342: Board to Death

Cut, paste, trace, snip, punch, pin, lace, dot.  A week before classes start, teachers are expected to be at their craftiest.  Where's my fairy godmother when I need her?

Decorating a classroom has never been my strongest point but this year, I'm determined to give it my best.  The newly painted 5th grade room is giving me positive energy.

It's no secret that P5 classroom has a ghost or two.  I haven't seen one but I can vouche for eight-legged freaks on a daily basis.  But all these bad press need to go away and the only way to do that is reclaim the cool.  My new tenants will be proud of their classroom come September.

I snapped a couple of photos from my progress so far.  I'll post more pictures of the rest of my boards soon.  I'm all tapped out, to be honest so I'll end this post before I use up the last drops of my creative juices.

Quick Question of the day: Any suggestion for a classroom bulletin board? 

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343: The Animal Kingdom According to Matthew

Matthew's back!  My trusty companion when I'm alone in the classroom after classes is back from his Indonesian holiday.  With a hermit crab in a glass box, he gave me a hug and a kiss and said, "Sir Jay, I have a new pet!"

Matthew is our cleaner's son so he's basically part of the school family.  Matthew's obsession is the animal kingdom.  From dinosaurs to reptiles to mammals and, apparently, crustaceans, he observes, studies, and draws anything that moves.

I asked him what he did in Indonesia.  His eyes lit up and he started to stutter.  He stutters when he's excited.  "Yee, yee, yee, yeeow know, we went to the zoo!" he said.  I asked him if he went to the beach.  "Yes, but wait, aaa, aaa, aaayyy, I want to tell you about the zoo," he began his long story.

When Matthew left three weeks ago, he was mesmerized with Komodo Dragons.  But now, he's into bats.  He drew bats.  Bats with Mickey Mouse ears.  Bats with pointy ears.  Fossils of bats.  He drew a vampire, too!  I made him promise not to draw scary pictures with blood on them.

He talked about the animals he saw in Indonesia for the most part of the day.  The hermit crab kept peeking out from its shell to see if Matthew has set it free or at least stopped yakking about "optopuses" or "porchupies" or "chicken with big feathers".

Finally, Matthew drew the naughty monkey who stole his sister's food during their trip.  He also drew an elephant.  I asked him to name the monkey and the elephant.  Like a true English lad (and I'm not making this up) he named his animals after the two better known (for me at least) English Youtubers: Charlie and Alex.  Of course baby Matthew never watches Youtube so I assume it's just pure Brit genes in action.

Incidentally, Charlieissocoollike recently uploaded a music video about monkeys!  

I'm just glad my little monkey is back to keep me company.

Quick Question of the day: What name would you give YOUR monkey? 

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346: Word on the Street II

The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts' Bethanie campus in Pokfulam is definitely not familiar territory to me.  I got the directions and bus routes but I needed a visual.  Launched in March 2010, Google Street View (Hong Kong) is fairly new so I had doubts whether it was accurate enough to be trusted.

Google Street View FTW!

First stop on the map: Caritas Building on Caine Street for the bus.  Finding the perfect bus stop was easier using Street View.  Van was at Derek's place in Upper Albert Road and from there, it was either the stop at Cotton Tree Road or Caine Street.  On the map it was a coin toss since both are of walking distance.  However, Street View revealed that the walk to Cotton Tree Road has more ups and downs.  Caine Street was just down the road.  A 2-D map cannot give you that kind of detail.

We got to the bust stop like we knew it was supposed to be there without looking like lost tourists.  My confidence was up.  The bus arrived and we sat just behind the driver and already I was experiencing déjà vu.  Block by block, turn by turn, it was the same scene from Street View as if I have been there before.  I knew we were going the right way.  It was different with Van though.  He didn't seem comfortable and he kept asking me if we were going the right way especially when the bustling Central faded behind us and the bus went further uphill.

Next stop: HKAPA.  It worked like a charm.  The bus stop was just across the venue as promised and as viewed.  A beautiful campus greeted us and had the trip been harder, I'd say it was worth the trip.  The whole building which was a former French sanitarium in 1875 stood almost on the edge of the hill.  Now, it's the breathtaking home to the HKAPA's School of Film and Television.

The HKAPA Bethanie Campus then and now.

Sir YK Pao Studio in HKAPA.

The studio was located at the roof deck.  It was the first of its kind I have seen because the side by side views were spectacular.  Greens on the left and a view of the harbour on the right.  And thanks to the glass roof, you get a lovely blue sky as well.  

Below the hill was the street.  Far up as we were, I could not trace the street back to where we started from.  We ignore it quite often but it's amazing how technology has made our lives easier.

Quick Question of the day: (Re-post) What's your favorite new technology? 

