Kathleen Kiera

.: B a l i :.

2009-06-26T16:59:00.007+08:00

It's been long time we wanted to go to Bali. So we decided to go there this holiday.

In Bali, we stayed near Kuta beach, but we also went to other beaches like Sanur and Nusa Dua. At Nusa Dua, we went to a place where the wave was very strong so when it was broken by the rocks, it went up and made a very big splash. We watched it from high up on the rocks, but the splash still went higher than us. It was very nice view. Sometimes we saw a rainbow after the splash.

We went to Orchid Garden, Bird Park, and Reptile Park. The Orchid Garden was quite small and didn't have lots of orchids, but the orchids were very nice. I really enjoyed the Bird Park. Some of the birds were very tame that they came to us and let us feed them. There were some bird shows, too.

We visited some famous temples like Tanah Lot and Uluwatu. The tide was a bit high at Tanah Lot so we couldn't go very near to the temple, but I enjoyed the splash of the waves by the rocks. At Uluwatu, the sunset was nice and there were some monkeys around.

We also visited Monkey Forest. Mum bought some peanuts and we fed the monkeys. It was fun to feed them at first, but when more came, it became a bit scary as the monkeys started to snatch and quarrel.

We also went to Kintamani. It was a looong drive from Kuta and it was very cooold. But the view of the mountain and the lake were very nice.

And I had my hair kepang-ed (braided). I kept swishing the braids around. There were 31 braids in all and there were 2 beads on each braid.

keep it up, sweetie ...

2009-06-01T19:26:00.001+08:00

Hopefully this means that Kate has adapted well with her new school ...

Science Centre

2009-03-23T20:37:00.000+08:00

During last week holiday, Mum took Kate to Science Centre. Kate had so much fun and enjoying all the exhibition there, especially the things related to human being. We also watched the magic show, twice :D

no more coke, no more ice

2009-03-18T09:42:00.000+08:00

Out of nowhere ...

Kathleen: "Mum, let's don't buy anymore coke or ice drink, ok?"
Mummy: "Why?" *it's mum's fave drink for now beside the sweet green tea :)*
Kathleen: "They are drugs!"
Mummy: "Really??" *no wonder mum feels much better after drinking it :D*
Kathleen: "Yes, just see that video anti-drugs that I've just seen, the 2nd video"

Hihihi .. the explanation of 'coke' and 'ice' that is mentioned in the video above can be found here.

zoo trip (2)

2009-02-20T20:10:00.007+08:00

Last week, I had a trip to the Singapore Zoo. I went there with my class after school dismissal.

While waiting for the bus, Mdm Lee gave us the worksheets that we needed to complete at the zoo. It took us about 30 mins to reach the zoo. At the zoo, my teachers took us to the theatre. At the theatre, there was a talk about animals.

After the talk, we went to see some animals. We saw many animals. I didn't forget to take some pictures of them.

It was a tiring journey but I enjoyed it.

JW Swimming Complex

2009-02-15T15:00:00.005+08:00

Yesterday, my parents and I went to Jurong West Swimming Complex. It is just across the road from our house. But yesterday, we did not go straight there because we wanted to have lunch at Kofu foodcourt at Pioneer Mall. After having our lunch, we went to the swimming complex.

First, we went to the lazy river. My father and I went in first. Later on, my mother joined in. We spent a lot of time there.

After that, my father and I went to the water-slide. It is 10.2m in height, so we needed to climb 3 storeys high to reach the top of the slide. It was my first time taking a water-slide that high. I was a bit nervous so I wanted to slide together with my father, but the sign said that we were only allowed to slide one at a time. As my father let me slide first, I had to reach the bottom of the slide before he could do his turn. I enjoyed sliding at the water-slide so I wanted to do it over and over again, but the queue was getting longer and longer so I only had 5 turns to go.

Then we went to the jacuzzi pool. The water was very warm, but the water sprayed very strongly so I only spent a little time there and played at the kids-fun-pool while waiting for my parents to come out.

Later on, we went back to the lazy river. After a while, my parents went out of the lazy river but I kept swimming around. It was very fun.

zoo trip ( 1 )

2009-02-12T19:56:00.006+08:00

Tomorrow I am going to the Singapore Zoo with my class. This trip is part of my science class. It will help us to learn more about diversity.

This is my list of animals that my teacher asked us to take pictures of: monkeys, apes, cat family, birds, fishes, mammals, and hooved feet animals. My teacher already taught us the differences between apes and monkeys. Today, she taught us about the cat family and the hooved feet animals.

I think this zoo trip is going to be excellent. I am very excited and looking forward to this zoo trip.

... c u on zoo trip ( 2 ) ...

At NUH Specialist Clinic

2009-01-26T11:44:00.003+08:00

My mum is having a baby in her tummy. I'm so excited. I will be a big sister. I hope the baby is a girl.

Last week, I went to NUH with my mum to check the baby. After reaching Dover MRT, we took a shuttle bus to NUH building. When we reached there, we registered at Clinic G. We also had to go to Antenatal Diagnostic Centre (ADC). It took very long time for our turn so we went for a walk while waiting.

At ADC, the nurse took a scan of the baby. The nurse allowed me to see the baby from the monitor. I saw that the baby's hand was moving. It was very cute.

At Clinic G, Mum did some talk with the doctor. The nurse also took some of mum's blood, but she didn't let me see it.

Season's Greeting

2008-12-24T10:55:00.005+08:00

It's not our tradition to celebrate Christmas with presents ... but this year, we got a very special tiny present ...

it glows

2008-12-02T21:47:00.001+08:00

Kate used about 2 dozens of sticks and spent hours playing with it.

birthday celebration

2008-12-01T19:42:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, we had Kate's 8th birthday celebration, combined with her friend, Annisa's 7th birthday. We had it at Annisa's place at Regent Ville, Hougang. We invited some of our Indonesian friends who stay in Singapore like us. We are sorry couldn't invite all of our friends because of the space matter.

Some of the pictures can be seen at multiply site of
Mum's, Annisa's Mum, Tante Ari's, and Tante Ellen's

Last Day at HWS

2008-11-13T17:02:00.005+08:00

Today is my last day at Hong Wen School. I am very sad, because it means I will be parted from my best friends, Mandy and Jun Ning. Even though if I stay at HWS next year, I won't be at the same class with Jun Ning, but we still could see each other at recess time.

This parted thingy is really difficult for me to handle. Yes, sometimes I quarrel with Jun Ning. But it's still better rather than to be parted like this.

I wish I don't need to change my school, but our home is very far from the new HWS at Towner Rd and it will be very tiring to travel that far every day.

Yesterday, I gave bookmarks made by my mum to my classmates and some teachers. I hope they like it.

miaooow ...

2008-11-12T16:54:00.006+08:00

I have finished my second cross-stitch. It is a cat. I took about 2 months to finish it, much faster than my first cross-stitch.

I had another similar cross-stitch. It is a dog. But I gave it to my best friend today because she wants to learn cross-stitch. I hope she enjoys cross-stitching, just like me.

