Leah’s Cafe

I almost met Chinnee when she was having dinner near my parent’s place, but we didn’t because I went back too late. So, she sent me this tag.

I haven’t really shown my face on this blog, I was hesitating, should I continue to hide behind the screen.:-) Excuses like I do not have my most recent pictures and yet to get a digital camera replacement sound a bit lame even to myself. Well, I have not met many online friends in person, except for Elaine (who probably don’t remember I met her when she was a student) and my ex student Jason.

Ok lah, since you have all revealed your faces, not fair if I don’t play the game right? Here are a few that that I found saved in a CD while doing spring cleaning this week. Can you tell which one is the most recent?

Me at work.

Me at parent’s home.

Hubby and I went up to Cameron Highland.

And here’s the instruction to this tag :

1st step - Post a short blog article that includes a photograph (or a series of photos) showing the face behind your blog. If you already showed a photo somewhere on your site (such as in your about page), then make your post more interesting and choose a photo that’s not currently online.

2nd step - Include links to other people that have displayed a photo, or include their photos in your post, adding a reference.

3rd step - Tag as many others as you like in your post to spread the meme.

4th step - If you link back to me here, I’ll be sure to include links back to you.

Each person tagged should create their own post and repeat the process.

I am going to forward this tag to some of the blogger whom I have not met or seen any photos of them on their blogs:

1) Kiasumom - Not sure anyone had tagged you?
2) Parisbeaverbank - I am curious. :-)
3) Jesslyn -I have a feeling that we might have seen each other i.e. on the school bus?
4) Miche - So when I see you in the Tesco/Jusco, I can say “hi”.:-)

Hey, I got up 4.30 a.m this morning and this is the third Meme I am at, by the rate it goes, I am going to be Queen of Meme in no time. I am not complaining, it’s an honour to be tagged (really?), it helps with getting this blog off the ground/bush or wherever it’s.:-)

So here the rules: “Each person links to the person who tagged them. Then each person posts the rules before their list. Then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to 8 other people and then visits those people’s sites and comments and letting them know that they’ve been tagged, and to come read the post so they know what they have to do …”

Fellow Malaccan Miche wants to know 8 things about me. I wonder why 8 things, is it has to do with the Chinese belief that “8″ is a lucky number for prosperity?

8 Things about Me:
1. My Name is Leah
2. I am a Christian.
3. I have been a teacher for the past 13 years.
4. I am married to an American angmoh.
5. I am born and bred in Malacca, and I live in Malacca right now. Do I ever leave the town?! :-)
6. I am not a fussy eater, don’t eat out that much and prefer home cooked food, almost every edible thing minus the cardboard tastes good to me.:-)
7. I have too many hobbies that I don’t have time and money to keep at this point of life!
8. I run a small Montessori school and a tuition centre that I am trying to sell, and my dream is to have opportunity to educate the community about the difference between schooling and education, and the alternative to learning.

I am going to tag the following 8 people that I enjoy reading their blogs though I don’t neccesary always leave comments.:-)

1. Montessorimum
2. Chinnee
3. Hui Sia
4. Parisbeaverbank
5. Jesslyn
6. Giddy Tiger
7. Vedis
8. New parents

Was awarded this “Rockin’ Girl Blogger” by both  WMD and Chin Nee,  tenkiu, tenkiu. Surprised but happy, just short of rocking my computer and do a happy dance.:-)

I am going to name three other ladies:

1) Kiasumum

2) Mommy of 2 angels 

3) Lilian (I know you got one for your personal site, this one is for your mommy site, ok?)

Kiasumum tagged me with the million $$ question

1 million of what currency? I think I have 1 million Rupiah. :-) Hopefully, I will have total of 1 million Ringgit for retirement in saving & investment.

But, we are allowed to dream, aren’t we? What to do with a wind fall of 1 million? I choose a million in USD because 1 million Ringgit is not enough for the dream, 1 million pound would be too much. :-)

My dream is to purpose built an authentic community based Montessori school that I can choose to enrol ONLY those who wanted a Montessori education for their children, one I can choose to interview the parents before their children are enrolled, one that I can have a sliding scale in fees structure, meaning people who can afford pay more and people who can’t afford pay less or get tuition exemption.

So, the 1 million dollars will be spent to:

• Take a Montessori teacher preparatory course in person for myself (I am taking one through distance learning)

• Buy a piece of land

• Purpose build a community Montessori school

• Fully equiped classrooms

• sponsor training for teachers and assistants.

• Operation cost before it breaks even

I would like to know what the following people want to do with $$ 1 million $$ :-)

1) Wuching

2) Jessie a.k.a Hijack Queen

3) Jerry a.k.a Simple America

4) Shooi at Just My Tots

*****************************************

**Start Copy**

Proposition: If you Have $1,000,000.00………………..

Requirements: continue above sentences

Tag Mode: 5 blogger
1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below:
2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog or etc.

