Malacca Day 1

Malacca Day 1 – Checking in

WoHOH! Malacca! Holiday!

Its magnificent considering the year that I have been through and the year that is coming up. Woo…

And this trip is a little different cos I got myself a DSLR, (that’s in exchange for a plane ride).

Got myself tickets with Grassland express. Caught that idea through all the TV advertisement.

At first was thinking of going to JB for hotel stay, then think think realize that what the heck, I might as well travel a little and stay a little further. Hence I got to Malacca.

Looked up some travel books, don’t really know whats gonna happen, hows things gonna be.

Just knew that I had to get those tickets and get myself out of Singapore.
So here I am!

Did plenty of research and online reviews to choose a hotel. Good reputation, internet access, reasonable price. Decided on Bay View.

Went to Grassland to make arrangement, got the coach tickets, but lo-and-behold. They’ve got no vacancy at Bay View Hotel… Need to switch over to Renaissance then…

Kinda stuck, but I know I got to go.

So out comes the 439 bucks and I got whisk away to Malacca, Renaissance.

What they show on TV with regards to Grassland’s coaches is very true, really very comfy and can tilt one… Plenty of leg space

The only not so good side… its bad when u get the last 2 seats, that is directly next to the portable toilet.

I only realize that we can adjust the feet supporter at the last hour of the ride…

Ar… yes, Tuas linkway…

PC140196

Soon enough, we began to see mountains. Nope, not hills like in SG

And also the very important cables

Then off the toll and we hit town, first batch of people got off, then we pass by the 1^st place of interest that I was really keen about,

Need not mention, the very important provision shop…

Oki, those photos you’ve seen thus far are from my Olympus. From here on, it be from my new Nikon. Hey Hey~

Had to wait for my room to be ready when I arrived. So I strolled up to their bistro. Had a good chat with the recept and one of the servers there, walked in, got a seat ready to sit when…

BLACKOUT…

Well, just the night before daddy kinda forced me to bring torchlight along. Sure comes to handy. Yup, elders are wise at times.

Nice?

Didn’t want to order at first, cos don’t wanna eat in the dark, wanna wait until the light comes around then order. After snapping, asked, realized that they don’t know whens it gonna come back on. Felt comfortable with the candlelight so decided to order. Ordered.

Soon after, the server came to speak to me, oki, not suppose to take photographs. Then I heard him being called, his boss gave him a pep talk. He came back and request to bring me over to the Chinese restaurant where there’ll be light. I obligated.

Went over to the Chinese restaurant, settled in. Soon enough, food came. But guess what…

BLACKOUT… the second time.

Hai… dunno why, emotions welled up… on the verged of crying…

Didn’t want to speak for a while. But the servers were smart. Made arrangement for food to be sent to my room. Got up to my food, and settled in. Still charged for the same price. With complimentary fruit though…

I like my room, high floor, had a good view.

See more pretty photos on my facebook account.

Checked with the recept, Internet charges: RM20+ per hour, RM50+ per day…

Nope, decided not to engage the facilities. Their toothbrush n toothpaste set has to be requested. Same goes for the bathroom slippers. But well, they do have nice pillows.

That’s how it works, the bus would drop you off at the entrance of the hotel, and you will settle the rest on your own.

Quick, guess what these photo show:

Oki oki, a clearer one.

Its Nightview from my room~

It was drizzling but I couldn’t miss the shots, so took an umbrella and went out to the nearest open space that I could find, caught this.

See facebook for more~

From where I was standing, I thought I could hear some Chinese sounds busting from the bottom floor.

Perhaps it was hunger ba, decided to go down to get food and explore a little. Its def before 9pm

Food…

There was a char kuay tiao cart, didn’t tot of taking photos, didn’t ask. But took that though.

Young man…

Spike hair. Even in Malacca. Haiz… trends travel everywhere.

Oh, this was very old school:

Then went back, snap snap at the lobby,

That was the end of day 1.

Where was God at Day 1? He was at the restaurant, when I almost couldn’t help myself.

