Charmaine

My Penang Trip

2011-12-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

On the 5th of December, my mother, my sis and I went to Penang for a chess competition. My chess competition was from the 6th to the 10th.

For the chess competition, there was a total of nine rounds. Its two rounds a day and one round on the last day. Each round was two hours per player with increment thirty seconds per move. At first I felt very nervous but after the first round, I was calmer. I won three rounds in total. Although I didn't win any prizes, but it was a good experience for me!

Pool... we swam almost everyday!

Round 1 ... I lost..

Round 2... I put up a very good fight but still lost. He commended me though for my good game.

Round 3...this girl again! I always played with her in Singapore and so far, I have yet to win her... but I won!! Actually she is my friend la... mummy so worried that I don't play seriously.

Round 4...lost

Round 5... lost again! This boy's opening very different from our usual style...my coach very nice. He took the effort to find games how other GM played against such opening and asked me to learn.

Round 6...lost...AGAIN...

Round 7...

Round 8...FINALLY, I win!

Round 9... I win again!

Thinking hard...

We have a game in between our match in the afternoon...

Beach is a place we go every evening to unwind...

Daddy brought the boys and my aunty over on the last day of the competition. So its our family's holiday now from 10th to 14th. We went to Adventure Zone, went for sea-sport like the banana boat, the jet ski and para sailing at the beach. The banana boat is when we have to sit on a float shaped like a banana and they will us along on a jet ski.

We also went to the War Museum, the Snake Farm at the Snake Temple, the fruit farm and the butterfly farm. At the butterfly farm, there were a lot of butterflies and caterpillars. There were also giant millipedes, a show and pictures about insects. I enjoyed the show very much as it was very funny. There was also butterfly stickers and magnets. We bought one magnet which was an orange butterfly.

Getting ready to "fly"...

Banana Boat ride...

Jet Ski with daddy...

Adventure Zone...

Zooming down the slide at the Adventure Zone...Thrill!

Snake Farm...

Chameleon on my head...

War Museum...Nicholas was a little scared of the exhibits

Butterfly Farm

The giant millipedes...

having a feel of it...

In summary, it was a fun and enjoyable holiday. My only grumble was not enough time there. We still have not visit the Toy Museum... we have another few more days there...

A Tough Decision.... (by mummy)

2011-12-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

JOY

Received a call from Charmaine's P3 form teacher on Tuesday morning. The first sentence she said to me was "congratulation Mrs S!" I was like wondering if she got the right person then..what is there to congrats me of...I'm not expecting or something like that... With the awkward silence from me, she senses that I must be puzzled and so she quickly clarified "Congratulation! Charmaine got through round 2 of the GEP and she has a choice to join GEP program or remain with us and join the SBC (in house special program)". Regained my composure and thank her for passing the news and I will certainly convey her congratulation message to Charmaine. I was still confidently telling her that Charmaine will be staying put.

EXCITEMENT

Went down to the General Office to collect the brown envelope which contains the info and registration form for the GEP. There were 10 pupils from her school being selected! At that point, I was still so sure that she/we are going to take up the SBC offer!

When I got home, I informed her of the news and congrats her. She was a little shy about it though. She read through the booklet meant for the pupil and said nothing of it. Her sister was happy for her and congratulates her on getting through too. We told her we will go for the briefing and that she is the one making the final call...leaving or staying.

Went for GEP briefing on Saturday even though we are 99% confirmed of staying put in MGS. After the briefing, all 3 of us began to rethink of the decision. For her, she was excited to find that they have more time for discussion and teachers will not brush them off as silly questions. She was happy that READING is one of the requirement (sort of) as she loves to read. There are more hands on stuffs and more experiments too. In general, she is excited about the program.

To us, to be one of the 566 students out of 42,000 P3 cohort, we feel we should not give up the place without giving a try on the program. The only concern we have is whether she can cope with the program and what happen after P6? In her current school, they are able to get into its Secondary school with a low cut off point. So if she leave the school, she will have to really score very well (above 250) to qualify for any other so-called good secondary school. We did not tell her this as we do not want her to worry on things that is in the future. All she needs to consider is whether she likes and want to give the program a try.

DOUBT

As the excitement settled in, I began to doubt if there was any mistake in the selection. How can she be one of the top 1% of the cohort when she was never the smartest in her class. Although she was in the high ability class, but she never top the class! Her languages are weak for sure although she loves to read. Could it be by fluke? Was there any mistake? Wrong identity? Alamak! So many "???"! Hubby was more cool about this. He said that the GEP branch already assured us that there will be no mistake and its definitely not by luck that our kids were selected. Even then, I just can't help doubting and worrying...

DECISION

Over the next few days, we prayed and talked about it. She had set her mind on 2 schools and we placed it in the order of her preference. We prayed and done our part and leave it to HIM, just like the way when she goes for the GEP round 1 & 2. Back then, we did nothing...no revision... no practise..no special GEP prep courses. All we did on the day itself before dropping her off was to pray. We told HIM that come whatever may, we leave it to HIM...

OUTCOME

The posting letter came after 3 weeks. She was a little disappointed that it was not her first choice (she chose that school because of the strong chess team) but soon the disappointment vanished. We found out that almost all the other 9 girls from her school was posted there too! Her good friend and her kindergarten friend was there too! So then came the rush about... buying new set of uniforms, new school books and even went down to Bras Basah Complex to hunt some of the books in the ERP list (Extensive Reading Programme).

Well, we done what we can... Now we just hope she enjoys her new school and new program...

Flower Girl...

2011-11-27T06:05:00.000-08:00

Its my FIRST time being a flower girl and I was so so excited!

Grandma bought the dress for me...

Mummy bought the hair garland for me and in-charge of the hair-do...

Close-up look...

Taking a rest at the wedding's reception area after a long night.

Chesskidz Marathon 2011

2011-11-21T04:43:00.000-08:00

Today I attended the Chesskidz Marathon with my sister and brother. Its our first time joining it. Mummy dropped us there, kisses us goodbye and off she went...to the office.

I had a enjoyable day there playing all sorts of chess games... Bullet(1 minute games), Blitz(5 minute game), Rapid (15 minute game), Random Chess (pieces were randomly arranged and we continued from there), Classical(25 minute game), Rotation (team members each take turns to move) and Blindfold Chess (can only say the moves not move it. Only after 5 moves then the player get to move the pieces according to what we had said).

Mummy came when we were on our last game playing the Rotation. Its so "stressful" as we didn't want to be the one to spoilt the game plan.

My turn during the Rotation game..

I am very happy that I won 3rd place even though Nicholas and my sister won 1st and 2nd. Photo taking was made snappy as its getting rather late.

CHEERS!!!

This is a good learning experience for me and I hope that I can win 1st or 2nd the next time I play in the Chesskidz Marathon.

Children's Day Chess Challege 2011

2011-11-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today we went for the Children's Day Chess Challenge at Bishan. Jie Jie and I played under the Open category while Nicholas played under the Under-8 category.

For the first round, I was paired with Foo Kai En. Her SCF rating is 1392! She was very strong player but I fought hard but still I lost.

For the second round, I played with Matthian. He was not very difficult but he was two pieces up in the end. Still, I drawed with him because he made a careless move.

For the third round, I played with Nicholas Ho. He was rather easy and I won him.

I lost the fourth and seventh but won the fifth round. I was nervous when I saw the pairing list for the sixth round because my opponent was definately much stronger than me. But my coach assured me to concentrate and play normally, I will be able to win him. He was really tough but I don't know why when it was his turn to move, he took 10 minutes to make a move and in the end, he lost on time.

In summary, I scored 3.5 points! A half point more than jiejie!

We stayed for the prize giving ceremony even though our chance of getting anything is low. However, jiejie's name was called when they were giving out the 4th position and I wondered what happen to me? Then came the shocking annoncement! I was SECOND for the Under 10 girls! Yeah! I was so so happy!

My Medal

I had a wonderful day and although tired but I really enjoyed myself.

Intra Club Chess Challenge 2011

2011-10-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

After 2 days of competition among the advance class, I came in FIRST for the Under 9!! Yeah! This is my first time being a champion and I am so excited and happy!

Received the trophy from our VP.

My One Week "Holiday"

2011-10-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Daddy treated us to hotel stay at Marina Bay Sands for a 2 nights stay as a reward for our hard work. We couldn't wait to check out the Sky Pool and dashed straight up once we check-in to our room. It's breathtaking and we enjoyed the beautiful sunset view and swimming up there. We swam again on Monday morning....

Morning view...

sunset view....

Though we were supposed to be having school holiday, I still have to be back to school for violin string ensemble practice on Monday afternoon. But I did not make it there because we were still having lunch at Marina Square and couldn't rush there in time. So instead, we went bowling after our lunch. We were supposed to go for ice skate at Marina Bay Sands but they were closed for an hour of maintenance. We walked around and found this play-place and we had a good 2 hours play before heading back to hotel for dinner.

Tuesday morning while everyone was still sleeping, I had to wake up at 6.30am and go to school for GEP English paper and General Ability Paper I. On the way there, I asked mummy if I can don't go to the GEP class if I were selected and mummy told me ok. But she wants me to try my best and see how far I can go and we will leave everything else to God. So before she dropped me off in school, we said a short prayer together. There were 2 buses to ferry us to the school where we took our test. The English paper was ok but the General Ability Paper was quite tough but I managed to finish the whole paper. In the afternoon, I went for my usual music lesson and then it was chess practice for the upcoming competition. Mummy had honoured her words of not pushing me to study for GEP.

Wednesday morning was back to school again for GEP Maths paper and General Ability Paper 2. I told mummy I can do most of the questions for Maths but I have to guess a few for the General Ability Paper.

Thursday was back to school, yes again, for excursion to Forest Adventure where we get to play many exciting challenges.

Only Friday I finally had my break from "school". Daddy brought jiejie and me out for movie and Japanese food followed by a swim.

Shortlisted For GEP Round 2

2011-10-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

Our form teacher gave a few of us a form and on it, it states that I was shortlisted for GEP Round 2. I was very happy and I know mummy will too. Before I passed the letter to mummy, I asked her if I can don't go to GEP school if I got through round 2 and she said ok. She also promised me that she will not make me study for it. I reminded her that if I had to study very hard for it, it will defeats the purpose. I told her what the teacher told us, "GEP is for the intellectually gifted pupils. If you study very hard and get through, you may struggle in the GEP class, so go home and tell your parents there's no need to fuss around it. Let it be a test of your natural ability".

So we agreed to let it be and focus on our exams and competition. Nothing was mentioned again about this.

Children's Day Chess Competition - Eastern Knights

2011-10-02T23:07:00.000-07:00

I know this is crazy but we enjoys playing chess and going for competition. Mummy said if we want to go for this competition, we have to start preparing our exam earlier than others and also means any free time we have will have to use for training and studying. We promptly agreed.

This competition unlike others that we went was much smaller but was fun as it was our first time having our cousins and our friends, LZ, with us. I could have done better in this competition but only managed to win 3 out of 7 rounds.

All seated waiting for the first round to start.

The organiser was very nice and generous to give every one a prize. I got a trophy for 7th placing..(there's only 9 girls playing in the Open category)

Jiejie, L and me!

52nd National Inter-School Team Chess Championship 2011

2011-09-10T00:41:00.000-07:00

It was my 2nd school team competition and I was very excited. It was again held at Rulang Primary School. We reached there at about 7.45am and we looked for a place to sit and wait for the rest of our school friends to arrive.

I played in Board 3 for the first 2 games against Northland and RGPS and I won both games. I was so happy to be able to win this 2 school. We moves up the ranking table and I too was moved to play on 2nd board as the girl on board 2 was not doing very well. The coach wanted her to take a break. We played against Nanyang Pri and I was very very happy to win them too!

We had our McDonald lunch in the canteen and rested before gathering up in the hall for group photos.

