BaoBei - Sakae Sushi Event

Organizer : Bao Bei Reading Wonderland

Location : Sakae Sushi, One Utama

Date & Time : 16th November 2013, 9:30am - 12 noon

Our morning did not start well, but let's not mention something that is not worth remembering here. 

Luckily we cheerful 3Cs managed to bring back our mood to participate the Sushi Making Project.

Happy faces ready to "make sushi"

This set was "made" by Little C, and MaMa was the "Assistant" 

That's why it looked better than Big C's.  Hahaha...

This set was made by Big C with a helper. At least, Big C used her own hands to put things up on her own! *Bravo!* Look so pretty!

There was a Sakae Frog Mascot! My girls were playing the usual MOUSIES attitude, refused to even go near the mascot! While others were fighting to snap a photo with the FROG, Cs were actually very happy with the BaoBei banner at the other corner. Hahahaha ... 

Not so much of sushi making, we were there just for the participation.

RM30.00 for children, RM50.00 for adult is definitely not so worth it.

The sushi making was not really interesting, and the food served were not fresh. I am so sorry to complain here. Sakae Sushi just not my type of sushi.

It was stated 9:30am - 12noon in the circular. But, the event did not start until 10:30am, and everything was over before 11:30am. None of us ate much as it was all cold and hard, no sushi was served, it was a bento set with fried chicken which were hard and cold, the fish cakes were cold too and tasted funny. The rice were also cold and overly SWEET! :( Big Disappointment! 

Luckily, again, we three cheerful Cs went home happily, considering it a 

family ACTIVITY!

Kuala Lumpur Tower on 3rd Nov 2013

Always wanted to bring the girls to KL Tower, but it just didn't strike a good timing for a visit. Then, one fine day, this Groupon email popped up and the first deal shown was "Buffet at KLTower Revolving Restaurant @ RM88.00/pax (below 5 children are FOC)". So, here we are! ALL OF US didn't have much expectation on the buffet (and you shouldn't too! Lol), but we truly enjoyed the time spent together with the children at 253m height! They were fascinated with the view and of course the revolving platform. It's totally a new experience for the girls, jumping in and out of the platform, and fiercelessly leaning against the thick glass window, trying to locate where is "our home", while the adults having difficulty to adapt the height & the revolving platform which is making us dizzy. *sigh* Can't escape the fate of AGING! Yes! You and Me! :P 

I brought my nikon along, but is always not easy to download these photos, their file size is way too big and taking ages to transfer. Hehehe...Lazy! But again, I will try...I know I know...already tonnes of backlogs. Hahaha....

I stole this pictures from my BFF. :P Thank you! 

NEW "Additional" Class to attend for the girls.

I know I always contradict myself ALL THE TIMES. I said I won't let my children "suffer" like what other kiasu parents did to their children. *sigh* Shamefully (*perhaps the tad of it) but PROUDLY (*definitely heaps of it) to get myself be part of the Kiasu league. hip hip hooray! :P 

Sorry Babies, it's for your own good to build a better foundation for a more challenging future. *phew* What a taxing life! But do not despair, the challenge will bring you contentment, sense of accomplishment and consequently HAPPINESS. Hahaha... You girls will know what I am saying when you became ME one day.  

You girls are starting MATH Enrichment Class at EyeLevel from today ONWARDS! Yes! So much fun, right? :p

How did I come across EyeLevel (Formerly Enopi)? One fine day, when I was waiting for Big C at school, by chance some of the parents were there waiting too, and we started YAKing as usual. The topic will never get away from the children's well-being, educational direction, teachers complains etc. So, some parents brought up BaoBei for Mandarin and EyeLevel for Maths & English. I have known about Maths Classes for children or even toddlers but this class was never in my consideration, especially when my babies' schedule are already VERY tight! 

