Feisty Zaria

Happy New Year to everyone.

Ever since we gave Zaria the barista title, she makes coffee or tea for me daily.

Yesterday after breakfast, I asked her for my cup of coffee as usual. Zaria said later. And repeated her 'later' for the next 1hr and eventually did not bother to even reply when I asked about my coffee.

I lost my patience and went downstairs, to see her lying on the sofa reading.
Me : From 9 till 10:30 I asked for my coffee, and you kept saying later, and then didn't even answer me any more! Today is my 1st day of work, you are still on holidays, and you can't even make your mom a cup of coffee? Do you have anything to say?
Zara : Sorry ma, what do you want ma? Do you want me to make a cup of coffee or tea for you?
Zaria : ....
Me : Ok. For lunch, I'm not cooking for you, and Auntie (our helper) cannot cook for you too. You go and figure out what to eat. There's lots of cereals and milk.
So I made my own coffee, and thinking Zaria will come over to apologise; but instead, she went to our helper and asked, "Auntie, do we still have mee sedap?"
o.O"

At 12pm, she boiled a pot of water herself, cut opened a pack of mee sedap, and made herself lunch!!
o.O"

While I was eating roast chicken sandwich, and fried button mushroom with Zara at the same table with her, I asked "You can have some if you say something to me."
Slurping her noodle, she said, "Even if I say sorry, I don't really mean it, so what's the point of saying it."
o.O"

That's my 8 year old alright, feisty, independent, non-complying.

Make Believe Cafe

Zaria made nice cup of coffee for me at the hotel when we were holidaying in Kelantan, since then, we'd made her the barrista at home.

She's responsible to make coffee or tea for me daily in the afternoon, and she took this job seriously, she sets up the timer and ensures the coffee or tea is brewed only for 2 mins. Sometimes she makes hot chocolate for Zara or tea for hubs as well.

She said we should open a cafe since she likes my cakes, biscuits and cooking and she imagines herself to be the barista at the cafe. And what would the role of her sister be? Popsicle maker since Zara has made a couple of flavourful popsicles like this Ribena passion fruit popsicle.



So this is her plan all drawn up and written down.

(The hubs' role is to take photos of customers according to her).

Zaria's Poem - Today I Roasted A Bunny

Recently, Zaria wrote this in her journal instead of writing a diary entry.

A poem which she said she made up.

School Holidays - What A Child Can Do

So the parents' nightmares school holidays have started.

This is what Zaria wrote in her journal yesterday.


So yes, she can do lots of fun things, but of course, mummy has to spoil their holidays by giving them work to do! That's what mummies are for. :P

Learning Biology Through Our Dog Bubbles

Bubbles has been with us for more than half a year now, and the girls treat him like a brother. Our conversation revolves around him a lot, and through him, sometimes Biology is learnt.



One day.
Zaria : Ma, how come Bubbles' penis has so much hair?
Me : Err, because dogs don't wear underwear, the hair is to protect their penis.
Zaria : Oh, he needs hair on the penis so that even when he doesn't wear underwear, people cannot see his penis.
Me : yeah, something like that.

Another day.
Zaria : Ma, Bubbles pole dancing on me.
Me : Bubbles, no pole dancing! Shuu...
(Bubbles climbed down from Zaria, then after a while, climbed on her again)
Zaria : Ma, Bubbles pole dancing again. Now his lipstick is showing.
Me : Bubbles, stop it!
(Bubbles climbed down from Zaria)
Zaria : Ma, why can't you allow him to pole dance on me?
Me : Because he cannot! It's not right.
Zaria : Ma, actually what is he trying to do?
Me : He's trying to mate with you Zaria.
Zaria : But he's so young ma, how can he mate with me?
Me : In animal years, he's old enough.
Zaria : He doesn't know I'm too young to mate is it? And we're not even married. o.O

Happy Easter And Peace Offering

I'm a born Catholic, and wanted the girls to be baptised when they were born, but the hubs, an atheist, was against it. His reason, "They should decide (what religion) for themselves when they are older."

