Amy treated Vince to lunch so, instead of eating cheap like we usually do, we went a bit more upmarket. Vince chose BrownBox in Gardens which is a little cafe serving pastries and meaty main courses. And possibly creative desserts. Unfortunately, we were in a bit of a hurry otherwise we might have spent a lazy afternoon there sipping tea but work comes first, I guess.

I had the beef stew with buttered rice. Very peppery stew, which I liked, chunky bits of beef in a neat ring surrounding a semi-sphere of fluffy, grainy rice. The stew was tender with occasional fatty bits (to me this is a good thing) and the rice had a delightful texture and consistency. I would have been happier with less to no butter, though, the butter taste was a bit strong and in the combination of cow meat and rice I didn't really need it.

My drink was an Ice Earl, chilled earl grey tea with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream floating around in it. Odd flavour because the two tastes were very distinct from each other and left my mouth confused as to whether I was sensing bitter or sweet. But after the ice-cream fully melted and settled into the tea the combined flavour reminded me of green tea ice-cream, which again is an acquired taste. It takes some getting used to but it becomes addictive when it is appreciated.

Now I want to try the other stuff on the menu -- roast beef on mash, anyone?

I picked up Basapa's Naked Ambition from Popular yesterday to keep me company on the MRT ride home but Roy was with me so I couldn't read it on the train while he was talking to me. That would have been rude. I have read about half-way through now and for a piece of local writing (I have my biases) this corporate parable is quite readable, though not without its flaws.

I bought the book out of curiosity and also because I thought it would be useful to research possible scenarios that might play out in the script for this year's Drama Night production. We have a corporate setting this year and I hoped to gain some insights into the corporate world through Basapa's eyes.

Basapa lays bare the failings of a large multinational adhesive manufacturing corporation, the problems of which appear to be mainly due to several unsavoury characters whose selfish, unprincipled activities are running the company to the ground. It's these characters that Basapa focuses on, imbuing each with a particular animal trait.

Each chapter exposes a specific character's motivations, personality and survival mechanisms in the corporate jungle. Each character is predatory in some way and the office politics, the maneuvering, the posturing, the hunting of each other and the intimidating, browbeating, bullying and killing off of the weaker opponents add up to quite a fun story to read. If the world really was like this, and in many cases it is, companies large and small are very scary places to try survive in.

There are termites and ferrets, bees and pigeons, dogs and foxes, the mongoose and the king cobra, and a menagerie of other beasts who slug it out on a day-to-day basis to see who can rule the roost longest or who can climb/soar the highest. The competition isn't with rival companies steadily eating away at their market share but rather fellow employees and superiors and even underlings who are more of a threat to personal and immediate survival. The company is simply in trouble because the company isn't fulfilling its raison d'etre; there's too much infighting within its staff to make this important thing happen.

This book is a personal survival manual in the harsh corporate environment. You can use it to identify yourself and your habits, identify who your most immediate predators or competitors are and then work out counter-measures for yourself to ensure you're not someone else's lunch because you weren't careful. Alternatively, this book may also help the organization understand why it's having a hard time in the market and do something about it, to refocus everyone on who the real opponent is, staunch the bleeding and press on with renewed confidence before it's too late. Maybe.

These are human-animal stories, hence they are parables; yet in the telling of a story in which things happen because of some careful plan being put into action, there is also an unfair amount of things conveniently falling into place, or at least lacking in thoroughness of explanation.

Up to a point I really hate this story though I can't tell if it's because the characters are such a bunch of jerks that they all deserve to be lined up and shot or because the narration tends to be didactic with a specific moral accompanying each chapter, like the reader can't derive a personal opinion by himself. Sometimes, the moral doesn't even seem to match its chapter very well.

Anyway, now I know why I left the corporate world and, more importantly, I think I have some ideas for tomorrow's rehearsal.

Where were the women? Charlotte's out of town, Tina's attending a cremation (no kidding!), and the others (whatever their names are)? Maybe bad weather? Busy schedule? Whatever. Tonight found an unusually all-guy group at our Monday workshop and what a testosterone charged workout session it was.

6 guys stretching and toning, curling and uncurling, rolling and unrolling, practicing Tour Eiffels, and playing a couple of improv mime games. Straighten you spine now, move your whole body as a unit, rock gently forward and back, work that inch-below-the-navel, remember to breathe... Now that's a male bonding session -- grrawf! :-P

I guess the longer I stay with this group, the more committed I will be to the open rehearsal production being staged later this year. And why not? After all, if I'm going to head the drama club, I'd better have a production or two to show for it. Practice what I preach or I'm going to lose my credibility sooner or later. And my confidence as well. I want to attach students to theatre companies for work experience, so why should they have all the fun?

