Lionel n Rachel

1st Day - 23 Jan 2012

2012-01-23T22:47:00.022+08:00

23 Jan 2012 (Mon):

"....Zzzzzzzz.... " i'm wide awake... what's that sound? ... sleepy head here trying to make out the sound that woke me up... oh.. silly me, its the gongs & bangs of the lion dance troupe passing by in their vehicle...

And... yes, its the 1st day of Chinese New Year...

GONG XI FA CAI, XIN NIAN KUAI LE

OMG!!! Look at the clock...its 9am. We've got a busy day ahead of us... off to the bathroom for a quick refreshing shower, breakfast, get changed... wait... what's the rush here since everyone had already left for the temple without us...

The 1st thing we did, oh well, was to get our car "showered".. $6 for a wash... i was on the phone, checking to see where was everyone but no one answered. .... Daddy suggested making a trip down but we did not find traces of our family member there.

So we proceeded to Haw Par Villa on our own first, thereafter to my grannys' for lunch & my mum's place for dinner.

Welcome to Haw Par Villa. I think the last time i was here was during my school days. Now that the Circle Line is built directly outside the park, it makes coming to Haw Par Villa a breeze.

Yes, one of the must visit inside Haw Par Villa is the Ten Courts of Hell, with gruesome depiction of hell in Chinese Mythology.

We took a slow stroll, stopping for photos here & there with my little princess model. The little prince was more interested in asking questions & getting answers from his dad on the statues & stories behind them.

With our tummy hunger for food, we were off to my grannys' place for lunch & thereafter for dinner at my mums' place but sorry, i do not have any photos to share... :P

Tomorrow, 24 Jan 2012 (Tues), we're off to Melaka, Malaysia, agAIN!!!

CNY Eve - 22 Jan 2012

2012-01-22T22:28:00.004+08:00

22 Jan 2012 (Sun):

Before i start, here's wishing everyone a Happy & Prosperous Golden Dragon Year ahead. Today marks the last day of Year 2011 in the Lunar Calendar. Its Chinese New Year's Eve. And as usual, we always gather round at my aunts' place for the reunion dinner.

The assistant chef (aka Daddy) hard at work..

With the head chef (aka my aunt) doing the guiding...

" Yes madam.. " goes Rachel..

" Do i look smart... " goes Lionel

So it started from this...

To this...

And lastly, it became like this..

Everyone sat back, chit chat & basically just relaxing before the Yum Seng ceremony... haha

The Yum Seng ceremony... 3 cheers to the start of a good year!!!

Spelling

2012-01-16T18:17:00.004+08:00

16 Jan 2012 (Mon):

Finally i got back the spelling list from Lionel. I was beginning to wonder do they not have any spelling? Why was there no list given?

Lionel's spelling falls on every Wed. Each week, they will be tested on 10 words but only the underlined words on every sentence. However, both Daddy & I want Lionel to learn the full sentence as well.

Next week, when we are in Bali, both kids would have to learn their spelling & Lionel needs to complete on his home assignment - Maths worksheet.

Timetable

2012-01-14T11:59:00.001+08:00

14 January 2012 (Sat):

I received Lionel's timetable for year 2012, 5 days back on 09 January 2012. Basically he has:
15 periods of English lessons,
14 periods of Mother Tongue (Chinese) lessons,
8 periods of Maths lessons,
3 periods of P.E lessons,
2 periods of Music lessons,
2 periods of Arts & Crafts lessons,
1 period of Social Studies lessons,
1 period of Health Education lessons,
1 period of FTGP lessons ( Form Teacher Guidance Period)

These are all in a weeks' lesson plan. I have since taught him how to read his timetable & packed his bag on a daily basis. He knows what lessons will be conducted the next day & will put in the neccessary.

I have also gotten Lionel to get his FT's email address so that i can communicate with the teacher if i have any doubts. The teacher also encourages all parents to use the handbook as a form of communication tool in which i did as well.

I wrote a letter regarding " Application for School Leave" to his FT. Lionel told me his teacher read the letter but did not mention anything. I hope that means she is fine with the application. Lionel will be heading off on a vacation during the CNY period & will be absent from classes for 3 days.

Chinatown

2012-01-08T23:53:00.000+08:00

08 January 2012 (Sun):

We went to Chinatown for some crowd jostling... js kidding... we're there to breathe in the atmosphere of the coming Lunar New Year night market... its our yearly event.

We parked our vehicle at Maxwell market & crossed over. First building that greeted us was this temple -

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. 佛牙寺. Grand opening on 30 May 2007.

Can u see the father & daughter? Hint: orange & yellow.

New year goody: - Chinese steamed sticky cake. 年糕. How did the sticky cake came about? Read about it here

Fireworks for hours of fun.

Spring couplet. 春联. Read about it here

Hundred Chinese Family Surname. 百家姓 Read.

Cute little dragon. Year 2012 is the year of dragon. Read.

Crowd of people doing their new year shopping.

Pussy Willows. 银柳. Read.

God of Wealth. 财神爷

This dragon cost $880. Can u believe it? It comes in a pair with a dragon ball.

Spring flowers. 春花

New Year goodies: Taiwan jelly & muah chee。台湾果冻，麻芝

Another crowd of people along another lane.

Sri Mariamman Temple. Read.

Japanese mochi. Similar to the Taiwan muah chee. 日试麻芝

Of prunes & plums. 话梅, 酸梅, 奶梅等

The evergreen goodies: pineapple tarts, love letters, kueh bangkit, chiku, beehives, crispy mini sambal prawn rolls, almond cookies..

Chinese New Year symbolism = entire unity = sweet. Melon seeds, candied lotus seeds, pine nuts, candied kumquats, peanuts & many others. They called this " Chuan He " - 全合 = 全盒. 瓜子, 糖莲子, 松子, 金子, 长生果.

The different kind of melon seeds. 瓜子

Cured meat - chinese sausages, duck, pork belly, etc. 腊味. Read.

Taking a break from all the walking. It drizzled all of a sudden & everyone rushed for shelter.

Chinese New Year decors.

Pomelos. 柚子. Read.

We ended our walk at Smith Street. Look at the crowd. It was already past 11pm & the hawkers are still busy serving the big crowd

The Growing Up Years - Rachel

2012-01-07T16:24:00.014+08:00

07 Jan 2012 (Sat):

Rachel, born in the year 2007.. See how much she has grown over the years..

1 year of age - 2008

2 years of age - 2009

3 years of age - 2010

4 years of age - 2011

5 years of age - 2012

The Growing Up Years - Lionel

2012-01-06T18:49:00.022+08:00

07 Jan 2012 (Sat):

Lionel, born in the year 2005.. See how he has grown over the years..

1 year of age - 2006

2 years of age - 2007

3 years of age - 2008

4 years of age - 2009

5 years of age - 2010

6 years of age - 2011

7 years of age - 2012

Carelessness

2012-01-05T13:11:00.005+08:00

05 Jan 2012 (Thurs):

This happened yesterday evening. While packing his school bag, I realised Lionel dropped some of his money in school. Well, i had to assume that cos he himself did not realised it even.

Breakdown: $5/week ~ $1 daily.

03 Jan - $1 on noodles during recess
04 Jan - sil safekeep $2 for him
04 Jan - $1 on noodles during recess

so he should have a balance of $1, right? But there was only $0.30 inside his wallet... where did the $0.70 gone to?

So today, my sil will give him another $1.00 out of the $2 that she safekept. So he should have $1.30 for school today. Let's see hw much is left inside his wallet tis evening.

Lionel told me some of the P1 did not have any money on them. So what happened? The teachers gave the kids food coupons to be used during recess. What's your view on this?

1) used the coupons given by the teachers ( but i dont think the teachers have enough coupons for everyone)

2) bring bread/cake to school

3) bring daily allowance

I prefer point 2 & 3. Daddy prefers point 3 as this teaches Lionel on how much to spent & how much to save.

Of Aliens & Monsters

2012-01-04T15:03:00.009+08:00

04 Jan 2012 (Wed):

Lionel has this thing for ARTS. He portrays passion, an imaginative mind & creativity when it comes to drawing. I found this 3 pieces of drawing when i was clearing his book shelf & he explained to me these were aliens & monsters in combat mode & were preparing the neccessary fire arms & bombs to fight.

If u look at the picture closely, for a beginner like me, you will agree with me that u see flowers & grass & eggs, etc... but no... those are bombs, fire & a machine producing fire arms, aliens & swords & canons... every level has a different job scope.

These 2 pieces were drawn with a very creative mind. When i asked where did he copied these from & he answered " freehand la " He draws whatever comes to his mind & add little details here & there. Daddy commented that if these drawings were in colour, it would be very nice. A little artist in the making?

1st day of school 2012

2012-01-03T20:21:00.008+08:00

03 Jan 2012 (Tues):

Welcome to 2012! Today marks an important event for the kids. Its their first day of school. For Lionel, its a new environment, a new school life - the next phrase - the primary school life. For Rachel, its an equally new school life too - the K school life.

The whole day has been a hectic one for me - in & out, up & down non stop. Let me show u how as we go along.

Lionel proudly showing off his school uniform. The time is about 12pm. Lionel has to be in school by 12.30pm.

Picture taken with his sister. Rachel is in the PM session which starts at 1.30pm so she has not change into her uniform yet.

This is the school hall where the P1's & P2's assemble. Time is about 12.25pm. The students sat according to their class.

The ones nearer to the stage are the P1's & behind them are the P2's.

Lionel doing his silent reading. During the P1 orientation last Nov 18, all students were told to bring a storybook on the 1st day of school. Lionel remembered & packed a storybook into his schoolbag. For those who havent got a book to read, they sat there looking lost & bewildered; some cried; some looked around for their parents; some, well, basically fidgeting around.

Admist all the school children, can u spot Lionel?

Look at the red arrow. You got it correctly?

A sign of victory. Lionel was calm, happy & contented. He did not fidget & looked around for me at all.

The school core values. I liked the way it was made into what looked like a cross word puzzle.

The school compound where the children sang their National Anthem each morning.

The school canteen. I went around taking fotos of some parts of the school after the school begin for the PM session students. Time was about 12.50pm.

As i made my way out, the above picture shows the pick up & drop off area for school buses & cars. Further up, where you see many of the parents walking towards, that leads to the side gate which leads to the bus stop. One thing good is that its a covered walkway thru out.

Now for the little princess. I went back to picked her up. Time: 1.25pm. Here she is seen carrying her new school bag - DORA.

Ready to leave. " Bye bye, everyone, see you later " she called out.

Fast forward to Lionel's recess period. Supposingly to be from 3pm - 3.30pm but when i arrived there at 2.50pm, the students were already proceeding to the canteen. Parents were not allowed into the canteen area & so we can only crowd around behind the barriers. Luckily, i saw Lionel & his classmates making their way down & walked towards the canteen. And like a hawk, i tried to pin my eyes on him & followed his movements but i lost him admist the crowd.

I realised the students were all the far end of the canteen & so i made way around to the other side. Haha..wise choice. I got a better view of the kids as i was much much nearer to them. More & more parents came to where i was as they learned & found out they were able to see more & were closer to the kids. After scrutinising for Lionel, i finally found him, sitting down at a table eating his noodles.

Looked at the picture before the above one. If i did not draw the red arrow, would you be able to see him?

Many of the P1 students were accompanied by an older student. They called this the buddy system. As a buddy, you helped the younger child - guide him/her in buying food, show him/her the way to the toilet, the hall, the individual canteen operators & what each of them selling & basically attend to his/her needs

Finally, i got Lionel's attention & took a foto of him.

After finishing his food, i beckon him to come forward. This foto was taken from above as i was standing on higher grounds. I asked him if he liked what he ate & how much it cost. Gosh! That bowl of noodles he was seen eating cost $1.00.

** Daddy gave him $5 for a week of pocket money. If he has some balance for the day, he can save it in his piggybank but now that this bowl of noodles cost a dollar, no savings for him for today. **

This is Osen, Lionel's buddy. I always thought that all the buddies are from the upper primary, like the P4's or P5's but no, this buddy is only P2. P2's guiding the P1's? They must really be independent already. So i told Lionel, next year would be his turn in guiding & helping the P1's.

" Riiiingggggggg... Recess is over. All students, pls made your way back to the hall. " And all the students scrambled to walked back to the hall. No running is allowed which is good. " Walked briskly & in order " was the instructions given.

This poor little fellow - seen here with 2 teachers. He was still struggling to finish his food. I know i'm mean to take his foto but no offence here. The teacher has to coax him to finish up his food fast & he seems to be day dreaming.

This is the collection point for all utensils.
The long table for each individual class.

After his recess ended which was about 3.20pm, i made my way back home. At 5pm, i went to pick Rachel up & at 6.30pm, i went back to pick Lionel up. Did not take any fotos. Will see if i get the chance to do so tomorrow.

So now, looking at the time frames which i have recorded down, hasnt it been a hectic day? Dont u agree?

So now, lets enjoy a short footage of Lionel's 1st day at school; during recess. :)

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T17:42:00.005+08:00

Wishing everyone all over the world a:

HAPPY NEW YEAR. BLESSED 2012!!

And in approximately 3 weeks from now, its time to welcome the Golden Dragon - Happy Lunar New Year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011

2011-12-25T16:24:00.003+08:00

25 Dec 2011 ( Sun):

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS - HAVE A BEARY BEARY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

TSOD - Alice In Wonderland 2011 Part 2

2011-12-17T23:57:00.010+08:00

17 Dec 2011 (Sat):

We made our way to SCGS as usual when upon arrival at Yishun Mrt Station, we were told there's a track fault & that all trains wld stopped @ Newton Station for the South Bound Line, which was fine for us cos that's the stop we will be alighting.

But to our dismay, we were all told to alight at TP instead as the train wld hv to made a U-turn to ferry passengers from Jurong instead. What crap! 2 more stops only & they cannot even complete the journey. Haiz!

We were told to wait for the next train which will be arriving in 8 mins. Alternatively, we can take the free shuttle bus which was provided at all stations to ferry passengers to their destinations.

** It was the next day before i read on the news that the MRT tracks were already posing problems since Thursday evening & that majority of the commuters affected were those on the North-South Line, East-West Line & even the Circle Line.

And so we queued for the shuttle bus at the designated pick up point. Not only the waiting time was long, the journey to Newton Station was equally long. I smsed Ms Wu. to inform that we would be late. Finally, after what seems like eternity, we alighted at Newton Station. I debated if we should take bus 171 or a cab directly to SCGS. I chose the latter.

We found out we were not the only ones who were late. Many of the parents & kids were all affected by the MRT track problems. Even for those who were driving were also affected; there were major jams everywhere, especially roads along & around the MRT Stations.

After i dropped Rachel off inside the theatre room ( as told by another mummy - i couldnt find Ms Wu), i took a taxi back home; not wanting to get stuck in another jam or track fault.

I picked Lionel up at 530pm & we went for our dinner first. Daddy called & asked for our location & said he would picked us up later. He will be heading home for a bath first. Having said that, i was filled with joy that Daddy will be joining us for the concert. I have already informed & reminded him way in advance the concert date & time & each time, he would say he may be busy & may not be able to watch the concert.
Lionel was happy too that his dad is coming.

** When Rachel saw her dad after the concert ( we hanged ard the foyer, waiting for the kids to be released), she was so happy that she hug on tight thru out our way to the car

I hv not gotten any DVD of the concert yet ( i hope there is). Hence, i will just provide you with 2videos to keep you occupied.

