Musical Zion Concert 2008

Jiaheng had a school concert entitled "Musical Zion". This concert serves 2 purposes. One is to allow the children in the school to have the chance to display their musical talents on stage, the other is to give a farewell concert to the Kindergarten 2 children who will be making their way to Primary schoool next year.

Jiaheng's K1 item is a dance item. Before the dance moves, there is a short dialogue between him and a girl classmate.

The dialogue goes like this:

男：Hi！萧君慧！你准备好了吗？

女：嗯！我好紧张啊！这是我第一次在舞台上表演。

男：（轻拍女生的肩膀）哎呀！不用担心， 放轻松！
（拍一拍自己的胸口）有我在此！我是你的舞伴， 我会帮你的， 请放心！

女：可是，我还是很。 。 。 。

男：没问题的！你喜欢我们的舞蹈吗？

女：喜欢！ 非常喜欢！老师说我们的舞蹈要和朋友互相配合。

男：团结一致！

合：才能把舞蹈跳得好！

男：来！快！请我们的朋友也一起来跳吧！

合：让我们一起来跳个“友谊操”吧！

Children nowadays are so much bolder than us. Imagine facing the whole hall of audiences and yet expected to deliver. I am so proud of him for rising to the occassion and doing such a good job.

Hmmm... what was I doing when I was just a 5 year old like Jiaheng?

Masak-masak? :P

Yixuan is a Gym Babe

Recently, we signed Yixuan up for a Gym class. Actually, I have been wanting to sign Yixuan up for an enrichment. Just nice, my friend's girl is also attending the Gym class and my friend strongly recommends it.

Jiaheng used to attend the same Gym so I kind of know what to expect. The activities seem to suit Yixuan so we decided to go ahead. Today is the 3rd class and I feel that we have made the right choice to get her started.

The Gym is not those "music & movement" type but a real Gym school with balancing beams, bars, trampolines etc.

Yixuan has an excellent sense of balance for a two-year old. It is easily observed from her daily activities. She can ride on Jiaheng's scooter-bike (those type that requires you to put one leg on the board and one leg on the floor to push yourself forward). She can climb onto Jiaheng's bike (those real bike and not those push-cart type) and pretend to ride (cos legs not long enough to turn peddle one round) without falling over!

She can do most of the activities that the teacher stipulated and seems to enjoy what she is doing. Like walking on the balancing beam, crawling backwards, do donkey kicks, arch to look like a table etc. Aiyoh! Some moves really 高难度. I also got problem doing some of her moves.

Through the Gym activites, I can also see some traits of her character. Can literally see the determination to complete the tasks by the look in her eyes. Will this be our girl's character when she grows up? 拭目以待.

But I am real glad I signed her up, cos this also gave the both of us a "Mommy & Me" time out of the house. :)

------- posted by Mommy

儿子还蛮感性的

今晚是农历九月十七，所以月亮还很圆很大。

家亨刚好站在窗旁，好象是被那美丽的月亮吸引住了。"Mommy, you know the moon is really big and bright right?"

听到儿子这么说，我突然兴起，便吟了一段 “举头望明月，低头思故乡。” 我这一显了显身手，儿子就给了我一副 ‘妈咪，你真棒！' 的expression。嘻嘻，感觉还真不错。。。

其实在家亨很小时，我也教过他这首诗。当时他只是会catch 到每一段的最后一个字。好像我念 “床前明月”，他就会大大声的回应 "光！"。回想起来还挺好笑。我问家亨他还记得吗？他竟然还记得。：）儿子还说他在Sherise家的墙壁上也看过这首诗，他说他只看得懂一些。既然这样我便教了家亨念这首“静夜诗”。

"Mommy, what's the meaning?" 听到儿子这一问，当老师的职业病又犯了。我就一句一句的解释给家亨听。 当我解释到那段 “低头思故乡”， 我叫家亨想象一下当他长大后，可能要到外国读书，爸爸和妈咪都不在你身边。当你看到月亮时，你就会想到在家里的家人。

突然儿子说了一句 “Mommy,you don't say anymore, I am already very sad." 一边说，一边转身把自己的脸埋在枕头里。差点连最后的那几个字都听不到了。吓！真的把我吓了一跳。没想到儿子会有那么大的反应。

虽然在黑暗里，我感觉到儿子哭了。儿子真的长大了。能够appreciate家人和爸爸妈妈对他的复出。我也感觉到自己的脸颊湿湿的。。。

"Come, come and give Mommy a hug."

------ posted by Mommy

Something I Learnt from Jiaheng

Jiaheng's 弟子规 teacher told the class that it is important to have a 志向, i.e. to have a direction in life.

If you do not have 志向, it is like packing your luggage and lugging it all the way the airport but just standing there from morning till night but still have not taken flight, simply because you don't know where to go!

During "Jiaheng's Late Night" today, Kai Hock, Jiaheng and I were having a game of monopoly. Needless to say Jiaheng had a very enjoyable night. While I was lying next to him in bed, Jiaheng said this to me.

"Mommy, do you know that the dice for monopoly is just like the “我的志向”that teacher was talking about, you know? It is like you need to know where you want to go. Like if you want to dice to land at box 8, 10 and 11, you will tell the dice to go there, just like our 志向. Right?"

I just replied "Yes, Jiaheng". Although I didn't comment much, but while Jiaheng drifted off to sleep next to me, I can't help but think how correct he is. :)

-------- posted by Mommy

I didn't know Jiaheng is that popular

Jiaheng's school celebrated Children's Day this morning. It is a combined session with the morning class pupils. Really bustling with laughter and energy in the room with 70+ children in the room.

The average class size is about 8 to 9 pupils. My wife always says that class size matters so she is pleased that Jiaheng's class is not extremely big. She will say small size means teacher can give more individual attention to the pupils, can have more activities to cater to individual, etc. As these comment came from the point of an ex-teacher, I have to fully respect that. :P

Since the class is not that big, we kind of know all of Jiaheng's classmates. My wife knows who are his best friends, who did what in school, who is his partner at the graduation night etc. For me, I can at least match face with names lah. Both my wife and I feel that it is important to know our child's friends, especially when our children grows older. So my wife always makes it a point to talk about what happens in school and what his friends and him did in school.

At the celebration, Jiaheng was seated across the room from us and we could see him clearly. His 2 girl classmates are seated next to him. During one activity, Jiaheng left his seat to get something. I spotted that another of his classmate sat on his empty seat. Guess what? The 2 girls immediately pulled him out of Jiaheng's seat. I can't hear what they were saying but could guess from their body languages that they are saying that that's Jiaheng's seat.

