Pre Ho Chi Minh City Thoughts

Hey there, Mummy wanna remind all readers & frens dat they (she & Daddy) are leaving for Ho Chi Minh City 2moro morning. They will be back on Fri afternoon. So Rachel & me will be sleeping over at Ah Ma's place from tonight till Thurs. Yippee! Fri night we can sleep back with Daddy & Mummy. Mummy will try to log in from Ho Chi Minh if possible. Daddy & Mummy, we will miss you. Have fun & take care. Safety First Always! :)

GUG lesson 7

Today, we had our lesson # 7. We learnt the letter M - Missy Mouse. Moon, Macaroni & Monkey are also the few words we learnt as well. For numerals, we had the no. 10.

Mummy also paid my term 6 fees. Term 6 will begin on 13 Oct - 14 Dec 2008.

For craft work, we had some macaronies put in a paper cup with 2 drops of food colouring. A transparent yellow paper secured the top & we shake, shake shake - macaroni macaras or izzit maracas.... ???

We also had music, bubbles & story telling, not forgetting our zoophonics session. I er, again, forgot the title of the story... :(

At the end of the lesson, both teacher Devi & teacher Aze wishes all of us a Happy Children's Day & Happy Hari Raya.

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Mummy asked Daddy to explain to Lionel why we kids hv to sleep over at Ah Ma's hse from 2nite onwards. Kor Kor initially refused to except the explanation till Daddy told him we will be gg over tot Australia during cny to see kangeroos. Finally, after much coaxing & hugs, kisses & more hugs did kor kor followed Ah Ma back. Me of cos went as well. Daddy & Mummy then went out for their dinner. After dinner, Mummy settled down to pack their luggage. Their flight out the next morning was at 0715hrs. So they gt to be at the airport @ 0515hrs. So Mummy set their alarm for 0430hrs. Bon Voyage!

When Things Dun Go Your Way...

Mummy's voice: Did i resign at the wrong time? Everything comes at the wrong time & i mean everything that requires $$.

1) Bills - (as normal la)

2) Lionel's year end concert - $25 & $30 per ticket. 21 November @ Toa Payoh HDB Hub. When it comes to $$ involvement, dun tink anyone wants to go.

3) Lionel's Pre Nursery Graduation Class Photo - $10 per copy.

4) My Ho Chi Minh trip - I still dunno hw much to change. Some frens adv me to change SGD 250 into USD & the bal into Viet Dong. But looking at the US rate now, its abt 1.4. Is this good? This means its an exchang rate of SGD 1.4 to USD 1. So if i take SGD250 to change, i only get USD178. Is my calculation correct?

5) My Perth trip next year. My sil hv already booked the accomodation; the cheapest we can find. AUD $270 per person, after calculating the overall & breaking down. Convert to SGD, i hv to pay my sil abt SGD 707 ( $270 per person x 2 adts = $540 x ex. rate approx 1.31). Then i still hv the air tkts to worry.

I tink will hv more worries to come & i'm gg bonkers.... so tis means i cannot lurk abt at home & shake leg. The next immediate thing i hv to do after my HCM trip is to hurriedly find a job. Or if god can help me, i dun ask for much, just give me abt $4-6K to help me tide over tis period first. At least with the $4-6K, i can use that to pay for my Perth trip.

Headache!

2008 Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix

Not that Mummy & Daddy are gg to watch the race, but Mummy wanna hv something to blog abt so that we know Singapore ever held the F1 car race in year 2008.

Highlighted in yellow is the race circuit.

Fri 26 September 2008

Friday Practice 1
19:00 - 20:30hrs

Friday Practice 2
21:30 - 23:00hrs

Sat 27 September 2008

Saturday Practice
19:00 - 20:00hrs

Qualifying
22:00hrs

Sun 28 September 2008

Race
20:00hrs

Singapore
Race Date: 28 Sep 2008 (Sun)
Number of Laps: 61
Circuit Length: 5.067 km
Race Distance: 309.087 km
Lap Record: n/a -

We have Ferrari, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, BMW, etc....

More info: http://www.formula1.com/

GUG lesson 6

Today we had our lesson 6. Mummy was given a form to remind all parents of the payment due date for term 6. Fees payable: $404.46 for a total of 9 lessons from 13 Oct - 14 Dec.

