Holiday coming to an end!

Hmm I see, I have really totally forgotten about this blog of mine ever since Mid of this year. Seriously, a lot of stuffs have happened and I have more or less gained some maturity from it. This post will take me quite a while to finish. To start the ball rolling I would think these are the few major highlights that bring a bling to my thoughts. I would further elaborate the headings with thoughts that flashes through my mind.

1. Taking over responsibilities
2. Dinner after Dinner
3. Running therapy
4. Heart to heart talk with my therapist, psychiatrist, dermatologist and dentist.
5. Shopping therapy
6. Knowing a Special one
7. My Manga Painting series Continues. . .
8. So much of readings
9. Apple revolution starts ...
10. Animation is so interesting, and it exists in so many forms!
11. My Marathon Trainings
12. My Xmas Perfect Present
13. My Clean Cubicle
14. Year 2010 challenges
15. Going off is a dedicated and true blue teacher
16. Embracing God
17. Bon Voyage my China friend.
18. 2009 to be gone soon, 2010 a year of surprises?

Elaborations

1.Taking over responsibilities
Towards the last 2 to 3 weeks of Term 4, unknowingly I took up the responsibility of P4 Level Manager. It was really a test of patience and endurance. Getting my level teachers to consolidate their classes results, churning out reports and thus streaming the kids based on their results was no joke at all. Getting my colleagues to get their tasks done was luckily easy , hmm I would say maybe except for one! It was really stressful enough. Haha God blessed! After all the rush and hush, kids got their report books, Promotions and were streamed based on their credentials.

2.Dinner after Dinner
Well this was really getting very tiring physically and also financially stressful. A total of 4 Colleagues weddings, 3 friends Weddings, 3 relatives Birthday Celebrations, Parents Birthdays and staff Dinner. Phew... Until Boxing day I finally gave up and felt so blue about it that I simply refused to go for any more dinner or celebrations.

3. Running therapy
Ever since my short stint as a level manager, I had literally cut down my number of runs per day. Routines were no longer kept and followed. I only managed to pull myself back only during December, after my visit to my number 1 therapist Ms Chan.

4. Heart to heart talk with my therapist, psychiatrist, dermatologist and dentist.
Went over to talk with my friends and told them about my problems. Well it's over so don't really wish to bring it up again. Boo!

5. Shopping therapy
OMG, this is really one serious problem. In just one and a half month, my spending chalked up to a good 4 to 5 digit number. Items bought are
Clothings from Soda, NIKE, FCUk, Adidas and etc Running Shoesssss err 8 pairs, Traveling, Apple products, books, phones, furniture, IT gadgets ie GPS, Laptop, 128GB thumb drives,earphones, Network printer and etc, eye-wears, lots of restaurant trips, car maintenance, groceries mounting up to 1k, liquor and wines, Doraemon stuffs and ...

6. Knowing a Special one
Just got to know a special friend that somehow changes my life maybe not forever but to say at least for this period. It is her character and attributes that attracts me, boyish, sporty, frankness, aloofness, seems to be very attitude, have a liking for wimpy kids and i think maturity being the key to all.


7. My Manga Painting series Continues. . .
I have finally continued my paintings, here is my drawings to its final look.


8. So much of readings
Have read quite a bit of books, Life of PI, happiness equation, have a little faith, the gift, Sun Tze, last lecture, time travellers wife, Tipping point, confucius from the heart and etc

9. Apple revolution starts ...
Got my Mac Book, I phone, I pod nano, I shuffle, and next not sure

10. Animation is so interesting, and it exists in so many form
The list of animation starts with
Paper cut, 2D Flash, Claymation, Stop Motion,3D studio Max, Flip book animation and Sand animation.
I went for this workshop during the first week of school holiday at CreativeBits. Got a hand or two in the claymation and sand animation. See my work!


11. My Marathon Trainings
Started my running routine once again! Hope to train up and be Gold Standard fitness once again.

12. My Xmas Perfect Present
I got this book GOD OF MANGA(Osamu Tezuka) from this special friend of mine.

13. My Clean Cubicle
Managed to clean my place got furniture for things to be kept and everything is done up neatly.

Blog dead not quite, I would say it is dormant.

Although it has been a while since I last update my blog, it will always be freshen up with new stuff as and when I am free. In this coming holiday I will put up the events that i have went through since September. with photos and things that I wanted share with people who read my blog.
Let me give you a glimpse of the things that I will be sharing.
1) Music sites
2) Interesting Book and my reviews on them.
3) Friends wedding
4) My Running fanatic events
5) IT stuffs that I have bought and the reviews on them.
6) Pupils nonsensical stuffs.
7) My Holiday Trip.
8) Shopping frenzy.

Au revoir,

Death of a great music icon - MJ

Michael Jackson was the first ever pop Icon that I had grew up with. With tracks like Thriller, Bad, Billie Jean, Man in the mirror, Smooth Criminal, The way you make me feel, Beat It, Black or white, Dangerous, Heal the World and many many more not to mention. Well, I really cannot explain why at the age of 12, I would want to save and own a copy of his hits. He was indeed a genius and the best performer of his time. He was simply second to none. His style was filled with realm of explosive and wondrous music. Imagine the number of first he had created, here are some of the few to mention below. Do you really think there’s gonna be anybody close to what he had achieved coming up in the next decade of years? I personally do not think so. He is definitely a special one.
Enjoy this ever best performed moonwalk by MJ of course.



A number of First in his career.
Biggest Selling Album Of All Time - Guiness Book Of World Records
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" Album is the biggest selling album of all time, with over 50 million copies sold worldwide. Thriller is also the biggest selling U.S album with sales of 25 million copies.

