sunday post

dinner with darling at marriott cafe to celebrate our 71st month anniversary! :)

NANTA

thank you foo shin for recommending this show for us to watch! 

watched it at marina bay sands with darling, xuehong, foo shin + wife. 

before the show i went to jb with my two army friends mak and leow. did not buy any stuff. only eat and massage.

what a happening saturday! 

集体拳 videos

the ladies...




the guys. 



xiaoyun call us V5. because there's 5 guys. V5 stands for Vibrant, Versatile, Valuable, Virtuous and Victory. 

thank you xiaoyun for uploading the videos!

anyway i am now on reservist. today is the first day, and it will end on friday. :(

saturday post

went to toa payoh sports hall in the morning to participate in the 3rd International Wushu Championships 2012. 

i am in the 集体拳 event, and my 4 other team members are kenny, weiren, xueliang and yaowu of rhythm n moves studio. the choreographer is none other than mr derek seong. 

we were really short of time. the first practise was on 8th september (saturday). the second practise was on 9th september. the following week there was practise on wednesday and saturday but i did not go because of my ah gong's funeral. 

and the next practises were on 16th september, 19th september and 21st september (friday). 21st september didnt really count as a practise because we just did the sequence a few times on the carpet. 

so effectively we only had five practises together. it was my most unprepared wushu competition, and i seriously think the five of us were amazing, and our choreographer was awesome too, because of his faith in the five of us. 

anyway the reasons why we were so amazing is because:

1) we re-use the music for Labyrinth's Item 6. we are all very familiar with the counts of the music so it is easier for us to blend in our new choreographed movements.

2) we are all very experienced and versatile wushu exponents so this makes derek's job easier. *self praise to the max*

3) we have a great level of understanding and chemistry with one another and our common objective is to get first in this competition. 

however on friday, we were really lethargic and off form when doing the sequence. derek was super disappointed in us and gave us the "hairdryer" treatment. 

thankfully we rose up to the occasion and did our best. when the first group did their sequence and got 8.60, i was really shocked. i felt that the marks given were a bit too high. when its our turn, we gave it all and wow-ed the crowd, with our Item 6 costumes giving a good first impression. haha.

we emerged top of the group with a score of 8.63. it was a really close fight. the girls got a score of 8.46 (if i have remembered correctly). i think they did really really well, because except for yuying, it was their first wushu competition, and they are all dancers!!! they must have made derek really proud. if they were my students i would definitely be super proud of them. 

i watched the video from xiaoyun's phone. at the start all of us were really synchronised but towards the end we were a bit uncoordinated. i think we were too tired. but thankfully we got the judges' nod of approval, and managed to achieve our common objective.

well done everyone from rhythm n moves! :)

fine dining jap cuisine at dozo

went to dozo restaurant my family to have an early birthday celebration for my little sis. it is located at valley point, along river valley road.

dozo restaurant is a fine dining jap cuisine restaurant, with great food and great service. (it has been dunno how many years since i did a food review)

you are given a chef's platter of the day.

and you choose your own appetiser, soup, side dish, main course, dessert and drink!

platter of the day: foie gras, scallop and smoked salmon

my dad's appetiser: sashimi!

my king crab claw salad. mum ordered this too.

tuna with avocado.

smoked duck with delicious cranberry jam.

side dish: bamboo clam

foie gras chawamushi

baked escargot!

pumpkin soup

cod filet! very fresh~

some pork dish which taste normal.

duck meat! yum yum! 

dessert: japanese mochi with green tea ice cream

warm chocolate cake!

all these for 71 dollars per pax. great food, great service, great ambience. totally worth it!

rest in peace Ah Gong...

my ah gong passed away on 11th september 2012. 

i was still sleeping and at 5 am my younger sister opened the door and woke me up, telling me that ah gong passed away. i was shocked and at that moment my mind went blank. 

the next few days all of us were busy at his wake. 

our duties include:

1) burning hell notes for my ah gong, and we must make sure the hell notes must be kept burning continuously throughout the whole duration of the wake.

