Library calling

Book delivery day. We've been assigned the northbound run, which is great for us. Familiar recipients, everyone knows the drill, which makes today's run relatively painless.

Well, there was this one family that made us wait outside while the kids scrambled around the house looking for the front door key. After a frantic few minutes, Dad -- clad only in his boxers -- emerged from his lair, eyes half-open. He shambled over to unlock the door, muttered some unintelligible pleasantries, then headed straight back from whence he came.

Apart from that little drama horror story, everything else went fine. No navigation problems, no admin snafus. Yay! We're getting the hang of it!

Stand behind the yellow line

Vesak Day public holiday. Bad day to be taking the MRT. Lots of fire trucks and rescue vehicles at the station. "Home Team" personnel milling about looking busy. Southbound train halted mid-track. Jumper. Sigh.

Pasta at Porta

Our mid-year paper is over and that officially commences summer vacation at last! Celebrated at Porta Porta with June and Jojo. Jojo is easy to order for: minestrone, salad and bruschetta. June fell in love with the oriecchiette ("little ears" pasta). I ordered a penne for myself.

In the end, the two girls picked at their food, leaving me to polish off the bruschetta, the "little ears" and my own penne and minestrone. But the food at Porta Porta is so good, I just kept eating until there was nothing left. Only then did I realise how full I was. Oh, wait... why does this story sound so familiar?

Summer is here!

It's been one heck of a slog, but summer is finally here. The time has come to get off the hamster wheel for a bit and slowly gnaw through the next batch of assignments. Maybe I'll take some time to mull over the ideas that came up in my meeting with the Mengs committee -- wonder if we're going to tread on anybody's toes or if people will thank us for what we are about to propose. As always, the content isn't going to matter much, but the packaging and the selling are going to be the hardest part.

But the main things is, after tomorrow, the days are going to stretch out before us again. We'll be busy, but free of the rigid structure of term time.

Just for good measure, we celebrated the arrival of summer with a crab dinner at Melben Seafood (AMK). It wasn't so much the food today, it was the company. Most of us have places to visit and will be flying off in a few days' time. Me, I won't be going anywhere. I aim to get my physical self healthy again, and maybe work on my tan some. Universal Studios? Well, maybe not till they get the BSG ride operating again. Hope we hear some good news about that soon.

Summer. Right. Now, where did I put my shades...?

Jojo and the flying tahini

June and I have been attending fitness classes with Jojo since she recommended her instructor to us. After today's class, we had dinner at the newly opened Salad Stop in Novena Square. Sure, the servings of salad are large and the menu choices are quite varied and flexible, but still, it's a bit overpriced for essentially a bowl of vegetables.

As we still had room for dessert, we went downstairs to Cedele for their cake selection. Jojo had her eye on what was left of a tahini cake. Tahini, she explained, is a sesame seed paste. Interesting.

Tahini, it turns out, must be quite slippery 'cos when the guy at the counter reached into the display cabinet to pull Jojo's cake out, the whole cake took a dive, crashing onto the bottom shelf. Jojo, who cannot bear to see food wasted, immediately offered to buy the suicide victim for half-price. The counter guy simply said, "no," and wouldn't budge after that.

Sensible policy, I thought. No F&B operator will knowingly sell spoiled food to a customer. Dumping food, from the business perspective, is a better option than a lawsuit.

The door at midnight

It's close to midnight. I'm Monster Hunting on the Wii. Behind me, there is a sudden noise. It's the unmistakable sound of my store room door opening. June's already in bed, so it's not her. I turn around to look. The door that conceals the store room door is still closed. Conclusion: someone... or some thing... has opened the store room from the INSIDE.

I'm freaked. The cats are equally freaked. They're tense and alert, staring intently at the door from the safety of the living room.

Wait a minute. Cats? There're Kaiser, Momo... where's Maui? Mauiiii!!! Cautiously, the two cats and I open the concealing door, and there's Maui, relieved to escape his confinement. He must have sneaked in at some point during the night when the doors were open and didn't make it out when we shut them later. Stupid cat.

Actually, maybe he's not so stupid. He can open doors! He's long known how to open my bathroom's bi-fold door, and now he's got the heavy store room door figured out. I told June that feeding him human powdered milk when he was a kitten would make him a clever boy. She didn't listen.

Japanese cuisine in quantity

In celebration of a number of reasons, most of which were that we were hungry, the Wongs descended upon Irodori Japanese Restaurant at the Riverview Hotel. The restaurant is quite small, but because we had made a reservation for so many of us, we got a private room to ourselves.

The set up is an a la carte buffet of every popular style of Japanese cuisine. At a very reasonable $33+++ per pax, we can order anything we want on the menu and keep the top-ups coming. While all the servings are small so it's possible to sample everything the restaurant has to offer without getting too stuffed too quickly, the strategic thing to do is focus on the stuff you know you like and use that as a base before becoming more adventurous.

No worries about the quality of the food. The sashimi is fresh and preferably the table should be packed full of raw fish eaters to share the bounty. But there's also a lot of cooked dishes as well so the others will not feel left out. Check out the buffet menu from the link above -- there's something for everyone. Well, dessert's extra.

