Talks, musicals and films...

Now Playing: Beneath a Rowan Tree - Emi Fujita

I seem to keep digressing! At this rate, I won’t ever finish this update.

Ok. Must stick to the topic. My recent activities.

Went to two academic seminars. The first was by Anthony Yu on religion and politics. For the seemingly uninteresting title, it was turned out to be quite fascinating, esp the Q&A in the end when Prof Yu got quite passionate. The topic brought back memories of the Buddhist text studies module I did back in my honours year. The lecture was chock-full of info and thought-provoking. In comparison, Prof Yuan’s lecture Classical Poems and Life was more relaxing as it was aimed at the masses but no less inspiring. I really miss academia… the lectures, the mind-exercise and the pure scope and area of knowledge… Will have to keep an eye out for more of these lectures in the future.

Next, my films and musicals!

Went to two musicals. First was A Twist of Fate with Dr. Lin. My mom was commenting on the unlikely friendship one builds with one’s prof. But Dr. Lin and I really hit it off. We never seem to stop talking whenever we meet up and we have similar tastes. She also learnt salsa and its such a pity that ATOF ended so late and we couldn’t go for social. The musical was incredibly fun though with all the funny plot twists and turns. The ending was certainly unexpected althou cliché when one thinks back. My favorite song was the one between Emma and Richard, althou Emma Yong and Ah See’s couple was hilarious as well.

Also watched Theatre Practice’s Lao Jiu with my mom who had the advantage of understanding the background and speaking the dialect. Went in without expectations becoz Lew gave it such a awful review. But I liked it. The male actor for Lao Jiu was cute and not a bad actor. My 1st row center seat allowed me to catch all the fleeting expressions. I admit, the actors aren’t great singers and even the lyrics could be better. As a musical, its not really up to standard, but still, its not all that bad. The plot was moving and had me in tears at one point when the Dad expressed his hopes whereas Lao Jiu expressed his unhappiness of being trapped. Enjoyed all the comic parts as well. Lew was even more critical when we talked about it, but as long as I come out from a play knowing I enjoyed myself and took some thoughts away, I would think it was a good play…

Will be watching Rent this Friday with Nekko. Now that’s one play I’m really looking forward to. Esp with all the trouble I went into to change the tix after Tuesday’s show was cancelled!

Also caught two films. The first was Cold Showers. A French film which was… hm…different? The ménage a trois scene was erotic…but the film itself overall was well crafted and deftly executed. The male protagonist was esp. good. The complex feelings a teenager has and the troubles one faces at the point of life was all subtly expressed… The way he went into the relationship and the jealousy and anger he had later… the regret and hunger… it was all so true and real. I only didn’t like the part at the end when he broke down in the dressing room… that seemed slightly overboard…

The next film is naturally HP/GOF! Caught it on the very first day, sneak preview, with Sher. We couldn’t wait another day :) I can’t imagine watching HP with any one else. No one would be able to understand our language! We were grabbing each other at the impt h and d scenes. And the scenes and relationships we highlighted and gushed on was definitely not what other people would expect. Watching it with another one else would be so much less fun and fulfilling. I liked the film althou it seemed like a fast-forward version of the book and a waste of all the good sets. Hope that the dvd will come out with a whole slew of deleted scenes incorporated in. And god, the kids are growing up on us! Dan Radcliffe is so hot. And Cedric is way better than I expected. The chemistry between the actors are tangible. Emma Watson is a whole new person altogether. But I still dislike Ron.

Also wanted to watch Saving Face with Shufen coz a friend strongly recc-ed it. Made the date with Shufen only to discover that its no longer showing! Argh! Why??? Now I can only wait for the dvd... does anyone have it???

Procrastination and Friends

Now Playing: All that I Need - Corrinne May

ok. I've established the fact that I can't work. Supposed to write up a lesson plan today, but after spending the entire day at home... I haven't written a single word. Argh. Sometimes I don't know what's wrong with me. I have all the info on my fingertips, but I juz can't get up the motivation. Is it becoz my subconscious don't want to work on a Sunday? Hm. So I spent today as I spend a typical Sunday… slept late. Went online and messed around. Went on msn for the first time in months. I got the salsa videos of the workshop I did in oct last nite and I bought a salsa cd recently, attempted to teach my mom some basic salsa steps coz I’ll be bringing her along for salsa social nights in NYC and Boston. Had a lot of fun :) Didn’t manage to do social this Friday coz the musical ended late so the practice is good.

