updates

Hey, I will be setting up a flea market stall with a friend in Oct! Now busy clearing Rey's old toys, clothes, books and all.

okay, Rey summer field trip's photos are uploaded too.

cutting off cucumbers

Remember Rey stamping, soaking himself along with other friends in the muddy water?That was for rice planting. In May, you see the seedlings sprouting out from the flooded paddy.

Casting some magical spells to assist the rice's growth.

About 3 months later, the plants have almost reached full growth. Gradually, the grains begin to ripen and the tops begin to droop. There is a Japanese saying about being humble even when you reach the top, just like the rice bowing humbly as they grow riper. At this stage, the water is drained from the fields.

Harvesting time!

so happy!

Biwa Valley and Lake

Made a video on our recent trip to Biwa Valley and Lake.

Lunch at Robinson

We had a late Sunday lunch at this Italian restaurant. Here, you get free flow of freshly baked buns with every set lunch. Rey loves the macha buns so much I think he gobbled up 5 of them. After that, I brought Rey to watch an electone concert.

Like dat also can complain ah?!

Tell you a joke of the day. It is true and it happened to me just yesterday. To begin with, if you don't know, "monster parents" (see the report about it here http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364265,00.html ) have become such a phenomenon in Japan that a drama has been made about it. Parents who are over-protective, demanding and who want teachers to treat their children like princes or princesses.
And THEY LOVE TO COMPLAIN!! Yesterday I got a complaint from a teacher. Guess what it's about? A mother wrote to the school to complain that Rey didn't want to hold her precious son's hand!! Read this again, because my son doesn't want to hold her son's hand! Like dat only what! My eyes almost dropped out from my sockets, you know. According to the mother, this has happened a few times and the little boy's fragile heart cannot tahan it that it almost shattered into bits. Well I guess the mother can't bear to see her son feeling so sad after school that she has to write in to tell teacher about it. Well, laugh out loud if you want. I don't know whether to shake head or laugh. This is how pathetic the situation here has become (shake head). Your son is king ah? Got golden hand or what? or is he some famous star must hold hand ah? siao! Tell you, I also can complain that another child quarrel with Rey, kick sand into his eyes or didn't share a story book. But common sense tells you what should be complained and what shouldn't, right? If not, there will be a long queue of parents waiting to complain and I bet that the queue will be longer than those AIG policy holders who want to terminate their accounts. 真是头脑少根筋，无理取闹! So Singaporeans stand aside, the mama-san here in Japan can do a better job of complaining.

To the dentist

Rey went to his dentist just for a regular checkup. We call the dentist 'anpanman'面包超人...

... because most of the characters in the clinic is full of anpanman and friends characters.!

See the photos on the wall? The dentist likes to keep a visual record of his small little patients too.

It's Rey 2nd trip to the dentist.


got a free try at gacha-gacha.

The trip to the dentist is so fun for him as compared to mine when I was a child. Life's so unfair.

Lantern festival

It's full moon and we're having a lantern festival party!

Our fortnightly art & craft session

Summer is ending

Now the temperature is just right for an afternoon walk in the park.

I asked Rey to catch the butterflies but he found a dead cicada instead.

1 reason why I have been using the internet less frequently is because I think my eyesight is turning bad (from youtube dramas). So now I have blueberries supplements twice a day.

bread baking in school

mixing flour and yeast

heating in the sun for 10 minutes

Rey can't wait, he is eating butter already.

our ingredients

before they go into the oven

looks nice right?

lunch break

teachers explaining where food goes after been eaten, all about gullet, stomach, intestine...
and even how stool is formed. In Japan even the human waste looks so cute!

An interesting blog about Korean Mums

http://stuffkoreanmomslike.blogspot.com/

chit chat

I: Do you know where penguins live? (expecting "Antarctica" for an answer)
R: I know! Ice-burgers!
I: (laughing hysterically already) Ice burgs, lah! goondo sami!
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I: Cockroach! You wait here and watch where it goes, I'm getting the insecticide.
(came back confidently armed with the spray) where's it gone?
R: I'm not going to tell you where it is.
I found it anyway and begun the killing process. Rey started crying, screaming and pushing me away from the pest. Mission accomplished and it took me sometime before I realised what all the cries have been about. I had cruelly killed his potential pet. I was the target of his hatred for the whole night.
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I: see, I have become old everytime you do naughty things.
R: ... then you should try not to be angry whenever I disturb you right?
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R: Mum ,it's bad to kill animals right?
I: yah, but if we don't eat meat, what shall we eat then?
R: Maybe just french fries all day long.
I: 你想得美!
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R: (complaining to Nana over the phone) Mama caned me until she almost cut me into half!

Japan Prime Minister

I have never been too interested in politics but if you live in Japan, you can get the chance to witness some political dramas. Well, the latest news is that the only 1 -year old PM Fukuda has call it quits. He has been only slightly better than the previous PM Abe. Mr. Abe has quitted months after his appointment due to health problems. Cannot blame, health is more important. Mr. Fukuda's reason? To say badly, he is descending to let someone more capable, younger and charismatic than him to clear up the sh*t accumulated by the previous govt. Obviously, he has finally figured out that 享老 weighs far better than spending days debating with the opposition party. I have initially wondered why people would choose a 72 year old man to be their PM in the 1st place. So, the next baton might be passed to Mr. Aso? We shall see if he is capable enough to solve problems of loss of pension records, misusing of funds and the dwindling economy. But please, the next one don't anyhow say "I quit". The Japanese yen is low enough.

btw, if we see from 1960, the turnover rate for Japan's PM is 7 times as high as Singapore's. Better not study Japan politics, you'd have trouble remember all the names.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Japan

Time to update

Lots of things to do recently. Just put up the last few photos taken in Singapore before we came back to the land of the rising sun.


I like this view. Nana is practicing her water ballet.

Rey daydreaming as always. You know, he is actually thinking hard about something. Sometimes he throws you questions like "Why are freezers cold?", "How does water come out from taps?" or "How do bus tickets come out from the box?" after his daydreaming sessions. You have to frantically retrieve the remains of what you've learnt during the secondary school science lessons that were thrown into the brain's thrash bin decades ago.

This volcano experiment could have been an instant success. For every try, we had watched in anticipation after adding the right ingredients and getting the camera ready to record the eruption moment, ... but something went wrong somehow. The lava simply rose high enough for you to say, "It's erupting!" before its cowardly retreat into the crater. We have to rewash, re-add the baking soda and vinegar for umpteen times, before the moment finally came.
the end result, a volcano that looks like it is puking instead (cuz we added black vinegar at the end, why huh?)

The kids enjoyed it anyway while I'm already 'sian' liao after the 1st try.


killing monsters


you do this with potato chips too right?

Ahh, all the fun time in Singapore just gone in a flash.