Paintball

Yesterday me and about 26 other teachers from many other schools went to play paintball at Orchid Country Club. It was fun. I lost both games but I got to shoot so many people and I only got shot once on the vest. It was so very close though... we lost by a few paces bringing the ammo box towards the home base. The day after the battle, my whole body aches especially my back and my thighs. It was a good exciting workout. Should have bought more ammo to continue the game.

Looking forward to next month's game. How are you guys doing?

Class Reunion 6-1'o7

Class Reunion 6-1'o7
Teachers' Day 2008
Cedar Primary School

Thanks guys. You are the best. Will write more later. Busy busy...

Australian Outback

We started the day early at 7.45. The bus came late and we were all waiting in the freezing cold. We had to pay an additional $20 for diesel tax. At about 8, the bus left Perth.

First stop was the town of York. Nothing much there except for some really run down buildings. I did find a very good second hand book shop which sold The Education of Desire: Marxists and the Writing of History, by Harvey J. Kaye, for just $15 bucks. Amazon selling it for US$161.60. Hah hah hah...

We then went to visit a really funny dog cemetery. Found many funny headstones there: Cindy, Bobby, etc, etc... Took some pictures and will put it up once I reach Singapore and can find the time. I'm afraid once I reach our tiny island, it'll be work, work, work!

Just before wave rock, we went to have this awful lunch at this pretty place. My son touched an electric fence and got the shock of his life. That was something he'll not forget.

When we finally reached wave rock, it was magnificent! I climbed all the way up to the highest point. Met some irritating Singaporeans who insisted that I should drive round Australia. I really felt like shouting, I DO NOT WANT TO!!! Instead, as usual, I let my charming charismatic self handle the situation.

Anyway, the Wave Rock is composed of good ol' granite with a beautiful pinkish tinge. Its rounded wave-like shape was formed by weathering and water erosion and most likely, according to our guide that the weathering started below ground level before it was exposed. I think it was an underground river exposed. Will check with Prof Teh on this.

We alos visited the Hippo's Yawn, a cave that resembles a yawning hippo. I don't think that there are hippos in Australia. Most probably a name given by the, what Thanjit calls them, the tall ang mohs. Anyway, the aborigines used to give birth to their babies in this cave, far away from their men.

We also visited Mulka's Cave, 18 kilometres north of Wave Rock. We saw some well preserved examples of Aboriginal art and hand outlines. Mulka is this guy who's mother had an affair with another guy from another tribe and ended up growing taller than the rest and ate babies as a hobby and got killed. Makes no sense to me actually...

We then headed back to Perth before eating some outback cakes made by two very old aussies. Pictures later.

Mandurah

Today, we went to this town south of Perth called Manjusri... er no, I mean, Mandurah, and once again by their train. The bus servise was once again free from the station to the front shore. We ate fish and chips at this restaurant and then went for a boat cruise where we gazed at the homes of australia's filthy rich. What was really exciting was when we saw some dolphins right by the boat that we were in and several times too! After that, we went to this 7-day market which really had nothing much.

Came back to Perth, again by train and ate some asian food at this restaurant called Ole-Ole, but not before going shopping at Woolworths.

Tomorrow, we're going into the Australian outback! I think the waverock is going to be more interesting than Mandurah. The Wave on Hyden Rock is one of Australia's most famous landforms, which looks very much like a giant surf wave of multicoloured granite. It is estimated to be over 2,700 million years ago, and has been there even before dinosaurs roamed the earth!

Orchard Glory Farm

We went to the Orchard Glory farm today, slightly more than an hour's drive from Criterion Hotel where we stayed. The rooms are cool! We fed the horses, the goats, the rabbits, the pheasants and the Llamas.

But the coolest thing we did was to bottle some real wine! I got to bring two bottles home, the ones my son and daughter bottled. That's going to raise some of my friends when they visit.

Anyway, the nights are super cold! I ended up spending most of my time surfing Australian TV channels infront of the fire place munching some Doritos and dipping them in some Doritos dip. I must have burned some three logs of wood.

The owner of the farm was from Singapore and he was kind enough to bring us to the Bindoon Town, which was really just a few shop houses, for some tidbits shopping. The town people were very friendly but I can't help but to be reminded of some ulu kampong in Malaysia. Instead of some pakciks, makciks and apeks, its all filled with ang mohs.

