Birthdays Come, Birthdays Go

     Yes, somehow it's the day that most of us adults both enjoy and dread -- our birthday. This is the day we get to pamper ourselves and allowed ourselves to be pampered, but it is also the day we add one more year to our existence here on earth, and being reminded that we are getting older, and youth is slipping further away from our grasp.  This is particularly true for me as I turned the big 4-0 this year. Now, I'm officially middle-aged! When I was in secondary school, I used to wonder what my life would be, or how I would look like, when we reach the year 2020. I remember thinking that I would be so old -- 39 years old, practically an 'aunty', as we so often call people around this age in Malaysia. Well, it's now 2021, and I'm 40! Hard to believe I am living what used to be my distant future, seemingly not too long ago...

     Of course, my birthday came 3 days ago, on a Saturday this year. Reminiscing the year that had passed, I had no doubt that it had been the toughest and most depressing year of my entire life so far. 2020 was a bad year for almost everyone, safe to say, with the Covid-19 pandemic raging across the globe, but for me on a personal level, I was fighting many battles. The toughest one (which is still not resolved yet) was having to deal with lost love -- seeing the most important person in my life choosing to love someone else and not me. Being under lockdown made it really hard to seek comfort in the company of friends, so it was a really lonely and depressing time for me. Then, there was the fibroid surgery in May. Being on the operation table was one of my biggest fears, so you can understand my apprehension and anxiety at that time. Fortunately, everything went well and the next challenge was dealing with post-surgery recovery. I also found myself questioning my life choices, whether life could be different and happier for me if I had taken another path in life. Maybe this was my mid-life crisis? Haha... So yeah, the past year had been tough. 

     Nevertheless, I also did not want to look back from the future and regret the fact that I did not celebrate my birthday in a worthwhile way. So, I tried to make the day a happy one. My day started off by getting birthday wishes from my friends and students on Whatsapp and Facebook, which was really heartwarming. Even though I wished I could spend it together with the person I loved, I reminded myself that I have all these other people who cared so much for me. Marciana wishing me was a pleasant surprise too, since she never could remember my birthday! Turned out that Jocelyn reminded her this year. I took all this well wishers to be signs from God that I am still loved and appreciated, even at a time when I felt as if life had lost its meaning. This was a reminder from God to take a step back and enjoy the good things in life rather than to focus on the one negative part.

     Having my version of a nice breakfast (vegetarian Hakka mee and Kopi O from the stall near my neighbourhood market), I looked forward to a great day to spend with my family and friend (and by friend, I mean just Belinda... it's still the lockdown anyway). The plan was to have lunch or teatime with Belinda, then dinner with my mum, sister and brother-in-law. Seeing that Belinda would have her interior designer coming over to her condo at 10am (last minute change of site visit date because of a series of unfortunate events), lunch seemed a bit unlikely, so it was decided that she came for teatime instead. Then, sometime around 10am, my sister informed us that one of her colleagues' sister-in-law was tested positive for Covid-19, and since she had come into contact with this colleague at work, she thought it was better to get herself tested as well, and in the meantime, it would be safer for us not to meet up for dinner. A little setback here, but at least I could still look forward to hanging out with Belinda. Before that, my mum spent time with me. I fetched her to my house, finished some house chores, then went out to get her lunch. I was still full from my breakfast in the morning, so I just got some nyonya kuihs for the afternoon tea. We went back to my house for my mum to enjoy her takeaway lunch, then I sent her back and returned home for a short rest before Belinda's arrival.

