I should get extra

I’ve been busy! I’m feeling pretty excited actually.

On Friday, went to Geylang Serai. To get what? To get flowers. haha. Terence was in the mood to walk around with me. So, we enthusiastically walked around Geylang to search for flowers. TADAA!

Went to IKEA on Saturday! I’m so in love with IKEA. The whole store is driving me crazy. I love the vases. I am so going to get more on my next trip. I took the train home carrying a plastic bag full of vases, toilet roll holder, door mat and a heavy load which almost killed me on one hand and 2 shoe racks on the other hand. While transiting, I cannot be bothered with taking the bus. So, as soon as i alight from the train, i hurried off to get a cab.

Well, i’m being extra helpful this year!

I did a collage of my family photos. I took out the picture from an old frame and replaced it with a photo collage of my family. I painted the whole frame gold because the old frame looked really old!

I painted the railing of the stairs too. Oh yes, i painted it gold too.

Other than that, bought golden brown cushion covers too. I love the design. So pretty!

Bought cushion covers for the dining room. The previous cushion covers looked awful on the chairs. Managed to find cushion covers which somehow matched the table cloth of the dining table. I must say, it looks better now.

These shoe racks were bought from IKEA. As you can see, i carried those shoe racks all the way home from IKEA!

I bought the white vase from IKEA and the flowers from one of the stalls at the Geylang Bazaar. Terence chose the flowers.

I placed another vase at the staircase. I arranged the flowers and the placed photo frames which i bought from IKEA. The other vase is on the dining table.

I love potpourri. I arranged the bowl.

I guess i did this because i was getting bored of the refrigerator’s colour. Bought some self-adhesive wood paper and pasted it on the refrigerator. Luckily my mum didn’t nag at me for tampering with her fridge.

This is my bathroom door. I pasted some self-adhesive wood paper on it and painted the dor knob gold.

Lastly, just want to show you my mum’s efforts in sewing the curtains and the cushion covers for the living room.

I scrubbed the tiles, i cleaned the whole house and i am feeling pretty exhausted already. Ok, i should get extra green packet from my mum. hahaha.

Be graceful, please

Was about to exit Cheers when i saw a lady walking over towards the door. She stood there outside the door while waiting for me walk towards the door. WHY? So that i can open the door for her. She was at the door even before i even reach that door. She could have just open the door first. I am not her doorman. When i open the door for her, i didnt even receive a “Thank You.”

Firstly, she stood there outside the door while waiting for me to reach for the door, so that i can open it for her.

Secondly, she just walked through the door without any basic courtesy.

Lady, please be more graceful.

I need a bigger shoe rack

I’m a shopaholic.

Went through the shoe rack. I’m totally amazed by the number of shoes i have. I am so good at buying shoes but when it comes to putting it on, i cant seem to sink my feet into it and walk on the streets with it. Some of it are bought on impulse during crazy shoe sales. I’m sure i am not the only one experiencing this problem.

I bought this pair of Mitju heels few months back.
NEVER wear it out before. Not even once.

Bought this pair of bronze heels at Mitju sale.
I simply love the colour but wore it out only once.

Bought this 2 years ago. NEVER wear it out before.

Bought this pair of heels a year ago. I love this pair of heels because it goes well with jeans.
However, wore it out only once.

Bought this a year ago because i had a fetish for polka dots fabric at that point of time.
Wore it out only once.

This pair of heels is an all time winner! Bought this 2 years ago from Charles & Keith.
Been wearing ever since i bought it.

I’ve got more in the shoe rack. I should have a shoe sale.

Catch me if you can

Lovely day with boyfriend. Boyfriend accompanied me to do my hair. He waited for hours until he fell asleep. So poor thing! Finally, no more melodramatic despair of having wavy and messy hair. I’m loving short and straight hair.

After much sitting and hours of resting our butts on the chair, we had dinner and a stroll to the man made waterfall. Beautiful :)

J for Jaded

15 minutes past 3 in the morning and i am home. I must say i had a long day!