Since I can’t work, might as well continue with the update. Hm. On social, I only managed to do it once in the last two weeks! That’s not very good. Went with Yee Pern and he brought his gf along! Haha…he finally got himself attached with a girl willing to take him in. Am happy for him except that he only told me 4 months after the fact! But he made it up by introducing us today. Both of them learn at ADS and somehow our styles are very different. But its still fun :)

Been bringing different friends to the Friday social nights…But I missed a few Fridays and will be missing the next one too due to Rent. I really should do more to practice else by my next salsa class in Feb, I’ll be utterly useless. I only recently realized how many of my friends do salsa. Going with Weifen to Xenbar next Wednesday, a new place for me. Wonder how it will turn out. Hopefully, there won’t be as many smokers as Union Sq.

Haven’t seen Fen for a year now. Met up with Xiaogua on sat as well with her boyfren. Also haven’t seen her for a year! But it was as if it we only met last week with the rate we chatted non-stop. That’s the beauty of old friends I guess. We know each other so well, the time doesn’t matter anymore and it just seems to stop for us. Feelings don’t change and our inner personalities and quirks remain the same. Its like how Lin can go into Macs, call me and ask me what I want, and when I said nothing, she hangs up and orders nuggets instinctively, knowing that I only eat the nuggets in macs and that I only said nothing becoz I had something on my mind. The comfortable feeling on being with an old friend…. Some things just don’t change…especially friendship built up over years… can’t believe I’ve known some of these people since I was 6… the way I don’t have to be anyone else but myself when I’m with them… I just feel so blessed…

Recent Life...

Now Playing: Everything in its Time - Corrinne May

The past week has been activities-filled...plays, talks, films, dance and music cafes...

A short record...

Been going to the Ark quite often... went with Gabriel, Shuhui and Yijing the first time. Two different group of friends?! Called Gab and Shuhui and didn't expect both of them to agree readily. And Shuhui asked Yijing along and Gabriel originally wanted to bring another guy friend. Made me feel like I was matchmaking! But it turned out quite fun, Gab always mixes well even when he's meeting new people. Within the hour, he was spilling my deep, dark secrets, git that he is :)

Went down to sign up for vocal classes, my new year resolution of making myself as busy as possible. But we did enjoyed the tuesday group. They were pretty good although they had the curse all folk music singers have of making awkward jokes. They had a good repertoire and actually know most of the songs we asked for which is new. Usually when Shuhui and I go to music cafes like Music Dreamers, we can’t get more than half the songs we ask for coz we always ask for the obscure ones that they never heard of before. But this group actually do know a lot of the folk songs and even know the sbc themes! Not bad. Tuesday is a good nite to visit the Ark. That was also the last week the Ark would be at their old site at Apollo Centre and I’m glad I managed to catch at least one night at this place.

Went next Thursday again with XP coz she wanted to support her instructor. The grp wasn't as good though her instructor was good. For one, this group is one that again doesn’t know more than half the songs I asked for. Another was probably becoz it’s a new location and the system wasn’t set up properly yet. Will be going down again on Monday with JX to catch the other vocal instructor. Hope the system is set up properly by then. Looking forward to seeing JX as well. He’s taking the time out from studying for exams to meet up with me before I fly off.

Eh, this isn’t all that short. Will go do some work now and do the others later.

streaks and scribbles...

Now Playing: Let it Go - Corrinne May

Always had a notebook with me for scribbling since I was a kid, or I would scribble on scrap pieces of paper everywhere...

I do have a journal elsewhere for entries that are more.. hm... well thought out? But I hardly have any time for well-thought entries anymore... so decided to set up a journal for scribbling short records of my life and streaks of odd thoughts... hence... streaks and scribbles....