Amongst the new faces tonight, it was nice to see Roy again whom I haven't seen in years. He too hasn't been working out with the group for a long time choosing to work mainly on his own. But, as he says, we have to go back occasionally to work with people again or lose sight of our purpose or focus, and to gain new ideas from the interaction of like-minded folks. Nice to hear exactly my thoughts articulated by some other independent individual. It's like confirmation that I should be where I am. Reassuring.

National Stadium was packed but I watched the big game at home. Isn't that just like Singaporeans, turning up in numbers when the chances of victory are high, and not bothering when our team slumps? Fair-weather fans all, me included because my TV was on tonight with me glued to the screen.

OK, so we won 2-1, final aggregate 5-2, quite a convincing scoreline though we might have finished in much better circumstances if Iskander had kept his cool and not have got himself sent off in the dying minutes of the game. After the sending-off fiascoes of the Myanmar and Indonesia (first-leg) games in which we continued playing fair regardless, it's a bit of a let down to see a red-carding of our own player on our own pitch during the final game of the tourney. Captain, some more.

We haven't had much to celebrate over Singapore soccer for a long time so coming up tops in an Asian championship is kinda' sweet, but we're still a long way away from S Korea and Japan. We've done some things right, there's still lots to do left if we want to play entertaining, smooth-flowing, top-notch, goal-scoring soccer, but a win is a win. So let's party our brains out tonight, rest up tomorrow, and start training again on Tuesday.

Congrats, Lions!

To be fair, there isn't much to complain about as far as my life is concerned but if there's one thing I would bitch about is that I've always been and will probably remain transportationally challenged.

Every schoolboy rides a bicycle. At least all my friends did. But Dad wanted to teach me some good values -- the value of money, in particular -- and so I was obliged to save up for my own ride. He had no objections to me having a bike, but I would have to use my own money for it. Until then, after a couple of disastrous attempts at riding pillion, I had to content myself running behind my so-called "best buds'" bikes, at least until air bags became standard safety equipment on two-wheelers.

I never gave up on my dream of owning a bike one day. Back then my daily allowance was a little more than half a dollar, so I put my pennies faithfully into a little savings box anticipating the day my little acorns into big oaks grew. I began my savings plan in Sec 1 and by late Sec 3 I had accumulated just enough to make my scrimping pay off. I got a pretty solid fire-engine red machine for $99 and after a couple of rounds around the block the training wheels came off and I was free, independent and feeling the breeze run through my hair. What a rush!

The euphoria was short lived though. No, the bike didn't get crushed by a passing bus, nothing as dramatic as that. It's just that Sec 4 soon rolled round the corner and I was mostly confined at home to study for the all important 'O' levels. While my mind rotted under the influence of irrelevant textbooks, my bike rusted away through neglect never to be ridden again. The corroded heap was one day sold for scrap and I don't remember receiving any part of the proceeds.

Mom's favourite threat was that if I didn't study, I would never afford a car and would always watch enviously on the sidewalk as all my friends drove past me. I wonder if she could predict 4D numbers with such accuracy? Maybe I should ask her.

I think back to my uni days and the time I passed my driving theory simply because I happened to be accompanying a friend to take his driving test and I happened to be standing in the wrong line while waiting for him. To pass the time I picked up a driving manual and was perusing it at leisure while the line kept pushing me forward and towards the cashier to whom I was too embarrased to protest that I wasn't lining up to pay test fees. So based on what I had flipped through earlier, I took the test and passed. The practical test was even easier: once around the block, one competent parallel park, and "Congratulations, please stand at the wall for your ugly DMV licence photo." I've had my driving licence for years, just no car to go with it.

This no-car thing is a serious handicap to a guy's social life. I can think of potential girlfriends I have lost because of my disability. "Jack's got a car, I think I'll go out with Jack." Or Tony, or Adrian, or Mike, or.... It isn't just the convenience or the status that girls are concerned with, it's that having a car means having grown up, reached adulthood, and being someone other people can depend on rather than being always dependant on the whims of other people or the vagaries of public transport for a ride. That and the given assumption fact that cars are babe magnets.

