8d 7 n guilin and etc

At the end of each year i take a beak and give myself a treat for working hard. I usually go for a well deserved holiday and like to go to a place where i have never been before. Well since i have had formed a good friendship with my new found friend, well i had a chance to visit China for the first time in 2009. Well i was well planned  and had already made the inquiries to visit Phuket and was about to make the payment when i got an email from a my friend - the sifu of the whole gang. Well he told me about his trip and invited me to follow them on the tour. So bye bye phuket and hello Guilin.

First thing i did upon knowing my destination is of course google it, i mean, where the hell is Guilin? I have heard of Shanghai and Beijing but Guilin. Well had to keep a clear head about it and let's go with the flow.

So my friend did all the arrangement for me ( Thanks mr teoh) and also getting my visa sorted out. I only had to be there on time and make sure that i am early. Well let just say i was there before time. Well as we meet up at LCCT, and met up with the rest of the gang.

So imagine me going with 14 Chinese and one "singh". Even our local tour guide was surprise with me going with them. Well so the adventure began...so to speak..

Upon arrival we were met by our local Chinese beautiful tour guide. Yeah she was really preety. Well
you can see the beautiful pic of Guilin especially the elephant Hill

elephant hill 



After that we went to Fubo Hill, which is nice and preety. Well it was really nice to see the place


 Fubo Hill

Well some other place which were nice to visit were,


!) West Street

2) Yushan Park
3) Xing' An Merryland
4) Silver Cave
5) Li River
6) Longsheng Terraced Field.


Well i really had a nice time at Guilin, even bought some chopper for my mom and of course Chinese Tea which was really good . If you want to a scenery and cool atmosphere with lots of good food, Guilin is a right place to head. It is laid back atmosphere is really nice.
One should not forget to go for the Dream Like Li Jiang Show which i found to be nice and exciting. Well the show really highly recommended but the highlight of the whole visit to Guilin was the stunning performance at "Impression Lui Sanjie"which was just "out of this world" Of all the performance which I have seen over my travel, this is the best. The director is said to have been the same person who also was involve with the Olympic at China, i mean the opening ceremony. Oh well. the show used the river, the hills and other natural elements in the show and had at least 200 people performing at one given time. REALLY Amazing.

Well if you want to go and visit Guilin, i hope that my notes and places has helped you in your reference.

The hotels which i stayed were :
1) Guilin Merryland Resort Hotel. http://www.chinahotelsreservation.com/Guilin/Guilin_Merryland_Resort_Hotel.html


2) The Fortune Condominium Hotel
 http://www.guilinfortunehotel.com/en/online_reservation.html





3) Fortune International Hotel
http://www.chinahighlights.com/hotel/guilin-hotels/fortune-hotel.htm

Well the local company which did my arrangement is based in kuala lumpur

Globalite Travel and Tours (M) Sdn Bhd
Tel : 03-56380698
Email : tourcounter@globalitetravel.com

All as i have stated before, everything here is just based on my experience as i have been there. It was such a wonderful time with lots of learning about culture and way of life of the people of China.
Hope the information is helpful for those who are interested to enjoy the place.

at the merryland cowboy show and guess who got called to the stage ?

make learning FUN

Well as i teach English as a second language, I try my level best to make the learning fun as well as enjoyable  with the limited resources that I have. My school has a new building but with limited funding. Well let's just say that we do with what we can and the most important thing is that our "clients" do take home something at the end of the day. 


Well i am a firm subscribe to making learning fun and must be enjoyed by the children. Only then can some sort of understanding can take place. The lesson should be too long and boring but short and able to sustain the attention of the children. Well I know that children tend to get bored easily and will drift way is this does happen. Well teachers need to have the lesson fun and exciting. 


So, my class with the small children is " a bit too noisy" as always which is what my headmistress likes to point out. I do not blame her for thinking in that manner as she is right in her own way but as far as i am concern if a class is too silent then no teaching and learning has taken place. So i just need to "bear" with her rumblings at times. What teacher have to go through for their children. 


Sometimes, I like to tell my children the importance of learning the English Language. Knowing the importance from the young will help the child "want to learn" more of that subject. The child need to know the purpose on doing something and only then will the child be able to execute it well. There for it is very important that the child know its purpose on learning the language and practice it. 


Practice the language is important too. As the saying goes, practice makes prefect so in this sense too, language is important to be practice. I mean the children need to have a good avenue for that may it be at home or at school. This somehow helps the child to practice and do well in that language. 


Learning English through songs, video clips and rhymes will help to make the learning process more fun. It also will break away from the old school of thought which still use "chalk and talk". 

