12 sticks

Monkey see, monkey do.

I saw a demo on FB and here's an improvised version. (I did not do double coat i.e add a second coat to the chilled coat, because that would be way too sweet).

I want to share these Chocolate Mocha Spoons with my working friends.


Melt and blend chocolate with instant coffee powder. Decorate. Fill mixture onto tablespoons.
Let them sit and chill in fridge.
Heat up plain fresh milk. Serve hot in a mug, stir with chocolate spoon for a cuppa.

Materials $18

School Holiday Homework

I had said that we will finish all homework in one sitting so that we don't have to deal with it for the rest of the month. But it is not a feasible plan. In the end, we have only managed to do a little here and there. So, just take one worksheet at a time.

Book review:
She did the illustrations and wrote the first sentence.
We wrapped up the "new words" section together last night.

A Beagle

 Practising for upcoming concert, Hammie watching.

We were reading this from the library when I commented that if I ever were to have dog, I would choose a Beagle. Kiki commented in delight: "I told you!", she said: "You will surely want a dog someday!"

Ya, who wouldn't want a dog? Every affectionate person would want a dog what.

Anyway.

School Holiday Homework

Ai yo... a few homework.. want to quickly get them over and done with.

Dumplings

Sunday-- Bren brought Kiki to swim class cos my heel was still throbbing.
So I made dumplings for dinner.

 I've always wanted to make Wantons but ended up with Dumplings.
I don't know how to make the Wanton shape...

Magnetic Patches

 very effective! really works.
I used 4 studs on my heel yesterday (Sunday) and the sharp pain reduced to bearable pain after... about 6 hours.

 This was the problem I had

This had been around for years...... can it please go away.

Saturday 28 May

 I really, really couldn't walk properly on Saturday. In fact, I struggled to get home on Friday.
It was shocking, I had what I later found out-- ligament inflammation  -- at the ligament just above the heel bone. It was a very sharp pain, like a sprained leg but sharper pain. I had to text Pamela to cancel the appointment we had, I was going to her place to ask HJ to help Kiki with the duet piece cos our performance is just a couple of days away...... but I had so much trouble walking, I really didn't think I was gonna make it to her place.

In the morning, Maricar helped me bring the kids to music & chinese. I mean, I have always been the one plying up and down cos Maricar will be preparing lunch normally. So anyway, just once in a blue moon she stands in for me chaperoning the kids to classes.

 Kiki returned with a Hello Kitty trading card pack. Her Chinese teacher gave her this because she has gotten 98 marks for their in-house test. Small tokens like these makes the kids very proud. They will be excited over little cutsey stuff, generally.

 After violin, she carried the violin case for me so that we could inch our way to the toy store to get her a toy hamster. This toy hamster is quite realistic, especially when it is in its plastic cage ball. Kiki gave him a few names on trial-- Hammie, Cammy (for caramel), Ham-ham, and Milo. In the end, I think she prefers Ham-ham & Hammie. 

 I said if Hammie is male, then he must be a punk to use earrings. She said that she didn't know boys don't use earrings. I took it back, I said sorry, I mean he must be quite funky to be using earrings, and that there's no restrictions for boys to use earrings. I didn't tell her that her Papa used to have hair longer than mine, and used ear studs. I didn't quite appreciate his pony tail hair though. It was ok, just not ga-ga if you know what I mean.

Hammie has a nest.

Kids Clothing

We usually get T-shirts from Uniqlo. They partner with many other brands, like Disney, Sanrio, Barbie, etc. They don't do much sales as in, they don't drop prices after few weeks or few months. The only prices they'd drop are for those few pieces of clothing that are leftover, just to clear stock.

long sleeve cotton top for sleepwear

Lunch with work friends

Clementi Mall Foodcourt- Chicken Cutlet Jap Curry.
Lunch with work friends.

Meet-the-parents-day

 Waiting for my turn to meet Kiki's form teacher. The form teacher is also her Math teacher. 

