Little Girl Crushes

My daughter came home yesterday telling me that she had a fight with her best friend. She said that her heart really pain when her friend said such a thing to her.

Initially, I didn't know what exactly was going on. I told her to forgive her friend because she is her best friend. I told her to open up her heart, open up her mind, forgive and accept her again. Perhaps she didn't do it on purpose I said. Perhaps she was very tired therefore she was in a bad mood.... The more I said it, the more she cried. I didn't what to do. 

I let her have a quiet moment. We went strolling outside talked about everything under the sun except what had happened in school. 

In the evening, we talked again. She told me that her friend teased her for liking her classmate. Oh I see. Now I understand. It is the crushes thingy!

Well, having crushes on boys is absolutely a normal but yet a secret thingy that is going on in school. It is normal because it is just a natural instinct for a normal human being should behave. It is secret because it will be really embarrassed if other people knows about it and the guy you happened to have crushes on didn't like you. So, it is important to keep it a secret. 

For a child at this age, they somehow already have good understanding of the latter. Thanks to the TV shows and cartoons! 

What could be the worst to happen then? 

Your best friend teased you in front of the boy you like, that you have crushes on him! 

Oh yes! Oh yes! You feel like your whole face is blushing red and in urgent need for a hole to hide your red face! It took me quite a while to comfort my girl. Finally this works. 

I told her that well, it is a normal thing for a girl to like a boy. It is not something we should feel embarrassed about. It doesn't mean that they have cooties or what and they are different. In fact, we are just human being. God made us to like each other. Besides, everybody has crushes on somebody. True enough, my girl told me that her best friend also have crushes on another boy. 

We can make friends with anyone, be it a boy or a girl as long as they are nice to be with. She likes to play with that boy because he happens to be nice to her. So, i tell her the next time you know your friend has crushes on someone, do you laugh at her? 

She smiled and said I will tell her it is a normal thing. Don't worry, I will keep the secret for you. 

This is what LOVE is all about!

I have been having bad night cough for the last two nights. I refrained myself from taking cough medicine and cough relief tablets because the more I consumed, my cough seem to get worst. Not much choice but to rely just on drinking more water, eat more honey and fruits for vitamin C. 

My girl was rather sad seeing mummy having sleepless nights. The night before, she offered to help apply Vicks VapoRub on my chest and my back before I slept. She even "relocated" her bed to my room just in case I needed more Vicks in the middle of the night :)... Well, frankly she likes to sleep with daddy and mummy still despite she is already 9! I suppose this would give her a very good excuse to do so though ha!  :) :)

Yesterday night, seeing me coughing like a horse, she went into the internet and search for information on how to get rid of night tickling cough! She had written them in pieces of small papers, joined them together and had pasted it on the wall next to my bed. I am so touched by her gesture! I am so in love with her!!!

And by the way, this is my "prescription".

In case anyone out there faces similar sickness as I do, some of the effective one are:

• hot tea with lemon and honey
• cinnamon and lime (boil  1 or 2 pieces of cinnamon in a pot of lime juice)
• take a warm bath - take deep breath in front of the shower as steam helps to hydrate our throat
• put a cold wet cloth over your throat to relief coughing - this one seems to work well surprisingly!
• apply Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of your feet, cover with socks - all these while, I had been applying Vicks on my chest and throat area instead. No wonder it is not working!  

She told me that according to the internet, cinnamon is particularly effective but not popular. I will go to supermarket today to pick up some cinnamon and lime to try it out.

To our beloved daughter, bravo! 

Mummy and Daddy love you so much and this is for you!! 

 

Babymime (Thailand)

Last weekend, our family went to watch a mime show at PJ Civic Hall. It was a charity performance to raise funds for the poor in the border of Myammar. The event was organized  by 般若学舍 Persatuan Meditasi Prajna KL & Sel., co-organized by ASLI戏剧联盟 Drama Art Community Association KL & Sel. 

The performers, known as Babymime are from Thailand. It was a FANTASTIC performance! Many thanks to my younger sister who sponsored us the tickets to the show.  

The story line encompasses around things that happen around us. They see the world through the eyes of children, they behave like one most of the time :) yet bringing laughter to all the audiences. It is definitely a good show for the whole family, young and old. They are very spontaneous and sensitive to the audience. 

A little "move" or "noise" from the audience would catch their attention and they would definitely do something about it! So, if don't want to get their attention, better sit tight and be quiet ha!   

They have many series of shows and the shows would be tailored to the audience and local delights accordingly. For example, the one we watched encompassed around family core values and things we do with our kids such as visiting the zoo, photographing etc and the highlight of all, The Red Riding Hood to end the great evening. 

After watching the show, I took the trouble to search for some information about the group on the internet. The group comprises of three members, and the crew members are Tongkleu Tongtae, Ratchai Rujiwipat and Nattapon Kummeta.

 extracted from Babymime official website (in Thai Language)

The Babymime Group has gained success both domestically and internationally with their impressive mime performance for over ten years. 

The core concept of the show is that words can lie but the body and movements never lie. They believe that if people are sincere to each other and do not lie, the society will become a better place.

If we are lucky, they may come back for another round of performance, be sure to give it a try!

ENJOY!!

Some videos to share: 

- Slow Walk by Babymime

- Babymime Part 2 (Magic Show)
- Babymime in Bangkok Theater Festival  


p/s. The show was so great that I forgot to take any picture during the performance but not too bad, at least got a chance to snap a photo with them upon exiting the theater. 

 My mom, me and my daugther with Babymime (photo taken on 25 June 2011)

A Very Educational Trip Indeed!

During the last school holiday, we went to Cherating. Great experience, beyond expectations! 

First of all because we had been to Kuantan and Cherating beach during our last trip. For us, this trip is merely to "relax". And because we just came back to Malaysia, we thought we should for once tour our own country instead of spending vacations overseas every year. 

