this is what i call 'surprise'

Waterfront, Kuching.
Dewan Undangan Negeri at the back.


i was away in Kuching from the 8th til 12th morning. we left school on the 7th and went on a crazy 6.5 hours of bus ride from LD to KK. The night spent there was - ahem, kind of pathetic, i must say. That's where i realised how homey my 'home' has been to me.

Before the whole basketball thingy, i wasn't really hoping to win big. i was just hoping that we at least maintain the 3rd placing. ok, i secretly did hope that we can win, or come in second in place and got sent as representative of the sabah/swak/labuan (SQL zone).

and then, there comes the news that only the champion will be sent as representative. haih. the chances is even slimmer because in view of the opponent teams and the girls' level... what's left for us? :(

whatever it is, i told them.. just go and see how things unfold themselves.

this is the first game on the 9th, against Sains Labuan, under the hot sun. our match was scheduled to start at 11 but it delayed til 11-ish and ended at about 1.30pm. we won 31-29.


it's not easy to be the coach. the students played all out. i have to think of the strategy to defend and counter attack. i have to think who to substitute because they got tired easily under the hot sun. whoosh. and that labuan coach kept shouting to his players 'PRESS PRESS PRESS!!!!!!!!!!!'

sheeesshhh.......

the first victory was sweet. a sweet surprise. :)

after the 2nd match of the day. we played against Sains Miri and menang tipis, 25-24. front row, the girl in front of the one with the ball was our 'saviour'.

we started of very well, leading the game with quite a few points apart til the 3 quarter. 20-18. 20-20. 22-20. 22-22. 24-22. at the last minute, we were at a tie of 24-24. I was practically shouting at those in the court, trying to restrategise to keep miri from scoring.

I was like, "How can we lose this game when we started of so well????!!"

And then in the last 15 seconds, the saviour-girl was given two free shots. She missed the first one. all pressure was on her.
second shot - YIPPIE!! she did it!!

and a few seconds later, there goes the whistle!

second victory in a day. Double the sweetness.
bad news, one of my main players sprained her ankle and we have another important match the next day.
sigh. the whole night i was thinking "what to do, what to do?"
"how how how?"

i don't have pictures of the 3rd match. we played against Sains Sabah. the points were quite tight, and the girl who sprained her ankle requested that i put her into the match. i hesitated. she said she can wait near the ring and shoot once she got the ball. and it worked tremendously well. we had a good lead by the second quarter until the 3 quarter. Gee, what's with the number 3?
At the middle of 3 quarter, it began to drizzle. the court got wet and slippery. the whole game had to slow down and that actually gave us great advantage. the opponents have no way to close in the gap and we won 22-14.

We knew we won't be able to win the fourth and last match, against Sains Kuching. We lost 14-42. Our aim is not be 'goreng-ed'. That score wasn't too bad, but it could be better.

after the last match against Sains Kuching. The students were happy. So am I.

All the victories were surprises to all of us, albeit we're still disappointed that runner up will not be sent as reps like those previous years.

we're prepared that this would be the end of our basketball journey for the year 2011 and shall do better next year.

We had a closing ceremony on the 11th night. By the end of the ceremony, that's when they announced another surprise. They have decided that the champion and the runner up will be sent to the peninsular in May for national basketball competition of all residential schools.
ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:)

we couldn't believe our ears and we kept asking each other is that real.

all we can say is..

"PERCAYALAH"

at KKIA. a jump of victory.

there's going to be lots of hard work once the holiday is over. basketball trainings will be the priority besides going in for classes. extra bio classes. etc etc etc.

this trip has taught me to percaya.
believe and have faith.

知足常乐

i don't know why they translated that into 'we care, we grow, we grow together'.

contentment brings happiness.

this was taken last Sunday, before picking up my housemate from the airport. i actually wanted to take picture of the plane landing on the air strip. so i stopped the car by the roadside and waited for the plane. so cool, right? the adrenaline rush was awesome. my heart beat so fast as the plane began to land.