2) cleaning up the whole wake area. we have alot of relatives and we basically used almost the whole void deck. we cleared tables, picked up litter, throw away trash bags filled with litter and replacing new trash bags, swept the floor, etc etc.

3) doing the "feeding" procedures for ah gong at specific meal time slots. 

4) collecting the 白金 money and counting them at the end of each day, and we have to deposit them immediately in the atm cash deposit machine. we have to go to the cash deposit machine in at least a pair, because there's alot of money and we may be robbed, especially we are still in our wake attire. 

5) doing PR with distant relatives (my father's cousins, uncles and aunts) who had not seen us for a very very very long time. so my sisters had been getting comments like: wahhhh dua3 han3 liao4! wahhhh 长的真漂亮！女大十八变！and i am getting comments like: 你是谁的儿子啊？wahhh 在街上一定认不出你。

6) last but not least, playing host to our friends and relatives who came to 守丧.

through this wake/funeral, i see my uncles, aunties and cousins everyday, and i think we were bonded much closer compared to before. i talked alot with my cousins on everything under the sun, such as school life, army life, soccer, etc etc. 

yes, being involved in ah gong's wake is both physically and mentally draining, but the close relationship among us made it better and we tide through this together. 

and now, it brings me to say this:

you do not need to wait for a relative to pass on and everyone started to become closer than before. you can start NOW when everyone is still around, and enjoy the family warmth together. if you had been busy with your work and had not been spending enough time with your family, why not put your work aside and just organise a family outing. 

because even why the sky falls on your head, the first people to arrive to support you will always be your own family members. 

rest in peace ah gong, i am sorry that i did not spend so much time with you during your later years. 

you will remain in our heart and memories forever. :'(

the eight brothers! there is 9 actually. number 5 is not here. my dad is number 4.

ok nvm not funny. :p

eight brothers and two sisters taking with their chinese zodiac!

now you know why my family is so big, and why i have so many cousins. i will have a headache when i have my wedding banquet but i shall let my dad to the sitting arrangement for the relatives. :p

POTD

HAHAHAHAHA i really like this! :)

Aaron Kwok - 舞临盛宴

it is really amazing that at the age of 46, he can still put up such a magnificient performance with all the dancing and wearing that 10+ kg dance suit. 

i have always wanted to watch his concert but always missed it for whatever reasons, so when xue hong told me on friday that he will be watching, i immediately went to buy two tickets for myself and darling. hahaha. 

highlights of the concert are his magnificient dancing, the wonderful backup dancers, the super awesome dance choreographer who obviously dance better and more impressive than aaron kwok, and last but not least, the amazing "transformer" stage + visual projection effects! xue hong, are you inspired? hahahaha. 

my favourite songs of the night are 争气 and 爱的呼唤. if he sung 三岔口 in the cantonese version i would have ranked it in my favourites list too. 

i had a particular fond memory of 争气 because this was the song used for my 集体拳 competition when i was in jc 2. i was the captain of the wushu team and my coach gave me the liberty to choose the song that i want. so when i first heard this song on the radio, i fell in love with it immediately, because the fast counts and tempo of the song made it really suitable. that time there was no YouTube so i had to standby a cassette tape and place it in the radio. so when i heard the song the next time, i quickly recorded it. hahahahahaha. 



btw we got 1st place during that year! i remembered it was raining very heavily and i had to shout my voice really loud because i was the one giving the commands. that time we were not skilled enough to listen to the counts of the music. so the rain + my loud commands + wonderful music + great teamwork and chemistry among the 8 of us + awesome choreography by my wushu coach delivered us the title! haha. those were the days. 

some pics from the concert! :)

thank you for the orange heart mr xue hong!

the "transformer" stage that looks ordinary from here but when it transforms its really AWESOME!

