#34: Not looking forward to this particular weekend

I am usually one who looked forward to the weekend, because that’s when he has time for me!
But i am definitely not looking forward to this coming one!
Cos, school is starting next Monday!
Less than 4 days away, a brand new semester is starting as I embarked on my teaching career.. I don’t know what lies ahead of me, I just hope that I can enjoy my 3 years in teaching…
Hopefully, being a positive person will help me tide over whatever stress that will come! (But i have been insomniac for the last 2 weeks, I wonder why too?!)

Oh, it’s confirmed, will help out the school’s choir, as they are performing on NDP, so 2, 3 of my Saturdays will be BURNT! Cos I will need to bring them for the rehearsals!
I guess, the good thing is, it will only last for 1 month+ only, hopefully after that I won’t have too much to do.. (slacker)

But well, I need to enjoy the remaining days, but there will be a staff meeting tomorrow.. 1 whole day =(
Well well, better don’t think about work now..
To all friends who are starting formal teaching, good lucks!

#33: Are you a GLEEK yet?!

A Gleek, definitely a term that has evolve after the popular US TV series/comedy drama, GLEE!
A Gleek, basically just referring to fans of the TV series.
I must admit, I am a GLEEK!

Heard of this TV series long ago, but always havnt started watching..
It was only during Practicum, thanks to Claire and Sahibah, I managed to get the shows on my harddisk and it sent me on a road of no return as a GLEEK!
Initially I would have thought it’s a show meant for teenagers, but boy I was wrong! I think it’s suitable for everyone!
Hilarious one-liners from Sue Sylvester, wonderful singing from the GLEE club and cutie Mr Schue!
The songs they choose are so apt in developing the storyline, and the actors/actresses performed the songs and moves perfectly!
To all those who havnt watch before or even hear their songs before, please visit youtube and try searching for Dont’ Stop Believing – Glee, their very first song, this should sound rather familiar as it had been used as a jingle in Class 95 before…

Some of my favourite episodes include the Madonna Special, Gaga Special and also Sectionals and the Journey – Finale(i actually teared while watching the finale of series).
I am listening to their songs every single day! Including Total Eclipse of the heart (all time favourite!), Like a virgin, Defying gravity…
I can’t wait for the new season to start! Just heard on radio that Justin Timberlake maybe having a special appearance as Mr Schue’s brother! Yea, they totally looked alike! I am also looking forward to other Specials of singers that they will make!
And till then, I want more of GLEE songs on my itunes!

#32: Revamped!

After a long hiatus, I’d decided to revamp this blog!

School had been very busy this 1/2 a year..
And I foresee my rest of the year be even busier as I start my career as a formal teacher.
No choice, teachers hold a great responsibility of moulding the future.

I’d roughly know my classes, now less than 2 weeks to school reopening, I should be preparing my stuffs, but well I am still slacking!
Problem is, I am still waiting for the respective teachers to get back to me on what I should prepare..
I hope this semester 2 will be gone in a puff…
Time always flies when there’s neverending tasks..

On the other hand, on the latest update of our love nest in Havelock, it seemed to be completing real soon…
Left with another 6 levels like that to build.. the expected TOP is Q4 2011, according to the board stated on the construction site.
Meaning, I may need to think and plan the marriage soon? But we were thinking we will start the planning for it only at the end of the year?
Cos our plan is to get marry maybe end of next year.

Alright, should start to get some work done..
Will be back to update more

#31: Congrats to my ex-students

Today’s the release of N’s…
One of my ex students just told me that they have successfully went up to Sec5.
Really glad for them!

It’s weird how I still feel so happy for them, even though I only had 1/2 a year with them from Jan – June. And after 1/2 a year, one of them still bother to tell me how they fare.
Well, I suppose they really respect me, even though I don’t think I am a good teacher then during my contract teaching.

