Getting to Lost World at Tambun, Ipoh

We decided not to drive or take the coach to Ipoh because of the long hours of travel - about 9 hours.  With direct flight via Firefly from Singapore to Ipoh, we have cut down traveling time to an hour, saving our day for sight-seeing.  See First Flight for our experience on Firefly.

Firefly leaves from Singapore Budget Terminal which is just next to Singapore Changi International Airport.  (I made the mistake of assuming this applies to Budget Airlines overseas which nearly cost us our flight back to Singapore)  Here are some pictures of the Budget Terminal on 15th December, 2011:

Entrance to Singapore Budget Terminal at Changi

No queue at the Firefly Counter even after we have checked in.

Singapore Budget Terminal now has food outlets including Mcdonald's.

Our Boarding Pass

Upon arrival at Ipoh Airport, I looked around for the Taxi Service to avoid being overcharged as the local taxis do not run on metre.  I found this counter right next to the entrance:

There was no one sitting at the table (it was not even a counter), so I waited.  Then came a fairly tall Chinese man in tinted glasses who spoke in Cantonese asking me where I was heading.  My request seemed unusual as he repeated after me, pondering for a second "Medan Gopeng to buy coach tickets then to Lost World at Tambun..."  

He scribbled me a pink ticket RM30 with the said destinations, then told me to wait at the front where he would pick us up himself.  From my earlier research, I knew Medan Gopeng Ipoh Bus Terminal is along the way to Tambun, but not sure how far it was exactly.  Good thing it was just about 30 minutes drive from the airport!

Once in the car, Mr. Lai, the taxi driver, started chatting to us in Mandarin like an old friend.  He said he had been driving taxi for the last 51 years and he could find his way around Ipoh with his eyes closed.  At Medan Gopeng Bus Terminal, he was going to help me book the tickets and I had to make known of my email reservation with Unitity Bus.  

I was a little shocked when I stepped in to Medan Gopeng Bus Terminal to hear people shouting at me from their counters.  From the destinations they uttered in English, I realized they were actually touting for business.  The second counter we stopped at had the date and time of Unitity bus which we wanted.  The sign board at the counter read "Eighty Eight".  It was very misleading as I had interpreted it as Lapan Lapan, which is another bus company.  Nevertheless, I got the tickets and at the right price of RM15 per person.

When I was planning this holiday, it took me much googling to finally make a coach booking to Cameron Highlands.  Most of the agents at the counters are not internet-savy and only take telephone bookings.  It was by chance that I came across Titiwangsa Tours and received email confirmation through Mr. Chai.  As I later learned when I got to Cameron Highlands, Titiwangsa Tours and Travel owns Unitity Buses and minivans, run local tours, as well as their own hotel and restaurant.  Hence if you are planning to visit Cameron Highlands without your own vehicle, this is an option you can consider.  More will be mentioned on Cameron Highlands later.

Back in the taxi, Mom and the kids were perspiring and were glad we were back.  From there, we headed for Lost World at Tambun, which was about 20 minutes from Medan Gopeng.  Mr. Lai asked if we needed him to drive us to the station on the day of departure, and we gladly booked him on the spot.  He even offered to bring us out for early breakfast - and gave us his number if we were keen: 016-5418122.  So now you know who you can call if you are in Ipoh and need a cab!

To be sure, I checked with the receptionist at Lost World Hotel and was told that the taxi fare from airport to Lost World was about RM25 to RM30.  With value-added service from Mr. Lai, what else do I have to complain about?

First Flight

We have been waiting and waiting all holiday and the day was finally here.  For the children, it was the first time they were traveling in airplane.  For me, it would be the first time in ... 10 years?

SW could not fall asleep the night before, and complained why we could not go earlier, why the sky was not bright yet, and at the airport, about why we had to wait more than an hour after check-in and why the plane took so long to take flight.

Do not be mistaken, there was hardly any queue at check-in.  I suppose that was because we reached the airport early.  Firefly is considered expensive compared to other budget airline. So there were fewer passengers while the rest of the queues were from Tiger Airways.  It is priced so most likely because it is the only airline that flies to Ipoh directly from Singapore.  Per ticket costed around S$138 per one-way ticket, RM232.  You can fly to Kuala Lumpur at half that rate by Tiger Airways or AirAsia, depending on the period you are flying, and whether there were promotions.

We took Firefly from Singapore to Ipoh in order to avoid the long hours of traveling by coach to Cameron Highlands (9 - 10 hours).  I had booked my flight tickets via the Fireflyz website about 3 weeks ago, and was also able to reserve my own seats.  I chosed seats away from the wings, not realizing I ended up right next to the propeller instead (sweat and pray).

