disoriented

Updates in a jiffy

~touched down in KK 3 hours ago

~spent the last 3 days prior to today at shopping malls and place where money can fly away from you.

~still coughing on and off

~missing blogging for almost a week but I do need to enjoy life more off the net.

~being not so active on FB, blogs and what nonsense on the net made me realise there is actually more to life.. LOL!

~i miss mudpie. ^_^ TGIF please come to KK.

~school starts tomorrow and that's so not fun

~my skin got problem , rashes i suppose... and my scalp is itching away. Don't send me to District 9 please!

~I am broke <- this is not new btw. :p

p/s: will blog more once I got my brains in place.

Cuti bah!

Ok. Ni kali malas mo main Inglish2. Cuti skul sudah ni. Satu minggu saja ma. Punya la men skijap. Nda puas ni, tapi bagus lagi daripada teda langsung kan.

Tapi yang nda siok ni, sakit la pula. Makan ubat. Benci saya terutama tu antibiotik yang bau kapsul dia macam kancing kucing tu. Doi dogo. Demam panas ni sama ada sakit tekak sudah sikit-sikit.

Kelmarin, time di sikul..sikit lagi mo pingsan. Sudah la tu budak-budak ada terlebih nakal kemarin sebab mo cuti sudah..Ada lagi tu proses perobohan tingkap di kelas-kelas berhampiran. Kepala pusing-pusing, mau jalan pun susah.

Pigi jumpa doktor terus lepas kelas pertama. Nda peduli sudah, kasi biar ja tu kelas yang kedua, bagi karaja jak sama durang.

Bah. Suhu badan sa sampai 39C kemarin. Doktor pun terkajut. Haha. Sikit lagi mo kana kuarantin lagi. Kana bagi ubat sama nasihat tinggal di rumah saja. Oh silaka. Nampaknya cuti ni nda la dapat pigi mintapuji sangat ni.

.....

LOL! How was that? I tried my best to write everything in that language. Had to press the backspace button several times also because the English words tend to come out also.

Yeah, I know my BM also cacat now. Sigh!

p/s: Manglish still rules

Happy Fasting Month

Ramadhan is here.

Hehe. Not that I have to fast by religious obligation but this year I decided to join in the fun of fasting.

Fasting fun meh? LOL.

For the past few years, I have noticed that I am on a stupid cycle of exponential weight increase starting from the fasting month, to Raya, to Xmas, to New Year, to CNY. Why? It is the back to back festive months.

So, I wanna change it this year. Wish me luck!

Anyway, I bought this a few days back........

Haha. Raya goodies is on sale already. And it is not even Ramadhan yet.

Guess what, the container is empty already now. LOL!

From 44 to 43

At my school, there is this system called Buku Catatan Ketua Kelas ( BCKK ) to record daily attendance and teacher's as well as students' movement in the class.

Everyday it is just a normal thing to see the total number of students are 44 in the class. But on 17/08/09, my class ( am the form teacher ) is officially 43 person.

See the pic, even the class monitor had a hard time adjusting to the new number. 43 person. Who is missing?

One of my student left for good last Sunday. Like forever as in eternally.

I only get the news on Monday morning before I go to school. It was just like a slap on the face and tears just flowed freely. Badly shaken by the news, I still gotta brave the odds and face the rest of the class later during the day.

Upon reaching the class, almost everyone were teary eyed. Swollen red eyes. Seeing that empty seat again made my heart crushed to pieces.

This student was one of the nakal type so everyday I must scold him or at least say something to him so that he will behave properly before or during class.

One of the student came up to me and said;

"Teacher, please announce about our friend some of them haven't heard the news.."

Breaking the news was definitely the hardest part. It was so sudden actually. Electrocution~ it is just a tragedy. I choked in between my words and then there were just silence. I gave two piece of papers for the rest of the class to write their final message to their late friend. Some of the students even collected money to buy flowers.

Funeral day

Almost all of the kids in the class went to pay their last respect. Solemn mood. I went to see the mom to say my condolences and told her that his friends from the class came to pay their last respect. I also gave the flowers with the messages. I was supposed to be strong but I failed, I cried in between my words especially when seeing the lifeless body in the coffin. The mom of course wailed in despair

"Nelvin...bangun kau..kawan-kawan kau datang..~"

No words can ever described the sadness at that time. The class wept again in their late friend's house.

Today, I asked the class monitor to remove the extra table and chair that we have in the class. I need to keep my students focused. Of course we still mourn for the loss yet we need to move on.

From the whole class of 2-5;

Our prayers and thoughts will always be with you Nelvin. You are gone a little too soon yet God loved you more. May your soul rest in peace.

