Paper Weapons Galore

Ace is going through a paper weapons stage and so he has been asking us to buy him tape and paper, etc... If not, he will ask for our plastic bottles and tin cans and keep them to recycle and make them into some weapon or toy he might play with...

His "weapons bag" with his toy guns and all the paper weapons he has made so far...

That is him in his 'workshop" and learning to make something new from youtube:)

Now is time to show off all the stuff he made:)

Samurai sword...

Small dagger...

Gun with the bullet magazine lor...

Can even pull the top part.. i dunno wat you call tat in a gun...

Spear....

Oh.. and did I mention that he is also into balloon sculptures now. that is the flower he made for me that day when I woke up ;)

Lovely..

Previous Post: The Very Worried Teacher

The Very Worried Teacher

Ace asked me if I could be his chinese dictionary because he says it takes such a long time for him to read the chinese comprehension passage using the ipad as a dictionary as he has many words that he has forgotten as this is the first assesement chapter he is doing after his 2 month long holiday.

So I sat down and went through the comprehension passage with him.

The passage is about a teacher who noticed that her students were all not paying attention in class and so she asked her class, "If the students are not paying attention during class, what can they learn?" And so the students said they can just go home and ask their mothers or siblings. And the last sentence asked you if you thought what the students say is correct.

I decided to let Ace practice his thinking skills and his chinese oral skills and started to have a conversation with him in Chinese...

Me: 你觉得同学们说的对吗？

Ace: 不对。


Me: 为什么？上课如果不专心会怎么样？

Ace: 上课如果不专心，会学不到东西，成绩就会不好，以后就找不到好的工作，会没有钱。



Me：还有呢？上课要专心还有一个很重要的原因，你觉得是什么？
(I was waiting for him to say it is rude not to pay attention in class)
Ace: 上课专心的人就会有好的工作，会赚很多钱。就会有跑车，有很大的房子。

At this point I had to think about what to say to him. He is not wrong in that you need to pay attention to your teacher to learn. But I am not sure if it leads to good results or a good job, but to be really rich and successful, just paying attention in class is not enough. I decided that it will be too much to have a conversation about such chim things in chinese for him. And so I said...

Me: 那么，为什么你做功课时每次都不专心。你不想有好的成绩，有好的工作，赚很多钱，买大房子，大汽车吗？

Ace: 我要，但是我不喜欢华文。

Me: 可是这是你必须学习的其中一样东西。你说的有一些道理，但是我还没有听到那个我想着的答案。如果你是老师，而你的学生们上课时都不专心，你会怎么样，会有什么感受？

Ace: 我会很担心，担心他们的成绩，担心他们以后会没有钱。

Me: 为什么担心他们又没有钱？

Ace： 应为他们的爸爸妈妈以后会老，他们需要照顾爸爸妈妈。如果没有钱，怎么买好吃的东西给爸爸妈妈吃，怎么买东西给他们，怎么照顾他们？

I was suitably impressed when he said that. I was already surprised when he said he will be worried for his students.. and even more so when I realize he think until so far and even think for his student's parents! hahaha

Me: 还有呢？假如你是老师，学生都不专心听你教书，你会怎么样？你会难过吗？

Thinking he can finally say the "it is very rude" answer.. since he just kenna detention in class the other day to write apology for not paying attention during his music lessons.

Ace: 会，我会难过，因为他们会没有钱， 很惨。

Me： 除了难过之外，还有呢？

Ace: 我会担心。

Me: 你又担心什么？

Ace: 担心他们被他们的父母打！

Me：ＷＡＨＡＨＡＨＡＨＡＨＡＨＡＨＡ！

Like what Ace says, this is really an EPIC answer! Hahahah..

Well, upon reflection, I wonder if all my nagging about him not concentrating when doing homework is taking effect and I also wonder if the effect is GOOD or BAD. Seems like he did gather some things from my constant repeats and nagging and I am really glad he has a kind heart and seems to value taking care of one's parents... But I am slightly worried that he thinks that if study, you will get good grades and earn alot of money to get a big car and big house.. I mean, life is not all about money ,cars and houses.. I know that now...

But I am also worried that he thinks if you dun study, you wun get any money.. which might not be true as well.. hahahahaha :)

I think the crux is to give your all, no matter what you do. I am glad we had this conversation. :)a

PS: As I reflected on his answers.. it also could be that he is limited by his vocab.. so everything also link back to the same idea. I not so worried for his oral now.. at least he knows how to 举一反三!:P

PPS: Despite all that he has said, he is still not paying attention during school (kenna another detention because never pay attention in class and have to write apology letter and took like 2 hours to write 5 words 5 times each.. can you beat that!!!??) Sigh.. I can only PRAY...

