Once Upon A TYPE…

Archive for 2010

Boat Race at CIA Campus

Before we started our school year, we had a good understanding that our lessons must be incorporated with local Cambodian traditions to help the kids get a better understanding why these traditions are celebrated.

During November, Cambodians look forward in celebrating Water Festival where millions of people gather in the city to watch the colorful boats and fireworks at night. And for our school activity, Teacher Chris Frost of Grade 10 and I agreed to conduct a small boat race for our students. What’s interesting here is the boat must be powered by a dishwashing liquid. The students were stunned when they learned about this and most of them thought how this will work.

Here is the criteria for winning:

1. The boat most be no more than 150 mm.

2. Students are allowed to use any materials they wish.

3. The boat must be able to carry Mr. Marble from the beginning of the race till it reach the finish line.

4. Mrs. Marble will choose the best designed boat on the race day.

5. Students have 4 days to design and practice for the race.

The big day came and all the participants gathered in the pool for the grand race of their lifetime

At first, the boats were powered by dishwashing liquids but after a while, it ended up hand powered as the students waved their hands in the water to push their boats into the finish line.Everybody had fun!

My favorite part of the activity is when Teacher Chris jumped in the pool to “destroy” all the boats. You can see from the picture below how powerful his landing is All the boats toppled over while in the water as the force is too strong.

For those who are curious and wants do this activity at home or school, watch the video and follow the simple instructions. Oh how we love science!

Korean BBQ

We’ve been going to a new restaurant called Korean BBQ for quite some time now. It’s located at the top floor of Sovannah Mall and they have different types of meats for grilling. You can choose from plain or marinated pork, beef, and chicken. They also serve seafood for those who are not into meats and a hot pot mix for those who loves soup.

This place became an instant favorite because it give the kids a chance to enjoy the meal by simply cooking their own food. Kahit mejo natatalsikan na sila ng mantika, sige pa din I’m thinking of buying the same cookware because the one they have in the resto has a combined grill and pot in the middle. I wonder if it’s available here in the city. Anyhow, I think I can place an order at Ebay and ship it here in Phnom Penh.

If you are like my family who loves to venture on different cuisines, I strongly suggest you to try this restaurant. They’ve got a 20% off till the end of the year which makes me think of escaping Christmas preparations, hahaha! However, my big boss Nestle don’t like my idea of not cooking anything for Christmas as it’s been a tradition in our family to have delicious meals during this time of the year.

Renewed Love for Paintball

After more than two months of being quiet in paintball, I am back in the game! Yoohoo!

I got a chance to play today after attending church with these men…again, I am the only female who played, what a winner, hahaha!

Though my team lost in the games, I liked my style of playing as I’m more aggressive to attack the enemies, I’d say better than my previous plays. I got hit but it doesn’t matter coz it’s part of the game, you don’t wanna be hit then stay on the bench and watch. I’m not the one who whines after being hit by the opponent

Andrea and Aaron got their fair chance to play as well. Wearing their C9 pants, they hit the smaller field to practice their skills.

Next week I’ll play again, I need to renew my love for this sport since everybody in the family is very keen in playing. Hopefully, I’ll develop more and get a chance to watch at Hainan, China with Pong for the China Cup

Friday Food Trip

Tired from work, stressed from colds and coughs, what else do you want to do when you get home – rest and sleep right?! But before I do that, I decided to hit the nearby market together with Andrea and Aaron for some merienda. Having severe colds made my papillae on a holiday mode making all my foods taste bland. Anyway, for $5 here’s a bunch of food we got

Banh Xeo – Aaron ordered this one together with some fresh lettuce for wraps.

Crispy Okoy as I call it, dipped in salt and pepper, and lemon

Fried Dumplings as requested by Andrea

Fresh Spring Roll (for Andrea again)

Rice Noodles with Fried Rolls on top (this is mine )

and some

Num Kruc

We ordered meat balls too but I wasn’t able to take photos of them as we dig on the foods we have in front of us. When you get hungry you do not mind other stuff anymore but simply concentrate on your plate. As we eat silently, I secretly smile as I watch my kiddos, they are just too cute to see eating in simple places like the market, as long as the place looks clean we go for it…street foods at its finest! Saka di naman kasi kami maarte, gaya nga ng sabi ni Daddy Pong, the more yucky the more yummy! OMG! Now I officially miss tokneneng and calamares in front of Cavite City Market! Wootiewoot!

One good thing here in Cambodia is food, the prices are really cheap and with a dollar in your hand you can buy a nice heavy meal to fill up your tummy. But of course this is only applicable to simple places like street-eats and markets. Lucky we are who can enjoy this kind of simple life

Christmas Madness

My students are all crazy about Christmas and today I gave them a chance to decorate our room, special thanks to Tay So Davinn for her kindness in bringing the decors and of course the whole class for giving their best to keep it beautiful. I’m proud to say that we’re the first class to have something for Christmas and seeing other students smile while passing our room makes us somehow feel honored to impart Christmas with them.

Yi Houy, Huy, and Andi getting busy outside

Yi Houy and Marina playing with the garlands

Charlotte the garland fashionista

Davinn, Morokot, and Mei Ing decorating the board

Chhay Por and Ly Van – masters of the tree

In the end, the room looked awesome! Glittering Christmas tree and happy faces of students, what else can you ask for?! Now all we need is Christmas to come and we’re all set to PARTY! Yoohoo!