Dogme: A teacher's view | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

Dogme: A teacher's view | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

4 days 3 nights at Chiangmai and Chiangrai - beautiful

The reason for this entry and many more to come after this is to information of places which i have visited and also sharing of information. Well i have had first hand experience on this places and so i will share with you and those who love to travel.
I am doing this out of my own free will and am not going to gain any profit from the places which i have recommend. Well bottom line, take it or leave it.

Chiangmai is located at the northern part of Thailand and i was thinking it would be like Cameron Highland but it was nothing like the comparison. Well upon taking AA, i landed at Chiangmai International Airport. Well it is really nice with two floors. I was on a tour and fair enough my tour guide was waiting for me at the airport. The company who was handling the tour was :





GOOD SEASON TRAVEL CO. LTD
304/2 Moo 2, Baan Mae-kow,
Middle Ring Road, T. Sanparnate,
A. Sansai Chiangmai 50210,
Thailand.
Tel : (6653) 351909-11
Fax: (6653) 35149123

http://www.goodseasontravel.com/index.php
My tour guide name is LEK - his mobile is 086182031.

 http://www.goodseasontravel.com/



Going to Thailand and not going to for an elephant show would be no fun, so one of the stops was a "Elephant Show Program Maesa Elephant Camp", Email at maesaele@loxinfo.co.th.  The elephant not only had to entertain the guest but also paint for them, yeah elephant drawing are sold for 1000 bath each.

http://www.maesaelephantcamp.com/index.html



The hotel in which i stayed Suriwongse Hotel
110 Chang Klan Road, Muang
Chiang Mai Thailand

http://www.suriwongsehotels.com/

Well i am no complaining about the rooms and the hotel as it was really in the middle of the town with lots of shops and night market just outside. There was also a day market on certain days. Good location and highly recommend.

Well One of the other place which i happen to visit was "Long Neck Karen"
http://www.chiangdao.com/chiangmai/karenlongneck.htm



On the last nite out, after our shopping and lots of walking. Well i had made some new friends in the tour and we became good friend. Well as he recap on the event of the past few days in Chiang Mai, we had some live cultural performance with their local beer. Well this place is really nice and awesome. It is called "Kalare Night Bazaar". It was here over beer that a good friendship was formed.
http://www.kalarenightbazaar.com/eng/home.htm

Well I also need to mention here about the cultural night dinner called " Kantoke" which was known as dinner for the king, oh  well better to be a king for the night. It was a really nice and remarkable dinner and i really enjoyed myself dancing with the dancers with Dixon Wong. It was nice and enjoyable.

http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/khantoke_dinner_show.html

Well hope the links that i have given here come into handy as you plan your travel to thailand.


Well since the friendship was formed, so another adventure awaits me in my next entry.. till then...live with the motto of going to a place where you have never been before at the end of the year and that will give you a goal to be worked at...

danh từ which means school in Vietnam

Entrance of the school HCM, Vietnam

 
This is one of the many places which i visited when i was in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Well i cannot help myself as i feel that i like to compare  and observe the education system from the one in Malaysia. Therefore i make it a point to visit the school of the countries that I visit. Beside I had some "inside" help in getting into this place. Well the British International School is a well established school which caters for the children of expatriates who are living and working there. Since the economy of Vietnam is booming, lots of companies have invested here since labor and raw material is really cheap.


During my visit there, the children of various ages had organized some sort of Musical Concert. This pictures will show you the highlights of the concert and the performance. It was well organized by the teachers in charge as well as teacher assistance. Well it was held in the school indoor basketball hall.

one of the teachers in BIS, nice and helpful teacher and the assistance sitting behind the children.

 

The teacher was singing along with the children 

Some of the children and their parents

Well the welcoming sign -plain and effective

 

children in their "pirate attire"

The teacher rearranging the children before the performance.

 

the "human train"

At the end, the headmaster was thanking the teachers and parents for their support and also the children for their wonderful performance.

Well it is nice to be able to compare the way things are done and how they are carried out in different school around the world. Well the children had fun, the parents were busy taking photos of their children. Parents response was very encouraging with many parents taking time off from work just to give their support to their children which means a lot to the children. Well i too had lots of fun and it was really an interesting day of learning for a simple teacher like me.
Making learning fun and with lots of activities which encourage the children to actively participate will not only build the child's confidence but also leave the child with fond memories of his childhood.