The children were not that inquisitive about what there was on the plane until I showed them how to pull down the window shield.  Instinctively, they started playing and trying to figure out what other 'gadgets' there were, rather to my regret.  It was a small airplane, pretty full, and the last thing I wanted to was to draw attention to ourselves turning ourselves into pests.

I sat with CH, and behind us were Mom and SW while HM sat across the aisle beside Mom.  I had planned to sit where SW and Mom were sitting but I got up the plane first and there was hardly any space on the aisle for me and my luggage to move back, so we stayed put.  Good thing we are small-framed...there was little leg room for the bigger Europeans.  Beware of carrying bulky hand-carry too, as the cabin space above our heads is limited.  Mom had to shove hers under my seat, thus limiting her own leg-room.

CH and SW each had a window seat, to their delight.  When I took my own first flight at 12 years old, I fought with sis and bro over one window seat and I won, with Sis sitting next to me, and Bro, then 5, stuck in between both our parents, sulking.  Poor Bro.  He refused to take any photos and covered his teary face with the flight cushion.

CH was beaming all the way, sitting next to me.  She loved looking down at the clouds and the land below.  She asked Mom for paper and pen to record her experience.

I was surprised they served inflight refreshments on an one-hour flight.  Choice of peanuts or muffin, juice, coffee or tea. There were 2 stewardesses on board (SW asked me who they were), and I have no complains over their services.  The toilet - it's clean, but I cannot imagine how the bigger Europeans can use it without closing the door - oh I forget...men stand.

We rushed to get up the plane, but on getting off, I remembered to snap a picture of the Firefly.

In this picture, you can see the hills of Ipoh in the background.

Learning Music

Music lessons can be costly.  It is a long-term commitment, and I hesitate for the longest time to enroll my children in any of them.  

SW, seven, has picked up the violin when he entered Primary school this year.  They are weekly lessons conducted in groups, taught by an outsourced music teacher.  SW is fond of the teacher, Mr. Quek. The course fees at SGD105 per 10 lessons works well on my purse string.

We had never planned for SW to learn the violin.  SW wanted to learn to play the trumpet but his school only offered brass band as CCA for Primary 3s onwards.  For him to have a head start in music, I suggested the violin and he was keen.  Since then, he had been learning nearly a new song each week.  Here is a recording that I made of his playing recently.

Audio recording of SW playing violin: Go Tell Aunt Rhody

The greatest challenge in learning music - or every other thing, I suppose - is regularity of practice.  For a young child learning music, parental involvement is crucial.  Over the last few months, I have been diligent, negligent, encouraging, demoralizing, patient, touchy, in short, not exactly proud of myself.  But from these experiences, I have learnt that I have to sit with him and give him 100% of my attention when he practices.  It makes a whole world of difference whether he has an attentive audience.   For instance, it is different when I just yell out to him to 'get to practice' when I am still doing my laundry or trying to round up an email.  The attitude I received in return was sluggishness. 

My husband is a believer of Nature.  "If you need to push him to practice all the time, you might as well give it up!"  There is much truth in this because after a while, you realize you spend more effort trying to get your child to practice.  You start taking on the role of an authoritative and pushy parent and it makes you feel absolutely lousy, and you feel like giving up.

But of course, we must identify the cause of the sluggishness.  That was when I realized it was I who has forgotten the importance of being focused.  Once I got my child to focus on the instrument, and encouraging playing his best, then I spend less time trying to 'push' him to practice.   At this stage, I really have no idea how long it will take for him to cultivate the internal drive to pick up the instrument to practice everyday.  I could only take one step at a time.

My 5 year-old daughter, CH, is interested to play the keyboard.  Like in the case of my son, I did not jump straight into giving her formal piano lessons.  I have a Kurtzweil keyboard which I bought about 20 years ago with the first 3 months of salary from my first permanent job.  CH likes to play around with it, so I decided to try teaching her on my own.  

I recall attempting to teach her when she was 3 and 4, but they were flops.  She had refused to watch me demonstrate to her and insisted on playing in a haphazard way.  It was taking me too much efforts to coach her, so I let it go.  Now that she is 5, she seems more ready to listen and learn.  Perhaps she has realized she wasn't going anywhere on her own!

From the internet, I found PIANO BY NUMBERS.  I was tempted to take up the program, but decided to try using my own number notations to teach her instead.  In my younger days,  I used numbered scores to play some Chinese pop music.  Chinese instruments like the Er Hu also uses similar key notations, which is using numbers 1 to 7 to represent the notes C to B.  It was with this method of numbered key notations that I kicked start CH's home music lessons.