Diary of a Teacher

I just came back from teaching extra class for the hostel students. Despite having a long tiring day at school plus the extra one hour to teach the students in the evening, I felt very much contented.

Tonight the reality of the phrase Guru Pembina Negara Bangsa really hit me right on my face. *Sorry, I dunno how to translate that in English*.

Things like..

The architecture of civilizations...Penjana Kuasa Intelek..Teachers being the leader in sense of direction for the nation..Agen Perpaduan..

yada yada yada..

So much of the bombastic language to sum up the greatness of being a teacher.

Yet, the simplest thing that touched me deeply to really serve my function as a teacher was the moment that I saw a student was writing with a 1.5 inch pencil on some scrappy paper during the extra class just now.

Me: Itu la pensel yang ko ada umandak?

Girl: Nda la cigu, ada lagi bah

She ransacked her frail looking almost flat pencil case. Then she showed me another pencil. A similar one but slightly longer. I can only shake my head. I checked her pencil box, there were not much inside. Two pens, one empty pen ( the one without the ink inside, badan saja ada ). and that two super short pencils.

She is one super petite girl, below average for girls her age. One of the students who came far from the ulu kampungs in Tamparuli and have to stay in the hostel to pursue secondary education. With her size like that, she is also slow compared to the average students. She is having a hard time to solve (-5) x 12, where the rest of the class are busy discussing about Pythagoras' Theorem.

As I was helping her with that simple multiplication things, I asked her to erase her previous calculations. And guess how big was her eraser. A mere 2cm. Almost none. How sad is that?

Me: Nah, pensel sama pemadam. Jaga bagus-bagus tu ah.

Girl : Terima Kasih ah cigu.

With her look in her eyes and the "terima kasih", it almost bring me to tears. I turned away and pretended to be strong. I continued the discussion of Pythagoras' Theorem with the rest of the class. The hunger pangs that I had during the early part of the extra class suddenly had gone away. I have never felt so blessed.

................

As I sit down and typing this post, I pretty much got reminded again why I ended being a teacher now.

All my life, I never wanted to be a teacher. NEVER. That's with a big capital N. I cried at the moment I got the offer to pursue science in education last time. When I graduated and started working, I almost jump ship to the hospitality industry leaving the education line behind.

I have been told from time to time while I was a student, that I do have a talent being a teacher. But, I always brushed it off saying that I am better off as a dentist or a doctor.

Just that, the moment that I had tonight is an instant reality check for myself. Being a teacher is more than those so-called short working hours that some people say we do have, so-called many holidays compared to other professions, so-called easy job as some people might claim it to be.

Teachers are engineers of human being, architects of the intellectual power of mankind. Where every profession that you see there's always a teacher behind that big picture.

I may not have the glamorous life of a celebrity, big fat pay check like some professions, adventurous journey of people around the world and I am not perfect and kind as an angel. Yet, I do know if I have my intentions right and sincerity in doing this, I am very much satisfied.

Like what from I get from the Teacher's Day forum that I attended once. To be an educator, you can never go for the status, money or fame. If you want all that, then pursue another career.

Thanks for that tiny pencil incident. I came to open up my eyes now. Teaching is not a job, it is just part of my life.

Meteor Showers, Astronomy, Space Frontiers, Time Travel and what not

Spicing up the redundancy

Remember me complaining about my life being a stupid cycle and the routine is killing me?

I actually took Clarice's advice to sort of write down the things that I want to do in life. Well, I didn't exactly penned down everything. Just mental activities.

I have quite a few things that I wanted to do by this year

~scuba diving.

~start training for martial arts again

~latin dance

.. and the list goes on. And most probably most of the things won't be done anyway. haha.

Anyway, every week now is something to look forward to. If last time, I only have the weekends to look forward to..especially Fridays.

Now, I just can't wait it to be Wednesdays too. LOL! I am totally down with the fever. Latin dance fever it is. Currently just learning the basics of cha-cha. Competitions in the near future? Haha..too soon to say. Baru first class saja pun, terlampau sudah semangat ni.

I just discovered this particular type of Latin Dance too.

BACHATA. Sensually awesome and it is truly unique!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Useful tips to survive a wedding reception

1) Make sure you are invited.

( Like doh! obviously ) and RSVP asap.

2) Pay attention to the time and VENUE especially

I happen to end up at a different venue after has gotten lost on the way today. And best of all the other friend who is supposed to know the way got lost too. Nasib baik sampai juga tempat sebenar.

