Tea & Crumpets

Sotong for my sotong =p

2008-07-08T11:24:00.002+08:00

I "kapok" this balloon sotong for my dear sotong. I realize if I type the event I was part of... pple from my unit will find this blog via google. So I won't blog about it here. Lots of things to say about the ugly Singaporeans I encountered there.

Echoes of yesterday

2008-07-02T21:31:00.002+08:00

We had a small discussion on whether there is a purpose in recording in blogs the seemingly mundane events that had happened in the week.

The answer really lies in personal preference and lifestyle. For me, I find much comfort in the photos and nuggets of happy memories after a hard day's work. It is reminiscent of being in primary school, admiring my collection of stickers my sticker book made me happy. It is like a scrap book, a photo album, a diary, rolled into one.

These entries also remind me of the different facets and roles we play in our life. On a particularly hard week, they tell me of the love that I am blessed with, the life I have outside of work and the priorities that I have.

So looking through the pictures of families, of my pics with dear, times with friends it brings to mind so much more happy times with people I love but did not pen. And they lift me up.

It is also a reflective process; be it of ideas or opinions we have of issues at work or things personal. For instance, within seven months, the changes that happen to the people around me, in terms of health, looks, etc.

But above all, and I count my blessings, the love has remained constant, unfailing, uplifting. That God has for us, that we have for each other, that we share with our families, friends as well as that we passions we have and share.

Some nice websites

2008-06-17T15:55:00.004+08:00

http://educationinnovation.typepad.com/my_weblog/

As the websites says, its a blog about innovation in education. It covers many interesting topics for teachers and principals to think about. Frequently updated too.

http://tcmtechnologyblog.blogspot.com/

A math blog for upper sec-JC maths

http://www.mathtv.com/

Not as interesting but decent. Worth sharing to students i guess.

http://www.ted.com/

Lots of interesting speakers and talks on this website.

Just thought I blog this before i forget. =)

Save the Date (Draft 1)

2008-06-15T02:18:00.003+08:00

Made this using paintbrush and with inspirations from http://www.documentsanddesigns.com.
Takes up 1/9 of an A4 size paper.

Those Who Can: Teach.

2008-05-28T22:56:00.007+08:00

For 3 days, I made a daily pilgrimage to NIE, NTU for the Molecular Genetics workshop.

It covered all concepts, procedures and applications of basic recombinant biotechnology. Something like a crash-course revision on year 1 or 2 uni work. Strangely, after 3 years of hiatus, it felt great to be back in the lab again, hearing words like "HindIII, BamI, southern blotting, TBA, TBE.." To revisit the principles from which spawns millions of possibilities.

But that was not new. What struck me was how clear the A/P brought forth these concepts. How simple, elegant, logical, each step or idea was made out to be. Clearly, the A/P is a man of great experience, in research and in teaching. 3 others present who graduated from the same cohort concurred.

While most, if not all of us, have prior knowledge, the A/P was unassuming and took pains to highlight each film obtained from gel electrophoresis, explaining what each band (or absence of) reflects. Two bands because DNA digested, last lane with multiple bands affirm successful random ligation, cannot compare lane from band of undigested plasmid to ladder because former is ccc while the latter is linear, 2 bands because the plasmid could take different forms, shadow because of leaking of well. Band matches so this child's father must be Man 2 not Man 1...

My fellow cohorts recalled how we would be herded into the lab in the afternoons back in uni, follow cook-book protocol and then told by the TAs to submit a report upon receiving our films. On hindsight, we laughed about how we were thrown into the deep end by the TAs and often had to grope through these unfamiliar concepts and interpretations without much response. Not making sense of our bands from gel electrophoresis was a true source of grief!

And this has made us appreciate the A/P of this workshop all the more. I am awed at how he has simplified the concept and method of serial dilution. I am inspired by his incisive assessment of students' concept of homologous chromosomes, how he anticipated misconceptions. Comparison and progression from Southern, Northern Blotting, DNA fingerprinting, DNA profiling, gel elec. His practical advice borne through experience, like agar gel for gel electrophoresis can be reused by microwaving because the DNA denatures after a day, bubbles on gel can be getting rid of by quick flamming. What a good staining of gram negative bacteria should look like.

