bones

Racoon is probably 9 months now. He doesn't sound so much like a pup now; his bark sounds deeper and more matured. Unfortunately he still behaves like a pup. Chewing shoes....number 1 crime!!! Now our shoe racks are of no use as we pile all our shoes on the top rack only.

He still loves to jump on us but I have to hit him when he jumps on me especially when I am in my working clothes. Can't have him tearing my good clothes. He is very naughty; loves to jump at me from the back and pushes me forward.

He is only allowed in the kitchen nowadays. He will lie as close as possible to me while I am cooking. I'm so afraid I might step on him accidentally and hurt myself.

Below are pictures of his bones. He gets a new bone every other day. The bones still do not cure him from his chewing habit.


Some of the bones which are less than a quarter of the actual size after all the chewing.

Racoon carrying a new bone. He will carry it all over the place to chew.....from the back porch to the front porch, up on his favourite bench.

Taking care of a dog is like taking care of a child. He really exasperates me....

gekkin

That's the name of the origami above. Lyn is following a Russian who has posted her origamis online and she is diligently copying some of the Russian's origami.

The gekkin is made of 30 individually folded paper. She started off with the bigger gekkin and was surprised that it was so big. Then she made the second one smaller as she prefers it small and cute.

durian

It's durian season now. This season is quite interesting. Discovered that both the kids enjoy durians (Dan used to avoid it; Lyn found it bearable). I will chill the leftovers and after school, they will look for the fruit in the fridge.

One afternoon while I was teaching, the smell of durian drifted to the top floor. All of us hushed and inhaled the smell before I continued teaching. Noraini Amran and her gang were eating durian near the lab!!! Since then, there had been two more makan-makan durian.


I was in the study a few days ago and saw the above stuff on Dan's shelf. It's a durian seed. He said he wants to plant it but have not found a suitable place yet. Now he has hidden the seed in another corner of the study. Am not surprised if it rots and turns into mush...

all work n no play...

makes me a dull girl. That's what I'm suffering from lately...really tired and bored working. Listened to this talk by Matt Cutts. Short and sweet and he is good. Now I'm thinking what one thing can I do for the next 30 days...
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days.html
hmm....still thinking. That shows how bored I am!!!!

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story | Video on TED.com

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story | Video on TED.com

Robert Gupta and Joshua Roman duet on "Passacaglia" | Video on TED.com

Robert Gupta and Joshua Roman duet on "Passacaglia" Video on TED.com
I enjoy this totally....think they are really good and cool. There are many good TED Talk videos but there are also quite a number questionable ones which are not agreeable with my principles.

The Oxford Treasury of Children's Poems

Not to sure where we got this book from but it looks real good on the book shelf and the title makes it sound so academic. Recently I saw the kids holding the book and quite a few times bent together over it; reading and giggling over the poems. Then they started memorizing lines from here and there...telling me how violent, funny and eerie some of the poems are. I decided to take a look.....

Are these verses violent?
My mother said
That the rope must go
Over my head.

Don't Care (Dan's favourite)
Don't Care didn't care,
Don't Care was wild;
Don't Care stole plum and pear
Like any beggar's child.
Don't Care was made to care,
Don't Care was hung:
Don't Care was put in a pot
And boiled till he was done.
Anon
(I was totally shocked when I read this but the kids were thrilled!!!)

The Troll to her Children
Billy Goat Gruff
Was yesterday's lunch,
So go to sleep fast
Or I'll give you a punch.
Jane Yolen
(Wow....should I say this to the kids if they don't want to sleep?)

Lyn told me not to read this but I read....
Squeezes
We love to squeeze bananas,
We love to squeeze ripe plums,
And when they are feeling sad
We love to squeeze our mums.
Brian Patten
(Hmmm....what was she thinking of?)

And here are two ladies who are opposite of each other....the poems are side by side.
Old Mrs Lazibones
Old Mrs Lazibones
And her dirty daughter
Never used soap
And never used water....
Etc etc
Gerda Mayer

On the next page is....
Mrs Lorris, Who died of Being Clean
Mrs Lorris was a fusser
always asking, 'Is it clean?'
etc etc
so she bought a microscope.
Horrid horror, in the eyepiece
microbes swarmed on every side:
too much for Mrs Lorris, who
pegged her nostrils up and died.
Barbara Giles
(such extremes.....but really funny.)

And then there are poems about ghosts and this one is real eerie. It's long; so I've cut short here and there.
The Terrible Path
While playing at the woodland's edge
I saw a child one day,
She was standing near a foaming brook
And a sign half-rotted away.

