I can't say my son is fiercely independent, but he's probably more "tin jan" (in Cantonese) which means oblivious to the real dangers in this world. To him, a bad man comes in pointed ears with maybe a crooked moustache and a big black trench coat, though not necessarily in that combination. Asked what he'd do if a bad guy catches Mummy, and he says he will "siiiaaaaaa the bad guy (that means, slice the bad guy), then punch him in the stomach, kick him, bla bla bla..." which is funny to hear but not practical nor realistic.
His sister, Victoria, on the other hand is much more down-to-earth. But her current white belt in taekwondo won't be any help to her as of now.
Due to the sensitivity of the names of people and place involved, I will omit the full names.
Last Sunday - being Father's Day, we spent sometime in a local village near a plantation. When we arrived, William was immediately fascinated with the surrounding nature, the wild flowers (which he insisted that I took pictures of) and a couple of dogs owned by the villagers. I watched him and told him to be careful when he climbed up some debris and walked around the house we were visiting.
Shortly later, as we were mingling with the locals in the house, a friend asked,"Where's William?" I remembered that he was with us before that, but he must have wondered off. So hubby and I quickly went in search of him. I checked the drains and the other side of the house, whilst hubby went the opposite direction towards the other village houses. We called his name and felt very worried.
God's protection
Just then, hubby saw a local man with William, walking towards us. Hubby knows this man, and he - Mr R - told hubby that he saw William walking passed his house. Obviously, William with his fair skin doesn't look like any of the villagers. Despite Mr R not knowing a single word of English, and William not knowing how to communicate in Malay, Mr R managed to find out from William why he was in that area.
Not coincidence
We thanked Mr R for bringing William back. It is by God's grace that Mr R was at home at that time, as he is normally out. Mr R's house is also the last and the furthest in that village, and had he been at home and seen William, our son could have gone all the way to the palm oil plantation nearby.
Chasing chickens
We didn't scold William but in the car, we asked him why did he run off without telling us. He knows very well that it's wrong. In his innocence, our 5 yo answered, "I saw some chickens and I wanted to sayang them. They ran off, so I chased them. They ran further so I continued to run after them." And that was how he lost track of how far he went, because he was chasing chickens!!!
Scared us, ok. Maybe I should get a device that beeps me when he's more than 10 metres away... think there's one in the market? Kidding, ok.
William is almost 2 months past his 5th year birthday.
Two weeks ago, Gong Gong weighed him at 20.4kg and he stands tall at 113cm. Without a doubt, he is the tallest boy in his class, albeit the same height as a couple of girls (who also happen to be his best friends).
William is increasingly boyish, climbing all over Daddy, pouncing, punching and sending pretence flying kicks. When he plays with Jie Jie, I have to remind him to be gentle as Jie Jie is a girl (drill this into him, so that he remembers to be gentle with girls outside too). Daddy and William take different roles of superheros these days but William always play his favourite characters. Since his infant days, William's interest has moved from Toy Story to Cars to Smurf to The Avengers to now Transformers and Spider-man.
At one point, he'd count all the yellow cars on the road and calls them Bumblebee.
Spider-man in da house!
These days, he is everything about Spider-man or shall I say, Spider-man is everything to him. He is also Peter Parker and a few mornings he hugs me tight and calls me "Spidey's wife". Yes, I am still his "wife" and just today hubby and I were chatting when he budge in and jokingly but possessively demanded, "Do not talk to my wife!" Before you start to think that he learns that from hubby, that is untrue and putting this wife business aside, I do think he is by nature a very loving and protective boy.
Last weekend when he was talking and walking in church with Daddy, they bumped into a Pastor of the church. Just then, William (in his usual loud voice) declares, "Daddy, next time I will have 100 wives!!" and Pastor gave hubby THE look. Haha!
Back to his Spidey craze now. He knows the names of different villains in the Spider-man series. When he first chanced upon his first Spider-man magazine, we were in Cold Storage picking up some groceries. Instead of running around, he was quietly engrossed in the magazine throughout the whole time. Up till we were about to check out, he insisted on having the magazine, and we thought, "why not?" For weeks after that, he wanted me to read the pages to him morning and night, and he'd look at the details of every page.
His precious collection of Spider-man magazines.
The other day, I mistakenly gestured his Superman t-shirt as Spider-man. He came around and correctly me quite matter-of-factly, "Where got? It's JUST Superman." Heard that? It's just Superman. To him Superman is not as powerful as Spiderman because Superman cannot shoot webs out. He didn't mention about the silly underwear fashion though. ; P
Parent Teacher Meeting
Last Saturday Daddy attended the Parent-Teacher-Meeting. I specifically told hubby to ask teacher on William's "area of improvement" as I know his class teacher to be a very lenient, nice young lady. Sure enough, she sang praises about William - noting his leadership abilities and enthusiasm to answer questions and participate in class.
