Sunday, December 30, 2007

WHAT TO BLOG ABOUT???

Hmmm....wat do ppl blog abt when they have nothing to blog abt?? Their routine life? Their pets? Their dreams? Hahahahaha.... Anyway, supposedly still on holiday, but the kiasu-ism made me start thinking of my microteaching topics liao (mini-teaching of school topics in NIE)... haiz...typical singaporean....

For maths, i've been assigned to teach percentages to sec 1 NT, and for chem, i'll hav to teach "O" level redox... tried doin some research for creative materials to teach it, but haven come up wif sth constructive yet.

For percentages, i've found:
-use 100 squares, colour some red, blue, green, yellow...cyan, magenta, maroon, indigo, blah blah blah and teach de concept of "out of 100"
- Role play, give students a budget of vit M to spend at diff shops wif diff sales and discounts (ermm..might be quite messy to be done in class..haha)
- Use animations and online games on percentages (found a few nice ones, but dun noe if bring students to com lab, wil they end up doin stuff like blogging or chatting instead...LOL)
- Teach by showing students real stats of the votes for Singapore Idol or Star Search, and ask em to analyse de percentages (if i can actually find de real info, or if not juz fake sth out..haha..trying to get into their "world")

For redox, haven really done much yet, but so far, some ideas:
- show a video on "magic" of green leaves in spring turning reddish-brown in autumn in a few minutes (i actually saw tis as a participating entry on chao ji bian bian bian b4 last time...trying to find such a video if possible)
- haven tot of any other more interesting ideas yet :P

Hmmm...last time when i was in sec sch, my tchers din use such methods to teach me lor :( always juz de normal textbook, notes, whiteboard... but i still studied though, guess it's cuz of singaporean kiasu-ism tat kept me goin most of de time...quite sad :( Kids seem more "spoilt" nowadays to need such creative teaching methods to get them interested in studying... maybe de fear of failing "O levels" isn't such a strong pull factor for studying anymore...

Anyway, I once tot of an "interesting" way to intro the topic of trigonometry... which was quite CMI and lame according to my sis..LOL...and i tink i agree too..haha.. here's how it goes....

Remember a Mr Bean show where he took an exam?? He basically tried to cheat throughout cuz there were actually 2 topics to choose to do from in the exam, but he tot there was only 1, and apparently he mistakenly realized tat the topic he studied was not goin to be tested, but the other of the 2 topics (which he din study) was to be tested instead...so obviously he din noe how to do, n tried cheating!! BAD STUDENT!! does it ring a bell?? if not, juz click de link below to view tat video on the show...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV_r7OXPhkI

So, wat i'll do is to let the students watch tat video, and then ask, "So, what is the name of the maths topic which Mr Bean studied on, but he wrongly realized tat it din get tested?" (Basically, the 2 maths topics given as options to choose 1 from in Mr Bean's exam paper are Calculus and Trigonometry) And the correct answer wld be "Trigonometry"....."And so, the topic we'll be starting on today is something tat Mr Bean studied oso - TRIGONOMETRY!!!" (sth lidat lah..LOL)

OK, and i've started laughing at my kinda lame idea of intro-ing trigo to a class... hahaha... and r u laughing too??? lol...

Lyna

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Thoughts.....

Yeah, it's the supposedly snowy time of the year again, Christmas! And the things that come to my mind are presents and christmas carols. Well, what is the best christmas present? (apart from salvation, the gift ot life, definitely) To me, I think the best present is a sincere christmas greeting handshake from family and friends, encouraging each other to serve God more fervently and love Him more. Christmas is actually quite aptly planned to take place towards the end of the year, that we can reflect on our lives, whether it has been glorifying to God, and then, make plans to dedicate our lives to God in the new year to come. :)

So, here are my sincere christmas greetings to some people i really want to wish.

My Family:
Thanks for always being there for me no matter what!

My NIE frens (Philisa, Jiahui, Karen, Wendy, Theresia, Swee Xiang, Shi Hui, Zhi Hui, Hui Min, Rita, juz to name a few):
Thanks for your friendship and encouragements in NIE! May we continue to keep in touch even after we graduate from there. (Which is abt in half a years' time!! Quite fast sia...)

