Ian won the chinese compo award....again,

ZD sch has the annual writing competition for all levels (P1-2 is based on handwriting while P3-6 is based on compo) and since then Ian got consolation when he was P2 and a trophy meant a big deal then so he was elated when he got a silver trophy when he was in P3 for his compo and so P4 he geared himself to get a GOLD but he was disappointed when he din anything last year. We just encouraged him to do better and there were better entries perhaps.

The situation took a twist when he came home saying there was a score for every compo and he found out he scored better than the girl who won a prize in his class and being a very determined boy, he wanted to 'confront' the teacher hahaha he wanted his GOLD TROPHY....it went for days when he would come home and complain but of course he din confront his teacher and there came a point when his compo was zapped for every student to copy as hw. He then persuaded mummy to class dojo that Chinese teacher who taught him for the 2 years sigh....never thot mummy would need to do such 'confrontation' but to ease the boy's queries and even his classmates' asking why he din win a prize so mummy did.

Sigh but the answer was just coz Ian has won numerous prizes and ought to give others a chance. Well mummy just answered diplomatically to teacher that Ian has got other friends who won the prize the previous year but they won again last yr but appeased teacher that mummy would talk to Ian about it. Though we weren't pleased with the answer, we just encouraged Ian to press on not for the prize but for the practice.

This yr Ian was skeptical about the compo writing as he recalls last year's saga but he got his best shot and he got runner-up tho he wasn't sure who else got the other prizes but he was grouped with the HMT with P5 and 6 as the cohort wasn't too big so they grouped the 2 levels together. Well done our son, don't let an unhappy saga let you down and press on for the eternal prize which is far more important that this trophy and that we know would be judged fairly by GOD! (just had to record this down as a closure of the past unhappy saga)

A surprise getaway

A very unplanned but pleasant weekend getaway surprise as Ian had environmental quiz last last Sat and NE show coming up (what a hectic P5 life) so last weekend was just finally free so we had an unplanned JB nite stay as daddy called last min to swing by JB aft the kids' school and stay a nite to beat the jam on Sat morning and of course the kids were excited as they are always happy to go stay over at hotel. This time we stayed at Swiss Inn JB and it was abit off the city Square but we still walked to our fav banana cake stall and the meldrum street food where we dabao our fav dinner back to feast at the room and daddy was happy with the telecast of world cup at nite altho not sure if it was enough rest with the 2 matches he was catching with.

The kids had good time over tv, homework and food and so glad for such impromptu getaway and look at their goofy smiles which tell it all how much fun they had even tho it was just a nite stay but it beats staying home with their homework and plus mummy's (oooppss)

Ian got an award....no, 2 awards!!!

Ian was just back from his P5 camp which was 27-29 Jun (Wed to Fri) and then we had to send him to the National Environmental Quiz on 30 Jun (Sat) to N an Hua High School where he represented his school to take part in the quiz, was teasing him if he would be kept awake thru the whole session which was 8am to 1pm but he was all geared up for it with his other 2 friends. We requested to pick him up from NHS as it would be easier than to go back ZD to pick him. We saw a lot of school kids there and some were with trophies but we couldn't spot any familiar uniform and finally we saw them coming down with trophies too. They won the team prize 5th placing and we felt it was a HUGE achievement as there were many schools participating.

So requested a shot with his form teacher Mrs Joyce Tan who seemed a lot happier than the 3 boys hahaha guess who won a bigger trophy. Anyway the boys were told to bring back the trophy to school on Tue (as mon was youth day) and could see Ian beaming with joy...what a SURPRISE to us and to him too as the questions were not easy but well done, our son!!!

Expected prize giving to be on Tue but it din and it was on Wed and his Chinese teacher came by to tell him to get ready to go stage and Ian was puzzled as he was wondering how on earth his Chinese teacher knew and who knows he was going up to collect another prize...it was for some yue du Chinese that he had won for his class and yes what a day to remember as his dear sister was going up stage to get the prize too!!!

What a happy occasion for both and addition to his certificate collection...continue the good work!!!

Ian's 3rd visit to Perth

 We went Perth when Ian was 2yo and again when he was 4yo (mama was expecting Joann then) but this boy still looked fwd to going to Perth as he is older now and probably be able to appreciate things more....he was hoping to do well for his SA so he could go for hols (tho Japan was his top choice as he wanted a cold hols) but after going Perth he felt this was too cold for him (tho its summer in Perth) but the down under we went proved to be under 10 degrees at some time and we were all wrapped up most of the time before we hit the town. This is the jump shot Ian tried to do at the nature park haha

 The weather was so good that the kids both enjoyed just playing ard and doing funny shots for us to take and this is probably the most breath taking shot we got so close to the ocean and my, the wind was super cold for us haha

 We went to the nature parks and it wasn't crowded at all so we could do all the timed shots we want and could get some family shots and it was really cool to be there (we thoroughly enjoyed trekking in such weather and we brought picnic lunch along so we could eat along the way, we made sushi to eat at this Torndirrup National Park near Albany)

 We went to bunbury Wildlife Park and the kids were thrilled with the kangaroos and we could choose which one to feed as there was a group of them. we even had lunch with peacock as we were lunching at the bench there and the peacock was coming by to pick up any food we had dropped but it was really lunching with the animals

 Yup we did quite a fair share of BBQ at the places we stayed as the weather was too good for the BBQ and their pits are electric so was good to start fire and kids kept asking for more BBQs , wish we have such luxury back home and see the smiles on their faces tell us all how much they loved the food and there were so many cows there that we had so much beef that Ian could say he gotta abstain from beef for some time hahaha and we were loads of milk as it is so cheap there so putting on weight with the diary products there

 Yes diary includes all the ice cream treatssss we had yes so many ice cream treats as the kids brought their own $$ and they were taking turns to treat us with Ian treating most as it was also the ice cream is really affordable there as compared back home and Ian was asking if we could bring home the ice cream hhaaa but we could only bring back more chocs

 This boy loved decorating the food we prep every day and this was a dinner he even wrote our names on our individual plates...the kids have grown up so much and it was really enjoyable to travel ard with them

 And this was the heated pool. we loved most coz Joann was asking to swim everyday we were at the resort and the normal pool is super cold even though it is indoor and she was asking to go outdoor pool which is sure to be very cold (which later she did explore with daddy brrrrr...)

This boy is grown up but he was still enjoying every playground we went and it was so like him when we last went the trips with him years ago, hitting every playground except this time he could swing on his own. Cheers to more trips in future