OKOK. I’d better write this down before I forget to, and the news becomes so old that it’s not interesting anymore. It’s just that I had no time, what with the class tests and the dance competition and falling sick.

My birthday was last month, on the 8th of July. I had shamelessly been announcing my impending birthday in vain hopes that I would, for once, be able to get something from my birthday wishlist, and I mean my birthday wishlist. Nothing of the sort happened, of course. Except for the dark chocolates. Oh, but at least I didn’t get any plumbing accessories this time

Anyway my birthday was off to a good start with dinner with close friends at The Ship.  It was fun and enjoyable, but if I thought I could escape the “Happy Birthday” singing, there was no such luck. While other places like TGIF merely get all their staff to sing very loudly, The Ship blasts the birthday song over their speakers so that everyone in the restaurant knows it’s someone’s birthday.

The meal was fantastic, and the company was excellent! Kalem arrived extremely grumpy but his mood got progressively better and he became positively hyper by the end of the night.

We took a lot of photos… Take a look!!!

Sunday saw a brief celebratory lunch with some of my dance teammates. Tracy made me beautiful cupcakes, every single one personally handpiped by herself. The cupcakes were absolutely delicious! She bought us lunch at Starbucks before making everyone embarrass me with a “Happy Birthday”  song…

More photos of the beautiful cupcakes here!! Must-see!!!

My family then took me out fo a nice quiet dinner at Sri Siam. Erm, there’s no photo because it was a really simple dinner.

Tuesday night, on my birthday eve, I went for dance class which is usually followed by dance practice. One of the ladies who attends the social dance class, Eloise, usually brings her 6-year-old daughter Jye Yi to the class, but because the little girl usually can’t cope with the adult-level class, I spend time with the little girl, teaching her the basics and dancing with her so that she doesn’t lose interest in the dance. Because I spend so much time with her, she became quite attached to me; and she found out my birthdate… through the expedient method of asking me.

She made her father take her out to buy a cake, and insisted on coming to class to give me the cake. Fortunately it wasn’t a class celebration, because everyone left quite quickly when the class was over (phew!) but for the little girl’s sake, her mother and her aunt (both of them attend the social dance class) sang a quick round of Happy Birthday, and I cut the cake to give the little one a slice. She had bought a delicious coffee cake… yummm :)

Wednesday… my actual birthday. I have to say that it was simply the best birthday I’ve celebrated at Sri KDU, ever. The day got progressively better

I had ordered mini-cupcakes from a friend, with the intention of giving each of my students one, and some of my colleagues (can’t give EVERYONE… there’s too many). I ordered the cupcakes because I knew that I couldn’t expect people to celebrate my birthday with me, so the only way to make sure I’m not alone in my celebration is to MAKE THEM CELEBRATE IT WITH ME.

The first class of the day was 4 Newton who, instead of the customary “Good morning, Miss Hoo” sang “Happy Birthday”. That was a nice greeting

And… surprise, surprise. Some of my tuition students actually got me a cake!!! I was quite touched; it was the first time I ever received a cake from students not in my class. Muaxes to all of you With Lydia’s help, they got me a very pretty chocolate cake.

The second class was 4 Aristotle, who used to drive me nuts the whole year by always singing “Happy Birthday”. But when I walked into class, they refused to sing it to me, and gave me the customary “Good morning” greeting instead. And when they did sing, they sang it to one of their classmates Gary instead. After a bit of hemming and hawing, Juno finally came forward with a papercard which everyone signed. And they said they didn’t know how old I was, so they wrote every number they could think of – “Happy 16th birthday”… “Happy 32nd birthday”… “Happy 48th birthday”… But of all the numbers everyone wrote, no one got the right number.

The class immediately after that was 4 Mozart, and they sent people outside to stop me from going in. I guess it would have been obvious to anyone as to what they were planning, especially since the lights were off and so many of them were holding cameras, but I had long taught myself not to expect anything. And… so when I went in, they had a cake with candles lit and everyone burst into song, I actually started crying. And unfortunately, a few of them caught my tears on camera. =.=”

But I don’t mind admitting it. I was truly overwhelmed, especially since this class isn’t even my homeroom, yet they were thoughtful enough to throw me a surprise party. If I could, I’d take them in as my homeroom, too.

