Going cray cray...

Now I know why!

Finally got myself started on my "English Project"! I'm currently doing some reading up on how non-native speakers learn English and how I can be an effective English teacher to them. Gosh, this whole process brought back so much memories from my NIE days and CWSS days.

I always wondered why my curriculum subject 2 is English. My original CS2 is actually physics. Well, Math and Physics go really well tgt. Whereas, Math and English combination is like bleh. I remember I hated physics in NUS so much that I requested for a change with MOE to do my CS2 in English. I did that partly because English modules in NUS were more manageable for me. Amazingly, MOE acceded to my request.

The interesting thing is that I am never a language person. I know that. But I admit I wanted the easy way out back then. Oops! You see, I don't grow up in an English speaking family and I struggled to pass my English exams when I was in school. The miracle was I did pretty well for my GP in A levels and I had to thank my GP tutor, Mr Lim for it. I literally stayed back almost every other day to do essays with him in the few months before my A's.

I believe God works in ways with the end in mind. He knows that 13 years down the road, I will visit Myanmar. He knows that I will be moved by the people's needs. He knows that I will want to help them.

When I decided to do this last year after I visited Myanmar, I know it will be challenging. I've lost touch with English teaching ever since I left MOE. Most importantly, I was afraid that I couldn't do a good job. Yet now, thinking about how God has guided me and led me to where I am today, I am convinced that He will provide the resources and wisdom.

God created me with a desire to help others. Being able to help people brings me so much happiness. Not only has He created me that way, He provided me with all the resources I need to be of help to others.

I was talking to my sis earlier on and we talked about this common friend of ours. Sis says that this friend's dream is to be famous one day. He is a super nice friend and there's certainly nothing wrong about wanting to be famous.

Then I thought about what I want in life. I don't desire to be famous. I also don't desire to be rich. And in that moment, I found my answer. I desire to be great! In Mtt 23:11 Jesus says that he who is the greatest among you will be your servant.

What are the journeys that God has brought you through? What are the markings on your staff that boast of God's faithfulness, love and goodness? No matter how discouraged you are at this point in life, we are all work in progress and God is never done with us. Push through all your difficulties while being assured that God is a loving Father who desires to give you the best things in life. You are never alone.

450ml of human blood

Time really flies. The last time that I donated blood was 2 years ago. I should really be more consistent in this. May and November seems like gd months to do it because I need at least 4 months of waiting time when I visit Malaria risk countries like Myanmar.

I'm always very stressed abt needles poking me and I tend to amplify my fears. But I tried to replace those fearful thoughts today and it turned out pretty fine. :) My last donation was not a gd experience for me. I nearly fainted due to low blood pressure. Because of that, I was a bit apprehensive about it this time.

Anyway, the nurse who attended to me looked really familiar and I am pretty sure that I saw her 2 years back. So I took the chance to encourage her. Told her that I remember her and it was because she was v caring nurse. She was so happy to hear that. Glad I get a chance to brighten up someone's day. :)

SOoo, if you have not donated blood for the past 3 months, do consider going to the blood bank. 1 bag of blood can save 3 lives!!! I think it's super worth it from a mathematical point of view. Haha! But if you are unable to donate blood due to medical issues, don't be disheartened. You can always make a difference in other ways like encouraging someone with your kind words and help them to see that they are awesome. Remember, it's not about our ability but our gd intentions.

Let's make the world a better place. Together! :)

Reflections on Mother's Day

To be able to love others, we must first love ourselves.

To be able to love ourselves, we must know that we deserve to be loved.

To know that we deserve to be loved, look at the cross and what Jesus has done for you.

Oh yes, and dont forget to look at the beautiful masterpiece of God in the mirror. ❤️

Lessons from Mr Urban Farmer

Mr Urban Farmer told me that my cactus just need more sunlight to make food and it will do fine. Words from the experts can sometimes be so obvious that we miss it out.

So here are my efforts to give them a good sun tan. I don't think it's enough actually and I probably need to find alternatives.

