Inari shrine

Visited Inari Shrine in Fushimi (Kyoto). Here, foxes are believed to be Inari god's messengers so you see several fox statues and you also write down wishes on a fox-shaped piece of wood. Inari shrine here is also famous for the thousands of torii gates that wind up all the way to the hill top. It is also a location shoot for the movie "Memoires of a Geisha".

He wrote his wish on the other side, "I wish to see the world's most beautiful chameleon."

green beans plants

love triangle

This happened when I was catching my drama on viikii while Rey is (still) eating his dinner.
I must have looked too excited when watching the scene of girl A (good) sharing a ride with boy B (bad turning good boy) on the same bicycle, all this being witnessed by the evil 'girlfriend' of the boy.
I: This is so sweet....oh no, the girl sees it!
Rey: what's so interesting? (walking towards my laptop)
I: They're riding on a bicycle but the girlfriend sees it!
Rey: This girl is angry?
I: yah, never mind, she's bad. She's evil. It's a love triange.
Rey & I: whahahahahaha...
seriously I don't know why he's laughing that ticklish kind of laughter for like 3 minutes. He's too small to understand love dramas, right?

authocratic mama?

I: Can you wash your hands before you eat that snack? Anyway, please take a shower before your snacks! And I want you to throw that dirty socks into the washing machine, clothes too...blablabla..
Rey: mama, you are controlling me!
Yah, and sometimes he says I'm noisy too. Doesn't this happen in teens? He's too early for that. Time to adopt a new approach.

Transformers 2

I love sci-fic movies. Transformers 2 hit the screen in Japan today. It's quite weird when I had zero interest in Transformers cartoons 20 years back. But after watching Transformers 1 with Rey, I'm hooked! I wanna go so badly ... but have to wait till next Wed b'cuz Wed is ladies day with tickets at 1000yen = S$15. Yah, usual price is exorbitant at 1500yen, more than twice the price in Singapore. I don't mind waiting a few more days; at least there is something for me to look forward too.

Rey is pestering me to bring him after school. Still considering. He's definitely going to bombard me with all those questions like "I thought Megatron died already? Why's he back?" till I can't concentrate. poor Rey, his mama is selfish (evil smile).

macha day

Need a cold desert on a hot day.

Bubbles

Made this bubble solution to keep Rey entertained for 1 hour. I got a shock when I saw his hands all wrinkled and white, I thought the skin is going to fall off.

Fractions

Made some harsh browns for breakfast today. It was so good and I realised that 1 harsh brown for each of us is just not justified. papa was still in bed so I suggested,
I: Let's eat up papa's share! So we can have half each, ok? (nodding frantically, too lazy cook again)
R: ok, why not, we give papa half and we can have a quarter each?(Good! He can apply fraction!)

lettuce

This is called "sunny lettuce". Rey was talking about how nice it tasted when the school teacher dipped it in mayonaisse+soya sauce (I added sesame oil too). So I bought 1 whole bunch of it and prepared the salad for us 3. I went off to do other chores and when I returned to the table 10 minutes later, the whole salad is already gone. Rey has eaten it all up! He's a rabbit. not surprised when he asked for a 2nd serving.

toilet business

One of Rey's hobby is singing in the toilet while he does his business. Today he made a necklace out of toilet paper.

sailor uniform

From today, Rey has to wear his summer uniform (so cute!)

road work

shovel cars, pumps and roller.

There was a roadwork (renewing road) going on in the middle of the night just right outside our house. A perfect night for Rey as he could look down the window and see his favourite vehicles at work. I was amazed at the worker's efficiency. The whole stretch of old road slabs were dug out, ground flattened, cement filled and rolled over, all in 4 hours. Somehow, we slept through the noise.

