long time no write

I just realized that I have not updated by blog for more than 1 and a half years already. This suggests that life is busy and that we have settled nicely here in NZ. What has happened since I last wrote. Well, we have bought a house - 1087 sq metre house in the heart of the city where everything is 3 minutes away. Then I have gone into teaching having just completed my first yar at one of the top school here in NZ. We will also be travelling to the South island next month to sample the beautiful scenery of NZ in summer- as usual all is booked (kiasu syndrome is still there) even though there will be less tourists.

Merry X'mas and happy 2009.

Weather Cause Havoc in NZ

For the past 1 week or so, the weather has played havoc to NZ. In the South, the weather is so cold that many homes have their water pipes burst. In Taranaki, they experienced tornadoes that wiped out about 50 houses near Oakura. Then in Northland, there was heavy floods that crippled many communities there. Luckily, and touch wood, we in Palmy remain unscathed.

New Update

Hi All,

It has been a while since I wrote in my blog. The fist reason is perhaps, despite my writings in my blogs, I did not received any feedback from anyone except maybe from one or two of you. But recently, I received a few emails telling me that they miss my updates, and now, I have decided to continue with some updates from the Manawatu. The second reason is that I am extremely busy these days, training to be a teacher. If I am not teaching, I am preparing lesson plans, if not I will be doing my assignments. Now, I understand that is why so many teachers here in NZ quit their teaching profession as they are not used to this kind of lifestyles.

Quick updates:

There has been a twister that happened at New Plymouth about a week ago and 50 houses were badly damaged costing the insurance agencies $7 million dollars.

We are now in the midst of winter in NZ and it can be very cold at times.

Junius' soccer team, the Hokowhitu Kiwis, won a Plate event over one weekend where they beat 5 teams and lost to the evntual winner.

I have taught in 2 schools, one in Palmerston North, the other in Fielding, for my teaching practice.

Thats all for now

Teacher Training

As most of you have already known, I am now in my 2nd week of my teachers training. Although it is tough (working in the morning, lectures in the afternoon and more studying at night and early mornings), it is really worth it. Even though I have been teaching, lecturing and tutoring many students back in Singapore, the methods I used then was based on trial and error. I was lucky that most of my students succeeded . Through this course (even though, it has only been 2 weeks), I have learned things like the theories behind the learning, educational psychology, how to motivate students and introduced to the different educational philosophers like Dewey, Steiner and Montesorri. It won't be long too before I get my first teaching experience in one of the local schools in Palmerston. I am really looking forward to this experience.

Happy Chinese New Year 2007 to all my friend and relatives all over the world.

Trip To Wellington

Last weekend, we decided to stay in Wellington for the first time even though we have been there on day trips on several occasions. We got a great deal at one of the city hotel (West Plaza Hotel) right in the heart of town with 3 buffet breakfasts thrown in for $115 nett. We also visited the Wellington Zoo as well as taking the cable car up Kelburn. The cable car was crowded as there was a concert in the park when we went there and the trip to the zoo was interesting especially for Junius. Of course, we had a fair share of eating Malaysian food at KK Malaysia Restaurant (recommended by Shagen) which was very good and this kind of stuff cannot be found in Palmy and I also had laksa at Johnsonville at the foodcourt on the way home to Palmy. On the way back, we again stopped at Lindale where we again enjoyed the country ice cream and Junius enjoyed feeding the animals. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit Otaki Forks (again recommended by Shagen) but we saw the sign on the road. So maybe next time, we may give it a go.

Summer Finally Arrive

Today, it is a warm 26 degrees Celcius signaling the start of the long awaited summer. It has been an exceptionally cold summer so far and people are still wearing winter clothes up until today at least. We have been playing lots of sports though including soccer, cricket and go for swims at the local indoor swimming pool. This Saturday, we are going to Himatangi beach to enjoy the "Big Dig Out" where people pay $2 to have the chance to dig tokens buried in the sands to win prizes.

Trip to Lindale

Last Wednesday during the school holidays just after work, I decided to bring Junius and his good buddy, Wei to visit a farm at Lindale, about, 87 kilometres south of Palmerston. As it was a beautiful sunny day, we drove the beautiful Manawatu and Kapiti countryside before arriving at Lindale just in time for the farm show. The kids had a great time feeding the baby lambs and goats as well as milking a cow during the show. After the show, we had ample time to pat the farm animals including chooks, lambs, sheep, cows, horses, ponys, deers and alpache. On the way home, we even had some time to view the beautiful Kapiti island from Waikanae beach. It wa s a pleasant trip as the kids slept soundly that night.