And my mum crocheted a simple colorful headband. It has flower attached. I love it so much. Thank you, Mummy...

math exam treat

2008-10-29T11:49:00.004+08:00

One day before math exam,
Mum: Kathleen, where do you want to have lunch? At foodcourt near new MRT station or foodcourt near CC?
Kate: The one near CC.
Mum: Are you sure? It's further. And it's quite a hot day.
Kate: Yup, I'm sure.

On the way to foodcourt,
Kate: Mum, let's have KFC for our lunch
(Aha! This is why she chose it! There's KFC near the CC)
Mum: Well, if you get full mark for your math exam tomorrow, you can have KFC.
(not that Mum expects a full mark, but just an excuse to not having KFC so often)
Kate: No way ... How about 95?
(wow, she is so confident)
Mum: Ok, if you get above 95, we'll go to KFC. If you get 95 or below, you won't have it until your birthday.
Kate: It's not fair ... my birthday is still one month away. How about until end of the month?
Mum: Nope. End of the month is only about 1 week away.
Kate: Hmm ... ok, deal.

Few days later,
Kate: Mum, it's not fair. My friend has 90 as his target and his treat is going to New Zealand. My target is 95 but my treat is only KFC. I should have bigger treat.
Mum: Hmm ... what treat do you want?
Kate: I don't know. But something bigger than going to New Zealand.
Mum: How about another big hug from me?
Kate: Hoorraaayyy !!

Dwarfy

2008-10-27T22:24:00.001+08:00

Today, when Mummy and Daddy were out, when it was almost time for dinner, I remembered that I forgot to feed my hamsters. When I just filled in Dwarfy's bowl, I noticed that she was curled up right beside the bowl. I used the small spoon to rub her back, but nothing happened. So I figured out that she was dead.

I was so sad, even though I never play with her, because she was very shy and didn't let anyone to touch her, not even pet her. Even when I used something to touch her, she would just run away to her hiding spot.

So, I was eager to tell my parents about the bad news when they came home. Since we just lost Snowy, I was very very sad. Now I only have Flora left as my pet. I hope she will stay with us longer.

Snowy

2008-10-14T22:04:00.003+08:00

I am very sad. When I woke up from my nap, my mother told me that Snowy has died. I was surprised because when I came home from school, Snowy was fine. It didn't even look weak. But, when my mother was about to feed the hamsters, (I have three) she found out that Snowy didn't react at all and its body was stiff. When I checked it out after dinner, I saw Snowy's body was a bit smaller and more curled up than usual. Its eyes were also closed thighter.

I miss her so much ...

diamond tunisian

2008-09-10T16:58:00.009+08:00

Mum found a cute baby blanket pattern from library. Since Kathleen doesn't like to put blanket on, Mum decided to use thicker yarn and adjust the size to make a play mat instead. But when it's done, seems Kathleen likes to snuggle in it :)

The "technical" description about this blanket can be found here

quack .. quack ..

2008-08-29T20:02:00.004+08:00

I've just finished my first cross-stitch last night. It is a duckling.

First, I used yellow for the body. Next, I used red for the beak and webbed feet. Then, I used purple and green for it's bow. After that, I used white for the background. Finally, I used black for it's eyes. At the back, I slipped in the tail of the strings so it became a bit tighter and neat. If I didn't slip it in, it would be loose and messy!

Well, that took me more than one year to finish it because I seldom did it. But now, I want to do some more !!

skirt that grows

2008-08-26T23:50:00.004+08:00

Mum made this skirt when Kate need a leotard plus tutu for school concert about 4 years ago. Surprisingly, we can say that it still fit for Kate up to now.

horse riding

2008-08-22T17:01:00.001+08:00

Kate went to Vivo City with her youngest Aunt, and enjoyed this horse riding :)

National Day Celebration

2008-08-09T16:05:00.001+08:00

Yesterday I had National Day Celebration at my school. We had to sing 4 songs. The first song we sang was ''My People My Home''. The second song was ''Shine For Singapore''. The third song was "No Place I'd Rather Be" and the fourth song was "Will You?".

After that, P1 and P2 had a sports day while the P3-P6 had their fun walk. For my class, the teams were orange, red, blue, yellow, and green. My team, the green house, got 2nd place for the basketball bouncing. I had so much fun!

kreativ blogger

2008-08-08T12:24:00.003+08:00

Looks that we got another award ...
This time we received it from Melisa.
Thanks a lot, Mel!

Rules:
1. The winner may put the logo on her blog
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from
3. Nominate 5 blogs
4. Put links to the blogs
5. Leave a message for your nominees award

And this time we are passing this award to:
1. my honey girl
2. princess wina and fresha
3. cul-de-sac
4. prettyjewel
5. arleen's site

color

2008-08-07T14:25:00.006+08:00

yellow is a banana,
yellow is a marker,
yellow is a crayon,
and some colored water.

blue is the sky,
blue is the water,
blue is a cd case,
and so is a container.

green is the grass,
green is the folder,
green is the seaweed,
and so is the paper.

white is the clock,
white is the whiteboard,
white is my scarf,
and so is my cupboard.

black is the keyboard,
black is the speaker,
black is the tv,
and so is the monitor.

red is a fire-engine,
red is a cherry,
red is a rose,
and a ripe strawberry.

purple is the bag,
purple is a grape,
purple is the handle,
and a sick ape.

blog award

2008-08-06T23:16:00.001+08:00

We received this award from mamahoney.
Thanks, Ken ...

The rules are:
(1) Put the logo on your blog
(2) Add a link to the person who awarded you
(3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
(4) Add links to those blogs on yours
(5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

And we pass it to ...
1. Risna @ Chiangmai
2. Melly @ Jakarta
3. Katrin @ Bandung
4. Linda @ Jakarta
5. Ari @ Singapore
6. Melisa @ Jakarta
7. Ira @ Jakarta

Choral and Solo Reading

2008-08-05T20:32:00.007+08:00

On Monday, 4 August, there was choral and solo reading at my school. My class got 2nd prize for choral reading .. Hip, hip, hooray !!! But wait, wait! What prize did my class get for solo reading? It's BETTER than that ... We got 1st prize !!!

Solo is done only by one person, so it does not become messy. In choral reading, lots of students talk at once, that's why it becomes a little bit messy.

Xin Yue was the solo reading performance. I was the reserved. Kenshi was the helper. He helped us to practice and decide the actions. So on Thursday and Friday, the three of us had to stay back at recess to practice our actions and reading.

What are the titles? They are "My Puppy Punched Me In the Eye" for choral reading and "I Went To The Barber" for solo reading.

walk in the city

2008-08-04T22:04:00.005+08:00

Last month Kate's youngest Aunt came to visit us on her way to Taipei. She is taking master degree at NTU, Taipei. Wish it was NTU Singapore :D

Here is some of the pictures when we took an evening walk. The weather that time was cool ... just nice for a walk.

flower girl

2008-06-24T11:26:00.004+08:00

This girl loves flower ... so her mum added some simple crocheted flowers on her plain t-shirt.

She likes to wear it in pair with the skirt her mum made quite some time ago.

skirt and scarf

2008-06-18T16:47:00.004+08:00

Just a couple of mum's made for Kate. The skirt was crocheted using the thread from mum's old cardigan while the scarf was knitted using Kate's choice of thread.

barbie collection

2008-06-17T17:12:00.002+08:00

old vs young

2008-06-14T17:47:00.000+08:00

Kate: Mum, let's go skipping downstairs at level 5. We'll have skipping competition.