Flang (tis is the real person Flang, not the Flang in "Minnie & Flang"):
Enjoyed chatting wif u lately :) We seem to be in the same plight ya... but anyway, here's an encouragement for u which i received from a friend. Even as we find a life partner, may we also focus more on developing ourselves the way God wants us to be, rather than on the ways of finding the right partner. If we want to find a good partner, should we not also first make ourselves worthy of that partner in God's sight? Hope things will turn out fine for u, :) and it will, if it's in God's will (Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.") ^_^

Keene:
Really enjoyed chatting wif u lately too! Esp musically, scientifically, and academically too! Haha! (He's a student who really studies way way way beyond the textbook, and I won't be surprised if he has better general knowledge than me scientifically..lol) May God direct you in your studies and in the matters of life too. (Psalm 37:4,5 - "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.") ^_^

Uncle Bernard & Aunty Jasmina Moey:
Thanks for giving me the oppotunity to serve as an organist in the church choir! Though challenging at times, it had still always been a joy serving God in this ministry at the end of the day. Somehow for some reason, the english church choir will always be a ministry special to my heart. So may God continue to grant you wisdom and strength to serve Him with your talent and voice! (Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.") ^_^

Nerissa & Mabel (ppl, whom I'm quite surprised, that actually reads my blog, and also to other "cute ppl" out there who consider themselves to be cute...haha):
Thanks for your continuous support...LOL! You are still young and full of energy, so may you use your energy and vigour wisely for God's purpose! (Ecclesiastes 12:1 - "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;" - a verse that adults gave to me when I was once young like u too =) not tat i'm tat old now lah...haha)


Okie, tat's it for now, have a Blessed Christmas, everyone out there reading this! =))

Lyna

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

PRACTISE, PRACTISE, & MORE PRACTICE. FOREVER PRACTISING...

Haha, first of all, I must say that I'm rather surprised that Nerissa reads my blog! And if u're wondering which Nerissa I'm referring to, it's Nerissa Tiong.. haha... tat's de gd thing bout not having a tag board or counter on my blog, u get to give urself a surprise when u realise tat ppl whom u dun expect to read ur blog actually reads it..haha!!! And the good thing is also tat Nerissa cant respond to me here if she wants to.. HAHAHA!!!

Anyway, what I've been doin today and also will be for the next 2 days is practising and practising my organ.

What to do after breakfast? Practise.
What to do after lunch? Practise.
What to do after dinner? Practise.

Hmmm...is this the life of a musician??? Forever practising only. I've been slacking too much, so now I'm paying the price for it... =( And time actually passes quite fast when I'm practising my organ too...and it's a race against time too, only that this tests my coordination instead of application of knowledge...haha...I've been mainly playing the organ using piano scores, something which I'm not really used to reading, cuz it's still quite different from the organ scores i was brought up with.. but i'm still learning lah...no wonder i take quite long to settle a song. Sometimes, i feel tat most church music scores are more piano-centred than organ-centred... but it's not surprising lah, considering the number of ppl who learn piano and those who learn organ. But with God, all things are possible! So hav to jiayou and finish practising all the 8 songs... about 2.75 down! 5.25 more to go!!!!!

Lyna

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Highlight of the Day!!!

Yeah the highlight for today is dinner wof family @ Long Beach Seafood Restaurant in celebration of my belated birthday!!! Yummy!!! Especially the black peppered crab!!! I tink I've reached a higher level in the skill of eating crab.. LOL!!! Somehow, adults like to choose restaurants which serve chinese food for big occassions, instead of dining at restaurants that serve western food. But I can now understand why my parents chose Long Beach!!! The black-peppered crab is simply super delicious!!! Go and try it!

And my mom also gave me a Minnie Mouse soft toy hp holder! Thanks mom! And my sis said that i'm happier to receive that soft toy as b-day present than jewellery...haha, and i tink it's true!!! hahahhahaha....somehow i tink there will always be a part of me that will be child-like... well, it'll help me to stay young at heart. Someone, or rather, Mickey Mouse, once said that he likes Disney stuff to help him stay young at heart (or sth lidat), and i might have been partially influenced by wat he said...haha, well, who knows???

