When I talk to friends from Accountancy Business Communications Pharmacy Medicine etc I get to learn so much about the outside world. What's going on in the industry, insider knowledge - interesting stuff though not fully comprehensible at times. Then I'll realise I've no such chunks of info to give in return as a Social Science student. Which can be scary cos' I can just choose to study and subsequently teach Geography without knowing anything else at all and be a really uninformed teacher whom I'll disrespect. Then who am I as an educator to prepare my students for the outside world? Yep, so I really appreciate what my friends share with me. Thank you! =)

答案是。。。孙燕姿2009年世界巡回演唱会

I matured with her songs, I admire the Rafflesian I see in her though I admit I haven't been enthu about her since her one-year hiatus. Still I decided to go for this concert, cos' she's THE singer whose songs I know best and I may grow out of this stuff anytime. She panted very loudly after her first 2 segments - I wasn't sure if that's being unprofessional (imagine Cheer Chen panting!). But I guess such candour is part of the reason why so many of us love her - the Singaporeanness of her resonates with us very well. The most delicious segment of the night was when she came out in a floating GONGGONG!

Photo courtesy of Cheng Hyork

She was sitting on the flesh playing the piano. I'm grateful for the company I went with, we stood and jumped when her fast tracks were on and probably the sheer number of us kept the cursing of the row behind us unmanifested haha. What 超快感 do you get from being sedate at a concert? Hope she steps up her pace after this concert I want to continue supporting her.

First jump 216. Second jump 216. On the dot pass! After that I got rather stressed out for 2.4, why if I fail running and waste all the jumping effort! Happy la, 60 hours of RT in total in exchange for $9.50 X 20 + $100 incentive. Every cent counts when one isn't working haha.

This summer I'm glad to have found new things to appreciate. For the sense of hearing there's Sodagreen. For the sense of sight, Haruki Murakami's novels. For the sense of taste -

OMG GONGGONG. Dinner buddy Shaun introduced the dish at Changi Village. I was of course apprehensive cos' my stomach's weak and oysters and their relatives don't really excite me. But gonggong is different. Before entering the mouth you already get satisfaction from strategically picking out the flesh from the shell. Then inside the mouth it tastes like crab in the form of rubbery squid. Plus the accompanying sauce and chilli. I feel like trying gonggongs from all the tze char stalls in SG.

Photo from likklegirl.blogspot.com.

A teacher from Dunman High shared this video today at the teaching attachment briefing. If you were touched by "Departures" you would like this as well. It's about an inspiring educator and the values he teaches the young kids.

Cheers to a brighter Tampines! Improved lighting at the bus interchange plus enhanced nightscape thanks to Tampines 1.

A talk show on the increasing Chinese presence in the continent of Africa. I'm interested in such geopolitics but the Internet and Wikipedia are sometimes not the best platforms for amateurs to enter issues step-by-step. That's why I'm thankful for such shows, understandable to the lay viewer though there may be concerns with its positionality and quoted information. At least I learn something in the end instead of getting turned off by the paragraphs of facts and remain uninformed despite having interest.

I'm not a youth of the 80s neither do I follow English pop. I grew up in an era when Michael Jackson appeared more for the wrong reasons. The only song of his I can probably connect more to, is "We Are The World", cos' I had to lip-synch it in Japan last year haha. Yesterday from 12pm to 1pm on 95.8FM 帝璁 invited 志勇 from 93.3FM to talk about MJ then I knew how great this guy was. There were a few other interesting points, like how MJ was one of the first few to benefit from a globalising media, which other star would create such an impact if he/she died, how social media allowed emotional outpour from the fans, and that to be an international star you would most likely to be from a 强势国家. May he be free from suffering wherever he is.

I did an endoscopy today at CGH, as a follow-up to my stomach problems. I swallowed some anaesthetic, had to bite on a plastic thing, and the doctor started inserting a black tube down my oesophagus to the stomach. Got to see pictures of my stomach for the first time ever, it seemed to hide its hatred for me well. Yup I'm fine, nothing's too wrong it shows haha.