She also marveled at his creative works and drawings. She singled out a few drawings by William to hubby - and she said from her experience, children normally draw well but don't explain their drawings, whereas William has a story for each of this drawings. That's me boy!!
Another piece she was impressed with was the Twin Tower (though not his best but she asked hubby if we brought the boy to KLCC) that William drew.
That thing at the bottom that looks like a fish to me is actually a dog to him. Don't argue with the artist, so they say.
The details of another drawing also impressed her. It was one of his classmates in their classroom.
William sits on the green table. The "girl" standing next to the board with a triangle-shaped body with dark black hair is his class teacher Ms Mary
Well, we're really happy to hear all these encouraging comments. Now here comes the best part. Hubby asked teacher to tell us what are the areas that William needs to improve on. His class teacher said it was his talkativeness - especially when he sits with his 3 best friends - Seth, Katelyn and Joy Anne. Put the three together and they can forget about the lesson. Seth and Katelyn had to be placed on separate tables thereafter.
Again, not surprise at how talkative William can be. This genes is definitely inherited! ; )
Oops!
Party packs and party invites doesn't really interest him that much compared to birthday cakes and candles on fire. I just found an old birthday invite in his bag which he didn't tell me about, and which I didn't know about until today... oh, to think I did not RSVP at all and the other parent must have thought we were rude!
Homework is not his thing but Maths is. Obviously his interest at this age is Maths and Arts. Here's a sample of his earlier math works... simple no carry-overs or "borrowings" yet but he's getting there.
Eventhouth he loves Maths but this boy ada mood la... he does harder ones these days, some set by me and some by my little assistant Victoria. Think can introduce algebra now?
What else?
At this age too, he is STILL afraid of the dark and would need someone to accompany him into a dark room. His favourite song is by Matt Redman's "Blessed Be The Name of The Lord" and memorizes the whole song by heart (except for Verse 2). Everytime he gets in my car, he'd search for this song and turn it on - so much so the sister would protest! Thankfully, he's now moving on to "Holy Moment" and "Once Again" which he murmurs along when the song is played.
William loves flowers too - he'd pluck on flowers and give them to me. When I tell him not to, he'd ask me to take pictures of the flowers then. Instagram is his favourite app too.
My main grouse on William now is the time he takes to finish his meal. If it's Chinese dishes with rice, he can take up to 2 hours given a choice and without a mother screaming threats at him.
My growing "boy boy" doesn't kiss me that much now too. *sob sob* But he still runs to me and wraps his arms around me and generously plants little kisses on my cheeks before bidding me good bye whenever I walk him to class. *yaaaayyyy*
Drawn during one cell gathering. This is a picture of William riding on a dog outside a house, with fireworks and firecrackers going off.
Signing off now with a water color painting of William's current superhero.
Drawn during the recent May school holidays
By the way, anyone knows where I can sign him up for art classes (those that emphasize on drawing and less crafty works)?
WARNING: This is one long-winded post - compiling a week's events into one entry. Bear with me and do enjoy.
Last week was the second and final week of the mid term school holiday for the kids. I was all excited, from months ago, looking forward to this week as hubby and I had booked a flight to Bangkok, fully paid our hotel room and arranged for both kids to be in good hands of Mama Yeh Yeh.
A week before, hubby received news that his approved leave will have to be cancelled due to an important case he had to attend up north. It involved many other parties and apparently the dates were predestined sometime back. Only that the someone who was supposed to transmit these information screwed up in the communication part, and so there we were - the weekend before was supposed to be one of excitement as we packed our luggage but we were both solemn as we laid out our options. We finally exhausted every possible LEGAL avenue on the day before our flight date, which was by then already too late for an appeal to AirAsia for a refund nor can we get anyone so last minute to take his place.
The feeling was devastation and ultimate sadness.
Problem aside, we brought the kids on Sunday 2nd June to TTDI park for a dinner picnic and stream fishing. Our previous maids have all been "tested" here on their fishing skills. The current maid do well in looking after the kids, whilst Daddy did most of the catching of fishes. I was starved and had my stirfried noodle dinner first while guarding our belongings. In the midst of enjoying the scenery, a lady cried out, "Curi barang curi barang!!"
When I turned around, I saw a bunch of monkeys standing near me and another lady feeding her baby, and one pretty huge monkey was obviously eyeing the container of noodles in my hands. Some picnicers came to my rescue by shooing the monkeys away, and the lady who sounded the alarm came with a bucket of water to splash at the monkeys. She did this a few times till they ran off.