Lyna

Friday, December 14, 2007

My Solitude's Finale - Solitude Day 5 - MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who sent me birthday greetings!! Really appreciate them alot! You guys r awesome for remembering my b-day!!! Which makes me feel guilty cuz i dun always remembers all of ur bdays... =( Well, I thought that i'll be satisfied with the greetings i've received, but i now know that somehow, somewhere deep within my heart longs for birthday wishes from someone, or rather, Mickey Mouse...albeit juz obligingly...something that material gifts can't replace...something that's worth much more than all the material gifts added together... But, oh wells....that's juz life, i guess....

Anyway, back to the activities of Solitude Day 5.....

1) Woken up by a birthday SMS from Uncle Swee Tiong & Aunty Lye Chan!! Glad that they still remembered my b-day! Thanks! They gave me the verses 1 Thess 5 : 16-18, which is a good reminder for me to rejoice, pray, and give thanks to my Lord!

2) Went to buy Chao Kuay Tiao for brunch. Yummy!!!

3) Watch TV and eat... something which i've learnt to multi-task..haha

4) Go for facial!!! Yeah, b-day muz relax!!!! (Can't imagine how someone so easily tickled like me cld endure 20mins of massage..lol)

5) Go for more birthday shopping!! One of the things i bought was a laptop casing, which, when i reached home, realised it's too small for my lappie!!! GASP!! So quickly went back to exchange for a bigger one. Thankfully it all went fine... phew!

6) Did msn catching up....cum waiting for something...haiz....

7) Blog about the finale of my days of solitude (wat i'm doin now)

8) Read Bible

9) Sleep when my hair is dry..haha...and of course, dream of stuff beyond reality...maybe the dream of receiving birthday wishes from someone, or rather, Mickey Mouse, will come...hopefully...no wonder dreams are called dreams....

OK! Tink the chipmunk fever is still on, which makes me happy!!! And for the next few days, one thing's for sure, I'll have to start BIA-ing in full force to practise the carolling and church choir item songs...haven been practising much these few days, thanks to CHIPMUNK FEVER and BIRTHDAY SHOPPING!!!!! So really have to BIA already!

Lord, please grant me wisdom & strength to do it.

Lyna

Solitude Day 4

First of all, thank God for the year-end bonus I've just received =)))) "All good things around us are sent from heav'n above, then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all His love!!!" Now, for Day 4's activities:

1) Wake up to an empty house

2) Watch TV

3) Saw a bee fly into my house... Yeeks!! Waited for like abt 20mins for it to fly out, den closed ALL the windows in my house for the rest of the day...

4) Cook lunch with leftovers =(

5) Do housework while listening to music (orchestral/choral music can distract u as much as pop/rock style music from meditating on the words of a song if your heart is not having the right motive towards listening to a christian song.)

6) Went for the "Meet and Greet Session" with Alvin & the chipmunks!!!! Chipmunks Fever!!!! Took pix wif de 3 of em...pix r below...so malu sia, most of de ppl taking photo wif em r kids or parents wif their kids...i'm like de very very small minority of adults....malu sia... But who cares!!! Chipmunks r tooooooooooooooo CUTE to be missed!!!! The pix below tell it all...LOL!

7) Went shopping for bday presents for myself!!! Yay!!! Initially wanted to get myself a watch, but dun hav nice ones, so ended up treating myself to lingerie...hahaa!

8) Watch TV

9) Msn chatting in btw red wine....whoa....

10) Blog about solitude day 4

11) Read Bible before sleeping (to-do-later)

12) Sleep and dream of dreamz which can only be dreamz.....


Enjoy my chipmunks pix!!!!

Lyna

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Solitude Day 3

Here's Day 3's activities:

1) Woke up and my mind juz wanted to recall and confirm some chemistry concepts..lol...so looked at de chem textbook right after i got out of bed..LOL...