Sam Tsui’s Firework and Grenade Mashup

Sam Tsui’s voice woke my morning today with this song, and again, he did a wonderful job! I think Kurt and him are perfect tandem in the music industry

On Welcoming December

Coughs and colds are what I have now on welcoming December, surely not a good way to end my year though. It feels devastating to have these annoying sniffs and coughs every once in a while in the class when you’re teaching. Since husband came from KL, I had these virus and bacteria attacking my lungs and tonsils, I’m not blaming him, okay, I guess it’s the weather that’s making my condition worse.

How I love to skip work this morning but I was just too concerned of my students. Instead of filing a leave to have some rest, I decided to use my long afternoon prep time as my excuse to go home early, then I need not skip my classes and ask my supervisor to cover for my students Everybody is happy when it’s like that.

This morning the MRSPs are out and since the sleep had been helpful, I have some energy on working grade 6s and 8s grades now. Grade 7s are already done and they’re in T. Matt’s hands now

Our class also have our small Christmas tree this morning which I placed nicely in the corner of the room. It somehow gave glow to my students faces as the feeling of Christmas is slowly sinking into them. Other students also visited my classroom to see if we really have a Christmas tree, hahaha. I guess they heard my students talking about it that’s why they got curious Now all we need are gifts under it

I just love December, actually all the months in the calendar but December and January always have a special place in my heart…Ooooh, I love the Christmas songs playing while I’m writing this post, hihi! I’ll work my butt now and write something more sensible by tomorrow

Life Updates

It’s been a while that I have written and it’s been a while that I have shared things happening around me. So what’s new?

The past week is one of the most chaotic weeks I’ve had in my life – exams, paperwork, grades, lesson plans, sorting out things in the house, self-reflection, renewing faith to God. Yeah you heard me right, the latter one is what I consider my achievement for the week and would be my continuous goal to achieve eternal peace and love. I will tell you more about that later

Husband went to KL last Saturday morning to attend Paintball World Cup Asia. This event is one of his dreams and though he’s not able to play, just being there to cover the event is already a BIG achievement. I am happy for him and will always be. I need not to say that I’m his big supporter because I know that he can feel my love for him.

While he was away for the weekend, I took time to re-arrange the house on how I wanted it to be. I decided to change the curtains to add some life in our living room and study room. Tidied my kitchen and baking stuff, and the highlight of the weekend is the Christmas tree which I bought last Saturday. I needed to buy a new one because I have given away the old tree. For this year’s theme, I chose red and gold so I took time to buy nice decors for my handsome tree. Thanks to Biggie and the kids for their efforts now the tree is up and glittering in the darkness of the night. I love it! The gifts will follow soon. I still need to complete my list before eventually sitting on them for the wrapping.

Our Sunday was peaceful and quiet too…having renewed faith with God and serving Him in the most delightful way is one of the reasons why I love going to church. I am not the kind of Christian who brags about my religion, but I will admit, church is my second home and being able to see familiar faces, makes me feel I am safe and loved. I know the Lord has better plans for all of us and just like what the sacrament means last Sunday – be patient and obedient in every single way, soon everything will be all right.

Monday came and work is back to normal, later in the afternoon husband will arrive from his trip with plenty of stories to tell, I just wonder if I have the power to listen as I’m pretty tired from today’s work. At 5pm his plane arrived, and with a huge smile on his face, I knew he’s happy to be home with us. As we gather together, we decided to have a simple Korean dinner at our favorite Korean place down in Monivong. For the past three days, he wasn’t able to eat “real-food” because everything is instant – Mc Donalds and the like, so he made a great revenge tonight. Galbi, doenjangchigge, topukki, spicy squid, and lotsa kimchi and other side dishes completed the meal…ending with happy tummies!!! Mine is the happiest as I satisfied my cravings – got a Big Mac and 1 dozen of Dunkin Donuts from KL which I’ll eat later for snack, hahaha! Gluttony it is!

Kids are so much happy to see Dad as well, who will not be happy when you see loads of presents? Aaron and Andrea got a pair of DYE paintball pants and lots of toys which they can only open when Christmas comes

A Toy Story set for Aiken

Cute tops for me

I like the tops on the right side as they’re from the paintball event.

It’s been a long day and I need to work double time to keep up with the fast changes happening. Life is pleasantly good and I thank Him for all these happiness we have in the family.

Canon Pixma Solved My Problem

Hubby came home tonight seeing me work on my children’s practice exam papers. Since I was too busy writing questions in preparation for their quarter exams next week, I couldn’t pay attention to what he’s saying when he entered my study room. Then he left. The next thing I knew is his carrying a big box of Canon Pixma!

This photocopier-printer-scanner solved my problem in printing. Now I don’t need to wait and do all my stuff at school or ask hubby to print copies for me. Together with my Canon Selphy, these two will be perfect match in simplifying my work! Love it!

I feel like quitting…

There are times in my life that I feel like quitting, especially when motherhood is being involved. Most of the time, my ability to become a good parent is the one put in the test. I may be able to provide every single thing that my children need but for them it may never be enough. I could never question my love for them but still they want more from you.

At this point of time, I wanna surrender and give up everything but at the end of the line, I keep on looking back to the things I have done and analyze what went wrong. If there is something I have missed, then I need to go a step backward, fix and rearrange life. It’s hard to raise kids, work, and be a wife – all rolled in one time, and it’s making me feel frustrated. Truly,life is too complicated!

It’s not the end of the world yet, there’s still tomorrow and who knows what the future will hold for each of us. So, no matter how I wanna quit and run away – I still can’t.

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