Chinese New Year 2011-Random Photos

Cousins from Singapore

My parents and their grandchildren

(the only girl: my brother's daughter)

With cousins from Ipoh

Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do!

From R to L: Mom, with her sisters.... No. 2, No. 1 & No. 3.

Sister No. 5 is not in the photo.

Family photo (mom's side)

Homegrown lion dance

One-man troupe! LOL!

Bought the yellow, green and red material from Kamdar....stitched

them onto an old pair of pants to complement the stripes on the

train of the lion head. Ethan had been asking for the pants for quite some time

now. Finally got it done and now he's totally in character :)

Photo taken at Berjaya Times Square by Brandon

Cina Ah Pek trying to look cool on his bike

Gong Xi! Gong Xi!

Be My Valentine!

Valentine tokens from Justin & Ethan :)

Justin's Valentine heart is on the left, Ethan's on the right.

Message on the back of Justin's 'heart'

Ethan's Valentine heart was crafted at school by his teacher and he helped to colour the heart and glue it on a stick.

Justin crafted his own heart design from recycled paper, coloured it and stuck it onto a wooden skewer just like Ethan's.

Allan & I were pleasantly surprised when we returned home to both Justin & Ethan standing at the gate waiting to present us their gifts. I was completely touched by Justin's gesture because at 11 years old I wasn't expecting something like this from him, since he's all 'grown up' and such :) His gesture was especially significant and heartwarming. 'It's the thought that counts'.... how true! :)

Thank you Justin & Ethan. Happy Valentine's!

To Infinity & Beyond!

Ethan absolutely loves the character of Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. When his kindie teacher asked the class what they wanted to be when they grow up, Ethan's answer was.....yup, you guessed it.....BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! lol

He came up to me one day and asked me if he could have a helmet just like Buzz's. Disney-Pixar had created a good character in Buzz, so I saw no harm in encouraging Ethan in his role-play. However, licensed toys and accessories are just too pricey, but I also had no heart to deny Ethan this innocent childhood pleasure. So.......I decided to get creative! The photo below is the result. I'm kinda pleased with myself (grin)!

The 'backpack' with wings attached.

Not exactly Disney-Pixar quality, and I must admit the 'helmet' looks kinda dismal... BUT! the good news is Ethan is totally thrilled! Phew! He couldn't wait to try it on.

The entire 'thingamajig' was created from items I found in the household. The main structure and the wings are from cardboard recycled from carton boxes. The foam wrapped with masking tape that goes around his neck, and the wires, are leftover remnants from the stage backdrop I made for my line dance party several years ago. The transparent plastic is the same as those used to wrap my children's textbooks.

The green 'chest plates' in front are made from polystyrene disposable lunch boxes. The wings are detachable from the main frame. And, although not shown here, the hinges which allow it to be detached are fashioned out of office paper clips. Everything and anything that needs to be stuck together is given the hot-glue treatment.

And, of course, the final touch is the painting, for which I used poster paints which cost me only RM6.40 from Tesco. :)

In the end, I have a happy child, recycled some stuff from home which I would have eventually thrown away, and did not have to spend a bomb for the real thing (giving myself a pat on the back...heheh).

Posing with his idol, Buzz

Oh dear, 'Buzz Lightyear' has got the sniffles. The universe shall have to wait.

Next phase... To get a pair of white pants and white long-sleeved T-shirt/pullover for Ethan, create some 'gloves' and 'shoulder shields', pull a purple 'ski-mask' thingy over his head and voila! he is set for 'In..finity.....And Beyond!' :)

I'm FOUR!

Ethan turned 4 yesterday. His birthday was also his first day back at kindie so it was a mixed day of tears and excitement for him. After a tearful start yesterday, today was a little better. He still cried initially when I left him with the teachers, but he quickly calmed down soon after and settled down to routine. He is after all a returning 'old boy'. Just 1st and 2nd day blues I suppose :)

He got a motorised bike from Mummy & Daddy for his birthday. Ethan actually wanted a police bike, blue in colour specifically, but none at the shop fit his requirements. So he settled for the one in the picture, and chose black as the alternative colour preferred. There was a silver one but he opted for the black. He was very decisive about it. Silver: NOPE; Black: YES!

Enjoying his new ride at the playground behind our house

He still has that bump on his forehead.

Second Bro, Justin, giving him a ride on the former's bike.

Time for the birthday cake!

Family photo

I'm old enough to cut my own cake now.

The cheeky little fella had to be coaxed into giving us his big smile.

