Skywatch Friday: Peter Hillary

Peter Hillary with his wife (red) Yvonne and Diane Harding. Diane had worked in Nepal for 2 years.

Peter talking to the children about his Dad Sir Ed Hillary and his work in Nepal.


On the 50th anniversary of Sir Ed's conquering of Mt Everest, Peter and his friends climbed the mountain. Here I took my photo from the video that Peter showed the children of him talking to his Dad. His Dad asked him if he reached the summit.


In 1992 Hillary appeared on the updated New Zealand $5 note, thus making him the only New Zealander to appear on a banknote during his or her lifetime, in defiance of the established convention for banknotes of using only depictions of deceased individuals, and current heads of state. Peter had a joke about the $5 note. My ESOL kids remember him saying," Sorry, Dad, I have to buy something, good bye."

Our beautiful sky after the talk, view of my part of my school.

Like our Sky Tower, Sir Ed is an icon of New Zealand. View from my school.

When I was 11 in Borneo, we had to cut out photos from Newspaper and make a scrap book and learn the facts of important and famous people. The hero in my scrap book was Edmund Hillary. He was the first man who climbed the highest mountain in the World, Mt Everest in 1953 just before I was born. He came from New Zealand.

Sir Ed was not just an adventuror, He was a philanthropist. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Following his ascent of Everest he devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built in Nepal.

As an adult, I was privileged to come to study at the university and then to live in New Zealand. Today, I was just as excited as the students of Pt Chevalier to hear our speaker, Peter Hillary. Peter is the son of Sir Ed. I was very pleased he was very obliging when I asked to take his photo for my blog. Peter by his own right is a remarkable man.

My colleague Diane Harding had organised his talk. It was Peter and Yvonne's wedding anniversary. It is indeed a great privilege to have them come to school. Diane had spent 2 years up in the mountains of Nepal as a nurse with her partner Liz who is a doctor.

Nepal, of course, has a special place in my heart. Occasionally, I blog about Ganga and Jemunah. They were the pair of con-joint twins from Nepal. In 2000, they came to Singapore to be separated. I spearheaded the fund raising in Nanyang Technological University. I felt very touched when their mum and grand dad invited me to see them while they were still con-jointed.


Peter Hillary comes from one of the great families of mountaineering and has a history of world-class achievements in climbing.

Like his father, the late Sir Edmund Hillary, who made the first ascent of Mt Everest with his climbing partner Tenzing Norgay in 1953, Peter has summited Everest and forged a new route to the South Pole. The names Everest and Hillary are forever linked, and will always be associated with high adventure.

Peter Hillary is an accomplished mountaineer, speaker and expedition leader. He raises funds for Himalayan Foundations around the world and owns the Hillary Brand, a line of HILLARY branded goods. Together with his sister Sarah Hillary, they manage the intellectual property of the Ed Hillary estate.


The last photo I show is of Auckland Sky Tower. It is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, just as we are proud of the Hillary name who is an icon is New Zealand, so is the Sky Tower where we can see from our school on a fine day like this morning.



Climb every mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow every byway,
Every path you know.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
'Till you find your dream.

A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life
For as long as you live.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream

A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life,
For as long as you live.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream.

Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/sound-of-music-lyrics-climb-every-mountain-q47jrxt#ixzz1pFhQtIdg
LetsSingIt - Your favorite Music Community

http://youtu.be/X1GQpoRhmno


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Thursday theme Song: Singing in the rain

I love this photo. I made a pair of leggings and gave my eldest daughter a raincoat. I taught her to sing "Singing in the rain." and be positive in outlook.



On my way to school, I see children and their parents cycling to school. Bet it's only me singing, " Singing in the rain, because I am snug and warm in my car."


But in Auckland, we sometimes get torrential storms, and then the creeks get swollen, not much to sing.





When the rain becomes a storm and heavy downpour, you won't want to sing in the rain especially when you are driving one and half hours for your first surf lesson.




I Facebooked Diane that I will catch some ducks at Western Springs for her.


This blog is dedicated to my friend, Diane, on the Gold Coast of Australia. She is passionate about ducks. I have known Diane for 20 years when we were both faculty wives at the Nanyang technological University in Singapore. We are still good friends. Diane sadly is a bereaved grand mother. There is heavy rain on the Gold Coast and Diane wrote "Still listening to the music on the roof!"





Don Lockwood:
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo...

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin',
Singin' in the rain

Dancin' in the rain
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
I'm happy again!
I'm singin' and dancin' in the rain!

I'm dancin' and singin' in the rain...
[ADDITIONAL VERSE]
Why am I smiling
And why do I sing?
Why does September
Seem sunny as spring?
Why do I get up
Each morning and start?
Happy and head up
With joy in my heart
Why is each new task
A trifle to do?
Because I am living
A life full of you.

http://youtu.be/p7QL46cK7B8http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif




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Thursday Theme Song: Great Friends

La-La-La-La-La...


