I've got my Graduation next Sat., finally gonna get my cert that declares an end to my SCAPT course I took towards the last few mths of last yr. This cert is under the Trinity Guildhall school & that means having completed & graduated, I now can add CertGSMD(SCAPT) at the end of my name in my namecard.. lol.. now how long is that: Anne Marie Lim CertGSMD(SCAPT).. others have PhD, B.A or M.D & I have more alphabets to mine.. hahah If u were wondering GSMD stands for Guildhall School of Music & Drama & SCAPT stands for Speech and Communications Art Primary Teaching, I think.. heh heh.. I take the course & can't even recall what the course initals stand for... LMAO
I was thinking of holding off any more courses this yr as my work schedule has gotten way hectic. I've just started my classes at IJ Toa Payoh & on Weds, I've got 2 new classes added in at East View Pri. Now not only I've to content with creating a yr-end concert with my company's Kindergarten 2 & their little mini speech & drama exam in Aug, I've got another big thing on my plate having to create a performance for my IJ Toa Payoh's children, which is round Sept. Wahhhh!!!! I've really been thrown into a deeper end of the pool this yr & I thought last yr's pioneering of the unaccompanied Nursery programme was unnerving. This is even more... I'm even working more hrs, at 23 hrs 20 mins & that is minus my travel time to get to all the places I'm teaching at. I travel 2 places each day frm Mon-Thurs (Turf to IJ Toa Payoh on Mon, GIIS Queenstown to Forum on Tues, East View Pri to Forum on Wed & Turf to GIIS East Coast on Thurs) & it's just rush rush rush, kinda feels like when I was on my China trip, going frm one city to another (@_@)
Surprisingly, I've kick started my health investment regime well into 3 days now & have kept to it.. heh heh.. in addition, I've also started on my self-learning Spanish class.. did that over my 2 days of off & it was fun. Now I can remember abt 111 words in Spanish (of course some I've already known earlier.. tee hee) but still, all's gd =D The words are frm the numbers, food, cutlery, first words & colours section on the Spanish CD-Rom so tt has been over & done with. Now I repeat those words before I sleep just so tt the information learnt continues to be retained.. haha
Despite all the hectic-ness of my life, I'm glad that my Blues boys have been getting back on their roll & tt Take That, the band I supported back when I was a teenager have reunited!!! They maybe a boyband BUT they are anything like the other boybands around. Those boys have talent - Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange, Howard Donald & Robbie William. I didn't get to see 'em in concert when they came in '95 but I'm hoping tt they'll decide to swing by Singapore during their tour & hold a reunion concert. I still listen to my Take That songs & sing to 'em & it all feels like just yesterday I became a Take That fan.. gosh, it's been abt 10 plus yrs now & I'll Never Forget (^_^)
Monday, January 29, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Lions Roar!!!
It sure has been some time since I've seriously sat & watched our local soccer team play in a match. I could never get used to not seeing the Malaysia Cup action or any more of my old faves around so it never felt right watching the current team play. Seeing how I'm a fan of the EPL, it's rather wrong tt I didn't support our own team (u know how it is after we left the Malaysia Cup), anyways, the thing is tt I made it a point today to watch the Singapore vs Malaysia match & support my country's Lions for once. No doubt it was no longer David Lee, Lim Tong Hai, Fandi Ahmad, Kadir Yahaya, Malek Awab, Jang Jung, Nazri Nazri, Lee Man Hon, Steven Tan, Abbas Saad (yes, I know many hate him because of what he did), Borhan Abu Samad, Aide Iskandar (he still is with the current team), Saswadimata Dasuki, Rudy Khairon & Zakaria Awang, the current young blood have came a long way & proven their worth, amongst 'em Lionel Lewis, Noh Alam Shah, Indra, Daniel Bennett.
It was nice to see fans decked out in the usual red shirts, screaming themselves hoarse at the stadium.. tt bought me back to the days of old back when our team was known as the Singapore Dream Team. I kept almost every article & clippings of the Lions back then even the trading cards tt were launched & not forgetting the Lions shirt tt had the players' signatures & a picture of Fandi raising the Malaysian Cup trophy on it.. haha.. those were the days when we beat Pahang 4-0 to win the Cup. Yep, I had even kept the scores of the matches tt the Lions played in, frm the FAM Premier League to the Malaysia Cup's quad, semi & final matches. So u could see how hard it was for me supporting the Lions after we left the Malaysia Cup & everyone went their separate ways.
Still, am really proud of the team for having beaten old & long-time bitter rivals Malaysia.. u guys really played very well. It was nerve-wrecking to watch the penalties but we won at the end 5-4 & tt fact will always remain. Now we can march on into the finals & continue to defend the Championship that we won back in 2004.
It was nice to see fans decked out in the usual red shirts, screaming themselves hoarse at the stadium.. tt bought me back to the days of old back when our team was known as the Singapore Dream Team. I kept almost every article & clippings of the Lions back then even the trading cards tt were launched & not forgetting the Lions shirt tt had the players' signatures & a picture of Fandi raising the Malaysian Cup trophy on it.. haha.. those were the days when we beat Pahang 4-0 to win the Cup. Yep, I had even kept the scores of the matches tt the Lions played in, frm the FAM Premier League to the Malaysia Cup's quad, semi & final matches. So u could see how hard it was for me supporting the Lions after we left the Malaysia Cup & everyone went their separate ways.