One may attribute this to class size. Back in the uni, a lab session held about 50 to 70 fresh-faced undergrads in a session. This workshop involved only 8 participants.

But I think that the crux is that, he has a very firm grounding and clear understanding of the subject matter. Together with accumulation of experience, he was able to impart the "fundamental principles", elaborate on what is integral and exemplify by making linkages to applications. The quality of pedagogy can make up for compromise on class size which, in reality, is sometimes a necessary evil.

So i walk away, firmly believing that my mission as a biology teacher is to impart "fundamental principles" (as he calls it) and with this, with today's tools and toys, one may then soar with it. It is also stark to me that for a branch like Genetics, where all creations or products are precipitated from a very "fundamental principal", I have to, all the more, ensure that my students have a very sound foundation. To this end, I would aspire to be like the A/P.

Later in the workshop, and upon some google, I learnt that he was a retired prof from Uni of Malaya, and is currently serving as the Head of DNA centre in NIE, together with his wife, who was training a group of 8 students for International Biology Olympiad today. Both did their PhD in London and he subsequently was conferred DIC too. In uni of Malaya, he used DNA fingerprinting to identify burn victims of plan crash and establish paternity in rape or parenting cases. For one who has seen it all, done it all, he taught us so sincerely and patiently. I feel deeply privileged to be on the receiving end of such fine teaching.

That the Lord has Made...

2008-05-20T21:47:00.004+08:00

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!"
Psalm 118:24

Have been trying to find the lyrics online but it seems that the composer kept a very strict copyright.
First heard it at Andrea's wedding last Saturday morning sang by a matured Korean lady and it was oh, so hauntingly beautiful.

D A B F# G D G A

2008-05-02T20:02:00.002+08:00

Today's slideshow presentation for PWS 2008 went really well. I didn't even have time to view the whole show from start to finish till this morning, just glad the music didn't receive negative criticisms.

I used 2 varients of Canon in D (One of which was given to me by my dear, the LAPQ version) followed by Snow Patrol's Signal Fire and lastly the ending song of Portal "Still Alive". I realized how hard it was to find appropriate music for presentations and facilitations. Songs with lyrics usually bias sentimental to anarchistic, at least those i have.

E.g.
Josh Groban's "You raise me up"... too common and the opening is too jarring
O Magnum Mysterium?... too religious
5th Element?... too operatic

Thats kinda why i wanted to go with just a collection of Canon in D variations but i left most of them in my hard drive in the office... Maybe next presentations =)

Of beauty.

2008-04-21T20:09:00.012+08:00

I think human beings have a penchant for the beautiful.

Shopping for wedding dresses and surfing websites provided me with an insight to the work of the tailors, the designers, the composers, the photographers, the techies..

While it may be with rose-tinted glasses that I gained privy into a world so full of fluff,gossamer,elegance, gold, poise...I realise that at the heart of it all, I envy their ability to create something beautiful, a masterpiece, a transformation at the end of what must be a very inspirational and arduous journey.

This same story of inspiration-transformation unfolds as a manifestation of Passion. And Passion drives us to the attainment of Beauty, the perceived perfection; the chef and the pastry, the architect and the tower, the tattooist and his tattoos, the sweeper and the cobbled-street, the king and his land, the teacher and the pupil.

What varies, is the time it takes for the story to unfold. Take the teacher and the pupil. It could well take a life-time. This begs the question: Can Passion be the sustenance thus far?

But back to the tailors, the designer, the composers, the photographers, the techies...

In this long journey of moulding and transforming young minds, I do have cravings to create things with more immediate and tangible beauty just because it gives me a quick sense of accomplishment and some brightness. (Dear indulges me in my wild castle-building of bnb, tailoring and just being Nigella Lawson).

More realistically, for my work in school today, I cherish the forthcoming looks of understanding and smiles on my pupil's faces. I am also cheered by the baby-steps of macromedia flash. Like the picture that captured a moment; the gown that took a life of its own.

2008-04-18T08:58:00.001+08:00

I saw this posted on Myforums. Very interesting chap Taylor Mali. He's really a teacher, can check out his bio here.

He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about
teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.

Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.

"I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor," he says.
"Be honest. What do you make?"

