A weekend in Tanjong Tokong

My sister in law and family came over from Singapore, and we haven't met for almost five years. Time really flies. We had some good hanged out over the weekend, good local food, tasty local durians, shopping and buying of souvenirs with favourable exchange rate now, it's fun and exciting. Dinner with fried pork leg and sambal kangkong are their top favourites.

Oh, those pictures on top, one was my kids after school choir competition. The others were the event held - cycling. Many participants which come from everywhere. Ahh, Penang, it's a beautiful place.

A beginning of a new year

Please excuse my absent here for some time, but in real life I was overwhelming with eight to six classes to attend on every weekend, a whole week of practical training in school and the classes I have to conduct and teach. oh, it was a really full and busy year ending prior to a new beginning of a new year. But what I can be sure of is these are the things that I love, would like to do, still doing and will keep doing.

I get to meet and make many new friends, ideas are shared, and pass on what we want the learners to learn in new ways. The kids were asking :"Cikgu, boleh kami ambil benda dalam kotak tu?" ("Teacher can we take the things in the box?") I said: "Of course, ambillah, tapi, lepas guna kena letak dalam kotak balik, boleh?" ("Of course, please take it, but you have to put it back into the box after use, can?") Oh my gosh, I love to see children play and learn on their own using my teaching material in a non classroom setting. It's a very good habit for the learners and at the same time very motivating for me. This is what I want to see! It's a beautiful sight.

We have an extended of a week of school holidays due to the massive flood in some other states. Thus, it provides an extra time for me to sew new bags and cases for the kids right for them to use when school starts. I have one done, and intend to make a few more. I hope all of us would have a good start towards this new year and everything is a smooth sail, healthy and happy 2015!

Jess-y sunblouse third version

I completed another Jess sunblouse, literally speaking on its third version of making. I love to see the combination of different fabrics to make into a piece of blouse, it's creative and funky at the same time. I like to wear this design of blouse very much, in and out of house, and ahh, not to mention the comfy it brings, in our all-summer seasons, no other blouse that suits better. If time allowed, I will make more to put it in my Etsy store for my dear clients to share the joy of having them. 

At times, I'm a very tired mama. School going children's first-half-year of school test was just over, most parents are now anticipating the outcome of results. yikes. those marks! I've decided that I'm not going to question much on their marks. I keep reminding myself to smile with them as though we have a good faith in their tests, but inside us, we've known that certain language papers whereby there are merely at border line. But we'll do postmortem on the areas they are weak at and work harder to improve it. There are parents or grandparents that intentionally walk to you and show off the marks of their grandchild as if they are genius, and I hate that. I never interested to know how much they score, never walk to me with this kind of discouraging act. I want my children to learn from their mistakes and there is always room for improvement. marking result is not an end-of-life issue. They should be given chances to do better, much less to compare. This way of thinking is more encouraging to give positive energy, agree?!

In the coming post, I'll share with you my way of working with pineapples... see ya..

A visit to China

Under my lenses...bring to you some pictures from our recent visit to Hong Kong and Guangzhou China.

Guangzhou ~ Street food - ever scrumptious night hawker food
Guangzhou ~ Another night hawker selling preserved vegetables and fruits

 At Ladies Street ~ Hong Kong

Arena of Stars ~ Hong Kong

 In Hong Kong

 Hong Kong - Museum of Art

The weather there at this time of the year is excellent to us which it will never happen in Penang of 20 degree celsius. There are always many crowds on the streets, in the metro, at McDonald, on the bus and everywhere. From our traveling experiences, one place that we never missed are the museums. We love museums. It's a good place to visit to and spend time at though, with kids.

Edited to add
We booked and issued the air ticket days prior to our flying schedule. There has been a few international traveling of us and this trip we've chosen to fly by MAS, mainly because it is my desired airline to fly with as it has a proven track record and quite a branded airline in our region. Many business people and ex-boss too have chosen to fly with MAS. And with that, I feel good too - 'Wah...., can fly with a branded airline!' - human!
And with the twist of fate in a blink of eye, the MH370 incident which happened just a couple of days before our departure is really scares me off, hey, I'm not flying alone, it is the whole family! I called my travel adviser uncle Hock and relate to him my doubts, he says "Scared of what? No need to be scared one. Don't think of it!" Yes, his words that make me put all the scary thought behind to fly as planned. And bear in mind - make sure that you are insured, Hah!