U9 girls Team 1

Entire School Team

Entire family!!!

Our team was second placing after 3 rounds and we meet the leader - SCGS. They were very good. They had scored a total of 11 points and we had 9 points (max score 4 point per round). We were under lot of pressure playing with them. We all tried our best but only our team captain (board 1) managed to win the round. The other 3 of us lost...

I know my opponent from SCGS..we were from the same chess class...

In deep thoughts...

Then we lost again to Northland Team 1 before winning 3 1/2points against Kheng Cheng Pri. So our total points scored was 13 1/2 and we were 5th place in National School Team Championship. No medal for getting 5th but all was not lost! They also have the zonal prize and our team was 2nd in this category! Its my FIRST time winning 2nd! I was so so happy!!!

Waiting to go up and collect our medal...

Our team and Guest of honour - Halimah Yacob

We went home happy as I got 2nd and my sister got 1st and 2nd. Mummy congratulated me for my outstanding performance and I was 16th place out of 52 in the Under-9 girls category. I hope I can break the jinx of winning only 4 games the next time.

18th Commendation Award Ceremony

2011-08-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

It was my first commendation award and I was very nervous. We were being commended for our winning in the National School Individual Chess Championship in March.

When I was waiting for our groups turn, I watched as all the other groups walked onto stage and the leader received the award on behalf of everyone. When it was almost our group's turn, a teacher told us to line up and get ready. When we went up the stage, our group leader went to receive the prize and we took photos as a group.

I felt so happy and proud to be up there.

Here you go..my FIRST AWARD and badge

2nd Swensen's Open Rapid Age-Group Chess Championship 2011

2011-08-21T15:36:00.001-07:00

My first overseas chess competition. I was really excited about it and the the thing I look forward to most is to stay in a hotel! I love staying in hotel!

Daddy fetched us to the airport in the morning. He will look after my two brothers while mummy comes with us. The flight is very very short. Not long after we took off, they announced that we are landing soon! We took a taxi to the hotel which is about 45minutes away. We were disappointed that the hotel room is small. Mummy found out that it's not a 5 stars hotel. We settled in fast and did some chess revision exercises then went for dinner with our chess friend, Sarah and aunty Vivien at a Japanese restaurant. Went shopping for a while and mummy said we need to go back and rest.

Morning came and we went down to the function room where we will be having our competition. There were 11 of us from Singapore. I played in the Under-10 category. I only managed to win 3 games out of 6. I could have won more but I was too excited and nervous and I blander most of my games. The last game was the worst blander. I kept telling myself to think, plan ahead and I actually moves my 2nd step before my 1st step!!

We went for a group dinner and took a cab to the airport. I was dead beat and fell asleep in the taxi. Although I didn't win anything, it's a good experience and I hope to come again next year.

Violin Grade 3 Exam

2011-08-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

I have been practising really hard for my Grade 3 Violin Exam during the last week. My violin teacher and piano accompanist even come to my house to practise.

As the days draw near, I got more and more nervous about the exam as it was my first time taking music exam. On the day of the exam, while waiting for my turn, I kept asking mummy all the "what if?".... "What if I failed? What if I play a wrong note? What if I forgot the scale? What if...?"

Mummy and my violin teacher kept telling me to relax and just play my usual. If I fail this exam, I just have to take another exam later but of higher grade. Still, it didn't help. I still feel terribly nervous and when I am nervous, I kept talking. My violin teacher was surprise that I was so chatty because I hardly talk in his class.

Anyway, this is my exam pieces..I know its still not perfect, so wish me luck!

Violin Report Card

2011-08-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

My report card from my violin teacher:

Attitude: Neutral, Positive only when familiar or when there is social circumstance to support her.

Progress: Is halting at best. Technical aspects of learning have been sacrificed in lieu of the exam and in an effort to keep motivation levels relatively high. Sight reads and does her aural quite well, helped no doubt by her participation at string ensemble.

Comments: Charmine is afraid of the responsibility to play well. She cooperates in learning when given step by step guides, but until she has completed the piece of music, she is hesitant to attempt it for herself if it is not a sight reading piece. This is even more glaring in her technical work, such as scales and arpeggios and more emphasis needs to be placed on taking in the “bitter medicine” for her progress to be more smooth flowing. Charmaine should take more responsibility in her playing, it sounds poorly because she is not attentive to the detail, if she put in more effort and concentration every single note, this will change in a very short time.

The Circus

2011-06-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

Today, my family and I went to the circus. It was at Resort World Sentosa. Before the show started, mummy told us to appreciate the show because not many people can afford to watch to watch it. What I like most about the show is when the acrobats climb up the pole and swing from bar to bar.

Another one I enjoyed watching was when 4 boys roller blade in a "t" shape manner. Then the lights dimmed and sparks (mini firework?) came on behind their blade. So cool!

Then there was this girl that did body twisting and swing up in the air, she is so flexible!

There's also magic show in between the performances and there's one when the magician CUT the pianist into half and the pianist was still able to play his piano, all the while lying down!! AMAZING!!! And when I said cut into half, I really mean it! We had watched the "breaking of the magician code" many times and seen how it was being done, but this one is really good. We cannot find a place he can hide his bottom half of the body at all!

I think the circus is very nice. I hope to go there again.

My June Holidays

2011-06-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

Although it was school holiday, I still have to be back in school for 3 mornings for String Ensemble practice. Then we spent the afternoon clearing all the holidays assignments (which was super a lot!) Then the day we been looking forward for finally arrived....Its the Family Church Camp in Malaysia and Genting with our own family.

We went there a day early (the day I had my last practice). Surprisingly, our godparents and Aunty Fay's family were there too! When we finally got there after 4 hours of driving, we went to our hotel room to unpack our things. I just love hotel rooms! When we went back down, it was already too late to go for a swim. So, the adults decided to drive out to a restaurant (actually more like coffee shop to me) to have our dinner. Daddy didn't join us as he needed to meet his customer. We went to play in Dillion's room (our church friends) before going back to our room to sleep.

On second day, we went to swim with our friends after breakfast.

After swimming for about 2 hours, we went to up to change and had lunch. The rest of the church people arrived too. After lunch, mummy drove us out for a small shopping trip and then back to hotel to rest.

Daddy having settled all his things joined us for dinner with all the church people. We didn't get to sit with our friends as their table was full. After dinner, daddy and mummy went for their service while the 4 of us with our aunty went to a function room for our bible study. A pastor came in and introduced herself as Pastor Catherine. After she taught us, she let us watched a video. It was a very nice video but it had some problems. Our parents came to pick us up when they were done.

On the third day, we had breakfast and bible study followed by lunch and back to our children ministry. The pastor bought us down to play football at the sports place. After playing, we went back to the function room to do some worksheets. Then followed by after dinner and more games and study.

Today, we got to sit with our friends during our meal. YEAH!!! Daddy cannot keep nagging and "forcing" me to eat more. He kept saying I was too skinny and needs to eat more and put on weight.

On the fourth day, we went to the function room after breakfast. We did some warming up, then, we learned our camp dance. The kids that were aged 6 and below did some balloon dance, the kids that aged 7 to 11 did some flag dance and the pastor taught us a Chinese dance.

Its free day after lunch and daddy decided to bring us to Berjaya Timesquare @ KL. We went with Xinyi's family. We got a bit lost getting there. We split up in 2 groups once we entered the place. Daddy brought the big kids to take the thrill rides while mummy handles the small ones.

On the fifth day, as usual, we went for our bible study. Just before lunch, mummy came and said we are going to Sunway Lagoon to go for the thrill rides and play in the water. We had But Kut Teh for lunch and mummy said we only have about 5 hours to play so we need eat fast. We spent 2 hours on the thrill rides with daddy while mummy went with the 2 brothers. Then we spent 2 hours playing at the water area. We had a wonderful time there and didn't want to leave but mummy said we need to rush back for our performance.

We reached the hotel and had 10 minutes to spare. Daddy was so fussy and insisted on us bathing before going for our performance and dinner. When I done showering, I could hear the music and the performance had started WITHOUT us! They have to start because its started to drizzle and tonight's dinner was at the poolside. The drizzle got bigger and the adults prayed together for the rain to go away. And GOD is amazing! Its stopped!!! And we were able to continue our poolside dinner!

On the sixth day, we had our breakfast and went for our last swim at the beautiful pool with our friends.

When up to our nice room to shower and check out. We head off to our next destination... Genting. On the way up to Genting, we passed by a strawberry farm and decided to check it out. Mummy rented three baskets. One for Nicholas; jiejie and me. After picking about 1kg of strawberries, we bought them and went to our small tiny hotel room to eat.

Evening time, we went to bowl while waiting for my 2 brothers to wake up from their nap. I won the first round but lost the second. Our yiyi and grandma (mummy's sisters and mum) met up with us and had dinner.

On the seventh day, we spend our day at the indoor and outdoor theme park. Daddy left Nicholas and Ryan to mummy to bring them to the kiddy rides. And we went for the thrill rides. The first ride we rode on was "The Pirate Ship." The queue was very, very long! We waited like almost an hour to get on it! We played more games and had our lunch. Mummy brought Nicholas to look for us while Ryan slept in the room. We went for After lunch, we went back to the theme park to play other games.

I won the big red teddy bear!

We played till the outdoor theme park is closed (Daddy and Nicholas went back to the room to nap first). We then met up with grandma and uncle Auric (Daddy's dad and brother) for dinner. We were super tired by the time we got back to our room.

On the eighth day, we went back home. And its back to our music practice. We have a performance coming up the following week and we need to rehearse together. So its chess games and music and reading (I love most) and tuition classes.

A few days after we got back from Genting, mummy and daddy went to Korea to work. Grandma was given the task to ferry us around for our classes and performance. She came to watched us perform and said we did very well.

Old Joe Clark

2011-05-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Punggol North Rapid Chess Challenge 2011

2011-05-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

The chess competition today is something special because my little brother Nicholas came along too, although he was not competing. There were 89 players in the U12 category and 58 of them are rated players! Chance of the top 5 is "zero" but I knows mummy want us to gain experience and exposure.

I won 3 games out of 7 and the best game I had was winning jiejie!! So after this, I might also get my rating too!

My final placing is 61..hmm..actually not bad right? If no rated players were there (fat hope), I will be third!

Meet up with kindie friends

2011-05-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

The first holiday outing was to meet up with my kindergarten friends. Its Hannah's birthday too and she had chosen us over her classmates to celebrate with her at The Chervon. We had a few games of bowling each and had to rush off for our lesson.

Although it was only an hour together, we really enjoyed ourselves!

Musical Extravaganza 2011

2011-05-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

Had our Musical Extravagaza tonight after months of preparing and rehearsing. Mummy was asked to help out in getting us ready and so we were there earlier than jiejie and daddy. We met up with my classmates and then went to the canteen for a very early dinner.

After the dinner, we went up to the AVA room to get ourselves ready. The parents helped us dressed and apply make up on our face. Its so uncomfortable putting on the lipsticks. Then we we given our "mask" and I was a piggy, so here I come...

Cute?! hahaha... actually its supposed to be worn this way

My friend, Jean....a chicken...heeheehee

After we were all nicely dressed up, we had one final, actually a few, round of rehearsal reciting the script.

Our class was the 3rd to go up the stage. The title of our performance is "Chicken Rice". Its about a hen that lived in a barn and wanted to be movie star. Then one day, a fox came to the barn and said that he was a movie director and he want to sign her up as an actress.

She was so excited and quickly signed the contract and followed the fox. But it was a scam! The fox was not a movie director at all! Instead, the fox took her to a chicken rice stall. The hen puzzled and she asked the fox if she had to sing at the chicken rice stall. The fox said yes but she needs to be "dressed" up first. (dress up = plucking off the feathers)

Meanwhile at the barn, the rooster was worried. So, he searched and searched and found her at the chicken rice stall. He tricked the fox to go back to the barn with him. Once they reached the barn, some reporters and cameraman filmed the fox. The fox was so excited that he revealed his secret. Then, two policeman came and brought him away. From then on, the hen learned her lesson and never wanted to be a movie star again.

