APPETITE

Appetite's been strange for the past couple of days.

The urge to eat is almost non-existent. I would wake up early in the morning at 7- or 8-ish (holidays! *weee*), brew a cup of coffee, read some papers, go online, play with the dog, and, oh! Lo and behold! It's already 2pm! AND I'VE YET TO EAT!

It is so ridiculous; for the past 2 or 3 days, the food intake averages only about one proper meal per day. And when I do eat, I've to struggle to finish the meal. AND it is mostly always accompanied by an uncomfortable sense of bloated-ness after that. To the point of being nauseating. 

Occasionally, if I'm still up and awake late at night, hunger pangs come visiting. Sadly, it's always not severe enough to send me rummaging through the kitchen. To make it worse, the pangs disappear readily within the blinking of an eye. So I'll just drift off to dreamland. The next day, the whole cycle repeats again.

Arghhh~ 

Hope I'll eat loads in Korea.

BE

'When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll end up as the pope.'
 

Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.

- Pablo Picasso

TELL ME

Tell me, why am I back in office each and every single bloody day.. And why am I here again sitting in the office, waiting for the clock to strike 8am so that I can give 4 bloody hours of lesson straight to the same bloody class on the same bloody subject, when holiday supposedly started one week ago???

 

And tell me also, why am I bloody reporting back again next week, when holidays are supposedly to have started two bloody weeks ago by then??

TELL ME~~

MOCK JEALOUSY

Biologically, we're constitutionally made up of 50% paternal and 50% maternal. Afterall, we did receive a copy of a DNA strand in each chromosome set from each parent.

I guess, I have a sound idea of where my crappy-ness stems from.

Dad has always been a smoker as far back as I can remember. When I was much younger, it was always one of the painful bones of contention between the two adults. Thus, in recent years, Dad has taken to puffing away in the bathroom; which is - of course - not very, well, smart.

"Dadddddd", I whined out of the earshot of Mum, "The bathroom stinks!!! How can I shower now?"

I sniffed at the air around him and exclaimed jestingly in mock horror. "Oh! 你也很臭 leh..."

Involuntarily letting out a bubble of suppressed giggle, he admonished in a mocking tone; punctured dramatically with an air of heartbreaking grievances, "啊~！ 养女儿真没用。长大后只会说爸爸臭!".

Yesterday afternoon, we were on our way down to the grooming center. I was pretty fretful over Tofu's welfare. I moaned and groaned and rattled on like a broken recorder. Would they be rough on Tofu? Would Tofu enjoy himself over there? Or would he moan and cry at being "abandoned"? Would they feed Tofu water and food? Should I have brought along Tofu's toys so that he can keep himself entertained? Am I going to miss him loads in the hours he's gone? I'm going to be so lovesick!!! And would he miss me too? Would he pin for my return? How would he look like after the grooming session? Will he be very handsome and smart-looking? How clean-looking would he be? He's going to be soooo handsome and dashing and clean and cute, right?

All of a sudden, Dad sighed pitifully.

“你很没有用！

每次一回到家就只会立刻找阿腐。 不见得你回来就找我。

还有啊， 养了你这么大， 都没听过你说我一声 ‘帅’。 现在只会一至说阿腐帅。

养女儿真没用啊！

早知道会这样， 以前你 baby 的时候， might as well 把你丢进垃圾桶啦！”

Dads are evil, I tell you.

ECLECTIC

Time flies so fast! 

In the blinking of an eye, it's already the June holidays! Oh, well, not that it's THAT much of a holiday; considering the number of times I've been back in school since holidays (supposedly) started. Still, it's better than nothing.

Anyway, I'm flying off to Korea in a week's time! It'll be a nice trip, I guess, considering it's still early summer and the weather is still not too hot.

___________________________________________________

Had lunch with Fulia yesterday after meeting ended; and after which, we had a little shopping trip at Bugis Street. Bought 2 tops costing only $25 - which is really a steal; while Fulia spent about twice the amount. And she says she's going to wear one of the tops for the First Aid course this Thursday. Woo-hooo~

While we were having lunch, Fulia mentioned something which really made me ponder. It's private, and so I won't say more; but I guess, there isn't always a real, definite answer to everything in life.

During lunch, Fulia also asked whether am I free on the 24th after our staff meeting; to which I replied in the affirmative. Apparently, she wants me out for dinner with some friends. And she rattled on, announcing gleefully that she's managed to get a treat from one of them; using me as a bait. That sneaky girl! Admittedly, I feel a little bad and apologetic for the person who got fleeced became her victim .

Since Fulia managed to cheat wriggle a treat out of someone using my name, I retorted, "托了我的福，you got yourself a treat. So, in turn, you owe me one!"; to which she replied triumphantly, "Yeah, sure! I'll buy you a meal from the school canteen!"

Geez!!! I seriously think I should consider reviewing the status of this friendship. Soon. 

Haha.

____________________________________________________

So far, I've been refraining from talking / blogging about work-related issues. A conscious effort has also been made to keep my personal life / information private on this blog. Regardless, there's something I would like to get off my chest.