After a series of discussion amongst the parents about the kiddy's syllabus and teaching directions, we all agreed that the Montessori's Teaching Method MOST PROBABLY will not be suffice to get the children prepared for Primary One, especially the Local Government Schools. Don't get me wrong, I love the Kindy where Big C is now, and I have also enrolled Little C for the next year's admission. I love the Fun Teaching Methods and a good series of thoughtful and fun activities laid out and all turned satisfactorily, at least to my satisfaction. HOWEVER, MaMa cannot deny the fact that these activities are not substantial or rather do not set path to match the local primary school standards. Why I said so? At one instance, my friend's child at nursery is already learning to write ABC, 123, even to some extends of basic CHINESE CHARACTERS. "Suku Kata" in Bahasa Malaysia already completed by Nursery while my Big C had JUST recently completed at the end of her K1 1st semester. CHINESE CHARACTERS? I have seen NONE so far? Homeworks? NEVER! Never did Big C bring back any exercise books or workbooks for HOMEWORK. 

HONESTLY, I am very much convinced and concurred with the idea that children should have fun children with a good series of activities - the whole idea is PLAY AND LEARN at the same time. Writing is a Motor Skill that they will definitely acquired somehow someday in not so faraway future, why in a rush? Now, the Irony kicks me hard here! While I support the BIG IDEA of LEARN THROUGH PLAY, I am also pushing more EXTRA classes that are supposed to mean good to my girls. Hmm.. Isn't that already a double work for the girls, double pay for the parents? Arghhh..the more I write here, there more confused I am now!

Sorry babies. MaMa is trying my best to earn the greatest happiness for you girls, but somehow the society is pathing its way at such that COMPETITION determines where you will be. Always remember, Ultimately, you will get your decision to choose what you want to do, where you want to be. At this point, when you can't make decision YET, I will have to course you girls to match the prevailing trend so that you will not be TOO FAR away from others. 

Anyway, MATHEMATIC is good for you girls, no harm starting early. Take it easy, and no stress. Treat it as another fun class, if you girls really show no interest after a few classes, I will handle your math at my best MYSELF and scrap of the EXTRA class. 

Babies, Happy Learning! Enjoy the EyeLevel, I am sure you will learn heaps from the centers. Besides, I have full confidence in the center's PIC. She's absolutely nice and deliver a fairly impressive attitude during our meetings. I shall update on the EyeLevel's effectiveness once I see any improvement.

Cs' First Movie Experience

Dear babies, you really need to thank Aunty Wendy to give MaMa the courage to actually bring you girls into the Cinema. Also, big thank to GrandMa and Ah Gu being absolutely supportive of the idea and there you are, in the Cinema watching your first movie while munching overly-sweet caramel popcorns (and you girls also messed up the cinema with all your popcorns). 

MaMa wanted to bring you girls for movie long long ago, but MaMa thought Little C was a little too young then. At the time, Big C is 5 and Little C is 3, you both are in perfect age to so anything with MaMa. (*The word "anything" must be labelled with MaMa's "Approved", otherwise "anything" does not constitute to anything. Confused?! You girl will get it ONE DAY!)

The "Now Showing list" at that time was Planes & Smurf 2. We (Ah Gu and MaMa) preferred Smurf because Smurf is our childhood friend, at least something/someone FAMILIAR. Too bad, it was out of tickets, and the only choice left was "Planes". It's an animated movie, it's meant for children, it's not bad. That's MaMa's review after watching it. Perhaps I was too distracted by the girls' blinking shoes and the messing up actions in the cinema. 

Anyway, I am glad that the girls finished the movie (not-so-quiet-quietly), and went home with a GREAT BIG HAPPY SMILE! Big C, the ever-scared-of-everything girl told MaMa that she wants another movie again!!! **hehehe...she was so afraid to step into the cinema when we first arrived, her hand gripped on my palm, turning her head left and right, looking up and down with her eyes, and said "MaMa, why the cinema so Dark Dark?" "MaMa, the movie is inside or outside?" -- hahaha..she was trying asked if the actions were inside the SCREEN or outside SCREEN. Perhaps she was terrified once with the Magic show and she refused to enter into an auditorium. Maybe? Baby Big C, if you are reading it later, if MaMa's next to you, Please tell MaMa what were you thinking, why were you always afraid?