     The agreed time was between 3 - 4 pm, but as usual, Belinda was late. I told her that I was having dinner with my mum, and she knew that my dinner time was around 6pm, so naturally, when it was almost 5pm and there was no sign of her, I began to feel upset because I would probably have to take a raincheck with her. All I could think of was how inconsiderate she was, being late as usual even on my birthday, as if she did not really want to come. And for the first time in all my birthdays, I cried a little, feeling that this was the worst birthday ever. First, I could not have a family gathering, and now, even my one friend who could spend time with me might not make it. I actually decided that if she didn't turn up by 5pm, I would call it off and go back to my mum's. But then, she turned up just at about 5pm, and even asked me why I felt down on my birthday... I don't think she realised how upset I had always been for her tardiness... sigh. I decided that I did not want to ruin my birthday by arguing with her, so I just said that I was tired. The important thing was she was here. And she explained that she had actually left home at 3 something and went to get some cakes for the occasion, but the staff at the cake shop was unbelievably slow, even though there was only one other customer. Then, on her way to my house, she saw a stall selling corns at a cheap price, so, unable to resist such a good bargain, she stopped by to get two stacks of them (7 or 8 per stack) at RM5.00 per stack. And that was why she only reached my house at 5pm. I told her it might as well be dinner time if she came at 5pm. It took me a while to shake off the negative vibes, but I became more my usual self again. I figured it was not the time to make a stand and ruin my own birthday.

      After some talking and cake eating, it was already 6pm -- time for dinner. She decided to stay on, so I got my mum to come over to my house to have dinner together. At first, she said she would have dinner alone, since she didn't have much to talk about with Belinda. She was probably thrown off by the sudden change of plans. But I felt guilty to cancel dinner plans with her, especially when it was not her fault. Luckily, my mum finally decided to come, so we ordered food from a restaurant recommended by Belinda (since I said I want to try something new on my birthday), then picked up the order ourselves and had a takeaway dinner at my house. I was finally happy to spend my day with the most important people in my life... really glad that it turned out fine in the end.

     Fast forward three days later to today. My sister took her Covid-19 test yesterday and it turned out negative, so she invited my mum and me to her house for dinner. As I don't get to meet her often these days -- she has stopped coming over to mum's for dinner because she is taking extra health precautions for her pregnancy -- having a chance to spend time with her was a nice change. It was also fun to finally be able to play Overcooked with her again after a hiatus of about a month or so, I think. And it was nice of her to still want to celebrate my birthday. So, it was a bit sad that we had to leave at 9.15pm, having to prepare my lessons for tomorrow. 

     Well, I'm still glad that amidst all the challenges I face on a daily basis, there are still these little things to bring joy to my life. I guess this really is the way we need to look at life -- as a glass that is half full instead of half empty. There's bound to be challenges, so it's pointless to wait for them to go away before we can enjoy life, because if we do that, we will never experience happiness. This is something I must keep on reminding myself about.

   

      Photo of me taken at 12am sharp on my birthday... important milestone for me as I turned 40!

Is Being Vulnerable So Bad?

      The day started well enough. I had a pretty good day teaching my online classes. I must have looked more cheerful and engaged than usual, because a boy commented that I looked gorgeous. That certainly made my day. As the day progressed, things got more stressful.

     I have had this nagging thought since a few days ago, wondering if I am being too nice to people for my own good. It came up because of an interaction with some of my students. They are my school debaters and we have been training online for the past few weeks to prepare for the district level debate competition which will be held later today. Because of the pandemic, the competition will be held online for the first time in history. So, a briefing was given to all the teachers-in-charge of participating schools on the rules and regulations that need to be observed. Part of them touched on things the students should do to avoid cheating, like the computer camera must show the participants' face and part of the table in front of them, using only one device to log onto the Google Meet session for the debate to prevent them searching for information online during the debate. Last Saturday, during online practice, I briefed my school debaters on this. They started arguing about the flaws of these rules, like how the judges were going to know for sure even if they were reading things off the screen, how easy it was to use a second device under the table or outside the camera zone if they wanted to, and the fact that other teams could just be cheating their way through the debate and our school team will be in a disadvantage if we obediently followed the rules. I tried to reason with them and this went on for some time, until even I felt that this was going to far and for too long. But still, I did not raise my voice and assert my authority. I did try on a few attempts but I didn't think they were very successful. Then, other teachers stepped in and it kind of cooled the situation as everyone, including me, was getting really tensed by then.

