third time lucky and sixth run

i did a sixth run after that last post. the rest were lobo-ing in the bunk and i just didn't feel comfortable enough to do that. so instead, i ran. kind of like forrest gump .... hee :)


ok now, as promised, the three times lucky:

1. excused live firing
2. 2D2N sentry duty .... dismissed
3. fun ride safety .... replaced

so there you have it, all three.

i am not feeling joyous enough to write more about that because mum is in the hospital now. the good news is that she'll be going home tomorrow.

let me think about whether i want to write about this ... tired now.

three times lucky or five runs

standchart run is round the corner and i'm really getting desperate to clock some distance.

amidst the moodiness and miserableness, i managed to read two-and-one-third books and do five runs here. and the last one was rather good, i must say. that one-hour run on a fair-weather morning was relaxing and therapeutic.

i finished Torey Hayden's Twilight Children and Daisaku Ikeda's The Way of Youth. The remaining one-third is Emily Prager's Wuhu Diary: On Taking My Adopted Daughter Back to Her Hometown in China.



(it is interesting how the other grown-ups can either sleep the whole day in the bunk or get so engaged with their PSPs.)

three times? when the time is right, i'll be glad to write about all three. so keep the fingers crossed for me :)

end-of-school-year thoughts

Since I have the luxury of time, I might as well write something now.

So it seems like this has got to be the most unproductive 10 days of this year for me. And no prize for guessing correctly where am I now. Hopefully, the next few minutes of writing can add some value to this 10 days and not make it totally worthless.

By the time I get back to school on the 20th, the school year would have ended. This is a very, very quick year, or fast year, or short year as you may call it. Can't remember if this was how I felt previously at this time of the year. One thing for sure, I've been less frustrated with work this time round.

There must be a reason, but I just can't really pin-point one. I can go on and on and tell you the wonderful stories that I hear and see in the school and how these people are just so wonderful and how my leaders are truly amazing. But I guess you really have to be with the school to know what it really feels like.

Kids are kids, no matter where they are, and where they are from. But somehow, the students here are more adorable, whether they are 13, 14, 15 or 16-year-olds. They listen to my stories and makes me feel alive, where I used to feel like a broken recorder, having to repeat my lessons and instructions time after time previously.

Let me try to recall some of the names that stick out this year and perhaps one day, I can gather enough infomation from them and write a few stories about them. Year 4s: Murphy, Weicong, Francis and Natahsha; Year 3s: Lydia, Ashiq, Abdillah and Chuan Jie; Year 2s: Yao Yang, Chu Hui, Jonathan and Jie Yi; Year 1s: Wilson, Dickson, Hong Liang, Faiz, Hafiz, Denise and the twins Taufiq and Tauhiq.

And what have I taught them this year? To be honest, I think they have taught me a great deal more. They have taught me to look at things differently. Everyday. Thank you boys and girls for giving me a wonderful year.

Happy holidays!

my cousin's very simple wedding

perhaps it was because i was not feeling too well that's why the whole thing seemed very simple to me. i was mostly in-and-out of the "zone" and did not notice too much :)

my job was to get well enough (since i was ill from that tuesday) to be at marine parade by 8am to pick up the bride and the groom. i only left home at 8 and reached the car park at 8.15. no one was in a hurried mode. everything was "take it easy".

my cousin and her husband loaded the few bottles of wine, their shoes, gowns and a bag, plus another plastic bag of food, and we're on our way to four seasons.

the make-up girl arrived shortly after we checked into the room. sharon had one hour to make up and then we planned to go down to the lobby to take some pictures. while the making-up was in process, me and HK had breakfast. then i took a few pictures of the rings before heading down to recce the area. (the make-up girl asked me, "did you teach at damai?" omg! but that's another story.)

by 1130 we ditched the room and headed to the 20th floor. there were only 6 tables, 3 each for the groom and the bride. it was all quite blissfully simple.

the couple is enjoying themselves at phuket right now. i wish them good health, and a very happy marriage.

病了

生病真不是一件好玩的事。连病四天，我简直是病疯了。

发烧的时候整个人缩成一团，在被窝里打滚。我好想说生不如死，但我知道那又太说不过去。

这次生病，我对“晚安”有了新的认识。半夜里体弱无力，无助又无能的感觉真的很凄凉。

晚上能睡个好觉，是福气。

兩個和尚

前几天发生了一些事，我又想起了这个故事。

《兩個和尚》

有兩個和尚正要過河，同時在此岸有另一位女施主因為水太深不知該怎麼辦，大师兄上前問了女施主是否需要幫忙，然后就背著她過河。放下她后，施主向和尚道了謝，兩人就分頭離開了。

小师弟忍不住问了：“师兄，师傅常说我们出家人要六欲清净，美色情欲都要放下。你今为何还近于女人？”

大师兄说：“刚才的那妇人我早已放下，放不下的却是师弟你呀！”


启示：君子坦荡荡，小人常戚戚；心胸宽广，思想开朗，遇事拿得起、放得下，才能永远保持一种健康的心态。

的确是要时时提醒自己尽心尽力就好，对得起天地良心，晚上才能安心睡觉。

好厉害

能唱会唱，真是一件幸福且又造福人群的事。


我好像被她的“长大”感动了。当初在“校园”她不是这个样子的。现在的歌声成熟多了。小女生真的很棒。


我超爱后面那首“青梅竹马“。这里哪里会有十几岁的人懂这首歌？这个小伙子虽然声调不是很准，但我就是喜欢他平实的歌声，一点也不造作。


这个美国来的男生应该会很有看头。这把声音让我想起。。。一时也想不起让我想起哪位歌手。就是那把让人听了很舒服的歌声。好喜欢他把一首歌好好唱完，不像现在一大堆人总喜欢把好歌唱得乱七八糟。黄韵玲也很像好开心的样子。


看胡采书被淘汰，在台上还能大大方方，稳稳的，比我们这里的"superstars"好上百倍。


这一段实在精彩，帅呆了！倪小子的“K歌之王”虽不是完美，但就是有那种缺陷美，让人感动。孙自佑的“当我想起你”也是扎扎实实的，没耍半点花招就能把人紧紧扣着。


皆大欢喜。这个主持也真是太棒了！这两个男生真的很厉害，前途无量。评审也比我们这里的好得多了。人家评审讲话得体，也很有建设性；我们这里的常常数落参赛者，自以为是。我常常会为他们觉得难过，除了水上漂以外。


人家也不用去上什么课，设计什么歌曲什么的，就是一把很实在的声音，扣人心弦。


不得了！真是了不起！惊人的33分！赞！再看一遍。


能用歌声来牵着人的情感走，这就是感动吧？