I was woken up at 5:30am today. I kept protesting but my parents didn't give a hoot. I had no idea where they were taking me to but everything made sense when we reached the airport - Uncle Man was leaving Singapore.

It was only 4 weeks ago when Uncle Man broke the news to Emak and Nenek. He's been offered a job with some giant American MNC and he told them that he would be relocating. When Nenek heard the news, she was devastated and her first question to him was who was going to iron his clothes for him!!! Nenek cried for a few days after that and each morning, she woke up with swollen eyes. I'm sure Nenek will be crying herself to sleep tonight. She has always wanted all her children to be near her. When my grandfather passed away many years ago, Nenek raised her 3 children single-handedly. Emak was 15 at that time, Uncle Man was 9 and Uncle Larry was only 6. All her 3 children have always been close to her and Uncle Man has always been the more favoured one. I hope Nenek will be alright. Uncle Man has promised to call her often and he'd better do that or I will not be nice to him!

At the airport, while everyone was just hanging around, I decided to do Changi Airport a service by cleaning the floor for them, which annoyed my parents, of course.







As expected, when it was time for Uncle Man to leave, Nenek cried! Nobody else did. Not Emak, not me, not even Auntie Sandra. Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet but I'm sure, very soon, we will miss him. Uncle Man carried me and gave me a hug before he left, and as if I knew, I actually patted his back, as if telling him that everything would turn out fine.





Uncle Man, Emak wanted to tell you something before you left but she was afraid she would break down and cry if she were to tell you in your face so she has asked me for permission to post whatever she wanted to say in my blog.


Dear Man,
I'm sure you must be squealing in delight at the new found freedom. I'm glad you're making headway in your career and I fully support your ambitions. You know I always have. Can't belive that it's been a year since you graduated and in a span of one year so many good things have happened to you. I'm very proud of what you have achieved although I've never really told you so. Oh shucks, I'm tearing. Can't let Bobo see it or he will laugh at me!

I can still remember those days when I had to "rescue" you from all those teachers AND principal, no thanks to you for always getting into trouble while in school. I felt like I was looking after a son, not a brother. And those times when you would irritate me for no reason! And I will never forget how you poked my hand with a pencil! It's been so many years and the mark is still on my hand! You little idiot! I know you can't remember it ever happened and you will always deny it but it's true, ok! I think you were around 5 or 6 years old. You were such an imp back then. Remember how Emak hit you with her slippers because you told her you were going to the shop when you actually went to play football? And remember your stupid haircut and your Benhur clothes when you were in Sec 2? Those were the days!!!

Hey, little bro, I will keep my promise, don't you worry. I will take good care of Mak for you. Haven't I always? But you make sure you call her often, alright? No matter where you are, make sure you remember me, ok? Remember me not because I supported you through university AND junior college AND secondary school. Remember me not because I paid for your exam fees AND tuition fees AND hostel fees. But remember me because you strongly believe that even if you were to live your life all over again, you will still want to have me as a sister. I love you. Tata loves you. We all do. Take good care.

Sincerely,
Kakak a.k.a Pet

Yesterday's therapy was terrible. It was really really awful. The minute I was outside the office, I cried because I recognised the place! When Emak insisted that I go in, I cried even louder. I even tried to reach for my shoes so that I could put them on and leave the place but Emak tried very hard to stop me. We couldn't go into the therapy room immediately as Joanne was attending to another patient so Emak decided to take me outside her office for a while, in an attempt to calm me down. I was really desperate to leave the place, so much so that I uttered every single word I could in the hope of impressing Emak so that I could get away from that place, but it was to no avail! When I saw Joanne coming out of the room, I cried and cried and refused to allow her to touch me.

Joanne said something to Emak and she was talking about "throwing me into the deep end". Then she carried me into the therapy room and locked the door! There I was, all alone with Joanne, with no one to rescue me. So I cried and I screamed and I cried so hard, I vomitted!!! Yes, I vomitted my entire dinner and the whole room was dirtied by my puke. Only after that happened was Emak allowed to come into the room.

I hugged her as soon as I saw her, sucked my thumb and stopped crying. I simply didn't understand why I had to endure such torture. Then Emak and Joanne had a discussion and Joanne said that at this point, there are 2 options available. Either I continue with therapy( and she said I would really improve if I do ) or we stop therapy for a couple of months and come back when I'm ready.