润物细无声

星期六听了袁行霈教授的《古典诗词》讲座，谈了许多词句，其中都是一些极好的名句佳词。但不知为何，脑海里只记得浅白的《春夜喜雨》中一句“润物细无声”。

《春夜喜雨》一诗，我教文史课时曾教过。记得当时，也没花多少时间。教的也多属技巧，谈的是诗眼，用词的恰当与传神。内容，只简单带过，因为一读即了。

但，这几天，却一直反复想起这一句，和袁老师的那一句感叹。“润物细无声啊，润物不难，但要做到细无声，却不容易。”

其实是最简单不过的道理，只是知易行难。记得，我在和学生讨论《春夜喜雨》这一个题目时，问他们，题目中最重要的一个字是什么。聪明的学生马上回答： “喜”。不错，一个“喜”字，带出整首诗的感觉。但，我却忽略了“无声”这点，把重点放在了受益者身上，忘了施福者的默默付出。

人，往往如此。其实，很多道理我们都懂，但却在日常生活中忘了。不由得对自己的遗忘感到失望。但也记得，我曾跟学生说过，尽管我们也许做不到，但我们也要知道，真的有这么真，这么善良的人存在，因为这是一个希望。对人，对生命的希望。

真的，有人是“润物细无声”的。

《金枝欲孽》

刚刚看完三十集的《金枝欲孽》，心里有些怅然若失。戏中人的聪明与悲哀，刻画的似乎就是每个女子的命运。皇后、如妃、尔淳、安茜，个个都如此机智，但千计算尽，所谋的，却并非她们心中所想要的。到头来，却都显得如此悲哀与无奈。

人，其实再聪明都好，只要看不清自己心中真正想要的，做得再多，再好，都没有用。可惜，又有谁能真的看透？原来，并非聪明人好。追求一生，到底求的是什么？墙内墙外，又有什么分别？

10月31日终于过了，自己终于能够稍微喘一口气。休息一下。但，前些日子真的太忙了，现在忽然松了，竟感到十分不自然。从8月开始就忙着改卷子，期中、期末到模拟考，一直没停过，现在忽然无需熬夜改卷，竟然反而不想睡了。人，真的爱自虐。

人活着，要开心，真的很难。但还是要尽力，不是吗？

安排了一系列的节目，包括看电影，话剧，跳舞，和朋友叙旧，还买了一大堆书等我吞噬。年底还有雪景和平的疼爱等着我，务必让自己在忙碌的工作袭来前，能有多开心就有都开心。

其实，归去时，回首向来萧瑟路，也无风雨也无晴。一切，又何必太在意？

心念·心变

好久没这种恬静的感觉了。带了一堆卷子，呆在一间小小的，明亮的咖啡馆内，一边批改，一边吃。选了一个靠窗座位，闲闷之余，便抬头观看往来的人群，晒晒日光。一天下来，发呆的时间比批改的时间多。但真得很舒服，因为时间是属于自己的。

仿佛回到了学生时代，在北京的时候。那时，经常自己带了功课，独自躲到一间自己喜欢的咖啡馆，就在哪儿呆一天，名义上是为了找个安静的角落读书，其实，发呆的时间总是比较多。

日子，在自己的掌握中。

想念，但却不知道究竟想念什么。往日的悠闲？自主？清纯？不知道。只知道，我最近，一直在想念着一些什么，却捉摸不着。

我们回不去过去的岁月了。终于有了这份认知。那日，碰到一个高中同学，十分开心，上前打了招呼后，却发现两个人，竟然已毫无话题。是谁变了？还是，只是岁月？

工作已没有什么开心不开心。就是来了，就做。不再愿意放下太多感情。有时忙碌了一天后，什么也不想。 往日的理念，与其说忘却，不如说沉淀了。

人，都要变的。但，可否不让我知道？

rushed...

School’s starting again and I’ve not prepared anything! So what else is new…Back home for a week and New York seems like a long and lazy dream… 4 weeks just blinked by…

Touched down on Sunday night and I’m back to school on Monday morning to prepare for the Bicultural Course that the students didn’t want to attend. But it afforded me my first “close” contact with my form class, they seem like quite a happy-go-lucky bunch, very vocal and mischievous, the boys coming up to me to ask if they can skip the 2nd day of the course because “its so boring!” and the girls laughing at how I cannot remember their names and have to ask them repeatedly whether they have taken their attendance or not. But upon reading the reflection letters they wrote for their poor performance in their mid-year, their sunny appearance seems to be hiding a lot of underlying resentment… the pressure and lack of motivation adding to their stress…

I don’t know how I can help them, being so inexperienced that I often can’t catch what my responsibilities are as a form teacher, thank goodness I’m surrounded by so many helpful teachers that often take the trouble to explain what I’m supposed to do in detail after they made the official announcement. And that’s just the admin stuff, I don’t know how I can help them in the way they need me too…I just hope I won’t let this class down…

Spent the days in school and the nights in town for this last week of holiday, caught up with a couple of friends before school work whirls me away and caught 3 films too.