As for Little C, she is as calm as usual. No sign of fear, no complains. The only fight during the movie was due to POPCORN! Everyone wanted to HOLD the POPCORN BOX! Next time, I should just buy TWO small popcorns. :)

Did the girls enjoy the movie? Hmm... MaMa would say the girls enjoyed the popcorns more. Ah Gu was relieved after the Movie because he was expecting crying scene from the girls. *Phew* Ah Gu told MaMa that if the girls cried, please don't tell anyone that he's with us! Hahaha.... 

The plane is about a Crophopper's determination to fly like racing jet, and how it overcome his fear of height and about his encounter during the competition. Good Spirit! Good Value! Boys would love the Movie, I think!

Puzzle Fun

Big C fixed the 150pcs puzzle on her own at the age of 4 yrs + 6 months

1st May ARGS + W+A gathering

Getting ready for the gathering fun in vogue.

Jungle Gym fun for the little BFF

Who said Jungle Gym is only meant for kids, look at these adults. They had heap of fun playing too! :)

Buddy Buddy at STUFF YOUR FACE!

APRON drawing activity provided in STUFF YOUR FACE in the celebration of the upcoming Mother's Day.

Sign, Only manage to take the photos of the W+A gang, the ARGS gang is always busy chatting away and we always forget the take a SHOT of ourself. YAK YAK YAK. Too much to catch up and no time to take pictures. Sorry, no energy to elaborate the outing....phew. I took me close to 2-1/2hours for a few PHOTO POSTS. Tiring....Wish I can elaborate more....

We had our gathering lunch at "STUFF YOUR FACE" Food was ok, a little chaos with our orders, not enough food to serve? Big Breakfasts were limited to a number of set, and only one set of mini burgers available.But it's definitely a good place for a gathering, chittery chattery..... 

KLPAC Preschooler Drama Class

Completed the 10 hours course by Teacher Kimmy

KLPAC offers a Preschooler's Drama Class (Age 3-4) @ RM 250.00/10 Weeks.

Big C was in the Preschooler Class because she is not 5 yet.

What was my intention to send Big C for such Drama class? 

I wanted more exposure for her to build her confidence level. She is talking really soft and lack of confidence most of the time, worse still you will get the OCCASIONAL refusal to greet. It's indeed not so our culture NOT TO GREET, and she is always excused especially from her beloved Mah Mah & Yeh Yeh! "Never mind la, Never mind la, she's not in the mood. It's ok!"   

How did the course help her? Nothing. Big C being her very special self, still very passive in the class. Most of the times, she is not following the class and she stayed put at where she stood and OBSERVED with her eyes only. While her peers were enjoying running around the classroom, making thunder noises. She was always one of the few that stood still and look. 

I asked her every week after her one-hour class, her responses were always positive and she loved to go back to the class week after week. When I told her that we were to stop going to the class since it seems unexciting to her. Also, I find Teacher Kimmy is not paying much attention to those passive students, all the attention are focused on those active students who can follow instructions well. Those few passive little ones tend to be neglected most of the time. However, I don't blame Teacher Kimmy. The fact is the center accepts too many students for one-hour class. There are 15-20 students and how could the Teacher guide everyone especially little ones at this age where lots of patience and times required.

Sadly, I have signed up for the 2nd term because Big C said to MaMa that she wants to come back to the class again. Big C always take a longer time to warm up, I hope to see some changes in her in 2nd term. 

Looking forwards to it. 

Cycling @ Titiwangsa Lake Park

Cycling in the park is not exactly a "New Activity" to my princesses, just VERY rare occasion. It's maybe their 2nd of 3rd times years in the park with PaPa & MaMa. Not so many yearS though since Little C is only 2. Hahahaha..2 or 3 times with PaPa & MaMa, but quite a number of times with Grandma & Ah-Gong for a horse-carriage ride offered in the Park. 

I intend to be in the Park at 7am, latest by 7.30am. We got up at 7am, While Novi was getting the girls ready, MaMa was freshening up for an exciting morning. Unexpectedly, my plan didn't come up the way it was. At 7.30am, the princesses were still lying comfortably on the sofa with their milk bottles while watching Astro 618. *sigh* In the end, we left home just right before the clock struck 8. The park is less than 2 minutes drive away from home, so we managed to hit the park right at 8am. 