Emak told Joanne that it pained her to see me cry like that and she made a decision to try out the strategies with me at home and so I don't have to attend therapy for a while! Yahoo! But Emak is now going to be my therapist and I have no idea what she will be up to!

In retrospect, the therapy sessions have helped because I am more willing to use words to communicate and I am saying more words that I used to.

According to Emak, she will give it a try for a while (being my therapist) and we will decide from there what to do next.

Until today, Nenek doesn't understand why my parents are paying so much for me to be tortured and she feels that they should just let nature take its course......

Emak bought a new pair of track shoes but before she dirtied them, I decided to do it first!


  

We went for dinner at East Coast today and while waiting for our food to be ready, I built some sandcastles!!! Aren't they wonderful?
Hehe. Of course I didn't build them! There were there way before us and I have no idea who built those wonderful sandcastles.

I fell off a chair and my front teeth are chipped!!!! Ayah immediately called Uncle Rashid and we were "summoned" to his office. That was my first trip to the dentist and as you can see, I obviously had not learnt my lesson! Uncle Rashid said that fortunately for me, my nerves were not affected. Phew!

We went to catch the Musical Fountain at Sentosa last night. It was a great show indeed. I tried to take a video of it but it was too dark and all I managed to capture was the sound.



  

My music and I.

We went to watch BUTS today. Yes, Ballet Under The Stars. It was at Fort Canning Park and so there were no seats at all. It was more like a picnic so we brought along our picnic mats and some food. We missed the interesting fringe activities because Emak didn't look at the tickets properly when she purchased them and so she didn't realise that we should have been there by 5 instead of 7.

During the intervals, Ayah and I would take a short nap but I decided to do something else during the second interval. I had spotted a couple somewhere behind us with this huge "I love you" balloon and I walked up the slope to where they were seated. I kept tugging at their balloon but they refused to give it to me. When Ayah realised what I was up to, he went over to carry me back to our spot but I refused to give up and kept trying my luck at getting the balloon. After my third failed attempt, I decided not to disturb them anymore and so, I went around taking a peek into other people's picnic baskets! Ayah had to keep apologising to those people and then my parents decided enough was enough and they carried me home. In the end, we only managed to catch 3 of the 5 performances. But I have this feeling that we left because my parents were getting bored of the performances. Hehe!

While everyone was watching TV just now, I quietly crept to the kitchen and took a slice of watermelon. By the time I was discovered, I had finished half of it. hehehe!

Emak has no idea what to feed me these days. I seem as though I am getting tired of my daily menu. It is rather boring actually. Brown rice and fish in the morning, 1 avocado in the afternoon and brown rice and fish AGAIN in the evening. Emak is now thinking of something more interesting to feed me but she doesn't know what!

We skipped Tien Hsia today. Emak was unwell and she couldn't get up from bed. I decided to take care of Emak by sleeping next to her. For some weird reason, Ayah did not wake both of us up in time for school and by the time we got up, it was too late to go to school so I had no choice but to ponteng school. Hehe.

As Emak needed some fresh air, we went for a walk at the Animal Resort located at the Seletar Farmway.

After the usual classes today, we went to catch "The Selfish Giant".It is a play and the original story was written by Oscar Wilde and it's about a giant who refused to allow the little kids in the village to play in his garden and how his life became miserable because he had no companionship. Emak got me my own ticket which entitled me to my own seat but I insisted on sitting on Ayah's lap. I was not so well-behaved today as I was extremely hungry. It was 12pm and I had not had breakfast nor lunch so I made a big fuss after paying complete attention for 30 mins. In the end, we left the play 20 mins before it ended.



We went for lunch at Clarke Quay and I made sure my parents fed me well. There was Emak feeding me from my right and Ayah feeding me from my left.
And when they were too slow, I annoyed them by pouring water on the table and splashing it all over with my hands.



After lunch, we went to an ulu place called Portsdown Road for vehicle inspection. It was my first time there and I was really intrigued by the many kinds of machines there.

After the inspection, we went for a drive along Dempsey Road and we discovered many interesting shops there.

As we had time to kill, we went for a drink at this place called Highwood. I think it used to house the Youth Flying Club.


I had a muffin...
while Ayah had apple ice-cream which came in the shape of .... an apple!

