fallen chick

It has been raining rather heavily the past few days. We arrived at the pool entrance and just when I was parking my bicycle, I heard loud chirping from near my feet. It came from a chick which has apparently fallen out of its nest. I saw its mother feeding it and guarding it nearby. The mama bird must be feeling quite helpless. We wanted to help but couldn't spot any nest from the tree above. Sounds cruel but think it's best left to nature to decide the chick's fate.

geometry

Used some straws and playdough and we made a cube, triangular prismsand hexagonal prism.

memoirs of a geisha

I was a late reader of this book but I manage to finish 'Memoirs of a Geisha' in 1 day (read till 3am into the night). It drew me so much into the geisha world that I rented its movie 'Sayuri' to watch the next day, just to enjoy a quick playback of the story. I wouldn't say the movie is that great though with some details twisted, but nevertheless, good acting from its cast. I would have loved a Japanese version of this movie instead.

Rey's 1st Camp

Rey is going for a 2D1N camp with his kindy. I'm gonna going to miss him so much! (sob)

R: Are you going to miss me, mama?

I: yes, dear...(pretend to sob)

R: I know what you're going to do. You will watch your drama all day long, right?

I: yes, dear (peace sign)

A Gion chimaki charm for warding off evil. Chimaki means 粽子therefore I bought it basically to eat and ward off evil. As Rey and I began to unwrap the chimaki, to our disappointment and shock, it was only a decorative chimaki, not for eating....(cry)

play the roulette game to see if you can get 1, 2 or 3 candies.

Rey: I want grapes, strawberry and melon.
I: aiyah, just decide on 1. I don't think our gambling luck is that good. (don't quite like him eating sweet stuff anyway)

and true, we got just 1 green candy.

a model in the making?

Despite the adverse impact on tourism due to H1N1, now Kyoto is energized once again with the start of Gion Festival. Same as previous years, yama and hoko floats are built along the street near our house.

Yesterday, at the Hoko Hikihajime & Yama Kakizome (trial pulling) event, Rey got his chance of pulling the hoko down the street. The hoko are impressively built to 2-storey high, and each of them include a music hall filled with musicians who make music using bells, whistles and drums. This trial pulling was open to public and thus we got a chance to haul the hokos. This hauling is to make sure the constructed floats are ready for the main parade on Friday.

If you watch the video, you can see the the hoko have long poles that has a decorative ornament. Usually, people are more interested in admiring the elaborate ceiling paintings and textiles are are said to be transported from Europe along the Silk Road.

school visit

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.