whoa, super tired after having another round of RT after school. This was on top of helping out in the oral english for one of the classes. Super tired and when i arrived at gardens only to find everything I wanted to eat was closed so horror of horrors i settled for macs =D . which made all the work i do in RT redundant i know heh. So its finally getting to the crossroads where i have to make the decision moving forward or should i continue to look for something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. Honestly I am enjoying interacting with the kids so much that I really want to be around to help them be the best that they can be. The scary thing is that I may not get back to this school; which I guess is out of my hands at the moment. All i can do is pray that the door will be open at the right time. Either way I am 98% sure that I will make the right choice and move forward and impact in whoever's lives are keen to be helped.

That being said, I came across a blog that had fan fiction in it, and was kinda inspired that maybe can start writing short stories here so make it interesting and to add some spice to this otherwise uneventful blog heh

Right now am in the midst of deciding what direction to go with this blog whether to keep it my personal thoughts and reflections or to make it a source of information. Anyways not a big issue as right now, this is quite a quiet blog so will keep it as personal and down to earth as possible without it being too weird. I also will probably keep the mentioning of names to a minimum just in case to keep myself safe. =D will aim to blog more often and try add interesting insights as often as i can

Scary thought, I have come to realization that I need to seriously set time to exercise. I'm the kind of person that tends to put on weight easily but have seen the results that exercise can provide. Well that coupled with proper nutrition of course. For some reason I seem to be able to control my weight a lot easier when I was in NZ and here its like fighting an uphill battle. Zumba lessons are always good but tricky thing is finding the right balance of people in them and these days many of the classes that are available tend to be either far away or cost quite a bit. Well that and the fact that if there are no other guys in the class, I tend to get more self-conscious. There's only some many hip movements that a guy can do before he feels just a little bit awkward. Not to mention belly dance tracks which are now the bane of my existence.

Other than Zumba classes, there's always tacfit or Kettlebell. Both of which are quite efficient but require at least twice a week committments. For the sake of good health ( and IPPT) I need to move my butt to either of these classes. From the time I was 88kg then to 65kg and then settling at 70++, I have now moved to 76kg, and am worried if I dont do something about it, will balloon back to my heaviest.

I'll admit my diet by then wasn't by any measure the healthiest but dropping down to really small meals and of little to no bread, rice, noodles worked. It was really a harsh way to cut down but it worked and right now am weighing the pros and cons of goin back to that way of dieting. Although in SG where food is good, I forsee major obstacles. For the sake of my pants and my wallet. IT HAS TO BE DONE!!!

Something that has been on my mind for some time is the cost of living in singapore. Lately I have heard a lot of news that prices of houses, cars , necessities will be rising slowly but surely. With wages not really goin up as much , makes one a bit concerned about what the future holds. I am thankful that I am gainfully employed and with how the year has gone by, I think I have finally found something that I can see myself doing for a good long time. That being said, chasing the kids for work and marking it is not the most fun thing in the world but seeing them want to improve themselves for the better is something that warms my heart and kinda makes the drama dissolve.. Not totally but for a while.. then it all goes back to normal haha. Such is the life of a teacher, we enjoy the teachable moments and hope that what we do makes a difference to the lives placed under our care.

Other than the joys of teaching, reality is such that while it pays well, will how scarily the prices of housing is going out, it kinda makes me wonder if I will be able to afford my own home at some point. Bearing in mind that I only started working fully properly recently, part of me is worried will I be able to do it? The optimist in me says yes, the pessimist in me says, hmm are u sure you have enough resources.

Which brings me to an interesting idea that a friend of mine put forth to me recently. It is basically running an online business which makes use of the power of the internet to spread the awareness of the product. Before you start bashing it, while initially the idea of it kinda seemed attractive, the eventual result left me thinking more whether it was actually possible rather than being in awe of the seemingly awesome business model that seemed to help individuals with little capital start and be their own bosses. The idea is that using materials provided and with senior that help new distributors, it really seemed like a pretty awesome idea considering that majority of ppl are still resistant to change. Everyone seems to just want to work for someone else and earn well a safe income. While that is not wrong or not good, it makes you wonder is it really possible to break out of that cycle and achieve financial independence? Or are we meant to just work all our lives to pay off our debts and by the time we can retire most of our life has passed us by. For those that are interested to find out what the site is about feel free to check http://www.elusyf2u.com/3151422

and just like that a great time of R & R has ended..