Guys, if you ever want to get your own car, do it before you get married. Unmarried guy + car = dates :D. The car to the Girlfriend is an essential piece of dating equipment. It's convenient since the guy can make a doorstep pickup without the sweaty trek to the bus-stop; it gets to places fast; it's a showoff item in lieu of The Diamond Ring; it can even be a makeshift makeout spot for the more frisky of us. The Girlfriend loves the car. Besides, if the driver turns out to be a loser, there's always Tony, or Adrian, or Mike... to pick up where the last one left off.

Getting married before getting a car means that it isn't likely that a car will ever be needed, ever. The car to the Wife is a very different animal. The transition from Girlfriend to Wife is caused by a serious dose of pragmatism ingested immediately after cementing (sementing?) committment with the guy. The car becomes an unnecessary drain on financial and temporal resources; a source of potential danger to life and limb; a quick means of escape during domestic disputes; and every Wife knows the threat such a babe magnet can bring to conjugal happiness.

The only hope left for such a guy is to see if the Wife will make the transition into the Mother. Then the car becomes indespensible again. Taking wailing, hyperactive, olfactorily and verbally offensive imps to and from school, ballet and swimming lessons, math and Chinese tuition, soccer practice, Gramma's house and perhaps the occasional token outing to the beach [where one can contemplate walking into the water and just keep going until one reaches Tahiti] by public transport is simply a non-option. It's the car or the bar, baby!

It's either that or at the age of 70 he could go buy a classic red Ferrari on an installment plan. With any luck he would drive it once round the block, parallel park, and breathe his last before the repo guys come to take it away again.

This entry inspired by "Wheels of Fortune" (ST, January 15, 2005.)

AV for today's lecture worked and Vince got to show the pix he'd collected to the Arts group. It was gratifying to hear the audience respond to some of the more disturbing shots, the headless aborted foetus and the vulture eyeing the little starving girl for example. The group demonstrated a knowledge of the content and the context of the pix and there were a few individuals who were able to articulate some pretty cogent views based on what they saw. A generally smart bunch, this group of Year 1s.

We had something special sort of planned for this lecture. "Sort of" because we couldn't decide which specific course of action to take. We wanted to announce something about the lecturer during the lecture but we just couldn't quite think of a good excuse to take the mike away from him to do it. One idea was to surreptitiously insert an additional few slides into the presentation, but the lecturer kept reviewing his slides up to the last minute so that wasn't possible. We suggested a warm up speaker to run icebreaking games before the lecture proper, and on this pretext Amy snuck into the LT to join in the fun. But the lecturer wanted to use the whole hour himself and the icebreaking games master wasn't quite ready with any icebreaking games at that time, so no games. In desperate times, subtlety goes out the window. The lecturer finished a little early and was about to dismiss the group. We took the chance to push Anthony up to the console where he asked the lecturer if he could make an announcement. And then the whole LT sang the birthday song to our esteemed lecturer who, Anthony announced, had just turned... 18 yesterday. Heh, forever young!

I wasn't meant to be a civics tutor this year but the 1st term intake wasn't as humongously large as we had expected, though it still is bigger than we've ever seen before. So temporarily I have a CT of 26 (how will I remember all their names?) to keep me busy with this term.

My new CT is a nice mix of people with a number of foreign students, a balance of guys and gals, and though predominantly ethnically Chinese there are a couple of other Malay and Indian folks to make things interesting. The group is also a "rojak" in terms of subject combination so the only time they will meet together is during CT and GP tutorials. Wonder what this diaspora will mean for CT unity, but the individuals themselves look quite enthu, and if given too much freedom could be quite a handful. I'll try playing more the disciplinarian this year (though I doubt I could keep it up for long) and see what effect that might bring on the CT after 1 term.

I gave them a bit of a spiel about how responsible CT committee members have to be and that it isn't a good idea to nominate people they don't like for such positions because they will then be rewarding the people they dislike with PEARLS points and other recognition (glowing testimonials for e.g.) that other people (i.e., the proposers themselves) deserve. It's true, isn't it? This revelation made sense to the CT and I had no trouble getting volunteers for CT rep, etc. I am prepared to take the chance on these volunteers, that they will be as responsible as they promise, though I might still have to guide them on their methods of getting things done.

Am proud of everyone in 03A2, many of whom are working and discovering that they still haven't outgrown rules of attire, behaviour, etc., which still apply even in the corporate world for the most part (oops, sounding like the P now); but I can't live in the past any longer. New year, new kids. Time to start all over again.

