first times in Sg...

First CNY since 2005

Last month, Kristin celebrated her first CNY in Sg. It's her first time visiting most of our relatives, and it was also her first time uttering wishes to others in Chinese. 

After being away from Singapore for a while, somehow CNY isn't quite a big deal anymore... Maybe not for me, on the giving end of "ang pows" :) 

Really, somehow this CNY didn't quite feel like it's CNY. I wonder if I could blame it on the economic downturn. 

Anyhow, there's still something to remember by, 

e.g. our city skyline. 

By next year, this view will be gone forever. There are 5 more giant blocks of flats coming our way. Yep, what's new. We love to live at construction sites. 

This was probably the only tidy spot in our home. Everywhere else was cluttered with boxes. 

easter eggs...

We had lots of fun the other day sticking up cards for the Easter eggs. We weren't around during Christmas last year and already Bryan was pampered with goodies from the parents of his friends in school. Anyway, we just thought a little egg holder, a card and some chocolate would light up someone's face during Easter too. In the end, it kind of looked like a mass produce here... didn't it? But Bryan and Kristin couldn't get enough of the sticking. They wished there were more cards to be made.

Bryan also did some Easter-themed crafts in school. It was quite a challenge to bring these things back intact, especially when one's travelling with a bus and a buggy with two children on tow. See how the other parents pamper my kid again...

chinese new year in Carl Schurz

We had a great time in school today.

The children learnt about the monster "Nian" and they were all warned that the "Nian" did not like the colour red. So they would all put on red shirts or socks or whatever that could find at home so that they wouldn't become the Nian's lunch or dinner.

The children also learnt that they were born in the year of the Goat. That's why they are all called kids, in the first place... haha! And goats love to work in teams and are great friends to each other. Aren't we, kids?

Then they learnt all the 12 zodiac signs and why the rat was first and the pig was last. Do you know why? Check out this story on the zodiac animals yourself.

Some children were disappointed that the dragon didn't come in first in the race for it's the strongest animal of them all. But they learnt that's because it's also the most helpful one. So now they know, with greater power comes greater responsibility.

Of course, this was the day's delight - the lucky money envelopes aka angpaos! The kids were thrilled that there were altogether 15 days of Chinese New Year's celebration and we counted 15 days on the calendar together... great counting, kids! I know, this little celebration came a tad too late but, hey, we still made it within the 15 days. It would have been a heap of fun if the stomach flu hadn't got us and we also did the paper dragon craft together before the 1st day of CNY. By the way, the angpaos were filled with their favourite treats instead of money.

To seal off the Nian from the classroom, we decided to put some red decorations on the door so that the Nian would never find its way in. But we weren't afraid of the Nian because all the children vowed to fight it and because they were all kids, i.e. baby goats, they liked to work in team and teamwork would beat noisy drums and light firecrackers to make sure that the school was a safe place for the children. :)

This little girl also had an opportunity to stay longer in korkor's class today. She was easy... she just disappeared among the girls and was one of them... excelllent behaviour. I think she's all ready for school now that she even feeds herself!

And over here, the children were enthusiastic about helping to keep the Nian away... at least for the year! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

I had a wonderful time with the kids... reliving classroom teaching live for once after being a SAHM with two kids for the past 1.5 years plus. I was actually getting cold feet about teaching such young children last night. But surprisingly, everything went pleasantly well.

We left the kids with some love letters and kueh bangkit. The love letters were a hit among the boys, while kueh bangkit wasn't so well received. Maybe it's too dry and sweet for their taste. I don't think the taste is a Chinese thing coz even my son doesn't like it.

our first reunion dinner on our own...

Actually this is the first year that all four of us are out here spending our very first reunion dinner - just a small immediate family affair of ours.
But nothing to boast about here... sigh coz the kids are stricken with stomach flu. So what's on the menu? Plain white porridge, adults and children alike. Easy to cook. Easy to eat. And for the kids, I hope it's easy for them to sleep at night too.
Sorry, folks. No pictures - plain white porridge isn't all that beyond your imagination, or is it? And we wouldn't want to shock you with the sorry state of our health.

Happy Chinese New Year! 万事如意!