Clearing Up

Have been clearing up my work station for the past 2 weeks now, bit by bit. Been lugging home 2 full bags of books and stuff every day. 10% home, another 90% to go... Can't imagine how much books and stuff I have accumulated over the past few years. I think the $ I've spent on children's books is more than a luxurious trip to Europe!

Actually I've started my own collection of children's books since my NIE days. I've always been interested in books and stories. Hmm... think I started collecting books since my primary school days...To date, as a conservative estimate, I should have not less than 500 books, maybe even 1000? I've always have a well-stocked class library to encourage my children to read. Knowing that many of their parents do not bring them to the national library and at that time, the school library did not have a really good collection, I provided a conducive reading corner in class and for allowing the children to borrow the books home, hoping  to pass on the passion for reading.

What about all my furniture? I've a 3-seater couch, an antique coffee table (left from Jerome's business), 6 book shelves, 4 long book shelf cum bench, plastic cabinets. Yes, incredible, but the school is like my home. I do spend more waking hours in school than at home. Wonder if I can have a garage sale in school to sell all my stuff... Hopefully I can get enough $ to buy my KitchenAid...

Anyway for the time being, the books are going to sit at home and occasionally entertain the children who will visit. Wonder when I can share some of my favourite stories again...

Last Day of School

Yesterday was the last day of school for Semester 1. The teachers will be meeting the parents these 2 days to give out the report books and talk about the children's performance, etc.

12.30p.m. I went down to the office to look for Mr W, the P, to submit my resignation letter. I had wanted to submit my resignation letter last Friday, but he was not in school. Then because of Jerome's sensitivity to numbers, he said that it was not good to submit it yesterday (May 24- sounds like I'm dying of hunger in chinese). So after class, when I saw his car at his usual parking lot, I quickly grabbed the chance to see him.

First, we talked about something else... my pupil. I presented him with a big A4 white envelope containing samples of a pupil's work. It was a case of trying to persuade the parent to send the child to a special school as she is not learning much in school. At 11 yrs, she still can't write a simple sentence independently, eg, "My name is ________________." And she's suppose to take the PSLE next year...

Then I presented the smaller envelope to him. He looked at me puzzled. I mumbled "my resignation letter..."
He opened up the envelope and read the letter and the resignation form (Yap, there is actually a resignation form downloadable from HR. There are boxes to tick for the reasons to leave. There are options that include stress, long hours, distance, etc. I wonder if people do really tick the real reasons. Anyway, I've selected others and stated family affairs. There should be one for Trying to Conceive) So as he was reading, I was feeling nervous, anticipating his questions that will follow. I'm afraid I'm going to cry...

Finally, he looked up and asked "You are leaving the service?"
"Yes." I replied with a forced smile, trying to blink back the tears I could already feel.
"For good?" he asked again.
"Well... at least for the time being." I replied.

He then suggested that I should take no pay leave to settle the 'family affairs' istead of just resigning unless I'm thinking of getting another job after leaving. It will be difficult to return to the service after resigning. I'll have to go through the interview process again, etc... So go home and discuss the option with husband first but submit the leave form asap...

So in the end, I walked out of his office with my resignation letter still in my hands...

Kelong Trip over Labour Day Long weekend

Down with a flu at home today with nothing to do so here I am...

This is a 2D1N Sibu kelong fishing trip over the long weekend a fortnight ago...

Sunday Morning: Kiang Kee Claypot Bak Kut Teh Breakfast at 800a.m...

Popular among many locals and Singaporeans who know about this. This place was located next to the road in the middle of nowhere. There are no other buildings in sight.... Had wanted to take some pictures of the food but totally forgot about it when the food arrived :P This is still the best bak kut teh I've eaten...

We took a 45 min boat ride to the Kelong on a small boat. Unfortunately, the engine was overheated along the way and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere... The avid 'fisherman' didn't waste time and started fishing... Before he could catch anything, the boat was ready to go again...

View of the kelongs from the boat...

We had the kelong almost all to ourselves as it was non-peak. There were less than 20 occupants. The kelong was actually fully booked just a day before with over 100 occupants. Btw, that's Mum and Dad fishing... Jerome brought the rods and prepared everything else...


A look at our accomodation. You can see and hear everyone sleeping at one glance. Not much of a privacy. Imagine if it's fully occupied!

And yes, before you knew it, before we had a chance to catch any fish, it was time for lunch... For less then RM$155/pax , you get a trip to the kelong, a bed or rather a mattress to sleep (if you want to), 5 meals (lunch, dinner, supper, breakfast and lunch) and free flow of coffee, tea and biscuits in tins. Think we shouldn't complain.

Other than fishing, it's just time to sit back and do nothing... and enjoy the beautiful scenery...

My aunts and their catch... Actually it was given to them by another group who caught the dead fish. They had wanted to throw it away but one of my aunts thought it was a waste and decided to use it to make salted fish. Ironic that these two did not have a fishing rod and totally not into fishing managed to go home with the biggest catch :P

Jerome managed to catch a squid after his giant fish got away when his fishing line snapped... He was telling me that the fish was more than 2 arms length and the guy next to him actually dropped his jaws. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to catch the action. Better luck next time?