Must commend the service also. Very attentive with the orders, not shy to make recommendations about the house specials and the green tea just keeps flowing. A little girl carrying a big pot makes sure of that.

Current promotion: UOB, OCBC and RBS credit card holders get 25% off the lunch menu, valid till the end of the year. The Wongs had a special coupon: every third person gets to eat for free. In our party of nine, we paid for six. Not a bad deal at all.

Campus choir does the Vic

Just returned from a choral recital performed by our campus choir. It was a sold out crowd at the Vic, though with the number of choir-istas in the group, that's hardly surprising.

The performance was to showcase the repertoire they're bringing with them to the Czech Republic this summer. As far as singing as a choir goes, the kids have been well-trained. The first half of the show passed pleasantly enough with songs representing various languages and tonal textures. Personally, I was wondering why we don't hear our own choir more often. They are a competent lot, and they would benefit from more performance exposure in front of an audience.

The reason I say this is because the second half of the performance -- a dramatized rendition of "Beauty and the Beast" -- though musically sound, there was a clear lack of confidence in the presentation as a whole. The production values (especially the costumes of the mechanicals in the Beast's castle) looked like it took some effort to manufacture, but because they were ultimately just worn as labels it was hard to believe that the characters were household items magically brought to life.

Part of the problem was in the soloists being difficult to hear. Playing in the Vic requires miking, or really strong voices, as it's a relatively large space to play in. Sans amplification, their vocals didn't carry far and for us in the circle seats, it was "eh, what?" most of the time.

But they are choir, after all, and that's where the bulk of their training goes to. As long as they sound good together, that's the measure of their effectiveness. That they attempted a production that they have little experience in shows their spirit and a sense of adventure. That's a good thing. All they need is an audience to play to more often so that they understand what works and what doesn't.

Here, we don't have show choir, so I wasn't expecting "Glee", but playing to an audience is one way to build confidence, and that's the missing ingredient in tonight's show. Hope they gain some before they hit the Czechs.

The hamster wheel

I wonder if the current frequency I am updating my posts is indicative that I have succumbed to the malady that my expanded group of esteemed colleagues are railing about: the lack of a work-life balance for us who have sold our souls to the industry.

At present, even as I update today, my assignment pile to be graded over the weekend looms forebodingly. And as soon as I return it to the kids next week, I'll be immediately inundated with a new, bigger pile to grade over the summer hols. Kids are already lining up for consultation slots on my free afternoons, now that the endless rehearsals for sectionals and Drama Night are over. Oh, also conducting weekly remedials plus a make up class in the coming week.

But then, so what else is new? The grading is a necessary thing that won't change until the format of the exams changes. All the extra classes and CCA stuff are some of the most fun I've had doing actual teaching because here I'm dealing with kids who really want to learn, who ask genuine questions, who are anxious to listen to what I advise, and I feel that I am meeting real needs by having real discussions with a totally captive and responsive audience. We teachers keep asking for smaller classes, well, here they are.

I am also fortunate enough to have a bunch of great colleagues (yes, I've mentioned this before, but it's worth mentioning again) who still make it a point to find time to socialize as much as support each other with our workload.

Thing is, our external colleagues are so stressed out because everything they do they take as proprietary: my work, my job, my responsibility, my ideas -- which ultimately results in my time, my life... omg. Among my colleagues, nothing is proprietary, we share everything. We're as close to Communism as you can get, without the nonsense politics. None begrudges another of their success. In fact, if we believe strongly enough in each other's causes, we do what we can to help make it a success. That's our campus.

No. The only reason I have been updating so infrequently is because I'm getting lazy. There, I said it.

Currency exchange

With the Euro taking a big plunge against the SGD recently, we decided to convert a fraction of our meagre savings as a sort of investment for the future. Not that we're likely to see a grand windfall, but at least we're hoping to get back a little better than bank interest rates which are pathetic at the moment.

Went with a DBS foreign currency chequing account. No interest earned, but we can cash out any time it's favourable to do so. If anything, we'll earn a bit from the exchange rate when things get better for the Europeans, or should we suddenly want to go and see Europe we'll have currency on hand that we bought at a good rate.

Note that to withdraw funds in SGD, current exchange rates apply; but to withdraw funds in Euro, the bank charges 1.5% commission, so the Euro has to pick up significantly before it's worth withdrawing anything. If it's going to be a waiting game, I can wait... but still...

here's to a return to good times for the Euro!

A slobbery birthday

Now that I have the weekends to myself again, I can spend then on frivolous things like attending Latte's birthday BBQ.

Latte seems thrilled at the prospect of birthday cake for dessert, but she's looks more keenly at our's, instead of her own. Doesn't she know chocolate isn't good for dogs?

Latte's owner helps out with the candle blowing. Dog drool isn't a recommended additive to birthday cake.

Unfortunately, Q-tip doesn't think highly of the canine consumable cake.

But Latte has no problem with daintiness, as Her Highness, Miss Q-tip, does. Latte just swallows her share down in large chunks. It's her birthday, after all.