     Belinda was going to come to my house today. She wanted to buy chappati from a shop famous for it, and then bring it to my house for us to enjoy dinner together. So I wanted to ask her opinion about this, as a way for me to vent my feelings and to see what others think of me. Because she is my closest friend, her opinions would matter a lot to me. Eventually, we ended up watching TV during and after dinner, and only engaged in small talk, without me bringing up this topic. She did notice I was a bit emotional at that time, but all I mentioned was how stressed I was anticipating my workload the next day, with my online classes, meeting the debaters for practice in between my classes, then attending the competition in the afternoon, carrying out my adjudicator duties, and finally having a Zoom Parish Liturgical Committee meeting at night. 

     Now, looking back, I realise I should have asked her outright, "Can we talk?" I'm sure she would have been willing to listen if I had said that. After all, the programmes on TV were not that interesting at one point. But being the usual me who is awkward in most social situations, I did not think of doing that at that moment, being distracted also from the occasional Whatsapp texts that I was receiving, and the occasional interesting bits on TV. There was also a deeply personal matter that I had always wanted to talk to her about, and this did not materialise too. And of course, I have kept this matter in my heart for far too long, which means that I always felt miserable when she had left, because I had to wait for another chance again to talk about it.

      Life is to be lived to the fullest, but I seem to be collecting more and more regrets... sigh. When is that day when I can finally make a breakthrough, and can actually be vulnerable enough to talk about how I feel? Right now, I just feel really alone, like the whole world against me, although I know it's because, consciously or subconsciously, I chose not to pour out my feelings. I do hope this won't carry on for any longer, for my own sake and sanity.

Last Day of 'Freedom'

      Today was quite a busy day, as it was the last day of preparation before I officially start teaching tomorrow. Almost the whole day was spent preparing slides, quiz assessments and planning lessons, with some leisure time in between (playing Overcooked! on Nintendo Switch with my sister on my mum's Smart TV was particularly fun!). As usual, I felt anxious thinking about tomorrow, whether I'll do well on the first day back to work, or make a mess of things. No matter how I try, I just can't seem to shake this habit of feeling anxious a day before teaching after a long break, even with 17 years of teaching. I guess some people never change!

     One of my biggest worries has nothing to do with teaching or managing online lessons. It is the thought that I might wake up late for class! Being on sick leave for a month after my fibroid removal surgery, I have been getting up later and later in the morning (latest record being 10.00 am), so I definitely need to reset my biological clock. But of course, this takes some time, which I don't have, so I have decided to spend the night at my mum's place. At least, she can wake me up if I really don't wake up on time. I know I can rely on her as she gets up at 6am every morning. My first teaching period will start at 8am tomorrow, so I need to be online by 7.45am latest to admit my students into the Google Meet class.

     My lazy self still kind of wishes that I had extended my sick leave, and enjoy another week or two of holiday, but I know I'll not be able to look at myself in the mirror again if I did something dishonest like that. Not to mention, I would have to see my doctor and lie to her that I still don't feel well enough to resume work. Lying is never good, and besides, I think she's sharp enough to notice that I'm not being truthful. No use jeopardising my own image that way. She knows I'm a teacher anyway. What would she think of teachers in general if she sees me behaving in such a disgraceful way? Definitely not worth the risk!

     Overall, I'm quite pleased with myself, as I have managed to prepare everything I need for the lessons tomorrow. This means that I can go to bed in peace, which I should be doing soon, as it's almost midnight. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly tomorrow!

Recovery From Surgery

      Time flies. Today, Friday June 18th, is the last day of my sick leave. I underwent surgery on May 17th, a month ago, to remove a large fibroid in my uterus. The first week post-op was difficult, having to deal with the pain. But still, I am pretty proud of myself for being this resilient and recovering so well, despite the anxiety that I had had before the surgery. Who wouldn't be apprehensive having their body cut open for the first time? At the ward hours before the surgery, my systolic reading when my blood pressure was taken was 144! That falls under Stage 2 hypertension. My usual systolic reading is always around 90. The nurse asked me straightaway if I was feeling nervous. I was surprised myself since I felt normal, and was chatting cheerfully with the hospital staff. I guess I was really doing a good job in suppressing my anxiety then. I have this habit of thinking about positive things when I feel nervous, so that morning, I kept on telling myself that this was exciting as it was the first time I would undergo surgery. That was why I was generally feeling good although in actual fact, I was still nervous inside. After about 15 minutes, the second blood pressure reading was slightly better -- systolic reading was about 133. 