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347: Word on the Street

A few times on my post, I've added photos from one of the greatest inventions that came out of the interwebs--Google's Street View.  So far, the application has been flawless when I try to locate familiar places which I can use in my blog.  Taking it to the test is a different thing.  Would you trust technology when you're late for a rehearsal at a new venue?

So this is how they do it! =P

Our director sent an email regarding the new venue.  Perfect time to test the power of Google's Street View, I thought.  Hong Kong is lucky to be one of the few cities in Asia that has been mapped in Street View.  I got to it.  I found the venue, found bus routes and traced the bus route turn by turn.  It's as if you're driving in stop motion.

Sitting behind a computer is safe but it's better to see if the technology is accurate enough to be trusted.  Tomorrow, it's off to an unknown place with only the images from Street View in mind.  Google better bring me to my destination safe or the street's the war zone.

Quick Question of the day: What's your favorite new technology? 

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349: The Teacher is In

11:00 AM and I'm still in bed waiting for my excuse to reply.  I was supposed to go back to work today and I didn't feel like it.  I texted two people to set up a meet but it didn't happen.  11:30 and I'm in the shower.

I didn't want to be late on my first day back to work after a long holiday.  I had to be in school at noon.  Out the door at 11:50, the short walk to school should take me 10 minutes.  A quick trip to Circle K and after munching on the way, I arrived at 12:15 PM.  

"Why are you here?  Didn't you file your leave for until tomorrow?" the principal said as soon as I entered the office.

I smiled but no words can describe the self-induced brain slam inside of me.  The teacher is in and in too early. Damn it.

I made the most of the afternoon doing what they call "the other stuff teachers have to do"--prepping the classroom and making it beautiful.

Somehow, I was in the mood to work today so I got to it without grunts.  By 4:00 PM I already had the Birthdays board and the Cleaners board done.

Lesson learned and a word to the wise, it takes but a minute to recall your leave schedule.

Quick Question of the day: What's your latest blooper?

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351: Breather

I was writing a new post last night when I suddenly realized that I couldn't finish it.  I got lost.  I forgot what I was writing about.

I thought I needed a break so I went through my subs in Youtube and found this video from Lev.  I gave up on my post and decided to take a breather today.  The video clearly explains what is happening to me right now.

Quick Question of the day: Have you ever been stumped half-way through a project?

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352: Unbalance

It was my first time to do laundry in the new place yesterday and I spent almost the whole afternoon doing a few clothes.  The culprit was the washing machine itself, an ancient piece of machinery that threatened to explode every time I pushed a button.

It took me five minutes to look for the detergent drawer that never existed on the machine.  Three minutes to figure out how to make things work.  And five hours to finish 25 pieces of shirts and undies.

The cycle was set to wash-spin-rinse-spin-rinse-spin-rinse-spin.  But with the "unbalance" feature of the machine, it took forever because the wobbly drum set off the alarm.

Load-push button-wash-spin-stop (unbalance)-spin-stop (unbalance)-spin-rinse-spin-stop (unbalance) and so on.

I finally got the rhythm of the blasted thing and got the last batch done around 8 PM.

I don't know if I should be happy about the "unbalance" feature of that machine.  It's a freaking pilot light that goes on and abruptly stops the machine when the drum is doing a dance.

I can't imagine how my housemates can live like that!  Why would they allow a machine to take over their life?  Someone should install a pilot light on their head.  Perhaps when their minds are unbalanced, they'll know they need a kick in the head.

Quick Question of the day: What's your most frustrating encounter with a household appliance?

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354: The Crescent Resurfaces

I was on the bus reading my horoscope.  It said that I should spend time with friends.  Incidentally I was on my way to meet Van.  It also said to take a gander at the moon and see a waxing crescent with a bright Venus beside it.  I looked out the bus window and sure enough, it was there--the sign of better things to come.

Almost the same scene I saw tonight.

I'm probably a Muslim deep inside because the moon's crescent has always mystified me.  Tonight it sat there on a blue-orange sunset sky.  For a moment I wondered if the Dreamworks boy was fishing for stars.  It was a good night to begin with because a friend called me up and we explored the possibility of a new job.  It got even more special when I saw the beautiful moon.  

I was excited to meet Van in Sham Shui Po to tell him of the most exciting news I have ever received since I moved to the new place.  These recent events have been pushing me to a decision that I didn't want to make until next year.

Van and I discussed our angst as usual.  We reached Mong Kok later in the evening and found a small Japanese restaurant.  No tourists, finally.  We continued our rants, alternating between miso, office talk, tonkatsu (not very Muslim then), dumplings and the mismatched couple seated beside us.  When I arrived home, what greeted me was basically the last straw.

