Photos

1. Spotted in a sec1 classroom – a quick ‘cheat sheet’ for various logical arguments, probably from their philosophy lessons. I don’t remember being formally taught logical thinking during my student days, but I do think it’s a useful skill that definitely deserves some lesson airtime. I particularly love how little robot pictures have been added to (presumably) make it more interesting for the kids, though.
2. This is the gate I typically use to get into the school. Try to spot the reason I’d bothered to snap a picture of it in the first place.
3. RAGE XIV (the Guitar Ensemble concert) has just passed – for the encore item, the curtains opened to reveal a half-asleep ensemble playing their piece rather sluggishly, much to the audience’s amusement. Going through the concert preparation reminded me of the good ol’ days a decade ago, back when it was still held in LT1. Ah, how times have changed!

1. I’d went for a Kagoshima Wagyu tasting session awhile back, and while I certainly did enjoy the steak, it’s not something I’d pay such a premium price for again. Anyway, while I really do enjoy fatty Japanese beef, I think it’s better prepared yakiniku style, rather than grilled as a whole steak.
2. I was looking for the male toilet in the Cathay building and almost didn’t find it – the normal ‘Gentlemen’ label had been (rather cleverly) replaced by an advertisement for Brüno. While it isn’t a show I’m interested in catching, I did think it was a rather clever promotion.
3. There’s such a thing as going too far, though – having the face of a movie character (a gay one, at that) staring out at me from the urinal can be somewhat disconcerting, to say the least. Still a funny concept, though.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, NIV)

Seems like I’ve somehow gone into photoblogging. It wasn’t really a conscious thing – I just tend to take the random photo on my (phone) camera, so I figured this is probably the place to upload them and ensure they don’t just disappear into obscurity forever.

Kinda like that old Project 365 of mine, except the updates are nowhere as regular.

1. It seems I haven’t really broken out of my comfort zone very much at school – I’ve been assigned back to my old CCA (Guitar Ensemble), although that was also very much because they desperately needed another teacher there (two of the three teachers-in-charge had just left) – I would actually have liked Photography Club, really! The room’s still pretty much the same (and older, which is somewhat icky), except that the Chinese Orchestra no longer shares the place (no more timpani to mess around with). Their door has also since become the main entrance to the room.
2. I was eating tim sum when I noticed that some of the baskets they were using had the Japanese character no (の) on them. With my limited knowledge of the language I identified that as the possessive particle, although interestingly enough they seem to have subtitled it as the Chinese word zhī (之). I wonder if the Japanese form is really derived from that?
3. I went down for a ‘coffee talk session’ with George Yeo at a McDonald’s in Hougang, and while it wasn’t really particularly enlightening, I came to realise that you can quite easily volunteer to help out for the Meet-the-People Sessions. Since I’ve some interest in finding out more about the problems that trouble my fellow countrymen, I’ve decided to give some of my time helping out. I’ve gone for one session so far, and I think I will be going back for more.

1. Flu season in Singapore leads to many teachers being out of action, and classes getting isolated (if a substantial percentage of the class is sick). I was asked to relieve a colleague for one of these isolated classes, and instructed to wear a mask while teaching them. I wonder if these masks will ever gain as widespread an acceptance as they do in Japan?
2. I’d idly asked one of my Chinese students in my form class about the contents of his water bottle (greenish liquids with lumpy things really attract attention – I could easily guess what was inside, but I’d just never seen Chinese tea in a school water bottle before!), and a few days later he proceeded to give me a box of tea leaves. I don’t know if this is the norm in China, but I accepted it thinking maybe it’s a cultural thing to be so trigger-happy with gifts. Hope I’m not breaking any rules by doing so!
3. It was Racial Harmony Day today, and the Parents’ Association set up some booths selling ethnic food. I got myself a Peranakan set meal which was really hearty and quite delicious – the stalls were starting to close by the time I got there, so the Indonesian stall just gave me a free piece of fried chicken as well. Mmm.