Spot me? I the first girl in purple from the left.

63rd National School Individual Chess Championship

2011-03-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Today, we went for the annual National School Individual Chess competition. It was a very long day as usual which starts 8 a.m. in the morning till 5.30pm in the evening. We played a total of seven rounds altogether. Its also the first time we played in a 5 stars hotel - Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel! Its so clean, big and nice!

For the first round, I played on board 10 with this easy opponent called Vivien. With the 1 point from the first game, I was moved up to board 6 to face a strong opponent called Andrea. Though it was tough, I manged to win her! I was moved further up to board 3 to be paired with a much stronger opponent called Nicole. She won and I was down to board 7 for the next round which starts after lunch. Our lunch was fried rice, catered by the school from the hotel. During the long lunch break, we met up with the rest of Chesskidz's coaches and friends and took a group photo.

We took a school team photo too during the lunch break.

There were 4 of us playing the Under-9 category

I won the fourth round which then propelled me up to board 1 for the 5th round!!!! I was extremely nervous playing on board 1. My opponent is Krystal who happen to be from Chesskidz also and needless to say, she beats me. But my coach assured me that I had put up a very good "fight".

Losing to Krystal throw me back down to board 5 and I played with a girl from Northland Primary. She won. When I went out, I was disappointed but I did not gave up. I asked mummy if I still have a chance to win a medal and after some counting, she said I should be in the Top 10 if I can win the last game. She accompanied me into the ballroom and cheer me on and just before the game start, she gave me a Good Luck kiss! And the kiss works! I won the last game! This meant I had a total of 4 points in total but whether I was able to get the medal also depends on how others above me were doing.

So when my name was being called (although it was the last...I'm the 10th position), I was so excited and happy! I really don't know how to describe the feeling then, but I was at a lost of what to do! It was jiejie that jolted me back and hurry me off to the stage to get my medal.

My December Holiday

2010-12-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

We kicked off our extra long holiday with a trip to Hong Kong. I liked it very much. On the first three days, we spent our days at Hollywood Hotel. I liked it the best of all.

On the first day, we unpacked our things and went to swim with Nicholas and Ryan.

On the second day, we woke up bright and early and had breakfast with all the characters before going to Disneyland. We went on a lot of rides with daddy. Nicholas had to be persuaded and bluffed to get him on some exciting rides! Can you imagine?! He was even afraid to go on the Winnie the Pooh ride!!

On the third day, again, we went to Disneyland. In the evening, we took a cab out to Nathan Hotel. We had seafood dinner and ice shavings for dessert. Its delicious!

On the fourth day, we were supposed to go to Ocean Park but it rained and so we went shopping instead and bought some toys. Mummy bought me this 3D puzzle.

Me trying out the curry fishball..nice!

On day 5, we went to Stanley Market and finally the drizzle stop.

We had a good day at Ocean Park on the sixth day! We watched the sea-lion performance before daddy took jiejie and me to ride on all the thrill rides.

I'm the 3rd girl on the left..Jiejie is in green, next to me.

Mummy took my 2 brothers to the kiddy rides. When we got back to our hotel, mummy and all went for dinner while Jie Jie and I stayed at the hotel because she was not feeling well.

We spend our next 2 days at Macau. I enjoyed this trip as we got to visit many more places than the last time we were there.

During my holidays, besides going for the usual classes and doing assessments, we went for a few baking classes and a chess competition. It was a very tough competition and I won three rounds out of seven.

Log cake decoration class...

Chess Competition....

We also had our 1st church camp, a 3 days 2 night away from our warm bed. On the first two days, played some games and went to the beach to play games too. On the third day, we went for prize giving.

We had watched many movies this holidays too! They are Yogi Bear, Gulliver's Travels, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale, Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage and The Legend of the Guardian: The Owls Of Ga' Hoole and many more.

On weekend, daddy brought us to East Coast Park to cycle and In-line skate. Jie Jie learnt how to ride a bicycle while I became an expert in In-line skate.

I also had a chance to meet up with my kindergarten friends this holiday and we went ice skating together. Although it was only 2 hours, we had a lot of fun and chatted while we skate.

We had parties too! 3 parties in a row! On Christmas eve, we celebrated Christmas with our cousins, Daryl and Dylan. We had a lot of fun. I bought everyone presents with my pocket monies too. On Christmas day itself, we celebrated with our daddy's family. We also unwrapped our presents on that day.

On the day after Christmas, we had a cell group party. First, we sang songs. After that, we ate a yummy dinner and we played games. The uncle even make a pinata and everyone, even Nicholas, got to try to hit it too! After many rounds of trying, we finally got the sweets out. My house had never been so buzzing with noises and laughter. When all the guests had left, we did a bit of packing up for mummy and watched James And The Giant Peach on TV.

It really is the best holiday ever although it passed by so quickly it was like just one week!

My First Church Camp

2010-12-05T04:46:00.000-08:00

The night before we packed our camping stuff, ready for our first 3 days 2 night away from our comfortable beds.

On Friday, we went for our first church camp.

Our bags...

It's both exciting and nervous. But a few rounds of Twister helped us eased our tension.

After a game of Twister, we did Praise and Worship. Then, we went to East Coast Park by bus. Once we reached there, we played some games like building the wall of Jericho. We had 20 minutes to build the wall. Then, we played other games. After that, we ate Western food at a nearby cafe before taking a stroll back to church to washed up. Back in our room, we played Monopoly Deal before we were told to sleep. I can hardly sleep from all the excitement and only slept at 2am.

Our "beds"

The next day, we woke up at 7am. After washing up and brushing my teeth, we did some exercise and ate our breakfast. Then, we did Praise and Worship and baked cupcakes in groups. After lunch, we each took a corner and think of our group cheer and practise our camp song. Then, we rehearsed our skit for the night to perform in front of our parents.

In the evening, our parents had a tour of the "place" before dinner.

Our tower rack...

Ready to say grace before our dinner...

Our buffet dinner...

After dinner with our parents, we had a short performance for our parents before they were politely asked to leave..hee...so we can start our night game - Treasure Hunt. When its bed time, most of my friends slept like a log but I did not sleep until 3am.

The next day, we washed up and had the same breakfast. We did some exercised and packed up our stuff before going for prize giving at the KFC (Kids For Christ) room. My team won first prize!

Sounds of Hope Concert

2010-10-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

I joined my School String Ensemble in July while they were preparing for the Sound of Hope concert. The Teacher-In-Charge gave me the score sheets to the pieces we will be playing and asked me to practise more at home. In all, I only had less than 10 sessions of practise in school.

I was really very excited and nervous when the day arrived. We put on our tailored made costume and make-up and did some practising while waiting for our turn to go up stage.

The first performance is by the P1.5, 2.2 and 3.1.

The P3.3 danced to the song "Jai Ho"

Nicole playing a beautiful piano piece: Bei Feng Chui from the Dance Opera of Bao Mao Nu

Mathea God (think she is P4) played Csardas By Monti.

The Chinese Dance group: Underwater World

The Ballet group danced the "Dance of the Little Swans"

The Handbell Choir performed "Passacaglia No. 1 in C" by Stephenson. They are really cool!

Before the intermission, the MG Dazzlers (cheerleaders) performed.

After the break, the Primary Choir sang "Give Us Hope" by Papoulis and "Swinging On A Star" by Van Heusen. The lyrics is so cool and they sang so well.

Shayndel played Song in the Night with the Harp

Modern Tap dancer tapped their feet to Old Manhattan

Denise and Megan (P6 & P4) dances to Rhythmic Gym Starz

AND Finally its our turn!! I was right at the center, fifth girl from the right (next the a little girl). The piece we played were Winter Evening by Vivaldi and 2 German Dances by Mozart. The weeks of practise lasted only minutes up there.

Modern Jazz dances to What Dreams are Made of, Blue Brothers.

Lastly, the performers that performed in the YOG opening ceremony!

I'm Born Again!!

2010-10-10T05:12:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to be baptised long ago but mummy always missed the dates as she had to travel very frequently last time. So when she learnt that our church will be having baptism on the 10th October, she quickly signed us (Nicholas, Ryan and me) for it. My jiejie was baptised when she was a few months old.

We were there early and was playing around.

After the worship, we proceed down to the little pool for the baptism. Ryan was first and followed by Nicholas. It was so fun and exciting to see them being dunk in the water but when my turns come, I was nervous. Daddy held my hands and lead me down and handed me to the pastor.

A little nervous...

I was so nervous I have no idea what pastor was saying. Everything was in a daze! I had to look back on the video recording to refresh my memory.

Anyway, I was baptised!!

Pastor "signing" me off with the sign of the cross

I couldn't help giggling...

We went to change into our dry clothes and went to the front to be welcome to God's family!

Everyone came up to shake our hands and congratulates us. My didi Ryan was so cute! He shook hands with everyone too!

And let me introduced....*curtain up* My new set of Godparents!!

Children's Day Celebration Chess Challenge 2010

2010-10-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

During the last competition, we were told that there's another competition coming up on Children's Day and those interested can register for it. We asked mommy if we could join and that's how we ended here today.

We got there just in time and had to scramble around to find our placing and then dashed to our seats. I was playing under the "under 8" age group. As I was settling down, the announcer asked us to stand up and welcome the Guest-of-Honour, Mr. K Shanmugam. Then, the arbiter announced the game began.

For the first round, I played with a boy and I lost. Came out and saw jiejie feasting on some candyfloss and Milo and I went to grab some too.

For the second round, I played with a boy again and this round, I draw. When I came out, we dug into mummy's backpack for treats and each got a packet of roasted seaweed.

I draw the third round and we had our lunch. While we stayed there reading our storybooks, mummy went to the nearby coffee shop to get us our lunch. I ate wanton noodle while Jie Jie ate chicken rice.

My first win came on the fourth round and I was so excited! As my points gets higher, my placing went up too and I played with a boy who is in advanced level. So, I lost the fifth round.

I won the last 2 rounds. The girl I played with on the sixth round is very talkative. Actually, mummy said I'm just as bad because I was very nosey too. Whenever the players next to me raised their hands, I would look at them and forgot about my own.

Shaking hands with my opponent before the start of the sixth game.

Attacking my 7th opponent's pieces!

So my total point scored was 4 and that put me in the 73rd place out of a total of 177 participants in my category and I'm in the top 15 for girls under 8 yrs old!

We each had a merit medal to take home with. Oh, I saw some of my schoolmates there too.

8yrs old birthday party

2010-09-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

So excited!!! Its was months of waiting for this day! Ever since jiejie attended one of friends birthday party at Build-a-bear workshop, I had been asking mummy if I can have my party there too. So it was a wish coming true for me now!

Mummy given me 10 invitation cards and I had to decide who I want to give the card to. Not a very easy task since I had many good friends but mummy said I had to decide who are the one closer to me.

The day came and most of my friends arrived early. We played games while waiting for the rest to turn up.

My 2 little brothers playing with the "toys" in the shop. They did not join us as Nicholas was not interested in teddy bear and Ryan is too young to know how to build a bear!

When finally all my friends arrived, the party host asked us to form a train and we went round the shop to our first station - Choose Me Station!

I already know what I wanted and so, got my little "terrier" fast.

Next, we were told to give our bear a good massage.

Next, we were given 2 little hearts. Then, my friends were told to put one of the hearts into my bear. The host said its just saying they love me. The other heart was to place in their own bear.

Then, I had my bear filled up. I got to choose the right amount of wool to be placed in there so that its comfortable to hug.

And while I was doing that, my friends took turn to write messages on another bear that was to be given to me.

Once everyone had their bear puff up, the train went on to the next station - Brush-Me-Station.