    Surgery was over at around 5pm. I woke up in the waiting room, not from the pain, but from the noise of medical staff bustling around. Then, I felt the pain but as long as I lay still, it was manageable. After a while, a medical staff noticed I was awake and asked me if I was in pain. She must have noticed my discomfort. I just replied that I felt like peeing! I guess I felt different down there because of the tube they have inserted right into my bladder. Haha... another thing that surprised me was my voice. It sounded weak and a bit distant, and each time I tried to talk, I felt as if I wanted to cry. It was confusing because there was no reason for that -- I could still bear with the pain. In retrospect, I think it might be a choking sensation as a result of the breathing tube down my throat throughout the surgery. No wonder my throat felt a bit sore after that.

    I felt quite alert as they were wheeling me back into my room. Even when there was a confusing moment when they were trying to figure out whether I was in room 1006 or 1008 (I was admitted earlier in 1008 as shown in hospital records, but later requested for a two-person ward, hence the change to room 1006), I was able to tell them that it was room 1006. I think they were a bit surprised also when I answered them. Maybe they thought I was still semi-conscious, or else they would have asked me directly instead of arguing. It was about 5.45pm when I was back in my ward. First thing I did was to ask for my handphone from my mum, who had been patiently waiting there since I was wheeled in for surgery. I was able to update my friends in the church choir, my colleagues and ex-colleagues that I was out from surgery and everything was okay. They had been praying and rooting for me days before the surgery, in fact, some of them texted me early that morning to show their moral support. So, I thought I owed them this much to update them on my condition as soon as possible. Then, after that, it was pretty much dozing on and off. When I was conscious, I would be texting my friends on Whatsapp, who were all eager to know how I was doing, and also chatted with my mum. Every time when I woke up and spoke, my voice got stronger and clearer. I was expecting to feel weak the whole night, so that was a nice surprise. My mum left at about 8pm, as the ward did not allow anyone to stay overnight. Plus, with Covid-19 SOPs, only one unique visitor was allowed a day, so since my mum came that day, my sister was not allowed in when she came to fetch my mum home. Luckily, I had friends who kept me company through Whatsapp text, particularly Belinda, my close friend, who checked on my condition at 2 - 3 hour intervals. Being a doctor, she was able to give me some advice to help me monitor my own condition. Chatting with her helped to occupy my time too, but after being given my painkiller injection at around 10pm, I was feeling drowsy and had to say good night to her. That day was her birthday, so it was a bit sad that I could not spend the day with her. But we celebrated it the night before, eating take-away sushi in my house. 

       Over the next two days, my recovery went on well. My mum did not come visit on the second day as I told her not to, to lower the risk of Covid-19 infection. Besides, my sister would have a chance to visit me and help me bring back the fruit baskets sent by the Multimedia Team and choir group from my church. The smell of flowers was nice, and even the nurses liked it! The doctor had told me that she could discharge me the next day if all went well. I definitely needed the help to carry those fruit baskets home before that. My sister eventually came in the evening after work, and helped to bring back one fruit basket. At least my mum could carry the other one when I got discharged the next day. I could already feel much improvement on the second and third day. Even when taking regular painkillers, it was still painful if I needed to push my body up or lie back down, but the pain was steadily decreasing day by day. 

       The doctor allowed me to walk on the third day, after she told me she was going to discharge me that morning. I was glad to be able to walk again after lying on the bed for one day and a half. I did as much walking as I could, as I was told that this would help with recovery. It was a few hours' wait for the discharge order, so I got the chance to walk around the maternity ward and went a few times to the babies' nursery. They were the ones who were crying so loudly at night, but looked so adorable when they were asleep in their incubators. By the time I got my discharge note, and taken my medications at the pharmacy, it was around 2.30pm. Luckily, my choir friend Amy was free at that time to fetch me and my mum from hospital. With her, there will always be a lot of laughs, but that day was the one day I wished I didn't laugh. The pain on my stomach was unbearable! I was laughing and moaning in pain at the same time... from the photo that Amy took of me and uploaded onto the Whatsapp chatgroup, everybody said that I looked good for someone who had just had open surgery. I felt in a good mood too.

