my teaching stint - where to?

I've signed up for relief teaching recently and it's been approved on a provisional basis. So that means I have to start sourcing for schools which require a teacher.

A small dilemma is what that's bugging me a little. VJ or Dunman Sec?

The former entails a relatively more challenging scope, which demands greater depth of knowledge of the field I'm assigned to teach. The environment in VJ, which I consider to be very intellectual, is something which deters me a little because I believe I need to feel comfortable in that environment where I'll teach. Of course, on the other hand, the fun and vibrancy of VJ is what's opposing the reluctance for me to opt for VJ.

The environment of the latter is something which I feel I'll be more comfortable in. Subjects at that level do not require the same demands as that at a JC. Furthermore, it will be a way of contributing back to the school, which has seen me grown alot during my prime adolescent years. The only putting off thing would probably be that the environment there is alot more unfamiliar than when I just graduated.

I probably would not consider other schools unless as a last resort. Hmph.

Oh well, I guess I need some signs as to where I should devote my 6 months or so before starting uni.

my new hobby!

Running.

It's not exactly a new thing that I've recently started to do. In fact, I've been into running since secondary school days, but it has been an on-and-off thing. It would be more accurate to say that I'm now making it a point to conscientiously adopt it as a hobby, something which I would do on a very regular basis. I'm also beginning to participate in mass runs such as the SAUCONY Passion Run two weeks at East Coast as well as Mizuno Wave Run at Bedok Reservoir yesterday.

Allow me to extract a quote from 'Time Traveller's Wife' which I'm now reading. It's a series of statement made by one of the main characters, Henry, and which I share strong sentiments with. It reads: "Running is many things to me: survival, calmness, euphoria, solitude. It is proof of my corporeal existence, my ability to control my movement through space if not time, and the obedience, however temporary, of my body to my will. As I run I displace air, and things come and go around me, and the path moves like a filmstrip beneath my feet... I'm flying now, that golden feeling, as if I could run right into the air, and I'm invincible, nothing can stop me, nothing can stop me, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing..."

His first statement applies most to me. I run when I feel 'lardy', that is, when I feel the need to burn out. I run when I feel the need to distract myself from certain unhappiness. I run when I feel lonely and unoccupied. The best perk about running, to me and to most people, is being able to keep physically good in shape. I'm not entirely the obsessive type who runs day and night everyday, but I guess I will fall somewhere in the moderate range.

Now, enjoy some photos. =p

At Saucony Passion Run two weeks back.

My good buddy and I at Mizuno Wave Run yesterday.

(She has not grown this much taller FYI. She's just bending down from a raised platform. Otherwise, she would have been at my shoulder level. Haha)

Potential endorser for this brand of mineral water? =P

phlits gathering! pictures pictures.

It was last Saturday, at Shaf's house. So thanks to Shaf for hosting this gathering, as well as to her mum for providing such sumptous food. =) I must say that I'm quite glad we're all keeping well in touch with one another and I really hope it stays this way for long. Ok enjoy the pictures.

show me the wonderful world.

Oh well, I've many things in my mind to blog about, but I can't seem to organise my thoughts. Perhaps*, it's a natural mechanism of my mind to refuse to organise my thoughts because most things that are bugging me aren't the most positive of things. So I'll just copy and paste the lyrics of 'Wonderful World' by James Morrison, which typifies to some extent my state of feeling now.

I've been down so low

People look at me and they know

They can tell something is wrong

Like I don't belong

Staring through a window

Standing outside, they're just too happy to care tonight

I want to be like them

But I'll mess it up again

I tripped on my way in

And got kicked outside, everybody saw...

And I know that it's a wonderful world

But I can't feel it right now

Well I thought that I was doing well

But I just want to cry now

Well I know that it's a wonderful world

From the sky down to the sea

But I can only see it when you're here, here with me

*if you've recently watched the news, there was this reporter that went around the central business area surveying some people what they thought was Singaporean's favourite word. One lady said 'perhaps' because it denotes a non-commital meaning. I don't really use 'perhaps' often, but I was strangely agreeable to what she said. Haha. random.

torn?

I happened to ask my mother this evening, if she likes me doing certain stuffs. It turned out that most things I do, is not what she really wants me to. She doesn't like me to run, for the fear of aggravating my right ankle which was sprained some while back. She doesn't like me to play soccer, for the apparent same reason. She doesn't like me to indulge in sewing (as a matter of fact, I like embroidery and I did this embroidery of Manchester United logo in Primary 4, something which I am always very proud of haha). For that, she's concerned that my eyesight would be affected after prolonged hours of doing embroidery work.

So I asked her, what else does she like me to do then. She had to ponder for a moment before saying that she likes my practice of recording my daily expenses and for being thrifty. Besides, she likes me being religious and all.

So I asked my father, the same few questions as in the first paragraph. Guess what he said. "I like you doing anything, as long as it is within control and not too extreme." Obviously, I was contented with his answer.

I was rather surprised at this difference in views of both my parents, but I could understand the roots of this difference. As a mother who bore through the intense pain during labour to give birth to her children, she could almost literally 'feel' what her children feels. Likewise, should anything bad were to happen to us, mothers are usually the ones who are the most affected. In my case, I should say my physical body is not in the best of state, with my right ankle hardly recovering after a period of 8 months. My mother feels that pain, and she sympathises me. She was skeptical even when I reassured her that going for runs does not affect my ankle very much because running doesn't involve outer movement of the ankle, which is usually the reason why there is this clicking sound in my ankle from time to time. As much as I was a little disappointed at her mild pessimism, I could positively embrace the reason why she thinks that way. I guess my father merely wants me to be happy in whatever I do, hence his response to my question.