The girls cycling away happily.

With our previous experience (even though limited), the bicycle ride will not last long. Therefore, we remained in close proximity to our car. As predicted, their cycling duration lasted for about 20 minutes for a 200meter distance (I made up the figure, trying to imply a SHORT distance). As along the cycling journey, they stopped and talked, then cycled. Stopped and complained again, then cycled. Stopped and commented about the activities in the park, then cycled. Especially Little C, we were trying to guide her how to paddle. No doubt that her bicycle in moving and she could steer the bicycle perfectly. Guess what? Little C is using ONLY her right pedal to move the bicycle. Hmm... I do not know how should I put in in words, imagine, once your right pedal reaches low, then she winds it up to the top and pedal again with the force of right leg ONLY. It is not in a circular motion pedaling style. Get it? If I get the chance to video it, I will show you how. It's amusing, and frustrating at the same time especially when we tried to tell her to pedal in the circular motion and she refused to listen. Again, imagine, you have to bend down almost 90 degree while guiding this little girl and yet she refused to listen to you. Arrgghhh..... OUCH! My back!

After PaPa sent the bicycle back to the car, we adjourned to the Playground in the park. I didn't take any photos of the park, maybe next time. There is a sizable playground in the Park, and it is always filled with multiracial families. It is a good park, it's child-friendly, safe and FREE. Yes, I paid RM50.00/per child to enter an indoor playground in the mall. Hmm...maybe I should take more pictures and share it here. Many activities take place in the park before dawn right till sunset. The park also offers Horse-Carriage ride, sampan on the lake with a minimal charge. Again, I should share more photos in my next outing in the Park again. 

Don't be surprised, it is also quite happening in the park in the midnight with a completely different crowd -  we call them "Mat Rempit" if I am not wrong. These owls usually show off their motorcycling stunts, roved wildly in the park. PaPa sometimes called them "Brainless Superman". With due respect, some dangerous stunts were quite terrifying, it might caused ones' life. Many love birds in the night, romancing in the dark (which supposingly against some religions, which I do not want to elaborate further). *wink* *wink*

The amazing thing about this park is that it will turn into total tranquility and peace at dawn even after a rowdy night (usually Friday & Saturday). 

My next target - a picnic in the Park, but I will make sure we arrive before 7am. It gets very hot when the sun rises high up in the sky, scorching sunlight beaming on us, it's definitely not so fun! 

Ballet Class

Ballerinas are ready for their Ballet Class

Any reason to resist this beautiful young lady?

The Princess' Signature Pose

Ballet Class commences gracefully

 Ballet Pose No. 5. Look at my princesses with their lazy arms. :P

Ms. Toh said : Point, Point, Point! 

This is actually a very rare occasion whereby parents get to view the process of the lesson. The glass door is shaded with a lace curtain as you can see in the photos, and we only get to see shadows of these young ballerinas hopping in the class. :P This is my first time viewing the whole process of the class PLUS hearing Ms. Toh shouting "Clarisse, behind your JieJie" "Clarisse, follow JieJie" "Clarisse, No, No, No... Behind your JieJie" opps... I hope Ms. Toh can cope with this little girl. Clarisse tends to get very excited especially when the music played, she would start to hop and jump and run OUT of her designated line. 

Tang Yuan Festival

First time working with Free Collage Maker Online

Picture2Life | All-New Collage Maker

A good tool to make a series of picture with the same theme. :)

This is not our first Tang Yuan Festive (冬至）and is definitely not our first time making them. This is a yearly event which my mom insisted everyone to stick together and roll the dough into little balls. My mom always says "汤圆，圆又圆，一家齐团圆“ - Tang Yuan, round and round,  harmony and unity in the family.

