CNY leftover

There are definitely times, when this Mama forgot to bring a camera, so Mama simply snapped some pics using the phone, only to be forgotten for months at a time.

These Chinese New Year pics are indeed case in point.

Months after the fact, Mama found the pics while rummaging through the phone. 

That day we went to watch the Lion and Dragon dance at the Mall, and we had to wait so very long (the troupe was late!!! On Chinese New Year! Not an auspicious beginning of the year, I'd say!), so Mama just went a little snap happy.

On retrospect, I suppose all the waiting was partly our fault. Had we not mentioned the dances to Kecil, we wouldn't have to watch them, no? Still, at the very least I think Kecil the wait was worth it. When the dancers performed, Kecil was both entranced and a wee bit afraid. (She used her Daddy as a shield from the approaching Lion, I kid you not!)

Well, anyway, Kecil was happy. We hope that if we ever do the same thing again, it would be without all the waiting. Who starts the new year with being late, anyway? (So said the Mama who posted the pics like.... a few months late? Bahahahahaha......)

Cheers!

Kecil's latest adventure

... did not take her through the highest mountain, nor the deepest valley,
but instead, took her to an airy, bright studio room with her very best friend and a gaggle of girls her age,
to learn something new and stretch muscles she'd never knew existed before.

Kecil is taking up some ballet classes!

This Mama had seen the advertisements before, but we never did check it out until Ami invited us (She just recently joined in the fun as well!). As it turned out, there was actually a Kinder class for little girls like Kecil and Ami. What fun!

Eugh, although Kecil looked a bit different in a gaggle of leotard-and-tutu-clad girls. Sorry, Kiddo, but Mama would like to be more sure about your response to the class before Mama buys you the 'stuff'. The attire for the first class was chosen herself, "The Kimono skirt, Mama!", and good thing too, she did not look self-conscious at all in her attire, bless her soul.

We are looking into getting her a more appropriate gear, hopefully soon, and we'll keep you posted. In the meantime, this Mama is happy to report that the girl is taking her classes well (as long as Mama kept her well-fed and hydrated with some after school snacks as well as ice tea through class.)

So there it is, Kecil's latest adventure. Here's hoping for great fun and learning to the little ballerinas. Cheers!

Playground Revamp

It's been a while since we came to this spot. It is quite lovely, this playground, especially because of it's convenient location, not too far from most of Kecil's friends' houses, just perfect to spend time together.

Don't forget these walls, always a tempting thing to climb...

... either casually dressed or otherwise.

But as you can see, the walls have been getting new coats of paints. Indeed, for the past few months, the playground has been undergoing some repair work, which was stopped for a while, the sight of which drove so many kids around the area inside to explore ....

Some enterprising soul even created an opening through the temporary wire fence. So we went in.

But that was finally over, the playground was finally done. And what's better to celebrate that than to enjoy the new facilities with your best friend?

With new colour scheme, a new addition... the playground is finally ready to get some playin'!

Yet somehow the star that stole the show that day was the monkey bars. Kecil and Ami was very eager to try it on, after oh so long.

On the other hand, you see the wall on the right hand sight of the last pic? This Mama laughed a bit when she saw it. It would seem that the authorities that be had enough anxiety over little kids climbing all over the wall. Ahem.... So they decided to close some of the holes that made the wall so easy to climb with. Haha... Still, I guess all is fine.

It's good to be back at the playground, even minus the wall to climb. For obvious reason, the place is now known as the 'Green Playground'. Haha... Cheers!

Summer 2013

This weekend found us trying out a new spot (for us) in town, for a spot of swimming, of course.
Clear blue skies, soaring temperatures, they all conspired to bring us to this quiet spot....

... where Kecil can practice some swimming (or piggy-backing on Daddy's back!) ...

... some levitation exercises ...

... or even the run-of-the-mill underwater photograph with Mama (who just got herself a new set of swimming suit, yes).

Oh yeah, on this side of the ocean, summer has indeed arrived. Happy summer!

Easter Princess

For Easter this year, Mama actually blew a few eggs and we decorated the egg shells. Some were painted by Kecil, using a combination of markers and water colors, the rest were dyed after some treatment with crayons. The result was quite cool, and Kecil was very impressed. Haha...

On Easter Sunday itself, we went egg hunting at the housing office. Kecil and Mama came home with some impressive looking 'tattoo' (temporary, of course, painted using face painting material).

We met Kecil's classmate at the egg hunt, and we watched some acrobat and magic show. Oh, and did I forget the balloon flower? Not to mention the photobooth. We had some fun pretending to be Minnie there.

But the biggest surprise came from a visit from the Easter Princess herself, right here at home.

Ha! Actually, Kecil won a set of 'Princess jewellery set' from the egg hunt. So... not surprisingly, she wanted to put the all on once we got home, with the resulting "Princess Beauty".

Oh my. She looked good enough to stand for a pageant or something, not that this Mama intended to do that, of course. I am pretty sure we can find other, better things to do. But for that Easter morning (and afternoon, and also the day after, and a few others), my little Princess surely can dress up all Princessy and nice. After all, she IS Mama & Daddy's little Princess, no?

Hair updates

Just in case you haven't noticed, Kecil is a girly girly girl. Quite an extreme case, in fact, with all her pink obsession and what nots. This Mama has  no idea where the Little Girl got it from.
Anyway, the point is that, obviously, she wants to have long hair. Not short. So... no cutting.
She's not even fazed by the fact that her hair grows ever so slowly. Mostly, Mama just trimmed Kecil's hair, mostly in front, and yet... already about a year of growing it out, the hair is still like that. Just messier.

So, in an effort to keep the mess in check, Mama started coaxing the Little Girl to use some hair ornament. It's unfortunate that Kecil does seem to prefer her hair free, loose, with no embellishment whatsoever. She does, however, seem to be quite taken with a few PINK hairbands that Mama bought.

The only thing is, she just loved to wear it further down in front, right in front of her bangs, leaving still unruly mess of hair at the back.
What Mama love is this:

But those ties never stay too long on her head. 3 hours tops, then off they go. Then Mama tried different combination:

Still on the bangs, but her hair is up, and it actually stayed longer!

Bonus point that it looked so cute on her!
Lately, however, she's been watching lots of Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Minnie Bow Toons. So, when we spotted Minnie ears while doing the grocery run, this Mama got pestered just so Kecil can acquire extra cute ears on her own.

Tadah! Oh dear.
She loved her extra ears, all right. She wore it everywhere!

 For walkies, for play times outside, for cycling, even for Skool! And it so does not help that her classmate had a pair as well, making for a Double Minnie sighting, right in Skool.

Well... for what it's worth, she looks cute in those ears. We shall just see how long this 'fad' will last. Haha... cheers!