Rachel's dance item " Butterflies " - she's wearing the true blue tutu, with 2 pony tails, on the right side of the stage. Halfway thru the dance, she is alongside the older gal wearing the yellow tutu.

While waiting at the foyer, dad & son caught having fun. Haha..

TSOD - Alice In Wonderland 2011 - Part 1

2011-12-16T23:52:00.037+08:00

16 Dec 2011 (Fri):

Finally, the morning dawn upon. The School of Dance - TSOD is presenting its inaugural year end concert @ SCGS this evening. There will be a total of 3 shows - this evening, tomorrow afternoon & tomorrow evening.

Both mummy & the little one went for a hearty breakfast before we went home to shower, make up & head over to SCGS.

I took these 2 photos right after she changed & before we proceeded to the foyer where the teachers & helpers took over the little ones. No parents were allowed inside the foyer & that was where i bid my little one farewell. I have pre-empted her the days before that she will only be with her teachers & big jies jies. Mummy would not be able to stay with her & that she's got to be brave & happy & contented. She's got to learn to be independent & if she has any problems like going to the toilet, to please asked the teachers for help.

** Note: its mummy here who was wondering all day long if Rachel's alright, is she happy, is she enjoying herself, is she this, is she that? **

The admission tickets for Sat evening show. I will only be watching her performance tomorrow evening.

I thought i showed you Khoo's Auditorium stage beforehand.

Inside SCGS. The school is huge.

This was the cover book of which i purchased on the 2nd evening @ SGD$5.00. Listed inside this booklet were the programme highlights, a short biography of each individual teacher & all the peformancers' photos, names & dance item.

A total of 26 items were put up by students from both school - Yishun & MacPherson.

Rachel's item entitled " Butteflies " which was item # 9. Can you spot her name?

Let me run through each individual item with you. Not in any order - The above: Enchanted Forest. Choreographer: Ms June Lee ( MacPherson) - Ballet by Grade 4 & 5 students.

Beauty & The Beast. Choreographer: Ms Tan Jia Jia (MacPherson) - Ballet by Primary students.

Groovy Rabbits. Choreographer: Ms Jasmine Koh (MacPherson) - Jazz by Primary students.

Mystical Garden. Choreographer: Ms Veronica Boh (Yishun) - Neo Classical by Primary & Grade 1 students.

Happy Birthday Princess. Choreographer: Ms Veronica Boh (Yishun) - Ballet by Pre Ballet students.

Tweedle Dee & Dweedle Dum. Choreographer: Ms Kok Huishi (Macpherson) - Tap Dance by Grade 6 & Advance students.

Pink Panther. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Jazz by Primary students.

Butterflies. Choreographer: Ms Wu Jiamin (Yishun) - Ballet by Pre Ballet & Primary students.

Under The Sea. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Jazz by Grade 2 students.

Minnie Mouse. Choreographer: Ms Tan Jia Jia (MacPherson) - Jazz by Baby Gems & Pre Ballet students.

Fairy Land. Choreographer: Ms Xu Jinyi & Ms Selina Lim (MacPherson) - Ballet by Baby Gems, Pre Ballet & Pre Primary students.

Trapped in a Bottle. Choreographer: Ms Kok Huishi (Yishun) - Contemporary Dance by Grade 6 students.

Get Your Head In The Game. Choreographer: Ms Veronica Boh (Yishun) - Jazz by Grade 2 students.

The Mad Hatter's Dancers.Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Tap Dance by TSOD 2 students

Miracles. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Neo Classical by TSOD 2 students.

Waltz Of The Hours. Choreographer: Ms Kok Huishi (Yishun) - Ballet by Grade 4 students.

Raindrops. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Tap Dance by Grade 3 students.

Mamma Mia. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Jazz by Grade 1 students.

Moving Cards. Choreographer: Ms Kok Huishi (Yishun) - Jazz by Grade 1 students.

My Hero. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Contemporary Dance by Grade 6 & 7 students.

Kite Dance. Choreographer: Ms Theresa Teo (Yishun) - Neo Classical by Pre Ballet & Grade 2 students.

Queen Of Hearts. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Ballet by Major students.

Mulan Warriors. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Neo Classical by TSOD 1 students.

Alice's Nightmare. Choreographer: Ms Kok Huishi (Yishun) - Contemporary Dance by Major students.

Always There. Choreographer: Ms June Lee (MacPherson) - Contemporary Dance by TSOD Seniors.

At the end of the concert, I picked Rachel up & was very glad to see her. I asked if she was happy & okay without Mummy by her side. Her reply: She was very very happy. The teachers gave all the young ones some colouring to do to keep them occupied, donuts to eat ( which all kids love) & cold milo... yummy... she will asked the big jie jie or a teacher to go to the toilet & either a jie jie or teachers will assist the kids. They touch up on the make up & hairdo, straighten their costume & basically took care of all their needs.

Made me felt so much at ease. Tomorrow will be another performance & i will try to upload more photos & videos of the concert. Waiting for the DVD to be release soon so that i can show you more wonderful photos

Full Dressed Rehearsal or Half Dressed...

2011-12-15T23:36:00.003+08:00

15 Dec 2011 (Thurs):

I received a sms from the ballet teacher, Ms Wu, informing us that Thursday dance practice would be a full dressed rehearsal - full costume but without make up, hair up in bun but without gel & spray... haha... isnt that half dressed instead...

Rachel's concert item would be entitled " Butterflies ", hence the butterfly tutu...

At the end of the practice, the teacher had a talk with all parents inside the dance studio. Stuff to take note, time to report, what to wear, all the dos & donts.... etc... I took the opportunity to voice out my concern on Rachel's hair & to my surprise, many parents also shared my views... how to get our child's hair up in a bun when the hair is short...

The answer: for all gals whose hair are short, pls tie them into 2 pony tails but the fringe & any back lot must all be gel & pin up. The fringe cannot be pin up sideways; it must be pin up towards the back. No fanciful coloured hair assessories; only black hair net, black rubber bands & black hair pins allowed. Okay, that's so much easier for me.. stay tuned for my master piece then...haha..

More on her actual concert performance the following day & Sat @ SCGS, Khoo Auditorium soon.

Hair Bun

2011-12-14T16:04:00.002+08:00

14 Dec 2011 (Wed):

After learning that Rachel's hair got to be in a bun for her ballet performance, Mummy here was wondering how on earth am i going to do up her hair. Getting her hair up securely in a bun was by no means an easy task for me. So for the past few nights, i was sourcing the net & doing trial & errors on her hair.

Finally, this seems to be the best solution. The neatest i can go without hair gel & spray.

Do i get any applause?

Baby Rui En's Full Month Celebration

2011-12-11T21:50:00.001+08:00

11 Dec 2011 (Sun):

We attended baby cousin Rui En's full month celebration this evening.

This is baby cousin Jia Yan...

Playing with cousin Jia Yan. Onlooking are her 2 sisters, Jia Xin & Jia Yi.

This is our youngest family member, baby cousin Rui En.

Aunty & niece. Lay Kee & Rachel.

BFF's Day

2011-12-10T22:15:00.015+08:00

10 Dec 2011 (Sat):

Our 1st stop was at Sonata Rainbow Dancewear to get Rachel's leotard & skirt for her pre ballet level. I didnt know it closes at 6pm on a Sat, therefore, we rushed like crazy to get there before it closes. Phew! We made it.

Rachel saw reindeers across Orchard Central & our foto session begun.

Opps! Santa left his reindeer grazing & forgotten about them...

I shall adopt these reindeers... Mummy, can i?

Mummy, take a look at these cutie rocking horse..

And this froggy bean bag cushion..

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow..

Mummy, look... even the polar bear from the Northpole is here too... with its baby..

Angry Birds..

M&M's..

Wish all these candies were all mine....MINE!!

A Little Helper

2011-12-07T17:34:00.001+08:00

07 Dec 2011 (Wed):

This was one of those random nights when i was doing my laundry & little princess here offered to lend a helping hand.

She did a perfect job, didnt she?

Primary One Books

2011-12-03T18:16:00.004+08:00

03 Dec 2011 (Sat):

Finally, i got the Primary One books sorted out & stacked neatly in a shelf. Booked are wrapped in their covers, only waiting for names to be written. Soon i will have to pack into 3 separate bags to be handled over to the FT during the first 3 days of sch. I have a list here with me as to what books & stuff the teachers would be collecting & we would have to write clearly the child's name & the class he/she belongs to.

Lionel is having Higher Chinese in Primary 1 but i came across the Normal Chinese textbooks & they are both the same. Wondering what difference there is at Primary One?

Rachel is sick

2011-12-01T21:50:00.002+08:00

27 Nov 2011 (Sun):

3am:
I awoke to Daddy's words being said to Rachel " Aiyo, Rachel, you're running a fever. Come, we gotta give you some medication. "

I went into the kitchen & touched Rachel. OMG!!! She was hot to the skin... really HOT. Alas, the thermometer was spoilt & there was no way we could have her temperature taken. I begun sponging her, hoping to bring down the temperature. One hour later, i fell asleep. Opps!

9am
In the morning, she was still feeling feverish. A trip to the doctor's was the first thing we did after breakfast. The doctor asked if she did complained of pain on any part of her body. I recalled Rachel did mentioned her head was in pain. The doctor then informed me that if a child complains of pain in the head, the outcome could be serious, as in like infections in the brain, etc.... This was not something i expected to hear....

He prescribed Ibuprofen & anti-biotic & told me to monitor for the next few days for signs of restlessness & always wanting to sleep. And more importantly, if the fever doesnt subside within a day or two, to bring her back again.

Needless to say, the once jumpy little bun only wants Mummy to cuddle, her refusal to eat & her endless complain of pain made my heart ache... I text the ballet teacher to inform we wld not be coming for the usual class & the combined reherasal later in the afternoon.

1pm
However, since she was feeling a little better that afternoon, we brought her over to attend a baby's full month celebration lunch at a fren's place. We stayed till 3pm & she was okay, running ard & watching TV.

But once back home, all she wants was mummy's cuddles & again, her whimpers was frequent. Finally she fell asleep.

11pm
Fast forward into the night, Rachel's tempreature was high again & i was thinking if i should bring her down to KK. But from previous experience, all they wld do is to do a blood test. And the outcome, viral infections was all they cld say.

No point in bringing her down then. Mummy here wld have to be hard working & keep sponging her. Medication was given every 4-5 hours but in the morning, she was still feverish.

Mon @ 830am
I insisted on a suppository at the doctors & immediately, or should i say, within an hour, her fever went down & was kept at bay. Yippie!!! The doctor told us not to give her Ibuprofen anymore but paracetomol was okay.

Rachel has recovered since & is back to her usual bubbly, jumping jelly bean self. We skipped her phonics class last Tuesday, 29 Nov 2011 to allow her more rest. But by Thursday, she went for her ballet pratice & the combined rehearsal @ Macpherson's on Sat.

I must remember to get a new thermometer.

Parents-Teacher Meeting

2011-11-25T18:15:00.014+08:00

25 Nov 2011 (Fri):

Little Footprints has its parents-teacher meeting this am. And in return, we received our child's academic cum enrichment progress report.

This certificate of graduation was presented to Lionel for completion of K2 programme in year 2011.

Rachel's Term 4 Developmental Milestone:

Language Arts
Rachel is able to undertsand the themes taught in Term 4. She is able to name some transportation & occupation. She enjoys interatcing with her peers.

Math Concepts
Rachel understands the concepts of numbers 1 to 20. She is able to name some colours like orange, purple, brown, white and black.

Chinese Language
在第四学期的学习里，谢佳璇能够用流利的华文和小朋友交流并且能够认读很多华文字了，非常好，要继续努力哦！

Daily Activities
Rachel has improved in her fine motor skills. She can form letters with ice cream sticks

谢佳璇能够认读学过的华文字，并能进行快速指认，非常好，要保持。

Lionel's Assessment for the Year 2011 ( Semester 2)

English
Picture Talk 10/10
Reading 10/10
Written 70/70
Spelling 10/10
Total 100/100

Mathematics 100/100

Chinese
Picture Talk 10/10
Reading 10/10
Written 68/70
Spelling 10/10
Total 98/100

His Developmental Checklist:

All 1s from Motor Development, Gross, Social/Emtional Behaviour, Sensory & Thinking Skills to Language & Social Skilles.

1 - Good 2 - Satisfactory 3 - Fair

His Term 4 Development Milestones

Language Arts
Lionel is an extremely motivated student & is always applying his highest effort into all of their classroom assignments. He continues to build a slod bank of common sight words. He predicts story events and is able to provide reasons for the prediction he makes. He is also able to express relevant idead in group dicussions. He accurately assesses his abilities to listen and clearly responds to other ideas and point of views. As the term has progressed, he has become a more self-motivated and self-directed learner. I wish to congratulate him on his positive start in primary 1.

Math Concepts
Lionel has matured nicely this year, academically & socially. He is enthusiastic when it comes to participating in class. He demostrates an understanding of addtion & subtraction to 20, using objects, pictures & numbers. He understands the concept of mathematics using money. He easily classifies a number as even or odd and usues ordinal numbers to twentieth with ease. He has also the ability to identify fractions. His positive attitude towards learning is evident in all subjects areas & greatly contributes to his academic success. I just want him to continue learning and he may have a great year in Primary 1.

Chinese Language
在第四学期里，我们主要以交通工具和职业为主题。志聪对这些主题都感兴趣。在学习的过程中，他对主题的内容理解得很好。华文语言能力强，在做组词成句写作中，能根据老师提供的词语，组成正确完整的句子。汉语拼音方面，复韵母和声调的标法方面都掌握的不错。最后，老师希望你在新的一年里，新的环境中能够快乐的成长，学习更多的知识。加油

Daily Activities

Lionel is able to apply the basic elements of line & colour to produce drawings and prints that communicate thoughts, feelings & ideas.

志聪的华文理解能力强，在数笔画写作中，他能够正确的数出汉字的笔画，很好。

Congrats to both Lionel & Rachel. You did well.

Chinese Martial Arts Grading

2011-11-20T18:13:00.002+08:00

20 Nov 2011 (Sun):

A back-dated post - 13 Nov 2011 (Sun). Lionel had his chinese martial arts grading at Toa Payoh CC this afternoon. As i was doing some other errands, my sil offered to send Lionel over. As it is, her daughter was also having her grading done. Both of them were in the same level.

Below shown were his results. He passed all stages & was awarded the green belt - level 4.

His grading: 长拳与短拳, 拳掌加连打（全套), 脱手法（第一到四武）- all passed.

Primary One Orientation

2011-11-18T17:30:00.002+08:00

18 Nov 2011 (Fri):

At 130pm this afternoon, we attended Lionel's P1 orientation @ Yishun Primary. We did the registration & proceeded into the hall where all the 2012's P1 students were grouped into their respective classes. Lionel's name tag was included inside his orientation kit & we were told to pin the tag onto his shirt.

A hip hop dance performance were shown by the upper primary & the principle, Mrs Chan gave a speech. All P1 students were taken on a sch tour where they were orientate on the school grounds. Mr David Huang gave a talk on the usage of ipod touch & iphone as part of the students' learning device.

After that, all of us proceeded to purchase textbooks, uniforms, school socks & shoes. I spent $250 just buying these basic neccessaties. OMG!!

It was raining heavily but thank goodness, the sch has a sheltered walkway to the bus stop. Upon reaching home, i got Lionel to change into the full set of uniform, including sock & shoe. Bingo!! I have a P1 student ready to move on.

