New Toy and New Look

I have got a new toy. *woohoo!* Hubby bought me a new phone as our wedding anniversary present. My old Nokia N82 is almost 4 years old and in phone age, that’s considered like a dinosaur, no? :D The Nokia phone is showing signs of “old age”. The screen has 2 obvious lines and sometimes the keypad suddenly becomes unresponsive. The battery is also not very lasting. At first I wanted the Galaxy S3 under the Maxis package. But for RM200 more, I can get the Note 2. So might as well "upgrade" to a higher spec. hehehe

He wanted to buy for me before our anniversary (1st Jan) but they were out of stock. I read in the Maxis forum a lot of people are complaining as they’ve been waiting for a few weeks (or months) for the phones that are on promotion to be restocked. Although the customers have put down their names in the waiting list, people who just walk-in to the Maxis Centres (MC) or MEP outlets can buy the phone if there is stock. Hubby has gone to Garden’s MC twice but no luck. He finally got the phone after walking-in 3 days in a row to Sunway Pyramid’s MC. I was really touched with his effort. I know he’s busy at work but he managed to squeeze time out to “hunt” for it. To Papa : Thank you so much! *mmmuackkk* Sorry I didn’t get anything for you, not even a card. :p

Now that I have a new phone, I have to “dress” it up. I looked around at the shops and their prices are so different from online shops. I decided to get a flip case from a seller in Lelong.com. I also bought a screen protector. Thanks to our “reliable” leading Malaysian courier company, I only received my parcel after 4 working days. I called Customer Care a few times but nothing was resolved. I tried calling the outlet directly (where my parcel is) but it was so difficult to get through. Either no answer or engaged. Finally someone answered my call and promised to deliver on that day itself. And they did. *hurray!* However, I was not given an explanation as to why my parcel was stuck there for 2 days. If my call had not gone through, my new toy would still be naked. hahaha

~ new toy with dark pink "dress" ~

My in-laws were here last week. So I took the opportunity to leave the kids with them at BIL’s house and went for a hair-makeover. I spent 4 hours at the hair salon - trimming, digital perming, colouring and doing treatment. By the way, this is the FIRST time I permed my hair. I’ve been having shoulder-length or short hair for about 10 years. High time for a new look. :-)

~  dark brown curly locks ~

2nd Week in Standard 1

Mon - My driver duty has officially started. My days begin when the sky is still dark. Yes, our lifestyles change according to the kids’ routine. Traffic was heavy when I sent the kids to school but it’s manageable. Didi requested for company during recess time. PaPa went alone to check on him as he’ll go to work straight away after that.

Tues - We said our goodbyes. He walked towards the assembly area. Then he turned and walked back to me, crying. Asked me not to leave him there. Said he missed me. He wanted me to come during recess time, instead of PaPa. After some coaxing, he went back to assembly area and I waited for him (at the gate) till he walked to his class. I went to his school during recess but was not allowed to go in. They are quite strict that parents are not allowed inside the school compound from Week 2 onwards. If there's a need, we can get permission from the principal, it’s on a case to case basis. I gave the excuse that I wanted to see his teacher but I was still denied entry. The guard said teachers have their rest during recess, I can only go in when recess is over. I understand she’s just doing her job. I can’t help but wonder if it’s really necessary to be so strict (on the Standard 1 kids) on the first few weeks of school. I suppose they are training the kids to be independent, maybe the sooner the better. So I waited outside the gate. I saw him at the walkway on his way to the canteen, called him but he didn't hear me. Waited till recess time was almost over, he walked past again. (Actually he was on his way to the phone booth to call me as he didn’t see me in the canteen. But he doesn’t have any coins. *duh*) This time, the guard helped me to get his attention. Glad to know he finished his snack although l wasn't waiting at the canteen as promised. Luckily he only fussed for one day.

Wed - Homework has started but very minimal.

Thurs - Didi told me tomorrow (Friday) and the following Monday don’t have to attend school. And I almost believed him because he came back with 4 pages of Maths homework (writing). But I called up the school office anyway, just to confirm. I was going to give up as there was no answer. Finally, someone picked up the phone. And nope, no holiday. hahaha My guess is teacher was talking about the coming holidays, which are Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday and Thaipusam.

Fri - Managed to talk to one of his teachers. Apparently there are no school fees to pay (wow!) but there is some kind of “contributions” to be collected some time in the middle of the year. I also asked about the class streaming. It was a relief to know that he was not in the weaker class. Teacher then checked with me if he has any urinary problems. She can recognise him because he goes to the toilet very often. hehe I told her I don’t find anything wrong with him. So it’s more of a habit than a health issue. She said in that case, she’ll try to slowly control him. I hope when he’s more focused in class, he won’t be thinking about peeing all the time.

