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

The Celebrations

This is another very backdated post. As mentioned earlier, we had a small party at home for CE’s birthday. I was really lazy to make balloon decorations. I told ah boy and he was okay with it (wah, so considerate hahaha). Then while he was napping, I felt bad so I pumped a few balloons and hung them on the curtain rail.

super simple deco

We had our usual “party food”. Bought satay, ordered pizza and Kakak fried bihun and nuggets (just a bit for the kids) and cooked curry chicken. After the kids finished their food, they played Wii games, as requested by the birthday boy (coz usually no pc/tv games on school days).


jie jie, didi, kor kor and mei mei

blueberry cake

presents



For the celebration in school, I bought a black forest cake for him and prepared party packs for his classmates. I planned to make the paper bags myself by referring to Sasha’s post. Thanks for the tutorial, girl! After buying the brown papers, I found it so tedious to cut the papers into the right size, fold, stick, fold, stick, fold some more and open it up. And I had to prepare 24 of them (including for jie jie and his cousins)! I wanted to give up so I went hunting for those ready-made paper/plastic bags. But can’t find any suitable/nice ones. There aren’t many choices around my area. The patterns are very girlish, not that suitable for his class where majority are boys. So I had no choice but to make the paper bags myself. Luckily I bought a steel ruler and a penknife (really sharp!) so it made the work a little easier. I cannot imagine the amount of work needed if I were to do exactly like Sasha. Cut out the alphabets to make the kids’ names? Oh, forget it. So I just printed some characters (decided by birthday boy) as decoration. I also eliminated the strings and just folded them over. Jie jie helped me a lot with making the paper bags and sticking the cartoons. The birthday boy wrote the names of his friends on the paper bags and put the goodies into them.

contents in party pack

party packs for friends

I also prepared some gifts (chocolates and sweets) for the teachers as they were celebrating Teacher’s Day on the same day as well. Got this idea from mom2ashley’s post. Thank you, D! Found some white plastic bags in the drawers, printed some wordings on coloured paper and cut out rectangular shapes from manila cardboard. Again, I got CE to write the names of the teachers himself.

gifts for teachers

Her Four-Eyed Journey Has Started

We finally brought XY for a refraction test on 12th May (yes, this is a very backdated post :p). I know she is shortsighted (she can't see the whiteboard in class clearly) but didn't realise it has become quite serious. She now needs glasses as her power is 175 for the right eye and 200 for the left. She has slight astigmatism in both eyes too.

The next day, we brought her to an optical shop to make a pair of spectacles. There aren't many choices of plastic frames and half-frames for children so we chose a metal frame for her. As for the lenses, we used the Myopia Control lenses, as suggested by the optometrist we saw in ISEC.

'sei ngan mui'

Since 20th May, she has officially joined the four-eyed gang in the family. After collecting the glasses, I asked her to start wearing them, to get used to it. For the lenses to be effective in reducing her shortsightedness, she's advised to wear them frequently. She seems to be very excited about wearing glasses. Keep comparing her vision with and without glasses. One moment she'll say "I can't see this/that" and then the next moment, "Now I can see already" as she lifts them up and then put them back on. *mommy shakes head*

She’s been wearing glasses for a month already. And she seems to have gotten used to it. There are still incidents where she got squashed in the face when playing (rough) with didi and the nose piece got bent. Just got to keep reminding them not to play like that with her spectacles on.

6 Years Old

CE turns 6 today. We'll have a small do for him at home tonight, just us and BIL's family. He'll have another session in school on Friday. It's a combined birthday celebration for all children born in the months of April, May and June. I asked if he'd like to celebrate with his friends in kindy on his actual day but he said just a celebration at home will do.

At the beginning of the year, PaPa made a deal with him. We want him to learn to be more independent and do some simple chores on his own. By his 6th birthday, he must be able to clean himself after doing his big business, bathe himself and brush his own teeth. If he fails, there won't be a birthday party for him. hahaha Well, he passed the toilet test. But still not very good at shampooing his hair and brushing his teeth. I doubt they are brushed thoroughly. A good effort on his part, so the party is on. :D

Collected his 1st semester exam results on Parent-Teacher's Day last Saturday. Academically and socially, he's doing fine. He scored above 90% for all subjects, with a perfect score for BM (what a surprise). He mixes well with all his friends. Teacher J doesn't have any complaints but she highlighted that he needs to build up his confidence, to be bolder and speak up. He's very timid and soft-spoken in school (which is a total opposite at home o.O). Another thing to take note of is his Mandarin (oral). Guess we've to speak more to him in Mandarin. Actually, I think his BM is just as bad, especially his vocabulary. I wonder how he was graded.