There's also another note given to all parents stating all the items that would be collected by the FT on the 1st 3 days of sch so as to reduce the weight of the child's schoolbag. Such a nice gesture!

The only question i have in my mind is: What time to report for sch on the 03 Jan 2012??? The principle, Mrs Chan did announced that PM session starts at 130pm but the website indicates otherwise. Guess i have to call the sch to double check. But uh-oh... its the sch hols, will there be anyone working??

" Make Over " Done

2011-11-13T23:09:00.002+08:00

13 November 2011 (Sun):

What's supposed to be completed in a matter of 4 weeks were all completed today - the bedrooms, living room, storeroom & bathrooms. ( Hey, come to think of it, it was all done within 2 weekends - 6 & 7 Nov followed by 12 & 13 Nov. )

The common bedroom has been ordered to transform into a child's room. That room has been completely emptied except for a long cabinet, stretching from 1 end to the other end of the wall. It comes with many mini drawers & cabinets; perfect all many stuff the kids would packed into it in the future.

We bought another 4 door cupboard to accomodate all the kids' clothings & stuff. It is only less-than-half filled at this moment but soon, it would be fully occupied. Now only the bed left - need to decide what kind of bed to buy to accomodate the remaining floor area. Bunk beds are out cos whichever kid sleeping on the upper bunk would defintely roll off the bed. I felt that 2 separate mattresses, without a proper bed base would do, coupled with 2 pillows & a blanket each for the kid.
So the kids only need to get the mattress laid on the floor when its time for bed & bring it up against the wall each morning after they get up. Thinking....

Sitting back to admire the totally transformed house, I am very happy with the make-over. Now, i only need to maintain the order & cleanliness. A mug of ice cold root beer will do for a perfect relaxation.

Spring Clean

2011-11-06T23:51:00.002+08:00

06 Nov 2011 (Sun):

Early in the week, my mum called to inform me that herself & my aunt were coming over to do a " make-over " in my hse... erm... make-over?! I remember myself exclaiming out loud.. Yes. i heard it right...

Before u get it wrong, this make-over thing is not referring to a make-over on the adults but on my house... yes, u heard it right... a make-over on my hse..

Starting from my kitchen, those 2 ( my mum & my aunt) are gonna THROW watever stuff they get their hands on & find them useless or un-neccessary... they are gonna buy new shelves & cabinets to accomodate more new stuff; things they rather i have & will be needing.

And so, the 3 of us, armed with huge trash bags begun to trash away all unwanted items or in my mum's word, items that are an eye-sore to their eyes.. And can u believe it, we actually threw away more than 5 bagful of trash... oppss... goes to show i am truely a hoarder... aka garang guni... kekeke..
We washed, fixed, cleaned, hanged & bascially transformed the whole kitchen. We worked from 1230pm till abt 8pm. Family members who walked passed our unit in the afternoon & knew that we were doing a thorough spring cleaning, came to see the major change in our kitchen later that evening... some joked that they needed help with theirs as well...

Following Saturday, we will deal with the living room. My mum ordered a new TV console, 2separate shelves for the kids & 2 cabinets, each for myself & Daddy. I saw the invoice - $800 in all... gulp!

Once we were satisfied with the kitchen & everything is in place, we begun trashing stuff away in the living room... so that when the delivery man comes next week, it will be easier for my mum & aunt to nagivate the stuff ard.

I will be working & will only be home at 3pm earliest, so for the beginning 2-3hrs, they will be left on their own.

Once we are done with the living room, the next task will be the bedrooms & the storeroom... estimated completion 1st week of December..

And now for the matter, i am wondering hw much more stuff my mum will be ordering & paying for it... She wouldnt take no for an answer. I am feeling so bad about it... Thanks mum!

I will have more updates on the living room make-over next week.

Desaru Ostrich Farm

2011-11-05T23:24:00.033+08:00

05 Nov 2011 (Sat):

We bought my mum & aunt to Desaru Ostrich Farm for a visit. We arrived at the farm abt 330pm & were given the opportunity to witness the process of laying an egg of an ostrich. Managed to capture on video (shown below). The guide mentioned that an ostrich usually lay an egg in the late afternoon to early evening.

What welcomed us first sight was this female ostrich.. smiling for the camera..

Another female.

This is a male.

What big round eyes!!

Put them together.. what do u get? A pair.

Shy..

A day old ostrich.

A week old ostrichs.

A month old ostrichs.

Fully grown ostrichs.

The kids feeding the ostrichs.

The newly layed egg, still warm with a layer of membrane.

We bought this ostrich egg; the number shown on it indicated that this was the 14351th egg layed since the start of this ostrich farm business.

Lionel balancing on an egg.

Rachel's turn.

My mum.

Menu in the cafe.

We tried the ostrich omelette.

Ostrich satay.

Process of an ostrich laying an egg.

Feeding the ostrichs.

How to crack open an ostrich egg.

Primary 1 Respect

2011-10-31T18:47:00.007+08:00

31 Oct 2011 (Mon):

Received this some days back on Lionel's P1 Orientation Programme on the 18 Nov 2011. And an indication of his P1 class too - Primary One Respect.

If i am not mistaken, they go by the classes of ~ Intergrity, ~ Nation Loving, ~ Sincerity, ~ Perserverance, ~ Independence, ~ Respect, ~ Excellence... Together they formed the word " I.N.S.P.I.R.E "

The list goes on to inform us parents of the documents required to bring for the filling up of GIRO forms, dental care forms, pupil date form & pupil particular form, etc...

Orientation will be from 130pm ~ 3pm & thereby, we can proceed to buy all the neccessary sch uniforms, school books, school socks & shoes.

OMG... i think i'm more excited than Lionel... hahaha.

MacRitchie Tree Top Walk

2011-10-26T22:22:00.008+08:00

26 Oct 2011 ( Wed):

The Sunday before, Priscilla invited me to join them for a " walk in the park " on the coming Wed, 26 Oct which happened to be a public holiday & so i agree. ( thinking there goes my " bed day " ).

Yikes!!! They were planning to set off at 730am... And the morning soon dwell upon.. let the fotos do the talking..

Beginning of the long walk, just outside Venus Drive carpark.

The end of the long long walk.... we took more than 3 hrs to complete the whole walk, of cos, coupled with rest stops along the way. The kids took it in their stride & completed the walk without any fuss. Hmm... okay, L & R were champions; but i cant say the same for the other 2; they were complaining & throwing tempers towards the end.

We were being " disturbed " by some monkeys cos of the food we had & gu gu loves disturbing them back. Naughty gu gu. ( the kids called her gu po lah).

Some were in favor of going for this walk again on the 7 Nov, also another PH.... can i back out this time?? Cos my legs were complaining to me after the walk... ouch!!

Elementary Phonics

2011-10-25T21:11:00.001+08:00

25 Oct 2011 (Tues):

Received a call from my sil this afternoon. She asked if i liked Rachel to be enrol
in the elementary class this evening @ Nee Soon Central CC. She went on to tell me that the sch happened to have a vacancy for Lionel who was on waiting list since last year, but becos Lionel has already been registered with another centre, therefore the school allowed Rachel to be slot in instead.

Fees for 12 weeks @ $100, one lesson per week for 1.5hrs each lesson. There will be a total of 5 modules and each module will last for 12 weeks or so. So by the time Rachel finishes all 5 modules, she should be ready for Primary 1.

Mr Ramesh is the teacher & i was told that usually after the end of every lesson, there will be a debrief for all parents. As it is, after this evening's lesson, we were all invited into the classroom & were shown what he had taught the kids, how we should read with our child together at home & the given homework, etc...

I was told this is a very popular phonics class & the teacher is very caring & sincere in his teaching.

So now both kids are enrolled in phonics (academic) & wushu ( non-academic) for Lionel & ballet (non-academic) for Rachel.

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

On the other hand, i have also received news from Lionel's phonics teacher, Ms. Yvonne Seah. She told me that Lionel has progressed very well & they are on to reading short stories now. We were given a task to do; Lionel is suppose to read 10 books from now till December & once he finish reading all 10, there will be a prize given.

You may wonder why i did not enrol for Rachel under this same centre. I did enquire but for nursery classes, there are only Weds evening or Sats afternoon. I worked till 7pm & by the time i reach home, its after 8pm. The evening class begins at 7.30pm. Mil will not be able to send her over due she has her own enrichment too. As for Sats, mil & sil were both against the idea as its usually nap time for the kids. The class starts 3.30pm - 5pm. I am working on alternate Sats & i finished work at 2pm. So 3.30pm will be quite a rush for me too if i am held up. So it doesnt work for both parties. :)

K2's Graduation Performance

2011-10-22T22:29:00.036+08:00

22 Oct 2011 (Sat):

Welcome to Little Footprints School House 2011 Year End Concert cum Graduation Ceremony. Held at Republic Polytechnic Cultural Centre, from 930am - 1230pm.

Lionel is graduating from K2 today & this officially marks the end of his Kindergarten life. Soon, he will be embarking on a new phase, the primary school life which will last for 6 academic years

The MCs for the morning, Ms. Zana & Liu Lao Shi

The little MCs from the 2 centres, left 2 from Yishun branch & right 2 from Bukit Batok branch.

The K2's.... first 2 row from Bukit Batok branch & last 2 rows from Yishun branch. Yes, Lionel being identified by the red arrow. Haha...

Waiting in line to receive his graduation certificate.

Still waiting...

Finally, he received his cert from Mdm. Zaleha, the school principal. Congratulations, son. Daddy & Mummy are so proud of you... Nope, i did not shed any tears... kekeke..

This was what the school have been up to. Lionel asked me for a baby foto of him & i was wondering why the sch needs this foto when he's gonna graduate soon. Its actually done up in this powerpoint presentation, for every individual who's graduating. You can see from his foto here, hw much he has grown. Left being his graduation foto and on the right, taken when Lionel was only less than a year old.

After the graduation ceremony presentation, the concert performance will be starting soon but not before a talk on " Preparing for Primary One " by Celine Kheak from TOUCH family services.

The speaker, Celine Kheak is from TOUCH family services but sorry to say, she doesnt know how to engage her audience. The speech is wayyyyy too long... everyone is falling asleep. I have written in the evaluation form that this kind of talk should not be given during a graduation ceremony.

The programme highlights - Lionel's concert item includes 喜乐年华 (3), Ants & the Grasshoppers, a speech & drama item (6) & Grease Lightning (10).

Lionel plays the role of an ant. The story is about the ants gathering food for the winter & all are working hard. The grasshoppers comes along & tries to get the ants to play with them. They are not at all bothered about winter & are too lazy to gather food. In the end, all the grasshoppers died from the cold & hunger.

These are the grasshoppers. A hilarious drama put by by the kids. Not from the given speech but from their actions. Alot of "additonal" words & actions from the kids.... muahahaha..

Lionel (indicated by the red arow) & his dance partner , Zhi Qin in Grease Lightning. I mentioned Zhi Qing is also one of those who will be going to the same primary school as Lionel.

After the end of all the performance, the kids got in line, ready for the finale.

A big THANK YOU to all who attended this graduation ceremony cum concert. Can u spot Lionel from among all the kids? - Where's Wally?

Here he is...

Rachel during the concert.

Lionel in his Grease Lightning concert costume. Know why he is smiling so happily... he was soooooo happy he dad came to watch him performed. During every year performance since N1, daddy was not able to made it due to work comittments. This year was Lionel's graduating year, so i drilled into daddy that no matter how, he has to come & give his support.

Lionel & Rachel.

Lionel's best buddies & pals. Left: Victoria, Wenfred, Brian, Lionel, Rachel, Zulfiki or something & Yik Chong.

Lionel's best buddy.

Lionel & Zi Yi.

Lionel & Verny. Ahem, remember her? I mentioned before she is his galfren... kekeke..

Lionel & teacher Karren.

After the end of the concert, a buffet lunch was provided & every one rushed to get their hungry tummy filled with food.

Enjoy the below videos.

Lionel's march in at the begining of the ceremony.

A mini clip of Lionel's first concert item performance - 喜乐年华

Goodbye everyone. Next year will be Rachel's turn to perform. Do stay tune. :)

TGIF - but a sad one

2011-10-21T14:51:00.002+08:00

21 Oct 2011 (Fri):

Yeah... its TGIF... but a sad one at that..

Fiesty Char who has been fighting cancer for 2 years, died this morning.

http://ourfeistyprincess.blogspot.com/

2 years old little Yue Yue, who was involved in a hit & run accident died this morning too

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-10/21/content_13948602.htm

May they rest in peace & smiled down to all from above. And to their family members, take care.

Too Much Calcium Intake May Cause... updates

2011-10-21T12:45:00.007+08:00

21 Oct 2011 (Fri):

Called teacher Karren at 1215hrs... relief... nothing happened to the 2 boys... both were alright & they attended classes as usual. Thank God!

Too Much Calcium Intake May Cause...

2011-10-20T18:21:00.006+08:00

20 Oct 2011 (Thurs):

Teacher Karren (Lionel's class teacher) called me at 1635hrs this afternoon to report an incident which causes 2 kids, well, one at the moment to have diarrhea & vomitting. Reason: they ate 10 of those little tablets for calcium + vitamin B supplement.

Story: Lionel bought this bottle to sch which my sil had brought it for him to increase his daily supplement for calcium - for healthy bones & growth. He happily took this bottle to sch (without anyone's knowledge) & promptly "distribute" one to each of his classmates, telling them its good for their bones. Okay, fine.

The bottle was accidentally left in sch & 2 kids from the full day care took the bottle of supplements & happily ate 10 tablets each - without the teacher's knowledge. When teacher Karren saw this, she immediately took the bottle away & asked who gave them this. They were quick to say it was Lionel who gave them.

But Lionel was not aware that he left the bottle in sch till i called him & asked him about it. Apparently, the intake for kids at 6 years of age to be limit up to 2 tablets per day. Lionel said he only gave 1 tablet to each of his frens.

One kid was having diarrhea & vomitting according to teacher Karren. But when my sil made a hurried trip down to the sch, he was found to be stable & well. " Still running ard.. " said the teacher. We do not have any news of the other kid as he has already gone home for the day.

Teacher Karren said that she had already called both set of parents to inform them of the above matter. The parents of the boy who has gone home for the day seems annoyed & agitated over the phone. She said that she will monitor her son closely tonight. Whereas the other one seems fine & okay.

Oh dear! i do hope that nothing will go wrong & that both kids will attend school tomorrow for classes as usual & as well as ever.

Teacher Karren was also worried as she was not in the classroom when the incident happened. No adults were around either.

1 ... 600

2011-10-19T13:12:00.002+08:00

19 Oct 2011 (Wed):

After an outing the other night, we were on our way home along TPE/CTE, and the 2 kids were happily playing & counting with numbers. Lionel asked his dad how long more before we reached home.

" It will take another 10 mins more... you have to count up to 600... okay? "

" Why 600? 10 mins only right? "

" Cos 1 min is 60 secs... so u hv to count till 600 for 10 mins "

" oh - okay..... "

" 1 ..... 600 "

" Daddy, we count up till 600 already... are we home yet? "

Both daddy & i had a good laugh.

Lor Halus

2011-10-16T23:32:00.013+08:00

16 Oct 2011 (Sun):

Was thinking of where & what to have for dinner; daddy suggested Popeye's & I suggested 车师父. We went over to Punggol for Popeye's instead.