Woah! Didn't know my boy was so popular in school. *wink* Told mommy about it and my wife said "Yar yar... Papa and his egoo.ooo...." Ha ha, true true... of course I am proud of my boy!

Is there a difference?

My mom and mom-in-law are both 60 years old this year. Both are housewives for many years. Both are on the 'chubby' side and wears a short hairdo. Both have similar lifestyles.

But when the two senior ladies stand next to each other, many people do see a difference in them. My mom-in-law looks younger compared to my mom.

Why the difference? People may just say "Aiyah, its like that one. Not fair one. Some people just look younger." or they will just say "Genetics what" Maybe all these is somewhat true but I always believe there must be an explanation.

I believe I have cracked the code. Whatever is within will be reflected on the outside. So when a person is healthy and nourished on the inside, it will be reflected on the outside. I brought both my mom and mom-in-law to do a test at a natural therapist centre. Based on the Celluar Health Analyser, my mom-in-law's real age is 60 but her actual age of her cells is 59.4. My mom on the other hand has a cellular age of 99!

I was shocked when I saw the report! So was my mom.

What could contribute to the difference? I firmly believe it is due to the years of supplementation that we gave to my mom-in-law. My mom-in-law will religiously take the supplements. My mom on the other hand refused to take it saying that supplements do not work.

I guess the test speaks for itself. Luckily, it is still not too late. My mom finally relented and started taking the supplements and I am really overjoyed. Yipee!

儿子说他明年要 Convocate 了

下课后，儿子很高兴地对我说他们正在准备graduation concert。 K2 的同学们要毕业了， 儿子的K1 班也有份参加。

突然兴起，把摆在厨里多年的Convocation旧相簿拿了出来给儿子看。哇，女儿和儿子好像捡到宝！指这儿，指哪儿，口里不停说着“妈妈，妈妈”。两兄妹好像在比赛看谁能赢这“SPOT THE MUMMY CONTEST”

我就借着机会psycho他们两。看看他们想不想长大后也convocate。“要，我也要！” 当他们正看得兴起时，我也在多年后再度翻阅这相簿。天阿！十一年前的我好年轻阿！还有与家人合照的， 和朋友合照的，和死党们的合照。真的是勾起了不少少年时的回忆。

尤其是和AJPS的死党的合照，真的是好怀念AJC的岁月。那天天呆在darkroom 聊天，做tutorials，process film， develop photos 的日子。

这张，我们是排成一行的。那张，我们是排成V字形的。还有这张，站在高高的柱子上。哇！极会摆pose ，不愧是AJPS的精英。那一张张青春洋溢的脸孔， 那一张张充满期待的样子。All ready to face the real world? hmmm... 连我自己都不太记得自己心中的想法是什么了。只感谢上天眷顾我，毕业至今，家庭， 感情，事业都交了不错的成绩单。

儿子打断了我的思绪说了一句“妈妈，我明年也要convocate了。” ：）

---- posted by Mommy

Reasoning with my 5-year old

I realised that it is not an easy battle after a few tries. Reasoning with my 5-year old requires me to take each step with caution and also to really structure my sentences properly.

Let me give you an example.

We were having dinner the other night. And Jiaheng doesn't seem to have much appetite that night and taking his food very slowly. I decided to give him a time limit to complete his meal. As with any people, we have to put in the RISK and REWARD to get them going.

If he cannot complete his meal in the next 15 minutes. his RISK will be:
- not to be able to ride on his bicycle for the rest of the night.

His REWARD will be:
- to be able to join Yixuan and me in a ball game after dinner.

I said this "Jiaheng, if you cannot finish your meal in the next 15 minutes, you cannot ask to ride your bicycle for the rest of tonight." Thinking that I should pre-empt the situation for tomorrow, I 'smart-aleckly' added "If tomorrow, the same thing happens, you cannot ride your bicycle and your scooter bike for tomorrow night"

Thinking that I have covered all grounds, Papa feels happy about himself.

Then Jiaheng asked "Papa, if I cannot ride the bicycle and scooter bike tomorrow. Does it mean I can ride my scooter bike later if I cannot finish my food in 15 mins?"

Aiyoh! How har? Should I say yes or no? Based on Jiaheng's reasoning, the answer should be "yes". But if I say yes, then there is no RISK already.

Finally, I said "Yes, Jiaheng" and abruptly completed the episode by saying "Eat your food quickly". *gua gua gua...* :< (hitting my own foot with my hammer!)

Hmmm... kids nowadays har!! Need to be extra careful with words and reasoning the next round.

Whose side of the bed should we sacrifice?

Every afternoon, Kai Hock will debate over whose side of the bed should we let Yixuan sleep on for her nap?

Yixuan is turning 21 months. We are trying to potty train her. She is relatively "zai" (meaning steady) when she is awake. When she needs to pass urine, she will make a "err" sound. When you bring her to the toilet, she will squat down, then appear stun for a few seconds (I think she is thinking of how to go about it cos still not part of her natural response yet). And she is done! After that, she will be so proud of herself and motion me to see her by-product.

When you check with her whether she needs to go to the toilet and she has no need for that, she will tell you "No". Of course, there are still times when there are accidents. We are fine with that cos we just mop it away and change her then we are fine.

The challenge comes when she takes her nap. Oh oh! So whose side of the bed should she lie on this afternoon? Of course, we will take precautions like making her go toilet before napping. And putting a blanket that is tripled folded under her. The challenge really lies in the moment of her waking. We have to be SUPER fast to transport her to the toilet the very instant she wakes.

That is the point when we can't make it and the result is a wet blanket. On days, when we are lucky, the blanket manages to absorb most water and only a bit seep through. On not so good days, you know the result lah...

Still far from being fully potty trained, but I think Yixuan is doing great.

---- posted by Mommy

Luckily, you marry Papa

I really don't know what sparked off this thought in Jiaheng's mind.

On the trip to Grandma's place for dinner, Jiaheng made an interesting comment. "Mommy you know, Papa is such a good manager" * Har ! Eh, but your Papa is not a manager leh *

"Why do you say so, Jiaheng?"
"Because Papa can manage so many things so well" * At the back of my mind, I can already picture Kai Hock's smug look when I tell him this *

"Luckily, you marry Papa. If not, Jiaheng won't have such a good Papa and Yixuan won't have such a good Mommy."

I felt like crying when I heard those words. Our son appreciates us and is proud of us! Isn't that what we as parents hope for?

They are the reason why we are working hard. We want the best for them. We want to groom them. We love them. We want to be their role model. But we also want them to feel proud of us isn't it?

