Being a designated cluster school is nice but, there are accompanying headaches. Firstly, the mountains of paperwork to get through - this is before getting the cluster status and even now. Every single thing we do, buy, learn or think must be documented.

Secondly, the scrutiny - i've lost count as to how many 'guests' we've hosted from the Ministry of Education who've come to look into our planning and implementation.

Thirdly, the 'red tape' - i guess all these checks and balances are necessary to ensure that the money given to us is spent wisely. However, give us a break and trust us a little, please....

Aside from the challenges outlined above, we're glad to get the cluster status and the assistance which we've been waiting for since 1997 &, Oh, i'm speaking from the perspective of our wind orchestra. Thank God for our WOTeam led by Rabiah Hj Ghani which includes Goh Hui Leng, Rosmuna Putit and myself. I'm so blessed to work with them and i hope i won't let them down.

Check out our new Wind Orchestra blog at The SainsKu Winds.

We had an Otago Alumni gathering last night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Lindsay Brown, the Chancellor himself, hosted the event together with Alison Finigan, Head of Alumni & Development. Orlnda had fun although it wasn't her university. She came out of the event feeling that Otago is a very exceptional place to study and was impressed with the down-to-earth qualities of the Chancellor when compared to those "elsewhere". According to her there was none of the stuffiness and aloofness often associated with persons holding positions of high standings in society. So, well done. It helps that he was a Scarfie himself!

We'd intended to stay until half past 7 but ended up leaving only at 9:25!

We also met-up with Dorothy Vatsaloo, a friend we've not been in contact with for ages.She's now teaching in Sunway College Kuching There was much to be talked about and it contributed a great deal to the late departure from the event!

Coincidentally, we bumped into Abdul Aziz bin Mohd. Hassan, who now works in the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate. He left Otago at the end of the year i got there. He's doing fun stuff in the Psychometric Unit there. We too had a lot of catching up to do. Aziz was in Kuching on TDY (temporary duty) observing schools around Sarawak. It was a pleasure talking to you again, Aziz!

We had fun. It's always nice to reminisce - especially the times when one was young and reckless.

Thank God, I'm turning 32 this year!

It's Saturday morning. I'm helping at the Kuching Debate League being held in INTI UC. Linda and I are helping to judge the debate rounds. Loads of first timers and it should be interesting. Woo-hoo...

I may have come across sounding pessimistic but, in reality, i'm quite excited that this idea has finally taken off. Aside from the Yayasan Sarawak Debates and the Swinburne Debates, there's nothing else. We're looking at doing this on a monthly basis and keep it relevant to the colleges, universities, and schools. Raising the bar, so to speak.

It should be a whole load of fun.

I'm hungry.

I've always enjoyed teaching - especially my 13 year-olds. They're intelligent, extremely active, aren't afraid of asking questions, and have not been tainted by the scars and marks of experience. Innocence personified.



They test me to no end, taking me to the teetering edge of the precipice of my patience before pulling back, reacting to my frustrated outbursts with innocence that you just know, weren't faked.

We were having lunch at The Spring and the waiter's T-Shirt caught my eye. Funny thing was, his colleagues only realised what it said (and meant) after i asked to take his (shirt's) picture.

How true, huh?

No wonder Malaysia is ranked 10th in the world on the "highest amount of alcohol consumed in a year" list.

Staying alive.
Living sane.
Knowing your strengths.
Giving your heart.
Standing in the gap.

Faith.
Love.
Hope.

Preparing to teach at camps are challenging, exciting and yet, scary. You have no other alternatives but to trust in the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit, and pray that He increases while the "I" diminishes. However, that's no excuse not to plan. Planning is all about being made in the image of God and the wisdom He provides us with. NOT planning is just plain dumb and disrespectful to God.

Mac went on the blink again. However, this time, i did all i need to do before it went into a "coma". So, fingers crossed, i'll find a logic board soon.

"Alive! It's Alive!!!"

