Ocean Park and Panda

Bright sunny morning, blustery wind to blow away the smog. The first day in at least a month that we saw clear sky. We brought the kids to Ocean Park to see panda and other animals. The panda this time round was awake and Siyuan was able to see it eat bamboo, run, poo, excercise and clamber all over the rocks.

We bought a glowing panda key chain for Siyuan, and he insisted on sleeping with it. The next morning, he couldn't find it. Lux asked him if he had fed the panda last nite.
Shaking his head, Siyuan pipped:"Panda took taxi to Ocean Park to eat bamboo!"

:)

Sihuai Walking

Sihuai has started toddling, from one or two steps, she is now able to take 5 steps or more. Still crawls a lot. But just as often she would stand and look around. She likes to help Siti hang clothes, and will get pissed if she's deprived of the opportunity to at least mess around with a shirt or two.

Multicultural Singapore

Visited Singapore for CNY, and we dropped by at a neighbourhood playground.
It's funny when we were there, and the term multicultural Singapore seems a bit like government speak.
Yet, that morning, there was a mini cultural melting pot and all the kids were happily playing with each other, ditto the parents speaking with each other.
It's a little different here where we stay in HK, where people tend to mix only with their own.

Lions Eat Little Boys

``Roar, roar,'' Siyuan went during dinner. So we started talking about lions, about the color, the mane, and what they eat.
``Lions eat deers, pigs and chickens,'' I said, pausing, before adding "and little boys!"
``No!'' Siyuan said, with a laugh.
``Yes,'' I said seriously.
He stopped, thought about it for a while, clearly alarmed.
``Close the gate!'' he said.

New School

We moved Siyuan to a new school at Tam Tam in Repulse Bay. Nestled in the mountains, just above a reservoir, it's a beautiful location. The air is crisp and fresh enough that you can smell the diesel when a car roars by. Big contrast to Wembley near our place, where kids breath in air from the exhaust of a nearby hotel.
We've been debating a new school for months, as we realized that he just wasn't learning or enjoying his time there. The teachers who we liked had left, and the new ones weren't particularly communicative or clearly favored a few kids. Siyuan, like some others, who were independent were pretty much left alone.
After a year there, he still doesn't want to say the names of his teachers. Wasn't picking up much new vocab in school and there are days he dreaded it.

We checked out a few and settled on http://www.woodlandschools.com/Index.php?_function=AboutSchool&_subFunction=Location&browsePub=
because the teachers impressed us with their expertise and love of kids.  It's expensive though!!
But we were faced with the choice of Siyuan stagnating and not conversing and ultimately failing to make the cut for primary school or paying now and ensuring he gets into an english-based primary school later for his interview in January (yes, HKschools interview kids when they're just 4 for primary school.)

We loved the new place so far. And so it seems does Siyuan. He knows the names of his teachers in two weeks, and came back happy with activities such as Kids in Motion and Library Day. He loved learning Putonghua and can now sing a few songs. The other day, he saw a plane fly by and said Fei Ji.

One day when Siyuan was about to enter school, he jumped when he saw a praying mantis. Before you knew it, a teacher was out there letting the mantis crawl all over him, while gathering the kids around him and telling them about the creature. I guess that's what you're paying for, teachers who enjoy teaching and can react on the spot.
This was in contrast to the principal at his old school, who insisted that we do things her way and wasn't keen to change.

papa's short cut

Goodbye Kyunghee

Reading

Auntie Hwee Hwee

Uncle Heng

Window Pane

Sleeping in the Corridor

Grandpap's Nose

Helping Grandmother With the Plants

We went back to Singapore for CNY, the first time the grandparents get to see Sihuai.

Siyuan by now can remember visiting Singapore a year ago, and his grandparents. He was all excited about taking an airplane to Singapore and behaved himself on the plane. Lux was teaching him how to say happy chinese new year in Teochew at least a week before and he did all right :)
This is a picture of the first morning after arrival, when he helped grandmom water her plants.

Drinking With a Straw

PlayingTogether

Funny Face

Sihuai Stands With Aid

Narong Visits

Series of Pictures

We've been busy, hunting for a new kindergarten for Siyuan (with an eye to primary) and checking out possible new places to stay. So here's just a series of pictures taken in the past three months.