Yu-chan’s Lifestream

Let me apologise right off the bat for this terrible rant, which might present a stumbling block to some of you. Just in case you were wondering, I'm still human the last I checked and I'm just going to let it out. I'm a rational human being (except when high on caffeine), so it won't be one of those angsty little ego trips.

I'm just really frustrated. There are a few questions I'd like to ask someone in particular, but most important being "do you even know the people you work with?" I mean, seriously. You'd think that after that many years, you'd know your people well enough. Do you think we flout rules for no reason? Or do you think we aren't rational adults? What's my track record in situations like these? What's my personality?

Those are serious questions. But clearly, not everyone knows the answer. I think we should know those things about the people we work with. There needs to be a relationship before you can expect anyone to want to do things for you willingly. Which, clearly, is not happening especially in my area.

My mother told me I should have said "my mother raised me better than that". LOL.

I don't know about you, but I'd defend my friends even though they might have made a mistake, just on the basis that I know them and they're my responsibility too. We're all accountable to one another after all. And if they haven't made any errors, I'll still be glad to take the blame if it's a misguided accusation. This is called sacrificial love. Don't see it much nowadays. I'm not tooting my own horn, but honestly, that's how I see things.

And don't get me started on that look and tone of voice. But I shall stop right here, because I know that despite it all, God is still God and He is sovereign. So I shall submit to that and trust that God will vindicate me. So I'm going to put this behind me and move on. No sense getting bitter over something that is pretty trivial and would seem completely inconsequential tomorrow.

On another happy note, we had delicious potato salad today thanks to Jeff and had a great time rehearsing our songs. WOO! Fun times. In the evening, the chat time with Wendy was the best ever. She listens to all my crrrrrrrrrap! Haha.

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Must. Relive. The. Day. Even. Though. Iwanttosleeprightnowzzzzz...

A short recap is in order plus my personal take on the entire thing. It's not often there's an event like this to feed 5000+ elderly in Singapore.

Before I begin though, congratulations are in order to those in the various teams. It really took a lot of teamwork to get the entire event off the ground and I can imagine the stress the committee went through. Thank God for His grace! Whew!

I started the morning by meeting a few friends to head down together. I wasn't taking any chances with my sense of direction and the comatose state I predicted I would be in this morning. Considering my schedule for the past 4 days (PSLE marking exercise), I was right on target. Thank God for Starbucks and the TRIPLE caramel macchiato. Thank God also that I have an iron stomach and don't end up LS-ing due to excess caffeine. If you don't know what LS is, it's not important. Haha.

We arrived just in time to get to the main business end of things, putting up balloons on various poles. Was a little tricky, but we managed to get things going and finished that up pretty early. So we thought we'd head off to Marina Square to cool off and have some decent food.

Except we weren't supposed to. WHOOPS!

Ah well. Have I mentioned that Pasta de Waraku is pretty good? At least, the Squid, Octopus and Chilli Cod Roe pasta was. I also love their corn soup. Very corn soupy. Beats Mos any time (obviously). Major thanks to The Food Guru. That was so satisfying after sweltering under the tent putting up the decorations. Heck, the a/c was the most satisfying of all. Didn't take any photos of the food however. Didn't want to look like a complete suaku. If you don't know what that is, it's also not entirely important. Suffice to say I didn't want to look like a country bumpkin.

Doink.

So we arrived back after lunch a little sheepishly, although not quite regretting being mildly disobedient. Haha. Worked hard after that though serving the food and smiling away despite how hot we were under our collars. The humidity was just stratospheric today. But, all things considered, the weather was good. I really hope the elderly were blessed.

Key highlights of the entertainment were Lina Ng and Lina Ng. She's such a great host and really has such a sweet spirit. It's always such a joy to have her host such events. So entertaining. Ai pia jia eh yia. REALLY NOT IMPORTANT. ;) We were also told by some juggler on stage that it's good to break the law. Apparently, the law of GRAVITY, but that was scandalous in itself. I thought my ears were screwing with me.

Ris (Riz?) Low also made an appearance with her fellow Miss World finalists. I won't speculate as to why they were there, except someone did say "BOOMZ" through the house sound system while she was in the vicinity. Major faux pas. Haha. Maybe she should just be frank about past mistakes. No point in hiding them. I'd like her a lot better for it, honestly.

Anyway, here are some photos I took with the trusty TD2. From what JS tells me, it's the best choice I ever made. Would have brought my delicious Lumix LX3, but wanted to move freely today. At least the pics are pretty decent though. My favourite? The last shot.

