Days Of Very Full Plates

It is true that my blog had been inactive. It is true that this might possibly be the longest hiatus that my blog had taken, that it felt a wee bit strange and somewhat unfamiliar as I logged onto Blogger earlier on. It is a fallacy though that I had lost interest in blogging, for writing still remains a primary love of mine.

I must confess that part of my tardiness stems from my obsessive compulsive behaviour again, this time revisiting the life of one of my favourite writers, Jane Austen, in Becoming Jane, and the restrained yet fiery passion and romance between Austen and Tom LeFroy.

Another fundamental part of my blog's inactivity is due to my completely hectic schedule at home. School had reopened and hence the normal busy pace of life had restarted, and there are also other exciting developments on the homefront. I had certainly been sleeping at 2-3am every night and waking at 6.30am to fetch Big Bee to school, and I wish there is a pill that we can just swallow to ensure that we have all the goodness of sleep in our system, yet without having to waste time sleeping!

Little Bee had gotten her confirmation letter into the primary school that her sister is in, all thanks to the great Phase 1A system, and I sometimes still take out the pink confirmation slip, gazing in wondrous disbelief that my little baby will be going to primary school soon. On the other hand, Big Bee has been exceptionally busy with school CCAs and lots of dance performances, on top of her homework, and these performances had kept us parents busy, entertained yet proudly pleased at the same time.

Here is a peek at what had been keeping the Bees busy on the academic front. Little Bee's kindergarten is stepping up on more "serious" work to prepare them for primary one in half a year's time, and I try to include in funner, less academic elements like painting, games and journal writing at home during their free time to ease off the sobriety of academic work.

Surprisingly, both of them are coping well and handling these work in their strides, still finding lots of time daily to play, to walk the dog and to engage in endless giggles with each other. I do think these elements of enjoying life are most important!

Little Bee's Chinese writing exercises from school

Getting to understand the intricacies of Chinese comprehension in school for Little Bee

Little Bee's weekly homework which sometimes include a short writing exercise about anything under the sun...

...or some drilling in Math

Little Bee's weekly Spelling exercises

Little Bee's weekly 听写

Big Bee's weekly 听写 and 默写 above and beyond all her other school homework

Fictitious Characters

Drama is an element that definitely brightens up a child's world, instills endless imagination and inspires creativity.

Which was why I was really glad when I received a notice from Little Bee's school that one of the school days would be designated for a parade of imaginary book characters, where the children are supposed to dress up in a character found in a book, bring (and read) the book with the character and parade in front of the entire school.

I am secretly delighted that the school, unlike some other schools, are willing to sacrifice a day of boring and monotonous academic learning for really fun imaginative play like this. I thought this helps to encourage confidence, creativity and a love for reading in a child.

Needless to say, Little Bee will dress up as one of her favourite princesses. In previous years, she would dress up as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, but this year, she could finally fit into jie-jie's Cinderella's costume, so she was determined to be Cinderella. And of course, she knows the story of Cinderella so very well :)

She was delighted to be decked in Cinderella's sparkling blue dress, complete with white gloves and a little handbag.

And it was a sight fit for elation when I saw all the classmates gathering together, examining each other's costumes and guessing the characters that their friends were acting as. Little Bee's classmates were mostly like her - strong, colourful personalities, with assertive and extroverted traits, and more importantly, a significant sense of loyalty and friendship which is evident in all their hugs and highly familiar gestures with each other.

This being the final year in which she would spend with them in kindergarten, I hope they would strike up a lasting friendship that would remain strong even in the primary school years, like what Big Bee had experienced.

Meanwhile, can you guess what some of these characters are!?

Bewitched By Bali

I do apologise for the long radio silence. Our little family of four had been enchanted by the allure of Bali from 6 to 13 June. 7 luxurious days of gorgeous beaches with spectacular waves, of breathtaking cliffs and emerald rice fields, of nestling deep in the rainforests and hills of Ubud, and being woken up by roosters and birds, of boisterous days with friends and quiet moments with ourselves. We are back, but our spirits are enlivened by the spirituality of magical Bali :)

This is my 3rd time in Bali, and the family's first time - and I am delighted that Hubby was totally captivated by the sheer beauty and serenity of Bali, especially Ubud. The girls enjoyed the company more - we were joined by PF and her family in the first leg of our trip, with 4 nights together in Intercontinental Jimbaran Bay. The Bees had the most gleeful moments playing ceaselessly with their childhood friends, Eugene and Claire. Thereafter, they enjoyed the deep tranquillity by ourselves in Ubud, bonding tremendously as a family, where we stayed for 3 nights in a stunning villa deep in the virgin forests of Ubud's remote villages.

Unfortunately, I am experiencing some difficulties transferring my digital images from my camera (hence my silence as well), so I am going to use some photos from the Internet to illustrate where we stayed.

The sunset cafe of Intercontinental, by the beach and the crashing waves of Jimbaran Bay, where our 2 families spent much time chilling by the beach.

The splendid villa in Ubud that we stayed in, complete with a private pool where monkeys drank water from!