I don’t have photos of the cake 4M prepared for me though. I didn’t have my camera ready, I was too busy wiping the tears away.

The best surprise was yet to come though. 4M had done something great, and it would be right to expect my homeroom to do something better, but like I said, I had taught myself not to expect anything. But during lunchtime, it was obvious that they were planning something, because from my seat in the staffroom, I saw quite a few of my students walking by the doors, and the moment they spotted me through the glass, they quickly doubled back. Then Darryl was sent in to ask me to step out. He pretended to want to ask me a Chemistry question, but it was so obviously a lie, that I handed him my camera. What was waiting outside for me was beyond anything I had expected…

I GOT A HUMAN GREETING CARD!!! IT’S THE BEST CARD I’VE EVER RECEIVED!!!

And on top of that, they got me a cake! And embarrassed me in front of everyone by singing “Happy Birthday” very loudly at the cafeteria.

I had no more tears left, but I was still very touched. It trumps 4M’s surprise party, hehe.

I was surprised at how quickly everyone disappeared back to class when the bell rang, leaving me and a few others to clean up the mess. And when we got back to class, someone kept saying, “The party isn’t over yet” but it didn’t register until Johann walked in with a second cake…

The day ended with my receiving a beautiful bouquet from Bronya, which she had sent to the school. They were late; it was supposed to be sent in the morning. But nevertheless, it was a great end to a great day.

Thank you everyone for your wishes, presents, and cakes! I love you all!

Photos of my birthday at school can be viewed here.

Today was Teacher’s Day at Sri KDU. Initially the teachers were supposed to play games (men – football, ladies – netball) but then the plan was scrapped and nothing was supposed to be on, except for a lunch for the teachers.

I had also initially planned to have a birthday celebration for my homeroom 4 Dickens for the March, April, and May babies, but with the lack of anything special going on, we decided to postpone it to next month.

I didn’t want to go to school today (I don’t work on Thursdays and Fridays), but Lydia asked me to accompany her for the lunch, so I went. I got there about noon – in time to catch the last 5 minutes of the “surprise performances” the students put up for the teachers. Not that it mattered much to me I wasn’t there to celebrate Teacher’s Day.

But even though the students knew I hadn’t planned to be at school today, I still got some gifts!! I GOT MY DARK CHOCS!!! Check that out… Lindt 85% COCOA!!!! YUMMMMM!!!!! And a box of Black Bitter Chocolate with 100% chocolate!!!!

Thank you to Nadirah, Ee Wen, Florence, Nee Shuang and Ee Ping (my former shadow!!!).

It’s so sad that I can actually name the students who gave me pressies.

Oh! And thank you 4 Mozart for the papercard!!!!

Even my own homeroom didn’t give me anything :’( But anyway, thanks, you Chickens :-*

Oh. And I still owe you kids the Chemistry answers.

Hi everyone. It is with regret I have to make the following announcement.

Sony contacted me yesterday and informed me that the DVD on David Archuleta at Sri KDU cannot be sold. They have also advised me to provide a refund on the DVDs that have been sold so far.

My sincerest apologies to Sony, and to everyone, for all the trouble.

Hey all. I’ve been advised to take the David Archuleta video down due to copyright reasons. So, sorry… the video is no longer available for viewing.

I met David Archuleta!!

OK, not really met. Stalked him with a videocamera, more like. But on official business.

David Archuleta actually came to Sri KDU! We won the Hitz.fm interschool competition. The morning crew DJ JJ and Ean came first (arrived 1.30pm) to entertain the school students in the hall. I was assigned to videotape David?s entire movement in the school. We were told to be await his arrival by 12.45pm. He arrived only at 2pm.

