How my Nick Come Abt :P

For those who have my msn nick, they are probably used to the "Simple Happyness" chinese wording on my nick. Many have asked initially when i have this nick how it actually come about. Here is how it comes about.

During my year 1 in NUS, I was invited to watch in a play by NTU Hall 11. I have 2 of my good friends who took part in the play. The play revolved around different group of people and their search for happiness in life.

One scene was about a student who is memerised by his guitar and always thinking about the past, about his gf who died in an accident. There is deep memories about his gf and he has not really let go even after a few years. He live in his happiness in the memory of his gf and behave rather eccentric after sometime. Is this the kind of happiness for him ?

Another scene was about a gal who lied to all her other classmate about she having a suitor. That is peer influence as most of her friend have bf outside and she too does want to have one. So she actually lied to the rest that she have a "best" bf in the whole world. She doesnt want to lose out and does she get her happiness by doing so ?

Another scene was about a very ambitious guy who wanted to be the next great man of the century. He took part actively in his school community and elect for president of student union. He knew by doing so, he will have very good achievement in school and there will no problem for him to climb the corporate ladder when he steps out to work. However, there is always things to sacrifice whenever you wanted to archive something. For him, he scarificed his time to spent with friends and family and even a gal who took pain to take good care of him, he turned a blind eye to all. Eventually, he fulfilled his dream but he got no one to share his joy with, is that what happiness is about ?

Another scene was about a guy who is always looking for fresh gal to hoook them up. He never commit to any relationship and treat the entire relationship just like a game and fooling around. He never get serious with any gal and he gets to date any gal out whenever he wants. Is this the kind of happiness he is looking for or just putting up a strong front that he is happy with his life now ?

After i finish watching the play, few things pop up in my mind. (1) The most important is not just finding the most prettiest or more handsome partner but rather finding someone who can give you the happiness that is most important. (2) Do treasure that "special" someone everyday and treasure all your friends and relative

MC of the Night

It was 11th Dec 4pm 2006 in the afternoon at orchard hotel. Today is the wedding dinner for one of my NUS Computing friend, Thian. Today is also my first day of being a MC for a 45 tables wedding dinner. The MC is so called the spirit of the entire wedding dinner, everyone listens and does what the MC requested. Yeah, I was pretty nervous as this was the first time I will be speaking to some few hundred people and so more it is such a important day and some more it is chinese.

My partner for the MC night was Ruby. She is a malaysian all the way from Ipoh and she will be the english MC for the night. We were both outside the hotel preparing our script way before the actual dinner ceremony started. We have lotsa of rehearsal and coordinating of speech, and we even craft our some new ideas for the night :P We have few practice before we got comfortable with the speeches.

Standing on the stage and speaking to some few hundred guests can be a total different experience. Ruby was abit tense and this was also her first time doing MC for such a big event. Same for me :P After the final preparation, the ballroom stage was finally ready for our practice. We decided to rehearse one last time before the actually event starts.

The guests were early and we are still in the midst of the event. However, we decided to carry on with our practice as well as our final practice before the actual wedding dinner commences. Well, the actual ceremony went well except for some of our hip-cups during our delivery of speech. It was overall a great experience for being MC for the first time and i certainly look forward another chance of being a MC :P

Phuket Day 2

The next morning we are supposedly to wake up really early and lovely Irene wake us up at the very "right" time, having forgotten that the time at Phuket is 1hr faster than Singapore time. ha I cant help myself to tease her about this all the time :P we have a really early morning breakfast before we proceed to take a mini bus to our gathering place.

We waited for an hour for the rest of the group to gather before we headed onto the speed boat. The ride was around 1hr and we finally got to the offshore island. The island was beautiful with nice white sand and clear sea water. Hardly can you find such clear sea water in Singapore ha. It is a good place to relax for the weekend.

Shortly after we arrived, it begins to rain again. Disappointing !! However, it is great seeing how the crews are at work in the rain and rough wave. All the passengers got on the boat safely as the crews braved the heavy rain to bring us and the boat away from the shore.

Our next event was snorkeling at a nearby island. The water was refreshing and we spent a good 20minutes there. After which, we proceed for lunch at shore. That island was rather empty due to the tsunami which occurred a few years back. After lunch, we have sun tan at the beach. This is the kind of life I hoped for after retirement.

Our next destination was an island where we went for our 2nd round snorkeling. The water was not as clear as previous but I enjoyed the view of the fishes and coral under the sea. We came across a “poking” fish. I watched how it pokes our leg from the surface and it was rather cute. The funny part was after I swam away from that spot, Irene came to the same spot and the fish start to poke her again. I didn’t know that fish got such funny hobbies or perhaps we stepped accidentally on his home which causes that fish to be so furious.

We spent some time in water and my feet hunts after stepping on corals. Soon after, the sky was getting dark and we decided to proceed back to the boat before the rain comes pouring on us. Our tour guide was seated down at the island café serving us watermelon and pineapple. He was really cute, wearing a sunglasses and he speaks Chinese. Irene was really “lovely” when she told the tour guide that we came from china. The tour guide then show her panda face and he got 80% resemble especially with his black sunglasses. He was real entertaining.