2) Watch TV

3) Go to Macs for lunch followed wif youghurt gelato!!!! Yummy! Sweet mixed with sour!! Best! Probably my next fav ice-cream flavour after rum & raisin!! (tasted spicy ice-cream b4 too!! it was GREAT!!!)

4) Go for waxing... Ouch! Vanity!

5) Went to watch "Alvin & The Chipmunks"!!!!! SOOOOOO CUTE SIA!!!!!!! Alvin wears red and has red eyes. Simon wears blue and has blue eyes. Theodore wears green and has green eyes. Nice contact lenses... LOL!!! BUT STILL SOOOOOO CUTE SIA!!!! ARRRRRR!!!!!!!!! (btw, chipmunk is "hua shu" - "flower mouse" in chinese..haha)

6) Watch TV

7) Cook dinner for mummy & me

8) Watch more TV

9) Read Bible (completed 1 John. Thank God for it!)

10) Do msn cum webcam catching up

11) Blog bout solitude day 3 (wat i'm doin NOW)

12) Maybe continue writing "Minnie & Flang"

13) Sleep wif sweet dreams beyond reality........

Seems like really too much TV..haiz...but chipmunks are still SOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wan to hug one...........

Lyna

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Solitude Day 2

Ok straight to the point for Day 2's activities ya... Think miss loh's been too good a waster of time recently even without stuff like Facebook and Friendster..haha

1) Wake up to an empty house

2) Watch TV

3) Heat up ytd's leftover fried rice for lunch =( tmr muz go n eat some gd food liao..haha

4) Do some housework

5) Practise carolling songs (but not as productive as ytd...)

6) Power Nap

7) Woke up in time to watch TV

8) Felt hungry after that but the ominious sky looks like it's gonna rain heavily, so juz made a simple tea-break snack of bread, cheese, milo at home

9) Tried reading the chem books I bought ytd (but not very productive too...)

10) Listened to the choir songs mp3 on the computer with better speaker

11) Had individual choir practice by singing the alto part along wif the mp3...(i'll only do tat when i'm alone at home)...haha...satisfactorily effective lah....managed to practice 2 songs (O Lord I Will Praise You & The Majesty and Glory of Your Name), which are the only 2 current choir songs which I hav the mp3...haha

12) Mummy bought dinner back, and had early dinner

13) Wash up dishes

14) Watch TV AGAIN!!! (abit too much TV liao lah....)

15) Go for prayer meeting and collected sis n bro's soiled clothes frm camp...lol

16) Do quiet time, read bout Jude and 1 John. Just finished the series on Jude in prayer meeting, so it was good to recap on it during QT =) With false teachings appearing, a christian should build himself up in the faith, pray as guided by the Holy Spirit in the will of God, keep himself in the love of God, look for the mercy of God to have eternal life in Christ, and, keep others who are tempted from falling into the trap of false teachings. Contend for the faith in the midst of false teachings!

17) Continued working on the "Minnie & Flang" story I started writing....trying to be an author, inspired by Low Kay Hwa..haha...btw, the "Flang" bears absolutely no resemblance to my real friend Flang. I wanted a female name starting wif "M", and a unique male name starting wif "F", so "Flang" came to my mind, thanks to my friend, the real Flang, who named himself that..hehe...(Haha...maybe I'll post the completed story on my blog one day....or maybe not...haha who knows?????????????)

18) Play some rice cum vocabulary game in between writing my story...haha thanks to Karen!!! It's at http://www.freerice.com/index.php Try it! Fun but addictive...beware!!!! and keep the dictionaries away to make it more fun!! (dictionary.com included....haha)

19) Blog about Day 2 of my solitude

20) Sleep and dream about things out of my reach in reality


Haha miss loh seems to be able to keep herself satisfactorily well-occupied...hehe..
Nitez......... =)

