I can't believe it. :]

出国在外，更感觉到新加坡双语制度所带来的一些趣事。
新加坡老能与外国英语老师沟通；同时也可以与中国来的老师们谈笑自如。

但正所谓 “Jack of all trades, master of none" ，在家长眼我们缺少了Native Speakers所“与生具来”的内涵；提到语文课，新加坡老师大多就得靠边站， 在幕后默默耕耘，做planning， 或是教其他科目。

可笑的是，大多数的Native Speakers, 因为自己的母语是耳濡目染而学起来的，所以对于与语法的用途与教法他们大多时候是知其然而不知所以然。

可是外来的和尚好念经，不单单是新加坡老师，受到专门教英语训练的东南亚籍老师常常被视为2等语文老师。真是可悲。

Goodness, it takes me so long to write and express in Mandarin again these days...
Well, this is yet another old grouse I guess, about how simple minded the general mass still is. It is a good thing that Singapore has recognised the fact that hiring native speaking teachers may not be the best solution to raising the standards of the language in the schools. It will take some time before the people here in Vietnam realise it. Right now, the skin colour and nationality is still very much used as a general rule of the thumb by the parents to gauge to how good a teacher is in teaching languages.

But I guess then again, getting native speakers will be the easy and cheaper way out; they do not need to be trained in the language as they already know the language, and children pick things up fast, given the exposure. The pedegogy is therefore secondary, a feather on the cap but not necessary.

The ideal situation is to have trained teachers, be them native speakers or proficient speakers of the language, trained in teaching non-native speakers the rudiments of the language. But this takes time and money to train... the system is too impatient to do it. Also mentalities take time to change.


For me I am glad that I am sufficiently proficient in 2 languages, all thanks to part of the education system back home. (Can't believe I am singing praises of the education system!!! Haha Though I used to curse and complain about Chinese lessons in schools, and I still have qualms about its want it all philosophy).

At least one thing is right, and gives singaporeans that extra adaptability. As I try to pick up vietnamese now, i realise how hard and expensive it is to learn extra languages. Hehe, then again, age is probably catching up. ok, and also I am lazy... :P

Denial mode.

The more I teach the more I am convinced that I am not cut out to be a parent. Lol.
Woe betide the government, obsessed with figures and thirst of needing youth.
Contributing to it I will not, except to be young at heart for play I have had not enough.
Selfish soul I am, but actually it's for a selfless course. Gaia doesn't need that extra mouth to feed, clothe and please. >:P

Now I wonder, next destination whither?

旧欢新爱？

Tried grappling, thought it might be similar to aikido. OMG... it's so much more physical and contact based! (I was thinking... Huh?? I have to to that?? It looks like something straight out of the pages of karma sutra!!)

So... 真的要心无杂念，不要想歪，集中精神，否则将死得很难看。Heeheeheee...

After the initial awkwardness, it is actually challenging, and with it, comes the fun. Hah, I think I like it, the rush and the challenge; to pin down the instructor who is some 20kg heavier. :] Fine, he didn't put in his 100%, or there will be that one less student alive...

And finally I found Aikido lobangs here too!! Will go check it out soon. Hohohohohohoo... Old love, new love... lalalalaaaalaaaa...

Doggie updated.

Hmm... dogs really seem to have ESP.

Anyway sis just sent me some pictures of the new comer (now not that new liao) Lai Lai, taken last week... omg...

He is literally twice the dog he used to be..............

See? That's a week after he came, sometime in April...

He sure looks much happier now, maybe because i am not home to stop him from snacking? Haaahaaa neutered and much better fed, his girth is expanding like crazy. Lol...

Forced to rest. Heehee...

Nice lovely, windy and sunny weekend, but am grounded at home with a leaky nose and general feeling of being ill. Urgh. Age is definitely showing its powress.

