Merdeka Celebration in School

The school had plans for a Merdeka day celebration. So on Tuesday you had already told me that you were supposed to wear traditional costume and that you wanted to wear your Chinese costume.. "the one with the dragon".

So on Thursday morning, you woke up earlier got ready and dressed up in your costume. We even had time to take a picture of you before having breakfast and heading to school:

Of course when you got back and we asked what you did, you could not remember. Sigh.. the only thing you remembered of the day was getting a badge with the "1 Malaysia" design. Anyway.. Happy Merdeka Day!!

Welcoming the Tooth Fairy Tonight

Yup.. looks like the tooth fairy will be visiting our house again tonight. As usual your tooth has been shaking for a while and you take pleasure in showing me your very shaky tooth. Took the first picture this morning and less than 10 minutes later, the tooth is gone. It was hanging and I was worried that it might drop while you were in school. So when daddy came down, he offered to help you pull at the tooth and then it was gone. You didn't even realise the tooth had been removed. There was a little blood but that was all. You rinsed your mouth and then finished up the rest of your breakfast.
So look forward to the tooth fairy's visit tonight sweetie!

Crafts @ Art Class

I think I have not mentioned before that you have been attending art class for almost 2 years actually. It was during your school holidays and you seemed bored, so when my friend recommended this art school, we brought you there and that's how your journey with them began. This last program is "Craft" and you seem to enjoy it a lot. Here's something you brought back:
Yup.. a family of chickens. Cute..

Our Little Art Project

Aunty Wooi Sin bought you this little project which just needed a little assembly by you. It was easy and lots of fun. You just needed to be extra careful when removing the little pieces to ensure you don't tear the foam pieces.
Here you are in action:

Trying to "frame" yourself

Focusing on removing the double sided tape

Little parts to fit

Ta-da... The end product

It didn't take you too long to finish.. a really simple but fun project.

Another Golfer in the Family

Ah Kong had bought you this single golf club a while back. You played with it for a while and then lost interest. Lately, you started to develop an interest in playing again, so he brought out his practise golf balls for you to hit. But er.. it went out of the garden into the football field across the road. Thank goodness no one was hurt.. there wasn't anyone there.

Here are pictures of my little "Tiger Ban" in action:

A Little Celebration

It's time to celebrate again. We could not decide on where to go to celebrate and in the end (after a lot of persuasion from you) we opted for Feringghi Grill again. The hotel was very sweet to even call me a week ahead to wish me a happy birthday and to "remind" me that we can celebrate my birthday there.

Made the reservation 2 days ahead and we were lucky to get a table and as I had requested for a window table, we got that too. Service as usual was impeccable. Our server could recognise us the moment he saw us and as usual a pillow was whipped out for a certain little shortie to sit on.

Our orders were taken and you ordered your own food too. This time after much persuasion from daddy you opted for the grilled salmon. After we finished all our food it was time for the birthday cake. Sweet...

But this time there was a surprise! They had someone sing the birthday song and was accompanied by a guitar. Wow!

After blowing the candle and cutting the cake, the waiter took the cake to be cut and served to us. This was my slice of cake:

And this was my little "dirty cat" with a chocolate ring around the mouth. As we were too full from dessert, the waiter even made a little bag for you to carry all our petite fours home.

It was a lovely birthday celebration. Thank you, Evan for this great suggestion and thank you daddy for being the "financier" for this dinner. And thank you to Ah Kong and Ah Ma for joining in and making this celebration even more meaningful. Muakks and hugs to you all.

Babies

I thought that you wouldn't be curious or did not want to know or it did not occur to you. But early this morning you caught me off guard.. again. It's not your first time asking but this time you were more persistent!

Yup, the inevitable question of how the baby is in mummy's tummy. So this was what happened early this morning:

Evan: Mummy, how did baby get into your tummy?
Mummy: I ate baby, so now it's in my tummy...
Evan: NooooOooooOOOOo.. tell me the truth
(oops.. making a joke out of it is not working!!)

A while more in the bathroom:
Evan: So mummy, you didn't tell me how baby got into your tummy yet!!
Mummy (taking evasive action #1): Quickly rinse your mouth and I'll help you shower. (and growling to daddy to help me think of how to explain to you)

Phew.. you didn't ask me while I was giving you a shower. And then...
Evan: Mummmeeee.. you still haven't told me the answer!
Mummy (oooOOoo.. time for evasive action #2): Quick, you need to get dressed and eat breakfast or else you'll be late for breakfast.

No more questions after that and we happily ate breakfast without anymore questions.