The teacher's note in his Report Card :
CE is a smart and soft spoken child. He has improved in his social interaction skills among the friends. He is able to master in 3 languages. Keep it up.

Happy Birthday, ah boy!

May you grow up healthily and be happy always.

The Temporary Kakak

Before I continue with my post, here's wishing all mothers out there :

Happy Mother's Day!

I wonder if the kids can keep their promise of being extremely well-behaved just for the day.
:-)

The kids' exams are over... phew, what a relief. Luckily CE's exam was 1 week before XY's so I had time to coach them individually. Revision with CE was quite a breeze as his syllabus wasn't a lot. As for XY, although this was the mid-year exam where all the subjects were tested (8 altogether), I didn't spend that much time revising with her. We totally left out Moral (books not given back by teacher) and just browsed through PJK (only 1 writing book to look through). Anyway, these subjects are not calculated in the overall marks so I concentrated more on the 4 major subjects. :p

There's another reason why I didn't spend much time doing revision with XY. I was busy being the temporary Kakak. We gave Kakak a 2-week holiday back to her kampung as she wanted to attend her BIL's wedding. She's been with us for 4 years already and this is the third time she's gone back. Actually house chores are not difficult work, they are just time consuming. But I've got plenty of help. XY helped with sweeping and mopping the floor, using the magic mop. She also helped to hang the clothes sometimes. I only needed to iron the kids' school uniform coz hubby ironed his own working clothes. I rarely cooked, just a few times of simple noodle soup for lunch. We ate out during weekends and for dinner on weekdays, we "catered" from SIL. :D She was so kind to offer to cook for us. We ate at their house most of the time (I don't even have to clean up after that as she's got a helper) and packed food home for hubby (he's usually back from work quite late). When Kakak came back last Saturday (5th May), I happily passed all the work back to her. Ahhh... back to my blissful life.

Oh yes, while the kids were digging for stationeries for their exam, they found some "treasure" in the drawer. I've kept them there and forgot all about it. They are brand new, box unopened. Hubby won them in a credit card contest last year. I'm putting them up for sale. It's great as a gift for your little ones. XY likes to listen to it. She's learning a new Mandarin song (还是要幸福) by Hebe. I've printed out the hanyu pinyin lyrics, together with the Chinese characters, to help her pick up the language. Anyone interested to be their new owners?

Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB (4th generation) - BLUE
Price : RM109 (retail price : RM169)

Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB (3rd generation) - BLACK
Price : RM99

An Upgrade

My notebook has served me for more than 4 years already. Technology wise, it's like a dinosaur, no? :D So hubby decided to buy a new one for me. He said it's my birthday present wor. What? But my birthday's in October. So I said, consider as Mother's Day present lah. hahaha Anyway, I think this gift will cover ALL occasions this year. Yeah, this slave doesn't ask for a lot. *wink wink*

Went to look at some models and decided on an Acer. It's so much lighter than my old one. Now I can carry with just 1 hand. The fully charged battery can last for about 4 hours (old one can't even last for half an hour). It "wakes up" so much faster too. Although the new one has so many plus points, I'm a bit reluctant to chuck my old Compaq aside. Got sentimental value mar. Moreover I'm so used to its keyboard. Guess I just need some time to get used to the new one. And I haven't transferred the data over so I'm still using both. :-)

~ my new toy ~

Long Disappearance

*cough cough cough* Gosh, so much dust and cobwebs in here. Some of you might have thought I've abandoned this blog or retired from blogging... or something. :-) Well, I don't want to bore you with the excuses. So let's just have some updates. Hmmm... where should I start? Okay, in some sort of chronological order :

CNY 2012
The journey back to our hometowns were rather smooth and uneventful, thankfully. As usual, it's feasting non-stop and gathering with family, friends and relatives during the festive season.

We attended the CNY potluck party in CE's kindy. I brought sausages and nuggets (too lazy to prepare anything creative :p). Every year, they have lion dance, which never fail to fascinate the kids. The lions were very playful. So when CE put his hand near its mouth to feed it oranges, it "bit" him. I think his hand was pulled a bit too hard till it hurt so the silly boy cried a little. hahaha

~ CE got "bitten" by the lion ~

St. John Ambulance
XY was assigned to join St. John Ambulance and Maths & Science Club for her co-curricular (Ko-K) activities. If we don't agree, we can ask the teacher for a change but I think it's good to learn some first aid knowledge in St. John. I had a hard time looking for her uniform. The smallest sized t-shirt they have is so big on her. The smallest sized pants were too loose. I bought them anyway and the pants had to be altered. Even the belt was too long and I had to cut it myself. She has Ko-K once a week and it alternates between uniform units and clubs.