From there, CH learned to play some familiar nursery songs using her right hand: 

After about a month or two, CH was able to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars, Jingle Bells and 2 other Chinese folk songs (客人来，火车快飞) with her right hand.   Thereof, we moved on to these books which I bought from Yamaha Music School:

I picked this series upon my sister's recommendation as they are suitable for young beginners.  There are colorful pictures and child-friendly layouts with fun-filled activities.  With basic background in music, I was able to set her off in picking up the keyboard.  As to how far we will go with this, and for how long, again, we will take one step at a time!  

Quips

There is something about my daughter that I am pretty sure isn't a result of genetics.  Her quips.

You see, CH cannot stand the idea of knowing there are titbits in the cabinets or the fridge and not consume them.  Although I try not to buy them, I cannot stop my husband from spoiling her - well, once in a while.

That day, my husband bought her a pack of chocolate, not realizing that she would consume them in one afternoon.  She got really sick and started wheezing badly the following day.  She hasn't had wheezing for some time, and amidst her tears of suffering, she told me she would listen to me next time.  She thought she was going to die from breathlessness, and I assured her she would be fine after her nebulizer treatment at the family clinic.

Immediately after the treatment, she was bouncing around.   My husband started teasing her by asking if she would like another ten packs of chocolates.  She replied, "爸爸， 你不要我了啊？“ （Papa, don't you want me anymore）

____________


CH likes to use 'order' when she means buy or get.  She sees her classmates being picked up from school by their maids, and she had asked me why their classmates wanted to order a maid.

Once, we were chatting over lunch and I was remarking casually, "You can use the vacuum, you can wipe the table, you love to wash the plates, and you love the washing machine - how about becoming our maid?"

She exclaimed in disbelief, "Why do you want to order a little maid?!"

____________


One afternoon, while trying to get CH to nap, she started asking me, "Mommy, why am I not a Jie Jie (elder sister)?  Why am I the youngest?"

I disagreed with her since she has a younger cousin now, so she IS a Jie Jie.

"No, I mean - why is LK my Jie Jie, and why am I not her Jie Jie?"  She rephrased her query.

"Oh, that's because Ah Yi (aunty) got married earlier than I did, so LK Jie Jie was born before you!  And there is nothing you can do about it!"  I tried to explain, wondering if she would understand anyway.  My younger sister's eldest daughter was born before I was even married.

CH got up from bed and exclaimed , "But mommy, you are older!  How could your Mei Mei (younger sister) get married before you did?" She sounded accusing, which made me want to laugh.  Before I could say anything, she continued with a change of tone.

"Ok, next time I am going to get married secretly!"  She decided, to my astonishment.

"Oh, please don't get married secretly!"  I replied in horror.

You see, I've always had this fear that she would elope with some guy one day because of her rebellious nature.  I wondered who was the more ignorant one, but to salvage a potentially detrimental consequence caused by an ignorant thought formed since the age of five was more important.

I started to paint her the beautiful picture of her looking like a real princess dressed in wedding gown and her handsome prince beside her, and all her loved ones, including papa and mama sharing her joy of marriage.  "You wouldn't want us to miss your big day, do you?"

"Oh yeah", she smiled at the thought.

The following day was Saturday and we met up with Sis as usual.  I was telling Sis about my exchange with my daughter when LK, who had been listening quietly to us, exclaimed in enlightenment, "Oh, no wonder the first thing CH said to me when she saw me just now was "LK Jie Jie, you don't get married first ok, you must wait for me har!""

Gosh, what's going on in that little mind of hers?

Angry Birds

I am going to change my alarm ringtone to the theme of Angry Birds.  It will definitely catch my 7 year-old's attention and wake him up in the morning effortlessly.

Out of so many birds in the game - the red and powerless, the yellow with zeal, the blue that splits itself into triplets, the parrot that U-turns, the white that drops an egg, what makes the black one that explodes like a bomb SW's favourite really beats me. "Because it blows things up" - that being the most powerful? Or because black is his favourite colour now?  It used to be red, but red bird is "so lame".

Though we try to control his time on the game, I have to admit it is highly addictive having played it myself. In the beginning, I actually fought with him for "one more game", ignoring his laments, challenging myself to the next level till the battery goes flat. That was before I had to stop myself entirely so I could get on with life. It brings back memories of playing 'Poppey' and 'Octopus', not to forget the calculator with an 'n' (By the way, whatever happened to its manufacturer?  It is great training for summing up 10s!)  So, can I proudly say that a parent who has been there knows how it is like?  Or rather, it was a case of how I got myopic?