After dinner, we went for a long walk along Punngol waterfront, across Serangoon Reservoir, Lor Halus Wetland.

Lor Halus Wetland... a long walk after dinner, taking in the sights & sounds... luckily it did not rain.

See the 2 coloured path? Was wondering why is this so? Not enough planks to go ard? Hehe... The 3 monkeys had a game. They were supposed to walk along the darker coloured plank without stepping on the light coloured ones... the first oneto do so is out.

A little ice cream treat after the long walk. Both kids were running & enjoying themselves so much that they were perspiring like crazy.

Remember this place? Haha... yes, you got it right. We were there again... and this time, Daddy found a little secret. We took the chance to give our car a free wash; there was a water hose attached to a pipe, a sponge & liquid soap was even provided.... so Daddy set to work.

Ballet Rehersal

2011-10-16T14:32:00.001+08:00

16 Oct 2011 (Sun):

Rachel gave me a form which indicated the dates for the combined rehearsal for their ballet performance in December 2011.

There are 2 dates to take note of: 1) 26 November 2011 (Sat) from 6pm - 7pm @ Yishun Studio, 2) 03 december 2011 (Sat) frpm 6pm - 10pm @ Macpherson Studio.

Attendence is compulsory but parents are not allowed in during the rehearsals. :(

To give the children a good dinner first before the rehearsals & oh no... no transportation is provided to & fro. Very lazy to go all the way to Macpherson. :(

The actual concert will be, as mentioned earlier, on the 16 & 17 December at the Singapore Chinese Girls School.

Ballerina In Action

2011-10-09T15:34:00.025+08:00

09 Oct 2011 (Sun):

This post is a combination of 3 lessons - 25 Sep, 02 Oct & 09 Oct 2011.

I will begin with the one for today. Below is a foto taken with Ms. Wu Jiamin, Rachel's class teacher. A very jovial & caring teacher.

One little ballerina. Teacher Jiamin taught them how to push their little tummy in so that their posture will look upright & beautiful. Well done Rachel! U got it right.

Taken against the reflection of the glass panel.

During lesson time... as the curtains were drawn opened, i got a good view of the class having lessons, though i cant hear what the teacher is talking. Rachel is the one with 2 pony tails, extreme far, middle.

Taking measurements for the costume for their concert performance, together with aunty Sheila, our friendly recep & assistant. Foto taken last week, 02 Oct 2011.

Taken on 25 Sep 2011, Rachel on the right, hand touching her hair.

Another pic taken with Teacher Jiamin.

Queuing up for treats & her classmate giving out candies ( i suppose its her bday).

Group foto. A small class today.

Rachel, during lessons, the one with 2 little pony tails.

Some warm up exercises - stretching & bending.

Sick!!

2011-10-05T12:47:00.003+08:00

05 Oct 2011 (Wed):

Not the kids, not Daddy but me, me, me...

On the way home, in the MRT, last evening, i started feeling giddy. 3 more stops to go before i can alight but the train was delayed due to a track fault. i started to feel nausea & the giddiness became intense. i closed my eyes, hoping to ease the feeling but that did not help.

Finally, after what seems like eternity, the train pulled into the station & i alighted, with my hands shivering slightly & a little weak in the knees. I thought i may just faint anytime but i made it out of the station, surprisingly.

With the fear of slipping & falling since my knees were weak & shaking, i walked ever so slowly. A need to run over to the drain once to vomit but nothing came out.

Oh i hate this feelin!!!

I arrived home weak, shivering, having a terrible headache & feeling giddy, i promptly plonked onto my bed. Daddy came over & asked me what happened. He took some
medicated oil & massage it onto my forehead & temples. Then he went down to buy me a packet of prunes.

i puked that out too. I took some anti vomit tablets the doctor gave me the last time & drifted off to sleep as it was making me drownzy..

Woke up this morning, feeling much better though still a little dizzy. Made it to the office without any hiccups. :)

Chinese

2011-09-30T17:32:00.003+08:00

30 Sep 2011 (Fri):

** This is just a random joke from a certain forum which i pluck out to share :)

Little Ballerina

2011-09-26T18:35:00.003+08:00

26 Sep 2011 (Mon):

Back-dated post on 18 Sep 2011(Sun): i was held up with work, thus did not witness this incident.

Just for memory purpose :)

Rachel actually shook hands with K.Shanmugam, MP for Nee Soon GRC. Rachel has changed into her ballet tutu when Mr. K.Shanmugam walked past. He shooked hands with Rachel,smiled at her & said: " Oh, u are a little ballerina. "

Rachel smiled shyly back & ran to hide behind my sil.

** Related to me by my sil.

I Do Not Understand

2011-09-20T11:59:00.004+08:00

20 Sep 2011 (Tues):

This is one of my own ramblings.

I came across a blog post which i was reading and the writer asked those who followed her blog to pray for their fren who js lost his life partner due to cancer.

A sad thing that followed was they just adopted a little boy from Ethopia 4 mths back. This little boy was only 10 mths old then.

So now, this little boy had only a short 4 mths love from his mum, which he may or may not know.

What I DO NOT UNDERSTAND is that since the mummy had been fighting with cancer back then & she knew she had this illness way before adoption, why did they still wanna adopt?

Did she weigh the pro & cons? Did she knew hw long she had to live? Did she think she can provide all the love & care for her son?

There are just so many questions.... I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!!!!

Catch - a - Crab?

2011-09-18T23:41:00.000+08:00

18 Sep 2011 (Sun):

After dinner @ Bedok Point, we went over to Punggol Field, err.. not exactly, somewhere ard there, nearby Punggol Plaza, off Tebing Lane. A night spot for 'night birds'....

Catch - a - crab, err.... fish... or prawns.. u name it... they have it. There are also a few cafes, bistros & restaurants, even Popeye's. For the non anglers, have a game at the billard centre.

Some of their catch. Fishes of different sizes... ice cubes to keep it fresh.

A glimpse of the area...

Preparatory Class for P1

2011-09-15T10:59:00.004+08:00

15 Sep 2011 (Thurs):

Received a consent form from the school regarding Primary 1 Preparatory Class for all K2 students. This is to inspire the child & to pre-empt them the expectations in primary 1. I have defintely gave my consent. The school have meticulously planned their syllabus as closely as the primary school core-curriculum & this i must agree, after looking thru the kids' termly lesson plans & given homework.

Will provide more details once i have an idea what they do during their preparatory classes which will begin in December.

8 Friends

2011-09-13T11:52:00.007+08:00

12 Sep 2011 (Mon):

Lionel told me other than himself, another 4 of his classmates will be joining him next year in the same primary school @ YPS.

Zhi Qin, Diane, Joe & Tyron are all his K2 clasamates & soon to P1 classmates or schmates too. Chervon, another gal, was Lionel's ex classmate for N1 & N2, thereafter , she was transferred to another CC but is still his classmate for their Wushu sessions.

So @ YPS, we have 6 of them all together.

Other than this, we have Vernie & Simin going to AIPS. These 2 schools are just next to each other, so Lionel was telling me they can all go to sch together & come back together. Now, this gal, Vernie has a very big impact on Lionel for she is his new found galfren. Muahahahaha...

Kids at this age shdnt even be talking abt relationships but we are nt gg to be so rigid abt it. Its all a passing phrase & just for the fun.

Below is a conversation we had:

us ( daddy & mummy): how do u know if AIPS has the same session as YPS for P1?

lionel: nvr mind lah, if AIPS is having the am session, then Vernie & Simin can meet us in the evening

us: why evening?

lionel: so that we can take the SSC bus to SSC for dinner & shopping. (the 'we' here referring to all 8 of them)

us: what?!! * roll eyes *

A Smurfy Night

2011-09-11T23:37:00.003+08:00

10 Sep 2011 (Sat):

" Lalalalalala-Lalalalala... "

8 of us decided to watch "Smurfs" at the cinema. In fact, arrangements has been made earlier to watch the afternoon show & catch up with the mooncake festival celebration in the evening at our neigbourhood open field. However, we decided to watch the 2050hrs show instead.

"Smurfs" - all the ever familiar names such as Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, Clumpsy Smurf, Grumpy Smurf, Vanity Smurf, etc... And not forgetting the bad guy, Gargamel & his cat, Adrizel.

This is all together a very heart-warming & hilarious movie. 5 thumbs up!... i wldnt mind watching a 2nd time.

********************************
11 Sep 2011 (Sun):

Instead of making a trip down Chinatown to relieve the mooncake festival celebrations, Daddy. myself & the 2 kids made a trip across the causeway again, hoping to find a product which daddy's client wants to have. But was told we cld only find those in electrical shops. Not knowing JB that well, we gave up searching & went for dinner & shopping instead. We even send our car for a wash...

There was a major jam at JB customs upon returning & Daddy said due to 911 anniversary, security were tight & checks were done thoroughly. What do u think?

Oh! We were 'knocked' gently behind by another fellow Singaporean who claim his hand brake wasnt working well when were stuck in the jam, moving inch by inch ever so slowly. No damage done. The driver apologised & we were on our way again. Daddy jokingly asked if he (the driver) fell asleep & stepped on the accelerator accidentally. Both drivers gave each other a pat on the shoulder. All well ends well. :)

Term 3 Progress Report

2011-09-08T15:49:00.009+08:00

08 Sep 2011 (Thurs):

Got back the progress report for both kids for term 3. Report as follows:

Language Arts
Lionel dictates a story about an event or experience. He shows interest in others by exchanging information with them. He identifies with his friends and often suggests experiments and explores new ideas that are related to play activities. He can identify and describe different animals and insects. He makes careful observations, using all of his senses and works collaboratively with others. He has to continue exploring new vocabulary words for fluency.

Maths Concepts
Lionel realizes solutions to simple problems. He recognizes names, decribes and compares shapes like pentagon, hexagon, cube and cone. He can put objects in graduated order from shortest to tallest, or thinnest to thickest, to smallest to biggest. He identifies ordinal names ans numerals from one to twentieth in & out of sequence. He can recognize the position of objects in a series and identify the days of the week & months of the year. He has to do regular home study for retention purposes.

Chinese Language
在第三学期里，我们主要以动物和昆虫为主题。志聪对这些主题都感兴趣。在学习的过程中，他对主题的内容掌握得很好。华文理解能力强，在做理解问答写作中，能理解短文中的内容，并写出正确的答案。汉语拼音方面，韵母和声母的发音掌握得不错，但声调的标法方面需加强，加油。

Lionel demostrates more stregthened hand & eye coordination when cutting with the scissors , using paint brushes, doing finger painting & using glue and pasting.

在进行拼图活动中，志聪能发挥他的思维能力和观察力，从提供的图块中，拼凑成一幅完整的图画。

Language Arts
Rachel is a confident and attentive girl. She is able to understand the themes taught in Term 3. She completes her work with little supervision and enjoys interacting with her peers too.

Maths Concepts
Rachel understands the concepts taught & enjoys the math activities in the classroom.

Chinese Language
在第三学期的学习中，佳璇能够认读学过的华文字了，也愿意参与到老师的活动中。老师希望你继续努力，如果以后能在上课时更加专心听讲就更好了。

Rachel is able to complete her work with little supervision. She can identify some shapes & colours.

佳璇很喜欢做手工，色彩很好，做得也很美。以后要更加自信哦，老师觉得你很棒！

Alamak. All repeating the same thing. The teachers got nothing better to say... muahahahaha!!!

Moon Cake Festival

2011-09-05T21:47:00.005+08:00

05 Sep 2011 (Mon):

The below certificate was awarded to Rachel for participating in the Lantern Design Competition.

I didnt expected there was such an award. The kids told us sometime back in August abt this lantern making & that they were to bring it to school soon. That was the only info given, so we thought its another craft set by the school. Never did we expect it to be a competition, just like the National Day T-shirt Design. There were no forms to inform us on this competition.

Daddy brought the tools & material needed to do this lantern but we did not expect it has to be handed in on the 05 Sep. Duh... so we gt no choice but to dig out old lanterns. The kids told us there wld be a celebration in school.

But according to Ah Ma, becos the lantern's light up & music did not work, Lionel did not want to bring it to sch. So when Ah Gong saw the lanterns A & V brought, he immediately craft 2 out of beer cans.

Nope, Lionel didnt want that; only Rachel happily brought it to sch. So the certificate was only awarded to Rachel, not Lionel, in case you are wondering why Lionel did not gt any certificate.

That's The Way

2011-09-04T23:55:00.001+08:00

04 Sep 2011 (Sun):

We went into Msia again. Wondering where to hv our dinner, we asked the kids for some suggestions. And kids, being kids, 1st thing always on their mind... yup, you guessed it - MACDONALDS.

i was shaking my head... and Daddy was asking " Does it always have to be MacDonalds? "

Lionel's reply " That's the way!!! "

Spot The Difference

2011-08-31T13:36:00.014+08:00

31 Aug 2011 (Wed):

Finally, the letter that i have been waiting for. Can u see the difference between the below 2.

From Yishun Pri Sch. Lionel have been successful in securing a place for P1 next yr. This letter is informing me of the date for orientation as well, 18 Nov 2011 @ 1400hrs

From Jiemin Pri Sch. Lionel have been unsuccessful in securing a place & was told to register at another sch under P2C on the 11 -12 Aug 2010.

MFM/HKG Day 5 - 22 Aug 2011

2011-08-22T23:28:00.008+08:00

22 Aug 2011 (Mon):

Since we do not have agenda on hand for the day, we slept till almost 9am. Our 1st stop after we checked out was to have a tim sum breakfast. A check with the hotel recep & was told there was this Garden Restuarant, just round the corner of our hotel.

How do u see the price? Well, they have this indication of big, medium or small on the menu. If a food u order falls under the column of small, means that food will cost HKD$8.80, a medium one will cost HKD$12.80, a big one will cost HKD$15.80 & a special one will cost HKD$18.80

We then took the train to Causeway Bay, in a bid to try the tram ride, which my colleague told me was only SGD$0.50 per person. Ahem, base on the exchange rate we had, per ride was only SGD$0.30/adt & SGD$0.20/chd. Hahaha... (HKD$2.30 & HKD$1.20 respectively)

Inside the tram was all wooden seats, practically like the buses here in Singapore during the 70s - early 80s. Most of the passengers were all elderly folks. Press the bell in advance if you wish to alight at the next stop. They have designated stops, unlike those mini city buses where all you have to do is inform the bus driver of ur wish to alight & they stopped for you there & then.

We travelled for a while & alighted at Quarry Bay Station where we took a train back to Causeway Bay. With nothing to do, we caught Cars 2 at the cinema. Movie tickets cost HKD$95/adt & HKD$80/chd. Yikes!!!

From our hotel, we took the shuttle bus to the Airport Express Station. We then purchased the grp tickets of HKD$220 for 2 adts & 2 children & was on our way. They have this In Town Check In facility where we cld do a proper check in & was issued boarding passes & have our baggages checked in all the way to our designated country. Cool! At least we do not have to drag our luggages with us onboard. I'm js worried will we see our luggage back in Singapore...

A ride inside the AEL from town to airport.

At the airport, since we have ample time left, we went shopping & Daddy bought some snow skin mooncakes back for all our relatives. Now, the gate to board the plane was not straight-forward. We had to take the airport express to our gates, located at another terminal building, take a lift up to the indicated level, walked a long way to the boarding room, take another shuttle bus before we reached the plane. And there was no arrow-bridge, the bus stops u right outside the plane & u walk up the steps.