What They Do With Their $1 Million
1. SYH will Miche will give to the needy.
3. Montessorimum will keepsake
4. Lovely Mummy will spend & save
5. Kiasumum will spend & invest
6. Leah will purpose build a Montessori school

A little bird whispered in my ears and told me of this news and this news, did you hear anything like that in your town?

My cousin in law who is a school teacher and teaches tuition at home stopped by to inform me of the news. She had stopped her tuition classes at home because the rumor is flying all over town about the authorities are cracking down tuition centers like brothels, checking whether there are teachers who do part time there without permission from the education department, they also have an operation to crackdown teachers who teach tuition at home at one part of the town, as the rumor seem to say.

Well, I don’t teach the normal school syllabus and I don’t hire school teachers, my teachers are retired or full time tutors. So, am I the only place in town that is not affected? :-)

In fact, I am trying to get out of this tuition business to concentrate on running the preschool. It’s so sick to compete with school teachers who leak examination questions. I have advertised twice to sell the tutoring service and a dozen people have came to look at the building or inquired about the price, but so far no deal has been closed.

Suddenly with this cracking down on teachers thing, every other school teacher is looking for a shop lot to start a tuition center. Of course, they want to start a center with their spouse or sibling’s name, not their own. I have been approached by two people about partnership. I told them I want to sell, not interested in messy partnership. My chance is here? Hopefully, I get to sell it this time with a good price!!

The other day, I went to Tesco to pick up some groceries. Two of the girls in my preschool, one Chinese girl and one Indian-Filipino girl asked whether they could go with me. And because I promised to get them their favorite sushi and they have been really good that day, so I brought them along. Both these girls are 5 years old, the Chinese girl is quite fair and the Indian-Filipino girl has darker skin, they certainly don’t look alike, so one can tell they may not be sisters.

Actually, it never cross my mind that people could think they are my children. The girls were looking at the ostrich feathers and kept asking me to buy for them. I did notice people were looking at us, but I thought it’s because the girls were cute.:-) I did not realize that people were looking at us out of curiosity, until one auntie could not contain her own inquisitive desire anymore, she approached me and asked “Are they your children? Is your husband Indian?”

I had a good laugh. Only then I realized that people were looking at us not because they were wondering how many husbands do I have that my children are of different colors.:-)

Actually, I would think interracial marriages are quite common this days, especially in Malacca, we already have Baba-nyonyas and Serani for hundreds years. Guess people are also curious and “keh poh”, like to pop their noses into others people life. :-)

I was blog hopping this morning and read that someone named Nat Tan was arrested by the police. The photo looked so familiar, I thought I might have seen the person before, but somehow the name Nat Tan didn’t ring a bell.

Just now, I went to Jeff Ooi’s blog and he posted a little background information of Nat Tan. It helped to put two and two together. Yes, I have seen Nat Tan, or rather I knew him as Nathaniel Tan. In fact, not long ago I was wondering where he and some of his classmates are, since they should have finished their study for 3-4 years now. 

Nathaniel Tan was one of the brightest student we had in the A Level Program at Sunway College about 10 years ago. I remembered him, a very gentle, extremely well-mannered and courteous boy. He was very active in the student body, a top scorer who had almost perfect  scores in most subjects and was an all rounder student, very articulate, speaks and writes superb English. When we teachers met his parents, we knew it’s not by accident that their son had possessed  some of the very fine qualities of a compassionate young man.

I remembered we were all very proud when he was accepted into Harvard University. He was one of our flag bearers and one of the students that we bragged about during marketing talks.:-)

It is unfortunate that the first news I heard of an ex student after almost 10 years is such a news. I don’t know what kind of political mess he was involved with. But, I believe he is a young man who cares enough about his country and its people to come back here to be involved in the political movement. I hope they will free him soon, and I am praying for him and this country!

Kiasumum tagged me on this D’Quatre

Four jobs I have had in my life:
I have had many temporarily or part time jobs throughout my school years, so I am listing the real job that I have had.

Research assistant (right after my BSc while waiting to get into a Masters program)

Teacher (Taught A-Level Maths and Physics in two colleges in Klang Valley)

Lecturer(Taught Engineering maths)

Tutor/Preschool Directress(running my own tutoring service and a preschool)
I know, there is a lack variety in the job scope.:-)

Four places I have lived:

Melaka(from birth to 1991)

PJ/Subang Jaya (from 1991-1999)

USA(from 1999-2001)

Melaka (from 2001-current)

Four Countries I have been to on vacations:

Thailand

Cambodia

Vietnam

USA

Four of my favourite foods

Hakka Yong Tou Foo

Hakka Lei Cha

Bak Chang

Dragon Fruits

Four places I rather be right now:

Visiting hubby in IL, USA.

Relax at my parents’ place.

Sleep on my comfy bed.

A spa or a massage parlour

Four friends to tag:

Don’t know who to tag

Too lazy to check out who hasn’t done this.

If you want to do this

Pls let me know.