The rain soon began to pour and we rushed back to our shelter. The speed boat was swirling around and got entangled with another speed boat nearby. The crew took a long time to untangle the rope as they brave the heavy rain and rough wave. I nearly sweat for them and the incident remains vivid in my mind.

The boat tried means to get lose from the other speed boat. There was also a couple of collusion. I imagine how vulnerable our boat can be under the heavy rain and rough wave. Thanks to the very experienced crew, we finally managed to get lose and off we go.

We arrived back at shore after an hour ride. Can imagine how drenched and low morale we are. At that time it was still drizzling but the overall experience from this trip is indeed very fulfilling. We went back to our hotel and took a hot shower. Our dinner was settled at a very simple Thailand restaurant. There were a lot of foreigners. We waited quite a while for the food but we are surprised that they served all the dishes at once. It was completely different from the Chinese way of serving dish by dish.

We were drooling over the Thailand delicacies with green curry, tom yum soup and fired crispy stuff. Most of us have additional bowl of rice. Guess we are all hungry after a whole day trip out at sea and some of us still have the effect the feeling of the rocking boat. We soon engrossed in the food and we finished without any leftover. We even ordered additional dish and there is no doubt that we all have huge appetite.

After our meal, we proceed for our last burst of night shopping to get some gifts and food for our friends in Singapore. The night shopping was rather budgeted as we have spent most of our cash resources on the tour. After around 2 hours of non-stop shopping, we all got what we wanted and our hands are filled with shopping bags. The night life in phuket was lively compared to in the morning where the street hardly has any people.

Soon, it was time for us to bid goodbye to phuket. Although the trip was rather short and there is like so many things we have yet to try. The trip was overall a fun and memorable.

Phuket Day 1

I have a short getaway in phuket with some of my friends. Although it was only a 2 day trip but it was overall a memorable and affordable one.

Our flight to phuket was during early morning 7am. Luckily for me, I stayed in the west, and I have few friends (Willie, ws and Emily) to share the midnight taxi charges with :P Our other 2 friends weren’t that lucky as they have to fork out the full amount themselves. As much expected, they were complaining how expensive the taxi fare was. I couldn’t comment much but only say that staying in the West is a great thing.

Our flight was at the budget terminal. First impression of the terminal was "Wow it is really budgeted!!" The facilities weren’t as complete as terminal 1 & 2 and the overall outlook looks "budgeted" as the name of the terminal has already implies.

We have a quick breakfast and we hop on to our first trip to phuket. Before I get into the plane, another sight shocked me. There weren’t any passenger walk path to the plane, we have to take the stair up into the plane. I was impressed and I totally agreed that budget is the word for this terminal. Nevertheless, it is also a good experience to take the stair up the plane and it is also my first time. Usually, I only get to see it on tv shows when prime ministers or presidents pay diplomatic visit to other countries.

Shortly after 2 hrs we arrived at the phuket international, and our next destination will be our hotel. We hire a meter taxi as instructed by the overall chief in organizing cum welfare cum the best Emily. The other alternative then was to get a private car to send us to the hotel but we somehow feel uneasy sitting in those car which bill size can approach "infinity" and we will be next roast pig under their merciless chopper (Translated from Chinese).

We took a 40min ride to the hotel and I slept my way through the whole journey. Upon arriving at the hotel, we are greeted with warm welcome and the sea view was fabulous. I am sure everyone is hungry after the long trip there and we settle ourselves with a hearty western brunch (Breakfast + Lunch).

Soon, it begins to rain and we settle into our respective hotel room. We have a good view of the patong beach but the weather don seems to be doing us a great favor. I was on the phone with willie at the moment when a para-chuter flew pass our window. He seems to be so pathetical in the mid air and being dragged across the sky at the mercy of the wind and rain. sweat for him!.

We waited for an hour or 2 before the rain start to subside, thereafter we went out for a walk in the phuket town. I think we have a common goal there....shopping and we display what most Singaporean are good in. Cut cut cut the price. Actually to me the price is not a very big factor as Singapore dollar to Thailand baht is worth alot, but the real accomplishment is the sense of satisfaction when you reduced the price to what you wanted.

Finally after much negotiation, we finally got our goods and the lady boss got her sales. Next, we found a booth offering one day trip in phuket and as usual we display what Singaporean are good in. ha ha we took up the ATV tour and one day snorkeling trip :P

We arrived at mid hill after a 40min ride in the tour van from our hotel accompanied by a newly wedded couple. The ATV was great and powerful. We drive the vehicle up the hill and the journey was full of rough turn and rocky slope. I love to drive and I love this first experience of driving up the hill. Strongly recommended for those who are going to phuket for a holiday :P The ride was a relatively short one but the experience was great and memorable.

Following, we went to for a snake tour with emily who watch from a distance. I have a great feel of the snake and it wasnt as scary as I thought to be. Next was the snake show performed by a expert who really has got a way with cobra.

