Thursday, May 24, 2012

Crazy about TCG cards



This was supposed to be Wyng's latest craze until we discovered how expensive is this hobby.  As collectibles, one card can cost as much as RM5 or even higher.  A pack of about 10 can be costing something like RM40 or so depending on demand.

Apparently, there are people who go round scouting these cards as collectibles. As collectibles, the price depends on supply and demand. The rarer it is, the more expensive it will be.

Not just that, these cards can be played and there are certain ways of playing them.  We met this guy at Viva who apparently is an avid hobbyist and the owner of the shop which sells an a variety of such cards.  We were also told that there are competitions held each year to determine winners of such card game.

Discovering the high cost of such hobby, Wyng's enthusiasm was immediately watered down, much to his dismay and agitation.  He had been harping us to take him to Viva to buy these cards.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

How do you celebrate Mother's Day?

As usual, we have an early celebration as with most of our festive celebrations just to avoid the enthusiastic crowd.  We went out on Saturday night. This time, we tried western food, at Mom's consent, for a change from our frequent eastern savour.

We headed for TGIF, since this restaurant was not so packed then but still there was a short queue outside the restaurant.  We were second in line and only had to wait for a couple of minutes before being seated.

After ordering for each of us, the waiter recommended something that we have never tried before, or rather Mom would never dreamt she would eat this as an appetizer.


Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Quesadillas


As it turned out, the appetizer is good. Hoe had two pieces and after this, we were already almost half full.

Wyng's Kid's meal which came free with an order of a main course
Wyng, being an unadventurous eater, opted for his safe spaghetti. Emmm, it tasted good, though, different from those that we eat at Pizza Hut.

Sizzling chicken and shrimp
When the sizzling chicken and shrimp was served in front of me, the slimy whitish stuff immediately caught Mom's attention. At that instant, I knew I ordered the wrong dish. The cheesy stuff was so pungent. I thought of Hoe who would love this dish. Needless to say, I swapped with his Californian chicken.

Salmon for the healthy eater,Dad
Always the healthiest eater (most of the time, when we eat out), Dad opted for salmon.

Californian barbeque chicken
This chicken eventually landed in front of Mom and not just fed me but also almost all of us. The portion is exceptionally big and all of us could actually savour a sizeable portion of it.

Verdict, a different kind of meal for this family celebration and about RM200 lighter for Dad's pocket.

So, what's Mom complaining about having such sumptous meal for her day?

On Mother's Day itself, which also fell during exam season, Hoe was assured that he would be exempted from doing his weekend house chore of vacuuming and mopping the floor.  The substitute was none other that the 'woman' of the day, talking about Mother's Day.

As I went about taking over the cleaning house chore, I couldn't stop but whining and mumbling about a very unique way of celebrating this auspicious day.  I had to complete more housework than my normal weekend.  After taking care of the floor, ironing comes next.  And also my normal laundry.  By evening, Mom was dead tired.

What a day!


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

He's settling down very well

Familiarizing himself with his new school
Making sure he knows where to wait for his transport home
The school's temporary canteen while the new one is under contruction
Waiting place for parents
Settling Wyng in his new school was not a problem at all, much to Mom's relief.

I didn't even need to accompany him on the first day at this new school.  After meeting his form teacher and sending him to his new class, I had prepared to spend at least half or one day at his new school, thinking of helping him to settle down or familiarize with the new environment.

When I returned to his class after buying him some new workbooks and other stuff, he was already in "good hands".  He had an assistant, helping him to write his name on his new exercise books.  His enthusiastic classmate seated behind him gestured to me to let him join Scouts when I asked Wyng whether he prefers Scouts or St. John's.

He even has a guide to show him around the new school.  His new classmate even told me which is the shorter way to the male toilet when I went to visit him during recess.  Wyng is definitely not lost and well taken-care of, I was assured when I saw his classmate taking him to the canteen during recess.  He had suggested that I went home as he didn't need me to be around anymore.

By the second day, he seems to have familiarized himself with the new environment.

Monday, May 14, 2012

He can spell so many words in one night!

This was posted on 12 December 2008 in my previous blog.  Here is a reposting.

Wyng was 5 years and 3 months when this was posted earlier.

I was really amazed with Wyng's achievement with word spelling. One night (about a few weeks ago) I was only testing if he could spell some new words. He may have learnt those words in school as I have not introduced those words as a spelling exercise though they are not entirely new to him as he may have seen them whilst reading story books.

I wrote those few words in flash cards. They are:

tiger

donkey

lion

mouse

cow

owl

(I don't know why my mind went blank and seem to be lost for animal words.It could be due to fatigue.)

Guess what was Wyng's reaction when he saw this word 'owl'. 'Easy la that word'.

He didn't need any guidance on how to read these words. He could read all of them. Next, I proceeded to test him on spelling. I started with the 3-letter words, then 4 and then the others. 3-letter words pose no challenge to him. Even the 4-letter words do not seem to deter him. And, the exercise went on with NO mistakes as I tested him to spell the words, alternating between the easy one and new or harder ones. It was such a productive night with Wyng.

I introduced a new word play concept to him. I told him that 'owl' can be jumbled up to make 'low'. He was amused, as usual and repeat after me.

The next morning, just to ensure he's solid enough to master those words, Mom gave him the same test again. He passed with flying colours!

Lessons # 46 - Sow diligently and you shall reap.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Do your kids have grey hair?

Mine did about two years ago. Mom was very concerned if this boy was going to be 'prematurely' aging.  I am  sure that the grey hair at such a young age is caused by certain mineral deficiencies.

So, Mom googled and discovered that grey hair is caused by zinc deficiency.  And thankfully I still had some a bottle of Nutrilite zinc magnesium supplement in the fridge.  I had bought a bottle or two of health supplement including Vitamin C for the kids but as they grow older, they seem to be choosy and refuse to chew the not-so-appealing supplement.

For a few months, Mom diligently fed Wyng with regular doses of zinc magnesium.   Not wanting to be overly confident, I did notice the less visibility of grey hand on his head.  In fact, after a few more months, the unsightly grey hair are all gone.

Now, after almost 2 years, he has a headful of dark hair.  Thanks to the zinc supplement.

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