Mum: *tried to make an excuse* I think I'm too old to do some skipping.

Kate: Muum .. you are not old. Old are not based on age, you know. My grandma even of course older than you but she is still young. And some people even more than 80 years old but are still young. It's about how you feel yourself at heart.

Mum: *wow, my daughter is lecturing me now* How do you know that?

Kate: From Yang Sisters on the tv :D

Playtime

2008-05-16T18:33:00.004+08:00

Today is sports day for P3-P6 pupils. So P1 and P2 pupils have an extra one-day holiday.

I invited four of my classmates (Jing Wei, Nicole, Kelly and Wan Yong) to come over to my place. Jing Wei and Nicole did not come. So only Kelly and Wan Yong came to play today.

Wan Yong came first. My mother ordered pizza for lunch, but it took long time for the delivery. So Wan Yong and I had some snacks while waiting for the pizza. Then Kelly came. After the pizza came, we had our lunch. Kelly did not want the pizza so she ate chicken wings. Wan Yong and I ate pizza.

My mother put up a small tent. We played shopping. I was the shopkeeper. Kelly and Wan Yong bought lots of thing from my shop. I also lent them money to buy things from the shops.

Then, we did some crafts. After that, Wan Yong's grandmother came to fetch her. Kelly and I played some more until Kelly's mother came to fetch her. We had a great playtime.

My Maths Exam

2008-05-15T19:37:00.010+08:00

I finished my exams last week. I got high scores. My maths is the best.

One of my classmates, David, got full marks. He must have done it very carefully.

I had 99/100 marks. I only did one careless mistake on question 18. My form teacher, Miss Tan, told me that actually, I can get full marks, too.

My mother thought that my maths' marks would be 90. She is very happy with my results. And so is my father.

I'll try to be more careful and recheck my works next time.

bought a cat in a bag

2008-04-28T09:50:00.001+08:00

For the last few weeks, Mum was busy looking for a new flat. When the viewings were done at night in the weekdays, Mum left Kate at home by herself. A couple of times, it was done at the day time in the weekdays and Kate became a latch-key girl because Mum wouldn't be home when Kate came back from school. When the viewings were done in the weekend, all of us would went together.

Actually Kate wanted to come along on every viewing, but Mum said that the weekdays' viewing would be done by Mum alone. If the flat looked suitable, there would be a second viewing before we decided to buy it, and that time we would all go together.

But one morning,
Kate: "Mum, are you going to see some houses again today?"
Mum: "No, we bought one yesterday."
Kate: "But ... I haven't seen it!"
Mum: "Neither me nor Daddy. None of us have seen it."
Kate: "How come???"

Well, it was quite a long story (click here to read it -- in Indonesian). It happened so fast. Hopefully we wouldn't regret it.

how much?

2008-04-24T16:38:00.014+08:00

As the landlord of the flat where we are staying wants to move back in by November, we need to start looking for a new flat.

With the rental price now hikes so high, we decided to buy a flat instead of renting. One request from Kate:
"Can we find a house that is not far from my school? I want to keep Hong Wen as my school."

We can see that Kate loves her school, eventhough there are not many facilities, yet. The school, too, will move to May Road on January 2009. According to Kate, the new school building will have swimming pool and sports halls (and many other new facilities). Surely this makes Kate doesn't want to be transferred to another school, even more.

....................
Mum: "The house nearby your school is very expensive."
Kate: "How much is it?"
Mum: "Around five-hundred-thousand dollars."
*wondering whether Kate really understands how big that number is*
Kate: "That much??? It's so expensive."
Mum: "Yes, it is."
Kate: "And how much money do we have? All of it. The one that we keep at the bank, in Daddy's wallet, in your purse, and the one in my saving box."
....................

that's mine

2008-04-18T11:21:00.001+08:00

Kate was very happy when she saw her poem, which she made as part of library reading bear programme last year, was on display at Central Lending Library.

The poem was on display since last month. May be it will be there for another few weeks.

The "Ready, Set, Read ... and Laugh" book by Joanna Cole can be found at nearest library at children collection area. If Mum is not mistaken, Kate borrowed this book four times and read the whole book over and over again. She must be enjoying it so much.

tooth fairy -1-

2008-04-10T17:16:00.006+08:00

Yesterday evening when Kate was eating watermelon,
"Ma, gigi Kathleen lepas. I didn't feel it at all. First I thought it was the watermelon seed. But it can't be. Watermelon seed is not that hard. I spat it out, and there was my tooth."

Last night Kate put the tooth under her pillow for the first time. We flushed down the 1st and 2nd tooth. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th were done by the dentist.

This morning when Kate checked under her pillow, she found a dollar coin instead of her tooth.

Kate: "It's real.."
Mum: "What is it?"
Kate: "Tooth fairy. Look ..." (showing the coin)

After a while,
Kate: "Or ... was that you, Mum? Or Daddy?"
Mum: "Udah sana, waktunya pergi sekolah. Nanti terlambat, loh."

old friends

2008-03-31T09:37:00.006+08:00

It has been two years since we left Bangkok and moved to Singapore. What does Kate miss the most from Bangkok? The answer absolutely not the famous sight-seeing sites like Wat Po, Wat Arun, Grand Palace... Nor the famous Thai food like som tum, pad thai, tom yum gong... May be a bit of Children Discovery Museum and bird feeding at the park ... But what she really miss are the adorable friends on the picture above. Though now most of them has been relocated to other countries, too.

We miss you, guys ...

Asian Civilisation Museum

2008-03-18T10:00:00.005+08:00

For a change (and while the admission was free for linkpoints members and their family :D), we went to visit Asian Civilisation Museum last Saturday.

Though none of us really fond on museum/history kind of things, we spent almost 5 hours visiting the galleries.

Kate was not much interested on the display objects but she enjoyed so much reading some books about the displays and watching videos at touch screen displays :D

Jurong East Swimming Complex

2008-03-17T09:43:00.005+08:00

School holiday last week was full of rain and strong, cold wind. When finally the sun shone brightly on Friday, Mum took Kate for an outing. The choice fell on Jurong East Swimming Complex with IMM's indoor playground as back up plan in case the weather suddenly change. Kate didn't have a single swim since we discontinued her swimming lesson last month so she looked forward to have one.

This was the first time we went to this swimming complex which was located in walking distance from Chinese Garden MRT. The weekday admission was $1.50 for adult and $0.80 for child. There were bubble jet station for toddler, a fun pool for kids, 0.8 m depth lazy river, wave pool, 3 water slides, jacuzzi pool, and a competition pool. There was also a cafetaria inside the complex. Well, you know how kids get hungry after playing with water. If this was not enough, the KFC cum Pizza Hut restaurant was just outside the entrance to the swimming complex.