This year, I just enrolled them into Sunday school, with Zara attending RCIC (Rights of Christian Initiation For Children), the children version of RCIA, so that both girls can get baptised and Zara can recieved her first Holy Communion this year like friends her age.

So I think the past few weeks at Sunday school, the girls have been taught about Easter, and Zaria, who likes to make cards and write notes to me, gave me this (see the word "Royce"? My favourite brand of chocolate).



And this.


And this.


First time I'm getting an Easter card!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Writing letters and notes are quite common with my girls; usually they will write to me, to tell me they are sorry for something they have done, or to say they love me; the girls have also started writing notes to each other.

Zaria has lots of pride, and never likes sharing anything she has with Zara; Zara gets extremely annoyed because of the latter, especially when she shares everything with Zaria. After a round of squabble, Zara gave this note to Zaria as peace offering.



And then see what Zaria replied???
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.


o.O"

Happy Easter every one!

Growing Up - But Not Too Grown Up

One day, they are not too grown up :
Zara : ma, can you read to me tonight like how you used to?
Me : ha..
(I'd stopped reading to her almost half a year now; the girl's English is getting so good she's teaching me new words and correcting my grammar and the books she's reading is getting thicker than mine)
Zara : You know, I'm not too old for things like this.

Another day, they are :
Zaria fell from the dining chair.
Zaria : Ma, can you check, I think there's something on my back.
Checked, and found her skin to be chafed.
Me : Poor baby, it must be very painful.
Zaria : I am not a baby! And it's just a little painful. Ouch.
Me : You think a kiss will help? *about to plant a kiss on her back*
Zaria : *wriggled away* No. Tea Tree oil will help.
I caught her and kissed her anyway, and she giggled.

Effect of Our Japan Trip

The 12 days Japan trip is probably highlight of 2013 for the girls; we did a lot of walking there, and now distance is measured based on the walk we took in Japan, and they are constantly asking when they can go back again (as if).

Brought Zaria to the market, she wanted this particular biscuit from a stall very far away.
Me : It's a very long walk you know.. You sure you are ok to walk there?
Zaria : How far? Like walking from our hotel (that we stayed in Kyoto) to (Kyoto) train station?
Me : Shorter than that.
Zaria : It's so near! Of course I can walk.

We went to Taiping last week of December (will post about that trip later when I'm done with Japan). We visited Maxwell Hill, took the jeep up to the peak, and walked down 3km on tar road, then took the jeep again, and then the last 3km we trekked down the hiking trail (steep and precarious).
Before we started :
Me : Have a look girls, you think we can do it?
Zaria : *looked at the path* I think this is more fun than the road.
Me : Very far you know, and it's all like that, you think you can manage?
Zaria : Is it as far as Takao? (our ~7km trek in Japan Tokai Nature Trail)?
Me : No, it's half of Takao's journey.
Zaria : Then this is nothing. *started taking the lead down*
o.O"

Zaria : Can we go back to Japan again next year (I think she meant 2014)?
Me : It's very expensive you know.
Zaria : But I'll help to pay for it.
Me : With what?
Zaria : With my allowance.
o.O"
Yeah right, RM5/week.

The School Holidays Begin

And so, the school holidays have started. The girls will be home with me, and boy, it'll be tough keeping them occupied so that they don't disrupt me working.

I'd kind of laid down the rules, before they get to watch TV or use the iPad, the girls have to pick 2 of my activities every day from : 1) writing on their journal; 2) learn and write 4, 5 new Chinese idioms (for Zara), and words (for Zaria); 3) do 4, 5 pages of work sheets. They have also smartly laid down their rules, on days I don't work (i.e. Saturdays and Sundays) they don't have to do their work. They said,"It's a holiday for you, so it's also a holiday for us!".

Here is Zaria's writing last Wednesday, looking forward to her holidays.