Yay! I'm blogging with no strings attached! Couldn't resist picking up the MS wireless optical keyboard and mouse still being offered at Christmas prices. Now I've got rid of 2 more cables snaking under my desk, can close my keyboard drawer properly and, with keyboard comfortably on my lap, blog from a distance in the comfort of my beanbag! (Now, how do I make the words on the screen bigger?) Oddly enough, the package also comes bundled with a free PS2 mouse. Duh. Go figure.

Amy had the honour of having Anthony and me standing in an empty parking lot to reserve the space for her Echo's eventual arrival. We lunched at Killeny Road where we sadly observed that the lobster laksa shop had closed. But anyway we were there looking for durian cheong fun ("rice rolls" as the signboard helpfully translated), not laksa. We needed a more substantial lunch, though, so we ordered fried rice almost all round. I don't know about the others but I think it was obvious that fried rice isn't quite the forte of this eatery. It was slightly undercooked with little to distinguish it as something special.

Lynette amused us with her careful consideration of her choice between abalone or fresh scallop cheong fun on the side. The scallop one won out as being more value-for-money, though June strongly disagrees on this cost-benefit analysis. Reason: Canned abalone is always by far more expensive than fresh scallops any day.

And how was the house specialty? I'm not really sure. I haven't tasted enough of the durian cheong fun to make an unbiased judgement. I only took a piece and while it tasted abundantly durian-like, the mix of smooth, rubbery, bland cheong fun and the creamy durian didn't sit well in my mouth. It must be the sort of dessert one downs in quantity while simultaneously being busily engaged in conversation to be fully appreciated. Oh well, a new food experience, anyway.

I feel like there are 2 voices speaking to me from somewhere above. The voice higher up the, um, ladder says to give more freedom, more autonomy, more responsibility and personal accountability to the kids themselves. They must be independent, find their own way, express themselves as their talents and interests direct them; let them discover things for themselves through experience rather than via second-hand input; let them initiate activities amongst themselves and learn from each other.

Then there is the other voice from a little lower down. It says that we must tighten control, have many layers of accountability, more stringent monitoring for adherence to rules and regulation, black and white documentation of such transactions between instructor and student as may be considered "counselling" in order to establish a pattern of recalcitrant behaviour when such cases move up the scale for higher counselling.

It's interesting that freedom and control are so directly related to one another. The greater the freedom, the more control is needed to ensure that the system does not fall into chaos. The greater the freedom, the more numerous the variables become and control mechanisms have to be established for each possible eventuality thus making a system increasingly nit-picky. The less freedom there is, the less control is needed because every eventuality is governed by only a few (or just one) rule/s. "Off with his head!!!" comes to mind.

In the creative arts, the realm of freedom of expression as we generally allow, even such freedom is governed by rules that determine how a piece of work is created. Solo artists have talent, but it is also a process of grooming, training, practicing and developing a discipline that brings out the potential inherent in talent. Rules are especially crucial for collaborative artworks, like in theatre. Even in improv comedy such as in "Who's Line is it Anyway," the form of the created piece and the product itself are the result of imposing a set of rules on an otherwise free form of expression. Everyone knows the broad parameters of the improv games the performers play with each other to a finite set of variables provided by the audience, and the result is always hilarious and very entertaining. It would be infinitely harder to say, Ok, let's improv something together... let's see... um... and here we're at a point of searching for a rule to work with in order to get the collaboration started.

Notice I said "broad parameters" and "finite variables"? Too many rules becomes a blueprint that ensures that every product turns out the same -- as in a mass production line -- and didn't we say we were moving away from this primitive concept of education? As staff, we now have a load of procedures and protocols to administer regarding the monitoring of each individual student's behaviour, development and holistic progress, which amounts to a lot more forms to fill per student on a regular basis. New year, new initiatives. We really have to remind the kids and ourselves that it's maintaining the spirit and not the letter of the law that will balance out our 2 conflicting voices, else we'll just go nuts.

English Dept and technology don't mix well together. First GP lecture of the year and the AV goes completely dead. No picture, no sound, just the blue "no signal" screen. And the intro lecture as prepared by Anthony and Vince is graphics heavy. Idea was to flash photos taken from recent news and see what the students would say or ask about them. This plan was not to be. The intro lecture became very imagination-dependent as Anthony verbally described the pictures the students were supposed to be seeing, and he was supplying his own responses to them himself. An interactive lecture gone back to monologue instead. On hindsight, maybe he might have called up various members of the audience on stage to describe what they saw on the laptop? That way, it wouldn't have been all Anthony-talk but some audience participation as well.