Most No1 Hits in 1980's
By The End of the 1980's MIchael Jackson had more #1 hits than any other artist for the decade.

100 Million Records
Michael has sold over 100 million singles and albums outside of the U.S.

Biggest Selling Video
Michael Jackson's "The Making Of Thriller" is the biggest selling video to be released by an artist.

Billboard "Hot 100" Singles Chart
Most No1 Hits by Male Artist (13)

No1 Debuts
Michael Jacksons "Bad", "Dangerous", and "HIStory" albums all debuted in at No1.

Awards
Michael has won more awards than any other artist.

No1 On Charts
In 1983 Michael became the first artist to simultaneously hold the number one spots on Billboard's rock albums and rock singles charts, as well as the R&B albums and singles charts.

Consecutive No1 Singles
Jackson 5 were the first group to ever have four consecutive No1 singles.

2 weeks after the gruelling 84Km Sundown Ultra Marathon

Photo taken by Adidas photographer after the first 42 KM run. Only a total of 108 photos were candidly taken.

Here's my Post Mortem report for the unbelievable run that I had persevere and completed.
A brief introduction to what this run was about, and why it was considered almost an inhuman thing to be done.

1) This run was held at night from 7pm to morning.( Depends what time you complete it). Even the First runner who completes it needed almost 8 hours to complete. When I mean first runner, he is one that is a professional runner who trains and diet regularly on a daily basis. There is only a total of 300 runners taking part compared to the 60,000 runners taking part in the 42Km run!!!

2) This runs stretched a monstrous distance of 84km. To let u know roughly what this distance equates to, simply put it down as running from Changi Airport(East) to Tuas check point (West) and back. Or from Woodlands Check point to Kuala Lumpur. This is how crazy it was.

3) The run comprises not just flat running surfaces, instead there were a total of 10 long steep overhead bridges to conquer. Almost ripped off one's calf muscle after every climb of that bridge.

4) As the run crept into midnight, Zzz Monster starts to attack your mind but you just couldn't close your eye and go to sleep.

5) Energy Gel needs to be taken regularly to keep your muscles going after the first 42KM was completed. A total of 12 energy gels were consumed. Now, the sight of it really makes me puke. Yucks.

6) When the pain engulfed my entire body, I could not give up as I had already completed 70Km. Another 14Km, and I can proudly declared a champion defeating my own record. I strongly clenched my fists, grinded my teeth and force my legs to do a force march till the very end.

After the run, the worse was not gone, instead it took me a good 45min to walk from the ending point to the car park to pick up my car. Not only my feet are feeling extreme pain, my groin were nearly in a bow shape. I am like walking with both my thigh opened. Haha!

When I started driving, the least thing expected was tiredness that caught up with me, I was driving in a zig zag manner getting lots of honks and flashing during my drive. Finally I stop at a filter lane, stopped and slept for 30 min. After which, I woke up and drove home with my eyes widely opened.

After getting home, immediately i took off my socks and shoes. Oh gosh! I have never seen such a big blister in my life before. It was as big as a tennis ball! The pain was really excruciating.

My verdict on the pain that I'm having with my feet is strain Achilles tendon which attached to the calcaneus or heel bone that lead to the swelling thus no running for a few days at least or up to 1 week. Even cycling is also not recommended so I guess only left with swimming to keep myself in shape.

Post race analysis: It was a case of not enough mileage and conditioning leading to such purely ultra run distance unlike ironman. I think it is difficult to allocate enough time for so many disciplines as event of such distance required a minimum of 120km run or more per week based on what I read from many website training programmes. 3 weeks before the race although I managed to hit 62km for my longest run but the pain on my heel surfaced at about the 50km mark and it was more walk then run for the balance distance. As such, I already foresee at most I may be able to etch out additional 5km to 10km or last up to 2/3 to 3/4 of the total distance before the pain surface. In the end, it came earlier than expected.

Overall, I still force myself to go to school the next day for the remedial that I had planned for my pupils. However it took me a good 3 days before i started my routine run again.

For now, my next challenge will be the Mount Faber Run which is on this coming Sunday. It shall serve as a guide for me in the upcoming MOE Olive run that is due on August 15. Hopefully I can get myself in my best competitive condition by then and win something for my school.

Till Then...

This update is for Vann.

It's a long time since i last gave an update of myself. Haha and that is all because of work, work and work.... Arghhhh. During these few weeks i have been busily marking papers non stop. Everyday, apart from frantically revising work with my class, invigilation and exam script marking from 2pm to 7pm non stop, I don't even have the time to visit the toilet and to have a decent meal. Most importantly, I need to find time for my extra training in order to complete my 84km marathon at the end of the month.
Well enough of my ramblings, here's the stuffs apart from my daily 'excitement' in school.
1) I have signed up for a few more marathons in the coming months. They are i)The Bay Run 21km, ii) Mizuno Mount Faber Run 10km, iii) MOE OLIVE Run 15km.

2) I have been doubling my running distance from 10 to 20 km every night.

3) Finished reading the following books bought from Page One Vivocity: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch( A must read), How Starbucks Saved my life by Micheal Gates Gill, The book of numbers by Tim Glynne Jones, Manga for the Beginner by Christopher Hart ( I like it so much that i started drawing lots of Manga), Beginners guide to animation by Mary Murphy.

4)Went shopping for TV Consoles, Wardrobe (so that I will not have a wardrobe malfunction incident like Janet Jackson, haha) and Television set. BTW I have bought a 52 Inch LCD TV, excellence picture quality, ( can even see the meanest pimple hidden by Coco Chanel foundation) with crystal clear sound that produces a 30 Watt output, that is sure to blast my neighbours Windows off.