                 

Click here to download:

Care_Share_2009.zip (7080 KB)

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The production this year is going to be such a challenge, but so far, I'm really enjoying the work that we're doing. Tweaking lyrics and singing are things that are close to my heart. Major love!

This year, there are just four of us layering the parts together with the backing tracks. No real need for the choir as everything's going to be put together digitally. Go Fei! He's working on the technical bits. Pat, Johan, Scott and I just have to manage our end of the vocal bargain. Haha.

Fun stuff!

Care and Share is coming right up too. Excited about that as well... can't wait to serve the old folks and see their smiles. Thank God!

I've been thinking about my grandparents lately too. Haven't been very faithful where they're concerned and I also do want to help them manage coming to church. I'm just praying for an open door. Maybe Wu Lao Shi's granny can be a point of contact. Crossing my fingers. Granny can't really walk. Sigh.

Pray, pray!

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Frankly, I could just sum things up with two words: frantic marking. But instead of complaining, I shall do something mildly constructive instead.

Like rave about the revival of Bleach in the very warm cockles of my manga heart!!! I finally caught up with the episodes of Bleach I had neglected so woefully over the past what... half a year? But boy am I glad I did. Death God fantasy and whatever notwithstanding (after all, that is part of the storyline, but I ain't putting it in the same league as Harry Potter -- is is much better and with no real occultism), it is just a brilliant piece of work.

Kubo Taito (or should I say KUDOS, Taito... haha, lameness!) is the bomb! But so is the bunch behind the anime. This new zanpakutou rebellion arc is just the ticket. Woo! I am so inspired after watching I am also itching to write some nice pieces of fiction. Afterall, I have been neglecting Fanfiction.net for a while. Yes, I do indulge in writing once in a while. (Get over it.)

And Fade to Black is just plain brilliant. The coolness factor is practically stratospheric! While my previous compulsive addiction hasn't returned (honestly, who has the time?), I am once again an avid fan.

Who will be starting Japanese lessons in December with MIMI-CHAN. WAHAHA! I am looking forward to polishing my knowledge of the Japanese language again. I still remember loads and can understand quite a lot, but I'd like to be fluent in speech and grammatically correct. Here come those drills!

本当にわくわくするですよ！クラスは始まり！

See? I do know quite a bit about what I'm talking about.

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This is truly an application of anointing for the outside.

A full morning being a blessing. Feels wonderful and set me thinking.

     

Click here to download:

Great_day_serving_others.zip (2895 KB)

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Learnt about the useful properties of graphs today. Can't believe KFC topped the charts and most of them don't know what Mos Burger is.

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Okay, so my to-do list is getting longer as we speak. This is not good at all. Challenging, but not quite so good.

 Children's Day is around the corner and apart from pondering my options for gifts, I've got to teach the young ones two songs. The quintessential Singaporean children's day song from eons ago, Semoga Bahagia and We're All In This Together (High School Musical)... I'm loving the last song, particularly the beat. Let's hope the kids love it too. My class does. Some of them are decidedly not musical.

 Feel a little more motivated right now, so I shall hie me off to work.

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And with Term 4 brings a ridiculous amount of work... but more on that later.
 
The past week was a mixed bag, with a major flu bug rendering me pretty much braindead for about 4 days. Days which I, most unfortunately, needed to work the most. In the end, I barely got anything done at all. At least I did manage to get some well-deserved rest.
 
Things I did manage to get done, because I absolutely love to dwell on the positive:
 
- Part of a unit worksheet
- 2 stacks of marking
- supporting Mr Chan's request for help
- some shopping (bought those black jeans -- a staple for every occasion!)
- watched Bleach (caught right up from what I'd missed over the past half a year)
 
Things I need to do:
 
- a crapload of work in preparation for SA2
- co-write a song with my favourite Js for Christmas musical
- prepare worship & games for women's net rally this Friday
- teach Children's Day songs
 
The all-encompassing #1 being a huge list that could fill an entire toilet roll if I wrote it all down.
 
Nothing like keeping busy and nothing like trying to motivate yourself to accomplish all you're meant to and more. Need some work mojo!
 
And here's a shout-out to Dora, who's been pining for a new blog post. Hope this satisfies you. Now, go study! :P

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Which self-respecting teacher would do such a heinous thing as boast about the presents she got? Actually I would. I consider them bribes to overlook good behaviour.

       

Click here to download:

Spoils_of_the_day.zip (834 KB)

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This week has been full of drama! Developmental Test 2 marking (and all that screaming in the staff common room about their results -- which, as usual, could always be better), children bleeding all over the place due to small eyelid cuts, and missions on my mind.

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