Running out of pockets

Just when I was contemplating replacing my aging iPod Mini (it's still good, btw, but its 4gb capacity can't hold many more songs), I get an unexpected windfall. This is one instance of re-gifting I have no complaints about. June received a corporate gift package commemorating a significant anniversary milestone. She kept the shopping vouchers that she wanted, and gave me the iPod Touch she didn't. Hmm... I'm running out of pockets to carry around all my techie stuff. It's a happy problem. :D

Dainty delectables

Traditional high tea at the Fullerton courtyard. Everything on the three-tier tray (above) is refillable, free-flow of a large variety of Twinings tea by the pot (standard variations of coffee is also an option), and scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream on the side. Service here is warm and attentive. To maximize the afternoon, bring along a little light reading, or a chatty friend.

Chilli crab first-timers

Seems our fame for entertaining foreign dignitaries has spread. June spent the day camwhoring and shopping with her colleagues visiting from Indonesia. I provided the transport and the mopping up procedures at dinnertime. Yums!

Taste of a memory

Took a chance on a flyer I found stuck between M2's wiper and windscreen advertising a $7.90 set lunch at J's Bar and Grill.

Yes, I seriously needed a new place to eat at. Sadly, the place was dark and empty, with me as the only customer at lunchtime.

The set lunch offer was supposedly for any main course, but today it only applied to the beef gumbo (left). The set came with a starter onion soup which was a bit watery, but it was freshly made in the kitchen and not some canned cream of nonsense.

The gumbo was a nice surprise. The taste and texture reminded me of the vegetarian chilli I was fond of while I was a poor and starving student at Calumet College. It was the yardstick I measure all vegetable soups by -- not that it was exceptionally delectable, but that it was truly comfort food for a great price. It's a taste I've been looking for, but for many years haven't been able to find... until now.

Minus the beef bits floating around, this gumbo comes closest to a fading memory of some very good times.

Btw, Calumet calls it a chilli, but there're no hot peppers spicing it up. Instead, we help ourselves to the Tabasco sauce on the condiment shelf and drip to taste.

Pebbles, the yob

Turns out Pebbles is quite the soccer fan. The small, fast movements on screen during the long-shots held his attention much better than the close-ups; but other programmes on TV hold no fascination for him. If he is a soccer fan, though, he's more like a United yob, a.k.a. soccer hooligan. We hesitate to introduce him to other potential adopters because he's begun to show his true colours as a violent, attack-anything-that-moves psychopath. All claws and teeth, maybe he needs yet another name change -- how about "Sabertooth"? We're trying to train him out of his volatile tendencies: that is, make a loud noise (other than "ouch!") to startle him whenever he takes a chomp at our exposed extremities. Hope that will work, or else we'll spray him with a faceful of atomized water if things escalate. As a kitten, he's not causing us too much damage, but he needs to be better behaved before he gets any bigger. Bad boy!

Kitty walkies

Breakfast at Casa Verde, Botanic Gardens, with Q-tip, Mimi -- and Pebbles! Not often you get to see a cat on a leash, but since he's quite an outdoorsy type, it's best to make sure we know where he is at all times. The morning meal is prior to Mimi's ultrasound scan. The results are quite worrying. They show that she has a seriously unhealthy liver and gall bladder. Could be old age or something less benign. But given her age and existing heart condition, we're not prepared to risk a biopsy to find out. Our strategy for the moment is to keep her relatively pain-free while boosting her system with Casey's prescribed tonics until our options become more urgent.

Bonded

I have just signed my life away for the next six years. The Defence Science people have offered a scholarship to youngest cousin and I agreed to co-sign his surety. The bond is for a cool half-mil between us guarantors! A staggering sum, for sure!

I did it because family took a chance and co-signed for me when I went into Education, and now I'm passing on the goodwill to the next in line. He's not a little boy any longer, but a full-grown adult; though it's hard for me to see that as fact. Good luck, kid!

A question of balance

GP essays are terribly boring to grade. They are an instant remedy for insomnia, and since I don't suffer from insomnia, I've become narcoleptic while trying desperately to finish my grading quota for the term.

The silver lining is that I now know why GP essays are boring: the kids invariably emphasize balance over argument. Balance is important -- it distinguishes a reasonable argument from that of a deranged, paranoid lunatic. But when balance becomes the first priority in an essay the result is either a nil response or a stilted response to the question.

Let's illustrate the situation numerically:

For an argumentative point, we'll assign a value of 1. The counter-point will then have a value of -1.

In perfectly balanced essays, we get 1 + (-1) = 0 => nil response.

In slightly better essays, we get 1 + (-1) + 1 (the refutation of the counter-point) = 1 => distracted response in which the counter-point has done nothing to advance the argument, but rather has simply thrown it off-track before the refutation contrives to 'rescue' the argument from becoming a nil response.

Both responses are extremely boring. The first (type 0) argument avoids answering the question, thus wasting my time reading it for no payoff. The second (type 1) argument wastes my time reading a counter-point that has no bearing on the argument in the first place. In either case, the reader (me) gains nothing new, nothing fresh, nothing insightful. *goes into mental shutdown mode...

