Blogging on a saturday...

Saturday again. Weekends. So precious. So much to do, so little time. Cliche yet all so true.

Sitting in the middle of a Starbucks in Siglap. Surrounded by so many coffee lovers. The tables are full of couples who have chosen a coffee joint as one of the best places to be to "pak tor" or socialise. Of cos, one can argue that a couple socialising is akin to dating. Then again, what constitutes a date? Candlelight? Romantic dinner for 2? The wife and I have different definitions of dating. To her, a date is a social event between a couple. They need not be together or "going steady". They need not even be interested in each other. Now, my definition is somewhat different. A date only happens between a couple who is already together, i.e. the guy is there with an intention. Ah well, Oxford Dictionary can go ahead and define it. As long as the wife and I know what the other means.

It's a sweltering Saturday and just walking to the Starbucks has gotten my shirt damp with sweat. But such is the heat on a Saturday afternoon. But truth be told, the weather has been rather unforgiving these couple of weeks.

Rather than stay at home with the air con turned on, what better way to keep cool than to head to a coffee joint and enjoy a cuppa with the air con blowing away. After all, it's uber-cool. In all senses of the word. Watch the world go by. We ARE social creatures after all.

Sitting in the Starbucks cafe, not people watching. But preparing lessons. No life? Well, better to be prepared for lessons than to be blur about it when the week starts. As a good scout would say, "Always be prepared".

Anyway happy news. Baby was cooperative. At 17 weeks, the gynae has given the stamp to say that the baby is "80% girl". Guess there's still room for small areas to grow. Since we can't see certain parts of the body on the scan, we can only be 80% sure that it's a girl. Now, if we CAN definitively SEE something on the screen, I think the gynae would probably be more positive about the sex of the baby. So for now, it's 80% confirmed that it's a she. At least we can stop calling the baby an "it" or "him/her".

But I've taken leave from my books long enough. Time to hit the books again and ppt slides. Such will be Saturdays for some time. But not complaining. Like what I'm doing now. So these things don't come as a chore.

Ciao.

Moderation....

And so the new school semester begins...

With the usual introductions to courses, get-to-know-u sessions, course briefings. It's a fine balance to strike between the students who already know the course vs. those who are totally clueless. How to keep the informed engaged while catering for the masses. Guess that's where the finesse of teaching comes into play... still trying to master it though. Prob try to pick the brains of the older, wiser ones...

Can just imagine Master Yoda saying "Educate the masses and experienced, you must. Strike a balance, you should. Mmmmm. Go now, young Padawan."

And so I shall go. For now, in whatever way I know best.

Some videos

The beauty of the internet. Youtube. The wealth of information you can find. It is no wonder that the internet is dubbed the highway of information.

Some videos from some old school classic trance.
Here are my all time favourites from ATB. He's the one I followed from the beginning. Have all his album releases. The day he comes to Singapore....

A Proposal in Trance

A lazy Saturday morning....

School's just around the corner. Getting the materials ready. Also got a "new" old laptop. Such is the ways of the school. The young (or in this case, the new) shall inherit the old. But it's definitely faster and better than the current one issued to me. And for that, I am thankful. Always look on the bright side of life... *whistle*... or so says Eric Idle (and later Monty Python).

Trying to download the stuff from my old laptop and clone it onto the new one in preparation of the new school term. In case you haven't figured out by now, I'm a lecturer. Teaching's the name of the game. And definitely a calling. Never have I felt so much at peace with what I'm doing now than what I'd been doing before. Go read the book "The Monk who Sold his Ferrari". Inspiring book. A pat on my back that reinforces my choice.

Anyway back to the topic at hand.... got a message this morning from an ex-colleague. He's going to pop the question today. His girlfriend of x years. And he's going to ask for her hand. How? I don't know. I don't go into specifics. But what I do know is he's going to play classical trance in the background. Quite an innovative move I must say. Interesting. Well, wish him all the best. Seven Cities, Flaming June. So many songs to choose from. So little time.

A lazy Saturday for some and a busy time of planning and execution for others. But a Saturday nonetheless. And it is the weekends. Time to log off and get a slice of life before the weekend runs out.

Above & Beyond (TBC)

The coming of Above & Beyond.

Missed them when they came by during Zoukout last December 08. Was in Hong Kong then.

Missed Armin van Buuren when he came by in Jan or was it Feb 09. Queued for about 2 hrs with the missus who had gamely agreed to come with me. And just when I could see the entrace, tickets were sold out. Disappointing. Infuriating. Frustrating.

And now another chance looms just above and beyond the month of May. A chance to trance out. Hardcore? Perhaps. Or just simply a fan. But chances have a way of looming the ugly head of being turned to disappointment. Such are the words TBC == To Be Confirmed.

Don't trust me? Check their website: www.aboveandbeyond.nu

TBC. Great. Let's not get the hopes too high then. Or they have a strange way of crashing down around you. Leaving just unmaterialised hopes.

And so it begins...

The first *hopefully* of many more postings to come. Hopefully meaningful, hopefully enriching, hopefully constant... but one can hope right? After all, that's my prerogative as owner of this blog. I choose WHAT I want to blog, WHEN I want to blog and IF I want to blog.

Well let me start the first post with a disclaimer... just like all good, govt-fearing Singaporeans should. Let it be known that this blog features the opinions of the owner and is non-representative of any organization, any country, or for that matter... anyone else. Let it also be known that the postings feature only opinions. Not criticisms, nor govt-changing-or-challenging statements. Just the idle ramblings of an individual and if the freedom of speech has not died and if it extends to cyberspace, then let others not flame the postings or criticise what has been posted. If I insulted, let it be forgiven... if I criticised, let it be forgotten...

So there.

And so the journey begins....