Monday was the hilariously funny Korean My Boyfriend is Type B with Lin, had a very relaxing time with the de-stressor movie and calming company. Girl, we have to meet up at least once a month no matter how busy we are ok? Being with you is a necessary therapy for me…

Wednesday was the strangely erotic Eros, a 3-short-films-in-one movie that I very much did not understand. Watched is with Shufen and I’m really very apologetic about the movie choice. Wong Kar Wai’s film was still ok, his nostalgic style unmistakable, but the remaining two has a very weird tone to it that wasn’t very enjoyable. But it was wonderful to meet up with Shufen after the long break, except that I was too tired to hold up my end of the conversation after the first day of the course…

Thursday was the moving Be With You or いま，会いにゆきます, a very sweet heartbreaker with breathtaking shots of sunflower fields and the most adorable little boy ever. The courage it takes to embrace love, despite knowing inevitable death lies ahead. Caught it with Mei who sadly isn’t as touched as I was, the pragmatic girl she is. She’s the one that always brings me back down to earth when my head is still in the clouds.

And the weekend arrived and it’s back to the books, as the whirlpool that’s my job takes me away once more… might not surface until the September holidays…

A Day of Museums...

One good thing about summer masquerading as spring is the wonderful sunny weather one gets to appreciate the colorful riot of spring blossoms. Visited the Cloisters on Tuesday and the bountiful flowering gardens are a wonderful sight, set against the glittering East River and green lawns. The peaceful terrace gardens and monasteric exhibits give a sense of calmness… Cloisters is a branch of the Met, a museum that contains bits and pieces of various medieval monasteries and chapels, including 4 different cloisters, private monastery gardens surrounded by covered walkways. The gardens are meticulously kept, the gardeners actually tries to use only medieval plants! After visiting 4 museums on Friday, I rather enjoyed the gardens, flowers in every shade of the rainbow and the textures and scents…

And yes, I did 4 museums on Friday, in one day… Museum of Sex in the morning which was quite an attack of the senses, the Frick Collection in the afternoon, and the Guggenheim, which I visited more for the architecture, and lastly, the Asia Society which was quite a non-entity.

The best stop of the day was the Frick Collection, the collection of one very wealthy man with very good taste set in a beautiful house. The whole style is similar to the Gardner in Boston but even better. Gardner had a cluttered feel to the place somehow, but Frick's collection is extremely well arranged, every room is artfully done in a way that all the paintings and sculptures and design meshed together for a very cohesive feel. I love all the rooms, from the stately living room to the very male library. Esp love the drawing room with the Fragonard paintings, The Progress of Love (very sensual and very sweet) and the Boucher room ( the cherubs are sooo cute!) and his 4 season paintings. The audio guide adds a special personal touch to the paintings.

Other museums visited include the Noguchi with its intimate and Zen garden filled with stone sculptures in various calming shapes and shadows. Also did the Queens Museum of Art for the breathtaking panorama of New York and the Tiffany collection which was small but did include quite a detailed explanations of the various glass used in the Tiffany productions.

Overall, that’s quite a varied museum list… and says a bit of my weird tastes...

entertainment

Went to 3 immensely entertaining shows recently that are worth a mention…

The first isn’t really a show actually, but its one that I really enjoyed. Went to the Sunday Gospel service at a Harlem church, the inspirational singing was really powerful and the way the congregation stand up and join in, singing their hearts out was very moving. The songs were hymns I think, but done in a way that made it seemed alive. There was even a part of the service that had two guys called the Sons of Light doing raps! An awesome show.

The second was at Comedy Cellar, a bar-like place with comedians taking slots on the stage. Its amazing how entertaining the comedians are, the entire thing was very casually done, the comedians just come up to the stage and talk. But their scathing remarks and dry wit simply have me bending over with laughter, I laughed so hard I was in pain at a point! The yummy desserts of truffles pyramid and tiramisiu was definitely a distracting plus.