5) Got a number of new movies and songs from friends. That sure saves me from buying.

6) Bought a pair of new automatic watches with white straps for my dear dear and myself. Having goose pimple upon hearing that , right? More to come both watches back were having these Chinese characters 天长地久。It really burn a hole in my pockets, but it was worth it.

7) Got a new cage for our hamsters, and also bought them lots of treats such as dried grasshopper.

8) Got some encouragement treats for my pupils. Hope they do well for their exams. Really hope to see more passes for Science for SA1.

9) Planning for June Holiday. Where to travel? Cant really decide.

10) Playing lots of PSP, PS3, NDS Lite and Warcraft DOTA.

Ok that's all for the time being, Vann. Thank you for reminding me to update. :)

What is Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 in details?

Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, also known as A(H1N1), is a subtype of influenzavirus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans.

Influenza A virus strains are categorized according to two proteins found on the surface of the virus: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). All influenza A viruses contain hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, but the structure of these proteins differs from strain to strain due to rapid genetic mutation in the viral genome.

Influenza A virus strains are assigned an H number and an N number based on which forms of these two proteins the strain contains. There are 16 H and 9 N subtypes known in birds, but only H 1, 2 and 3, and N 1 and 2 are commonly found in humans.

Current reports on Swine Flu outbreak and how it was detected.

The 2009 swine flu outbreak is the epidemic of a new strain of influenza virus that was clinically identified in April 2009. The new virus strain is a type of influenza A (H1N1) virus, commonly called the swine flu. It is currently a phase 5 outbreak, one level below an official pandemic.

The time and location of the outbreak is still unknown, but it was first detected in two cases in Southern California in late March. When this novel virus was publicized, officials in Mexico suspected a link to an outbreak of late-season flu cases they were finding. Within days, hundreds more suspected cases were discovered in Mexico, with more cases also showing up in the U.S. and several other countries. By late April, officials from the U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO), based in Switzerland, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S., were expressing serious concern about the flu outbreak, worried that it might become a worldwide flu pandemic.

By April 28, the new strain was confirmed to have spread to Spain, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Israel, and the virus was suspected in many other nations. As a result, WHO raised its alert level to "Phase 5" out of 6 possible, which it defines as a "signal that a pandemic is imminent". By the end of April, 300 schools had closed across the United States and the Mexican government ordered a multi-day shutdown of all non-essential activities in the government and private sector, amounting to a shutdown of most of the country's economy.At the same time, however, many scientists were reaching a consensus that the epidemic was so far "relatively mild," and believed that it could be less fatal than previous pandemics.

The new strain is an apparent reassortment of four strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1.[53] Analysis by the CDC identified the four component strains as one endemic in humans, one endemic in birds, and two endemic in pigs (swine).However, other scientists have stated that analyses of the 2009 swine flu (A/H1N1) viral genome "suggests that all segments are of swine origin", "[w]e are puzzled about sources of information that affirm that the virus is a reassortment of avian, human and swine viruses," and "this preliminary analysis suggests at least two swine ancestors to the current H1N1, one of them related to the triple reassortant viruses isolated in North America in 1998." One swine strain was widespread in the United States, the other in Eurasia. Worldwide the common human H1N1 influenza virus affects millions of people every year, according to WHO officials, and "these annual epidemics result in about three to five million cases of severe illness, and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths" annually.In industrialized countries most of these annual deaths occur in people aged 65 or older. By May 2, some pigs in Canada were diagnosed with H1N1. Although some influenza strains can spread between species, the influenza virus is killed by normal cooking procedures, so there is no risk of infection from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.

Which is correct?

What is the difference between "Reoccur" and "Recur" ?

Recur and reoccur mean the same thing; to happen again. However, there is a fine distinction. Reoccur is used to mean, to happen one more time, while recur indicates a repetition more than once, usually according to a schedule or pattern.

Source: Mortal Syntax by June Casagrande


Do we say "she need not.."or "she needs not.."?

'Need + verb' is considered to belong to a group of verbs called 'modals'. This group includes 'can', 'may', etc. This group does not inflect (we cannot say 'She cans') and the negative is formed by placing 'not' after the modal (as in 'cannot', 'may not'). These days, we usually only use this form of 'need' in negative sentences. Alternatively, 'need to + verb' follows the standard verb forms. It inflects and the negative is formed using 'do/does'.

Correct examples:
She need not pay for the damage to the glass door.
She doesn't need to pay for the damage to the glass door.

Am I being too lenient?

Well, being a teacher does have its difficulties. Not to discuss about the work and roles that we need to play. It is just simply indescribable. Back to what i wanted to mention earlier on. Leniency was what I wanted to discuss. Usually, when I first get to know a class, I would not joke or smile at them. However after a while the inner character in me will relent. So the result that it entails... is having pupils calling me God father and pupils tapping my head, worse pupils stepping my feet. What nonsense is this? Nevertheless, I would think being a teacher who is strict or one that is absolutely care less is not really ideal. To be fair, I would think I'm one who is firm and yet game enough for pupils to get near to. What do you say?

A rustic, smoothing scene for those with a troubled mind.

Dispersal of Seed by water - Coconut and Pong Pong

A scenic view of St John's island.

My Class performance during the camp fire night.

St John's island Memories

On the last day of the camp we went to the beach to have some fun.


My student, Si Li did our class proud by clinching the best female camper award. What a moment that was. Well Done! Simply Awesome!


