penang trip

"cabin crew, please be seated for landing. thank you"

sitting next to the emergency escape

i am now back in sandakan, with all my shopping, food, 312 photos, gifts and wonderful memories. good things usually last a short while and that make us appreciate the time spend.

sunset at a beach

if u ask me to blog about the trip, i won't know where to start. there are too many things to talk about. the food, the people, trips, accidents, people i see, things i saw, experience and think. to round them up in words is something almost impossible. although i had trips back to penang every year for the past 19 years, this trip will be different. as this will be most probably my last one before going to australia.

'kopi', 'nes C' and 'teh'

i sometimes envy those that stay close to their extended family members. i mean, staying in the same town, or city, or even staying in nearby states. all they need is to get on a car or bus and they can visit each other. as for me, the need of flying pass a sea makes visiting a once a year thing. and always being look forward to. now back in sandakan with both parents. it use to be with bro together, but since bro is far down south, so now its only 3 of us.

staying at the very east and the very west of malaysia.

anyhow, this will be one of the trip that i will always think of in the future, and will always be wondering when will i be returning. always thinking, grandparents, uncle and aunts, cousins and my hometown.

p/s: suddenly i miss cousin bro's koala hugs.....

next will be on food =)

holidays

"young man can eat more!! come come!!"
"oh no...."

hmm.. 2 weeks of the holidays has come to an end. many pictures taken, n will post them up once i get back to sandakan. and this might be and most probably my last post from my hometown for some time.(long long long time).. anyhow, the food war between me and all the hawker food has come to a conclusive winner, hawkers 1, orange 0. my tummy now feels like a washing machine set to wash mode with heave load in it. hmmm.. need to drain everything out soon.

anyway will be leaving in the noon tomorrow, and will reach by night =)

sure going to miss penang a lot... sigh~

holidays

"uncle cha kueh tiau yi ke. Pu yau la ciau."

rite.. hawker food has officially become my staple food for the past 8 days!!!

penang is currently still very wet. it has been raining for the past 8 days... Mr sun didn't came out and say 'hi' to me. anyhow, my shopping is done. i was always thinking i need a fashion adviser. and i realise that my shopping stamina and skills has surpass my parents shopping skills. thanks to my friends in KK. 2 hours for me is not enuf!!! oh no...


till then =)

holidays

updates, i am alive..
penang is paradise to the tongue, and hell to my digestive tract.. have been eating too much hawker food.. but then, once a year, never mind lah... if i go for a body check now, i guess my cholesterol level will be high enuf to hit the celling.

water cut at the place i am staying.. no water to bath n do 'nature-call-business' apparently a water pipe burst somewhere...

right =) going for food hunt soon =) *hears stomach groans again*

note: 4 march against the gov in a year in malaysia so far.. i wonder when is the next one??

holidays

"ladies and gentlement, welcome to Penang International Airport. please remain seated until the seat belt sign is switch off. Its been a pleasure flying with you and we hope to meet you again. if you need any assistance......"

Wha.. at last back to the island at the west side of Malaysia.. PENANG!!!

anyhow.. short updates.. arrived on the 4th.. without any delay.
just learn something the bad way through this trip back. get enough rest the day before you fly. well.. here is what happen.

the night before.. a smart guy, (orangeng) thought that he can sleep alot on the plane. so he slept at about 1+ in the morning. and woke up at 6 the next morning to do some final packing and stuff. everything was fine for him, untill when he went up the plane. everytime when he wanted to wonder to dreamland, there will sure be some kind of sound disturbing. serving of orange juice, in-flight meals, or the pilot's in-flight speech. it was quite ok for the morning and afternoon....

but at the evening, orange start to feel the effect of getting not enough rest. started with being very sleepy and blur. after dinner, orange went and bath and so some slight reading. and slept earlier than usual about 10+ near 11.

the next morning, life as usual, shopping, visiting and eating. and the climax of the effect of not getting enough rest came at the noon. serious headache from evening till night. and this bad headache manage to make orange sleep at a super early time at 9 p.m.

moral of the story... get lots of rest before traveling. important rest.

anyhow: 'wan tan mee', 'jawa mee', 'kueh tiau th'ing', 'mee goreng' down.. many more to go =)

p/s: thanks to cousin sis for her laptop. enjoy your trip to genting =)

workshop ~ finale

'alright class, that's all for today. take care and all the best in everything you do.'

and that's how i end my 10 day experimental science and mathematics workshop.

here are the feedback i got from my boss:

~better than expected

~teaching is in your genes

~parents ask about workshop in the future

~have a new pathway to go for the future

~kids like you

this are the interesting feedback from the students

~teacher in should improve in his chinese

~time extend to 3 hours for 90 days

~more work, more cutting, more origami!!!!

names that add to list:

~lau tze

~sin sang

~sir

~teacher

~kor kor

~mad scientist

~NWQ

its been a great experience teaching the 22 students for the past 10 days. and i have really learn a lot from this workshop. humans are organisms that is able to adapt to its surrounding and its needs. i admit i once say before that teaching is not my line. although now i still don't think teaching is my line, but now its a choice for me. a new pathway, or maybe as a last resort.