That's Sarah, Tara and me

Next, its the most exciting part! Choosing the clothes and accessories for our bears. It took the longest time because there are just so many cute things to choose from. By the time we were done, everyone is hungry!!

A group picture of us at the workshop before we leave for Pizza Hut for dinner.

Here's the birthday cake I chose online. It had all the 6 princesses figurine, Snow White; Belle from Beauty & the beast; Jasmine from Aladdin; Cinderella; Ariel the mermaid; Aurora the sleeping beauty. All my friends went "Wow!" when mummy brought out the cake! And they said I was so lucky!

Everyone gathers around and sang me a birthday song. Even the restaurant played the "Happy Birthday" song for me!! So happy!!

A closer look of my BIRTHDAY cake!! Mummy placed a photo of me in the castle's frame.

And these cupcakes are packed into cupcake boxes for my friends to bring home.

Daddy ordered the kid's meal for us when we were up at the Build-A-Bear workshop so we need not wait for them to prepare. Everyone was so hungry and we finished the meal really fast!

Back home with all my presents!!

Thank you Daddy! Thank you Mummy!

Thank you everyone for making my birthday a beautiful and memorable one!!!

51st National Inter-School Team Chess Championships 2010

2010-09-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Today I went for the 51st National Inter-School Team Chess Championship.

I was in Team 2 under 9. There were a total 6 rounds but I only played 3 rounds because I was reserved. I won 1 round but lost 2 rounds.

The first round I played against St Hilda's Primary. I was very nervous but I won that round. Before the second round begin, mummy told me that I will be playing against jie jie. I could have won jie jie but my flag dropped (times up). Mummy said I had to be quicker if not my time would run out again. During my 3rd round, my opponent from Kheng Cheng Primary won, this time, not because my time ran out, but because she is ready very good. She used her queen to eat all my pieces then to checkmate my king.

Our team scored a total of 10 points and was ranked number 14 out of 17 team. After that, we went to the hall for price giving before heading home. I had a very good experience today.

Our School Team with teachers and coach

My First Stage Violin Performance

2010-06-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my First Violin stage performance. It was held at Young Musicians Auditorium. Daddy, Mommy and Jiejie was there to support me.

I was the second to perform. The violin piece was called Allegretto by Shinichi Suzuki. I was accompanied by a girl called Shannon, who play the piano. Before I went on stage, I was a little bit nervous. Once my name was called, I went on stage and played my piece. I tried to play the piece with no mistakes and I did! After my piece, I went off the stage and watched the others performed. One of my favourite piece was Gooseberry goose played by Kirsten.

After the concert, we went for dinner. It was scary before I went up there but I was not so nervous once I started playing. It was a very good experience for me.

Discovery Camp 5

2010-06-11T05:33:00.000-07:00

Its day 5 and also the last day of the Discovery Camp and was also the concert day.

First, we went to class as usual. We started off with a worksheet and also did an experiment on gravity. You have to put a small cup and a big cup on a long, hard ruler. Then you put a marble inside the small cup and then hold the long ruler up and drop it. The marble will be in the big cup because of gravity. The gravity will cause the marble to slow down.

After that, we ate lunch and had our final practised for our concert and played some games before having tea. After which, the concert started. My class was the last 3 group. I was a dog (I had to make my own mask). It was about a farm trip. I was pretty nervous but I enjoyed it.

Then, we bid our new friends good bye and went home.

Discovery Camp 4

2010-06-10T03:49:00.000-07:00

Its the 4th day and I had lots of fun.

First, we got ready and boarded the bus. We were very excited because we were going to the Orchid Garden. Once we reached there, my teacher gave us a plastic bag and told us to get two small leaves, two big leaves and two orchids. We were going to use it for our experiment. We did what our teacher told us to do. Near lunch time, it started to drizzle and we put on our raincoat and ran for cover.

We had our lunch and we headed back to school and did our worksheet and experiment. Since we are still early, we practiced our concert song and had tea. After that, we planted a plant, gave it water and left it in the sun. Then, its free time and we were able to do whatever we wanted to. before our parents pick us up. We got to took our plants back with us too.

Discovery Camp 3

2010-06-09T02:54:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Discovery Camp 3.

It was lots of fun. First, we made a mouse. Then, we got a marble and put the mouse on top of the marble. We put the mouse on top of the clipboard and raced across the floor. We went in pairs and the winner will stay at a side I was one of the winners. All the winners including me raced our mouse across the floor again. My mouse went the furthest. I did not get a prize though but I didn't care.

We went back to the classroom and made a bubble maker and did a worksheet and an experiment. After that, we ate lunch and did another experiment about cold and hot water. When you put cold coloured water, the cold coloured water will disperse. We wrote down our findings.

We had our tea break and was played for the rest of the day.

Discovery Camp 2

2010-06-08T03:30:00.000-07:00

Its my second day at the Discovery Camp.

First, we went to our classroom. We took out everything we didn't need because we was going to the animal farm. We put in our snack which was a drink and 2 sandwiches. We took a bus to the animal farm. Once we got there, my teacher brought us to a place where they showed us what animals we could feed and what animals we could not feed. I used some bread to feed the horses, goats and the fish. I used carrots to feed the bunnies and guinea pigs too.

After that, I had lunch and went to visit AVA. Once I got there, I did a quiz and then carried chinchilla, rabbit, cat and hamster. I washed my hands and went back by bus. Once I got back to the classroom, we made a mouse. My teacher also taught us a new song. Then, it was 5pm and we packed our things and got ready to go home.

Discovery Camp 1

2010-06-07T03:27:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Discovery Vacation Camp. Its my first time joining a camp without jiejie. I was a little worried at first but mommy assured me that it will be fun and I might even meet some of my friends there, which I did!

We started the day with games. Then, we split into our group and did fossil making. We were going to make a necklace. After completing the activity, we had our lunch.

In the afternoon, we learn about air movement. If you put a water-bottle in front of a lighted candle and you blow at it, the flames will goes off. That's because the stream of air will joins up and blow off the flames. We did more experiments with other objects.

After the tea break, we did some origami crafts. I folded a cat and a dog and made a pet farm of my own.

Just before going home, we had the prize giving to the group with the best behaviour.

Jurong Safra Family Day

2010-05-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

It's Family Day today and daddy brought us down to Jurong SAFRA. Its our first time there.

When we got there, there was a magic show going on and we sat around to watch. Next, we walked over to the games station to play games and had some FREE candy floss! The weather was very hot and daddy said to go for lunch at the Japanese Restaurant first.

After lunch, we went to play at the Kids Amaze. Its free admission for the day and daddy, mummy, Nicholas and jie jie all went in for one hour play. Its very big and nice. We love the slide but Nicholas was too afraid to try the long road down.

Next, we changed into our swimming costumes and went to the pool to play water games like playing bumper boats. Nicholas was at the shallow pool but joined us for the bumper boats ride.

I saw my friend, Erin and we started playing together. After the bumper boat, we went over to the jumping castle and play catching, chasing each other up and down the castle. Once I slipped and twisted my ankle but it wasn't that painful, so I continue with the games.

My brother dared not try the castle and so daddy had to accompany him.

It was a very fun outing and I hope mommy and daddy will bring us there again.

Speech and Drama Concert

2010-05-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my concert day.

My class performed "The Enormous Crocodile'' and I was one of the animals in the forest. It was about an evil crocodile who wanted to eat a fat juicy child, but the animals stopped him. He used clever trick, which was to pretend to be a bench next o a table with beautiful flowers.

Soon, two children came and one of them asked "which table shall we sit at?" The other one said "let's sit at the table with the lovely flowers on it." Suddenly a deep voice from the jungle shouted "stand back children, stand back, stand back!"

Trunky the elephant came rushing out of the jungle and said "that is not a bench you are going to sit on, it's the enormous crocodile and he wants to eat you all up!" Trunky caught hold of the enormous crocodile and swung him round and round.

The enormous crocodile wheesh past the stars, the moon and planets until at last bang! He crashed head first into the hot sun and was sizzled up like a sausage.

Navy Open House 2010

2010-05-22T02:37:00.001-07:00

Today I went to the Navy Open House. I had lots of fun there and the weather was great even though mommy kept complaining that its hot. It was drizzling a little and so, rather cooling for us.

As this is our first time visiting, we were not sure what to do first. So mommy decided to check out one of the vessel, RSS Vigour, and it happen to be the smallest of the lots. The queue was very long and we had to queue about half an hour! Though it was the smallest, it still has a bedroom and toilets. And there was even a television!

By the time we finished touring the first, its already 12 noon and the crowds are coming in. So mommy suggested to check out the largest vessel and go home. So mommy ask my aunty to queue while she get us lunch. Jiejie finished her lunch first and mommy told her to take over aunty's place while aunty had her lunch.

The vessel, RSS Resolution is the biggest vessel there. It was very high. and had many bedrooms compared to the first vessel that we saw. It has a very big kitchen too! Mommy said the kitchen is even bigger than hers. It even has a canteen and a gym!! Inside the vessel, its very cold too. The best part of the tour is we got to ride on the "FAST GARTH". I don't know the actually spelling. We had to wait for quite a while as there are limited children's life jacket. But the wait is worthwhile! We were among the first in the queue and thus able to get a good seat. But we did not sit, we kneel on the bench instead. At first, the Fast Garth went slowly. Then, it went faster and faster and faster. It was like a rocket for me. We sailed all the way out to the sea and back.

By the time we finished, it was about 3pm and mommy decided to stay for the "show". Its very exciting and the navy divers can really swim very fast!

After the show, mommy said we had enough for the day and we walked to the pick up point for the bus. Its a very, very long walk and I was really very tired by then and felt asleep on the bus.

Oh yes, just before we left, we even sign our names on the big signage!

Its really fun and good experience for me.

My First Camping!!

2010-05-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today was my first time camping at the beach. Mommy was responsible to pitch up the tent but it was so windy that all of us had to help held the tent so that mommy can pitch it up.

After we the tent was set up, we put our things inside and ran off to play at the sea. We buried jie jie from toe and all the way up to her neck! Then we went into the sea and play for a while before we had our shower at the public toilet.

After we finish showering, mommy went home. We took a short nap and rented 3 bicycles. We cycled around and went to the jetty. Daddy saw that someone had caught two fish but they threw one back.

After cycling for less than 1 hour, we returned the bicycles and went to sleep in our tent. It was so hot that I kept on coming out to catch some cool air. I did not sleep until 11pm .

I was the first to wake up in the morning. We walked to the rollerblading place and asked for a pair of roller blades. I roller bladed to McDonald's and ate breakfast. We had Breakfast Deluxe.

Next, it was jie jie's turn to roller blade back to the shop. Mommy had arrived and had helped packed up the tent and our things into the car, and its time for home sweet home.

Zany Brainy Games-2010

2010-05-14T02:19:00.000-07:00

We had Zany Brainy Games today. Mommy was here too and she was assigned to be our class chaperone and I was so happy.

The first game we played was ''Decorate A Car Decal.'' I tried to draw and decorated mine as nice as possible.

After that, we went upstairs to the hall for the next program. We were suppose to dance and cheers and the best cheers and dance step will win points. My classmates, Jennifer, Kayla and Emma taught us how to dance. (They are from the dance class) Our class was split into dance and cheers team. I stayed with the cheers team as I dare not go up stage.

After dancing, we had recess. Mummy bought McDonald's for me. After recess, we went on to play ''Ping Pong Pass." We had to pass the ping pong ball to the end with a plastic spoon without dropping it. If we drop it, we have to pick it up and run back to the front and drop it back into the basket. Once we got all the balls to the end, we had to pass the ping pong balls to the front again. The cycle went on and on for 5 minutes. My friend kept dropping the ball and we had to restart the game many times. We lost.

Next, we went on to play ''Castles In The Sky''. You have to use cards and make them into triangles. Next, you have to make a row of triangle and then stack one triangle over another. Its so difficult and in the end, most of us just make many single triangles instead of one big pyramid.