Still, am really proud of the team for having beaten old & long-time bitter rivals Malaysia.. u guys really played very well. It was nerve-wrecking to watch the penalties but we won at the end 5-4 & tt fact will always remain. Now we can march on into the finals & continue to defend the Championship that we won back in 2004.
Friday, January 26, 2007
To all u out there who have trouble sleeping easily like me...
They say that one should wake up refreshed in the morning without the use of an alarm clock and feel energetic all day.. sadly, I'm hopeless without my alarm. Without it, I wake up at who knows what time, like say 1, 2 or even 4 pm, yep, tt has ever happened guilty but thankfully not during my work days or I'd be so dead. Says also that 2 other indicators of sleep deprivation are 1) You usually feel tired when it's time to wake up & 2) You need coffee, tea or Milo to help get urself started in the morning. I am definitely committing No. 1) on some of my work day mornings & even more so when I'm on my days off... I switch the alarm off & set it at a later time & the cycle goes on for some time.. haha.. I'm not really a No. 2) person but 2 out of 3 strikes is still bad.
I read that "Sleep deprivation is a large proportion of the problem is due to the high pacedlifestyle causing the lack of time to get the sleep we need. When we do not get theamount of sleep we need we accumulate a sleep debt. This sleep debt has to be paid back or sleepiness will continue to worsen. Many people try to pay back the debt on the weekends resulting in the disruption of their circadian rhythm." And tt I'm so totally guilty of.. lol.. what I've been trying to do is to sleep by 12 midnight but have only succeed on almost all of my working days & sadly, I've failed keeping to tt on my off-days. I find excuse in catching up with the Internet, emails & TV =p
Anyways, if u're like me, here are some sleep tips that might help u out:
I just re-read thru the list & guess what? I'm exactly fouling No. 4) right now because I'm using my lappy on my bed.. haha.. good gosh.. my room's so small & my desk's a dump.. oh well.. lemme try & work the list too myself!
I read that "Sleep deprivation is a large proportion of the problem is due to the high pacedlifestyle causing the lack of time to get the sleep we need. When we do not get theamount of sleep we need we accumulate a sleep debt. This sleep debt has to be paid back or sleepiness will continue to worsen. Many people try to pay back the debt on the weekends resulting in the disruption of their circadian rhythm." And tt I'm so totally guilty of.. lol.. what I've been trying to do is to sleep by 12 midnight but have only succeed on almost all of my working days & sadly, I've failed keeping to tt on my off-days. I find excuse in catching up with the Internet, emails & TV =p
Anyways, if u're like me, here are some sleep tips that might help u out:
1) Sleep is as important as food and air. Quantity and quality are very important. Most adults need between 7.5 to 8.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. If you press the snooze button on the alarm in the morning, you are not getting enough sleep. This could be due to not enough time in bed, external disturbances, or a sleep disorder.
2) Keep regular hours. Try to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day. Getting up at the same time is most important. Getting bright light, like the sun, when you get up will also help. Try to go to bed only when you are sleepy. Bright light in the morning at a regular time should help you feel sleepy at the same time every night.
3) Stay away from stimulants like caffeine. This will help you get deep sleep which is most refreshing. If you take any caffeine, take it in the morning. Avoid all stimulants in the evening, including chocolate, caffeinated sodas, and caffeinated teas. They will delay sleep and increase arousals during the night.
4) Use the bed for sleeping. Avoid watching TV or using laptop computers. Know that reading in bed can be a problem if the material is very stimulation and you read with a bright light. If it helps to read before sleep make sure you use a very small wattage bulb to read. A 15 watt bulb should be enough. Bright light from these activities may inhibit sleep.
5) Avoid bright light around the house before bed. Using dimmer switches in living rooms and bathrooms before bed can be helpful. (Dimmer switches can be set to maximum brightness for morning routines.)
6) Don't stress if you feel you are not getting enough sleep. It will just make matters worse. Know you will sleep eventually.
7) Avoid exercise near bedtime. No exercise at least 3 hours before bed.
8) Don't go to bed hungry. Have a light snack, avoid a heavy meal before bed.
9) Bedtime routines are helpful for good sleep. Keep routines on your normal schedule. A cup of herbal tea an hour before bed can begin a routine.
10) Avoid looking at the clock if you wake up in the middle of the night. It can cause anxiety. This is very difficult for most of us, so turn the clock away from your eyes so you would have to turn it to see the time. You may decide not to make the effort and go right back to sleep. If you can't get to sleep for over 30 minutes, get out of bed and do something boring in dim light till you are sleepy.
11) Keep your bedroom at comfortable temperature. Not too warm and not too cold. Cooler is better than warmer.
12) If you have problems with noise in your environment you can use a white noise generator. A old fan will work or you can buy noise machies from many sources.
13) Know that the "night cap" has a price. Alcohol may help you to get to sleep but it will cause you to wake up throughout the night. You may not notice it. (It is worse if you have sleep apnea because the alcohol makes the apnea worse.) Sometimes people snore only if they have had some alcohol or may snore worse if they already snore.)
14) If you have a sleeping partner, ask them if they notice any snoring, leg movements and/or pauses in breathing . Take this information and try the sleep test. You may have a sleep disorder or you may just need to increase your awareness about your own sleep need. If you have any concerns see your doctor.