We had to start administering playing time. Protecting eyesight is one of the reasons we give. But that does little to stop my little chap from thinking about the game. He goes about creating his own Angry Birds games:

I have to admit it is amusing to see the details in the drawings.  What games do to each child could be different.  To SW, it was not a case of him copying since he would take every minute he could to play.  What I think is interesting is its production from memory.  

Once, while playing the game with his cousin, my sister-in-law overheard the boys' discussions and whispered to me, "Oh dear, he could remember which level has the Golden Egg!"

Literary Hazards

Ok, I admit it - I have been battling with my children over the use of Singlish.  It is developing into what I deem to be literary hazards.

Since young, I have been using Mandarin (Chinese) with them at home, so I would say Mandarin is their mother-tongue.  I used to get asked by relatives why I do not get them to speak English since English is the key language used in local schools.  It has been this very reason that I choose to use Mandarin with my children since they could always learn and pick up English in school and well, almost everywhere else in Singapore.  But as my children got older and started attending school, I realized how wrong I could be.

What the children learnt - or rather, picked up - is not English, but Singlish.  In the beginning, it is funny to hear them say it.  After a while, it has become their mother-tongue.  Even between the siblings, they use Singlish.

There is actually nothing wrong - they write fine and they read enough to know what is grammatically correct.  However, my regular correction of their Singlish is too lame against the 'forces of the society' when it comes to their spoken language.

This is not the end of it all.  The use of Mandarin is slowly and unconsciously being replaced by the use of Singlish.  Switching the children back to speaking Mandarin, with reminders for them to “讲华语” can be disastrous.  You get to hear things you could hardly comprehend and decipher. I had to get them to translate it back to Singlish or English for enlightenment.  Here are some dreadful yet funny examples:

You hear people say in Singlish: "Why must eat everyday?" which actually means "Why must I eat everyday?"  But who has ever heard of "为什么要吃每天?“

Here are more:

  I'm not! - 我不在！

  她没有在来 - She's not coming!

  What day is today? - 今天是什么天？

  Papa is behind me - 爸爸后面我！

  I can eat it myself - 我可以吃那个自己！

Hyacinthus

From Christmas to New Year, then to Chinese New Year, not to mention SW entering Primary School and the adjustments to the various routines, it's been a hectic beginning of Twenty 11!  Nevertheless, it is just as important to indulge myself with the little pleasures of everyday life - trying an indoor plant, the Hyacinthus (丰信子).

It was by chance during the Lunar New Year shopping at Chinatown that I came across the bulbs.  Being rather risk adverse in handling 'a new life', I tried to get as much information as I could from the old lady boss who had every good thing to say about the plants that I became skeptical.  Questions like:

"How long will they last?"
"When will they bloom?"
"Will the flowers wither before Chinese New Year Eve?"
"How long will the flowers remain in bloom?"
"Should I pick this one with the flowers or the one without?"
"What about the colour?" There were light pink, darker pink, violet...

For S$15 a pot, I guess I was lingering longer than the average customer.  But I was determined to get one, despite the fact that it was starting to drizzle.

Finally, I picked one that showed buds, with varying heights, and relatively large bulbs.  I didn't want to take the risk of the flowers withering before Chinese New Year Eve as I was expecting relatives over.

 "These plants don't need much watering.  And when you do, just put an ice cube right in the middle. "  Explained the patient old lady boss.

The speed at which the bulbs grew took me by surprise.  The plant was straight up when I brought it home. The following morning, the flower stalk grew several inches and leaned to one side.  I grabbed my camera and followed its bloom.

By first day of Chinese New Year, the flowers were fully bloomed and got so heavy I used a ribbon to keep them together.

Perception of Colours

CH was working on her homework of 'Z', with a picture of a zebra she was about to colour.

"How can I colour White?" she pondered. Seconds later, she exclaimed, "I know!"

And she coloured Black.

The Stress of Parenting

"There are 6 triggers for bad behavior: tiredness and hunger; an immature brain; 

unmet psychological needs; intense emotions; parental stress; 

and a parenting style that activates the alarm systems in a child's lower brain."

 - The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderland, DK.

I got up at 5 this morning, unable to go back to sleep.  Thoughts about CH made me pick up this book - again.

Tiredness and hunger - CH is constantly asking for something to eat.

