Catciti Leisure Run 2012



L-R: Shan Hui's brother doing medic, my kindergarten mate Yee Shien, yang lip, ME =), ah Kei, Robin :)



Civic Centre Tennis Court

starting point! gathered at 7am, 200-300 of us participants departed excitedly at 8am sharp :)



Saberkas

 turned into Batu Lintang at the traffic light :)  I jogged for 21minutes non stop, cutting through others was kind of ... motivating; but short term happiness, because very soon, guys in red started to zoom past me. haha!

Batu Lintang was flooded 3 days ago.



Jalan Sekama

round 3.2km here. Initially, I planned to derailed here and cut into Ellis Road to attend 1030am Sunday Service.  *looking at my 7year-old Nokia 6020* it showed 829am~!! Wee~!! So I persisted :) a friend, CS, caught up with me and we jog-walk-run-walk, and I stopped by a 'try luck' yellow shop :P

Crown Squre

5km: Hydrating Spot! Had a memory of seeing marathon participants grabbing drinks from beautiful ladies at Hydration Spots, never thought I would be one of them. haha! Had my first Red Bull drink today.  It was SO SWEET!!

Sri Putramas Swimming Pool

No idea where is that beautiful swimming pool in Kuching. But I couldn't google MBKS swimming pool - the pool I first stepped into during swimming lesson at Tadika Sri Keria; which my parents sent me over for swimming lessons every weekend. Thanks daddy and mummy, you both have really brought the 3 of us up comfortably well. Love love (^_^)



Welcome to Kuching

It started to drizzle by the time we reached this famous cat. Btw, this cat changes her costume every festival. haha. Happy Chinese New Year to all~! May this year of dragon be a blessing to you all (^_^)

Padungan Road

I popped into my brother-in-law's shop; wondering if baby Xin Yu has 'checked-in', but nope, still early for a Sunday. Being an environmental lover, I passed the Red Bull bottle to uncle, troubling him to show my sister that her little sister had actually ran past their shop XD

Plastic bag on head

Haha! The funniest thing I ever did. Since it was raining, I went in a Bak Poh shop and asked for a red plastic bag. Sheltered myself without even looking at any windows for reflection.  3 photographers for this Catciti Run actually spent few seconds to snap my photos. One commented "Cute". Haha, talking about positive motivation!

Star Cineplex

Made a round at Star Cinema and head straight to Main Bazaar.

Main Bazaar

Old builings in Kuching which became the tourist attraction. You can find souvenirs like local handicrafts/decorations/blackpepper/batik etc here. Waterfront is located opposite. [no idea why this entry started drifting to introducing Kuching. haha]

Kuching Post Office

We can see brides and grooms taking their wedding photos here quite often :) It's like sending a message: with a post office, we can survive long distance relationship.  [Note: I do not want to be in a marriage where I will be distanced from my husband. Days for business trip, bring me along (if it's allowed). For years? Nope! Unless you are earning 1million a year. and that place is too dangerous for me to tag along. haha, ignore a girl's dream.]

Merdeka Palace. I think a Sultan once stayed here.

Sarawak Museum. You can find head skulls here XD



St Joseph Cathedral

The first church I went for a Christmas countdown =D Traffic was bad at the time we ran past church. I wonder if they are planning to expand their parking lot.

Exactly 99 minutes later, I reached the ending point. According to Yee Shien's Nike sports watch, we ran 12km, not 10km!! WEEeeeee~!! I still can't believe I did it, but the winner made it in 41 minutes, so I accepted this little triumph humbly.
 Exhausted but extremely happy look. Another bottle of Red Bull =D

There were mountain bikers and traffic police men keeping an eye on us all the way.  Thank you so much, Kuching Marathon Organisers, for all your effort in making this event a success!  Looking forward to more health-activities in our developing city.  8 January 2012 is the day I accomplished my 2nd new year resolution! \(^_^)/ 

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Did I sleep after the run? or the whole afternoon?

Trinity Methodist Church

Nope. I made it to attend sunday service simply because I said a little prayer before the run. God is good, so good! Today's sermon by a new female pastor Wong, 'How to Pray?'

#1 Acknowledge God as Father in Heaven

when you pray, say:

"Father, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us,

and lead us not into temptation."

