O Levels

JY wanted to enroll into a college and found out that she needed 5 O Level/SPM passes as a prerequisite.
A roadblock! I do so love roadblocks. Makes us stop and think.
JY is at a crossroad now.

She wants to explore her creative side and yet she wants to feed her intellectual mind. She enjoys reading History and Biology as much as working with paints and brushes.
Would having an OLevel cert open up more possibilities for her?
So I asked her "Want to take up the OLevel challenge?"
She said "Why not!"

So the stage was set... next course of action was to get information
1, British Council
There are 2 OLevel exams: IGSCE or GCSE?
As we are not in UK, we have to sit for IGSCE. It costs RM740 per subject and Art is an exorbitant  RM2060

2. Free Exam Papers
 Took a look at what's in store for JY. We had fun attempting the Art paper and lots of laughs with Agriculture paper especially the one on why pants must not be stuffed into rubber boots. It was an eye opener for JY as she couldn't fathom Art being an exam paper and was intrigued at how it was graded.

Next, to shortlist the subjects she wanted to sit for.
Language:
Besides English, she surprised me by saying she would be taking German as well. German? Since when? Well, according to her she was inspired by Tokio Hotel and LaFee as well as makeup artists who narrate in German and Polish. Dankeschön, YouTube!
She has started teaching the boys German too. As she wants someone she can communicate in German with. So from now on she will be speaking to Meme in German.
Today's lesson was numbers 1-100...eins zwei drei......

Sciences:
She was always into Horrible Science and reading a biology textbook we bought on MVDoulus (the floating bookshop) so Biology was a natural choice. I am trying to coerce her into taking Chemistry.

Maths:
She dislikes Maths. But while University Bookstore in Sec14, I showed her an example of a Maths problem and she couldn't beleive it was THAT simple! She has had an imagined fear of mathematics all along. Now to get her to conquer it.
I am trying hard to persuade her that Add Maths is an even nicer subject :) I loved Add Maths, I loved the simplicity and beauty of it and how everything works out in the end.

Art::
Art is an exam!!! Art can be graded?!! That was her initial reaction. Her father is more than happy to coach her in this subject.

English Literature:
Still thinking about this one.

JY has 1 year to prepare for the exam. The countdown begins.......

Ean and Dinosaurs

Does every kid go through a dinosaur phase? I know all of mine did. Now it's Ean's turn to go dino-crazy.
It started off when he insisted on watching 'Sea Monsters' daily. Then we got him another DVD from the Walking with Dinosaurs series.

Meat-eaters vs Plant-eaters.
Ean would line up the plant-eaters, ready to launch an attack on the meat-eaters.
The meat-eaters would always be the villians and would never be able to defeat the plant-eaters who would relentlessly cripple the sharp-tooths with either their spiked, whip or club tails.

Dino puzzle

I thought it would be a good idea to take him to the dinosaur exhibit at the National Science Centre. But once again I assumed wrongly. Han refused to enter the exhibition hall the moment he saw the black drapes he had to walk through. "Scary!" he said.
 I managed to coax him in but Han managed to get the boys' spooked.
Ean was eager at first but the sight of his brother's ashen face and the eerie growls emitted by the dimly lit robotic dinosaurs, soon got all 3 boys clinging to me for dear life.
JY coaxed the boys to release their stranglehold on me. She held their hands and told me "They have cold clammy hands, Mom"
Han and Fai looked around to ensure the dinosaurs did not make any sudden movements.
It was more House of Horrors than an educational dino exhibit.

Nice bones. If only they were real.

DH took the brood  to Dinoland in Gentings a few days later while I had a breather and caught a movie with Meme. The boys said it was better than the dinosaurs in Science Centre and they weren't nearly as terrified this time around.
I'm glad they had a good time with their father .
I had a good time too, watching Spidey in 3D while Meme snoozed in my arms :)

Fai on 2 wheels

Fai was happy to cycle with his training wheels until one of it fell off. It must be the saltier sea air here in PD, door knobs get rusty, cars get cranky and training wheels just plop off.
Well, JY told him that it was time to start learning to cycle his bicycle. He didn't agree to it right away. His bicycle was left abandoned for months until one fine day JY said to him "Fai let's go cycling but first you have to learn how to cycle"
Fai replied "OK!"
He was rather wobbly in the beginning. He was lopsided, leaning too far to one side and his sister taught him how to straighten out by turning the handles to the other side. He fell lots of times, but got up and went back on undetered.
And in one hour, yup, just ONE hour Fai was cycling his bicycle.
He was one proud boy.
JY was rather proud of herself too.

Instead of toys - Pipes!

I have been thinking hard on what sort of materials to get the boys without having to splurge on toys. How about PVC pipes and an assortment of joints? Sturdy, made from good quality plastic, should allow lots of room for creative play, get the boys exposed to plumbing and I can always use the materials for home repairs.

 I said to them "Here these are for you. Do as you like"

Han's water blaster

Water fountain

I will need to modify the lengths of the pipes, perhaps make all of them at an equal length of 1 foot  as I noticed that pipes in various lengths made it difficult to create certain designs that they thought of such as loops and ladders.
And I would definitely need to get more pipes as they ran out of pipes in minutes.

More on fishing..

Not having any luck fishing at the Jetty with a hook and line, DH invited Auntie C and Emil to lay nets at our beach instead. The tide was going out which was perfect timing.
We got the nets out... 