The day started with shopping. Currently, i have an obsession with green. I’ve always hated green for some reason. To me, it is the dullest and most boring colour ever! So, since when did i fancy green?

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Lets talk about what i did today.

1) Met Terence in the afternoon. He needed a hair cut so badly. So, we went to the salon at Far East Plaza.

2) Dinner was at Pizza Hut with Yan and Syaf. We had large hawaiian pizza, hut’s platter and spicy drumlets.

3) We went to the arcade. Challenged Daytona and Bishi Bashi with each other. We bashed the buttons of the machine with our palms till our palms turned red.

4) Went for a movie – “Mirrors”. The ending to that movie left me bewildered. Nur Amalina, this movie is definitely not for you. DONT watch it. I bet, you wont dare to look at yourself in the mirror after watching it.

Ok, after the movie, we were feeling hungry. Went to McDonald’s for supper. I ate with self recrimination and guilt of getting any fatter. After much talking, it was almost 3 in the morning.

Took a cab home feeling jaded. I need to sleep now.

Shouldnt be for the sake of it

Marked the same set of comprehension papers. This time round, i sought help from another English Language teacher.

What’s the use of wanting more marks just for the sake of passing? Be open to learning and make room for improvement. Oh well..

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I just recovered from the flu virus but I’m still left with dry coughs which can be a irritating to the throat most of the time. So, I better not lose my voice from all those shouting.

Yes, yes, yes. I need more rest.

Not for my own benefit

Here i am stuffing tissue into the holes of my nose while letting out deafening sneezes. I sound like a sexy transsexual at the moment. I stood in front of the mirror while staring at myself. I opened my mouth real big and stick my tongue out while making a loud “Aaah”. Don’t doctors always do that to you when you tell them you are having a sore throat? Oh well, i was just being a curious kid who eagerly wants to see what’s inside my mouth.

School made me so pissed. One of the class really tested my patience. Yesterday, i gave them a comprehension to do in class. I collected and marked their papers by referring to the answer key which was provided by one of the English teachers. I took 3 dreadful hours marking those comprehension papers. I tried to give them marks for answers which was appropriate and reasonable. When i returned those papers to the class, one asked, “Teacher, why you mark so strict?” Well, it cannot be helped. As long as the points are not there, i can’t mark it as correct.

The class was so damn noisy. I wrote the answers on the board, asking them to do their corrections when i heard one of them said, “What kind of answers are these? I like our English teacher. At least, his answers made sense.” Another student said, “Teacher, are these your answers? Why the English so funny?”

Damn it. Those answers don’t belong to me. It was given to me. I referred to it. Is it my fault that the answers are ridiculous? All of them were surrounding me and pestering me for more marks. They kept insisting that their answers were right. I got totally fed up. In addition to my frustrations, the class was loud and barbaric. I totally lost my temper and started to shout. For the first time, i punished students.

“Teacher, don’t be angry. Relax. Yesterday, there was another relief teacher. He was so relaxed. He came to class yesterday, told us to keep quiet just once and then sat down to do his own things. After that, we did talked but he didn’t say anything.”

Ok, easy for him to say. I never said that they can’t talk in class. I allow them to talk but they were never considerate. If you whisper and talk softly, i wouldn’t mind. If you are shouting from one end to talk to your friend at the other end. Now, you tell me. Is that being considerate and reasonable?

I was given a schedule to follow for 2 weeks while filling in for their English teacher. I have responsibilities to make sure that all the work would be done when he comes back to school. I have to maintain discipline in class. If i don’t, i feel that it would be a bad impression to other teachers. Just the other day, while i was in the staffroom, i overhead one of the teachers saying, “Just now, i was having a test and my class was so noisy. The class beside us was making so much noise. There was a relief teacher in the class. I had to go to the class to ask them to quieten down because my class was having a test.” Just look at how hearing that made me feel?

