Austin in School

My last post was in Dec 09. How time has passed. It is already 2010 and Austin has been in school for the past 2 weeks. He is coping well in school so far, and is enjoying it. He told me last Saturday morning that he likes Mon to Fri as he can go to school. Sat and Sun are boring because he doesn't need to go to school. What a surprise. He used to say the reverse when he was in kindergarten. His teachers are all nice, according to him. There are a few, though, he finds them strict and is quite afraid of them. Well, it's not a big concern since we all have teachers whom we were particularly afraid of when we were young. Perhaps that's how those teachers make sure you complete their homework and pay attention in class. On 8 and 16 Jan, daddy and I went to attend parent support classes in Austin's school. Took some photos of his classroom. Posted one below. On Sunday 17 Jan, we brought the kids to the zoo. Austin was Hansell's guide for the day. And poor Hansell, he fell down a few times that day. Here are some photos taken. Watch out for that komodo dragon, it aims for the legs when attacking its prey. And the leopard, it's interesting. I gestured to the cat asking him to walk over for a photo. And indeed he did, and went over for a drink.

Trip to Haw Par Villa

Austin is reading "Xi You Ji". So we brought him to HPV to learn more about the legendary figures of Xun Wu Kong, Zhu Ba Jie and Tang Sen. Austin was fascinated. We also brought him to the Court of Hell where he learnt that one would be punished in the 10 courts of hell for committing sins in one's lifetime. Is a good way to educate children to be good. That one will be punished nevertheless for the sins committed while one is alive. As the saying goes "shan you shan pao, er you er bao. Bu shi bu bao, zhi shi shi chen wei dao". This is the solemn reminder at the entrance to the Court of Hell.

To Malacca and Haw Par Villa

Shortly after our return from the cruise on Friday, we left for Malacca on Monday. Stayed at Everly Resort Hotel, which is an affordable and yet beautiful resort hotel by the sea. However, Austin was too afraid to go near the sea. The sky was really starry at night and Hansell sang twinkle twinkle little stars. Aunty Maria told Austin that the 3 stars in line are believed to be the "Three Kings" seen in the sky on Christmas night.

Here are some pictures to enjoy.

There are 2 pics where we were in the capsule of the Singapore Flyer equivalent. It's called "Eye of Malaysia". Can you spot which 2?

Star Cruise Virgo

We embarked on the cruise ship STAR CRUISE VIRGO for a 3D/2N trip on 16 Dec 09. With us were Ah Ma and Ganma. We were shocked when we arrived at the cruise centre for embarkation. There were many queues for embarkation, I thought. Wow, and I thought balcony class ticket holders did not have to queue. Wishful thinking. To my horror, I realised we had to queue twice, first to collect your boarding pass and then to embark. So, Jona to collect the pass while the kids and me queue to embark. Was really not easy with 2 kids especially Hansell. Anyway, to cut the long story short, the guy from StarCruise was really nice and he agreed to escort us to board without having to queue once we have collected the boarding pass. And Ah Ma and Popo managed to go in with us. That's not the end of queues...there were more onboard. Queues for breakfast, lunch, dinner and practically everything. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable and happy trip. Also a good break from a year of hard work and stress at work. Here are some pictures to enjoy. Boys at the balcony looking out

Friday, 11 Dec 09

I have always been asked to have a daughter so that i can doll her up and daughters will look after you when you are old. Well, there's no guarantee my next child will be a girl, I always tell them. And I can't go on trying until I succeed, I would be a "mu zhu" then.

Although I dismiss these suggestions, I do sometimes imagine how my daughter would look like. Austin resembles papa from the nose downwards and the overall shape of the face. Hansell resembles papa in all the parts of the face where Austin resembles Mummy. So they are very fair children :)

So how would they look like if they were daughters instead? I decided to test this out and here's how they look.

In the midst of the photosnapping, Hansell fell into the toybox. Doubling the fun and hilarity :)

A Day at the Zoo

Sunday, 6 Dec 09 Austin, Papa and Mummy went to the market in the morning. Hansell was still sleeping and so missed the fun marketing trip. While Mummy shopped at the market, Austin and Papa had breakfast at the foodcourt. A trip to the zoo, that's what all kids long for right? Augustine and Hansell had their wish fulfilled as we went to the zoo in the afternoon. Austin brought along his brown note book to jot down the names of the animals he saw (in order of what was seen): stingray, crocodile, otters, white tiger, hippo, warthog, wallaby, emu. Then we headed to KIDZWORLD where the 2 boys had much but short fun playing in the water. Here are some pics of them having fun. As we were going back and heading towards the entrance, Austin asked Mummy, "Did you have a nice day?". And I said "Of course, any day spent with my children is always a nice day". He asked why, so i said "Because I can see you every minute of the day" :)

Hansell's Night

Austin has gone to stay over at Alastor's house tonight. Was playing Monopoly with his cousin when we spoke to him at 645pm after we got home. Aiyy...he didn't even call to say bye when he left.

So it's Hansell's night today. Brought him to BPP after dinner. He got himself a big white dog from Watson. He was so excited about the dog when we brought it home. But the interest soon faded after we were home. The bigger attraction is none other than the Moon. Hansell sat on his highchair looking at the moon soon after. The moon is big and bright tonight.

And what did Daddy and Mummy do?

Watching the DVD "we were soldiers" and of course, publishing this post.

Good night!