To my lovely brother,

Happy Birthday!

I've even changed my fonts specially for wacky Joyeejamoee... May you continue to be a great McD companion and a brave mission volunteer. Heheh...

Lots of love from your neighbour- you know where to find me. =P

I need a break after spending a whole afternoon trudging around and managing to complete only 30%. =(

*

So last night SY and I had dinner at Fusion Haven. Sudden genorosity swelled up in me, aha. It's been happening rather frequently these days - I think I've achieved some nirvana-ic level where material wellbeing is of secondary importance.

Yeah right ;)

Anyway, the main topic of today:

What does one do when one sees a stuck rat?

I mean literally a furry little thing struggling to rid its tail from being glued to a cardboard. Some idiot had smeared paint-like substance on it, so the poor rat was left defenseless, like in the movies where the victim is set in semi-wet concrete.

Ironically, there was a Chinese altar just 1 meter away from the scene.

SY and I came across it before dinner. We both felt sorry for the rat and wanted to set it free, but we didn't dare to touch it. Who knows if it was carrying some bubonic plague? Brave SY decided to dig its tail with a rock, but just as she approached the rat, it squealed, limbs scurrying helplessly. Taken aback, the heroic effort was abandoned.

Over grilled chicken, pasta and mango salad, SY and I contemplated the rat's fate. What if it was stuck until the next morning, when the sun would be so strong, it would be preserved? Or if it died of prolonged immobility and starvation? Or a wicked human being happened to spot it and... uh, I can't imagine. Or a more immediate concern. A cat, thinking dinners should always be fastened to cardboards.

After dinner we both went back to express our condolences.

The rat was gone.

We double checked. No rat. No rat tail. No rat remains. Hooray rat! You'll live for another day.

I felt obliged not to cause any unjustfied harm to animals and other living beings, which probably explains why I drove the whole journey back with my highlights on.

What's today's date? Oh my! My train of thought is still at the station. I need magic to spew forth a thousand words.

Oh, and I'm so pro at driving I'm taking part in the F100 next year. I'll qualify because Grand Prixs don't require parking. =P

A little excited about moving. Finally. I know exactly where I want my wardrobe, dresser and study to be. And I want one wall painted a different colour. Lilac? Yellow? Baby blue?

Maybe I should consult WS.

Presenting...

Yummylicious pasta bake!

Foolproof recipe. Heheh though partly thanks to Ju-ju for making it possible.

*

Another storm, another rainbow. =)

Hola!

Waiting for the guys in red and yellow.

So yesterday (Monday) I went to Fatty's house to collect my testimonial. Poor guy had to travel (Saturday) all the way from Bedok to Buona Vista on a 5 hour charged battery. Then to Orchard (Sunday). My testimonial was in good hands. Not a crease!

I discovered that Fatty's house isn't that far away after all. =) =) =) Only the route there is rather confusing, so I can't possibly sneak out in the middle of the night and drive to meet him, YET. Haha.

I expected to see a house similar to Law's. You know, a bit danky, with lots of chinese decorative stuff. My, was I impressed. There were feminine looking curtains peeping from the windows, and if I'm not mistaken, a yam-look-alike plant smack in the middle of the well kept garden. It was a modest, cosy dwelling.

Ya ya, I'm not about to launch into the structure of the house, but I can't speak much about the interior either because I spent an hour outside, talking to his mum and sister.

I have 3 mosquito bites as testaments.

Perhaps understanding has been brought to a whole new level! Now I can imagine how his life was, and is. All the climbing of gates, playing basketball, jogging, gardening...

Fatty's mum was rather straightforward about her son. And I agree with her regarding most aspects.

You're like an unpolished gem, Fatty. We'd love to see you sparkle.

If one needs :-

1 an ego boost
2 respect
3 to be driven up the wall
4 a test of patience
5 an early death

one should under all circumstances, teach primary school kids, escpecially those doe-eyed ones in Standard One.

They're cute little devils, sometimes I can't help feeling at a loss.

Guess "cute devils" is my new oxymoron.

Was I one of them?
I hope not.
Well, I most definitely wasn't.

I was, uhum, a nice hardworking little kid with mushroom hair, the kid who couldn't speak a word of chinese, the same little kid who gave the teacher a blank stare when her teacher said "fan shu, pai dui!"...

I marvel at my growth and development.

Kids have the attention span of a fruit fly. I took great pains to get them to listen to me, improvising as I became more stern. I had a vision: to use the ai xin policy. Unfortunately, it remains very much a theory.

"Lao shi, na ge ren jiao wo KKB". How am I suppose to know what KKB means?! My IQ descended to that of a seven year old when it hit me that KKB meant ku-ku bird. Oh, the kids of this generation!

For sentimental purposes, in case I never teach again, here is a pic of 1C during music class.



Cute?

*

Greedy driver aunty. RM50 for 5 days!

Madness.

RM30 and that's it.

4As!!!

Unbelievable.

It was the moment, really. Way better than what I felt during the release of the SPM results.

Even better, with these grades, the sky's the limit. I can even start hoping for scholarships.

It seems as if all the trauma, the anticipation, the despair... melted away as my mind slowly but surely digested the fact that I didn't have to worry about meeting the entry requirements of Warwick.

And my self confidence and belief has been reinstated. After two years of having so many failure-close-shaves, it's no wonder insecurity gnawed at the walls of courage and faith.

I didn't dare to hope. But it probably made beating myself a sweeter victory.

For Fatty: You'll work out. I'll be there for you.

*

Miss Yap starts work as a teacher tommorow!

=P