So, what kind of essays DO we like to read? Every essay question has a subject and at least one context. Let's assign a numeric value of 1 to each:

1(subject) + 1(context) = 2

2 is an interesting answer because it's a response that does not self-negate, and it does not end predictably exactly where it started. 2 is insightful and surprising because it's a combination of many potential variables that can be put together in many different ways. 2 is new information where 0 and 1 are not.

See kids (and teachers!)? Balance is over-rated!

A mystery and a revelation

Who left a pool of blood in M-i-L's balcony? None of the human residents in the house claimed responsibility for it, so it had to be one of the two non-human residents: Mimi or Pebbles. Because neither of them could protest their innocence, May and I took them to be professionally examined by Doc Casey.

On examining the mopped up blood which we also brought with us in a plastic baggie, Casey could confirm that it was indeed blood, and not some similar-looking agent. But he found neither gaping wound nor internal trauma on either of our two pets. That amount of blood loss would have rendered Pebbles dead if it were hers, or something unusual would have shown up on Mimi's x-ray. In any case, both were behaving quite normally with no sign of pain or even discomfort, anyway.

So the mystery of the pool of blood as yet remains unsolved. ???

But because of Pebble's visit with Casey, we learned something new about her: he's a boy! Boy cat #3. Oh, dear!

New resident

More and more, M-i-L is relinquishing responsibility for Pebbles (renamed from Grimm). Pebbles is getting familiar with Maui who seems quite tolerant of her presence now.

She's still working on getting the kinks out of her relationship to Kaiser, though.

No diva policy

Lady in the ST Forum page talks sense in her critique of our schools' current operating philosophy:

"This mindset of running schools as businesses, where results are the bottom-line objective, and the push for medals makes sportsmanship an unimportant secondary trait, has resulted in educators, schools, as well as parents stressing and promoting results at the expense of other areas of development that are just as important, if not more so, in building a gracious, progressive and resilient society."

I don't know about the "gracious, progressive and resilient society", but even in subjects that are designed for the students to learn from their own failures (yes, honey, there ARE such subjects in school) we won't allow them to fail because we are always there to supervise and guide them, even when the learning is meant to be done independently. Hence, apart from what we've indoctrinated them with, they haven't really learned much else by the time they graduate.

Of course, I'm talking about things I have no control over. But while I do have control over the NYeDC, even though we participate in the bi-annual SYF (Drama), our policy is to never take in students applying under the Direct School Admission (DSA) programme -- that is, students applying for school admission on the grounds of their talent in a particular niche the school seeks to compete in. Think "sports scholarship", in US terms.

The NYeDC is open to all comers, regardless of "talent" or experience. We emphasize ensemble theatre, which requires teamwork from all cast and crew throughout the pre- to post- production phases. As such, there is no need for any "star" performers with DSA credentials. Every member gets quality training and a fair chance to audition for roles in our productions. Fast learners or more experienced members contribute to the training of their fellow members and may opt to direct their own performances if they want to push themselves.

NYeDC's goals are bigger than just the award we compete for. We're training a group of young people with a passion for and knowledge of theatre; and whether as future performers or an audience, they will keep the art of the theatre alive and relevant in our society.

Hello World! England 2011: Day 8

Blue Badge guide, Colin, meets us for a walking tour of sites relating to Oscar Wilde. As you can see, he's quite an animated speaker. Like all good guides, he wanted full attention from his audience, so he was frowning quite a bit at the people in the back...

who happened to be some old friends who tracked down our group in London and we had a bit of a noisy reunion.

It rains a bit so the brollies come out

Staff break from kids as we seek lunch separately. We opt for Lebanese and I get this nice lamb shish wrap.

Next stop, Buckingham palace, with our iconic sites tour guide, Julie.

It's not the Changing of the Guard, but a relief of the sentries as one shift takes over the previous.

Julie gets us photo ops at Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

Last stop: Kensington Gardens, opposite the Royal Albert Hall. The temperature has taken quite a dip and the kids are freezing now. But it won't stop them from grabbing a few more scenic shots before departure.

The dome of the Royal Albert...

and his commemorative statue in gold directly opposite.

And a couple of rather congenial ducks bid us farewell.

Day 8 concludes at Heathrow Airport. We're comin' home!

Hello World! England 2011: Day 7

We get a warm welcome at Kingsford Community School. Here, Martin makes his introductions.

Their students guide our students around campus.

Then we have a joint art lesson. Medium: ink wash. Subject: still life, seashells

Though they haven't handled art implements for years, some of our kids display quite some talent in the field. The quality of Mrs Stevens' instructions helped to make this task easy.

Kingsford's hospitality extends to feeding us a school lunch. Today's special: lasagne, finger sandwiches and juice. Despite what we might have heard about British school lunches, this one was delish. Lots of cheese and meat sauce to keep me happy.

We pass some nice, iconic sites on our coach ride back to the hotel.

Then it's on to the BBC Television Centre for a tour of the studios.

Here we are at the stage door reception area. Lots of famous feet have trod this floor, apparently. Unfortunately, we don't see any today.