As we arrived around 3 p.m. (Kate had skipping rope CCA at school in the morning and Chinese lesson afterwards), we 'only' had about 3 hours to spend there. Kate fell in love with the lazy river and wave pool, and didn't bother at all to play at the kids fun pool. :)

it goes up

2008-03-16T22:32:00.000+08:00

Looks simple but enough to invite curiousity from some passerbies to touch it and made little splash around.

she likes it

2008-03-12T15:31:00.000+08:00

Kate was very happy and ate a lot when we had dinner here. Was it because of the food or the 'strategic' table we got? :D

2 for $3.00

2008-03-07T15:24:00.009+08:00

Even though library in Singapore is very convenience, we could borrow unlimited book (4 or 8 at a time), but how could we miss '2 books for $3.00' offer while the original price was $9.90 each?

Kate loves to read and Mum loves discounts :D

So when today we went to Bras Basah Complex to buy staples, we ended up spending hours there and came home with 2 big shopping bags.

myself

2008-03-02T12:58:00.011+08:00

When Kate had no idea on what to write for her journal...

Myself
I am Kathleen. I am a girl. I am 7 years old. I am a happy girl.

Jacob Ballas

2008-02-29T13:36:00.003+08:00

Kate and her friends had so much fun playing at this garden.

short term memory loss

2008-02-20T17:44:00.013+08:00

Sunday afternoon, Kate was having chocolate ice-cream with M&M and chocolate rice. "Look, I could make the ice-cream melt faster," said Kate as she stirred the ice-cream. "I did this at school at Bangkok. I mixed different color of ice-cream and it was so fun."

Few hours later,
Kate: Mum, do you see my wallet?
Mum: No, I don't. Where did you put it?
Kate: I put it on the coffee table. But now it's not there.
Mum: No, I don't see it there. May be you've moved it somewhere else.
Kate: No, I'm sure I put it there.
Mum: Are you sure it was today?
Kate: Yes, I'm really sure.
Kate asked Daddy who was working near the coffee table and Daddy didn't see it, either.

After searching here and there, Kate gave up. She looked so sad and confused. Suddenly, "I think it's in my pinafore!" exclaimed Kate as she hurried went to her room. And it was there!

Then Mum remember that in the morning Mum has praised Kate for getting her uniform ready for the next day and seen the string of the wallet hanged out from the pinafore's pocket. But both Mum and Kate forgot about it.

Kate: It's weird. How could I remember something that has happened few years ago, but I forgot something that has happened today.

I Wish ...

2008-02-08T10:54:00.003+08:00

From many wishes in Kate's mind, she chose to write this one down for her journal:

I Wish ...

I wish to have an older sister. Then she can help me with my homework. I also wish to have a younger sister. Then I can take care of her. I also could play with her.

Lost & Found

2008-02-01T21:28:00.000+08:00

On Monday, Mum got a phone call from Kate's teacher, informed that Kate has left her school bag in the SBS bus on the way to school.

Amazing ... how Kate didn't realize it until she reached the school hall and was about to put her bag (which was not with her). And about an hour before her teacher called, Kate has called Mum about other thing, but she didn't mention about her lost bag.

Anyway, Mum called lost & found of SBS Transit. For more than half an hour countless dial, it was always answered by machine, saying that the officers were busy. When finally an officer got on the line, she gave Mum another phone no, which was took only one ring to get through.

Apparently, as the bag was left on that day, it was still kept at the control office at the terminal. In this case, Kate took SBS Bus 80, Harbourfront-Sengkang direction, so the officer at Sengkang Interchange kept it.

When Kate came back from school (she didn't know that her teacher has contacted Mum):
"Mummy, I have a bad news.. I left my bag in the bus this morning... Luckily, I still have a spare bag, don't I? So we don't need to buy a new one... But how about all the books? The textbooks? The spelling book? The journal? ... Oh, no! I need to write those all over again, and I need to get spelling tests again, and my teacher will need to mark those again ..."

Kids ... their way to think is so simple ...

nick name

2008-01-27T12:33:00.000+08:00

When Kate was born, Mum and Dad gave Kathleen Kiera as her name (the meaning is here), and we call her Kathleen.

About two years ago, she got boring with everyone calling her Kathleen, and wanted a different name: Kate. So we started to call her Kate. Sometimes even she called herself as Kath.

Recently, Kate wants her Kathleen back, but to keep Kate as well. So here is the deal: we'll call her Kathleen and keep Kate in this blog.

new routine

2008-01-12T01:14:00.000+08:00

This week was difficult to wake Kate up in the morning compared to last week. It started with just one single nap!

One day, Mum needed to go and Kate wanted to read a book, so Mum left her at home for about half an hour. When Mum came back, Kate was sleeping. She must be so tired.

And the cycle begin:

............... *) ................
....... afternoon nap .......
..... late sleep at night ....
.. sleepy in the morning ..
..... tired after school .....
.......... back to *) ..........

who is the baby?

2008-01-11T23:28:00.000+08:00

Mum was giving Kate a bath and Dad was just outside the bathroom.

Kate: Do you want to join us, Daddy?
Dad: No, thank you. I'm not Kate. I'm not a baby. I don't need Mum to give me a bath.
Kate: Hey!! I'm not a baby. You are a baby. You need Mum to sleep with. I sleep by myself.

morning session

2008-01-05T18:15:00.000+08:00

This year Kate has morning session, which is 7:15-12:55 on Mon, Tue, Thu, and Fri. On Wed, the school finishes an hour earlier, but since Kate joins with one of CCA, she comes home later than the other days.

Mum was worried that it would be difficult to wake Kate up in the morning, because she used to wake up a bit late for the last 2 years (when she had afternoon sessions). And last month during the holiday was even worse. But it came out that Kate is ready for the morning session, not so difficult to wake up early. She is happy with her morning session, which means she has more time to play after school.

Kate is in Primary 2. She gets lots of new classmates (only 6 who were her P1's classmates), new teachers, but the same form teacher (which means the same English and Math teacher) and the same classroom. Hope she could cope well with her subjects in P2 as well as in P1.

december 2007

2008-01-04T21:56:00.000+08:00

Unlike last year, we spent the holiday last month mostly by just staying at home. The one and only attraction we went was to Tangkuban Parahu. But we still managed to meet some friends and visited some relatives. And of course, we went out for dining a lot :D

Without Iih Iing as "driver", Mum improved her driving skill, as she needed to drive by herself for the trip Jakarta-Bandung-Jakarta and while at Bandung, with only Kate as navigator :D

At Bandung Kate got diarrhea, and at Jakarta she got flu. Those are common illnesses for children, but didn't go just in couple days. Guessed those happened because Kate was too excited so we slept past midnight most of the time, and of course it made her woke up so late, and have late breakfast, late lunch, late dinner. Well, the silverlining is Kate could spent more time with her grandparents. They must missed each other a lot, as we don't go back there too often.

anti-mosquito patch

2007-12-04T20:46:00.000+08:00

Mum: Oops, I almost forget that Akiu asked me to buy something.
Kate: *curious as usual* What kind of thing?
Mum: A special sticker to keep mosquito away. If someone puts the sticker on his cloth, mosquito will keep away from that person, because the sticker will release a kind of smell that mosquito doesn't like.
Kate: Emangnya di Indonesia banyak nyamuk?
Mum: Iya.
Kate: So why doesn't he buy it by himself?
Mum: Because he couldn't find it in Indonesia.
Kate: Emangnya di Singapore ada stikernya?
Mum: Iya ada. Akiu pernah dikasih temennya, belinya di Singapore.
Kate: Kenapa di Indonesia ga ada? Udah tau disana banyak nyamuk.

seven

2007-11-23T23:35:00.000+08:00

just a simple celebration with 7 candles, 7 presents, and ... 7 plaits :)

KidsASIA

2007-11-21T11:00:00.000+08:00

Last weekend we went to The Plaza of National Library Building. We went there to visit KidsASIA, part of Asian Children's Festival 2007. Kate had so much fun there. There were so many activities for children such as games, crafts, stories, and performances. And it was the first time Kate went to library without reading any book :D

report card 2007

2007-11-15T13:52:00.000+08:00

Kate has done really well in her first year of primary school. Her marks for English Language, Higher Chinese, and Mathematics are similar, and all are in band 1. And she got great grades on other subjects, too.

