The Little Harvester

2008-02-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

I'm lazying around with a bunch of fun loving colleagues....rare occasion. Nobody is in the mood to do any work. Wonderful....hahaha....later on i wanna sleep like a pig.

2007-12-18T21:26:00.000-08:00

Yoz pple, those whom i've invited for this christmas party...please refer to this e-invite for details ya.....and this goes out to all my youth friends too! If you can come for the party...do drop me a msg k...would love to catch up over this Christmas season!

2007-12-18T20:37:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, I went out with my cousin juz to have a 'gals hang out time' hehe....had a great time singing ktv and went to Far East for shopping....So on that day, I had a ktv session together with lunch, bought 2 pairs of shoes, 1 bag, 1 top and plucked my eyebrows...all for how much? $120 only! Quite impressive right? I think I really maxed out the potential of that amount of money....so satisfied with myself......but pls dun be mistaken that i do this often hor....truth is I dun often go on shopping sprees. My cousin thot i was a bit deprived...hehe

2007-12-02T23:06:00.001-08:00

Went for my sec sch batch reunion a couple of months ago…. Very nostalgic to go into the building again with my frens to reminisce those days we spent complaining about teachers, giggling along the corridors and cramming info into our heads. Even more interesting to find how our paths have gone so differently. Some familiar faces came with their babies, others with a pregnant tummy, some are lawyers, dentists, researchers, hedge fund managers, police officers, teachers, engineers and the list just goes on. Our principal, Mrs Lim came back to sing for us….gosh….she still look very much the dynamic super woman that I remembered her for!

It was also great entering the classrooms to realize that my favorite tables are still being used today. My sec school used tables that doubled as lockers cos you can open them up from the top to store books inside. And guess what, the good old bandroom door still looked the same, albeit a little weathered. Took shots of the canteen and atrium as well….yeah, that’s where I spent all my wonderful Sec school days.

To all my kids out there, cherish your sec school days k…..it can form a beautiful part of your memories next time!

2007-09-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

Recently I picked up a book on my shelf which I first read when I was in JC1. I still remember that I found this book in the wastepaper basket of the bandroom and my very last attempt at reading this book ended up in total confusion. I had no idea what the author was trying to say and consequently I do not have much recollection of the story details.

Strangely though, now many years down the road, as I start to go through the pages again, I find myself being drawn into the plot. I could feel for the characters (the adults, the children)though their lives were very much different from mine.

Perhaps this is what growing up is about. To suddenly realise something you have never realised before. A process by which an individual becomes conscious of the equal importance of his fellow men. To be able to feel for others, to know that things in life are not to be taken for granted.

(PS: I used to quarrel with my bro about the difference between a koala and a polar bear. And I always ended up telling him that he will understand when he grows up. I'm pretty sure he's grown up now and he understands the difference. haha....)

2007-09-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Gosh, this is gonna be a boring entry. I'm just doing this to let all of you know that I am still alive....hehe....yeah I know, I haven been blogging for a while. No time....I can't even find time to go watch Evan Almighty....sigh i really wanna watch man. So basically today's message is simple: I'M STILL KICKING AND ALIVE K!

2007-08-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know some of u boys and gals out there are gonna be scratching your heads as to why I’m writing about Racial Harmony Day now when it happened about a month ago.Reason being….I’ve been super busy with work and church stuff that I haven’t been able to blog at all! Yeah, but I thought the day was worth mentioning. The teachers were all so onz about the cross ethnic dressing! If you think that's because most of them belong to the younger generation...then u're wrong...the experienced teachers were onz about it too! Even the PE teachers who had to take the trouble to change in and out of the costume also took the pain to do so. I think the teachers really make the school such a vibrant place to be in and they make me feel so proud about our school. Kudos to the students who turned up in your beautiful costumes as well…I think we all had fun looking different yah? Yes, school is not only about academic stuff but also about all these common experiences that we create together!