Importance of BREAKfast

Today was the first day of school after a couple of days break due to Chinese New Year. The pupils were all well rested and this incident  happened during the morning assembly. One of the Year One student suddenly who was standing in the front row as the first person in her row took a few steps forward during the National Anthem was being sung by all. It was as if she was going to fall down right into the drain and sensing something amiss, a few teachers who were right in front of her carried her and made her lie down on the long bench. She then threw up and when asked what she had got breakfast, her answered triggered this entry which was  NOTHING.
Oh Rabinder, this is a common thing and issue that happens in the school environment so it is not such a big deal. Well it is a normal thing and might have happened in your school or even worse cases and why write or blog about it. Well the question is why does it happen, why do pupils come to school with an empty stomach knowing that it is going to a long assembly on every Monday.

Every one knows that breakfast is one of the most important meal of the day. However due to unforeseen circumstances, many pupils come to school without having breakfast. Many factors which contribute to this occurrence every morning.
Many parents fail to prepare breakfast and expect their child to have something during recess. By just giving the child some pocket money - the issue of breakfast is solved in a jiffy. I mean if the older ones like in the age of 10 to 12 years old, they are able to control their hunger but i pity the small ones. They have just come out of the "shell" and are adjusting to the school environment. They can go to 7 eleven and buy bread for breakfast but they can remind their parents to buy bread, but if their reminder goes to unheard, there is nothing much they can do.
I am not saying all parents are ignoring or are not caring towards their children welfare but i feel that the parents should make sure that children who are going to school are given something to eat. I am not going to give any example but the best bet would be a slice of bread and a glass of milk or tea which ever the child prefer. At least that will last the child until recess which is about two hours time.
Yeah some parents might argue that the child does not take anything for breakfast and start to cry or even make a mess of him or herself before heading to school. I agree with you but that is a matter of training the child and what i like to refer to as "gentle persuasion". I am sure the child would love to please their parents with taking the meal.
There is only so much i can do when a child faint in the school. I heart aches each time i hear especially a Year One pupil who has fainted because of not having their breakfast. Some might think that i am being too sensitive in this entry but bear in mind i have no kids of my own and i treat " my school children" as my kids.

In simple words, what if the fainted student was son or daughter who did not have breakfast because mom did not make any breakfast as mom woke up late. Wait a minute, why does it have to be only mom making breakfast, why can't the dad make breakfast which is vast happening here in Malaysia since mindset and equality has started to creep into our society. Well if that is the case yeah, why not?
Alright no matter who makes the breakfast in the household, please make sure your child has sufficient meal to last for the first two hours of the day.
Until my next entry, the young children are like a white sheet of paper, it is their parents and teachers that write on the  piece of paper.....something to ponder about...

my favorite breakfast

taylor Swift

The Answer :

a) Speak Now

3) Well i am a big fan of Taylor Swift because i am using her  song  to teach English to my students. She is very popular among my students and i can use her lyrics and songs in my classroom to promote usage of English. Beside that, i can play her song during English Camp which will make the learning of English more fun and exciting.

Oh man! I miss the bus again...............

Many of my school going children in my school us the public transport to commute to and from school since it is just  walking distance from my school. Many will wait for the bus opposite my school after school. I too use to take the public bus during my time at school and oh boy have they improved a lot. Now the bus stop have improved with shining benches and see through tops. Well even the bus service or the company that run the route have got new bus service. Well i am grateful for that especially in a small city like Ipoh, Perak but i feel more can be done about this.

Public transport in or within city limits could be improved with more regular buses paving the normal routine. The bus operator should have reliable bus service which the public can really rely on in terms of punctuality and also more trustworthy drivers.
Another aspect which i think that bus operator should consider is having a cash less card. Well I mean at time in the afternoon, the children at my school run out of money for their bus fare. They are left with taking or borrowing money from either the other children or the teachers. Well i just propose that bus operator should allow children just to carry one card which will play the role of money. Prepaid card like the once being used in the mobile industry and highways. It would be much more simple for the children in Perak. Well it is up to the relevant bus operator to come up or upgrade their bus system with the latest technology for the benefit of the children or the benefit of the people in Perak. I mean this idea is good, parents just top up each month and as the children board the bus they just scan on the screen at the bus which will deduct the amount for the fare and show the balance. If they amount in the card is not sufficient they are able to top up with the help of the driver. 
This way the children need not carry any amount of money but just a card which they can purchase from the relevant bus operator. This concept can and could be carried out anywhere in the world and maybe it has been going on so I do not see why it cannot be carried out here in Ipoh Perak, Malaysia.
It is not important who plants the tree and who rips the fruits but what is important is that it benefits the common man - the man on the street.

could the future buses in Ipoh ??