Keep up

your good works,

Kate!

Remarks from her form-teacher:

Semester 1: Kathleen enjoys and participates actively in class discussions. She has worked hard this semester and should continue her efforts. She should try to do and check her work more carefully.

Semester 2: Kathleen is an outspoken girl who often clarifies her doubts. She is polite and it has been a joy to teach her. She has the potential to do better if she tries to do and check her work more carefully.

Johor Bahru - City Square

2007-11-09T14:33:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the first time we went to Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia. We went there by bus as the total journey only took about an hour. At JB, we spent most of the time at City Square, the closest shopping mall to Singapore-Malaysia border.

Kate's favourite part of the mall is Merrybrown fastfood stall - because they have swings as the chairs. As Mum and Dad's favourite is the cakue stall - forgot the name of it, but the stall is just opposite the Merrybrown. *the cakue reminds us to Cakue Semar Stall at Bandung Indah Plasa's foodcourt*

After dinner, we went back home by taking bus until Kranji MRT then transfer to MRT to Bugis MRT. Actually it would be more convenience if we just stayed in the bus, as the bus would end at Queen St Terminal, which is not far from Bugis MRT. But Kate wanted to ride another kind of transportation, as she takes bus every Mon-Sat.

The trip must be quite tiring for Kate, because as soon as we found a seat at the MRT, Kate straight away put her head on Daddy's lap and less than half minute later she was in deep sleep.

Around midnight, Mum felt that Kate was warmer than usual, and it got worse by dawn. Mum was worried that Kate would fall ill, but fortunately the fever was gone by the time Kate woke up (around 9 a.m.). Now she has a bit cough, though.

PS:
* Kate's first impression of JB: dirty. Actually the city is not so dirty but there were many rubbish under the stairs of the overhead bridge and Kate used to with the clean of Singapore.

* Kate's second impression of JB:
After Custom Clearance at Singapore Immigration, we went to the restroom and Kate notice that "Now we are back in Singapore, because we don't have to pay for using the toilet".

Sandcastle @ Sentosa Island

2007-11-06T18:26:00.000+08:00

It has been a year we became islander member. But we decided not to renew the membership, to give us a little break from visiting the So Expensive Nothing TO See at All Island. We had fun at the island, though. Our favourite is Palawan Beach, where we enjoy playing with the sand.

math

2007-10-25T09:03:00.000+08:00

Missy bought 5 red apples, 3 oranges, 8 pears and 9 chocolate bars.
How many fruits did Missy buy in all?

Kate confidently wrote: "5+3+8+9=25".
Mum: Could you check it again, please?
Kate: *checking and counting* Yes, it's correct.
Mum: Are you sure?
Kate: Yes, five plus three plus eight plus nine equals twenty-five.
Mum: Read the problem carefully.
Kate: Mmmm ... it doesn't mean 5 red apples are 1 fruit, does it?
Mum: No, it doesn't. 5 red apples are 5 fruits, but 1 kind of fruit.
Kate: So? My answer is correct.
Mum: Ok. How many kind of fruits are there?
Kate: Four.
Mum: And what are they?
Kate: Apple, orange, pear, cho ... eh ... :) :)

birthday present

2007-10-21T16:42:00.000+08:00

Mum: Hooray!! Daddy is browsing the internet to find something for my birthday present :D
Dad: ???
Dad: What do you wish as your birthday present?
Mum: Hmmm ... Kate, would you help me find some ideas?
Kate: I'm not gonna tell you. It's a secret. (She has some plans for Mum's coming birthday)
Mum: Any idea, please. It doesn't have to be something that you would give me.
Kate: Let me think ... bicycle? pen?
Mum and Dad: ???
Kate: So you could use the bicycle to send me to school and the pen for marking my worksheets.

latchkey

2007-10-11T13:07:00.000+08:00

Kate:
"Ma, Mama kerja gih,
supaya Kathleen bisa
jadi latchkey girl."
:)

thunder vs firework

2007-10-08T10:16:00.000+08:00

Mum and Dad were reading and Kate was studying when we heard very loud thunder. Kate quickly came to Mum and Dad and insisted to pause her study until the thunder has gone.

When the next thunder came, Dad said "FIREWORKS" and we all laughed. "Horray ... Fireworks" said Kate continuing the fun.

Kate took her book and continued study near Mum and Dad. Every now and then, when we heard thunder, Kate said "fireworks" but kept studying calmly.

Kate got mail ...

2007-10-02T12:55:00.000+08:00

Recently, whenever Mum checks mailbox with Kate, Kate asks "Is there any mail for me?". Eventhough Dad's and Mum's mails are mostly bill and bank's matter, but for Kate those are mails to be opened and read, and she wants some, too.

Last week Kate got one mail which one of the pages said:

one is not enough

2007-10-01T07:03:00.000+08:00

Mum made one and Kate asked more for her friends.

HAPPY CHILDREN's DAY

ompong 4 - dentist addicted

2007-09-20T14:06:00.000+08:00

Yesterday Mum rang up the school dentist to make appointment for Kate, again. The dentist was quite surprised as Kate had just seen her last week.

Well, it turns out that Kate prefers having tooth loss by dentist rather than let it out naturally. It was less pain, she said.

my september holiday

2007-09-12T10:21:00.001+08:00

Kate had a homework, which was making a journal about last holiday (minimum 5 sentences).

My September Holiday

I had a super holiday. It was a super holiday because I kept going somewhere. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I went to Plaza Singapura to watch High School Musical 2. It was very noisy there because it was very exciting and the music was very very loud. It was a very fantastic show and very nice. I also went to my friend's house. It was very fun. On Wednesday, my mother and I went to Aunty ~~Honey's~~ Hany's place. Her children are Hanan and ~~Hivah~~ Haifa. Hanan is 5 years old. Haifa is 3 years old. I met a lot of new friends there. We played a lot of games. It was very very fun. The next next day, my mother and I went to Aunty Fiona's place. Her child is Brendon. He is good sometimes but naughty sometimes and even funny sometimes. It was very fun to play there. She also gave me an origami book. I was very creative when I was free because when I was free, I liked to do the paper foldings, a lot of it. It was very fun doing the paper folding.

ompong 3

2007-09-11T10:32:00.000+08:00

Unlike the first and second teeth, Kate was feeling very uncomfortable and sometimes having pain when the third tooth (left-lower-central-incisor) was quite wobbly and started to come up. So yesterday Mum rang the school dentist, and Kate came home with another ompong :D.

end of term 3

2007-09-10T13:31:00.000+08:00

Just a story about the holiday last week...