The third was Broadway under the Stars. A concert at Bryant Park with the Broadway stars delivering songs from various shows. I think the entire New York turned out for the event, you couldn’t find a speck of lawn in Bryant Park that wasn’t taken up by 7pm and the show only starts at 830! Luckily, we were forewarned and came at the ridiculous hour of 6 and managed to grab two chairs and proceeded to sit tight (well, P did leave to get food). It was a cloudy night, so you couldn’t really say we were watching “Broadway’s brightest stars under the stars”, but it was still a great show and an enjoyable experience

a bite of the Big Apple

Finally got the internet connection up and running… It’s the sixth day in the Big Apple and New York is hot! Met a native today that recognized me as a tourist from the Lonely Planet bible in my hands (which P borrowed for me from the local library as I forgotten mine in the half an hour mess of packing I did right before my flight after rushing out the 5 day translation course outline), and he actually apologized for the weather, it’s August-summer- sweltering and seriously seems worse that Singapore! Thank goodness the nights are still relatively cool in our Brooklyn apartment…

But sauna weather aside, it still didn’t deter me from my determination to shop, I must have gotten bitten by the retail bug… went to Soho, East Village, and the Lower East Side and had quite a good haul. I do enjoy the different form of shopping from the malls, popping into individual boutiques, each unique and personal in design and browsing through their collections… stopping to rest with a glass of iced tea in quaint cafes. Esp love East Village with its good collection of vintage stores and cafes. The abundance of sushi restaurant helped as well :p Also went to the Garment District which seemed pretty much catered to wholesalers but I was sidetracked by the Asian stores of Little Korea on the 32nd anyway. However, I did manage to find the tote bag I was looking for, so am very happy :)

Other activities include walking around Brooklyn Heights. Went to Brooklyn Promenade for the incredible view of the Manhattan skyline and harbor with the islands as well as the harbor front park for a marvelous view of the two bridges. Strolled across Brooklyn Bridge, the weather was pretty good that day, sunny but windy so you don’t feel so sticky, and the close up look at the Gothic architecture of the bridge as well as the view you get hiked up above the traffic was worth the trek.

Also went to Chelsea for gallery-hopping today and saw a couple of collections that I liked (minus the whole lot of abstract paint-flinged-onto-canvas and stuffing a mixture of stuff into stockings and piling them up). Esp. liked the one by a French photographer detailing her 92-day trip to Tokyo, counting down to the day she got her heart broke on the very last day. Another gallery had a video clip comprising of a collection of photographs of daily New York scenes superimposed with garish cartoon like splashes of color depicting war scenes of destruction set to the soundtrack of lullabies and a radio report with helicopter noises in the back. It really strikes the heart, esp the familiar scenes of knee deep snow piled in parks and people walking their dogs….there’s a chant inserted somewhere in the soundtrack...”Its never going to end” which seems so true.. as long as there are human beings, there’ll always be war…

Broadway show count is at 4 currently, with Naked Boys Singing on the top of my list. Perhaps I’m just not a big production kind of girl, always do like the smaller budget shows that seem to be more personal somehow and speaks to me in a way…

生病了

生病了。自从实习结束后，我没好好休息，几乎每天都有节目，身体终于开始抗议了。但，也算值得吧，见了许多好久没见的朋友，也看了几部好戏。现在，也该好好休息了。

5月10日，知道自己被派去那间学校了。是间好学校，名誉好，学生优。若我实习前便去那间学校，我应该会很开心。但，现在，经过实习的洗礼后，一切已今非 昔比。想念我的那些坏学生，习惯上课时把目标调到最低，用最简单的语言。习惯每次派下功课，就要花2个星期追回。习惯骂学生时，他们调皮的回嘴。这些，都 不是新学校会有的。不知道，我是否能重新适应这个新的环境。好的学校，要求会更高，又是另一个新的挑战。

那天，学生打来问我被派去那间学校时，说，老师，好啦，好学校，你不用整天骂学生了，不会教到吐血。可说完，他又加上一句，可是那些好学生不会像我们这样逗你笑，你以后会教到很闷的，还是教我们比较好哦。

哈，一针见血的评语。我的学生，其实好聪明的。

a good life...

Lead quite a fulfilling life recently… watched a couple of good shows, and met up with some good friends for clean and simple fun…

Watched Happy on Saturday with some Beida friends. It was a good musical, although highly strung. Came out with an headache from the concentrated tension throughout the play, but it was worth it. DramaBox’s plays never hold back, you either love it or hate it…I really liked the way they potrayed Oscar Wilde, reciting the lines from his letters and the depiction of Salome and the Happy Prince in between..