When you are camping or go resorting in an island, a must have activity is to be running around its beach when the sun rises in the morning. What a beauty the surrounding accentuates as the sun breaks the horizon of the skyline. There you see, behind me is really something nature gives to mankind, ' A mesmerizing, breathtaking and exasperating dawn'.



I was practically running around the island 3 times a day, morning, noon and midnight. The photo shows the night view of our mainland Singapore from St John's island . If you look at it closely, you will see our world's largest observatory, The Singapore Flyer.


Our kids were having their confidence trail during nighttime.


Do they looked like refuges from third world country seeking freedom in a refuges camp.


Now there is a story to this bigger than human size chess set. It was said that the during the Japanese occupation, Prisoners of War (POW) were brought to this island for lockup. As the Japanese soldiers were bored, they came up with the idea of having a real life chess to ease their boredom. So POWs were used as pawn in the chess! As their Pawn were 'eaten' up up the other opponent they will kill him off on the spot. What inhumane and cruelty that was. It was certainly an utterly disgusting and unforgivable war time crime that went unpunished.

An unforgettable experience at St John's Island.

Just came back from St John's Island, 2009 P4 camp. So much to talk about. I will just briefly list out in points form.
1. Weather is like living in raging hell. Really unbearable.
2. It's like a boot camp. Concertina Wire fencing round our staying compound.
3. Food is so unbalanced, not much of vege, not much of fruit.
4. Pupils looked so tired and burnt out during the 3 days.
5. One of my pupils Sili did our class proud by clinching the best female camper award.
6. My class 4N did a wonderful performance.
7. More interactions with my colleagues. Raphael, Abbie, Ramesh, Desmond, Wendy, Pauline, Corinna and Marini.
8. Lots of personal running time round the clock.
9. Taken lots of photos.
10. Did an exploration on the island.

A complete roundup on the trip to 广东，佛山顺德。

To be updated

Day 1, Touch down 佛山，顺德机场。

This is the exhibition hall that exhibits all works from all schools. Behind is the work that our school has produced. Animation and Virtual game.

The first photograph that we took while reaching their Primary school. My goodness it is extremely huge! With stadium, exhibition hall, hostel, swimming pool, 2 basketball court , soccer field, gymnasium, badminton courts, 1 building solely for canteen(different storey for different level p1 -p6) Wow, dont u feel envious of them.

Joke of the day. The plate that we always use to contain rice is actually meant for them to put the leftovers. So we scared them initially by placing our food at the leftover plate. Our children just simply refuse to use bowl to contain their rice. Haha

Arrival at their immigration counter.
Shortly after touching down, we were brought to our hotal for lunch. There after we were invited to their Primary school. When I have the timke to blog I shall introduce the different facade of the trip.

The Night before I leave for 佛山.

This is the night, right now, at 1.30am and I have not packed my luggage for the trip yet. Ridiculous, unbelievable, instead of doing the right stuff I went for another night run although I had already run one earlier at 10pm. Crazy or over zealous, well I think it is passion that runs in my mind. My flight is before dawn and I am not a bit anxious at all.
However, as the saying goes, let nature takes its course. To my surprise, while I am running round the serenity of my neighbourhood, thoughts and ideas for the trip came to my mind. I began to pack my luggage virtually. Well, after the run it helps me to pack my stuff effortlessly.
... ...

To be continued... ...

Flying off to GuangDongProvince, City of Foshan, ShunDe District for an inaugural International Animation Competition

2 weeks before term 1 CA1 begins, I was handed a task, that is to form and guide a group of pupils to come up with a virtual game for an inaugural international animation competition. It was apparently an uphill task for me as this group of pupils knowledge of Flash and photoshop is limited. In the end luckily with the assistance of my IT trainer and I, we managed to touch up their game with action scripts, sound and music to make the game much more substantial. I am indeed surprised to hear from the organiser that our work managed to garner a SILVER award. So with it we are now going to fly to 中国，广州省，佛山市，顺德区 for the award presentation on next Thursday. It is definitely going to be an eyeopener for us as participants from different countries are going to be there as well.　Well, for people who doesn't know where place is . The idea of ringing up names such as 黄飞鸿, 叶问 and BRUCE LEE　will give you a good idea of where is the place. This place is the homes of these GongFu master. Surprisingly, I was told by my parents that that is also my family ancestral home. My family ancestral roots can be found there. Never did I expect to be going to the place that my family line starts. Life is simply unpredictable, like what my blog banner suggest always expect the unexpected!
Once I m there, I will be updating you with the intersting facts about the place. Keep logging in for more info.


The Virtual GAme that was created in a short span of 2 weeks.


The geographical Map of China.


The primary school that I will be going to. 西山小学。

7 Sins committed in 7 Days.

Well, finally to end this week without regrets, I had managed to complete my sins even with this economic downturn looming upon our daily life. It is indeed very insensitive of me to be indulging in such luxury given that there are so many people out there getting laid off and at the same time having to think of their daily bread and butter. But,but hang on there, life still goes on. So, unhappiness aside, let me explicitly pour out all my indulgence and also to share the details with you.

Sin Number 1: Day 1, Monday : Dinner at Fish N Co with my family.
Sin Number 2: Day 2, Tuesday: Haircut/wash/massaging at Salon by Senior Hair stylist.
Sin Number 3: Day 3, Wednesday: Extreme Punishment inflicted upon my body.
Sin Number 4: Day 4, Thursday: Excessive spending on IT gadgets at IT fair.
Sin Number 5: Day 5, Friday: Music and Books from Gramophone and PageOne.
Sin Number 6: Day 6, Saturday: Stocking up Sports equipment excessively.
Sin Number 7: Day 7, Sunday: Watching DVDs non-stop.