After that, I went for my second session of therapy. Therapy today was hell! It started off fine but when Joanne refused to give me what I wanted, all hell broke loose. I cried and I cried and I kept running to the door. I tried to open it but it couldn't be opened as Joanne had locked us in. I knew Ayah was outside the room and I was frantically waiting for him to rescue me but nothing of that sort happened. I kept crying but Emak and Joanna just ignored me and they seemed to be engrossed in their own conversation. When I realised that I was being ignored,I went to Emak and pulled her blouse, hoping that she would get up and open the door for me but she just ignored me. I pulled her hand and nothing happened so I decided to try what I knew always worked. I threw myself on the floor and started rolling on it. While I was dramatising, I noticed from the corner of my eye that Emak and Joanne were still talking and did not bother to give in to me so I ran to the door and cried again. What was interesting was that all this while, I did everything Joanne wanted me to do, in between the crying and the tantrums. Even while I was crying, I said the word "more" when Joanne asked me to and completed the puzzle she got me to do. I would quickly finish the task, while still crying, then run to the door to try to open it.

After half an hour, Joanne told Emak to leave the room so that I would learn that if I don't behave, there would be worse consequences. Of course I cried even louder after Emak left. I kept trying to open the door but Joanne refused to let me out until I said the word "open". I refused to give in, of course, and just kept crying and trying to open the door. After a while, I realised that nobody was going to give in to me and that if I wanted to get out of the room, I had to do what she wanted me to do and so I gave up and said the word "open". When she let me out, I ran straight to Ayah and refused to look at Joanne.

Joanne said I'm really acting like a little missy and that my parents must put a stop to this behaviour or it will not do any of us any good. :-(

I can recognise the word "car". Ayah left a piece of paper with the word "car" on the chair and when I saw it, I kept going "car car car". Emak then decided to test what other words I can recognise and she was pleasantly surprised to know that I recognise quite a number of other words. Good for me!

I have not seen Ayah for two days. He has been coming at almost midnight for the past 2 days as he has after work functions to attend to so last night, I decided to keep Emak company by sleeping on their bed. But, at 4am I decided to wake up! I sat up on the bed and started babbling non-stop. When I realised that my parents were not giving me the attention that I wanted, I got off the bed and started dancing on the floor. Still no reaction from them! So I sat on the bed and started pulling their hair and that was when Emak decided to "throw" me into Nenek's room. Nenek made me a bottle of milk before "throwing" me back into my parents' room. After I finished my milk, I devised ways to attract their attention again but my parents were too sleepy to get up and just left me alone. After an hour, I gave up and went back to sleep.

After Ayah came home from work today, we went for a walk at the Fullerton. I was so excited about being able to run on the travellator. I discovered something rather interesting - the reason behind how the rooms are named. For example, there is a room named the GPO room because the General Post Office was the last occupant of the Fullerton Building and the Boardroom was given that name in fond remembrance of the historic presence of the government boards in the building.




We had a drink there and from where we were seated, we had a good view of the river. We could see very clearly the bumboats that went past and I waved at them each time they went past. Hehe.
My favourite spot.
Before we left, we made sure we gave the "naked boys" a visit.

For the first time in my life, Emak allowed me to play at the playground.She would normally refuse to allow me to because she was afraid of undesirable consequences as I love to touch things and then put my fingers in my mouth or suck my thumb immediately after that. Nenek is also against it.

I had such a fun time at the playground that I refused to leave. When Ayah carried me away, I screamed and I shouted and I kicked and I hit. Yeah, I hit Ayah. I really did. Twice.

Now Emak regrets allowing me to play at the playground as I now have rashes all over my body and I've been scratching non-stop. My entire body is now red and Nenek is very angry with Emak. I hope all these red marks will go away on their own soon or there will be no more playground sessions for me!

After Seimpi today, my parents decided to take me to somewhere educational and off to the Asian Civilisations Museum we went! It was educational alright! I was not allowed to roam around because Ayah was afraid I would destroy the exhibits so throughout the entire 1.5 hrs we were there, Ayah carried me and read to me some very interesting facts which I listened to as if I was really interested. My parents were pleasantly surprised at my attentiveness and good behaviour.