       My condition improved steadily while recuperating at home. After the first week, I was already able to get out of bed without having to bear the excruciating pain of exerting my abdomen muscles, and having to pull myself up with my two hands. The only unbearable thing during the first ten days post-op was not being able to wash my hair, shower or eat certain food that could complicate the healing process, as per Chinese tradition. Imagine the liberating feeling I had when I could finally shower! However, I still had to continue abstaining from certain food like eggs, mushrooms and cucumbers for a while longer. 

        One thing I was looking forward to post-op was for my friends to come visit me. I was really worried that I would be stressed out from being stuck at home. In fact, they had already told me their plans to visit even before my surgery, but unfortunately, the government announced a total national lockdown due to the sudden spike of Covid-19 cases. House visits were strictly prohibited. So this was how I ended up spending the whole month recuperating at home without the company of my friends. At least, I had my mum and sister with me to keep me from going completely crazy. 

     Fast forward to today, we are still under a national lockdown until June 28th. But thanks to technology, I can still keep in touch with my friends through Whatsapp. I have spent the whole week preparing materials for my online lessons next week. Frankly speaking, I am rather nervous, as I have not done full online teaching before, unlike my other colleagues who started since January this year. That's because I was part of the physical classes team, charged with teaching SPM 2020 candidates who would sit for their SPM late February. Then in March, I was exempted from online teaching as I was one of the examiners marking the SPM scripts online. As this was the first time SPM scripts were marked online, there were some technical problems which delayed the whole process, so the marking period extended from two weeks to two months, to only finish at the end of April. By then, schools were reopened and I taught two weeks of physical classes before the Hari Raya holidays. Then, it was time for my surgery. So, I expect a tiring week ahead, as I adjust to this new norm of full online classes. 

     But I must be optimistic. If I could go through an open surgery, one of the top ten on my list of scary experiences, I would definitely survive online teaching. After all, I did this last year too, although it was once or twice a week then, as we had a more flexible system of teaching during the first national lockdown. And today, I had my first tuition class after my surgery -- done online too due to the lockdown. I had wanted it to be sort of like a warm-up lesson for me before next week. One difference of online teaching is that teachers need to prepare more digital materials to ensure effective learning, so a lot of time is spent in front of the computer preparing slides, Google Forms and filtering Youtube videos. Well, I will need to make sure that my weekend is fully utilised to finish all this preparation so that I don't kick myself by Sunday night for not doing enough. That will make me anxious and I can look forward to a sleepless night. Let's hope this will not happen...   

The Day of Reckoning Has Arrived

 10 June 2021... this is the day that many of us have been waiting for with bated breath. Today was the day that the SPM 2020 results would be announced. This was not like the result announcements of previous years, only because the SPM 2020 exam candidates had to go through what none of their seniors had before -- a year full of challenges adjusting to the new norms in the wake of a global pandemic named the Coronavirus Disease 2019, better known as COVID-19. Not long after the academic year started in January 2020, the whole country went into lockdown when the students were midway through their mid-term break in March. Then, both teachers and students had to adjust to online learning with almost non-existent knowledge and experience in this area. This was especially hard for Form 5 students who would be sitting for their SPM exam by the end of the year, and double pressure on the teachers to deliver their lessons as effectively as how they did in physical classes, so that students would not be left behind in their studies and lose out in the exams. Teachers scrambled to master the various online tools that were available to help them do their job well. On the other end, students struggled with internet connectivity problems, lack of devices and a difficult test of self-discipline due to the newfound freedom that learning from home offered. Thankfully, the government allowed SPM exam candidates to return to school in June, and postponed SPM to January 2021. Teachers were more able to teach and coach the students more effectively in person. Many people had been worried that the average and weak students would not do well in the exam, because they were not as motivated or disciplined as the smarter students, and many of them had not been attending online lessons, and would rather sleep or play online games at home. There was no way for teachers to punish students who did not submit their work online either. And since webcams were disabled most of the time during online classes, there was no way for teachers to know whether students were really paying attention on their end. Shy students would also refrain from asking questions or giving feedback online, making it very difficult for teachers to assess their level of comprehension.