Etc Etc
She looked pale and frightened,
Her voice was thick with dread.
She spoke through rimmed with green
And this is what she said:

'I saw a signpost with no name,
I was surprised and had to stare,
It pointed to a broken gate
And a path that led nowhere.
etc etc'

Frightened I turned homeward,
But stopped and had to stare
I too saw that signpost with no name
And the path that led nowhere.
Brian Patten
(Eerie...as Lyn said. Now he is trapped too.)

A decent looking book and see how it turns the imagination wild.

kodok

Kodok in Malay means toad. I learnt this term in Puteri. Not sure if it is used elsewhere. Kodok means the person one admires who is of the same sex. I suppose Kodok is the masculine female.

There are lots of kodok-menkodok in school. The juniors will admire seniors and vice-versa. Quite a few times, when I am teaching, the students will suddenly look out of the class at some girls who pass by ... one of their kodoks!!

Today, a girl gave a very nasty letter written by someone. The writer of the letter is jealous of her because the writer admires the senior who has now become the her kodok. I also found out that this junior has been staying back after to school to meet with her kodok in one of the classrooms. What they do, I don't know.

There also had been tales of kodoks with their girlfriends going in to toilets together. Then there had been kodoks who carved the girlfriends' names on their wrists to prove their love.....

I grew up in a Convent school; an all girls school just like Puteri. I do remember admiring seniors too but it had always been from afar. We were never bold like these girls who pursue and show their intention openly.

Could this be a syndrome in an all girl school? This is the time when teenagers begin to learn, experience and experiment their feelings for the opposite sex. I guess being limited to only girls, some begin to show their masculinity while others start to be attracted to them. Well, as long as it's admiration without sexual feelings involved; I think it is alright and a good start to friendship.

But....there are some who have gone beyond the normal, pure friendship between girls.

sports day

Sports Day is usually held at the beginning of the year. But this year the MOE has this funny idea about 1Murid 1Sukan thingy and want the Sports Day to be held somewhere around this time so that students can participate in sports all year round.

I just taught the topic about 'sukan sebagai unsur perpaduan' today (Chapter 8; Form 5 History). Well, there is 'Majlis Sukan-sukan Sekolah' which is at district, state and national level. So by right, sports should be held in school first, then the best will be chosen to represent the school in district sports and so on and so forth. But because of the word of one person; this has made the whole sports thingy upside down!!!! We are done with district, states and even national sports (SUKMA) but just had the school sports!!

Anyway....our sports days was on 11.7.11. I was one of the time-keepers. My first time in my whole life as a teacher. It was a most interesting experience. Had to sit on a staircase which they call 'tangga kambing'. Mr Stanley; who started each race with his big bang stood nearby on his little step too. Each time the trigger went off; I jumped off my seat!!! I learnt too that if he is across the field, I was too watch for the sign of smoke and not wait for the bang to press the stopwatch. Sitting on the tangga kambing was like being in a sauna!!!

I took part in 8x50m and how I ran with my short legs!!! It was such fun and we came in second. Of course we couldn't compare ourselves with the winner as most of them were members of the alumni; young and fit runners. My thighs are still aching especially when I go up and down the stairs.

Oh ya...not forgetting the 'senamrobik' before the whole event started off. Some of us stood behind the stage and danced along after having a heavy breakfast!

Mr Stanley is invited to our sports day without fail every year to start the running events. According to Pn Shantini (Mr Stanley was her neighbour); his hearing is still good despite the exposure to such loud sounds. He is already in his 70s. The five of us seated on the tangga kambing are the time-keepers with En Rahim as the head time-keeper.

Do I want to be a time-keeper and run again next year? Yes to both questions. This has been the most interesting job compared to the other jobs that I did previous years. I surprised myself as to how much I actually enjoyed running just for the fun of it.

It's time for me to start doing different things and be more daring!!

cinnamon craze

I love cinnamon. I love cinnamon rolls. I love cinnamon in any style. Recently I've discovered cinnamon in coffee. Now I add a pinch of cinnamon into my morning beverage and it is so simply delicious!!!

I've always loved cinnamon but I forgot all about this spice until recently when we dined at Coffee Mug and I ordered cinnamon cuppocino. (I have a container of cinnamon that has expired a long time ago and not touched for ages. Then I saw a new bottle of cinnamon; not opened yet but still usable.)

Googled cinnamon and found that it has many health benefits especially in controlling sugar and cholesterol. Good for people with diabetes. Must remember to tell my MIL to add cinnamon to her beverage too. All you need is to just keep a small bottle of cinnamon in the kitchen; take a dash of it and put into your favourite beverage!!!

The cup of cinnamon cappucino that started me on cinnamon craze all over again!!!