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

justbefore

WoHOH!
Just before I go off for my malacca trip, shall put up a post. It is going to be a long long 3 night, 4 day

I got my Nikon D3000! at 850 when its advertised for 988 I am so blessed~
2 carrier bags, one smaller sized tts good for storage of my camera (lens n body individually) and another thats just dump in the whole thing horizontally at 36 (from pasar malam) when the dealer offered me another 1 carrier at 35 at the shop.

sorry ar, its all packed up for my trip tomorrow so not much photos on itself.

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Anyway, went for yacht dinner on the 11th. The yacht used to be parked at Sentosa, now moved to Marina South Pier.

Do you use to take MRT to Marina Bay and then proceed to the bus-stop to take a bus to the steam boat place? Remember the view, the place, how it was like?

Its all so different now.

Once you walk out of the MRT station up to the open space, you see the high-rise buildings (with lots of foreign workers, not sure why), its no longer trees. I was so taken aback.

I was actually in a very lousy mood before going for the dinner, cos things wasnt going my way the whole day (which seldom happens really). So no mood to put on make up. Costume wasnt right… It just wasnt as smooth.

But well, the sea can do wonders for me!

I was feeling really relaxed though I was motion-ing with the yacht.
Oh these photos are taken with my almost 3yrs old Olympus FE230, its 7mbps only. Please pardon the quality and I think the lens also not clean le. and I had to zoom! thats right! Its so unclear…

-o-

Anyway, saw an interesting entry: Primates on Facebook
Its on the difference in activity level btw the 2 genders on facebook. Not entirely, at least what I read.

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My sister’s fiance side came over to Ti Qing today, kind of like discussion, and to put requests down. Like we need “Pig throttles, how many how many cakes, this la, that la”  Settle some small details of the traditional ceremony. it was pretty interesting.

Thats my daddy in white. Dont mind their sitting position.

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oki, dont shortchange you, I take one photo of the boxes of my D3000 set.

The 2 carriers that cost me $36 (from pasar malam)

Interior of the smaller one.

Interior of the bigger one. Yup, I’m all packed!

Do keep me in prayer O~ for protection and favor of man~

thanks ar, love you lots!

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

Thots Behind Tattoos

Was very intrigued by Tattoos for a period of time and started reading up on them. Thought it be good to post it up as a blog entry to preserve and pass the knowledge on. so here it is.

I think it has always been very mind-boggling as to get a tattoo or not. In as much as we want it, theres  always the issue of approval after that.” What would my parents think?” “What would my employer think?”

Guess these are really questions that people in the east would think.

People on the west on the other hand would go straight in for it really.
Its really cultural difference.  Meaning to say, in the west, its about what they want for themselves. In the east, its about whats acceptable to the whole group.

Was just reading one of the articles and learnt that the tattoos actually started way back by aborigines as symbols that has meanings. Of authority, of hierarchy order and even of age.

But now, at the turn of the century, tattoos became tools for expression.
For some its a form of story-telling of their life, attitudes and experiences. Others,  its to claim back what they have lost.
With the ball passed around, it boils down to one point:

“ The purpose of wearing this art on one’s body rather than hanging it on a wall signifies a total commitment to what it stands for.” (Frankie J. Johnson, 2006, pp 59)

As the visual form of tattoo gets more complex, the styles became endless. But to decorate this entry, let me put up a few so you know what I’m talking about.

Old School: (not necessary with skulls)

New School:

Tribal: (not necessary dragons)

The kinds of people that get tattoos is actually very diversified.
Believers, Non-believers. Sailors, Soldiers. Educators, doctors. Even people of age, and teenagers as young as 12.

oki, lets look at some interesting graphs. If you are keen on reading more abstract that I’ve got from the articles, click on the “Tattoo” tab above.

From the graph, we can see that Tribal is most popular. According to the tattoo artist I’ve visited, it was commented that it is simple to decide on, and they can vary in size for where-ever the client requires.

Whats interesting is in Flowers, Old School and Skulls, Skeletons, daggers and Knives.  Notice the gender the difference.
The article however did not provide meaningful discussion on relation between design and gender.