Should I feel torn over this difference in their views? I guess I should practise discernment so that I would not do things where I would end up causing unnecessary worry to my parents.






p.s. Besides this point, if you know of any websites of downloading any computer programmes where you can digitalise pictures/designs/logos into embroidery formats, please let me know. Thanks!

may i have your attention please?

So here's the story I owed about 24 hours ago. It's quite long, and I'm not the sort who's really good at telling stories, but I guess putting it simple will be good enough. =p

Most of the time these days when I'm on emergency 24 hours duty, I would volunteer myself to buy dinner for the rest of the squadmates. So obviously to buy what they want, they must first write down their orders on a piece of paper. About 2 weeks ago, my other squadmate got this piece of one-sided scrap paper from the admin office, so that the rest can write their orders on it. Fast-forwarding a little, we were at the food centre waiting for the food to be prepared. After I double checked the orders from the paper, I flipped to the other side, which was a print-out of an email. It was about clearing two interns from the Police Psychology Department (PPSD), and it stated their names and nric numbers. The second name caught my eye.

I knew that person, not very well though, but it was still quite coincident. Her name's Farah, and she used to be my senior in Dunman Sec NPCC. I respected her alot because of her commitment, patience and other worthy virtues. She happened to be the only one from Dunman Sec who made it to VJ, and the same happened to me for my batch. She's currently studying in NUS Psychology and since it is the holidays, she is under internship with PPSD, doing projects which required her to interview commanders of various police divisions. That explained why she had come over to SOC in early June. It was a pity I didn't know she was coming. Never mind.

Knowing that Salman is most likely taking up Psychology at NUS as well, I decided to be a little angel and help him. Haha. So I emailed him telling him about this senior (or rather a friend now) of mine that I know who's in NUS Psychology and asking him if he would like to find out any information from her pertaining the course. It wasn't long before he replied with a few queries he has about the course. I had intended to forward the email to her, but I needed to dig up my drawers to find her email address. So naturally, I put off doing so.

Yesterday, the 4th of July, I was walking at Tampines Interchange towards my bus at a few minutes past 7pm, when I coincidentally bumped into Salman. So we stood aside near a pillar to exchange a few words. What I thought would be just a exchange of few words turned out otherwise. He was on his way to meet Nicholas (the VJ tracker) to settle some computer stuff. Coincidentally (again), that meant that the 3 of us would meet again, this time impromptu, after I tagged along Salman 4 days earlier to Sim Lim Sqr where we met Nicholas to rectify Salman's computer problems.

As we were talking, someone who was walking by called out my name. As I turned my gaze to the source, I couldn't quite believe my eyes. It was Farah. Then I promptly recalled the email I sent to Salman and how I put off forwarding the email to Farah. There's not even a need to forward the email to Farah anymore because there she was right infront of us! How coincident. I told Salman that Farah was the one I was referring to in the email I sent to him. And the startled expression on his face justified the sentiments I was feeling then. After briefly introducing each of them to the other, I prompted Salman to ask her there and then about anything he would like to find out about Psychology.

So the conversation went on and on, and in the words of Farah, 'it is amazing how the three of us can sustain this conversation.' It was simply incredible how the two of them, being strangers just a few minutes ago, could really click well. It made me ponder about collision of souls, and the wonders it does.

Farah felt that the name 'Salman' is quite 'a rare name in this generation', and almost spontaneously, Salman quizzed her on what my islamic name is. She initially responded with very common names like Ali etc, but when I told her that my islamic name is also quite 'a rare name in this generation', her next answer had me and Salman looking at each other, very astounded. For anyone who does not know, my unofficial islamic name is 'Yusof', and that was exactly what she said. And that was like super super unbelievable. Out of so many possible islamic names, she mentioned the correct one. What are the odds of this man!

As she was about to leave to take her bus, I happened to casually ask her if she stays in Tampines. And yes she does. She happens to live near Dunman Sec, which in other words, is also very near Salman. In fact, their blocks are more or less directly across each other. Another small coincidence.

After she took her leave, I tagged along with Salman to meet Nicholas. I just wanted to meet him, say 'hi' and clarify to him that I did not intentionally accompany Salman this time round and that I just happened to bump into him. Haha.

On the short bus trip back home, I can't help but feel amazed at what had just happened. It wasn't just a small coincidence. It was one coincidence after another, and every event just seemed to link together very naturally.

How often does one experience that? =)

be amazed! but first, be kept in suspense..

I remember mentioning that I have something to blog about regarding a quote in the previous post. But I decided not to, cos it's a super long story and it's something that puts down my mood. So I rather not.

I would rather share something really amazing, but then again, not much in details because I need more time to post. Haha. Actually, I would like to blog it as soon and thorough as possible cos I felt that it is something very unusual. But at the same time, unfortunately I couldn't find enough time to do so.

Well, I shall first briefly describe my story. Hopefully this will suffice for now. Heh. It stretches a period of about two weeks. It exemplifies the wonder of collision of soul, when two total strangers can really click and sustain a conversation. And the best of all, it involves not one, not two, but many coincidences. And they are really genuine coincidences.


Stay tuned... =)