my first teachers' day present of 2011

so sweet of them~

i am very very very very very touched... :'(

selemat hari raya!

wishing all my muslim friends, colleagues and students selemat hari raya! no need to fast any more! time to regain your weight!


today i spent my hari raya by going to nus for dance practise. and then after that eat lunch with darling at clementi mall. and now i am at home, going to do my answer key. hahahahaha.


tomorrow will be the end of august. thursday is celebrating teachers' day, and also doing ACES day. btw for those who haven see my ACES day workout this year, here you go:





last year was choregraphed by yours truly, shamelessly stealing steps from michael. this time round the mass dance was choreographed by my sec 3 student leaders. well done to all of them! but i still teach the majority of the school population. one day if they can choreograph, and they teach the whole school population, then really win already. hahahahaha.

1300th post!

wanted to do my answer key this morning but i procrastinated (as usual) and din do a single thing. 


went to huifen's secondary school in the afternoon to play volleyball with my pe classmates. so happy to see them, and i really miss them sooooo much~

 

looking forward to the next gathering with them!

sunday post

went to natas fair with darling to book our dec holiday. we planned to go to hokkaido and tokyo. i reached there first so i was walking around, looking at the brochures of different travel agencies.


and then suddenly i heard a voice.


unknown: hello mr tan y _ _ _ y _ _


(looked at him with a puzzled face, because i dun find him familiar, but i know confirm is ex student)


unknown: i am ex student from (tango papa sierra sierra).


so i asked him when did he graduate, and which class was he from.


unknown: cher, where are you going?


me: hokkaido leh. what is your travel agency? have hokkaido package a not?


unknown: have have! i work with M Asia! come come follow me!

(i am very bad because i din ask his name)


-----------------------------------------------------------------


ok so i went to the m asia booth, checked out the prices, and quite satisfied because the tour guide is very very sincere. but cannot promise immediately mah because i have to go other tour agencies to ask their prices and do comparison. so i went to a few more agencies, and seriously, m asia's quoted price is the best with their itinery, so m asia is my chosen agency! hahahaha.


so it is confirmed! 


hokkaido, 7 days 5 nights tour, 30th Nov to 6th Dec!


after that i will extend my stay in tokyo for 3 more nights! because my colleague is at tokyo from 30th nov to 12th dec, so i will meet up with him and his wife, and we will go disney sea together and help each other take couple pics! hahahahaha.


and tokyo is 6th Dec to 9th Dec! looking forward to a wonderful and fabulous winter holiday with darling!


we left natas and went to tung lok seafood at east coast park to have dinner with my family and also to celebrate my father's birthday! my father's birthday is 27th august, so sway have to coincide with presidential elections, therefore we celebrated today instead. 


we had the ala carte buffet, 34.80++ per pax. food was really good. well worth the money.


dishes we ordered:


chilli crab, fresh prawns, shark fin soup with pumpkin juice (all these only come with one serving per person, but the rest of the dishes on the menu is ala carte buffet)

crispy fish skin, salmon sashimi, fried sotong head (the appetizers)


steamed tilapia, deep fried crispy soon hock, scallops with sambal peas, crispy oat prawns, lala (the seafood dishes)


sambal kang kong, baby kai lan (the veggies)


coffee pork ribs (the meat)


mango pomelo, sesame ball, gui lin gao (the dessert)


still got many more dishes on the menu but they are quite common, so we din order. 


i bought a 400 dollars g shock watch for my father (darling share it together with me too)! it is really a beauty!!! he likes it alot! :)

i am very thankful that tmr is a sch holiday! and i am going to play volleyball with my pe classmates tmr! :)

elections duty

today is the day of presidential elections, and it is also my first time doing elections duty.


i woke up at 5 am, took a cab at 545 to dunman sec, because dunman sec is the place to collect the ballot boxes and ballot papers.


and then i took a chartered sbs bus together with my team members to east view primary, which is our polling centre.


anyway my duty is PO (Presiding Officer) registration, which is basically the person come to the table, then i check his/her polling card and nric, look for his/her name on the list and strike it off to indicate that he/she has already voted, and then another colleague will tear out the ballot slip and pass to that person, at the same time must also say out the person's name and polling card number. 


i think i have recited around 600 different names and 4-digit serial numbers for today. hahaha.


anyway waiting for the results of the election. i am actually more looking forward to the appearance of yam ah mee. hahahahahaha!!!