The lower secondary level classes are obedient. But when it comes to the upper secondary level classes, they don’t really listen to you. At least, the graduating classes are well behaved. They know the seriousness of focusing on their studies. After all, they only have a month time to their GCE ‘O’ Level exams.

Now, every night over dinner, Terence and i would exchange classroom stories with one another. I can really understand how it had been for him for the past 2 months. I can feel his agony. 4 words to describe it all, “It is not easy.”

I still love teaching though.

What can you say

Before i left for school, i saw my maid sleeping on the sofa of the living room. When i came back from school, she was laying down on the carpet and watching TV.

Just what is she being paid for?

Deafening sneezes

My nose ran away because I’m having running nose. haha. Ok, I’m so lame. At the moment, I am feeling very sick – A bad headache and a pesky sore throat. In addition to the shouting that i have to do in class, I made sure that i was comparable to a water buffalo when i drank bottles and bottles of plain water. In fact, more and more teachers are on medical leave each day. Why? Because, one by one are falling sick! I guess they should disinfect the whole staff room because I’ve also caught the flu virus. One of the humanities teacher made a joke. She said, “If a relief teacher falls sick, they have to get another relief teacher to relief the relief teacher. Another relief teacher needs to relief a relief teacher.” Ok, did you get the joke?

Despite the several “aaahchoos” i had throughout the day, i met my darling Terence for a movie. Watched “Babylon A.D”. Fortunately, i didnt even let out a sneeze in the theatre. Because i was feeling sick, we smuggled in hot tahui (bean curd) and a bottle of Longan Red Date instead of coke and popcorns. Gosh, i even bring a bottle of plain water from home.

Alright, i’m off to sleep now. Tomorrow is going to be quite hectic for me. HOLLA!

Long term effect of computers

Woke up in the morning feeling somber. One side of my nose was blocked with dried mucus and my throat was sore. It made me feel rather uneasy. I’m experiencing obvious signs of falling sick. It is inevitable to be enfeebled by any unwanted sickness when I am only drinking up to 3 glasses of water daily! I guess, i shall take a day off from fasting and replenish my body with all the fluid it can get.

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On one fine day, i was erasing the board after the whole class was done copying the answers. I asked, “Ok, i am going to delete these” And the whole class teased me, “Teacher, how to delete the words from the whiteboard? You can only erase.”

See. This is the long term effect of computers.

Ok, i shall continue with more updates soon. This is such a shitty update! I’ve been too busy with school. I will definitely be free to blog during the weekends. HOLLA!

Unwritten

Been busy!

I went through with the class on how to write a formal letter. The next day, i gave them a test. They sat at their desks and stared blankly at the paper. When i asked why haven’t they start writing, they told me that they don’t know how to write a formal letter! Omg! See! When i was explaining, the whole class was noisy and they did not pay attention. During the test, they promptly asked me the format again! I went through the format again.

Throughout the test, one of them slept. I woke him up several times and encouraged him to do the test. He did not show any interest in attempting the test at all! I asked him why he wouldn’t write anything on the paper. His answer was simple: “I don’t know how to do.” At the end of the lesson, after everyone had placed their answer scripts on my desk, he did not even bother to come forward to hand in his paper. I went to his desk and asked him, “Where is your paper?”. He showed me. I took his blank paper and i walked out of the class.

Anyway, the class will be having another test next week. I’ve got to through with them vocabulary. I want them to do well in the upcoming test and make me proud! Oh please, please, please! I find it difficult to explain to the class when the class is noisy! I hope they will pay attention during the revision for their exam!

Alright, i’ve got to stop here! I’ve got to plan my lessons! :)

Boys will be boys

“You better stop throwing paper around, or else i will make you eat that paper.”

I took away that paper and threw it into the waste paper basket. Boys will always be immature. Throwing papers around to their other classmates.

Flop down

Right now, I am feeling so beat that I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere. Went for relief teaching a secondary school. It was a long day!