While still feeling touched, at the back of my mind, I can see Kai Hock's smug face again. :P

------ posted by Mommy

Fish Therapy

22 June 2008 marks the 9th year of our wedding. It has been 9 years since my wife and I got married. Looking back, it has been a wonderful journey together, and along the way came Jiaheng and then Yixuan. :)

We are both very grateful for these 2 wonderful kids. It must have been the good fortune left from our ancestors. As I get to know more and read more, I am beginning to believe that you have the power to create your own destiny and to accumulate good fortune to be passed down to your descendants.

I was cracking my brain where to bring Mommy to for our anniversary. Some place where she has never been to, some place where it will be a surprise for her.

Then a great idea dawned on me. Mommy used to be a teacher so she used to stand for long hours. After near a decade of teaching, she started to have cracked heels and dry skin on her feet. It became worse with the 2 pregnancies, with so much weight added to her.

It really pains me to see the deep lines on her heels. We tried a few things like moisturisers, foot scrubs etc. But they didn't really help. Even though, Mommy kept saying never mind. I really hope to find a solution for her. I decided to book an appointment with the Fish Doctors.

It was a cosy place nestled among the many famous eateries at Novena Ville. I actually found this place using the Internet, the reviews seem to be good. The Fish Doctors are supposed to be a totally natural skin treatment experience. The Fish Doctors will gently nibble on your skin and provide massage to your feet at the same time.





Mommy was still guessing non-stop even minutes before we reached our destination. Is it SPA? KTV? Massage??? Nope! none of the above. I was beaming with satisfaction that she did not manage to get the right answer.

The staff there were very friendly and knowledgeable too. When they knew it was our wedding anniversary, they even gave us an additional 15 mins for the dip.

But alas, I didn't expect Mommy to be so terrified of the fish nibbling her. Once she put her feet in, she quickly retracted them. I was prepared to leave. Mommy insisted that we should stay. I knew she didn't want me to feel bad.

Initially, Mommy only mustered enough courage to dip her heel in, then slowly after some tapping and distraction, she managed to dip her both feet in. So proud of her!

We completely the 45 minutes of dip together. The final product was pretty good too cos the feet were visibly fairer and smoother. Mommy said perhaps next time, when she mustered enough courage, we can come again.

The feel of giving someone a surprise is really nice. Seeing Mommy in suspense, trying to guess where I will bring her to. But it is really 人算不如天算, the final person to get the surprise was actually myself. Sigh! got to do a better job next year... our 10th anniversary :)

A Secret Formulation :)

Since my wife has shared how the vitamin C 'saved the day' for our children, I also like to share our secret formulation to fight cough and cold.

Whenever, I sensed that cough or cold symptoms are building up, I will pop in 2 tablets of PolyC (vitamin C) and 2 tablets of Proflavanol (grapeseed extract, super duper antioxidant). I will do it twice a day. Believe it or not, most times, with this formulation, I can easily ward off an up and rising cough or cold.

If 'sway sway', cannot suppress the cough or cold, it will go off in a shorter period as compared to previously. Really, my wife and I are totally sold on this formulation. No need to see doctor and get ourselves so drowsy from the cough/cold medication.

Try it yourself ...

Just a thought

My father just completed his second cataract operation. Everything is going well for him. He says that his vision is no longer blurred. Even the doctor is impressed with the rate of recovery for someone my father's age.

The visionex supplement I gave him has really helped tremendously. :) Now that, my father has seen the positive effect himself, he has finally 'approved' the use of supplement on himself already. Yippee!

Just that these few days, a scene kept surfacing in my mind. That day, at the hospital clinic, I saw lots of elderly. You may say, what is so uncommon about seeing elderly at the cataract clinic... Old already will kanna cataract what??? No, no. that was not what I meant. I meant, where are their children? Aren't they supposed to be with their parents when they are not well?

Maybe, I won't say 100% elderly lah. There are a few young ones but they are maids, not closed ones to the patients. The maids are not even communicating the old person. The old person is just sitting there, keeping to himself the whole session. And I kept asking myself this question, where are their children?

At work? Too busy? No time?

It just reflects on our society that young people are all too busy working. The word 'busy' is easily the most used word in their dictionary. Sometimes, they just neglect the most important thing i.e. their family, their loved ones.

Reflecting back, I am just glad I made the decision to move forward. Else, I will not be able to be there with my father.

A Gruelling 5 Days

Kai Hock and I both agreed that it was a gruelling past 5 days. We were like a pair of meerkat doing our sentry duties religiously.

Jiaheng came down with fever on Saturday afternoon, then he just got worse and hit 39.7C on Sunday night. Despite taking paracetamol and high fever medication like Brufen, the fever merely dropped one degree and hovered around 38.5C.

His whole body was burning, lips turned deep red from the heat. When you hold him in your arms, you seem to be holding a bundle of charcoal. I must say, Jiaheng took things in his stride pretty well. Everytime, you asked him how is he feeling, he will say "Good".

"GOOD!!!", how can anyone feel good when you are approaching 40C??? Still, I appreciate his toughness cos it made the whole process much comforting for us.

We first brought him to a Western doc on Sunday who just told us the fever is due to virus. Gave us 2 bottles of fever medication which hardly helped. Then we decided to bring him to our Natural therapist doc who gave him some homeopathy drops for the virus and taught us how to use Vitamin C to help his body fight the virus. This method was much more helpful.

We are supposed to give him Vitamin C every 2 hours until he starts to have diarrhoea. When he has diarrhoea, it will mean his body is saturated with the vitamin C. Then we stop and let his body fight the virus. We decided to pound the Vitamin C tablet and mix it into his milk for Jiaheng.

I must say the USANA Poly-C we used was really potent. A small tablet but really really "a hard tablet to crack". We pounded with a metal pound (those type you used to tenderise meat). One pound, nothing happened, not even a crack! Then another, then another pound... finally, we managed to break into smaller pieces, then we had to use a metal spoon to crush the small pieces into powder. This cycle repeated itself every 2 hours.

One day passed, no diarrhoea yet. Our natural therapist friend told us that it is because Jiaheng's body has used up every single mg of the Vitamin! The second day went by, still no diarrhoea but at least he managed to go to the toilet.

We are real glad that we supplied Jiaheng with the Vitamin C else he will have a tougher time to bounce back. Finally, on Thursday night, the fever is gone and he slept like a baby that night. We finally heaved a sigh of relief.

I still remembered that evening when his fever was still not going down and I was bathing Jiaheng. I saw his face in the mirror reflection, he had dark circles under his eyes, face looked so pale. Then when I touched the back of his head to wash his hair, I can feel the sizzling heat from his head. At that moment, I just felt like crying.

Even though Kai Hock and I are left with a pair of "panda eyes", we are very happy that the whole incident is over and we have our healthy Jiaheng back.