KOHvatar and avaTAN. hahahahahahaha. 

this was really funny. hahahahahaha. 

beautiful sight when aaron kwok asked the audience to activate the flash function of the camera phones. :)

on a side note, september holidays are about to end! this september holidays is really awesome because i recharged myself and let's embrace term 4 that will pass by very very fast!

soccer competition at CCAB!

we won all the 4 matches in our preliminaries, and also kept 4 clean sheets.

however when we got into the top 16 we lost 2 nil. i was the goalkeeper and conceded both goals. felt really disappointed as i let down the team. haiz.

but my colleagues are gracious in defeat and super nice people. they did not blame me at all and were still very happy being able to play competitive soccer and have such great bonding. i love my colleagues! :)

hk dramas

this two weeks i 一口气 finished watching two hong kong dramas: 怒火街头 2 and 飞虎。

hong kong dramas always have a good script, and connect with the hearts of the audience. there is always  some takeaways, such as in this world there are alot of people who are more pitiful than you but they still can survive and live happily, and the most important takeaway is "人在做，天在看". 

the best way to live your life is to be a righteous person, 安分守己的过日子, and you will have nothing to worry in life. :)

pancakes for breakfast again!

this time round we have two additional ingredients! walnuts and durian! 

darling made the pancakes, i threw the strawberries and walnuts on the pancake, i also sprinkle the maple syrup on the pancakes. hahahaha. darling is really good at frying the pancakes! i give her 10 upon 10! :)

teachers' day

to share with you my colleague's feelings on teachers' day, and i really agree with her.

"Teachers' Day is a good day to reflect on what it takes to be a teacher. Do not measure it with the amount of gifts you have gotten on this day. Instead, measure it against the number of pupils you have touched, inspired and changed for the better. Regardless of whether they remembered it and whether they say it to you, you HAVE made that difference. Treasure it! Look back at it every time you wonder to yourself "what the hell am I doing here?". Picture the faces of the people you have touched and say to yourself " Oh right! That's why." 

Being a teacher is challenging. Remaining a teacher is even tougher. So many have left the service after their bond because they are burned out. This profession is not for everybody. Hang on to the job as long as you can because you will change lives and you will make a difference. Not a lot of jobs let you do that.

Don't expect to be remembered forever. Don't let your ego get in the way. Whatever you do, do your best. Put your heart and soul into it. Be sincere and truthful. It's not about the money and it's not about the bonuses. You are dealing with an individual's future. Equip them with the tools and skills for survival and remember that the ones who are the hardest to love, are the ones who need them the most.

Happy Teachers' Day to all of the teachers!"

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

teacher's day this year was initially a let down, because no thanks to mama oscar echo's calendering, our teacher's day holiday has been sacrificed. 

however, mama oscar echo made amends by announcing a pay rise for all teachers. 

and this brings me to share with you another friend's thoughts. she has already quit the service and is now working at another ministry.

"Giving salary rise serves as only a stop gap measure to keep some teachers going. Though welcomed by all, the measures which the ministry should look at is to probably stream line the work load of the teachers. 

Focus on delivery of quality lessons. Many a time I see a colleague is so bogged down with committee organizing event and the other Cca such that the foundation of the work, Ie teaching is compromised. Is that what we want for teachers?

I strongly hope one day that the teacher friends I know can have a life of work life balance. When they can enjoy family, friends and personal time on weekends. And enjoy the profession :) "

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

my thoughts?

teachers' day is a day for teachers to feel loved and be recognised for what they had done for the students, be it in the form of messages (sms, whatsapp, facebook), thank you cards or gifts. 

the messages from some of my students:

"i want to thank you for being such a good confidant. thank you for including me in your dance performances, you gave me so much opportunities to push my limits. it is really something that i am grateful for. thank you for inviting me to your dance concerts, they really broaden my spectrum of dance. you are a nice and friendly teacher. thank you for teaching me so many things."

"you left me a great impression, in terms of your unique teaching styles, your great knowledge and also the approachability. students like teachers who are approachable and fun! do continue your passion in teaching and hope you have better days, months, years ahead!"

"you are an awesome teacher and also because of you i got the opportunity to perform many times on the stage!"

"thank you for believing in me and choosing me for defying gravity. it was a great experience for me. enjoy your day!"

from the thank you messages, it is clearly evident that i inspired students alot in the area of performing arts. time to inspire students in the area of academics (especially chemistry) and physical education!

thank you to colleagues and students for the gifts!