There was nothing anyone could do. The equipment was working perfectly the session immediately before. Even with our tech on site, he was no help at all. A screw-up this serious usually means someone forgot to do some simple little thing, but no one could figure out this little problem this time so there was no AV throughout. Regardless, Anthony kept his cool and just did his thing. It wasn't that difficult for him to do the talking, just harder for the audience to visualize what he was saying.

For courage and composure under technical breakdown, we tutors in the back row gave him a standing ovation.

Dropped in for rehearsal workshop at 126 Cairnhill this evening. It's been at least 2 years since I attended a workout like this, when once long ago it was routine. Don't get me wrong, it's not an exhausting, sweat soaked huffnpuffarama but a soothing, gentle series of exercises to realign the body with its spine. Some mild stretching, focused breathing, some rolling and curling and de-kinking of the vertebrae. Today the exercises were a little harder for me because the stomach is starting to get in the way of my usually lithe form. Ahem.

Initially, Mel and I went there to discuss a little 'bidness' with Tina. Mel was tired and left after our chat, but I stayed on 'cos it's hard to resist YT's workout sessions. Working out like this is stress-free for the muscles and joints. It is non-impact and instead of feeling tired at the end, it's more like a recharge. I'm sure if I did this regularly, I'd be fit again real soon. I hope my Monday evenings will be free this year so I can attend this workshop more often. It's open to all at no charge so if anyone's interested to go too, just ask for details.

Downloaded another Popcap game. Anyone remember "Bookworm?" It made for a couple of our noisiest classes in 1st year 2003, as I recall. Popcap's new game is called "Insaniquarium" (actually it's been around for a while already). It's quite addictive, but if only it wasn't such hard work at the same time.

It probably got its name from the insane amount of mouse clicking involved in playing the game. There's this fish-tank, see? The idea is to populate it with different kinds of fish that kinda' live off each other in a fixed food chain. Big fish eat small fish -- that kind of relationship.

As the fish increase in size and number, they drop coins that finance the numerous upgrades for the fish tank, like better quality food and higher calibre weapons. Er... yes, every so often the fish-tank gets a visit from one or more aliens who attempt to eat the fish and so deserve to be blasted into oblivion for trespassing.

A successful round is when the financial rewards collected amount to being able to afford 3 game pieces which assemble into a complete egg that will hatch into a specialized 'pet' with a unique power. This pet goes into a stable of 24 such unique pets and up to 3 of them may be brought into the next round as helpers who run the fish-tank using their unique abilities.

The reward for clearing each round is a sub-game, the objective of which is to 'catch' as many shells as possible within a given time limit. The shells buy fish and other items for a virtual fish-tank that functions as a silly screensaver alternative to the aquarium one MS provides.

I remember Jon saying he watches the fish swim around in his tank for relaxation; playing "Insaniquarium" just might be a little more fun. So, click mouse to feed fish, catch coins, blast aliens, catch shells. A clicking frenzy. A prime suspect as the #1 cause of RSI or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Get a full workout just by manipulating a mouse. Now we know the secret to Popeye's big forearms.

What an unusual occurrence. A number of staff representing the different departments descended upon Escape Theme Park to try out some of the rides for ourselves. In an intermittent drizzle alternating with short periods of downpour, temperatures ranging from 29-29.9ºC, an assortment of our college's finest sampled the Flipper, Alpha-8 and the Pirate Ship before the rain got too heavy and the park closed the rides until better weather smiled on us again. Some staff assessed the rides as too intense for themselves to handle so they got the task of looking after our barang while we jumped on board.

The seasoned coaster nuts found each other pretty fast; we were usually the first in line and the first to compare the ride with others we'd tried elsewhere. Audrey (who turned out to be more gregarious and enthu than my initial impression of her) has tried the thrill rides in our immediate region, Anne has experience with the 6-flags chain, and me having thrilled to theme park rides in Canada, Korea and Oz found Escape mild in comparison though Flipper and Revolution came close to causing a rush for us during the occasional head-down free-falls. The Inverter, arguably Escape's most thrilling ride was closed today for "upgrading." How disappointing.

The second part of our recce was to go across the river into Pasir Ris Park. The intention was for us to trek the boardwalk through a small mangrove swamp and check out the sights, but too bad, the boardwalk was closed for repairs. Project completion projected for mid-'05. Too late to be useful to us.

What's all this Saturday gallivanting all about? It's a field-trip we are planning to bring the entire J1 cohort on next month. We're taking lessons outside the classroom while having some fun at the same time. The 1 thing we all learned today was: we'd better come up with a solid wet-weather plan or it'll be a washout, literally.