---- posted by Mommy

A touching song

The first time I heard the song, I was drawn by the beautiful voice of the singer. Then when I understood the meaning of the lyrics, I love this song even more. Very touching and meaningful words.

I am sharing this song with you, and I am sure you will learn something from it too.

---- posted by Mommy

嘿！嘿！你真棒！

Last Sunday, Jiaheng went for an abacus competition. He was the one who requested to join the competition. Kai Hock and I believe that learning always happens when there is fun so we initially didn't really want him to go. After all, he is just 5 years old. Too early for competition lah. But since Jiaheng thought it was FUN, so we just went with his request.

There were about 500 children at the competition. What's even scarier is the number of parents! Easily double the number of children (maybe even more, plus the maid, the extended family... aiyoh) The whole place was just jammed with people, people and more people!

There are two categories. One is the abacus one, the other is the mental calculation. Jiaheng signed up for both.

Quite amusing to see our own son doing the competition cos he was in the big hall and we parents can only see them through the glass windows. A bit like Charlie Chaplin movie. No sound, only movements. We see their hands raise and then come down, raise and then come up. Then start doing the sums, then raise hands.

And the ultimate thing is we caught Jiaheng yawning just before the competition started. YES! yawning... aiyoh.

The whole event lasted from 1 pm to 5.30 pm with the 4 rounds of competition, answers marking, prize presentation all thrown in.

We are proud to announce that Jiaheng came in second for his abacus category and third for his mental category. Look at his cheeky expression...



Jiaheng says he still wants to go next year.

---- posted by Mommy

Jiaheng's love story with his abacus

Since young, we have been taught how to use paper and pencil to do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Then when we got older, we got dependent on our calculators. We even have calculator function in our mobile phones. By and by, we lost touch with the ability to do mental calculations, or rather, we become lazy to do so.

If not for Jiaheng, I guess I will never be associated with ABACUS.

Jiaheng has always been fascinated with numbers. We kind of regretted teaching him the term "infinity" because after that he kept 'stalking' Kai Hock and me with big numbers. How many hundred plus how many hundred, then subtraction by how many hundred. Then it grew to thousands. Really tak boleh tahan liao.

Then Papa came up with this brilliant idea to send Jiaheng for abacus class. Then he can do the big numbers plus and minus himself. Then we can be SPARED...!

That sparked it all off. The love story of Jiaheng and abacus...

Jiaheng kept saying that he can see the abacus beads stirring in his head. He always looks forward to going for his abacus class. And that is where we learnt the phrase "嘿！嘿！你真棒！"

Jiaheng is now in Grade 8 for Mental arithmetic and Grade 9 for Abacus arithmetic. Something new for me. Abacus also got grading?! like piano??? The children will start off with Grade 13, then slowly progress up to Grade 1. Then go on to Level 1 and finally reach Level 10. When you reach Level 10, you are really the Master (Shi fu) liao.

Currently, Jiaheng is doing 2 digits, 10 numbers for his Abacus; and 1 digit, 6 numbers for his Mental, plus and minus included.

We are happy that Jiaheng is enjoying his abacus lessons. Ultimately, we are not looking at a boy genius in our house, rather, we are looking at brain stimulation. If we don't stimulate his brain when his brain cells are growing, are we only going to do it when his brain cells start to die?

When we were young, our parents are not aware about child-hood development. They are not aware that children develops most and best before the age of 6. Now, we know it and we want to do something about it so that we don't short-change our children.

There are many arguments about whether single hand stirring or two-hands stirring is better. I guess there are pros and cons to everything. So, we fixed our criteria on the fact that his school's style can stimulate both sides of the brain cos he uses both hands to stir the beads.

... and the by-product is we got a calculator-Quek in the family. :P


----- posted by Mommy

Can this be true?

This evening, Yixuan went for her 3rd vaccination. This is supposed to be the last one after her earlier 6-in-1 doses.

But before her vaccination, I asked the doctor if we could check her height and weight. It has been ages since I last measured her height. Yixuan seems to be so much shorter when she stood next to her brother. Her brother has always been in the 97th percentile range. People often comment that he looks much taller than his age. Secretly, I do contribute this to the fact that he takes supplements cos Papa & Mommy are not those tall tall type.

When I look at the duo 6 months ago, there was a huge gap. 6 months later, the height gap is still so big. But blur blur Mommy never factor in the consideration that the brother is also growing. Silly right!

So Mommy always comment that her little girl is so S-H-O-R-T. And can't wait to start her on her supplements once she reached 13 months of age. Today, Mommy decided to ask doctor to measure her. And surprise surprise! Doc says she is 86 cm! Once out of the clinic, Mommy can't wait to take out the health booklet, flip to the chart which does Height-for-age comparison and UNBELIEVABLE... Yixuan is at the 97th percentile! Can this be true???

So our little girl girl is not S-H-O-R-T after all! Hiak Hiak Hiak! Mommy is beaming with joy. :) Must carry on the effort to supplement her, then she will grow taller and healthier ...

----------- posted by Mommy

我们的小小客人

昨天和今天，我们接待了来自英国的小客人，敏涵(a.k.a. Anna)。当然还有我的老友，那就是敏涵的娘。

孩子们都很高兴家里来了客人。 我的妈妈更是乐得看小敏涵吃她的小点心。一边说敏涵吃得多么多么快，多么多么多， 一边想着自己的孙女能够吃得这样多该多好。（老人家就是那样。。。总喜欢多吃多吃）

敏涵还真是讨人喜爱。脸颊总是红红的， 象极了妈妈。见到人就笑，名副其实的开心果。还有她那惊人的毅力！当她已设定了目的地， 她就往前冲。不论在她面前的障碍有多大(oops! sorry Aoqun, not saying that u are huge k)，都无法使她止步。敏涵总有法子爬过去。那种毅力和 never say die attitude 真是值得我们这些大人学习的。

很高兴能够和老友度过两个下午。谈谈天，说说地。看看孩子， 捉捉小瓜。吃吃东，尝尝西。时间很快的过了。

下午乘着伞，遮他们两母女上车时，突然感到很不舍。下次再见时可要等到明年新年了。

---- posted by Mommy

Mommy in Baby's Eyes

Yixuan is very intrigued by Ge Ge's pictures. We have loads of them pasted on the walls around the house as well as in home-made picture books. She will go pick out one book, flip the pages and call out at the people in it.

Just the other day, she repeated her act. The only difference is that she was calling the people wrong, she kept pointing at Ge Ge's pictures and calls Ma Ma.

"No no, this is Ge Ge. Say, G... E.. G... E.." Mommy kept repeating.

But Mommy is wrong, Yixuan did see her Mommy in those pictures! I only realised that when Yixuan pointed. See below and see if you can spot Mommy (more correctly, parts of Mommy) too. :)










------ posted by Mommy

7 years worth of supplements !