Kiki's test marks are all very well except for Math (88). I told her teacher that we don't get to see any Math materials until just a week or so before the tests, that leaves us little time to revise, plus the Math concepts are new to me as I'm a new P1 parent. Her teacher says that Kiki is among her 'best' students, in fact Kiki helps her to coach other students, especially with Math. Hum.... that's strange, then why is her Math marks the lowest? I mean at least should be in the 90++ range if she's among the 'better' students, right? All her teacher would say is to assure me that Kiki's doing good. She says that Kiki could be careless when she become bored.

I asked about swimming. She says that as long as we could get a basic swim certificate (from personal coach), we could opt out from the compulsory swim class when in P2. Hum................ dunno how long more to get a basic swim cert ley, I thought to myself. 

I asked about CCA. She says at the end of P2, there will be recruitment drive for various sports. At the end of P1, there will be recruitment drive for the Chinese Orchestra & Chinese Dance Club. She said she would recommend us for the Chinese Orchestra. 

After I bid them (both the English teacher & Math teacher) goodbye, I moved to the hall to meet Kiki's Chinese teacher.

Her Chinese teacher is elderly. A senior lady.  

She says that Kiki is fine, probably needs to read more Chinese story books, but otherwise she's fine, eager to learn and all. However, she says that she had noticed Kiki has a tendency to cry. She asked what is the condition or situation at home. I was taken aback and I don't know why, perhaps a little overwhelmed or perhaps she asked a question that hit a tender nerve, I could feel my nose getting warm and tears were building up. I thought to myself-- HEY FREAK IT, you better get a hold of yourself. If you cry in front of this teacher she might think no wonder your daughter cries easily!

Crazy me. It's a warranted question. Her teacher is trying to find out if there's any problems at home as she had noticed Kiki seemed to be bottling up a lot of emotions. 

What emotions could she bottle?

She has toys, she has school, she has books, she has TV, she has YouTube, she has music. She has afternoon naps. She exercises. What else does she want. I asked myself, feeling defensive. 

Her teacher suggests that I ask Kiki about her feelings, she also suggest that I let Kiki be more expressive. 

Haven't I?   I know I've always kind of asked her to shut up. Or dismiss her whatever requests. How could I entertain for example, the request for a dog. Or for a hamster for that matter. Her teacher suggests I could get her a toy dog, and read books about dogs so as to satisfy that desire or curiosity.  She has many toy dogs lah. Got Monty, got Reimi, got that pink poodle Sparkle. 

I don't know. I guess I will have to get back on track with that sketch journal, let her sketch her thoughts since we don't do much creative writing.

Just two nights ago, Kiki told me that in her heart, there's one small box that is sad and lonely. 

I dismissed it by saying I also have a box in my heart that is sad and lonely. Who doesn't. People who are always easily happy doesn't have that sad and lonely box but there are people who has a sad and lonely box. So what. 

So perhaps I didn't handle it well. I didn't ask what she meant by that and I also didn't ask what could we do about it. I just feel that she has no business being sad or lonely. If she has, then live with it. 

I can't deal with it. I have a million things to deal with. 

I don't know what to say.

Post entry: I asked Kiki what the crying was about. She said her classmate (boy) took her school bag and emptied its contents. He refused to stop the pranks. 

Stacks of text books in her classroom.

Wanton Mee

This stall moved from Tg. Rhu to Marine Terrace (Hawker Centre).
Smooth, soft noodle texture.

After Piano Class

Won't be eating these any time soon..... so uncomfortable after eating sticky Jap rice. 
But smells nice.

On Sale!

On sale! $60, half of original price, wow.
progressive sale, $129.90... $90... $70... $60.
Lace graphic print, mature.

On sale! $50! one-third of original price, wow.
Navy Blue Suede Dress, comfy. 