15) It is very important to sleep in total darkness. Light in the bedroom means your brain will not fully rest, so you won;t get the full recharge you should be getting from sleep. If you can't make your bedroom completely dark, the simple solution is to wear eyeshades.I just re-read thru the list & guess what? I'm exactly fouling No. 4) right now because I'm using my lappy on my bed.. haha.. good gosh.. my room's so small & my desk's a dump.. oh well.. lemme try & work the list too myself!
Another day of firsts
How fast it is tt the money u've earned for a mth's worth of work comes into ur acct & goes out really quick. It takes quite a while to get in but comes out in less than a blink.. Bills, household, necessities, funds, etc.. within a span of a day abt $800 plus has been spent. Whoa! Since the Chinese New Yr is approaching, I spent some money get a nice gold-plated pig coin to give to my Bear's parents, hope they'll like the little New Yr gift =) Also bought for us two lil gold boars, nice way to mark the coming new yr.. I've never bought such things but like during my China Trip, there're always a time for 1st things.. heh heh
I'm also kinda keeping it in mind & hopefully can keep to it, a lil health investment for myself. Been thinking about it of late quite a while so I think it's an investment that should be done & started soon. Hence, I made my 1st health investment purchase today of $76 - a bottle of supplement for my weak joints (hope it'll help my knee caps esp. my previously dislocated one) & another bottle of vitamins & minerals supplement. A gd start but I'm hoping to keep it up for a long long time.. have done so some yrs back but never saw it thru for long.. hahah.. Besides tt, I bought an interactive CD-Rom 'Learn Spanish'.. hee hee.. I've been wanting to learn Spanish about 5 yrs back but never got to learning it seriously. My dad had said tt it wasn't practical to learn Spanish as it's not widely used in many counties. I've had bought a Spanish-English dictionary & a conversational bk but never really used 'em much. Come to think of it, my conversational bk had been lent to my aunt yrs ago & she's still not returned it.. darn, must make a mental note to get it back. It's tough trying to learn Spanish frm bks so I'm hoping to save enough & finally go for classes. Let's see how tt takes me.
Another 1st for today was succeeding in cooking Swedish meatballs for dinner.. lol.. my dad had bought the necessary stuff frm the Ikea Food Market & left me to do the cooking. Thankfully, they came out fine & I can now proudly add tt dish to my list of dishes tt I can cook.. haha.. sure the meatballs are the frozen ones & the sauce is pre-packed (just boil cream & water & then add in the powdered gravy mix) but I still did it & it could be eaten.. & I made the mashed potatoes & buttered broccoli frm scratch, so there =p
Supernatural's now on Channel 5 & I must say it's a pretty interesting show, sth different frm the usual.. Survivor's gonna be on later & even tho' it's gone thru so many seasons & does get quite dull, it's still the bitchiness & dirtiness of the game tt gets to me.. heh heh.. this season's dirty fest is abt to kick in, seeing how everyone want Ozzy out now as he's the strongest since Day 1 & he's the only member of the Hispanic grp left. I'm also looking forward to the return of Grey's Anatomy (hopefully I won't get too busy to catch it) & the Ghost Whisperer & the debut of Ugly Betty.
I'm also kinda keeping it in mind & hopefully can keep to it, a lil health investment for myself. Been thinking about it of late quite a while so I think it's an investment that should be done & started soon. Hence, I made my 1st health investment purchase today of $76 - a bottle of supplement for my weak joints (hope it'll help my knee caps esp. my previously dislocated one) & another bottle of vitamins & minerals supplement. A gd start but I'm hoping to keep it up for a long long time.. have done so some yrs back but never saw it thru for long.. hahah.. Besides tt, I bought an interactive CD-Rom 'Learn Spanish'.. hee hee.. I've been wanting to learn Spanish about 5 yrs back but never got to learning it seriously. My dad had said tt it wasn't practical to learn Spanish as it's not widely used in many counties. I've had bought a Spanish-English dictionary & a conversational bk but never really used 'em much. Come to think of it, my conversational bk had been lent to my aunt yrs ago & she's still not returned it.. darn, must make a mental note to get it back. It's tough trying to learn Spanish frm bks so I'm hoping to save enough & finally go for classes. Let's see how tt takes me.
Another 1st for today was succeeding in cooking Swedish meatballs for dinner.. lol.. my dad had bought the necessary stuff frm the Ikea Food Market & left me to do the cooking. Thankfully, they came out fine & I can now proudly add tt dish to my list of dishes tt I can cook.. haha.. sure the meatballs are the frozen ones & the sauce is pre-packed (just boil cream & water & then add in the powdered gravy mix) but I still did it & it could be eaten.. & I made the mashed potatoes & buttered broccoli frm scratch, so there =p
Supernatural's now on Channel 5 & I must say it's a pretty interesting show, sth different frm the usual.. Survivor's gonna be on later & even tho' it's gone thru so many seasons & does get quite dull, it's still the bitchiness & dirtiness of the game tt gets to me.. heh heh.. this season's dirty fest is abt to kick in, seeing how everyone want Ozzy out now as he's the strongest since Day 1 & he's the only member of the Hispanic grp left. I'm also looking forward to the return of Grey's Anatomy (hopefully I won't get too busy to catch it) & the Ghost Whisperer & the debut of Ugly Betty.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Happy Happy.. heh heh
Pay day finally came in today (^_^) It's finally gd to have sth in the account, plus I got to set some money once again back into my private account, which I'm trying to not touch the money in there. Funny how it takes so long before money comes in & very soon it goes out again really quick, having to deal with installment payments, household stuff, bills, etc... Not too mention how much I need to spend travelling to and fro for my outside classes.. sure I get to claim the fares being a full-time teacher but heck, frm the time I submit the forms til the time it gets approved, I'll be poorer by that huge amount, which could at times total up to about a 100 bucks.. bleah
It's Thurs night & I'm slowly relishing it.. tmr I can sleep in.. heh heh.. & recharge my energies to jump start on Sun right thru' to Thurs. Last yr I found it strange having 2 offdays back-to-back & was told to enjoy it while I have it.. it was only until this yr tt I realise why my collegues tell me it's better to have back-to-back offdays. We really need 2 straight days to recharge everything we've spent the past 5 days.. lol.. Soon it'll be Feb & things will pick up even more with it becoming mid-term. At least I'll have a long 5-day break becos of the CNY celebrations, which falls right after my offdays.. it really couldn't get any better =) I'm gonna hit hard working this whole yr & then relish my 20 Annual Days leave, plus some extra non-teaching leave days come yr end... hmm.. wonder where should I go this yr.. tee hee.. Oh well, shall dream all abt tt every night when I sleep so I get motivated to pull thru the crazy yr.