An immature brain - "Trying times with under-fives are often the result of immature brain systems" - Oh yeah, CH is only 4.

Unmet psychological needs - What could that be?

Intense emotions - Have I been missing her cues?

Parental stress - I have been rushing for deadlines.  Figures.

A Parenting style that activates the alarm systems in a child's lower brain - A good reminder that I need some self-reflection and adjustments.

For now, I'd better dig into "Mastering CSS" before waking the kids up for school.

Happy Birthdays!

If I ever make notes on my calendar, September would be a month that is filled with birthdays, including my own!

My niece celebrated her 2nd birthday recently at Mcdonald's. It was the first time I attended a birthday celebration at Mcdonald's.

We did not have a tradition of celebrating birthdays except for our grandparents, and as a kid, I have never attended any of my friends' birthday parties. Somehow though, you could roughly figure out how a birthday celebration at Mcdonald's would be with the balloons, games and gifts for the little ones. However, the choice of the outlet made a difference.

The location was at Rideout in Queensway. It has a good playground, a little park for the older kids to roam about, and without a big crowd, space for the adults to sit back and relax, have a bite and catch up on things.

I do not recall when getting presents for kids had become difficult for me. Although there are a lot more variety of toys and merchandise these days, I find it harder to decide on a good present because you do not want to duplicate what the kids already have. Giving money in red packet becomes an option. Fortunately, my 6 year-old helped me decide what to buy for her little cousin.

"We will get her Duplo! We have lots of that in school and she will love them too!" SW says that because he is a fan of Lego. I am very glad that he knows Duplos are for younger children. I thought that was a good choice since CH still plays with them at 4. And the more pieces you have, the bigger things you could build.

Today is LA's 5th birthday. Sis just told me that when we bumped into her and LA on our way to the library.

"CH, today is LA's birthday! Would you like to get her a present?" I asked CH as we went our separate ways, agreeing to meet for lunch later.

"Oh! Yes, mommy!"

"What would you like to get her?" I asked and continued walking, having the least idea what we could get her.

"Why don't we buy her a surprise?"

I laughed, "Surprise isn't an item you can buy, CH!"

I never thought of gifts and surprises that way. Does this 4 year-old really understand what the word surprise mean? What does a surprise look like? Why not? It is the thought that counts, isn't it? All gifts are surprises, aren't they?

On our way home after lunch, CH did not want to part with LA and refused to go home. "Where are we going, mommy?"

"Home, CH, we are going home now." I had to put my foot down.

"Mommy, can we go to LA's Birthday Party?"

I laughed again. Not because LA isn't having a birthday party, but from the earlier 'buy a surprise', CH makes "LA's Birthday Party" sound like a location rather than an occasion!

Original Works

You could say children are the greatest artists. For what they lack in strength and dexterity, they make it up in their originality, and that is unbeatable by any adults. So untainted in perception, so clear of beliefs of any sort, so full of possibilities.

CH, September 2010

I like the the flowers that grow from the sky

Recently, I saw in a friend's facebook, some line drawings done by his preschool daughter, of people she knows. Maybe it is because I have been so used to seeing my own children's, or perhaps it is the noses that she has included on the faces, which do not exist in any of my children's. Her simple lines made an impression on me. If only I can have my friend's courtesy to put up some in this blog to share...

Great! Permission granted! Here are some of 3 year-old Faith Chen's works:

Faith has interestingly added something which looks like a '2' in this picture.

Perhaps she's drawn this when she was two? Or perhaps that is just part of her hair?

Makes me wonder if 'Teacher Michelle' wears glasses.

Notice how she fills up the entire page in each drawing.

Kids!!

I try to keep a record of the funny things SW tells me.

"Jonathan cried in school twice today," said SW. Jonathan is the most popular boy in his class.

"What happened?"

"It's YH's birthday today, and teacher said he is the king today."

"Oh, I see. Jonathan enjoys being king, eh? So why did he cry the second time?"

"Teacher said that a second time!"

__________

"I told teacher that last time Victoria said she wanted to marry me, now she doesn't want to marry me."

"Ah-huh, so what did your teacher say?"

"She said, "Why you bother?"!"

From around 5 to 6 years old, SW blushes when he sees girls showing flesh.

"Yeee, look at this girl," SW commented, pointing to an animated cartoon character in bustier.

"Do you think girls look nice wearing that?" I asked out of curiosity.

"No." He shook his head.

"Why do you think they wear them?"

He thought for a while and replied, "Because there is a hole in their shirt?"

__________

"Look at this girl, she's botak(bald)", SW commented, pointing to Ventress in his Star Wars The Clone Wars book.