And I wish he hadn't done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won't I let you get a drink of water?
Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven't called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

Be Thou my vision...

2008-04-17T22:13:00.004+08:00

In Christ alone,
I place my trust
to claim my glory by the power of the cross...

In every victory,
let it be said of me:
my source of strength,
my source of hope
is Christ alone.

As the days just whiz by with never-ending obligations (reflected by sparse blog entries =)),
this song reflects the quiet trust that if I abide by His will, He will
guide me to the end.

It took awhile for me to appreciate that "glory" does not refer to a promotion, wealth or affirmations, or
even something that i desire. But it refers to the sucess in persevering to abide by His words.
Maybe it is to hold my tongue against joining the gossip of a slanderous colleague or to persevere
in teaching a class of seeming ingrates...

Because he said "seek first His kingdom and righteousness and all this will be given unto you."
It speaks to me not to fret over politics and what-nots but to just keep going on what He wants me to do.

So that in every victory, I may truly bear testimony to the verse "Come to me, all ye who labour and are weary", where Christ alone is sufficient as our source of strength and hope.
Indeed, the last refrain reminds me that we are victorious by not by strength nor might, but by the spirit of the cross.

Unbridled Joy

2008-03-16T01:18:00.004+08:00

Today is a great day because dear is coming back!

Pride and Respite

2008-03-11T21:10:00.000+08:00

Spent a day making the Aesthetics Camp video using the ulead program...Will post it itmw; left my laptop in school when I left home in a hurry at 8.20pm. The videocam I used was cool, I could download the videos onto my laptop directly without needing to use a memory card. The camp is over and the kids bonded. Hurray. As 2OIC I'm quite proud of myself, the team and the kids.

Band concert on 6 June 2008 (Fri) at VCH will be officially sold for $12. Stay tuned ;)

I'm looking forward to tmw. And to your return.
.

Stockholm Part 1

2008-03-11T13:46:00.001+08:00

Talk about a room with a view. Nordic Lights hotel has a nice view of the town. Lemme get a better shot.

Thats the view from my window. The street leads past the central station which I haven't explored yet (prob tonight) and heads towards Gamla Stan, the old city. After unloading out stuff at the hotel, we decided to go for a little sightseeing walkabout tour with ME as the "from-memory-of-reading-lonely-planet" FOC guide.

We first got to the Klara Church.

This is a shot from outside the church.

This is a shot form inside the church. Note the circular paintings on the ceiling of the church. Each painting denotes a chapter from the Bible. Take the top most painting in the picture of Jesus tending to some sheeps. Thats from John Chapter 10 - Jesus the Good Shepard.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
- John 10:11

This is a shot just as we crossed the bridge towards the Islet of the Holy Spirit and heading towards Gamla Stan, the old city.

This is a rough map from Lonely Planet. We are heading towards the island in the middle.

Here is a side view of the Royal Palace, their guards are more slack than the British ones. They fidget a lot and their hats not as furry.

This is a nice one along the cobbled roads of Gamla Stan.

Where I found a quaint little shop that sells models of old sailing ships.

We also came across the Nobel Museum(Yeah... also closed). I thought of our visit to Japan's Science Center. =)

The end of the "Chen Brothers" tour was along the coast of Gamla Stan where we could take in the sight of the Swedish Riversides and the City hall where the Nobel Prizes are Awarded. My turn will come.

Stay tuned for Day 2!

Prelude

2008-03-11T13:28:00.000+08:00

The 1st leg of our amazing race began for 7 members of InnoLab team + Loo Kang at 10pm Singapore time where we checked into the airport.

22hrs 30mins... time taken to check in to terminal 3, fly to frankfurt international, loiter at the transit lounge (staring at S$6 mineral water and S$7 sprite), fly to arlanda airport in stockholm, find our luggage and avoid being the last team to check in to avoid being eliminated from this leg of the race.

This picture was taken in Frankfurt international where we had to go down a long tunnel to get to our connecting flight. GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT LOO KANG! Its days like this that made me miss our sky tram in Changi airport. Somehow, we had to take a lift down 3 floors, get thru this tunnel and walk up 3 flights of stairs and race to the other end of the terminal to get to our departure gate.