After "Castles In The Sky", we went to play ''Crazy Hair Challenge." We had to tie each other's hair and see which group had the most ponytails. My classmate, Jean Wee, had 20 ponytails and my group won. My group had 64 ponytails in total!

Since we are in our classroom, the mommies get us arranged all the tables and chair back into its original position and took a photo of us.

The mommies volunteers for the event.

When its about time, we gathered at the Sports Complex where they were going to give out the prizes. My friend Jean Wee won bronze and Bernice won silver for the car decal. It was the best day the week.

Art & Crafts

2010-05-10T02:11:00.000-07:00

My art work for school. I spent a whole week, about 30 minutes every day, completing this. Mommy thinks its very nice.

National School Chess Competition

2010-03-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I was selected for a National School Chess Competition. I felt very excited I was one of the 15 students from my school to be selected to go to a Chess Competition even though I only officially learn how to play chess this year.

To prepare us for the game, those selected was told to stay back after the Chess class on Monday for additional one hour for briefing on the rules and had some practice.

The Chess Competition day came. We had to report to school at 7.30am. Before leaving, mommy reminded us to enjoy ourselves and not put too much stress on winning. She said we should treat it as an experience and just enjoy.

We had to play a total of 8 rounds. I won 3 rounds; draw 1 round and lost 4 rounds. I was a little disappointed when I lost the last 2nd round as if I had won, the chances of me getting a merit medal is very high. Mommy and daddy was there to give us support and they said its okay. I had a tie for the last round and my total score is 3 1/2pts. I felt happy.

Each play round lasted for 25 minutes and after each round, we went down to the canteen for our break while waiting for the others to finish the game and for the organiser to "pair" us for the next game. We played till 6.30pm. Though the hours is long but we don't feel tired at all.

After our last game, it was prize giving time. I did not get a medal but I was still happy.

Super Reader Key Chain

2010-01-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

Cool right? I got this Ariel's keychain instead of the usual badge!

My Christmas...

2009-12-27T17:43:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, we were supposed to go for a movie but all the tickets were sold out. Since the movie was cancelled, daddy decided to go for a buffet at the restaurant next door. We ate to our hearts content at the buffet. After the buffet, daddy drove us to Orchard Road to see the Christmas lights up.

On Christmas morning, we wished each other "Merry Christmas''. We gave everyone cards that we made too. We met up with our grandparents and went to East Coast for lunch. After a delicious lunch, we went to our favourite place, Ikea's small land. In the evening, our grandpa and aunt came over and we ate Christmas dinner together. Mommy made stuffed turkey, salad, sausages and baked scallop. After dinner, we unwrapped our presents.

On the second day of Christmas, we fetched our cousin and went to Peek- A-Boo to meet my K2 friends. See the photo? We did not show our front teeth because all of us has our 2 front teeth missing!! hahaha.

In the evening, our maternal grandmother and aunts came over for a BBQ. After the BBQ, daddy bought us some ice-cream. Jie Jie shared with us some of her Gobstopper.

I had a wonderful Christmas because I had lots of presents and had the chance to meet up with my Kindergarten friends!

A Day At The Discovery Centre

2009-11-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

This morning, daddy fetched us to church. When everyone arrived, we got on the bus. It took us half and hour to reach our destination, the Discovery Centre. It was very very big. A lady was there to guide us.

First, she told us about the olden days. Then, she took us to watch a 10 minutes movie. It was nice. Before lunch, we watched a movie called "Call Of The Wild." It was very interesting and I hope to watch it again.

After lunch, we went to the army museum. When the helicopter spins, it's propeller creates very strong wind. Next, the taller ones got to play some gun shooting while we, the shorter ones made some badges. We also talked to the "talking robot". After that, we had a lucky draw I picked up an orange ball and I won a toy! Jie Jie did not win anything. When the others are back, we went on to watch "A Christmas Carol". What a coincident! Daddy and mommy brought us to watch the same show just the night before!

We had tea before going back. We were so tired that Jie Jie and I fell asleep in the bus. A great but tired outing.

Fellowship Day Camp

2009-11-05T00:34:00.000-08:00

One of those days after exam, I went to the library to borrow books and remembered about the Fellowship Day Camp form. I took one home and asked mummy if I could go. Mummy agreed and signed the form. She reminded jiejie to take care of me during the camp. After a few days, our principal gave us a piece of paper that tells us what time to go and what things we pack.

On the day itself, we were to report at nine o' clock. I was excited about it because I knew many of my friends will be coming too. When I reached there, I saw my teachers and friends. I told them my name and they told me which group I was in. I was in.... ~PAUL~!!! After knowing everyone, we played some games like Passing the parcel and Simon says. After the games, we went for our morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. In the afternoon, we went to the library to make our name tags. Mine was a flower with rectangles and a little bunny inside. It was so beautiful!!! I am so happy!!! After that, we went back to the hall and we sang songs and played games before we called it a day.

On the second day, we had bible lessons and practise for a play. My play was about Saul. I played the role of the disciple At first, he was a mean person. Then one day, he was walking on the streets when a light shone down. It was God!!! Saul fell down because the light was so bright. God talked to Saul about God's people and asked him why he was so mean to them. After talking, Saul got up. When he got up, he was blind!!! Saul went to a temple to pray. He did not eat or drink for a few days. God called to one of his people to go to the temple that Saul was praying in. The person went to him and said, "get up." Saul got up and he could see again!!! He ate and drank and got back his strength. He was now part of God's people.

On the third day, we were to report half an hour earlier to rehearse before the actual performance. After the performance, we had our lunch followed by games. We also played passing the parcel. When you have the parcel, you have to tear it open and you have to do what is stated inside. I had the parcel once and they said "turn around and around like a ballerina" which I did it. We ended our 3 days camp with songs.

Year End Holistic Report Card

2009-10-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

We got back our Report book today and I was very happy.

For both my English and Maths, I am among the top 25% students..Yeah! But need to work hard for my Chinese. I only got 94% for it.

Teacher's comments was that I am very actively involve in class discussions and I communicates confidently and seek clarification when I'm in doubt. Mrs Tse also mentioned that I am able to substantiate my opinions with mature thoughts.

7th Birthday Party @ Snow City

2009-09-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

What a long wait! Finally my birthday party is HERE!!

Plans for the party were made 2 months back. I had initially wanted to have my birthday party at Sentosa (The Luge) but mommy said its not feasible as no parents will want to go all the way there. Mommy suggested Snow City instead. After some deep consideration, I agreed.

And it was a good choice indeed. All my friends couldn't wait to come and some even pester their mommies to change their initial plans just to come for the party.

The party starts at 3pm and most of my friends were punctured. It was a little disorganised in the beginning as we have to get down from the function room to change into our "winter" gear. Imagine having close to 30 kids rushing to the counter to get their winter boots and jackets?!

But the Snow City's host quickly get everything running smoothly and those that had changed into their gear couldn't wait to get in the Snow Chamber.

Just before going in, we took some pictures.

Surprisingly, for a public holiday (Hari Raya), there were very few people in the Snow Chamber. Thus, no long queue for the slide at all! However, it was very cold in there and after half an hour, most of us took turns to come out for some warm air.

Mommy did not come in with us but occasionally, she will dash in to take a few quick photos for us. Think mommy got a lot of fats in her as she did not even need to put on any jacket and can stay in there for 5 minutes!

After one hour of snow play in the Snow Chamber, we proceeded to the function room for more games. The games were quite standard. We had Musical Chair; Musical Statue...

We are a sporting bunch and it surprised the host! He told mommy after the party that this is the first time everyone participate in the games and gamed for "face" painting!

After all the running and jumping, time for a simple buffet.

Mommy said she like this picture.

After the buffet, those that finished get to have their hand painted, though not very professionally done. The guy can't paint dolphin which disappoint many.

Finally, Birthday cake was out! I had a hard time choosing this cake 2 months back! Its a Tinkle bell theme from Cupcake Divinity. Mommy was glad she planned earlier this year as they were fully booked right after mommy made the booking.

My friends were all so excited at the cake, actually more of the cupcakes. They couldn't wait to choose which cupcake they want which comes with either a Tinkle bell ring or the figurine.

The cupcakes were for my friends while the big cake is for all the parents.

Its so difficult to take a family picture as all my friends couldn't wait to take the cupcakes! The host has to "bluff" them away by saying more handing painting is on.

This are the gifts mommy and I chose. Its so popular that once mommy brought them out and laid on the table, everyone came and check them out. The host had to request them to put it back first. The Spy pen was in such great demand that those classmates that couldn't make it also want it. They went to the bookshop during recess and buy me a gift so that they can have the Spy pen!

I had my hand painted after the party was over, as I was too busy with the cake cutting and all that.

So happy to receive so many presents. And this year, all the presents are so practical. Thank you everyone!

Roller Blading with Cousins

2009-06-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

This morning, dad & mom brought us to McDonald's for breakfast. After that, we went back to do some work before mommy rushes us off to meet yiyi at Swensen for lunch. Jiejie did not get to eat any ice-cream as she had to go for her piano lesson.

After our ice-cream, yiyi drove us to meet mommy and jiejie. We drove in separate cars to East Coast Park and we couldn't wait to get our blades. The jiejie there helped me to put on the gears and blades. Once I fully geared, Mommy helped us to walk to the beginner skate box and we skated there for a while before we are confident enough to skate on the roller-blade path. Its more fun skating on the path as we get to see more things.

After 2 hours of skating, we had wanted to play at the carnival but it started to rain and thus, we have to go home.

Though I fell a few times and its painful, but I enjoyed my day out with my cousins.

Ice-skating with LZ

2009-06-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

This morning, mommy brought us to Ice-Skating at Kallang. I was very happy that LZ will be joining us too.

We got our skates and mommy helped me to put it on. Its very difficult to walk with the skates. Mommy asked me to use the metal bar to skate. After skating a few rounds, I was more confident and I went without it. I fell a few times, once on my head but I didn't cry. Mommy told me to be careful.

After 2 hours of skating, we went to the food court to have our lunch. Next, we went to LZ's house and then to Parkway for Swensen. Jeijei and I ordered Thin Mint while L ordered her favourite Chocolate. We had so much fun eating and talking.

I asked mommy if we can come again and she said we will do it again the next school holiday.

Chinese Enrichment Camp

2009-06-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

I went for my first Chinese Enrichment Camp and I enjoyed it! I made a lot of new friends and the excursion was great! Mommy made us write down the day events after our dinner every evening. Read more about it on my jiejie's blog. As our story is similar, mommy said no need to repeat it here.

Sunway Lagoon Trip

2009-06-14T22:23:00.001-07:00

At 4am on Friday morning, we went to Malaysia's Sunway Lagoon. We got into our hotel room and daddy took a 20 minutes break while we watched some cartoons.

Once daddy had recharged himself, we headed straight for Sunway Lagoon. We played some rides at the Amusement Park and as we walked towards the Water Park, we saw this Fish Spa thing and asked mommy and daddy to let us try. We took out our slippers and washed our feet before putting them into the fish tank. At once, the fishes came to our legs. Daddy also put his hand in. The feeling was very ticklish and jiejie and I kept lifting and squeezing our legs..thus killing some fishes in the process.

After the Fish Spa, we went to the Water Park for a dip as the weather was really HOT!!! We took the longest slide which was yellow in colour. We have to hold the mat and they will push us down, head first. Its the best ride that we had and Daddy agreed too.

Before we head back to our hotel room, we went into the Scream Park. It was very scary with real people popping out suddenly, scaring us. The spinning bridge was very fun though.

On the second day, we went for the slide again and other rides in the Water Park. Then daddy brought jiejie and I to the Extreme Park. We can't play many there, so we played whatever was allowed. We tried the Paintball Target Practice (which is real cool). We had to shoot the plate with the ball and once the ball hit the plate, the ball will break into two. I shot 2 while jiejie shot 3 plates and daddy shot 7.

