Nai Nai's Birthday

It is Nainai's birthday and we were discussing what to eat to celebrate.

As Yeye and Nainai had just returned from a trip to Malacca and did not get to eat the famous seafood there due to a super long queue, Yeye's eyes lit up when we suggested going to eat seafood. Max suggested going to the Changi Yatch Club to eat and so we made arrangement to meet and go together.

Alas, when we arrived, we found out that the restaurant is closed. Since we are already there, just go take some pictures lah.

This boat had me in stitches.... It is called LIM PEH! Hahahaha

Also found a boat tat has my name:)

Drove over to the nearest Jumbo ad Ace was so excited to see a koi pond:)

Nainai deciding what she wants to eat..

Cheers!

Ace looking away when the drunken prawns were served cos he says so horrible to see them..

After we finished eating, Ace felt bored so I went with him to feed the koi..

And then it was time to go home:)

I am glad Nainai and Yeye enjoyed themselves very much:)

Previous Post: Class Monitor

Class Monitor

We had a discussion at the start of the last school year about aspirations to become a student leader.

Ace said he wanted to become a prefect but to become a prefect, he will first have to be a class monitor... He wanted to become a leader of some sort and I guess he is just naturally bossy:) hahaha...

Last year, he was nominated but did not make it as a class monitor but he ended up as a Math Monitor ... To be honest, he did not do much as a math monitor but I think it gave him a boost of confidence to excel in math and develop a passion for it.

Over time, he discovered though, that it is not a great idea to be a prefect.

One of his frens, who was promoted to prefect in P4 said to him that if he had known he will have to go to school early and sacrifice time playing with friends to carry out prefect duty, he would not have wanted to become a prefect.. hahahaaha.. so Ace decided based on that.. that he will just aspire to be a class monitor:) Because... what do you know.. Ace's favourite hobby is PLAY and it is probably the thing that is MOST IMPORTANT in the world to him.

"Plus hor, if I am monitor, then I can write down the names of the people who are naughty and so no one will dare to bully me..." I told him that that is not the main job of a class monitor and that is not a reason to become a class monitor. He should not abuse the power or authority he has as a class monitor.

But leh, he says he will be monitor in P6 cos in P5 if he is monitor, he will be promoted to prefect in P6 and he doesnt want to be prefect. hahahaha... I told him if he is offered to be prefect, he can reject mah.... And so he said he will think about it... Anyway, that was last year when we discussed this...

Yesterday, when he came home, he informed me that his teacher will be selecting monitor the next day. And in order to demonstrate his leadership capabilities and "show up", he helped his teacher to carry books and stuff. "You see my hand now so red.."

I asked if he volunteered to carry the books and he said, "No, is my teacher ask me to carry... Mummy, maybe he asked me cos I have chance to be class monitor!" But I thought it was likely cos Ace is tallest in class and looks like he is the strongest:) haha...

Today, he came home and announced that he is elected as class monitor!:)

When I talked to him about it, he told me that when it was time to select class monitor, he raised his hand and volunteered himself. I asked him if no other boys and girls wanted to be class monitor?

He said, "They wanted to, but I was the only one with the courage to raise my hand and say I want to be class monitor." I am a little surprised at Ace's answer because it told me that he had to pluck up courage to raise his hands and I am really glad that he is confident and found the courage to fight for what he wants:) When I asked him later, he said he took a few minutes to volunteer himself

Apparently, after that, the teacher also asked for nominations and so total, there were 7 names being nominated (including the girls). So everyone can only vote once amongst all the boy nominees (cos they voted once for boy nominees and once for girls as they need to choose class monitor and monitress...)

Ace said that he received 27 votes out of his class of 33 pax who voted and there was one person who got zero votes.

I asked him why will people nominate someone and not vote for him? He said cos there was a boy  who did not want to kenna sabo to be class monitor and so he nominated 4 names but voted  for none of them... cos eventually he voted for Ace:) hahahaha...

Looks like Ace is quite popular:) Hahaha..

Anyway, I hope he will enjoy this experience and will learn and grow from it:)


I saw a marker in Ace's pencil case and asked him what it was.. he said his teacher gave it to him for him to write the names of naughty boys and girls on the whiteboard...

As a result of Ace being monitor, his teacher has requested that he goes to school earlier so that he can help with marking attendance and doing some other things. I asked him what time he wants to reach school and he said, "6.50am like that.." So I told him then he has to go to bed at 8pm instead of 9pm to wake up early enough to do that and so he told me he will negotiate with his teacher to see if he can reach later.