Lufthansa flight to Stockholm was much scarier than SQ. The take off was a bit scary with a short 2sec free fall where I thought my emergency pack will definately come in useful if we have to re-enact Lost Season 1-4.

*I may sound a bit out of point here and day but thats because I am typing really fast here. I started 6am Stockholm time of Day 2 and I lent Albert by international adapter so our comp has 23mins of batt life left. HURRY!*

Nevermind... gonna end the prelude here. Lots of things I prob missed like the crappy Lufthansa in-flight food, the cramp seatings etc. Lets move on to Part 1!

Everytime We Say Goodbye

2008-03-10T14:30:00.000+08:00

Dear will be flying the friendly skies in half an hour...
And when he reaches and retire for the night, I hope he sees this.
Did not send him off..parted at the house bus stop as usual. It was easier to say goodbye that way.
Dear took Knuckles with him. I wish I brought Snoops home.
I have a feeling the trip would be a hectic but successfully one. Ganbatte!

You know I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything
You see I feel sad when you're sad
I feel glad when you're glad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile without you

When you're near, there's such an air of spring about it,
I can hear a lark somewhere, begin to sing about it,
There's no love song finer, but how strange the change
from major to minor,
Everytime we say goodbye.

So take care, dear, and the Lord be with you.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

2008-03-03T20:33:00.000+08:00

Intro of Randy Pausch

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Simply amazing...

Trick Questions and Trick Answers

2008-02-25T20:16:00.000+08:00

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

This is hilarious =)
I am surprised that no student has tried this to my knowledge.

Techno-Savvy

2008-02-19T20:37:00.000+08:00

Dear just told me that Uncle has tagged us to his blog! keke..
Now that's 2 generations under one e-roof. *chortles*

Psst: You won't believe it, but I don't know how to tag blogs..YET!

InnOL 01 - Web 2.0

2008-02-19T20:14:00.000+08:00

Last friday, InnOL did our first COLUMN session (A learning and social platform for middle to upper management, i.e Principals and above) for the year centering the topic of New Media and Web 2.0. Jeff started the session off with the video above about the changes in the education landscape due to new trends in technology.

Raymond Lee (DD of IDA tech planning) kick started the event with a grand introduction to the world of new media. Lets see how much of the following is new to us? Especially in education. How many of the following tools do we really use?

Blogs
Wikis (Not just wikipedia but the whole wiki concept)
2nd Life
Skype
http://www.earthsg.com/
Youtube/Crunchyroll/Veoh etc etc
Facebook
Google News
Google Docs
Digg

The list goes on... (I will try to add it from the slides he did on a later date)

So what is web 2.0? Essentially, its user-defined content. In the old web, we get our info fed to us from websites. Now, with the advent of web 2.0, we the users are defining the content we receive. Don't like my interpretation? Comment below and voila! New content! We decide what we want to see, what we want to hear etc etc.

Web 2.0 is also about the seperation of form from content. Its about the difficulty of categorizing data today. Today, we tag our data so that if I wanted to find this blog article again, I can search for my tags which I added below. We can't arrange information like a library in the web. Search engines have to be more fluid than say "Click News, Click Singapore, Click Education. Search..." The age of compartmentalization is over and soon libraries will feel the problem as it is harder to label books by an arbitrary dewey decimal system.

Another classic example is the difference between google and yahoo I saw on Digg a few months ago.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next guy who spoke was Cherian George. I found his comments on fragmentation most enlightening. In the new generation Y onwards, what are our common experiences? Our parents had common Kampong days. Generation X had rather similar educational experiences. Generation Y onwards, its the ipod generation. Your choice of music genre. Your choice of movie and gaming pleasure. As a public speaker, its harder to tap on the common experience of a crowd for analogies, context and even humour. This is an interesting phenomenon. As a teacher, I still see some possible angles to pitch context that all my students would have experience in.

Maplestory, Runescape, Gunbound
Mocca's "over there" is still a good joke to crack
Mr Brown was good last 2 years or so
Hi5, Barney, Power rangers etc

The engagement is still present for class context if pitched to the same age. I wonder how a Principal would cope trying to relate to a spread of teachers from Babyboomers to Gen Y.

