If Only Mondays Were Like Sundays

I just had a good two days over the weekend. First, was a reunion lunch with my friends. It just so happened that my good friend, Alvin and my best friend, Joyce had returned to Malaysia - the former flying back from South Africa and the latter touching down from Singapore. It was a rare occasion to have those two back at the same time, so we went for a nice little Italian lunch with the heng tai at Flavors in Centro Klang. Despite the smaller servings (due to the current economy, no doubt) and my friend's peculiar-looking risotto, which in fact turned out more like fried rice, we had a good time catching up and joking around.

That night, I would meet up with the two of them again for another dinner gathering, this time with the chi mui. We dined at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. at Sunway Pyramid. It was my first time there and though the food was just all right, I loved every corner of that restaurant. The whole place screamed 'whacky and funny'! I was really impressed with their humour and creativity.

My best friend, my funny-looking friend, my heng tai and the chi mui

Alvin, in one of his crazy mood swings

After spending some quality time with my best friend, talking about life as she drove us back to Klang, I got home in a good mood; waiting for the next day.

It's been a long time since my former students from Wawasan and I met up, so it was great that nine of them agreed to show up. Even though some had to leave early and some had to come late, it didn't matter. It was so good to see their faces again. We spent hours eating, drinking and catching up. It was great to see how they'd all chosen different paths in life - each having a dream to fulfill. I can't say how proud I am of them. Of course, we also had time for 'chor dai tee', which is a must everytime we catch up. It was funny; how we played the game. I'm still laughing now as I recall what happened. It was really nice to see everyone having a good time together. It's something I'll always cherish with each and everyone of my students, from each and every class.

The gang (minus two who were camera shy)

It's amazing to see how we've changed since we first met

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After having such a good weekend, it was always going to be hard to start work on Monday. Even though I enjoy teaching, it doesn't mean it's a holiday. I still have work to do - things to plan and prepare so I can make lessons fun for my students.

Having said that, it's so disappointing and I would say, it even gets me angry sometimes, when my students don't pay attention to what I'm teaching in class. They talk and talk... despite my numerous requests for them to pay attention. And once they quiet down, they'll start talking and playing again, which gets me really mad. But I don't want to get mad. I hate being angry. I hate myself when I'm angry. So, all I can do is keep quiet for a moment... look down and breathe-in slowly to calm myself down; and then resume teaching.

After having two more enjoyable classes after that, I felt a little better. Then, as usual, I had dinner by myself at around 10:30pm. When I came home, I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge... and what did I see?

Hmm... what's this? A box of chocolates?

And then I saw the words and the photo... and my heart sank

...

I opened the box to reveal a delightful assortment of cakes and pastries. They looked so lovely. Everything was colourful and they looked temptingly delicious. I picked the orange glaze cake and took a bite - in my mouth, it tasted soft, creamy and sweet... but in my heart, it was hard, dry and bitter. I've never tasted anything so wonderfully sad... yet so painfully happy.