Realised becos this was a budget flight, so no arrow bridge provided as the plane do not have a designated lot to park. It was parked in the middle of nowhere - close to the runway.

Bye Bye Hongkong!!.... 10 years down the road, we might see each other again. :)

MFM/HKG Day 4 - 21 Aug 2011

2011-08-21T23:28:00.020+08:00

21 Aug 2011 (Sunday):

Yawn! Rise & Shine... Ocean Park! Here we come...

We took the MTR from Yau Ma Tei Station to Admiralty since there is a shuttle bus to OP. But first, we had breakfast @ one of this small Hongkong eatery where they served porridge & soya bean drink. Perhaps it is a Sun or perhaps, its was still early, there were not many people around. Time was around 830am, if i remembered correctly.

From Admiralty, we took bus # 629, straight to OP. The fare to pay is HKD$10.60/adt & HKD$5.30/child (4-11 yrs old). Wait! There is this promo which we saw at one of the shops in Admiralty Station - mtrtravel ( 港铁旅游) which was selling admission tickets to OP at a discounted price.

Must share this with you. Normal admission into OP wld cost HKD$250/adt & HKD$125/child (3-11 yrs old) but with this promotional rate, we only paid HKD$222/adt & HKD$111/child... savings of HKD$28/adt & HKD$14/child. Kekeke..

We arrived 10mins early & decided to join the queue when we heard an annoucement - " No outside food & drinks allowed "... We saw the security officers tellin those with foodstuff to finish outside before entering the park. Alamak! We bought buns for ourselves, thinking we could munch on them inside the park when we are hungry. Now, what to do? We cldnt possibly finished all the buns since we just had our breakfast. From the looks of it, the officers were doing a tough check on all the bags. There was no way we cld sneaked the buns in without being caught.

An idea came to Daddy. A notty idea. Ssshhhhh.... if you wana copy us, dun go ard telling people. Haha! What we did was since all the buns were packed separately, Daddy stuffed them down his pockets.. We had 8 buns between ourselves; 2 for each of us. So i took half & stuff them inside a plastic of clothings, in between the clothings... Daddy was carrying his haversack & that bag was inside the haversack, hoping they wld not asked us to open that bag.

Lalalalalala.... we passed the gantry with no problem. My bag was not checked; only Daddy's. But since those buns were inside the plastic, they were not confisicated. Water, plain bottled water was allowed but not soft drinks, packets drinks such... Too strict!

A quick glance at the map & showtimes, we made a dash to join the queue for the hot air balloon. Daddy said better joined the queue first & everywhere wld be equally crowded soon. He pointed in the direction at the admission gantry. Faint! Look at that mass of people.

Soon it was our turn, after perspiring like crazy. Up, up, up we go. Let's just say, its only for a short 5 mins. Look a the bottom right foto. The white shelter that u see is the admission gantry area. Below that are the massive crowd of people. Click on the collage to enlarge for better view.

After that, we saw some of the OP mascots but only managed to take with one of them - the red panda. If you watched Kungfu Panda, this is Master Shifu. Kekeke..

We did not plan for specific rides. Basically, we played those without long queues or no queue at all. Where was the queue? I tell you. At the "Raging River" & "The Rapids". The min waiting time for these 2 rides were 90 mins for each. Gosh!!

The kids dancing to the tune of the background music. Another boy was tempted to follow but was shy when i invited him to join these 2 monkeys.

We watched the sea lion show at the Whiskers Theatre, which in our opinion, its better to exclude. NOT fasinating at all. See the 6th foto, where u can see those huge balloons? Look at the crowd again. And umbrellas were irritating as well.

This is the goldfish encounter where many different species were on display. Seen a cute little fellow in the foto? It went " Oooo " when i took a foto of it. Muahahahah!

Spectatcular Sea Jelly. This was also another encounter with long queue. I tell you. OP needs better crowd management & shade management. Areas where it is shady, they have those cool mist blowing from fans to circulate the air & thus, a cooler area. But areas which have no shades or trees to provide that min blockage from the sun, especially while queue-ing for rides, what do u expect but umbrellas. But its so irritating cos it "disturbed" you to the extreme where u hv to duck, bend or well, u know, "siam" the umbrella before it pokes u in the eyes, on the head, or into ur ears.

After this, we stopped for lunch. But all restaurants & cafes were so crowded & sun was scorching hot, it made our mood very bad. Finally, we managed to settled down at MacDonalds but we waited for quite some time before having a table all to ourselves.

Rude encounter. I was with the 2 kids & Daddy was queue-ing for food. This family came up to our table & without asking, just sat down & plonked their bags on the table. I was staring at them & in an irritated tone, told them this table was taken. Know what they replied " But you are nt eating what! " I answered " Our family is queue-ing to buy food. And u are rude to even sit without asking. " Reluctantly, they got up, without even apologising. Sheesh!

Unable to take foto with the real ones? Get a hold of this! Looks real to me.

Towards the evening, we gave the kids a splashing, cooling time at Kungfu panda Wild Wet Zone. Free admission. But this was a timed play area - think only 10mins per grp. And they have adults to watched over the kids. Kids were provided goggles & water guns.

This is the Grand Aquarium. It was even better than Sentosa's Underwater World. And importantly, the whole area was air-conditioned. Very, very welcoming after a hot day outside.

Panda enclosure. They have individual compound for each panda & this was the only one up & abt. The rest were all bz hiding away in a corner, snoozing.

Again, we were unable to take close shot of the pandas os there many people ard, pushing & squeezing js to catch a close up view of the panda. So what to do but to take with the cuddly ones at the souvenir shop instead.

Managed to get a video of An-An. And someone pushed me while i was taking this video, hence u see a slight shake. Note: the woman's voice you hear blabbling away does nt belong to me.

With this, we end our day at OP. We took bus # 629 back to Admiralty & took the MTR back to Yau Ma Tei.

Tomorrow wld be our last day. Our flight via 3K696 departs at 2030hrs which means to say, we have a full day ahead for tomorrow as well.

Good nite for nw. And oh, forgot to mention, i tried the much talked abt Hui Lau Shan (许留山) mango pudding. Delicious!!

MFM/HKG Day 3 - 20 Aug 2011

2011-08-20T23:26:00.056+08:00

20 Aug 2011 (Sat):

"Brrrrrnngggg... " My hp alarm clock went off at 0645hrs... i set it to snooze mode & was awaken by the TV sound. Lionel heard my alarm & was up, wide eyed. He took the remote & switched between diff channels & the sounds woke me up.

Rachel was up early too for she knew we were gg to Disneyland today & she was looking forward to meeting Mickey & Minnie... including Cinderella & Snow White.

As the breakfast area was only opened at 0730hrs, we did the check out & waited at the hotel lobby for Daddy & Lionel who did the "tabao" of toast & rolls. We then took a cab to the ferry terminal. I was wondering where to do the check in & asked a staff who directed me to the First Ferry counter.

Custom clearance was slow & the gates were all mixed up. I saw a sign indicating First Ferry to Hongkong wld be boarding from gate 13 but there was no sign indicating the direction. So we thought gate 13 shd be in the same direction as gates 3-12. We walked all the way to the end & still no sign of gate 13. A check with the officer & was told gate 13 was on the other end, to turn right after passing by gate 1. Arrggghhhh!

Time was 0820am... we had no time to lose. Running like marathon runners, we reached gate 13 & was like huh? The boarding hasnt even begun yet? Out of breathe we were. Chey!!!

We sat down on the chairs & begun eating our toast & rolls. In abt 10 mins, boarding begun. So doing ur maths here, our sail was delayed even more. We heard the annoucement abt choppy waters & strong wind, thus the delay.

By the time we 1) arrived at Hongkong ferry terminal, 2) cleared customs ( which was delayed & slow moving), 3) hailed a cab ( it was confusing as we did not know where to get a cab from till a kind staff showed us the way), 4) arrived at the hotel ( the taxi driver did not know the way & the hotel was under reno, so the building was kinda blocked off from sight), 5) checked in, the time was already after 1130am or so.

But luckily, we were able to check in this early as most hotels only allow check in after 2pm. Yikes, the hotel room was so small that its practically 5 steps from door to bed. And below the window, there was only enuff space to open up our 2 luggages & thats it. No room space to move ard. Fine with us non fussy people. Okay folks, take note... if u want & need bigger room space & high class facilities, pls dun book this hotel. Defintely not for u. Silka Seaview Hotel (former Dorsett Seaview). However, location was great & very convenient - 5 mins walk to the Yau Ma Tei MTR station.

We took a taxi to Olympic Station & from there to Sunny Bay station, along Tung Chung Line, alighted & board the Disney Resort train.

Once u come out of the Disney station, Disneyland is right before ur eyes. Its that simple.

We queued for tickets & went thru security check. Once inside the themepark, we were all like kids, even for Daddy. Haha!

Admission to Disneyland cost HKG$399/adult & HKD$285/child. Total: HKD$1368 ~ SGD$212.

The weather was hot & very crowded. There was a definete queue for every ride. So since its lunch hour, we decided to fill our tummy first. We proceeded to the nearest cafe & joined the queue.

Mid way thru our lunch, there was the Disney Parade passing by and we realised its the 1pm parade. Yikes! its 1pm, did ya know? Luckily, there's another show at 4pm & i make a note of it. I took this time to mark down all the timings of the shows we wanna catch as well so we wldnt miss it.

Lunch consists of fishball noodle @ HKD$85, Penang Laksa @ HKD$85, Pork Rib Ramen @ HKD$85, 1 coke @ HKD$22, 1 sprite @ HKD$22 and 2 apple juice @ HKD$52. Total: HKD$ 386 ~ SGD$60.

First ride after lunch ( we did not go for every singel ride), it was the Buzz Light Year Shoot Out. Queue was long but at least, it was moving. We rode in 2 cars. Daddy was with Lionel & Mummy with Rachel.

Surprisingly, Rachel was accurate in her shooting & her score was higher than Mummy's. But i had an excuse, i was busy trying to film & capture fotos at the same time, so i was not really concentrating on the shoot out. Yeah... i knnw you wld say i'm giving excuses... haha..

But the highest scorer was still Lionel, with 6000 plus points.

Next, is my favourite ride & always will be. " Its A Small World ". Before this, Daddy wanna try out Space Mountain & i told him that was a roller coaster ride. Count me out. But the queue was super duper long so Daddy said to come back later.

" Its A Small World " is a boat ride with captivating scenes from around the world. Set sail on an enchanted boat ride and enjoy scenes through different cultures far & wide.

We came out & saw Mickey & his friends @ Fantasy Gardens. Surprisingly, Daddy was a spot on to take a picture with Mickey.

Onwards to Mickey's Philhat Magic. This is a 3D magical adventure where Donald decided to fool ard with Mickey's wand & end up meeting characters from all Disney classics, such as Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, etc...

This is really a 3D show whereby u get to experience water droplets, wind, smell... whenever the need for it as the show goes along. And of cos, not forgetting, creepy crawlies under your feet. Haha!

Next, we over to Adventure Land where we took the jungle river cruise. The commentator, whose name was Patrick, was good & spoke in fluent English. There were 3 types of commentary given & u wld hv to choose the language u want & queue up accordingly.

Again, the queue was super long. Towards the end of the ride, Patrick created a joke which send the passengers ( all of us onboard the cruise) a good laugh. He said " If u like me, I am Patrick. Remember me & visit me again soon. But if u wanna complain abt me, then forget that i am Patrick. Just remember me as Mary. "

Not funny? It was to us anyway at that time, at how Patrick expressed himself thru his facial expression & body language.

Looking at my watch, its 30 mins to 4pm... We went over to River View Cafe but the staff told us the place was booked for a private function, thus they were not in operation. Sheesh! So we took a slow walk out of Adventure Land & went over to Tinker Bell Castle. The afternoon parade would be starting soon. Already, there were a huge crowd of people lining up on both sides of the road, hoping to get a good view of the parade.

There was no shelter; the sun was scorching hot. Rachel squeezed thru all the adults & managed to stabd right in front. Being skeptical & for her safety, i had no choice but to squeeze in behind her.... " oh... sorry..excuse me... sorry...thank you... excuse me... "

Daddy had Lionel on his shoulders so that Lionel had a good view too but Daddy was standing somewhere behind... not sure where. Was thinking how am i supposed to find Daddy later on, after the parade.

" Festival of the Lion King " begins at 6pm. And Rachel chose to sleep right after the parade. What a good timing! There was not a single cafe or restauarant which was empty, not to mention empty shady resting areas. We walked back to Adventure Land & found a shady spot just outside Theatre In The Wild.

Good spot. This was where the show wld be shown. So while Rachel had a power nap, i took the chance to buy hot dogs buns, pizza on sticks, drinks, etc... 3 of us gobbled up the food like pigs.

The crowd begin to come in at 5pm. What kiasuism here!!! The staff told us even if we go in nw, we would still need to queue up outside the theatre. The theatre itself can hold up to 2000 people so we do not hv to hurry. Bad choice to trust the staff.

You see, it was free seating inside the theatre. It was made to look like a circus with the stage in the middle. Everywhere was packed with people; all the good spots were taken up. We had no choice but to sit right behind & near the side where part of our view were blocked by the fence.

After the show, we made our way back to FantasyLand to watch the " The Golden Mickeys " @ 7.15pm. Its shown in an award presentation sketch with all the main Disney characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy & Pluto.

Night falls... Its dark outside. Looking at the clock, its still early for the Castle Illumination & Fireworks so back to the menu. Hmmm.... what's left to see... The Cinderella Carousal, Dumbo The Flying Elelphant & the Mad Hatter Tea Cups were all closed for the day.

By a stroke of luck, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was still filled with people queue-ing. So we joined the crowd. Its a storybook journey thru the 100 acre wood... a simple boat ride.
At this time, i wld wish to inform you we did not queue up for all the rides & adventures, so pls dun start wondering hw come i did not blog abt this ride or that ride or hw come i do not have fotos to show.

Opps! Which way now? Everywhere was so quiet. We made a dash to the washroom & a staff told us we cld go either way out to the castle. One way was brighter & the other way was dimmer.

Castle Illuminations starts st 830pm & the fireworks begin at 9pm. There were already many people seated right in front of the castle. The grounds were still very hot to touch, even after the sun had set.

We spent the full day @ Disneyland, right up till 930pm after the fireworks. We traced back our steps to Disney Station, alighted at Sunny Bay Station & crossed over for Olympic Station. We took a cab back to our hotel again.

Alternatively, u can take a train to Lai King Station & interchanged from there to Yau Ma Tei Station.

A late dinner at one of the eatery near our hotel. The kids were too sleepy to eat more than half of their dinner & they insisted to go right back to our hotel. However, after a bath, the kids were up & abt...

We told them tomorrow would be another full day & if they do not want to miss the excitment, its better to sleep early. Close to 11pm, the kids had some warm milk & its on to dreamland.

Tomorrow wld be our 2nd last day in HongKong... and its Ocean Park on our itinerary. Good night!

Remembered i mentioned abt my hopeless camera yesterday? Did u witness its output? There, u have it. And oh... before people starts talking behind my back, yup, the owner is lousy at her skills too. Kekeke...

MFM/HKG Day 2 - 19 Aug 2011

2011-08-19T23:26:00.042+08:00

19 Aug 2011 (Fri):

On the agenda today: Macau Tower, A-Ma Temple, Maritime Museum, Senado Square, Venetian Macau.