Well... I guess this long post constitutes me to belong to the foggie's generation as put by Walter Lim (last speaker on Old Stories New Media). Walter is an avid blogger who champions Heritage in Singapore. I can see the uphill challenge he has trying to fuse the world of History with the world of IT. But he is in good company with educators around. I see hope in this journey and great potential for education in the generation of Web 2.0.

The Pressures of a First Post

2008-02-05T20:33:00.000+08:00

5th of February... 5 weeks have past since I began my new job at MOE HQ as an ODO. Thats an Organization Development Officer to those wondering. Its one letter away from becoming a DODO too.

Having only been working in a school all this while, coming over to MOE HQ is really a culture shock. Some interesting facts worth sharing...

1) There are 12 Directors who lead 12 Divisions!
Bleach Coincidence???

2) Lotusnotes ROX! My new email account has calender function and the ability to check calender with other people in MOE so that we can figure out meeting dates. This is really important since we work from 9 - 6 walking from 1 meeting to another.

3) I get my own Name Card. I got 1 box of name cards today. I was so happy, I wanted to go around Bouna Vista MRT station distributing them.

4) MOE HQ uses an air-con system that is ground up. This changes all our Physics textbooks on this concept. (See below)
Thats all for now...

I am quite inspired by the work I am doing. After doing this budget work for an overseas study trip, I think I am going back to school to set a PBL based on this math problem. Something along the lines of...

Your Director has tasked you to budget a trip to Microsoft HQ to study the innovation practices there. Craft a budget proposal for the trip.
Include a matrix representing the number of people for the trip, the number of nights agains the trip expediture.
Factor, flight cost, accomodation cost, possible fuel hike with impeding war with Iran etc...
Use data taken online, hyperlink all websites used. Good luck.

Yep... Quite inspired now. =)

The Medical Interview

2008-02-05T00:39:00.000+08:00

Dear and I had dinner with JoyJoy.

At Haagen Daaz, Dear had an epiphany on how medical interviews should be conducted:

*knock knock*
For Interviewee 1: Find me the rabbit's heart.

*knock knock*
For Interviewee 2: Amputate the rabbit's foot.

*knock knock*
For Interviewee 3: Sew back this foot back to the rabbit.

*knock knock*
For Interviewee 4: Perform an autopsy on the rabbit.

A bit p(G) and morbid, I know. But it was so spontaneous. :)

In Planning...

2008-02-05T00:34:00.000+08:00

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will praise Him, my Savior and my God." Psalm 42:11, NIV

"The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8, NIV⁵

“Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

Where's Wally?

2008-02-03T20:56:00.001+08:00

How many snails have you spot?

As usual, Dear was sharp-eyed and he spotted the snails just feets aways from his house when we were returning from Baptism Class yesterday evening. It was after a day of rain and the air was fresh. Oh spring beckons! It was still drizzling but I wanted to capture this happy sight.

BMC was a joy and I think we have drawn closer to Him and each other. Our group has many quirky characters (us included, I think) and our leaders were inspirational both as followers of Chist and as a couple. Our group lead worship yesterday and we had our own rendition of Thank You For the Cross. I had a little fiasco with the lyrics. Dear is the guardian of the secret to my booboo. *chortles* We discussed about the Tyranny of the Urgent which is a really special piece of advice. But that's for really for another post. :)

(Jap) Food Fetish

2008-01-31T23:03:00.001+08:00

Dear and I met after work and dropped off at Orchard for dinner. Finally able to meet for dinner on weekdays because we're no longer working at opposite ends of the island. This is what we had to satisfy our craving for our 1st post-nippon Japanese food some weeks ago. Sumptious and at half-price on a Wed. Perfect antidote to a mid-week day!

We've also gone to find the fish head noodles at Holland V which I had craved for:
http://ieatishootipost.blogspot.com/2008/01/holland-village-xo-fish-head-bee-hoon.html

and dear came to my school to wait for me to finish up and we went to Margaret Drive market for chicken rice. =) We then strolled to the queensway mrt.

Both times, we pretended we were "walking back to our house" just near by. *chortles*
The elusive house..gah...=p

And 2 days ago, we met at Bugis. We had Love Potion 69! *chortles* For sentimental reasons. ;)

Of Simplicity...

2008-01-31T22:32:00.000+08:00

LET'S.ELOPE.

Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can't tempt us
With their lies

I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won't you try to come

Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me

New Year's Eve

2008-01-27T16:56:00.001+08:00

Save the Earth

2007-12-27T21:01:00.001+08:00

Enough said

The Age of Technology

2007-12-27T20:56:00.001+08:00

Vending machine for meal-ticket to be brought to the counter in the little shop

Vending machine for drinks after the meal

Manna from Heaven

2007-12-27T20:42:00.000+08:00

This was the cup noodle (room service, no less) that saved dear from hunger the night before. But even with when fatigued from hunger, dear could still say wax lyrical in a dream, tired and tiny voice about the blueberry tart from a bakery in Ueno station. In the same breath, he attempted "Breadtalk sucks!" in as much vengeance as he could muster. It was very endearing and characteristic of him. This never-say-die.
This was our western room the little hotel Kitcho, at the corner-turn of a quaint street of eateries and crafts, where we smsed our parents of our engagement. There was no reception on our handphones before we returned to tokyo.
My father was very cute. He congratulated us and in the same breath reminded me not take care and "don't lose your things". He knows me. Like deardear knows me. I've only left a tube of Sheseido face wash in Japan. Gah.

On the night of 10 Dec 2007

2007-12-27T20:05:00.001+08:00

Think we shall save the proposal photos for our wedding.
But after laughing with meal-lady and futon-man, we chatted and rested with fruits and green tea until we felt ready for onsen again.

We were excited because night would be colder and it excites us to make the long dash (or rather, "scurry") from the warmth of our lodgings into the dark winter night and finally into the misty boil of sulphur and minerals.

So in the rotenburo, we dared each other to make a dash for another, some distance away, and we both obliged. Dear was very nice and he'd said he'd follow as long as I want to go. He has been so since we met. I was worried about his rope-burn but it has healed surprisingly fast. Dont know if because of the onsen. Then we came back to the original one near the changing room. And it was so peaceful, I was perched on a stone, looking at the flowing river separated from the rotenburo by some large rocks and enjoying the night sky too. Then dear said, let's go back. But it, being the last night, I wanted to stay a little longer to enjoy this serenity I can scarcely find once I'm in Tokyo, not to mention, back in our little city. But did not want dear to stay longer than he had wanted and I'd follow him if he left so I answered "okay..you go first, I'd follow" as I continued to stare and bid my time. After a few seconds, dear had almost gotten out of the rotenburo and called out to me.I had wished that dear would stop hurrying me out of the onsen because it was so comfortable and such a wondrous sight at night. So I gave it a last look and quickly turned back into the changing room. After donning our yukata and brown jacket, we happily made our way back into the ryokan, our bodies gaining temporary immunity against the cold.

Back in our little Asa-giri, I began my nightly ritual of washing my face, brush teeth, put moisturiser etc etc while dear, separated from me by 2 shoji screens and a about 30 tatami mats sat near the window looking out in a self-entertaining manner. He was half talking to me, half talking to himself, saying that he could see the orion, etc, etc. I looked at my mask, was about to put it on and wondered if dear would want some too. I thought "probably in BKK" when dear called out from where he was "dear, what are you doing?"

I said, "nothing!" as I had completed my ritual, abandoning the mask and went to where he was. He moved back a little on the perch, sat me down to look at the sky. For a brief moment, I tried to look for stars as I thought he was going to teach me how to see the orion and other astronomical beings. Then he said, "Actually I've been wanting to ask you a question." Then I knew. *chortles* because that was how he starts. But I was very surprised and happy too. I turned round to face him and he got down on his knees. He opened the little heart shaped ring box and said, "Dear, we have been together for 3 long years..." then I was very happy so I interjected with somethings, i cant remember what. It was just emotional and very blur. I remember he tried again "we have been together for 3 long years.." then he asked me to marry him in Japanese and translated. So joked "pre-nup!" He promised to love me and my family too and promised him too. He asked for 2 children *chortles* anyway, I said "yes" (of course, of course, of course =)) he said not "yes" should be "hai!" to his questions. He said somethings in Japanese and translated each of them. I won't tell you. *keke* But if you want to use it to propose to your girlfriend, you can ask my dear if he'd willing to share with you.

So we took photos and chatted and laughed and he told me that his who knew..who had helped..that was how we ended our last night in the place that took our breaths away.

