you ain't nothing but a hound dog

Who were you in a past life?

You were Elvis Presley! You didn't take long to reincarnate, you love life too much! You get where you want to go by riding the whims of your heart!
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"thankyouverymuch!" :D

system upgrade?

extracted from an email, compliments of kwisatz haderache:

UPGRADE FROM BOYFRIEND TO HUSBAND

"Dear IT Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a slow down in the overall performance, particularly in the flower, gifts and jewellery applications that had operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 un-installed many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, but installed undesirable programs such as Formula One 5.0, NBA 3.0 and World Cup 2.0.

And now Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and House Cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate Housewife"

Reply:

"Dear Desperate Housewife,

First keep in mind:

Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Try entering the command C:\ I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME and download Tears 6.2 to install Guilt 3.0.

If all works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Late Night Teh Tarik 6.1.

Late Night 6.1 is a very bad program that will create SnoringLoudly.wav files.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-Law 1.0 or reinstall another Boyfriend program. These are not supported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have a limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

You might consider additional software to improve memory and performance. I personally recommend Hot Tasty Food 3.0 and Tongkat Ali 6.9.

Good Luck,
IT Support"

so, ladies, if this sounds familiar, don't worry because you're in great company.

to ma'am with love

today's the last day of the teaching semester.

i always look forward to it because that means the holidays are beckoning, but it's also a bitter-sweet feeling as i say goodbye to the kids in my classes. the 2 subjects i'm currently teaching are core modules for most of the courses. but with over 1,300 students taking the subjects, it's unlikely that i'll be teaching the same students again.

this week i handed out the teaching evaluation forms to my classes for them to provide feedback (to the school) about my teaching. to be fair and totally objective, i'll always appoint someone to collect the forms and seal them in the envelopes before taking them back.

some of the kids laugh and even insist on showing me their comments and remarks but i always tell them to seal the envelope. however, once i'm back in my middle-earth inspired cubicle, i'd occasionally sneak a peak at what's been written. (since the responses are anonymous, there's no danger of me penalising students for giving me terrible feedback or giving extra marks to those who sing my praises.)

i'm human after all - plus, as curious as any cat on this planet:

i usually receive positive feedback, with mostly "strongly agree"s and some "agree"s.

"Understands us well."
"A very caring and understanding teacher."
"Very patient."
"The best teacher here!"
"Bonds well with us."
"Approachable, friendly and understanding."
"More like a mentor"
"Bestest best"
"Elaborates well and provides many examples to illustrate the points."
"Tries to make the lesson interesting always - even though the subject can be boring."
"We love you!"

:)

i've been blessed with wonderful classes so far. of course, i've had to deal with a handful of dreadful "unsavoury" characters (though thankfully they are a rare minority).

a few of the kids even paid a little tribute to me in their graded oral presentations - knowing that i'm a HUGE lotr fan, a few of them incorporated pictures/soundtracks of the movie in their slides and used them as examples in their presentation! (if they wanted to get my attention, they REALLY did!)

two classes even took class pictures after the presentation, and i was treated like a celebrity as the groups jostled to take photos with me. i felt sooooooooooooo honoured.

ah. much as i may not want to admit it, i will miss some of them.

i may not be the world's best teacher, but i certainly believe i'm in the right profession.

ice-cream

What kind of ice cream are you?

You're chocolate ice cream!

You're passionate and sometimes a bit over-indulgent. You live your life in the most romantic way possible. Some think that you're a bit of a drama queen. You're quick to open up, eager to express yourself to those who don't yet know you.
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heh. no major surprises here.

what would anyone expect from a chocoholic??!!!!!

the reunion

i met up with a few of my ex-JC classmates on 28 July 2007 during johann's wedding dinner.

johann and fiona loke, top row, 3rd and 4th from the left.

in this picture, not all of the gang members were present, and some were seated at a different table. (there were 2 "strangers" - the lady in green and the lady seated next to me are johann's colleagues.)
johann's one of my closer JC friends and fellow TH hostelite, and he was also the emcee for my wedding dinner way back in September 2001 :) and i'm very glad that after several "misses", he finally found his "missus".

most of us old school mates have been out of touch for a pretty long time owing to family and work commitments. it's really a terrible excuse NOT to stay in contact, but unfortunately, the harsh reality is that we tend to sacrifice some things for others. after all, we only have 24 hours a day to squeeze in all the "usual" activities.

so the only opportunities for all of us to meet up are during special occasions like weddings, housewarming celebrations and baby showers etc. it's been ages since i last saw the bunch - possibly about 3 years ago! now we've got 5 kids between us, with another one on the way (kenny's 2nd baby).

despite the fact that we've not been in touch for ages, there was no stopping us in eagerly exchanging gossip and stories of our lives. it felt just like yesterday during recess/lunch time at the school canteen when we'd complain about the teachers and fellow school mates whom we mutually disliked.

just like old times.

we've all changed. yet some things remain unchanged. :)

the Leong-ums - Matt Groening style

presenting the Leong-ums - Gimsum (the hub), Eowycn (me), Xiangolas (xian) and Wendo (wen).

