Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Trial

Okay, I know, this could sound like some serious court case if it were on another blog. But wait a moment, this is a mommy's blog. So, when you see the word trial, you know what I mean :)

I just wanted to pen down quickly the 'happenings' of En Bi at Teacher 王's trial class at Berries. She was quite sticky, refusing to let me out of the classroom. This is usually what happens when we're late for class. (My pet peeve: We being late for classes.) Thus, the teacher encouraged me to sit in class with her. So I did. She didn't want to participate almost the whole while I was there. I slipped out of the classroom 15 mins later.

Went to pick her up and just quickly asked the teacher how she did, she gave me the 'thumbs up' sign. I was beaming. En Bi, I knew that you could do it. 

Mrs. Kim: En Bi, did you enjoy the class?
En Bi: Yes, Mommy.
Mrs. Kim: So, do you like 'lao shi'?
En Bi: Yes, Mommy. I like 'lao shi'. And my friends.
Mrs. Kim: You prefer 'wang lao shi' or 'wu lao shi'?
En Bi: 'Wu lao shi'.

Faint.

Now, tell me. What would you do?

1st day at JG

Highlight of today (or rather, yesterday) must be Seo Yeon's 1st lesson at Julia Gabriel's (Big Splash)! We had signed up for Tue/Thu English Play Club at JG Big Splash as soon as Seo Yeon turned 18 months old. Finally! A location that is not so out of the way. I had no more excuses not to go to JG after all the lemming since En Bi was 'eligible' to attend.

We were there in time, well, almost. In any case, class proper didn't start until at least a good 15 mins was over. There was a slight glitch at the beginning of the class. Teacher Melissa was asking for a yellow slip that I didn't receive when I paid up for the fees the other time. We had to briefly speak with the enrolment lady who checked and confirmed we had paid before giving us a yellow slip which we then handed to Teacher M. That confirmed that we had paid and were therefore good to attend class.

Teacher M was great! She's very experienced and made us feel very at ease with lots of guidance and explanations. We had no problems following the class. Seo Yeon looked pretty interested especially when they had songs played on the keyboard. Well, I guess that if she was able to dance along to the teacher's singing, she must be enjoying herself. Oh! Yes, she enjoyed the crackers that were given during snack time. She also loved the outdoor play. Oh well, this is new to her, so definitely interesting. Let's see how long the 'freshness' lasts.

After that, we were back home to meet up with En Bi and spent the day at home until it was time to fetch Mr. Kim from work.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Sinseh ... therefore late for trial lesson

Excuses, mescuses...

Woke up very early this morning and was very confident that I could make it to the Sinseh's and then to United Square for trial at M*ndeville. Apparently not. Reached the Sinseh's only at 10.10am and how could I ever expect to wrap everything up by 10.30am? So, eventually I reached United Square at 12pm for a 11.15am trial. Good job Mrs. Kim?! But at least we made our way there for the lunch appointment with Serene and Lil Miss Estelle in her new Abby Cadabby shoes. What a sweet little thing!

Back to M*ndeville trial - rescheduled to Feb. 22, in a way a blessing in disguise. More time to study the necessity and options for music lessons for En Bi.

About the Sinseh - I must say that I am very impressed with his skills and medicine. I've been having this undying cough that has grown so attached to me over the past few months. But voila! Just a dose every 2 hours today and I haven't heard a single retch from my throat! Let's see how the magic works into tomorrow.

From my observation, the girls are also doing fine with the medication. Especially Seo Yeon, since she doesn't sound so chesty by the end of today. Why did I take so long to go and visit the Sinseh?

*Sinseh: Physician practising Chinese Medicine

Friday, February 5, 2010

To upgrade or not?

Berries called me up today, very true to their promise to call me within the week. They told me that they were reluctant to upgrade her to N2 but if I am so insistent on letting En Bi try it out, they said they will allow it. Their only concern was the last term, where they have seen it being a little tough on the younger N2 children, leading to a disinterest in learning Mandarin. Now, that would defeat the whole purpose of sending En Bi there, right? 

The main push factor to move En Bi out of the current N1 class was the teacher, like I mentioned previously. Of course, I'm also so bowled over by the granny's praises of Teacher 王 that I'm bent on changing classes. The timing is the 3rd factor. Teacher 王 has 2 N1 classes but not at very fantastic timings.

Conclusion: I've decided to let En Bi try Teacher 王's N1 class next Monday night and then decide again. 

To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Private Suite visit & Blogskin search.. not forgetting chicken feet

Today, we brought Seo Yeon to KKH for her 4-monthly review for her VUR condition. I was quite worried the past few days because of her fever. But Dr. confirmed that it's a viral and not due to her VUR. Phew! We go back again 4 months later, but next time she'll need to do a ultrasound scan. Not as scary as the xray that we'll need to do in April next year.

