So Alarming

Sent you to sleep in your room on weeknights again as Evelyn cannot sleep earlier and has problems to wake up in the morning.  So along with you was my 9 year old alarm clock which I finally found the battery for. Yup we bought the clock shortly after you were born and it was time for me to go back to work.
This was your first encounter with an alarm clock. On the first morning, you woke up before the alarm rang. I turned it off and you came over to my room. The second morning, it came into your room and turned it off just before it rang at 7 as we were up and chatting. You got upset and had tears in your eyes. Seems that you really wanted to hear the bell ring. So I turned it on the again for you but it did didn't ring when the hands pointed at seven. Had to give it a few whacks before it rang... very softly.
On the third day, I didn't go into your room at all so that you wouldn't wake up before the alarm rang. Let you experience being woken by the alarm. I was in my room when I heard the alarm ring non - stop.... could even wake up the dead!! BUT... you slept right through the alarm ringing. Imagine that.
So funny that something as simple as an alarm clock is so interesting to you. Makes me think that you are too pampered by us. Everything even to wake up is by us!!

Not Free Balloon

We went to buy lunch at this shop and stopped by to watch a group of people dancing for a charitable event. A man who was making balloon animals on request asked if you wanted one.
Of course you did. So he made you this and asked for a donation.  Oh well.... it was for a good cause anyway. And was really well made too. Don't you think?

Frozen Madness

Although it is a year later,  you seem to be really into the Frozen craze. I guess it's partially my doing as I was the one who doenloaded Frozen songs to my phone in preparation for our US trip seeing that I'd have no data and we needed to keep you entertained during the long drives especially to and from LA.

On top of singing the "Do you wanna build a snowman?" Song at our (bathroom) door,  this was our latest conversation on Frozen:
Evelyn : Mei-mei's  name is Elsa
Mummy : So you are now Else and not Evelyn?
Evelyn : Yes,  Elsa
Mummy : *calling you* Elsa.... oh Elsa....
Evelyn : *ignores mummy*
Mummy : Hey... I thought your name is Elsa?
Evelyn : Mei-mei is Baby Elsa

That really cracked me up. Yup you are officially into Frozen although it came a year later.

Quitting

I was so heart broken when I saw you sobbing when we picked you up from Wushu yesterday.  You said that you were punished again. Sigh.. you have been asking to be allowed to quit Wushu but we have been resisting, trying to instil upon you that you cannot give up so easily when faced with challenges.
I half wanted to march up to the hall and give the instructor a piece of my mind. But I stopped and as Ah kong had stopped right in  front of the gate at that moment, we quickly hopped into the car
The moment Ah Kong saw you crying and found out it was due to the pumishment, he mumbled that you should quit Wushu but I quickly interrupted and told him to let daddy and I talk to you.
Had some time to think rationally about the reason you would be punished and so first thing we did was to go upstairs to discuss the situation. I asked many questions and found out that the reason you were punished was mainly because of a step that you did not learn when it was first taught as we were on holidays in US. So after giving you many examples on why you should not quit,  we agreed that I would go see the instructor to ask him to teach you the steps properly and that you'd ask your classmate to go through the steps with you in the week also.
Daddy also spoke to you on not giving up so easily when faced with challenges.  Hopefully you'll have a better session next Saturday. And hopefully it will serve as a lesson for you not to give up so easily too.

It's Finally Up

We had it made when  Mei-mei was 9 months old and you were 7 years old. The nice lady from KL who turned out to be my schoolmate came to the house to make the molds and delivered it to use around 2 months later.
Daddy found some time to put up the nail for this frame and a light and also to put up more nails on another wall for our picture collection in the room.

This was taken when it was Mei-mei's turn to have her mould made

The WHY Era is Here

Not unlike your Ko-ko it's that time when you start to ask "why". But unlike your Ko-ko who asks why to different questions you ask me why to my answers:
Evelyn : Mummy why is Else smiling?
Mummy: Because she's happy
Evelyn : Why is she happy?
Mummy: Um.... because.... because she's... um... glad to be free *praying that you don't have a follow up question*

Few minutes later:
Evelyn : Mummy why is he purple?
*Yup,  you were asking why Barney is purple*
Mummy: Er... because he's a purple dinosaur
*Phew... lucky the show started and you were ok with my answer*

Happy Birthday to Mummy

It was mummy's birthday onThursday. . I think she sneaked out with daddy for a movie. Anyway... I have to make something for her. I wanted to make breakfast yesterday but I had to go for Wushu and mummy and daddy would not let me squirm out of that session.
So this morning I made her my specialty cheese omelette. Then again,  she had to help me prepare the cheese which had to be grated and Ah Ma helped me flip the omelette. I did have a go at cracking the egg... erm... there was some shells inside the omelette but lucky mummy spotted them as we were frying the omelette.
But I'm happy.  Mummy kept saying that it was so delicious.  And I have to agree... it was super yummy. I know because I ate half of the omelette *grin*

But then I wasn't satisfied. I wanted to make mummy something all by myself. So after we got back from Gurney Plaza I told her that I was going to make a snack for her. And this is what I made: cheese and ham sandwich.