"Why is she botak?"

"She has given her hair to Count Dooku! Hahaha!"

"????"

__________

I wish I had taken more notes of what the kids say.

Dragonflies, Dragonflies

Dragonflies, dragonflies,
why do you hang around
these concrete grounds?
Where have I seen you, but
in the greenest fields?
Could it be the puddles from the rain?
Or the smell of grass that remained?

Dragonflies, dragonflies,
why are you still here
after one whole year?
Are you looking for your home
man has taken over for their own?
Are you looking for your little ones
who vanished while having fun?

Home-School Projects

CH has been bringing Home-School Projects from school. Since I am used to doing projects with the kids at home, there should not be much of a problem - or so I thought.

The first project we did was not exactly a happy one. Normally, I did not have to be in the picture. That makes things a lot easier as we are spontaneous and less conscious of ourselves. But for the Home-School Projects, parents are required to take pictures of themselves working with the kids, and email the pictures to the teacher.

I got my son SW to help us with the photographing. It was pretty much a disaster. Not only had I to juggle between supervising the photo-shooting and making the Art & Craft with CH, SW was more interested in taking pictures of everything else except us. It was a little project that did not take CH long to do, so everything finished rather quickly - meaning there were not many photographs either, most of which were blurred. I had to take over the camera at the end. Even so, there were no happy faces in the pictures. A failed project to my standard.

Along came the second Home-School Project. This time, SW was not around, so CH and I took turns taking pictures of each other.

At first, CH felt more enthusiastic about taking the pictures, ready to abandon her project and leaving everything to me. I decided that we should only take pictures at different stages of our project, and allowed her to take a few snaps each time. Rather than the results, it is usually the process that is more important when working with kids.

CH's take of me.

Although CH's little hands could hardly reach the snap button on my Fuji Finepix, she did her best in following instructions like not moving her hands when snapping and holding in position so as to maintain the focus.

CH finding a place on the 'wool' for the ribbon we

ripped off from an undersized hand-me-down.

A spontaneous act

I would grade this project a distinction.

Do-At-Home Sand Art

I thought I had a good deal getting a pack of Sand Art for only two dollars from Daiso. Turned out the two sticker pads were blank - meaning we had to draw and cut everything ourselves - a real DIY!

Original pack comes with coloured sand in little plastic bags

I got the kids to draft out what they wanted on a rough piece of paper before starting on the 2 sticker pads provided. We had to draw something that was not too complicated so it was easier to cut.

CH's draft - the details would have been tough on my hands

SW's draft - a good start

After sketching their pictures, the children could not wait to begin. Unfortunately, they had to wait for me to cut out the parts before they could pour sand in each portion like they do with the ready-cut ones. To save time, I modified some of the details. Especially for CH's, I got her to draw me another butterfly. It was a good thing as my fingers could hardly bend back towards the end...

The sand that came with the pack was not generous enough. Towards the end, we ran out of some colours. I tried to work around it by creating graduation in some portions. Though the results were not entirely to my satisfaction, they pictures were uniquely theirs.

I managed to find some ready-to-play packs with Barney prints at a chain supermarket a couple of days after that. Some departmental stores sell them too at an affordable S$3.90, and comes with a more generous amount of sand.

Forest Adventure

"It will be a wonderful experience for SW," Sis was highly recommending me to bring the kids to Forest Adventure at Bedok Reservoir.  And it proved better than I imagined!

Indian Bridge

About 3 to 4 metres above the ground, I did not have high hopes that my 6 year-old son, SW, would be willing to give it a go.  Joined by his two enthusiastic older cousins, LK and LJ, SW did not have a chance to think twice or back out of it.

Meeting the minimum required height of 1.1m, I could not help noticing how small SW looked up there.  Often suppressing excitement and not showing signs of fear, I could hardly tell what he was feeling except that he was very attentive to the young instructors giving instructions.

There were various obstacles to cross.  Each posed a different challenge of balance, strength, vigilance, and courage.  Although there were instructors at various points, it was such a blessing that SW had his cousins to help him with the safety line which needed some tugging to move on at the beginning and end of each obstacle.  He eventually learned to handle it all by himself. 

At one point, I feared for SW as it looked as if his height could barely make it.  But he managed to find his way to work around it.  It was a boost to SW's confidence and his parents were simply beaming with pride.

Below are some of pictures of the various obstacles. The course ended with a Zip Slide which the kids enjoyed - not without getting sand into their pants and shoes.

SW said this was the one he feared most as there was nothing 

on either side to hold on to.