We signed up for a hotel+tour package with Impiana Cherating Resort. The tour package includes 2 nights stay at the resort, 1 firefly watching tour and 1 turtle watching tour. It was priced at MYR798 nett for 2 adults + 2 child. All expenses for the tour including entrance fee, shuttling, tour guide are inclusive in the package.

On the first night of our stay, we went for the firefly watching. It was a fascinating trip. Frankly, for city dwellers like us, even getting onto the motorboat itself or trying to balance on the motorboat were already quite challenging ha! 


As soon as everybody embarked onto the motorboat, the journey began. The motorboat led us into the darkness of the mangrove. The surrounding was really dark we could hardly see our own fingers at times. 

Only the tour guide was allowed to carry a torch light (to lure the firefly out of the trees in order for us to see them). 

According to the tour guide, with more developments taking place, we needed to venture much deeper into the mangrove area in order to find them. 

As we went closer, the sight of fireflies rushing out from the bushes was so magical.  The fire flies even landed on our hands and sometimes it landed on our shoulders too! 

It is definitely worth the trip because seeing and feeling the fireflies, surrounded by them in real life were so much different. Photographs.. just can't elaborate it! In fact, during the trip, we were asked not to snap photos with flash. How would we able to take good photos in such darkness and no flash? So, in the end, we decided to pack our camera away, sat tight and enjoyed the view. And the wind breeze too... 


If you wish to save some money, instead of going through the hotel, you can contact Hafiz at 017-978 9256 or via email at kohafiz@gmail.com directly to make bookings. For as long as you stay in any hotels along the coastal road (Jln Kuantan-Kemaman), it will be easy to get to Hafiz. Just tell him where you stay and he will be more than happy to direct you to his place. 

The next morning, we went for the river boat ride (through Hafiz too). It was the same boat ride we took the night before except, instead of watching fireflies, we scout for wild animals.



It was a clear and sunny day.

The moment we embarked onto the motorboat into the mangrove area, we hardly notice how hot the weather was. Cool weather, light breeze, it was indeed an enchanting ride. I felt like saying "Wow, Mother Earth's so beautiful! 

A great lesson learned -- we must preserve our forest, our nature and our environment!


Hafiz was good and experienced. He has a great pair of eyes. At quick instances, he was able to identify where the wild animals were taking naps. We saw snakes dangling down from branches just above our heads, colourful crabs, squirrel leaping in between the branches etc, a fascinating experience not to be missed indeed!   

Most of the animals were sleeping during the day. That was why we could get close to them. According to Hafiz, these animals went round searching for preys the night before. They slept during the day instead. My goose bump got "activated" a bit as I started to wonder how many pairs of eyes were watching at us when we were busy scouting for fireflies the night before! 

The river was getting narrower as we entered deeper into the mangrove. The water was calm, the surrounding was really quiet and creepy. Our imaginations went rather wild... wondering if there were any crocodiles! Hafiz comforted us that because this part of the river was close to the sea, therefore the water was a little salty and crocodiles didn't really like it. Unlike if we traveled further into the mangrove, we might get to say Hi to them!!  

The entire journey took about 2.5hours. Amazing ride, this was definitely better than going to the zoo! To the least of it, no stinking smell and no hot sun above our heads and no swelling feet too!! 

We went back to the hotel after, had a rest, strolled along the white beach and had dinner getting ready for the next highlight - Turtle watching. 


Turtle watching was indeed THE Highlight of the entire trip. I always thought that we needed to go to Rantau Abang in order to see real turtle laying eggs. For this trip, we thought what we could see was just some "shows" presented by the rangers from the turtle sanctuary or we probably had to watch from really far ha!  To tell the truth, we even brought binoculars with us for this trip haha!!


That night, we were told to stand by at the hotel around 9pm. They would inform us if there were turtles coming to the shore to lay eggs. Around 9.20pm, the phone rang and informed us that the tour guide was on the way to pick us up. 


Without wasting any more time, we made our way to the lobby and here we come, TURTLE!


The place was approximately 10 ~ 15 minutes from Impiana Cherating Resort. It was quite easy to get there in fact. After parking our car, we need to walk a fair bit to get to the turtle. If we did not engage this tour guide recommended by the hotel, we probably dare not even follow him into the woods as the path leading into where the turtle was located was rather creepy..... 

The tour guide was great. They explained to us what was happening and what was to come, they warned us things we should avoid etc. Definitely no camera flashing! 

When we were there, we saw a mother turtle digging a hole to prepare for eggs laying. After a few attempts, we could see she was really tired. We could hear her taking a long deep breath before she continued to dig again. Soon, the hole was deep enough and she settled into position to start laying eggs. It was difficult for her initially as we were told that this was her first pregnancy (there was no marking on her flaps as usually rangers did marking on the turtle every time they came on the shore). According to the tour guide, mother turtle would return for next laying 10 - 11 days later.  As soon as she finished laying the eggs, she would cover up the hole. Slowly she would crawl her way back into the sea. That night, she laid a total of 116 eggs! 

We were given a chance to have a close up look at the turtle eggs. The egg shelf was rather hard though from the sight of it, it seemed soft. We returned the eggs to the ranger and was told that these eggs would not hatch anymore because of the movements and turnings. We felt so bad! That's why the ranger only allowed 2 of the eggs to be removed from the hole for viewing despite there were over 40 of us there. 


We even got a chance to play with the baby turtle before setting them free into the sea. There were so cute and lovely. The moment we set the little ones on the ground, they started crawling really fast. The ranger told us that it was important to release them back from the same place so they would remember where they came from. Twenty years later, they would return to the same land to lay eggs. 

My girl was very touched and amused. This trip was really "up, close and personal". It was a very memorable experience and educational  trip indeed!


Note: For the purpose of watching turtles, June to August is the best time. Do bring a torchlight along just in case. 

Our Way Home 回家的路 - First Week of School

You may want to start from the beginning...