(See what she calls me! At least she knows who's the boss.)

Fist Fighting - By The Girls

The girls although love each other and enjoy each other's company very much, they are also always bickering over the smallest issues. Lately, they have even started fist fighting!

One day, it was because Zara drew a picture of Zaria kissing someone. *POW* Zaria gave Zara a punch, and then Zara punched back, and then the punching began, until I intervened. So as a punishment, they had to write 20 lines "I shall not fight (with my sister) anymore." in Chinese.


As if they learnt.

Another day, Zara tickled Zaria when Zaria was doing a handstand on the sofa (which is forbidden); to retaliate, Zaria put her hand into Zara's pants and started tickling Zara's buttocks. Zara of course didn't like it, and started beating Zaria, and Zaria fought back; it was PUNCH PUNCH BEAT BEAT until I intervened. Again, they have to write 20 lines "I shall not fight (with my sister) anymore." in Chinese. Sigh.

Here are their comic strips capturing the 'moment'.




o.O" (And they said I'm mean for punishing them!）

Do your kids fist fight with each other too?

Replying and Responding Using Songs

The girls recently love using songs to reply to a question or respond to a situation. A couple I could remember.

We were talking about swimming, and how they were progressing. Zara told me that Zaria's BFF Ee Mang (who happens to have the same swim coach as Zara) could swim 6 laps without resting, but for her, she needed to rest in between.
I told her to push herself, and increase her stamina, when she things that she cannot go on anymore, just tell herself that she can do it, push herself a little more and don't give up.
She sang, "I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough...."
(I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz) o.O"


On another occasion, we were talking about ambition, and we talked about what they wanted to be when they grow up.
Zaria said she wanted to be a florist still but worried she won't get much money because she thought only dead people get flowers.
I told her she can be anything she wanted to be, just as long as she set her heart to it.
She started singing, "You can be a King Kong, banging on your chest."
(Hall Of Fame by The Script) o.O"

When I brought the girls ice skating last week, I was contemplating if I should join the girl or I should just sit at the bench and watch them. They encouraged me to join them, and they told me they would teach me. Recalling how impatient I was with Zara the last time I brought them there because she was so afraid to walk with her skates, I asked Zara, "You won't raise your voice at me?"
She started singing, "What goes around, comes back around..... What goes around, comes back around.." followed by an evil laugh, and then told me, "I'll be patient ok, ma?"
(Best Thing I Never Had by Beyoncé) o.O"

My Mom Is Bossy - By The Girls

The girls don't have to go to school this week from Monday to Thursday because of UPSR, so I drew a schedule for them to follow. Basically for the whole day, I'd planned out that for 3.5hrs they need to do some worksheets and journal writing and for the rest of the time it is free and play time.



I had a clause that states if they played with Bubbles, our dog, during the time allocated for work, I'll minus points for each offence, and if a total of 10 points were accumulated, I won't bring them ice skating.

They were not happy when they first saw it.
Zara : 你的字那么的丑，我都不会读. (Your writing is so ugly, I can't even read.)
(I sat them down and made them read through, and understand the clause)
Zaria : You are so bossy you know.
Zara : (annoyed) 遵守什么? 什么都要遵守, 不然就扣分!? Haiyoh! (Follow the rules, everything also must follow the rules, or else minus points.)

So for the day's writing, they did a comic strip about me.

Zara's.


Zaria's.

Bubbles, Our New Dog

For the longest time, the girls have been asking us for a dog. Last weekend, we succumbed to their request.

Bubbles, a 2 year old West Highland Terrier, was adopted, and moved in with us on Sunday.




I'll let the girls tell you about him.

From Zaria.




From Zara.

Quick Witted/Sharp Tongue Zaria Again

These days, Zaria is picking up new words/phrases from the TV, her books, and when she wasn't quite sure what something meant, she asked us, which made her learn them and able to apply them very quickly.