T&L survey

students in my workplace have to do a T&L (teaching & learning) survey, to access teachers' teaching credibility. they can also write comments about their teachers.

basically my survey results are quite ok, above average. i will like to share with you some comments, that are quite funny. :p

for PE:

A very nice, patient form teacher and PE teacher. He gives us chances and alot of help when in need :)

During PE he will attend to us and give us interesting games.

mr tan is a very funny and interesting teacher. he always encourage us not to quit and not to give up, and to persevere.

Er... naggy but really nice. 

AWESOME!

for Chemistry:

He's good!

Teaches a bit too fast. Unable to keep up with the pace.

Interacts well with class . Able to bring fun into the class, enjoy his lessons. But somtimes, a bit too fast on certain topics.

Your notes and passion for teaching really motivates us!

HE IS ENGAGING BUT TOO FIERCE. I HOPE THAT HE WILL BE LESS FIERCE AS I DARE NOT ASK HIM QUESTIONS. I ALSO HOPE THAT HE WILL EXPLAIN THINGS MORE CLEARLY. BUT HE IS A NICE TEACHER WHO DOES HIS BEST FOR US.

he is very very funny, great in teaching and he makes us all laugh in class from time to time. he is the best chemistry teacher that i ever had.

Lessons are funny and hilarious with his jokes.

cannot concentrate on lesson because he too handsome and extremely humourous.

Very dedicated teacher that never fails to bring joy and fun to the learning environment.

Mr Tan has interacted and bonded well with the class, he also tries his best to teach us all the concepts that we are not sure of.

Mr Tan has been a very tolerant teacher and is able to interact well with students in class, making chemistry a lively subject .

----------------------------------------------------------------

ok next time i shall go a bit slower when teaching chemistry. i will be a better teacher!

but thank you to my students for the feedback. makes me feel appreciated. :)

the pupil's creed

an incident happened in sch today, during morning assembly.


on wednesday mornings, the pupils have to raise up their right hand and recite the pupil's creed, which goes like this:

we as _________________ , pledge to be respectful, and show care and concern to the society. we seek to improve, and achieve as team players, as we are responsible for our own learning.

then right, this boy from my form class, who was standing at the back of the class, did not raise up his right hand and did not recite the creed.


my colleague spotted it and went up to him to question him, and he said that it is against his religion. anyway the boy is a christian.


so my colleague dun understand why reciting the creed was against christianity, and the words in the creed are all positive words. he also felt that using religion is very sensitive, so he immediately called the pastor of holy trinity church and asked the pastor whether is it against christianity to recite the pupil's creed.


the pastor said it is nothing wrong at all, but told my colleague to settle this issue in a tactful manner, and ask the boy which church he belongs to, and who is his pastor, because different churches may have different practises.


interesting~~~


anyway my co-form called the boy's parents, and next week onwards the boy will recite the pupil's creed.

bintan!

we stayed at a villa, that is very big and very well furnished. in addition to the villa we also have our own buggy.

alone in the bus. lailai and the rest were all there already. they reached the villa on friday. 

the front porch of the resort. the main resort is called nirwana resort hotel. inside the resort got different sections. we stayed at indra maya villa.

the place we stayed at! lailai works at PSA, so he gets a staff discount for booking the villa. it is pretty affordable with the staff discount.

got 3 bedrooms. every bedroom has a toilet.

the bed that i slept on for the night. it is a sofa bed.

the very spacious toilet.


oh yah, i forgot to mention, the villa has a pool. :p

is not a pool shared by all the villas hor. each villa has its own pool! shiok right~ so we put hot tea, soft drinks, fruits and tidbits at the side of the pool, and then soak in the pool and nua-ing. this is life~ especially rewarding for me after finishing 3 weeks of reservist.


dinner at a zhi char restaurant:

the food here taste a bit more salty than our local zhi char. but it is still nice! 

this is the buggy that i mentioned just now. my first time driving a buggy! very fun!


pictures of the beautiful resort:

got many things to do. got air gun, archery, water sports, massage, ktv, jacuzzi, etc etc... those typical stuff that you can find at batam.


but just to warn you, the things there are not cheap. one cup noodle cost 4 sing dollars! wassup...

ok i am going to sleep! back to sch tmr!!! :)

back from 6th ICT!

i survived the 4D3N batallion mission exercise!


i din bathe for 3 days 3 nights. i shitted on the second day, and i shitted twice. i got lots of mosquito bites, and foot rot. i ate cup noodles for dinner on the first day, and the rest of the days i survived on combat rations and fruit bars. how memorable.


and i am going to bintan later! haha.