We woke up ard 730am. After a wash up, we went to the breakfast dining area. Breakfast were not of a scrumptious spread but we were not fussy people anyway. We has toast with ham & cheese, jam & butter, juice & tea.

Taking a bus to Macau Tower was an experienced as we had to ensure the correct bus to take, the correct place to board the bus, the fare that we had to pay & also making sure, we have the exact change. We looked thru our map & found that just behind our hotel, there was a bus stop to Macau Tower just outside Holiday Inn Hotel. We then had to figure out which side of the road to board the bus from. We do not want to end up on the wrong direction.

Bus # 21 from Holiday Inn brings you to Macau Tower.

Then we had to dig our pockets for the exact change : MOP$3.20 per person ~ SGD$0.50/person = SGD$2. This was the amount we paid for each bus ride we took. Macau Tower to A-Ma Temple & A-Ma Temple to Senado Square. The Maritime Museum was just next to the temple & we walked back again from Senado Square.

There was always an announcement telling you what the next stop would be & u have to press the bell in advance to inform the driver your wish to alight. We alighted right outside Macau Tower. To our dismay, it was closed. The viewing gallery was only opened from 10am onwards. We had an hour to spare. So we spend the time by walking on the grounds, taking fotos & browsing ard on the 1st level - the 4th level. Of cos, there was nothing much.

Admission to Macau Tower was @ MOP$240 for 2A & 1C & another MOP$60 for a child. Remember i mentioed i kinda regretted to wake up so early this morning. Had i known Macau Towers only open at 10am, we cld hv slept till 8.30am. At least another extra hour of sleep.

Inside the bus. Practically the same as buses in Singapore.

Outside of the towers.

Finally, the gallery was opened & we took the lift up to the 58th level. There was this see thru glass on the floors which looked right down to the sea level. Yikes! I dare not set foot onto the glass at all. Daddy was daring enough. He stepped on it & looked down & told us that there was nothing to be afraid of. Both Lionel & Rachel were also skeptical of it & were not in the least bit daring. Daddy had to sort of drag Lionel to stand on the glass.... and he did it. Rachel, clinged onto me & tried to pull me away from it. But Daddy told her if Lionel can do it, then she can too.

Haha... do u think she wanna lose out?

As for me, well, after a long pause, i finally overcome my fear & stepped on the floors too. Hehe... i even looked down & told myself there's nothing to be afraid of.

A video of Rachel dancing to the music.

There was supposed to be this Hello Kitty kinetic robot show cum demo but it was not opened yet. Daddy took off the covers & had both kids to take fotos with Hello Kitty. ( and "invited" a worker to give us the " what the heck are u doing " look)

The view from the 61th level viewing gallery. From here, you can see Grand Lisboa & even Taipa Island. Daddy wanted to try the bungy jumping but apparently no one sign up for it. And moreover, it was not cheap. Cant remember the exact amount but it was something like HKD$2K plus for a package - bungy jump + sky walk OR bungy jump x 2x, day & night.

" Live on the edge when you can jump ".... no no no, it should be " Why live on the edge when you can jump off " Haha.... the words were cropped off when i did this collage thingy.

Next stop, we took bus # MT4 to A-Ma Temple. Alternatively, bus #18. The bus stop was just outside Macau Towers. Again, we prepared the exact change; MOP$3.20/perosn. We asked the bus driver if this was the correct bus to board & he told us this bus will stop at the terminal. All we had to do was walk to A-Ma Temple, approx 10 mins walk.

A-Ma Temple was very crowded, even on a normal day. There were many tourists about & we held on to both kids tightly. Cant imagine if its on the 1st & 15th day of each month or on important occasions. We took fotos, prayed for a safe & smooth trip & had ice creams.

Next we went over to Maritime Museum. Phew! This was air-conditioned. It was very welcoming after a hot day at the temple. The ice creams didnt helped much. We paid MOP$10/A. Children below 11 yrs old were FOC. Cool!

Lunch time! We walked to a nearby cafe - 雅香咖啡缅甸美食. I had cury chicken rice, daddy has pork chop rice in cocconut paste & both kids shared a bowl of noodles. Total bill: MOP$123. OMG! A simple meal like this can cost you SGD20 equivalent!!!

Weather was really hot. We perspired like crazy & all our clothes were soaked thru. I asked the kids if they needed to change into another piece ( i had it ready packed in the backpack daddy was carrying) but they were ok.

We proceeded to Senado Square. You can take bus #10A, travelling distance abt 10-15mins. Stop @ Av. Infante D. Henique Road. Alamak! Take note - the bus stop was at least 10 mins away from where we wanna be at, so we have to back tracked to SS. Grrrr...

Top: @ the cafe next to A-Ma Temple.
Bottom: Father & son had a game of Angry Birds Rio/ Season

Rachel fell asleep on the bus & Daddy was too tired to carry her while we were at SS. You see, i had plans to vsit Lou Kau Mansion & St Paul's Ruins. So we decided to cool off @ MacDonalds but boo hoo hoo, it was packed with people. Not even an empty seat available. Daddy was fed up of waiting and suggested going back to the hotel. But i was adamant cos St Paul's Ruins will not be nice in the night. ( Not that i know how its like in the evening but i know my camera wld not do a perfect job. You'll get to witness its hopeless work tmr @ Disneyland, HongKong.)

Finally, Daddy found an empty table & luckily it was the long cushioned kind so Rachel was lay down to sleep while Daddy & Lionel had a game of angry birds. Lionel was a pro in this game & he taught Daddy the tricks. As for me, i wldnt sit for very long, so i went down to do a little shopping by myself. Without Daddy ard to nag, i lugged back a few shopping bags. Haha... he cant say anything. The damage was done. Kekeke...

Lou Kau Mansion. Admission was free but it was a hopeless waste of time. Nothing special to me. (ahem... to my fren who recommended this place to me... wait till i see you..)

We followed the directions to St Paul's Ruins. Boy!!! It was literally a squeeze thru. Thousand & thousands of people. Finally, the ruins came in view.

We even bypass the much talked abt pork chop bun but as the queue was long, we did not buy & try.

The road leading to St Paul's Ruins. Daddy & the kids stopped to take a break & had egg tarts while i took this video.

After this, we made our way back to Koi Kei Bakery to buy our stuff. We bought egg rolls, almond biscuits. They were on promotion. 2 boxes for MOP$58. Usual Price MOP$64.

We walked back to out hotel for a rest & bath. At abt 7pm, we took the hotel shuttle bus to the ferry terminal. We wanna buy our ferry tickets to HongKong tmr. First sail @ 7am but we chose 830am instead. MOP$173 per person, regardless of adt or children. We had to check in by 8am.

Then we took the Venetian Macau shuttle bus to its premises & had our dinner there.

The sky, made to look like the real one outside. Kinda quiet inside the grounds. Before i came here, i was thinking how grand it was, from watching promotions on Venetian Macau to TV dramas filmed here.. but after i am at the real thing, its nt so grand after all. Even the gondola boat ride, there was nothing special to it, even with the man singing. Check out the below video.

We ended our night soon & took the shuttle bus back to the ferry terminal & another shuttle bus to our hotel. We had to wake up early tmr & it will be another full day event. Tomorrow on the agenda, Disneyland. *wink*

MFM/HKG Day 1 - 18 Aug 2011

2011-08-18T23:25:00.023+08:00

18 Aug 2011 (Thurs):

Daddy sent the kids off to sch @ 8 in the morning & i went back to sleep, after staying up late the night before to finish up with the packing.

However, i got a shock at 10am. My hp rang & it was Lionel on the line, asking what time was i picking them up. Huh? Wasnt it agreed upon on that i will picking them up at 1130am from sch, changed & head for the airport? So why was Lionel calling me at 10am instead?

It turned out that my mil made a mistake about our timing of departure, hence she did not prepare their sch unifrom. Duh!

So i went down at abt 1030am, picked the kids up, had breakfast @ Macs & went home to shower, changed, checked the luggages & basically, just hanging ard, waiting for Daddy to come home.

10 mins past 12 noon, Daddy came home, changed & we proceeded to the airport. We were on flight 3K575, bounded for Macau. Flight journey took abt 3hrs & 45mins.

We touched down Macau ard 615pm, cleared customs & took a cab to our hotel. The taxi fare cost abt MOP$78, including the airport s/c + luggage s/c. We stayed at Emperor Hotel, 10 mins walking distance to Grand Lisboa & 20-25 mins to Senado Square. (walking speed applies here)

Whenever we go for holidays, 1 of my worries is that the hotel do not have our booking on hand &/or we may hv to pay additional becos of the rebooking of rooms or source for other hotels. Luckily, when we checked in this time, the hotel staff was able to locate our booking. Oh.... i forgot to say we were asked to check in on the executive floor since we booked our room catergory under executive floor. Heh..

We stayed in room 2011... hehe... coincide with year 2011. My colleague told me Emperor Hotel was one of those worst hotels one cld ever imagine; run down, old & terrible. But looking at the fotos above, what do ya think? Okay right? Well, at least for us... its fine. Clean, air-conditioned, spacious, cold & hot shower, remote TV with various channels, tea/coffee making facilities & yes, we got a King size bed as per requested.

Once we put down our luggages, we went out onto the streets, in search for dinner. The taxi driver told us we could shop ard 步行街 along 大马路. I was thinking is there such a place in Macau... 步行街?

We walked round our hotel, onto the main roads, bypass Wynn Hotel, Lisboa & Grand Lisboa Hotel, taking in the sights & sounds. We stopped for our dinner. 3 dishes including 1 soup cost MOP$130.

We continued walking along the streets for abt 10 mins & was about to turned back when i caught sight of something familiar, just opposite from where we were. The grounds, the buildings... Oh yes.... we were just opposite Senado Square. Bingo!!!

It dawned on me that Senado Sq. cld be the so call 步行街 the taxi driver was talking abt. This kinda street usually do not allow traffic to pass thru, hence this name. So yes, i believe he cld be referring to SS.

We crossed to the opposite side & wandered in & ard SS. Still quite crowded despite the timing which was about 9pm. Inside the Macau souvenir shop, 手信 (Koi Kei Bakery), there were many tourists making their purchases, buying Macau's homemade products; egg rolls, pineapple tarts, almond biscuits, egg tarts, bak kwa, cookies & many more.

Daddy said to return here tomorrow night to buy some of their products. We made our way back to the hotel, this time cutting the walking distance shorter since we know our way. Instead of walking along the main road & making a big round, we cut thru side roads & side lanes. Dun worry, they are all brightly lighted & filled with people walking ard. We would not risked ourselves by walking along dimly lit roads js to save time.

Once back inside our rooms, we prepared for bed. A shower, a change of clothings & milk for the kids. Morning call for tomorrow would be 730am. (kinda regretted to wake up this early - will tell u why tmr). Good night.

Results of P2CS Registration

2011-08-12T21:28:00.003+08:00

12 Aug 2011 (Fri):

Been monitoring MOE website & calling the school at 3 different times today with the help of my forum frens...

Glad to announce: out of 62 vacancies available, only 35 applicants for this phase... which means to say... Lionel has been confirmed a place @ Yishun Primary School. The schoo admin lady told me they will be mailing out the confirmation letters on Monday.

Am so happy i do not have to go thru the awful moment of balloting again. Saw in MOE's website, quite a number of schools still hv to go thru balloting as the # of applicants exceed the # of vacancies.

Good luck to those gg thru balloting. Meantime, have a great weekend everyone...

Next update may be after we return from a trip to Hong Kong/Macau from 18 - 22 Aug 2011.

P2CS Registration

2011-08-11T18:34:00.003+08:00

11 Aug 2011 (Thurs):

Again, Daddy went with me. This time to Yishun Pri Sch for Phase 2C Supplementary Registration.

I did not managed to get a place in Jiemin Pri during the balloting which was held last Fri, 05 Aug 2011.

As of 4pm plus, i got one of my forum frens to help me call up Yishun Pri Sch to check on the results - number of takers ending today's registration period @ 1600hrs (4pm). Out of 62 vacancies available, so far only 28 takers. This is a very good sign & i pray that the numbers stay healthy for tmr as well.

Will do another update tmr.

Cowboys & Aliens

2011-08-09T23:33:00.001+08:00

09 Aug 2011 (Tues):

Its our country's birthday - HAPPY 46TH BIRTHDAY, SINGAPORE.

After watching the march past live on Channel 8 , we made our way out for dinner. I was having a bad flu & did not seem to have an appetite at first. But after finishing my food, i was still hungry... LOL

Not knowing where else to go, Lionel suggested gg for a movie. He wants to watch Cars 2 but that movie was nt showing yet. So daddy suggested watching Cowboys & Aliens instead. Surprisngly, Rachel was game enuff to give the "go ahead".

We saw that the show was rated PG13 & i check with the staff on what that meant. Children below 13 years old would have to be accompanied by an adult each. Okay, that was nt a problem. Next, how much wld a ticket price be on a weekend? Yikes!! $11per ticket but with certain cards used, there are some promotions. One of these wld be the PAssion Card - $7 per ticket.

We purchased 4 tickets & sat thru a 2hrs movie without much hiccups. Whats more than to have a huge packet of popcorn to keep both kids glued to the seat. Lionel was concentrating on the show whereas Rachel, was a little restless. She was a little scared too by the sights of the ugly alien. Mummy carried her onto my lap & she snuggled there all the way till the end of the show.

At one point, I thought she had fallen asleep for she kept so still. But when i tried & covered her eyes, she pushed them away.. hehe, goes to show she's still wide awake.

Hmmm, the movie seems to have an effect on my flu. I was feeling so much better after the show. Perhaps, i was engrossed in it that i had forgotten i was suffering from a bad flu. *wink*

We made our way after the show & it was already 11pm.

Prize Presentation

2011-08-08T21:20:00.007+08:00

08 Aug 2011 (Mon):

I was not able to attend the prize giving ceremony but these was what Lionel & Rachel brought back in the evening to show me.

They each got a certificate of participation. Lionel's was of cos somewhat different. On his certificate, there were these wordings: 1st prize winner awarded to Lionel Seah & Family for T-shirt design 2011.

And on Rachel's: This certificate is awarded to Rachel Seah & Family for participating in the T-shirt design 2011.

And for the 1st prize, $25 worth of Popular vouchers. Haha... just in time for Primary 1 assessment books.

Results of P2C Registration

2011-08-05T19:20:00.005+08:00

05 Aug 2011 (Fri):

Was at Jiemin Pri at 10am for the balloting session. 116 applicants VS 89 vacancies... heart drop.

Checked the board to ensure Lionel's name was within the list & also for his ballot ID. Lionel's ID is #73.

Went up to the sch hall & sat down. A panel of committee members inc the sch pricipal was up on stage.

We went thru the procedures in which the balloting would be done before the session starts. Each Singaporean child wld be given 2 ballot slips & 1 slip for the PRs. If there are 2 names stated on a ballot slip, this would mean they are a pair of twins.

The calling out of names & folding of ballot slip was shown on screen & we waited 40 mins for all the names to be called out & ballot slips folded & thrown into the box. Finally at 10.40am, the balloting starts.

This is a nerve wrecking & nerve wrenching procedure for those who chose to go thru this phase. Every ballot slip picked up sends u flying up with hope, hoping that ur child's name be called out & after every name called out, if it is nt urs, crashes ur hopes down almost immediately. How many heartbeats have i missed, i lost count.

