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Diary for October 1997
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| 1st October |
Wednesday: Played badminton this evening with the
staff... Won one, lost one and at the same time lost 5 gallons of sweat! |
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2nd October |
Thursday: Found a swimming pool within walking
distance of my house. Almost had the pool to myself as I think people were staying indoors
because of the haze. |
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3rd October |
Friday: Written inside the boy's toilet door at school: "Please do not use this toilet in a long time.
There is another student outside, he wait this toilet too" |
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4th October |
Saturday: My bank manager's name is Miss Ng Ching
Ching |
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5th October |
Sunday: Enjoyed a dinner party this evening. One of the
guests, an Australian, claimed to be the illegitimate missing member of the royal family
(783rd in line to the throne). |
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6th October |
Monday: I can see the moon this evening.... is the haze
clearing? |
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11th October |
Saturday: This afternoon was gloriously sunny, I went along to
the British Association garden party which was held in the grounds of a large house. it
was really strange to be in the middle of Asia yet surrounded by Brits playing the tombola
and drinking Pimms. This evening was the United Nations Concert
at the World Trade Centre. A brilliant evening with some near professional performances
from the students.
1. That's What Friends Are For, Elementary School
2. So Go Chum, Korean Students
3. Santa Lucia, Scandinavian Students
4. Celebration Dances, Indonesian Students
5. Create The Heaven, Taiwanese Students
6. Gypsy Dance, Modem Dance Group
7. Thai Boxing Demonstration, Students from Thailand
8. Bhangra Dance, South Asian Students
INTERVAL
9. Matsuri, Japanese Students
10. Jump, Asian Creation Breakers
11. A Tribute To Shakespeare, British Students
12. Chinese Opera Dance, Chinese Students
13. Mindanao Dances, Filipino Students
14. Cantopop, Hong Kong Students
15. I Will Survive, Hugbubble
-WE ARE ONE -
1SS Students |
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12th October |
Sunday: Went for dinner at the apartment of John Todd and his
girlfriend. (I last saw John Todd in Korea in 1991) |
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13th October |
Monday: Bought the train ticket for my half term trip to
Malaysia. Bought a second hand microwave (huge, walk in size!) |
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14th October |
Tuesday: It never rains but it pours (the post that is). Today
I received a package of letters from home from my mother, photos of our Indian trip from
Christine Jones and a scented card from Lynn Gill in Germany (you can smell it all over
the house... I don't know what the postman thought!). To top it all was the following
e-mail rhyme from Samantha Price: I have a spelling-checker.
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks for my revue miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this pome rite threw it, Your sure reel glad two
no.
Its vary polished in its weigh -- My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a bless sing. It freeze ewe lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed, and aides me when aye rime.
Each frays come posed up on my screen eye trussed too bee a
joule.
The checker pours ore every word to cheque sum spelling rule.
Be fore a veiling checkers, hour spelling mite decline,
And if were lacks or have a laps, we wood be made to wine.
Butt now bee cause my spelling is checked with such grate
flare,
Their are know faults with in my cite, of non eye am a wear.
To rite with care is quite a feet, of witch won should bee
proud.
And wee mussed dew the best wee can, sew flaws are knot aloud.
Now spelling does knot phase me. It does knot bring a tier.
Sew
ewe can sea why eye dew prays such soft wear four pea sees. |
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15th October |
Wednesday: Large advert in today's Straits Times for
Wolverhampton University. Sounds a really nice town to study in! |
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16th October |
Thursday: Discovered these delicious Japanese coffee flavoured
sweets (only 20p a box!). One of my A' level students brings them in for me from the local
Japanese supermarket.
That's everybody's Christmas present taken care of :-) |
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17th October |
Friday: I bought four tins of tonic from an old Chinese man in
a dingy little corner shop (You cant get it in bottles here and it's very necessary for
its medicinal purposes!). He added up the cost of the four tins using a large abacus...
very interesting to watch. |
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18th October |
Saturday: After the local bar closed we went to a club called
"Anywhere". A live band played 70's music reminding me of school days. My guide
was Mervin, a kept man. His wife is Swiss and works at the Swiss Embassy making a nice
packet I'm sure. After he's taken his six year old daughter to school he spends his day at
the casino.... what a life! |
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19th October |
Sunday: Over the road from my block is a building site. At the
moment it is a big hole in the ground and over the last 36 hours, non stop, an endless
supply of concrete mixers have been arriving and pouring concrete via these huge
mechanical arms into this gigantic ditch. The workers have had no sleep as it all had to
happen in one continuous operation. It's Deepavali and Little India looks like Blackpool
illuminations and Oxford Street at Christmas all rolled into one. Thousands and thousands
of people were there this evening. |
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20th October |
Monday: Joined Fanny, Sally, Bee Bee and Alison for a meal at
a very large hawker centre followed by the most delicious
"Ultimate Iced Coffee"...fantastic. |
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21st October |
Tuesday: They're playing Christmas carols on the radio
already!! |
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22nd October |
Wednesday: A mouse disrupted the otherwise formal occasion of
posing for the official staff photograph. The female members of staff standing on chairs
screaming would have made a much better picture than the official one. |
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23rd October |
Thursday: Today was free dress day at school and some pupils
came in hallowe'en costumes. |
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24th October |
Friday: This evening we went to the Ceylon Sports Club for
food and drinks. It would have been perfect, sitting outside on the cricket pitch drinking
beer and eating wild boar curry had it not been for the band playing old country and
western songs! |
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25th October |
Saturday: On the fifth floor of my building, in rooms similar
to mine, live seven bell hops! Five of them are from Shanghai and two from India.They do
"Loom Service" at the local Merchant Court (400 room) hotel.
Today one of the guests had left a can of beer in the minibar so it was given to me as a
"pleased to meet you" gift. (It's worth about £2 ....... Have to keep on the
good side of the bell hops!). |
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26th October |
Sunday: When you buy cutlery from the local department store,
each utensil has a sticky label on which just won't come off without leaving a sticky
patch. Anyone got any ideas on how to remove the stickiness? |
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27th - 31st
October |
TRIP TO MALAYSIA
Staying at the beautiful Palau Pangkor and Ipoh
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