My students tend to use the verbs lend and borrow wrongly.  For example, they will say ‘Borrow me colour pencil’ or ‘Borrow me ruler’.  They are more keen on using borrow rather than lend.  Maybe because they are more familiar with the verb.  It is undeniable that environment can really affect a person because the more I hear them say, I nearly got confused myself too!

Therefore, I’ve decided to share this with you all and hope to get some feedback or comments from you.

Alright, check this out.  To ‘borrow’ or to ‘lend’?

Case 1
SiewPeng : I forgot to bring my sharpener today.  May I ___________ yours?
Colin : Yes, of course.

Case 2
SiewPeng: I forgot to bring my eraser today.  Could you ____________ me yours?
Colin : Sure, no problem.

Case 3
SiewPeng : Oh no!  I forgot to bring my pencil today!
Colin : Don’t worry.  I can ____________ you mine.

Have you got all the answers?

In Case 1, the correct answer is ‘borrow’.  The verb borrow is used when you want to take something that belongs to someone and sort of promised to return it to them at a later time.

In Case 2, the correct answer is ‘lend’.  The verb lend has to be used here because you are asking another person to give you something that belongs to them and will return it to them at a later time.

In Case 3, the correct answer is also ‘lend’.  This is because Colin has generously agreed to give SiewPeng one of his pencils and believed that she will return it to him at a later time.

There you go.

I hope that my humble sharing will be able to clear out some doubts.  I have written about ’send’ and ‘deliver’ too.  Please feel free to comment.  Have a good day!

I tried it once when I was younger and it didn’t work.  And yesterday I tried it again, with a different method, it worked! :D  Alright…what am I talking about here?  Well, have you ever called in to a radio station and request for your favourite song or deliver a message to your loved ones through the song request?

Yesterday, I made a song request through the Internet and had our favourite song broadcast on an FM channel.  I still remember when I was much younger, I tried once.  Back then, it was using phone calls and the line was usually engaged.  They say those staying nearer to the radio station stand bigger chances of getting their calls answered.  I didn’t give up easily and tried for quite some time but still can’t get through so finally I decided to stop.  I still remember those who got their calls answered were so excited, and followed by a series of echo sound because they did not turn of their radios.  They requested their favourite song and dedicate it to their loved ones with messages and wishes.  I think song dedication is not as popular as before nowadays.

It was such a great surprise because I have never thought that I will have second chance to do it again.  It was a coincidence whereby I saw one of my colleagues on Facebook yesterday.  She also works as a DJ and it happened that I saw someone else requested a song so I just gave it a try a asked if I could too.  She said yes and after I told her the title, she immediately said it would be up right after that song.  We were so excited about it! :D  And what was more thrilling was she announced my name on air too! :D  Thanks to my colleague who has made our day!  Colin took the photo of our mini radio after the segment finished.

Give your loved ones a surprise today!  Make their day a special one!  Have a good day everyone!

We had to work one more week after the school holidays started. It was an emotional week. It was emotional because we had to make sure a lot of things and matters are done and settled before the end of the term. It was also because we had to bid the students farewell. It was just like the beginning of the term a few days ago and suddenly, without you knowing, it has come to the end of the term. Time flies…and it really does fly!

Elyse had her promotion test that week. She cried because she couldn’t finish the whole paper. It was three sections in two hours. I told her it’s okay because she did most of the questions. At least, she cared about the paper. Promotion tests are not to be under estimated because they are given by the school’s discretion based on the student’s performance and exam results. Some students who were given these opportunities didn’t really appreciate it and they didn’t try their best in these tests. Therefore, they have lost the chance that probably get them to a higher level this year. It is kind of a pity but that was their choice.

[Light refracted and focused by a bottle of water.]

My markers and stationery are also finally taking a break after a long year of hard work. However, the school is about to be re-opened soon so I think it’s almost time for them to wake up from their slumber and get ready to hit the long long road in the year 2010. I have just attended the school re-opening workshop. It took the whole day but it was helpful and beneficial. I think I am ready to accept the challenges ahead of me. Hope that you are too! Happy New Year 2010 to everyone!

We have taken a tour inside, let’s take a look outside the temple now.  There is a small garden next to the temple.  The walking path was made using what seemed like broken pieces of bricks put together and wood.  They also used wood to create the space for plantations instead of using pots.  These features in the garden really bring out mother nature.

And do look at how they transformed wood piles to a masterpiece.  I think this staircase is just simply artistic and creative!