Names after names... but not Lionel's name. i'm beginning to lose hope..... and true enuff... right till the last ballot slip picked & named called, Lionel's wasnt one of them at all.

Arrrgghhh, #72 & #74 were picked, why not #73????....

No use questioning... i hv to make arrangements to register him in another school on another date. I am completely disappointed, unhappy, sad & maybe even angry...

Went home to do my homework & weigh my chances on the next sch i'm planning to register Lionel in. Many forum frens gave me advice & apparently, the back up sch i hv in mind seems to have relatively low risk as per last yr & past years results.... means to say no balltoing needed. Here's hoping & praying hard.

Will update more after 12 Aug cos that's the end of P2Cs registration & the results shd be updated on MOE's website that evening... by then will be able to see the number of applicants.... if # of applicants is less than available vacancies, no balloting will be needed..

But usually, after looking at the 1st day results, one can tell whtr the chances are high or low... if the applicants hv already exceeded to # of vacancies available, better to withdraw the next day & proceed to register in another sch with more vacancies.... otherwise, balloting is a must already... i do not want to go thru that again...

I'm really hoping the # of applicants would not exceed the available vacancies in my next choice of sch... right till the last day & hour for registration.

NDP T-shirt Contest - Lionel Won

2011-08-04T19:19:00.004+08:00

04 Aug 2011 (Thurs):

Remember the T-shirt design contest i mentioned about in previous post? Well, to think Lionel had won the 1st prize & the whole family were invited to attend the prize giving ceremony on Monday, 08 Aug 2011.

Dear parents,

Congratulations! Your child's entry for "Design Your own National T-shirt" has won a prize!

We cordially invite you & your family to our National Day celebration to receive the prize from our guest-of-honour.

Sentosa... Nope

2011-07-31T23:29:00.006+08:00

31 July 2011 (Sun):

We had dinner ard Bukit Merah area & decided to head over to Sentosa. Daddy thought he saw an advert abt paying only $5 per car, or something like that if u go into Sentosa after 5pm....

But somehow we all ended up Vivo instead. Lionel wanted to watch Transformers but too bad, all the tickets were sold out. We wandered around for awhile & the kids ened up at the playground cum water play area.

The photos below can proof that the kids were having tremendous fun.

Wushu Exam 2

2011-07-31T18:19:00.013+08:00

31 July 2011 (Sun):

Lionel had his Wushu grading this afternoon. On the paper given, it was indicated as 2pm-3pm but i received a call from my mil @ 1.40pm that his grading will be in 5 mins time.... what... i thought....

I rushed down to the CC but alas, the 1st part of his grading has ended... thus i am only able to show u the 2nd & ending part of his grading..

This wushu master (in white) is very good. He gave instructions on the correct posture & moves & allowed the boys to show the moves again if they did it wrongly the 1st time.

Lionel is the one in yellow belt. They were tested on 插手三节拳，拳掌加连打( 上和 ) & 脱手法( 第一和第二式 ). Dun ask me what moves these names were for... i wldnt know.. hehe

Awaiting for grading - pass or fail

Lionel waiting in line for Shi Xiong to announce the grading & his name to be call.

Presenting the grading book & orange belt to Lionel. COngrats. Lionel passed & got promoted to level 3 - orange belt.

Lionel, proudly holding his grading book & orange coloured belt. Next friday onwards, he will be wearing the orange belt & learning more complicated moves.

NDP 2011 T-shirt Design

2011-07-29T22:16:00.010+08:00

29 July 2011(Fri):

Below are the results of the 2 NDP 2011 T-shirt design competition that the kids got involved in.

Front design of Lionel's shirt

Back design.

Front design of Rachel's shirt

Back design.

i took fotos of it but was taught a better way than to have it developed & show it to the teachers. My sil taught me to insert it as pics under Word & print out from there. What a good idea!!

Class K2A Graduation Photo

2011-07-28T21:17:00.009+08:00

28 July 2011 (Thurs):

I received the class photos from the kids this evening. Rachel's, as usual, her class photo with an adorable frame but Lionel's one was different. His was the graduating class photo with a hard cover portfolio.

OMG! Lionel is graduating from K2 soon, the end of his kindy & soon to be embarking on a new journey of his life - the primary school life.

This is hard cover portfolio i was talking about with his school name printed on it. Little Footprints School House.

The graduand - Lionel Seah in his graduation robe aka academic dress, graduation cap & graduation cert. Err... the cert is for show only lah. The actual cert would be given during his Graduation Ceremony cum Concert Performance Day, which would be in Nov 2011.

His class photo of K2A, 2011. Notice he is the only boy amongst all the girls. They were grouped into half day & full day class. The above being the students from the am, half day session.

The inside of the port folio. Lionel's stand alone on the left & his class photo on the right.

3 small passport size photos of each child were also given complimentary to the parents.

This was Rachel's class photo - N2A, 2011.

Again, they were grouped into am & pm, half day & full day students. Above being the am, half day students.

Rachel was so happy to tell me she was sitting beside her best friend, Chantel. Chantel is the littl gal sitting on the left hand side, followed by Rachel herself.

P2C registration updates

2011-07-27T18:15:00.018+08:00

27 July 2011 (Wed):

Today is the 1st day for P2C registration. This registration will last for 3 days, ending on 29 July 2011. Below is an recount of what i had blog abt in another forum.

Am back from my primary 1 registration.... it was raining so DH decided to send me over... thought why so nice of him...haha...

The basketball compound. It was raining heavily outside. The same place where the school children assemble each morning & afternoon for the National Anthem.

The Primary One Registration Exercise Information Board.

Total Vacancy:180
Place Taken Up: 92
Vacancies Left: 88

We were issued with the q number of 83... I was thinking with so many people ahead of me, the waiting time will be long. DH himself also thought that with only 88 vacancies left... and our queue number was already 83... we made it only just in time... last 5 vacancies left. Till i told him that its not " 1st come 1st served " ...

However, we were very surpised that we were attended to immediately & the whole administrative work was completed in 20 mins or less... from filling in forms to checking & verifying. It wasnt as crowded as i thought it would be... in fact, only a handful of parents were around...

Station 1 & 2... only a few tables away from each other. Station 3 is inside the admin office of which i'm not allowed to take any photos

We went thru 3 different stations: station 1 to check & verify documents, station 2 to fill in the application form & station 3 to submit all the documents & form... all checked & verified once again.

The school canteen... happens to be the students' recess time.. DH jokingly said we should have our breakfast here instead.

Another part of the school compound

After we came out from the admin office, i snooped around the school, taking photos here & there. I cant take much photos as there was this security lady staring at me, wondering what was i up to. I felt embarassed.

So now with all the registration work done, i can sit back, relax slightly & check MOE website for the updates now & then. Praying that alloting wont be needed.

The Vision & Mission of the school.

Vision: A vibrant & caring community of life-long learners.
Mission: Providing our pupils with a balanced & well -rounded education, incalcating in them sound moral and social values and developing them to their fullest potential.

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

Updates as of 29 July 2011 (Fri):

Checked thru MOE's website... base on 27 July 2011, number of applicants = 96... 8 more out of 88 vacancies

on 28 July 2011, number of applicants increase to 116, another 10 more from previous 27 July's

as of latest update today, 29 July 2011, total registered applicants = 124, 8 more from yesterday's 116.

I called the sch this afternoon. The admin lady told me as of yest, there are already more than 90 applicants who have registered that are living within 1km from the school premises, therefore balloting is definite. She did not tell me the actual number but that's enough news to give me a nerve wrecking & nerve wrenching stress.

So looking at the total number of applicants, the final numbers today - 124... balloting for only 88 vacancies... and i am not even sure are all these 124 applicants living within 1km of the sch premises.

God help me!! Will call the sch again on Monday to get the actual statistics.

Blunders

2011-07-26T12:49:00.002+08:00

27 July 2011 (Tues):

Yest evening, i made 2 blunders on the T-shirt design for Rachel. Daddy will help Lionel with his.

We were supposed to include the following words on the T-shirt : Majulah! The Singapore Spirit.

I drew the wordings on the back of the T-shirt but the word Majulah was too small against my fireworks. Blunder 1.

So i tried to rectify it by adding a water reflection below the words & presto, it was much better.

Blunder 2: instead of waiting for the colouring to dry, i hastily tried to add in the water effect & yikes, the blue ink ran over & smudged the pink ink which i used as the reflection... no turning back... i left it as it is...

Boo hoo hoo... that cant be rectify, can it? Or can i use the blue marker & colour over the pink ink?

Tonight, will get Rachel to colour everything & i will do the neccessary touch up. Asking Rachel once the designs are completed, would she wear it? She shook her head. Haha.. anticipated her answer.

Countdown to Primary 1 registration

2011-07-24T13:53:00.003+08:00

24 July 2011 (Sun):

In 3 days time, 27 July 2011, i will be heading to a primary school nearby my estate to register for Lionel who will be in Pri 1 next year. This school that i had in mind is just a normal neighbourhood school but considered one of those highly sought after. Nope, its neither Chong Fu nor Northland..guess again.

Will blog abt it after the registartion process next week. :)

Ballet Upgrade

2011-07-24T13:26:00.009+08:00

24 July 2011 (Sun):

Got a surprised this morning when i picked Rachel up after her ballet class. Rachel & her classmates were "upgraded" to the next level in ballet - from her previous baby gems class to now, pre-ballet in CSTD syllabus or pre-primary in RAD syllabus.

Their teacher felt that all the students were ready for the next level, hence the immediate upgrade. I overheard another parent talking to the admin lady on why the type of classes were amended on the notice board & this was when both of us realised our gals were promoted. Haha...

On a side story, both Lionel & Rachel were each given a T-shirt to be designed in accordance with the theme for NDP 2011 - Majulah! The Singapore Spirit. The completed pieces has to be submitted by 01 Aug 2011 & the winner would walk away with $50 voucher from Popular. Not that the prize is tempting but this would allow both kids to think of what they want on their T-shirts & keep them occupied.

Daddy bought those markers applicable for drawing & colouring on T-shirts. Boy! They do not come cheap. I will blog abt the finished product soon. And oh yes, we were supposed to submit a few photos of each kid doing their work & also of cos, showing the parents' participation in this project... duh..

Rachel's Birthday

2011-07-17T22:41:00.001+08:00

17 July 2011 (Sun)

Today is Rachels' 4th birthday... alas she has a fever just 2 days ago... nonetheless, we still bought a mango ice cream cake from Swensons to celebrate...

Video taken during the birthday song... Rachel doesnt look sick, does she? The wonders of the ice cream cake.. *wink*

Happy Birthday To Me

2011-07-03T23:36:00.000+08:00

03 July 2011 (Sun):

Born some xx years ago, i am now xx years old.. hehe...

Yup,today is my bday.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.... yeah...

We went to Swensons in the evening for our dinner & bought ice cream cake back home to celebrate with the rest of the village.

Old liao lah.... no need for big celebration... kekekeke...

Stay tuned for Rachel's bday in 2 weeks time...... yup, 17 July 2011, on a Sunday as well.

Sentosa

2011-07-02T18:48:00.013+08:00

02 July 2011 (Sat):

This morning, we made our way down to Sentosa.... well, not to Universal Studios, neither it is to Resorts World. LK said to " walk horse see flower " (translate to Chinese la...haha).

We left abt 9am in the morning & took the mrt to Harbour Front Station, found our way to the Broad Walk... admission by tapping our EZ Link Card.... is that simple.

We walked ard, trying to find the monorail station, lost our way but found Universal Studios right before our eyes... wow... the crowd is AMAZING!!!! Faint!!!!

We saw the sign for the monorail & was glad for that. We ran towards it hurriedly, happy to be out of the scorching hot sun. The train attendent was hurrying us to join the waiting train & we did not see if we were on the right platform.

Little did we know, we took the train going in the opposite direction & found ourselves at Harbour Front Station instead. What fools we were. We were laughing at our blurness & silly mistake. No worries! Just remain in the train, if u happened to be js like us... blur sotongs. Hahahahaha...

We arrived at Imbiah Station & Lionel was reminded of those games we played the last time we came with Daddy. Guess what he did? Yup, he asked to played those games all over again & LK cldnt stand his nagging & relented. We played only 2 games this time; the Desparados & Extreme Log ride

Then we headed for lunch at the nearby Saparino's Pizza. Not my liking though; i didnt eat much anyway.

We took the train to Beach Station headed over to Palawan Beach for the kids to dipped into the cool waters.

We left Sentosa at abt 5pm & reached home ard 6pm. Looks like we did nothing for the whole day & did not see much either. But $$$$$ flies away dang fast!!!

Well, the kids were happy. :)

Below 3 videos taken while at Palawan Beach. Enjoy.

Stencil Drawing

2011-06-23T20:13:00.007+08:00

23 June 2011 (Thurs):

Lionel & Rachel drew for me 2 pieces of stencil art.

A picture of a giraffe. The giraffe was drawn with the help of a stencil, obviously... hehe. And they decorated the surroundings with bees, butterflies, grass patches & flowers.

This is a dolphin, also drawn with the help of a stencil & they decorated the surroundings with crabs, birds, turtles & coconut trees.

Mr Potato?? What do u think?

Lionel said its a potato with 2 faces but Rachel said its a lollipop. What's ur take? Haha...

Marche @ Vivo City

2011-06-19T23:21:00.000+08:00

19 Jun 2011 (Sun):

First & foremost, wishing all daddies & daddy-to-be a : HAPPY FATHER'S DAY.

We went out to Vivo this evening as we thought we could catch the laser light crane show put up over at RWS as well as fireworks. But first, to settle our dinner. Daddy suggested Marche & i was a little shocked as the menu does not come cheap. Nonetheless, it father's day & daddy has the right to suggest. Hehe...

As mentioned, Lionel did not come along as he's still not feeling well but he had a swell time playing at home with his cousins.

Below fotos were took in & outside of Marche.

After our dinner, we went over to the foyer overlooking across RWS. Yup we caught the crane show but as we were too far, all we could see were lights & water. We could not hear what was the story about. All i know it was something about 2 construction cranes wanting to be free like a bird or something.

We waited anticipatively for the fireworks but nothing was happening even up till 10pm. Any one has any idea what was the schedule like? We were there on a Sunday so no fireworks? I remembered i saw them when i was having dinner with my colleagues on a Fri evening so does this mean its only shown on Fris & Sats????

" I had the runs "

2011-06-19T16:45:00.001+08:00

19 Jun 2011 (Sun):

Lionel was down with fever, tummy ache & vomited on Fri night. According to mil, he vomited 3 times & had the runs 4 times; 2 of which he was unaware until my sil sniff out the terrible poo smell. ( lionel sleeps together with my sil).

But on Saturday morning, he looks fine to me though weak at his legs. By Saturday evening, he was running abt & building up his legos frantically. :) I assumed he was on the vedge of recovery.

Alas this morning, mil told me Lionel got the runs again. This time, Lionel was very restless & legathic. I told him to rest more & skip his phonics class. He slept from 9am to 12.30pm after taking his medication.

In the afternoon, he felt better but i told him to stay home. We had plans to celebrate Father's Day so the evening's outing was without Lionel.

Update as of 21 Jun 2011: I believe he took another day's mc yesterday morning cos fil told me he went to see the chinese physician & was given more medication.

Lionel has a school trip to the Jurong Bird Park tomorrow & i dunno if he wld recover in time to join his classmates on the trip. But since LK has brought him to the park recently only, in fact just last month, he might forego the trip on his own accord.

