Are we excited about little things in life?

It seems to me that most adults are less appreciative and excited about little things in live as they progress in age. People whom I know today are more keen into money making activities and tend to live a dull life. Probably the reason would be they have more important matters to attend. Ask some of the teachers in my school, whether they would like to join any students activities for fun, such as scrabble competition, computer games and you will hear them saying "Hell no! It's a waste of time" .

It's different for me. I enjoy teaching kids because they are always excited about little things that I ask them to do. If I give them sweets in class, they will jump for joy and run to me asking for them. If I ask them to draw a simple cartoon, they will finish it on time and laugh about it, and if I ask them to cut papers, they will happily cut them for me. Try giving adults sweets, ask them to play a treasure hunt game, or draw a cartoon? How would they respond? Now look at our students below on how excited they were seeing new and little thing...

The neat and tight circle showed that they were really interested and eager in something. But what was it?

The students were giving their 100% attention to the things that they were watching. I'm sure they were excited about it.

Even the female students gave their undivided attention to what was going on. But what was it? it was ....

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A demo by Firefighters. The teachers were invited to watch this demo, but less than five teachers came and they stayed there for less than ten minutes since they preferred to sit back and enjoy the air-cond. in the staffroom. As official duty is concerned, all the subject teachers should be there until the demo ended to ensure the safety of their respective students.

See? Young people are always excited about little things like this. Am I right? Hahaha!

Little India

Silent reader? Hmmm..someone told me that some people have been reading my blog secretly. They did not leave any comments in my blog and I wonder why was that. I hope it's not because my blog is boring. Hahaha! But, I really appreciate those who had left their comments in my blog. Without a doubt, the comments had made my blog lively and important.

Now... do you know that there's a little town in Kuching that isn't "silent" at all? It's the India street! (I don't have to tell you what India Street is since I'm no Wikipedia). I usually avoid going there because the place is quite congested especially weekends. But still, despite the jam and crowd, spenders and window shoppers love to go there for shopping and sight seeing. This year, I went there twice and the last visit there was because of the Sarawak Regatta.

(One of the paths leading to India Street)

Although I can get good bargain at India Street, the crowd really pisses me off. I just wish that, less people would go there during weekends and for me, it resembles Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur.

The competition among the sellers is high during weekends. Business owners will sell their stuff outside their shops and shout "mari mari, murah murah!" which means "come! it's cheap!". No doubt, this aggressive marketing strategy is successful in attracting the crowd.

The selection of t-shirts is wide in India Street, so if you are planning to save petrol on going to Serikin, you should try India Street . You can always bargain the price with the business owners. Trust me, sometimes the goods sold on weekends are really cheap.

Sarawak Regatta 2010

Hooray! Sarawak Regatta (Boat Race) is here again in Kuching. The event started from 29 July to 1 August 2010. Believe it or not, this was my first time seeing the race live from my own lens. The theme of the race was "Race for Peace". It was an exciting events as thousands of locals and tourists gathered at Kuching Waterfront to watch this event. The road was blocked by police officers so I had to park my car quite a distance and walked to Kuching Waterfront. When I reached there, I was already sweating but thank goodness, the weather was merciful to us. It was not raining and it was not really hot.

(Sale! Sales! Sales in the middle of the road)

(Race! Race! Race!)

(Boat race taiko! Don't play play o...hahaha!)

(Grand Margherita Hotel)

Tying Knots

The popularity of Scout is really low in many schools. Probably because it is among the first association formed in schools and students are getting bored of it. With the cut in education budget, our Scout team felt the pinch because we could no longer do outdoor activities beyond the school compound.

However, despite the budget cut I always try to provide interesting activities to my students. This week, my colleague and I had decided to teach our students to tie knots. Surprisingly, they really enjoyed the activity.

we asked them to display their knots on paper.

Students busy trying out the knots.

The Fruitcake Special

The Ministry of Education has introduced a new set of English literature to our students. One of the short stories that need to be taught is "The Fruitcake Special". It is a story about Anna, who is a Chemist, invented a special perfume mixed with a fruitcake. Whenever she wears it, men will get attracted to her although she is a plain looking woman.