We learnt the no. 8 today (cos only 8 kiddos in the class) & the letter L - Lizzy Lizard. Together with words beginning with L - lips, lotion, lollipop. I gt a lollipop drawn on each of my hands. Today's story was: The Big Farm Animals - abt hw a cow, chicken, duck, pig & sheep all play together. Today no music lesson - i tink Teacher Fairuz not ard. But we still hv our bubbles session. For craft work, we each rolled a ball on a mixture of paint & put the ball inside a plastic tupperware. Close the cover & we shake & tip the tupper ware. Inside each tupperware is a piece of white paper at the bottom. The gist of the craft is to do ball painting. After all the shaking & rolling & tipping, we all gt the piece of paper out & hey presto, our ball painting. After washing our hands, we all took our break. I went to put my fingers inside my mouth after dabbling on the paint; i thot they were jam after the last lesson we learnt. Mummy & Teacher Devi hurridly took wet tissues & dry tissues to wipe away the paint, in & out & ard my mouth. Silly me!

And of cos, we sang our Zoophonics song, Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes, If You Are Happy, etc...

As usual, we took a taxi home. Upon reaching home, we both fell asleep till Daddy & Lionel came home, waking us up.

Lay Khim & Kim Cheong Wedding

20 Sep 2008 - 农历八月二十一: The wedding of Lay Khim Gu Gu ( 姑姑) & Kin Cheong Gu Zhang (姑丈). They held their wedding dinner at Noble House, UIC Building @ Shenton Way. We all went there by private bus. Cos its a big grp of over 40 family members...haha...not surprising la...all of us live in the same block so we all go together, easier ma. keke.

Lay Khim Gu Gu & Kin Cheong Gu Zhang

Their names...

The gift for every individual..

On the bus on the way to Noble House. i very fidgeting, climbing all over

Cousin Yun Hwee

Lim Keow Gu Gu （姑姑） & Gu Po （姑婆）

Ah Hian Bo Bo （伯伯） & Ah Tan Bo Mu （伯母）(Sui Mak Mak?)

Ah Tan Bo Mu （伯母） is from Thai, Bangkok.

Cousin Qiu Min (Aunty generation) （表姨） & Cousin Ying Xuan

Lionel

From left: Aunty Qiu Ting, Cousin Tong Shuian, Aunty Qiu Min, Lay Min Gu Gu, Cousin Ying Xuan, Lay Keow Gu Gu, Lim Keow Gu Gu, Jian Shun Gu Zhang, Lay Gim Gu Gu & Cousin Yun Hwee.

Presenting the little princess...

Rachel & Ah Ma

Ah Hian Bo Bo holding out something which interest me; we're sitting at the same table

Can see my oily mouth?...i'm eating non stop; from shark fins, to duck meat to noodles to fish to prawns....NON STOP!

Rachel with Lay Kian Gu Gu （大姑） & Lay Kee Gu Gu （小姑). Opps, nt quite ready...

Very nice...whose hand huh?

Daddy feeding me shark fins..yum yum

Champagne pouring ceremony..

Yum Seng.....

End of dinner. The couple wearing dark red & gray suit (short sleeves) are er bo gong (二伯公) & er bo mu po (二伯母婆 or 二母婆) - hw do u call? Translate to Hokkien, i tink easier. watever! (parents of Lay Khim Gu Gu). The other couple (in pink & grey suit) are parents of Kin Cheong Gu Zhang. Me & Cousin Vicky being kaypo.

Actually, we have a big grp foto taken but that was using the camera's man camera. So Mummy dun hv a pic of it. Will see if she can get from Lay Khim Gu Gu.

Wedding Grand Entry

Wedding march in of Lay Khim & Kim Cheong's. Just a little bit...enjoy.

Rachel is 14 Months Old

GUG lesson 5

Today is Lantern Festival & also my 5th lesson @ GUG. First of all, wanna say:

八月十五月正圆

中秋假节庆团圆

Wishing everyone a Happy Lantern Festival

At GUG, we learn the no. 12 (cos today we have 12 kiddos in our class) & the letters K - kangeroo, kite, crown, (y the letter c? cos c & k hv the same phonetic sound) & king. Teacher Devi gt a mustache on her mouth..keke.

I was gettin abit restless during the story telling session, so Mummy also didnt pay attention & didnt gt the title of the story. For music, we sang twinkle twinkle little stars, old macdonald has a zoo (farm) & we're going to the zoo. We also sang thru the whole set of phonetic zoo - ally alligator a a a, beary bear, b b b, etc....

Not forgetting my bubbles & craft. We use star fruit & dapped into a mixture of paint & transfer onto a piece of black paper (as the sky), so we all hv little stars shining against the black sky. I also gt a star kite on my hand too.