We also went for the Kayaking. We were required to paddle and control it. It wasn't really fun.

The third day was spent shopping with mommy. We felt sad to leave but happy at the same time. Looking forward to our next holiday which is in November.

Best Friends Band

2009-06-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Since we were not feeling well and can't go out for any outdoor activities, mommy get us to do some craft work. This Best Friends Band is for age 8 years and above but mommy let me try it. I read and follow the instruction, line by line and mommy was impressed... I did better than jiejie.

Victory Kids Day Camp

2009-05-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

To kick start our school holiday programme, mommy signed us up for the church's Victory Kids Day Camp. Its a 2 days camp and we got to play game, learn about God, doing craft work and singing songs.

On the second day of the camp, the teachers prepared cupcakes for us to decorate. The cupcakes were not meant for us to eat but for our Daddy! Its an early Father's Day gift for our daddies!

Nice?

First Semester Report Card

2009-05-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

We got back our Report Card today.

My FIRST SA papers and result.

For English - 95.5%

Paper 55.5 / 60

Listening compre 15/15

Spelling 10/10

Oral 15/15

For Chinese - 91%
Paper 64/70 (three 2 mark mistakes)
Oral 17/20
Listening Compre 10/10

For Maths - 98%
Its a counting mistake but it causes me 2 marks! What a waste!

Teacher's comment:
Charmaine is a friendly and enthusiastic member of the class. She displays considerable interest in learning and appears to enjoy all aspects of the work.

English Speech And Drama Performance

2009-05-26T22:55:00.001-07:00

We had our English Speech & Drama concert today and many parents came to watch. Mommy and helper together with baby Ryan came. Daddy couldn't come as he needs to attend to some business clients.

My class performed "The Plan". The story is about how the mice planned to save themselves being eaten by the cat. Finally, they decided to put a bell on the cat, so whenever they hear the bell rings, they can run and hide from the cat.

I'm one of the mouse.

Mommy said the Primary One girls are more orderly and the performance more smooth flowing that the Primary Two. Mommy watched jiejie concert and said the P2 girls were like monkeys just being released from the zoo! Maybe because we have a fierce Mrs Tay and they don't. When we get too noisy, all the teachers need to do is to put up their fingers and make it into a "victory" sign and all the girls will follow and keep quiet. Amazing!

This year concert was more organised and the parents had fun too at the end of the concert when we had a short singing & praise session. The parents joined in to sing and do the action too. Its real fun seeing mommies & daddies doing the actions!

Post exam activites

2009-05-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

Finally, exams are over!

Last week, our school parent volunteer group organised a Zainy Brainy game for the lower primary girls and I enjoyed myself a lot. Too bad mommy could not make it this year as she need to look after baby Ryan.

This week, we get to participate in In-line Skating organised by the school. Each class has 3 session each about 1.5 hour. As I never done this before, I'm with the beginner group and its so fun though I bump my bum a few times!

iv>

Hannah's Birthday & Prawn Fishing

2009-05-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

After more than 5 months after we parted our ways, all the mommies are still keeping in touch. I had been to a few girl friend's birthday party the past months. We still chatter like we never part.

Today, my best friend Hannah held her birthday celebration at The Daily Scoop. We learnt how to make ice-cream. Its fun but the best part is that we get to play and chat about our new school.

The 5 princess from kindergarten (exclude my jiejie)

The party was a very short one, about 1 and half hour as they need to open up the shop for business. You see people dashing in once the door open!

After we left the place, daddy brought us to Bishan for prawn fishing. Its our FIRST time and its so exciting. If you are good, you do not need to wait very long for the prawn to get "hook". People seems to catch prawn every other minute though I only manage to catch 2.

My First Catch! The feeling is so wonderful!

Our catch for the day. We (jiejie and I) spent an hour catching 5 prawn. Mommy joked that this is the most expensive prawn she ever eaten... $30 for 5 prawn! Daddy said he will bring us here again and we can fish longer the next time.

There Goes My First Tooth

2009-04-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

My bottom tooth had been quite shaky for a while and mommy couldn't stand me playing with it. So she told me to pay a visit to our School dentist and had it extracted out.

Met up with jiejie during recess and she brought me to the dentist. I didn't feel any pain at all when the dentist extract it out, probably because it was already very shaky and coming out soon. I can see the adult tooth too.

Parent-Teacher Meeting

2009-04-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

Daddy and mommy got to speak with my Chinese teacher first. Teacher commented that I did very well for my written Chinese, only a few students from my class got full marks. But I need to work on my communication skill. She said that I have no problem in speaking when the question was posed to the entire class but I retreated if the teacher asked me to stand up and answer. Mommy was surprised to learnt that I am very chatty in class too.

Daddy asked what they can do to help me improve our Mandarin speaking skill. He asked the teacher if it will help if he were to engaged a lady from China to come every day to our house just to chat with us for 1 hour. Teacher said its a good idea at least it forces us to speak Mandarin. Mommy wonder why daddy so concern over the Mandarin skill. Daddy even thought of transferring us to Nanyang Primary so that we have more exposure in Chinese but mommy was very against it. She doesn't want us to be so stressed out. Mommy think that as long as we can communicate in Mandarin, that is sufficient.

Next, they spoke to Mrs Tse, my English and Maths teacher. Mrs Tse mentioned that I'm clever in my own way and is more careful in my work than my jiejie. She told mommy that I'm one of her helper in class too helping her in guiding the weaker classmates. She surprised mommy that I'm one of the fast "worker" who can complete all my task within the specific time frame. Mommy commented that I can take 1 hour just to do a few questions.

Overall, Mrs Tse said she will see no problem for me to excel in my school.

Singapore Flyer

2009-03-28T05:26:00.000-07:00

Yipee! I finally got to ride on the Singapore Flyer! It was a slow ride but fun! It was a little frightening when I looked down when we were at the top. I saw many cars and I love the sunset best. I enjoyed the ride somuch that I asked mommy if she could bring us again.

Start School With A Bang!

2009-03-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

Our School celebrates International Friendship week and our class represent Philippines. Our holiday "project" was to print or draw the national flag of Philippines and decorate our paper doll.

On Monday, we had Mr and Mrs Wolf concluded a 2 part 'show & tell' on the Philippines. They had been development workers in the country for the past 17 years and were able to treat us to slide shows, artifacts, Filipino language studies (numbers 1 to 10, common greetings) and snacks from the Philippines!

On Tuesday & Wednesday, the Heath Team conducted a battery of checks on us and we had our vaccination too. My Weight is 20kg, according to them is within the healthy range and my height is 117.60cm, also within the normal range.

On my vision, the snellen read:

Without glasses - <6/60>

With glasses - 6/09 (Right) 6/09p (Left)

Mommy has no idea what all these reading.

On Thursday, we had our First IT lesson in navigating the interface to access learning at lead.com in School. hee..actually I had already did it many times at home already. Jiejie and I will take turns to play this every Sunday afternoon so that mommy can rest. Jiejie will play Primary 2 level while I played the Primary 1 level.

On Friday, we had our First PE lesson on Fun with the Jump Rope. The School gave each pupils a jumping rope to encourage us to stay active and keep fit too! We can use this jumping rope at home to practise too! We were told too that the jumping rope is for outdoor use only.

Today, we also have the all time favourite, that is the Library Period! We get to listening to stories on CDs, buddy reading and teacher read aloud...

Picture taken by Mrs Tse during our recess. Can you spot my jiejie? She sometimes meet up with me too for recess.

Term 1 Chinese "Test"

2009-03-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

We had our FIRST "test" on 26th March.

The marks according to teacher will not be included in the overall grade but rather this test is to see our standard of Chinese. Together with a mock oral, the teacher will then decide which module we will go.

We have 3 modules for Chinese, the Bridging class which is for those who has difficulty in Mandarin; the Core module are for the general students and the Enrichment Module are for those who are very good at Mandarin.

I have no problem with the written paper but not sure about the oral part as I'm not very confident in speaking Mandarin.

During the "test", while checking my work, I even notice a mistake on the paper itself and informed teacher that there is a mistake in the HYPY helping words. Teacher was happy and she in turn informed the students in my class that there's a mistake in the helping words and asked them to change.

Mommy was happy too that I checked my work and not follow blindly. She praises me loudly too in front of jiejie and emphasise on the sentence "Very good! You really check your work carefully!" Then she took this opportunity to teach jiejie to be careful with her work.

Term 1 Chinese Enrichment Appraisal

2009-03-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

Teacher's comment: Hee..the usual words that everyone describe me. Energetic & cute!

Mommy is happy that I'm more open to speaking Mandarin now and will volunteer answer when ask. And I showed great interest in learning Chinese. I got full marks for my spelling throughout the whole term too!

Super Reader Badge

2009-03-11T05:03:00.000-07:00

I got my first set of Super Reader badge today and exciting showed mommy once I got home.

Our school encouraged students to read more books and with every 30 books that the student read, we get one badge. Jiejie has collected many (I think about 10) and I'm aiming to for that number too!

My Degree

2009-03-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

Daddy noticed that I can't see very clearly even with my glasses on. Although we will be having our eyes sight test soon in School, daddy couldn't wait and brought me to Bukit Timah Plaza and have my eye sight tested. The optician is very nice and explained to daddy that kids with degree will need to check their eye sight every 6 months as the degree will change.

Daddy was shocked when the optician gave daddy my new degree.

Right - sph -350
cyl - 025
axis 180

Left
sph -300

My previous power was only:
Right
SPH -200

Left
SPH - 150

Swimming Competition - Novelty Race

2009-02-20T05:10:00.000-08:00

This is my first year participating a swimming "competition". I don't any pressure at all as mommy said its for beginners and jiejie said its very easy.

We waited for almost 2 hours before its our event. So while waiting, we got mommy's approval to swim in the kids pool. The school provide some light snack (bread) for us too.

Gathering with friends while waiting for our event.

Jiejie and I are in the same House (team) and there are 16 of us in each team. 8 of us will be at one end of the breadth of the pool and the other 8 at the other end. We will swim across the breadth and pass the ring and float to the other person and she will swim back.

At first, our House was second but as the race proceeded on, we came in last by a body length. Mommy said it doesn't matter as the school is very thoughtful and will give all the Novelty Race participants a medal. So even as we came in 4th, we got a bronze medal too!

This is my FIRST medal and I'm so excited and happy to receive it.

Its a fun and tiring day for me!

Valentine's Day Card

2009-02-13T20:20:00.001-08:00

This was made in class with Mrs Tse. Its part of our Art lesson. All the hearts shape were cut out and I explained to mommy how I cut the inner heart!

Bento #5 - Mickey Mouse

2009-02-05T05:48:00.000-08:00

Mickey Mouse shaped Cheese & Ham sandwich;
Mickey Mouse shaped Dragonfruit + cherry tomatoes

I like today's bento! So cute!

Mommy given me more dragonfruit than jiejie's because that's my favourite! I couldn't help smiling when I saw the 2 Mickey Mouse and the heart in between them! My friends were so envy and asked if I can share some with them, which I did.

My New Violin Class

2009-02-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

Mommy accompanied me to my new violin class today and spoke to the violin teacher. The teacher asked me to play a few songs and I did well.

The class was divided into two groups. The first group was for beginners and the second group is for level 2. The teacher asked me to practice with the first group (Beginner) and stayed back to observe and do the theory with the second group (Level 2). So I had a good 2 hours with the class.

After the class, the violin teacher spoke to mommy and told her his plan. Mommy was surprised to learnt that the teacher is pushing me for the Level 2 class as she doubt that my standard is there yet. But the violin teacher think that I just needs to put in more effort and I will be able to catch up with them.

So I have to put in more effort now to practice my violin.

And while I'm having my violin class, mommy stayed outside and coached jiejie with her work. *sigh* With my switch in CCA day, mommy will have to re-plan our activities.