Sin 1 evidence (Day 1, Monday : Dinner at Fish N Co with my family.)

Details have been mentioned at my previous post.

Sin 2 evidence (Day 2, Tuesday: Haircut/wash/massaging at Salon by Senior Hair stylist.)

The senior hair stylist is my friend and while having my haircut, I was chatting with her. It was so enjoyable that I spend more than an hour in her salon. Ha ha.
Ok, hair cut aside. I am going to tell you the benefits of getting head massages.
This is it. Do you know the benefits of having a head massage.

At the end of a massage session you will feel totally relaxed and de-stressed.
Other than relieving stress, head massage is also good for curing insomnia, fatigue, headaches, sinusitis, and migraines. It increases flexibility in the neck and shoulders and improves the flow of blood throughout the entire scalp. It also provides relief to tired facial muscles.

So if you have the time do try out the massaging while having your haircut the next time.

Sin 3 evidence( Sin Number 3: Day 3, Wednesday: Extreme Punishment inflicted upon my body.)

I have finally forced myself to pull up the bar for a one time maximum try of 22 repetitions. After undergoing weights lifting on my lateral muscles for 3 months, I have finally break the 17 chin up blockage! Of course I have also over trained my self by running 3 times a day with a statistic of 10km at dawn, 5 km at noon and 21km at night. The feeling of it is really indescribable.

Sin 4 evidence (Sin Number 4: Day 4, Thursday: Excessive spending on IT gadgets at IT fair.)


Needless to explain the benefits of getting these gadgets. I shall list them all.
1) A NetBook 2) Creative X-FI 32GB MP4 player 3) A 64GB Thumb Drive 4) A Bamboo Fun Tablet 5)500 GB Portable Hard Disk.

Sin 5 evidence ( Day 5, Friday: Music and Books from Gramophone and PageOne.)





Jazz and hop hop are my frequent music companion.

A short synopsis of the book that I had read over the holiday. It is indeed interesting to know that everything we thought we know happens to be untrue. Here it is. savour on!

BOOK TITLE: "DONT GO TO WORK ON MONDAYS"
ALMOST EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG!
The media is flooded with shock reports on our health
every day: don’t eat this; don’t do that. But many of these
medical myths are complete fallacies.
Anahad O’Connor, the Really? columnist for the New York
Times, addresses our many misconceptions about our
world – and our own bodies – and answers all your
burning questions in an accessible and entertaining style.
You can discover the answers to questions including:
• Does cutting your hair make it grow thicker?
• Is chocolate an aphrodisiac?
• Does muscle convert to fat when you stop working out?
• Is running bad for your knees?
• Can green tea help you lose weight?
• Does celery really have negative calories?
• Is eating fish good for the brain?
• Is it all that bad to drink on an empty stomach?
• Do toilet seats spread germs?
• Is a cold contagious before symptoms appear?
• Does cranberry juice prevent urinary tract infections?
• What are those white spots on your fingernails?
• Is chicken soup really good for a cold?
• Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis?
• Do mobile phones really cause cancer?
• Do you lose most of your body heat through your head?
• Is too much sleep bad for you?
• Is yawning contagious?
• Should you treat a snake bite by sucking out the venom?
• Can antioxidants keep your heart healthy?
• Why shouldn’t you go to work on Monday? ( MUST READ!!!)

Sin 6:(Day 6, Saturday: Stocking up Sports equipment excessively.) In case of a Sporting crisis


My Adistar Running shoe that commands respect.

adiSTAR Ride
With an even more luxurious and responsive fit and feel, the adidas adiSTAR® Ride keeps ahead of the running shoe competition with 360-degree CLIMACOOL® ventilation and the combination of GEOFIT™ and FORMOTION™ technologies for the smoothest ride ever.

* FORMOTION™ adapts to the ground to ensure the smoothest, most comfortable run possible
* CLIMACOOL® provides 360-degree cooling for the entire foot
* GEOFIT™ construction for anatomical fit and comfort
* adiPRENE®+ in the forefoot maintains propulsion and efficiency
* TORSION® SYSTEM for midfoot integrity
* adiWEAR® outsole offers the ultimate in high-wear durability; Blown rubber outsole for cushion and lightweight grip
* Imported

So with all these so called technology used to craft out this shoe, it is simply too hard to resist. Me and my excuses.




The headphone is a steal as it cost only $14 as sports headphone usually is very pricey.


The Puma sports wallet and stationery case is simply too unique to be missed. Again me and my excuses.


This Kappa utility bag is a gift. It cost $80 dollars. So no complaints

Sin 7: (Day 7, Sunday: Watching DVDs non-stop.)
Okay at least I am doing some soul searching on the final day. Watching DVDs on chistianity. The ALPHA COURSE.



Well, and so this is it. Awesome isn't it? I will promise not to overspend and be impulsive the next time. ha ha...

Friendly match with Hong Wen Primary School

This was an invitation match handed out to us by teachers of Hong Wen Primary School on the last day of school for Term 1. The game ended with handshakes exchanged. Well, for the score, it is not important at all, with players from "Manchester United" and "Liverpool FC" in our star studded team, everything is destined...

Farewell to my Korean pupil, Hae seong.

To ensure my Korean pupil, Hae Seong leave us with a beautiful memory, on the last period of the term, I asked the rest of my Korean pupils to come out and sing the traditional Korean song "3 Teddy Bears" with him. I had also taken a class photo with them and framed it up for Hae Seong to safekeep. All the best, Hae Seong.

All my indulgence during the March holiday!

Watch out for all my indulgence during the March Holiday. My, My, it is really a massive week in terms of reading, relaxation, sports, music, vanity yes it is and IT gadgets. Ha Ha, what a week! I will be posting all the invaluable experience i had in a while. Be back !

