A Glimpse of Me

Philippine Trip 2

Friday, September 21, 2007, 11:26

the contents of this post has been moved to places and memories

2 Comments September 26, 2007

Philippine Trip 1

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

the contents of this post has been removed to places and memories

3 Comments September 26, 2007

Who Is This Guy?

He’s a tease, a charmer
Very friendly, can make one feel comfortable easily
People are drawn to him
Who’s this guy?

I met him eye to eye
He took us to dinner
No chemistry, nothing special
I was intrigued, Who is this guy?

I went back home
Sent him a message
Thanked him for everything
Sure, you’re welcome, he said.

Who is this guy, I wanted to know
He used to tease, and yet stays aloof
I teased him back
He opened up.

We became friends
Shared goals, shared jokes
Until we found out,
We share the same birthday!

That triggered “it”
Common things discovered
The more we shared, the more we felt
From friendship, love blossomed.

We became one
Now we’re four.
Who is this guy?
Shankar, my love, no other.

(by: janet 10:04pm -august 29, 2007)

note: unedited

3 Comments September 18, 2007

Art Activity

My son was invited by his South African friends,  Joshua & Janke, to go over their house for an art activity they were gonna do for their homeschool work. They live in USJ 18 also, 4 blocks away from our house.
The stroller was still in his daddy’s car so I decided to let him use his bike when we go there. J&J came over to the house by their bikes so I thought it would be great for the boy to cycle with them.

What they did was use the wax candle to draw or write something on a hard paper, then paint over it. Since the paint can’t sink into wax, the drawing or writing will be visible once you wipe it out or once it is dried out.

Sad to say my boy doesn’t like to mess up his hands. The moment the paint got over his hand, he stopped and wanted to wash his hands. Sigh. But he did one. I did some too. It’s funny how J&J’s mom and I ended up doing the arts ourselves while the kids decided to play football when my son didn’t wanna do it anymore.

Well, I had fun catching up with her. It’s nice to talk to SAHM (stay-at-home-mom), get advise on schooling kids and stuff. Hmmmm… I may homeschool my kids then. Hehehe. Still cannot make up my mind. Anyway, we have 3 more months to go before school starts. In Malaysia school starts in the beginning of the year, January. So we still have time to consider or re-consider.

1 Comment September 12, 2007

Playgroup or Kindy

 I’ve been planning on sending my son, 2 years and 10 months old now to kindy since the beginning of this year. In Malaysia, they count the age by year so even though my son turned 2 years old only last october 2006, he’s considered 3 years old at the start of the year. Somehow we kept on postponing in sending him to kindy because we think he’s still too young to go to school.

Then i met a mom who suggested of sending him to playgroup instead… in kindy… he meets all different kinds of kids, be with them everyday… get bad influence from them, or worse, bully him. She then said, “you don’t want your son to be bullied at his young age, do you.”

That scared me. So i decided to send him to his once-a-week playgroup – which is great – and postponed his kindy till next year, when he’s 4 years old.

I took video of Schenker during their water play session in “Sonshine Playgroup”. He goes to this playgroup once a week, every Thursday. In addition to Gymboree classes on Saturdays and Sundays. They have water play every 2nd week of the month. Here’s how it looks like. This is gonna be his last water play for this year, I guess, coz we’ll be staying in the Philippines for a couple of months… or more.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ4fE0Eo1Ug]

I had some talks with a few moms last Thursday. I asked them which kindy they send their older kids. They told me… but of course, I wouldn’t know where they were. So I asked about Montessorri coz there’s one nearby. One of them answered that it really depends on what type of things I want my kids to learn. In Montesorri, they emphasize the learning of practical life skills, in other kindies, they strongly emphasize on academic. Here in Malaysia, competition in schools is so tough that even in kindy, kids are already pressured into reading and writing and what not.

I have talked to one of the mothers who sends her daughter to a kindy. The daughter is only four years old but can write her alphabet already. I was impressed. But the mother said she’s considered slow in the class. What!!! I panicked!

So now, we’re taking it seriously. We’re going to send our boy to kindy next year!

3 Comments September 10, 2007

Saturday – This and That

Samantha is 9 months 1 week 5 days old; Schenker is 2 years 10 months 1 week 5 days old.