Lyna

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Solitude Day 1

For the next 5 days, it'll be solitude from morning to evening for me...cuz my sis and bro hav gone for their YF camp for the next 6 days, and my parents wil be at work in the day. So it'll juz me the house and me!!! Not always a bad thing to experience this solitude though...but i tink i've gotten abit too used to solitude and doin stuff alone, to de extent of enjoying the quietness and time to myself, such that company becomes something unwelcomed at times... Guess i experience more solitude than the average person, and according to Le Chatelier's Principle, will there be a day where the equilibrium position will be shifted due to the presence of excess solitude? The day when I get tired of solitude and yearn for company.... sometimes, i do fear that day may come...soon? or in a decade? century? hmmmm.... hope it doesn't come too soon...or else it'll affect the state of dynamic/static equilibrium in my life..(lol...can't decide whether my life is considered as having dynamic or static equilibrium..haha...tink it's dynamic lah...)

Anyway, here's wat happened on day 1 of my period of solitude:

1) Wake up to an empty house

2) Watch TV

3) Cook maggi mee for lunch

4) Practice carolling songs (Wah take on average 20mins to settle one song....quite long..)

5) Felt lost...dunno wat to do next....so went to watch more TV

6) Felt hungry, so went to Long John's Silver for a tea-time snack...(only realised tat i haven draw money yet when i was ordering halfway...haha...but managed to pull it off though..haha...phew!!!)

7) Went shopping at popular to finish using as much of my LDS claims as possible (it's de $400 MOE gives tchers a year to spend on useful resources for our development..haha watch concert oso can claim one leh!!!) Can you believe i spent like $168 on "A" level chemistry books at one go??? guess i'm quite kiasu, really... which makes me left wif $2.57 of LDS claims..lol...any suggestions on how to spend my $2.57?? Have to finish spending it by 31 dec 2007...haha...

8) Come home to cook fried rice for mummy & me

9) Do dishes and washing up

10) Watch the last 15mins of a TV drama (thanks to my slow cleaning up..haha)

11) Submitted my LDS claims online

12) Chatting on msn....realised tat there's 2 weddings on 22nd dec...haha..or maybe even more...izit such a good day?? haha...everyday is a good day if the wedding is according to God's will =)))

13) Blogging bout Day 1 of my solitude (which is wat i'm doin now...)

14) Read Bible and pray (I must rem and be disciplined to do so!!!! wat I hav to do after activity 13..haha)

15) Sleep and dream of things out of my reach in reality.... =((((

Lastly, juz a little something to share... Last Sunday at church choir, I learnt a new song called "The Majesty and Glory of Your Name", and it had been a favourite played over and over again in my ears and head =) Thanks to a fren who gave me a beautifully crafted mp3 (both in lyrics and musically ^_^) of a choir cum instrumental composition of that thought-provoking song! =) It's the line "And what is man that you are mindful of him?" that drew me to the song. It's a song largely based on Psalm 8, mainly from verses 3 to 9 =) The verses certainly brings out the meaning of the song!!

Psalm 8

1: O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3: When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4: What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5: For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6: Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

7: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

8: The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

9: O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Gd Nitey!!!!!

Lyna

Monday, December 3, 2007

"I'll rather do something which i might or might not regret later in life, than to regret not doing it at all..."

Tat's a phrase i once saw on my fren's msn nick, and i tink it's very true to my heart... and de pix below very aptly remind me of tis adage...i noe it's not of very good resolution, but i purposely make it unclear one..haha...maybe i'm too adamant. Too adventurous. Too stubborn. Too persevering to de extent of wasting my time. But i never regretted it! I dun tink i hav anything to lose...so i'm still willing to "waste my time" (if u choose to see it tis way) instead of regretting not "wasting my time" in future...probably these pix r de proof of my adamance, perseverance, stubborn-ness, or, my "waste of time" (which i never tot of it tis way, and never ever will...).....

A farewell gift to someone...

A CD from someone... nice nice songs! =)) (the front)

A CD from someone... (the inside)

A CD from someone... (the back)

A birthday gift to someone and a gift to myself...

Well, I guess there might not be anymore to be added to the collection above, but it's still not a waste of time....I decide whether i'm wasting my time anot...NOT YOU!!! YOU MAY THINK THAT I'M STUBBORN, BUT I HAVE NO REGRETZ!!! =)))

Lyna