Officially, we ended our recce before lunch, but me, Anne, Audrey, Victor, SC and CY (not LCY) went back to Escape for a quick bite, then back to complete the rides we missed due to inclement weather earlier in the morning. Some quick bite... a bak kut teh for me, and thanks to Victor's itchy mouth, we stuffed ourselves further with ice cream for dessert.

Went immediately back to look for the Revolution (which is easy to underestimate the intensity of), the Wet 'n Wild (which got us all soaking wet except Audrey who wore her NDP poncho) and we lined up for the go-carts (which now seems to be covered by the price of the admission ticket, though it was a separate charge some time ago).

There are worse ways to spend one's Saturday off than hangin' out with fun-loving colleagues in a theme park.

Yay, Plan A achieved at last. For the second time in 2 weeks I went all the way to Toh Guan Road East to drop in on K'a'rcher's local customer service centre and after a little confusion with the store clerk (he thought there wasn't any stock still, but the customer service rep I spoke to on the phone assured me that stocks had come in already), I finally got my perfect Christmas gift: a new hose for the vacuum cleaner. Fine, it's not what one might consider 'romantic,' one might even say it sucks, but it is unusual, even if it is utilitarian.

Got back late from watching National Treasure. The stories about Templar treasure seem to be much the rage now thanks to Brown's bestseller. Speculations go on as the romance of knightly nobility and the excitement of discovering the unknown or lost are the stuff popular tales are made of.

One reviewer described NT as The Amazing Race and, yeah, it is kinda' like that. The race to get to the next clue, to perform the required task and move on to the next clue as the end point draws nearer and nearer is there, though the stakes in the movie are higher than just a paltry million dollars.

Protagonist, Gates, and antagonist, Ian, are the complete opposites of each other. Both seek the treasure for very different reasons and both use methods to acquire the treasure that are poles apart from each other. Gates is selfless, patient, and uses his talented and well-informed brain to overcome problems, solve mysteries and play tricks to accomplish his goals. The villain, Ian, is selfish, impatient and prefers brute force to subtlety. Yep, opposites, all right. Makes for uncomplicated storytelling.

Then there is the value of the treasure itself. Ian and his party focus on the financial wealth the treasure can bring them whereas Ben's party seeks its intrinsic historical value and its benefit to the human race as a collective. The most telling scene must be when Ben and co. become trapped in the treasure room. Though surrounding them is an almost endless multitude of items made of precious metals and other minerals worth billions of moolah, what fascinates the party is the historical significance of the find, the opportunity for humanity to reclaim a lost heritage on a worldwide scale, and the means for people to come to an understanding of themselves as a result thereof.

The only specific lost treasure identified by Dr Chase is the collection of scrolls thought to be lost from the Great Library of Alexandria, a treasure that is worth more to inquiring human intellect than to patent leather wallet. Gates finds psychological satisfaction in making the discovery while keeping his entire party alive and safe. Comic relief, Riley Poole, is most overcome by his own perception of the greatest treasure in the room -- the exit door, the way out.

The movie is a thrill ride mostly paid for by the Tourism Board of the US of A. Locations traverse the must-see heritage sites for tourists to America, from DC to Philly to New Yawk/New Joizey, to Baastan (Boston). But the questions we ask ourselves are, what is the treasure we work so hard to pursue? what is its worth? what are we prepared to do to get it? and once you've got it, how are you going to use it to benefit whom?

Finally got to see Flirt's babies. They live outside the bakery, all huddled together for warmth and security. Four of them: 1 looks like Flirt, 2 are ash coloured (like Grandma Girlfriend, and Aunt Nabiki) and 1 a ginger-ash mix (presumable reflecting Dad's colours). We'll wait a couple more weeks when we're sure they're properly weaned before we spay Flirt once and for all. All 4 kittens are so cute. To think they might have been aborted...! Dr Casey saved their lives by refusing to operate on Flirt when we first brought her in for spaying. Guess he's their Godfather now.

CCA recruitment drive, though today's efforts usually draw a number of sign ups, but when the 'O' results come out in March, many will leave for greener pastures. Nevertheless, NYeDC showed committment in their two performances despite some technical hitches which we hadn't had time to work out earlier. A full tech run might have been helpful though time, personnel and venue constraints made this difficult to arrange.