    From June to November, students got to attend physical classes, but they had to adjust to new norms in school as well. Classes were split into two as each class could only be 20 pax due to physical distancing measures. Interaction in class was limited and students were not allowed to be physically close with one another. Facial masks had to be worn at all times, and sanitisers encouraged to be used regularly. Even going to the canteen or the toilet required strict SOPs. In the midst of intense preparation for the most important exam in their secondary school life, students had to adjust to this new norm, which brought a certain amount of frustration and stress. For Phase 2, classes were combined again, but the closer seating put more pressure on both teachers and students to observe the SOPs in order not to cause an infection cluster in the school. Any breach of SOPs would result in a harsh reprimand from discipline teachers or the school administrators, if they happened to witness it. Then, as a new spike in cases occurred in November, schools were abruptly closed again and it was back to online classes again until end of the year. SPM was postponed again to February 2021. Imagine having to deal with all these distractions while preparing for such an important exam.

    This batch of students finally sat for their exam from February to March 2021. I guess teachers, students and parents alike were relieved that it was not postponed again, even with COVID cases slowly on the rise. Everyone just wanted to finish the race, so to speak. This was followed by online marking of their exam papers, a first ever initiative again in this new norm. That presented a whole new lot of hurdles -- which I will not mention here -- so much so that there was growing doubt that results would be announced in June 2021 as was previously planned. Well, I would say that after a year of uncertainties and abrupt changes of plans, I felt rather surprised that the SPM results were confirmed to be announced on time! Everyone was interested to know the results... poor results would surely invite a lot of backlash about the various shortcomings of online learning, and criticisms towards the Education Ministry for not handling the situation better.

    For a high-performing school like mine, students really aim high, so they were extremely worried that all the difficulties of the previous years would affect their results. In fact, many of them were aiming for straight As. Anything less than that would be devastating. I as one of the Form Five teachers was also eager to know the results, as I wanted to see whether all the hard work had actually paid off. Finally, at 10 a.m., the results were finally revealed. SMJK Sam Tet showed overall improvement compared to previous years. Although overall passing rate dropped slightly from 91.34% to 91.29%, our average grade point improved by 0.23 to 3.54, and percentage of excellent increased to 11.41% from the previous 10.5%. 

    As an English teacher, of course my greatest concern was the result of the English subject. Good news! We had 98.19% passes (only 6 students failed), and it was the best result in the past 5 years! Out of 332 students, a total of 158 students got A (41 A+, 75 A, 42 A-), and our average grade point improved from 3.27 to 3.06. Needless to say, the English Panel was in a celebratory mood today. Time to give ourselves a little pat on the back for a job well done. Of course, with this result, I won't be surprised if our next target will be 99% to 100% passes for SPM 2021, which is of course postponed to February 2022 (schools are closed again as we are in the midst of a third nationwide lockdown).

    Later on, I learned that on the national level, the SPM results this year are the best since 2016, which means most of the schools in the country saw improvements in their results as well. This took some of my initial joy away, since Sam Tet's achievement was not unique to us alone, but was part of a national trend. I think this news took some of us by surprise, as it was widely agreed that online lessons were less effective than physical classes. Teachers, students and parents all agreed on this. And yet, with half the year spent on online classes, students managed to produce the best result in the past 5 years? Either the Examinations Board was more lenient in grading (maybe for political reasons, to avoid any unwanted criticisms), or online lessons actually yield better results than physical classes. In that case, maybe we should not go back to school, or if we do (which we will, eventually) teachers should cut down on teaching students in-person. Maybe we teachers are the problem all along! Haha... one year of being in the new norm, and results are better than ever? But then, there is another reason, and that is that students had more time to prepare for the exam, since they had more schooldays than previous years (year-end holiday started in late December rather than mid November) and they had 3 months more for revision than their seniors. Well, I'd rather be optimistic and pick the third reason. At least then we can all be happy that we earned the results through our hard work and determination, having made full use of the extra study days. With all that being said, I think that the best thing to do is to continue to work hard to improve, and hopefully next year, we as teachers can help our students to reach for their highest potential, and achieve our target of at least 99% passes. After all, getting the best results for themselves is an effective confident booster before sending them out into the real world. In the end, it is not the results that matter, but the building of character and reinforcing positive life principles like diligence, patience and determination. Preparing students for life -- isn't that the ultimate purpose of an educator?