Previous Post: Sending Ace To School

Sending Ace To School

Max received last minute notice that he has to travel to singapore for work.. so leh, I had to wake earlier to bring Ace and our car pool kid to school in the morning...

On our way to get a cab early in the morning.. heng the cabs near my place are easy to find :)

Walking to metro station from the school to take the metro home...

Noticed something on my way home.. finally after 2 years of wondering what these letters mean.. the METRO station decided to label the button letters properly:)

Actually sending Ace to school everyday was interesting.. I got to observe his behaviour in school.

While most parents will send their kids all the way to the classrooms, we usually drop Ace off at the gate. But instead of going straight to his classroom, he will drop his bag somewhere and play with his friends first till the whistle goes off.. which means everyone has to go to their classrooms...

Also saw alot of interesting things on the way to school... Like this really pretty flower...

Then hor.. guess what I saw.. I was walking past a date tree that grow over the wall and it was dropping dates on the floor... so sayang...

The tree the dates drop from...

One of the days, I sent Ace there and waited around in the compound for another mum to pick me up to go for the Coffee Morning organized by the Class Mum. (Here in Dubai.. every class has a Class Mum and usually start of the term they will do a COFFEE MORNING to get to know each other better.)

I realized that instead of bells hor, the school security will use whistle and once the whistle is blown, no matter what you are doing, you are to go into your classroom to prepare for the start of your lessons...

I also found out that Ace behaves very ang moh in school.. when he sees his friends.. he goes, "Hey, M!" And he walks over with open arms and hugs the person...  like how you will greet someone ang moh here in Dubai....

I asked him about it and he says that he only does that for his closer friends... I was quite amused to see it:) hahaha...

Anyway, the coffee morning was good.. got to know a few other mothers and I talked to pple here and there and realize.. no matter what part of the world they are from, mothers all over the world are the same.. we have the same desires, same dreams...

Most mothers here have many children and give up their career to be with their children.. but still desire to do something and "have our own life"...

Was good to link up with them also lah.. purely because someone always has tips for where to buy what.. and how to resolve this problem or tat issue.. fascinating.. and many of them have very interesting careers too.. one is an artists.. one is a pediatric nurse... there one who owns retail shops selling tea.. one mom i dunno wat she does but she is always dressed so immaculately like a model! So interesting!

And despite being soooooooo bz hor.. they STILL find time to volunteer in school lor.. I salute these wonderful mothers!

PS: My constant presence in school finally made Ms Roberts REMEMBER my face! Now she will say hi and smile to me when she sees me!!!

Previous Post: No Extra Swimming This Term

No Extra Swimming This Term

Well, so much for my plan to bring Ace swimming...

In the end, we only managed to go swimming ONCE during our stint back in Singapore..

But leh, when Max came, he brought Ace swimming almost everyday and jogging too.. as some sort of training... cos Ace hasnt been swimming for so long.. we needed to build up his stamina

Anyway, Ace said his former swim teacher says his backstroke is looking good now but i think he has still yet to overcome his fear of the deep pool...

When we came back and tried to sign Ace up for extra swim lessons.. his swim school got sold off to another school but when we contacted them ,they didnt exactly follow up properly and since Max was away over two weekends.. I tot well, we will just let Ace skip swim lessons for this semester lah..

In the past, Ace will get a letter that says it is compulsory for him to swim...

This year, he recieved a letter that says he is now in LEVEL 1 (highest level is level 3) and they suggest strongly that he takes extra lessons. So.. I guess you could say that is an improvement:) wahahaha

Actually I look at Ace's strokes.. I think he is doing well.. and he is quite fast too.. the only thing I think that he will need more of is confidence in water so that he dun karang kabuk when he is in deep end of the pool..

Ganbate, Ace!

Previous Post: Meet The Teachers

Meet The Teachers

Time to meet the teachers again..

This year, we are happy when we found out Ace is going to get his form teacher in year three, Ms Roberts..because I find her to be firm and strict :) wahahahaha

Ace went with us and while we went for our session with the teachers, he is free to run around and play with his friends in school.. there he is.. playing with the son of the music teacher...

The session started off with a 10 minute presentation by the head mistress...

I really liked the school's vision... and I really hope that this is the kind of person that Ace will grow into too :)

This year, the headmistress gave a moving talk about letting our children be independent but guiding them with care...

She illustrated this point with a beautiful poem by a famous Lebanese poet/artist...

On Children
 Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

What a beautiful poem about good parenting!

