3 July 2009

Humorous Conversations with Ash

Conversation #1 :

Ash :" Daddy, today Cameron use her water bottle to hit me."
Me : " Where did she hit you ?"
Ash : "Here." And she pointed to her hip.
Me : " Did you tell your teachers ?"
Ash " Yes, I tell Ms Elaine."
Me : " Then what did Ms Elaine say ?"
Ash : " Ms Elaine say if Cameron hit you, you hit her back with the water bottle."

Mummy and Daddy stared at each other and burst out laughing.

Conversation #2 :

Mummy was feeding Ash her dinner. This is usually a long-drawn affair. And sometimes, our arms and backs get tired from carrying the bowl in front of her face and leaning forward.
All of a sudden this evening, Ash said :" Mummy, I will be a good girl, I will come nearer today so that you won't be tired."

Conversation #3 :

On our way home this evening, as we were about to reach home, Ash started (with an angry frown on her face) - :

Ash : " I want to go back to Pat's Schoolhouse. "
Me : " Why ? We are almost home."
Ash : " I'm so angry with Cameron, I want to tell Ms Elaine Cameron hit me."
Me : " And what will Ms Elaine do ?"
Ash : " Ms Elaine will tell Cameron to stand in the circle and all of us will look at her !"

This part worries me a little as it appears to be sign that she can hold a grudge.

14 June 2009

Celebrating 21 Magical Years - Pat's Schoolhouse

Teachers had been telling them about the carnival and fun things. Ash was anxiously waiting for this day to come. We reached Fort Canning at around 1045am, but the carpark was already full, so we ended up parking at The Legends - that filled up pretty quickly too.
As we approached, we heard the music, saw the balloons and Ash was going hooray. First stop was face painting by Ash's own teacher, Ms Elaine. She was so happy to see Ms Elaine and gave a huge hug.It started to drizzle while we wandering around the grounds, so while I was still able to, I quickly made my way back to the car to get umbrellas while mummy brought Ash to play some indoor games. When I got back, we decided to try the Woof Ball. The queue was it was incredibly long. We were fortunate that we were number 24 in the queue, by the time it got to our turn, it had reached 70+ ! Anyway, it started to drizzle again while we were queuing, so out came our umbrellas. After about 45mins of sweat and waiting later, it was finally our turn for some fun at the Woof Ball ! What's Woof Ball ?
Lunch was a simple affair from the carnival stalls - Korean glass noodles for Ash, mee-hoon siam for mummy and pasta for daddy.We finally left at around 2pm as Ash was starting to get cranky.

6 June 2009

Scooter

Today we went down to Baby Hypermart to collect Ash's battery operated scooter. I actually redeemed my ESSO SMILES points for this 6 months back, but kept putting off collecting it till today...maybe because the redemption will expire on the 8th of June !!
One thing about the scooter is that it starts off with a jerk, so it gives the first time rider a shock. And because the floor at home is smooth, the scooter tends to slide and not go the intended direction initially until the tires gain some traction. I have yet to bring Ash downstairs for a ride, I'm sure it'll a lot more fun with the rougher floor and bigger space.

28 Apr 2009

A Day at the Zoo

Two reasons why I decided to bring Ash to the Zoo - first, was because it has been 2 years since she was last at the Zoo. Second was because I was starting work next week.
The day started well, after we dropped mummy at work, we made our way to the Zoo. We were there pretty early and the weather was still cool. But then, as fate would have it, the dark clouds started to form and eventually the heavens opened. Fortunately we managed to find some shelter, and so the both of us stayed there and chatted. Finally decided that we needed raincoats else we would not be able to see anything at all. So when someone from the zoo came around to sell raincoats at $3 each..sigh...had no choice but to buy two.

24 April 2009

Star Cruise Again !