Recently, my father found that his vision is deteriorating. Upon a check-up, we found that he had cataracts and is supposed to go through a surgery to remove it.

My father said "Ah ya... it is part of growing old lah, cannot help it". But I seriously don't think so. Why can't people age gracefully with a healthy body to enjoy their golden years? That started my father's and my 'debate' in my attempt to help him understand how to achieve better health.

Below is just an abstract
-------------------------
Why do we have cataracts when we age? Because the culprit behind this is degeneration of cells as we grow old.
Why do cells degenerate? Because the degenerated cells don't have sufficient raw materials to repair and rebuild.
What can help cells regenerate? Anti-oxidants!

In fact, most of the common diseases we see today like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer are mainly degenerative diseases.

So if they are degenerative diseases, we already have the solution to better health isn't it?
We just need a quality Anti-oxidants with the correct quantity.

Then my father said "But it is so expensive to take supplements, and I am so old already, no need to have all these". Luckily, I am prepared for this, and so I did the Maths for him.

His operations and consultations this time round for both eyes come up to about $7000. If we were to invest this sum of money into Anti-oxidants supplements, we can easily supply him with 7 years worth of supplements.

The better deal is he does not need to go through the pain of operation, and the anti-oxidants can also protect his other organs. Isn't it killing multiple birds with one stone.

FINALLY! I managed to convince my father that he should start his supplements today.

I am really very happy that my father is on the path to better health. I know that I can't guarantee that my father will not be knocked down by major illnesses from today onwards due to the many years of unhealthy eating and stress. But, I do know, I have done the best I can to help him with his health. It also serves as an important lesson to those who are younger with more years ahead of them to build up their health while they can.

I promise myself to talk health to my friends and relatives so that they can make an informed decision and own their health.

Jiaheng's first compo

I remembered the time when I was in Kindergarten, it was just the routine chalk and talk lessons. No doubt we also learn the alphabets & numbers, do colouring & art and craft, the way the lessons were conducted were still very conservative.

School lessons nowadays are really more creative and innovative than the ones we had years back. Recently, Jiaheng brought back a 'friend' from school. His 'friend' is supposed to spend a weekend with us and then Jiaheng is supposed to write an essay about what they have done together. His 'friend' is non-other than the infamous "Ee-yore" from the Winnie the Pooh gang.

Of course, the school could have just set the children a composition entitled "The Adventures of Ee-yore" and make the children sit down to conjure and document down an adventure. However, they chose the more 'hands-on' method by making the children live the adventure with Ee-yore. Which adventure do you think will leave a deeper impression in the minds of the young ones?

Apparently, the school is doing some activities revolving around the theme of PETS. The children have been tasked to bring a pet soft toy to school. During the circle time, they are supposed to introduce their pet to their class. Then Ee-yore the ambassador, will follow a child home each week, then the child will document Ee-yore adventures in a book. This book will then be passed to the next child.

Talking about circle time... hmmm... what a great way to introduce public speaking and building up confidence in the young ones. Imagine facing an audience and standing in front of the whole class and yet be able to talk freely. This task could have proven to be too difficult for many adults. Yet, the children have no issues with this. Daring, adventurous, willing to take risk, not afraid of failure... our children. Sadly, we lose much of these good qualities along the way when we grow up. Sometimes, we have so much to learn from our children.

Share with you what Jiaheng wrote...



--- posted by Mommy

Our Money Jars Work

I came back from T Harv Eker Millionaire Mind Intensive course with a totally different perspective of money.

The MMI course changed the way I view money, manage money and grow money. To me, this is one course that I think is truly value for money. Just a mere two hundred plus dollars for a 3-day intensive course. Harv really over-delivered. So much good information to walk away with and to apply.

If you are keen to get an insight into a Millionaire Mind, go to www.themillionairemindcoach.com
[psst... tell u a secret, got free ticket to National Achievers Congress if you can commit before 25 april. Good bargain]

Let me give you an example of what Harv taught me on how to manage money. It is really working very well for us.

Harv suggested that we maintain 6 money jars which we label as "NESS", "GIVE", "PLAY", "EDU", "LTSS" and "FFA". And of course, there is a certain % of your monthly income tagged to each jar.

NESS (55%)
- Necessity Fund. Money for our daily expenses etc.
GIVE (10%)
- Charity Fund. To give out to one charity organisation of your choice every month. The more you give, the more you will receive.
PLAY (10%)
- Play Fund. To spend your money without guilt. Pamper yourself, indulge yourself.
EDU (10%)
- Education Fund. To use it on seminars, books, workshops etc. to grow yourself
LTSS (10%)
- Long Term Savings. Can be used to purchase a more costly item, or save up for a trip.
FFA (5%)
- Financial Freedom Account. Something so important, yet so often neglected by people.

Every week, when we receive the cheque from our home-based business, we will split it up into the various proportions and deposit into the money jars.

I simply love the "PLAY" fund. You see, my wife and I are more of the savers type. Not sure if you can associate with me, but we often measure financial security with the amount of savings in the bank. So the "PLAY" fund allows us to spend without guilt cos it has been planned for right from the beginning. Anything is fine as long as it makes you happy. Be it a Spa relaxation, a sumptuous meal, a new pair of shoes... the list just goes on.

We just took out all our savings from the "LTSS" fund to purchase a new sofa. If we do not have this fund set-up, I am pretty sure we will overspend on the sofa. With this fund in place, we spent within our limits and yet have money left over for other purposes.

To me, the most important fund should be the "FFA" fund. The money from FFA can be used for investment (e.g. stocks, bonds, run a biz) to generate more money. That is the secret behind how the rich get richer. That is how you can plan for your retirement.

I am so intrigued by Harv's teaching that I am adapting his teachings and coaching my business partners ONLINE every night at 10pm. If you are keen to drop by our econference room to listen in to the teachings, drop me an email kaihock@gmail.com

At times like this...

When Yixuan fell and cut her lips;
no amount of coaxing can stop her streams of tears.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan threw up again, again and again;
dehydrated and tired.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan was running a fever;
her small body burning and all appetite gone.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan's tooth was about to cut through the gum;
uncomfortable and cranky.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan was woken by a bad dream;
scared and dreamy.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan was over-stimulated in the day;
tired and fussy before bedtime.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan wants to have her "Mommy & me" time;
just her and me.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

To all the great mummies out there. You are the best!

-------- posted by Mommy

Another breakthrough

Today at breakfast, Jiaheng was looking intently at the orange box on the dining table.