And I made it all by myself. Well mummy had to help me open the ham and show me the cheese and take out the hot toasted bread from the toaster. She was very happy and daddy was even jealous that she got so many things for her birthday.  He didn't get to eat the sandwich... I got to share with mummy again. But I think daddy was proud of me. I heard them saying that I had daddy's good genes for cooking food.

Birthday Cake

Ah Ma: Evan,  don't you remember that you have something to do?
Evan: Huh? *looking confused at Ah Ma
Ah Ma: You ar.... so forgetful...
Evan : Ohhhhh...

Walks over to me and whispers: Ah Ma bought you a birthday cake

Hhmmm... not very good with secrets, aren't you?

We had a quick song and the 3 of us blowed at the candle.

The 2 of you decorated my little nangka cupcake with grapes... the peeled ones by Mei-mei and the one with skin by you.

Sharing with Mummy

Today is a public holiday. So as a treat Ah Kong brought you both to buy a special lunch. Ko-ko had the special Ayam Kicap Meletup from KFC while you had McDonald's.

When I got back from work this is our conversation:
Mummy: You had McDonald's  for lunch today?
Evelyn :  Yes *grin*
Mummy : Did you keep some chippies for me?
Evelyn : No...
Mummy : But why? *showing my sad face*
Evelyn : You eat rice...

Our Day at the Park

We both wanted to go to the park. But we also wanted to bring our bicycles along. So we had to wait for daddy to get our bicycle tyres pumped as they were rather soft. Before  that our hero daddy had to fix the pump as the rubber was brittle.
At long last he packed the bicycles into Ah Ma's car and off we went.
I cycled a grand total of 14 rounds (500m) each round and Mei-mei rode one round and then decided she preferred the slides. Mummy said she had to convince her to go another round after all the effort daddy put to pump up the bicycle.
So in the end. She had a daddy - powered ride around the park.
Phew... that was a fun day.

Evan's Toy

Mummy paid for my B-daman toy. But I had to save really hard for it. Luckily when mummy paid she had some points which meant it cost less.

After saving for sooooo many months I finally have it in my hands... yay!!!

Father's Day

Today is daddy's special day. Mei-mei brought back a card she made in school on Friday. You on the other hand decided to make him cheese omelette.  We added the Gruyere cheese on top of the usual cheddar and "Master Chef Daddy" gave you a high score for this tea time snack.

Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?

"Do you wanna build a no-man,  Evan? "

Yup,  that's what you like to sing to Ko-ko when he's in the toilet. It's driving him nuts,  but daddy and I have a good laugh every time you do that to him...

No, you were not left out from the Frozen craze after all

Coping with Jetlag

How did you both cope?  Fairly well i guess. Let's see:

Upon arrival in Santa Rosa,  on the first night:
We all KO-ed at around 10pm after trying to stay awake since we arrived at noon. At 3.30am:
Evelyn : Kokkokkok (imitating a rooster call and peering closely at me). Mummy.. it's time to wake up...
Arghhh... and next thing we know, we were all awake. But we did manage to snooze a few more hours until 8am.

Back in Penang, again at 3.30am:
Evelyn :  (in the sweetest, sing-song voice) Good morning, mummy. It's time to wake up
Mummy : No... it's still at night. Look outside is still dark dark...

Daddy also woke up a while apparently as you gave him a great kick as you tried to go back to sleep. You woke up again at 7am.

Day 13 : Last Day in US

It was our final day before heading back to Penang. We didn't have much to do, but you both enjoyed the playground nearby so we went there two times before leaving Menlo Park. 

Lunch which was initially planned to be to help the Khoo's clear their fridge of leftover food (from the Chinese dinner and the BBQ) but somehow we ended up in this place called New Tung Kee Noodle House in Mountain View which was something Ah Kong wanted to go to. This was the place he's frequent for his Chinese food fix when he had to travel to US for work. 

Food was OK and served very quickly. This was my noodle soup which I shared with Mei-mei.

We went back to finish packing (and the last round at the playground). But before that I had to get a picture of the Ford Flex which drove us in comfort this whole trip. Lovely and rather comfy car to sit in.

Dinner before we left was at Cooking Papa. This was the beautiful view we had while enjoying the yummy dinner of dim sum and noodles. Daryl and Elizabeth joined us for that last dinner.

Then Uncle Sam and Aunty Pam followed us to the airport to bid farewell. Daddy and Ah Kong dropped off the rental car while we dragged the luggage into the airport and waited for them. 

Here you are in the final picture I took (rather blurry) at the airport waiting for our turn to board the midnight plane.

Mei-mei fell asleep almost immediately and did not eat her dinner/supper. But the stewardess were very nice and they piled the both of you snacks and even gave her ice-cream. 

You also had your favorite instant noodles which they were busy serving to most of the passengers after they'd had their nap. 