Valentine's Day
Received a bouquet of flowers from hubby. It didn't turn out to be a surprise coz when hubby called around noon, I didn't mention anything so he had to ask me about it. They haven't delivered it, although they said it'll be delivered in the morning. So hubby had to call them to check. Turned out they can't find my place and a taxi guy actually delivered the flowers at 4+pm. Apparently the delivery fella sub-contracted the job to him. o.O

~ a dozen of red roses ~

Slithering visitor
SIL's maid saw a little snake, about 1 foot long, in my kitchen. It must have entered through the small opening underneath the door. She quickly grabbed the broom and whacked it. It was hurt but still alive, squirming on the spot. Both the maids were scared, so I continued to whack it till it stopped moving. I was totally freaked out (thus forgot about snapping pictures :p) but someone had to do it, right? Hubby was out running errands and when he came back, he got the honour to scoop the "dead body" into a plastic bag. Afraid that the mommy snake was nearby, I called the Fire Department to lodge a report. They came in their big red truck, all ready with the snake catching tools. When we told them the snake is dead, they took the plastic bag and wanted to leave. We had to ask them to check the compound to make sure there were no snakes hiding around. One of the men said that the little snake must have been catching a rat and followed it to the house. o.O Later in the day, I bought sulphur powder and sprinkled it around the backyard.

Surprise for mom
In early March, I went back to my hometown alone for my mom's birthday, without telling her in advance. I called my brother that morning itself, to pick me up from the airport. Didn't want to tell my brothers earlier, in case they accidentally leaked my plan. hehehe And it worked! She was VERY surprised when she saw me. Mom's birthday fell on a Sat this year. I actually bought AA's tickets in May last year during their sales. I only spent 1 night at home but it was really great to spend quality time with her as when I'm back with the kids, I'm usually distracted by occupied with them.

Kids' health
Didi had fever on the Thursday before the 1-week school holiday. He was coughing badly. Paediatrician said it's lung infection. He was feverish for almost a week. Luckily it was during the school holiday, so he had a good rest at home.

2 weeks later, it was jie jie's turn. She started having fever on Mon (26/3). It started with runny nose, then cough. Her fever lasted for 5 days. During that time, I brought her to the clinic 3 times. The first antibiotics didn't work and had to be changed before completion, to the same type as didi's. So I guess they were attacked by the same bacteria (lung infection), although 2 weeks apart. She was absent from school for a week. She also missed her first school outing (a full day outing to Pusat Sains Negara, chocolate factory and don't-know-where-else) on Saturday. She was really disappointed.

Last Wednesday, it's back to didi's turn. :( He's got ear infection, both ears. Complained of ear pain on Wed night. PaPa came home at 11+pm and brought him to the hospital (most clinics were closed already) coz we don't have any medicine at home. He was still in pain after putting the ear drop so I gave him paracetamol. The next morning, brought him to our regular paediatrician coz I don't really trust the doctor at the A&E. Although he didn't have any fever, the doctor started him on antibiotics coz he's usually more aggressive when it comes to ear infection. Luckily he didn't complain of pain after that.

Photobook
I've just received my second photobook. I bought 2 vouchers in Sept 2010. After procrastinating for more than a year, I completed didi's book in Jan and got it just before the CNY break. I was busy slowwwwwly working on jie jie's book last month. Finally it was done and uploaded for printing just before the expiry date (end of Mac). :p

~ from birth till 3 years old ~

~ from birth till 4 years old ~

~ inside XY's photobook ~

Back To School

Just into the 2nd week of school, didi had to skip class due to health reason. Sigh... He was the stronger one during the school holidays. Apart from having mild running nose, he was overall quite healthy. On the other hand, jie jie got sick (with fever) twice in December. But last Thursday, his eyes were swollen when I picked him up from kindy. Brought him to see the paediatrician in the evening as his condition got worse. Doctor suspected that he was bitten by some insect and was having some kind of allergy reaction. So I let him skip school the next day to rest at home as he was also having running nose and cough. Then red patches/dots (non-bulging) started to appear on his ears, hands and neck, then body and legs. But the funny thing is, the patches/dots will appear, then disappear a few hours later. And reappear again. The cycle kept repeating. It was like that throughout the weekend. When the swelling around the eyes subsided a bit, it was replaced with big red circles. He looked like he was punched in the eyes.