Then we got into the car and as you were climbing into the car:
Evan: Mummy, you still haven't told me how baby got into your tummy!!
Mummy (trying luck again): I told you.. I ate baby up!
Evan: NooooOOOOOooooo... telll me the truth!
Mummy (no more alternative.. I need to get an answer): Well you know it's like a seed in my tummy. And do you know how baby gets food?
Evan: Yes.. through a pipe.
Mummy: And where is this "pipe" attached to the baby?
Evan (grinning cheekily): To the mouth! Muahahahaha
Mummy: Are you sure?
Evan: To the eye!! Wahahahaha
Mummy: Maybe to the nose??
Evan: Wahahahaa

Then daddy turned up the radio a little and you distracted and that was the end of our conversation.. for now. I'm wondering if you'll ask me again.. for more details next! What should I actually tell a 6 year old?

Music Class Book 2

You're already coming to the end of Book 2 of your JMC series and it is really amazing that within 1 year you and your classmates are able to play songs with both hands. Yes, the songs are simple song, but it's an amazing achievement. You started playing both left and right hands on the lower keyboard and then one lesson, you all played with the right hand on the top keyboard and the left hand on the bottom keyboard:

I hope that you'll continue to learn more music. For now you have been very keen on attending the classes and practising (almost) every day.

My Precious

My precious little boy. I'm so proud of you. With our little baby coming along, you have been very understanding in so many ways:

1. When I could not take any smell during my first trimester: You pinched my nose whenever someone wearing perfume walks pass us

2. Bath time: As smells were a no-no to me, I had to "remotely bathe" you. I sat further from the bathroom and gave you instructions on bathing yourself and you never complained.

3. Cannot carry you anymore: In fact you've been getting too heavy for me for a long time, but with this pregnancy, I've not carried you at all. We never say that I cannot carry you because of the  baby, but because you're getting bigger and heavier by the day. And you have not complained about it.

4. Sleeping early: When I was tired most days especially during the first 3 months you were understanding and would allow daddy to sleep with you. Otherwise, you'd sleep on the bed with me and then daddy would carry you to your bed later on.

5. Falling asleep by yourself: I should have started this earlier, but better late than never. You are now slowly started to go to sleep in your bed alone. We started with 1 day a week adding more and more. As mu belly is getting bigger, it's really difficult for me to get off your mattress each night.

6. Kisses unlimited: I love it that you give me kisses all the time. Especially when I'm asleep and your not (very often so..).

7. "I love you": This is something I love to hear from you all the time. Especially a great greeting when I wake up first thing in the morning.

McMummy Meal

For the whole of last week, you had asked me to make egg sandwiches for you. Obviously there was not enough time for me to prepare it for breakfast on a weekday. So we finally agreed to have it on Saturday, before heading to Ipoh. In the end, you had 2 sets of egg sandwiches. One at home and another in Ipoh.

Here's your McMummy Meal:

It comes with a box of Milo, egg sandwiches and 2 hash browns (all wrapped up just like what you get from the shops). Upon special request from you, mummy added a label "Evan's McMummy Meal" along with a "gift". Can you spot it?

It was fun preparing this meal. And I'm glad that you enjoyed this meal.

The Main Attraction

The highlight of the trip to KL was to Empire Shopping Gallery. There's actually nothing of interest to you in terms of the shops, but something else was very interesting to you. The LEX slide. I had shown you the slide a long long time ago and so that was your target when we went to KL. At the time when we showed you the slide, you were under the height limit (which was 110 cm). Ahem.. that was a good way to encourage you to eat more veggies.. what for? To grow tall faster.. what else?

In fact as we were walking up the escalator, daddy and I also told you that in case you did not meet the height criteria, that you should not cry and we'll try again in August. But as we walked to the slide on the 5th floor, wow! You just made the 110cm. Yippee...

Actually, I wanted to be sure and I asked the Che-che who was in charge if she needed to confirm if you could go on the slide, she told me that you could as long as you're not afraid.

So in you went and we waited while the 3 girls ahead of us took their turns to go down the slide. I wanted to confirm that you would not back out in the last minute. And no you didn't. The che-che gave you instructions and told you to cross your arms and then she gave you a push.

The last thing I heard from you was "wooo-hoooo" and off you went:

This was the video which Ashley Kor-Kor took of you going down-down-down.

And this is you smiling on the way out of the slide. Daddy got this picture.

And so we thought that was the end of it, but NOoooOOo.. you wanted another round. So this time, daddy went up with you while I waited with Ashley kor-kor at the bottom.

Two rounds and enough.. this time. Looks like we'll be making a stop at Empire Shopping Gallery again in August. This was certainly the highlight of this trip for you as you were talking about the slide non-stop. We're glad you enjoyed it. Muakkss.. 

School Holidays

Wow! Today is the first day back to school for you after 2 weeks. The first thing you said on Friday (the last day of school) was "No school.. yay!! No homework.". But too bad for you. Ah Kong reckoned you looked bored, so we had to give you some work to do on the many workbooks which are sitting in the house. Although I'd say that you were happy enough to stay at home watching TV or playing on the iPad for the whole day. No need to go out even.