My "fearest" moment had finally arrived.... the first day at local Chinese school! Of so many new schools my girl had gone to, this was the most "stressful" first day at school for both her and me! I could recall when she was in kindergarten, she cried and cried refused to let me go on the first three days of school. She was fine on the forth day onwards. When she was in Singapore International School, I was there for the first 2 days. When she moved to UNIS Hanoi and British International School, I was irrelevant after the first day of school.

But for this Chinese school she is attending now, it took her 1 week to settle in! Now that I recalled, it was a blessing we made our way through. I am truly proud of my girl for willing to and being brave in accepting the new challenge. Whenever I talked to friends about putting her back to local school, all of them looked at me with their eyes opened as if I had done something I should not have done. Some of them were surprised she could adapt in the first place.  

First thing in the morning when we arrived, we were asked to see the deputy principal to get the class allocation. We waited outside the deputy principle office. There were quite a long queue waiting for the allocation surprisingly. Soon, it was time for us to see the deputy principal. The first question the deputy principal asked was: "Is she able to read Mandarin?". My girl said yes. Then the second question she asked was: "Is she able to understand Malay?". I said yes.
She shrugged as if she wasn't sure if we knew what we were talking about or whether we knew what was going to come. To be very frank, I was as worried and uncertain as her but we have to sound confident, look confident right?

After meeting the deputy principal, we were given some forms to fill up. We made our way to the canteen and started filling up the forms. It was a Monday and there was assembly going on. We saw rows and rows of children queuing and listening obediently to the principal. Thereafter, everybody stood and sang one song after another. If I was not wrong, at least 3 songs they sand. Unfortunately, the only one I could recognize was Negaraku :( ... While I was busy filling up the forms, I soon realized that everybody in school had stopped whatever in hands and stood up straight. We were the only few who did not do it. Sigh... After few years staying outside of Malaysia, we sort of forgot how to respect our own country! I felt rather embarrassed myself. On this note, I told myself that of all the challenges ahead of us and nostalgia we had over the luxurious life style when we were staying overseas, this justify our return and in fact this is our home our tanahair, we must come back.

After 10 minutes or so, all the children started marching back into the classrooms like troops.

I soon realized my girl was in panicky condition. It was indeed a total disastrous cultural shock for her. She started to cry wanting to go home. Refused to even look up when I called her. My heart sank miles down to the bottom of the dead blue sea. I felt like pulling her hands and said: "Lets go, we are not staying here!" But, I knew I needed to be strong, my role being there was to help and support her. I could not lose my footing...

The only thing I could do was to comfort her and encourage her to pull herself together. 

After all the kids and teachers had gone into their classrooms respectively, we made our way to the designated class my girl was allocated to. When we arrived at the classroom, there wasn't any empty seats available. She was even more panicky!

We introduced ourselves to the homeroom teacher and I managed to explain to her my daughter's current state ie. cultural shock wanting to go home stage haha!!

The teacher was kind enough to give me her mobile number so I could contact her in case my girl faced any difficulties or I had any questions. I must say that my girl would not have made her way through if not because of this dedicated teacher. It is very rare to find dedicated teachers like her nowadays.

Immediately she assigned some kids in the class to go table hunting and after about 10 minutes, they came back with many sets of tables and chairs. I was delighted to see the kids are just so helpful. As soon as the teacher assigned them the task, they decided among themselves to split the team and start the hunt. Soon, each team came back with a set of table and chair. It was fun seeing such scenario which we do not get to experience in international school because everything is so organized in international schools and children do not need to worry about anything, not even stationaries as they are all readily available within their reach.

Also unlike international school where buddies would be assigned to new comers, ie. a way of helping new comers to make friends so to speak, in local school, you are on your own. My girl had a bit of a struggle initially. My husband and I had to visit her every day during break time just to make sure she managed to find some buddies. In the second week, the situation improved. Every other day I heard new names. She started making friends which was great. Once they have friends in class, everything would be fine.

It is entering 6 months now since the first day of school and she had been through 2 exams already. Things are getting tough but I always remind her to look at things positively, at times put ourselves in other people's shoes. Like some teachers like to scare the kids with cane. I told her to look at the number of kids in the class and looked at some very naughty kids in class, sometimes the teachers just could not help it.

Three months ago, a new teacher came on board and he happened to come from the elite school nearby. As expected, he was strict to the kids and very demanding. She always complaint to me about how boring, how strict, how serious the teacher was... Two weeks ago when she received her test papers, she got 93 points as compared to 80 points before. She progressed. Because of this "demanding" teacher, she managed to get over with 6,7 and 8 time tables. She had been struggling with this for months in international school and could not get over with it! And now she made it through.

These are just ups and downs they will experience in school. I guess instead of pushing her to score higher points, penalizing her for making silly mistakes in exams. The least and the best I could do for her is to encourage her, support her and to nurture her with the right mindset. Somehow, the kid will survive one way or the other.

Today, I look at her. She seem to be more matured now. Many things she does on her own now. She tidies her own school bag and gets her school shoes ready for the next day on her own. She cut her nails on her own. She even started to do revision at night on her own. Unlike before, nothing worried her. She didn't need to bother what she brought to school because there were no text books to bring for a start! There were no homework to do. As soon as they leave their classroom, they leave everything behind. Clear mind ready to play! And, absolutely no issue if she forgets to bring anything to school. Most of the time, she could not even recall what was being taught in school as soon as she reached home. All she could remember was what she played in school and who she played with. Not that she did not learn anything, just different approach, stress-free and more of learning at own pace. Perhaps the learning was so fun that it was hard to recollect exactly what was learned. 

On the other hand, the shortcomings of the local system is of course the teaching method is rather "square" I must admit. Truly speaking, lesser homework would really help nurture a happy and more healthy growing kids, physically and mentally. I wish the government's intention to enrich the education system with livelier content and more activities orientated could materialize soon. This would really help to improve the local education system.

But as of now if you ask me now, I would say I have no regrets sending her back to Chinese school! Thanks to 侯彩风老师 (my girl's homeroom teacher) and Bravo to my girl too!!

Our Way Home 回家的路 - Back to School

You may want to start from the beginning...