Day 1
We've always enjoyed going on a cruise, so when mummy had leave to clear, we decided to book ourselves on a 4D3N package to Phuket and Langkawi - partly also because Star Cruises was having a low season, 1-for-1 promotion for the balcony class.
But before the cruise, we almost had to miss the cruise and would not have been entitled to a refund because it would have been considered a last minute cancellation. Ash came down with a fever 2 days earlier. Thankfully, she recovered and was well enough to go. But as a precaution, we packed the pharmacy along with us.
We spent the first evening just wandering around the ship, relaxing and taking it easy.Day 2
The next day, we booked ourselves on a shore excursion to Phuket. First stop was to the Elephant Park where we we treated to a performance some juvenile elephants, playing dancing, football, painting and doing some stunts.Next was to the monkey show where we saw the monkeys doing a slam-dunk, lifting weights and riding a bike.
Then came the highlight of the tour - the elephant ride. But unfortunately there were no photos of us on the elephant ride that we took - because all 3 of us were on the same elephant and we were making sure we didn't drop our bags, shoes, camera and Ash off the bumpy elephant ride !
Next was short stop at a cashew nut factory, not much to see, but defintely lots of cashew nuts to buy.We were next brought to the standard "duty-free" shop. We only bought 2 bottles of pure eucalyptus oil which we could use in our diffuser when Ash has a stuffed nose. Ash was pretty much fascinated with elephants by now and commeneted that there were elephants everywhere - scultpures of course.After that was a buffet dinner. Dinner was bad, limited variety, flies on the dishes. I decided that I would make up for it when we were back on the ship. Ash did provide us with some entertainment though when she got onto the stage and started to dance.With dinner over, we were driven to Patong Beach for some night shopping. Patong Beach is by far the most famous beach in Phuket, with its shopping, food and of course the gay bars. By the time we reached Patong Beach, Ash had already fallen asleep. So we mooched and browsed the shops with Ash asleep in my aching arms & back.
It was past midnight by the time we got back to the ship.

Day 3
Decided to bring Ash for a swim at Neptune's Wet n Wild children's pool. The nice thing about this pool was it was heated, so it made the initial entry much nice.
We decided that we didn't want to join a tour to Langkawi, and thankfully so too as it rained cats and dogs just after docking at Langkawi. When the rain eased and stopped, we decided to take a walk to the shops just outside the docks for some photos.
It started to rain again just as we got back onboard, and so we spent the rest of the afternoon doing art and craft activities with Ash. Dinner that evening was a formal 8-course dinner.Day 4
The last day, and spent the morning packing and playing at the arcade. Soon we were asked to wait at the assembly area for disembarkation. Ash was busy posing for photos in the sunglasses, but after a while, the wait was too much for Ash and she just conked out.

15 April 2009

Ash draws herself

Recently she's been starting to draw people. Here's her self portrait.

13 Apr 2009


Swimming Lesson !

Today was Ash's first swimming lesson at the Arena Country Club. According to the principal, this location is a temporary one and they should be having their lessons at the NTU Alumni Club over BuonaVista soon. Being kiasu parents, Viv and I agreed that we had to check out how the lessons were being conducted and if there was enough supervision to monitor that many toddlers. Toddlers and pools can be quite a dangerous combination.
I got there slightly earlier than the kids and I wasn't really suprised that I wasn't the only concerned parent there. Even overheard some of them had taken half-day off just to see how things were. A funny thing that Ms S told me, as they were leaving for Arena, the kids saw dark clouds forming and kept saying it was going to rain, so Ms S told them to pray that the rain will go away. So they started out with "Rain please go away" which eventually became the full blown, top of the lungs singing of "Rain, Rain go away, come again another day, rain, rain go away, little children want to play !" What a sight and din it must've been !
The lessons were conducted by a swim school, Sports Lifestyle Initiatives. There was a whole team of coaches, minders and care-givers to ensure that the kids were safe. The care-givers will help with showering and changing of the kids. There were also about 4 teachers from Pat's accompanying the kids.
The lessons started with the warm-exercises by the coaches. It was funny watching the kids participating in the exercises and hearing their shouts of 1,2,3,4.

After the warm-up, they were led, single-file, hands on shoulders by the coaches to the pool. Each group consisted on 5 kids to 1 coach.
The initial lesson was more for the kids to trust the coaches and gain confidence of water on their faces. They were encouraged to put their faces in the water, albeit for a split second ! They were also encouraged to kick.


I wasn't sure how long it was, but soon the signal was given from the head coach that lessons were over. They were led by the teachers and care-givers for their showers. After showering, they were led to the lobby where they were given light snacks while waiting for the bus.
And finally up the bus and back to Pat's !