You've been so kind and generous, I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I'm in debt to you
For your selflessness, my admiration
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound,
I'm bound to thank you for it....

La-La-La-La-La...
Hey-hey-hey-hey-hey...

You've been so kind and generous, I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I'm in debt to you
And I never could have come this far without you
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound,
I'm bound to thank you for it....

La-La-La-La-La...

Oh,
I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave, with love and tenderness,
I wanna thank you
I want to thank you for your generosity,
the love and the honesty that you gave me
I want to thank you, show my gratitude, my love and my respect for you,
I wanna thank you

Oh I want to thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,
Thank you...

http://youtu.be/2qkgQZt1Mmg

If I could turn the clock back to September 1975, I would relive a time when 3 guys treated me very well. In one of their own words, I was a princess. Our friendship was platonic. I found two of them on Facebook and we are reminiscing those times.

I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you Ning Choon Swee, Wong Hung Yong, Koh Ngee Ann and later Richard Lee.

I knew Ning a year earlier when we were both teaching in Kai Chung School. Later in the year, he went to Windsor University in Canada. He was the reason I went. I thought, if he was accepted to study there, so would I be. It was a year before I went, and he guided me along in my application.

What most heart felt was, when I was flying to Canada to Windsor via Toronto, Ning had planned to meet me at the Windsor airport. To make the story short, my flight from Singapore to London to Toronto was 30 hours long. The travel agent had fixed it so there was 4 hours transit in Heathrow.

She did not anticipate any delays. As a young green horn, and a country pumpkin traveling the first time almost round the world, it was the worst kangaroo flight. It stopped about 7 times. The plane was delayed from Australia, and by the time it arrived at Heathrow, they had some one accompany and rushed to the Canadian airlines. They didn't tell me my luggage was still in London.

I slept the whole way across from London to Toronto. At Toronto I waited for my luggage at the carousel in vain. When I went to the gate and explained that my luggage wasn't there twice, the FAT woman tore up my boarding pass. Eventually after two planes had gone, and it was evening, they told me, your luggage won't be here, just fly to Windsor and we will contact you.

When I arrived at Windsor, I was so stressed that I didn't want to leave the plane without an air stewardess. She told me she will come with me when she has finished all her job.

Meanwhile, Ning and Wong and Koh were thinking, it was the last flight, and perhaps, I wasn't coming. When I saw Ning, I cried with relief. I really cried.

My luggage came another day, and the 3 guys took me to the airport. I remember walking a long distance, and my shoes were pinching my feet.

Few months later, they invited me to stay in their one bedroom apartment, and I was given the bedroom, and they slept on mattresses in the dining room. Later Richard came and there were 4 guys and a girl from Sarawak.

Thank you again and to their spouses, they are lucky to be married to fantastic guys. And I was so lucky to benefit from their special friendship.



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Thursday Theme Song: Kitty kitty kitty cat

This kitty was sitting on top of my neighbor;s car and looking at me. I thought it suits the song that my neighbor stole kitty. (Though I think the cat belongs to her.)





My pussy cat was scratching out on my back door
Scratched so long poor pussy got sore
Sore pussy..ooohhhh
Sore..pussy ooohhh
Just a friendly little cat

My pussy cat was sittin on the front step
Sat so long poor pussy got wet
Wet pussy...ohhhhh
Sore, wet..pussy
Just a friendly little cat

My pussy cat was playing out on the back lot
Played so long poor pussy got hot
Hot pussy..ohhhh
Sore, wet, hot...pussy..
Just a friendly little cat

My pussy cat was rocking in the rocking chair
Rocked so long he lost his hair
Bald pussy...ohhh
Sore, wet, hot, bald...pussy
Just a friendly little cat

My neighbor and I out at the clothes line
I said to my neighbor won't you look at mine
My pussy..oohhhhhh
Sore, wet, hot, bald pussy
Just a friendly little cat

My neighbor stole my kitty
But I did see
I said to my neighbor set my pussy free
Free pussy
Sore, wet, hot, bad free pussy
Just a friendly little cat
Here kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty.



Lyrics | Connie Vannett - The Pussy Cat Song lyrics

Connie Vannett - The Pussy Cat Song lyrics">Connie Vannett - The Pussy Cat Song lyrics


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Thursday Theme Song: We will rock you.

It is Rugby World Cup tomorrow. Tomorrow is the opening ceremony and the first game is Tonga verses New Zealand. Those of you who have been to New Zealand will know that rugby is very important to this country. Each class is given a country to support and follow.

Buddy you're a boy make a big noise

Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Kickin' your can all over the place
Sing it!