I think this is one of the happy things in being a teacher, seeing your students excel. =]

#30: Uccello Pasta~Pizza~Wine Bar

I went to this hidden gem in Jurong Hill, well to be exact, it is not on Jurong Hill, but beside Jurong Bird Park, a restaurant found within the Village@Jurong hill. The name, Uccello Pasta~Pizza~Wine Bar. I didn’t bring a camera that night, so sorry for the poor quality of the photos taken, it doesn’t do any justice to the food and ambience!
It is a restaurant introduced by Dear’s friend. So we decided to visit it after I mention I have craving for pasta.
When we arrived, it was like empty, except for an occupied table.
The ambience was quite nice.
THe prices aren’t that exorbitant too, so we ordered a Minestrone, a Caesar’s Salad, a carbonara for me and a vongole for him. THey served us free foccacia bread (4 slices), warm up, accompanied with olive oil+vinegar. It was nice and sweet thought, when the supervisor, Jacky, came around to deliver the bread to us, he was like ‘this one, can try!’. haha

Warm Foccacia bread...

The salad is gd! I wonder why? The caesar sauce is nice! And they mixed it really well so much so that each green has the sauce…… heavenly! The minestrone soup is also THICK, not the watery kind and with loads and loads of veggies inside…

Caesar Salad

Minestrone, in a cup

Then came the pasta, hmm, my carbonara is a bit too sticky, but still it is not the overly creamy kind, not bad. His vongole is good I feel, smells damn good with the garlic and olive oil. yummy.. but I would prefer it with abit more white wine. But still, nice. And man they gave alot of clams, probably because the clams were lil’ puny to start with.

Carbonara (with loadsa bacon and onions!)

Vongole (Bianco)

After our dinner, we decide to stay on, cos we really felt welcomed by Jacky the supervisor, he came over to like talk to us, asking how’s the food. We decided to have out desserts here. We ordered tiramisu for me, a waffle+ice cream and long black for him.
The tiramisu is homemade according to the menu, I’m not an ardent tiramisu fan, so I can’t really tell what is good and what is not, but the tiramisu they served, oh man, I must say, it suits my palate! Firstly, it is not the cakey kind that you get in Coffeebean or hotel buffets, it is the soft and very moist kind. According to the description on their online menu “Mascarpone Cheese, Amaretto and Espresso soaked Savoiardi Biscuits”. Heavenly! Very good…! The coffee taste was intense, the alcohol wasn’t as intense though, but the cheese, wow… don’t worry it is not the very cheesy taste, it is very light and sweet, very nice!

Tiramisu

His waffle+ice cream took some time to come. When it finally came, Jacky was like saying to dear ‘your waffle, better than hers!’… Then I was like ‘booooo’. haha…
Anyway, amazingly… the waffle is really nice! Haha, it’s the waffle batter! It has a natural sweetness to it, it is warm, fluffy and crispy on the sides. Oh man… it definitely wins Gelare’s waffle!

Waffle+Icecream

Even though we were like full to the brim, we managed to finish everything. The total bill, after tax, comes up to about $72. I would definitely love to come back here again. It’s a quiet place, where u can have a good meal and good chat. It’s a pity that this place remains rather unknown, there isn’t any review on HGW and when I googled it, there’s no review on it as well. So I would like to shout out to my friends, go visit! When we left the place, Jacky passed us his name card, saying next time if we visit here or their korean restaurants, we can get 15% discount by just presenting his namecard! Cool stuffs!

Visit their website if you’re interested : http://uccellobistro.com

#29: Recent happenings

1) I was down, meaning sick. Probably gotten it from my family, who returned from China 1 week back. I still can’t really speak now. Boo… throat hurts damn badly. I need to recover soon so that I can get my H1N1 vaccination at least 2 weeks prior to my Japan Trip!

2) School is officially over! Yea! Submitted my final assignment for this semester on Wednesday. Now it’s one month of resting, but…. there’s still work to be done! Education Psychology, boo!
But well, this whole month, I should like rest well, this is probably the only major break I have before I start my formal teaching stint.

3) I went to 313@Somerset Opening (yes, I am like so free! And so auntie-ish!), but my main aim was to visit Singapore’s largest Uniqlo! Man, there were so many people!