And Mummy say i sorta misbehave cos i went all over the place, gripping onto people's hands, legs & clothes. But no one seems to mind...haha.

The admin staff nvr pass any forms to Mummy; suppose to ask the parents whtr we gonna continue for the next term. My term will end on the 12 Oct. Maybe next week, Mummy will check with the staff or ask Teacher Devi/Aze.

Walk

Rachel has been learning to walk ... Trying to catch her on video... She's nt co-operative... grrr...hang on. will post a video & pics of her asap

Heartfelt Condolences

Just gt news from my mil dat 黄伯伯's eldest son just passed away last sun. 黄伯伯 used to helped out at my ils' shop as a part timer till he suddenly fainted one fine day & was diagnosed as suffering from stroke. From then, he stopped working & was bed ridden since.

Today, his family sent their beloved son, dad, grand-dad, on his final walk. He was a kidney failure patient but he nvr stopped himself from eating & drinking wat he shd not. Alas, his kidney gave way...

To 黄伯伯 & family, our special heartfelt condolences to u.

诗歌郎颂

Battle of the ants

Lionel was narrating a story abt the battle of the ants to me in chinese. He shows me the pics & told the story using his own words. With tones & actions of cos. At the end of the story, this is a little conversation we had - :

我：黑蚂蚁是好的还是坏的？
志聪：好的
我：那红蚂蚁呢？
志聪：坏的。它和黑蚂蚁打架。
我：你是红蚂蚁还是黑蚂蚁？
志聪：我是人啦！

let me do a little translation for those who might not know hw to read chinese.

me: are the black ants good or bad?
lionel: good.
me: hw abt the red ones?
lionel: bad. they fought with the black ants.
me: are u a black ant or a red ant?
lionel: i am a human la!.

GUG lesson 4

We had our 4th lesson today at GUG. We learned the no. 8 (again?) & the letter J. Words beginning with J~ Jump, Jungle, Jam, Jellyfish. For art, we did jam tasting. Not so much of art work but rather, we tasted different kinds of jam, one at a time & also mixing all together. Teacher Devi & Teacher Aze say we wouldnt be given biscuits as not all of us can eat??? I can! Anyway, Mummy took my finger & dipped into each favor - there were Apricot, Strawberry & Kaya. I love Strawberry the most; I dipped my fingers into the strawberry jam many times.

We sang our usual "The Wheels On the Bus Goes Round & Round", Old MacDonalds and of cos, nt forgetting my bubbles session. (Note from Mummy: I am beginning to understand wat some Mummies say abt GUG - dat the lessons were repeated).

For story telling, it was ....oh no...i forgot again..."In the Jungle", i tink was the title. We learned abt the diff animals living in the jungle. And lastly, not forgetting my zoophonics ( somehow i was rather restless & kept pointing to the door; it was already 5.15pm)

I tink i am the one one at every lesson, who cannot sit still, so much so dat Mummy has to tempt me with my baby bites. Well, on a lighter note, i am nt the only one who cannot sit still...keke.

September events

Mummy: Tis month, i hv 3 events. Actually 4.

1) I resigned! Waiting for my HR to inform me my last day. The earlier the better. Anyone gt lobang?

2) 20 Sep - hb's cousin's wedding. The 8th person among all cousins who's finally married.
~ Li Jing
~ Ah Keong (hb)
~ Li Yuan
~ Li Qian
~ Ah Zhuan
~ Ah Guan
~ Ah Hian
~ Li Qin

3) My Basic Theory Test (BTT) tis 24 Sep. Haha...i hvnt even touch the book yet.
4) My Ho Chi Minh trip on 29 Sep for 5 Days. Only hb & me. The kids not coming though hb really wanted to bring along Lionel. He is afraid his mum, my mil cannot handle the 2 kids. But i dun tink my mil will allow, seeing how lionel's condition is now...

Oh well. We will all together, go abroad to Perth, Australia next CNY for a week. All means, both my parents in laws, hb & me, Lionel & Rachel, my 2 sils & my hb's aunt ~ 7 adts + 1 chd + 1 infant. We have been seaching ard for gd airfares but like dun hv leh. Actually, the air fares are cheap. Its the bloody taxes dat is the blood suckling culprit. 2 weeks ago, we checked Jet Star. They did not impose infant fares. Now its $50 per infant per way. I told my sil to quickly booked, otherwise, it will not be $50 for long. Once my mil collect her new passport next week, we will immediately do the booking. Tentively, we will plan the itinerary tis way:

Day 1 (26 Jan): SIN/PER 1745hrs / 0010hrs ~ arrival 27 Jan. Check into service apartment & sleep.