Jessica (the only official student photographer assigned for this) and I were waiting by the steps at the school foyer, complaining about the heat and the wait. I was dressed in a very pretty blue flowy top and black pants, but because it was halter neck, I put a jacket on. I regretted it. It was BOILING HOT.

We were discussing the car he would be coming in. Jessica was betting on a black limo. I suggested a Proton Saga. Or a Perodua Kancil!!!

We were both wrong. He came up in this white Bas Persiaran van.

Damn, I don?t have the photos here. I?ll upload soon.

It was so? low-key, uncomfortable, and well? unbefitting a superstar. Like, seriously!!

But David is such a sweet boy. He was so nice and friendly and obliging. *I* didn?t get to have a photo with him or even shake his hand unfortunately. I didn?t even get an autograph I was busy videographing mah.

Luckily I?m not a huge fan though, otherwise I?d be crying. I like him and his songs, but I?m not dying to meet him. HOWEVER I did get to be in one of the group photos! You see, the school had selected a few groups of students to take photos with him, and they of course had one photo of the top management of Paramount Corporation Berhad to take a photo with him too. I quietly snuck into the photo and stood next to the Finance Director? hahahaha!!! But I did get permission from my principal to do so.

Damn, I do not have the photo yet, so I can?t upload it here!!! It?s depressing to write about something so exciting without accompanying photos. I do have the videos, but I?m waiting for them to convert now on my other PC.

ANYWAY? he?s so polite and sweet. He was very obliging – signing autographs and taking photos. It was the security guards and the Sony people who kept pushing the students along, but I guess it was for security and also to speed up the time as he didn?t have much time with us at the school. In fact, one of the student girls threw her arms around David when she came in, screaming that she loved him!!! But he didn?t push her away or anything; the security guards had to pry her off him though.

The photos were taken in a special room that was set up for this, and after that we were all shooed out for him to do his make-up (not that I saw any difference) before he went to the hall. Inside the hall, the DJs were keeping the kids entertained; and just before David came on, they played a prank on the kids by making Germaine (the head prefect) read out a letter which announced that we were runner-ups in the competition, and as consolation, we would only get DJ JJ and Ean (many students actually fell for it? and gasped in horror), but Ean went, ?Oh wait, that?s the wrong letter? and screwed the letter up into a ball. And THEN they announced David was actually here, and the kids went wild!

David Archuleta went on stage and first answered a few questions posed to him by Kareem and Elliot. Then he sang his 2 famous singles (Crush and A Little Too Not Over You) before he was whisked away to the Bas Persiaran and out the door. It was all I could do to just run and catch him leaving. It happened in a matter of minutes.

All I can say about this is? WOW. David is exactly like how he behaves on TV. What you see on TV is what he really is? the sweet, polite boy, with the beautiful vocals that sound just as amazing live as it does on the studio recording. No airs about him at all. In fact, when he pulled up in that Bas Persiaran, he had no bodyguards with him, just his father (I think it?s his father, anyway) and a couple of people from Sony BMG. The security guards who ?protected? him were employed from a local company who had been waiting for him in our school before he arrived. He was dressed in a simple green shirt and jeans. Quite frankly, he looks just like any ordinary kid; if his face wasn?t so famous, if he arrived at our school, he?d look like just an international student in our school. When that Bas Persiaran van pulled up, I actually had to stare for quite a few minutes to really see if it really was David Archuleta inside!!

I hope he stays this nice and humble – that?s his selling point, which has snared many a young girl?s heart, and even caught the raptures of many ladies too. I bet mothers all over would love for someone like him to marry their daughters. I know that our principal is a HUGE fan of David Archuleta! With good reason, too.

[Now, if only David Cook would come...]

Oh. And I?m not going for the Sunway Lagoon concert. Sorry, David. I think you?re cute and you?re a fantastic singer, but I got to meet you for free, so that?s good enough for me =D

Oh. And you can see photos of David A at our school on Hitz.fm?s website. You can?t see me cuz I?m a right at the back on the platform videotaping him though