The next day, we went back to Perth Town and the driver, yet another ex-Singaporean, brought us to his restaurant and we ate some authentic Singaporean dishes. He was also trying to convince us to become Australians and keep comparing why the life in Oz is better than in the Lion City.

Of many of his arguments, many of which is interesting, he said that the government here has more heart. The bus service in Perth CBD is free. Parking is also free. The poor must be allowed travel and work, he said.

Hmm...

After that, we went to Kings Park, a beautiful place. Most importantly is that I found out from this trip to the park is that the Perth people were very friendly and kind. Whenever we looked lost, they would offer us help and pointed to us directions. It's a shame thought to see such a nice place full of graffiti.

But yes Thanjit, the best thing about Perth is still the eggs! They taste different.

Day 1 - Australia

I'm in Perth now. Yesterday, we went to this town called fremantle. The weather is nice and cool. The trains here are quite cheap too. about 18 oz bucks for an all day pass for a whole family to go anywhere.

We went to The Round House, the oldest remaining building in Western Australia, and explored the rest of Fremantle ourselves by walking. We went to the esplanade, basically a big field where kids play under some really huge trees and picnic people feed huge seagulls.

We went to the Fremantle Prison too. It is one of Western Australia’s cultural heritage sites. Imagine a prison as a heritage site! We in Singapore on the other hand, destroyed our old Changi in the name of development.

The EShed market is kinda boring and I think the Chatuchak market inThailand has more variety. In fact the stuff sold there really looks like as if there were from Chatuchak. Same goes for the Fremantle Village Art Markets.

What I really like about Perth, are the boiled eggs. They taste different.

It looks like the people in Fremantle and Perth are very relaxed and laid-back.

The queues in their Macdonalds are always super long yesterday and people are all walking very slowly. Maybe it is still their public holiday for yesterday was some Foundation Day or something...

Maybe today would be different. We'll just have to wait and see...

Science Videos

Sorry people. Busy past few weeks! The sports carnival was a blast... many of my students came back. They are all so big! Anyway... these are some interesting videos for Science! Parental guidance advised.

Feotus development

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48_fIOpkbfA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcQzZ_qMemA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDaR4JT75Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkvl374liGs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MnQxiSJZ4Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHLG-Ari9NA


Digestion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fff7xunqgtI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3986Yfl5cU

JZ's Awesome Choir Performance, Sin's B'day and 4 lovely ladies

Sorry for the very late update. These last five weeks or so has just been so crazy! The only break I had was during JZ's choir performance! He was awesome. His choir group belted out many many nice song with some notes that were simply mind boggling. Well done JZ!

Another break I got was two days ago when Sin invited me to his house for his birthday lunch. My wife and I met Pearl, Eli and Jeremy there. Sin, I wish you a happy 13th birthday. May your teenage years bring you interesting and nice memories to last for the rest of your life.

I know this coming week is going to be another difficult week for me with the papers and all. How I long for my holiday. The last time I went for my well-deserved break, I met four unforgettable ladies. I can still remember them like it was just yesterday. It was at The Library of Celsius, in ancient Ephesus, in Turkey.

Built in 114 AD, and once hosted 12,000 scrolls, it sure has got to be the most appropriate setting to be introduced to "Arete" (Goodness), "Ennoia" (Thought), "Episteme" (Knowledge) and "Sophia" (Wisdom), four ancient statues that have existed since the ancient world.

Actually, they are replicas of the original, but hey, they are at the original site and that is good enough for me. Can't wait for inner Mongolia this June!

National Museum Fieldtrip

We went to the new renovated National Museum yesterday. It was cool. I think it is even better than the one I went to, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Anyway, after that, some of us hang out at a place near the substation. It was cool. I had to go back earlier than the rest though. My marking is piling up and the exams are fast approaching.

Yes Carmen, there are many cats in this blog because I love cats. These cats though are the ones in Turkey. This lucky black cat here almost crossed my path while I was strolling in Topkapi Palace. It is therefore a palace cat!

Anyway, I just discovered that I'm featured in Ria's website. Sadly, it is true that I am swallowed whole, by my work. But that does not mean that my fight to raise environmental literacy and the awareness of Singapore's natural heritage has ended. I would also recommend you guys to visit the Brain Bits website, maintained by Mr Kua!

And please don't hate geography! It is only the best subject in the world...