Day 2 (27 Jan): Perth City Tour ( at our own time & pace)

Day 3 (28 Jan): Pinnacles with 4WD & Sand Dunes (pre booked)

Day 4 (29 Jan): Caversham Wildlife Park / Swan Valley (pre booked)

Day 5 (30 Jan): Rockingham ( Dolphin Watch Cruise & Penguin Island) (pre booked)

Day 6 (31 Jan): Fremantle Port ( only open on weekends) (own time & pace)

Day 7 (1 Feb): Stay on for 1 more day b4 checking in at night (last min shopping or laze ard the apartment).

Day 8 (2 Feb): PER/SIN 0115hrs /0550hrs. Since this is a early morning flight
after 12 midnight, we gt to check in at 2315hrs on the 1 Feb. We dun want to rush & chk in on 31 nite just to catch the flight for 1 Feb. So we are staying one more day on the 1 Feb & then check in at night.

Chong Pang Mid Autumn Festival Celebration 2008

Last night, Mummy & 小姑姑 bot me to Chong Pang Mid Autumn Festival Celebartions. We reached there ard 8.30pm & left at 9.30pm. We played some games & gt 1 prize - a mini foto album. I wanted a balloon but it seems that we hv to hv a ticket for that. Mummy ask where to get the tkt and the lady say the tickets were only given out during the lantern procession just now. So if we didnt join in the procession, we will nt be given the tkts. Chey... so "cat" one... Mummy ask the lady can close 1 eye & give one balloon to me. You know wat the lady say: " then u stand here & wait lor. When no body else come to redeem their balloons at the end & we still hv extra, we will give it to u" Aiyo... 小姑姑 also say hw do we know if anybody coming to redeem anot...siao! Forget it la... Mummy say she go buy 1 pkt of balloon for me better still. Dun need to wait.

The coupon..

Stage show...

Me & my lantern..

Sick again...

Mummy: Lionel is sick again. Since last sun's outing, he was complaining of tummy ache & diahorrea. Ah Ma scolded us for allowing him to eat too much rubbish at the air base. We gave him sausages, yam paste with ginko nuts, prata, cup corn, etc...

The doctor says that he has too much wind in his tummy. And he was also running a high fever. So he prescribe 4 different types of medication; paracetomol for fever & 3 others which i dun know the names as the medication are nt with me now.

Today is Sat; almost a week. Yesterday, he didnt not complain of tummy ache & nt once did he hv loose stools. So we thot he shd be on the road to recovery. My sil bot him to Sin Hwa (at Chong Pang) for tui na. The sinseh says that since there is alot of wind in his tummy, tui na will help to expel the wind. Okay...so we thot he shd be ok liao but who knows, late at night, he start complaining of tummy ache & yelling away in pain. Ran to the toilet 4 times.

He looks like only skin & bones now; cannot take in food; watever goes in, comes out. Haiz....only can take in porridge with light soya sauce for taste. And becos porridge digest easily, he gets hungry very soon. But Ah ma says cannot eat too much also... so the poor boy is always complaining of hunger. People who dunno thot we are ill treating him.

He has not be going to sch since Tues when sch re opens after Teacher's Day. The doc did mention that the virius will spread, so refrain fr going to sch until he is better. His chinese teacher called me the other day & ask wat happen to Lionel; hw come he has nt been coming to sch. I told the teacher he was sick & still sick. She noted his condition & hopes he will recover soon. She says she misses him.

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Lionel: Daddy also sick. He was coughing away since Tues, then the phelgm reported & then tis morning, he totally lost his voice. Mummy now communicate with him using sign language. Mummy bot for Daddy 2 pkts of woods lozengens (spelling?), telling Daddy its very gd since Mummy had this experience b4. Mummy yelled after Daddy as he gets into his vehicle for work, to remember to eat the "sweets". Ah Ma scolds Daddy for not drinking more water. Mummy always says Daddy is a camel. And u can never catch Daddy eating fruits; unless the moon turns pink.

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Mummy: And i tink Rachel is gg to fall sick soon. She has been sneezing non stop tis morning. Ah Ma says look likes she is gonna hv flu. Oh no! I hope not!

The whole family gettin sick. Me too! But i m not sick physically but rather, sick with my job that i just tendered my resignation last mon. I am sooooooo @#%* with my imperfect perfectionistic manager (is there such a word?)

Lionel is 41 Months Old - 03 Sep 2008