It is for some sachets of powder used to make an alkaline drink. Just got it from mum this morning, so it is the first time Jiaheng saw it. So maybe that explains why he is so interested in the box. After some time, Jiaheng told me "Mommy, it is correct. " "What is correct, Jiaheng?" I asked.

"Mommy, you see here. (pointing at the bottom left corner of the packaging) It says 112 g NET. And it is correct."
"How do you know, Jiaheng?"
"Well because xxgsgdeg kdsgj adikg adklgj ... that is why it is 112 g"

Jiaheng said a series of things which included some multiplication and some adding and some subtraction in it. At that time, I was still not in the right frame of mind to really catch his argument. So I asked him to hold on and let me get a piece of paper to write down what he said.

While he repeated his argument again, I quickly scribbled down some notes so that I can verify it. Here is how it looks like

How? Can catch any ball? Ermmphh! Let me decode the "Jiaheng-vinci code" for you.

On the box, it was stated 112 g NET, 28 sachets each 4 g NET.

That was why he got 4 x 10 = 40 (for 10 sachets), then he went on to get the total for 30 sachets (i.e. 40 x 2, 40 x 3 = 120g). But 30 sachets are too much, so he used his abacus formula to deduct 4 g (-10+6) and then deduct another 4 g (+1-5). Finally 112 g.

Well, this definitely is not the quickly or least number of steps way of getting 112. However, it did amaze me in the way his mind is able to handle multiple steps and doing all those multiplication, addition and subtraction all at one go. :)

Then I said, how else can we get 112? What about 28 x 4? And he said yes, it will be 28 + 28 + 28 + 28. Also can, he concluded.

So after checking and doing double checking, Jiaheng is now very happy with his own conclusion that the printing on the box is "mathematically correct"! (of course lah, son) And carried on with his breakfast.

To me, it is another breakthrough for him to handle such complex sums even before turning 5. Good job, son. Love you.

----------- posted by Mommy

Drama Queen

I think we have a Drama Queen at home. Perhaps, even TCS Caldecot Queen may not be as 才华横溢 as our Drama Queen.

This evening, we were all in the room busying. Jiaheng was very kind and offered his service to help me sort out some documents with the help of Mommy. I was replying email. Our dear Drama Queen was also very busy... busy walking in and out of the room in her 'majestic manner'.

As our Drama Queen was making her grand exit, we heard a thump sound. And then she was standing outside the door (pretending to whine in pain) and kept pointing to her tummy (or so we thought). She always points at her tummy and make a whining sound when she needs to pass motion. I asked her "Want to poo?" She did not acknowledge me and kept pointing to her 'tummy' with a pitiful look on her face.

Then Mommy asked "怕怕吗？" Almost immediately, our Drama Queen swung into action. She got down onto her knees and slowly and carefully lower her small body to lie down sideways on the floor.

Orh... she was actually pointing to her chest which means scared and not tummy as I thought (can't be helped! Her body torso is barely 50 cm, how to be exact which part she is pointing to????) And our Drama Queen was dramatising what happened when we heard the thump sound. She actually tripped on her way out of the door. So the whole episode is re-played right before our eyes.

Drama! Drama!

黑目客

可怜的妈妈，竟然变成了一位“黑目客”。

妈妈的左眼睛又肿又积了一大片瘀血。连弟弟的那幅大大又stylish的墨镜都掩盖不了那大大片的瘀血！好可怜。。。看得我们都很心痛。老公也带了妈妈去看了医生。妈妈自己也去看了一次医生。已经一星期多了还是黑黑的一大片。

是谁!!! 谁是那罪魁祸首!!!

Oopps! 原来是怿萱。有没有搞错。。。 一个不到一岁半的小泥子尽然把一位年过半百的妇人“打得这么伤”。Freak accident lah， 怿萱在玩得忘我的境界下，一跌就跌在躺在床上休息的婆婆上，狠狠地在眼睛附近送上一击。大大的冲击力使眼睛周围的细血管破裂才搞得婆婆变成了“黑目客”。

弟弟的婚礼将近。新娘要美美， 这位准家婆也要美美的。。。妈妈开始着急了。Take it easy mom, doc says will heal in another 10 days. Phew! Just remember to claim accident insurance from me hor. Paiseh...


---- posted by Mommy

Contagious Laughter

That's Papa's Happy Gal. :)

Going Vegetarian

As AQ and family are back from UK for the New Year, we met up with a few other PS mates for a dinner. After that dinner, Jiaheng decided to go vegetarian.

Woah! Dun get me wrong, there is nothing magical about the dinner. Just that, prior to the dinner, the teacher at DiZiGui passed us a VCD to educate children to refrain from killing, 杀生。Then at the dinner, we ordered a steam fish and roasted chicken. Perhaps, something clicked in Jiaheng's mind when he saw the 2 big plates in front of him and he decided he doesn't want to 杀生。

Then mommy decided to be 'naughty' and test her boy a little. "Jiaheng, you really want to go vegetarian?" "If you do, you cannot eat 'bak bak' that Ah Ma cooks you know?" (BTW, that 'bak bak' dish is Jiaheng's favourite and grandma will cook it specially for him every weekend)

"Where does 'bak bak' come from Mommy?"
"From pork"
"Where does pork come from Mommy?"
"From pig"
"Orh. Then I dun want to eat 'bak bak' already"

Frankly speaking, i was a bit taken aback by Jiaheng's response. I didn't expect him to give up his 'bak bak'.

Then I pushed my luck a little more... hiak, hiak, hiak.
"Jiaheng, then you cannot take char siew bao you know?" (mommy really knows where are all the soft spots!)
"Where does char siew bao come from Mommy?"
"The char siew is from pork."
"Orh. Then I dun want to eat char siew bao already" (I thought I spotted a hint of hesitation though :P)

Jiaheng really went vegetable-vegetarian for more than a week... until Sunday morning. We went to the foodcourt for breakfast before going for his Art class. N guess what he saw at the foodcourt?

YES! It is his favourite of his favourites - Japanese food. He relented and decided to queue for his teriyaki chicken. I went over to join him at the queue. Before, I had the chance to ask him... Jiaheng started his 'defence statement'.

"Mommy, today is Sunday, so it's a holiday. That is why I can take the Japanese food. Monday to Saturday, then I take vegetarian." And he completed his 'defence statement' with a nod of his head as if he is in agreement with his justification.

At that moment, Mommy is already bowing over in laughter deep inside but still trying to maintain my composure on the outside. Really kanna 内伤。

Well, I can understand the internal struggle within himself. On one hand, he will like to be compassionate and refrain from killing. On the other hand, Jap food is his FAVOURITE!!! Afterall, he is just a little kid who is barely 5 years old.

Well thanks to Jiaheng, the whole family's diet is changing to the healthier vegetables and soya products like beancurd.

