I ordered a set of Kumon Workbooks from the BP before the Chinese New Year. After numerous delays from the courier Ta-Q-Bin, I finally received the books last weekend.

I don’t intend to enroll our boy to any Kumon Learning Centers at the moment. Thus, these workbooks are best to be used as home-learning materials. And at the same time, we can evaluate Kumon’s style of learning and decide whether it’s suitable for us.

I haven’t had a complete review of the books yet, but my first impression of them is that they have excellent paper quality and colorful graphics.

We started the first book on Easy Telling Time this week. Little Edison loves it so much; and I can see that he enjoyed the activities in the book.

I shall write about these books again when I have time. By the way, are you using these books too? I love to hear your feedback about them.

Sorry for the long silence since my last post – nevertheless, I’m still in-time to wish you and your family a Happy Lunar New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!

It has been a busy but fun Lunar New Year week. We chilled out at relatives’ house, watched the lion and dragon dances, ate lots of yummy bak kwa and melt-in-the-mouth pineapple tarts, played some card games and prayed at the Chinese temple.

Surprisingly, our Little Edison enjoyed the family gatherings so much. He immediately made friends with the other children and had fun playing with them.

On Thursday (Day 4 of LNY), we went to Sentosa Island to experience the floral extravaganza. This year, the award-winning event, Sentosa Flowers, is themed as “Enchanted Spring”. We took some pictures as we strolled through the gardens of bloom.

Roar like a Lion!

“Mama, I want to make a silly face!”

“Hey, Mama! I saw a starfish right here!”

“Oh Mama, flowers are so boring. Can we go to the beach now?”

After visiting the Sentosa Flowers, we headed to the Siloso Beach for a dip. The weather was so nice, it wasn’t very sunny and it didn’t rain either.

“Yay! I love the beach!”

“Daddy digs the sand, I pour the water! We worked together!”

“Let me take some water from the sea.”

“Hey Mama! The water is still cold!”

We spent about two to three hours on the beach before we washed and packed up. Soon, it was dinner time and we took a train to the Resorts World as there are more dining options over there. And we ended up at Din Tai Fung – their signature steamed shrimp dumplings are my top favourite!

Curry Fish Head @ Din Tai Fung

We discovered that the restaurant has Nyonya Fish Head Curry on its menu too. So, we gave it a try. Taste wise, I would say that it’s just average but we like it served on a burning claypot so that we can enjoy the dish sizzling hot.

Golden Dragon at RWS

When I was young, I grew up surrounded by siblings, cousins and a large group of neighbor friends. We had a wonderful time growing up together and we were all raised to make our own fun. We didn’t have any of the electronics handheld devices of today and even the TV program was very limited.

We rode bicycles along the dirty road in front of our houses. We played dressed-up using the remnant pieces of clothes from my mom (she was a tailor). We played hide-and-seek in the woods behind our house. We caught spiders, grasshoppers, beetles, dragonflies and even birds just for fun.

Basically, we played using our own imaginations. We didn’t get toys from our parents so often. So, we really treasured them very much whenever we got one. Our parents, on the other hand, worked very hard to make ends meet but they were happy.

The door to our house were opened throughout the day – except only bedtime. But we never once worried about thief, strangers or anything dangerous from the outside. We had free access to each other’s house but we had no complaints.

Today, the environment is completely different. Our boy has a lot of toys and electronics devices to play with, but he lacks playmates. I’m glad that there are two boys (one Indian and one Chinese) who are staying next to my in-law’s house. Occasionally, they come over and ride bicycle with Little Edison.

Even when we stay in a private apartment with security guards, we don’t open our main door all the time. I’m not worried about safety, but I prefer privacy. I dislike strangers looking through our door or listening to our conversation.

Our boy also doesn’t get to meet with his cousins so often. Maybe just once or twice a year due to our distance. Every time when they meet, they have lots of fun.

I’ve a series of pictures here from Year 2008 till now. You can see how much the kids have grown up over the years.

Year 2008 – In Jacob Ballas Children Garden. Little Edison and Jaerone (my nephew) were about one year old. Jaynie (my niece) is one year older than Edison and her brother, Jaerone.

