basking in the sun

The weather was perfect for a picnic today!

Rey just wants a nap for the time being.

checking out the names of flowers in spring.

made this flower chain

look, a ladybug!

Pizza, again.

This time we put corn, sausages, mushroom and green capsicum. This is such a cheap but oishii recipe for busy mamas.

Happy B'day

scrub, scrub

Rey was washing his dishes as usual and then he went on further to help his mama srcub the sink, every part of it including the corners. He did this for a good 20 minutes (I don't want to imagine how much water and detergent is wasted). He was so proud to show me a sparkling sink after this. Thanks! For your info, he is now scrubbing the sink in the bathroom. Maybe I should let him scrub the toilet next.

We made rojak pizza!

Rey helped cut all of the toppings. We had cheese, ham, sausage, tuna, mushroom and tomatoes for the toppings.

(手裏剣)Shuriken

We made many shuriken for a competition between Rey and I, to see who can knock down more bottles.

cutting apples

He looks like he is chopping up coconuts instead!

karaoke

The other day, Rey was asking me what karaoke is. So I brought him for a 2 hour karaoke session yesterday after he came back from school. Now, I haven't really sang for 6 whole years and have no clue when it comes to the latest pops. I've difficulty recalling the title of the songs I was familiar with. But with the help of the high-tech portable keying in kit, I just need to indicate '1998' and choose from the year's collection of songs. Rey's children songs were available too. But he needs more practice though, because he reads the lyrics as slow as he eats.

Takoyaki party

where is my shredder?

R: Mama, did you see my shredder?
I: No, didn't see it for ages.
R: (started looking everywhere) Can it be in the boxes....or is it in the freezer? (goes to the freezer)
I: How can it be...
R: I found it!

so you see, this is the block of icy shredded paper.

chores

Today, I just feel like tidying up the entire house. Started the morning vacuuming, washing and hanging clothes, went for Yamaha, cycle to shop for clothes (but couldn't find anything for myself), sweep and brush the front porch. Rey is a good helper.

macha latte

eating by the Kamo River

Arashiyama

Shidare-sakura

want to grow a radish?

radish flower

Yamaha performance

Rey had his Yamaha performance last Saturday. After that we went for our crab-eating trip! Very tight schedule.

Crabs! Look at the spread!

Rey coudn't wait. We had crab steamboat, bbq crab, steam crabs, crab sashimi (I like that the best), crab miso soup. Sooo much crabs that I have to leave them to Anchan to eat on my behalf. Now I really regret!!

plus soba! and red bean icecream too!



entrance



breakfast with freeflow of self-made yogurt.

Went for a 1 night stay at this bed-and-breakfast. We go there just for the crabs!

mushroom head no more!

For the past 5 years, I had been Rey's only 'hairstylist'. I trimmed and cut his hair, out of fun and ah-hemm...out of full confidence with my good hair-cutting sense. We usually cut hair in the bathroom but the cold weather has delayed our hair-cut session until now. Rey's hair just kept growing. As you know, the Singapore family and I nicknamed Rey "mushroom head" and I guess Rey happily accepted this nickname because it is sort of related to Mario, or that's what I think. Anyway, one day, when I casually call out "mushroom head, come here!" Rey responded with a sly smile, "You know, Ikeda teacher called me shiitake no atama (mushroom head) this afternoon!" I was shocked! Now, it's no fun when other people outside the family calls my Rey this nickname. So Rey has his hair-cut debut yesterday!

Hair-stylist: Is there any choice of hairstyle that you want?

I: Not too short, don't change the image so drastically, or well, maybe it's okay to change the image afterall, show the ears, keep the sideburns, slope backwards, make it cool, ...(might as well do it myself instead, hor). Sorry, err... I leave everything to you but I just don't want anymore mushroom head. Thanks!

And then I left the fate of Rey's hair to the hairstylist. Rey kept so still because I told him if he moves an inch, he might get his ear snipped off! hahaa. That works so well, I think the hairstylist was happy with such a good customer. It took them 45 minutes, and I sat in a corner reading magazines, trying to overcome the sad feelings of not being able to cut Rey's hair anymore.

The end result! I like it alot, but I still miss my mushroom head Rey (sob)

Cafe

Went to a nice cafe for a cake set after Rey's Yamaha performance rehearsal. The waitress helped Rey poured a free cup of milk which is actually meant for the coffee.

Now talking about service. The other day, when Rey broke a cup of steam egg at a sushi restaurant, the waitress came to APOLOGISE for the inconvenience, checked if Rey got hurt before clearing up the mess with a SMILE. I don't have to compensate for the broke cup either.

dance battle

As you already knew, it's Rey's holidays. I should be very free these days but I am not. I have busied myself with schedules and places to bring Rey to. Today's schedule was to watch a Dance competition. As we were already late for the show, I nearly stamped the ground till it cracked when I found that the bus we took was wrong! I must have got some short term memory loss that made me want to take bus 3 instead of bus 32! Feeling totally lost and bitterly cold, we managed to catch a cab and catch up with the later part of the contest. I had expected some amateurs dancers but wow! The dancers were so up to standard they will have brought the "Shall We Dance" contestants in Singapore to shame. The highlight of the contest was the Dance battle where the 'best' dancers from each team showed off their dancing prowess. Rey even "screamed" his cat whistles. We are going to watch some band competition at the same venue tomorrow! bus 32 32 32

holiday trip 1

Korea Town

Yakiniku set and bibimba for lunch (not in the photo)

Kid's Plaza. Confirmed that Rey has no fear of heights.

Taichi master

'Stingrey' in the ocean

into a bubble...

can you see the big bubble?

Kid's supermarket

You have to 'buy' a maximum of 5 things and the bill must total up to 1000yen in order to get a stamp. Rey got three attempts before he got the figures right.

Role playing as a Postman. I'd love to have such handsome postman deliver letters to me everyday!

There were about 8 post boxes. You put the postcards into the postboxes according to their postal codes.

Found a Thai restaurant where we have green curry and icecream before we headed home.

The spring vacation starts this week and I plan to bring Rey to many places for FUN!

The 1st stop was the Korea Town in Osaka. We alighted the train at Tsuruhashi and walked for 20 minutes. Rey was great! He didn't complain about the distance but only kept asking me when we're reaching. I baited him with, "In 10 minutes' time." "5 mins" , "Just up ahead.", "going to reach", feeling guilty at the same time because I thought it was too far to walk too, plus the weather was quite warm. We reached the destination just in time for a nice Korean lunch. How I wish to visit Korea again...

The next stop was Kid's Plaza at Tenman station (just 3 min ride from Osaka station). It's a place for role playing, science experiments, computer games and craft work. It was so fun for Rey. I promised to bring him there again.