Mitsu Coffee Shop @ RH Plaza

Met up my dearest friend, Alice for lunch. The wonder of friends --> Alice and I were classmate for only 1 year during Form 1 at SMK Kuching High. Ever since she moved to KL, we kept in contact via mails/cards/and occasional meet up when I went to KL. and this friendship is really one I appreciated alot, alot. The moment we met and hugged, our conversation started to flow, from happy memories to sad hiccups in life, from what we ate for dinner last night to ... ah, thank you God. (^_^)

after preparing for my teaching materials for tomorrow, I dozed off at 4:15-5pm. Facebook has been lagging for the past 2 hours. and it actually took me 2 hours to scribble here. Coursemates posted status, rumouring our posting will be out tomorrow. Ah...honestly, I no longer have high hopes after 7 months of waiting, because I am happy with every person/gifts/work/food/incident I am enjoying during this holiday. (^_^)

14 hours of non-stop rain in Kuching.

This is the worst flood in Kuching ever. 

5th January 2012, this morning, a Form 6 student stepped into a drain and got washed away by the flood at Batu Lintang.  A petrol station saw and jumped to help her, but to no avail. 

Dad called my phone many times but I went dancing class with neighbour.  He broke this news to me earlier on, and when I checked Facebook, geez, many areas were flooded!

Please stay safe, my dear friends.

A Little Light by Carolyn Brunelle

A LITTLE LIGHT

For everything a reason

and a season under the sun;

every puzzle has its answer

that is not uniquely our own.

Nothing remains a mystery

in the light of life's experience,

or hurts like the awareness

we cannot live it over again.

Yet nothing is ever lost if we

pass such wisdom to one another;

no life lived in vain, that sheds

light on the path for a brother.

Carolyn Brunelle

hide and seek.

Why do we hide?

A. Afraid.
B. Nothing good will turn out.
C. Habit.
D. Don't want to hurt others.

Honesty is not the best policy after all.  But, still, it is the fundamental requirement in a lasting relationship.

- Day 3, aeroplanes war in the classroom.  It's a mess from the outside view, but I shared their joy in flying the aeroplanes.

Phonics is Fun

"I don't want! I don't like!  It's not fun!"  cried little Rainbow.

"Be good, boy.  Enter the class.  Mummy will buy a lego set for you later, promise," his mother persuaded.

It's Day 2 for ITS English Camp at Tabuan Desa Branch.  'Our man' caught me by surprised when he burst into tears before the whole class.  He resisted and fought back Principal Yu and his mother.

My heart sank.  Have I failed as his teacher? Why was he so reluctant to enter my class?

I had a rough night.  I woke up as early as 4am and cried myself back to sleep.  No, it's not the kids.  They are God sent angels. 

After singing 'The More We Get Together', little Rainbow entered the class, accompanied by Principal Yu.  Thankfully she's a wonderful lady and having her presence in class is not as daunting as my supervisor Puan Ashley for practicum.  Bless you Mdm Yu!

Little Rainbow continued to buried his head in his folded arms, face down on the baby table. 



Richard has asian black hair :P

"What is your name?  What do you like? How old are you?" - Ice breaking.

"Rainbow?" Still, he ignored and face down.

"Rainbow is tired. We have to be quiet to let him sleep awhile, ok children?"

The other 15 kids nodded.  They had been quite quiet after they witnessed Rainbow's outburst.


----------miracle after 15 minutes-------when I started to teach Phonics----

A ~ A a~  A a a ~ A a a a~

Amy Ant, Amy Ant,

What do you say?

I say A a,

Amy, Amy ant!

B~  B b~  B b b ~ B b b b~

Blue Bird, Blue Bird,

What do you say?

I say B b,

Blue, Blue Bird.

C~ C c~ C c c ~ C c c c~

Candy Cat, Candy Cat,

What do you say?

I say C c,

Candy, Candy Cat.

Rainbow woke up with a BIGGGGGG smile~! The rainbow is out after a heavy rainpour~!!  He got so excited suddenly and even rose from his chair and rehearsed the phonics along~!


Of all the games, the kids actually enjoyed this the most! @_@

-------------during recess, 10am-----another surprise----------------

Rainbow held my arms and dragged me near him.