One day on holiday, Mum and Kate went to Plasa Singapura. Mum wanted to buy something at Daiso (the $2 shop). At the atrium, there was a dance competition (with High School Musical song). Kate really enjoyed watching it, eventhough she didn't know what High School Musical is. And it made us went back there for 3 days, just to watch the dance :)

The other days, we went to visit and meet up with some old friends. Kate was very happy playing with her old (and new) friends - thank you, guys. At one of visiting, Kate made some of the children cried - sorry, girls - because of the High School Musical bookmark which Kate got at Plasa Singapura. The reason is simple: it was not enough for everyone.

One thing that Kate must not forgot to do on her holiday was doing her homeworks. Here is one of them (using bits of this and that that we found at home)

Today Kate is back to school, ready for Term 4.

ompong 2

2007-08-23T10:22:00.000+08:00

Finally ...

Kate's right-upper-central-incisor baby tooth fell out. It happened last night, right before dinner. Normally it takes about 6 weeks for the tooth to fall out, but this tooth took 10 weeks, while the first one took 1 day only :D.

Now both of her lower-central-incisor baby teeth are start moving. Let's see how long it struggles its way out.

~~(picture will be posted later)~~

(not) zoo animal

2007-08-22T14:25:00.000+08:00

Kate needed to make a scrapbook about animal at the zoo.

Well, we haven't been to the zoo in Singapore, except Kate on school trip few months ago. But we had been to zoo in other countries few times. Strangely, we couldn't find any photographs of them, nor in our computer, neither in our photo albums.

After searching all our photo collections, Kate got several animals photographs. None of them was taken at the zoo, though. :)

Since Kate never sees any scrapbook, here is her idea:

another long weekend

2007-08-20T16:30:00.000+08:00

Thursday

After Chinese tuition, Kate and Mum went to Botanic Garden for a picnic. Not many people there, so we found it quiet enough for some relaxing.

The fish ponds (near Tanglin Gate) were nice again. Now visitors who wish to feed the fish, are encouraged to give only fish food, which could be bought ($1) at dispensing machine at visitor centre nearby. It's a good idea considering usually visitors would give any kind of food (from bread crumbs to green leafy vegetables), which easily makes the ponds dirty. Now the ponds are back nice and clean, and the fishes look healthy, too.

Friday

Kate's bad habit during holiday is waking up late. Today, she woke up at noon!

Daddy had a day long meeting, which ended with a dinner feast. Mum and Kate were planning to join for the feast. But about the time to leave, Mum changed her mind. So Mum and Kate stayed at home instead, to give Kate time to do her homeworks.

While Kate was doing her homeworks, we heard loud noise ... Ooops, we totally forgot about it ... FIREWORKS FESTIVAL :(

Saturday

Usually after swimming lesson, Kate would ask to play water a little while more (which could end up another one hour). But not today, because Mum promised her to watch fireworks. Yesterday she was dissappointed by hearing the noise only.

After preparing some snacks and drinks, off we go. We planned to watch the fireworks from around Fullerton One. Somehow, we ended up at Esplanade Bay. The place was better though, closer from the main view at Marina Bay floating platform. Since we arrived "late" (an hour early), we couldn't get a nice place to get some good snaps.

Sunday

Today was library day! We went to Library@Orchard and Central Lending Library.

Kate has just finished her silver stage from her reading-bear-record. She would need to make the activity to get her silver badge.

... after this 2 consecutive long weekends (Thu-Sun),
Kate will only have 2 weeks to finish her term 3
then another holiday for 1 week...

sillyman

2007-08-16T19:34:00.000+08:00

This time Kate is a story teller.

"Imagine there's a wall and a man. The man dressed up like a Superman. He thought by dressing up like Superman, he could be a Superman. So he climbed up a wall and jumped. But instead of flying up, he fell down.

I think he is a Sillyman, not a Superman."

By the way, today Kate likes to run, bends her body a little bit, straights her hand forward and says "Super...girl".

garden

2007-08-14T13:38:00.000+08:00

Since Kate was having a long weekend (Thu-Sun), the teacher gave lots of homework. Here is one of them:

garden collage

let's fold

2007-08-13T13:25:00.000+08:00

When Kate wants to learn paper folding,

star, cube, cootie-catcher

layout update

2007-08-11T12:49:00.000+08:00

baby

2007-08-10T20:49:00.000+08:00

few days ago,
Kate: Mummy, would you help me finish my meal, please?
Mum: I have eat a lot and my tummy is quite full.
Kate: Please, Mum ...
Mum: If I eat some more, later my tummy will get bigger and bigger.
Kate: That's really good!
Mum: Are you sure?
Kate: Yes! So we would have a baby. Horray!!
Mum: ??? Does the baby come from food?
Kate: Yes :D
Mum: So daddy could have a baby in his tummy, and you could, too.
Kate: No ... It's special only for woman.
Mum: ...
Kate: Of course not. *laughing* I'm just kidding.
Mum: Where does the baby come from, then?

Kate:
The God in heaven will put a really tiny baby in your tummy. And the baby will eat the food in your tummy, so the baby will grow bigger and bigger. When there's not enough space in your tummy, you will need to go to doctor. And the doctor will open your tummy and take the baby out ...
A really cute baby ... :)

Not sure how Kate got the idea, but ... where is daddy's part in making the baby?

round and round and round we go

2007-08-05T21:09:00.000+08:00

Daddy was not feeling well. So while he took a rest, Mum and Kate went to playground.

Kate's highest record is 12'11" in November 2006

down with flu

2007-07-27T23:09:00.000+08:00

This morning Kate had a little bit of runny nose. But she insisted to go for school, so she went for rope-skipping CCA in the morning and continue for school afterwards. There was 2.5 hours between and Kate preferred to spend it at school.

Today Kate also had a class trip to supermarket. Some parents (include Mum) went along to help. The children had so much fun doing supermarket detective (they required to spot some foods that listed in their worksheets) and shopping (with shopping list). After came back to school, they had sandwich party at the canteen with the food and drink they have bought. When the party has over, they went back to their class. Kate looked fine and enjoying the trip, too.

Just about one hour after Mum left school, Mum's phone rang.

"Mum, I want to go home. I want to have a rest"

Kate's voice didn't sound good, so Mum went back to school to fetch her.

And here is Kate checking her temperature by putting the thermometer through her ompong.

independent morning

2007-07-23T14:13:00.000+08:00

Actually Mum was a bit hesitant on doing this, but gave it a try nevertheless.

Mum had to go somewhere, so this morning was Kate's first "independent" morning. When Mum left, Kate had just finished her breakfast. After Mum has left, Kate prepared herself for school, managed some spare time to play computer, locked the doors, then went to chinese lesson by herself.

When Kate finished with her chinese lesson, Mum hasn't arrived yet to pick her up. So Kate went for lunch and waited for Mum there.