The company played "The Mighty Mandarin," a Sec 2 English Lit drama text in the atrium, a space without a defined performance area and lots of noisy human traffic. The script has a dumb plotline -- how difficult is is to play a trick on an idiot? -- but there are moments of physical comedy and some passable wordplay. I remember this text well as it was the first text I took a lit test on -- and failed miserably. My lit teacher was very upset with our class and berated us for our ignorance of simple literary devices, yadda, yadda. I nearly wanted to give up lit there and then. Later lit turned out to be the only subject I was good at in Sec School, hence my scintillating academic history.

We also played an excerpt from "Sing to the Dawn," a battle of the sexes vs family bonds themed text. LT4 sound was terrible, but it was also the performers' inexperience in using the mikes that was part of the problem. A few other staging kinks could have been worked out with more time, but there'll be a second chance to polish when we run the lunchtime performances in the very near future.

Also worked out the rehearsal schedule for Drama Night '05, and it's so heavy I'm going to have to write letters of apology to parents for keeping their kids out so late so often until the production is over. Considering that our script is still in its skeletal stage, I need all the time I can squeeze from everyone to get a good show this year.

Am also hoping to get the bookings for the Security Seminar '05 done EARLY this year to avoid the pre-promo exam seminar slot of last year. No more sitting on the form till the last minute. Dates are allocated on a 1st come 1st served basis so I hope to get P's signature on the booking form tomorrow. One fax later and I will get a favourable date. Fingers crossed.

Quite against what had been promised Anthony and me, while we were being primed by Vince to take up duty at Fort Canning, our actual assignment plonked us in the shopping district to look after the SAM, Good Shepherd, CHIJMES,and Raffles Hotel checkpoints for this morning's scavenger hunt. This was a pleasant surprise as we were comparing locations with Lynette who was initially promised the assignment we got. In a complete switcheroo, she went up to feed mossies up the hill instead. Perhaps Providence was at work?

Our location gave us quite a bit of choice as to breakfast possibilities. With our assigned student first-aider in tow, we caught a quick breakfast at Rocky Master, located opposite the Seah Street Deli. The cafe had some cheap breakfast options. I went for the French toast with Canadian maple syrup and Anthony had a Spanish omelette, both with a robust wake-me-up coffee for under $4 each. Our first-aider was polite and had a muffin with tea.

After eating we set up our "base of operations" in the fountain courtyard in CHIJMES to oversee the group activities that would soon follow. We yakked a bit with our first-aider, speculating on the worst kinds of injuries that he might be able to take care of. Minor abrasions, sprains, cramps, but not much more, he admitted. Not long after, I got a call: "student not feeling well at SAM." Great, some action! We took a brisk walk across the road to the scene of the emergency. Some kid must have been feeling faint, or had a headache, or didn't eat brekkie or something.

When we arrived, our patient was sitting on the floor, propped up on a doric pillar. His breathing was shallow and there was a passer-by bent over him administering some kind of treatment. The OGL who remained behind to meet us introduced the stranger as a medic who happened to be passing by at the time. The medic stood up and announced his diagnosis -- mild heart attack! That floored me for a second. Ohmigod. But the ambulance was already on it's way, thanks to quick action from the SAM security and all I needed to do was to accompany the kid to hospital in the ambulance.

En route, Anthony SMSed me the kid's personal particulars in case I had to do the admin while he was being warded. I didn't have to after all, the paramedics did all the admin for me as part of their routine. Meantime, I managed to contact his Mom to inform her what had happened. I was so glad I didn't have to relay any messages in Mandarin -- I wouldn't have known what to say, let alone say it tactfully. Vince and Anthony joined me at the hossie to keep me company and eventually his Dad arrived to take over from us.

A dramatic morning, but thankfully the doctors decided the case wasn't too serious. They kept him under observation for "a few hours" then I suppose they'll give him a few days' MC while he recuperates.

Vince, Anthony and I had lunch at Thai Express at the Esplanade where Vince had parked his car. I had a nice olive fried rice with bits of chicken thrown in. Quite yummy.

Then back to college where I and a bunch of other staff and students helped Agnes load up a minivan they called in to deliver a huge mound of donated clothes destined for tidal wave relief.

After all that excitement, I wonder what Thursday's duty is going to be like? If we're stationed at the same place again, we're trying out the big American breakfast at the same cafe we were at this morning. Deep-fried bacon, sausage, etc... Talk about tempting fate.