My PowerBook G4 DVI came back to life after 4 months of going in and coming out of 'coma'. At the end of last month i decided that it needed professional help.

In comes Switch@TheSpring (or CGComputers) and they even sent it to Penang at a cost of nothing. They love their Macs there.
It's a logic board problem and there is a problem finding a replacement. So, my Mac is on the 'transplant' waiting list. Meantime, i shouldn't use it in high temps and have to handle it with gentle, tender, loving care.

So far, i've had it on for an hour and it is still running. So, fingers crossed and we'll see.

Meanwhile, Linda's Macbook and my Touch will be arriving soon! Yay! I'm seriously thinking of getting an Apple Time Capsule. Just the thought of having 1TB is scary so, i'll settle for the 500GB model. Imagine the ability to automatically backup your ENTIRE computer memory and done automatically.... No more, "Oh Crap!!! ARRGH! What do you mean I've lost my entire teaching folder since 2000????"

Hmm... sounds real good.

Wah... so long never enter this blog. I can imagine the electronic cobwebs and dust flying all over the place. Where do i start? So much to tell, so much to regurgitate.
It has been a mad, mad year. I know! It's not even half a year yet BUT it has already seemed like one. David and myself; we've been sick on and off these few months due to the HFM we suffered in February, just before the Chinese New Year. Doctor's been warning us that we'll be getting sick from the silliest thing because of the whack our immune system received AND THEY WERE RIGHT, I TELL YOU!

David's been better. I got hit with the flu, 2 rounds of diarrhoea (that's cirit-birit to all you malay language speaking people out there) and recently, i seem to have developed an allergy problem to... anything!!! Antihistamines are fine but it can be a bit hairy when you have drive. David got the chicken pox yesterday although he had the vaccine when he was 1 but doc says it's due to the HFM. However, 3 days tops and no fever... we pray. Hmm, why wasn't mine like that?? instead, i suffered for 2 weeks and had more spots than a dalmatian with measles.

Anywhat, we'll be off to Kota Kinabalu in 26 days time. Linda needs a break. Poor her, taking care of her sick babies (both big and small). We're flying Air Asia and paid RM421 for the tickets for 3 and booked ourselves into the Imperial International KK for RM175 per night. Hey wait a minute... just did the calcumalations... We're holidaying for 4 days for less than a thousand. How sweet is that... 4 star hotel again. Let's see how 4 star the hotel will be and i look forward to visiting KK again. Hopefully this time, i won't swim into a plastic bag full of shite-filled diapers. SELAMAT DATANG KE SABAH!

Attitudes & Traits I abhor in people:

Racism
Ignorance
Class-consciousness
Narcisissm
Senseleness
Senseless Pride
Stupidity.

Sometimes it's difficult to ignore because there are so many people stuck with these things in them. 'Nuff said.

At first it was Facebook (and to a certain extent, it still is!), then we were sooo busy with getting the home squared away for our annual sojourn to Klang, after that it was Klang (with NO broadband access...) and now, it's home WITH NO BROADBAND ACCESS!!

I'm doing this from "the other workplace"; in between waiting for "work" to appear.

We went to Klang and had our first real extended holiday in ages. David played big brother to Theo and for the very first time, got angry because Theo wouldn't finish his food.

"Theo, you must finish your food!", said he.

I'm so proud of him.


Right after that, all 14 of us (yes, FOURTEEN) packed our bags and flew AA to the "Pearl of the Orient" where we stayed at the Berjaya Georgetown.

180 degrees view from the room

I finally climbed the Cornwallis lighthouse and got my longed after 360 view of Penang Island.



And, here's us on Gurney Drive. We just had to do the tourist thing at least once...

David, D'lorna, Graeme, Orlnda & Me

I nearly forgot Christmas.

We had a good time this year. It wasn't as longwinded as the years before. It got crowded due to the rain but it panned out well in the end.

Theo & David, Christmas Morning Service

Tata (grandpa), David and Amachi (Grandma)

David tearing away at his prezzies from Alveen & Lynn.