Long Overdue

      It's been four long years since my last entry in this blog... and so much has happened since then! I've transferred to a new school, made new friends, bought a new car and... oh yeah... survived a year or so of a global pandemic which is still raging out of control at this moment -- the dreaded Covid-19. The reason for my long absence? I enjoy reading, but not so much of writing, although I always feel that I should write things down so that years later, I can re-read my writings to remember my life experiences, whether they are happy or sad ones. Unfortunately, somehow I feel lazy and abandon the endeavour soon after I embark on it, and these are just the few times when I have actually managed to muster enough willpower to start writing again. Most times, this has just remained as a thought and no writing materialised.

    Just now, as I was reading through my old blog entries, I realised that I actually enjoyed going down memory lane, laughing at my own humour (of course they were funny to me, or else I wouldn't have written it like that!) and ruminating on some occasional morsels of wisdom that made their way into my ramblings. Some entries even jogged my memory about events that I have almost forgotten about. But seeing how forgetful a person I am, that shouldn't come as a surprise. All the more reason that I need to have this blog. And so here I am once again, trying to create more entries in the hope that I can preserve some of the significant facets of my life for my future self to read with a sense of nostalgia.

     Well, so much has happened that I don't know where to begin. I think the most important thing to mention right now is that I underwent surgery last Monday, exactly one week ago, to remove a large fibroid in my uterus. Certainly one of the Top 10 scariest moments in my life thus far. Thank God the surgery was successful under Dr. Anjalai, and the recovery process seems to be going well so far. Almost finishing my medication and the pain is also almost gone by now. Though there are still a few days more before I can wash my hair. Yup, my hair has been unwashed for 7 days now (5 more days to go), and the amount of oil on my hair and scalp are already at a never-before-seen record-breaking level! Cutting open my uterus to remove the fibroid is similar to childbirth, so post-surgery recovery is also equated with confinement after childbirth, hence the anti-hairwashing rule and diligent avoidance of cooling food and drinks. Dr. Anjalai has given me one month medical leave, so I am trying to make good use of this period to relax and rejuvenate myself, as I know that a tonne of work will land on my lap as soon as I am deemed fit for duty. Better enjoy the freedom while I can!

    That's all for now. Further updates in the next entry!

    

A Trip, Finally!

     This is already the second week of the mid-year term break. I have spent the first one marking exam papers, giving extra classes and finishing various unsettled business that I have been putting off for far too long. Cleaning up my house was on the top of my list, needless to say!

     Well, what's in store for me in this second week? Guess what, I have finally found some time to go on a vacation! Yes (waving arms in the air like a moron) !!!! Many of my colleagues have gone overseas right when the holidays started, and by now, they are on their way back or have already come home. As for me, I am just going to somewhere closer to home, as this was a very last-minute thing. I had to be completely sure that I will be free to go, so I did not want to have plans too early on. 

     Okay, so I have decided to go to Langkawi, which is approximately three-hour drive from my hometown, Ipoh. It will just be a short stay, but I can finally go to Langkawi Geopark, which is listed as one of the UNESCO Heritage Sites for its breathtaking beauty of nature. Bus and train tickets have been bought as of today, and hotel bookings made late last night. Yes... what can I say? I'm a last minute kind of person... I will be travelling solo because it is too late to ask anybody else and my family members are occupied with their own things... but it just makes the whole experience more of an adventure! Can't wait to set off tomorrow...