The Evil Eye....

The Evil Eye is awakened. Being a teacher-student hybrid, I can understand both sides of the coins, from the teacher's perspective and from the student's. Ideally, the teacher wants to impart the best of his/her knowledge to the student for him to do well. Sadly, most often, the good intention (misunderstood or otherwise) might not be recipocrated. Feel like a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid that Ichigo is. (Bleach manga reference)....
Given a mercenary task of tracking down a target, with impassionate pleas from my fellow colleagues. Summoned most of my willpower to search for the elusive prey, despite several security measures, still could not last more than 3 hrs. For the first time in a long time, I put aside my Flyff to concentrate on this difficult task ahead....
The only thing that is preventing me from advancing ahead involves some moral issue. (which some will derisively snort at for my "lack" of). Other than that, nothing much except preparing to mark six classloads of tests this week.

Poser!

A continuation of photos from the nakedplanets blog. Just learned that blogger.com has a new feature that can directly upload photos!

Posting Pictures

Since zhuge liang/Alvin Ong had already recounted with vivid details how our last TTC meeting went, I shall post a new topic by putting pictures. Totally random and unrelated stuffs.

Must say one of the GE students is very talented. Can see an artistic flair in him.

My older sister's bunny birthday!
Last but not least, the elephants.

The Dark Side

Spiritually and mentally exhausted, I was feeling frustrated by the terrible amount of lag that I have experienced on the Internet while fighting elephants.

Almost embarked on the path of no return. My dark side overpowered my meek, weakened normal side. Thankfully, my little sister brought me back to sense. (ironically, without actually doing anything).

Realised that everything that has been made for man's consumption is corrupted. After some self-reflection, I finally found the courage of doing what I have never did before, by erasing the past memories of my life.

If everything sounds vague to you, good. Ignorance is bliss. I am writing in abstract terms to pent down my built-up lonliness and frustration, before I go insane. If I can miraculously made it through Taiwan, not by my strength, I want to be able to do the same here.

And now, the evil roving eye is scanning the world wide web for more blogs to devour...

Late Days

Unprecedented in the past two weeks, we have been ending our tour in RI later than expected. For the past weeks, zx and I had been faithfully leaving the RI gates no later than 1430hrs. However, we were besieged by an unexpected twist of events lately.

Just had a long staff meeting. (which was called staff contact). Basically, our presence was unnecessary. Wondering why the teachers said that it might be useful when the topics do not concern us at all. What a waste of 2 hrs. Which could have been spent lazing around..er, rejuvenating my exhausted body, by lying comfortably on my bed on a warm/cold afternoon day.

Thankfully, one of my class responded better to my classes,..by learning to keep quiet. Must remind myself to bring headphones to school, since aural entertainment is important in warding off the Zzz monster.

As Zx has commented, I am delirious with joy once I stepped out of the gates of RI. Yea. It is always good to be happy after a long day.

Note: Our timing has deviated from the norm. It is time to restore back to the default timing of 1400hrs. No good.

Friday

Finally the end of the week. As usual, it was raining cats and dogs. Malaysia by now should be flooded like hell. Bishan wasn't spared too. The former cemetery site was choked with swirling waters. Ironically, even though Friday was a short day, zx and I came out of school later than the normal workdays. And so, the 3 of us (joined by Ashraf Maniam later) made a valiant attempt to walk from school to the MRT.

It was a bad mistake. The howling winds ensured that despite the overhead protection that our umbrellas gave us, our sides were not spared. We also had to dodge dangerous roadside puddles to avoid getting drenched whenever a vehicle zoomed past.

Reached Macs in a pathetically wet state. We sat down to dry ourselves like fish in a freezer. Somehow, our conversation led to a thorough investigation by Ashraf and zx to find a guy in their BMT. They were trying earnestly to recall the idiot who lied to his platoon sergeant. About how his father had passed away on Valentine's Day(to give him sympathy leave). Which is true of course....just that his father was dead for more than 7 years already...-.-''

And hence, a wild goose chase had started, which led to Ashraf calling from everyone under the sun, from Hon Lyn to Nikhil to Jasmeet and so on. It was only after many calls later at the MRT station did they manage to get the answer that they were desperately seeking.

It was still raining when I reached Suntec. Liase with my sister to have dinner with my mother (a weekly affair).

Thankfully, my sister's fiance had a car, so at around 930 pm, he gave me a ride to Cathay en route to my house. Joined Eddie and Alvin who were lazily sitting on the Starbucks coffee...

Tired after vigorously levelling my knight. Shall continue in the next post. Weekends are precious. Weekdays are too....boring to do anything.

300

Finally managed to reach my 300th post after 2 years of blogging. Incidentally, there is a new movie coming out which is simply called 300. Yea. The battle of 300 Spartans against a legion of barbarians. (when i say a legion i meant a million) So much for the last stand and fighting against really bloody overwhelming odds. Wonder if SAF is able to fight against such impossible odds.