西游记

After term tests, class activities are more relaxing and fun. 西游记  

What's not there

So yesterday I saw on FB there's this lady who saw a "Disney Princess" in an ice cube in her chilled cup of Iced Coffee. She took a photo of the Disney Princess to show her friends and it went viral. 

Some comments were along the line that respondents are too Boh Liao, Bored, and that to say that the image is a Princess' silhouette is a stretch of their imaginations. 

But this kind of phenomena is nothing new. It's called - Pareidolia, and it happens all the time. 

People see fogs and clouds resembling faces, figures, animals, etc. Some people are more prone in making meaning of the non-relevant chanced occurrence. It's like the brain seeks out to see what's not there. Like seeing a face on the surface of the moon. Some marketing tactics make use of this trait, like having the Amazon logo resemble a smile.

So anyway, I first saw an "ear", then "Cinderella", and lastly, a "lady with big hat".

And then this reminds me of the time I told Val about my "imaginary friends". They were dust-dirt-shadows on the bathroom tiles, there was a Cowboy, a Circus master, a Lion. It's like every morning I tell them about my day while I sit on the throne. Val also has a set of shadowy friends. It's not that uncommon but I guess we outgrow our imaginary friends.

Double Boh-Gey

I was in the showers when I heard the type of cries that could only mean Colin took another bite at the sister or something more serious. She took a while to calm down, she was shocked that she tasted blood and that her other Dracula Tooth came flying off as Colin too a swing and accidentally knocked the tooth that was slightly loose but not very loose yet. They were fighting over Scotch Tape. Colin refused to apologise to his sister because he had not meant to punch her face or her teeth. It was a swing of his arm and it just happened to hit at the angle. I told Kiki that Colin has no sympathy for her because she has no sympathy for him when he cried in vain when she refused to spare him a Balloon earlier that evening. This is Tit for Tat and I've really failed in having them have more affection for each other. I'm still waiting for that "one fine day". 

Kiki sobbed- Now I'm Double Boh-Gey!

LOL

Sunday Morning

So two weeks back Pam texted if I would join her & her friends to go Botanical Gardens. I was thinking that I've got to stop saying 'no' to invitations, especially to the barely few friends who never give up on me. I did wonder if it might be one of those church activities but I thought - never mind lah, just go with an open mind. Turns out it's an informal outing organised by her Amway friends. 

So, there are six Game Stations that we are to complete in two hours. Along the way, we are to do Photo Hunts. Some floral, some insects, some animals, etc. Eg: Bamboo.

 "water bomb" game station.
there are some "mines" "planted" under the card boards, each team member is to take one step at a time, upwards. If we stepped onto a "mine", "water bombs" would be thrown at us. Then the next team member will have to start from first row, moving upwards, avoiding the spaces with 'mines'.

Then there was this very simple game but it was the toughest for me.
The Game Master led me to the spot where I was to wait for my team member to arrive. But I had to walk with him with my eyes blind folded. I realized that it is very hard for me to trust people. Perhaps it's because I do not know him. Ya. It is very hard for me to trust people I do not know. It is not fair of me to expect people to have absolute trust and faith in me while I could hardly give them the same.

 photo hunt

Pam made peanut-butter sandwiches for the whole group (about 35 pax) while Pam's friend made extra sandwiches for us. She got up at 6am to cook the meats & eggs.

 A giant Poodle.

 The grand finale Telematch games-- blow six balloons, spin five rounds with heads down, arm cross touching ground, run with ping pong ball on spoon held with your mouth, put your face into a basin filled with water-- use a toothpick to pick up a tiny grape submerged in water, eat the grape. Without using your hands, eat a single M&M from a plate covered in flour, burst the balloon that you had inflated earlier, run back to your team for the next member to take the relay.  Our team was the winner at the grand finale telematch. I think that's because we strategised to have two best members to go first, Kiki as the third, two others in between, then the last member to finish strong. But with all the points from all other games compiled, our team came in second (among total of five groups). No prize lah, only the winning team has prizes. But it was fun.