There are similar activities for adults too.  But for that day, it was for the kids.  For more information, visit: www.forestadventure.com.sg

Quick Wraps

It was another box that I thought could be converted to something useful, an Essence of Chicken box, ideal for storing CH's clutter that she refuses to discard (becoming a junkie like me?).

CH picked the remainder of a gift wrapping paper

while I used the left-over drawer liner for the interior.

A Matter of Life and Death

I was with CH at the playground near her school today when an old man who was seemingly taking pictures suddenly fell to the ground about 3 metres behind me. The flop followed by loud groan stopped us short and I turned around to see him lying head back, right between the hard concrete and grass.

He was motionless and when I rushed to his side, his eyes were rolled back with mouth opened. I gasped in horror and shouted for help. "Help! Somebody, please help!"

"Please, don't die," I thought, and called out trying to get the old man's consciousness. CH's school mate's mom asked if we should call an ambulance. I reached for my phone but realized I didn't have it with me. "Please do", I told her.

I continued to shout for help as I had no idea what to do. A slim Indian man in a cap saw us and came running over. He gently held the old man's head up to feel if there was blood. There wasn't. I continued to called out to the old man who looks to be in his 70s, using different languagues - Hokkien, Chinese, English, Teochew..."Are you ok? How are you feeling?" No response.

The Indian man lifted his head up higher with his arm and I put my finger out to feel for the old man's breadth. "He's breathing", I told the Indian man in relief. Just then, the old man started to groan. He seemed to be gaining consciousness but he looked lost. For a moment, I wondered if he could have been drinking. The Indian man put his head back on the ground and said there was a bump on his head. I used CH's bottle holder for him as a pillow so the Indian man could remove his hand.

By then, a few more residents have approached and some recognized him as a fellow Chinese National who lives on the 11th floor and went upstairs to get his family. Initially someone suggested to move him to somewhere cleaner, but no one dared to touch him for fear of head and bone injuries. A lady from a nearby childcare centre came out - possibly the nurse - and we tried to get the old man to lie on his side. I've recently browsed through a first aid book and knew the position, but the old man did not want to turn. After that, we all just waited for the ambulance while the old man, fully conscious, continued to groan in Mandarin and wanted help to get up. Once, I heard him muttering that he was going to die. The neighbours consoled him and told him the ambulance would be there any minute.

CH watched us, not knowing exactly what was happening. She asked why I gave her Hello Kitty bottle holder to the man. She scampered off to the playground and continued playing with her friends and only came back when the ambulance arrived.

The ambulance came with 3 medical assistants. They got a brief description from me what happened and attended to the old man. An Indian lady standing next to the old man said she saw him fall, head back. They asked him where the pain was but did not get any answers from the old man. He just continued to groan when the assistants tried to help him.

Just then, his wife came. When asked, she said her husband does not have any heart diseases or high blood pressure. "He has knee ache. He left the house early today and said he was going to take pictures. Maybe he's tired out." Even the lady medical assistant thought the old man behaviour was rather odd. She got her Chinese colleague to ask the old man's wife if her husband's behaviour was normal. She said she had never behaved like that.

The lady assistant put the old man's camera into his side pocket and they tried to move him up a stretcher. The old man groaned loudly for them to slow down. He seemed to be in great pain.

All of a sudden, the old man wanted to throw up and they got him a plastic bag. As they tried to wheel him to the ambulance, he groaned loudly for them to stop. He said he did not want to go to the hospital. The medical assistants had to stop to convince him to have a thorough check. They could not leave him just like that. "If anything happens to you, we will need to make a police report," said a senior assistant. That seemed to work and the old man was quietly wheeled up the ambulance, accompanied by his wife.

"Don't worry about the medical bills. Your life is more important. Just rest at the hospital for 8 hours and you are free to go home if there is no serious injuries." The senior assistant was saying before the door closed.

I am reminded of how my fourth uncle died after slipping on the bathroom floor. He never ever woke up after that. Once, I hit my forehead really hard on the wall loosing balance whilst trying to help my then 3 year-old son in a public squat toilet - what a place to have an accident - I had a brief moment of blackout and must have lost consciousness for a few seconds, holding on to the walls because it took me a few minutes to remember what had happened and where I was. The pain on my head lasted for days.

First Ballet Class

Last Thursday night, CH attended her first ballet class - ever!

CH - first from the right

'Ever' because she had waited a year for it. Indeed, it is a quarter of her life. There were classes for 3 year-olds but the lesson time was not right for us. We used to peep outside the classrooms, watching the older girls at their practice. She would smile as she watched, admiration beaming through her eyes.