My sumptuous dinner at Fish & Co.

A good break = good meals + extra exercises + time for reading, listening to songs, going Cinema and gaming + Spa if possible.
Not to let myself down for this March holiday, I am going to pamper and recharge myself as much as possible.
For a start, I decided to have a good meal and went to Fish and Co for a sumptuous dinner. Indeed the calamari fish and chips is a not to miss signature dish.

My Calamari fish and Chips aside, I am going to relate the benefits of eating fish. Read on!

1.Fish is rich in high quality protein, vitamins and minerals.

2.Salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines actually prevent arthritis.

3.Eat plenty of fish - studies shows that fish oil helps prevent headaches.

4.Studies indicate that fishes like Salmon which is rich in Omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids may lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Are you feeling stressful? If so eat fish! But before that,read on!
If you are in need of some injection of happy hormones? Fish on! The high levels of protein and rich nutrients in fishes can aid in casting away a sense of depression. It is proven scientifically. Maybe it could just be what it takes to reel in a smile on your face!

Cosplay in RMPS

Hi all do you recognize the characters above? Yes they are Naruto and Sakura. At our recent Animate @ S4 festival in RMPS, we got two pupils to pose as Naruto and Sakura. Look how close they resemble the characters. Of course I took the chance to take a photo with them.

Rainbow seen in Singapore Sky.

I remember seeing this enormous rainbow spreading across our Singapore Sky a few weeks ago. Now it brings me back memories on how my Science teacher in secondary school taught my class how to remember the colours of a rainbow in sequence. The colours starts off with Red from left(External) and ends with Violet on its right or (Internal). The secret in remembering the sequence is to memorize this phrase "Richard Of York Gain Battle In Vain." So do u get it now.

What's this? Lyrics? Musical Notes? ...

Hi all, what do you think this is?
For those of you peeps who are not a pupil of RMPS you will definitely find this unfamiliar. It is our School Song in its musical notes. Now look carefully and see, every single note is made with a spoon. This is one of our school current display made with materials that can be reused. It was really a master piece.

3R-Reduce Reuse Recycle in RMPS

This is the lamp done by my form class 4N, although it did not win any prizes, it remains a winner in my heart. It was really unique as every single bottle was drawn with interesting pictures on it. It was really BEAUTIFUL. Thanks for the tremendous effort class!

Back to Sounding right!

I overheard some pupils pronouncing the word Corps as Corpse. So here is the correct pronunciation for Corp and Corps.

Mediacorp/Corps
The word corp should not be confused with corps in pronunciation. They also mean differently.

Corp is an abbreviation of corporation, whereas corps means a group in an army with special duties and responsibilities.

Corp is pronounced KORP with the "p" pronounced. In Corps, it is pronounced KOR. The "s" is silent and not pronounced.

Mediacorp should thus be pronounced with a distinct "p" sound at the end. Pronouncing it without the plosive "p" sound at the end of the word would be quite wrong.

Secret Admiral! You, me and those whom I know.

Secret Admiral. This is the phrase regardless of youngsters or adults often used. I will be revealing some secrets in the coming week. Do watch out for it! ......

Cooking Instant Noodles

Hi all, I received this piece of information from my friend through email. Not really sure if the information is true to its saying, but nevertheless it is always better to be safe than sorry. Read on!


For all who love eating Maggi
DO NOT IGNORE THIS ....... Especially those fond of Maggi.......

'CORRECT WAY OF COOKING NOODLES'
The correct way to cook instant noodles without harming our bodies and health. `Normally, how we cook the instant noodles is to put the noodles
into a pot with water, throw in the powder and let it cook for around 3 minutes and then it's ready to eat.

This is the WRONG method of cooking the instant noodles.

By doing this, when we actually boil the ingredients in the powder, normally with MSG, it will change the molecular structures of the MSG
causing it to be toxic.

The other thing that you may or may not realize is that, the noodles are coated with wax and it will take around 4 to 5 days for the body to
excrete the wax after you have taken the noodles.

CORRECT METHOD :

1. boil the noodles in a pot with water.
2. once the noodles is cooked, take out the noodles, and throw away the water which contains wax.
3. boil another pot of water till boiling and put the noodles into the hot boiling water and then shut the fire.
4. only at this stage when the fire is off, and while the water is very hot, put the ingredient with the powder into the water, to make noodle
soup.
5. however, if you need dry noodles, take out the noodles and add the ingredient with the powder and toss it to get dry noodles.

Dietician's Note: If you buy plain hakka noodles which you make initially need to boil in water and discard the water. This will soften
the noodles but to prevent it from sticking we need to add a tbsp of oil and also the noodles are deep fried partially to make it crunchy and
then dusted with flour to prevent it from sticking while boiling. Hence when you buy the noodles they are already made unhealthy and this
is the type we use to make stir fry noodles and the regular maggi too is made the same way plus they add MSG/ ajinomoto and other chemical
preservatives.


A large number of patient with the ages ranging from 18-24 years are ending up with pancreatitis either as a swelling or infection of the
pancreas due to regular consumption of instant noodles..... If the frequency is more than 3 times a week, then it is very hazardous...

JUST for a laugh… Reality does not conform to the ideal, but confirms it.

JUST for a laugh… A day where the word form filled my form!

