check this out.. a cobra dies miserably at the hungry mongoose..
Monthly Archives: November 2010
shit happens. but shit isnt the whole thing.
he said, “its not as simple as you think, what goes on in there is more than what you know. ppl dont leave a portfolio and stay at the same place. you leave. not stay. your CEP will be affected. its not abt your performance. CEP is more than just your performance. its ppl’s view of what you are capable of holding. and even simple things like the way you carry yourself and the way you talk makes an impact on their view of your CEP. im sure your position has been mentioned to the higher ups. next yr when they see your name not there, it will be taken as incompetence. then regardless of your performance, your CEP will drop because you got out of _____. if you had stayed on, you’ll realise that you can make the changes you really want, instead of just following orders. if you find somethings are useless, you would have been in the position to make the changes. if you really wanted to do things for the students, this is definitely something that you can work with..”
i said, “but i really dont like it. i really dont. really. really. really. i dont like it…”
he said, “you need to find the meaning and purpose in what you do. actually its a very nice portfolio to make an impact. better than others like maybe _____. it is at the heart of what you want to do. “
i said, “…………………”
he said, “you really should have talked to someone first. or we should have met one month earlier. then i can bring you back to your senses. you really should have understood what they meant when they asked you to reconsider.”
i said, “………………..”
he said, “this is a big decision…. didnt you talk to someone abt it?”
i said, “i did……….. but…. i really dont like all the admin stuff and all those nonsense…”
he said, “who likes that? nobody does. there’s more to that portfolio than just admin. think abt it. there’s so many things you can do. all the admin stuff, i mean, shit happens. but shit isnt the whole thing isnt it….”
i said, “……………….”
______________________________________________________________________________________
now, with someone new above me, im wondering if i could have managed if i stayed on….. but its too late for regrets. i really should have had this conversation with Chrys 1 month back.. maybe then i’d had another angle to think abt before i made a decision..
and now we can track where the horseshoe crabs go…
nothing was ordinary abt this particular gathering last saturday at kranji mudflats for the HSC research and rescue project. it rained heavily just a while before i reached, and at the junction was this major 3-vehicle accident… quite horrible, but i think no one died, so thats great.
many volunteers came and collected the HSCs, and we caught many many HSCs. i found this really large and nice moulting HSCs..
quite a number tiny ones were found too..
check out its size!
but the ones we were specifically looking for were those that were not just large, but those that we quite clean. we wanted to make sure that there weren’t any barnacles on them, which means they must have just recently moulted, which also means they wont moult until a very much later time.
TY and HH and CC and some students from NYJC for down to helping the team clean and stick on the electronic tags. it was nice to see quite a few ppl came down to see what exactly was being done because the data that we will collect will be enlighting…
they are thumbing down the transmitters to make sure they stuck well to the HSC..
here’s a closer look..
once the HSCs were tagged and settled, and the usual data of the 100s over other HSCs data were recorded, we released some of the tagged HSCs back…….
honeslty, it was so fulfilling the feeling, it was as if we just stepped on the moon! lesley and i gave each other an excited look as we placed the HSCs on the mud and saw them dig into the ground… woa!
then we set off to lim chu kang jetty once more to release the remaining horseshoe crabs.
we also wanted to find more horsehoe crabs at LCK jetty, but we didnt manage to find any that was alive. it was getting dark and awefully hard to find the HSCs in the soft mud. so we decided we might need to think of an alternative…….. so…. we’ll probably try one more time at LCK after we TY tells Mr Yeo to keep a lookout for some. CC thinks that the HSCs will probably stay around the ends of the kelongs where fish feed are frequently thrown down… if we cant, then we’ll go back to kranji mudflats to release 4 more HSCs.
washing up at LCK was interesting because of the lack of water facility. or should i say the only water facility was inside the Police Coast Guard building…. lesley bravely went up to ask them, they declined to let us in (obviously) but the graciously filled up our bucket and then we recycled the water to wash our booties and feet…
it was a good trip…. and i cant wait to see the results that we’ll go collect in 2 weeks time!
wet and wild adventure at the kelongs
this post is delayed more than a week. ive been so lazy to upload pics. deviantart isnt all that easy to upload pics, but i have so many in there, i cant transfer!
anyway, we have made great head start in the tracking of horseshoe crabs and its really exciting to see how the results pen out!
early last week, the team of 4 of us set off from lim chu kang jetty to get the electronic recievers out into the locations that L picked. little did we know that we’d be soaking wet by the time we got back on shore!
the lovely couple doggies that greated us… and thats TY and HH having happy time with the doggies…
soon enough, off we went to meet with Mr Yeo, the owners of one of the kelongs. and he brought us to his kelong to get the life jackets.