Returned to work wearing the college tie so that we staff could make a good impression on the new year 1s on their first day. This week they'll be in the tender care of their OGLs and Councillors, so we won't get to have much direct contact with them for a while. Same types of kids arrive at our doorstep every year -- the earnest, wide-eyed ones, the trying-to-be-cool, bored looking ones, the blur, slightly overwhelmed ones -- and the rest who are hard to tell one from another at this stage. Tried to look at individual faces in the crowd to play who-do-I-want-in-my-classes? but I drew a blank. Too many faces, no opportunity as yet to observe different personalities for myself, so one face should be about as good as another right now. Well, give them time.

Vince and Anthony "volunteered" me for tomorrow's outdoor orientation activity, a sort of scavenger hunt around the downtown civic district investigating landmarks and unearthing nuggets of historical trivia on site. I actually agreed to Thursday's duty but really I don't mind helping out on another day either since it involves a change of environment and the permission to dress down slightly to suit the "fatigue" nature of the activity. Jeans, then, I guess. Should I opt to make myself comfortable under the trees up the forbidden hill, or chill out in a swanky 6-star hotel while I keep an eye on the respective proceedings? I haven't decided yet.

But at the back of my mind I also know that the clock is ticking on a number of projects under my charge as well -- drama, NE, and subject-related just to name the more pressing ones. Already met my lecture group today to discuss our materials for our upcoming mass media lecture series, and Cikgu asking to meet this week about TD Day.

Yee also showed me the sound and light controls in LT4. Strange things happened when we played the sample CD left in the CD player... the National Anthem came on over the speakers and nothing we did on the sound board seemed to reduce the volume in any way. Eerily, even when we switched off the CD player we could still hear the anthem very faintly over the speakers. I poked my head outside LT4 and, yes, I could still hear it over the entire college's PA system as well! I can only conclude that coincidentally, the AV people were testing the PA system at the same time we were playing with the sound system in the LT. I don't want to listen to any other theories, thank you.

In the late afternoon, the Drama Club was hard at work rehearsing for the 2 CCA Bazaar items due Wednesday. They are quite dedicated and serious about putting up a good show. Today, since all 3 of us advisors were around, the cast got an earful of helpful suggestions from all of us regarding staging, movement, sequencing, motivation, enunciation, etc. A case of too many cooks? Must work out our division of labour carefully else our performers are going to be one confused bunch during the show.

First, a word to 'nette who has suffered a Series of Unfortunate Events, apparently all on the same day: please take good care of yourself and get well soon!

Today was my last opportunity to oversleep for a while and I made good use of it. We had a simple kopi tiam breakfast downstairs so Q-tip finally got a token outing after many days' confinement.

Went to watch "The Phantom of the Opera" in the afternoon. Watching it on film is quite a different experience from the 'live' performance. There's nothing like the feeling you get when you have to dress up appropriate to the price you paid for a ticket and go to the Theatre to watch the stars singing the songs you're so familiar with in person. There is the expectation that anything can happen as opposed to expecting recorded perfection.

But the movie makes for clearer storytelling, a bit better exposition of the events taking place and in the involvement of the various characters concerned in the narrative. For example, I never understood why the chandelier didn't fall straight onto the audience seated directly below it, but the movie showed that the main support for the heavy chandelier was a length of cable that stretched from the stage to the centre of the domed roof of the theatre from which the chandelier suspended. Hence when the chandelier gave way it followed the cable back towards the stage like a pendulum rather than dropping like a stone. The movie also gave ballet mistress, Mme Giry, a more direct role with her inside knowledge of the Phantom; and some gorgeous locations like the eerily serene graveyard and the ostentatious hall with the grand sweeping staircase of the opera house.

Director, Schumaker, goes all out to make his film as sumptuously rich and lush with set and costume design, tinging the basic colour scheme of black and white, light vs darkness conflict, with glorious golds and reds. There's a bit during the masquerade that contrasts all this splendour with the rough, drunken revelry of the poorer members of the opera troupe who remain behind the scenes, invisible to the lords and ladies wearing masks to amuse themselves. There's a Masters' thesis in here somewhere, I'm sure of it.

And of course the music, beautiful, moving at times. A double-whammy for me as it evokes nostalgia for me as well, being that the Phantom was all the rage in TO in the late 80's. It enjoyed a hugely successful run at the then newly-restored Pantages Theatre. I still have memories of friends who were so crazy over the show they played and sang to LPs (CDs weren't popular then) so often they memorized the whole thing, though no one else was dumb enough to test this claim.

Right. So back to college tomorrow after a nice, long break. In the words of the 7 dwarves, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go..."