Bento #9

2009-02-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

Heart shaped & Hello Kitty Jelly;

Heart shaped ham & Cheese Sandwich;

Mandarin Orange + Cherry Tomatoes

A very simple one!

Bento #8

2009-02-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

Another easy bento from mommy today.

Slice the Kaya pancake sandwich to fit the small bento container and using the Hello Kitty's stencil, she spread some Olive butter on the top to make the picture.

Next, using the Marie The Cat cutter, cut the shape for the dragonfruit and added the Bear shaped agar-agar in and that's it!

Bento #7

2009-02-02T23:42:00.000-08:00

Mommy made some agar-agar over the weekend using all the mould she could find. And I have the My Melody Jelly one today.

Mommy quite satisfy with the bear shaped bread but was disappointed with the quail eggs. Its supposed to be hatching eggs (like Allthingspurple) but mommy just doesn't have the skill. So this is her "Art" piece and its left to us to imagine.

I told mommy that the quail eggs are so cute and they look like little girls and I told mommy I like the fringe!

Mommy was happy at least it not such failure and that it at least look like something!

Follow-up on Violin CCA

2009-02-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

Today, mommy followed me to my Violin class again just to see how the class is being conducted.

As all the kids do not have a violin last week, the teacher actually got the consent of their parents to buy for them. The kids were so excited today getting their violin for the first time and the teacher spent a good half an hour tuning their individual violin!

Next, the class was split into 2 groups as mentioned last week and my group got to start first. But again, the teacher spent a good half an hour teaching us how to hold the violin and bow and playing the D-string. I was told to sit down while the teacher taught the 3 kids in my group. When its finally my turn, the teacher asked me to play 2 songs from my book and gave me a new piece to practice. And that's the end of my lesson! Less than 10 minutes!!!

Mommy went in to speak to the teacher as usual after the class. *sigh* she felt like she is so kaisu! The teacher confirmed that my standard doesn't belongs to this group either. But since there is no other class on Monday that I can fit into, he told mommy that he will spent at least 15 minutes of individual time with me. Hopefully when the rest of the kids catches up with me, we can then play group violin.

Mommy was not very pleased with the solution and decided to speak to the teacher-in-charge of the Vioin CCA and see if she can switch me to a more suitable class instead of having me slow down my progress just to wait for the rest to catch up.

The teacher-in-charge got another violin teacher to contact mommy and he asked me to come for his Wednesday class which is more for those proceeding to Grade 1 to try it out. Though its a little inconvenience, mommy decided to gave it a try.

1st CCA lesson - Violin

2009-01-19T01:11:00.000-08:00

I went for my 1st CCA today which is violin. Its the beginner class and I felt a little bored but teacher assured mommy that he will separate the class into 2 groups - beginners and those with foundation. Each group will have 1 hour each and teacher will teach each of us based on our standard.

So far, only 2 (including me) falls into the 2nd category. Teacher will use the first hour to teach us while the rest will read in class. After that, we get to go off and he will teach the beginners.

My First Day In Primary School

2009-01-02T01:02:00.000-08:00

Since jiejie needs to be in school by 7.20am, mommy sent both of us there together although I need not report for school till 8.20am.

Mrs Tse is very friendly and loving. No wonder jiejie like her so much. She could even remember my name before I even got the chance to tell her. Anyway, many of us arrived way before 8.30 a.m. and set to complete the task we had begun at the P1 Orientation, that is to draw the members in our family.

We even proceeded to mark our birthday on the 2009 calendar with a pretty cake.

Next, we practised counting forward and backwards with the song - 10 Little MGS Girls (to the tune of 10 Little Indian Boy.) Later we organised a class line-up according to height and took up our position at the work and learning stations.

Then we got acquainted with our buddy from P5.5 and enjoyed our first meal at the school canteen during recess. My buddy's name is Natalie and she is very chatty. After a fast meal, she brought me around showing me where the Ego garden, bookshop and Library are..although I already knew it jiejie had brought me there many times.

Thereafter, we headed for the quadrangle to familiarise ourselves with the position to take up during flag-raising. We also checked out the toilets and worked collaboratively to store our workbooks in classroom.

The Primary One were dismissed earlier than the rest for the first 3 days, mommy brought me to the canteen and introduce the food stall to me again. As there are no queue, she took her time to point to me what each stall sells.

To get me better train in buying food on my own, mommy gave me $2 and asked me to buy a bowl of noodle soup for her. After serving her, she pass me another $2 and asked me to go choose my lunch. I chose the same as mommy. Before I can even sit down to have my lunch, mommy again handed me $2 and ask me to buy some drinks. All this while, mommy just sat down and chatted with her friends.

After I had finished my food, I helped mommy cleared the bowl to the designated area and also help grab a burger for jiejie.

Preparation For Primary School Life

2008-12-31T01:07:00.000-08:00

As I had been taking afternoon nap and used to sleeping till 8am in the morning and only going to bed after 10pm, mommy decided that she needs to adjust my body clock and thus, started preparing me for the Primary School life 1 week before the school reopen.

She made us wake up at 6.15am in the morning and we had to finish our breakfast by 7am. After that, both jiejie and I will go down for a round of stretching exercise lasting about 20minutes. Once up, we will wash our face again to freshen up and sit down for "serious" work with 10 minutes break after every 45 minutes. This will last till 1pm and we will have our lunch and 1 hour break time. We played with Nicholas during this break time while mommy nap. Wonder why mommy can nap and we can't!!?

After that, its Nicholas's turn to nap and both jiejie and I will take turn to practice our musical instruments and reading some story books. And if weather permit, we got to go for an hour of swim at the pool. If its rain, we played computer game.

After our early dinner, we get to play with Nicholas or watch TV till 8.30pm before heading for the sack.

The first 2 days were tough for me as I still can't adjust to waking up early and doing work so early in the morning. But mommy was glad I finally able to settle in by the 3rd day.

Graduation Party

2008-12-20T02:40:00.000-08:00

Some mommies organised a BBQ potluck for the graduating class today. We had fun playing together and also cherishing the moments of our "last" gathering as all the girls (which are my best friends) will be going to different school next year. All the mommies promised to make this an annual affair and I hope they can keep to it.

The girls from my K2 class

My best friend - Hannah

Christmas Party 2008

2008-12-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

I got go upstage and play 2 games this year. The first game I played was with daddy. Its a test on how well the parent know their child and daddy did well and we won the first prize!

The second game was Hula Hoop with balloon under my shirt. Difficult but fun!

The were some craft works to decorate the "stockings" ..I didn't win for this...

The highlight was when Santa started calling names of children to go up stage to collect their present. Mommy told us that Santa had been watching us and if we were naughty, we will not get any present from him. But if we had been very good, we might get more than 1 presents!! I told mommy there's no such thing as Santa but nonetheless behaved myself very well.

I waited for a long time and thought I won't get any present from Santa. Only towards the end that Santa called my name and I got TWO presents from him!! Yeah! This means I had been a good girl for the whole year. Jiejie only received one present from Santa while Nicholas got 2, like me.

And on one of the present, there was a card with a message from Santa!

Wonder how Santa knew I had been clumsy...

KFC Outing & Bento #6

2008-11-22T03:09:00.000-08:00

Top: Chicken & egg mayonnaise with cherry tomatoes topping
Bottom: Edamame; Longans; Dragonfruit and Cherry tomatoes

Mom signed me up for the our Sunday School (KFC) outing to Treetop Canopy Walk and Bowling. Read about it on my jiejie's blog.

Speech & Drama Performance

2008-11-20T03:51:00.000-08:00

Our parents were invited to come and see us perform. Its not a well practice one like our concert as we only done it 3 times. Mommy was there with jiejie and while mommy record me with her DVD cam, jiejie took pictures of me.

Though its a very short one, parents nonetheless enjoys it! Mom noted that I'm the most out-spoken one in the class as my acting is most daring and my voice the loudest and clearest... my friends were still a little shy to speak out loud. Which makes mom wonder if she should sign me up for speech & drama class in Primary School...

After the performance, jiejie played a while with some of her friends who are attending the Centre day-care programme and she had great time catching up with them.

Receiving my Certified for attending and completing the Speech and Drama.

Our last chance to have our pictures taken together! These are my best friends in my 4 and half years there! I know I will miss them once we go our way which is only a few more days...

Chinese Enrichment Term 4 Appraisal

2008-11-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

My final term's appraisal.

I think I need to put in a little more effort in my word recognition and try to speak more Mandarin with mommy and Jiejie.

Graduation and Year End Concert (2)

2008-11-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

This year, they had a changed in the performance schedule. Usually, they will start with Graduation ceremony first then the concert performance but this year, to allow parents to have more time taking pictures of the little ones in their Graduation gown, they placed the ceremony to the last, which makes all mommies happy!

So my concert song this year is "Walk Like An Egyptian"..mommy and daddy laughed so much at my BIG movement! I do look a little clumsy but, hey! Its not easy to dance so fast okay! Mommy like my previous concert performance (here) better...so much cuter and sweeter!

This is the moment what all graduating children's parents are waiting for! Seeing their little baby girl/boy coming out and going up stage to collect the "scroll"...

And the Finale by the K2 graduates is a tribute to all the parents out there..."I Lay My love On You"

After the ceremony and photo-taking at Jacob Ballas garden, daddy & mommy brought us to watch "Sing To The Dawn".

Next day, is my centre closure day so mommy brought us to the Singapore Zoo. Find out more over here.

Kindergarten Graduation Concert (1)

2008-11-02T03:54:00.000-08:00

Finally the day I had been waiting for arrived! I woke up very early today, eager and also worried that I will be late for my performance...mom never seen me so excited before! I tried waking mommy up at 6.30am (I only need to be at the venue by 9am!) telling her if she doesn't get up, I will be late for my Graduation!

Mommy felt this year graduation concert is not as touching as last year (my jiejie's), probably due to the song they chose (mom felt in love with jiejie's graduation song, which is now playing on the slide)... but nonetheless, daddy and mommy are all excited and happy to see me wearing the graduation gown!

Mommy having experienced daddy's video recording technique last year, decided she would take over the video recording and asked daddy to take photos instead. But when mommy saw the pictures daddy took, she gave up ..most of the photos daddy took were blur...think daddy really got shaky hands!

This year, the centre make special arrangements for the graduation kids to bring back the grown and mommy was so excited! She requested daddy to send us to Jacob Ballas Children's Garden to take photos!!! Daddy laughed at mommy's excitement...as if I'm graduating from University

Mom got her way and we are there taking pictures under the HOT sun!!! Crazy mommy even asked me to jump high up! I was very co-operative and thus, we finished the "photo-shoot" in less than half an hour!

Oh...you can see my jiejie sulking in the last picture..wonder why?! Because no one gave her any attention and she is not used to it. Mommy explained to her that today is my DAY and thus, its normal that I get all the attention just like she got hers last year.

Primary One Orientation

2008-11-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Outside jiejie's class..which is also my soon-to-be classroom!

Time flies by so fast...its my Primary One orientation day today. Daddy had wanted to come along but he needs to send jiejie to SMU for her Piano Theory exam which starts the same time as my orientation. We prayed before leaving the house. Prayed for jiejie and also for me. Mum prayed that I will be allocated to a good teacher.

When we got there, the first thing we did was to find out which class I'm in and who will be my form teacher. God Blessing! I'm in the same class as jiejie this year and best of all, SAME FORM TEACHER!!

After a quick chat with Mrs Tse, yes, she is my form teacher, mum left me in her care. We did some drawing while waiting for the rest to turn up before proceeding down to play games organised by the Student Leaders.

Mum having experienced the rush last year for jiejie, knew better than to wait for all parents to buy the school books and stuff. So, instead of following the rest of the parents to the auditorium and listen to the Principal's briefing, she went over to the bookshop to get mine and jiejie's books. So glad she make this choice as she didn't need to buy the full set of books for me (got the hand-me-down from jiejie), the store assistance took quite a while to calculate the costs.