Kids cycled, played in the shallow river stream, Daddy caught some fishes and a shrimp which he carefully placed in our aquarium. We fed the tortoises and fishes in the lake on our way back to the car.
Came Tuesday 4th June - the day which we were supposed to fly off.
Instead of sending the kids that morning to their grandparent's house in Seremban, I packed hubby's luggage for himself alone to travel up north. The kids and I stayed a day longer in PJ so William can complete his Chinese tuition classes for the week without having to skip any lessons. That night, I had a movie night with the kids just to take my mind off what could have been.
The next day I brought the kids and maid down to Seremban, where cousin Theodore was waiting to spend time with Vic and Will at Mama Yeh Yeh's house. The kids love watching movies at Mama Yeh Yeh's house, in the chilly cold air-conditioned living hall, the comfort of being wrapped in Yeh Yeh's arms on his gigantic leather armchair and enjoying the surround sound of the home theatre.
The first movie they watched was "The Avengers" followed by "The Sound of Music" the next day, and then "Mary Poppins." Yes, you heard me right... I couldn't believe my eyes too as both kids took a liking to such classics! Yeh Yeh even taught them to sing, "Do Re Mi" with full actions! Guess I can now bring them to a high level - "Phantom of the Opera" or "Miss Saigon"??
6th June
Had a dinner with parents and sister and her kids to celebrate me getting older. Hah! Seriously, you know you're getting "there" when you stop keeping track of how old you are and have to do a mental calculation to reconfirm your age. OK, alright... I am not "there" yet, I'm still very young, I'm still younger than hubby and always will be, bla bla bla... later the tune will go, "I'm still young at heart."
Me and my three kids. Kidding. The little girl on the right is Grace, my sister's eldest.
Q: How many hands does it take to cut a cake?! Since William blew off most of my candles which the sister was obviously NOT PLEASED ABOUT, she gets to cut the cake.
7th June - My birthday
At hubby's suggestion, I took a train up from Seremban to KL Sentral in the morning, then transit to the express train going up north to Ipoh. Both journeys were very pleasant and the trains were new and comfortable. The KTM train from Seremban to KL was a far cry from what I was used to taking some 10 years ago, with still the same old rate. I didn't know I stumbled into the Ladies Coach until nearing KL when some men conveniently followed their girlfriends in, but the driver came on the loud speaker quite immediately, requesting for the men to leave the Ladies Coach. It was as if they had a CCTV to see us.
Ipoh always has a special place in my heart, though maybe not as special as the UK : ) But this was where I spent the first couple of years of my toddler years with my favourite grandma who's no longer on Earth, and I always remember the happy memories of CNY here. I even joked with hubby that we can consider retiring in Ipoh next time since the roads are wide, the police enforcement is efficient (try parking your car illegally or forgetting to put a ticket on your dashboard), good food is plentiful and cost of living relatively low. What more can we ask for?
Anyways, after 4 hours of sitting in the train, I had a good time exercising my legs at the new Aeon Station 18. Bought some chinese herbs, looked around for a natural ingredient lipstick which I couldn't find and then bought a kitchen knife for myself and some origami papers for the kids. Quite odd, my cousin who was with us noted - for someone to buy a knife and chinese herbs on her birthday. Ahh, but what the heck... I ain't that SYT anymore so it's all about convenience now.
That evening we had an American-Mexican dinner at David's Diner which hubby already pre-booked. He chose a quiet little corner for us, with lights that could be dimmed because there wasn't candlelight - ahhh, the little details that he goes through.
The waitress-cum-daughter-of-the-boss recommended our main course. We shared the deliciously baked chimichanga (seafood wrapped, with generous toppings of melted cheese) and the humble something-something-burger. Both were the house specialties. The starter which hubby ordered, was a perfect 10! The Italian roasted potatoes came in a small rice bowl, looks inconspicuous but tastes heavenly. Only RM6.90 but I wouldn't mind paying triple for that!
Their signature burger. Coleslaw is very fresh. The patti could be juicier
Chimichanga
Word of advice - when you order this, don't share... hehe
We watched Fast & Furious 6 at night - to put on record, this is MY CHOICE eventhough this is not really my type of show, but we had fun. I think my heart pumped too fast throughout the whole show, and some parts I possibly may have stopped forgot to breathe.
Next day we had dim sum with some friends at Ming Court opposite Foh Sun. Picked up some foods to bring back (how can one leave Ipoh without any local delicacies right?). We were stuck in a 30km traffic jam along the highway all the way just before the Nilai turnoff. Arrived Seremban evening and had dinner at this new place called Uncle Wong (you won't miss it with the huge James Bond signboard). Look for Summer for food recommendations. She's the boss' daughter, and does Interior too.