Year 2009 – At my parents’ house in Ipoh. This is my father with the three kids.

Year 2010 – In Cameron Highlands. Little Edison and Jaerone were about 3 years old. Jaynie was 4. And in this picture is my sister, Stevie.

Year 2011 – In Jusco shopping center, Ipoh. Taken just a month ago.

And now, they have one more playmate – that’s my baby niece Khloe, who is about 1.5 months old now. In my next home trip, I’ll probably be seeing Little Khloe snatching toys from her older cousins.

Jaynie & Khloe, our two princesses in pink and my mom.

They should meet up more often, I know.

Last week has been a super busy one for me, both at work and at home.

Work-wise, January is our financial year-end and quarter-end. Needless to say, we’re all rushing for shipments to meet our revenue target. Chinese New Year is also around the corner. We had to work with our Taiwan, China and Hong Kong subcontractors for overtime manpower support during the CNY holiday.

In addition, it’s THAT time of the year again to submit our performance self-review and objective setting for this year. How much bonus that we’ll get this coming April will depend on how well we write-up our self-review. So, we’ve to think thoroughly and report all our accomplishments – and also start to think of what we want to achieve this year.

Phew!

I’m glad that I’ve submitted mine last night.

Last weekend, I’ve been doing a fair bit of spring cleaning around the house. It’s that time of the year to declutter again (OK, more on throwing away than declutter!). I’ve five boxes of old clothes that belong to our boy, which I don’t know what to do with them.

Initially, I wanted to throw them away. But when I looked at them again, I recalled the moments of my baby boy wearing these clothes. I even have some pictures of him wearing them. Look at this!

Argh, I simply can’t bear to part with his baby clothes because of their sentimental values. So once again, I decided to keep them. I put them all into vacuum-seal storage bags and moved away the boxes. They really save a lot of storage space for me. His wardrobe looks way neater too.

On the other hand, I threw out quite a number of my old clothes. Some of them are relatively new and in good condition. I passed a huge bag of them to my hubby’s colleague who has just married a Vietnamese wife. I’m glad that he is willing to take these clothes because it’s really a waste to dump them.

I changed all the bed sheets and washed them. Luckily, the weather was great and all the sheets dried up within a day. Now, I’m left with just our store room – which I plan to declutter this Friday after work.

By this Saturday, I’ll be all ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year! Yay!

The crying was very bad last week but it gets slightly better now. Not Little Edison, I’m referring to the children at the pre-nursery classes who have just started school last week.

Some of them started bawling the moment their parents leave the classroom. I can’t imagine those who take a school bus. They might be crying all the way from their home. Sigh.

The beginning of school is often very challenging for young children. Some of them may need more time to adjust to new people and environment than others. But with time, they will eventually settle down to the school routine. And they will gradually engage in the classroom activities and start making friends too.

So, don’t be despair if your child is crying at school. I experienced it two years ago when our boy started his pre-nursery. I also shared my 6-point plan on how to tackle separation anxiety in our children. Read it HERE, if you need.

Little Edison started his K1 this year. He was so excited about it, and he kept repeating, “I’m 5 years old now, I’m in K1. Next year, I’ll be 6 years old. I’ll be in K2.” And I said, “Yes, you’re a K1 big boy now!” He is very proud that he’s a big boy now.

This is his third year in the same kindergarten. So, he is very familiar with the classroom. He waltzed straight in, hung up his bag, dropped off his water bottle and walked up to the hall for his morning devotion. He is so excited to see his friends again.

For K1 and K2 children, the school offers a range of enrichment classes to enhance learning through creative activities. These classes are held once a week (one hour per lesson) after school hours. I signed-up two classes for Little Edison – the Chinese Integrated Program and IT Starter for Preschoolers.

Our choice of Primary School for Little Edison is a SAP school with strong emphasis on bilingualism. Thus, I signed-up the extra Chinese class for him so that he can have a good start in Chinese Language.

The IT Starter class, on the other hand, is to familiarize him with the use of computer and internet. It also equips him with the essential ICT skills, improve creativity and build-up his confidence through group projects.

I hope that he will enjoy these extra lessons this year.