From the day we arrived Kuala Lumpur to the start of new school year, we had 5 working days left! Yes, 5 working days and we had not even have a place for her in any schools!!

We could not do it much earlier in fact. Education ministry said without school leaving certificate, we can't  submit any application. The current school said that we will release the school leaving certificate towards the last few days of school when everything was returned. Chicken and egg, egg and chicken. Anyway, can't do much until we literally place our foot back home.

My husband and I decided to let our girl tried out the local school. It was a "harsh" decision considering she had been learning in international school environment. However, if you ask me now, I must say I have no regrets sending her to local school despite there were some negative comments about the system. Do read on...

We started our 1/5 workings day by visiting  the school we intended to send her. It was school holiday. The PIC said he was not sure if there was any vacancy. He directed us to Section 19 Shah Alam. So, we went all the way to Section 19. Believe me, it was not easy to find. The building has no frontage to the main road nor any prominent landmarks  nearby. There was only a very small signboard by the main road as you are approaching the junction. Anyway, we went there and were told that we had to submit at the education ministry first! And, we were directed to another place! Gosh...


After we went through it, the process was very simple actually. Somehow it was not spell out anywhere, nor in the ministry's website whatsoever (hope one day it will be!). It only took 3 days to get the approval from education ministry and on the 4th day we were at the new school already. I could not believe we could make it actually!

If we had taken the right path in the first place, it would not have been so hectic. Basically, it is like this.

1. Just make a call to the education ministry (http://www.moe.gov.my/ - tel. no. 603-8884 6000 / 603-7723 7070) to inquire for the nearest office your child should be registered with. Do not attempt to drop them any email, somehow nobody bothers to respond, I would not be surprised because I had dropped in several emails to some private schools near my place, I did not get any response either!!

2. Go straight to the ministry's office. Pick up the "returning from overseas form", fill them up. Do bring along at least 3 copies of the necessary documents namely:
- both parents (IC, passport - page with particulars + page bearing the immigration stamp stating the date you arrived home)
- school leaving certificate
- child's birth certificate/IC and passport (same as above)
- letter from employer to proof that you have been working overseas and now returning home

School results are not required for primary kids. You will be given 2 choices of schools. Be sure to find out which 2 schools you would like your child to enter prior to going there.

3. With the form duly completed and all details annexed accordingly, your application will be approved within an hour.

4. Next is to visit the allocation office which the officer will direct you where to go. This was the place I was directed by the school PIC in the first place which I am not suppose to visit until I get clearance from the education ministry. See, even the staff didn't know the correct procedure! Frankly, if these procedures are communicated well to the public, I strongly believe that the perception towards our government departments will be much favorable than now. Anyway, this is the place they will assign your child to the respective school. Submit the approved forms to the counter and come back on the 3rd working day.

5. You will receive the allocation letter on the 3rd working day. Be sure to start your day early to beat the queue!


Hurray, we got a seat! My heart is as heavy as a rock. I wasn't sure if this was the right decision, would it be the right path for her? Whether my girl is able to pull through because everybody says local school is a crazy place especially Chinese school and I am sending her to the crazy place!

Next - Our Way Home -First Week of School

Our Way Home 回家的路 - The Relocation Begins!

Click here to start from the beginning....

I started organizing the packing, got some quotes from the relocation experts and finally got them to come in for final measurements. And hoooh.... time flies, came the day they came to pick up the goods from our house, time to say bye bye.

by the way, in case you are looking for not-so-expensive shipping agent, you can consider for MAS Cargo (http://www.maskargo.com). They do not provide the household cargo service to all cities in the world but at least major cities are (ie. In Vietnam, MAS Cargo covers Ho Chi Minh City but not Hanoi). So, if you happen to be in the cities where MAS Cargo is available and you are looking for budget shipping, feel free to contact them to find out more.  For my shipment, the price difference as compared to the relocation agents was 50% at least.

Since it is cheap. it comes with a price of course.

The "complication" is you need to deal with three parties, separated but related. Let me put it this way, all the parties are related to MAS Cargo but they operate on its own. One party will come to your house to pick up the goods and have them check-in at the airport, the second party, which MAS Cargo itself, will ensure your goods are delivered via air freight to the destination country. Upon checking-out, you can commission another party to assist in custom clearance and transfer to your doorstep after. This could be an option in case the company you are servicing does not provide relocation coverage.

These three parties as I said, they are related but they operate independently.  Unfortunately I can't comment much about the service because finally I did not use the service. The company my husband was working then had requested us to use their appointed relocation agent instead. Anyone out there, if you had experienced using MAS Cargo before, perhaps can share it with us then!  

Back to where I was, hooooff... there goes our goods and the next day, in the morning of Christmas, we flew home.

With that, our new chapter of life begins.... with many great challenges and adventures awaiting us!!

Next ~ Our Way Home - Back to School

Our Way Home 回家的路 - Breaking the News

It has been quite some time I did not write in my blog that I almost forgot my entry password!

I could still recall vividly 2 months ago when my husband told me that he has decided to resign finally and the whole family would be shifting back to Kuala Lumpur. I have prepared my mind for it all these while, well, that was what I thought I had but it turned out, it was a difficult reality for me. Finally, my "nightmare" became a reality.

Just the thought of the relocation process, the packing-unpacking, new schooling for my girl, new adjustment for everybody blah blah blah... made me.. very vulnerable i should say.

Wake up! It is the reality we have to face. Bite the bullet and just do it, I told myself!

First thing first, I need to break the news to my girl. When I broke the news to her, she had been pretty mature in accepting the news. She sort of understood that despite how nice her current school and classmates were, this is still other people's country (we were in Ho Chi Minh City, btw), we need to go home one day.

My heavy heart got lighten up quite a fair bit, because of all the "vulnerabilities", she is always my No. 1 concern. Looks like my worries about her not able to adjust and accept the change is redundant. In fact, she is grown-up now.

