It has been a long time since I’ve posted anything about photography. School days have been busy, and I certainly miss the days where I could travel and enjoy taking photographs of places.

Last Sunday was a rainy day. I picked up my DSLR that was lying on my table and took a couple of random shots. I wish for the March holidays to come soon, so I can find interesting locations to shoot some pictures again.

Rain drops on my room window. Deliberately post-processed to give it a bluish hue.

The scenery from my room window. Decided to convert it into monochrome to enhance the contrast of the looming clouds. 

I will end off with this poem. And I hope that it’ll encourage everyone of you to cope with the stress that you’re undergoing.

Hang In There

Difficulties arise in the lives of us all.

What is most important is dealing with the

hard times, coping with the changes,

and getting through to the other side when

the sun is still shining for you.

It takes a strong person to deal with

tough times and difficult choices.

But you are a strong person.

It takes courage.

But you possess the inner courage to see you through.

It takes being an active participant

in you life.

But you are in the driver’s seat,

and you can determine the direction

you want tomorrow to go in.

Hang in there… and take care to see

that you don’t lose sight of the one

thing that is constant, beautiful, and true.

Everything will be fine - and it will turn

out that way because of the special kind

of person you are.

So… beginning today and last a lifetime through -

Hang in there, and don’t be afraid to feel like

the morning sun is shining… just for you.

~Douglas Pagels 

It has been a long while since I did anything more than 10km because of a flu and slight sore on my right tibia. Furthermore, work has constantly denied me the opportunity of joining my running friends to train together. 

So, yesterday evening, I’ve decided to cover a distance that I’ve never attempted before in preparation of the upcoming KL marathon. And that was to run from home to Tampines and back. 

The distance (twice the length of the red line) was 30km, 2km more than the longest distance I’ve tried previously. The night was cool, and I started my run comfortably.

1st 10km:

I started at 8:45pm. It was an easy 10km for me, as this has become my usual running distance. 1 hr and 5 min to cover the first ten.

10-20km: 

It was still quite comfortable from the 10th to 16th km, thereafter which I began to feel the fatigue. My Pocari Sweat drink was all drunk up. I stopped by at a petrol station to get a bottle of H2O, stealing a rest at the same time. I could sense my speed decreasing a little as I went on to complete the first 20 km. I took 1 hr and 8 min to complete the next 10 km.

Last 10km:

Well, this part was the most stressful part of my run, because my energy was depleting exponentially. Luckily, I had brought along a packet of Power Gel to replenish some energy. My pace dropped considerably, and I had to blast my ipod Shuffle to distract myself from the gruelling last 5 km. Legs got increasingly sore, and my left thigh was on the verge of getting cramps. Lack of sodium, I suppose. I started to use the run-walk technique for the last 3 km, and I was practically checking my Polar watch every 10 seconds to see if I was reaching the 30km mark. Finally, I completed at 12:20am. Time taken for the last 10km: 1 hr 19 min.

All in all, it was a good run. The run was 12km shy of the full marathon distance, and I’ve now gained more confidence in being able to do a sub-6hr for my first marathon. I’ll probably need to fine-tune my pace a little, such as starting off at a slower pace and conserve more energy for the later half of the run.  20 more days to the KL marathon!

Total time: 3 hr 32 min 14 sec

Total distance: 30 km

Pace: 7:04 min/km (Average)

Came across this clip, which was taken in some international airport. Infra-red cameras are used to deter passengers from carrying illegal or dangerous items in the airport. But the cameras obviously capture more details.

Aren’t you surprised how much gas a person could pass? No privacy to even break a wind in the airports!

Ok, that was crap, just in case you believed the video. Here’s the making of the fake gas-passing video.

One good example of why you can’t always trust what you see on the internet.

It’s the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. Somehow this CNY is very different from the past, because I didn’t go visiting my relatives at all.

After a 2-hr nap and watching one episode of 1 Litre of Tears, I thought of a friend who had left this world 7 years ago.  A close friend whom I regarded as an elder sister, who helped me a lot when I needed encouragement and support during my secondary school years.

So, with such gloomy mood, I spent the evening composing a simple tune for this special friend, someone that I’ve been missing so much.

We used to talk
We used to laugh
We were best of friends
I thought that’s how it would always be
You taught me so much
Told me exactly what to say
I wish it were still the same
But someday I know it will
Maybe not today
But we’ll meet up again
It won’t be long until I see your face
In Heaven that marvelous day

- Stef Knudsen 

What happens when 5 of your most impish students visit your house? The house gets turned up-side-down.

Lol, not really. So Alicia, Faith, Joanna, Li Jie and Stephanie came over for a pre-CNY visit. There’s nothing pretty much at my home, but I’m not surprised that they could find stuff to entertain themselves. So we watched some hilarious youtube clips online, had a KFC home delivery meal and watched Flight Plan VCD together. Now I understand Mrs Goh’s concerns about the biscuit crumbs dropping onto the ground during the food rationing day. These 5 girls couldn’t seem to prevent the chocolate and chicken skin crumbs from dirtying my floor.

We took some photos, and they want them to be put up in my blog. So, here they are.

