English vs Chinese

In our family, we speak Mandarin much more than English. We are very pro-government de..

So I thought Chinese will not be a problem for my girls when they start to attend school. My parents who stays with me speaks to both Joey and Jayne in Mandarin all the time. My in-laws are the same. Kless and myself will alternate between English and Mandarin when communicating or teaching our girls.

So I was very shocked to realise that Joey has difficulties in understanding Chinese lessons in K1.

According to her teacher, Joey is slightly slower in recognising Chinese words or sentences than in English. Chinese words I can understand, I was never too good in that too. But Chinese sentences, how can that be possible? Until Kless told me recently, she was teaching Joey numbers. When Kless asked Joey to write the numbers out and she instructed in English, there was no problem. Six will be 6. But if the  instructions is in Chinese 六, Joey has trouble interpreting that into 6. OMG!

The shock was double this morning! Jayne came to my room holding to an Elmo soft toy, she pointed at the nose, the eye, the mouth and gave me the perfect and correct description in English. I did a small test.
嘴巴? 眼睛? 鼻子?

She has no idea what am I talking about!!! What is happening?!?

A Walk In History

Have you been to the old train station at Tanjong Pagar? It’s not wrong to say you have walked into a part of the past when you enter the station.

We have to give credit to our government for doing a great job protecting and reserving the history and heritage of the country. It is exactly such places like the train station that will provide a very good learning platform for the younger generations. I am sure many kids nowadays have not taken a ride on the old-fashion train before. The only train they ever know is MRT.

We brought Joey to have her first experience on a real train.

The hall is so beautiful, high ceilings, tainted windows, tile floorings.

Where else can you find such an old ticketing office?

Would it be great to change our HDB gates into something like this? Cool right?

Are You Excited To See Your Child?

I witnessed something amazing some days ago. Saw a friend who was so excited to see her 5 years old child. I mean they stay together, they see each other daily. What is the excitement about? How can this friend be so excited to see her child?

This got me thinking.. Are we showing enough love to our children? Do they know that they are special and we love them very much?

Suddenly I realised that I cannot take for granted that my girls will stay young and will always want me to be with them. They will eventually grow up and make new friends, have their own life. I need to make the best of these years when I can really shower my best attention on them. I need to be excited to see my girls EVERYDAY!

So yesterday when we reached home, the girls were downstairs at the void deck waiting for us. I parked the car and practiced what I have learnt. I just spread my hands wide and Joey took the cue to ran over and gave me a tight hug. She was all sweaty from the play but it doesn’t matter. I was excited to hug her and carry her. She is no longer light but still ain’t too heavy for me to carry her all the way home. Cos she is my darling!

How can you not love and be excited to see such cute girls?

Rabbit Year – Day 4

One thing about true friendship is flexibility. We never plan to have lunch together, but after last Sunday’s service, we just decided to go Vivocity. Ended up at Sushi Tei and the Gang had our informal reunion lunch (minus Peter & Cherry).

We were like hungry ghosts… We ordered each a main course and many other sides to share.

Floss Sushi

Dragon Sushi

Kimchi Pancake

Even the 2 babies had a great time sitting together and posing for photos. So cute!

This CNY has been a great time of fun and makan! Huat ah!

Rabbit Year – Day 2

Day 2 was originally planned for a drive up to KL. But last minute there was a change and Kless’s relatives came from KL instead.

We started off the day with breakfast at Red Star Restaurant.

Then it was meeting the relatives from KL. Buffet lunch besides the pool, what a relaxing meal.

Joey & Jayne had a fun time playing with one of her younger Uncles.

Grandpa and Grandma.

Day 2 was tiring, but equally enjoyable. How can one not be happy seeing a smile like this? =)

Rabbit Year – Day 1

Prepared for the yearly reunion lunch at my Grandma’s place in JB. The 3 angels were in their new CNY clothing.

This year was slightly different cos Grandma shifted house.

Not surprisingly, the stairway was what the girls like. A chance to climb up and down the stairs was just fun enough for them *scratch head*

These items in the house brought back quite a bit of memories.

The food was simple but very very nice! Mee Siam, Duck, Satay & Chicken.

Joey loves the chicken!

One special part of the lunch was the ‘give thanks’ prayer. My Uncle will lead us in a prayer of blessing for the entire family, health for all, wisdom for the older generation, favour for the 2nd generation and protection for the 3rd generation. An awesome prayer!

Chinese New Year is my favourite because for the chance to catch up with my relatives and to share with one another our lives. As I grow older, I have grown to cherish this more and more.

I had a great time!! Jayne is coming to 2 years old and she too enjoyed it more than last year.

CNY Rocks!