P1 Orientation Letter

Really excited. Finally received the P1 Orientation package from Poi Ching School today by post. RA will be in the first class and her house colour is yellow. Quite expected since I know the school allocates classes by the kids' birthday months.

Turns out I actually know of 3 other kids who will be her classmates next year. One is her current cc classmate, another is a neighbour. Both of them are my SMH mummy friends. So lucky that I am already friends with the mummies so we can update and tip one another off about class matters in future. Maybe even set up a whatsapp or line chat group. The third one is RA's ballet classmate. I am not very close to her mummy. Yet.... Lol.

Orientation is from 2-4pm on 14 Nov. There is a booklist included and a School Dental Services form that parents are supposed to fill up. We can start buying books and uniforms 1 week earlier on 8 Nov (Sat). Since Sat is our 'free' day, think we will probably drop by and get the stuff first, in case sizes and stock run out. Yes, the behaviour of a typical KS Singaporean. Haha.

Staycation at Katong Village Hotel

Since hb and I could not take leave for Children's Day, decided to make it up to the kids by bringing them on a staycation. Thanks to Agoda's credit rebates, we only paid $60+ for this staycation. According to my friends, this is the refurbished hotel. Used to Paramount Hotel and there used to be a Chinese restaurant run by Tung Lok.

Didn't bother us since we were there to check out Katong, i12 and maybe visit East Coast Park. When we checked in on Sunday, it was too hot to swim though Raelynn kept asking for it. We walked over to i12 and had lunch. Decided to skip watching a movie since that will take up precious staycation time. Lol.

Then we walked back and checked out the shops at the attached Katong V mall. There was an indoor playground recommended by my friends so we dropped the kids off for 1 hr of play. After that, we passed by a art and craft centre so decided to let the gals do some art and craft and create their own treasure boxes. When we finally hit the pool, it was almost 6pm. Definitely not sunny, but we didn't realise that there was no children's pool. And the only circular pool was 1.2m deep at one end and 1.8m deep at the other end. Definitely too deep for my gals so they were a bit freaked out. Luckily we brought along floats and even made use of the life buoys by the side of the pool.

After a swim, we walked over to the Katong stretch of eateries and ended up at Le Petite café. They serve French food. It was not bad but the gals were too tired to really enjoy their food. So we left immediately after dinner to let them have an early night.

Sleeping was a bit of a problem since I only booked a superior room. So there was only 1 King bed. With RL being a shadow kicker, RA did not get much sleep so I didn't get much sleep either. Luckily it was only for 1 night.

Buffet bf was included and it was not bad. The otah was recommended. They have an eggs and noodles station too. We decided not to take the shuttle bus to the beach since it was hazy. So the gals just had another shot at the indoor playground, it was time to check out. After check out, we walked over to Parkway parade for lunch leaving our car at the hotel. So it was really convenient.

All in all, we like the hotel especially the location. The only complaint was that there was no bathtub in the superior and deluxe rooms and bathtub is a highlight for my kids. Only for the expensive Peranakan room, the guest can get a huge round bathtub in the middle of the room. But that is at double the price of a superior room. Since the gals love staycations, if there are any offers in future, we will come back. :)

Lcentral

Raelynn started having spelling in July and it was tough for her. She did not even recognise all the alphabets from A-Z and definitely did not know her phonics. Spelling is frankly 2 levels above her, cos firstly, she needs to recognise the alphabets, know her phonics, recognise the words before she can spell.

The weekly spelling and the painful coaching by us made me realise that she needs help to catch up to speed for English. Maybe because she is a Dec baby or because she has not been paying attention in class.

I asked around. 'I can read' and 'Learning Point' were recommended but there were no centres in Tampines. A mummy friend recommended 'Lcentral' at CPF building, Tampines. I like it that they were ability based so there will be free assessment for each kid before they are put into a suitable class.

After the assessment which parents get to sit in, RL was assessed to be suitable for the most basic class - Foundation whereas RaeAnne was good for 'Preparing for Success'. In the end, we signed Raelynn immediately. RaeAnne only started last Sunday for Term 4 as there was a new PFS class on Sunday mornings with the same timing as Raelynn. Logistically, it is easier to drop off both kids and we thought it is good to give RA some exposure as well.

Lcentral fees unfortunately are not cheap, $560 per term for each kid so it works out to be almost $200 every month. But we have never given the gals academic enrichment so far. It is more out of necessity because RL cannot catch up with her peers and we don't want the gap to further widen. Hope we can see improvement after 1 or 2 terms then we can cut down on lessons. ;)

Ballet enrichment - Part 2

Ballet coaching started today but RA did not go. Simply because I did not sign her up. Have been asking her for the last month, but she has been saying no to Ballet exam (Primary). She said it's too difficult and her teacher cannot accompany them for the exam. I told her she will have a partner but she does not want to do exams. She just wants the usual Sunday morning ballet class.