gymnastics at home

To be frank, Rey is not that good at sports. He couldn't bounce a ball 10 times on the same spot, he couldn't do a proper back somersault, nor could he skip using a skipping rope. I thought everything would improve if I put him in gymnastics in school. It has been 1 year now and he is lagging behind his peers. Reason being he doesn't practice at home. I used to adopt a 'let-him-develop-on-his-own' attitude but I decided that I just couldn't close an eye anymore. He didn't pass a back-somersault test yesterday and if you see the disappointment on his face, it will tear your heart apart. Knowing his character, if he is left alone he will still not practice unless someone forces him to. And that someone will have to be ME.
I: Do you KNOW WHY you didn't pass the test?
R: Because I didn't practice.
I: Then can you practice NOW? (pointing to the mattress)
R: Can I eat my snacks 1st? (still not motivated)
I: Can! You eat my rotan (cane)!
He sees the cane and scrambles to the mattress.

yah, forced motivation can be detrimental to a child's character. But spare the rod, spoil the child mah. I made him do about 20 proper back-somersaults (the sideward ones doesn't count) and showed him the proper way of bouncing balls (no more praises for lousy bouncing because if you do, he will think it is good enough). He practiced for a whole 1 hour.

End result? A very happy Rey because he realizes he can do back-somersaults like others too! And he knows he too can bounce a ball well, if he practices hard.
So everyday from now, he is going to spend at least half an hour doing these exercises.

Rey's 1st Instant noodles

Although Japanese consumption of instant noodles is No. 1, I don't let Rey eat instant noodles because I don't think there is any nutritious value in it. But Rey wanted to try just once and I see no harm in doing so. His opinion? Mama's homecooked food is the BEST, whoohoo!

----

As you know, the swine flu is creating news and 'panic' in Japan. When the latest report of a boy from Kyoto who suffered from the virus came out, the MOE declared a 6-days-no-school for children in Kyoto city. Hooray for the children and boohoo for the parents. This is so different from a typical holiday when you can get on trains and go for outing. Children are required to stay home all the time (if possible) less they contract the virus, and mothers cut their supermarket shopping to the minimal, all for social responsibility and self-protection. Of course, we are not so 乖 lah, equipped with our masks, we went to the library, park, video store and supermarkets at off-peak hours so as to avoid crowd.

happy sad

Rey loves my chicken soup alot.

R: Wow! Your chicken soup is soooo nice!

I: Of course! (watching how he wolfs down the dish)

R: I think mama's curry cannot win my school's curry, but this chicken soup can win the school's curry!!

I: (shocked, mixed feelings....)

He is too straightforward.

Ultraman vs Monsters

Rey's crew of Ultraman get ready for a battle with the bad guys in front of a mountain of shredded paper.

grinding coffee

The fragrance of coffee powder invited us to join the queue, for a try in pushing a stone coffee grinder. It seems heavy even for an adult male. If you take a closer look, you can see coffee powder spilling out onto the drain, which is collected and given out as free gifts to people who tried.

mother's day present

Preparation for rice planting

The day has come for another round of rice planting. But before that, the children get to step and play in the muddy field, just to make the mud soft.

Rey was buzzing with excitement he just couldn't stop jumping about.

Bye bye to this clean set of clothes, I'm NOT going to wash them.

The children just love it! Some started swimming in the muddy water....Rey did too.

Some made the teachers' job more 'challenging'...to clean the wall later.

Now, a photo-snapping chance for the mummies.

Looks like a poverty-stricken kid from a slum.

Enjoying his mud bath.

Rey spotted some earthworms swimming in the mud and tried telling everyone around him. Yeeeks!

Golden week

Planned a tight 3 day scedule for Rey's golden week holidays.

Ultraman show in Osaka. See how excited he is? It was actually a school day but skipped school just to watch the show. Still, there were crowd of mums and children but we got the 1st row (phew)

Ultra-Mebius fought the monster

Ultra-Max and Mebius

the golden handshake!

...and photo!

lunch

Hep-five ferris wheel


1 night in Kobe

digging for fossils

got 1 as a souvenier

Baby T-rex taking a walk

Kobe festival

There was this sky-cruise by helicopter, 4000yen for adult and 3000yen for child..for 4 minutes. No, I didn't take that offer. Would rather eat Kobe beef with that money.

I'm glad I came to Kobe on the right day. There was a flea market and Kobe delicacies festival.

Rey got his additinal Ultraman toys at the flea market.