These were some of the things that I learnt today:

1. "The origins and spread of Asian Rice
Southeast Asia is believed to be one of the earliest centre for rice cultivation in the world - with a history of at least 7000 years in mainland Southeast Asia. Rice was a relatively recent introduction to island Southeast Asia, with a history of less than 1000 years. Despite this, the effects of its introduction and spread were permanent and far-reaching. Rice has displaced every other grain to become the indigenous food staple of most of Southeast Asia today. "

2. Pumpkin and almond soup aids weight loss. ( Emak and Ayah please take note)

3. Ginseng porridge promotes physical strength and helps concentration.

4. Fried potatoes with vinegar lower high blood pressure.

5. There are many ways of saying "tea" and China is one of the largest tea-producing countries in the world, together with India, Sri Lanka and Kenya.

There was also a highly interesting special exhibition of how the nomads led their lives. Some of the tents on display were so huge and intricate.

I've been voluntarily using the word "more" whenever I want more of something. Looks like Joanne's strategies are working. Today, at Tien Hsia, I even said the word "pao" (run) when the laoshi told me to. Ayah said I'd better say as many words as possible on my own because if he has to pay each time he wants me to say a word, he will end up having to pay $65k just to make me say 500 words! Hahaha! I'm going for a ear test this week. Joanne said I should go for a ear test just to make sure my hearing is okay. Apparently, the reason why some kids don't talk or don't like to talk is because there is something wrong with their hearing or there is too much wax in their ears and so what they hear is not too clear and that might affect their speech in a way.



  

It was a very long day for me today. It started off with lesson at Rhythminme followed by Seimpi. After Seimpi, we went for lunch at Siam Kitchen where I finished a huge bowl of rice broth with fish fillets. Then, we were off to BusyBuddies for a trial lesson. When I got into the car after the lesson, I immediately fell asleep, only to wake up at the Chinese Garden!

Check out my antics in class.Notice how I like to dance in front of the mirror. Oh, we also caught Ayah scratching his backside in class but according to him, he was scratching his back, not backside. Back, backside, what's the difference, Ayah? (terkerok kerok macam berok? hehehe)




  

It was Emak's and my first time at the Chinese Garden. It was a very quiet place, with less than 10 people around! The best part of the garden was the Bonsai Garden where I saw beautiful bonsais which were at least 30 years old. There was even a bonsai that was 280 years old!




Now, what did it say about those who were born in the year of the monkey?
Yes! That makes me, Uncle Man, Auntie Sandra, Haiquel, Gerald, Alya and Ajab warm and intelligent people who like to acquire new knowledge! Hmmm.. let's just forget about the patience part, shall we? Hehe.

A Short History of Bonsai

" The tradition of Chinese gardening art can be traced back to almost 3500 years. Since those ancient times, the Chinese have designed and created gardens to emulate nature. Then, nearly 2000 years ago, the art of recreating nature in miniature known as "penjing" or "pensai" evolved.

Penjing is a unique art form where a tree is cultivated in a pot to resemble a giant tree in the wild. The ancient Chinese have been known to cultivate these miniaturised trees in ceramic or wooden flower pots, trays and slabs of rocks. They would also be planted on deep-fissured ornamental rocks.However, the pot is only a complementary element to the penjing. The tree is the main feature. Age, size and trunk widths are the elements in the art of penjing. The miniaturised tree should project the character of a "real" tree in style and perspective. When looking at a good penjing, the viewer should be able to "see" through illusion, a full-sized tree growing in its natural environment.

The early traders introduced these penjings into Japan where they were collected by wealthy merchants and samurais. In the process, the word "bonsai" was produced. It holds the same meaning as that of "penjing" or "pensai", a tree in a tray.While "penjing" is the Chinese name for this art form, "bonsai" is the Japanese name for the same art form.

Through the years, the Chinese have developed thirty different nurturing styles covering the five major regions of China. The Japanese absorbed these styles and developed upon them.

In this modern era, bonsai cultivation is no longer only a Chinese or Japanese hobby. During the early 1960s, bonsai was introduced to the West and by the late 1960s, it was a hobby that slowly gained popularity in North America. In the mid-1980s, there was a scattering of bonsai clubs in Europe. In more recent times, there are internationally recognised bonsai artists from both the East and the West."