Orientation Day and First Week of School

Orientation Day, 28th December 2012
We gathered in one of the classrooms for a speech and briefing by the principal and teachers. The briefing lasted more than half an hour and the boy was getting restless on his seat, doing nothing and not really understanding what was being said. After that, we adjourned to his classroom to get the forms to be filled and passed up on that day. There are only 2 classes, with about 30 students in each class. He was very clingy to me. Don’t even want to sit on his own. Kept squeezing to share my seat. And you know little kids’ chairs aren’t very big. He kept telling me he's very bored. And when it was time to go home, he didn’t even want to look at his teacher to say goodbye. Sigh... good luck to his teachers. hahaha

First Day, 2nd January 2013

~ new trolley bag for didi while jie jie's using her old one ~

Both kids are in the morning session. They have to wake up at 6am. Although they’ve been waking up very late during the holidays, it was fuss-free waking them up. *phew* And I hope it’ll continue to be so. :-) This week, PaPa will be the driver. Their school start at the same time, so we dropped jie jie first. I stayed with her today, just to make sure it’s safe enough, being 20 minutes early in school. There are quite many students already. So I think from tomorrow onwards, I don’t have to accompany her anymore. This absent-minded girl of mine, I asked her to pack her bag yesterday but she forgot to bring the writing books. She only brought the texts and workbooks. *shake head*

As for didi, PaPa hung around while they were having assembly. After didi has gone into the classroom, he came to fetch me to the school. When we reached, the teacher was showing them the way to the canteen, which is quite far away. Then back to the classroom and it was about time for recess. At the canteen, I had to remind him to wash his hands before and after eating. After he’s done, I asked him to show me the way back to his class. And he just walked off, without taking his water bottle and snack box. :-| He’s still not familiar with the place, got lost trying to get back to class. hehehe We went home after he’s gone back to the class. Traffic was super crazy when we wanted to fetch the kids back. I guess it’s already expected on the first week of school. Hopefully it’ll be much better next week when I take over driver duty.

It’s just the first day of school, he’s already had a minor mishap. He slipped and fell, right after assembly. Made his school shoes and pants very dirty. The floor was slippery, a bit wet with algae patches, it wasn’t because he ran or something.

Second Day, 3rd January 2013
We just left jie jie at the gate and she walked into school herself. We stayed with didi till he went into his classroom. Checked on him during recess time. They were out a little early so we went to look for him in the canteen. He was sitting down, eating his snacks. Thankfully he wasn’t one of those kids running around, playing there. That place is quite dangerous as it’s hilly and uneven. We left after he’s gone back to class. Picking them up after school was uneventful, except for the horrible traffic. It’s quite difficult to find a place to stop, so can forget about parking the car. Looks like I’ll have to bring Kakak along every time I fetch them to and fro school.

Third Day, 4th January 2013
Traffic was much better. I guess most parents didn’t have to send or stay with their kids anymore. Didi is now in a different class. Apparently they had a mini test yesterday, which he didn’t mention at all when we asked him about school. I don’t know what is the criteria for streaming. Will find out if I get the chance to speak to his teachers.

PaPa went to check on him during recess time. He remembered to take his snack box back after eating but didn’t even bring out his water tumbler. *aiyo* And he requested to call me from the public phone. The public phone really fascinates him.

My driver duty has started as PaPa had something to attend to at work. Friday’s traffic is much better than usual as the afternoon sessions will come in much later. I managed to find parking at both schools. The only killer is the weather. It’s scorching hot!

Didi hasn’t gotten his text books yet. Fees also not collected. I don’t think they do anything much in school. From the minimal information I got from him, the test they did the day before was on alphabets and maths. He said he can answer them (don’t know how true loh). As for jie jie, she’s got homework since Day 1. So she’s very envious of her “very free” didi. hahaha

School Events

Since I have not been updating the kids’ activities for the past few months, here are some event highlights, from recent to old, for my record. :-)
 
CE : Annual Concert & Graduation Night, 4 Nov 2012
This is our 6th year attending the kindergarten’s concert (3 for jie jie and 3 for didi). And it’s our last year… till our grandchildren’s turn, I guess. hahaha This year’s theme was “People of Asia”. Didi participated in the percussion (playing the castanets) and a dance.

~ percussion performance by the 5- and 6-year-olds ~

~ receiving his graduation certificate from the Director ~

~ Mongolian Chopstick Dance ~

He received a prize for getting 2nd in the colouring contest. It’s a Zebra double wall mug, which he started using the next morning. :-)

~ 2nd prize for colouring contest ~

~ singing the finale songs with the teachers ~

XY : Hari Anugerah Kecemerlangan, 9 Nov 2012
On the last day of school, she attended the morning session as it was Awards Day. She received a certificate and RM20 cash voucher (from a bookstore) for getting 2nd in class.

~ a proud moment ~

XY : Ceriaton 2012, 22 Sept 2012
XY’s school organised Program Ceriaton to increase school funds. She was given a booklet to collect donation. She has anti-social parents so she only managed to fill up less than half a page (with names of close family members only :p). In conjuction with that programme, the students had a performance. XY and her schoolmates sang a Chinese song, with actions -- 幸福的脸 (xing fu de lian).

~ performing a Chinese song ~

CE : Sports Day, 15 Jul 2012
CE is in the red house. His kindy organises Sports Day once every two years. Previously, he was in the blue house. His event is called Hopping Ducks. It involved carrying a ball in between the legs and hopping in a sack. His team was last so he got a bronze medal. There were only 3 teams in the games so everyone got a medal. :-)

XY : Sports Day, 30 Jun 2012
Standard 1 to 3 students played games instead of participating in track events. XY’s class event involved moving the ball with a hula hoop and walking with the bean bag on the head. Her team got 3rd place.