As it was approaching the start of winter break and in order to catch the commencement of new school year in Malaysia beginning of January, we had decided to "accelerate" our relocation plan. Therefore, I didn't manage to organize any farewell party for her. What I had done was just prepared some small gifts for her to bring to her friends on her last day of school.

In the morning of her last day going to school, she cried finally.... She said: "I know we have to go back one day but I didn't expect it comes so fast. I am very sad." My heart sunk to the bottom, I felt like holding her in my arms and cried together but I knew I couldn't. I have to be strong so she would be strong too. It was a very difficult moments for both of us.

Going home is not so easy afterall...... 

Next ~ Our Way Home 回家的路 - Relocation Begins

Malaysian Pride - Upin & Ipin

Upin & Ipin is the pride of all Malaysians. Thanks to Les' Copaque Production!

We got to know about Upin & Ipin just recently. I think probably early this year when we moved back to Ho Chi Minh City. I still vividly remembered the very first episode we watched was on Disney Channel Asia.

The story was about how the twins (two 5 year-old boys named Upin & Ipin) celebrated their 1st Mother's day. Kak Ros, their eldest sister had brought them to meet their mom at the graveyard. Their mom passed away in their infancy. They were happily cleaning up and beautifying the place for their mom. It was a joyful moment for both of them.

In the end, they did not forget to also celebrate "Opah's day" (grandma's day) with their beloved grandma. It was a very lovely and touching story. 

As I was watching it with my daughter, I was telling her that "hey, this story is so Malaysian!" It can't be produced by Malaysia, right? It is on Disney channel! That was what we thought. As the show ended, we were so surprised to see that ... Wow, it is made in Malaysia!!

From then on, my daughter has been "chasing after" almost every episode, from one season to the other. She doesn't stay in Malaysia nor study in Malaysian school. Upin & Ipin is a great exposure for her to understand Malaysia. Some of the things I had done before when I was young. The feeling was so nostalgia. 

This round when we got back....

One day, when I was driving on Federal Highway, my girl was shouting from the back seat: "Mom, Upin & Ipin!! On magazine now!!!" A delivery van just drove passed us with Upin & Ipin's ads on it. That was how we got to know that Upin & Ipin's on magazines!!!

The next day, we dropped by Popular bookstore. We managed to pick up issue 6 (June release). It's RM4.90 each.

Most stories in there were continuation from previous issue. In addition to Upin & Ipin's stories, they also have the new one "Geng". Both comics were in locale Malay. It is a great opportunity for our children to learn the locale. This will be helpful in their communication skills.

Apart from comics, children also get to learn what's happening behind screen, who is the voice behind Upin & Ipin, how the animation was produced, facts about Malaysia, the states and capital cities.

The comics can be easily understood by children of 7 - 9 years old depends on their Malay language capability. for the others, parent's guidance may be required.  

Missed the previous release? Not to worry, you can still get the previous releases. You can purchase the latest issue from Popular bookstore. There is a form you can fill up, mail it across attaching the money order / postal order of RM52.90 (for 12 issues). Write a little note to ask them to mail to you the previous issues. Thereafter, just continue the subscription of the remaining issues.

Alternatively, you can visit their office in Petaling Jaya for purchase of the previous issues as well as to subscribe for future releases. That was what I did because it's equally troublesome to go to the bank or post office to get a money order / postal order. Just bring enough cash will do.

Their office is located at:

Nyla Sdn Bhd

No. 47, SS14/28

(it is a bungalow unit behind Digital Mall, SS14)  

Tel: 1700806952

Upin & Ipin's official website : www.upindanipin.com.my/

National Library Malaysia at Jalan Tun Razak

Every summer holiday we came back to Kuala Lumpur, the few places my daughter won't miss were Popular bookstore, MPH, Kinokuniya and the National Library at Jalan Tun Razak. 

Newly refurbished National Library Malaysia (Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia, PNM)





I started to enroll her as member since last year. It's convenient and free of charge. What you need to do is just to bring along your child's birth certificate during registration. For adults, the membership will be built into our identity card. 

When we were there last year, to my surprise, they still had my record ie. like 23 years ago or something. I was once a member even before the library moved from Jalan Raja Laut to Jalan Tun Razak. Based on the records, I was still a member but not able to produce my member card, hence considered "lost card" case (how on earth a normal person would have kept a card made out of paper for 23 years for that matter?). Anyway, in order to renew my membership, I was fined for RM10 for losing it somehow. 

My daughter was very happy visiting the library. Though I must say the books were really old and practically none of them ever been sold in any bookstores anymore. Pile and pile of books lying everywhere in the library. There is no way one can search for one particular book unless you literally flip through each and every book on the shelves, trolleys, racks etc.

But somehow, we still spent half a day every two weeks in the library. Bookworms were not choosy I supposed! 

This year when we came back, as usual, we visited the national library. We are delighted to see they have improved tremendously. We saw a lot of new children books on the shelves. Some even have Popular's; Kinokuniya's price tags still on!  There are still piles and piles of books on the trolley but at least we saw a few librarians were sorting them back to the shelves, at a slow pace unfortunately... well, still better than before.  

I really appreciate what is being done to our National Library. This should be the way to be. The building was constructed in such unique and beautiful architecture. With the improvement of its content, more people will visit. I really hope they will continue to improve and bring it up-to-date. It will be beneficial to general public and our future generations. 

National Library Malaysia / Perpustakaan Negara Malayisa (PNM) is located at No. 232, Jalan Tun Razak.

If you are coming from the south, southwest and southeast (Klang, Shah Alam, Subang, Petaling Jaya etc) of Kuala Lumpur, use Jalan Sungei Besi. Head towards downtown direction. You will pass by KLCC, Jln Bukit Bintang, Ampang. As soon as you are approaching Bulatan Pahang, you will see the library building on your right. Just make a U-turn at Bulatan Pahang to get to the library.    

If you are coming from the north, then Jalan Kuching is the most convenient way to get to the National Library. Take the flyover to Putra World Trade Centre, you are on Jalan Tun Razak already. Pass Bulatan Pahang, look out for the library bulding on your left.