Opening of 313@Somerset - Lion Dance

Anyways, I went straight to the Uniqlo @ level 3, but guess what, so many people already! I am there not to get the very cheap jacket they advertise, but more for the HeatTech stuffs that dear ask me to get, but they don’t have the color he wants! So I looked around my bra top, also don’t have the color I looking for. By the time I dilly dally around, the queue to the fitting room is so long! There were just too many people inside the store! I decided to try their skinny jeans/pants that is on offer (still on offer now, till 24th I think), and also looking at some other jeans (not the ones on offer), when I was looking through them, someone said ‘Excuse me’. I turned and he said he wanna do an interview with me, with the camera already shooting me and with his mic and recorder directed towards me. He said they are from Japan Tv and would like to do a short interview with me, I was like ‘Errr… ok’.
He asked me questions like ‘What are you doing here in Uniqlo?’, ‘What are you planning to buy today?’, ‘How do you feel about Uniqlo?’, ‘How do you compare Uniqlo with other stores like GAP, Guess…?’. Well, personally, I really like Uniqlo as a casual brand, so it was easy for me to answer his questions. In addition, I heard of this brand long before they came into Sg, all thanks to dear who like to talk about this brand cos he gotten a Tshirt from them in Tokyo years ago and he likes to rave about it. Anyways, Uniqlo provides affordable and good quality apparels, their stocks and designs always comes and goes very fast, meaning, new designs are constantly being brought in, so there’s always something new to see in the store if you go like once every fortnight. ONe very last thing I kept emphasising, Uniqlo’s sizes are true to Asian sizes! So I definitely can find my sizes easily! For US brands, I simply cant get their sizes! Even their S is way too big for me!
Uniqlo is definitely a successful brand, even Straits Times this morning reported that Uniqlo had managed to break even in just 6 months time after setting up their stores in Tampines and ION! Amazing!
And well, I’m visiting Japan and I definitely won’t miss visiting the Uniqlo there! haha

#28: You belong with me – Taylor Swift

Call me a teeny-bopper, but I still can’t shake off this song off my mind even though it’s been a few months!
Taylor Swift is such a talented singer, explaining why she’s so big in Music Awards this year! In the recent AMA, she even beat MJ for the most prizes taken home (including best female, artiste of the year, best album), this is an amazing feat for a 20-year-old song writer! She’s definitely not a bimbo! She really can sing!

I think part of the reason why this song is superb, is because of the cute MV! Very very nice MV, even dear was hooked on to watching the whole MV whenever we saw it on the MTV channel.

The lyrics to the songs is absolutely superb!
Popular guy likes popular girl, geeky girl likes popular guy, but is only like a gd frd to him, after that then he realise she’s the one he really likes. Awww…

Here’s the MV:

Lyrics:
You’re on the phone with your girlfriend, she’s upset
She’s going off about something that you said
‘Cause she doesn’t get your humor like I do

I’m in the room, it’s a typical Tuesday night
I’m listening to the kind of music she doesn’t like
And she’ll never know your story like I do

But she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts
She’s Cheer Captain and I’m on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I’m the one who understands you
Been here all along, so why can’t you see?
You, you belong with me, you belong with me

Walking the streets with you and your worn-out jeans
I can’t help thinking this is how it ought to be
Laughing on a park bench, thinking to myself
Hey, isn’t this easy?

And you’ve got a smile that could light up this whole town
I haven’t seen it in a while since she brought you down
You say you’re fine, I know you better than that
Hey, what ya doing with a girl like that?

She wears high heels, I wear sneakers
She’s Cheer Captain and I’m on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I’m the one who understands you
Been here all along, so why can’t you see?
You belong with me

Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know?
Baby, you belong with me, you belong with me

Oh, I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night
I’m the one who makes you laugh when you know you’re ’bout to cry
And I know your favorite songs and you tell me ’bout your dreams
Think I know where you belong, think I know it’s with me

Can’t you see that I’m the one who understands you?
Been here all along, so why can’t you see?
You belong with me

Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time, how could you not know?
Baby, you belong with me, you belong with me

You belong with me
Have you ever thought just maybe
You belong with me?
You belong with me

#27: Tajimaya Yakiniku (26th Nov)

On a Thurs night (eve of holiday), in Vivocity, 7plus, we walked around, wondering what to get for dinner.
Finally settled in Tajimaya Yakiniku, since there wasn’t any queue.

