Nine hours

As I write this, the clock on my computer tells me it's exactly midnight. I should probably be getting to bed. After all, in nine hours' time (hence, the title of my post) I'll be sitting behind a desk in some secondary school, a black pen in my shirt pocket, four 2B pencils and a rubber laid out in front of me, awaiting my question paper to be handed to me.

Yes, I'm sitting for an exam.

At precisely nine o'clock (GMT+8) on the tenth day of the sixth month of the tenth year of the new millennium, thousands all across Malaysia will be in the same situation as I will be: holding a blue question paper consisting of forty questions before them, and quite possibly be exhibiting one of two kinds of behaviours described below:

1. The more diligent ones would probably be smiling to themselves and already thinking about what new things they can buy with the new pay increment they would get once they aced the paper. 
2. The ones on the opposite side of the spectrum (like myself) would also be smiling to themselves and wondering why they even bothered waking up that morning.

Being a teacher, I understand that exams are a necessary part of life. How else would you be able to measure your understanding of a certain topic or discipline. Besides, I like shading those tiny oblongs on the answer paper. It feels quite relaxing.

If only this exam didn't determine your supposed competency at doing your job...

Caffeine fix

How do you like your coffee?

Ask any coffee drinker that and you're bound to get very different answers. For me it's simple. I like mine thick and with enough condensed milk to just provide that lift to the flavour of the coffee. If I don't get what I want, I'd just have a few sips of the coffee and call the waiter for them to add whatever it is that was lacking. Of course, the coffee I'm talking about here is your kopitiam variety, not one of those fancy-schmansy designer places you pay top dollars for. While your local coffee shop may not have the extensive menu of places like Starbucks or Coffee Bean, you're not exactly short of choices. Just think of the ways you can order your coffee:

The base:

• Kopi O - Your locally brewed black coffee served with either sugar or no sugar.

Then, you have the add-ons to the basic drink:

• Kopi - The same coffee as above but with the addition of condensed milk. My kind of drink: smooth, and sweetish with just a hint of bitterness to it.
• Kopi/Kopi O Kaw - The same as either one of the drinks above, just with a bit more oomph. The 'kaw' literally means 'tall', which indicates you want your coffee to be stronger, thicker.
• Kopi/Kopi O Pok - Again the same drinks, but this time the opposite of 'kaw'. 'Pok' means 'thin', and so you want your coffee to be thin or weak, almost watery. (I can't understand how some people can actually drink this! You might as well be drinking water!)
• Kopi Susu - The same local brew served with milk instead.

All those choices are for the local brew alone. Now, if you're more the Nescafe kind of drinker, well the same choices are open to you! And let's not forget that highly original Malaysian concoction called Neslo: Nescafe and Milo.

Oh, if you're interested and you're in Kota Kinabalu, a Gloria Jean's Coffee outlet has just opened at Jesselton Point and is currently running a buy-one-free-one offer. The flyer says the promotion's on for a month.

Cup of hot java. I like.

One day past

Yesterday, May 16, was the Thomas Cup Finals, and as expected the Chinese were unbeatable, and so China get to hold on to the trophy for another two more years. But, yesterday was also another special day of sorts because it was a day to celebrate teachers - it was Teacher's Day. Unlike Mother's Day or Father's Day, there's no great fanfare when this day comes around. For most, the day almost seems...normal.


I did a search on Wikipedia and apparently there's no standard date for this day - every different country celebrates Teacher's Day on different dates. Also, some countries mark this day as a holiday (now, THAT would really be my kind of Teacher's Day). But, since it's just about exam season right now in many schools I suspect most will only hold some kind of celebration at before term breaks.

Adelle made a Teacher's Day card for all her teachers at her playschool and I'm quite proud that she managed to draw and colour it all by herself. It's her first real piece of artwork and I must say she's rather proud of her achievement as well.

Adelle showing off her masterpiece

So, here's to all teachers - God bless you as you continue your struggle in educating the minds of the nation.

The Thomas and Uber Cup - whither are we to go?

Well, that's it. Malaysia's out - again. Three games to nil. What a whitewash considering all the talk during the build-up to the competition. So, it'll be another two-year wait before the chance comes again for Malaysia to attempt to win the Thomas Cup. And when that time arrives, it'll be more jittery nerves and tension, and maybe even a few more finger gestures directed towards the crowd.

I have not been able to watch a single game of the on-going Thomas and Uber Cup matches until today. All this while, my only updates came from friends and the daily news reports in the papers which, while they allow myself to broaden my imagination by picturing the games when they happened, is hardly heart-stopping and exciting stuff. So, when I finally managed to find a web-link that offered live streaming of the games, that just made my day. If you're interested you can find the live-streaming of the games here. It's actually linked to TV1, so it comes with all the ads (and news) that come with the channel.

I wonder if this link will continue to work right up till the time of the World Cup...imagine all those games.

*rubbing hands in glee*

Oh, just in case you're wondering why I don't just watch the games on television, well it's like this. The idiot-box I have isn't connected to the aerial. Thank God for the internet.