 

Carparking is still an issue. The perimeter parking is always full. You need to park along the "side road".

A multi-storey carpark is under construction. Hopefully with its completion, it will ease the parking problem.

The library is opened from Tuesday - Sunday from 10am to 7pm. It is closed on Mondays and public holidays. 

Give it a try! 

A Breath of Fresh Air

It has been quite a while I didn't visit my blog. Quite substantially busy for me throughout the last three weeks because I was working on some jobs I got via online. To add on to the chaos, summer holiday has arrived and it is time to plan for return to home country for holiday. 

In between working, I had to organize my luggage, make sure it won't be under or over-weight. Nowadays, the one thing I must always do before heading home is to scan around my house (in Vietnam) to see what needs to bring home (to Malaysia) first, and what needs to leave behind. As we are planning to relocate back home soon, this is the one thing I must do before every trip so that I won't end up with loads of stuff to bring back. 

The next on my priority list is of course my shopping list. I make sure I stock up the necessary stuff for at least 6 months supply because it is either too expensive in Vietnam or they are not available. 

It is a never ending process. I brought home something. I bring something back. I  pile them all over my house in Vietnam. Come the next vacation, I pack something else and bring home again. And I go shopping, then I start piling them.... 

Sigh... I wonder if this is the way all expatriate wives run their household? 

Well, back to where we were. I have been a home maker for almost three years now. I enjoyed every bit of it. Now, I managed to get some online jobs that made my life even more interesting. Busy yes, rush for sure, not enough time to do other things definitely, but it is very refreshing! 

The thought of being able to make some money whilst still able to manage my household hand-on, I think this is a real dream come true. Like the song in The Sound of Music goes... "...somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good." 

I have worked on this for two years. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel finally....

So for home makers out there, never give-up. Life will turnaround. There are lights at the end of the tunnel definitely. 

 

Unit 11 Bahasa Melayu Lesson - Di Sekolah Saya

This lesson may be a bit complicated as it contained quite a number of new vocabulary. Try to split the role play in 2 or 3 stages. One at a time. Take it slowly.

You will notice that I had introduced a few verbs with Imbuhan (prefix) "me" ie. "menunggu", "meminjam", "menyanyi" etc. I would like them to accept the word and its meaning as it is. In the next few lessons, I will introduce them more in depth into root words (kata dasar) and the rules of Imbuhan "me". But at this stage, the focus is merely to make them understand the meaning of the words and the sentences.

Click here to download this Unit. 

To download the rest of the Units, go to "Quick Download". 

Unit 10 Bahasa Melayu Lesson - Buah-buahan

I have created the quick download link (on top right panel of my blog) for easy downloading of the Bahasa Melayu Lesson. I have uploaded so far Unit 1 - Unit 9. Today, I will be uploading Unit 10, about fruits (Buah-buahan).

Just a quick overview of this lesson. I tried to use simple sentences in the role play so we can focus on the learning of fruit names. Try to do the role play with your children several times throughout the week.

If need be, ask your children to draw the fruits next to the "bold" words. This helps them remember. 

Up until this stage of learning, you will notice that I still have not touch any topic on grammar. The focos now is for children to understand the usage of keywords, build up their vocabularies and let them familiarize with the simple sentence formats. It will make more sense when we introduce grammar later. 


Click here to download this unit. 


Go to "Quick Download" page if you want to view or download the rest of the Units. 

Amazing Onions and Bananas

Some facts about the amazing onions and bananas.

1. cut onions are POISONOUS, particularly the uncooked ones.

2. onions can combat flu.

3. bananas quiet a cough.

I had tried them out, and the result is amazing!

Our family doesn't eat a lot of onions. Sometimes, I will use it to stir fry with eggs but one onion plus 2 - 3 eggs is just too much. So, I usually use half for stir fry and wrap the other half with fresh wrap, keep in refrigerator for the next meal. 

When I need to use them, they usually turn really ugly that I had to throw them away.

But now I don't have to do that anymore. I slice out whatever amount of onion I need for cooking,. Then, I will place the remaining cut onion in a bowl and put it in the living room. 

Onion is a strong magnet to bacteria. Hence, when placed in open air, it absorbs the bacteria away.

I have been doing this for six months now.  We seldom down by flu. Even we had, it was very mild and would recover within the next day. Our body immune system seem to improve too. We don't get infected so easily despite our influenza jab has expired.

My girl used to catch cold and flu very easily. Now, it has reduced a lot. 

Last Friday, she had fever. I fed her with a dose of paracetamol in the afternoon. At night, I put 2 pieces of cut onion on the table next to her bed. The next day, she recovered totally. I  didn't need to follow-up with more paracetamol nor visiting doctor. 

I Also didn't give her any cough syrup.  Instead she took bananas . The fact is bananas is the better medicine to quiet a cough. She took a few pieces of bananas on Saturday and she was fine after that.

I usually change the cut onions 2 - 3 times a week depends on the condition (ie. the extent of bacteria absorbed). You will notice that on days when someone in your family have cough or running nose, some black powder-look spots (like fungus) may appear on the surface of the onion. Just replace them with new ones. It is as simple as that .




These are 3 days old cut onions. Notice the front two pieces  with darker shades than the back two? The dark ones were in my daughter's room last Friday when she was not feeling well.

Simply amazing onions and bananas!

Easy, cheap and effective way to keep our family healthy.  

So, start putting onions in your living room and bedroom today to see the result. 

Natural healing is the best cure! 

p/s. the above suggestion is good to combat flu however if symtoms persist, please visit your nearest clinic for more advice. It may not be just flu. 

Moment of laughters... I mean a real laugh!

I went to bookstore the other day. My eyes wandered around as usual looking for interesting covers. This particular novel caught my attention. Out of curiosity I pick up the book. Not any latest release, in fact it was major motion picture a few years ago. Haha!! Well, I must admit I am not those who are very up-to-date type!