Because of time constraints, we had to grab dinner on the hoof at Victoria Station, then rush off to watch the musical version of "Billy Elliot". Very entertaining, with energetic song-and-dance routines. The kids may have found the Geordie accents difficult to pick up, but they enjoyed the performance nevertheless.

Day 7 ends back at the Travelodge. Everyone's zonked and we deserve a late start to tomorrow morning.

Hello World! England 2011: Day 6

Buffet brekkie at the Travelodge. Bacon!!!

The kids attend a lesson on English linguistics at the British Library, conducted by Holly Gilbert.

 Picnic lunch on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral.

Lessons continue: we have a fantastic lesson on poetry with BBC's resident poet, Jacob Sam-La Rose. Sone simple games got the kids writing poetry they never knew they could create.

 I say 'simple', but his ability to fill the space with his personality was the fuel that got the kids motivated and push themselves beyond themselves.

In the end, the kids got to recite their own poetic compositions.

Kids were smitten with Mr Rose. He definitely has some new fans now.

Fusion pizza for dinner at Fire & Stone. This is my Athena: a Greek-inspired feta cheese and spinach combination; above is a Peking duck with hoy sin sauce thingy which was nice but I doubt I could eat the whole thing myself.

In Covent Garden getting the creeps and willies watching 'The Woman in Black'. Before curtain, understudy, Jeremy, came out to chat with us, which was nice.

Day 6 ends back at the Travelodge, London Ealing. Everybody goes straight to bed.

Hello World! England 2011: Day 5

Day 5 begins with a surprise: We're having a cuppa in the office of the Lord Mayor of Oxford!

The Lord Mayor is totally funky, firmly committed to the Green agenda and very interested in meeting young student visitors to her city.

We get a briefing about Oxford's policies regarding urbanization, environment and tourism in the Council Chambers.

Briefing over, we're ready to break for lunch.

Lunch for me is a traditional steak and kidney pie from PieMinister in the Covered Market. Hmm... kidney. Hold that thought.

City Council member, Nualla, takes us on our walking tour through Oxford's colleges, beginning with Christ Church, home of Lewis Carroll.

Apart from the historical commentary that Oxford U is so rich in, Nualla also shows us locations where the Harry Potter movies were shot, including this ilex tree in New College.

A better view of the ilex tree. Does it look familiar?

Dinner for staff was in Jamie's Italian. This is my Humble Green Salad topped with parmesan cheese shavings. So light, so fresh!

The main course is this skewer of British lamb on a bed of minted potato salad. The lamb included not just the meat that was tender and flavourful, but also lamb heart, liver and kidney. My meals today contained more exotic innards than I've ever had on a plate but I really enjoyed it all. This trip, I've been indulging my inner carnivore. Best holiday, ever!

And a tip of the hat to our excellent coach driver, Kitch, who has been awesomely helpful, friendly, amusing, knowledgeable, and above all, gorgeous. The kids will miss him now that he's dropped us off in London and we'll be travelling by tube from now on.

Day 5 concludes in the Travelodge, London Ealing, where we will be staying put for the duration of this trip.

Hello World! England 2011: Day 4

We've arrived at Stratford-Upon-Avon, camped right outside the birthplace of  W Shakespeare.

Our guide, Geoff, takes us everywhere to look at all things Shakespeare and his family-tree. Here, we've come to visit Shakespeare's chapel and burial place.

Officially, it's called Holy Trinity Church. Because today was sunnier than yesterday, the churchyard graves looked a lot cheerier than those in Haworth.

We have a lot of free time to wander around, but I spend most of my time strolling along the banks of the Avon, after which Stratford happens to be Upon. The views are breathtakingly scenic, peaceful and the atmosphere is ideal for chillin' out.

Back at Shakespeare's birthplace, the kids request a few scenes from the Bard's plays. The resident actors oblige with snippets from Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The actors made the scenes look like fun and really brought the text to life for the kids.

Here, Puck is planning some mischief in the Athenian forest.

Cornish pasties for lunch at Pasty Presto. Gigantic curry puffs they are, stuffed with generous quantities of different meat, cheese and vegetable combinations. Just one sufficed for a light lunch.

There were a few buskers about. The juggling acts always amuse me. They know how to work the crowd and offer good entertainment with their banter and the promise of a payoff at the end of their performance. This guy promised to put a burning torch down his trousers and pull it out -- still lit -- from the bottom of his pants leg. In case you're wondering, he did.

And here is 'Shakespeare's Ghost' attempting to startle the kids.

I love the way animals and human beings can coexist so easily together, unlike S'pore where any animal in an urban environment is treated with disdain at best, or rounded up and disposed of, never to be heard from again. But here we have ducks -- I was quite fascinated with this yellow duckling, so different from its fellows, yet still a member of the family.

Squirrel!!!

Dinner at the Garrick Inn: Scottish scampi, chips and peas. More shovel food! Yay!

Day 4 concludes with a slightly grouchy briefing at the Travelodge, Oxford Peartree. Sadly, my companions tend to see the worst in our charges and upbraided them for their 'bad behaviour' in the morning. I guess it is an integral part of a student's life to be scolded every now and then.