if the names sound awfully strange and somewhat familiar, think LOTR characters: Gimli, Eowyn, Legolas and Frodo.

these are the cartoonised versions of the hub and i:

and the girls:

heh heh.

i had tonnes of fun creating the avatars from the simpsons movie homepage. (it's most unfortunate that i didn't have time to catch the movie on the big screen so i'll just have to add the title to the DVD waiting list when it's released.)

heck, i've even got avatars of my folks and in-laws too! xian and i had a kick out of selecting the body parts and colours for the grandparents!!!

check out our creations. here are the in-laws:

...and my parents:

yes, these are some of the crazy stuff xian and i do together.

and i must say the resemblance to the real-life characters is totally uncanny! :)

go try it for yourself.

a barrel of laughs

this posting is for all you m&fs out there.

that's mothers and fathers, of course. what WERE you thinking??!??

anyway, i receive regular updates from www.babycenter.com on parenting tips and this particular one made me sit up immediately: How to raise a fun (and funny) child - and why it matters.

laughter is the world's best medicine indeed.

immediately i thought of all the silly rituals that the kids and i get into every night before bedtime.

as part of their "winding down" process, the girls are given a quick shower and we'd get into a "spitting" competition - we'd fill our mouths with water, gargle and aim at the wall/glass panel and sometimes each other! when that happens, i've to clean them up again and the hub loves to poke his head in and comment that we've spend too much time playing with (and wasting) water. but the girls enjoy this silly game and fill the bathroom with their delightful giggles and squeals.

i love to make up silly rhymes and songs too. the girls also have their own little "shu-xian-xian" and "shu-wen-wen" songs which have different melodies and can be sung together in harmony.

and just before xian goes to bed, she'll select 1 or 2 dr seuss books and i'd read to her in as many different accents i can muster. her favourite is my "funny french accent" which isn't very authentic. i can do the various brit ones better, but i guess they're not as hilarious. sometimes i pinch my nose to create a more nasal voice, which gets the girls cracking up as they take turns to pinch my nose whenever the character appears in the story.

aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...the things i do to entertain my lovely rascals.

all in the name of good clean family fun.

naturally there are flips sides to being the mumsy clown. my daughters obviously have the intelligence to decipher which parent can be bullied. they never take me seriously, even when i raise my voice and threaten to throw away their toys/books. i can yell and scream till i'm hoarse and blue in the face, and still they won't listen to whatever i tell them to do.

but all the hub needs to do is to stare and grunt, and the kids will settle down nicely, without so much as a squeak of protest.

it's totally unfair! it sure doesn't help to be the "good cop" when trying to instill some discipline into those mischievous ragamuffins. perhaps they find it tough to associate me with anything other than "fun":

Me: Do you love Mummy?
Xian: Yes.
Me: Why?
Xian: Because you very funny.
Me: Funny?
Xian: Ya!
Me: Like, how?
Xian: When you speak the funny French accent. And when you read the read the story books. Got many funny, funny accents. Very funny!

er...ok.

so now i know why xian loves me. that's some consolation. at least she didn't say she loves me only because i'm her mother.

it's heartening to discover that i'm loved because i'm a "funny mummy". i can live with that :P

the red seatee

i really love this picture.


it was taken almost 3 weeks ago but i only downloaded the pictures from my phone last night.

we were on our way back from the hub's niece's birthday party on a hot humid sunday afternoon and we decided to stop by to view a brand new S$1.8 million (gasp!) terrace at da silva lane which my folks had visited days ago.

not that we were thinking of buying a new home anytime soon, especially since we've settled down very nicely at our haven @ arif - if truth be told, we were just being the typical bored and nosy family with nothing else better to do.

as usual, xian and wen found ways to entertain themselves while we were looking around the 3-and-a-half story house. the interior decor was stylish and modern (though not quite our taste) and the girls clowned around the furniture.

the girls sure do look comfortable, don't they?

Expecto Patronum!

another weird surprise...

What Form Would Your Patronus Take? (With 10 Excellent Results & Pictures)

Your Patronus would be a Phoenix!
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the age of five

just a few more weeks and the semester will be over.

but before i get to enjoy my short reprieve from school, i'll have to endure stacks of marking...and then i'll have a 6 week-break from teaching.

YEAH!

this is when i do a quick spring-clean of my messier-than-usual cubicle, prepare for next term's teaching material and embark on my book-fest. i've already grabbed trudi canavan's age of the five trilogy (i don't usually buy the hardcover versions but i had a super-special 40% discount from borders so i caved in).


heh. i'm already thinking of which author / series i should read next. and i seriously doubt if my library queue for the harry potter book 7 will be very much shortened over the next few weeks.

ME, Optimus Prime?

can you even believe this?

Transformers Generation One Personality Test

You are Optimus Prime! You are a natural born leader, brave and selfless and you will fight to the bitter end for peace and freedom. You have extensive knowledge in just about everything from art to the art of war. You would be a better leader if you were more ruthless, but then you just wouldn't be Optimus Prime. Roll out with your bad self!
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wow. i honestly thought i'd be bumble bee!