This year is special because it's MY BABIES' first time getting involved in the Tong Yuan Making. They love to play with the dough and they did not fail to demonstrate their expertise, which we usually call it "MESSING UP". LOL

Learning Chinese from BaoBei

马 - Ma ~ Horse

妹妹 - MeiMei ~ Little Sister

白 - Bai ~ White

爷爷 - YeYe ~ Grandpa

猫 - Mao ~ Cat

老师 - LaoShi ~ Teacher

爸爸 - BaBa ~ Father

妈妈 - MaMa ~ Mother

MaMa unsparingly criticized the pronunciation of the BaoBei's Teacher at this particular center last week, undoubtedly, I must admit that their system works effectively. As their center's name suggested, BaoBei Reading Wonderland (宝贝阅读天地), they concentrate on teaching the children how to recognize the words and read them out loud. Since it's only total of 6 lessons attended, I am not sure if they will teach them the meaning of the words, or purely RECOGNIZING. 

These are the cards that were brought home, which also means that Chloe can already RECOGNIZE and READ these words out loud. Well, since it's only PaPa, MaMa, LaoShi, YehYeh, MeiMei, I guess Chloe should be able to understand the meaning of these words effortlessly. 

For now, I am Happy with the result but it is not stopping me to look for a better learning center for Chloe. I want her to read, write and understands it. I want to make sure she will enter primary with ease and not stress which will end deter her interest of learning. 

A Day @ Art Workshop

P&J Sport Carnival 2012 - Hula Hula Bash

22nd April 2012 - Peter & Jane's Sport Carnival @ Sunway Lagoon

Hula Hula Bash

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

On that event day, we got up around 6.45am and got ourself ready into Hula Hula Theme Clothes, ready for the carnival. We were so looking forwards to the event - our very FIRST Sport Carnival with our children. 

We arrived at the Sunway Lagoon before 8am and joined the crowd towards the beach area. 

Wo Wo Wo~ Look at my Hula-Hula Family. All ready to go!

We got ourself a shaded spot for a good sand play for the girls. 

 Clarisse said, "Dirty! MaMa! Dirty" as she had her feet on the sand for the first time, but looking at Chloe Jie Jie enjoying the sand play, she couldn't resist anymore to carry on with the Sand play. Nevertheless, the Clever Clarisse always made sure she is not out of the towel to stay away from "DIRTY" that she was playing with. Confusing??!  :P

PaPa got himself a Nasi Lemak for breakfast from the Lagoon's stall. While Clarisse and Chloe had Nuggets and Fries, MaMa had little of everything from everyone.

Time for Team Games! MaMa & Chloe were in the PINK Team under the SUPER HOT SUN. Couldn't even open our eyes wide. 

But, it was all worthwhile. 

Look at the Sign of VICTORY from the Team Game. 

Bravo! First Medal for Chloe. 

Clarisse is too young for any games so her BEST PRIZE is the icy cold ice-cream. The best thing to have on a hot sunny day. Slurp!!!! 

The ice-cream melted into my girls' mouth so quickly that they finished up their sticks of ice-cream in less than a minute.

PaPa accompanied Chloe for a slide. Weeeee~~~~

But she got really frightened. 

*sigh* No Warning again! Straight to the slides and down they went!

~~ SCARED ~~ 

Face Painting Fun. Unfortunately, Clarisse did not manage to catch the last flight. Chloe was their last client of the day :"(

However, Clarisse was not disappointed at all because she already got a beautiful tiger face naturally. :P Roar!

In addition, we got a consolation prize from the BEST DRESSED HULA FAMILY AWARD! Not bad, huh? Just for a sport. PaPa was shy at first when I told him that I wanted all us to be up on the stage to participate for it. It was fun! 

Family Photo at the Carnival

KFC Lunch on the beach.

MaMa & the girls @ the Sport Carnival

Hm? Something alike? LoL. Chloe spotted the Lagoon's statue and she insisted to take a picture with it UNDER the hot sun. 

"Clarisse, Come Come! Take photo with JieJie and Ducky!" said Chloe

"No No, I want to go home! Mr. Sun is too hot!" said Clarisse

We had so much fun at the bash which was well-organized. Thanks to the great effort of Peter & Jane's teachers and staffs. It was such wonderful experience for my family. Thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HORRAY! HIP HIP HORRAY!