Late Posts Aiyy, it's a 3 month delay as my last post was in May. So will report key events which happened in the last 3 months. The Yap family went to Australia, Perth with cousin Ryan. First stop was Perth, then down south to Harvey Farm, Margaret River and back to Perth. We rented a car which we thought would be a rather comfortable saloon since it's 1.8 litre. But we were shocked to see a not too big hatch which doesn't have a full boot. Oh dear, we have 3 luggages, a car seat and 5 bodies. How to squeeze?? But we managed to make it :) every time we had to move with the 3 luggages which became fatter as the days went by. The kids had an enjoyable time in Australia, from city shopping at supermarkets most of the time since Ryan needed a constant replenishment of fresh milk, instant noodles, rice and chicken; to visiting the underwater world, to farm stay where the kids got to come up close and personal with animals such as donkey, cow, lama, chickens and rabbits. They had a really good time. They also had a chance to feed a dog which somehow knew that Ryan had unfinished pasta which he needed help to clear. We were there for 10 days. Was so fun, though tiring, that we were sad to return. Austin cried when we reached home in Singapore. The photos will be in my next post. Other interesting things that happened: i) Hansell started attending nursery classes at Kinderland, where Austin used to be from. So, familiar faces and environment for us. Hansell is also enjoying school now. Strange thing is that he will always say "I fight in school today". When you ask him with who, he'll say "with teacher"...strange?? ii) To our horror, Austin's myopia increased from 75 (end of last year) to 200 plus when we brought him for a check recently. So we made him a new pair of myovision spectacle which is supposed to control his myopia. More updates coming...soon i hope :)

June Holidays

Hooray! SA exams are over. Austin was busy preparing for his mid-year exams over the past 2/3 weeks. First, was a series of mock tests in school for English, Maths and Chinese. He faired ok but as kiasu parents, we wanted him to fare better. But there were really areas where he is weak in and so we targeted on these. Glad that the exams are finally over. But it's really the beginning of a journey full of exam preps and study. That's why i thought it's good to train him now by starting to impose curfews on when to study/play/eat etc :) While Austin was busy with his exams, Hansell was busy fighting an infection. He had fever over 3 to 5 days and finally rashes on the last 3 days when the infection was clearing up. Thank God we have Maria with us...she's the one who fed him medicine and looked after him when we were at work. So what's in store for the kids in June.....hmm it's a trip to Australia in mid-June. ....and cousin Ryan will be coming along. So it's 2 adults and 3 kids, ranging from 2.5 yrs to 9 yrs old. Think it's going to be tough...hmm Will update again when we are back....

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 :)