"Ballet is not just about wearing pink tutus and looking pretty, you know," I used to whisper into her ear as we watched. "Can you see the jie jies (big sisters) are trying very hard to lift up their legs and keeping in balance? You need a lot of strength and practice..." I wonder how much did get in.

Personally, I am a believer of delayed gratification. Watching others at it do wonders in building up life-long interest and helps in identifying real wants. Nevertheless, it is difficult to determine how long to delay and wiser to leave it to chance - I suppose. So, when we finally received the phone call that a class was starting at the time convenient for us, we were delighted! CH kept asking me,"Am I going for ballet lesson?" as if she could not believe it was true!

Perhaps we were already familiar with the place, perhaps it was the same teacher we have been watching - CH did not need any warming up and readily joined in the circle. I stayed and watch until she kept turning around to see me, loosing focus.

I was happy with the teacher. The little moves had stories to them and the girls took to them easily, with giggles and laughter.

Good toes, bad toes, naughty toes, walk on high-heels, mermaid's tail, (thigh-fly)butterfly, reach for the sky (to straighten their backs) were some of the terms the teacher used for some routine moves.

Before she stepped out of the classroom, she gave her teacher another smile, waved goodbye, and bent down to touch the wooden floor. Couldn't believe she's finally in a ballet class for real?

"When can I come back here for ballet, mommy?" CH asked as we left.

Kind? Not with Kinderjoy!

Ah-yi (aunty) bought this for me and kor kor (brother),

but I want them ALL to myself.

So LA helped me put stickers all over them.

Princess stickers!

So they will ALL be mine!

You know, mommy, that's when good girls

become bad girls!

- CH, with a wicked grin, over Kinderjoy -

Living without TV

Seven years ago, when we bought our CRT TV, the smallest LCD televisions still cost thousands of dollars. 3 years ago, we got asked why we had not 'upgraded' our television when nearly every household had an LCD TV.

"What do people do with their existing TV if they still work?" We had wondered. It was not like we needed two television sets at home.

Recently, our CRT broke down. Just like that, for no apparent reason. It just would not turn on. We needed to pay extras for the service man to check and possibly foot another hundred to change a part. So we waited for a good sale to come along. We waited 3 weeks.

On the second week, we got asked,"And you could survive?" Surprisingly, we did.

On the last weekend before the arrival of our new Philips LED TV, my brother in-law lent us an Avatar DVD. With HM's 24 inch LCD screen plugged into his laptop and sound system connected, we watched Avatar. That was our 3rd weekend without TV, and it felt even more exciting than it would have been if our TV had not broken down. Deprivation has its pros.

"Why do we even bother to buy a new TV?" HM had joked.

We had wanted to go for a LCD since a good 42 inch these days cost slightly more than a thousand dollars. But along came a Philips half-yearly sale for staff. With the help of some good contacts, we managed to get hold of a 40 inch LED that had not already gone out-of-stock. It is a HD 8000 series with ambient light, anti-glare, 100Hz, comes with USB socket, and is internet connectible! HM and I fell in love with the unique round corners of the TV.

Even the box that contained the TV was put to good use! The board is so hard and sturdy it would have been a shame to throw away!

Before

After - without any use of glue or tapes

Attempt on Oil Pastels

Drawing is such a personal thing, like playing the piano.

Try telling a child "Why don't you do it this way", you get "No, I like it this way!" Or "Why don't you try other colours", you get "No, I like pink and purple!" And the whole picture ends up in a flood of pink and purple.

It is funny how my favourite colour combination used to be pink and purple too. Yeah, you could just go on hours and hours with just pink and purple...

Watching CH drew made my fingers itch, so I picked up the oil pastels while she dipped happily into poster colours.

Finding ideas on what to draw was a challenge, especially when I have not painted in years. I started with CH's face, and it was a disaster. I have never succeeded in portraits. Flipping the paper over, I let my eyes drop from CH's smooth complexion and rosy lips, onto the bright yellow tweety bird on her T-shirt. So there goes the tweety bird, and my first attempt using oil pastels.

What amazed me was the smoothness of the oil pastels - and it wasn't even a branded set. Although it was rather messy and all other colours went onto the yellow, it was truly fun! I worked with my fingers on the blending, and the background colour came as a surprise to me - a bright turquoise, which happens to be one of my favourite colours.

"But mommy, the tweety bird is not sitting on the table!" CH was refering to the one on her T-shirt.

"That's all right. I like it this way!"