Back Ache, Old Students and Random Thoughts

Hi all,

Sorry for the longest time since my last update. Have been very busy with work. I'm again on MC today. I should not be. There is just too much work that I cannot afford time off from work but the doctor said I should rest at home. She gave me two days but I think I'll go to school tomorrow if my back improves. The P5 camp at Sarimbun was a blast! I have never enjoyed camp this much. Sorry if you could not be part of it. It was just way too far away from school to have involved you guys.

Anyway, I met my very old student in the camp who is now a high-rope element instructor! When I was 18, I volunteered in this association and led a dozen from the youth group to Mt. Ophir. He was one of them.To think that his very first camp and very first overseas trip was with me and now he is a camp instructor! Moments like this is what make me realize how right I was to have switched my carreer to what I am doing right now.

To top that, my very old student in another school that I was attached to six years ago, whom I taught only for two months, contacted me! He is now living in India and have just completed his O's. He was so proud to highlight the fact that he took his six months ahead of everyone else! Eli and Leon came to visit yesterday. Sorry guys if I could only talk to you for a short time. I have to clear so much work! Please please sms me next time before coming next time so that I can confirm the best time to visit. Same thing happened to TCC. He came to visit last Thursday but I had to go to Grange Road for a meeting!

I'm so excited this Sunday! I'm going to see JZ's choir performance.

Why I love my job

Today was special. Eli came in the afternoon to visit. I had an urgent meeting so I could only talk to her for a while. I should have told her to visit me after 430. I thought she would stay till evening but she did not. Would have loved to talk to her more. Next week Pearlyn is coming so Eli, if you can join her please do. Please check with me on Thursday so I can confirm the best time for you two to visit.

Then later on at about 5.30, Eve and Grace came to visit and bought me a cake! I took them on a tour and sat down to talk for a very very long time. It is nice to hear and be updated of their lives in secondary school. Please do not give up on Geography. It is your teacher's favourite subject. He got a first class honours in it ok. Through them, I learned about the other members of 6-1'07 and their lives. It was hilarious but at the same time sad that I am no longer a part of these new learnings of theirs.

To top it all up, TJ and Pam smsed me. Pam, I am so proud of your results!

What is sad is that only my female students visit and sms me. What happens to the boys? I hope to see them soon. I understand you guys are busy and please, school work must come first. Just remember my 6-1'o7, study hard and enjoy secondary life. These are not mutually exclusive.

May you live all the days of your life.

To Love

Have you ever felt
Earth shattering stillness
Or heard your soul shout loud
As silence speaks…

Have you ever been at peace with anger
And not care any longer
Or blinded by seeing
As your senses are numbed
By feelings that you still despise

Perhaps…

I am too drunk with soberness
Too tired with eagerness
Too jaded with enthusiasm

I am not the Messiah of the world you say
Enjoy the passing clouds, you utter
If only I can have the strength
To name one after you

You make me fall in love
When I am already in love
When I am already in pain
When I am already insane

You make me rethink life
When I thought I knew
When I thought I am certain
When I thought I was already me

It is at last,
The shadow of a thought that I loved
And love, I realize now
Life shall never be able
To give me what I need

Very busy past few weeks

Hello people.

I'm back blogging after a very very long time. It has been a very busy week past few weeks for me. Danish meeting, Topical tests administration and analysis, Masters' Reading, etc, etc. At this rate, I think I'm going to wear out very soon. Especially the markings. I have never marked this much before. This round it is going to be a battle till the end. We're going to win no matter what. Whatever sacrifice it takes. The battle for honour has just begun. I'd rather die standing then to live on my knees.

Anyway, I enjoy the smses I still receive from my old students. It tells me that I am still remembered even after they have met other teachers in Secondary School. Keep the smses coming in you guys.

The photo is me in Turkey. Behind me is the Bosphorus. In the photo, I am in Europe and all the way behind is Asia.

Four Hour Nature Walk and A Cat At The House of Mary

This Sunday morning, Jabbar, Maimon, Anita and I went for a four hour walk from Macritchie Reservoir all the way to Bukit Timah Nature Reserves.

We started at 0700hrs and reached BTNR Hindhede Park at about 11-ish. Went straight to the row of coffee shops infront of beauty world shopping center to eat back all the calories that we lost.