Sunday was Mother’s Day, spent the day at home with mom and dyed her hair, a simple gift for Mother’s Day… Dad cooked lunch and Lew and I did dinner although mine turned out a disaster. Reminder: Milk is not a good substitute for light cream.

Watched Sommersturn with X on Monday. Loved it, not so much for the gay theme, but for the delicate way they treated the complex feelings of the unrequited love for one’s best friend. Wished they developed more on the feelings of Achim instead of focusing almost solely on Tobi, the fleeting scenes whetted the appetite but did not really satisfy, but it was a wonderful film overall, one of the better films on homosexuals, not to mention the multitude of eye candy available.

Tuesday was mahjong with J and E, and the much laughter aroused from 3 people that do not really know how to play… Laughter over the mistakes and unforgiving remarks… We enjoyed it so much that we played again on Wednesday! We did much better on Wed though, esp E, for one that threw “the green word” despite much warnings to allow a bankrupt win for the first day and claiming not to know the rules, he certainly won enough to warrant being pelted by tiles…

Watched Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi on Wed morn with L and her friend K. One of the sweetest films I’ve watched in a long time, a show about the love one special boy can have for all the people surrounding him, a boy blessed with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The theme is similar to Amelie, but oh so much better. The storyline is amazingly simple, yet amazingly moving. I felt the tears coming on at the end of the film, yet they came with a smile

Thursday was the visit to Nee Soon camp, a visit that turned out to be surprisingly interesting with a chance at live firing of which I actually managed to hit the target all 3 times, ha, so proud of myself. Afternoon was spent with L and Z at the KTV, celebrating Z’s birthday. We sang from 3 to 7, haven’t done KTV for awhile and forgot how much I enjoyed it. We had HK fare for lunch, and I ordered a chicken porridge that was yummilicous, very similar to the one P and I ate in New York! It was so good that I went back and ordered takeaway for dinner.

Good food, Good films, Good fun and most of all… Good friends…

点点离愁

在麦当劳给我中三的学生补习。没想到，他们上周五说要补课，竟然是认真的。而且，全班学生竟然来了三分之一，比正式补课还多。尤其，来了几个从来不认真听 课的学生，让人不知该感动还是惊讶，如浩威和伟良。浩威，因为整天被我留堂，我以为我走了，他解脱了，应该能避就避，没想到竟然还会主动出现在我面前。伟 良，因为他自己都有华文补习了，而且，他知道，他若来，就一定会被我“针对”，因为我说过他的成绩最烂。果然，他一来，就被我赶到一边读听写，没读好就不 能动。他听写第一课时，其他同学都围着看，在他竟然写得出第一个词“瑕疵”时还集体喝彩，哈。

约三个小时的补习，直到我们被麦当劳的员工赶，时间飞逝。我的这一群学生，决不肯安安静静的读书的，总是搞一些小动作让我笑，上厕所时前问我可不 可以，还跟我要pass， 埋怨我为什么改测验改得那么严，伟良还为他9分的作文成绩耿耿于怀。这些贫嘴的坏学生，临走前竟然还起立，在麦当劳中大声喊“谢谢罗老师”。平时上课时都 不见他们这么“有心”！存心让我“出名”哦。但，真的很感动。这是最后一堂课了，和这一群让我放不下的学生。

真的很舍不得，结束后，心情很郁闷。打电话给萱，要她陪我吃晚饭。碰巧，她这天心情也很差，吃了晚饭后，两个人都不想回家，便边走边聊。没想到，走着走着，竟然从West Mall 走回我家！

这一天，感触很多。离别的愁绪让人心情好蓝，但，有一个好朋友陪伴，真的很安慰….

Skylight

Watched Skylight by Escape Theatre yesterday at the ArtsHouse. One of the best plays I’ve watched this year, even better than Wi!d Rice’s Boeing Boeing (which I really liked, it was a almost perfect comedy production, the perfect medicine for the stress-filled days of practicum).

