Story-Telling

Yesterday I was reading to Paige when I was babysitting her and Matthew.

I read three stories, "The Ugly Duckling", "Rapunzel" and "The Enormous Turnip". It could have been more if not because I was too tired to read more. Story-reading, contrary to common beliefs, IS tiring.

Maybe it is because my command of English has dropped. It has been more and more difficult for me to summarise the story lines from 3 paragraphs to one. To think that it is only a children's book.

Maybe it is because I was fascinated by the stories which I have lost touch with for a really long time. As I read, it seemed the story differs quite a bit from the version I read more than 20 years ago.

Maybe I was trying too hard to think of the morale of the story. I feel that a story is never complete without telling the child what is the story really trying to teach us. Especially for "The Ugly Duckling", I felt accomplished after educating Paige to love everyone beyond their looks.

It was tiring babysitting them. But it was also very enriching to story-tell.

Securing the Date

The Carlton saga ends it all.

While Carlton Hotel remains as the best choice in terms number of tables, location, food, pillarless ballroom with high ceiling and reasonable rates, their service irked us to such an extend that we decided to give up with them. All their perks which was thrown in were all not reflected in the contract. Furthermore, their verbal promises twisted and turned at the time of contract signing. One word. Ridiculous.

Marina Mandarin Hotel became our immediate backup plan. This was despite the fact that it was not even in our original hotel list of considerations, primarily due to the minimum number of tables to meet. Nevertheless, besides the "not-so-high" ceiling and a minimum of 35 tables to fulfil, everything seemed perfect about them. They can even provide us with a solemnisation venue despite that the solemnisation date is a day before the banquet. The forum also raved off their food, service and excellent efficiency. I guess this is really a blessing in disguise.

Have not signed the contract yet, but if nothing goes wrong, we should be announcing the date of the big day in 2 weeks time =)

The Real Meaning of a Race

Desmond has always encouraged me to watch The Amazing Race on CBS. But since the telecast every Monday clashed with Campus Superstar, I never did watch a full episode of the program which features teams racing around the world.

This afternoon, while waiting for Desmond's 3 hour long car wash, I watched all the 6 episodes which I missed, on Youtube. And I derived much learnings besides watching them compete for a million bucks.

1. Jaipur, India - Never consider yourself unfortunate

As teams raced for monetary victory, deaf-mute Luke (and Margie) broke down after he saw Indian children running around shackles naked, feeding themselves with garbage. Think he realised he is definitely not alone in his struggle for leading a normal life.

Luke broke down in Jaipur

2. Siberia, Russia - Wear "proper" undergarments

Poor gal from one of the teams had to stripped to her lingerie and run 2 miles in the -4degC Russian city. Worst thing is that she is wearing nothing but a sports bra and a black thong (Yes thongs!)

Shots of her running from behind were censored of course!

3. Phuket, Thailand - Mummy is the greatest

Bionic woman Margie wins the day again by running on Luke's behalf when she realised how difficult it is to give her deaf son directions while sitting on a rickshaw. In the end, she suffered a heat stroke after running 2 miles under extreme hot and humid weather, nearly fainted and had to be sent to hospital.

Just before Mummy Margie fainted in Phuket

4. Beijing, China - Never give up, even if it is your greatest fear
College athletes Kisha and Jen fear for nothing but water. Unfortunately one of the detour for the China leg is to choose a task from "Swim" or "Sync". Jen broke down as she could not overcome her fear for the waters and was unable to finish neither tasks. Imagine performing a task which is your greatest phobia..Kudos to Jen.

They tried but was unable to overcome their phobia

5. Translyvania, Romania - Pick yourself up, where you fall

Good looking lawyer Victor led her sister Tammy on a wild goose chase in the woods looking for coffins, only to realise that they have been following the wrong arrow directions (white red arrows instead of the official yellow red arrows of The Amazing Race). This should be the first and last time viewers see Victor broke down and cried, before regaining composure to end up at second last place, after skydiving down from the first position.