3) Be friendly and just smile to strangers

This is very useful when you are attending a reception with minimal company.. haha

4) Don't be shy

Jangan malu- malu tapi jangan bikin malu juga la..LOL

5) Take lotsa pictures like there's no tomorrow

Yes, this part of me can't be denied. Memories will fade but the pictures will keep it refreshed.

......

Indeed pictures will definitely paint out the memories for us. Today, one of my bestfriend got married. Very happy for her. I was not so emotional during the reception but when I was driving back home from the event, memories flashed by and sob sob ~ dalam hati saja la... *huh, emo juga saya ni bila orang kawin*

She is the first friend that I met when I entered MJSC Kuching back in 2000.

Below....is us during the Kaamatan in 2006 or was it 2005? Hehe.

Me, Kharol, Trinna

and here is us again in 2009..they loose weight and I gained some..Oh, I so need to get back running again.

Congrats Kharol and Garry..

Semoga Berbahagia ke akhir hayat.

Sorry we kidnapped you from your husband for the "girls only" pic :P

Oriental Pop Culture

We have K-Pop, J-Pop and what not Pop-ing around. Yet the influence is infectious.

Some striking similarities are;

1) Band names are mind boggling

Take Super Junior, 2NE1, DBSK, or even After School. Maybe one group will come up with the name Kimchii next time. Nama sayur tu..LOL

2) They look insanely good looking.

Well, I can say most of them are. From the kawaii ultra cute look to the sassy or dashing look. Those perfect hair, perfect nose. Just don't be too naive to think it is all au' naturale. Cosmetic surgery is very big especially in Korea. Having your nose done is just like walking to a hair saloon and getting your hair washed.

3) They sound generic.

After a song or two, you can definitely hum to almost any songs. After all pop songs are meant to be catchy and predictable in a way. One thing that I see a bit different between K-Pop and J-Pop, K-Pop tend to sound more mature than the latter. My personal opinion anyway, people will disagree as well.

Nonetheless, on top of all this sugar coating and to make everything nice...what matters at the end of the day is how marketable they are.

And surprisingly they do! They sell very well.

Hehe.

Currently am hooked with this group.

Not another boring post

Yes indeed it is.

My stomach is still on strike. I am actually putting the laptop on my stomach now as I type this post. Been running to the toilet since this morning and the hardest when I was in class teaching and the toilet call came. Damn it!

I just don't really fancy doing the big business at the school toilet and so I decided to go back home after I finished my first class today. BUT, my car was blocked and I can't find the owners for the respective car.

Tension. *menahan perut yang memulas dan proses penyahtinjaan yang hampir berlaku. Oh sungguh celaka!*

At last managed to get hold of one of the owner and off I go to liberate myself.. LOL!

........

Anyway, the washing machine in the stomach still there but it has gotten better la compared to this morning.

But since when my stomach is so fragile now?

courtesy of drgagne.com

A day full of drama

AM

Woke up to a loud blaring car honk and succeeded by screams and shouts. My sister ran to my room asking me to go and see the drama unfolding at my aunt's house. So, the event took place around 1 hour approximately. Were there not to interfere with the emotion running on a rollercoaster, but just to make sure everyone don't start to kill each other.

~Waking up to this really kicks off the bad vibe for the whole day.

PM

School like usual. But since the angin is not very good today, those who messed up with me sure kena. Fellow colleagues yang annoying of course I can't do anything la. But, two students who came late to class, have to study outside the class and just look through the window. Another class have to listen to me nagging about their attitude thus making the learning process halted. One thing that I discover today also is that my nagging skills are improving. Haha.

Planned to jog in the evening but I suddenly remember that I need to teach extra class for the hostel students around dinner time.

~So no burning of calories today.

~Owh and the forest fire nearby is bad. Real bad. The flame practically lit up the horizon for that particular section. Haze again.

Just as I thought that the day is about to end, again happen major drama just nearby my house. Someone run amok wielding a parang in his hand, injured a car but managed to be brought down by a group of men who were around there that time. Cause of running amok yet to be updated.

It was indeed a day full of drama.

my saturday

off being one of the teacher in charge for the fencing tournament at school.

Yes, I am working on a Saturday. Almost two years being the advisor for the Fencing Club, I have very limited knowledge about this sport. But thank God now, I can differentiate between Epee, Sabre and Foil. LOL! Better than nothing right?

Anyway, I attended my senior's wedding in the morning as well.

....and as much as I hated couples on how they behave on weddings and other major lovey dovey events, I just can't stop myself from being overwhelmed by the feelings and emotions during the bride walked down the aisle with the father.

It is just so emotional to me. Why ah?