Skylight, a intricate script delving deep into the characters of the two main protagonists, which were supposed to represent two different castes I think, but I simply saw them as two individuals, in love but couldn’t accept each other’s ways of thinking. The long conversations and arguments, peppered with sarcasm and filled with emotions was amazingly good and satisfying. Loved the detailed set and the wonderful acting. The last breakfast scene was somehow just perfect, soft lighting bathing the table, answering to the name of the play, Skylight. A window showcasing human emotions…

Another reason why I liked the play so much was because of Kyra’s character as a schoolteacher teaching in one of the worse schools in London, despite that she can actually get a much easier job anywhere else with her qualifications. “As long as you have one student, one student that you focus on making a difference to, that keeps you going.” That so hit the spot…

There was a story somewhere about a taxi driver saying that David Hare’s plays remind him why we go to theatre, and that is to learn. After watching so many plays… Skylight somehow recaptures the reason behind why I go to theatre as well…

我们的新谣大家唱

今天，慧打来问我要不要去《我们的新谣大家唱》的演唱会。其实，还有作文未改完，却决定放纵自己。 好久好久没有好好出去玩了。每天的日子，都环绕在备课，上课，追作业，留学生，改作业这个圈子中。现在终于解脱了，决定在下学期正式教学前，好好的疯一下。

今晚的演唱会，真得很棒。其实，我对新谣并不十分熟悉，除了几首著名的《邂逅》，《你的倒影》和梁文福的创作外，当晚的歌，许多都是第一次听到的。更有许多是在听到熟悉的旋律后，才想起有这么一首歌。新谣，真的伴我们成长。

很喜欢新谣，喜欢那种清清淡淡的味道，书卷味的歌词。也喜欢演唱会的气氛，露天广场，凉风习习，歌手打扮轻便，只有一个劳苦功高的吉他手伴乐。整个随意中 带温馨。许多首歌，都引起三千多个观众随声附唱，那种感觉，仿佛就像回到校园时，MAF的sing-a-long。许多歌，都勾起校园的回忆，《我们这一 班》，《细水长流》…

新谣，真的是值得我们骄傲的。一个独特与隽永的，属于我们的东西，属于我们的回忆，

混世魔王

8个星期的实习教学，终于结束了。心中有不舍，有解脱。我的那一群混世魔王。就算到最后一分钟，依旧玩世如故。最后一天我的老师安排的补习课，整个中三班 只剩下约十几个学生。哈，剩下的几个在那里说，老师，就我们几个，怎么上课？不然这样啦，你星期三再安排一堂课，反正星期四考试，你今天教，我们也记不 住。你住哪里？我们配合你，去你家最近的麦当劳，你在那里给我们上课。这一群小魔王，真不知道得寸进尺怎么写哦。

我和朋友们谈起我的学生，他们都说我的学生真的很好笑。其实，虽然他们每次搞这种小动作时都弄得我又气又恨，但回想起来，我也忍不住好笑。真的很 舍不得。我三个班。中一班，很贴心的一群小可爱，在我的最后一堂课还给了我一个惊喜，送礼又送卡。还有两个女生亲自写了好窝心的信给我，说他们舍不得我。 让我真的好想哭，他们还拼命说，老师别哭，老师别哭。我中三班呀，就别想会有这么贴心的举动了。三个班中，我最担心的就是这个不爱读书的一班。他们最让我 放心不下。

这一群小魔头，一个个鬼灵精似的，只爱玩爱闹，却不爱读书。每天上课时都是一团糟。无论交作业也好，上课不睡也好，他们都说是给我面子，仿佛如此 我就不该再催作业或留堂了。尤其那几个最坏的学生，我想我会一直记得，我的第一群学生，第一群让我那么头痛的学生。可以想象，当我正式开始教书的时候，就 没那么多空闲时间一个个追着他们留堂做作业了。我呀，也只有在这一群学生身上，才会花那么多时间，所以，他们也算是我最不幸的学生吧！他们让我头疼，却也 带给我许多欢笑，回忆一大堆，五味杂陈。又气又笑地度过了8个星期…

昨天，其中一个发短讯给我，知道我因为这一班而烦心时，叫我别担心，说他认为我是个好老师。发现，当老师的，其实只要学生的肯定，就足够了。其他什么都不重要…

Practicum Days...

P reminded me that its been a long time since I updated…and indeed it is. Practicum started and its taking its toll on me (and about everyone else), despite the fact that in reality, I’m only teaching half the load of a full-time teacher. My Sec. 3 students have me at the brink of a migraine every time I think of them. They are a good lot, and I do see their merits, always willing to lend a helping hand and good-natured at times. They are never really defiant and never ever mean. Yet, yet, how on earth do I get them to listen in class and do their work?! Half of them have already given up on their Chinese and another half are angry at being put in the worst Express class and feel they can’t study in such an environment. And all of them have a very low self-esteem. What can I do? With only 6 weeks left with them… what *can* I do?

