#1: Curious goat staring into my camera

#2: Biting on the fence

 #3: Bleah!

Hey, peeps! So, I went to the goat farm with my gf during the weekend. Played with the goats and drank some goat milk.

This was my first time visiting the farm at Lim Chu Kang, and it was certainly a surprising eye-opener to witness a doe (female goat) giving birth to her two kids!! Below is the picture of the mommy and her 2 babies:

I shall describe briefly about the interesting process of the doe giving birth!

Initially, we noticed that there was this sticky fluid coming out from the back of the doe, leading me to think that it was just some kind of discharge from her when she got sexually excited. (I wasn’t thinking dirty. A male goat was harrassing her, and hence the thought.) But, the discharge turned out to be some mucus, signalling that she was about to give birth in one to two hours’ time.

And then it happened! We witnessed the doe trying to force an amniotic sac (with the kid in it) out of her uterus. But, it seemed that she did not have enough strength, and so the sac kept coming out and contracting back. This process went on for more than 1/2 an hour, and finally someone informed the farm owner about it.

Well, the guy was definitely experienced in helping his goats deliver their kids. He came down to the stable and immediately bursted the amniotic sac of the doe. Fluid that looked like raw egg white and yolk came flowing down (yeah, it looked kinda grossed). The guy helped to shorten the doe’s pain by immediately pulling her kid out of her uterus. (I realised later that this process needs 1-2 hrs’ time to complete if there isn’t any human intervention.) The kid’s front legs came out first, then its head, and finally its hind legs.

When I thought that was all, the guy actually dug his hand into the doe’ womb again! Actually, he was feeling physically if there was anymore kid inside. True enough, there was one more, and he again swiftly pulled it out and lay it onto the floor. The guy then gave a jab into the doe (I don’t know what was that injection for) and left the stable. The two kids were covered with mucus after they were born, and the mother naturally came to them and started to lick the babies until they were clean from the mucus. (The picture above shows the process of the mum licking them.)

Finally, we observed how the two kids tried eagerly to stand up on their own. Their rubbery legs kept giving way, but they kept trying, and just before we left for home, one of them succeeded in balancing itself standing up! They would be able to stand and walk in 1-2 days’ time.  

Ok, I guess brief description wasn’t that brief after all. LOL. So, yeah.. it was a gd experience there. I did caress those goats there (and allowed them to nibble on my fingers), and it seemed to me that they enjoyed the attention that they were gaining. Go down and have a look when u people are free. It’s worth it!! 

It’s confirmed. I will not be continuing my teaching in PHS.

I’m terribly sorry for those who had hoped for me to return to teach you next semester. Frankly speaking, I’m also disappointed in not returning to PHS, considering I had quite an enjoyable stint there during my training. Although I had requested to return, MOE still decided to post me to another school, SNGS.

I don’t know what I’m going to expect when I start teaching there in the next semester, but since I’ve been posted there, I will continue to do my best as a teacher.

To all those that I’ve taught in PHS before, thank you for the time that we had together. (I know I thanked you all in my 2nd post, but I just need to do it again.) I would not have such a good time in PHS without your enthusiasm and spontaneity during lessons. 

2 Faith, I’m already using the gifts you all gave me. (And Victoria, your cute furball is being displayed in my clear-glass cabinet . ) 

Gillian and Sin Hang, the mug you gave me will be comfortably sitting in my future desk in the staff room.

Xin Yi, Yi Wei and Xiao Man, thanks for the choco and puzzle. I’ll make sure I can find a mathematical way to solve the puzzle!!

Rachel, thanks for the nice hand-made souvenir. It is very beautiful!

Li Xuan,  wow.. the key chain will find its use on my bag or pencil case!

Phillip, thanks a lot for the class photo from 3G (heard that you designed it).

Last but not least, thank all of you for your confidence in me, as well as the encouragement that you all gave me when I needed it.

Just like what’s written on the 3 Grace class photo,

Farewell, but there is no Goodbye.

I wish all of you well, not just in your studies, but in life as well. =)

I was browsing through the Channel News Asia Online when I came across this interesting news: New Zealand double amputee scales Everest.

Inglis showing one of his broken prosthetic legs during the climb

Inglis, now 47, had both his legs amputated below the knee level after he spent 14 days trapped in an ice cave on Mt Cook in 1982. But what admires me of this man is that he didn’t fall into slump after the unfortunate ordeal. Instead, he has proven himself to be just as capable of achieving feats that he’s been doing before the accident: moutain climbing.

The climb to the top of the world’s highest mountain was not one without any problem. During the climb, Inglis got into minor accidents like the snapping of one of his carbon-fibre legs. (It was a good thing that his team has brought along with them lots of spare prosthetic legs.)