The funny things was that this time it was not as tiring as I felt the last time we did this, which was last month. That time, we had Bobby and his wife, my wife, Kat's husband and his colleague joining us as well. Maybe this time I was already fitter fro mthe last trip, though I sincerely doubt so.

We took the same route as last time but today we included the tree top walk as well. I can't wait for next month's walk. It sounds crazy but I truly enjoy these walks.

The photo of the cat, if I remembered correctly, is of the cat that I saw at the House of Virgin Mary in Turkey.

I prefer radio

I went to Ubin for a camera shoot for a TV show, 'Once Upon a Tree 2' on Friday. I needed to raise the awareness of Chek Jawa being up for reclamation in four years time. I hate cameras but as usual, the cause was more important than me.

I prefer radio interviews. TV needed me to say the same thing again and again and again. Sometimes I cannot remember my lines and it was really painful to say them again and again and I am used to giving long boring lectures.

Anyway... here is a cat that we met at Mount Olympus. This cat was just below the snow zone. The temperatures were freezing and this cat was just cool. He does not seem to be affected by the temperature at all.

Look at that fur! If this cat is in Singapore, I bet it wont be a street cat.

CNY Reunion featuring the Cats of Hagia Sophia

It was a nice Chinese New Year's eve. My students, about 22 of them came back to visit their Cedar. Let me see... there was

Shao Wei, Grace, Leon, Xin Yu, Eli, Eve, Jany, Jonathan, Zhen Yu, Yong Jie, Sharon, Pamela, Ras, Sendil, Sin Hao, TJ, CC, Paul, Jeanne, ZX, Fiona, Eugene. Did I miss out anyone?





They were all so big and grown up! What happened to all my cute little students??!! Hah hah hah.

Some really changed a lot. The most changed would be Brenda of my Panther House. I really could not recognize her. Even my other students could not believe that she was Brenda

Students from my previous 4-4 also came. Shengnan, Vincent, Zhixian and Chun Wee. Sorry guys if I took some time to recall your names. It has been a while since I saw you.


What I really need to say is that the most rewarding moments in my life as a teacher is not when they revise our pay (of course I always welcome increments)... not when I win awards or stuff like that, but when wonderful students like you guys, especially my wonderful P6-1'o7, come back and visit me, with donuts or without.


You guys serve as a reminder that teaching is meaningful, and that I must work even harder for my current and future students. So to all those who visited me, a big thank you. To those who did not and could not (like Aaron, Albin, Nancy, Anisha, etc, etc), we still and will always remember you.

Oppression

Ziya Gokulp

What's that? Well... that's the name of the guy whom I have been asked to study and present to the rest of my reading group. He is Turkish, of course, and I was asked to present his ideas because I went to Turkey. I cannot see how visiting sedimentary rock churches has got anything to do with Ziya, but hey... I think it is worth a study.

Like many other wise people, Ziya Gökalp was many things in one. He was a sociologist, a poet, a political writer, and a of course, Turkish nationalism. His work influenced the father of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk. Ziya was influenced by contemporary European thought and rejected Islamism in favor of Turkish nationalism.

What was interesting to me was that he was in a veterinary school. How cool is that! More of him when I have the time. Now, I have to prepare my Master's paper before I meet my supervisor on Thursday.

Of Beautiful Horses and Wonderful Students

Just found out that the name Cappadocia was probably derived from Katpatuka, land of the beautiful horses, in Hittite language. Though I did not see any horses in that region.

Anyway, my students came to visit yesterday. Eli, Pearl, JZ, Jeremy and Pam. It is always nice to see the gang, no matter how busy I am with markings and meetings. They have grown a fair bit... all becoming young men and women. All of their cuteness have almost dissapeared. Hah hah hah... I did not get to see Zhixin though and for that I was a bit sad. I am very happy that he got his appeal though.

I do hope I could join the gang on the 6th. I was just told that I have yet another meeting that day. The school might be closed half day and they probably have to find a new venue. I wonder where would be a good place?

More on pigeon poo

I did more reading on ancient people who used pigeon droppings as fertilizers, just like in Cappadocia. Apparntly many other civilizations did. The ancient egyptians too used them for their crops. Studies have shown that they are rich in nitrogen.

Basically, these pigeons will go fly around in the day, eat wild seeds and berries elsewhere, go home and poo. Farmers take these nutrients and concentrate them on the soil they need to cultivate. So what these pigeons do is really just concentrating available but scattered resources.

