In between classes

while waiting for Speech & Drama class, her Papa brought her for a snack (at the library, yes, there's a cafe within the library). she is as goofy as me, fooling around with a hair-rubber band.

Last Friday Night

 Cupcakes baking demonstration class...... I was a tad tired but I've enjoyed the class although I am not sure if I would find the time to bake.
Kiki joined us after her Art class at the same CC. She told me she was hungry but I was busy with the class and asked her to wait. Little did I notice an hour passing by, by 10pm, she was in tears.... hahaha. too hungry. Luckily, the cupcakes had cooled and was ready to be savored.

We're having another class this week, I think it's vegetarian cooking. 

Breakfast

Every day, we eat at McCafe, we used to eat at McD but gradually hopped over to McCafe next door which has little crowd and well, wholemeal bread & an assortment of brews.

This week, Keroppi (the gree frog) is on sale. Actually, it's Hello Kitty in various costumes that is on sale.
The print looks more adorable than the toy itself, hence I ended up not getting anything despite having no crowd at the fast food restaurant. If I were to choose just one character to buy, that would be Texedosam. So I'll see if the plush toy is really that cute when its turn comes. 

Weekend- Kuey Pie Tee.

How to Catch a Star - drama

 She's in such high spirits, game enough to pose for photo-taking.

The production was a little slow but the kids enjoyed it. Children, being children are quite easy to engage in interactive play. Kiki enjoyed the show quite a bit, and asked to return for more. I guess we'll keep a lookout, the next one we've got in the pipeline (in June), will include Colin =)

 Dinner at a Sushi bar at Cathay Building.

Plus new ZAPI canvas loafers that spoke Zen!

Dental Part 3 (finale for now)

She skated to the dentist on her skate scooter. Too bad that glider couldn't take my weight, or I would have done the same. I want an adult skate scooter! Tell me, where's the nearest specialty store?

 Mended the cavity on her left molar. She's more at ease and chatted non-stop with the dentist and the assistant; she made them laugh so much with somewhat of a mixed up series of events. She told the dentist she was going to watch a drama after mending her tooth. The dentist asked her what show is that; she replied that it is not a show, it is a drama and it's at "School of the Art Class" (actually, it is School of the Arts- SOTA). This confused the dentist, who went on inquiring about her art classes. haha.

Kiki told the dentist about a painful toothache. Upon closer inspection, the dentist explained that Kiki's adult tooth (molar) is breaking through the gums hence the pain. She says some kids have it earlier, some at age 6 or 7.

 Still a baby. LOL.

Short Stories

Jan/Feb 2014 issue from the library. And I've just realised Christopher Welch has passed away last December.

Pet Grooming

She loves her pups, perhaps a little too much when she gave the puppy lip gloss.... yeeews, looks like scary Joker. Oh, I am partly to be blamed; because I've refrained her from using the (toy) make-up kit on herself. In the first place,,,,,, I shouldn't have relented into buying that make-up palette if I wasn't gonna let her use it. Poor puppy....

The Emperor's New Clothes

When we first began the group lesson, it was a huge struggle. I do not play nor study music. But I have always felt moved by some music albeit contemporary ones eg: Maksim's Exodus or Canon, and Dream of Love No.3 from my Cafe Del Mar CD. My sis replaced me on the two occasions I was unable to attend violin class, and she told me to give it up. Well, unless you are the parent, you may not be able to weather the sometimes harsh comments from the teacher. Well, a few parent-kid duos have quit along the way, the remaining ones have somewhat survived or qualifying. You can call me old-school, but I make no apology in appreciating discipline and hard work as many times they do pay off. The teacher has already told us that the kid is not her student, the parent is. Not that now it isn't difficult for me; I have just figured out Etude in book 1 after sweating it out for a few days, and it will take about two weeks for Kiki to pick up the new tune but we grew a little more resilient each time we learn a new piece and I like it when we've learned a new song, but to be bearably good at it takes a lot of practice, patience and faith. I think as long as we could still manage learning, we will continue. Hopefully for a long time to come.