...with astounding views high up in the hills of Ubud, a plunging valley and a gushing river through the valley

We have our own private bale (gazebo), complete with deck chairs, an outdoor living and dining area, and a marvelous four poster bed in the bedroom

I will be writing more about this trip soon...

Busy Days

The June holidays had sneaked upon us stealthily but steadily, and life is still as busy as usual. In the months leading to the holidays, school life was frenetic with lots of work and revision for the Bees. Hence, almost every night was spent on homework, 听写 and other readings.

Therefore, it was with a colossal sigh of relief that school was out in the final week of May, and that we could start planning our vacation in peace. Thus far, I had been letting the Bees relax incessantly, with no serious homelearning activities except for lots of fun and painting (see their latest paintings below, and yes, Mummy Art School only opens during the holidays these days!), as well as plenty of gatherings.

Little Bee's Underwater World

Big Bee's Marine Wonderland

Big Bee invited her best friend to hang out at our home for a whole day last week. Just last night, we had a dinner gathering with PF and family, where the Bees could catch up once again with Eugene and Claire, playing rowdy rounds of hide and seek while the adults planned for our imminent vacation. Hubby also just bought Kinect for the girls yesterday, and we had such a roar playing with it the entire morning (even me!) until my muscles are now aching from all those vigorous actions required by Kinect!

We also spent our days on lazy breakfasts, languid saunters in the parks, long walks with our dog Aidan, and enjoyable afternoon coffees in different cafes. We had lots of family errands to run this month, but spent a lot of time chilling as a family, and I had planned plenty more gatherings with other friends and family.

Little Bee also just received her confirmation of admission into Big Bee's primary school, so it is yet another milestone for Little Bee - the primary school odyssey! A new chapter will begin for her...

More importantly, I am taking almost 2 weeks off work so I could spend even more time with the Bees!

Am eagerly waiting for the next coming weeks indeed!

Rough And Tear Math!

Life had been immensely hectic for me, with crazy working hours, Big Bee's mid-year exams and Little Bee's increasing school load in preparation for primary one. Which is why I have absolutely no time to conceptualise comprehensive homelearning plans nor do much elaborate activities with the girls. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the light beaming at the end of the tunnel will shine brightly soon.

Meanwhile, I make do with whatever little time I have to spend quality time with the Bees. Which means hastily rigged homelearning materials which may not be the best in aesthetics but nevertheless, helped achieve learning outcomes!

Last month, Little Bee and I were learning about number bonds and addition, and I had absolutely no time to prepare anything fancy. Hence, I just pulled together some scraps of papers and toothpicks, and taught her the following concepts. She was tickled by the little bits of papers that I tore to make counting tokens, and loved this concept of learning where we tore bits of paper whenever we needed them! I just placed the final number (10 and 5), and she arranged the below bonds herself.

Colours Of Nature: Of Cygnets And Ducklings

They say swans mate for life. 

A family of swans and their beautiful, fluffy cygnets (photo taken by Big Bee)

And everyone knows the transformation of the ugly duckling. 

A group of ducklings gazing across the lake (photo taken by Big Bee)

Notice the gorgeous downy feathers of these adolescent cygnets? (Photo by Big Bee)

With so many beautiful fables surrounding the swan, we felt truly privileged to witness the exquisite offsprings of the 2 resident swans in our favourite part of Botanic Gardens, and another brood of ducklings that appeared mysteriously! 

That was almost a year and a half ago. 

I remember the Bees were so elated to play with the different varieties of birds, squealing in excitement and basking in their proximity to these feathered creatures. 

That was when that part of the Gardens was still relatively quiet. And now, with the completion of the MRT near the Botanic Gardens, many people throng the verdant grounds which used to seem so boundless and uncluttered. Now, the meandering emerald pastures are filled with people, and the atmosphere buzzed with liveliness and gay chatter.

Which is perfectly fine, as everyone should enjoy more time outdoors, especially in land-scarce Singapore. But I miss my tranquillity and quiet. And I think the swans miss that halcyon peace too. The cygnets and ducklings had undoubtedly grown into adults, and the cygnets are nowhere to be found, probably transported by the park authorities to somewhere else.

Only the ducks and the parent swans are left behind

Which is a wee bit sad because the park may be resonant with sounds of humanity, but the quiescent way of life for the swans and ducks seemed to be a remote past now. 

Still, we frequent Botanic Gardens for our breakfasts and tea breaks, immersing ourselves in the verdure and assimilating the serenity of the atmosphere. 

Oops, another addition to our family joined us - and disturbed the peace of the park further!

Here, we hope our girls could understand the virtues of soaking ourselves in the present moment, appreciating the beauty of nature, listening to the sounds of Earth around them, and listening to their own hearts through this stillness. 

I hope there are many more of such oases in time to come... 

Up On A Hill's Peak

Last month, over the Easter long weekend, my cousins and I coached up to Genting Highlands, staying at Resort Hotel, for a short but much anticipated break. The adult cousins looked forward to lots of catching up and chatting, and the little cousins looked forward to lots of playing together! We were also lucky because my mum happened to come on the same trip with her friends (although she was so busy we hardly met!) and Irene's parents also came along on the trip (same, the grandparents were all so busy that they could not meet us!).