Notice the locations of the tattoos with regards to gender and design. The article provides an interesting analysis.

“Furthermore, men and women seemed to highlight their secondary sexual characteristics with body modification. Men were mainly tattooed on their arms, whereas women had more tattoos in their pre-abdominal and backside regions. These patterns may draw attention to the male’s shoulder to hip ratio and the female’s waist to hip ratio, both criteria in assessing physical attractiveness (Maisey, Vale, Cornelissen, & Tovee, 1999; Singh 1993). Males had more piercings in eyesbrows, whereas women were pierced more often in their belly buttons and noses. Prominent eyebrows in men are considered attractive by women (Perrett et al., 1998; Thornhill & Gangestad, 1999) .They are found to signal high levels of testosterone and, thus, immunocompetence (Folstad & Karter, 1992; Thornhill & Moller, 1997). The nose is a major criterion for evaluating female facial attractiveness (Jones, 1996). A highly valued characteristic in women is also a flat abdomen as this signals fertility (Grammer et al., 2003) (S. Wohlrab et al., 2007, pp 947-948)

I think this is about enough for one read. Click on the “Tattoo” tab above to read more.

Tat2 Convention 2010 is coming soon as well~ 8 to 10th Jan 2010

Just random knowledge to share. Didnt touch much on personality here, the Tattoo tab would have more. I feel with globalization and modernization, alot of analysis from the article didnt really apply to the eastern culture.

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

NewMoon

Went to watch New Moon this morning.
Twilight was better ba.
At least felt involved with the character throughout the whole show.

This time, Edward abandon Bella.
Soon after Bella used Jacob to help herself to recover, Jacob has to brush her away.

Their conversation was kind of like:
Edward: “You’re not good enough for me”
Jacob: ” Go away”

We know that Bella was madly in-love with Edward, so when he chose to let her go, she is suppose to be very heartbroken.
Besides the regular night screaming, I dont really feel much of a emotion tinge or heart-tug there. She’s like so… straight face.

and having used Jacob to distract herself, Jacob realizes that he’s a werewolf, so to protect her, Jacob sents her away.
My goodness. If its me, Edward leaving, Jacob not able to provide the emotional support…
I think I’ll be more than what she portrayed ba…
Not sure if its meant to be like that.

and Edward went to the Volturi after hearing a simple sentence from Jacob. It wasnt a lie.

Kind of like a series of unfortunate accidents that led to the misunderstanding.
Go see the movie to find out why.

Jacob: He’s out arranging a funeral.

Now, these scenes thereafter saved the movie for me.

Introducing the members from the Volturi:

Absolutely adore the location of the shots, artistic talent behind Jane’s eye makeup. WOH!

kk, not gonna spoil the movie for u. *or maybe I’ve already spoilt plenty.

FYI, I still like Emmet. The short hair guy on the extreme left.

and did I mention I absolutely love the Orange and Red eyes?

WOOT!

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

Voluntary Work

Went out to do voluntary work the other day with Ultimate Projects,

Totally loved the interactions!

The best part was in seeing the peeps dealing with the kids.

Got reminded of how I was being tortured in the beginning as a teacher. Life certainly is a growing and learning process for all of us.

caught a migraine in the afternoon…

anyway, see photos at my facebook account,

some of the shots that caught my heart. Photo Credit goes to Edwin as well.

Stolen away by the love and attention they have on the kids.

As for me…
Still like being in a form class. At least I know I can torture, shape and account for them.

kk, thanks for coming by!

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

30nov09

Was on the way to school today when I saw this!

on my way back, I saw a red one!!!

I want!!!

This would be good too

oki oki, reality strikes, hadnt had that small card yet.

On the side note,
my colleague drew this,

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

teaching

“Why I like Pathlight”

I am happy that I can go to school again. The teachers at Pathlight are kind and encouraging. They are patient and make no demands when I am stressed. At my previous school they were angry all the time. Their shrill voices hurt my ears so much that I would be in tears. Sometimes I screamed so that I could shut out the noisy surrounding.