After we left the Chinese Garden,we went to Mount Faber as I had never been to Mount Faber before. It was tiring walking up Mount Faber and we were all perspiring profusely! Well, we didn't exactly climb up Mount Faber but we had to take a long walk from the carpark to the restaurant. Ayah and I had a round of golf before we had dinner. Hehe. Altivo was a very nice place but we can't say the same about the food.

It was my first session with the speech therapist, Joanne, today. Joanne (http://www.speechtherapy.com.sg/contact.shtml ) is a very nice lady and she said I'm a lil miss with a temper! muahaha..She played with me and 15 minutes into therapy, I was "tricked" into saying the word "more". Towards the end of the one hour therapy, I started to imitate the words that she was using. According to Joanne, the reason why I don't like to speak is because I don't see any incentive in doing so as everyone gives in to me and they anticipate my needs, hence I do not see the need to speak. Joanne said that for this to work, everyone at home has to follow the rules she has set, otherwise, I will not be encouraged to speak. From now on, I will have to attend therapy with Joanne every week and Ayah has been ordered not to be present for further therapy sessions because he is a distraction. Haha!

Ayah hated my previous blogskin and he kept bugging Emak to change it! Sigh.

We went for a walk at BG again today, after picking Ayah up from work, but after 10 minutes of walking and running, it started to drizzle! What a disappointment!

I went to visit Dr Toh today. Well, actually I was at the Children's Centre for my chicken pox jab. Of course I cried when she poked me but it was just a short cry which lasted less than 10 seconds. Dr Toh did a 21 mth assessment of me (although I will only turn 21 months next week) and my parents have been advised to take me to a speech therapist. They are concerned because early this year, I actually started speaking and could pronounce words clearly but as time passed by, I began to speak less and less instead of more and more. I prefer to point instead of speak and would only say something if I really really have to. I'm not sure what is wrong but I hope I'm going to be okay.
This is how I always occupy myself whenever I'm at the Children's Centre.

After the hospital visit, we went to Sentosa for a walk. The weather was hot, hot, hot but I had a fun time.
We dropped by Coffee Bean for a drink and I saw this cute cake! Oh, Emak and Ayah discovered today that I can drink from a straw!
We went across the suspension bridge which brought us to an islet and got a good view of the surroundings.


After walking for like an hour, I got really tired and just sat quietly, sucking my thumb while on the tram. I love sucking my thumb. I suck my thumb all the time, much to the chagrin of my parents.

I love the fridge. Everytime I go to the kitchen, I would open the fridge and look for something to eat. The other day, when no one was looking, I opened the fridge, took an apple and ate it all by myself. Hehe.

My parents were very angry with me today. Today was the first day of Term 3 at Tien Hsia and I was very ill-behaved! Before we went into class, Ayah bought a bottle of Coke and when I saw it I insisted on having a sip but Ayah refused to even let me touch the bottle. And so.... I threw a tantrum! I cried and screamed even when we reached the classroom and even the 2 lao shis couldn't make me stop. I was totally uncooperative and after 15 minutes, Ayah got fed-up and he decided to just take me home. I think my lao shis must be very disappointed with my behaviour.

Today was a boring day. Ayah had to work and so I was cooped up at home. Well, not really. I had Rhythm in me in the morning, followed by Seimpi. I was not very obedient in class today. At Rhythm in me, I only followed instructions when Grace got us to sit down in a circle and sing that tissue song. I'm not sure how the song goes but I like it because at the end of the song, everyone has to pretend to fall. That's the part where I will laugh the loudest and hardest. There was an interesting segment today where all the kids had to lie under a parachute while the parents made the parachutes dance and fly but instead of lying down with the rest of the kids in class, I walked around the classroom and inspected all the cabinets!

I've joined a new class at Seimpi. Emak decided to put me in a class with older kids. Well, they're not very much older anyway, just a couple of months older than me. The new teacher introduced herself as Teacher Red. Yeah, that was what she said. I've been with Seimpi for 9 months now but I have not played on the piano because my fingers are still not strong enough but Teacher Red said something about making us play on the piano in the next few months or something. Yippee! The school gave me a bag and in that bag is a CD of songs played by students of the school and some of the kids are only 3 years old!!!

We went home after lessons because Emak didn't want to have to run after me all by herself. Anyway, I was so tired I fell asleep in the car. Emak wanted to take me for a walk in the evening but she decided against it and so we sat at home and watched "Mr Men" instead.

My second school bag.