teaching students of different background makes you a fair person. especially when you are facing a very well to do student and also students that only have plain white rice and maggi seasoning as flavour for dinner. yes.. white rice + maggi seasoning. there are some that never even see and eat a pizza. and of course, for those well to do, they own mobile phones more advance than me. the gap is there.

for the three classes i conduct, i like the most is with the primary 5 - 6 class. they are the best among all, i love them =) and i am going to miss them. especially the group of girls =) and the guys that always cheer the atmosphere up with their naughty ethics. you 8 people have always make a good start for the days ahead for me =) thanks a lot.

for the primary 3 - 4 class, well your class is the hardest to control and also the hardest to teach. not that i am complaining here, your group is so diverse that group approach seems impossible. and i have to resort to personal approach. its tiring but fulfilling. i hope you have learn something out of me

for the primary 1 - 2 class, your class is the easiest to handle. maybe i have the experience to handle children of your age. and because its only 4 of you around. anyhow, its enjoyable to finish up the day with the 4 of you.

maybe its because i like helping people. or maybe like what my boss say, teaching is in my blood. I took my job to a step further, well.. making people happy my strong point. i belief that all my students are happy. i hope they are happy. and i wish they are happy. small things like having a picture taken and also printing for the student makes a brighter day for me n him/her. and being happy is always a part of me.

i will surely miss all the name callings, the good morning wishes, the boring/cold faces you show me in the 1st lesson, the shouting, laughing, joking, running, and all the small minor things that happen in this 10 days.

so do you think a 2 month planing for a 10 day workshop worth all the effort??

personally, i still believe i can do better. there are days that i slack of a little. and there are days that i give the fullest of myself to all. if time can be reverse, i will tell you i can do better. but, given the time, money and effort, i guess i am quite happy for the outcome. =) i would say... a score of 8/10??

special thanks to my boss, ms cindy for this special opportunity for letting me conduct this task. with your help and effort in guiding this 'new teacher' here, family for your suggestions and support, and not forgetting the important ones.. my friends that are always supportive for me that help me go through all this 10 indescribable days. thanks everyone.

p/s: sorry for the randomness, i am now still unwinding all that happen for the past 10 lessons.

short note: i will be leaving for penang from the 4th till the 18th of dec... will update when there is a chance. =)

the orange ~ weekly

when is the last time you browse through your old old emails with your friends?? the stories your friends share with you, the gangs you form through the Internet, and also all the touching emails on how important your friends are to you send to you and from you? i had just browse through my inbox where my mails dated from 2004 to the latest 2007. reading them is just like reading a mini-novel, with different chapters, and different characters. only this novel is in real life, real stories, real dialogs, and real characters. i laugh and smile all the way looking through as i saw the different way people think 2 years ago and now..

workshop updates:
Wha.. so fast reminder 1 more class then the work shop will end. and in this 2 weeks, they are the most experiments i have done in such a short time. Well, i did learn a lot from this workshop and i of course, hope that my students can learn something from me. =) and so far, 4 of my students got my full name(chinese and english), 2 of them had my signature, 2 plastic sheets with "WISH U HAV A GIRLFRIEND" & '"SMILE ALWAYS, HAPPY ALWAYS" got a polo tube of candy.

oh.. speaking about working, my 1st student, gave me a surprise that day. Ok.. not him.. but his mother gave me a surprise that day. She gave me a nice Levis t-shirt. i of course was surprise with that present. its a brown t-shirt and i guess it match well with jeans...

manage to met up with leon last thursday. it was a short but wonderful reunion. glade to see him and updates from him as well. as for now.. he is in the palm oil estate with his family =) hope you can score and get down to Melbourne next year =) then we can meet there again. as for the others, will be meeting up with another 2 gang members later for lunch, jinyii and also WHY, looking forward to this lunch...

my little science experiment:
i am trying to understand why some people likes to keep long fingernails. to understand this, i had only cut my nails on my left hand. Therefore, my 4 fingers and my thumb on my right hand now is long. what i have found out.
long fingernails are good for : scratching, opening knots, making a 'tak tak tak' sound when bored by rubbing 2 nails together.
long fingernails are bad when : you are tying, when you are sms-ing, when you get your hands dirty with soil and dirt, and when you are using a touch pad.

bro is having summer break in aussie.. and he is working.. and he works 3 days a week.. and gets pay as much as me working for 1 whole month... so unfair =(

erm.. count down, 2 more days to penang soil... 2 months and 2 weeks to adelaide... 24 days to christmas!!! frosty the snowman~

lastly replies of comments,

meewea: hello =) if i am given a chance, i will do like what you say.. and then get a photo and we can share n see.. hahaha..
s1m: haha.. penang syok ma.. with all the food and shopping there =)
carol: lucky you didn't notice, hahaha.. spending time with kids makes me a 'big-kid' now...
jinyii: erm.. yeah you know her.. it happen during form 4 in chemistry lab