ALL THE BEST TO ME!!!!
It's Thurs night & I'm slowly relishing it.. tmr I can sleep in.. heh heh.. & recharge my energies to jump start on Sun right thru' to Thurs. Last yr I found it strange having 2 offdays back-to-back & was told to enjoy it while I have it.. it was only until this yr tt I realise why my collegues tell me it's better to have back-to-back offdays. We really need 2 straight days to recharge everything we've spent the past 5 days.. lol.. Soon it'll be Feb & things will pick up even more with it becoming mid-term. At least I'll have a long 5-day break becos of the CNY celebrations, which falls right after my offdays.. it really couldn't get any better =) I'm gonna hit hard working this whole yr & then relish my 20 Annual Days leave, plus some extra non-teaching leave days come yr end... hmm.. wonder where should I go this yr.. tee hee.. Oh well, shall dream all abt tt every night when I sleep so I get motivated to pull thru the crazy yr.
ALL THE BEST TO ME!!!!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Heads up Blues please
Alright, alright.. all u Chelsea haters.. so u laugh & scorn & gloat over the fate of the Blues last night in their match agst Liverpool.. it's alright, u can gloat all u want. Yes, the boys did play some terrible football last night but which teams have never had a terrible match ever? I never expect the Blues to play fab football in every single match 'cos they are only human. Yes, u hate the arrogance of Mourinho & the players.. it's alright.. someone has to be the ultimate hated. What is really funny is that I just read in yesterday's papers that should Ferguson step down frm his post in Man Utd, he had mentioned that he would like for Mourinho to take over his managerial role. Quoted frm the papers: "Ferguson thinks that Mourinho has the charisma, the devil-may-care attitude, and management abilities to take the helm at Old Trafford." & "It is believed that the Old Trafford hierarchy is eyeing Mourinho as the eventual successor to Alex Ferguson." (The New Paper - 20th Jan. 2007)
Ho ho ho.. I can just imagine how it'll be like since Man Utd fans are known to hate Mourinho greatly.. Imagine Mourinho managing their beloved Red Devils.. Ahaha.. U hate his guts when he heads the Blues & then u have him suddenly heading ur fave team... so what feelings should u have? Heh heh..
A pity Chelsea's defence was fluttering badly last night & they deserved having the 2 goals scored agst them.. a pity they couldn't do their fans prouder, the absence of defence -Terry & Carvalho, plus the introduction of Ferreira didn't do any good one bit, creating major confusion instead. One gd thing was the welcome back of 'keeper Cech, who's presence between the posts has been sorely felt. Even with a thick head guard & 3 mths out in action due to recovery, Cech still did extremely well. What was extremely worse for fans was to see the sad act between Drogba & Ballack during their 67th min freekick. My heart ached so badly & I really felt like smacking the boys back into sense. That was an act totally goofed up & unforgiveable.. What were they thinking???? URGH!! Ballack, u're one of my fave German players but WHAT on earth were u doing???? (+_+)
Having the 2 goals so early into the game really sealed everything for the Blues, esp. the 1st goal, a mere 4 mins into the game.. last night's match being such a super crunch one should have had such a blunder at such an early time. Chealsea, I'm ur fan but I have to say this out: "U guys had better start playing the type of game tt u're supposed to be playing. Stop depending on Terry & Carvalho.. U saw in other matches how weak ur defence was so pls pls pls BUCK UP!!! Even the return of Cech can't do much if the rest of u don't put in ur weight & BUCK UP!!! Don't disappoint the fans, Blues!!!
Ho ho ho.. I can just imagine how it'll be like since Man Utd fans are known to hate Mourinho greatly.. Imagine Mourinho managing their beloved Red Devils.. Ahaha.. U hate his guts when he heads the Blues & then u have him suddenly heading ur fave team... so what feelings should u have? Heh heh..