The book is written by John Grisham. That is y i was curious! As far as I could  recall, John Grisham writes stories related to criminals, accused and defendant and all the related blah blah blah. ... I am not particularly a fan of his. But somehow, this book "Skipping Christmas" ~~ as I interpreted from its cover, it is a comedy definitely.

I decided to buy the book anyway. To my surprise, this book is really hilarious.

The part I enjoyed most about this book was the laughter it had brought to me and my daughter. One night I retold the story to my Lv, we laughed and laughed until it was way beyond her sleeping time. My husband was giving warning signal... its 10 o'clock already... its 11 o'clock already... usually I am quite particularly having Lv sleep on time. But, for that particular night, we just had too much fun and laughter, that I thought to myself ..... "well... to hell with it! [ophs..] lets have fun!!"


I could see her face expression with eye widely opened, from surprise turn into oh my god! At one point she hid her head under the pillow knowing that something really bad gonna happened! We both laughed our heads off. Uh... it is one of those best moments of laughter.....

Also try out this DVD. Hilarious!


So, if you are in search of a real laugh, trust me, it is really fun when you retold the story to your little ones!


Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Piano ABRSM Exam - A Dilemma

I was chatting with my sister about registering my girl for ABRSM exam next year. Considering her standard now, I believe she is ready for Grade 2 ABRSM next year if she works hard on it.

Well, I must admit that this is the mother-kiasu thing again (kiasu in Chinese dialect means scare of losing).... :( 

Recently, I was chatting with a friend. Her daughter is 7 and she is going for Grade 1 ABRSM this month. She told me how nervous she had been these few weeks worrying for the exam. She regretted registering her daughter because it gave her so much stress. She worried about her sight reading, scales and out of sudden, she realised that her daughter's tutor had not been teaching her the aural skills blah blah blah...

So, I thought well... her girl is 7 and going for Grade 1. Mine is 8, so rightfully, she should go to Grade 2 next year... That was what I thought.

I tried her with some scales, sight reading... It was really upsetting for her and learning became so stressful and boring. She used to enjoy the song she played. If the song comes with lyrics, she will ask me to play and she sings along until she is able to play the song herself.

When she is ready, she will try to sing along as she plays.

But now, she hates piano time now!

It makes me "pull my hand break" and start to reconsider my decision.

Should I continue to push harder? because like those who made it to Diploma would say :

"I was so thankful to my mom for pushing me hard enough, otherwise I won't be here."

Or should I leave it to her free hand? Let's see how far she can go?I recalled a friend who was a piano tutor, once told me that don't push your child to take ABRSM too early because learning music is to enjoy it, not for the sake of exams. I tend to agree with her a lot. It doesn't really matter at what age the child starts taking the exams or at what grade he/she takes the first exam. The fundamental is the child enjoys it.



I totally agree with her comments as only certain grades in ABRSM are compulsory.

Then, I recalled a Korean friend of mine, she enjoyed playing piano. In Korea, they do not follow ABRSM. She didn't go through any formal ABRSM lessons or exams either. In fact, she was very shock when I told her that we need to go for exam every year to get certification from Grade 1 to Grade 8 and all the way to Diploma.

I remembered one day when she visited the Reunification Palace in HCMC, in the living room, there was an old grand piano. She was very excited. Without thinking further, she sat down on the piano and started playing despite there were many strangers around. She played very confidently and she was enjoying it so much.

Everybody applaused as she ended her song.

I was very very impressed. 

I asked myself how many children from ABRSM passes really appreciate music and have such passion as her strong as her?

Really a dilemma...

I recalled when I was young, I never enjoyed playing piano because of the yearly exams. The scales, sight reading, aural thing and the exam pieces which I had to do over and over again for one whole year.

To add more trouble to it, I had a very good but strict piano tutor. She was not very patient with me. She liked to twist my ears when I could not play well or I could not understand what she asked me to do. I always ended up crying at the end of the lesson.

It was never a sweet memory for me. I wasn't sure why at that time, I never refrained myself from going for more lessons.

I guess I learnt because my daddy asked me to. He said that it can be a career when I grew up. 

But now, I am in a dilemma... whether I should proceed to register my daughter for ABRSM exam next year...  

I wish I have answers for that...

Dilemma of Moms

My friend told me this morning that she quarrelled with his son. Exam is approaching. Therefore, this week is study week. His son chose to study at home but mummy was not agreeable. Mummy's argument was there were many distractions at home like computer games, PSP, TV blah blah blah, hence it would be a better idea to study in the school library. 

Who was right and who was wrong? If you ask me, both were not.

The problem was getting the message across correctly. Mummy saw the advantages of studying in school therefore magnified the disadvantages of studying at home. From her son's point of view, he interpreted as mummy would never trust me! So, he started to act rebellion. 

If she had expressed her intention as (frankly, I hope I would be as calm as this when my girl reaches that age...) but, like it or not, we need to learn to communicate in their "teenager" language.

"You know, this is one of the big exams that will determine your future prospects. It is a chance of a life time. Mummy feels that it would better to study in school library because of less distraction, you can concentrate better and in case you need any reference book, they are easily available. But if you think you are able to manage your time well by studying at home and not distracted by TV games, mummy is fine with it. Mummy can make you some good food to eat while you study. "

We informed our children of the facts, pros and cons, and most importantly we throw the decision back to them. If they did poorly in the exam, they would not put the blame over mummy for "forcing" them to study in the school library and the next time would be a wiser decision. If his results turn out to be good despite the "distractions", then they really deserved a pat on the back.

As for his son, perhaps he wants the flexibility like he can just grab anything to eat as he studies along. Unlike, studying in library, may be peaceful but he needs to pack up, go to the canteen and queue for his lunch. Perhaps he is strategizing for victory but not wanting his friends to know about it?

They must be reasons why he chose to study at home. If he is willing to study before the exam, it means the exam is important to him. He knows what he is doing. The moment we as parents challenge his decision (by not believing that they made the right choice), he would close all communication channel and rebellious behaviour takes over.  