~ look terrible hor? picture taken on Thursday, 5:21pm ~

Then yesterday evening, he developed fever after we came back from lunch. Luckily it subsided after a dose of paracetamol. That's why I let him attend school today. The red patches/dots are gone. I'm praying hard the kids will recover fully for CNY. Yup, jie jie's also having a flu. :-( With all the "nice" food and travelling, it's going to be tough if they're not in tip-top condition.

As for the back-to-school routine, didi adjusted to it very well. He didn't have any problems waking up in the mornings. Anyway, he rarely had such problems previously. On the first day of school, I brought him to the gate, waved him goodbye and he walked in himself. This is his 3rd year in that kindy and I would expect him to be independent. When I picked him up, his teacher said he was well-behaved. She was worried at first as his cousin brother (who was his companion there last year) has graduated from kindy.

As for jie jie, I find that her honeymoon years are over. Now that she's in Std 3, there are more homework, but I'm sure nothing compared to those from Chinese schools. I was so surprised when she got her timetable on the first day of school. I remember they took about 2 weeks to give out the timetable when she was in Std 1.

She's been selected to be a prefect. I think they are on probation now before they officially become one next year. She'll still wear the same uniform but will be given a badge and tie. Some of her duties are to "take care" of the students in the classroom during the teacher's absence and before school starts, when they line up to go to their respective classes. She'll have an earlier break coz she has duties when the others are having their break. That means she'll have less time to finish up her work in school and I hope she won't miss any lessons.

CNY is just around the corner. Here's wishing you a prosperous, healthy and happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai and happy holidays! If you're travelling during the festive season, have a safe journey!

Goodbye 2011

How time flies! 2011 zoomed by so fast without us realising it. I wonder why time seemed to crawl slower when we're younger. Is it because we can't wait to grow up but we seriously don't look forward to grow old? hehehe I'm very thankful it's been a good year for us. As long as nothing bad happened and everything's smooth sailing, it's indeed a good year. I hope we'll be blessed with another good year in 2012 and thereafter.

~ the kids with MV's Christmas decoration ~

Here are some updates for the month of December :

4th (Sunday) ~ Went to watch Puss In Boots in 3D. This time, CE was okay wearing the 3D glasses. And I think he enjoyed the show as much as the popcorn. Coz he didn't come and disturb me after he's finished his popcorn. :D

After we reached home, XY complained of stomachache in the evening. It got worse the next day. She also had fever, diarrhea and vomiting. Brought her to see the paediatrician and he suspected viral infection, not food poisoning. Since she couldn't really take solid food and she's been vomiting, I made the Oral Dehydration Salts water for her. And she really hated it, both the original and orange flavour. I tried a packet myself, it tasted fine. It was really difficult to get her to finish a cup (in a day) and I had to bribe and force. Luckily she got much better after a day and her appetite was back to normal 2 days later.

8th (Thursday) ~ I won 2 tickets to watch Jacky Cheung's concert via an sms contest. SIL was very kind to offer to babysit the kids so hubby and I can go. This is the 2nd time we went for his concert. The 1st was more than 10 years ago, I think. I took the train to meet up with hubby at the stadium. It was an awesome performance with great dance moves. Jacky can dance and sing fast songs 2 to 3 songs continuously. Very good stamina (for his age hehehe). I sat next to 2 ladies (in late 20s or early 30s) and we acted like teenagers -- shouted his name out loud and moved the blinking wands to the rhythm of his songs. *giggle giggle* He sang for 3 hours with minimal rest in between. The concert ended before 11:30pm. We were stuck in traffic for quite some time after exiting the parking lot and it was already past 12 midnight when we picked the kids up. Many thanks to SIL for the opportunity to go 'pak thor' with hubby. Ever since XY's arrival, we've not been on a proper date.

~ inside the stadium ~

11th (Sunday) ~ We finally decided to get a second-hand piano for XY. As we do not know how long her interest will last, we didn't want to invest heavily on a new one. She chose the piano herself. She prefer Kawai over Yamaha, maybe because she's been playing on a Kawai (CH's) all this while. We got her a Kawai BL-31, about 32 years old. It was delivered on the 13th. Her teacher was asking if we'd like to register her for the Grade 1 practical exam next year (between June and August). After getting her teacher's feedback on her progress, I've decided to let her take the next one in March 2013. By then, she would've learnt for 2 years. There's no rush, better give her more time, less stress for her (and me).