Then it was time to meet the teachers...

Last year, his teacher was away in the first few weeks of school.. in fact the first few months.. so we did not get to do this session with her..

This year, we finally got properly introduced to her.. hahaha :)

And found out that she has been teaching something like 20 years and she has represented UK internationally in literacy... no wonder Ace seems to take a longer time to move up the reading levels when he was in her class.. I just tot it was because she is strict..

Anyway, I think after 2 years here, Ace is finally picking up an accent.. the other day he was playing with his friends in the corridor and I heard his voice but speaking in a totally different accent that I do NOT associate with him at all!:) wahahaha

Also, when we do our nightly reading, I noticed he is picking up pronunciation in school.. eg.. the Singaporean way of saying the word "police" will be "pooh lis"  and Ace will pronounce the singaporean way but ang moh kia now says "pur lis". Oh well, I just wonder how long more before he will actually even talk to us in ang moh accented english...

Anyway, after that we decided to go to this new jap restaurant we discovered for dinner.. it is opened by the same pple who opened the Deans Fujiya Japanese Supermarket here in DUbai..

Good service Ace serving tea..

The food is decent enough.. chefs are japanese..

BUT.. pricey lah.. I rather go to my favourite uncle Ryo.. hahaha.. almost same px eat till tummy burst! :)

On a side note... Ace came home very disappointed and told me that he is not included for extra science lessons.. and so that must mean that he is no longer good in science.. and he is sorely disappointed..

I wrote in his SOS book to ask his teacher about it..

His teacher said that.. Ace was not included becuase this term, they only having extra sessions for Year 5 and 6... and Ace was put in the Science Group cos the person in charge asked for the best scientists and asked for Ace.. wow..  I am very proud of my little scientist.. I just hope he overcomes his fear of exploding chemicals to become a great scientist.. hahaha :)

Previous Post: Chinese Supermart Wonders

Chinese Supermart Wonders

I love supermarket shopping in Dubai.. always get to see new and interesting things :)

Latest knick knacks from the Chinese Supermart here...

Mooncakes almost as big as Ace;s FACE!

{r

Tian Tang San from China... hmm.. I love their lacy frills but here in DUBAI, UV protection is MORE IMPORTANT than nice design...

Oh by the way, the MINIONS ARE HERE! Sadly, we only found out in week two of the promo and only collected 6 out of the 8 minions...

Previous Post: Mid Autumns Celebration Again

Mid Autumns Celebration Again

We are lucky... 

This year, we got invited to yet another mid autumn gathering amongst singaporeans.. many thanks to D and Y who invited us...

Anyway, when we arrived, I was a little apprehensive since D and Y are the only people we know at  the party. But leh, the apprehension was very quickly taken over by awe!

K and P who are hosting the party live in a 6 room villa... 2 pax only leh.. but live in 6 room villa! When I walked into the house, it looked like a PALACE and like those Teen Cribs houses I watch on MTV channel..

K brought us on a tour and the house is so big there are so many small segmented area in the house. So cool..  what is even cooler is they clean up themselves lor.. no helpers or maids!

And surprises never end! When we settled down, our host told us they made chwee kway... oh, what a delight...

THe host even planned for the children and bought DIY lantern sets for all children who attended. We try to leave Ace to it as he is good in art.. but when I tried to demo to him how to use a double sided tape.. our good fren CRY.. siao one leh...

First time there lah. so a little paiseh to take too many photos.. so you shall only get a glimpse of the house... this is the view when you enter from the main door...

My dream come true.. entertainment room with kinect and KARAOKE SYSTEM! Somemore is not the put in CD type.. is the TOUCH SCREEN SONG SELECTION type you see in KBOX lor!

Here is the dining room... for parties... Wait till I show you the goodies...

Look at these lovely cakes! But hor. they are fake.. cannot be eaten one.. but very nice hor:) At the end, host gave us one each as party favour!:)

Burgers also look really real..

P loves antique typewriters and has like a room filled with diff types of typewriters.. like museum like tat!

Check out the snooker table!

Max helping Ace along with the more difficult parts

While I just enjoy eating lah.. fried bee hoon, chicken curry... potato salad, grilled chicken.. etc etc etc..

And KONG BAK PAU!!!!!!! I had been dreaming of it and it is a dream come true!!! And it tastes darn good too!

A and family celebrated their wedding anniversary and her daughter's birthday...

The house is very nicely decorated and each corner has like a different theme.. i think this is Max's fav since it has his fav laughing buddha..

A happy gathering and I got to know many new friends too :)

Previous Post: Mid Autumn Celebration At Evan's