I always think that I'm bad with plants and I won't be able to keep them alive for long. Because of that, I tend not to invest too much time in it because I somehow feel that I can't make it. Yet, a lot of things in life involves trying and failing in order to succeed. By embracing that kind of can't-make-it mindset, it sets me back and confirms my labels on myself. Too quickly, I judged and drew conclusions.

Mr Urban Farmer shared that he has killed many plants. I bet more than me. That's probably why he is so much better than me.

Today, one of my student came into class looking downcast. I felt something was amiss and probed further. It turned out that she had a math test and she couldn't do most questions in the test as it was really challenging. Most of her friends thought that too. As I was talking to her, I sensed that she was really disappointed in herself. Putting myself in her position, I can understand why. She's from an elite school and she did very well for her previous math test. She probably felt she's a failure and stupid this time. She probably lost some interest in math and her confidence wavered too. I know that because I felt that many times before and they are very real emotions.

As I embark on this journey on growth mindset, I know I must do sth for this girl. After church, I texted her and told her to focus not just on the grades but on learning from her mistakes. Failures shouldn't kill us but their purpose is bring us a step closer to our success. We can either give up and conclude we are stupid, or we can push on, knowing that we are better today than ystd. That's the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

Are you being plagued by failures or disappointments today? Always remember that there's always good in every bad. It's really what we want to focus on. Don't just say I am bad in this or that. Ask yourself how I can be better. I know what it feels when everything you set your heart to do goes against you. But you need to dig deep within you and find the strength to take that next step.

Keep on, going. You are a winner.

Let's do this tgt!

So this is the sunset from my room. Thinking about it, maybe I've been living next to a school all my life, it's just natural for me to develop a love for teaching.

I've decided that I should restart blogging. It used to be so cool to own a blog quite some many years back and then now, people hardly blog. Perhaps with the growing popularity of Instagram and other social media platforms, people prefers to share pictures than thoughts. Well, they always say a picture paints a thousand words. I do agree but not when I find my English and my writing getting worse. It's so bad that I'm horrified. I mean I'm alright when it comes to speaking, but in terms of writing, I just can't believe how I can mix words up and how all my grammar rules can go haywire. Because I'm not strong in my language, I do have some difficulties when I don't practise much. Yes, when all you write about mostly are numbers and letters in the alphabet. But I'll try. So that explains why I need to write again. Let's hope I won't give up after 4 posts! Haha.

Never be a victim of your shortcomings. Give yourself every reason to be an overcomer. Let's do this tgt! :)

猜 which latte I love most!

Yes, it's chai latte! :p

Whenever I visit a cafe and see that beverage in the menu, the chances of me ordering that is like 90%.

I don't think I ever shared the reason for my love for chai latte until today when I met Wendy for dinner. You know, some things just occupy a special place in your heart and slowly it creates a habit in you. Each time when you go down that path of least resistance, you begin to savor a part of the beautiful memories attached to it, unknowingly.

Though chai is so much associated to Indian spice, chai latte reminds me all about my first ever family trip to Melbourne in 2012. It was at that overseas trip that I ordered my first chai latte and I just fell in love with it for its unique taste. As I don't come from a really well-off family, we don't really get the chance to take flights together as a family for overseas trips. So when sis and I were a little more financially abled, we thought we shld create some beautiful memories with our parents.

2012 was not exactly the best year for me as BM's financial account was still in the red. It was challenging to keep things going even. However, after my mum got better from her ordeal, that period seems like a good time to bring her to see the world.

God is always a loving Father and provider. He knew that I needed some help for the trip and He opened doors for me to teach in a school just for a few weeks to take over a teacher who's on maternity leave. The pay from that short stint covered a big part of the travel expenses and made that holiday possible. So that trip was really a miracle for me but most importantly a reminder of God's goodness.

So each time when I take a sip of my chai latte, I'm always filled with gratitude and it really brings back memories of a beautiful holiday with my family. :)