While I was trying out 'nice' dresses, and showed the girls.
Zaria said, "You are so sexy, I don't even think you are cut out for it."
o.O"

While her lunch of noodles arrived pipping hot, I asked her, "Do you need help with the noodle?"
Zaria replied, "I'm not a retard, I can eat on my own."
o.O"

While we were out, the hubs wrapped his arm around me.
Being possessive, she doesn't like others touching me, so she stuck out her tongue and said, "Blech! Please don't swap spit now ok?"
o.O"

We went to the new Baskin Robbins nearby.
I asked her, "What if your Cikgu so and so (BM teacher from school) is also there?"
She replied, "Oh... and then Mr So and So (English teacher from school) will be there too. (She thinks her teacher and cikgu are going out.)
She then added, "Ha.. then I'll tell them, don't do that in front of me, don't make me feel like a third wheel."

Seriously, I didn't think I know how to use those words until after I became an adult.

Zaria Missing Her Sister

We sent Zara off to a holiday camp meant for 8yrs and above.
How fast they are growing up. Sigh.
I asked her if she was fine on our drive to the pick up point, and she told me she's a bit scared (scared not being near us) but at the same time excited with what she would be doing, and the people she would be meeting.

It was with mixed feelings I saw her carrying her overnight bag climbing into the car that would transport her to camp. Zaria's face turned gloom when she saw her jiejie closing the car door.

This is the very first occasion where Zara is away from home, without her parents (it's always either the hubs or me will be with the girls; only once we had to leave the girls at their aunt's house because both of us had to travel for work); this is also the first time Zaria won't get to sleep with Zara.

So how are the girls doing?

We called Zara at camp yesterday night.
Me : Are you ok?
Zara : Yes ma. We are having so much fun.
Me : Everything is alright then?
Zara : Yeah.. I'm having so much fun.
(sounding impatient, like she couldn't wait for the conversation to end to get back to whatever she was doing)
Me : Anyway, just wanted to tell you, Zaria missed you.
Zara : Oh... (2 seconds) But ma, I'm having so much fun. The river swim was so fun.. We got leeches all over our hands.
Me : Ewww... but aren't you afraid of leeches? (I had a leech clinging on to me once in Sri Lanka, and the girls were all screaming like they had seen ghost.)
Zara : No, I just flicked them off my hands.
Me : Oh wow. Alright. You have fun then..Bye. Love you.
Zara : Ok ma, love you. (put the phone down real fast).

I told Zaria about our conversation, and Zaria asked, "Huh? She doesn't miss me?"

And this morning, she woke up asking me "What bed did jiejie sleep on?" "What do you think she ate for breakfast?"

Per the usual holiday routine, Zaria did some homework from me, and then did her journal writing in the morning (and painted her nails in between doing these.)


And this was what she wrote and drew in her journal (she always like drawing first, then writing, as though planning out the scene).




My sweet sweet girl, missing her sister badly.

Penang Trip 2013 P1 - Kuala Sepetang, St Anne's Church

♥June 1st♥

We made our annual trip to Penang during the school holidays, as with every year, to visit St Anne's church and give our thanks for another blessed year.

This year, the hubs wanted a detour to Kuala Sepetang, formerly known as Port Weld, which is famous for mangrove swamp and charcoal factories. As it was not a planned stop, (the hubs just thought we still have time, and exited the highway at Changkat Jering before informing us where we're heading), we'd done no research and don't know what to expect. We just parked our car, and walked about. As we just had lunch (if he'd told us where we were going first, we could have saved our stomach for later), we didn't even have room for the famous mee udang (Malay: prawn noodle), where a few restaurants were serving.

At one of the houses next to the river, we bumped into another family who was trying to gather enough people to hire a boat for a river cruise, and we agreed to join. The river cruise cost about RM60 for 4 of us (adult RM20/head, children RM20/head) for a 30 minutes cruise.

Poooh-weee! We had to put on the stinky safety vests which probably never got washed/cleaned since the first day the boat started operating.