Do you know the word FORM has many different forms of meaning? Read on…

Mr Lee Kar Leong is a form teacher of class 4N who is always collecting forms from pupils who cant submit consent form on a given uniform date. The body forms of his pupils are constantly developing horizontally (ie. Ihsan, Albert, Javier, Kelvin, Yong Liang and Daniel) and that shows their form of unhealthy lifestyle. Please do not form a habit of drinking carbonated drinks as it can form gradual undesired body form. Although there is no form of formula to keep yourself fit and shapely, you can always rely on having a controlled diet and regular exercises to gear yourself to top form. Tardiness is definitely considered as bad form. A good athletic can enjoy an unusual form if he keeps up at the top of his form. A form can provide tired legs with ample rest after a strenuous exercise; however do not try to form a temporary form using broken branches as it might give way and breaks its form. Pupils who present their thoughts or ideas in outline form during oral examination shows great communication form. There might be a form created for the display of clothes but there is surely no fixed form of rules to be a good teacher.

Lastly, my takeaway for the day is to be satisfied with your current academic/body form and that will certainly form great impression on people who are around you!
So do not change for the sake of changing just be your own best FORM!

Hi dear all,
The different meanings of FORMS shown in the above writing are as below, try to match them and have fun with it!
1.
a. The shape and structure of an object.
b. The body or outward appearance of a person or an animal considered separately from the face or head; figure.

2.
a. The essence of something.
b. The mode in which a thing exists, acts, or manifests itself; kind: a form of animal life; a form of blackmail.

3.
a. Procedure as determined or governed by regulation or custom.
b. A fixed order of words or procedures, as for use in a ceremony; a formula.

4. A document with blanks for the insertion of details or information: insurance forms.

5.
a. Manners or conduct as governed by etiquette, decorum, or custom.
b. Behavior according to a fixed or accepted standard
c. Performance considered with regard to acknowledged criteria

6.
a. Proven ability to perform: a musician at the top of her form.
b. Fitness, as of an athlete or animal, with regard to health or training.
c. The past performance of a racehorse.
d. A racing form.

7.
a. Method of arrangement or manner of coordinating elements in literary or musical composition or in organized discourse: presented my ideas in outline form; a treatise in the form of a dialogue.
b. A particular type or example of such arrangement: The essay is a literary form.
c. The design, structure, or pattern of a work of art: symphonic form.

8.
a. A mold for the setting of concrete.
b. A model of the human figure or part of it used for displaying clothes.
c. A proportioned model that may be adjusted for fitting clothes.

9. A grade in a British secondary school or in some American private schools: the sixth form.

10.
a. A linguistic form.
b. The external aspect of words with regard to their inflections, pronunciation, or spelling.

11.
a. Chiefly British A long seat; a bench.

12. Botany A subdivision of a variety usually differing in one trivial characteristic, such as flower color.
v. formed, form•ing, forms
v.tr.
1.
a. To give form to; shape: form clay into figures.
b. To develop in the mind; conceive: form an opinion.

2.
a. To shape or mold (dough, for example) into a particular form.
b. To arrange oneself in: Holding out his arms, the cheerleader formed a T. The acrobats formed a pyramid.
c. To organize or arrange: The environmentalists formed their own party.
d. To fashion, train, or develop by instruction or precept: form a child's mind.
3. To come to have; develop or acquire: form a habit.

4. To constitute or compose a usually basic element, part, or characteristic of.

5.
a. To produce (a tense, for example) by inflection: form the pluperfect.

b. To make (a word) by derivation or composition.

6. To put in order; arrange.

v.intr.
1. To become formed or shaped.
2. To come into being by taking form; arise.
3. To assume a specified form, shape, or pattern.

Sounding Right

Luxury Cars
Branded and luxury cars are much sought after and well appreciated for their fine craftsmanship. They usually cost more and generally have more detailed interior finishing. Let's look at some luxury cars available in Singapore and how they are pronounced.

Word Correct pronunciation
Mercedes Benz muh say deez BENTS
Audi OW di
Peugeot PURR zhoh
Chrysler KRAIZ luh or KRAIS luh
Volkswagen FORLKS vaa guhn or VORLKS vaa guhn

Enjoy!

"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously"

"Colourless green ideas sleep furiously" is a sentence composed by Noam Chomsky in 1957 as an example of a sentence whose grammar is correct but whose meaning is nonsensical.

Therefore in English grammar, there is no hard and fast rules that says it must be observed in a particular way. An example can be the use of "To". Most of us are taught in primary school that any verb that comes after "to" must be of no tense or rather be in its primary form. Example: to run, to eat , to sleep.
So what about "looking forward to seeing you"?
Spend some time to think about it. I will post the answer real soon.

Adolescence ( Or simply what pupils call "Acting to be matured")

Well, to further add on to my previous posting on "The abuse of pupils using the word LIKE". I would like to touch on another topic called "ADOLESCENCE". Goodness, gracious me! Why and how did I come up with such a topic to gossip about? Okay! Like what I had mentioned earlier on, whenever I am blogging issues that involves pupils, it simply means i am seeing or hearing it. Back to my topic for the day,teenagers who are at the age of between 11 to 18 generally starts to think differently and wants to see themselves being different.
Before I start to dwell and gossip about about it, let me explain what is ADOLESCENCE".

What is ADOLESCENCE?
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological (i.e. pubertal), social, and psychological changes, though the biological or physiological ones are the easiest to measure objectively. In recent years, however, the start of puberty has seen an increase in preadolescence and extension beyond the teenage years, making adolescence less simple to discern.

So what's the gossip about?
Some pupils in the P5's and P6's are talking about relationship and term like "ACBC" surfaced. Haha! do you actually understand what is "ACBC". Anyway I just found out the term "ACBC", it apparently means "Act cool Buay cool". So what does it mean in proper standard English? The term means trying to behave matured but in vain.