Eventually, we arranged for him to sleep at 8.30pm and wake 6.30am so he can reach school at around 7.05am... but leh, eventually, someone dilly and dally and he also realized nothing much to do in school actually so now we only leave the house at 7.05 instead:) hahaha...

The other night, I was complaining to him that he always dilly dally at bed time so by the time he is ready to sleep, it is 8.30 already and we dun have time to chat or read a book together like we usually do... and then he hugged me and told me in a reassuring voice, "Sorry lah mama... I am a little more busy now because I have more to do now that I am monitor.. but I promise I will make time to spend time with you, ok?" And gave me a pat..

Hahahahaha... feels like a role reversal lor!:)

But leh, actually hor, he is dilly dally lor... not really that he is more bz cos he is school monitor lor... school monitor at home dun have extra work one mah...

The one good thing that came out of him being class monitor is now he does not forget to hand me things to sign.. which he usually does forget previously when he was in P4:)

I asked Ace if his tuition teacher knew he is a class monitor and he said, "Yes.. she knows.." I asked him if she asked and he told her when he answered a question or he volunteered the info himself.

He said he volunteered the info...and so I asked.. "How did you tell her?"

And Max said... "I bet he did this..." And Max did a very hao lian but also very paiseh face at the same time and said in a kiddish voice.. "Teacher.... I... I... I am class monitor leh..."

And the funniest thing was that when Ace saw that.. he rolled over with laughter and went... "OMG! How did you know?! How did you know I did that?!"

It goes to show that his dad really knows his son :) hahahha..

PS: Like mother like son. The other day, Ace pinned his Class Monitor on his jacket when he went out with it cos he says it looks cool... this reminds me about how proud and happy i was to become prefect at Sec 2 tat I secretly pinned the badge on my skirt when I went to market with my mum:) hahahahahaha.....

Previous Post: First Day Of School In P5

First Day Of School In P5

Ace and our new Ice Watch clock:)

This time round, I think Ace is quite ready to get started in P5.

Two weeks before school started, someone already sorted out his books, wrote names in them and packed his bag!

Two days before school reopened, we went to the school website to see who will be his form teacher. We found the name of his form teacher and his co-form teacher but Ace found their names to be unfamiliar.

To be honest, I was a little apprehensive. I think Ace finished 2015 beautifully but it took him a while to adjust and fall in love with his P4 teachers and as P5 is actually a critical year, I was praying hard that he will get teachers that suit his "style" so he can fall in love with them earlier:) hahaha....

For Ace's character, I feel that a younger teacher who allows children to be themselves instead of following a mould will be more suitable for him. Someone who is fun and engaging with the class will usually motivate him to chiong... so I hoped he accumulated good karma to meet someone like that this year.

Ace says he wishes he will get his P3 teacher Mdm M as his form teacher again cos he really enjoyed her classes.

And then leh, he was up bright at early and went to school. We walked to school and I filled him in on his current fav TV show, Empress Qi's storyline cos he had to go to bed early. As we walked, our hearts were filled with excitement and some apprehension...

After he went to school, I sat down, enjoyed my game of Tsum Tsum... and slept:) hahahahaha.. shiok!

But I felt apprehensive for him cos I kept wondering what sort of teacher he is going to get. Last year, he got a more traditional teacher and it took him 9 months to learn to appreciate his teacher for who she is... and once he does, his attitude towards learning and also his results saw a marked improvement..

When he came home, I noticed that he looked very happy.

I asked him if he had seen his form teacher in school before and he said he did. Anyway, he says he is very happy... because his form teacher is a young chap who is fun but firm.(Ace says "My teacher's loves One Piece like Shushu! So I figure is young and in Shu Shu's generation.. haha) The teacher told the students not to mess with him or he will become a monster... hahahaha... Ace said, "So in a way, my wish came true cos Mr L is like Mdm M.... and he will be teaching me English, Math and Science...like Madam M did.."

And though his chinese class has the same usual suspects, they have a new chinese teacher Mdm O whom I found out won a Caring Teacher Award... so she is also like his previous favorite chinese teacher, Mr S....

When I asked him if he spent time chatting with his friends about what they did over the school holidays, he said they did not have much time to chat as they spent most of their time greeting each other.. "Hey bro, whats up?" And so many BROs to whats up with.... so no time to chat.. hahahaha...

