We had a FANTASTIC week and weekend.
Tuesday - the kids had an intro class at Tae Kwon Do. They were given a set of "dobok" (the TKD white uniform) each to put on and they looked really cute in them. SHAME on me, I forgot my camera. They had a private session with the instructor to "access" them, to see where they are at in terms of gross motor skills. Turned out, Ellen enjoyed the class more than Phaedon. So much so she wanted to do TKD over dance!
Thursday - 1st day of CHINESE NEW YEAR. If I was in Singapore, I wouldn't need any reminding. Ruey told me in the morning that it is Chinese New Year today. And on the first day of CNY, it is bad luck to use sharp objects, eg knives and scissors, because it will "cut off" any luck you might have. So to take advantage of this tradition, it's Ruey's and my tradition to not cook on Chinese New Year day!!! LOL She had made reservations at a restaurant for dinner, and invited us to come along. So the Vasses gate crashed the Enanorias' CNY dinner. :D :D It was yummy food, and great company. It was great to see them again after so many months of them being away. Lots of chat about their holidays, which was really interesting to hear about.
Saturday - 2nd intro at TKD for the kids, but this time, Ellen went into the Little Ninjas class while Phaedon did Little Joeys cos they said he wasn't quite ready. I actually feel very bad for Phaedon. When Ellen started dance, he wanted to do dance too. But I have serious doubts of his gross motor skills, so I told him he could do something else, and TKD was going to be HIS activity. Then Ellen got curious and wanted to try out to which I couldn't say no to, and then she loved it and decided to do this over dance! Now Ellen gets to wear the dobok, and he only gets to wear a Little Joeys' Tshirt! The poor boy wasn't too impressed. When it was his turn for the class (which involves parent, i.e. yours truly), we did lots of running around, punching and kicking, jumping.... etc. My poor BODY!!!! has not gone through this much "activity" for years!!! He had some laughs but his attention span was short-lived. But I do want to persist on this. We are pulling him out of swimming because of the same reason. But because parents were not required in the pool, and the teacher couldn't always do 1-on-1 with him, so his mind just wanders off to do his own thing and doesn't take it quite seriously. With this, at least he has me breathing down his neck (THAT I'm quite capable of), getting his attention, and doing fun stuff with him, and I get a workout too.... LOL. I kinda enjoyed it as well! Hmmm... maybe I should....
Sunday - We made an impromptu decision to go into the city for the CNY festival. We arrived just in time for the lion and dragon dances. Kids called it the BOOM BOOM LIONS.... LOL. It was PACKED!!!! We were SQUASHED ... literally! We had to put kids on our shoulders so they could see the dances. It's OK for Peter cos he's tall, it's GREAT for the kids, but Shorty Me could only see everyones' backs. I got plenty of sound effects cos we were sooooo near the actual dance. I managed to catch glimpses of some dragon head, that's all. When the dance finished, they pushed us all further back, squashing us even more, cos they were going to lit the firecrackers right in front of us! I must admit, growing up in Singapore, I have never seen firecrackers because they were illegal. For as long as I've lived, I've never seen or heard firecrackers LIVE! So this was truly an eye & ear opener for me! Certainly so for the children! :) :) I didn't bring my camera with me, so I don't have any nice piccies... but just as well, it could well be squashed!
Then we had lunch and decided to go visit some friends who live close by. We bought some cakes and desserts along, had some coffee and cake, chit chatted, kids played and left in the evening. Then I suggested to Peter, that we should go to Southbank where there were more CNY festivals. This time, it was mostly food..... MMMmmmmmMMMmmmm . Hawker stall after hawker stall of food, glorious food. Then there was more lion dances! Another shoulder-breaking session. Peter finally took both kids on his shoulders... which I had to take a shot of with my phone camera :)
Isn't that such a scrapable photo? hehehehe... We bought some Mongolian lamb skewers, chicken satay skewers, Deep fried Octopus tentacles, and spring rolls and sat by the river bank to eat them. It was a really fun day out for us. Kids just had an absolute ball with the BOOM BOOM LIONS and the food. I'm glad we did it because I think my children do miss out on being "real Chinese" sometimes because I'm so not a typical one?
On that note, I had better put some money in a "hong bao" and give one to each of them. It's a token red envelope packet where the elders put some money in, and give to the young on CNY eve to ward off evil and bring good luck, and for them to grow up in health and wellness. It might have come a bit late, but better late than never I guess? :)
KUNG HEI FATT CHOY is Cantonese for Congratulations, wishing you lots of prosperity and fortune!