She had ease buying the PE shorts and blouse for me too. No need for PE T-shirts as jiejie had 3 PE T-shirts and 2 House T-shirt. Mummy only got the blouse and not the pinafore as we only wear this set twice a week and jiejie had 3 sets. But jiejie's blouse is a little tight for me so mummy had to get the blouse.

Only after she settle all these then she went for the briefing.

Charity Carnival For Club Rainbow

2008-09-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

Finally the day I've been waiting for arrived! Charity Event cum the centre 20th anniversary celebration.

I was given a week to do up my banner but mom was too busy and thus only did this banner the night before the dateline. She drew while my jiejie colour/paint. It was supposedly me to do the decorating of the banner but since I only get back in the evening, just enough time to have my dinner, mom had to do it with jiejie. Now you can see why mommy kept pushing it till the last minute...she dislike drawing and had always failed her Art paper in school.

Saw the little rainbow on the banner? The entire proceeds of this charity will be given to the Club Rainbow. Everything was sponsor by the parents even the tent and the tables!

Me and my chicken wings at my stall. Mom was told to prepare 200pcs to sell. She doubted we could sell 200pcs during that 3 hours but follow the request nonetheless.

While waiting for more parents and guests to arrive, my friends and I went round to check out the jewellery on sale. Mom initially said she will gave each of us $6 to buy/play in the carnival, but later realised that its not enough and thus upped our funds to $20 each. She also handled the same to my 2 aunties so they can buy food and drinks. Gave $10 to my baby brother too for him to join in some games.

We paid with our funds to play at the jumping castle. I played many other games while mom managed the store for me first.

Ms Serena (my teacher) told mom that I had a art piece for sale at the "Art Gallery" and thus, mom went over to check it out. She loves it at first sight and immediately bought it for $25.00. What do you think of my little art work? Better than mom, right?

When more people arrived, went back to my store and started selling. I was so excited that I used my hands to take the chicken wing which got a little lecture from mom for being so unhygienic. She got me to wear the plastic gloves and taught me how to put it in the plastic bag. She reminded me to say thank you too to my "customers".

Really not easy job! Must packed and collect the money (in the form of coupons). Lucky mommy was there to help. As not many sales was done, mom send jiejie and me out to "touts" for business! We each brought along 3 pcs and walk round to sell. As an encouragement, we each got an additional dollar for every wing sold. Mom was happy to see that both of us are not shy at all and did managed to sell some.

Towards the end, we still have about 100pcs left and the Principal (Ms Lucy) get the teachers to help all the store clear the "stock". Ms Lucy and Ms Serena each bought 20pcs and other teacher 10pcs each. O, and before that, mom had to "discount" the price to 2 pcs for $3 instead of 1pc for $2 to clear the stock. Otherwise, we will have to have chicken wings for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 days!

When we are packing up to go off, Ms Lucy gave mommy this jar as a token of appreciation for mommy's contributions. Its a pre-packed Raisins and Oatmeal cookies dry ingredients. Mom only need to add in butter and eggs to make the cookies. Mom kept it in the fridge and promised to do it after jiejie's exam.

Bento #5

2008-09-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

Toasted Winnie The Pooh bread; marshmallow and Jackfruit

Mommy was very tired to prepare bento but had to drag herself out of the warm bed to make this for me.

Today, our school is bringing us to My Gym and thus, no breakfast will be served in school. I always ask mommy why jiejie can bring food to school and I can't and thus, mom make it a point to prepare bento for me too every time I go on an excursion.

Mom doesn't want me to feel that she had more attention for jiejie than me and thus, even she was really very tired today to prepare this simple bento, she still drag herself out of her warm bed to prepare it.

I was so happy to see the food in there. Simple to mommy but to me, its something refreshing from my usual school snack. The look on my face told mommy that everything is worth it.

A Close Up Shot Of My Birthday Cake

2008-09-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hi Renet13, This one is for you.

Happy 6th Birthday!

2008-09-14T02:08:00.000-07:00

This is my first year having a big birthday party. Mommy set the rules that we only get big birthday party bash for our 6 and 7 years old birthday.

I was very excited even days before the actual day. I helped mom to wrap the door gifts and wrote the invites too. This is the first birthday that I receives so many many presents! I'm so happy!!

Frisk'n'Romp is similar to Explorerkid but much smaller scale. However, they made it up with playing more games compared to the Explorerkid. We had about half an hour of free play with the slide and stuff. Then, 3 party hosts gathered the kids to play games. The only negative part is that these games are also for non-party members unless you have more than 30 little guests, any number less than that, they will allow other kids to join. Played a few energy challenging games and we were all gathered together again to go up to the party area to play more games. Must say their games are fun and engaging. You can see all the little kids laughing and enjoying themselves. And they "design" the games to fit the age of the majority too. Mommy got the call from them 2 days before the party to confirm the number of boys and girls and the age too.

After about half an hour, all the kids were really hungry. We headed to the party room for a light snack and birthday cake cutting. The cake cutting was a little rush and we hardly got to enjoy the beautiful cake which I chose and didn't take a nice family photo with it too. Think the organiser is running late to prepare for the next party.

O, the adults food is not included in the package and thus, mommy have to order through them which is very limited in choice as they sub out only to 4 restaurants downstairs.

But overall, its a nice and mommy would give it a 7/10 ratings.

Mid-Autumn Celebration

2008-09-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

The Management Committee organised a Mid-Autumn celebration for all the residents and mom signed up as usual. This year, she make sure she is not blur like last year (she forgot about the celebration last year).

After some warm up games, there was a special bunny appearance (wonder what bunny got to do with Mid-Autumn festival celebration?)

After more games, one of which my jiejie went up to play, we had our dinner. See how much we enjoyed the food..

See my cute brother eating his nugget...

After dinner, there was the lantern making contest. My jiejie, her classmate, our cousins and I formed a group and started to make..its very challenging and we had no idea where to start. So my uncle and daddy tried to help. After a while, daddy gave up his post and asked mommy to come and help while he tried to "bribe" the MC..

After much struggle, we finally completed the clown lantern. Daddy said ours it the most difficult one as ours is the only clown lantern, others got car, tortoise..which is much easier to make.

What do you think of this hand-make clown lantern make within 15 minutes?

Not bad, we came in Second! But Daddy had wasted his PR effort to get us the First prize though as it was not the MC that judged which team makes the best but the crowd that decides.

See the prize for coming in 2nd?

After that, had the usual lucky draw and as usual, mommy got no luck in this area. We then closed the celebration with lantern walk around the whole neighbourhood.

Danielle's Birthday

2008-09-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

Attended one of my best friend's birthday party today. Actually, all the girls in my class (only 5 of us) are very close as we were friends since we were like 2yrs old...so that means our friendship is almost like 4yrs now. So sad that this is the last year we will be together. Mommy got all the girl's mommy's number and will try to keep us in contact even after we leave the present centre.

Back to the party, Danielle only invited the girls and thus, we had excellent time playing with all the girlie stuffs without worrying being bullied by the boys. We watched video, play dressed up, craft work.. We spend almost 5 hours at her place!

Auntie Geok (Danielle's mom) took a photo of us and put it in a frame for us to keep us remembrance. So thoughtful of her.

Term 3 Chinese Enrichment Appraisal

2008-09-05T01:27:00.000-07:00

This is my Term 3 Chinese Enrichment report card.

Teacher's commented that I'm able to pay attention in class and able to understand the lesson.

Mom was also very proud of me that I went up to perform the er ge (children song) without her telling me to. She was so happy that I finally found the courage to do it.

For the term test, I got full mark for all except for the recognition of words, han yu pin yin and the individual performance.

My First Bowling

2008-09-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

Daddy brought us blowing while mommy is away. Hmm..seems like we did a lot fo fun stuffs without mommy..heehee

So to keep mommy posted and also to show mommy that daddy is doing something with us, he recorded this video clip with his mobile and MMS to mommy.

Hair Cut By Destroyer!!

2008-09-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Look at my fringe!! Mommy was jumping mad when she realised what daddy had done to my hair!

Daddy thought my fringe was a little too long and was poking into my eyes and thus, decided to take some action. He went into the kitchen, took the kitchen scissor and asked me to come over. Blur me, of course I just kon kon (blur blur) go into the kitchen not knowing anything.

The next thing I know, daddy grab a bunch of my fringe and snap it off using the kitchen scissor! Its bad enough to use the kitchen scissor to cut my hair, worst still, he didn't even comb it properly before cutting! Just grab and SNAP!!! Mommy was jumping mad at him and also at me for not retaliating.

Busy September For Mommy

2008-08-24T02:14:00.000-07:00

We had finally decided on Frisk n Romp for my birthday party celebration. None of my classmates had celebrated there and yup, I like that! So it's fixed on the 14th September.

On top of all the preparation which already enough to keep mom busy, 2 of my friends will be having their birthday celebration too on the first and third Saturday! And on the last Saturday, our School had this big scale Charity Event that mom was being asked to help out too..

To top it all off, my jiejie will be having her first paper (final year exam) on the 29th September!!

*gosh* Oh! And my baby brother's birthday party in his childcare centre on the 15th September...hope mommy have the stamina to keep up with these strings of events!

My First Ice-Skating Experience

2008-08-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

Daddy had intended to bring us to Night Safari...I can't remember when was the last time we visited that place. But when we were about to leave for that, the sky open and there goes the plan...

Daddy really wanted to spent a good night out with us (he will be flying off the next day) and after some pondering, decided on Ice-Skating. We went to the SkateSports at Kallang Leisure Park with my kuku, little brother and aunty. Dad felt the pinch when he had to pay a total of S$80.00 for 2 hours of fun (including the rental of all necessary equipment). Viewer (those not skating) need to pay S$3.00 for admission. Its really not cheap to have fun in Singapore.

Its my first time doing Ice-Skating and thus was going rather slowly even with the metal aid. My aunty went together with me (its her first too) and both of us shared the metal aid together. So, when I fell, she fell too...hahaha..its so fun! But think she can skate better than me.

It was really, really fun...daddy took some video but mommy dared not put it up as daddy was "shouting" for our attention to look at the "camera".....

Look like we put on lipstick, right? Mom was shocked when she saw the MMS from daddy and immediately SMS daddy and questioned him on that... daddy told mom she's talking nonsense though..said mom should know better than that and he hates his daughter with make-up and high heels..very worried we will attract boy when we grow up.

Its fun and we skated non-stop except for posing for pictures during that 2 hours.

Planning For My Birthday

2008-08-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

Mommy had been asking me where I want to celebrate my 6th Birthday. I told her I wanted to do it at Wild Wild Wet or The Singapore Zoo like Jiejie but mommy checked the internet and said both were closed for renovation.

I was very disappointed and mommy promised me she will try her best to find a good party location soon and let me know.

Bleeding Again!

2008-07-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

My nose bleed again! Wonder why I'm the only one in the family to suffer from nose bleed?! Good thing is that I didn't freak out at the amount of blood flowing down...just took some tissue and wipe it clean.

Mom said she better bring me to see the Chinese physician when she comes back from her overseas posting. Mom was a little concern as this happen a little too frequent...she is worried that there might be some underlying illness...*touch wood*

Hope there's nothing wrong with me...anyway, mom will only be back in 2 weeks time, will see what the doctor say then..

Home Bento #4

2008-07-21T09:52:00.001-07:00

Main plate: Japanese bean curd with fish roe;

Hello Kitty moulded egg; Soba with Hello Kitty fishcake
Another plate: Japanese Gyoza

Mom prepared the beancurd with fish roe for jiejie's bento today and kept some for me as dinner as its my favourite too. She also make a new dish for us to try...the Japanese Gyoza..its stuff with veggie and chicken meat. We loves it so much that we kept asking mommy to make this for us everyday.