i haven set finish the prelim paper for pure chem. and i have to submit for vetting on monday. si bei stressed. :p

but nevertheless i am still glad to have finished this reservist. :)

sunday post

two weeks of reservist had passed. now is the final week, which is a 4 days 3 nights outfield. super sian and super stressed, because of my responsibility as a CSM. if i cannot re-sup my scouts, pioneer and mortar platoon i feel very very guilty, and i will be 千古罪人。


anyway right there are many complaints going on in facebook that singapore is overpopulated with "foreign talent". and i myself experienced that, in our sg army. 


i was at the cookhouse, and i overheard two people conversing in the very authentic PRC chinese slang, and i turned my head and i got a total shock when i saw the two of them in the army uniform. 


and this is a more funny incident, experienced by my army friend. 


the incident happened in a 5 tonner (a very big lorry). 


indian warrant officer: driver left!


(chinese driver still driving straight)


indian warrant officer: knn driver right!!!


(chinese driver still driving straight)


indian warrant officer: n* b** ch** b** you PRC ah??!!


(chinese driver nodding his head)


-------------------------------------------------------------


ok anyway this is now the final hurdle. please let me tide through this successfully and also safely. 


i cant wait to go back to sch. i miss my students. hahahaha.

national day celebrations

first, we had a combined national day observance ceremony with the primary school.

ncdcc. parade still forming up, waiting for the VIPs to come. VIPs = batman and robin, plus the P and VP of the pri sch. 

can spot me? hahaha.

ok parade finish liao. now the different contingents will do a march pass.

haha the scouts and brownies from primary sch soooo cute~ and they cannot march in step. :p


and then we went to hall for assembly program.

almost whole sch in red. cool!

choir performed a medley of past national day songs. the favourite song is reach out for the skies by rui en and taufik. 


after the whole thing i stayed in sch until 5 pm to set prelim paper. i am the last one to leave sch again! hahahaha *苦笑*.

national day dinner

brought some of my students to junyuan pri sch to perform for tampines west national day dinner. we re-use the item choreographed by xue hong. from the original 29 performers become 16 performers, because some couldnt make it, some got dunno wat reason, some fasting, etc etc. but on the bright side, the stage was actually quite small, so having 16 of them is actually just nice. but i must still thank my 16 kids for coming down to perform, esp for the muslim students, who are now fasting.

the students wearing red are performing rhythm n beats. something like STOMP. using drumsticks and pails and rubbish bins to make percussion music.

my two colleagues! coincidentally we wore the colors of the sg flag. hahahaha. they stand and i kneel to hear the lion roar. 


at exactly 717 pm, the muslims can break fast. so when they break fast they must listen to some islam music and they must chant some prayers, and the islam music is broadcasted from a radio station. a new piece of cultural knowledge that i had learnt, after 27 years in sg. well at least it is better late than never. 

using ipad to find the online radio station to play the music. wonders of technology.
 

prepare to drink.

DRINK!!!

wah seh need to be so 夸张 a not?

EAT!!!

AND PERFORM!!! why got laser being shone on my student??!! tsk tsk.


batman was at the national day dinner too. sitting at the vip table right in the centre and in front some more. and he kept smiling throughout their performance and moved his body according to the beat of the music. haha. 

but majority of the audience were too focused on the food. sadness.

thank you paul scholes

paul scholes is retiring from professional football. 


a testimonial match was played to recognise his contribution to manchester united. check out the goal that he scored in the match:





thank you paul scholes. you will be missed.

tuesday post

something happened at *ahem ahem place*

explosion in the science lab!

the casualties:

civil defence came to put out the fire:

even the police came.

everybody evacuated to the assembly area. checking of strength to make sure there's no one missing.




at the ops centre, writing down the casualty list:

and here comes the reporters...

the boss must handle the questions very tactfully and give clear answers, such that the reporters dun misquote him.


anyway, this is just an emergency exercise. but all of us reacted as if it really happened. thumbs up to our professionalism! :)


behind the scenes:

making the fire.

the talented actress and actors.




upon conclusion of the exercise, we had a debrief. my role is the warden, which is to go around with my team members to comb all the classrooms in the sch, making sure there are no casualties in the classroom, or nobody hiding inside the classroom because they too traumatised. i found two "missing students" in the computer lab when i doing patrolling. hahaha. they super fortunate can hide inside air con room. when i found them they told me:"aiyah cher, why you find us so fast! let us stay here longer leh~"

buffet lunch for the teachers! yay!


---------------------------------------------------------------------


and i am going for reservist tmr. sian... :(