Some modern garden composters too recommend using pigeon poo as starters. Though most warn of the fact that these poo from pigeons might contain somewhere around 26 known diseases. But hey, tell me which poo might not?

Valley of the birds

These houses and holes for bird are in a valey called Valley of The Birds. According to my tour guide, pigeons have long been a source of fertilizer to the farmers here.

Many believe that Cappadocian fruits are sweet because farmer used pigeon droppings. I wonder how they handle the bird flu threat?

My First Sedimentary Toilet Break

I was looking for the rock type of these carved mountains. I found out that these churches were carved out from sedimentary rocks and ignimbrite deposits erupted from ancient volcanoes millions of years ago.

What are sedimentary rocks? Well there are the three main rock groups: (1) igneous, those that came out of volcanoes as lava and then cooled, (2) sedimentary, those that has been eroded washed away somewhere, settled down and then hardened, and (3) metamorphic rock, are any of the two that, under pressure and heat is changed into something else. Actually, it is more complex than this but you get the idea.

In this picture, you see how neatly you can cut the sedimentary rocks in cappadocia, goreme region. Here you see tourists getting into one of the caves, now converted to be a public toilet. The toilets in Turkey are ALL super clean. I am amazed. When I asked the tour guide why this is so, they say it is because, 'we are muslims.' How I wish they can tell the Malaysians to do the same.

The only thing about the public toilets that I don't like is that you have to pay 50 liras to get in. That's about 60 cents each time you go. That means if you have a weak bladder plus the very cold weather, you will be spending a whole lot of money on toilets a day.

T'was A Good Friday

First of all, I must say that yesterday was a happy day for me. Manda and Xinyun came to visit me and it was so nice to see them happy. It was sad though that I could only see and talk to them for about ten minutes of so and that was because I sneaked out of a meeting. It is also nice to see my old students, all taller and bigger now, coming to visit me. I do hope it happens more often and how I wish my meetings would be less frequent.



Anyway, this photo here is the picture of all the churches in a row in the Gorame Open Air Museum. The rock type in this region made this all possible. It is soft enough to carve but yet strong enough to remain intact as monolithic structures.

IXOYE

Our guide explained to us what IXOYE meant. It means 'Jesus, Christ, Son of God, Savior'. According to him, it is all represented in the Maltese Cross. This picture here I took from one of the Gurame Churches. What happened was that during the reign of Emperor Nero in Rome, Christians living in that city were persecuted so they hid themselves. The cross became a secret code to mark this secret movements, where they had to meet secretly and practice their religion.

I believe forms of discrimination is wrong. I believe in the freedom to practice one's faith without being persecuted. As long as of course, your faith does not involve harming another. I think if you have the time, please read Gordon Allport on Prejudice. Worth the read.

On M.C. and Environmentalism

Today I am on MC. Have a chance to updte my blog. Strange thing is both my wife's and mine i-pod died today too.

Inspired by St. Basil's prayer, I have decided to look for some material about environmentalism in the catholic tradition. I found this:

In 1990, Pope John Paul II issued his World Day of Peace Message, Peace with God - Peace with all of Creation, in which the Holy Father announced, "There is a growing awareness that world peace is threatened not only by the arms race, regional conflicts, and continued injustice among peoples and nations, but also by a lack of due respect for nature.... Moreover, a new ecological awareness is beginning to emerge which, rather than being downplayed, ought to be encouraged to develop into concrete programs and initiatives." (source: http://conservation.catholic.org/background.htm)

More later

My wonderful day...

Today, while I was in a very long meeting. Jeremy sms-e me telling me that he'll be visiting. I said I was in a meeting and it might end late. Nearing the end of the meeting, I sms-ed him and he said he was already on his way home and he LEFT ME SOME DONUTS!

After the meeting, I went back to my table and there it was... SIX BEAUTIFUL DONUTS! Beautiful because they came from 6-1'o7 *sobs* My very first lunch treat from 6-1'o7

Actually he gave 24 but the other teachers got to it before I did so they left me only six. I would not be able to finish all 2 dozen anyways. Then Sharon, Eli and TJ came to visit too!

We had a nice chat but felt bad because I they were already starting to lock up the place. At least I feel better now being able to meet my beloved 6-1'o7. I do hope such moments are more frequent.

Till then...