Jarod Yong

taken from balletlorent.com I can speak of words like candyfloss To seduce & tame even the wildest of femina Yet I have never taken pride in this gift of the gab Because I know deep inside... I can pleasure with countless repetition Leading her into a moment of mutual euphoric explosion Yet this I do not do, though I feel the burning desire Because I know deep inside... People have started quoting what I say about love Someone I am particularly fond of likes to do so But more often than I am comfortable with Because I know deep inside... Someone said that I should write a romance novel Yes, I have learnt a lot about love Yet I am unable to write, though I lift the pen Because I know deep inside... There are many women in my life Many of whom have got what I want Yet I am helpless to pursue Because deep inside... This feeling it sneaks up on me Every time it does, I receive a surge of inspiration My best poems were written high on this sensation Bec...

Today was the first time I entered my 4 ERT class of SMK Puteri Titiwangsa. Previously I was told that they were quite a "difficult" class. The English word "difficult" in this context means: - lazy to do work - does not concentrate in class - has very low English proficiency - some cant speak - many cant complete a sentence Imagine the amount of pressure I went through trying to plan a lesson based on a scheme of work designed for a medium-proficiency class for a low-proficiency class using a text-book for high-proficiency students. In the end, I planned a simple activity based lesson where there is interaction between teacher-student & student-student. Now, imagine the amount of pressure & uncertainty I felt when I entered for the first time into a class whom I'm not sure will work with me with a lesson plan that I wasn't sure would work with them. At the end of the lesson however, I felt edified & more confident about teaching thi...

taken from englisharts.org This afternoon I had the privilege of joining a meeting of the Culture, Music & Choir Society of SMK Puteri Titiwangsa as my exposure to the world of managing co-curricular activities in Malayisan secondary schools. Little did I know that I would be given the task of producing a choir performance for the retirement ceremony of the assistant principal that will be held in September! I got less than 11 weeks to search for a qualified group of students, select the songs, train the students to sing the songs, train a conductor & perfect the singing of my group of angels. YEAH!!! So challenging! But with God's power, I know I can do it more than okay! At the first session, I would usually choose to do an audition. But I did not have the instrument nor the musician to facilitate this... but I did have a small group of students who were enthusiastic & eager to learn! It was a small group, so if I could make this first session an entert...

Today, the school returned to its usual timetable of lessons. Today is also the day I taught my first ever English language lesson! Form 1 Maju were my guinea babes and they were amazing! As a teacher... I'm not the type to read from the textbook & I'm not the type to give everything to the students. I learnt a lot from Vygotsky 's social constructivism theory & zone of proximal development (ZPD) . My style of teaching involves a lot of student-teacher interaction. I lead the students down paths they have to go all by themselves one day & I help them do it well. The students' response was overwhelming. They were eager & motivated. Although they could not answer open-ended questions like "tell me about Independence Day", they were able to respond to leading questions like "when is it?". They also worked well in groups & were very enthusiastic about the work that was assigned to them. haha~~ Cute little girls... Mind...

The first day of school was uneventful. It was "report card day" where parents come to see the class teacher & discuss the child's performance. We met the school leadership, hung around the staffroom, mingled with the friendly teachers & staff as well as asking teachers about the classes we were going to take over. *wondering if any of my students are reading this* Form 1 Maju & Form 4 ERT of SMK Puteri Titiwangsa... Looks like you'll be stuck with the pragmatic koko' for the next 3 months! haha~~ ~~~ Story of the day: taken from daveandthomas.blogspot.com Someone really deserves a real hard slap! Cikgu Shim TetChon! When the four of us were in a meeting with Mdm Lim, the assistant principal (Penolong Kanan), my beloved friend just had to make this cheesy joke... Mdm Lim: *hopeful* "It's good to have you guys here. I believe you will be able to persuade the students here to concentrate in class. Especially the weaker class...

taken from italiansoccerseriea.com Italy & Milan midfield playmaker, Andrea Pirlo, was heartbroken after Italy's EURO 2008 quarter final game against Spain. He burst into tears of disappointment & frustration... The pain was so great, he couldn't contain himself... He, an influential man, couldn't help crying openly... Such was the heartache & shame felt by a player who was obviously a missing element in the team during the game. He couldn't play because he was suspended for having a total of 2 yellow cards in his previous games. Italy lost in a game that they played very badly. Spain worked hard & were constantly looking to score against the Italians. Italian goalkeeper Buffon was probably the best performing Italian player on the pitch that night. The game ended 0-0 with Spain deservingly winning 4-2 in penalties . I am very disappointed... I don't feel like grumbling anymore... I'm heartbroken like Pirlo...

taken from yummycelebrities.com For those of you who do not know... For the last 5 years I have been sponsored to be sent overseas & trained as the Malaysian English teacher of the future! The last phase of my induction is to pass the evaluation that will be carried out during a 12 week practicum at a local school. My practicum start on Monday where I will be reporting in to SMK Puteri Titiwangsa as a "Teacher Trainee". I'll be going with Shawn , Nesa & Aimi . Yes, I'll be going to a Secondary School in KL... Yes, I'll be going to a girls' school... Yes, a girls' school in the middle of the city... *grins* I know... *thoughtful* But it seems, I didn't know enough... Today, we had some free time after our briefing in the morning so we decided to look for the school & some wise guy suggested that we also drop in to greet the teachers (which I consented to reluctantly). The school in Titiwangsa was about 10mins drive from...