As I was eating in an Asajaya cafe, I came across a bakery and I asked myself "Why not buy a birthday cake for my students?" "I want them to know the smell and taste of a cake while learning the fruitcake special story" I said to my friend. He laughed at my idea but he loved the idea because it will make learning fun and lively.

True enough, when I brought and gave the cake to my students, they had big smiles on their faces and throughout the lesson, they paid attention to whatever I was telling them. Hahahaha! there's a magic in the cake huh?

p/s: This post is also available at http://whenteacherspeaks.blogspot.com

My first figurine

I have added to my toy collections Mr Kurasaki Ichigo, the main character from the cartoon "Bleach". Before this, I collected Gundam robots and Transformers only but today, I am adding Bleach figurines to my list.

The Bleach figurine above is from Bandai. I got a good deal from a shop near my house. It only cost me RM30. I hope I can get hold of other characters soon:

Rukia
Kirana
Renji
etc...

Soon....

Hari Permuafakatan

What is Hari Permuafakatan? To those of you who do not have kids studying in school yet, you might not know what "Hari Permuafakatan" is. Basically, it is a report card day. The day where teachers will meet the parents to inform them about their children's academic performance in school and to discuss on their classroom behaviour.(Leha and I waited for our drinks)

Since becoming a teacher, this is my first time meeting with parents face to face to talk about their children. I was excited about it because it was a golden opportunity for me to tell them about their kids misbehavior (if any). Furthermore, most parents would be interested to know how their kids behave in class. (My colleagues with their "Kailan" vegetables)

The best part about Hari Permuafakatan is the sale. There were a lot of food stalls opened on that day, selling fresh food and local delicacies. The respond was extremely well until all the food and vegetables were sold out. I look forward to this kind of activity next year.

Dinner at Kingwood Inn Kuching

(Kris and his new Canon Eos 50D)

Last Sunday, Kris called us up for a dinner at Kingwood Inn. I did not read my SMS carefully and I went to the wrong hotel. I waited at Kuching Park instead and thought that we were the first one to arrive. Hahaha... But when we called him up, he said we were supposed to go to Kingwood Inn.

Upon arrival, Kris waited for us at the entrance. We were served with 8-course dinner and We sincerely think that the food was superb! I think in future, if anyone would like to organize a special function, please consider Kingwood Inn.

My wife is really good at judging food. Unlike her, I am a type of a person who does not really care about taste. Maybe I am a quantity conscious type of a person. But when my wife said the food was delicious, I agreed with her because I knew her judgement on food is always better than mine.

During the dinner, my son loved to run around the table. That was because we were the only family who was there. So, he was not shy of doing so. But according to Kris, Kingwood Inn was packed with tourists that morning because they were attending the Rainforest World Music Festival on Saturday night.

And oh yeah..to those bloggers who attended the festival, hope you guys enjoyed it so much. Can't wait to read your blogs.

Adios! God Bless!

The Scrabble War

On Saturday, I signed up for a Scrabble Competition in Serian. All these while, I thought playing scrabble is easy. But then, I was very wrong! After meeting experience players, I really felt like a stupid guy. Hahahaha!
Playing scrabble is not just thinking of forming words with limited letters you get. It is also about
a) to score the highest.
b) to make full use of your letters in order to get 50 marks at a time.
c) to block winning opportunities for others.
d) etc.

I was shocked when I was beaten at all rounds. Senior teachers, age 40 to 50, had been playing the game for more than 20 years. They had lots of words to build and scored high marks. I am blessed that some of them were willing to teach me on how to score better in Scrabble.

It was really a fun event and I hope to meet them again next year. This time around, I will make their life difficult. Hahaha

Talk on Night Portraiture by Alvin Leong Academy

(Talk on night Portraiture at Kuching Waterfront Amphitheater)

Finally, the long awaited photography talk by Alvin Leong Photography Academy is here. A simple event but very meaningful. I will post on the model later. But enjoy the short story here on the event.