A pity Chelsea's defence was fluttering badly last night & they deserved having the 2 goals scored agst them.. a pity they couldn't do their fans prouder, the absence of defence -Terry & Carvalho, plus the introduction of Ferreira didn't do any good one bit, creating major confusion instead. One gd thing was the welcome back of 'keeper Cech, who's presence between the posts has been sorely felt. Even with a thick head guard & 3 mths out in action due to recovery, Cech still did extremely well. What was extremely worse for fans was to see the sad act between Drogba & Ballack during their 67th min freekick. My heart ached so badly & I really felt like smacking the boys back into sense. That was an act totally goofed up & unforgiveable.. What were they thinking???? URGH!! Ballack, u're one of my fave German players but WHAT on earth were u doing???? (+_+)
Having the 2 goals so early into the game really sealed everything for the Blues, esp. the 1st goal, a mere 4 mins into the game.. last night's match being such a super crunch one should have had such a blunder at such an early time. Chealsea, I'm ur fan but I have to say this out: "U guys had better start playing the type of game tt u're supposed to be playing. Stop depending on Terry & Carvalho.. U saw in other matches how weak ur defence was so pls pls pls BUCK UP!!! Even the return of Cech can't do much if the rest of u don't put in ur weight & BUCK UP!!! Don't disappoint the fans, Blues!!!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Crunch Time
In another hr plus will be a huge crunch match in the EPL - Chelsea vs Liverpool. Urs sincerely here is a Blues fan (yes, aim ur daggers at me & shoot all u please) & have been a Blues fan since the days of Vialli, Zola & Gullit around sometime in 1996-1997. Back then my fave player was Vialli & what I fondly remember was always being on the lookout for his bald head in matches.. heh heh
Chelsea Team 2004/2005
Vialli in action, proudly wearing the Blues jersey
So yes, it's been abt 10 yrs now that I've supported the Blues.. what gets me mad is when some people say that I'm a Blues fan only after Roman Abramovich bought over the club & the Blues started spending obsence amount of money on players. I've been supporting the Blues in their up & down times & even tho I might not have been an all out massive fan, they still had my support. Sure, we might have taken 50 yrs before we finally won the League Title in the 2004/2005 season (& again in the next season) but at least there were other trophies - the FA Cup in 1997 under Gullit & in 2000 under Vialli, the Europe Cup Winners Cup in 1998 & the Super Cup that same yr, the League Cup in 1998 (& then in 2005) & the Charity Shield in 2000.
Today sees a major match & I'm hoping the Blues put all the rumors that are causing major unrest in the club aside & give all they've got tonight agst Liverpool. I know that Cech's back in his fitness form but doubt Mourinho will have him between the posts tonight. I will never forget that night Stephen Hunt rammed into him extremely hard, causing the poor guy to suffer a fracture skull. Now he has to wear a special head guard if he's playing. Thank god, he's great on the road to recovery!! May the Blues boys play one great match tonight & make their fans mighty proud of them. I know that there're tons out there who hate their guts, Abramovich's wealth, Mourinho's arrogance but I don't care, I'll continue supporting the Blues & may they win the League Title once more. Even if they don't, I must say that they've held on well seeing that they've been without both their 1st & 3nd choice 'keepers due to serious injuries & were without their captain - Terry for some time. No matter how much others in the world hate u guys, u've still got a Blues fan in me (^_^)
Chelsea Team 2004/2005
Thinking Back...
Yeah, I know it's already 2007 & it's almost a mth since I returned frm my trip to Shanghai but I still do think abt it often.. the trip left a gd impression & plus it had been some time since I had really enjoyed myself during the holidays. Since this is a new blog that I've started, I guess it'll be nice to have some shots of the great holiday I've had.. hee hee..
It was tiring having to check into a different hotel every night and back out again the next morning but tt was still minor.. lol.. I learnt many things on my trip & also spent every cent that I had changed for my trip. I bought quite a few 1st things on this trip (my 1st ever teapot set - don't know why but I just had to buy one, a jade pendant & a Chinese novel of the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms') & never felt so gd spending all my money.. haha.. of course I felt the burn when I came home but I still felt gd =p I had read the story of the 'Three Kingdoms' when I was much younger but they were a Chinese-English comic version novel unlike this one I bought in China.. this one is the real deal with tons of Chinese words & I can proudly say that I have read 2 chapters since the beginning of this yr. Man, those prints & words made my eyes swim & yeah, my Mandarin's pretty blah.. haha.. still I aim to perserve & carry on reading even if it takes me years to complete. I even ate smelly beancurd when in China, sth which I had never EVER done so here in Singapore.. it must have been the been air & environment that gave me the courage for that.. LMAO
The family at Wuxi
Nanjing's City Wall
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Macho Males.. LOL
With Xiao Yao Ge, our tour guide
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Drinking Buddies
(Dec. 20th 2006)
Friday, January 19, 2007
TGFI
Finally another post to my blog... had major problems with my pc (it kept shutting down & then turning back on again & then repeating the whole darn process... it had a spirit of its own or some sort.. plus I could never reopen those files I saved on Word.. Grrr...) so I couldn't do any blogging the past 2 days. Now that I've gotten my lappy back, I can work more at ease at home.