But it's productive in some way... Got forced by circumstances to do some housekeeping; ironing, mopping, cleaning, get a hair cut (and meet student and parent at the hairdresser's AGAIN ; some things never change huh?? O.O), not go for too much of a drink. Then again no exercise for me as well either. Urgh... Losing mass, gaining fats, fading in colour... This can't go on. EeeEeeeeEEee Hope this rested weekend will result to a better physical form on Tues. Heh... T_T

I guess things just happen at times, it's inevitable.

The fluey rites of passage.

I was feeling a little under the weather and was stoning in the stuffroom. A flu's developing... Colleague came over, noticed and gloated. "Hahaha... you are getting it too." Then she goes on to describe the process and the stages I will go through. Getting the flu and be chronically unwell seems to be a rite of passage for teachers teaching children, and doing it in a foreign land just seems to make the virus more potent.


Heeheeheee... it's been an interestingly routine week...

Was introduced to a nice bar just 10 mins away from home, I had barcadi cokes without much coke, and drank too much again as usual,got hung over the next day; then attended a vietnamese wedding reception and had my fair share of coke there. I was a little disappointed as it was so similar to a chinese wedding. (But the food's good.)

Received my sos package from singapore and half of my wardrobe's tshirts, but no boardshorts,which I needed more urgently than 10 tshirts. Haiz, there's miscom somewhere in between as i asked for just 2 shirts and 2 shorts... Heehee, dunno to laugh or to cry. Thanks to the transporter cum map reader though. Hahaha it sure wasn't easy to get the package over.

Some things never change... Did my share of running and chasing the local bus to get to work. With my 2 other housemates and colleagues behind me. Hahaa, I had a headstart, but still felt cool that I beat them to it. Lol, yah i know, cheap thrills.

Took the opportunity to dress down during PE lesson days and wore a sailing polo t-shirt from pervious regattas. The word Sentosa printed on the shirt caused some excitement among the kids who bothered to read the letterings on my shirt... I really wonder why...

Should have been in the gym to check out a MMA class now, but I felt like death, went to get some flu pills instead. The gym can wait. I would be hitting the sack soon.

Friend just told me about some sailing stuff online, making me so envious... :..c And the wind's been good!! Urgh!!!

Haiz... life goes on. :] ZzzzzZzzz time...

Direction Idiot and the Guinea Pigs.

God, I need to work on my sense of direction and confidence. Pronto. -.-!



Good thing is that my first guniea pig had a superb sense of direction and map reading skills. So, all I need was to suggest a place, and she will find it and take us there. Hahaaahahahaaaa... Yah, I know...That doesn't sound very assuring. I am that carefree that I just walk aimlessly most of the time; it takes effort to remember. :P

Time to grow up and be more aware, for that little bit. ^_^

Things change so quickly, and yet not quick enough....

Just keep walking. :]

War Remnants Museum. Not for the faint hearted.

Doing the touristy thing. Heh.

Huh??



Right, till next time... hope I could get the pics from the other cameras asap. As usual I didn't take photos consistently, am missing out on some stuff here and there. -.- Hint Hint. :P

Return of Heaven's Joke.

A gay teacher came out of the closet cyberly on his blog, and appeals for more openness and guidance for gay teenagers.

His blog entry has to be taken down, as sure as the ERP will ever increase its prices. Luckily it has been saved and reproduced in other sites, as I thought that it has been beautifully written. Hope the link won't die soon. :]

http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=2032&viewarticle=1

At least he is not jailed or made to quit (or not yet??), so the society is slowly opening up, also kudos to brave enlightened souls like him who test the boundaries.

Right or wrong, natural or unnatural, think I have blogged about such stuff some time back, and I still feel the same about it.

Well, I am a southpaw afterall, and it seems to be an indication of more liberal thinking? :P

Then I turn inward, and remembered again, the phrase Heaven's joke. It's my recurring issue. Hah...

No matter what, I am who I am, will be what I am, living the life I wanna live. Am blessed with superbly open minded parents. There aren't anything much else I should ask for. Or is there?