Because the last time I took IPPT I only failed 1 station and I got more than 12 points, I got a pleasant surprise to know that I've the option of taking SBJ ONLY today. I thought 就豁出去了! First jump 198cm. Bleh. Second jump is potentially life-changing. Somehow I got the technique right and it registered 221cm! 1 second later I fell back on my hands and it became 180cm. WASTED! The very kind PTI gave me another chance which I flopped. End of story, 5 more RT sessions to go!

For the past month my core activity has been reading, followed by RT. Mostly I read at Terminal 3, Basement 1, outside the airline offices where stewardesses wait for their partners to pick them up. It started off as a guilty pleasure, I felt I should work to resuscitate the savings account. But there are so many untouched treasures on my bookshelf, if I don't make the value out of them now then when? And I resumed buying books, themed upon the geography of their content. "The Motorcycle Diaries" brought me around South America, Haruki Murakami took charge of Japan, "Map of The Invisible World" covered Indonesia, some other non-fiction titles covered the globe. Intending to read something about Africa next, since I count "The Kite Runner" to have represented Middle East haha. I hope it's not pointless at the end of it all, forgetting the content and unable to dig deeper than the surface. At least now my geographical imaginations are enriched, and I'm well-shielded from boredom - my body stays at the airport, my mind checks in and does its own travelling.

Was at Dempsey Hill last night, learnt that the most affordable place to chill there is Ben & Jerry's. But seriously I didn't manage to feel whatever ambience brought about by the converted army barracks and its offbeat location. In comparison the extension of Jurong Point impressed me with the basement layout of eateries and the Japanese food street. Then again maybe it's just aircon which swayed the preference.

At a conference last year, ex-principal of The Chinese High School Mr Tooh Fee San publicly requested current principal of Dunman High School Mr Sng Chern Wei to “加把劲”，给华中一点压力，“让华中不断提升，创造双赢的局面”。

To which Mr Sng, the principal I truly admire replied：“北京奥运会前，我去中国，看到一个很大的广告牌。画面是一个非洲籍的短跑选手，上面写着英文标语。我对这个广告标语为什么用英文写，感到奇怪。在 中国看到的英文广告，通常错别字蛮多，但是那个没有。那个广告标语说“The person to beat is not the one in front but the one inside.”“要超越的人不在前面，而是在里面”。这正是德明办学的理念。如果有一天，我们真的超越华中，那是我们努力的结果，但不是我们努力的目的。身为德明校长，我认为学校不需要越办越大，越办越堂皇，可是必须越办越好，越办越温馨，越办越像一个家。”

德明加油！

Article from 早报

Read this book today. Got to know about it cos' 康永 talked about it in a past episode of 康熙. Che Guevara was a Marxist revolutionary and has been listed by TIME magazine as one of the 100 icons of the last century. This book is a collection of his travel diaries written in 1952 when he and his friend set out to explore South America on a motorbike, a journey which took 8 months. An earnest sharing about their journey and misadventures, and he was only 23 when he embarked on such a crazy journey which impacted his worldview. Yeah I felt imbalanced after reading cos' I'm 23 too and I haven't done anything half as exciting. It struck me that continental Southeast Asia remains an apt place for such an adventure; Che Guevara met indigenous Indians in Peru and there are many hill tribes in Vietnam worthy of encountering too! Do I need a Class 2 license first? And does anyone have this movie VCD/DVD?

I'm beginning to respect bus number 10. It wakes up at 5am every morning and beats the train in transporting westbound commuters. It has a wholesome coverage of places - heartland Tampines, atas East Coast Rd, touristy Esplanade Bridge, bustling Shenton Way, industrial Pasir Panjang and @#$%^ NUS. It's heartwarming to see on weekday nights, the grouchy and stinky RT men hobbling onto the bus only to be accomodated by nicely dressed office ladies, equality on bus 10! And I always enjoy taking the 12am bus from Kent Ridge, it speeding past the length of S'pore and stopping me near my place. With the right songs on radio it really makes a therapeutic trip. Yet for all its magnanimity it still runs mainly on the older buses, what humbleness! You deserve my salute!