2007-07-08T04:11:00.000-07:00

Hey hey to all my dear frens who bother to read the stuff i post here....I'm in a campaign to bless 100K pple....will you please help me to spread the message around that if anyone...yes, i mean ANYONE (which includes YOU too!) needs to be blessed in ANY WAY (eg. health, protection, inner peace, family, school grades, finance, career, friends, relationships, wisdom and intelligence, direction for future, forgiveness, etc.) PLEASE come approach me and i will be committed to pray for them and their needs will definitely be met. If they need miracles, that's even better....I promise there will be no strings attached. Altho i'll require some point of contact (eg. email, hp, address, up to you which you wanna give), nobody will come hounding after you. i seriously just want to bless people only =]

2007-06-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

Yippee....We celebrated Jiayu's b'dae yesterday. I blur blur go book the Swensens at Vivocity...not knowing that it's actually Earle's Swensens, the more ex and high class version of our normal swensens (but got very nice view!). Take a look at our 'topless' 5 ice-cream dessert....haha...i think it looked kinda weird but heck...it was nice! Not forgetting also, Wei Ling with her super big baked rice which she said tasted more like porridge (oops!). Yeah and Jiayu look so cute with the mushroom we bought for her...haha!

2007-06-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Woah, this post is long overdue….I promised my Sec 1s that I’ll do a posting on the class bbq outing. Well, so here’s my report on it!

Date: Vesak Day ( I’m lazy to check the date out.)
Venue: Pasir Ris Park Pit 45

Things I’ve learnt (hehe):

1. Never bring a cake.
(They will eat the cake and chase you around to slap the cream on your face!)
2. Never listen to John.
(He was the one who gave me the idea about bringing the cake!)
3. Sausages are never enough.
( Hey, I didn’t even get to SEE a sausage and it was all gone already!)
4. Expect them to be early…..really early…like 2hrs earlier
5. Cover your ears when you are on the ‘UFO’ with them. They scream their lungs out just for the fun out it.
6. They never give up on trying to take candid shots of me and a certain person together….arrrrgh…..Give us a break!

Final reflections:

I REALLY ENJOYED MYSELF!!!! Yes, very much. Even the walking home journey with John yakking non-stop. (He talked so loudly that even a pair of strangers on the bus was so amused by him.) Oh and many many thanks to Mr Choo and all of you who contributed food, charcoal, sweat and time towards organizing this. I hope you all had as much fun as I did =>

2007-05-16T00:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I went for a conference by Jackie Pullinger. After I heard her speak....I had difficulty falling asleep at night cos I kept thinking about her. (haha...)

It was simply a very very humbling experience as I hear of how she served the poor. As she spoke about the drug addicts and people who lived in the slums, it suddenly dawned upon me that I am poor too. But in a very different way.....I am very very poor in my understanding of God's love and I juz kept crying when I thought of that. (Thank God for Kaiyun who prayed for me!)

Jackie Pullinger shared about how God instructed the Isrealites not to store up manna for themselves....cos it'll go bad anyway. And I thought that was how exactly i'm leading my life. I never dared to give away all of my heart to love those people that God has placed in my life. I always made sure I had reserves...cos I'm afraid that i'll be too burnt out. No wonder, I am never able to have a bigger heart....only when we use up ours then we can have His.

So I was very much reminded of a friend whom I have not visited in a while....simply bcos I was too busy in school and also bcos I started to find that I am unable to help her in any practical way at all. But now I know. To bless somebody is very simple...we juz have to give watever that we can give....regardless of whether they appreciate it or whether it will make a big difference or not. And that's exactly what i'm going to do now.....I will juz give her watever that I can give....

2007-05-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday.....I had the best Mother's Day ever! ahaha yah....show u pic of the beautiful bouquet i got from my lovely spiritual daughters! But what really touched my heart was not the flowers alone....it was seeing Jessica buy sugarcane juice for Jiayu when she didn't ask for it. ok, i know it doesn't seem like anything spectacular...but little acts like these which speak of care and concern among themselves mean the whole world to me! Yeah....and of course the little note I got from Val and the card I got from the rest....really made my day! Oh...and it was wonderful to have visitors at service too! ahaha.....as for my own mummy....i think she enjoyed the food i bought for her from Geylang.....my greedy little bro was super happy abt it la....but he very nice also....he washed the toilets for my mummy....hehe, I hate to wash toilets!

2007-05-06T03:24:00.000-07:00

This coming week is exam week. I wonder if my students are studying for it. I see some of their msn nicks saying that their worst nightmare is here. That suddenly made me remember my own exam days. When I was younger, I can really study non-stop throughout the day and I never did last minute work. I can start studying so early for exams that by the time I sit for my History paper, I have already memorised the facts at least 3 times over and I have a whole list of questions which I anticipated and prepared answers for. I went through secondary school getting good results through pure hard work.

