Wahlaueh!

Opening the car door this morning upon arriving at the school lobby proved to be a rather embarrassing moment, as I emerged dressed in true Ah Beng style - or at least as Ah Beng as I could make myself out to be. It was strangely liberating though, being able to wear huge ugly shorts (courtesy of dad), a maroon singlet (dug out from the recesses of mom's cupboard), with a large checked shirt (dad's again), and a thick gold chain (mom's idea of a finishing touch when I told her that my class theme for Be Yourself Day was Ah Beng/Ah Lian) to school! I'm really glad that our class members were sporting enough to go along with the unusual theme and come dressed accordingly. Oh, and I really have to give two thumbs up to Lorraine for being the most convincing Beng ever, what with the Hard Rock Cafe Taipei t-shirt, the chunky silver chains around her neck and wrist, and the red waistpouch - she looked like she did this everyday! Haha!

Well, after getting a very professional looking tattoo of the Chinese word, 'Ai' (love...I'm a sensitive new age Ah Beng, man!) on my left upper arm, thanks to Lorraine and her trusty black marker, we all headed over to the Shaw Hall for ACES Day. The rain was quite disappointing, because honestly, having ACES on the field would have been WAY more fun! But still, it was pretty amusing seeing the Secondary Ones, Twos and Threes attempt their dance routines to that HORRIBLE Kung Fu Fighting song. By the second chorus I had been successfully driven up the wall, and they still had to play it FIVE MORE TIMES. Wahlau, I nearly died. But seeing the juniors dancing today really reminded me of two years ago, when I was in 2CO, and we did our routine to YMCA...and won! Haha, that was really one of the best years ever in SC (not just because we won nearly everything...okay, maybe that is just a leettle factor), but doing stuff like ACES Day, Talentime and all that helped to make it especially memorable for me. Except that for weeks after ACES Day, I couldn't stop the YMCA song from playing in my head, and it really isn't the nicest song to be humming all the time. Trust me, I would know.

After the ACES Day dance competition, the Secondary Four prefects had to run off to change in preparation for a Captain's Ball game with the teachers. I was quite sad that I had to change out of the Beng get up, because I was actually getting rather used to the whole idea, haha. Well, then we went over to the covered court to meet the teachers who were going to play (I was very impressed by their enthusiasm! On Teachers' Day some more!), and the game began. It was really tiring, especially since we were playing against all these tall/male/PE teachers, but definitely a fun experience nonetheless. Some pretty unforgettable things happened that are worth a mention (and a couple of laughs):

1. One minute we were running up and down the court, yelling at people to pass the ball, defending, attacking, and the next minute, Mister Ang was on the floor, his hand on his cheek, with Larissa bending over him and apologising profusely. Turns out the secretly violent and very strong girl had whacked him across the face, causing him to fall and causing her to be very embarrassed - a more dramatic version was later narrated by Mrs Linda Lee.

2. A tussle over the ball with Mrs Bowness and another prefect (it happened too quickly for me to see who it was), resulted in the three of us clambering over one another, with the ball rolling around underneath us. I'm now thinking that I should've at least tried to look more professional while at it. Shucks.

3. A similar tussle with a famous Biology teacher (it isn't my imagination that he received the loudest applause amongst the teachers called up for the game during the Teachers' Day concert, is it?) - commonly known as Mr Johari - and some others, caused him to unceremoniously be pushed over the bench on which the catcher was standing, which allowed the prefects to get their hands on the ball! HAHAHAHAHA!

4. Cool AVA dude (aka Mister Din, who aside from being superbly well versed in the setting up of visualizers and fixing of computers, etc., is also VERY TALL) joined in the game later. At one point, I kind of ran backwards (yes, I know I don't have eyes at the back of my head), and straight into him. I might have stepped on his toes at the same time, now that I think about it. Sigh. I'm very good at inflicting injuries on others. It's no wonder he decided to go catch the ball instead, rather than actually play on court (and risk clumsy girls falling onto him, possibly crushing him flat).

5. There were quite a few times when I caught the ball just as it flew near certain areas of the lower part of body, thanks to Mei Yi telling all the prefects to throw low and not high. So yes, the balls mostly landed quite, er, low.

By the time the game ended (yes lah, the teachers won), it was time for the Teachers' Day concert! I must say that most of the items on this year's programme were pretty good - the 1PR/2PR group that did the two dance items was quite pro (I was very sad when Fuzzeh dashed all my hopes of ever being able to dance like that when she told me that I didn't look 'bad' enough for the dance and if I did try, it'd be "very weird"), the break dance by the Hwa Chong Exchange-ers was okay, but it brought back scary memories of this time last year, when I was on a similar programme, though thank goodness we didn't have to do anything quite so extreme (like break dance), Judith was excellent as usual (and I really adored the giant cow with hot pink udders - hot pink as in the colour, not hot COMMA pink udders), and the Secondary Three choir members were amazing! The Taylor Hicks song nearly made me cry, especially when I thought about all the Teachers' Days that I've spent in SC (ten in total) from primary school up till now, and how today's was going to be the last. Ever. It was my last time watching an SC Teachers' Day concert...Oh no, look, I'm at it again. On a side note, I love Taylor Hicks! (: Anyway, I applaud all the performers today for the great amount of time and effort that went into preparing for their items, and I'm sure the teachers must've been really, really, REALLY touched. I know I would've been if I was a teacher.

You know, everything was so perfect and wonderful up till that point, that I wasn't thinking any unhappy thoughts at all! Until Fuzzeh decided to remind me about Teachers' Day concert 2004. OH. MY. CRAP. That was the worst Teachers' Day ever, for me - the saddest and most embarrrassing, amongst other things. For those that remember, I'm very sorry that you haven't been able to forget. For those that have forgotten, thank your lucky stars.

All in all, today was definitely one the most fun days I've had in the secondary school, with ACES Day, Be Yourself Day and Teachers' Day all rolled into one! It's here that I'd like to thank all the teachers who have taught me from primary one all the way up till now - thanks so much for being such wonderful people, for imparting valuable knowledge and values to me and for always being there, an ever burning torch, a guide, for your students. I really appreciate everything that you all have done, and I'll never ever forget the lessons I've had in SC (and all the other funny things in between), so thanks for helping me to create these memories that will stay with me forever. You guys truly deserve all my respect and gratitude, and hopefully, in the years to come, I can be living proof of just how amazing SC teachers and what they teach are, and while I always remember you guys, just maybe that you might remember me too (though I've already caught a primary five and six Math teacher calling me Christie, but it's okay)! (:

I love having All us Children Exercising Simultaneously, I love being myself (a true Beng at heart), but most of all, I love my teachers!

Three cheers and three cheers and three cheers for teachers!

Hip hip hooray!

Hip hip hooray!

Hip hip hooray!

I'm going to miss all these celebrations that we have in SC. Yup, I really am.