Basically, it is a DIY-grill-your-own-food dining experience.
The dinner set is quite worthwhile, considering the amount of food, but we still opted Ala-carte as we get to choose what we really want instead of the dinner set.

Assorted kimchi ($8)

We ordered 1 mixed kimchi assortment, 1 shiso rice for him and 1 garlic rice for me, for the grilling, we ordered vegetable assortment, pork belly marinated in miso, chicken marinated in teriyaki, and squid.
Oohhh… man…

Marinated chicken, pork belly and squid! Big big portion

Assorted Veggies

The squid is fresh! They marinated the stuffs so well. It was so so delicious!
The pork belly is sinful, but well, I cant help but eat everything in, with the thick thick portion of fats! Sinful!!!

flipping the squid

 

grilling our food...

One of the good thing about this place is, you don’t and won’t stink like a food court after the grilling!!! So kudos to the ventilation system they have in place.
Good place to go, quiet, good ambience and good food.

Here’s the website:

http://www.tajimaya.com.sg

#26: Service Learning (21st Nov)

The GESL is a module in NIE, whereby you are group into random groups and the group has to organise an activity/service learning.

For us, we had a walk in Henderson Waves with students from carecorner.
It was held last sat, and I must say, though it was blazing hot, the overall event was quite interesting, the interaction with the kids was superb!
I kindof enjoyed it though I was like super tired!

Students from carecorner may have family issues etc, so our task was to let them enjoy an event of walk and show them care and concern.
The walk started from Henderson Waves, thru Telok Blangah Hill Park, to the forest walk, over the Alexandra Arch and finally to Hort Park where we had some small games and packed lunch.
The buddy I had is a 10yr-old girl. I talked to her and try to know her. I think it is important to talk to your kids like that in future, so that they will know you care for them. I think one problem that parents now have is lack of communication with their children, so in future, we should always make an effort to communicate with your kids.
I enjoyed interacting with my buddy, pretty and sweet, really amazes me how I can bond with someone in sucha short time.

For the station game, I am in charge of Magic carpet, whereby each group is to cross from a point and reach a destination, given 2 mats. Relatively simple game that probably an adult will shout ‘BORING’, but I can see that the kids enjoyed themselves alot.

At the end of the event, we need to go back to our own groups, and we will pass around a piece of paper with your own name, and everyone in that group is supposed to write down something good about you.
I think this is a wonderful thing to do, these kids need encouragement from people, so if they have a piece of paper that has all the good things written about them, it will boost their confidence and esteem levels.
In exchange, I get to enjoy the same piece of words from them as well, my buddy even wrote ‘I love you’, awwwwwww…. my heart melted.

#25: So sorry for the lack of posts

Extremely sorry for the lack of posts for the longest time!

Am extremely busy with school work, believe it or not! NIE is so busy! Somehow I find it busier than when I having my undergraduate studies!
Probably because all the deadlines for assignments kindof overlap one another. For the past month, it had been quite crazy! Really…
Lesson plans, Assignment, Reports…

But things are getting better, only 3 major assignments left! 2 will be due next week, and yes I’m doing them now and I foresee myself doing it till quite late tonight.
After that I shall be more free to do some updates.

NIE has been full of ups and downs I suppose. Ups: Met new people and they are all fun and we really exchange lotsa information. We even went out on ECP cycling last week and conquered 40km! The tutors are all nice as well! Downs: The infinite assignments!

Lastly, before I end this post, I will be going to Japan! Yea! For a retreat before my new school term starts next year. It is probably gonna be the only break I will have before I start my formal teaching career in June next year, so I am so going to cherish this opportunity and enjoy myself in Japan! So any kind souls with good japan tips, do drop me some! =]