Everything happens for a reason. So I guess Jiaheng's move to be vegetarian allows us to be healthier on top of the supplements we are taking.

------------ posted by Mommy

Yixuan to the rescue

Jiaheng has a kids' study table that comes with a chair at it's matching height.

Yixuan often sees her brother seated at that table and on that chair. And somehow, that has become Yixuan's favourite haunt. Everytime, Yixuan sees an opportunity to climb up that seat, she will. And when, she finally gets on the chair, it sure takes lots of coaxing to get her off it.

Just before dinner, Yixuan finally got her chance to climb onto the chair. She was seated comfortably and contented in the chair when Jiaheng tripped over his scooter bike and fell. Instantly, Yixuan swing into ACTION! Yixuan to the rescue....

First, she let out a screeeaaammmm.... (as if to alert mom and me). Then she got down her favourite chair and stood besides the "victim" and put her small hand on Jiaheng's shoulder (as if to comfort him).

So touched by her actions neh!

----------- posted by Mommy

I found my Grandma

It has been nearly a decade since I last saw Grandma.

Even though I knew of her existence since I was very young, I did not meet Grandma till I was in my teens. Due to some circumstances, she had to leave home when my dad was around 3 years old.

I think Grandma and I have some affinity for each other, I like her since the very first time I saw her. Grandma carry herself very well and being a pious Christian, she does volunteer work for the chapel. Sadly, we lost contact with each other once again nearly 10 years ago.

I knew dad missed Grandma even though he did not explicitly say it. Just the other day, our car stopped at the junction of St. Andrew's Cathedral and the old Capitol cinema, dad just muttered that Grandma used to work in the bookstore at the bend of the road.

Being a mother myself, I believe that Grandma must be also thinking about her own children. Yet due to circumstances, unable to reunite. That made me make up my mind to look for Grandma.

I tried to check with my eldest uncle but he said that he does not have Grandma's contact. I tried to search for her name in the chapel that she is active in but to no avail. Then I tried the yellow pages... hoping that her house is still registered under her name and that her old address is still valid.

Perhaps, the UNIVERSE has aligned itself to help me find Grandma. I was searching, searching, searching then I saw her name appear and the street name is the same as her previous address. However, the block number has changed. I am not taking chances, I will call the number I found.

.... ring... ring... ring... (Oh dear! my palm is getting sweaty) "Hello... " I can recognise that voice! More importantly, Grandma sounded healthy. I talked with her and passed the phone to my mum who was eagerly waiting for her turn. The conversation lasted about 30 minutes. I am very glad that the phone call turned out the way I hoped for it to be.

Grandma kept saying "thank you" to us for calling. Grandma, why is there a need to say thank you?

As I grow older, I learn to appreciate my parents more and I am sure my dad also appreciates his mum for bringing him to this world. We should say thank you to you instead, Grandma. :)

I am extremely glad I made the move to find Grandma. And Kai Hock, thank you for all your encouragements.

------------ posted by mommy

"Lo Hei, Lo Hei"

Today is the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. Today is also commonly called 人日, meaning everybody's day. So HaPpy BiRThDaY To EveRyOnE!!!

It is typical in Singapore to celebrate 人日 with this interesting custom called 捞鱼生。I am "indebted" to the person who invented this mouthwatering, appetizing, piquant, flavourful and delicious dish. Yum Yum! I can eat 鱼生 for the whole 15 days of the Lunar New Year.

And as the whole family mix all the colourful ingredients and zesty sauce together, we will say all the auspicious words to wish everyone a good year ahead. "Lo Hei, Lo Hei"

This year, we have one more eager participant at the table ready to "Lo Hei" with us. That person is none other than our Baby Quek Yi Xuan.

"Hey! Come on, gimme a chance ok? I also want a pair of chopstick lah! Eh Eh... why my arms not long enough to reach the centre plate har? Oh well, never mind, I scoop from grandmother's plate. "

(of course, the above is narrated by mommy and spiced up by mommy's imagination) But, dun play play ok. Yi Xuan really can hold the chopsticks very well for a 15 months old. You can distinctly see the chopsticks open and close, open and close under the command of their young owner. The next thing we knew, Yi Xuan managed to pick up a strand of the shredded vegetable and put it into her mouth!

Judging from her progress, there will be one more competitor to fight over the 鱼生 with me liao.

------- posted by mommy

My Eulogy

To be read by Mike Ray, my mentor and friend ...

"Kai Hock has been a man who dares to live his dreams. To achieve the freedom that he seeks and deserves, he quits his secure job to assist thousands, and thousands, and thousands, and thousands of people in transforming their mindsets, achieving their goals and attaining their freedom.

Kai Hock has been a friend that I honour and respect for his vision of creative systems, revolutionising the network marketing industry. His persistence in growing the business inspires me to continue to work closely with him in all areas of life and business.

He has been a dearest father and model example to his boy and girl, and a faithful and loyal husband to his wife. A filial son and son-in-law to both sets of parents. It is with deepest wish that he finds his new place in heaven and watching us, blessing us and praying for us."


This is how I wish my eulogy will be and I am working towards achieving that.

Be Healthy and Happy always

Today, my mum passed me an application form to ask me to fill up for her.

It's an application form for senior citizen. The application required a recent photo of her so I decided to take a picture of her and print it out myself. Seeing the zoomed up picture of her on my laptop screen, I can't help but noticed her gray hair. All of a sudden, it strike me that my mum is no longer young. She is turning 60 very soon.

I am really very grateful to her for ALL the things that she has done for us.

I still remember as a little school girl, I often forgot to bring homework/book to school. The immediate response was to call home for help. Deep down in my heart, I knew that mum will bring the book to school for me. However, the very moment the phone went through and I heard her voice, I will uncontrollably burst into tears. I can only stop when I hear her reassuring voice over the other end of the phone.

My mum knows exactly what I like and dislike. She knows what is my favourite dish, what is my favourite fruit. She knows what are the things that make me happy and what makes me sad.

Even when I got married, she never stopped caring for me and now my own family. I think very few mums will travel to their daughter's place nearly every day to help her out with the children. Besides helping to take care of the kids, mum will always help me out in the household chores. Even though, I tell her there is no need to do the household chores... guess what? ... the chores will still be done.

Kai Hock always say that our house cannot be so spick and span without my mum. He often jokes that he made a very good deal by marrying me... cos he gets an additional mum to dote on him! :P

My brother secretly told me that mum was so worried for me when I was admitted to hospital cos of morning sickness that she cried at night. I can guarantee you that my mum will not be able to sleep well at night whenever one of the kids is not well.