Apron and homemaker

It's school holiday, my lesson with them at home is going on as usual besides having more play time ^_^ I incorporated as much play as possible so long as they are not turning to be just a bookworm. I've sewn some bean bags for them to toss around, each of them has got at least two. It is an activity that could practise hand and eye coordination and a kind of balancing for both of it. It's kinda fun, I play with them as well.


This week I made an art apron for kids with a thick cotton fabric and layered it with another less thick one. They shared one previously, but it's quite troublesome if one used it, the other don't get to use the apron. It's best for each of them to have one. The whole sewing project took around 3 hours of work, if there's break in between, it may take half a day. But the end result is quite satisfying, just another mama made thing.




I think I do need a new kitchen apron soon. It's kind of not complete for a homemaker without her kitchen apron right? yeah... all homemaker and mama reserved to have more than one.

Of pies and ice-cream

I asked my hubby would there be anybody that will bake for me, instead of just eat what I baked all the time, "I think they won't be any..." he answered. Gosh... I'm craving for pies lately, and best if top with dollop of sour cream or ice cream. yum, yum...
Thus, with the instinct from the heart and after following a few of the baking show, I think that should go alright... daa daa... this is my apple pie with fresh and flaky crust just came out right from the oven. Dessert is just so good.

Recently, I get to see my kids draw on piece of drawing paper, this time is not on the floor or their favourite comic strips, it is a bigger picture with their expression of mind and I like that. Formal schooling is just too rigid, and sometimes when I went to school, I saw teacher was scolding all lower grades students about three hundred of them for chatting around. With her wisel keep blowing, I just don't know whether she has the need to do so, or she is just showing and giving the example of shouting and scolding like mad ???
Even with her own children, I don't think she is able to get what she desires of them to be sitted without a single sound. It's a heart broken scene for all of us as parents to see that.
And may I suggest that teachers too should have some enforcement of disciplinary system?

Now, I hope you know why is that dollop of ice-cream is so vital to soothe my broken heart.

PPSMI - I say yes

Reading "Don't toy with education" (The Star, Feb19), I just can't ignore the matter as both my school going children somehow will be the direct produce of that education outcome. They are off started with a new system called policy MBMMBI in 2011; hence that's also means the scrapped of PPSMI policy (Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English).
Thanks to the PAGE (Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia) for bringing some hopes in fight to bring back the PPSMI introduced since 2003 just before Tun Dr. Mahathir stepped down from office. With our way of doing, not long after that in 2009, they (I can't say we in this case) switched again to revert to teaching the subjects in BM.


Eventhough there is the slightest in hope, we still need to try. That's so much better than do nothing, and being an ignorant.

But let's not forgetting why we badly need the teaching and exposure of English to our children and many more generations to come, we have got to read this - "lets-reminisce-why-english-was-re-introduced".


So, take action now.

Chinese New Year

Here's to wish you a belated Happy New Year...
I was sooooo busy preparing stuff and getting ready for this festive season. I clean, I bake, cook and have almost no time to come to this blogspace.


There are a few pictures that I would like to share with you during our trip to Bukit Tinggi highland in Pahang recently.

(The Japanese Tea House)

(Performance at night in Colmar Tropicale; 'The fire-breath man' my sons call)

(At the Swan Lake)

(Swiflet nest in a hidden the parking bay)

(Run freely in Rabbit Farm)

a beautiful scenery is vital to soothe the soul.

May your holiday is well spend with your love ones. xox

Hello year one

I have one who started year one when school starts. Recalling when I first started to blog, it was also when they were so young and needed my attention fully. Time passes so quickly as both of them are in formal school, can dress themselves in style they want, paint their white shoes... oh gosh... they have grown up so much!

For readiness to school, I gave each of them the mama sewn pencil case. Little R gets his 'Hi Little Bear's case. He loves it and happy with his new pencil case.

Baked fish

If you're following my blog you will know that I'm a fish person that can't live without fish^_^
There are also many of fish dishes I can cook out be it deep fried, clear steam or cook with other spices and marinates.


Yesterday, I bought a ready made chilli paste and added with extra onion, curry flower and some sugar then baked this local mackerel in the oven. It's extremely delicious to eat with rice. Yum. Yum..


In another note, there's a mega bookfair held at Popular Bookstore and we managed to get a few titles, one of it is a short stories book that suits my little readers and being translated to "A little walkable house" originated from P.R.C. I hope they will read and stay put, because one already get an injured knee and the other with a wounded thumb. They keep play falling off from their bicycles that caused them easily get cut from corners and angles. I'm planning out more activities to keep them entertained in this long holiday.

A new pencil case

Year end school holiday is started. My younger son will be in junior elementary when school reopen by beginning of next year. I was overly concerned I guess for all the necessary preparation for his new schooling. These few days I've been started to plan what are the things I need to make to him and what he might need on his stationery, school uniform, school bag and so on... and without second thought , I had the urge to make a pencil case for him and within a few hours this is the thing I come out with... a metal zipper pencil case.
The end product is quite satisfying and look lovely to me, my kids love it. It is made of heavy fabric and lined with super cute Japanese print cotton. I believed this pencil case would last for some time and being user-friendly for even young kids.

Hopeless in the scene of today's education

It is a saddening scene in our country's education. Literally it drives us nowhere. nowhere.
I'm saying this as a parent's point of view. Don't you remember that I have two school going kids who just started their Year One in SK (C) and the other one will be enrolling into it soon?.

From the changes of the education policy, we could know that we're not moving forward but backward. I'm not hopeful but crying hopelessly...
What about those kids that just started using Mandarin or Bahasa Malaysia in Year 1? What they will be when they are not exposed to English as much as others did during the school years? What's the use of studying Mathematics and Science either in Chinese language or Bahasa, what's the use of it, the use of it? and

Yes, yes, those rich and the policy maker's children all not in our school studying in homeland by using Chinese or Bahasa in those subjects. They are rich, they have been sent abroad to get a much much better education than our kids do. Who cares in what languages our school is teaching in, who cares... after all, it doesn't affect them at all...

It's a sad sad learning that I could see...

Logos Hope

When I was just a little kid, I could remember that my parents had brought us to one of the floating bookfair. In thinking that I should also do the same for my kids, and coincided with Raya Puasa holidays, we bring the kids to Logos Hope which is in Penang now.



Look at the queue before us...


and the queue behind us


It wasn't a wise decision to go on such a peak time as most of us, my kids inclusive of me were falling ill after the visit. The deck were so cramped with too many visitors at that time and without proper ventilation flow, everybody is just have to bear with the overly packed condition inside. But yes there are some interesting books and references that one could get there.


I snapped this picture of jelly-like colourful balls which my son has brought back from his kindergarten. I wasn't quite agreeable to let young children playing this sort of thing is because they might eat them if not being supervised closely. And thanked God that it was published in the newspaper just not long after we were getting it, these balls are a banned item. It could turn haphazardly dangerous to the little one.

Test and marks again

When you're homeschooling your kids you will really understand their progress and learning milestone. My younger son's kindergarten principal asked me to let him go for school's tutoring program since his test scores were not satisfying (meaning that not all subjects get over 90 or 100 marks). In this case, I think she had advised the wrong person for the wrong program. Because I'm never a person who will just look at the marks... never...
Furthermore, when you look at the question worksheet that the teacher has had prepared, there's nothing excited to look forward what's more when come to learning... : (

With these type of calculus questions, how are you going to expect a six-year-old to put in the answer? The worksheet format at the bottom part in my solution towards the misery... I teach Russell the way to get the calculation done. When the kids are at school and do not learn from what has been taught in a class of 10 students or so, what can we say?