic tone of new teachers. Bumped into Minna the other day. She told me she's decided to become a teacher. I discussed it with her like I've seen it all, the jaded sort.

Okay, a bit exaggerated but then, it's partly true. 2 weeks ago, I imagined what it would be like on Monday the 27th, first day I stepped into the classrooms. 2 weeks on, and things are not what I had imagined. For the better, mostly for the worse. Not that things are bad, but more perhaps I imagined things a little too rosy. Now having been through 2 weeks of the real thing - no more imagination - my feet are firmly on the ground.

Students are not as enthusiastic as I thought they might be. I'm especially disappointed by the Sec 1s. Don't get me wrong - they are mostly angels (simian ones perhaps). It's just that I got my hopes too high, and when their response to the lesson is lukewarm, I feel a little let down.

Faced with 5 classes unanimously complaining that Literature is boring, I had a brainwave to liven things up and perhaps get them to like Lit a little more by using popular music to teach poetry, in place of William Blake and friends. For the Express classes, I even taught them simple songwriting, thinking that they would be utterly excited at the prospect of writing their own songs. Sadly, it seems like more than half of them just sees it as homework, and are hardly thrilled. Hmph. Well, it's due next Monday. I really hope there will be some excellent work out of the lot.

Sec 4s are a headache. While I enjoy a comfortable relationship with them (i.e. they don't hate me), they are simply uncontrollable! My gosh, I dread going for sec 4 classes, and I see them everyday! Told Cheryl today that it feels like I'm running a day care centre, or perhaps playschool. Haha, yup, they're 16-year-olds and they behave like children. Both the good and the bad sides, of course. The hyperactivity, the uncontrollable noise, running around, playing (silly things like splashing water at each other). It gets really amusing, but then I'm always worried that they will cost me my job by being so rowdy! Yup, relief teachers get fired for not controlling their classes. Hmph.

Well, 2.5 more weeks. I think I look forward to the end of the job, not because I'm sick of it or tired of it. Nope, I'm still alright with the job. I look forward to when I can sever the official teacher-student ties with those jokers, and perhaps become friends with some of them. Already quite chummy with some, but the teacher(even though just relief) role does limit how far I can go now. Oh well, we'll see...

Aku hendak pergi ke Miri (di dalam Sarawak). Orang sana cakap Bahasa Melayu, sebab aku mesti belajar Bahasa lagi.

Aku ada pelajar-pelajar yang Melayu, dan boleh cakap Bahasa dengan mereka. Tetapi aku punya Bahasa sehaja sedikit...

My Malay is not up to scratch!! I must quickly learn more Malay and speak it better!

heehee... because I'm going to Miri in Sarawak! One-week short term missions trip. Going to visit and support our church there. So exciting! Hope to learn much from the trip, and grow, and see, and experience ... yeah!

Went with my parents to the Cycle and Carriage showroom today. We're getting a new car, while the COE prices are down!!

They had their eyes set on the Mitsubishi Lancer 1.6 CVT Elegance. I managed to coax them into getting the Sports variant instead. Slightly more fanciful features, like the ultra-cool car stereo. Significant difference between Elegance and Sports is the looks. Erm, one looks elegant, while the other looks sporty. The Sports variant has black leather interiors! After we add dark window film, the inside will just look cool lah! Outside, the usual sports look - body kit, alloy rims, chrome exhaust.

Loved the Wine Red, think it goes really well with the black interior. But a red sporty car looks too young for my dad, according to him. Black would be nice, but out of stock, and we want the car this month, so too bad. So we got the blue one..

I spotted one in the car park, so I snapped it. Was a little hurried, so the photo leaves much to be desired, anyway i photoshopped it to make up:

Oh ya, now's probably a good chance to mention that I've recently acquired a 2nd-hand Canon Powershot G5 together with a rather complete set of accessories. It takes great pictures! Phew..

Back to the car... Oh yes, I can't wait to drive the new car *rubs hands with glee* Haha, suddenly I have a lot of drive to quickly get my license!

Adorable, aren't they? =)

was having dinner with Rebecca and Raymond yesterday, and i remarked that sometimes a person's handphone reflects who he is.. the management executive carries an expensive phone (Vertu. etc), or a functional phone (XDA, etc), or something simple and elegant (couple of Samsungs..)

So who carries a Nokia 7610? Hmm .. this isn't a new phone, been on the market around a year liao. Anyway I couldn't resist getting it at the Starhub roadshow.. it was either this or the 7270. Both are funky phones, quite the arty-farty sort, equally comfortable in an art gallery and a club. I don't know how to describe the 7610. On one hand, it's kinda ah beng. Yet on the other, it oozes charm and sophistication. Some sort of jazz ah beng phone then ... watever

anyway, the phone is a joy. i love its avant garde looks, but to top it all off.. it's a Symbian phone, raising it's geek-factor. so let me conclude by saying it's a jazz geek beng phone.. muahaha .. i think i sound super stupid .. *rolls eyes*

love the phone.

I met Minna (left) and Serene for supper just now. We were supposed to go to Plaza Sing for a movie, but they cancelled and the SMS got lost somewhere ... so I took 190 down to Lot 1, and we ended up at KFC. KFC closed but we had so much to talk about, none of us wanted to go home that early. After all, it's FRIDAY NIGHT (I never figured out what was the big deal about Friday night until I started working!).

Anyway, Minna wanted a durian, so we got one. I got some soya beancurd at the Block 302 coffeeshop - it's probably the best in CCK, used to dabao it back in NS days. Got drinks from Cheers, and off we went to a nearby void deck.

I've always been more or less in touch with Minna, but for Serene, man! We haven't seen each other for years! Oh, just to mention, we're primary school classmates! Yeah, you heard that right - primary school classmates. I've known Minna 14 years and Serene 13 years. We've seen each other grow up! haha, Serene remarked that I strike her as being mature. Thank God!

We talked about so many things - loans, bankruptcy, insurance, work, LKY, education system, life as teachers (me: relief, M: contract, S: trained), church, relationships... Minna gave us a short lesson on diamonds. After all, she's choosing a ring soon ... =)

Serene was apparently really blessed by the whole meet-up. Work has really gotten to her. She teaches primary school English and Science. Hmph, if my Sec 4s are such monkeys (ahem, ya, you monkeys :P ), primary school children must be worse. She said something funny.. "Finally I can use big words!" LOL and she's so happy she wants to meet up regularly every month! Sounds good to me ...

We talked about our primary school days, about our classmates, about our teachers, about how we were brought up. We're at that point in our lives where we're stepping over the threshold into adulthood. It's almost surreal, but we know we're there. Just look at the things we talked about. Oh man ... we have grown up. It's especially obvious when you're with friends you've known since childhood.

We shared a cab home. It was past midnight.