It is yet again the time of the year where everyone celebrates the Lunar New Year. Today is indeed a memorable day, because three of my colleagues and I had finally put up a show that we had spent the last few weeks preparing.. the lion dance!

Getting ready. 

Since young, I’ve always enjoyed watching lion dances, especially during the new year period where there would be lion dance performances almost everywhere in Singapore. And after 2 decades of watching these professional performers flaunting their lion-dancing skills, I finally have a chance to experience what it is like to be inside that lion head.

Like flying eh?!

Few weeks back, the chinese department invited me to perform this lion dance segment of the CNY celebration. Thinking that it would be fun to learn this skill, I willingly accepted the invitation. And I’ve not regretted since. Throughout my entire school life, I’ve never performed in any major school event before, so I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to experience how it is like to perform in front of the whole school.

The pair. 

After long hours of training, the four of us eventually gained enough confidence to perform the act (though we’re still mediocre compared to the experts).

起狮! It’s exhausting. 

And boy was it exciting performing in front of the St Nicks girls!  I must commend that St Nicks girls are second to none when it comes to cheering and applauding. The loud cheers definitely gave us lots of encouragement. Thank you girls! Have a great Chinese New Year!!!

It’s finally over! May not be the best performance, but I truly enjoyed this experience.  

Once again, it is the day of the year where most couples in the world would treat each other especially sweet and romantic, and go to posh places for a candle-light dinner, and …etc….etc….

But wait! Who says you need to have a special someone of the opposite gender to celebrate Valentine’s Day with? In St Nics, the girls go around exchanging sweets and chocolates, expressing their appreciation for the friendships that they have forged through the months or years of studying here.

Some of my students wished me a "happy valentine’s day" and/or gave me sweets, and I really appreciate such thoughtfulness. Thank you!!! Your actions had made my otherwise-bad day turn better.

Thanks for the messages, sweets and chocos.  

So anyway, hope everyone of you enjoyed "celebrating" V Day with your friends. Do take care of your health. CNY is coming real soon, and it’s the worst possible period to fall sick!

I’ll end off my post with this video clip from youtube. Valentine’s Day is not only for lovers. It is a day for you to share your love with anyone!

"Easter Eggs" are used to describe hidden surprises that you can uncover in games or applications after typing certain combinations on the keyboard.

In St Nics, teachers often receive "Easters" from their students too. In their assignment. While some teachers frown at the unnecessary doodling on the papers, I usually can’t help but to respond to those drawings by adding more graffiti (sorry, girls).

hmm..

Yea. Nice to meet (you) too.

Asking me to take the pledge.. why eh!

Yah yah..

Actually.. u thanking me for marking your paper?

I don’t see the link.

Wah, this one is nice. 

But at least u’ve completed it.

Oh well, my students cute eh? Seriously, such things break the monotony of marking. =)  

On the 5th of Feb 2007, my form class 2 Grace went to the Moral Home for the Disabled as part of their CIP. As I had been there just a week before, I knew what to expect and hence was able to advise my girls on how to behave when they are at the home.

Upon reaching the home, some residents spotted us and started waving. A few of them recognized me and said to me in a friendly manner “eh, you come back again!”.

The lady-in-charge gave us some instructions on how to communicate with the residents before allowing us to proceed to the spacious dinning area.

Before going to the home, our class actually prepared some activities for the residents. Among the many activities were sing-along session, musical chairs and picture colouring.

It is no surprise that the girls took a bit of time to adapt to the environment, as they had no prior experience in interacting with people with special needs. But, it was indeed very heart-warming to see most of them trying their best to interact with the residents.

Among them, I observed several girls really enjoying interacting and playing with the residents, and I was really impressed by their positive attitude. Pictures show all evidence!

The residents put up a dance performance for us!!  

This trip has been a fulfilling one for all of us, and I certainly hope that the girls have learnt something invaluable from the visit.

I borrowed a 3-D Mirage Hologram Maker from the physics lab last week to show my classes, using it to introduce the next topic, Reflection of Light.

A 3-D Mirage Hologram Maker being displayed in AMK library 

In order to show the interesting effect created by this physics "toy", I put a 50-cent coin into it and got 2 Justice to pass it around during the lesson. Obviously, having a coin inside the hologram maker gave some students the idea that it could double its uses as a "donation can".

So one of them wrote a little message and placed it in the center of the hologram maker.

Soon, another one asked for donation as well. 

I guess this girl has the money to go for the concert, but she’s helping her friends to gather donations still. Good pal! But wait, she can’t go if no one follows her to the concert. Hmm, I’m confused..

Don’t be sad, people.. if you can’t go for the concert, you can still see them here.

Happy?

I went into 2 unity the next day, and showed them the same thing. This time, I put a $1 coin instead. Well, as expected, they did something to the hologram maker as well. However, they treated the hologram maker more like a rubbish bin than a donation can this time round.

By the time the hologram maker was passed back to me, I found a sweet, a eraser cover, a beany thingy, a sweet wrapper, a piece of tissue paper.. and this drawing:

And wait! I realised my $1 coin was gone! So all this rubbish costed a dollar.

Obviously, 2 Unity had a different kind of creativity.