Hmmmm, this blogger has changed!!  Where's the title?  Where's the box for the tags?
Nevermind.

APRIL 2012
Our highlight of the month was a trip up to Cameron Highlands in Malaysia.
I drove.  Stopped halfway for a rest at our favourite hotel Holiday Inn Glenmarie.  What I like about this place is the beautiful view out of the full-height room windows - the golf course.  The rooms are really quite spacious, clean and very comfy indeed.
The food at the golf club has gone down in quality with the addition of the air conditioned section :(.
The drive up to Camerons was uneventful except for the heavy rain which sent torrents of water pouring down from the hillsides.  The kids were enthralled by these 'waterfalls', but I, as driver, was very stressed.

The OMF Bungalow was beautifully set on a hill, overlooking the town of Brinchang. I'll let the photos speak...

Needless to say, the children had a blast.  We met several missionaries on break.  It was a very refreshing time of sharing with the missionaries.  It opened our eyes to the real life and work of a missionary.  What a blessing!

On the way home to Singapore, we stopped the night again in Glenmarie.  This time, with Fiona and family.  Kam Loon decided he'd drive to Subang Jaya to have dinner.  But alas, we got sooo lost.  We spent almost 45 mins finding our way there, when it should have taken us just 5 mins.  On the way back too, same thing.  We should have asked the hotel staff for directions before we set off.  Maybe next time, we'll take the shuttle bus into town, and grab a taxi back.

Vacation

We took a short holiday to Bintan at the end of March. It was to be the last of our off-peak holidays because Gary is going to start work at a school. Off-peak vacations are bliss... no crowds, no queues, plenty of space to spread out. Nice. The Mangrove Tour was really nice. We learnt about the stilt roots, pencil roots and ribbon roots, and saw a yellow banded snake sleeping in the branches above us. The beach was beautiful, but that belied the fact that there was POLLUTION in the form of oil/tar in the water. Whenever we would step into the water, we would get tarry black spots on our feet or slippers. Fortunately, the resort provided some kerosene to clean it all off. But still, I would have liked to wander more into the water.

Highlights of our vacation :

The Mangrove Tour

The all-day blackout (for the sake of the generators, once in 5 years)

The power trip that same night due to a fierce thunderstorm

The discovery of another swimming pool in the resort, very very quiet, and with a slide!

Kid's Club. They had fun, especially on the Tour of the House with a buggy ride thrown in.

Sarah totally loved the flying fox and the trampoline. I totally loved the Indian meal at the Spice Restaurant.

The kids loved to ride on the 'Jungle Bus'. The shuttle bus that brought us around the resort.

Kuih Bakul

Hello there! Just woken up from a Rip van Winkle sleep since my last post.

School has been underway for about 3 weeks now. We're still adjusting to schedules and adjusting the schedules to suit us.

This term's targets

1. For Sarah to learn to be more on task and do everything without a)daydreaming, b)fidgeting or c)being distracted by things around her.

2. For Ben to be able to fully come on board.

3. For Gabriel to learn to occupy himself without too much interruption to us

4. For me to manage all my household chores, and sleep earlier at night.

Today, I attempted to fry up some kueh bakul. That's a sticky glutinous rice 'cake' that is the tradition of the Lunar New Year. Legend has it that some monster (or god??) is released during the month before the Lunar New Year, and it prowls the kitchens looking for food and gossip to report to the 'gods'. So people make this sticky cake to glue up the kitchen monster's mouth so that it cannot report all the bad things to the gods in 'heaven'.

Well, I called Mum this morning to ask her how to do the kueh bakul (also known as 'nian gao') with yam slices. She said to sandwich the yam between slices of kueh bakul, dip in batter and fry. It didn't sound right to me. Shouldn't one sandwich the kueh between the yam instead? That would make it less sweet!! Anyhow, I tried it her way. It turned out quite nice, except that the yam was not sufficiently cooked inside. But just now, I looked it up online, and actually, I was right all along. The yam should be on the outside... it would cook better. And also the melted kueh bakul would not stick onto my wok like it did just now. So, conclusion : sandwich kueh bakul between slices of yam.

OK. Time to start school now.

A great article with a challenge for homeschooling parents

A very good article leading to some major self-examination. I think I am guilty of pride and arrogance in my homeschooling. I need to learn to be more humble to others' suggestions and criticisms. On the other hand, I am also pressurized by a controlling partner and one who is prone to measure our parenting success by the success of our children.

A must read...

http://www.familyministries.com/HS_Crisis.htm

Dear Father, please help me love my children as they are, and not for what they can do FOR me. Please help me be more supportive to my children in whatever they do, as well as develop a strong relationship with them. Help me to remember that You have loved me unconditionally, and you have not depended on my 'performance' to bring You glory. May I reflect Your love in my relationship with my children as well. In Jesus' precious name, AMEN.

A medal

On a happier note, Sarah did well at the Singapore Gymnastics Nationals 2011 held on Sept 11. She passed her grading for Level 1, was placed 8th in a field of 15, and won a silver on the uneven bars. A nice surprise for all of us.

Next week, we have a one week term break for gym. So we'll take a homeschool break as well so we can do things that take all day :).

Oh, and we have not been late for gym for the past 4 weeks. Hurray! The kids have gotten into the groove of things. We have not been late for Chinese class either. Thank God that we've become more motivated to do things on time.

Personal Struggle

My boys are so ill-disciplined, and I blame myself for being too lax. I also see myself as being very conceited, and not considering others before myself. Why? I believe I've been too influenced by my own thoughts and distractions. Perhaps a bit of a proud, complaining person has rubbed off on me too, such that I also think that the world must revolve around me.

Well, I've sought the Lord's forgiveness for this, and I'm now working on these sins, by God's grace.

The boys kept running onto the gym mat at the end of Sarah's gym session, until the coach had to tell them off. They did not obey me. They got a caning from me. I forgot to apologize to the coach. Must remember this next time. Thank others for helping me with my kids. Apologize on their behalf, and get them to apologize too. Then, they noisily interrupted her discussion with another parent. Over, and over again. Dealt with the kids at home. Need to apologize again next time. Hope it doesn't happen again.

I need to learn to respect other people and consider them better than myself. Lord please teach me this lesson and help me to learn well.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4

Gym again

Sarah's floor routine is finally coming together. Although she hopes for a medal, realistically, she is still not up to the standard for one. Perhaps in bars, if she doesn't foul that up, there might be some hope. Sunday's the competition, not ideal, and I wish it were not on Sunday. She's got balance issues on the beam, I have no way of helping her practise this, and her arms and legs are like a hula dancer's.

I've been so tired lately. But homeschooling has still been going on. Just barely. I need sleep without the children bothering me half the time.

I want to spend more time reading books, but again, my eyes can't stay open and my mind goes to sleep anyway. I practically fell asleep teaching Phonics to Ben the other day.

Dear Lord, please give me strength and energy for all that I need to accomplish today.