The whole thing started because of a P6 boy "flaming" a P5 girl. The P5 girl mentioned something like she hated a boy in her class. This P6 boy behaved cowardly by posting an anonymous message that said she was acting like a P6 girl, trying to be cool. Reading his message, psychologically it tells me that he thinks P6 is the stage where maturity begins. And he is the one who is being matured. Now, this is what I call the kettle calling the pot black. Well, pupils who are reading this do LOL if u want.

Conclusion to this is adolescence issue is that it a stage whereby all of us will go through and laugh about it one day especially when you are in your adulthood. Well, I certainly had gone passed this stage donkey years ago. It is always great to be in this flamboyant age of 11 to 18. So, do you think i tried to ACBC while I'm in this stage. Ha ha, well your guess is as good as mine. I certainly did. lol.

Last but not least, enjoy while you are in your adolescence as this is the period where fond memory lingers and floods you when you get older next time.
Happy Post Valentine's Day!
Ciao!

Pupils "CCA" !

This is something our teenagers are interested to discuss about. Their "CCA" and no it does not stands for Curriculum Activities instead it now "officially" stands for "Curriculum Affairs". As February 14 is getting near, a lot of kisses and hugs will be seen "flying" around. Actually, I am quite shocked to learn that pupils are starting to talk about this supposedly taboo topic. Some pupils of mine told me about their puppy love "affairs". Well i think it is just parts and parcel of life that these pupils are going through at the moment. Some said they are already "in love " with another party since Primary One! OMG how can this ever happened. Primary One? What do they know at that time? haha! Maybe, that is just a form of mutual liking. Imagine my "Guai Guai" pupils like Wenxin, Jacqlene, Emerald , Jiawen, Hamizah and Siti K are all involves in such "underground" affairs. It really beats me if that is really true to its saying. Especially pupils like J.O like A.Neo. W.T like H.S. . So what is really the term like used over here. So lets take a step back and learn what is the meaning of like in our English Language.

Meaning of "LIKE"
ike 1 (lk)
v. liked, lik·ing, likes
v.tr.
1. To find pleasant or attractive; enjoy.
2. To want to have: would like some coffee.
3. To feel about; regard: How do you like her nerve!
4. Archaic To be pleasing to.
v.intr.
1. To have an inclination or a preference: If you like, we can meet you there.

So, LIKE simply means to find someone or something that is pleasant or attractive, and it is also a form of feeling in wanting to be with that person.

So pupils who mentioned that they like someone is just a very simple and casual way of expressing their likings for something or someone whom they feel good with. Example J.Ong like A.Neo is just a very simple and pure state of likeness that does not involves any complicated thoughts.

Well, to end this piece of writing, let me wish all young ones who are out there liking each other. HAAAAAA. A Happy Valentine's Day!

When do we use has and have?

When do we use has and have?

Jacqline and Emerald have or has ?

Daniel and the men has or have?

'Have' is used after all plural subjects and 'I' and 'you' and 'has' is used after singular subjects. A subject can consist of one word (such as Sean, food, people) or of a group of words (such as the dog, the people, Hamizah and I). Where the meaning appears to be one thing i.e. is singular (except for 'I' and 'you'), we use 'has'. Otherwise, we use 'have'.

Singular Examples

Mr Lee has a new car.

The pupil has a new pen.


Plural Examples

They have many problems to deal with.

The boys have no idea what the girls are planning.

Siti and Risa have some solutions they can offer.

The boys and their father have a system that they follow.

2. Which should we use? Welcome or welcomed?

You are welcome!

His advice would be welcomed.

'Welcome' is used an adjective to describe something you are happy to receive or someone that you are happy to meet.

Examples

The money was very welcome.

Children are most welcome.

'Welcome' can also be a verb and we can use it very like any other verb.

Examples

She is welcoming the guests.

He welcomed his in-laws' visit.

His advice was welcomed.

Regards

A pupil ask me this math question, can u solve it?

Today was really a 'Problem-atic' day for me. Both a pupil and a Teacher asked me mathematics problem sums that involves heuristic. Well actually the word heuristic means 'using a problem-solving technique in which is the most appropriate solution of several found'. In short it simply means method such as 'listing out', 'guess and check' or act it out and several others. Well it took me about 5 min to solve each one which i think is still quite satisfactory although the very first instance it did bowl me over. If u want the answer send me a comment or a message. Meanwhile enjoy the problems.
Question 1.

Find the number of squares, big and small, of an 8x8 checkerboard.

Question 2.
There are two sets of marbles, grey and black with the ratio of 4:5. If 8 Grey marbles are taken away from the grey marbles and 20 marbles are added into the black marbles the ratio changed to 4:11. Find out the number of Grey and black marbles in the end.

So how is it, fun? This type of questions are favourites when it comes to PSLE.

Finally met up with my first batch of pupils! Cool!

After leaving RV since 2006, i have not had the chance to meet up these lovable pupils of mine. A lot of great moments were rekindled during the chat that we had during this meet up. I simply couldn't imagine the meet up with Vannehh and Dia lasted a solid 2 hours. Wow, it's really inexplicable! I'm really surprised to hear from Dia that she actually remembers the lessons that i had with them during that short stint. It was the lesson on writing a poem by using a certain number of syllables, actually that is called the 'Haiku Poem'. To allow us to better reminisce those invaluable moments, I have added the pictures that i had taken on some of the occasions that we had. Below were two impressive works that Vannehh and Dia had done. One was on Simile poetry and the other was done during the Literature programme Charlotte's Web. Enjoy!

Great pupils on Board!

A time when all are learning some life skills.

Dia's Work

Vannehh's Work