Soon Kate will be ready to be a latchkey girl :)

Actually, where did Mum go when Kate was enjoying her morning ?

Psstt ...

to get a book (see the cover on the right) for $25 only :D

name

2007-07-13T15:23:00.000+08:00

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

--From Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Well, it turns out that Kate's name is rather difficult to pronounce, so here's the pronounciation guide (and the meaning) of Kate's name:

Kathleen

Pronounciation	: kath-LEEN
Meaning	: pure, little darling

Kiera

Pronounciation	: KEER-a, KEE-ar-a
Meaning	: dark-haired

Ok, if you still think it's difficult, try to pronounce Hermione :)

... btw it's pronounced Her-MY-oh-knee ...

bus

2007-07-11T14:43:00.000+08:00

Today is the second day Kate will take a bus home from school by herself. Usually Mum sends and picks her up at school. But yesterday, Kate wanted to try to take the bus by herself. She only asked Mum to wait for her at the bus stop, in case there was naughty driver who disobeyed the traffic light when she was crossing the road.

Yesterday, Kate came home safe and sound, and she was very happy with the experience. She took the bus together with another 2 girls, Jolene and Erin, who live in the building just behind the bus stop. Jolene is a P3 girl who goes to school and comes back home by herself. Erin is a P1 girl who goes to school by school bus and her maid picks her up in the evening.

Actually, Mum is not totally confidence on letting Kate take the bus by herself. There are many bad and good scenarios come to Mum's mind. Start with 'how if Kate misses the bus stop', then come so many other 'how if ...'s.

Mum used to go to school by herself since P2, though. It was about 20 minutes journey from home to school by 'angkot', and 30 minutes from school to home. That time Mum lived in a small town called Cimahi, suburb of Bandung, capital of West Java. Of course it is not the same condition as metropolitan like Singapore. That time Mum was about 7.5 years old, so Kate starts about 1 year younger than Mum.

Well ... this is one of parenting challenges. Sometimes the child is ready, but the parents are not. Sometimes the child is not ready, but the parents expect too much. It is quite complicated, isn't it?

..... everybody is different .....

..... no one else is me .....

Happy Feet

2007-07-03T15:02:00.000+08:00

It was getting late, more and more people came for picnic cum movie. The air which has been a bit cooler became hot again. And while waiting for the darkness to come, Kate managed to have a short nap in the middle of the crowd and the noise.

And it turned out that Happy Feet will not be in Kate's favourite list, as she cried countless time during the movie, especially when the other penguins told Mumble to leave.

little photographer

2007-06-25T14:56:00.000+08:00

When Kate wants to be a photographer ...

ompong 1

2007-06-19T13:15:00.001+08:00

"pake ompong"

dentist

2007-06-11T16:59:00.000+08:00

Today we went to see dentist to ensure that the fall has not affected other areas of Kate's oral condition. It was quite late though, we were supposed to see dentist as soon as possible after the fall. But thank God, everything is fine.

So far we are satisfied with dental service for Kate. Today was the second time Kate went to see dentist. First time was last month when we found out there was a cavity on Kate's left-lower-tooth (M2). Mum only needed to call school dentist. A couple days later, the dentist called Kate and gave her dental treatment. Today the school dentist is closed, so we went to School Dental Centre at HPB. And both visits were not bad experiences for Kate. The dentists are so friendly, though Kate said that the filling treatment was painful (guessed it was the drilling process). However, Kate was fine whenever Mum mentioned about denist, dental appointment, etc. It is important, because Kate will need to go to school dentist for filling treatment at least one more time, to replace the temporary filling with permanent one.

And would you like to know other good part of this service?

They don't charge any single cents for these visits. Though the second visit was "nothing" but gave us relief, they only checked and said nothing to worry about.

tooth

2007-06-08T00:57:00.000+08:00

"Mum, my front tooth could move.
It feels so funny."

It was Kate's upper central incisor tooth. This was her first experience and she was quite excited about it.

Usually, lower central incisors permanent teeth are the first to appear along with the first permanent molars. Perhaps it is different in Kate's case. Her first permanent molar teeth has appeared few months ago.

Yesterday when Kate was playing bicycle with her friends, rain started. Kate quickly paddled her bicycle faster, trying to get to shelter. Unfortunately, on the way to the shelter, she fell down together with the bicycle. There were some cuts on her upper lip, her upper gum was bleeding and one of her front tooth was gone! It was the tooth that Kate mentioned a day earlier.

We are not sure that the tooth completely fell out with the whole root. We couldn't see any on Kate's gum, but the falling tooth that Mum found later doesn't look as one-whole-tooth. Hope the new tooth that is growing will push the root out (if there's any left behind).

shopping

2007-06-07T12:02:00.000+08:00

Few days ago while sending Kate to bed,
Mum: I really don't know how to make your room tidy. You have so many stuffs. *sighed*
Kate: Who ask you to buy so many things for me?

Mum: You?

Kate: No, I don't. It's you ...

Mum: *half speechless* Well... next time I will not buy anything for you.
Kate: Ok. We will only buy the things that we really need and is important. Remember that, ok?
Mum: Deal.

Yesterday, about 400m from home:
"Mum, I want that pompom."

"Mum, this blanket is so nice. I think it will match with my bedsheet. I want to buy it."

orchard

2007-06-06T11:42:00.000+08:00

Question from one of Kate's English workbook:

They went to the orchard to .....
(1) pick some fruits
(2) do some shopping
(3) clean the windows

Could you guess what Kate's first answer?
Yup! Her answer was (2) ...

NB: For you who don't know, the correct answer is (1)

bad mum?

2007-06-05T00:08:00.000+08:00

Walking back home from library, we heard a toddler's crying on pedestrian walk across the road. The toddler was on a stroller, while his parents were standing beside it.

Kate: It was so mean, isn't it, Mum? The mother was so rude to the baby. She is a bad mum.
Mum: Hmm ...
Kate: There's no point she scolded and shook the baby. May be the baby is hungry. But he couldn't talk yet, that's why he cries.
Mum: Am I a bad mum?
Kate: Of course not. You are very nice. *with big hug*
Mum: But sometimes I scold you.
Kate: It's fine. For big kid is fine, but not for baby. Baby will not understand even if someone scold them so much. So there's no point the mother did that. Luckily she is not my mum. I have a very nice mum.
Mum: Thank you, sweetie ...
*while deep inside, Mum feels very guilty because nowadays she loses self-control so often*

tv

2007-05-28T13:22:00.001+08:00

It was just a few weeks ago when Kate found out about re-scheduling of Hi-5. She was really hoping that she could watch it during her 4-weeks-holiday. Unfortunately, when she turned the TV on after lunch today, it was Sabrina's Secret Life instead of Hi-5. Checked the guide, YUP!, there's no more Hi-5 on kids central. Less than 5 minutes later, the TV was off.

Kate is very selective on watching TV and only wants to watch certain programmes that she knows what it is about. At one point, it is good that Kate doesn't become addicted to TV. But on the other hand, it makes her sometimes misses some good programmes that actually has good hidden messages for kids.