So.. I made it to the gym on Wednesday & even tho' I've not been to the gym since the start of the sch holidays last yr, I was thankfully not too out of shape.. lol.. 20 mins each on the cycle & ski machine, 10 mins on the row machine & another 10 odd mins with the Universal Gym, so that meant I had a gd workout & survived (^_^) I had to take over new teaching duties on Thursday morning in addition to my afternoon classes so Thursdays will now be longer work days too. Besides that, just got news via my email that my Mondays will be extended too!!! Urgh!!! I'm so stretched out!!! My company's looking to hire new teachers, so whoever is applying, please do so soon to help ease my workload!!! Mondays: 8.30am-12.30pm at Turf & 2pm-6pm at IJ Toa Payoh, Tuesdays: 9.20am-2.05pm at GIIS & 4.45pm-6.15pm at the Centre, Wednesdays: 3pm-4.30pm at the Centre & 5pm-6.30pm: Meeting, Thursdays: 8.45am-10.30am at Turf & 1.35pm-3.35pm at GIIS & Sundays: 9.30am-3pm at the Centre.. Whoa!!! & this is not including my travel time & lesson planning time.. GULP!! I'm really valuing my off-days this yr.. lol
So far classes have been alright.. criers have stopped, there's lots of fun, usual problems at some places (nothing can change this.. blah).. just got a little thrown off teaching the Nursery 1 classes at Turf on Thursday. The children are so different from those I have at the Centre.. they were all (& I mean ALL) over the place (one class had 3 teachers sitting in & a fellow collegue had 5!!) It was unbelieveable.. haha.. & they were all still very very young, had to hold their faces to have them look at me even for 5 secs. My mentor says that classes will take a real while before I can really get anything out.. lol.. Oh dear!!
Hmm.. it was nice sleeping in late today felt totally rested.. & a gd thing tmr can be the same.. hee hee.. I've been keeping to the "Most important to sleep between 11pm-1am" theory during my working days & so far I've been doing as stated. Seems that our body's vital detoxification processes take place during these 2 hrs so if we remain awake during this time, the toxins accumulate in our body, acclelerating aging & eventually causing illness. Maybe that's why I've been falling sick often last yr but it's so hard to sleep by then.. lol.. see, when I'm off I stay awake (just like now.. it's 12.41am) Bleah.. well, I still have about 15 mins left til 1am but it's not like tt's gonna help.. haha.. oh well, looks like I'll age a little more tonight as well =p
So.. I made it to the gym on Wednesday & even tho' I've not been to the gym since the start of the sch holidays last yr, I was thankfully not too out of shape.. lol.. 20 mins each on the cycle & ski machine, 10 mins on the row machine & another 10 odd mins with the Universal Gym, so that meant I had a gd workout & survived (^_^) I had to take over new teaching duties on Thursday morning in addition to my afternoon classes so Thursdays will now be longer work days too. Besides that, just got news via my email that my Mondays will be extended too!!! Urgh!!! I'm so stretched out!!! My company's looking to hire new teachers, so whoever is applying, please do so soon to help ease my workload!!! Mondays: 8.30am-12.30pm at Turf & 2pm-6pm at IJ Toa Payoh, Tuesdays: 9.20am-2.05pm at GIIS & 4.45pm-6.15pm at the Centre, Wednesdays: 3pm-4.30pm at the Centre & 5pm-6.30pm: Meeting, Thursdays: 8.45am-10.30am at Turf & 1.35pm-3.35pm at GIIS & Sundays: 9.30am-3pm at the Centre.. Whoa!!! & this is not including my travel time & lesson planning time.. GULP!! I'm really valuing my off-days this yr.. lol
So far classes have been alright.. criers have stopped, there's lots of fun, usual problems at some places (nothing can change this.. blah).. just got a little thrown off teaching the Nursery 1 classes at Turf on Thursday. The children are so different from those I have at the Centre.. they were all (& I mean ALL) over the place (one class had 3 teachers sitting in & a fellow collegue had 5!!) It was unbelieveable.. haha.. & they were all still very very young, had to hold their faces to have them look at me even for 5 secs. My mentor says that classes will take a real while before I can really get anything out.. lol.. Oh dear!!
Hmm.. it was nice sleeping in late today felt totally rested.. & a gd thing tmr can be the same.. hee hee.. I've been keeping to the "Most important to sleep between 11pm-1am" theory during my working days & so far I've been doing as stated. Seems that our body's vital detoxification processes take place during these 2 hrs so if we remain awake during this time, the toxins accumulate in our body, acclelerating aging & eventually causing illness. Maybe that's why I've been falling sick often last yr but it's so hard to sleep by then.. lol.. see, when I'm off I stay awake (just like now.. it's 12.41am) Bleah.. well, I still have about 15 mins left til 1am but it's not like tt's gonna help.. haha.. oh well, looks like I'll age a little more tonight as well =p
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
The Dangers of Sugar
Yep, I've mentioned I was gonna be posting abt why I've been working on trying to have less sugar in my system.. this site basically explains why & I've taken the opportunity to post this all for easy viewing if any is interested.
76 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health
Contributed by Nancy Appleton, Ph.DAuthor of the book Lick The Sugar Habit
In addition to throwing off the body's homeostasis, excess sugar may result in a number of other significant consequences. The following is a listing of some of sugar's metabolic consequences from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications.
1) Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.
2) Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
3) Sugar can cause can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4) Sugar can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.
5) Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.
6) Sugar feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.
7) Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose and can cause reactive hypoglycemia.
8) Sugar can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption in patients with functional bowel disease, increased risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
9) Sugar can cause premature aging.
10) Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
11)Sugar can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay, and periodontal disease.
12) Sugar contributes to obesity.
13) Sugar can cause autoimmune diseases such as: arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis.
14) Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)
15) Sugar can cause gallstones.
16) Sugar can cause appendicitis.
17) Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
18) Sugar can cause varicose veins.
19) Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.
20) Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
21) Sugar can cause a decrease in your insulin sensitivity thereby causing an abnormally high insulin levels and eventually diabetes.
22)Sugar can lower your Vitamin E levels.
23) Sugar can increase your systolic blood pressure.
24)Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
25) High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar molecules attaching to and thereby damaging proteins in the body).
26) Sugar can interfere with your absorption of protein.
27) Sugar causes food allergies.
28)Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
29) Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
30) Sugar can cause atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
31) Sugar can impair the structure of your DNA.
32) Sugar can change the structure of protein and cause a permanent alteration of the way the proteins act in your body.
33) Sugar can make your skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
34) Sugar can cause cataracts and nearsightedness.
35) Sugar can cause emphysema.
36) High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in your body.
37) Sugar lowers the ability of enzymes to function.
38) Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson's disease.
39) Sugar can increase the size of your liver by making your liver cells divide and it can increase the amount of liver fat.
40) Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney such as the formation of kidney stones.
41) Sugar can damage your pancreas.
42) Sugar can increase your body's fluid retention.
43) Sugar is enemy #1 of your bowel movement.
44) Sugar can compromise the lining of your capillaries.
45) Sugar can make your tendons more brittle.
46) Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
47) Sugar can reduce the learning capacity, adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders.
48) Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves which can alter your mind's ability to think clearly.
49) Sugar can cause depression.
50) Sugar can increase your risk of gout.
51) Sugar can increase your risk of Alzheimer's disease.
52) Sugar can cause hormonal imbalances such as: increasing estrogen in men, exacerbating PMS, and decreasing growth hormone.
53) Sugar can lead to dizziness.
54) Diets high in sugar will increase free radicals and oxidative stress.
55) High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.
56) High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration and is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
57) Sugar is an addictive substance.
58) Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
59) Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
60) Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
61) Your body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.
62) The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
63) Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
64) Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
65) Sugar can slow down the ability of your adrenal glands to function.
66) Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.
67) I.V.s (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to your brain.
68) Sugar can weaken eyesight.
69) Sugar increases your risk of polio.
70) High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
71) Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
72) In intensive care units: Limiting sugar saves lives.
73) Sugar may induce cell death.
74) In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44 percent drop in antisocial behavior.
75) Sugar dehydrates newborns.
76) Sugar can cause gum disease.
______________________________________________________________________
All these are frm the site http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm and every claim has a reference made.. honestly, it does carry osme truth, so what do u think?
76 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health
Contributed by Nancy Appleton, Ph.DAuthor of the book Lick The Sugar Habit
In addition to throwing off the body's homeostasis, excess sugar may result in a number of other significant consequences. The following is a listing of some of sugar's metabolic consequences from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications.
1) Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.
2) Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
3) Sugar can cause can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4) Sugar can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.
5) Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.
6) Sugar feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.
7) Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose and can cause reactive hypoglycemia.
8) Sugar can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption in patients with functional bowel disease, increased risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
9) Sugar can cause premature aging.
10) Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
11)Sugar can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay, and periodontal disease.
12) Sugar contributes to obesity.
13) Sugar can cause autoimmune diseases such as: arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis.
14) Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)
15) Sugar can cause gallstones.
16) Sugar can cause appendicitis.
17) Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
18) Sugar can cause varicose veins.
19) Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.
20) Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
21) Sugar can cause a decrease in your insulin sensitivity thereby causing an abnormally high insulin levels and eventually diabetes.
22)Sugar can lower your Vitamin E levels.
23) Sugar can increase your systolic blood pressure.
24)Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
25) High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar molecules attaching to and thereby damaging proteins in the body).
26) Sugar can interfere with your absorption of protein.
27) Sugar causes food allergies.
28)Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
29) Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
30) Sugar can cause atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
31) Sugar can impair the structure of your DNA.
32) Sugar can change the structure of protein and cause a permanent alteration of the way the proteins act in your body.
33) Sugar can make your skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
34) Sugar can cause cataracts and nearsightedness.
35) Sugar can cause emphysema.
36) High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in your body.
37) Sugar lowers the ability of enzymes to function.
38) Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson's disease.
39) Sugar can increase the size of your liver by making your liver cells divide and it can increase the amount of liver fat.
40) Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney such as the formation of kidney stones.
41) Sugar can damage your pancreas.
42) Sugar can increase your body's fluid retention.
43) Sugar is enemy #1 of your bowel movement.
44) Sugar can compromise the lining of your capillaries.
45) Sugar can make your tendons more brittle.
46) Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
47) Sugar can reduce the learning capacity, adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders.
48) Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves which can alter your mind's ability to think clearly.
49) Sugar can cause depression.
50) Sugar can increase your risk of gout.
51) Sugar can increase your risk of Alzheimer's disease.
52) Sugar can cause hormonal imbalances such as: increasing estrogen in men, exacerbating PMS, and decreasing growth hormone.
53) Sugar can lead to dizziness.
54) Diets high in sugar will increase free radicals and oxidative stress.
55) High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.
56) High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration and is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
57) Sugar is an addictive substance.
58) Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
59) Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
60) Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
61) Your body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.
62) The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
63) Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
64) Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
65) Sugar can slow down the ability of your adrenal glands to function.
66) Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.
67) I.V.s (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to your brain.
68) Sugar can weaken eyesight.
69) Sugar increases your risk of polio.