Still, it’s the holiday week, despite the heavy nie assignments resting on my shoulders. (I can’t concentrate on any other work until I finish this one awful assignment from hell. BUT I can’t concentrate on working on this assignment either!) Lazed around for the first 2 days. Wanted to start work on the 3rd, but only managed to finish a meager amount of readings before succumbing to playing cards with L (who came over to motivate me! but really enjoyed the card games and the company, thanks gal!) Am currently in nie, hoping the studious environment here will help… but still only managed to finish drafting what I’m going to write, still haven’t started writing a single word…

But, I shall remember that this is the holiday week. After two weeks of real time teaching of 7am-530pm stress-filled days with added markings at night, and 6 weeks of the same looming, I’m going to relax, relax, and relax! This is the sunny tropical island of Singapore after all!

P.S.: I’m trying to cultivate a habit of writing down a blessing everyday in an effort to remain positive. Anything will do, from a stranger’s smile to winning the week’s Toto, as long as it made you happy. In the long run, we shall have a daily record of happy memories! And today’s shall be the 1.5 hour lunch of chicken cutlet and chat with a dear friend who is looking a lot better than the last time I saw him :)

又是情人节

又是情人节了。今年，他以狗狗为主题的情人节礼物整整早到了一个星期，害我情人节正天反而跟他嚷着说怎么没收到东西。这个傻蛋。但，真的挺感动的，因为他 花费的心思和时间。如他所说，在一起这么久了，每年的生日，情人节，纪念日，圣诞等等等，都得想新的点子，年过一年，开始江郎才尽，点子越来越难想，每年 的这些特别日子，都快变差事节了。

在一起三年了，一起度过的情人节，生日，却好像只有一次。而且还是没在一起的时候。两地相隔，他说，没关系，只要两颗真心在一起，就能互相取暖。而我觉得呢？节日还好吧，反正就这么一天。难度的，是那些失意寂寞的时候。。。

他的生日要到了，还是快想想，这回又该送些什么。。。

CNY & 华裔 05

It’s Chinese New Year again, I luckily have a full week of holidays starting for Eve, to Valentine’s… This year, CNY passed by especially quickly and peacefully…only visited 3 houses on the 1st, went to the temple to appease the god of the year and came home to play mahjong, my new obsession of the year :) I seem to really inherit my Dad’s genes…

Visited the Sentosa Flowers on the 2nd to keep Mom happy, I was very unimpressed though, the exhibition displays mostly the same flowers we see around HDBs everyday, there was quantity, but not much quality. Compared to the spring blossoms in Boston and Beijing, the exhibition 真的不怎么样. There was, however, a wonderful display of orchids to hold up the nation’s pride, with a carpet of delicate lavender and pink flowers.

Went to Sim Lim to buy a new laptop on the 3rd, vomited a whole lot of cash for this machine which I’m typing on right now, way more than I wanted to pay for a new notebook. As L said, when I set a cash limit, I tend to spend twice of it. Haiz… when will I ever learn to control my spending?!?!

Had dinner with G on the 4th, and received two great x’mas pressies/trip souvenirs that I really liked, hope he liked the ones I gave as well. Nearly lost my hp, but saved by G’s long legs. L stayed over for the night and we had a fun sleepover the way only girls do, with facial masques and long chats… Love these sleepovers…

Watched 2 华裔plays, 十三角关系 and 今夜女人说相声. I did catch all the punch lines and jokes for Menage a 13, but I certainly don’t understand the riot of laughter it received! The jokes all seem pretty cliché and dead, and paired with somewhat mediocre acting, they only garnered a nod from me…Total Women, however, was a different class all by itself. Was extremely entertained and impressed, with marvelous acting and amazing talent, it was definitely worth the extremely expensive ticket price (which I didn’t pay as I got away with the student concession). The 泼妇骂街 is definitely a classic.

Sunday was spent lazing… finally managed to do a bout of work, plus the weekly gym session… life starts to return to the daily routine… with Practicum at a notorious school looming…

Still, ignore the bad HORRORscope warnings and look forward to the good year ahead!