Then when I came to University, I realised that pure hard work didn't get me very far. It was then that I learnt to study smart. I discovered I didn't have to understand everything (there was no time to do so anyway). I studied from past year papers, trying to figure out the focus and the nature of the questions for each of the module. That served me pretty well. My CAP points kept increasing every semester after my 2nd sem.

But I think the most precious thing I gained from my uni exam period was the friendship that I experienced when I went to school to study. Although everybody was rushing for time, but my friends were always so helpful when I needed their assistance. They shared notes that they got from seniors, shared answers that they got from consultation with professors. It was so joyful to stick it through the bad times with my friends that I didn't mind travelling all the way from Pasir Ris to Clementi, just to study with my classmates.

I think i've done all that I can to prepare my students for their exams already. But there's something else which I also hope they will learn as they go through this exam period: That is to find joy in sticking it out together and helping each other succeed. I don't know how many of them will be reading this but if they are indeed reading, then I truly hope they find the joy in going through exams together as friends, supporting and encouraging each other to do their best!

2007-04-03T02:59:00.000-07:00

Yohoo! This Fri is Good Fri! Gonna tag along to Julee & Ee Jay's party. Looking forward to see a few familiar faces from my school at the party too!

To all my youth frens out there, if you are free on gd fri, do come n join me at this party k....details as follows:

Place: Simei, Changi Rise
Time: 2-6.30pm (Dinner provided)

Will have games, sharing and FUN!!!!!

2007-03-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

Finally, I'm back! Somebody has been asking me y my blog never update. (Aye, I come and update liao k!) This is the march holidays but it's a complete fallacy that teachers get time off during holidays. Nevertheless, this is not the main point of this blog. Just thought of something that my little bro did for me a week ago. This moving library went to his school and he went to borrow me a calvin and hobbes comic book...cos he knew it's my FAVOURITE!!!! Really sweet of him! I LOVE my brothers!!!!!!

2007-02-09T22:28:00.000-08:00

What is Grace?

It is being able to work altho I really need sleep.
It is hearing my superior tell me to place God and ministry above work after I apologised for screwing up an observation.
It is having a family altho I dun have much of a time to contribute to them
It is having friends when I can't even meet up with them now.
It is receiving words of affirmation from bros and sisters even tho I'm not really worthy.
It is hearing my students tell me that I 'rawk' even tho my lessons are boring.
It is seeing my student volunteer to help me even when I gave him a zero for cheating in a test.
It is seeing my 'children' grow even when I don't know how to cope with all of them.
It is seeing how God works in my life when I have lost my own means of coping.

This is true Grace.

2007-01-12T03:39:00.000-08:00

I like to eat my fish steamed more than fried....today i suddenly remembered this monstrous looking fish that i ate in Vietnam called "elephant ear" fish. They fried the fish with the scales still on and i thought the final result looked pretty gruesome. The fish came together with this big ball of air. oh, please don't get me wrong k. Most of my meals in Vietnam was really good and value for money. Just that this one kind of stood out a little in the wrong way.

2007-01-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

I'm finally going back to school! Frantically trying to prepare for lessons...i very blur, dunno wat to say, how to say it, and wat NOT to say....aiyoh..aniwae, found this pic (www.lockeheemstra.com) that i like very much cos i thot it look so bright and happy (tho sunflowers are not my fav flower la). Wanted to imbed it into the blog so tat it accompanies my greeting msg....but i very IT idiot one...dunno how to do it...anyone cares to enlighten me?

2006-12-27T20:13:00.000-08:00

The Christmas week has been absolutely crazy...youth camp, parties, outings, countdown...tired man. I'm so glad I finally have the time to come and type this! Yeah I know some of u have been asking me abt my blog. But there was seriously nothing for u all to see la....aniwae, found this cute photo that my bro (the one in NUS) edited with photoshop. I think my bro is li hai...wat u see in the pic is a space-time challenge, because of our age gap...but this looks like real. haha...can u spot the one(s) who is/are not in the original photo? N can you identify which of the toddlers is me?

2006-11-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

hallo