Details are as follows; Friday; flight was in the afternoon so by the time i arrived and checked in, just had time to join the guys for a snack before deciding that we gonna head to a KTV joint to chill and crooon out some tunes. A friend who has been visiting HCM for a year brought some friends along and I hit it off with one of his friends. The problem was that her mandarin was really good and mine was damn pathetic so spent the time half understanding what she was saying. She was cute tho, but after a while it got tiring trying to decipher what she was saying haha. the Bad thing about the night was that the sound system in this high class place kept crashing and so we had to change room three times. Talk about starting the night on a bad note.. Sat; We headed out for lunch then wandered around to await the evening outing. I tried to go shopping but alas with a lack of basic vietnamese it did not go as well as i wanted. I explored around and tried to look for cheap clothes but without anyone to help me bargain i gave up the exercise and met a friend that I knew from last trip from my dad's VN office branch. Dinner went well and managed to find out more about her and vice versa then went to meet up with the boys to chill at a live music bar. Drinks were pretty cheap and the band was pretty good so the night ended pretty well. Sun; I met up with another friend at a local park and had a good catchup over coffee. Lunch was a pho Le. probably one of best places that ive tasted pho and well was really impressed. Night outing was back to same bar but goodness, because the original band was off , we had a local band that almost killed my eardrums. The backing vocals killed everything the lead was doing and the drummer was off time most of the time. Part of me died that night listening to that and to make things worst i didnt drink much so i was sober and really ticked off haha. Monday . oh monday my best day of the trip yet. Did decent amount of exploring of the city and the night whoa, the band was back and they played most of my favourite tunes. And for some reason my friends seemed to pakat with the bartenders to get me wasted. So i drank the most alchy in a long time. Thnkfully no hangover and woke up tuesday still in 1 piece. Tuesday. was supposed to meet a date but due to miscommunication, it did not happen but managed to meet a friend at his office so that was nice. Funny things bout trip was that our hotel was quite cheap and so i kana the room with hot , hotter and scalding water while my friends got rooms with no hot water at all haha. Overall it was a good trip and took time to just rest and relax and reflect on where my life is headed now. meeting new people is a big highlight of it too and getting to know some ppl better just made it even more fulfilling for me. Oh did i mention i ate at a casino too? haha it felt awesome but i was like super out of place haha .

In the twinkle of an eye, term 3 has ended and now comes the calm of the storm and the busyness of term 4 creeps up. thankfully i have a week to unwind and just rest and relax for the time being. In this whole education journey, it has had its shares of ups and downs with the past 2-3 months really putting things into perspective. yes, I have been observing 2 senior teachers and boy has it been an eye opener. From a teacher who can handle 3NT students to a teacher who inspires the graduating express students in EL. This has been an experience and a journey which I continue to learn new things about teaching , inspiring students and building rapport. Before I know it, it will be time for me to decide once and for all where my decision lies. To join the ranks of sg educators, or to pursue teaching elsewhere. I would safely say right now the odds are 80% to go and 20% reservations. Will continue to learn and grow in this journey because well spending time with my kids, make me realise that if and when i get posted to a different school, I will seriously miss these kids a lot. Am I going soft, or is that the teacher in me, wanting the best for my kids?

start of new beginning, exciting times

After a really long hiatus, I have finally decided to return to the bloggers sphere and well this time I promise posts will be more PG and PC =D. Updates I have been teaching for almost 9 months and it has been an interesting journey for me personally as well as in my career wise. Too much to say and need more time to process my thoughts but all in all its been a good year for me thus far. I also have decided to make decisions and plans in motion to plan ahead and not just live for the here and now. further plans will be shared in future posts and blogging will hopefully be something that I will attempt to keep at just to keep my sanity. People arent kidding when they say teachers dont get out much cos honestly for me i daresay i dun have much of a social life as of now cos of the early rises but i guess it will take getting used to. I have found the importance of planning for future so started saving and if all goes well can start investing at some point. Socialising is something that i really need to work on and need to find chances to get out there and meet more people. Ministry wise, there may be changes in the works but thats something that will be covered later. For now this is it. Sports day tmr so gotta turn in now.