Well, let's find the good hidden messages from other medium and materials.

chocolate sandwich

2007-05-27T13:42:00.000+08:00

Chocolate Ham Sandwich

- 2 slices of bread
- ham
- iceberg lettuce
- chocolate spread
- chilli sauce

Spread the chocolate on one side of each bread. Stack them together with ham and lettuce in between. Put chilli sauce on the top as desired.
Kate likes to put just a couple drops on each bite

Chocolate Prata Sandwich 1

- frozen plain prata
- chocolate spread
- cooking oil

Heat a little bit of cooking oil on a flat frying pan. Fry the prata on one side until it puffs up, then turn it over until it puffs up again. Put on a plate, let it cool down a little bit. Spread the chocolate on one side. Fold in half and cut as desired.

Chocolate Prata Sandwich 2

- frozen plain prata
- margarine
- chocolate rice

Heat a little bit of margarine on a flat frying pan. Fry the prata on one side until it puffs up, then turn it over until it puffs up again. Put on a plate, spread a thin layer of margarine while the prata is still hot. Sprinkle the chocolate rice on top. Fold in half and cut as desired.

Wondering how the taste is? Ask Kate :D

my friends and I

2007-05-23T10:32:00.002+08:00

It's a school project, part of school's effort in promoting racial harmony. The pupils are strongly encouraged to submit a photograph taken with a non-Chinese friend, accompanied with a short write-up about their friend.

Marina, Natasha, and I

Marina, Natasha, and I lived in the same building at Bangkok but we all went to different schools. We came from different countries. I came from Indonesia, Marina came from Japan, and Natasha came from Australia. Marina has a younger sister named Risako. They speak in Japanese with their parents at home. Risako and I went to the same school and took the same school bus. Natasha has a younger brother named Oscar and an older brother named Lucas.

Marina, Natasha, and I liked to play at the playground after school. We played some lovely games and Oscar sometimes wanted to join in our games but the four girls said, "No, this is girl's game" but Oscar just stood and cried to see the four girls playing their games. But sometimes we let him to join with us. Sometimes we visited each other. We all liked princesses and liked to act like them. We also liked to make lots and lots of arts and crafts.

I miss them a lot and I wish they have time to come and stay in Singapore so we could be together and play together again, and again, and again, and again !!

the quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog

2007-05-18T09:57:00.000+08:00

Mum was very happy when Kate brought home exam-paper results. Kate got good marks on all 3 subjects (Math, English, Chinese). Horray!! Looks like Kate could follow the Chinese lesson well.

Somehow, one thing was bothering us. It was on English paper - penmanship section. It was supposed to be a very easy section, because the pupils only need to copy down what was written above. But what looked easy was not very easy, because on that section, Kate got much less point than other sections. And it mainly because she wrote 't' instead of 't'. Well, this is not the only letter Kate sometimes writes differently, but still normal letter though, not a fancy writing or calligraphy.

Mum has met with Kate's teacher to discuss this matter. Mum's concern was, the letter Kate wrote should be acceptable because it was what she saw in most of books. We should let children to learn more from their environment, shouldn't we? And we see 't' more than 't', don't we? Even if it was not acceptable, the school usually accepted her different-letter, but not this time. Unconsistency will make the children confused, won't they?

The teacher's point was that she understood Kate's writing, because she knew Kate. But this would make other children got confused. P1 and P2 children were expected to write according to what they learned at school.

Just now Mum tried to find the font (in MS Word) that looks like the letter that the school taught. The closests are 'Century Gothic' for lowercase and 'Microsoft Sans Serif' for uppercase:

jolly housewife made inexpensive meals using quick-frozen vegetables

ALL QUESTIONS ASKED BY FIVE WATCH EXPERTS AMAZED THE JUDGE

happy mother's day

2007-05-13T22:01:00.000+08:00

yummy ...

2007-05-07T13:44:00.000+08:00

Kate is having her first exam this week (Mon-Wed).
*good luck, sweetheart*
So last weekend, she had much more homeworks than usual, and need to prepare herself for the exam.

When Kate was busy studying, Mummy played in the kitchen. And these were what we had:

-Siomay- -Fruit Salad- -Steamed Rice-

hi-5

2007-05-02T10:13:00.000+08:00

Kate is so happy when she found out that Hi-5 time at kids central has changed from 5pm to 12:30pm. Since she went to primary school, she couldn't watch this TV programme anymore as she comes home around 7pm. Now at least she could watch it once a week when her school starts late.

Until now, Kate's favourite is still Hi-5. She also likes to watch Bob the Builder, Winnie the Pooh, and Thomas the Tank Engine. She doesn't like to watch any kid's movie or programme that contains violance or has 'bad guy' character. This includes Barbie and Disney Princess' movie which most of girls like to watch. She would cry and getting upset when the 'good guy' is attacked by the 'bad guy', and doesn't want to continue watching it. But she is fine with action movie that Mum and Dad watch.

She still enjoys playing with her Barbie dolls (7 Barbie, 1 Ken, and 2 Kelly) and reads story books about princess, though. But the movie... No, thank you.

mother tongue

2007-04-27T22:47:00.000+08:00

This is what happened when mother couldn't read letter in mother-tongue.

Yesterday, it took more than an hour for Mum to read a note (about postcard size) from school. What Mum could get for sure at first sight: there was a date, 9th of May. Hmm ... exam? Double checked with the exam-schedule given earlier -- it matched. Seeing the list, guessed they were columns of type of questions, number of questions, and estimated time given: in total it would be 55 questions in 80 minutes. Ok ... let's get the detail ... dictionary, please ...

And today, Kate brought home a set of exam paper (last year SA1 paper) for practise. Let's see it! There are 55 questions ... yup! Wait ... why is there ".../80"? They will not count the time spent, will they? Oops, that is the total point, not minutes! Double checking with the schedule again ... Yup, the time is 90 minutes.

As for oral exam, which was yesterday ... Mum only could trust Kate on it.

May be we need to ring Grandma more often for Kate to practise her mother-tongue :)

Malory Towers

2007-04-17T09:52:00.000+08:00

“One day you will leave school, and go out into the world as young women. You should take with you eager minds, kind hearts, and a will to help. You should take with you a good understanding of many things, and a willingness to accept responsibility and show yourselves as women to be loved and trusted. I do not count as our successes those who have won scholarships and passed exams, though these are good things to do. I count as our successes those who learn to be good-hearted and kind, sensible and trustable, good, sound women the world can lean on.”

letters

2007-04-09T14:21:00.000+08:00

One night, Kate gave Mum a letter:

Dear Mummy and daddy.
Thank you for the very very nice day wich is the first day of chinese New Year wich is on 18.2.07 for bringing Kate to sentosa and having a nice day. Thank you very very much.
from Kathleen Kiera

And letter below, Mum found it in mailbox on 19 March, with our address on the envelope:

Dear Mei-Che,
I wish you a very very happy term 2. Term 2 is the best in 2007 because Kate is the group leader so Kath will do the best and help Ms J. Tan.

Leader is the one who will help the teacher, Ms J. Tan.
love, Kate

simple

2007-04-04T10:52:00.000+08:00

it's so fun
tips: do the rest with blender

mix
and mix
and mix

so lumpy

a bit messy
and sticky

yummy ...

no cooking or baking required