Anyhow, we tried to do something more entertaining for you those two weeks:

1. Took the day off to go to Butterfly Farm. As we arrived in Teluk Bahang, it decided to start drizzling and you said that since you've been before you didn't want to go!!

2. Ah Kong and Ah Ma brought you to Penang Hill. The queue going up was SOOOOOOo long, they gave up. Ended up in Gurney Plaza eating Sakae Sushi, with you polishing 4 of the 5 pieces of raw salmon!

Looks like the plans didn't go too well. So in the end, mummy insisted that we make a trip to KL. We stayed in "Hotel Uncle Dennis" for 2 nights. We started the holiday with a LONG walk in Ikea. It was quite crowded for a weekday (Friday). Had dinner in Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. with Ashley Kor-kor. Before heading home, we stopped at Ben's Independent Grocer in Publika to pick up some foodstuff and "drinks".

Lunch on Saturday was dim sum in Grand Imperial in Plaza Damas. Dim sum is something we never miss when we visit KL. And the food there was amazing. Before we started, you had some fun with the camera.

And this is the "zhang" which we ordered. You love glutinous rice and so you ate quite a bit of this:

Next stop was Empire Shopping Gallery. Had a little fun, walked a little, sat for some desserts (ice-cream and coffee) before it was time to head to Jack Min Ah Pek's house to visit your newest cousin, Vianna. We had a yummy seafood dinner before heading back to Hotel Uncle Dennis.

It was another round of Dim Sum on Sunday (yup, we're never sick of it...) this time we wanted to go to Crystal Jade in The Gardens, but it was closed! Eeeks.. so where to go for our Dim Sum fix? We tried out Din Tai Fung instead. We had to wait a while before we got our table. The dim sums were great. We also tried some of the noodles along with a plate of fried rice. You loved the Xiao Long Pau. But when daddy let you try the Shao-Mai, you instantly switched loyalty to the Shao-Mai *grin*.

We walked around a little before it was time to say bye-bye to Ashley Kor-kor and Uncle Dennis. It was a long drive back to Penang, but a good thing the traffic was relatively heavy but smooth flowing.

Music Class

I've just realised that you've been attending music class for almost a year and I have not mentioned it at all in this blog. Well, we were not too sure how long you'd last in the class, but so far the signs look good. You are quite willing to practise the music (not for too long.. but better than none)..

After 6 months of classes it was time for a little "performance". Each child in the class has to sing a song and play 2 songs from the book. We practised in Ipoh during Chinese New Year and when we got back it was time for the "mini concert". It was fun.. and I'm proud to say you did quite well.

It's almost time for the next "mini concert" as we approach the end of Book 2. I must remember to post the pictures/videos sooner... Arghhh....

Happy Teacher's Day

In celebration of teacher's day this year, I helped you make a pencil holder and bought the stationery to put in as you had requested: 2 markers (in black and blue) and one red pen. This was Mrs. Shanti's present. On top of that, the card was to be yellow paper and I bought an orange envelope to go with it.

For Ms. Fong, you made a heart shape using pyssla beads and then we stuck it to cardboard. The card was green as you had requested and a matching green envelope.

 A simple gift to your teacher, but I'm sure they'll love these presents especially made by you for them.

Evan's Poem

Here's a video of you reciting your poem to us the night before:

What a Mess

Today was the day that you had to recite a poem which you had been working on for over 2 weeks. It was a "Story telling competition" in school.. and well somehow poem was also acceptable. Mrs Shanti had picked the poem for you as the story you wanted to recite was too long.

The day before Mrs Shanti had asked me to dress you in shirt and long pants for the competition. You seemed rather nervous but daddy and I had worked hard to go through it with you and let you overcome your fear, practising and practising and getting you to recite as clearly and confidently as possible. We didn't want you to be frightened and let this be a good practise for you to speak in public with no fear.

So after going through your clothes, we decided on a simple short sleeved shirt with jeans. Well, to us it was "formal" enough. Off we went to school at the usual time. Then on the way you went "cough cough..... uweeekkkk". Oh-kayyy.. you vomited all over nice clothes. Yikes. It was a good thing you had a change of clothes in the school bag, but it was certainly not suited for the poem recital. So we changed in the car, dropped you off in school and after explaining to Mrs Shanti that we'd get you a change of clothes from home, headed home to get something nice for you to wear.

Before we reached home, Mrs Shanti called to ask if you had a bow tie. Of course you do, you wore it for Yvonne Kor-kor's wedding. Wah.. need to wear so formal. So I brought all your clothes.. the works including the shoes. Mrs Choo brought me up to your classroom and Mrs Shanti gave me a room to help you change into the clothes. When we went back to class, your classmates went "Wahh.. Evan Ban wear so nice.." so sweet.