人

一个字，两撇画，‘人’再简单不过。
是吗？就连智商般般的人都会否定这说法。
事物越是复杂，在纸上的表达方式就越简单。
这或许是世间设法取平衡点的方式之一吧。

这是个多么不及实际的方式.

Infinite Stupidity.

An online news on the latest message from Osama to the world, particularly USA just drives the message home through and through. The world never seems to learn, and perfects the art of selective hearing and reading, taking it to greater heights. The fault forever lies with the other party, fingers pointing away only to have fingers pointing back at you. We are forever the good person, they are bad; and so it is said on both sides. Plain stupidity, fuelled by a misguided sense of pride and ego.

The most sickening fact for me isn't even about the infinity loop of vicious cycles. It is the simple fact that western reports keep referring to Osama as just Bin Laden. That is ridiculous and shows a blatant ignorance to the naming system and thus one of the more important aspect of other's culture and identity. Bin Laden just means son of Laden. There are tons of sons of Laden out there who isn't Osama.

It's no wonder that the conflict is a long drawn one, for the American politicians do not even understand their 'enemy', soldiering on muddling away and creating more reasons for the real underdogs to hate them and perpectuate the vicious cycle of mistrust, misunderstanding and 'terrorism' acts. The terror acts, put in inverted commas are in my opinion desperate attempts to try gain attention and prove points that are left blatantly so obvious but yet unseen and unthought of. And the greatest irony is that the acts only add on more blinkers and justification that violence is the only way to solve the problem. It's not going to.

The Korean War, Vietnam War (Or American War, Hah, then all the mentioned would be American Wars too..), The Iraq and Afganistan war... all these seem to spell infinite stupidity of the constant participant of it all.

Stuck.

Eventually, things will move...

真是他妈的无奈。感觉就象在欺骗，挂羊头卖狗肉。
但卖狗肉的是大鱼；遭殃的却是不由自主的小兵。
难道世上就没有真正为教育而办教育的人们了吗

真是不习惯这种为钱为荣誉而办教育的花花世界。
在故乡是这样，到了国外还是如此。他妈的！

Dive before the dive.

Off I went to Nha Trang to get the long needed dosage of salt water and sunshine over the National Day weekend. :] It was bright and sunny over there while monsoonal rains pounded HCMC, and I woke up to a view like this from the hotel.




I have a complaint though, everything is slow... the bus crawled at the average of 20km per hour, the dive boat paddled at an average of 5knots. But we max out each dive session, with an average of 60 to 70mins. With that, no one's complaining... then again there was only 2 of us plus the DM. That was way cool.



The boss and the boat. On one side of the boat the DMs and instructors were conversing in Vietnamese, on the other, they were laughing and gesturing in French... Despite the alieness of the languages spoken, the laid-backness and friendliness was universal. The scenes above and below the waters embraced and welcomed all.

You can almost hear it saying "you can do it kid!" :P

Seen the stonefish? Almost touched the bugger while I focused on dunno where else. Thank goodness for my alert buddy. :P

Buddy passed me the cucumber for some unknown reasons, so cucumber on one hand, camera on the other and floating on water, I took this picture and later realised that the cucumber spewed some white sap on me. :P It was returned back safely home. I want my cucumbers in the sea and photos, not in my soup haha.

Am proud of my first few nudi and slug pictures, I love my camera!!! Heheheee

While there are fewer fish over at the dive sites of Nha Trang, the conditions were mild and conducive for me to play with my camera on the sea slugs and nudibranches. Am still not there yet for composition of the picture, tend to drift away even in a slight current. Hehe... got to practice more. :P Think it will be an interesting alternative for open and advanced open water courses, if you understand French. Haha!

Special mention to my super nice and accommodating travelmate cum translator. ^_^

Buddy with his kickass video camera.

Our DM taking a break. So experienced was he that he would lead us right back to the back of the boat. :]


Candid shot on the crew chatting and resting. This the lifestyle I want!! Heheheheee...

Alright, time to dive into work. But heh luckily if I wanna get my nitrogen fix, it isn't that far or expensive from here. :]