I just can’t resist not to have a picture taken with this fine piece of work.

Here is a photo of both of us with the staircase as our background.

We came to this garden from the back of the temple.  If we were to go in from outside, I guess this would be the main entrance.  The name of the garden was carved in Chinese words on a big rock.  It says Shen2Nong2Yao4Yuan2, which means God Farmer Medicine Farm if translated directly.  I think it meant to say that it is a special garden for herbs plantations to cure illnesses.

From this angle, we can see bamboo bush again, a small pergola and a round table with some benches made of wood.

This is a picture of us taken with the rock at the garden entrance as our background.

This is the round table and the benches made of wood.

And the bamboo bush.

Opposite the herb garden is a small hill called Le4Sheng4Lv4Yuan2, the Robson Green Land, if I’m not mistaken.  There are steps up the hill so we decided to do some exploration.

The path up was quite alright except the mosquito attacks.  When we got up, this was what we saw.  It was more or less like a wood.

Then, we saw this sign stating the name of the place, which is Robson Green Land, further up the hill but there were no visible paths or tracks for us to go up and it seemed a bit risky to explore so we gave up and went down the hill to venture into other areas.

This is the path at the back of the temple which leads to the herb garden and a tortoise pond.  The path is fenced with bamboo.  They have also made a small opening using bamboos.  Most of the decorations here are so naturally made.

Towards the end of the path, crosses the road, and you’ll find Robson Green Land.

On one of the trees, we found some orange-greenish moss.

On the way down the path, the small opening that I talked about just now leads to a space where there are trees and they make up a habitat for chickens.

Hope you like the post today.  Do stay tune for more interesting upcoming posts.

From the second floor of Thean Hou Temple, both KL Tower and KL Twin Tower are quite visible despite the haze in the air.  From here, the roof of the temple can be clearly seen too.  The statues and clay structure attached to the roof are especially exquisite and these structures can really make one feels the contrast between the busy life in the city and the peaceful life in a temple on top of a mountain.

From here, you can see a staircase with beautiful traditional Chinese carvings that leads to the top.  You can also see high rise buildings and a small part of the octagon pagoda from this angle.

The palm tree is giving a bit of touch to the whole picture but the contrast between modern and ancient is still very obvious from here.  There are dragon figure carvings on the brick fences surrounding the pagoda as well as Chinese words carved on the pole.  These brick fences are actually donations of many generous people around Malaysia.  To honour them, the management of the temple has printed out their names and the state of their residence in red on a white plastic tag and stick them on the brick fences.

I am very glad to have a chance to take a picture here.  It is not easy to get the spot especially many people are passing by all the time.

This is a metal pergola but not many climber plants can be seen.  However, they have decorated it with pots of plants.  The pergola actually leads to a small man made cave where the Guan Yin Goddess can be found.  There is a place below the small cave in front of the goddess for kneeling down to pray to the goddess for health and prosperity in life.

Here is a closer look of the small cave.  Next to the small cave, there is a small pagoda too.  The cave and the pagoda are both very artistically built and beautiful.

A lotus flower awaitng to bloom was captured by Colin.  I am sure it must be very beautiful when it blooms.

This is a small bamboo bush.  Bamboos and lotus flowers are commonly seen in most temples and they sure add tranquility to the surroundings and the believers or visitors there.

This picture was taken from the second floor and this is how the inner garden looks like.  On the right, you can see the metal pergola which I mentioned just now.  There are also ceramic benches and they are really cooling.  If you sit on the two on the far right, you’ll get the highrise buildings as your picture’s background.

We got into the pagoda finally.  These ceramic tables and stools are really heavy.  At first, I thought they have them fixed on the floor but Colin said no so I tried to move one of them and it can really be moved!  However, it was really heavy.

This is me again.  Do you notice that there’s a printing on the table?  It is actually a Chinese chess print.  Well, I guess if you want to play Chinese chess, just bring your checkers and opponent here.  It was really quiet in the pagoda so you can concentrate and make your best move.  My background is the opposite side of the temple.  So, you saw the highrise buildings and on this side, you’ll get the nature.  It is a great place if you need some inspiration.

We were still at the top and we went to the front of the temple and got this picture taken.  With one glance, the blue section looks like a swimming pool but it is actually not.  It is just an open space and it leads to some shops and food outlets.  The outer area is where the 12 Animals in the Chinese Horoscope (year in which one was born as represented by an animal) are located.  Look carefully on the tar walking path highlighted by the grass.  What animal can you see?  I can see a dragon.