And then I asked him if he did any buddy thing for the P1s and he told me that they are assigned to a class and only for the muslim students they ask for volunteers. Non muslims can choose to buddy whoever they want and so he volunteered. I asked him why he volunteered and he said it was cos other people did not volunteer.. so he volunteer lor...

And I asked him how was the experience and how is his buddy and he said his buddy is very talkative little boy who talks like machine gun. But his buddy did not want to eat yesterday and today also din want to eat, so he brought him to the teacher and the teacher persuaded him to eat some light snack.

"I asked him... you sure you dun want to eat? And he said.. But I already had breakfast why must eat again... and so I told him.. but you will be hungry later because we will go home late.. but he insist he dun want to eat.. so I bring him to the teacher lor..." Ace said.

When asked how he found the experience, he grudgingly replied.. "Like that lor.... bring him go buy food.. bring him here, bring him there..." He did not look too excited with the whole program.. so I thought I will help him do better by reminding of how he can pay it forward.

I asked him if he remembered how he felt on his first day of school in Horizon and in YNPS...  or even on a 1 day immersion program when he went to Camp At Home and how his friends and buddies made all the difference for him... so I explained the buddy system is also to help the P1 student feel like they have more friends and that they have help.

I told him it is "brother practice" for him to practice how to be a better gor gor:) hahahaha... and he said he already practiced when playing with Cay. And then I told him it is also leadership practice... hahahaha....

Sidetrack a little... Since we were talking about Cayden, I also reminded him that he has been rather impatient with Cay recently and that I think the next thing he can train himself is how to tell Cayden to stop doing something without getting upset himself. To which Ace replied with mock exaggeration.. "Aw man! That is impossible!" hahahahahaa...

Anyway, I think P5 seems quite exciting. When Ace came home from first day of school, he told me they are going to decorate their classroom for CNY and after that, they will be doing minecraft theme for the whole classroom.

But leh, next day, Ace said they are changing the theme because someone suggested a even better theme.. which is DIVERGENT. So as there are 4 rows of desks in the class, each row will be named after a different faction. Ace is in the Abnegation group. He said most people wanted to be Dauntless but they had to scissors paper stone to get the right to the name.. in the end, they decided upon Abnegation since Duantless was too much in demand...

Ace said that their teacher said they will have to work in a group and if anyone created trouble, the leaders get to decide if they want to kick this person out and if they do, this person will sit in the factionless chair.. and will become factionless and so he will have to sweep the floor and do class duty:) hahahaah....

Sounds like P5 is going to be quite fun!:)

Oh yes, and there was homework on the first day of P5 but unlike last year where he will complain there is ALOT of homework whenever he has 2 pages of homework, he now keeps telling me he has very little homework and that he can finish fast... and he even told me he already started doing and did some in school:) Wow! I am impressed:) My little boy has grown and become more mature:)

Oh... on the first day of walking to school, we saw lots of mushrooms that sprouted on the field we walked past..

Ace says too bad they cannot be eaten... hahaha

Previous Post: We Won Lots Of Biscuits!

We Won Lots Of Biscuits!

We took part in a facebook contest and won!:)

Griffins biscuits held a FB contest where you had to post a picture of you sharing their biscuits with someone and so that was the picture we sent... with the caption "So finger-licking good we can't get enough of it.."

And many thanks to our friends who liked the post... we won a biscuit hamper!:)

When I brought back the biscuits, one of them would be expiring a first  and get started on  a particular pack first...

That evening, Ace told me he already finished up that biscuit that pack... 

I was a little surprised.. how can he eat whole box of biscuits by himself?!

And then he told me he just brought it to tuition to share with his teachers and friends lah:) hahahahahaha..

Previous Post: Chao Ni De Guo Tiao!

Chao Ni De Guo Tiao!

 We have a new, favourite place to dine:) It is Loving Heart at Siglap and Ace's favorite is the
抄你的果条... hahaha.. not that this dish is called this name lah.. just tat it is a nickname we give the dish after this tv character, HOng Meiqiang's favorite phrase:)

 It is very good lor.. if I may say.. even better than non vegeterian ones and also not very oily:)

 We've gone a few times and Ace has always ordered this... so I decided to try too... really nice!:)

 Max's favorite is the laksa:)

 Ace usually drinks the organic cola.. but that day when he tried his dad's Lemon Aloe Vera, he liked it very much too so his dad said no more cola next time we are here:)

On a side note...  that night, we went to nai nai's house for dinner and and nowadays, after dinner, Ace will ask Yeye if he wants to play Blokus... or whether he wants to 聊天 and two of them will go to Yeye's room where Ace will lie on the mattress and Yeye will sit on his bed and the two of them will chat about everything under the sun...