(Alvin Leong and I were surprised to see each other)

(Were angry about not updating their blogs)

(Photography "taico" were also present)

(Norman and his long lost friend)

(Hehehe...Norman, you need to bring extra battery eh!. )

My Stop at Sri Aman

(People who were with us on the road trip)

As we drove to Sibu, we were excited to stop by Sri Aman. As far as I am concerned, I have been to Sri Aman twice (including this recent trip). I made a phone call to Mr Desmond Jerukan to bring him out for a drink but unfortunately, he was away to Niah, Miri. From my observation, Sri Aman is developing very fast but a bit crowded like my hometown, Serian. The crowd I saw there was probably due to Gawai Dayak celebration.

If in Serian, I heard people talking in Bidayuh language, but in Sri Aman, not only the local speak Iban language, the Chinese can also speak the language. Since I myself is an Iban, I really felt at home though I was in a foreign land. I ate at one of the Chinese shops there but a bit surprised to discover that the Chicken rice food I ordered was not accompanied by a bowl of chicken soup. In Kuching, chicken rice food is always accompanied by a bowl of chicken soup.

As I walked by the river, I saw a beautiful man-made waterfront. I was told that the waterfront is new. I think it is high time that Sri Aman to be developed into an interesting tourist destination, especially when they have "pesta Benak".

(The majestic Chinese temple located near the river)

How Gawai Is Celebrated by The Bidayuh Community

(The traditional musical instruments: gongs are a must during Gawai)

Kampung Tubih is located on the way to Tebedu Town. It is divided into three villages, namely Kpg Tubih Sg Ujan (Anglican), Kpg Tubih Behem (Sabbath Day Adventist) and Kpg Tubih Mawang (Roman Catholics) If you have friends there, be sure to find the right kampung. Before Gawai Dayak is celebrated, there will be one main event which is organised on the night of 31st May. This event is basically to wait for the clock to strike 12.00 midnight, which marks the start of Gawai celebration.(Live band performance)

While waiting for the clock to strike 12.00 midnight, the villagers were entertained by local Iban and Bidayuh songs. Iban and Bidayuh songs are popular in Sarawak. Local radio stations such as Cats Fm and Wai Fm play these songs on air daily.

(The "Beragung" dance and ceremony)

The "beragung" ceremony started between 9 to 10pm. In this ceremony, dancers, usually the head of the villagers, danced circling the bamboo gadget which contained rice and wines. This happened for 10 minutes.

(Drinking wine from the bamboo)

At the end of the dance, all dancers had to drink the rice wine from the bamboo. Rice wine is a traditional drink for Iban and Bidayuh.

When the clock striked 12.00 midnight, the whole villagers performed a toast using the rice wine (Tuak)

This is My First Time

Tonight is one of the rare nights where once again, I couldn't sleep early and ended up blogging at 1am. To some people, after a long drive, they will fall asleep easily, but not for me. Among all the stories that I would like to share, tonight I have chosen to blog a bit about my journey to Sibu. I think my Gawai story will have to stop for a while.

As the title goes "This is my first time", allow me to be specific on this. First, this is my first time going to Sibu. I have never been there. People said, that Sibu is a happening city. I will have to see it by myself.

Secondly, this is my first time I driving my father's Proton Exora to Sibu. I wished our Exora had a 1.8 cc engine instead of 1.6 cc. The pick up? Gee...only God knows how slow and weak it was when it overtook cars this morning. The only good thing about it is, the spacious cabin.

(The interior of an Exora)

Thirdly, this is my first time, bringing my son for a long distant trip by the road. I am happy that he enjoyed the long journey. We made a few stops before reaching Sibu. Too bad, I could not meet up with Desmond Jerukan, the owner of www.nadai.name/ blog because he was in Niah at that time.

(My son and I at Sri Aman town)

Lastly, this is my first time meeting with Beng Beng, the owner of mylongkang.com in Sibu. I am glad that I can meet other blogger while I am in Sibu.

Oh well, for all my blogger friends, please don't forget to read my previous posts too yeah? Thanks.