21st (Wednesday) ~ After the pest control service, we went to Tesco for sundry shopping. Then lunch at McD and the kids played at the indoor playground. Since Giant is just nearby, we continued 'shopping' again as I couldn't get all the things I wanted from Tesco.

26th (Monday) ~ I had a gathering with 3 of my secondary schoolmates. We had dinner at my place. So nice of them to come all the way (1 from Seremban, 2 from KL) to my ulu town. It was really great catching up with old friends over good food. I haven't met L since she left school after Form 5. We had BBQ marmite crabs (*yummy yum yum* which A brought from Seremban), satay and home-cooked fried bihun. XY was very excited that night and kept my friends entertained. Actually, she was over-excited till she got out of control thus getting a good scolding from me the next day. The girls commented that she's totally opposite from me as I'm a very quiet person. The funny thing is, PaPa's also a very quiet person. So where did she get this outgoing trait from? hmmmm...

28th (Wednesday) ~ Brought the kids for a haircut. School will reopen soon and it should still look neat enough for Chinese New Year. XY agreed to cut her hair short (not tie-able anymore). Wanted to get a new school bag (without trolley) for XY as her classroom is located on the 1st floor next year. There wasn't much choice and she didn't like the ones we saw. So didn't manage to get the bag yet. To split the weight, I got her a sling bag too.

XY fell sick (again) the next day -- fever and runny nose. Luckily her fever only lasted a day. Actually, CE and I are also recovering from runny nose. Hopefully everyone will be fully recovered before school starts.

Retail Therapy

How invigorating! I was given a day off to go shopping for CNY clothes. Most of the time when we go to the malls, I don’t really have the mood to buy my own clothes. When PaPa’s not there to control them, the kids like to play hide and seek among the rows of clothes. Or play catching. Or just run around, making a lot of noise. *shake head* So I can’t look at my stuff in peace.

As Christmas is just round the corner, the malls are packed with people doing last minute shopping. After walking around (from MV to The Gardens) for 4 hours, I’m quite satisfied with my loots. Nothing fancy, mainly casual wear coz I’m a ‘si lai’ mah, don’t need fancy attires. :D

I also took the opportunity to meet up with my ol’ pal (we’ve been friends since primary school). She came all the way from Seremban with her 11 year-old daughter. I’m so glad she could make it coz I only buzzed her yesterday night. We’ve not seen each other for many many years already, but we’ve been keeping in touch. We had an early dinner at Yuzu Japanese Restaurant at The Gardens. Food was really good! And as usual, sorry ah, no pictures coz slavemom is NOT a professional blogger. hahaha

I came back with bribes for the kids – lollipops from Starbucks, doughnuts and a book for XY. So no complaints from them that I was out almost the whole day. Thank you, PaPa for taking care of the kids. I really enjoyed my day off. Errr... can we do this more often? :p

Proud Moments

So fast 2 weeks of school holidays have passed. The kids have been fully occupied so far. They attended a Science Camp organised by CE's kindy last week (for 3 days). Their grandparents were here for a week, just went back on Wednesday. During their visit, the kids have been playing at their cousin's place from morning till night, with a break during naptime.

Now for some backdated events, CE had his Annual Concert cum Graduation Night on 12th Nov. He participated in 2 performances -- percussion and dance. It was a big relief that he didn't play a fool on the stage (remember his teacher's complaint during practice?). In fact, he was very serious with his dance moves -- very serious in shaking his bum bum. hahaha He seemed to be really enjoying himself on stage. It was also CH's (my nephew) graduation night. He was chosen to give a speech in Bahasa Malaysia. And he did it fluently and clearly. *clap clap clap*

* shake shake shake *

On 19th Nov, we went to XY's school for the Excellence Awards Ceremony. She got first in class and also a prize for Best Subject: English. She had to be in school by 7:30am so PaPa sent her to school first. Last year, all of us went at the same time and wasted time waiting for the VIPs to arrive. Then we had to endure the boring speeches. So this time, I thought we could skip all that and reach just before the prize-giving event starts. Unfortunately, they were ahead of schedule. By the time we reached the venue, she was about to go for her second round. I was just in time to take her picture. *phew* Just like last year, she received a certificate and a RM20 cash voucher for each of the award.