Last year she was the one who requested to stop globalart and she was also the one who asked for ballet in May 2013. I tried to persuade her because I felt I should not encourage her to keep changing her mind and giving up when things get tough. After all, she already did the Pre primary ballet exam in April this year and all 4 of her classmates who went for the exam this year have also signed up for next year's Primary ballet exam. In fact, this time, 8 of them signed up. It seemed a waste to stop halfway.

She said she wants to go back to globalart because her cc classmate is there. But GA's Friday lessons clashes with Ballet coaching. So I brought her to globalart yesterday but her friend's class on Friday is full. Even if I sign her up, she won't be in the same class as her friend. So she was not keen.

I don't know if I am making the right decision by letting her skip the ballet exam. So hard to strike the right balance between allowing a child to quit due to lack of interest or just registering her for exams because she needs to learn hard work and commitment. I asked her ballet teacher that RA may not want to do the exam but all her teacher said was "She's still young".

Ok, maybe 6 years old is probably still young for me to force her to commit. I have given her a chance to learn ballet and to take ballet exams. If she forfeits her chance, so be it. Since she is entering primary 1 next year, she will have less time for enrichment. Plus, Her first piano exam will be in March/April 2015 (same timing as ballet exams) so guess we will just concentrate on piano for now.

First time to POLW, Sentosa - Review

We have a playdate with the Jan08 mummies today at POLW, Sentosa. Been quite long since I joined them since starting to work part time 1 yr ago. The weather forecast said rain and thunder in the late morning but it turns out to be a bright and very sunny day. Since we have never been to POLW before, I was so glad we didn't have to change plans. :)

The nearest carpark to get to POLW is Beach station carpark. We parked nearer to Palawan beach side so it was about 5 mins walk. Though it is a school holiday today, the place was not very crowded. But too bad the usual Passion 10% discount did not apply. So we paid for 2 kids, $15 each but adults' admission was free. Each kid was given a passport and paper curio coins so that the kids can join in the activities eg. bubble fun, rainbow loom, sandart, Paint splash etc.

After changing, the gals zoomed straight to the water play area. The slides were good, max was about 2 storeys high so the gals could play on their own. Hubby and I did not need to get into the water at all. But for kids 3 yrs or below, the occasional downpour of water from the oversized big bucket above can be quite scary because there is no alarm or bell ringing unlike the water play at the zoo and wild wild wet. One 3-yr-old gal in our group fell down due to the force of water n cried due to the shock.

The kids played from 1030am to 2pm when it got too hot. We would have left earlier but POLW has fringe activities so it was good at keeping the kids occupied. The gals tried the bubble foam pool and RA tried rainbow loom in between.

Will we go back again? Definitely!

RaeAnne's first tooth fell out

RaeAnne dropped her bottom left incisor last Thursday, it has been shaky for 1-2 weeks. It finally fell off when she was tossing and turning for bed. There was a bit of blood but I stopped the bleeding with a cotton pad. She was quite excited cos she thinks the tooth fairy will give her a present. But the tooth fairies were undecided on what to give her and fell asleep in the end. So the next day, tooth fairy no. 1 gave her a dollar coin while tooth fairy no. 2 got her a little soft toy bear which she wanted. Lol.

Her bottom right incisor is shaky too. Hope her top incisors won't fall out too soon because she has a graduation photo taking session next week. Not very nice to have a boh gay graduation photo. Haha.

Hurray!!!

Yeah! We are one of the 31 who got in without any balloting. Was so kancheong until results came out at 830pm. Can sleep easy tonight le. Haha.

P1 Registration...

I have never studied harder than I had these few weeks. Checking up on MOE website at night to see the no. of vacancies by phases. Visiting kiasuparents to compare odds against last year.

Yup, it is P1 registration for RaeAnne. Finally... Still remember the day when my waterbag broke and I gave birth to her after a long 16 hrs labour. Then in a blink of an eye, fast forward almost 7 years le and she will need to start her 6 years of formal primary school education in just 4 months.

We did PV duty last year for 60 hours last year so finally got the coveted PV letter which allows us to register in Phase 2B. Took leave today and registered with my friend and RA's cc classmate. Brought RA along too. Hubby as usual had to work. Today is the first day of Phase 2b registration, went on the very first day because I was too kancheong. The school admin said Phase 2b should be safe from balloting.

According to MOE website, 25 have registered and there are 53 vacancies. Looking good so far. Keeping fingers crossed for good news tomorrow. :)

Perth 17 - 24 June 2014

We took a 8D7N self drive holiday to Perth with my mum, aunt and bro again. My brother has been to Perth and drove there before whereas for us we have never taken a self-drive holiday. Lol.