Wow!Pow!Bow! 2010

Wow!Pow!Bow! 2010 came to a close (finally). Despite our initial fears of playing to only half a house, alumni, parents, friends and a sizable number of the current student body filled the seats, allaying our worries about covering costs.

Rowdy crowd, though. They came in prepared to laugh, and laugh they did even at moments when the drama going on onstage was tense. Guess it's their way of coping. Life is already tense enough as it is. Our three Wow!Pow!Bow! plays had to play to a tough audience. For many of the kids just standing there in front of a sea of faces was a first. That they were able to keep their cool and tell their stories regardless was truly commendable.

Typical of teenagers, the three plays tended to repeat the themes of death and cell phones. Unsurprisingly, the Audience Poll Award went to the play that resonated these two themes the most. The judges gave the Best Overall Production Award to the play with the most movable set pieces and explosive conclusion. SFX rulez! Cool, I can live with that.

But the play from Sectionals which we debuted for a paying audience showed what a trained and professionally directed cast and crew can do. Comedy is difficult, but if done well will win over the toughest crowd. So let's keep comedy on the cards for future Drama Nights, ok?

On the whole, working with all the kids on Wow!Pow!Bow! has been exhausting. But to see them all grow as performers in such a short time, to see how innovative they've been with their staging and set designs, how frugal they've been in obtaining their materials, how eager they've been to improve their performance day-by-day, how patient and cooperative they've been with each other and their competitors; everyone just focused on presenting a good show... that's what I mean by working with a cast and crew with an awesome attitude, having a sense of motivation and ownership over a project of their own choosing.

Though I said before that I don't desire to die in the theatre, I'm pretty sure I want to continue living in it. It's great to be able to teach kids stuff that's outside the curriculum. You can yell at them, threaten them with flying shoes of death, work them till odd hours of the night, and the next night they'll be there again asking for more abuse just so that they can improve on their previous performance. Now, that's a real love for learning! And I'm so happy to facilitate!

Curtains up, eyelids down

Latest news reports say that the lifestyle I've been living lately hasn't been too healthy:

Lack of sleep 'linked to early death'

followed by:

Memo to boss: 11-hour days are bad for the heart.

As much as I love the theatre, I'm not sure I love it all to death. After tonight's run, I'm taking a vacation.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Camping out at Drama Night venue sure makes one lose track of the days. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Looking forward to Full Dress Rehearsal tonight. Everything still looks a mess, especially the transitions between plays. But the plays themselves have been making the kids work like the clappers. I may only have three plays in the running but they're all showing that they're in it to win it. Quite proud of them already, given what they've been able to accomplish in only two weeks (realistically speaking) and given their lack of experience. Think it was a good idea to let them watch each other's rehearsals, 'cos they're motivated to show better than their competitors. That's been raising the stakes quite a bit. Now it's left to me to provide the packaging, and the polish that complements the show that we've got. Oh, the pressure.

Just another Sunday

Up bright and early for a 0800 session with Personal Trainer, John. No incident there as I made time to eat breakfast beforehand. June came home from her company trip and as we were walking out to celebrate, we very nearly got run over by a bus charging the lights. We shook our fists at the oblivious bus driver and sent off a complaint to his employer. Never felt so angry with service staff before, but then none had ever threatened the lives of my wife and I before either.

Lazy

What a great Saturday morning! It's such a luxury to sleep in for a change, and I fully took advantage of it. No rehearsals, no work backlog (or rather, none that I feel guilty neglecting anyway), just a nice, restful College Day ceremony to attend in the afternoon. Ah, to revel in my non-involvement!

Significant... not!

Last Sunday's dinner at by the riverside turned out to not to be as significant as we feared. Today, the results came back negative. We are relieved and happy.

Long nights

Working late again. Sectionals may be over but our attention now goes to Drama Night. Going to be continuing with evening rehearsals over the next week too. Actually been grateful for it since it keeps me busy all evening, and it's something useful to do until June gets back from her company trip to Penang. Fortunately for the animals, May's around to feed them and pet sit till I get home.

I'm really tired, though. Only one more week...!

"Sectionals" 2010

Our item for Drama "Sectionals" went well, with our kids delivering a high-energy performance with spot-on cues and clear and audible voice projection. Playing for an audience, they upped their game to a level I've not seen before and gave their all. Regardless of what result the judges deem, Mel and I are very satisfied with the kids' performance, and the kids believe they have a play to be proud of too. And that is all that matters.

But the bigger test is coming for them. It's fine to play to a more than half empty hall of well-behaved adults, but to attract and keep the attention of a couple of hundred of their peers in the campus lecture theatre, we're moving into a whole new level of performance. Wow!Pow!Bow! 2010 is just around the corner. We'll take a short break over the weekend, then we bring out the whips and chains again as NYeDC swings back into full production mode. Mustn't let them get complacent. Heh.

Kids in masks

Two days out from drama "Sectionals" and the kids are falling sick. We made the more sniffly ones wear surgical masks to prevent further infection. We had one good run -- the first we've seen that had energy, awareness and minimal flubbed lines. Good. At this time when control of the production is slowly leaving our hands, the kids are stepping up their game to take over. Encouraging.