Max says it is cos Yeye's room got air con... I think that is somewhat true but I am still glad he is making an effort to connect with his grandfather:)

On a totally unrelated note.. Look what i found at my mum's place that day... this is one of the first presents that my bestie gave me:)

I took a picture to show her and all these years, I have been wondering why she gave this to me.. and now I have the answer..

When I sent her the picture and asked her if she remembered this, she said that she does and that her dad bought this when he went to china for a work trip and she gave it to me because she feels that it looks so pretty!:) hahahaah

I always thought there is some deeper meaning or wat to it lor:) Hahahaha...

Anyway, those are good memories:) Ace says I should bring this home to display somewhere cos friendships are so important:) haha..

Previous Post: Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year 2016

So.. what did we do on the first moment of the new year?

First thing father and son did.. Max helping Ace to clean his ears:) hahahahahaha...

Anyway, Ace is very excited cos we finally finalized on a play date with his good friend Louis!:)

We have made this date for them to play PVZ together just like they did during our boxing day trip to Malaysia previously..... Ace was so excited he was packing his stuff and planning what to bring on this special day...

And then, he woke up early in the morning to PREPARE:) hahahaha

Aunty Veron said that they will make lunch for Ace and that they will make porridge. Because Ace does not really like porridge and I did not want to trouble them to make something else... so I told Ace that Aunty Veron said that she will be making porridge and cos we dun want to trouble them, he just eat watever the host makes lah.

But leh, likely the porridge is made by her mum. And if he has the good fortune of eating something she made, he is really lucky lor:) Cos her mum is a great cook.. everything anyhowly cook also very nice one!:)  I still cannot forget the taste of the vegeterian mee hoon kway she made some 15 years ago lor ;)

On our way there, we saw this thing on the floor.. me and Max stared at it for a long time and could not make out what it is... can you?

But Ace took one look and said.. That is part of a Bicycle Ringer!

And... I think he is right leh! Clever wor!:)

Anyway, after we dropped Ace off, we went off to have lunch and while we were having lunch, Veron sent me this picture...

Apparently, the boys initially said they wanted to play PVZ right.. and Ace was bz charging the ipad and this and that but in the end, when they met up, they just had to play all the toys in the house once through before they got started on PVZ:) hahahahha...

I asked Veron what time I should go fetch Ace and she turned around to ask Ace. Ace replied, "Midnight.."

And I thought it is a very good answer liao...

But Louis apparently said I should pick Ace 5 million years later!:) hahahahaha

Anyway, we had lunch and went home to zzzzz....

Woke in the evening and was thinking where to go and Max suggested that we go to AI Qing Hai at Aperia Mall. So we drove there, made a reservation mid drive and then thought we will have dinner there...

Apparently, AiQing Hai is per entry one... and they do serve snacks and meals as well. However, as that day was new year, their charges were especially expensive and there were alot of people. THey lay out all the tables in a row so it was like theatre style lay out.. just tat you have table in front of u.

But it was so packed and squeezy, I really did not want to eat dinner like this... so we just ordered our drinks...

The music is so so.. though they do play music I am familiar with...cos I think because of the show, Crescendo, many people found out about this place.. many came along with their families.. their children and parents...

This is Max's "why they no sell beer" face:) hahahaha

Since we paid we stayed on for second set.. where this other guy who is our age and has a voice like Fei Yuqing turned up :) He is not too bad as well...

But the guys in the row in front of us.. always looking at their phones and playing games lor:) hahahaha

This brave young girl kenna sabo by her family to go up stage to sing:) hahaah

After this, we went to pick ace.

Our conclusion is that hor, we prefer OBAR at Punggol and rather go there lah.. music better and for the same price, I can have a decent meal plus most important.. there is beer there:) hahaha..

Anyway, when I picked Ace up, the first thing he said to me was, "Mummy, I had an awesome lunch!" cos he said the porridge is sooooooooooo delicious.. and they had very nice durian ice cream too (he usually dun eat durian lor)... hahahahaha...

But when I asked him what was in the porridge (thinking I will like to try to make since he likes), he said, "I dunno lah.. it is just nice!"

Hahahahaha...

So I finally completed one more thing on the list of things I promised Ace...  ;)

Previous Post: Last Day Of 2015