Super Simple Celebration

Oh yeah, I’ve grown another year wiser. In other words, another year older. :p Although last weekend was a long weekend, we didn’t go anywhere. Basically just laze around at home. We didn’t even hang out at the malls as didi was having runny nose. The weekend before that, the kids requested to go play at Megakidz, MidValley. PaPa offered to stay there while Kakak accompanied the kids inside the play area. And I got to walk around the malls (Gardens and MV) by myself for 3+ hours. What bliss! I actually walked till my legs cramped. *aiyoyo* Managed to buy some tees for myself (and inner wear too :D). On our way to Madam Kwan’s for dinner, we went to Crocs coz I saw earlier that they’re having a promotion where you get 30% discount if the said day is 6 days prior to or after your birthday. Not sure if this promotion is valid at other outlets as well. I got hubby to “approve” the design I chose (A-Leigh Mini Wedge Leather) and he said he’ll get them for me as my birthday pressie. This is my 2nd pair of Crocs. The pair of Crocband I bought in Hong Kong hurts my toes so I hardly wear them. Waiting to pass them over to jie jie. Y’know, her feet is almost as long as mine, just a little less meaty. o.O She can already wear my sandals. And she’ll try on my wedges whenever she gets the chance (high heels mah). Girls... *shake head*

~ take a wild guess, whose feet are these? ~

Back to d-day, we went out for dinner of my choice -- Korean BBQ (haven’t had it for so long, the outlet that we’ve been frequenting in Sri Petaling has closed down :D). So we went to another one nearby, Daorae Korean BBQ Restaurant. Food’s not bad. The barbequed meat were yummy. But they don’t have a very big variety of side dishes. And the waiters ignored my requests to top up some of the side dishes. *hmmmff* Maybe they didn’t understand me. Or they were just too busy to attend to us. :-(

~ didi and jie jie at Daorae ~

Before going to the restaurant, we went to Tong Kee to choose my cake. We only cut the cake at home as I felt shy to be “sung to” in the crowded restaurant. hehe When I looked back at last year’s blog entry, I realised that the cakes were the same pattern, just different flavour. Hubby chose the cake last year so it seems like we have the same cake preference. ;-)

~ vanilla fruit cake... yummy ~

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank my family and friends for all the lovely wishes. Thank you for making my day extra special! *muacks*

Last Parent-Teacher’s Day In Kindergarten

Yay! Kids’ exams are over. CE’s was in the 1st week of October while XY finished hers on Friday. We even had a mini celebration that night. They invited their cousins over and had pizza for dinner.

I went to CE’s school this morning to collect his report card. I’m very pleased that Teacher J doesn’t have any complaints about him. Well, the only thing she highlighted is that he needs to be more macho (yeah, that’s her exact word! :D). He’s still very shy and timid. He needs to build up more self-confidence. She said he’s improved compared to the 1st semester -- more talkative and sociable now. Other areas for improvement are his spoken languages, especially Mandarin. Hmm… these are almost the same feedback as in the 1st semester.

I’m also very happy with his exam results. He managed to score full marks for Science and Bahasa Malaysia. Although he didn’t get very high marks for his Chinese paper, I’m actually impressed with his ability to answer the questions. At least it shows that he can recognise quite a number of Chinese characters and understand what is required. :-)

The teacher's note in his Report Card :
A pleasant and hard working child who is able to express himself clearly. His work is always neat and tidy. His academic result is bright. Well done!

It was confirmed he got 2nd prize in the colouring contest which was held in school. He told me a few days ago but I had to see it to believe it. hahaha It was really a pleasant surprise. *wide smile* But I do wonder how they selected the winners. :p

His colouring contests in kindergarten :

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6 - 2nd prize

Well, at least can see an improvement over the years. :-)

10 minus 1

My little girl is no longer very little anymore. She celebrated her 9th birthday 2 days ago. One year short of being a decade old. haha As usual, we had a simple celebration at home. We have a (slightly) bigger group this time because Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah are here. Food was all bought except fried noodles. We had Subway sandwiches, Kenny Rogers roasters, cocktail sausages and satay. 7 adults and 3 kids couldn't finish all these food.

food to feed an army? :D

Subway platter - bought 3 foot-long, free 1 foot-long

After the kids have finished their meal, they played Wii games. I didn’t prepare any special activities for them, so what else is there for them to do? I didn't pump any balloons so no decorations and no balloons to play with. At least they won’t run around and make too much noise. :-)

XY chose pandan layer cake with dessicated coconut

sing-song session

After eating the cake, XY opened her presents. We bought an ambulance Lego set for her, which she chose herself. CH and family gave her a tutu while Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah gave her an angpow. Po Po and Zi Mai Po also gave her angpows which I took back from Penang in June. She even got a present (stickers and stationeries) from her piano teacher when she came for lesson yesterday. So sweet and thoughtful of her.

big princess and little princess