KC didn't have proper shoes which was essential as parts of the seabed had sharp rocks and corals, so Auntie C secured her slippers with raffia instead.

Rocks were collected as weights to be tied to the bottom end of the nets. The rocks had to be big and heavy enough to anchor the nets or it would drift off by the strong currents. 

Setting the net.

The sea was rather choppy that day and the kids had a fun time with the waves.

I stayed on the beach collecting Cat's Eyes with Ean. The Cat's Eyes were for Auntie C who once bought a Cat's Eye ring. She should have enough to make a necklace now.

The nets were checked when the tide was low once again. We managed to get 2 catfish, 1 black drum, 1 small threadfin, 1 prawn, 2 flower crabs and a couple of claws.  

It was late by the time the fishermen retrieved the nets and there's nothing better than sitting by a campfire to warm up after a dip in the sea. 

An evening stroll @ Tg Tuan

A basking iguana greeted us as we approached the carpark opposite Ilham Resort.


<><><><>

 A cheerful Sepetir :D

 

The Sepetir seed pod.
I sent a sample to the families in the Worldwide Cultural Swap programme we participated in without knowing what it was but thanks to a resourceful friend on Facebook, I got to know it was a pod of a common tree found near mangroves and it's a favourite with squirrels.
Here in Tg Tuan, monkeys (couldn't see if they were silver leaf monkeys or long tailed macaques) were munching on them and strewing their leftovers on the road.  

A swirling. twirling flower

The thorny stem of the rattan plant. A member of the palm family, the rattan stem is solid and requires structural support, hence the thorns to grip and attach onto a taller host tree, and reach the sunlight above the canopy roof

 

 I was told to write in a request for a visit into the lighthouse

The lighthouse @ Tg Tuan

Thor fishing at the jetty

Auntie C preparing her prawn bait

 There were enough cans for everyone.  

I got one too.
I was told to pull the line in when I feel a tug. I waited a while and didn't feel anything. After a long wait, I wound the line in and found the bait gone.
We didn't catch anything that day but we had a great time enjoying the breeze and scenery.
  Why I call it Thor fishing here.


Low tide at PD

Our beach at low tide. We check the timing of the tides here.

A tiny lobster that was found under a rock

Eggs of a sea snail

checking our fishing net that had washed up onto the sand bank. The boys found 2 small flower crabs and a  carcass of a catfish.

Han's collection of crabs. They were let go when the tide came up. 

Fai made mud balls.
He said they were of great consistency as they held their shape when thrown and only broke apart upon impact.

Ean requesting for another scoop of mud ice cream

MeMe made discoveries of her own.
At 3 months, she loves grasping objects and it delights her to be able to grab at pebbles and shells.  

KC

They met over a sucker fish
her mom hunted us down
she couldn't believe her luck finding an english speaking family in PD
they are now close friends
one girl and three boys
she loves being the princess, the boys her knights
they dote on her
Fai cuts her apples, peels her oranges
She reads to Ean
Han says she is pretty and bars her mom from taking her home
She doesn't like Lego, insisting it's a boys thing
I told her it was JY's,
She likes pink and sometimes purple
Han would give her pink flowers and say "KC would like this" whenever he sees anything pink.

Thor Fishing

Auntie C loves fishing. She doesn't use a rod or nets, she uses a tin can as a reel and casts her line the way Thor spins his hammer before flinging it. So I call her method of fishing 'Thor fishing'.
Auntie C got Ean interested in fishing.

Ean was responsible for this reel and was told to take it home to get it cleaned to prevent it from rusting.

Auntie C and kids fishing at the jetty

PD Waterfront

A great place for collecting rocks ,

rock lifting

and swaying your arms in the breeze

Worlwide Cultural Swap - packing the parcel

 We used plastic bags and an electric sealer to organise the items

our pressed national flower beach collection

 Gong Xi Fa Cai

I didn't know parcels had to be wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string. Luckily there was a bookshop next to the post office

Uncle Bookshop said he would wrap it up for us.

After weighing, lots of stamp licking and address writing, the parcels were sent of to the other exchangees.

5 inch

JY has been taking modeling classes. Her take on how she went from cake decorating to catwalking here.
My take? Well, let's just say we were faced with a roadblock and for weeks we lay idle in PD. JY dabbled in jewellery making, painting on canvas, shoes and tshirts. Until one day we came across 'Amber Chia's modeling agency' on a billboard in Seremban, we checked out the academy in JayaOne, signed up for the course and started the very next day.

JY had to learn to sashay down a catwalk on 5inch heels. She was given this pair (pic above) and was told to practice 2 hours daily. She was taught proper posture and different catwalk modeling styles.

In no time JY complained of blisters on her feet caused by the PVC straps cutting into her skin.  She needed new shoes.

 I recalled reading an article on this shop in Tmn Midah that made dancing shoes and what could be more comfortable than shoes made for dancing. And should be able to last longer too!
We made a visit one afternoon. JY tried one out and declared them to be the most comfortable shoes she has ever worn.
DH gave the thumbs up and JY got to have her first custom made shoes.

Choosing leather.

JY chose lamb skin in black.

Then choose the type of heels and design.

JY chose thicker heels for more support and a double strap with a covered back for the same reason. Her heels had to be 5inches and strappy for the runway.

                              

Measuring the width of her feet.
JY was told to come back for fitting in a week.
If JY intends to do catwalk modeling professionally she would need 4 pairs of heels in black, white, silver and gold as well as a pair of boots.