I keep hanging on to hope and good intentions with my present job because my mom helped build the organization.  I even helped in the process when the organization opened the school.  Most of the school policies and materials like student handbook, grading system, etc., were patterned after my alma mater, University of St. La Salle Integrated School.  But lately, with this new management, I feel that I am not being treated fairly.

I hoped that Van and I would each get a room when we were asked to move.  It didn't happen.  Next, I hoped that we'd at least get a decent bunk bed to appease us.  It didn't happen either.  And that's what greeted me when I walked into the flat--a chunk of flimsy metal and two foams just over an inch thick. 

I wanted to send a text message right away to express my disappointment.  But I controlled myself.  I will not give them that privilege of knowing that I'm in a rut.  

I'm going for broke because I have self-worth and I won't allow people to treat me like they own me.  In other words, I'm leaving soon.  The crescent resurfaced to mark the coming change in my life.
  
Quick Question of the day: Does having a comfortable living space count when looking for a job (overseas) or is it a sacrifice one has to make?

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358: Kama Karma

Sometimes we get pushed to our limits that we think there is no justice in this world.  But once in a while the natural laws of the universe kick in and we get a taste of victory that reminds us the fight is not over yet.

I spent most of the day trying to put everything in order in the new flat.  Since the day we moved in the villa, the heaps of luggage slowly diminished.  Our small room is now filled with plastic cases, drawers and containers.  Each container filled with roughly organized items.  I've had enough cleaning up for the day so I decided to drag Van to the town center to look for a double-deck bed, our kama.

A few months ago, when our boss first told us of our move, I wrote him a letter asking for some amount of money to cover our expenses during the transfer.  That amount would have paid for our bed.  My proposal was declined.  I understood because I thought then that HK$ 4,000 was way over the top.

This afternoon, I was surprised and a bit vindicated when we saw the prices of the furniture.  The cheapest double-deck bed we found was already HK$3,000 and that's without the mattress.  Somehow I felt glad that they didn't grant my request.  Now they'll have to buy the bed we found or else they can look for the cheapest one themselves.

Karma is a good friend.  It always shows up at the right time.  Things will probably start to get better after all.

Quick Question of the day: Do you believe in Karma?
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359: Trash or Treasure?

In the process of moving, I had to discard loads of things.  Room 217 was practically half stockroom so I found myself clearing most of it.  The room that we're moving into is also a storage room so imagine the frustration of moving and getting settled in when you still have a lot of things to put out.

Piles of old clothes and toys and kitchenware were thrown into bags.  We thought it was impossible but we emptied the room after two hours.  It could have been faster if we didn't look into those bags.  Early on I already told my housemates that we should not even open the bags and boxes and just throw them out.  But there's always that curious part in us that wants to know whether there could be something useful.

I am not interested in fabric so everytime we open a box full of folded cloth I'd yell out "trash!" but my female housemate would say keep it.  I'm partial to toys so they always get saved.  In the end we only managed to throw half of the things that we have all agreed to dispose.

The stuff that eventually made it to the rubbish stack outside the house were not exactly the kind of trash that comes out of your kitchen so we decided to move them to the refuse area outside the compound.  There, an old woman waited excitedly for our arrival.

The Refuse Site (circled) outside our compound on the right.

The little old lady had the softest voice I've heard but she was far from weak.  She carried each bag all by herself and she made it look effortless.  Each time we got back to her with more trash, she looked more and more like a fisherman reeling in the biggest catch of the day.  I was somehow delighted that we are not exactly putting all of the "trash" to waste.

This afternoon we threw a few more items and as expected, she was there on guard at the refuse site.  She looked a bit disappointed that we didn't bring in as much as we did yesterday but she still gladly took charge of the unloading and said the gentlest "thank you" that I've heard (in Chinese anyway).

Quick Question of the day: Are you a pack rat?  Why or why not?
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361: Two Years Living in a Paper Bag

I'm keeping this short because I only have hours left to pack and throw away two years' worth of accumulated bachelor junk (as I'd like to call it).  Tyler Durden would have advised me to burn down my flat and start from square one but I'm not that rich yet.

Moving has its pros and cons.  For the record, I'm moving to a much nicer flat but the room itself is smaller than what I'm used to.  And, as it turns out, privacy has a high price, and a bigger bathroom is just not worth it if you can't run around naked in your own space.

So excuse me while I sort my things and enjoy my last night in Room 217 or home for the past two years.  In the meantime, stay positive with me--a change would do me good, right?

Quick Question for the day: Old things, throw or keep?
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362: Not Acting on It

The Summer Performing Arts Creative Experience (SPACE) class has gone from eight students to six.  To set the mood, I began playing "The Entertainer" on the piano.  The day's lesson: pantomime.  With all that's been happening lately, theater class seems to be a good distraction.