I must say, i find Primary school kids more interesting, lively and easy to handle.

:( I miss being at a Primary school.

Barefooted

Went to the movies! Watched “Bangkok Dangerous”. My slipper broke! Walked around barefooted. It was almost midnight. Luckily, Cheers is selling beach slippers. :)

Inverted

My grandmother turned 17 today. Oh yes, she insisted that she is celebrating her sweet 17 birthday. She actually turned 71 today. Ok, so here it goes: HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY NENEK!

I cant seemed to stuff myself with tons of food after fasting the whole day! I thought, after going through the whole day with an empty stomach, i could eat without having second thoughts about putting on excessive amount of saturated fats. But after the first serving, i was waving my white flag and laying down on the sofa with a bloated tummy. So, just because you skipped breakfast and lunch, it does not mean that you can eat more during dinner!!

HAHA.

Oh well, make me

Why do we always allow ourselves to be emotionally attached to something or someone? When we get emotionally attached, we allow our feelings to take over ourselves, causing breakdowns. The future is often bleak. What we get to hold on now may become lost forever. We become vulnerable to sadness and hurt. Perhaps, it is better to build a wall around ourselves. Not to be emotionally attached, not be afraid of losing, not to be afraid of being alone, not to feel insecurities and not to be haunted by plenteous worries. Even when confronted by our fears, we pretend to be numb and not disturbed by the ghastly surroundings and happenings. I hate being emotionally attached to anything. Because, when that happens, i become more sensitive and it is very likely to have tears well up in my eyes within seconds of an unhappy moment while trying to be strong at the same time. When a tear roll down, i have failed at being strong because i cant hold on to my feelings. I let my feelings take over me and i let it affect me.

Life is fragile. One minute you are breathing and the next minute, before you even know it, you may just see yourself lying there with loved ones crying over your depart. It is not about leaving behind everyone you have ever cared and loved for. It is a matter of how much you’ve fulfilled in life. A fulfilling life is not a measure of how much monetary value or assets and success a person possesses. It is a measure of how much happiness you have lived with. How much laughter you’ve had and how much smiles you’ve shown. Just tell me, how fulfilling can it be when you can afford almost everything with what you have, but go through every night being sleepless? I am feeling light hearted. I don’t mind departing now. Because in the after life, it is where i build my real life for an eternal lifetime.

Why do we have to be perfect to be loved? We don’t have to be perfect. We only need to be reasonably perfect. Blame it all on the high standards that others have on us.

I shall stop preaching now. I wish to write a book someday. Oh well, make me.

Its done

Been pretty busy. Been working.

Anyway, some of you might know that i have permed my hair. Not surprising – since i mentioned about perming my hair like a thousand times already for the past few weeks. Ok, i did permed it. But it only lasted for a day. WHY? Because i don’t think i fancy curly hair! I find it so depressing. It is so messy and i get so uncomfortable having curls over my head. I need straight hair! So, i cut my hair the next day. I cut it real short! So.. GOODBYE long hair. HELLO new short hair.

Oh yeah, after cutting my hair short, it looks wavy. So now, i’m feeling irritated with wavy hair. Seriously, i am intending to straighten my hair soon. Gosh, i am NEVER going to curl my hair. I can’t stand curls although i think i look elegant and sexy with it.

Well, Who cares? Short and wavy is so HOT ok!

Let’s put aside hair issues. Lets talk about fasting since it is the fasting month.

I’ve been fasting! Fasting has given me an experience of what needy and hungry people in many parts of the world feel. While i was working, my stomach started growling and i was feeling really hungry. I told myself, “Gosh, i guess this is how those children in poor countries might have felt when they were experiencing food shortages. I’m glad i know how it feels like to be without food. Because of that, i shall not waste food and be thankful with the meals i am able to afford and receive every single day. Most importantly, i will share my food with those who lacks it.”

Anyway, i love KFC. Do you? :)