my ajumma notes

My, it took some people a mightily long time to decide that (among other things): primary school should be less exam-oriented, primary school kids should have more PE, art and music lessons, fun activities for singles need not be confined to people of a certain age group or academic qualification, etc. The changes can't come a moment too soon, especially the ones for the primary school kids. However, they will be much too late for the boy, who will probably have left primary school by the time things change. How sad. Well, I have concluded, in Week 4 of Term 1, 2009, that Primary 5 is really quite jia lat . And who was it who said that the new Chinese syllabus was easy?! Aiyoh... The serious aspects of life aside, my million dollar questions today are: Is Ana still in Melbourne? Will she turn up to watch today's semi-final? Ha ha, tune in to Spain versus Spain, leftie versus leftie .

So much hoo-ha over a rich man spending his money. I didn't read the article that offended so many people so I only have 2 things to say about it, which are: (a) if I had the chance I also want to learn a thing or two from Le Cordon Bleu , and (b) that is where Sam Soon trained to be a patissiere in the show. Anyway, there are so many articles today about how much people will save with the new budget and all. Good for everyone. And then there's the Merrill Lynch guy who, in a TT-like move, spent US$1, 400 on a waste paper basket and US$5,852 on a coffee table, among other things. That is quite amazing. But what is also amazing is that such a waste paper basket can actually be bought. Then there's Mr Thaksin who is using up his non-frozen assets staying in a five-star Dubai hotel and wondering how he is going to continue staying at such a place. Well... Finally, I was amused to read about Serena Williams, who has earned US$22 million in tennis money in her career, 'cutti...

With Sharapova not in attendance, there is hardly a pretty day or night tennis dress to be seen. Boring... So far, my favourite outfits are Nadal's speckled shorts (day and night) and Djokovic's olive green (that's how it looks to me) theme. Too lazy to search for the photos online. So, it is Federer versus Safin tomorrow. Watched the 2005 AO footage (was it last week?) and was reminded of how brilliant Safin was. I guess the important word here is 'was' . Then again, a lot of what can be said about Federer probably has to be said in the past tense too...

So, the psychological war has begun... What's with Federer and his bipolar-like comments on Andy Murray? One minute he is complimenting him and then he is making these disgruntled comments about Murray being a favourite for the Australian Open (which should not be a surprise, what). He should just concentrate on swinging his racket properly and keep his mouth shut. It might save him some embarrassment should he lose to Murray (again), Nadal (again), Djokovic (again), some unknown, or anyone else for that matter. Or just keep to complimentary or neutral comments. Like how Nadal cleverly sidesteps trouble and controversy by saying very bland (though realistic) things such as everyone starts the year with zero. Or say nothing, like Djokovic. Well, maybe he is saying stuff but no one seems to be reporting anything coming from his mouth so it's almost like he is saying nothing. Anyhow, it is great that we are just a few days away from the start of the AO. Was watching footage from p...

I must confess that I wasn't one of the dunno how many million who were glued to the TV for the finale of The Little Nonya . I don't think I watched more than 10 minutes of the serial though I was initially curious about how the show would turn out. Well, as things turned out, I did not get the feel of jolly Bibiks and Dondang Sayang and such. Instead, it felt very much like a TCS melodrama... I liked the beautiful sets and costumes, though. Lovely. Oh well, I guess my not liking the show makes no difference because there were the dunno how many million who beat all records by tuning in to it. Actually, I'm not really one for epics. I did not survive either Oshin or Jewel of the Palace , with which Nonya has been compared. Not that they weren't interesting. Jewel was interesting but too long and slow-moving for me. Oshin was alright, I guess, but there was too much suffering. I mean, the poor girl just had so many unfortunate incidents happen to her that it became...

What a pleasant surprise it was to find that there was 'live' tennis on TV from New Year's Day. People are playing at the Capitala tournament in Abu Dhabi and the Hopman Cup in Perth. Everyone looks kind of rejuvenated (which is much more than I can say for myself) though I'm sure Federer would have hoped for a better start to the year. But what an excellent start for Murray. Enter Nadal in his new look (which I cannot find a picture of online). I have to say the look reminds me of Bjorn Borg. Plus, the shirt with sleeves looks too tight for him. And the shorts look a little too tight as well. Actually, I think anything with sleeves would somehow look too small for him, ha ha. Anyway, our computer, after several spurts of normal behaviour, has finally gone. Won't be getting our new one just yet so will be surviving on this other one (not actually ours) every now and then.