We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you

Buddy you're a young man hard man
Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on your face
You big disgrace
Wavin' your banner all over the place

We will we will rock you
Sing it!
We will we will rock you

Buddy you're an old man poor man
Pleadin' with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day
You got mud on your face
Big disgrace-
Somebody better put you back into your place

We will we will rock you
Sing it
We will we will rock you
Everybody
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Alright
[guitar riff]
http://youtu.be/GQztzKMOEok

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Thursday Theme Song: My city of ruin.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO-ds1-9yPw



I went to the earthquake ravaged city of Christchurch this weekend, and saw the rubbles. My heart bled to see these historical building turned to ruins. 128 people died in the earthquake on 22 Feb 2011.

Bruce Springsteen's My City of Ruin was adopted by the people of Christchurch as their anthemn.



History



The song was written in November 2000, for an Asbury Park, New Jersey Christmas show benefit to help promote the revitalization of the city. Once a popular resort destination in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Asbury Park had succumbed to significant amounts of blight for a variety of reasons, including the ill-effects of the Great Depression, the opening of the Garden State Parkway, and race riots.



The song first starts describing the current state of Asbury Park, the deterioration, and the absence of people in the area.



There's a blood red circle

On the cold dark ground

And the rain is falling down

The church doors blown open

I can hear the organ's song

But the congregations gone

Throughout the song, Springsteen continues to describe the city using images such as men loitering on a street corner and buildings with boarded up windows. The song ends, however, on a hopeful and optimistic note by powerfully imploring the city to "rise up" from the decay.





Come on rise up!

Come on rise up!

''Rise up



The song took on an entirely new meaning soon after the September 11 attacks, offering a message of hope and rising from the ruins. The most famous live performance of the song came on September 21, 2001 during the America: A Tribute to Heroes national telethon. With only a guitar and a harmonica, Springsteen opened the program, introducing the number as "a prayer for our fallen brothers and sisters" and modifying a few phrases in the song. He was joined on stage by Patti Scialfa, Steven Van Zandt, Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell and Clarence Clemons. It was included as the first track on the subsequent album released of the telethon performances.



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Thursday Theme Song: The Coffee song

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http://youtu.be/vVGXcjM9SOQ



Way down among Brazilians

Coffee beans grow by the billions

So they've got to find those extra cups to fill

They've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil



You can't get cherry soda

'cause they've got to fill that quota

And the way things are I'll bet they never will

They've got a zillion tons of coffee in Brazil



No tea or tomato juice

You'll see no potato juice

'cause the planters down in Santos all say "No, no, no"



The politician's daughter

Was accused of drinkin' water

And was fined a great big fifty dollar bill

They've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil



[instrumental break]

[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank+sinatra/coffee+song+the_10121408.html ]

You date a girl and find out later

She smells just like a percolator

Her perfume was made right on the grill

Why, they could percolate the ocean in Brazil



And when their ham and eggs need savor

Coffee ketchup gives 'em flavor

Coffee pickles way outsell the dill

Why, they put coffee in the coffee in Brazil



No tea, no tomato juice

You'll see no potato juice

The planters down in Santos all say "No, no, no"<<<



So you'll add to the local color

Serving coffee with a cruller

Dunkin' doesn't take a lot of skill

They've got an awful lot of coffee

An awful lot of coffee

Man, they got a gang of coffee in Brazil!!

Thursday Theme Song: Traffic Jam

The worst traffic jams I had been in were during the Chinese New Year festivals when there is an exodus of Malaysian workers in Malaysia cities and in Singapore returning home for their reunion. We were stuck for 6 hours.




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Traffic Jam by James Taylor

(Chorus)
Damn this traffic jam
How I hate to be late
It hurts my motor to go so slow
Damn this traffic jam
Time I get home my supper'll be cold
Damn this traffic jam

Well I left my job about 5 o'clock
It took fifteen minutes go three blocks
Just in time to stand in line
With a freeway looking like a parking lot

- Chorus -

Now I almost had a heart attack
Looking in my rear view mirror
I saw myself the next car back
Looking in the rear view mirror
'Bout to have a heart attack
I said

- Chorus -

Now when I die I don't want no coffin
I thought about it all too often
Just strap me in behind the wheel
And bury me with my automobile

- Chorus -

Damn...

Now I used to think that I was cool
Running around on fossil fuel
Until I saw what I was doing
Was driving down the road to ruin

http://youtu.be/V020XgCqHFo

Watery Wednesday/Thursday Theme Song: Mystery Train

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Train I ride is sixteen coaches long
Train I ride is sixteen coaches long
Well, that long black train take my baby and gone

Mystery train rolling down the track
Mystery train rolling down the track
Well, it took my baby, feel they won't be coming back

Train, train, rolling round the bend
Train, train, rolling round the bend
Well, it took my baby, feel they won't be back again

Train I ride is sixteen coaches long
Train I ride is sixteen coaches long
Well, that long black train take my baby and gone

http://youtu.be/Q_eE0NPArEY

Last Wednesday, The ESOL teachers and helpers of Mt Albert Baptist School went for a train ride. We are a generation who would appreciate Elvis songs. It was raining, It was pouring the whole day.