Even with the smell bothering us, it was still quite a pleasant ride. We cruised past the fishing village.


Saw fishing boats anchored at the back of the houses.


And also went pass mangrove forest, with monkeys playing at the banks.


When we were done with the cruise, and walked back to the car, we saw some salted fish being dried. So we bought some as well. It's very tasty by the way, should you visit this place, don't forget to buy some of these long salted fish home.


And then we drove just a KM or 2 to get to the charcoal factories. We were told Kuala Sepetang charcoal is considered one of the best in Asia and it's in high demand in the international market.



Just so happened we arrived at the famous Mr Chuah's charcoal factory, Mr Chuah was about to end a guided tour to a bus load of tourists, so we joined in as well (tour is free, and to avoid disappointment, best to give Mr Chuah a call before going).

In the factory, there are domes like this which are the kilns where the de-barked mangrove trunks will be 'baked' and dried.
Once dried, the 'door' to the kiln will be sealed off for the charcoal to cool down for a further 8 days.

There were pile high of mangrove branches/trunks awaiting to be turned into charcoal.




Who, but the foreign workers, would want to work in a smokey environment? They are the ones who toiled for us so we could have our good quality charcoals!




Charcoal are broken into smaller pieces and bagged up to be sold.
We bought a big charcoal log to be placed in the house as deodoriser, as well as a pack of charcoal. 2/3 of it has already been used up since we got home. Verdict : super fragrant barbecue! So don't forget to buy some home if you visited this place.

(Mr Chuah's charcoal factory, 34650 Taiping, Perak. Tel: 012-573 9563)

Then it was back to the NKVE and to Bukit Mertajam. The hubs have to drive a bit faster because St Anne's Church closes at about 7pm.

The ambiance in the old chapel is always very serene and quiet. That's where we'll always go to for our thanks giving.




9th year in a row... our yearly tradition of going to give our thanks, and also taking a shot at the front of the old chapel.


And we always wash ourselves at the St Anne's water, and fill up a bottle with the water to bring home.


We'd never seemed to be able to find a good eating place in Bukit Mertajam. One year, we were looking for this highly rated place Yoong Kee which is located near the Bukit Mertajam market for lunch, but it was closed. This year, we managed to find it after asking around at the market.

The restaurant has been operating for more than 60 years. It's at a shabby shop lot which you probably won't notice except for the crowd gathered there.




We ordered 1 fried fish for the girls, and 1 steam fish with plum for us, and a mix vege. The vege, fried with a pork sauce, was very homely. The fish were both very good, very fresh, and well prepared.


The hubs claimed this is the best steam fish with plum he's ever tasted.


It was a cheap and satisfying dinner (if you didn't mind the occasional rats zooming under the table).

(Resturant Yoong Kee, Jalan Pasar, Penang, Bukit Mertajam, 14000. Phone: 04-539 8764)

Continues here.

长大

♥Zara♥
Finally, 6 years and 3 months old, she had a shakey tooth (lower central incissor).

As she has 2 new teeth sprouting (her 1st permanant molar), and caused the gums to be pushed back and bleed (she spat out blood when she was brushing her teeth this morning! Gave me a shock!), I brought her to the dentist to have a look.

Since we were there, I got her shakey tooth extracted.


As for the bleeding and pushed back gums, it's common when the permanant molar sprouts. And to think all the teething problem is over!

~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~

♥Zaria♥

Just the other day, I called her mei-mei, and she told me "Don't call me mei-mei. I'm not small any more. I'm 5 years old." o.O"

This girl has grown up. Yup. Since she was able, she has been sleeping with 1 finger in my belly button.



Daddy has been reminding her that she's older and has stronger fingers now, and she shouldn't be poking my belly button any more, or she might actually puncture my belly button and blood will start gushing out like a fountain.

That did deter her a bit, and slowly, when she's concious, she'll retract her finger, and then, just leave her hand on my belly when she goes to sleep.