I don't wish to get critical; but I think there's a similarity between students and parents. 

Some kids make good students, you know, those who score As and conduct themselves in an exemplary manner. Some others, though, leave much to be desired.

The same goes for adults as well, I guess. If you get what I mean.

Okay, I sound judgmental here. Shall stop here.

__________________________________________

I think I'm sounding a little incoherent in this post; jumping from this topic, to that topic, and then yet to another topic. But, oh well, the post title did say that it's going to be eclectic afterall, right? =)

GROOMING

Just sent Tofu to his very first grooming session.


It feels a little heart-wrenching; Tofu looking at us with those big, watery eyes as Dad and I were leaving. Those eyes! THOSE EYES!!! Someone should make it a legal crime for a dog to look at people with THOSE EXPRESSIVE EYES!


Home feels a little empty right now, too. It feels strangely lonely; not having Tofu running out to greet me at the door, wagging his bushy tail in sheer delight. Feels like something is just lacking.




Hope he's doing fine now. Surprisingly, the usually-fidgety Tofu was very well-behaved when I handed him over to the groomer. Docile, I would say; and proud of it.

Sometimes, I pity the dog. He has been with us for close to a year, and he has never once been groomed. I have never seen the need for it anyway; because there are no problems with bathing him myself and blowing him dry. Saves money, too! Anyway, this grooming session is pretty budget. I sent him to a neighbourhood pet shop off Changi Road, rather than going to commercial ones in shopping malls.


The main reason behind this sudden grooming decision is, well, because of my soon-to-be absence for two weeks! 


I think there's something about a dog's mentality; how every single member of the family gets viewed as part of a pack, and how each pack member gets subjected to a certain hierarchy system; albeit in the eyes of a canine. As a result, Tofu listens well to me (not always, but more than half of the time) - probably because I'm always the one disciplining and interacting with him most, and thus he has come to view me as the quasi-leader of the pack (that is, when he's not too busy vying for the alpha position). In contrast, he shows noticeably lesser respect, submission, and obedience to Mum and older brother. It sometimes gets frustrating, because, you know, I have to - countless times - step in and handle situations in which Tofu behaves inappropriately towards them both.


Anyway, hope Tofu will come back from the grooming; looking handsome and dashing! In this way, if he misbehaves during the 2 weeks which I'm not around, he would look such a darling that Mum will not be too harsh on him if he misbehaves! Hopefully!

I SAID I'LL BLOG... ARGH!

Title says it all.

Perhaps it's because work has kept me busy of late.  Indeed, I had - on numerous occasions - attempted to write.  Try as I might, words elude me at each and every attempt. It makes me wonder, has my life become boring?  Am I not living life to the fullest? Or am I just working and earning a living; like a routine?

I hope not.

Anyway, of late, I keep fantasizing about traveling; and this makes time feels like it's crawling by!

Oh, June... I can't wait!

HI

This blog has been neglected for quite some time. Opps!

Life is pretty good. In the blinking of an eye, this is already my second year of teaching!

I had a really enjoyable holidays from end-Nov to end-Dec too. Brought some students to Perth on a school trip. And after which, flew to S. Korea. Had such a good time relaxing and unwinding, so much so that it feels so saddening when it's time to get back to work again. I almost didn't feel like boarding the flight back from S. Korea.

I'm already dreaming and counting down to the next holidays in June!

STYLE

It’s my belief that suspense is one thing, but surprise is totally another.


I’ve always hated suspense. Surprises are certainly pleasant, but the same cannot be said for suspense. If anything, suspense is very CRUEL.


It’s like dangling a carrot in the face of a rabbit, without the intention of giving it to the poor animal. Nehninehnipupu!


It’s like, “Tell you something ah, you know, when I was on the way to the toilet just now, I saw.. Ah.. Never mind.” “What is it? What did you see???” “It’s ok…” “Quiickkk~ Tell me, what is it?” “Really.. Noth… Nothi..ing…” ARGHHH!!!


You get my drift?


This preference of mine also shows itself evident in my reading habits. Once I’ve started a book, it’s so hard to stop. There is just this… arrghhh! feeling. I. MUST. KNOW. WHAT. HAPPENS. NEXT!




The other day, I was sharing this with Poh Lin on the train. Sometimes, I admitted, I would just simply flip to the last few chapters and read the ending directly.


She was flabbergasted. It’s a spoiler, she said.


I was just as flabbergasted as her. How can you bear not knowing the ending? The suspense is killing! I asked.


And anyway, isn’t knowing the ending better? Let’s say, I’m now at the middle of the book. I know the characters and the gist of the plot pretty well by now. And the suspense is killing me! Won’t it be better off if I just jump straight and read the ending? It kills the annoying suspense.


Moreover, I now know the ending. And I know the beginning. THIS GIVES ME ROOM FOR CREATIVITY! I have the start, and I have the end. I know the destination, but the journey is up to me to guess. So now, it’s up to me to imagine how the heck did the story plot end the way it did.




She concluded I’m weird.