I'm sure the nice clothes also gave you more confidence to present your poem. When we saw you during lunch, you proudly showed me your trophy. Great job, little boy!

Goodbye Sue

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. ~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

Tuesday which was a public holiday for everyone turned out not to be as expected. At around 5pm, daddy received a call which left us all in shock. Sue Kor-kor had passed away.

How could that be? She's only so young. We were all in shock and we were all worried as to how 5th Chek Kong and Chim Poh would take the loss.

Sue Kor-kor aka Ah Nee Kor-kor was among the first Ben's I met after getting to know daddy. That was so long ago.. 16 years. Wow! We continued to meet up as we all lived not too far apart in Australia while were studying. She's sometimes cook, and wow she was a great cook. And of course we'd meet up in Ipoh or wherever there was a Ban function.

Even all the Chinese New Years she would always be in the kitchen helping out to cut, cook and most importantly to prepare the ingredients for the famous Ban's "longan lychee" drink which was the customary dessert.

It's hard to accept that she would leave us at such a young age. We tried to explain to you that she is no longer with us.. physically, but always in our heart.. but you did not seem to understand it. No matter what you do know that she loved you a lot. Like all your Kor-kors she would buy little things for you and you'd have so many things whenever we meet up. 

Goodbye dear Sue. You'll be missed.

The Italian Way

I love baking. And pizza is one of the easiest thing to make. So one of the Sundays, we decided to have an "Italian Night" which was complete with wine (none for you and me.. ).

Here's the pizza you made for yourself "4 cheese pizza" baking in the oven:

Here's our 4 Cheese pizza which had olives:

On top of that, we had pesto pasta. My first attempt at it. Of course, with it looking so green, you didn't want to try it, preferring your cheesy pizza only.

Ah Ma also made some garlic bread as there was leftover baguette:

I wasn't too sure if Ah Kong could take the pesto and obviously the pizza was out of the question for him, so we also had some ciabatta which we'd bought smoked salmon to go with it.

We also had baked potatoes. What a feast!

Dinner was fun to prepare and I'm glad that everyone enjoyed something from dinner.

Evan's 6th Birthday @ Ipoh

We went back to Ipoh for Cheng Beng a week after we celebrated your birthday at home. So to make it easier we decided to have a celebration in Ipoh too so that the Ban's need not make a trip to Penang then Ipoh 2 weeks in a row. As usual the dinner place was Tong Hoi in Menglembu.. they serve the yummiest food! Sue kor-kor was back early that weekend, so she helped to pick the dishes for dinner.

While waiting for dinner daddy took pictures of some of the guests:

 And of course when daddy tried to take a picture of you, you refused to smile nicely to the camera:

We had also announced the soon to be arrival of our baby to the family when we were back too. So Check Kong even brought a bottle of champagne which daddy tried to open:

After that, dinner was served and we were all too busy tucking in the food to think of taking pictures of dinner.

That night, you asked me why there was no more cake. Wah.. already had 2 cakes before this and still expected another cake. Oops.. I guess next time we could have another cake in Ipoh too??

Evan's 6th Birthday Party @ School

As usual on your birthday we planned to have a party in school for you. The night before I had your party packs all packed and ready to go. That morning after dropping you off to school, mummy and daddy went off for breakfast before going to pick up your cake. Mrs Shanti and asked me to arrive in school at 10.30 am which was break time for your class.

When went to the centre to see Mrs Choo who brought us up to your classroom. The children were not ready for break time yet as they were still doing some writing. So daddy and I waited outside and watched as the children from other classes walked in after music class with Mrs Giam, children going to the washroom before their break time and there were many curious children looking as us as they walked pass as they saw the box with the cake.

Soon Mrs Shanti sent the children by tables to go to the washroom and to have their hands washed. Finally we could go into your classroom. That was my first time entering your classroom this year. By the time we went in, most of the children were seated and had their water bottles all ready for break time.

Mummy got the cake out of the box while daddy was the photographer of the day:

The cake design you had picked this year is Tom and Jerry. Here you are inspecting the cake:

Before the children sang the birthday songs (in 3 languages), we had a class photo taken:

As the children were singing, the candle almost went off as the air-cond was blowing at your direction:

The children seemed excited. After the songs were sung, the children sat at their places and waited for mummy to cut the cake:

Last year when we celebrated your 5th birthday in school, there was so much leftover cake. So this year as there were only 18 children in the class we decided to order a smaller cake. But we underestimated the children. The whole cake was finished. Yup, not a crumb was left. Some children had 2nd and 3rd helpings.

Some children even interrogated me on where the party packs were. Haha.. anyhow, we left the party packs with your teacher as they were only distributed at the end of the day, to avoid the children not paying attention to the remainder of the class.

I hope you and your friends had a good time at this little party.