Today is Saturday and as usual, we went to Bangsar Village for the kids’ Gymboree classes. And as usual, we had a 2-hour gap between their classes. We skipped Nando’s for two Saturdays now, and went to Starbucks instead. It’s very convenient to go there coz MPH (bookstore) is just in front. I made our own sandwiches coz although we love their drinks, especially frapuccino, we don’t really like their sandwiches. I know it’s not ethical but can’t help it. So after Starbucks, we’d hang around MPH.

My boy likes hanging around the bookstore. We get to read stories. His dad or I would read to him. And sometimes, he would pretend to be reading the books by himself. (with the books upside down). he he.

Samantha has been trying to stand on her own. At first she could do for 5 secs. Tonight, she stood for full 10 seconds! Hurray! She can also clap her hands while on the standing position. She’s gonna try walking on her own soon. Time indeed flies so fast. Also, when I ask her to give me things, she can do it already. i.e. give me the ball, give me this and that… She’s really growing up fast!

And yes, one more week and we’re off to the Philippines! I have started buying pasalubong already, but haven’t bought everything yet. But I made sure I bought all the ingredients for my indian dishes that I’m planning to cook there. The last time I went back to the Philippines, I haven’t learned any Indian dishes yet. Now at least I have one that I can cook expertly (even with my eyes closed -he-he).

Have to wake up early tomorrow, for church in the morning and another Gymboree classes for the kids. Schenker would go for his art class and Samantha for her playgymn.

Leave a Comment September 8, 2007

Got Tagged!

tagged by Sharon
INSTRUCTIONS:Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, as below :Rinnah
Leah
Kiasumum
LemonJude
Sasha
Chanel
Babysmooches
Janet
Kee Tat
Rina
Jo
mummy to Alycia & Sherilyn

I wanna tag

1. Mitch
2. Ate Eloise
3. jirah
4. aisha
5. mayi

What were you doing 10 years ago?

• 10 years ago, i was still in Butuan City, Philippines, working at a government office (Deparment of Public Works and Highways – regional office) designing roads and bridges.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

• I was 7 months pregnant with Samantha, packing our things in the apartment coz we were moving to a house where we are living at now.

Five snacks you enjoy

• Pringles (sour cream and onion flavor)
• with coke 
• ice cream 
• nuts
• that’s all about it, i guess 

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to

• Amazing Grace
• Lupang Hinirang (Philippine Anthem Song) – quite surprising eh?
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Samantha’s first favorite nursery rhyme song)
• Itsy Bitsy Spider (her second fave song)
• Bahay Kubo (My Nipa Hut)

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire

• A million is not enough, but if I have enough money, I wanna buy Philippines and change it’s system.
• If I have more than enough, buy Malaysia too. nye he he he
• seriously, if i am a millionaire, i wanna do a world tour, see all different kinds of people groups and study different kinds of cultures
• invest money for my children’s education
• buy a jaguar  

 Five bad habits

• read this person’s blog (won’t tell whose one) and get upset. my husband has been suggesting not to open it but i keep doing it.
• like Sharon, i get very complacent sometimes
• blogging too much (or too much blog hopping)
• fold my washed clothes once in two weeks
• call my hubby and ask what time he’s coming home (in a cold tone)

Five Favorite Toys

• My husband
• My son Schenker 
• My daughter Samantha
• My laptop
• My books

Five things you like doing

• blogging
• blog hopping
• reading books about children’s developments, relationships and english classics
• cooking
• watching children’s programs on tv with my kids

Five things you would never wear again

• my pre-pregnancy clothes (too small now)
• baston pants (i look terrible in them)
• my pink nursing tops (when i wore it last time, somebody asked me whether i was pregnant again and Samantha was just 3 months old!)
• probably, i would never wear my two-piece bikini again (too much stretch marks there!)

2 Comments September 7, 2007

Nice Matters Award

Woah! I just got my first ever award! From Mitch. Thanks for appreciating my blog, Mitch. I looked at my entries again, and yeah, you’re right! I talk (brag) so much about my kids! Hehehe… what to do? I am just a one proud mom.

I wanna pass this award to these moms who write about their kids too:

1. sharon
2. beth

And to my friend who writes about her life, thoughts, and everything:

1. loretta

Leave a Comment September 7, 2007