This is clearly not the race's official direction sign

I had always loved geography back in school, even though I seldom travel. But the amount of knowldege you learn when travelling in a trip, is limitless and invaluable. In fact, I don't think any of the team will regreat this journey even if they did not finally win the race.

Seriously, I cannot wait for Episode 11 to be screened tomorrow at 830pm.

Little Mr and Ms Bump

Last week was definitely NOT our lucky week.

On Thursday, Desmond's car got bumped at the back by a series of cars, after their failures to brake in time in slippery weather. This cost Desmond not only a sprained neck, but also three days without his Rio.

On Friday, I had a freak fall while stopping after my hour long ran around the neighbourhood. Although I only hit my knee, it left my knee brazed with at least 10 strokes of broken skin.

On Saturday, I slipped when I stepped on "freshly" sprayed insecticide in Desmond's room. Fortunately I landed on my bum which caused no more than a false alarm.

I hope we will shed off the title of Mr and Ms Bump next week.

Keep On Improving

The first lecture in my life. I must do it good and right.

That was why I arrived at 730am on 20th April, a far cry from the usual 845am. Lecture is suppose to start at 8am, and a considerable amount of preparation is needed, even though I had physically went through the syllabus the week before.

I arrived at LTQ2 20min before the official class starts at 8am. Pleasantly surprised, there are already many students waiting outside the LT. I saw one of my mentees sitting quietly in a corner bench. She did not attend orientation but I recognise her from my photo class list. I said hi to her and made my way to LTQ2.

Taking in a deep breath, and looking at the 90 empty seats in front of me, I felt strangely excited. This is what I have been waiting for the last 9 months in NYP.

My first lecture session.

As the students streamed in, the excitement grew. Soon after excitement turned to anxiety as the projector screen failed on me! Can you imagine... First lesson on first day of school of Semester 1.

Nevertheless I maintained talking by introducing myself and the module Materials Science.... miraculously the projector screen came back at 830am. I lost 30min but managed to gain back my composure.

The rest of the lecture went well. I found out that it is not easy to deliver a good lecture. From voice control to creating humour, to clear explanations, these skills will only sharpen with time. Fortunately, this batch of Year 1 students seem much more diligent and attentive, compared to the previous batch, which makes the job of new lecturers like me easier to handle.

Like what I told my students " I hope you will continue to improve", I truly hope I will also keep on improving.

Peak-A-Boo!

I have never done as much research and homework on HDB housing regulations until a week before. All thanks to the 5 "Peaks" below.

The newly launched DBSS project "The Peak" at Toa Payoh Lor 1 is not those type which will appear to be immediately attractive. Compared to its counterparts at AMK and Bishan, it is an elderly town. There is also less vibe considering there is no major shopping malls nearby. Nevertheless, due to curiousity, we went to view the showflat last sunday and we were pleasantly surprised and delighted by the stylish design of the flats.

After viewing the second time, the two flats we eyed on are the 21st storey high ceiling 4-room flat at $500k, and the 18th storey 5-room flat at $580k. And yes, both are at atrouciously high prices. After some research, older flats with similar floor area are costing as much in the TPY and AMK area, and so I stop feeling short-changed =)

With flats priced at $730k at the 42nd floor, I really wonder if flats in Singapore will ever break the 1M barrier?

Sigh, What to do... the lows of property market in 2001-2003 is long over, and flats at premier locations come at a premier price. Furthermore, TPY flats have always stolen the limelight but topping the list with the highest average COV among HDB estates. What attracted us most, is that The Peak is only mins walk from TPY MRT station and the lifts come with security card accesses just like a condo. The interior renovation is also provided, from full tiling, wall painting to build-in wardrobes, water heaters, stoves and air con. Pretty enticing to me =)

But seriously, I will not be overly disappointed if we did not successfully ballot for the TPY flat, as Bishan is going to be THE place to live, at least in the next 10 years. With the MRT circles line interchange opening this month, lift upgrading, property prices in Bishan is likely to soar to another new level....

So, lets just cross our fingers and leave it to Heaven's will =)