Early New Year's Gift

Just 2 days after returning from our Pangkor trip, Ethan presented himself with an early new year's 'present'...... a scratch, bruises and several big bumps on his head (one on the forehead & two behind).

Ethan loves to reach for things that are high up on shelves and the like, and although we've warned him time and again about the dangers of doing so, it falls on deaf ears. He is after all only 3++. So, we are constantly watching out for him.

This time, we had just turned our attention away for a split second and it happened. He'd reached for something on the rack by stepping and placing his entire body's weight onto the last rung of the rack. Naturally, his additional body weight tipped the rack over.......right on top of his small frame.

A 1.5 inch scratch along his forearm

A big 'bungalow' on his forehead.

2 more behind which he won't let us touch at all.

A bruise on his back that looks like the ONE digit.

The 'culprit'

Because he had fallen backwards and 2 bumps were evident that he'd received knocks on the back portion of his head, we were concerned. He was shakened but other than that he looked pretty alert.....no drowsiness, vomiting....etc. But then again, that could happen later. So, to be safe, we took him to the doctor, had some x-rays done (no CT scan as that was way too costly) to ensure that no bones were broken. The doctor told us to observe him for the next 24 hours just in case he showed symptoms of hematoma.

It's been 24 hours and thank goodness, no such symptoms. He's his usual boisterous and active self. He's keeping away from the rack for now. Let's see how long before he forgets and starts his 'activities' again. Like I mentioned, he is after all only 3 going on 4. :)

Family Getaway to Pangkor Island (Dec 26-28)

It's been a while since the whole family had gone on a holiday together. And by 'whole family' I mean my family, my parents, my brother's family and my mom-in-law. In fact, come to think of it, this configuration of people have not been on a holiday together before.

Every year, my brother and sis-in-law organise a 'family' trip for his agents and peers from Public Mutual. This year we decided to join him on the trip to Pangkor Island. I'd not been there for possibly over 7 years.

My parents joined my brother, Tuck Heng, on the bus with 36 others. They had games and activities throughout the journey and my mom thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I'm glad.

On the bus

Meanwhile, we made our journey there by MPV, all 7 of us (Allan & I, my 3 boys, the maid & my mom-in-law). Whatever remaining space there was was taken up by bags, bags & bags.

As we were making good time, we stopped by Bidor for breakfast. We also stopped by Sitiawan

for lunch with the entire group to sample the local fare.

At the Lumut jetty

A ferry similar to the one we boarded, 'NAIK SELALU'

Ethan enjoying his first ride on a ferry

All settled in and waiting for ferry to depart the jetty

A fly trap. Poor fellas.

Once the ferry started, most people headed up to the open deck

to enjoy the sea breeze and view

Catching the cameraman in action

'I'm king of the world!' (my brother)

Arrival at the Teluk Dalam jetty

The boys having some sand play time.

The seniors relaxing under the shade

One of the events lined up for our 3D2N stay:

'telematch'

This is the GIANT SLIPPER

(headed by Tuck Heng with Brandon supporting the end)

Victory cheer.....

'HO WONG AH!!!' YELLOW YELLOW, SUPERHERO!!

(yup, that's the cry they came up with)

Magic Carpet.

The team had to transport all the members across on the squares

without any foot being placed on the grass.

Dinner time

One of the indoor games: ELECTRIC CIRCUIT

Group photo

Another indoor game: UNTANGLE

Trying to untangle themselves

'Oh what a tangled web we weave....'

Oi! watch who you're squashing!

Ouch! my hand!

Hornbills spotted

Beach volleyball

Ethan enjoying himself in the pool with Dad

Trying out the sea for the very first time in his life!

(He refers to the sea as 'boat water')

On the final night, we were all treated to several performances by the members themselves. A very impressive magic show by 'Uncle Magic', a titled coined by Ethan :); another equally impressive performance by his son on the Er Hu; several songs and finally the line dance showcase by members who had been taking lessons from me over the past weeks. They did a showcase of COME DANCE WITH ME & WHAT U WAITING FOR (which they asked me to lead). And finally closing the night with GO GREASED LIGHTNING! For beginners, they did extremely well and I was bursting with pride!

At the end, most of the members stayed back for an impromptu teach by me. The result: they want to start another line dance class for their agents! lol.

On the final day, we took a short trip to a seafood factory outlet and had lunch at the only halal seafood restaurant. The soft shell crab dish was my favourite. You can imagine that the crabs vanished as soon as the dish touched the table!

At the seafood restaurant

Heading home

Bye for now.....

(Ethan didn't want to leave.....guess he had the most fun :) )

Another fun holiday concludes. We will surely be back one day. Hopefully not too far in the future. :)