Sunday 9th June
After church (FIL gave a talk) and lunch at Regent Restaurant, we left Seremban for home via LEKAS highway. A little bit of detour, but guarantee no traffic jam. We arrived home in good time... clean up and unpack.
End of holiday.
~~~~~
I'd like to add, that although things did not happen the way we had planned, I think God has bigger plans and better plans. So Bangkok did not materialized but what was more important was that we still had each other and family and friends. I have great parents, wonderful kids and a husband who loves me more than he loves himself. Yes, that's what he always tell me. On my birthday, whilst I was away, my father-in-law spent hours washing my car and I am so touched. Though my friends are just a handful these days (giving up a career also means small social circle) but they are good, loyal friends. My son said this to me, "I wish you will be forever young and beautiful, Mummy" and I SO. DID. NOT. TEACH. HIM. THAT.
We are now half way through the mid term holidays. Two weeks doesn't seem like a long time but it's a good break from the usual busy routine of busy running around, preparing meals and chauffeuring kids.
To welcome the holidays, Daddy brought us for an evening drive up to Genting Highlands on Sunday 26th May leaving our house at 530pm. The journey up was uneventful and thank God we had good traffic however those in the opposite direction coming back into KL wasn't so fortunate. They were literally crawling their way back.
Once in GH, we got the kids unlimited access into the Indoor Theme Park. They went straight for the nearest ride which was the horse carousel. Daddy joined them for free whilst I happily snapped pictures. After this, the kids rushed over to the Eiffel Tower car rides and just as their line was moving, the lady-in-charge gestured Vic that she was too tall so Vic had to back out. With that, the brother started crying as he was looking forward to the ride with Jie Jie. They even chosed which car they wanted. So we left.
Dinner was nothing to shout about as you know, we are in Gentings, so prices are higher for a normal meal with no correlative better quality. One thing I feel the management can do to greatly improve the park is making signs and directions clear on where to locate the rides. The information counter ran out of English pamphlets and we were given a Chinese pamphlet which was of no use to us. We bumped around by using our "super bionic" eyes to locate the ride stations.
For the Deer Ride, the kids went by their own, sitting together with a Chinese family who offered to look after them. Vic went for the Car Bumper ride herself after half an hour wait, whilst Daddy brought William for his mini car bumper rides downstairs. He went 3 rounds!!!
She kept turning round and round and got bumped! Next time must definitely take driving lessons from Daddy
Then Vic went for this Spaceship looking ride on her own. I couldn't get in as I didn't buy a pass for myself but I got a couple with a baby to sit in the same spaceship as Vic. She was fine and enjoyed her independence of which, we are all so proud of her.
Her final independent ride was on the roller coaster! And she was in the last row too! The maid was so impressed with Vic, as she and I are really "scaredy cats" in this area.
Nearing the end, I brought William for the Eiffel Tower car ride. After 20 minutes or so of queueing, he got on a mini ambulance but the first seat belt was not working, so he moved to the next driver seat. Then just as the ride was about to start, he realized his steering wheel could not turn and began crying and rejected the ambulance altogether. By this time, obviously there were no other vehicles for him to choose and he didn't want the ride anymore. I got so mad, I gave him a piece of my mind for having queued up so long and being picky about his car.
This was before he cried and rejected this malfunction ambulance
We left shortly after that at 11pm and arrived home midnight.
During the past week too, Vic had one party and a playdate - the party on Saturday, 25th May at Jungle Gym Bangsar Shopping Centre, and the playdate on Monday, 27th May at a friend's house with a private pool. The kids swam and had lunch prepared by one of the three Kakaks there, then did some window art and hide n seek in that 3 storey house. When I arrived to pick Vic and her friend, they haven't done any baking yet which was part of "the plan" so they hurriedly do one with the maid, and then put on some fake tattoos before leaving.
Vic with the birthday girl Siao Yun
Fun at the pool at Zachary's house
And guess what... the next day on Tuesday, 28th May - Vic had her ears pierced for the first time with her BFF Kristen. The mommies made a prior arrangement to meet at a goldsmith in Paradigm Mall at night, witnessed by Daddy and William, and her friend's grandparents. We had a video taken of Vic and I applaud her for being so brave again, despite being fearful at home. Later I asked her if she was about to cry, and she replied me, "Mummy, I don't even cry much at home, of course I won't cry in front of my friend!"
So here's my new darling... pretty as she always is. Can you notice the ear rings?
Besides that, the kids did some workbooks at home and I allowed Vic to help in the kitchen. She enjoyed preparing our lunch of stirfry oriental spaghetti. Here are some instagram photos taken earlier.
The little domestic goddess
After a Sunday morning Indian breakfast, we did a little simple gardening. William likes to plant flowers because mummy likes flowers.