Being winter, it rained 5 of the 7 days we were there but it was still fun. We just donned raincoats and let the kids play at the playground or feed the farm animals. Better than going all the way there and doing nothing. The highlight of the trip for the kids was Sunflower Farmstay at Margaret River. RA cried when we had to leave.

For the elderly, they definitely love the supermarket visits (Coles and Woolworth) where the fruits and vegetables are so fresh and cheap. I have never eaten so many brussel sprouts, roast chicken and cooked prawns in my life.

Will just let the photos do the talking since I need to work tomorrow. Lol.

Our rental car - 8 seater Hyundai Imax


North cottage - Sunflowers Farmstay


The gals' favourite guinea pigs pen


RL did not wake up early enough for the pony ride but at least she got to feed it.


Apple picking!


Caversham Wildlife Park


Sunny days at Perth City (Perth Mint)

Kidland Penang

Took a trip to Penang again, my favourite Malaysian city thus far. As we went with the extended family this time, there was not much sightseeing. June is the warmest and most humid month for Singapore and Malaysia so my mum and aunt were most comfortable in air con. So Batu Ferringhi beach and lots of walking was out. Lol.

We stayed at Evergreen Laurel Hotel this time, to accommodate the budget of the extended family. The rooms were big and comfortable and the staff were friendly. But as there is no longer a free shuttle, we had to take a lot of cab rides to Gurney Plaza. Min is RM10 to go to Gurney Plaza, a Capital Mall run shopping centre. For the sake of convenience esp with young kids where you may need to go back to the hotel often to drop off shopping or let them rest/shower etc, I will still pick G Hotel.

On the first day, we had a late dim sum lunch at Xuan xin restaurant. I let the gals enjoy a mini manicure at Charmaine Nail Salon at Gurney Plaza for RM14. No such luxury in Sg cos it's too expensive. For dinner, we went to the open air Gurney drive Hawker centre but it was too warm for my mum and aunt. Queues were very long as we only went there at 8pm.

The next day, we went to Prangin Mall. There are two Atriums. Atrium A is more happening whereas Atrium B is quiet with quite a lot of shuttered shops. The main reason of going of Prangin mall is because of Kidland. It is Penang's version of the popular KL's Kidzania. Because it is school holidays, it is RM30 for 5 hrs of play, either 10-3pm or 4-9pm. If it is a non school holiday, you can play the whole day there. The place is big and occupies 2 floors. The entrance is at Level 4 while exit is at Level 5. There is a small café at level 5 near the washrooms and exit.

Kids can choose their favourite professions at Kidland, go into different rooms, don different uniforms and 'work' for $. The learning experience is guided by their staff once the kids are inside the rooms. But since it is the gals' first time, and we are not sure if they can navigate the rooms on their own, hb accompanied them for an additional RM5.

Kids can earn kidmonics $ then they can choose how they want to spend their money. They can either use their money on experiences (eg. indoor pg, face makeup, clayart, cookie making etc) or they can use the $ at the souvenir shop at Level 5. The gals tried out Bomb Disposal, IT, Police, Photo Studio. After earning hard and getting $70+, the gals chose to spend their hard earned $ at the indoor playground and dramatic face makeup. Not enough $ to buy souvenirs but hb got them a small toy each for RM10.

Went for a day tour (more like a shopping tour for my mum and aunt) on our last day in Penang. In the morning, we went to Pulau Tikus to buy our favourite 'dou miao'. I love this crunchy dou miao from Penang. Can't seem to find it anywhere else. It tastes wonderful just stir fried with some garlic and soy sauce. As yummy as I remember it. We visited the 3d museum to take 3d effect photos, Penang Botanical Gardens to see free roaming monkeys and also to Kek Lok Si. So, I managed to eat my Air Itam Penang Laksa this time.



When I asked the gals what they enjoyed most about Penang. Both said Kidland. I have been to Penang 5 times so far. People always ask me why I keep going back. I can't really describe why.
To me, the biggest draw to Penang besides the food has always been its people.

When we were walking around in Prangin Mall, not knowing the way to Parkson. A young chap on the automated massage chair overheard us and directed us to the right way. When we did our foot reflex massage at Prangin Mall, the massage therapist shared tips with us when we asked what was nice to eat around here. With his help, we tasted one of the best Char kuay teow and yummy chicken rice for just RM3. Even the hotel concierge lady was attentive and helpful towards my mum who couldn't walk very steadily. Guiding her to board the mini bus transport though she had a stern looking face (whom my brother said looked like a teacher or a principal). My brother commented that even the drivers sound their horns in a friendly manner. Just a short, light honk instead of the long dragged out horning that Singaporeans do to vent their frustration and impatience.

I feel welcome at Penang, not like a tourist, but like one of them. Their service attitudes is one of the best I encountered too. While it is nice to discover something new every time I go back to Penang. I hope there is something that doesn't change ie. the warm and humble Penangites.