Perhaps all of us have always been going through what Inglis has gone through, only to a much smaller multitude. In life, we always encounter obstacles, sometimes big, other times small. From Inglis’s achievement, he has taught us not to succumb to difficulties or problems that we might encounter in the quest of accomplishing our objectives, be it job-related or personal.

It is also definitely encouraging to see Inglis being able to continue living his life meaningfully and overcoming all adversity that he might face with his positiveness. Indeed, this is a great learning lesson for everyone of us.

Yesterday, I went to the Tanjong Pagar railway station in hope to take some photographs of the trains there. (For those who didn’t know, the trains travel to and from Kuala Lumpur).

It was quite disappointing as I only took TWO pictures of the trains before being asked to leave by one of the security policeman there.

Nevertheless,here are some of the photos I’ve taken of the trains and the railway station.

 Hope you’ve enjoyed viewing them! =)

The 2006 election fever may have subsided, but the infamous Gomez affair is still a widely talked about issue in Singapore. Just today, my NIE lecturer "warned" us against "cheating attendance".

It is a common practice for NIE lecturers to pass the sheets of name lists around the lecture hall for the trainee teachers to sign their attendance. But obviously, a minority group of people abused this convenience, and this led to our lecturer naming out some culprits and warning the rest not to fall into the temptation of helping their friends to fake attendance.

(Lecturer looking at the attendance sheets and shakes his head)

Lecturer: I want to see the following students. (Names out a few names, and realises that none is present)

Crowd: (murmurs)

Lecturer: I have to remind you all not to help your absent friends to sign their attendance. Forging signature is a very big offence.

(Crowd became dead silent)

Lecturer: (continues) For all you know, there may be CCTVs installed inside this LT to capture your actions.

(realising our lecturer is spoofing the recent election incident, crowd broke into sparse giggles)

Lecturer: And if you’re caught in the CCTV, the footage’s gonna be sent to the MOE HQ. When that happens, it’s gonna be a serious matter, and no one will believe you if you said it was a mistake. Then, you just can’t just say sorry and let’s move on.

(Crowd started to laugh and cheer)

Ok, it was hilarious. heh

There’s another youtube spoof mentioned in mrbrown.com. Check it out here.

Last Saturday before the elections results, I woke up from my nap in the late afternoon and decided to go out alone to the Punggol beach. People who do not know my hobby would have thought that I’m crazy. Fancy travelling so far from Ang Mo Kio to Punggol just to see the beach!

Well, there’s only one real reason why I travelled so far to a place where there isn’t any entertainment, good food, or even life in there. I was there for a photography session.

Although this place was quite deserted, and has nothing more to offer except rocks, sand and water, I felt a sense of tranquility as I started to compose and shoot my pictures. This is the perfect place for anyone to visit during the weekend, to relax and rejuvenate the worn-out mind and body that has suffered so much during the past week at work.

In life, we don’t always need to have extravagant demands to make ourselves happy or comfortable. Simple hobbies like photgraphy, playing music, etc, have given much meaning into my life. These are the things that could help me loosen up when I’m tired, and help put my troubles aside momentarily when I’m too stressed.

Well, I have found my formula to de-stress myself from the fast-paced society. Have you too?

10 weeks ago, I entered PHS, not knowing what would be awaiting for me. Having only learnt the education pedagogy in NIE and practically no experience in classroom teaching, I knew it would be a challenge for me to survive my first 10 weeks of teaching in my life.

Little did I expect to be so fortunate to be allocated to the classes 1 Humility, 2 Faith and 3 Grace.

1 Humility is a very fun-loving class, with some very inquisitive students who always ask interesting questions. Of course, I sometimes had a little hard time with some mischievous little boys (!!!) here and there. Though I only had the chance to teach them 2 periods per week, I truly enjoyed my time with them.

2 Faith is a cheerful class which I also enjoyed teaching a lot. It was on the last day of teaching that they really gave me a surprise. I was presented a huge gift (Goldlion wallet and belt set!) which the whole class shared to buy. Thank you so much, 2 Faith! In case you all were wondering, I was too shocked and touched to give any reaction.

Well well, what can I say about 3 Grace? you guys (and gals) rock! This is a class that shows enthusiasm by making cat calls, and displays excitment by suddenly standing up from the seats and screaming at the top of their voices. Phew, certainly need 200% of energy to teach them! Anyway, it is my honour to be able to teach such a interesting class. Think trainer and monkeys.

All in all, I definitely had a good experience teaching in Presbyterian High School, and I have to thank all of you for the joy that you gave me during my stay there, and last but not least, thanks for all the presents!!