Well, haven't been posting much... But here's an amusing post (to myself at least) before I leave for Laos tomorrow.

I'm sure we all know what the smallest car in the world is right? If you don't, think about it..... since i think i still see blank looks on your faces, I might as well tell you. - It's the Proton lah! urmm... geddit? ;p

The world's smallest car.... ;p

Of course, it's also the world's most scientific car right? But do you know what the world's most mathematical car is? give it a loooonnnnnggggg deeeeppppppp thought.... If you want to check your answer, then scroll down....





It's none other than the Nissan Latio! Wah lau, why is it the most mathematical car you ask? *quizzical looks* Because the Japanese pronounce the 'r' as 'l' wad, so ratio became latio! And do you know what the "latio" is?

It's 2:3.

Huh?

Nissan! it's in the name! Ni in Japanese is 2, and San is 3 right? So Nissan is 2:3!

Labels: Japanese

古池

蛙飛び込む

水の音

furu ike ya

kawazu tobikomu

mizu no oto

Listen! a frog,

Jumping into the silence

Of an ancient pond!

One of the most famous haikus written by Japanese Poet Basho, which I first heard of when I was taking my Japanese classes at Churchill College, taught by the amiable Mikiko-sensei, who introduced the poem to us and asked us to do a translation of it. And now, I come across it again in the book: "Totto-chan - The LIttle Girl at the Window". I shall drop an email to Mikiko-sensei later. :)



Anyway, so I've been reading Totto-chan, and I find it to be such an inspiring book! I honestly can't remember if I've read it before - my sister claims we have the book lying on the bookshelf somewhere... But what the heck, I've already bought a copy.

If you're ever feeling down and out as an educator, I suggest reading Totto-chan for some inspiration. Though there'll never be a Tomoe Gakuen in Singapore, I think it reminds us that education should be about inspiring children and not just about rote learning. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but it's such a beautiful story that you should all read it (kudos to the translator Dorothy Britton!)

There were a number of beautifully translated verses I wanted to share, but i forgot to bookmark them and I can't seem to find them now. The only one I can find is:

"Something from the Oceans & Something from the Hills" - which was a requirement at lunch to bring something from the oceans and something from the hills in their lunch boxes - a balanced diet basically.

Labels: Books, Japanese

yay! i found out how to type Japanese on my laptop and it's not exactly that hard to actually... I just need to learn how to read it now... =X

My name: ケニー　(Ke-ni-i)

Labels: Japanese