Through the time & silence Just as hope was deafened Your voice still brings me cheer Thanks for calling, dear

taken from soccernet.com What a drama! What a drama! And oh what a relief after its all over! Italy has risen up & qualified for the Quarter-Finals of EURO 2008! Before tonight's game, Italy was at the bottom of the Group C. They lost their first game, drew the second & tonight's game was their last chance. They had to win tonight's game to secure enough group points to be 2nd place in the group. Only the 1st & 2nd place in each group get to qualify for the quarter finals. However, they had a slight problem though... Romania is currently 2nd place in the group with one point more than Italy. Therefore, if Romania were to win their game against Holland, Italy might as well not play theirs because Romania will have more points anyway! Romania will have to lose for Italy to go through. Italy faced a tough game tonight against a reputable foe, France. Both teams had the same points in the group so both teams will definately fight for a win. Bot...

This is Nasrul , he sacrificed his whole 2 week holiday to stay in our KL apartment to care of the injured WuNan while everyone else went back to their respective hometowns & had a good rest. This is the injured Wunan who jumped from the top of our 7 floor building. Nas had plans for the holidays but he gave them all up. He spent the holidays caring for Nesa's injured WuNan, his baby Sho'el & my beloved Shadow. I did not bring Shadow with me because Nas wanted the siblings to stay together. If they are seperated for too long, they may return as strangers & become territorial. His original plan was to take the 3 cats home with him to Seremban. But WuNan's accident complicated the matter & he had to stay back in KL. When I landed in KL from Kuching, I was hungry for some meat... I also wanted to compensate Nas for the sacrifice he made... So he picked me up from KL Sentral & we headed to Tony Roma's @ Mid Valley for dinner on me! ...

Last week was eventful... This week was... well... interesting! I had a bit more time to relax this week compared to last & I hung out with old friends more often too... Here goes the final week of my holidays: Taken from philippetastet.com This week was interesting because of a bold promise made by Anwuar Ibrahim: “As soon as Pakatan Rakyat forms the government, oil prices will be reduced. I will resign if oil prices are not reduced.” Anwuar has made an offer the people cannot refuse! This promise is spot on to the most apparent & current need of the people. This alone will win him many votes & the support of many. However, here is something that may affect the crossover numbers from Sarawak... MPs in Sarawak have recently been showered with a whopping RM15000 allowance every month for them to reach out to their constituents in the interiors by helicopter. I wonder how much of that money will actually go to helies instead of mercedies? The political ...

I was actually looking forward to an uneventful holiday at my parents' holiday house, lazing on the large cushy couch in the living room, sipping on a glass of Hennessey & puffing on a Cuban cigar while reading the morning news or writing the next Malaysian novel. Such was the extent of relaxation I yearned for due to the taxing & hair-pulling nature of the previous month. Little did I know, my greatly delayed flight was a sign of times for an eventful holiday back at home! This was my first week back in Kuching... The most significant of all events was the government's decision to increase oil prices . It's quite a steep increase for petrol from RM1.90 to RM2.70 per litre. A full tank used to cost RM50, previously it was RM60, now it costs more than RM100. WOW!! This increase has allowed Malaysia to break the world record of longest time for queues outside petrol stations nationwide! On Wednesday, June 4, petrol stations nationwide were congested for ...

The place is Low Cost Carrier Terminal , KLIA . It is currently 9:45pm. My flight from KL to Kuching is at 7:10am. Check-in is 5am. 7 hours to go until I can sleep again. I arrived at the LCCT at 7pm. I thought my flight was at 10pm. Little did I know, my 10pm flight was cancelled and replaced with an earlier 8am flight! I was not informed. No email. No phone call. I missed my flight and I didn't even know it! Fortunately, the staff of AirAsia are well trained... There was Syifa & then there was Alif. Contrary to standard Malaysian customer service where the paying customer is treated worse than a peasant when an issue arises... They were very kind & gentle with me. Syifa gently explained the reason for the change. Alif & Syifa worked fast to give me a seat in the next flight & even double checked the bookings I made for all my future flights! I believe the manager should give them a big pat on the back. I gave them a tiny box of Beryl'...