70) High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
71) Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
72) In intensive care units: Limiting sugar saves lives.
73) Sugar may induce cell death.
74) In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44 percent drop in antisocial behavior.
75) Sugar dehydrates newborns.
76) Sugar can cause gum disease.
______________________________________________________________________
All these are frm the site http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm and every claim has a reference made.. honestly, it does carry osme truth, so what do u think?
1st call to order =)
I do wonder what I am doing here, trying out my hand at having a blog.. heh heh.. have failed before and the one I have in Friendster is kind of like my fairweather blog but somehow something pulled my hands to create an account here. Maiden attempt? Not exactly but maiden attempt in trying to see how long I can keep this alive.. lol.. honestly, why do I do such things to bore ppl? Heck, I dunno =p
So here I am, no promises to have it updated daily, no promises to thrill ur eyes, no promise to wow but just a simple promise to be me.. all me, 100%, no artifical flavourings.. heh heh =p Well, it has been officially 16 days into 2007, so far so gd.. didn't have any resolutions exactly 'cos hey, why disappoint myself so early when I see myself not keeping up at them... hee.. What I've made it a point to do so far (not really resolution-y type is 1) To drink more water (unbelieveable but true.. lol) 2) Visit the gym regularly (heck, my company pays Hilton Gym 10k a yr for our membership, so hell why not??) 3) Have less sugar in my system (u'll find ou why in my next post) & 4) Not fall sick often.
Now with No. 1, I've succeed quite a bit, which led to more loo visits.. haha.. No. 2 will begin tmr (hope it keeps up.. heh heh) No. 3? I've not been taking soft drinks the past 2 wks & only popping sweets in once in a while (HEY!! It's hard alright.. I need some sweet in my life sometimes.. bleah) As for No. 4.. sigh.. sadly I have failed in that aspect.. just a wk & a half into work I've fallen ill to the evill flu & cough bug (URGH!!) Seems lilke it's a genetic thing abt me easily catching a flu & cough & taking a long time to recover (MUMMY... u suffer the same, it's u!!!!) This was told to me in confidence by a doctor I saw.. haha..
Phoo... *exhaled breath* I'm currently stretched 3-ways at work (pls let me survive this!!) It's tough trying to juggle 3 different sectors in work (outside schools, centre classes & the centre's kindergarten classes) but I have faith (do I?) that I can weather this. My 1st yr as a REAL teacher( just got officially promoted.. hee hee) & already thrown to the pool's deep-end.. twice actually since before I became a teacher I had to pilot my company's 1st unaccompanied Nursey 1 classes. I'm really glad to have made a company switch because this move saw me finally getting away frm being in the background to finally being able to teach children Speech and Drama =)
Classes have been great, those with criers, I've waited on held breath to pull thru' & yes, I did!! Today's Nursery 2 class really boosted my spirits because all the little kiddos were crying so hard during last week's class & refused to part with their mums.. today however, class was a blast with no criers. I almost went into class biting my nails.. lol.. so that was a great confidence booster *G* I honestly am feeling gd abt what I have now so just have to be brave, step forth & fight on!!!
So here I am, no promises to have it updated daily, no promises to thrill ur eyes, no promise to wow but just a simple promise to be me.. all me, 100%, no artifical flavourings.. heh heh =p Well, it has been officially 16 days into 2007, so far so gd.. didn't have any resolutions exactly 'cos hey, why disappoint myself so early when I see myself not keeping up at them... hee.. What I've made it a point to do so far (not really resolution-y type is 1) To drink more water (unbelieveable but true.. lol) 2) Visit the gym regularly (heck, my company pays Hilton Gym 10k a yr for our membership, so hell why not??) 3) Have less sugar in my system (u'll find ou why in my next post) & 4) Not fall sick often.
Now with No. 1, I've succeed quite a bit, which led to more loo visits.. haha.. No. 2 will begin tmr (hope it keeps up.. heh heh) No. 3? I've not been taking soft drinks the past 2 wks & only popping sweets in once in a while (HEY!! It's hard alright.. I need some sweet in my life sometimes.. bleah) As for No. 4.. sigh.. sadly I have failed in that aspect.. just a wk & a half into work I've fallen ill to the evill flu & cough bug (URGH!!) Seems lilke it's a genetic thing abt me easily catching a flu & cough & taking a long time to recover (MUMMY... u suffer the same, it's u!!!!) This was told to me in confidence by a doctor I saw.. haha..
Phoo... *exhaled breath* I'm currently stretched 3-ways at work (pls let me survive this!!) It's tough trying to juggle 3 different sectors in work (outside schools, centre classes & the centre's kindergarten classes) but I have faith (do I?) that I can weather this. My 1st yr as a REAL teacher( just got officially promoted.. hee hee) & already thrown to the pool's deep-end.. twice actually since before I became a teacher I had to pilot my company's 1st unaccompanied Nursey 1 classes. I'm really glad to have made a company switch because this move saw me finally getting away frm being in the background to finally being able to teach children Speech and Drama =)
Classes have been great, those with criers, I've waited on held breath to pull thru' & yes, I did!! Today's Nursery 2 class really boosted my spirits because all the little kiddos were crying so hard during last week's class & refused to part with their mums.. today however, class was a blast with no criers. I almost went into class biting my nails.. lol.. so that was a great confidence booster *G* I honestly am feeling gd abt what I have now so just have to be brave, step forth & fight on!!!
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