Soon, it was time for our departure as well as dinner time. ha we have japanese food for dinner and we are well served by the waitresses who really make us feel like home. Me and damien took a long long stroll back to our hotel after Irene and Willie went missing. The night is still young and we all went for a swim in preparation for the next day snorkelling.

One day, a student was mischieviously playing with the assistant teacher pencil case.
Student : "Teacher teacher how come you don have any black pen like we all ?"
Student : "You dont need to do any homework ?"
Teacher : "Of course, I do my homework."
* Took out all his red pens from the pencil case *
Teacher : "But I do my homework in red :P"
Teacher : "I mark student homework !!!"

Pursue One's Dream

Dare to pursue one own dream. Ping Ping Ping to win....go go go...

As usual, saturday is my tuition day.I sleep for a few hours the night before and had to wake up at 7am in order to reach Bukit Merah on time at 9am. This week tuition was especially hectic, from 9am - 5pm, 8 hrs of non-stop tuition (Pri 1,3,4,5,6) but luckily i am not the main teacher.

Well, i had a smooth first 4hrs of tution helping out with the pri 3 and 6 work. It has been a long period of time since i last saw them. For the past few months, i was helping out with the pri 4 and pri 5 in the afternoon, as well as the main teacher for my most playful and happening pri 1 kids. Sadly, not long ago i was replaced by a better and more qualified retired teacher recently. Though kinda of not feeling too good of leaving them to another teacher but i think they will be better off under her teaching and care. I can confirm and guarantee that :)

For the pri 4 class this week, I have some special guests from my ex-pri 1 class. They are the notorious jolyn and malcolm. Jolyn is a smart gal for her age but she always wanna grab attention from the teacher. She always grab me like a koala bear holding on tight to the tree especially when i am teaching the pri 1 last time. Then i will need to show my pretentious angry face so that she will go back to her seat. Malcolm is the never ending asking question kid, ha cos for almost all the excercise i gave them to do, he can ask me from the 1st question to the last question of the excercise. lol

Due to the special guests this week, the pri 4 class was especially noisy :P It was a hectic 2 hours as i have to handle 1 pri 4 and 2 pri 1 kids at the same time. All of them have come from different education background and needed serious attention to guide them in their work. As least under my hard work for the last 2 hours, they managed to finish the work they are tasked to do. Sweat.. Sweat..

Finally, it was the last session of the day. As usual, the pri 5 class was very happening especially with the playful guys around. They can turn the classroom into a playground ha.... but ironically, the guys are the smartest in class too. Well since young they already understand the meaning of play hard and study hard, but playing hard at the wrong time. But they soon went back to their seat as my friend proceed with the lesson. He seems to have some special ability to tame them. Ha ha :) Life in pri school is no easy task compare to my time especially science. The science syllabus have changed tremendously, the topics that were covered during my time in the secondary sch were already covered in the pri school. Likewise for mathematics which require lotsa of creative thinking nowaday. I must admit that some question i don even know how to go about doing the question....that i have to consult my friend for discussion.

This week pri 5, I have a invited guest. He is supposedly to be in pri 1 this year but somehow he isnt there. He was situated at the back of the class doing his homework for the day and I was tasked to guide him in completing the exercise. Soon, I realised his problems in calculation and understanding the question from the exercise. I slowly and patiently teach him to count numbers above 10 using fingers ONLY especially everyone knows that we have only 10 fingers and will end up using the toes to count when the number become greater than 10. The exercise was a brief one...spent about 20minutes and the rest of the exercise seems too tough for him to understand.

I gave him a short break and asked him to grab a book from the mini library. He chose a book on school funfair, which was especially tough for me, i will tell you why in just a short while. The book was about a school organizing a funfair and so the school management asked the students to approach their parents to help out with the school funfair. One of the students' father happen to be selling roti parta. So this student approach his father to help out with the school funfair but was rejected, however the father gave in in the end and promise to help out. Next come the challenging part, I have to communicate with the kids using "sound" from making the roti parata. He was kinda of excited as he react the process of making the roti parata, hitting the table with his hand as what roti parata man will do when making roti parata. He hit, He flip, He throw the parata...he sure can act well :P So he asked me to demo as well.....*Sensor*. We come across alot of action verbs which i have to demo to him in real "sound" ha ha......Example was the sizzle sound when the parta was cooked....the steam from the cooked parata.

The day finally ended with my stomach calling to request for more food. Now i have a cravy for parta after reading a book on that :P

Disney MTV Highlight...

Disneyland seems to be the all time dream of children and even adults. The place is fantastic as one entered into a dream world since childhood, with all the exciting new things awaiting them inside. It seems like a childhood dream being fulfilled.

Since young I always get to watch disney cartoon on television during every festival events. It seems to be a norm catching them on television rather than in cinema. Some of the disney song really bring back old memories from childhood.

I wonder when can i save up enough to visit Disneyland in tokyo :P
Will work hard for it :)

3 Love Song to Share......

Love can be eternal.......

Love can be very beautiful.......

Dare to pursue yr true love........