Zx and I have managed to align ourselves to meet everyday on the same train, with military precision. I figure that if I can reach City Hall to catch the 0643 train (on my watch) that is, I should be just on time for my daily routine.

And always, Zx can be found in the head of the train in the orange section. And, I notice there is always a very attractive woman seated directly opposite the train. Sadly, she alights at Orchard and not in Bishan. . Hence, this accounts partially for the military precision of our timing. After the army, I realised that women in general do look more beautiful. Maybe because 2 years in a monastery (just like in 4 years of RI) has taught me to appreciate the other sex more.

Yea. Last day of the week. 2 lessons. Early day. About time to unwind and plan for the next week.

Decadent Times

Yes. As usual, I strolled to the canteen at RJ. Never realised that they have a 7-11 ministore until Zx pointed out to me. A fellow female J2 fencer recognised Zx's mug when we were outside looking at the 7-11. :S It has been 5 years since they last met, which means..the J2 was just a sec 2 when their paths had crossed. What a long time ago.

Qing chu yu lan, sheng yu lan. Literally translating , the green out of the blue, triumphing over the blue. With a higher population, the bell curve of creeps tends to be proportionately higher. If only we do not live in a fallen world.

Teachers are humans too. They get tired, angry, stressed. And they like to compare classes and see whether their observations tally with their colleagues. To me, GE and SE make no difference (GEP and Express in the past). As long as the students are willing to learn, I don't care them multi-tasking. I teach what I have to teach, whatever they learn is up to them. Yea. I think it is time to instil a little of the harsh reality outside to them now, a bit at a time. Such a laissez-faire attitude is sometimes helpful to prevent anger and a high cholesterol level.

Yes, as I was saying. Even though the campus is only 2 years, some students are, I must say, quite adventurous. Rumours have been floating around that the security guard, Elangor and the cleaners have caught some of the frisky ones,hmm..simply put, exploring the nether regions of their partner. -_- Hopefully, these rumours are untrue.

And the 7-11 sells FHM and Maxim. So, I cannot imagine a male student buying the magazines, at least openly, in front of a female student.

Times have changed. During my recess break, I found out from one of my colleagues that her ex-student (male) was given a SMS by a fellow female OG mate that she liked him. In effect, it was something like "Hi, I am so and so. I think I like you. " :S And so the hapless boy went back to consult and seek advice from his ex-teacher.

And RI was defeated in the Arena by Loyang sec. The boys look like meek lambs compared to the lions of loyang. Sad.

Seems that the female cohort has moved on with the times. The males have either stagnated or taken a step back.

Everyday Hundrum

Am glad to find company (yea, the Band of Brothers) in the form of Zx. The trip to Bishan was relatively short compared to the lonely days which I would slump against the MRT seat anad stare blankly at the tunnel wall. (otherwise attempt to sleep).

Weilei is currently taking a break, as the sec 3s are happily going for OBS for their orientation. Which means no income for one week. Cunning, the way the HR allocates people for relief teaching. Another new relief teacher(malay language) is added to my small cluster of teachers holed up in a classroom.

Meanwhile, Raymond is mugging feverishly for his medicine tests( yea again, as usual). Ken Toh and Eddie have both found relief teaching stints in a primary and a secondary school respectively.

For now, I can envision Zx and I eating ban mian at s11 everyday until the arrival of more reinforcements. Yea. Sieged by a cohort of 182 pupils is not a joke. Zhi En will arrive when Mrs Tan Lai Lin (yes, no more Miss Wong) goes for her maternity leave. Which means, I=6 classes, Zhi En= another six classes.

Other names that I recall included Glenn, Ashraf Maniam.

Deprived of a laptop, I have to resort to using mindmaps and whiteboard markers. Sorry if any student is deprived of a premium teaching experience, since I am also learning along the way. Hence, the last classes often benefit from the blunders that I made earlier on :S. They receive the crystallisation of the finest teaching that I have condensed (jokes, lame or otherwise included) into an hour.

Nooooooooo. Why must there be an assembly tomorrow?!

Tour of Duty

Seems that I would be fully utilised by the school system.My tour of duty is supposed to span a period of six months, in which a replacement for a permanent teacher is taking place. Hence, I am assuming the role of a form teacher of a class of twenty.

Such an unpredictable turn of events. Two years ago, I was a wandering soul deciding where to go. Now it seems that my six months would be a fulfilling one educating young minds.

Four years ago, I saw my alma mater through the eyes of a student. This time, it would be through the eyes of a teacher.

Nothing much has changed. Except there is no longer any "O" levels, what with the Raffles Programme and all; Tuesday has been converted to a wear-tie day instead of Monday. And now there is a new Rajaratnam block that is seven storeys high. Staff rooms one and two have been demolished to make better ones; the teachers are now holed up in several classrooms. Lockers removed; walkways build. Flag-raising as I heard is no longer on the astroturf but on a former carpark to be known as Raffles Square. -.-''' Meanwhile, my teachers still look the same.

Shall eagerly await the arrival of my friends to join me in my tour of duty as well.