O-name wa nan desu ka?

2007-12-27T19:58:00.000+08:00

Simply gestures mean a lot to the people here, I think. We helped the lady clear the tray. We felt very wierd having a elderly but nevertheless genki lady and man serve and clear our meals as well as prepare and keep our futons respectively. I could see her eyes sparkle in genuine surprise and happiness as she apologised "gomenasai!" when she turned round to see us pack.

We were very happy. We tried conversing in broken Jap and English:
"Apple wine..ni hon go..nan desu ka?"

"Hai appolu winu. Ringo (something..can't remember now)"

"Oh! Ringo! Apple!"

"Hai! Ringo. Appolu...Ringo suki desu ka?"

"Ah. Hai! Suki desu"

"Ah!!" [lady makes cutting and peeling action]

"Iae...!" [dear and I shook our hands, rubbed our stomachs vigorously, pointed to the bowls of fruits on the tea table and grinned]
"keko desu"

"Keko desu" the futon-man echoed. I dont know why he did that, maybe I might have pronounced something wrong. But it was a good-natured, happy, amused laugh.

Meal lady and futon-man laughed heartily. It's a pity we never knew their names. We only knew Oga-moto san. And it was easy to remember his name because he is nothing like an "ogre". A very refined and cultured man. He welcomed us on the first day and provided insight into both Japanese and even the Chinese culture in crisp and fluent English as well as very enunciated Mandarin. He was patient to teach us Japanese too.

So I hope all these will remain. The genuine kindness and refined beauty of both the people and the place.

The Last Supper...

2007-12-27T19:35:00.000+08:00

Not quite.

Our last dinner before dear submitted his proposal on how we should phase out our then relationship and adopt the fiancee-fiance scheme. *chortles* (anyway that's not how he did it. he was very romantic. enough said *zip*)

My favourite for this keisei-meal was the little glass of apple wine which I, the clutz that I was, spilt half of that precious mixture onto the tatami mat. My heart broke for both the mat and my favourite beverage. I kept the remaining for the last, but our meals-lady, bless her heart, removed it because she had thought I had finished with my meal.

She also chided me good-naturedly for not eating the horse sashimi. She praised dear and gave him a look of approval. He had, I belief, with the empty plate been inducted and accepted into the esoteric world of Japanese haute cuisine. We had hatched a little plan, though, place 3 out of 5 pieces onto his empty plate so that it would appear that I had eaten some. But we simply forgot! *lol*

On the fateful day...

2007-12-27T18:21:00.000+08:00

So this is our secret hide-out. Literally. We plan to make it our romantic mecca of sorts. Guarded by the native black bears. *rwar* There are 4 rotenburos. We've tried 2; 1 at night after dinner.We were all clothed with a towel, no worries. ;p We had to run in the snow across a bridge to our the rotenborus in nothing but our yukatas and slippers. Way cool. Passed a little frozen tea garden on the way but saw a pretty purple cabbage flower. Couldnt take photo because of possible naked/semi-naked people. *chortles*

This photo was taken after returning to our lodgings from a lunch of Stamina-ramen at a stone's throw away. It was simple but delicious meal fit for winter. We also went to scour for batteries in a couple of liquour stores and finally found one at a petrol kiosk. But they were lousy, so my camera sputtered miserably, alternating between life and death henceforth until we've made it to Tokyo. (yes, my camera still feeds on batteries. No charger). [waiting for my next $400 LSD!!]

Testimony

2007-12-27T17:55:00.000+08:00

Today, I almost missed the lady who was in-charge of our baptism class.

It was by divine intervention that I had asked for another lady who came out to talk to me and kindly gave me directions to find the one I'm supposed to meet, at another building across the street.
At that moment, the door to the lift opened and the receptionist told the lady who walked out that I was looking for her too.
I would have missed her had I gone to the building to look for her while she was on her way to where I was. We did not know each other.

And so, that was how I got the forms for our baptism class.
She was kind and allowed us to join the one opening on Saturday even though the registration has closed.
She just handed me the forms and told me to bring them on Saturday with the materials.
I was very pleasantly surprised.
If we missed this, the next one will have to be in June next year.