and then a quick look at the map to confirm the locations to place the 5 electronic SURs that NSS funded.
once we set off, signs of bad news appeared… check out the dark clouds heading in from malaysia..
you wouldnt imagine the speed at which we tried to outrun the clouds.. haha… anyway, rain started coming in… do check out the video…. im really glad i managed to catch rain starting to pour at the right hand corner towards the end.
travelling on a speedboat at 50-60km/hr with HARD rain hitting our faces and skin was really … really…. like… arrows from an archer piercing us… what an experience… Mr Yeo rode us back to his kelong where we took shelter for a while and decided to settle how we could tie the NSS bouy to the electronic reciever which would be hung down by the brick.
Mr Yeo showed us the proper way of tying ropes and i find rope tying a very necessary skill to have. he’s so fluent with it, its impressive. his years of experience shows.
once the rain subsided, we headed out. and we owe it to Mr Yeo for making it possible to tie our recievers down the various kelongs.
the visit to the kelongs also showed us many things…
one of the most interesting sights was this mussell bar… this is how the rear mussells!
we saw where they rear fishes, we even saw them throwing fish feed into the waters and then all the fish heads started splashing atop the surface.. haha.. spending at 3 hours on the boat still didnt try us from the downpour we experienced earlier on in the day, and by the time we sat in the bus to get back to cck, we were shivering in our seats…
part 2 will come up soon… with pics of us tagging the horseshoe crabs with the electronic transmitters……..
part 3 with some preliminary findings will be out in 2 weeks time….
Plinky: My Fav Word
the thought of having a favourite word just brings me back to the movie Serendipity.
the movie’s all abt this girl who believes that fate tells signs of future and you’ve just got to follow the signs. the guy and the girl live their own lives after spending a brief evening together. after a few yrs, they realise they still think of each other and try to look for each other – eventually fate works everything out….
im usually on the fence abt the concept of fate. i believe that we all already have a plan for each of us. but i also believe that we cannot say that it’s fate and resign to things. but this movie really just brings out how sometimes, things just work out in ways we dont always wish they did, but if its meant to be yours, you’ll get it eventually…….
my favourite word - serendipity
its like what kate beckinsale says in the movie, “serendipity – it has a nice sound for what is means; a fortunate accident”
here’s a short trailer..
whats your favourite word?
the celebration that marked the ending of my sec sch
its kinda nostalgic…. its near KSS grad night, once again. this yr, my babies + remaining sec 5s will definitely create havoc and make it known to the world that they rule… haha… i definitely hope they do!
for some reason, this year, im thinking back on my own sec sch grad night. it was the first time we ever wore something so formal/seductive/sexy/classy….. and we did it for ourselves. not for any boy to look, but for ourselves. (we came from a girls’ sch anyway… so its not like we had a choice!)
i remember going out with my friends to shop for that perfect little black dress or the other perfect little black dress. at that time, all we ever knew was that ‘girls wear little black dresses to prom’
and so i did…. it was a really nice black dress, and i added on dangling earrings. wore a nice pair of heels, which i bought just for that occasion. wore make up – which i fear if i ever see the pics, i might freak myself out! (no lah, i wasnt that hideous - i thought i looked nice)
dad sent my friend and me to that venue. Balmoral club or country club or something… that night, there were coloured lights decorating the blue building. my friend and i felt nervous as we stepped out of the car. but once we saw our friends, all we could talk abt was …….. well, what else, but each other’s little black dresses for that night.. those bare backs, or the spagetti straps or how short those skirts were.. we were 16/17.. what do you expect?
somewhere along the night, i kinda felt a little odd. its a sinking feeling i sometimes get when im in a party or function, when i feel i dont quite belong. or would just prefer to be anti-social in a setting which doesnt allow anti-socialism.
anyway, lucky draws and nice food and prom queen (remember, i came from a girls’ sch) were over..
soon enough we reached the end of the session. we stood up to sing some songs. and the one i remember the most was one of my favourite songs then. “Friends” by Michael W Smith.
by now, it’s probably a common prom night song. to say that friends will last forever. truth is, of all the friends i made in sec sch, ive lost contact with most of them. majority of them. fact is that we all move on to JC/Poly and meet more friends with similar interests and maturity. soon enough, went to NUS where sec sch friends just seemed too distant.
some of my friends now do keep in touch with some of their sec sch mates. and i guess, true friendship does withstand the test of time.