He whispered "Teacher, you forgot to say grace yesterday.  Pray." He clasped his hands and bowed.

Despite having my hands guiding another kid doing her worksheet, I actually turned around and looked him into the eyes.  Such a darling!

Though my school do not allow us to pray before the class, due to religion being a sensitive issue in this country, I could thank God in my heart, and, yes, Rainbow did say his grace before munching his doughnuts :)

Thank you children, for bringing rainbows into my world :)

Day 1 with little ones

Mistake 1:  Nearly distributed the whole stake of worksheets to children.  I blame my nervousness. Kids, and some adults, might forget to bring the next lesson.

Mistake 2:  Asked them to organize their individual ordered worksheets into daily stack. I gave an example and asked them to follow me from behind. Terrible mess. 2 out of 14 students succeeded.

Mistake 3:  Re-arrange the table and chairs too near a small board. He accidentally knocked on it. The board fell on him, he cried, principal came in, she gave him sticker, he declined and dried his tears after the pain subsided. Our man!

Mistake 4:  Helped the slower students with their worksheets while some boys played with the chalk on the board. The girls complaint; I didn't stop them.  If this persist, sooner of later, they will climb over my head.

Mistake 5:  Let the students out of the classroom when the school bell rang.  One girl went missing!  Her mother went frantic and nearly cried! The principal questioned me.  I was puzzled and afraid.  How careless!  Few minutes later, the mother's phone rang.  The girl's grandma came to picked her. End of panic.

Conclusion for Day 1 for International Tuition School English Camp, Level 1, 5-7 years old, 16 kids:

1.  35%  followed me dancing "Our School will Shine Today", the rest mumbled and were shy to lift their arms.


2.  32% sang "School Song".  The words are quite difficult for their level.  Some smiled.

3.  89% ziraffah-ed their necks to see the pictures of 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' on my netbook.  62% guessed the storyline when I paused for suspense.  When I asked what is the moral of story, they answered "Mouse eat cheese!" -_-"



4.  I guessed the story might be hard.  So borrowed a BIG BOOK "Mamo and His Promise".  The boy cat ate the fish though he promised mummy cat he wouldn't.  He lied and broke his promise.  Sister Cat scolded him, he apologized to mom and mom praised his honesty.  99% eyes on me when I meowed and yeah, they love BIG BOOKS.

5.  Musical Instruments.  I prepared 8, those with rice and beans inside containers.  50% without instruments were extremely sad; some carefree ones just clapped and marched behind me when old spiritual "When the Saints Go Marching In" was played. Spontaneously made another 6 instruments.




6.  All are helpful in arranging desk to match softboards on the floor for story telling time. 



7.  68% did poor colouring. 

Reflection:  I'm glad I didn't break into tears before them, due to personal emotions.  When little Felice held my arms around her little neck, I felt all the energy draining hours before were worthwhile.  Oh, she was the adorable one the went missing.

Lesson Learnt: Do not...


(P/s I told him)


----Humor is the spiciest condiment in the feast of existence. Laugh at your mistakes but learn from them, joke over your troubles but gather strength from them, make a jest of your difficulties but overcome them.


Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)-----

Reservoir Park Kuching

Back from an hour's brisk walking with mom earlier. Once again, this Reservoir Park lifted my mood. How can one not be charmed by Mother's Nature?

Did you see the the platform above? Due to the non-stop rain in Kuching for the past 24 hours, it was flooded.  Poor drainage. Nevertheless, the cooling atmosphere this evening successfully welcomed parents and tots and a few couples; as well as singles who are health conscious.

Can't help admiring the kids, posing with their father for their mother to snap a picture. - sweet memory, must pen down- :P

Ah, this photo was taken 5 years ago.  I do hope this greenery will forever remain within the heart of Kuching.  Oh by the way, that white tall building at 1o'clock is our Civic Centre; I used to enjoy playing the lift to get up there and enjoy the scenery and breeze. The gym which replaced the state library at the ground floor was also removed, poor feng shui I suppose. 

Did you you the semi-globe besides Civic Centre?

Planetarium Sultan Iskandar

Though it's a just a stone's throw away from home, but I've yet to view our outer space. 

Just googled: http://www.planetarium-sarawak.org/psi/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=10

Something to look forward to this week :)