So ends our 2 week long holiday in US. It was an enjoyable holiday and we're proud to say that the both of you behaved well most of the trip. Especially with the long drives you had to endure. A good sign that we can have more long haul holidays next time *grin*

Day 12: A Little Wandering Around and Yummy Food

Daddy had spent the whole trip driving us around so the night before we encouraged him to go for at least 1 round of golf with the men. So after much persuasion, he agreed to go off. While he was off having fun, we were driven around by Aunty Pam to have a look at the surrounding areas. It was very large and beautiful. Of course 10 minutes after driving off, I remembered that I'd forgotten to pack the stroller. So we had to go back again to pick it up. We were finally off and we drove past Palo Alto, Stanford University and several places too.

We finally went to a Carters outlet and I bought some clothes for Mei-mei and also your cousins. Then went to Walmart to buy some chocolates to be given away and of course for our own consumption as well. 

Then it was lunch time. We headed to In and Out and had the yummiest burgers and milk shakes. 

Mummy even asked for this paper hats which they would give away for the both of you. Here you are both posing in front and looking very happy

We went to See's to buy the chocolates and we were very lucky as Aunty Pam was former HP employee and so we got special discount with her employee name badge. Then Mei-mei fell asleep in the car so Ah Ma and Aunty Pam dropped me at a mall with you for a quick shop around. Later daddy came with Ah Kong and Uncle Sam and Mei-mei to pick us up. We headed to a golf shop before heading back home. Dinner was ribs which Aunty Pam had did a check and found to be nearby. So she called and placed an order for take-away and then daddy left to pick up with Ah Kong. 

Look at our delicious dinner:

You won't believe it but we finished nearly everything on the table. Don't believe me? Look at this hungry little doggie:

Day 11: Shopping in Gilroy

The day was planned for shopping at the very large factory outlet which was around 40 minutes from Menlo Park.

We woke up that morning, had a leisurely breakfast and mummy had to write down the shops which I wanted to visit (there were 4 blocks which we needed to drive from on to the other to buy) then we all packed into the car for our shopping trip. As with the trip, you were both quite good in the car, either napping or just fooling around:

You were both also very well behaved as we walked around and browsed though the shops. Here you are having great fun out in the sun while waiting for daddy to keep the new luggage bag we'd bought:

We shopped a little then felt hungry so tried our luck with the In and Out restaurant which we were dying to eat (daddy had rave reviews for this fast food outlet). Too bad the rest of the world also decided to eat there. So we hopped back to the car and went to the food court which served food. 

 So we had some light food for lunch. One of the specialty was the Garlic Fries which were actually quite yummy. In fact, Gilroy seems to be famous for garlic hence the garlic fries.

We had to quickly finish our shopping as the Khoo's were at home waiting for us as we were supposed to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant with the rest of their family.

Anyhow, the food at the restaurant was very good, problem was the service which was terrible. 

Day 10: Monterey Bay Aquarium

The day was to be for for you kids..of course, who is not say mummy and daddy do not like the aquarium either *grin*. It was around a one and a half hour drive from Menlo Park so we started the journey earlier so that we could get back on time for dinner with everyone.

It was a pleasant drive and you both enjoyed the view and a short nap. Never expected to see such a beautiful and pleasant place as we seemed to be driving though rather secluded places to reach Monterey Bay.

We finally found the aquarium and the next challenge was to find a parking spot. The roadside parking were full so daddy had to make a round and found a multi-storey parking.Yikes.. parking was USD10 per entry. But we realised that it was cheaper. The next building had parking of USD20!!

It was a pleasant walk to the aquarium and we quickly bought our tickets and went in. The first thing we saw was the jellyfish. Yup.. the nice che-che in this picture was showing you the tiny tiny jellyfish in the jar:

We decided to remove Mei-mei from the stroller so that she'd get a better view of the sea life. And boy did she have a great time:

Pictures at the main jellyfish exhibit:

Sardines.. all swimming in the same direction. Was so beautiful:

Wondered around a bit and quickly went back to the "Open Sea" aquarium to wait for the feeding time. Got good seats at the top and waited a while before the show began. Amazing!!

Then it was time for OUR feeding time. We headed to the cafe which had a great choice of food and you went with daddy to order clam chowder in a bun.. again.. but you enjoyed it just as much:

Daddy ordered a kids hotdog meal for Mei-mei. Of course she also enjoyed her meal.. especially the chippies...

Also had the time to photograph this band, It was an optional free service provided where the children are given this band and our phone numbers are written on the inside... so that they can call us in case you get lost. Ko-ko got one, so  I requested one for you too.. good thing as we did not let you sit on the stroller in the end.

Went outside to stretch our legs and enjoy the beautiful view... and take pictures too:

Went back in to spend more time with the displays and to look around more:

2 little mermaid/merboy in the seashell:

Soon after we left the aquarium. Took a different route to the carpark around the town:

Then daddy took the scenic route back home. We stopped to enjoy the beautiful beach too,

Daddy took you both down the steps to go close to the sea. I stayed on top. Would probably fall if I attempt to go down the really steep looking steps:

We saw some men fishing as we went down from the car too:

It was a pleasant drive home. Daddy was feeling sleepy, but he did not dare to let me drive. We stopped by Sareway to buy some more beer (they were yummy and very cheap) then headed home to Menlo Park. Back home, Uncle Sam and Aunty Pam had a feast almost ready:

What a wonderful day..