Came back home, had dinner... today grandma cooked chicken feet. I had 4 chicken feet....i.e. 2 chickens? gosh... overdose. But still yummy.

I think I managed to download some skins that I like and I'm going to 'try them on' later. Next I'll be trying to do up my own skin... NEXT time...

Cute Shoes & Hi Tea

I must say the highlights of today was FIRST: 2 pairs of 귀어운 i.e. "cute cute" shoes for Seo Yeon. Just wonderful :) Thanks PLF and Catherine of course... my source to the endless things to buy on Earth. Wanted to get a pair for En Bi too but there was only half a thumb of allowance at the front. Dropped the idea.

Then, the next highlight. It's not the food that left such an indelible mark on me, rather, it was the service (or lack of it?) that we would not expect from eq*inox. The best part about the waitress that was serving our section - No smiles. Makes you wonder whether she just got a botox jab and couldn't smile because it was too expensive and the muscles still numbed. 

Anyway, she refilled Ma's cup of coffee almost to the brim.

Ma: Fill to the brim how I pour milk in?
Me: Ok, I let the waitress know.

I call to a person who seems to be the Manager, who stopped to chat with other customers before getting to me.

Manager: Yes, how may I help you?
Me: The coffee's filled to the brim. My Ma can't add milk to it.
Manager: Ok, I shall get you a new cup.

10 minutes later.... still no new cup of coffee.
I called out to Manager again to ask for the coffee.
He indicates to R to get us a cup of coffee.
Half a cup of coffee arrives at the table.

Ma: Look, only half a cup of coffee.
Me: .........
Ma calls to waitress R, who in turn explains that the Manager asked her to pour us half a cup of coffee.
Ma: Please fill it 3/4 full. I can't possibly be adding almost half a cup of milk to the coffee.
R tries to recover the situation by saying that everything was just miscommunication.

Finally, we got, what we think is an appropriate amount of coffee, poured in the coffee cup.

Service: 2/10
Food: 6/10
Atmosphere: 2/10 (They placed us by the window - yes, but with enough sun to make my freckles surface almost immediately.)

That's that for today. And I'm still up searching for a blogskin.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Berries... & Cough Syrup

SY's cough took a turn for the worse today. *cough cough cough* poor gal...
but it was sooo cool at night when I was reading them bedtime stories. I finally gave her the chance to show me how well she could repeat after me. She said, "ooon" i.e. 'moon', she said, "uuun" i.e. 'sun'. I'm over the moon :)

En Bi's lesson at B*rries today was as per normal. Teacher don't even bother to greet us when we walked into the classroom. Back facing us, continue to prepare for the lesson. Assistant teacher made some feeble attempt to get En Bi's attention. As my brother would say, "Lame.".

I've been psychoed for the past few weeks by En Bi's classmate's granny that there are 2 other teachers that are 'absolutely wonderful'. They know how to get the child's attention as soon as the child enters the classroom and make the transition very smooth for the child's parents/caregiver to leave the classroom. Apparently, the lesson is so fun for the child that the child chooses to speak Mandarin at home! Isn't that what we all want to achieve from sending our children to all these enrichment?

So guess what? I requested for her to be in that teacher's class, nevermind that it's N2, not N1. (Anyway, the rest of the kids in N1 are born in June or after. Different wavelength, you know how fast kids learn these days.) The admin lady told me she'd get back to me, but it seems that they are pretty set on their 'calender year' grouping.... *cross fingers*

Monday, February 1, 2010

Gingerbread Workshop & PD

Another challenging day. The papa flew off last night, leaving me with the kids for the next 10 days. Yesterday was pretty much challenging because I had to send En Bi for the Gingerbreadman Workshop by Act 3 by 10:30am then rush down all the way from Cairnhill to Tampines to bring Seo Yeon to see the PD before the clinic closes at 12:00pm.

Everyone was doubtful that I'd be back in time by 12:25pm to join in the workshop debrief and fetch En Bi. Thank God that I found a lot in the crowded parking area of that particular Tampines marketplace within 15mins of circling. Luckily I managed to grab a quick bite before seeing the PD and heading back to Cairnhill to fetch En Bi.

Seo Yeon was declared as being down with cough and cold. Phew! I was so worried the day before when Ah Ma and Mom said that she was feverish because there were no symptoms, which dangerously meant that it could most likely be her VUR... It's really quite ridiculous but I was quite relieved that I heard her cough even though she was so feverish in the middle of the night. Because it meant that it's most likely that she has a simple case of cough/cold!

Anyway, En Bi was very happy with the workshop (April said that she observed En Bi was very independant and acting out all the details) and said that she wanted to go again. Great! This means that I've not booked the March workshop for her in vain. *evil laughter*

And we all went tumbling home to spend a peaceful Sunday at home.