:)

i didn't get any nice touching down shots but i got this.
contentment brings happiness.


it's something of positive encouragement but my eyes see only jimo-ness,
especially after changing that into black and white.

i do not want to get 'over-contented' and end up being stuck at the same place for the rest of my life.
how should i strike the balance?

school life has been super busy ever since the year started. last week was the worst week i ever had. it was disappointing and i was utterly disgusted by how some situations turned out to be. i tried to be helpful and i ended up being back-stabbed, being accused as an irresponsible teacher. it became my fault. how could they? it was really sickening. i could feel my heart being squeezed out of its blood the moment i heard about the 'story' that was being circulated. gosh. i couldn't believe how brainlessly unhelpful some people are, everything also i don't know i don't know. tell me, what do you know? it's really tiring. i work as a teacher, i don't sell myself into this profession. don't drive me around and make me your slave, oh you pharaoh! to teach is to touch a life forever. that can be true if you are doing things out of your freewill. with the kind of system i am in - it killed my joy, it robbed my passion, it poisoned my mind, it sapped all my strength, it crushed my spirit, it shrunk my mind.

that's the problem in this system.

i will be in KK next monday, and then in Kuching from tuesday til friday for basketball competition. And awesome, i will be going for my 2nd Kundasang road trip right after my Kuching trip. i'm hoping to get nicer pictures after having known how the place is like and with some better plannings. go to kinabalu park. go to the cow place. go for sunrise.

:)

we are all survivors in our own THM situations.

the cycle.

You are a slave under the tyranny of the pharaoh. You are a robot with amazing abilities to multitask. You are made from steel. You run on battery that is WAY beyond the power of Energizer. You don't know the meaning of 'getting/feeling tired'. You are married to the school and the students are your children and your colleagues are your in-laws, sharing the same husband and having the same kids. You have no life other than giving all your heart, soul, mind, strength,and time to the school. Your favourite pastime is doing kerja amal. You are selfless. You are dedicated. You desire no rewards, nor appreciation.

You have a sincere heart.

But you are also like a piece of meat on the chopping board. You live under the mercy of the one holding the knife. You are not to stand up and speak up. You are to follow orders and directions. There is no empowerment. There is no enablement. There is little growth, if not no. There's no room for self-discovery but there's plenty of control forces all around.

You are a product of the system and now you are a part of that system.




You were a student.
Now you are a teacher.





The vicious cycle continues.

[The End]

20th and 26th

why am i feeling 'obligated' to post something on my birthday?

:)

thank you for the birthday wishes
i love February.

dilemma

what a day.

#8

:)

smoke gets in your eyes.

The start of the end.

I like counting down.

i have already counted the weeks. 5 weeks (including this week) to March 1 week break. Then another 10 weeks to mid year break.
Well, it's going to be a crazy 16 weeks in that THM place. i told myself that i will give my best shot in the remaining months. like it or not.

and some days ago i saw this.

"Why stay if your heart is elsewhere? With you departing, the vacant space awaits yet another star ready to be groomed and shine"

It's so true.

I am taking the risk.

***

There will be a basketball competition by the end of February. Weekday evenings and weekend mornings will be taken up by the training sessions. Then, there will be some special class for the f5 students who failed their bio during last year's final exam. Then, there will be some weekly extra bio class for f5 students to finish off the syllabus. Then i have to figure out how best to teach f4 Cell Division. Then i have to continue pushing the f2 kids in Maths.

And i have to remind myself - do one thing at a time.

i'll be fine. and you'll be fine too.

holiday

cheers!!
it's Chinese New Year again! :)

i have about 10 days break, minus off the time set aside for traveling to and fro.

cousin's little boy.

about 2 weeks ago. taken using iphone by my cousin, and after being re-sized by facebook. Tried to salvage it a bit by changing it into black and white. healthy little Regan Khaw with daddy's hand.

I shall start planning some photography therapies.

this January

practice makes perfect. 195 is an awesome number.





:)
test me test me.

and i am truly glad that holiday is coming SOON and i can get out from this THM place, although it's just for a week plus!
school -- i am so lazy to talk about school. i realized i have not been blogging about school since it started. OK, maybe i should give a brief update. i am teaching form 2 Maths (AGAIN!) - a boys-only, and a girls-only class; form 4 Bio; form 5 Bio. A total of 18 periods a week. Itu saje. I should be somewhat free but in fact, i feel that i'm busier than before. i guess that's life under the new regime.

whateverlar.

holiday is coming soon. and february will fly pass. and it will be march!
then it's going to be april and soon, may!
and then that's it!
*i hoped, no, i will ensure that!*

i am a rock star, baybeh!

i attended meetings

this is the book i bring along whenever i go for staff meetings. *since last year*


and this is what i do during staff meetings. yes. paying attention. to my world map.

:)

this makes meetings superbly bearable