Some memorable moments from the trip:

1) An early coach ride

Waking the family up, bleary-eyed, at 5am - in the dark dawn - to get ready for an early morning coach ride starting at 6.15am.

2) Napping!

Relaxing and napping loads on the bus while the big girls giggled and chatted among themselves. What a contrast to our previous trip where I had to share a seat with toddler Little Bee!

3) Theme parks galore

Spending lots of time with the cousins and my 2 nieces, Chloe and Val, in the indoor and outdoor theme parks.

The girls outside the open-air theme park

The little cousins had great fun bonding with each other, trying out all sorts of rides from carousel rides, a ferris wheel, bumper cars, an indoor roller coaster (erm, only Big Bee and me tried out this ride!), baby choo choo trains, rodeo rides, flying dumbo/airplane rides...you name it, we tried it!

Both my girls loved the bumper cars! Here, Little Bee was seen trying to deftly avoid another car, otherwise she would usually go around bumping others! 

The girls also had a swell time at the carnival stands, trying our hands at so many games stalls, trying to win little gifts!

It was so relaxing just strolling around and deciding on the rides to take. Furthermore, the theme parks in Genting Highlands have none of those long queues that we find in Disneyland or Universal Studios, and that made it a lot more enjoyable!

4) Taking a stroll along memory lane

The adult cousins reliving their nostalgic memories of coming to Genting Highlands together as children - as we paddled boats around the large tranquil lake that had been in existence since we were little kids!

It was so idyllic to sit back and just paddle the boat with our legs languidly (although I had to paddle a little harder because my "partner" on the duo boat was Little Bee, whose legs could not reach the paddles!). The lake was serene and placid, and it was so nice to paddle near our cousins, with the little cousins waving excitedly and shouting each other's names whenever we paddled closer to each other!

After the boat ride, we then ambled around the edge of the lake, retracing the steps of yore when we were young. We then took the antique car ride, amidst much nostalgia, and I could just sit back and enjoy the scenery because my "driver" was Big Bee!

5) Food, glorious food!

Malaysia has one of the best foods (for me) on earth. We took every opportunity to gorge on palatable delights, and the climax was reached on Saturday afternoon when all of us were feeling rather lackadaisical after a whole morning of theme park rides - so we decided to go for a cheap hotel buffet! The result was plates and plates of scrumptious local and international goodies, from char kway teow to fried bee hoon, from ice-kachang to delectable cakes! The adults stuffed our faces until we were speechless with bloated stomachs!

The girls munching away at high tea!

The kids used the opportunity to munch on sinful sweet cakes, and fooled around together a lot. A classic scene involved all 4 of them sitting on an adjacent empty table, as if conducting a meeting, with them giggling and chatting incessantly. Another classic scene involved Chloe and Val posing as models with Little Bee acting as a photographer, directing them around!

6) Easter egg hunt

Hubby and I bought 12 colourful Easter eggs (with little sweets inside), and hid the eggs all around our hotel room. Thereafter, we invited all 4 girls to search for the eggs, and boy, what energy and enthusiasm permeated the room, with the girls frantically and excitedly searching for the bright little eggs! After they found the eggs and the activity in the room settled a little, what ensued was crazy play between the girls and Hubby, while all of us watched in amusement. That was certainly a welcomed reprieve from the constant activity in the theme parks!

7) Foot Reflexology Delight


The best thing about having older daughters is that they are now able to fully appreciate the marvellous concept of spas with hubby and I! On Saturday night, four of us went to a foot reflexology spa. Hubby, Big Bee and I had the best foot massages ever, in a dim ambient setting. Little Bee was so patiently sitting in another comfy chair while quietly talking to me at times that I felt really bad that she couldn't enjoy the massages yet (the therapists told us that she is a little young for foot massages). Still, this is a good indication of future holidays!


8) Breathtaking vistas

Early in the second morning at around 6.45am, Hubby whispered and gestured me to walk outside with him to "look at something very beautiful", in his words. I was intrigued. Leaving the 2 girls sleeping in the dark room, we tiptoed out to the lift lobby which was a few steps away, where there was a huge window which served as an excellent viewing gallery for nature's greatest show - sunrise! Captivated, with our arms around each other, we observed the stupendous unfolding and resplendent transformative colours of one of nature's most astounding miracles. We were bewitched by the dense tangerine gathering of clouds, by the enchanting sea of misty lavender clouds with murky peaks of other lower hills peeping through, by the gradual but alluring changes of sunlight across the gorgeous vista.

On that morning, while having breakfast by ourselves, we were lucky to discover an exquisite glass house beside Coffee Bean and Tea Leaves where four of us were inveigled by brilliantly azure skies, virginal white clouds and lush verdant alpine trees.

We strolled around, loving the chilly nip in the air and the sharp, tangy pure air of the hill top. Wondrous indeed!


This was such a fun and relaxing trip that the cousins are already planning our next getaway together!