so anyway, we stood around our tables, hands over each others shoulders and waists, swinging left to right, we sang the song “Friends” with so much passion and conviction, i was sure that we would be FRIENDS FOREVER even if we went to different JC/Polys. haha…
its kind of a bitter-sweet moment for me to think that my babies will probably keep in touch with their classmates longer than i did. simply because technology allows them to remember each other. once they are on each others FB, you’ll always be in contact. and thats the beauty of it all. you dont have to call each other to meet up, just as long as you get each others newsfeed on FB, you become part of their lives.
as my babies move on, celebrating the end of their sec sch life, i hope they become gentlemen who care for and make good decisions. i hope they become confident ladies who are sure of themselves and their self-worth. i hope they make an impact on the lives of others and those they’ll work with in the future.
its been a 5-yr roller coaster ride with them. too many ups and downs, multiple disappointments, and just as many joyous moments where i felt proud of them. i cried over them and i showed them off. and i remember im always cursing and swearing at them.
me: i hate them! idiots!
everyone else: no you dont.
me: i do! they are such big idiots! all no brains one. idiots!
everyone else: thats what you say, but you love them..
me: argh! idiots! im not going to call them babies anymore. they will be called idiots! idiots!
and then i’ll think of what to get them as gifts and cards and photos and etc. i contradict myself. i honestly think im bipolar when it comes to my babies.. haha….
they have made me the most upset, but they are also the ones who put the biggest smile on my face..
they are all good kids, and i know they’ll make it somewhere someday. while i hope they remember me, i know i’d have just played a small part in their growing up years, just as my teachers did, just a small part in my whole life. ive moved on, just as my babies will move on. and i hope that they have made great memories of their sec sch to tell their friends 20 -30 yrs later, tell their grandkids with a smile on their faces 50 yrs later. i hope they’ll remember kss and their teachers as having made a difference to their 5 yrs in sec sch. 
goodbye babies! 
when everything seems to be not going the way it should
“ive lost faith in this system of things” i said. “almost everything is just at face value. almost everything happens only because there might be a prize at the end of it. otherwise, nothing else is important”
and she stroked me on my back with a certain look in her eyes that said ‘what can we do?’
….
i said the most hypocritical thing today. i spoke to a student regarding his behaviour. and somewhere in my conversation i said, “i know. that group of ppl are from all over the place and there is not sense of team. but, if you have said that you will be in the committee, you have to finish your job. its your responsibility not to quit. you have to finish the job”
he understood what i said and corrected himself. but i swear i saw my invisible clone stand in front of me and tell me to take my own advice seriously.
it sucks to be in this state of paralysis. the emotional aspect of my personality just refuses to back down and let my brain take over. to put it simply, i just dont want to do it. i just dont.
how more irresponsible can i be?
sigh….. if i could run away from this whole fake crap, i would. but…. the year still has a long way to go before it ends… and all i wish is that i do something that is meaningful and impactful and not just for documentation purposes….
Children Little Museum
the children little museum is found along the collection of streets and shop houses along what we cluster and call arab street.. it so happened that we chanced upon it as we walked around the place. GS mentioned of one, and has been inside before, but for the other 2 of us…… we had a fantastic time reliving our childhood memories!
after taking a few pics with this robot, we went in…
here’s a coin clot machine..
and an old music player – the olden day jukebox (even older than the one you see in TopGun)
other older things like TV with cover (since TV was the most valued item in those days) and a gramaphone and stuff..
on the entrance of the staircase to the ‘museum’ above, here’s a prologue with a shelf of old robot toys..
items used for baby stuff in those days..
rocking horses chairs…
prams of those day, looking not as cosy as the ones today..
the olden day push cart – still quite similar to the ones you find in bazaar style sales areas…
a photo of the man with the same pushcart..
more olden day toys on a shelf – some of which ive played with before..
especially this one..
some DIY toys..
some rural village games..
a typical toy shop…
a typical barber shop layout…
the oldies might remember the red and blue swirling thing which meant to barber shops as did the red cross to any clinic! haha..
some of the typical things you’ll find in a barber shop..
school stuff of those days..
a typical primary school – proud to say ive never been in a sch whose building looked like this.. i had multi stories, so im not that old..
like the uniforms of the primary school kids… check out the size of that belt!
the tables and chairs of those days…. with table top compartments which i still find more useful than the under-table-slots that we have now..
a typical autograph book… mine too, looks like this. standard stuff, your name, telephone number and address and some sort of poem..
things you find in a bookshop… quite standard..
the colour pencils brand that ppl my generation used…
look at what else we saw!!!! an olden day movable cinema!!!!!
this is where you look into to see the movie..
and how much did it cost to watch movies???
and the ppl who made this museum possible… – here are some of their pics from their childhood..
go visit this place. its at kandahar street. and it costs only $2 to enter this place……. its worth the money…
go check out the place. and you can buy olden day toys at a cheap price too….
have fun!