Mummy would never be able to find out why. More and more misunderstanding and the gap becomes greater and greater. We want our children to talk to us. But sometimes our behaviour / respond cause otherwise. We only realised it when the damage was done.

I always have this dilemma. It is like a mouse trap. We fall into it over and over again just like the mouse and yet we never learn from it. 

Sigh... not easy to be parents indeed...

  

All you need to know about Universal Studio Singapore Part 1

Last week, we went to the newly opened Universal Studio in Singapore. It was not as crowded as we expected. Perhaps it was not a weekend. 

It is very easy to get there via MRT. Hop onto the nearest MRT station from your hotel and get to Harbour Front Station. There are several ways to get to Universal Studio from here. The most convenient is via the Sentosa Express. 

Sentosa Express Station is located at 3rd floor of Vivo City Shopping Mall adjacent to the MRT station. The cost is SGD3 flat rate for child / adult. However, you still need to purchase the tickets individually despite it being the same rate. Return trip is free of charge.

It took us less than 10 minutes to get to Universal Studio from here. We reached Universal Studio at about 10.00am in the morning.

Tickets

Operating Hours : 10.00am to 7.00pm It was not very crowded at the ticketing counters because more than 10 ticketing booths were opened that day. However, it is advisable to book your tickets online if you are planning to go on the weekends. The park controls number of visitors per day. Usually, tickets would be sold out by late morning / noon on weekends.






Operating Hours
For now, with several attractions not ready (frankly, we were very disappointed with this ...), one day pass is enough. If you go the right strategy (please read "Tips to beat the Crowd" below), one day pass is mooore than enough.   


Universal Express - unless you really hate queueing, it is not really necessary. The extras you are getting are waiting time not more than 5 minutes per ride and you get to enjoy the performances at VIP seats (best spots).


As most of rides are quite challenging, I personally think that it is not very suitable for children 5  or 6 years old and below as compared to Disneyland. So if you happen to bring young children along, be prepared to skip quite a number of rides / performances.


In the month of May 2010, each ticket purchased will be complemented by a SGD10 meal voucher in any restaurants in Universal Studio Singapore plus a SGD5 souvenir voucher.

Though the operating hours is until 7pm, Hollywood Boulevard (mainly retails shops and restaurants) extends their operating hours till 9pm on Friday and Saturdays. But, on the day of our visit, the shops and restaurants in Hollywood Boulevard remained open until about 8.00pm as there were still plenty of customers in the shops. 




Tips to beat the Crowd


1. Watch where the big crowd are moving (especially those comes via tour agencies) . Avoid them!

2. Go against traffic.

3. Pick up the latest performance schedule, decide which time slot you intend to go before you start your journey. Clear them off your list as early as possible so you will not need to stop in the middle of rides and rush for another show. The park is really not that big, it is absolutely alright to walk back and forth from one area to the other.

4. Have early lunch - just before 12noon will be good.

5. Skip rides (I mean only rides, not performances) in The Lost World and Ancient Egypt during noon time. That is the time when crowd from both sides (ie. via New York / via Madagascar) meet. Come back after 4.30pm. 

6. Skip the retail shops along Hollywood Boulevard and head straight to either Madagascar / New York depends on where the crowd are moving. Come back later for shopping.

7. If you have particular interest in certain characters within the park ie. Dinosaur, Madagascar etc., do find some time to visit the small retail shops within the area itself as some of the merchandise may not be available at the Hollywood Boulevard shops.

8. Wear comfortable shoes preferably flat and tied shoes as some rides may require you to suspend in the air.

To view the interactive map, go to http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore/Tickets

Hollywood Boulevard and New York
As you entered the park, you will be welcomed by many lovely shops and restaurants offering attractive merchandises. That is the Hollywood Boulevard. As they will remain open until 8.00pm at night, it is a good idea to drop by later before heading home.

Next, you will come to a junction where to your left is Madagascar and to your right is the New York / Sci-Fi City. When we were there, we went to the right because we saw many people heading to the left. Remember to avoid big crowd.

Head straight to Pantages Hollywood Theater in Hollywood Boulevard if you can catch the first show at 10.30am. Otherwise, catch the next one that suit your time.

Next, diagonally opposite the Pantages Hollywood Theater is Lights, Camera, Action! in New York, hosted by Steven Spielberg. This is a MUST-NOT-MISSED!!

However, young children may not enjoy this. It creates loud bangs, strong winds, huge things swaying from one end to the other.... but really fantastic!

That's basically all you can get in New York because Stage 28 was not ready at the point of our visit.

There are also outdoor performances in front of the Palace (Street Dance) and the Pantages Hollywood Theater (Kowabunga) at 11.00am and 11.45am respectively. If you want to learn how to do street dancing, then don't miss the 11.00am performance. 

Street Dance at 11am

Kowabunga at 11.45am

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  The performance was alright initially but it was a bit too length though.

Sci-Fi City

As everybody must have known by now, the Battlestar Galactica was not operational, therefore only one attraction left to enjoy in this area. The Accelerator. It is just like the teacup rides. It sways more and more as you turn your steering... Nothing new really. So, if you really have not enough time to take this ride, you can just give it a miss! 


Ancient Egypt

When we arrived Ancient Egypt, it was almost noon.  We could see the crowd were building up. Treasure Hunters were very very crowded.

This is one of the easy rides. Young children will definitely enjoy this. But, we skipped this and headed for lunch as the waiting time was 45 minutes!

Remember, get to the restaurant just before 12noon!. 



We saved a lot of queueing and waiting time because the majority of the crowd were still enjoying their rides when we had our "peaceful" lunch.

The other attraction in Ancient Eygpt, Revenge of the Mummy was not that popular. My girl is 8 years old. She is qualified for the ride (need to be at least 122cm height). Unfortunately, she is kind of timid. Therefore, we skipped this one too. My friend told me that it was really fun and SCARY!!! So, if you are ready for the excitement, don't miss this one.

Click here to All you need to know about Universal Studio Singapore Part II