Yesterday I baked a loaf of honey cinnamon whole meal bread with sunflower seed. The whole house smelled of cinnamon. It was so so heavenly!! Still can't believe I could actually forget how much I love the smell of cinnamon. I had this for lunch today and it was really delicious. Well, cinnamon will be a must in my food from now onwards and I must not forget how much I love it!!

bread / buns craze

Hot, healthy wholemeal dinner rolls.

My machine is acting up. The bread doesn't come out nice. Decided to bake with the oven instead of leaving it in the machine to bake. Today I followed Betty Crocker's recipe to bake whole meal dinner rolls. Didn't shape it too well so look a bit cacat. But it's really soft and nice.

Have the app on the ipad ... so just put the ipad in the kitchen and follow the instruction. How convenient. Now that I compare Betty Crocker's picture and mine, I think my buns look quite miserable!!! Haha...who cares...goes in the tummy and feels good.

all work but no play....

I had been sleeping as early as 930pm to 10.00pm the past week. This is not my normal routine...which is 11.00 pm. My eyes just shut automatically when I read...even fictions. Usually I get excited when reading my novels and have to set an alarm to remind me to sleep.

I blame it on work. Been returning home about 5pm for the past week and working continuously 6 days a week for two weeks. I shouldn't complain about it as I just found out that another school had 6 working days for 4 weeks!!

Why can't the people up there remember the days when they were in our shoes? We are not robots but human beings who need to rest, relax and spend time with the family. These people who come out with the directives don't even go back to work on Saturdays!! Not fair...why don't they do what they ask others to do?

I hope for the rest of July, life will get back to normal again. After all, there is no more Bersih rally; so no fear that the teachers in NS will flock to KL to march and protest!!! Can't see why on earth would I want to be one of the figures amongst the sea of people to march and sweat and jostle and trample and get arrested etc etc when I can rest in the comfort of my home and watch all that is going on from youtube???

Redevelopment of PD Methodist Center

My earliest memory of the PD Methodist Center is probably when I was around 16 years old. Can't really remember anymore. It was one of the MYF Camps that was held here. Don't remember much except the field next to the canteen where we played games.

About 15 or 16 years ago, the Young Adults came here for camp. We stayed in one of the bungalows (the land now sold off to Felda).

There were many more trips to the Methodist Center after that. Coming to this place is like visiting an old friend. I feel that I am pretty familiar with this place. Well, all that is here will be gone soon. Infact the bungalows are no more there. By end of next year, there will be a totally new Methodist Center.

We followed the MYFers here for the ground breaking service. I am so glad we came to take some pictures of the place and do a little reflecting of how this place had blessed us in the past. Here are some pictures of the building that are about to be torn down and the service itself.

The little building at the far end is the chapel. It's down in a valley.
This is the common hall where services are held.

A closer look at the common corridor outside the hall. Am sure many people have taken lots of pictures outside this hall. This is the common place where campers will hang around and lepak in between sessions or before retiring to their rooms/dorms.

The other side of the hall; next to the canteen. The field is next to it, I remember playing games here. Funny; that's all I remembered. I think there was probably hiking to the lighthouse (which Mr Ling Keng Neo would definitely organize) but I don't remember it. I think I skipped it that year. Used to hate hiking so much and make excuses to get out of it but how I enjoy it now!!

The toilets and washrooms.

The important people at the service. I only know Bishop Hwa Yung. Didn't note down the rest of the names but there is a Daniel Lim seated there.

That was how the center looked like....

Bishop Hwa Yung shared from Psalm 27. We gathered at the canteen. Lots of memories of this place too. Daniel and the rest of the MYFers who had been here for the MYF Retreat remember it for ice-creams. Infact Dan asked if he can buy an ice-cream!! The food served by the caterers was good too.

Here's another view of the hall taken from the canteen; showing the field. In the new center, the entrance will be somewhere over this end as the old entrance now belongs to Felda.

Artist impression of what the new center will look like.

We adjourned to the chapel for the actual ground breaking.

The Bishop on the excavator....

Hah....got it!!

Praying for the whole construction work and the people involved in the work.

It was really hot...though it was past 5pm.

This road leads to the entrance. To the right is a junction that leads to the bungalows and the beach. Sold to Felda now....

A bunch of supportive teens. It's good to see them bond in activities like this. A small group compared to the group that I grew up with.

The slightly younger group. They should be in the MIF but we don't have MIF here.

Waiting for the second half of the service to start.

At the end of the service, tokens of appreciation were given to the people who took care of the center. That is Mr Poh.

Shanmugan had been in the center for 28 years.

Mr Ng and his wife....they were the caterers.

Finally we reached the end of the service. Then there was light refreshment sponsored by Mr Ng and family. We hung around for fellowship before heading off to Blue Lagoon where the kids played on the beach while KC n I walked up to the lighthouse.