My mum is truly a wonderful mum who gives off her best to the family. She is also very supportive of Kai Hock and I as we pursue financial freedom for our family. And I am really proud and fortunate to have her as my mum.

Thank you mum!

My wish for my mum as she turns 60 is for her to be healthy and happy always.

------------- posted by mommy

Falling Asleep on His Own

This blog entry is dedicated to all the uncles and aunties out there... thank you for your concern for Jiaheng after reading the previous blog entry on "Suffering from Grief".

He is doing much much better now.

In fact, there is a good news to share! Jiaheng finally managed to fall asleep on his own now. Previously, he must have me next to him before he can fall asleep. These days, he can drift off to dreamland by himself. He will even tell me to go and do my stuff so that I can finish everything earlier and go to bed earlier.

That is a major milestone for him and for us.

------- posted by Mommy

Suffering from Grief

Our close friends would have know what happened to our family in April 2003.

That was the peak of the SARS period, that was the time Jiaheng was born... that was the time when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with SARS. My mother-in-law was in ICU for a whole month. We nearly lost her. Somehow, coincidentally or miraculously, she pulled through after Jiaheng was born.

I still remembered we had to choose a name for Jiaheng real fast! Cos we wanted to fax the name to the hospital so that the nurse could read out the name to her while she is in coma. "Mommy, your first paternal grandchild is born, we have named him 郭家亨。Get well soon and come home to us. We are waiting for you."

We chose the name 家亨 as it also carries the meaning of 家运亨通。 So that our family can pull through this crisis together. And we did.... fortunately.

The unfortunate thing was that Kai Hock was "quarantined" when I was about to give birth to Jiaheng. Why quarantined in inverted commas? Well, we are not in direct contact with my mother-in-law since the time she fell sick, but the hospital and my gynae felt it will be safer for the baby and me if Kai Hock was to stay away for a period of time.

I still remembered it was a tense period in the hospital. Everyone was so "fearful" of me... that I had to go through the delivery all by myself, operated in a brand new theatre, stayed in a special ward after delivery. On one hand, we could have chosen to keep quiet about my mother-in-law's case cos we are not even staying with her nor came in contact with her before she was admitted. On the other hand, we chose to be civic-minded and informed the hospital and got faulted for all these. Frankly speaking, I still feel sad when I recall all these.

Guess the worst part was that they isolated Jiaheng from me after birth. And we are getting the repercussion of this incident after nearly 5 years.

Jiaheng is suffering from grief. :(

I still remembered Jiaheng had a nickname called "cool man" when he was a baby. Why? Cos he never seem to nap just after he turned 4 days old. Always alert and looking out for people. Then it is the most daunting task to get him to laugh. Usually, when you do some silly things to tease a baby, they will be giggling rit? Not for our baby. When we finally get him to giggle, it will not last more than 10 secs.

Jiaheng has been a great learner since young. In fact, I can proudly say that he achieved most of his milestones ahead of his peers. The only thing that doesn't seem to have been activated is his ability to sleep through the night. Hey! I thought babies should be sleeping through the night by the time they turned one year old? If not, two years old?

Nay! For Jiaheng, he still wakes up in the middle of the night coming to 5 years old. What does he do when he is awake? Yes... to look for Mommy. Just to touch me or to snuggle close, then he can go back to sleep.

Everything makes sense when we consulted our natural therapist. Apparently, Jiaheng is suffering from grief. We always thought that babies will only have their first memory by the time they are 3 years old... actually, they can have memories from the moment they are born... or even in mommy's womb! They can have feelings. Amazing right?

Imagine, you are separated from Mommy for one hour when you are 5 years old. Is it long for you? Now imagine, you are separated from Mommy for 24 hours when you are barely an hour old. That is MORE THAN A LIFETIME of separation!

Well, all these are in the past. We are now looking to the future. We are glad we have answers to questions that have been lingering in our minds for a long time. We are even happier that Jiaheng has been treated.

To a better tomorrow... And son... we are sorry to put you through all these. We want you to know that Papa and Mommy love you very much. Sleep well at night.

-------- posted by Mommy

Yixuan's doggy nature

Sometimes, I feel that the Chinese Horoscope has a part to play in a person's character.

Our princess is born in the year of the DOG. Very often she will display some characteristics of a dog. Of course, she is a very cute puppy.

She will play with her toys. And the next moment, she will bite the toy between her teeth and walk to you. Reminds us of a puppy fetching a stick for her owner.

She will sit in your lap and play. Then the next thing, she will bury her head in your chest and snuggle, snuggle. Like a puppy being friendly with her owner.

Yixuan also has a special liking for dogs. Whenever, she sees pictures of dogs in books, she will point it out to us. Once, Mommy decided to "test" her. We have a story book, that has the picture of the same dog but in different postures and occupying different parts of the page. Mommy will turn to a page and ask "Where is the dog?" and Yixuan will scan the page and quickly point out the dog amidst other characters in the book. Yixuan can identify the dog even with just the head sticking out of the page. So what do you call this? Like attracts Like. :)



Interestingly, who do you think looks more like the doggy in this pic? Ha Ha Ha!

BottleTree Club

We don't just talk business.

When we are with our business partners, we also have fun. I feel that the FUN component is extremely important in sustaining a healthy working relationship. Really! All work and no play makes Kai Hock a dull man. Hehehe

The best thing is to be able to do the things you enjoy and still make money from it. So basically, everyday, you are having fun.

To mark the beginning of the new year, which is also the 发 year， we decided to have a family day at BottleTree Club. It is a nice place and I also recommend that you and your family pay it a visit one day. There is a restaurant which serves quite good food at a reasonable price. The 土窑人参鸡 is a must try. The soup is still piping hot even towards the end of the meal!

Of course, there are other activities besides "makan"ing lah. There is a children's playground, a boating area. But the prime attraction is Fishing! You can go for prawn fishing or lake fishing. The little ones had to settle for "longkang" fishing. Our kids simply had a splashing good time trying to scoop the fish out of the pond.



Just in case you are wondering why is the place called BottleTree Club and not WaterBottle Club or BottleNeck Club???



It is because of the tree that is at the backdrop. It has a shape of a Bottle and naturally, it adopts the name BottleTree. It is a native plant from Australia and the owner of the Club imported it from Australia. Hence the name. :)

By the way, this photo is taken by Sherise, our 4-year old photographer! Not bad rit! Really takes after her photographer mum & dad.

Did you know?

Did you know that lambs feed while on their knees?

Frankly speaking, I do not know that... until I was told during the 弟子规 lesson. It is the lamb's innate behaviour. It is their way of showing their appreciation to their mothers while they feed. It is their way to thank their mothers.

To think that a beast has such respect for their parents, what more we humans?