My classmates are not as noisy as in my other school. I like them as they are not so demanding. I can speak if you give me time to respond. PE is fun and OT gives me a break. I wish I have music class.

When it is quiet I am calm and I can think and organise my thoughts better. I look forward to being able to do more for myself.

18-10-04
Identity of student withheld
Primary 4 (2004)

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Got a call some time back from a choir I/C about a choir member urgently looking for me. Manage to reach the person after some time, turns out he said he and a group of friends went out to Pathlight school sometime ago and they had received a book. Thinking that since I am a teacher, the book would be more useful in my hands instead.

After several weeks the book finally came to me. It must have been tiring carrying the book around. But Thank God for his persistence.

Kinda understood why he had that thought after reading the journal entry above.
Its not easy to be a teacher, even much so a teacher that serve pupils with special learning needs.

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More than just the normal patience that mainstream teachers have, it takes passion.

Put you inside a classroom *assuming that you have the skills to teach* You as a teacher, in-order for the whole class to hear you, you will have to raise your voice. How would you handle this child that suddenly started screaming?  Especially so when all the other pupils were behaving normally, not interfering with him. By behaving normally I meant the constant chatter and discussion. “Sometimes I screamed so that I could shut out the noisy surrounding.”

How do you handle the pressing time with the curriculum that you have to clear, if not they cannot do their exams. Questioning them to see if they understand, but comes this child that needs more time than what you can give.  “I can speak if you give me time to respond.”
How do you cope when your performance is somewhat tagged upon their performance. When it isnt within your control that the pupils couldnt perform?  “They are patient and make no demands when I am stressed.”

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Me? Passion? I am not a good teacher, because my passion is not in teaching. My passion is in dealing with people. That, I intent to stick with till the Lord leads me elsewhere.

The Grass is not greener at the other side, The Grass is greener where you water it.

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Saluates the teachers who teach pupils with special needs. Thank  You.

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

Tr’s Day 09

Hello hello~!
Sorry for the lack of post, still doing my readups on Psy on Tattoos, so thats coming up soon I hope.

Have been working on my oganizer for 2010. Kinda disappointed with whats coming out, so had to tweak it and hopefully turn it into something else more up to my expectation ba.

ANyway, its over.

Had a simple Teacher’s Day dinner at Concorde hotel. The hotel was oki…
Rooms difficult to find, Lighting is too yellowish, Staff served VIP table very promptedly.

Well,  photos~

Not happy with my initial idea of choice of attire so went with the little black dress instead.

First up~ To the hairdresser~
I called beforehand for appointment. Got there on time, when I stepped in, both the hairdresser stared at me blankly. Then I greeted them. Immediately she said.
“Couldnt recognize u, until you spoke”. WoH!

Indeed, our voice is one of the signatures of our life.

and I’m done~

snap snap, with the hairdresser

one of the teachers that I always enjoyed myself with.

Operation Manager, very important guy

School’s Security Guard, very important people

One of the school Counselor, very important person as well.

My school’s vp n p, P’s retiring.

One of my favorite photo.
He’s a very nice guy!

Miss M!

tons of fun~ You can guess whats he suppose to do next~

Some my p2 teachers

My school’s TA

One of the game. She must be thinking: “headache siA”

kinda stuck in a jam while we were on our way home, took the opportunity to capture some Christmas lights.
Nothing much really.

See full album on my facebook account~

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

TreeTopHike

Took my pupils out for Tree Top Hike at the Mac Ritchie Resevoir 3 days before my exams previously

It was a superb experience!

It was tons of walking, but the views were breath-taking

even saw an eagle’s nest

See full album here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9709&id=100000185280471&l=c7c181e170

See full entry here: http://eps-scouts.blogspot.com/2009/11/tree-top-hike-71109.html

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

Fruits!

In school today for staff meeting. Manage to bring my comp to school to upload some photos. Pretty Glad.

Highlight of today:

Better posts coming up soon~

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda