random pics 2013

Here are some random photos in my phone...

This is one of Solomon's cute drawings. Those are rockets and the yellow triangular creature at the bottom is an Angry Bird! :)

3/4 of my kids in my car...

Solomon is over the moon! He inherited Cousin Marc's soldier costume.

Eva performed during school assembly. Her class sang a Chinese song; "The Moon represents my Love". (I think.. Hehe..)

Here's Claire and Cousin Michelle! People mistake them for sisters!

The night we went to the Kuching Food Festival..

Birthday presents shopping at Toys R Us!!

Solomon proudly showing off his 'Perry the Platypus' creation..

Kung Kung Paul's birthday at Joyous Shanghai.

The Singapore cousins having a sleep over at Ta Ee's house.

Cousin Adam with an Angry Bird toy up his nose!

Cousin Michelle's 11th birthday at Sarawak Club.

A meet up with ol' friends at Bing.

At my cousin Gerald's wedding.

Cousins Bryan and Ethan receive their first holy communion. Don't they look handsome!

Ta Ee's birthday in Singapore.

Helping with the cooking...

At our friend, Olivia's wedding.

dentist misery

Solomon has an appointment to see the dentist tomorrow! I am very stressed out!

This photo is very deceiving. Here it seems he is very happy at the dentist's office. The fact is, however, that the dentist has left the room to attend to another patient first, after spending more than half an hour coaxing this little boy.

So she actually went to see another, last patient of the day, halfway through, so that she could get back to my son and spend more time on him!

Well, the poor boy most probably got this phobia of dentists after his very first visit to a guy dentist. This guy one was not very good with kids. So when he started drilling on a cavity without explaining to Solomon first what he was doing, Solomon got really scared! He struggled and the drill must have hit the inside of his cheek a bit and caused some bleeding.

After that awful episode, I decided to change dentists to a female one who is very gentle and patient. She also has two girls of her own and they happen to live at our condo, so she knows how to handle kids. 

Unfortunately, Solomon had already developed a deep-seated fear of dentists. Just like uncle Polycarp! :)

On the very first visit to this female dentist, Dr Christina, we couldn't get anything done at all. He wouldn't even open his mouth. He did try. He was very brave right up to the moment he lied down on the chair. Then he panicked I guess.

So we returned a second time and managed to clean two cavities without drilling and filled them. Since they were done without drilling, the fillings fell out pretty soon. Hence this third visit, last month.

So after the dentist attended to the last patient, she came back to us. We tried everything, from bribery to threats! Nothing worked! First he refused to even sit on the chair! Then refused to open his mouth! Then he kept pushing her hands away!

After more than an hour, I had no choice but to hold him down. The assistant and I held him down and restrained his hands while Dr. Christina went to work.

I was so distressed I forgot to tell her about the second cavity on the other side!!! She obviously didn't see it because Solomon was being so difficult!

So now we have to go again!!!

I am so not looking forward to this...

uncle frankie

Uncle Frankie passed away yesterday, after a year-long, brave battle against cancer.

He defied doctors' predictions of only months left to live. He was a fighter and he fought to the last breath.

Uncle Frankie will always remind me of the sea. A captain and an accomplished fisherman, he even appeared in the newspapers once, for catching an enormous marlin!

We will miss you Uncle. May your soul rest in peace. I'm sure mum will be welcoming you at the gates of heaven.

I am 36!

Happy birthday to me!

I am now 36! 

Hubby bought me a gorgeous bouquet of pink gerberas and roses!

Sis 2 & 3 surprised me with a cake!

Then Hubby brought us for a lovely buffet dinner at Four Points.

My sweet band friends also bought me and another friend Linda a cake earlier on at a meeting.

I'm a lucky girl! ;)

raya holidays @ damai beach

All the grandkids at Damai. Cousins Bryan and Ethan were the only ones missing :(

So Ta E brought cousins Benedict and Dominic back to Kuching for the long 2-week Raya break.

The highlight of the holiday was of course the trip to Damai Beach. I'll let the photos do the talking...

they literally played until the sun set!

 We were at Damai during the peak of the Perseids meteor shower! 

Unfortunately the kids were not patient enough to wait for shooting stars. It was also difficult to manage 15 kids on a pitch-black, mosquito-infested beach! We ended up building a mini campfire and roasted marshmallows instead.

Anyway, it was great fun. The kids always enjoy a good holiday with the cousins.

Well, we also managed to squeeze in some other activities like watching Smurfs 2 at the cinema, playing games at Spring and creating chaos at Kidz Paradize.

Ta E also gave a brief demo on how to do CPR

horsing around..

 It was a great 2-week break from the mundane school runs! The only thing that could have made it even better was the two missing cousins Bryan and Ethan!

triple birthday celebration

On August 4th, we celebrated three birthdays; Claire, Eva and Solomon's. We had a party at Kidz Paradize at Spring, which is a great place for kids. The whole placed is enclosed and padded, so the kids can really run wild!

Claire turns 8 this year, whilst Eva and Solomon turn 7 and 5 respectively. All the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was 3 hours of non-stop fun!

Here are the photos...

Here are the photos of  the celebrations in school...

Happy Birthday my darlings!! Mummy and Daddy love you lots! *muah*

dolphin watching 2013

We went dolphin watching a couple of years ago, but unfortunately did not see any, because it was the wrong time of the year. We promised the kids we would try again another time, during the more favourable months of June and July. So after much pestering, Daddy arranged for another trip in June, after we came back from the Maldives. Like the last trip, we took a boat out from Permai Rainforest Resort, Santubong.

This time, we managed to see plenty of Irrawady dolphins, the flat nosed type, not the more well known bottle nosed dolphin. However, they were a distance away and kept surfacing at different places, so we could not get any decent photographs. We watched them playing about for a good 20 mins. They were hanging around some fishing boats. The guide told us that the fishermen would bang on their boats and the dolphins would come and help chase fish into their nets. In return, the fishermen would feed some of the fish to them! How cool is that?

We also saw huge crocodiles which were really creepy! One came in our direction and went into the water! I was just praying the boat would not tip over!!

 gorgeous electric blue crabs and mudskippers at the mangrove swamp

 The boat took us past some floating fish farms. One of them used to belong to Hubby, before he sold it off. Annie even went fishing there when she was much smaller.

Then we headed for Satang Island for our picnic lunch, a beautiful little island a bit off the coast. On our last trip, we didn't go to this island, because it was the end of the year I think, and the sea was rough. The boat was rocking everyone to sleep! Anyway, this time we did go to the island, but declined to snorkel, as it was mid-afternoon and the sun was out in full force!

The beach on Satang Island is gorgeous, with surprisingly clear water. The only downfall was the sandflies! I really detest sandflies! Their bites can itch for weeks!

Well, the kids really enjoyed the sea and the sand. There were plenty of fish swimming around too.

On our way to the island, we passed Pulau Burung (Bird Island), which is just basically some huge rocks jutting out of the sea. There were so many birds of different species living on the island and there was a cacophony of bird sounds! The guide said that after August, most of them would migrate elsewhere to escape the monsoon season.

On the way  back to Permai, we also saw a half sunken ship! Another ship was there, helping with salvaging efforts.

It was a  great trip and all the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Solomon loved the boat ride... boys and their fascination with all modes of transport!

Its always good to get the kids back to nature isn't it? :)

Merdeka 1993!

So 31st August was our national day. 20 years ago, I was part of a huge marching band that performed during the national level celebration here in Kuching, at Padang Merdeka. There were more than 500 of us band members and flag girls, chosen from 5 secondary schools throughout Kuching, namely St. Teresa, St. Joseph, Green Road, Kuching High and Kuching Town.

An instructor, Mr Png and two assistants Mr Simon and Mr Goh, all from Singapore, were given the impossible task of producing a band display in 8 short months, for this grand celebration! It would be performed in front of the King and broadcasted live to the whole nation.

When he got here, he found St Teresa only had girls who read music but never played band instruments, nor were they familiar with drills. Some schools had only a rudimentary recorder and bells band, and others; basic marching bands with members who did not even read music. 

Band display consisting of formations and dance were unheard of in Kuching then. It's amazing that he had so much faith in us and took on this challenge.

my section: clarinet

I remember first we had to learn to play the instruments, then combine that with marching. The first time we marched round a track while playing a simple song, it was chaos! People were out of step and the music was getting jumbled up! 

After weekly practices under the sun (it got more frequent nearer to D-day), and band camp (3 days of intensive training), lotsa sweat and tears, plenty of push-ups and 8 gruelling months later, we were amazing! If I do say so myself! hehe...

It was an incredible experience. It took a lot of discipline and was nothing short of a miracle! From practically zero, we were able to make complex, precise formations and play magnificent music as one! It taught us that anything was possible with determination and hard work!

Well, in 1993, Sarawak was celebrating 30 years in Malaysia. That was why we hosted the celebrations that year. This year, 20 yrs later, we decided to meet up at the Padang Merdeka for a sort of 20yr reunion. It was a last minute thing, so only about 10 of us showed up.

But this started an avalanche of wonderful memories. Starting with Mr Png, everyone started posting 20 yr old photos on our FB group page. We got to know each other again and now we are planning a bigger, proper reunion, end of this year, with Mr Png and other teachers in attendance. Let's hope it will materialize!