So now praying he wld recover soon as the sch hols are gonna be over soon & i dun wanna him to miss out on his lessons, if possible,

Kungfu Panda 2

2011-06-18T23:45:00.000+08:00

18 Jun 2011 (Sat):

Finally watched Kungfu Panda 2. Pris told me the evening before they wanna watch Kingfu Panda @ AMK Hub and asked if i wanted to come along. So since Rachel has not watch this movie yet, we went along.

It was a hilarious & touching cartoon movie. 5 thumbs up!!!

Rachel told me she also wanna watch the smurfs cartoon when its up on cinemas.

Growth of the bean sprouts

2011-06-09T21:40:00.007+08:00

09 Jun 2011 (Thurs):

Remember i mentioned Lionel has been experimenting with beans?

Here is update on the growth which Lionel has been happy & proud of.

From this......

to this currently.....

Raffles City

2011-06-05T23:40:00.000+08:00

05 Jun 2011 (Sun):

This evening, we over to Raffles City for dinner. Nothing special, js a simple outing with Rachel. As usual, the older one did not want to tag alone.

Primary 1 Prep Talk

2011-06-04T19:02:00.000+08:00

04 June 2011 (Sat):

Organise by Yew Tee GrassRoots Organization & the People's Association (PA), KiasuParents.com is proud to sponsor this event.

Held over @ Yew Tee Community Club, the session starts @ 2pm with registration beginning at 1.30pm.

Guest speakers at the seminar consists of CCK MP, Mr Alex Yam, Yew Tee Primary School principal, Mrs Janice Kwok, parenting forum advisor, Mr Alvin Ong & many others.

It was an enriching program. We touched on topics like stress management, bullies, what to expect, bonding, etc...

There were Q&A from the floor as well whereby parents are invited to voice out their concerns & the invited speakers will do their best to address the questions posed.

Affer that, there were refreshments provided.

And speaking of KiasuParents.com, i had finally met my Cheif in person but didnt managed to speak to him. And many other seniors who were also around but i dont know at all, who's who.

This event was a success & i thanked those who helped organised this event one way or another.

Mid Year Progress 2011

2011-05-29T14:12:00.020+08:00

29 May 2011 (Sun):

Finally received the booklet for P1 registration for Lionel. The forum mummies i've been talking to had all received theirs & i was wondering why nothing was given to Lionel. As it is, this came together with the Teachers-Parents Meeting we had on Fri, 27 May 2011. LK attended on behalf as i had to work.

Followed by both kids' progress in this 1st semester.

English-
Picture Talk: 10/10
Reading: 10/10
Written: 66/70
Spelling: 10/10
Total: 96/100

Maths: 90/100

Chinese-
Picture Talk: 10/10
Reading: 10/10
Written: 70/70
Spelling: 10/10
Total: 100/100

For Lionel's developmental checklist, he got all 1s for fine & gross skills, sensort & thinking skills. But 2s for social/emotional behaviour, language & social skills.

1 - Good. 2 - Satisfactory.

Language Arts-
Lionel performs well in everything he undertakes. He is becoming more responsible. He makes effort when not under direct supervision. He has good vocabulary skills but needs to practice making sentences for improvement. He can discuss basic health needs of human beings such as good nutrition, dental care and exercise. He observes & describes what various plants need for growth. If he contunues to persevere & keep up his great attitude, he will do better in his future English studies.

Math Concepts-

Lionel s very well bahaved in class & has a positive attitude. He stays involved in a self-selected activity for an appropriate length of time. He shows improvement with is addition skills. He enjoys learning number bonds & picture graphs. He states number in sequential order from one to hundred. He builds groups or sets that have more than, less than & equivalent quantities & tells which have more or less. He would improve quickly if he developed a greater interest in learning Mathematics.

Chinese Language-

在第二学期里，我们主要以水果，食物和植物为单元。志聪对这些单元都感兴趣。在学习的过程中，对单元的内容理解的很好。在上课时很传心，并能主动参与。他对功课方面很有信心，并能保持整洁。在郎读唐诗面掌握得很好，继续努力。

Lionel's work is satisfactory. He is constantly handling in careful work that is gree of numerous errors. He thinks of new uses for materials that are familiar to him.

在华文看图写句活动中，志聪的语言表达能力佳，能从参考的词语中说出完整的句子。书写方面字体工整，色彩配搭极佳，很好。

Rachel got all 1s for her bothe motor & fine skills, sensort & thinking skills, language & social skills.

1- Good.

Language Arts-

Rachel needs to improve in her language skills. She is a timid girl, however, she is able to interact with teachers & her peers. Rachel is able to understand the concepts taught in term 2.

Math Concepts-
Rachel understands the concepts of 1 - 10. She is able to rote count & pick up numbers of counters as instructed by her teachers during math activity.

Chinese Language-
第二学期的学习里，她上课时能够注意听讲，总是以洪亮的声音回答老师提出的问题，只是有时稍不注意，便会有小动作。老师希望你能改掉这个小毛病，相信你的学习会取得更大的进步！

Rachel enjoys playing in the kitchen corner. She is able to name the fruits & food.

谢佳璇：她在本项游戏中能够听从老师的指挥，积极参与，表现良好！

I find the comments made by the various teachers a little contradicting. In one section, it is written as: ... he builds groups or sets that have more than, less than & equivalent quantities & tells which have more or less.... then the teacher commented verbally that his value concept is not strong enough; he tends to miscalculate or draw wrongly & is unable to understand fully the use of ' more than ' & ' less than '.

But anyway, i am proud of their achievements so far & i dare say they hv improve tremendously. Cannot push them too much & but of cos, there are still room for improvement & this i must work on it.

P1 registration in 2011 for 2012 intake

2011-05-27T11:21:00.008+08:00

27 May 2011 (Fri):

The procedures & dates are finally out.

For Lionel, we will be going in to register on the 27 July 2011 since we do not fall under the 1st few phases. We belong to phase 2C.

Since there will be 3 days to do the registration, we will do ours on the 1st day & go back down on the 3rd day to check out the statistics - whtr the no. of applicants exceeds the no. of vacancies or not. If so, balloting will be needed.

But according to past year history of this school that i had in mind, not one year gone by without balloting. So i guess for 2012 intake, balloting will be a must.

I have printed out the above links for further reference & keepsake. Getting nervous day by day....

Bean Sprouts

2011-05-22T15:21:00.005+08:00

22 May 2011 (Sun):

Lionel has been learning to produce sprouts out of beans & the below show that his hard work paid off. He was very excited & showed me the successful growth of his bean sprouts, hence i took one or two photos for memory sake.

** Experiments were done at the shop, not at home. **

Wedding of Jacky & Leanne

2011-05-15T15:30:00.008+08:00

15 May 2011 (Sun):

After the kids' enrichment classes, we rushed off to OCC to attend a wedding lunch
of DH's childhood best friend cum our best man @ our wedding a decade ago.

The wedding of Jacky Toh & Leanne Lee.

Lunch starts at 12.30pm & we were very late. We arrived just the same time as the couple were preparing for the walk-in. We slipped in by the side door though. Hehe..

After the lunch which ends at abt 3pm, we went home tired. The kids & i knocked out immediately but DH went out to work as usual. That fellow doesnt know how to take a break.

The 2nd walk in of the newly wed. Aboard a golf course buggy.

Yum Seng Ceremony.

Fooling around as we were quite bored.

Orchard Leisure Walk

2011-05-08T23:06:00.000+08:00

08 May 2011 (Sun):

This evening, we went down to Orchard. We walked from Cineleisure all the way to Wisma, wanting to eat pizza @ Pizza Hut. We ended up at Bi Feng Tang (避风塘). We ordered sliced fish with ginger & onion, deep fried tofu with specialty sauce, soft shell crab with cereal & their chef recommedation fried mango with shrimp.

Verdict: Failed.

We then walked around aimlessly, taking in the sights & sounds. 09 May being a holiday, there were still alot of people even after 10pm. Have not been to Orchard for quite some time, is this the norm?

Yet another lesson

2011-05-08T16:25:00.003+08:00

08 May 2011 (Sun):

This is the 5th ballet lesson Rachel has attended & she still enjoys it. I'm glad for that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udi0_PgwisU

GE 2011

2011-05-08T14:00:00.003+08:00

08 May 2011 (Sun):

The results of the election, courtesy of Channel NewsAsia on xin.msn. as follows:

By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 08/05/2011
GE: Singapore’s PAP returns to power

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) was returned to power on Sunday with a huge majority but lost a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) to the opposition.

The PAP won 81 of the 87 seats, compared with its victory in 82 out of 84 seats in Singapore’s last General Election in 2006.

But the opposition won a GRC for the first time, with the Workers’ Party (WP) grabbing five seats in the hotly—contested Aljunied GRC.

The WP also kept its stronghold — the Hougang single—member constituency (SMC). However, the PAP took back opposition stronghold Potong Pasir with, Sitoh Yih Pin taking the seat by a margin of 114 votes, beating Singapore People’s Party’s (SPP) Lina Chiam.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Ang Mo Kio GRC won by a large majority, garnering 69.33 per cent of the votes against the Reform Party’s (RP) 30.67 per cent.

Speaking to reporters after his win, PM Lee said: "We have tried our best to serve the voters well over the last five years ... They have confidence in us.

"After this election, we’ll look at the results, analyse them ... This is a long journey and we won’t stop working hard".

Jurong GRC —— led by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam —— also saw relatively strong victory, with the PAP garnering 66.96 per cent of the votes against rivals National Solidarity Party (NSP).

Meanwhile, Pasir Ris—Punggol GRC, helmed by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, also won by a relatively big margin — 64.79 per cent of the votes against Singapore Democratic Alliance’s (SDA) 35.21%.

In his victory speech, Mr Teo appealed to all residents to be united and to work together with the team.

He said he is deeply honoured and humbled by this responsibility, and he and his team would do their best to listen to residents’ needs and meet their expectations.

In Chua Chu Kang GRC, PAP beat NSP by winning 61.20 per cent of the votes. PAP also won strongly in Holland—Bukit Timah GRC, which was contested by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). The PAP team, led by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, won 60.10% of the votes.

The PAP also won Bishan—Toa Payoh GRC, beating SPP’s team, led by veteran Opposition MP Chiam See Tong.

The PAP team, led by Wong Kan Seng, gained 56.94 per cent of the votes, leaving SPP with 43.06 per cent.

In his victory speech, Mr Wong said for those who did not vote for the PAP, they will still continue to work hard for residents there.

Commenting on SPP’s loss, Mr Wong said they have fought very hard.

"I admire Mr Chiam’s spirit and his determination and I really respect him for what he wants to do," Mr Wong said.

"Voters have made their choice and we humbly respect the voters’ choice. In the next five years we have a lot of work to do and we will implement what we said in our manifesto".

Meanwhile, PAP’s Sembawang GRC —— led by Khaw Boon Wan —— received 63.89 per cent of votes, defeating rivals SDP, led by James Gomez.

In Moulmein—Kallang GRC, the PAP team beat WP’s team, winning 58.56 per cent of the votes.

The PAP also won Marine Parade GRC.

It won 56.65 per cent of the votes, while NSP received 43.35 per cent of the votes.

Mr Goh Chok Tong thanked supporters, and said he and his team would work "even harder" after the election.

"My team and I have heard voices of all voters and will work with you for all the issues raised," Mr Goh said.

Ms Tin Pei Ling said she will do her best to serve the people of Singapore.

Over at Tampines GRC, PAP beat NSP.

The PAP team received 57.22 per cent of the votes, while NSP received 42.78 per cent.

Mr Mah Bow Tan and his team thanked residents for electing them into Parliament again.

He said he and his team would work hard to gain the trust of residents who did not vote for them.

Meanwhile, PAP also saw victory in West Coast GRC by a relatively big margin. They won 66.57 per cent of the votes, while rivals Reform Party (RP) received 33.43 per cent.

The PAP team, led by Minister Lim Hng Kiang, defeated the RP team headed by Kenneth Jeyaretnam, son of the late JB Jeyaretnam.

The late Jeyaretnam was the first Opposition candidate in Parliament in 1981.

PAP’s East Coast GRC team, meanwhile, won 54.83 per cent of votes against the WP.

PAP’s Nee Soon GRC team also saw victory —— PAP defeated WP by gaining 58.39 per cent of votes there.

Disclaimer: Above purely for reference. No judgement & offense intended.

Tang Shifu

2011-05-05T21:15:00.006+08:00

01 May 2011 (Sun):

We cross over to our neighbouring country to celebrate an early Mother's Day. We went over with my mum & aunt too. Unexpected, serious traffic jams along the way & back. We went for dinner, shopping & supper.

My mum & aunt cldnt resist shopping since its in ringgit but not everything is cheap. Standard of living is almost equivalent to Singapore. What's S$10 here may be also be RM$10 over there.

My mum bought a pair of Guess jeans for RM$200!!!! Gosh! That's like S$80-S$90. My aunt bought some blouse from Mango which cost sky high as well. Mango is not cheap at all. Faint!

Below are the photos we took of that evening where we had our dinner @ Tang Shifu. Mum & aunt were a little skeptical at first. They were afraid all the dishes would taste strongly of herbal but after eating the 1st dish, they gladly finish up everything we ordered. Haha..

Everything item looks the same right? Haha.. These were what we ordered:
* Cordycep with American ginseng soup
*Premium mixed seafood hotpot
*Stewed pork with dang gui
*American ginseng & fish maw with pork stomach soup
*Poached vegetables with wolfberry
*Abalone sauce rice dumpling
*Dried meesua with dried scallop & abalone sauce
*Royal jelly with aloe vera
*Winter melon with water chestnut

Total amt cost: RM$208.80

The two kids couldnt resist imitating customers over @ the Mango store on how they stood in front of the mirrors to see if an item is suitable for them, such as putting on clothings or carrying handbags. Hubby & i found amusing & so decided to take photos. Cheeky little ones.

All about teeth

2011-04-30T10:57:00.005+08:00

30 April 2011 (Sat):

I copied the below tooth chart from Eve's blog with permission granted from her. Thanks gal. **ignore the pink highlighted ones. **

Look at the upper teeth, the central incisor. It states the shedding date to be around 6-7 years of a child. Lionel lost his upper left central incisor last year & till date, the new tooth has not yet erupt.

According to the chart, it also shows that the lower central incisor to shed around 6-7 years & Lionel also both left & right ones during this period. His lower left central incisor has regrown & is waiting for its partner, the lower right central incisor to grow back as well.

So as of now, Lionel still has his upper left central incisor & lower right central incisor missing.

I hv told Lionel that since his lower left central incisor has regrown, he has to really take good care of it this time round. This little baby is known as the adult tooth & will NOT be replaced by another one if he loses this as well.

His upper left central incisor should be ready to make its appearance, anytime from 6 - 12 years of age.

According to studies shown, all humans has 28-32 teeth by adulthood. The 1st set, also known as baby teeth comes thru at the age of 6 months. They will eventually have 20 sets of teeth & losing them one by one. The second permanent set of teeth consist of 32 teeth. First 28 appears between 6 - 12 years of age while the last 4, also known as wisdom teeth, starts making its appearance at the age of 20. However, wisdom tooth may or may not appear for people with small jaw. This is common & you do not have to worry about it.

I really hope for Lionel to retain all his remaining baby teeth for as long as possible. To only shed his baby teeth becos the adult teeth needs to make it appearance & not becos of tooth decay or infection. Goes the same for Rachel.