After playing some improv exercises, we divided the class into two groups and each group prepared a short pantomime skit.  The children gave surprising performances, especially the older boys who would usually find the class boring or corny.  As expected from the exercise, they performed it in silence, which was quite amazing given the time crunch and the action-packed material.

I felt good going into the office when the class ended, only to be brought back to reality.  "The van will pick up your things Saturday morning," The Man said.  I felt like breaking things.  I smiled and asked if we could take the afternoon off to prepare. 


From the time we stepped out of the door to lunch to the commute until we got home, Van and I discussed at length our disappointments, plans and angst about the move to a new flat.  I have learned to understand Van's way, that talking is good.  I made the mistake yesterday when I told him that I was tired of hearing about the negativity.  But the truth is, if we're not talking about it, we'll probably lose our heads.  I do have an advantage because I can vent out through my blog.  But today, I was prepared to listen and, more importantly, I was prepared to talk.

In a way, my day was at opposite ends starting it with an almost completely quiet morning with the pantomime activity and ending it with a rather talky afternoon.  The common theme though was SPACE.

When we got home, I collapsed in bed and Van went online.  The packing can wait, or we just didn't feel like it.  I can't act on something when I just don't feel like doing it.

As I write this, Van is venting out in the only other way that he can--singing.  "Please Don't Ask Me" is his first song so I guess I'll stay out of his way the rest of the evening. 

Quick Question for the day: How do you vent out?
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Double Deck the Halls

On the bus tonight I kept glancing on my phone and checking the time. In thirty minutes it will be officially Christmas.

I left Van at Lan Kwai Fong just when the masses began their pilgrimage to Hong Kong's nightlife district. Had I gotten major good news from an earlier business appointment, or, at least, had I worn more comfortable shoes, I would've stayed longer. But my spirits were low and my feet were screaming through the fungi so I wished Van a merry Christmas and got on the bus.

My only hope was to make it home before midnight. The 45-minute trip home would usually have me sleeping halfway through. Tonight, however, the possibility of meeting Christmas inside the bus entertained me. Would everyone greet each other?

Seated at the upper floor of the double decker bus, I looked at the passengers near me. A couple and their daughter were at the front. The father busy watching a movie on his mobile, the mother exchanging tall tales with her daughter. Beside me, a woman observed the world disappear into a blur behind us as she listened to her music. Across the aisle, another woman lulled herself to sleep with a 2nd generation iPod probably set to shuffle and beside her, a middle-aged lady clung to her shopping bags. Behind me, two guys were chatting. Beyond that, the themes just recur--earphoned people, chatty people, sleepers, observers and thinkers. There were a few lovers, too. Judging from the crowd, the chances of them bursting into a Christmas carol were very slim.

By 11:30, the bus was already on Ting Kau Bridge, my favorite bridge in Hong Kong. Watching the bridge's cables roll by while listening to the perfect song is sometimes better than sex. It should be another 15 minutes before I got home, I thought. I'd have enough time to buy some crappy food at the grocery for Christmas lunch.

11:50 and the cashier was asking about some sort of "toy". Experience told me that "toy" meant plastic bag (maybe). I didn't have time to be environmentally friendly so I said yes.

11:58 with a few minutes to spare to get the mail from the post box. At exactly midnight the front desk guard greeted me "merry Christmas". I smiled and greeted back. That was nice, I thought.

It was 12:01 when I took off my boots, still wondering whether the other people in the bus also made it home in time for Christmas (if it mattered to them at all).

Flashback

Like Clockwork Orange became a big part of my life when I left home and started to work in Qatar. Most of the entries were written while I was in Doha but to me they're timeless reminders of my adventures and misadventures and all the lessons I have learned. Click on the link if you care to reminisce with me.

Clean Slate

Tonight, hungry and weary, I sat on an orange seat in the train as it slowly made its way to the last stop--my stop. It has been my start and stop, day in and day out for the last year and a half here in Hong Kong. Each day I board the train I'm reminded about this blog I used to, religiously, keep--Like Clockwork Orange.

Tonight though, on the train, I caught a glimpse of a seemingly new color. Through the window, out in the darkness, a joyous blue glow caught my eye. A blue Christmas tree with nothing on it except for blue lights.

I have never thought of Christmas until tonight and I have never thought of blogging again until I chanced upon that blue Christmas tree. I arrived home hopeful but still hungry. Should I ditch Like Clockwork Orange completely? Only time will tell. For now, I need a clean slate. A fresh start. It's about time (long overdue, in fact) to allow Hong Kong into my life.