When we first began, I have always wondered if a more expensive violin would produce better sound quality and I tried to find an excuse for the not-so-good performances we've had. But then one day, I was blown over. The teacher was either frustrated with what she was hearing, took over one of the student's violin to try. She broke into very fine tunes. Then every mother / father wanted her to sample their violins which she did. As she sampled, she asked about how much we've paid for the violin. To our surprises, whether it was an old, valuable violin or one that cost a couple of hundreds to the cheapest ones that are slightly over $100, they all sounded very fine. From that demonstration, I had given up blaming the instrument. "I am the instrument", I thought to myself. If the sound is less than perfect, it is surely not the instrument from what I've seen here. Of course I admit that me being a novice, very much rely on a better quality violin to bring out nicer sounds, but an expert violinist could bring out very, very fine sounds regardless. I've learned that there are no lousy violins, only novice violinists.

Recently, I came across an article about a blind test conducted to discover if first-rate, renowned Soloists would necessarily prefer old violins over new ones if they have not been told the specifics of the violins they are sampling. The group of researching Scientists "antiqued" six new violins to give them an aged look and put them together with six old, Italian violins, hence the Soloists were not able to tell what is what. Furthermore, the Soloists were asked to choose one from among the twelve violins; to replace their current violin in a hypothetical concert tour. So, it means that the Soloists were very serious when reviewing the violin of their choice and had graded new violins better for playability, articulation, and projection, and at least equal to old in terms of timbre. In short, the group of renowned Soloists were unable to tell an old branded violin from a brash new one given the unbiased circumstance. (Can I exclaim now?, the emperor has no clothes on him!)

 For full article, please read

Soloist evaluations of six Old Italian and six new violins

from 
Source:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/04/03/1323367111

 

 

Lions

She sketched a Lion for her teacher C. I was like,,,,,, hummmmmm can you sketch another one for me?
So she did Lion #2, and added one more for her Papa. 

Lion 1

Lion 2

Lion 3 has no whiskers

Games: Rent-a-dog Saloon

On a Monday night, Bren & I were chatting endlessly in our kitchen, laughing, talking, and smooching.
We had our Chivas with Coke and were talking enthusiastically about our impending Phuket trip, it would have been our tenth or more trip there. Unfortunately, I am unable to bring Maricar along because we have problem getting help to bathe and change Charmaine daily. To transport Charmaine to the bathroom and to strip her off the soiled diapers for a shower etc., is dirty work and not much souls could do that day after day. I can't do that. For every shortcoming that Maricar may have, she offsets it with her empathy for us and for Charmaine when she took up the duty of showering Charmaine. When we were away to HK that few days, our house eventually reeked with such stench that the Police could have left a notice if our neighbours complained. And I was also very sorry to my neighbours who may have suffered. I wasn't sure if I should cry but my heart cried. So anyway, like I've always said, we TOTE. (Test-Operate-Test-Exit) meaning with any task or challenge, first you Test your strategy. Then you kick it into Operation. Then you review your Test to see if you need to change your strategy. Until you find a strategy that works well for you, you then Exit (leaving it working in operation). So now that we've tested with the HK trip, I've concluded that we must leave a hand at home to bathe Charmaine even though we've solved the food portion with food-drop. So anyway, I've told Maricar that when I go on a shorter holiday with the kids, I'll bring her along. She's not in any way demanding, so that's gracious of her.

Anyway, back to Rent-a-dog Saloon.

Kiki was demanding me to play with her after I brushed her off on two previous occasions. So, in between chattering with Bren in the kitchen, I try to entertain the little one by participating in her game. She has invented a Rent-a-dog Saloon with elaborate details. I sometimes wonder if she's semi-genius.

First, there's a line-up of the dogs she has.
You will choose the dog you wish to have and bring it to her. (presumably she's the shopkeeper)
I try to name the dogs that I can recognise but I only know Shaggy dog, Dalmatian, Bulldog, Jack Russell, German Shepherd, Dachshund (Sausage dog).

 Next, she will write you a receipt for your order by outlining the shape of the dog you've borrowed.

 And place your job order and the dog in a package meant for you.
There are specific packages for each customer.

 And even a "record" or what looks like a customer-list.

She explains that you can have the dog for two days, if you want to have it for three days, it's an option.
Then, you will have to bring the dog back safely and repeat the process by borrowing another dog home.
After her briefing, it dawned on me that it was a dog rental service, hence I told her for reference, the game is called "Rent-a-dog".

It's pretty fun, given the elaborate process and interactions.

 She keeps these toy dogs and props in this tin case, and I called it the "shop".