I had talked to her on my handphone but my battery went flat in the middle and I was afraid that she'd think I was upset with her for not allowing us to joining after registration was closed.

So after awhile, I thought why dont I drop by at Dhoby Ghaut since I was at Commonwealth, on my way home from school. God bless the north-east line. I was free until tmw when SPM starts.

And it's been a long time coming, 4 yrs in church, believing in Him the whole of my life. Dear said the problem had always been with time, but not his personal belief.

Well, encourage us and pray for us! =) that we may commit to our classes and handle our new year's work and personal commitments too.

PS: there are still nice people in the world. (and nice places too =p), if only we're kind to them as well. I've learnt that much in this holiday and am thus rejuvenated. Pay it forward, yo!

Revelations

2007-12-25T21:28:00.000+08:00

Preparing for marriage and preparing for a wedding are two entities which, though not mutually exclusive, are fundamentally different in purpose, duration and resource.

We would like to get married and start a life together. Simple and pure. And we encapsulate this in a vow before the blessing and witness of our Lord. To honour our parents as well, we seek their blessings and participation in the preparations and proceedings. This extends to our closer circles of relatives and friends. To express the love we have for our relatives and friends, we invite them to add to the joy of the occasion by gracing their presence.

And it radiates, it overflows, the love the Christ has for us, overflows abundantly from ourselves, bound as one, to all around us.

And this is the reason why we bend, why we compromise, why we would even put up this celebration of our union to scrutiny, seemingly senseless requests, why we struggle to consider and meet as many perspectives as possible while keeping to our values and the integrity of the event.

So I was reminded of Ella Enchanted. Ella who, with the gift of obedience, submit to every order in spite of her will. We surrender, however, by will, to express our love and to save those we love from harm, sadness or despair.

And that was how Jesus loved us. When we appreciate this, we would understand how the holy spirit works in us and how we must always remember to protect it in our marriage. And then planning for a wedding would be another way for us, this time as man and wife, to express our love. For our Lord, for each other, for all around us.

Merry Christmas..

Itadakimasu!

2007-12-24T17:31:00.000+08:00

First Day's Dinner.
We went to the onsen at noon, when it was snowing. The journey there finding the buses, in the buses, were nothing short of a polar-express experience as it manoeveres the narrow, winding roads on the mountain in the snow, overlooking falls and dams.
After the onsen, we were completely famished. The last meal we had was at 9 in the morning (S'pore time). I had asked for dinner to be served at "roku-ji-han desu" but in my eagerness, forgot that it would translate to 7.30pm, Singapore time.
The meals more than made up for my over-sight. We had a Japanese "Da Chang Jing" time. *burp* Look at dear's contented face =)

Take My Breath Away...

2007-12-24T17:26:00.001+08:00

Come Away With Me...

2007-12-24T16:17:00.002+08:00

After sleeping at 3am for KMT report,
7hrs of flight,
5 hrs of transit time at the impossibly sterile airport of (shall not name country),
1 round of Name-Love Songs-Starting-With-A to Z,
1 round of Name-Break-up Songs-Starting-With-A to Z,
1 hr of buying various train tickets,
we're in the Keisei Morning Skyliner finally!

Not looking too glam. heh.

Self-photo at the Ueno Shinkansen station. Our first washroom pit stop outside of Narita Airport. Surprised that they are still the old squatting kind but very clean.
At no. 19, there is an escalator down to our platform towards Jomo!
Finding Ueno Shinkansen station was a breeze. It helped that there wasn't a crowd in the morning too.

Our first bento set in the train! Beautifully packaged with a tiny bottle of soya sauce. About 1000yen each. We bought it in Ueno station itself, en route to our platform. The shoplady was going "Arigato-gosaimasu" ad infinitum. It was all so refreshing. We loved it. The bento, though were cold, as all sold at stations and trains are. Dear said his fish (left box) had a lot of fishbones. So we exchanged. But I didnt detect any. lol. Was probably lucky and got the right half. Anyway, the bento filled us for brunch.
The chairs in the train were swivel ones which make it great for families travelling together because they can all face one another. From the window, we could observe as we move from more urban to rural areas. It was truely going to be a getaway.

We're Engaged!! =)

2007-12-24T08:58:00.000+08:00

Kam Pai !!