~ just in time to capture this ~

Singapore Trip Oct '11 (Part II)

Day 2 ~ 25th Oct

Had breakfast at the hotel as our package came with buffet breakfast for 2 adults. So we had to pay for the kids' buffet. Food was alright. Not too much variety but good enough for eating 2 days straight. I read a lot of reviews about very long queues, waiting for a table in the mornings. But we didn't face such problems, probably because it was off peak season.

We reached USS entrance at about 10am, its opening time. Saw that the 'candy tree' area was empty. Quickly brought the kids there for some photo shots. The day was so hot although the weather forecast said thunderstorm. But better be hot than raining, right? I brought along the kids' caps and a folded umbrella. But silly me, forgot to check the umbrella as it's been sitting in the cupboard, unopened, for years. It was a bit faulty, with a broken rib and I had difficulty closing it. So we didn't use it. Woah... we were being baked under the hot sun. Came back a few shades darker. :-( Although we went on a weekday, it's still very crowded. A lot of Indian tourists. But luckily the queues are still manageable. Nothing exceeding 30 minutes, mostly 5-10 minutes. If you're going during peak season, I'd suggest you buy the express pass to avoid spending all your time queuing.

~ under the 'candy tree' ~

~ Universal Studios Singapore ~

There are 7 zones in USS. As compared to Hong Kong Disneyland, the place is not very big and the rides are of a smaller version. We covered all those rides that we CAN ride, except the extreme roller coaster rides at Sci-Fi City. I can still accompany XY for the milder ones like Enchanted Airways and Canopy Flyer. While riding the Revenge of the Mummy, I almost freaked out. Just can't wait for the ride to be over. But XY really enjoyed it. What a daredevil she is. She wanted to go for second round but no one can accompany her. Coz I give up! Getting old lah. And don't count on PaPa, he's worse than me. hahaha We skipped Donkey Live show and missed Monster Rock due to the timing. Transformers The Ride will be opening in December 2011.

Some of the interesting shows are WaterWorld (the explosive and thrilling death-defying stunts water show), Shrek 4-D Adventure (with water spray and sensory effects) and Lights, Camera, Action! (special effects stage show).

We had dinner at Din Tai Fung. Had siew lung bao, noodle soup and fried rice. We enjoyed this much more than our meal at HRC. So cinapek hor. hahaha

Day 3 ~ 26th Oct

After our buffet breakfast, we went to check out Hard Rock Hotel's pool. As a hotel guest in the Resort, you're allowed to use any of the hotel's pool. I thought the kids would be thrilled with the man-made beach but they weren't interested to play with sand that morning. They went for the slide first but got bored with it quite fast. CE kept getting stuck in the middle of the slide, probably coz it wasn't steep enough. But I don't know why XY didn't have such problems. I don't really like the feel of sand in the pool so we moved to the shallow pool (without sand). Tried the jacuzzi, the pressure was so strong I had a hard time sitting still. :D

We didn't spend much time there. Headed back to the room to shower and pack and got ready to check out. We managed to get a late check-out at 1pm. Left our luggage at the reception and went for a light lunch at Toast Box as we're still quite full from breakfast.

Next on the itinerary is Underwater World. Although we've been there in '07, XY wanted to go again. And I thought CE would be able to appreciate it more now that he's older. The kids really enjoyed looking at the sea creatures and they are actually familiar with some special types of crabs/fish as they've seen them in Octonauts. hehehe Since it's our second time there, I don't find it interesting, except for the seals and dolphins show. They are really adorable, well-trained and entertaining.

~ Underwater World Singapore ~

~ interesting performance by the seals and dolphins ~

There was still time to kill so had a tea break at a restaurant there. Then we went back to The Forum and had a drink at Coffee Bean, to wait for dinner time. Ate at Din Tai Fung again. This time we ordered noodle soup for the kids and snacks for ourselves.

We were really frustrated when we found out our flight was delayed for 2 hours. The only good thing that came out of this is that I finally found the Faber-Castell finger printing art pads. Have been searching for a very long time already. Couldn't find this in their outlets in KL/Selangor. Due to the delay, I had time to check out the book store. Sooooo happy when I saw the art pads. There are 4 or 5 sets of different colours but I only bought one -- quite expensive leh after conversion. :p Also bought Crayola washable markers since I didn't get any souvenirs for the kids from USS. The welcome pack (consisted of a hand puppet, toothbrush, rubik's cube and plastic inflatable noise-maker) they got when we checked in at Festive Hotel doesn't count, right? :D Oh oh, got one souvenir from USS -- the popcorn bowl. Their cheapskate Mommy kept the bowl after they finished the popcorn. hahaha