Mini Mii's

The Nintendo Wii that I'd purchased some 3 weeks ago had remained untouched cos I'd been away shortly afterwards.

Yesterday I took leave (to recover from the "jetlag" that I was supposed to be experiencing) and wasted no time in setting up the gaming console.

One of the first things I did after I got it hooked up with my Panny in the living room, even before playing any of the games, was to create Mii characters for Angie, Jaimie and myself. These are digital avatars i.e. virtual representations of the Wii players that can be controlled when you play games like Wii Sports.

How? Got likeness?




P/S: My back is aching now. I think I sprained it while playing the boxing game yesterday.

Papa is home!

Papa is coming home today! Yeah! Mommy dressed me up in pink and even put hairclips on me to make me look prettier. I found an old paper bag with Santa Clause printed on it. I thought it looked so cool. I put my favourite story book, doraemon figurine which stood on my mini birhtday cake and a pamplet I picked up on the floor into the bag. Mommy didn't approve of me carrying the bag but I didn't care. i started to whine and I got my way because papa's flight is arriving soon.

I shouted at the top of my lungs when I saw Papa! He waved at me and I waved back excitedly. However, I think papa smells bad after a long, long flight. I didn't want him to carry me.

This is what papa got for me from Israel. He told me that Dora was very popular in Israel. There was even Dora shaped ice-cream and balloons! I wish I was there!!

When mama brought me to buy lunch at the market in the afternoon, I recognised it was the same place I got my mini birthday cake. I reminded mama "cake! berth-lay! foooo! fooooooo! happy berth-lay to Jay-me!!!". And Mama gave in. The cake turned out to be a little gesture to welcome papa home.

I remembered papa told me to aim at the base of the fire when trying to extinguish a fire. It didn't work for candle??

I KNOW KUNG-FU

Don't mess with me! I know lots of kung-fu! And I do not need to enter the Matrix to learn them!

Kung-fu #1: The deadly Lion Roar （狮子吼）

Kung-fu #2: My famous "Foshan Shadowless Palm" （佛山无影手）

Kung-fu #3: The Art of YiYang Finger (aka finger pointing)（一阳指）

Kung-fu #4: The Powerful Iron Palm （铁砂掌）

Kung-fu #5: The Much Feared "Ten thousand Buddhas Paying Respect to the Patriarch" （万佛朝宗）

Don't.mess.with.me. You understand?

Fidgeting, again.

Saturday is here again! Hooray! This Saturday is a happy Saturday because Papa will be back tomorrow evening!

Mommy dressed me up in hip-hop style this morning. She bought the head band for me when we went to Genting last Dec. I have never worn it before so mommy decided that today is THE day I should wear it. Mommy was going to bring me to Fidgets @ Turf City again.

There was a long queue at Jalan Anak Bukit. A pearl colour BMW 700 series (SCF882D) cut queue and mommy was very irritated. She took out her camera and snapped a picture of the car so that she could post it in her blog. Before she could keep her camera, another taxi (SHA2525G) cut the queue! Now mommy was really angry. She blasted her horn at these 2 drivers who think that their grandfathers own the road.

That's not the end! Another tai-tai driving a BMW tried to cut queue too. Mommy blasted her horn real loud and made sure that b**ch had no space to cut into her lane.

We reached Turf City at ard 10.25am. As there was no more lots in the carpark Daddy parked the car last time, mommy had to park somewhere further. She lost her orientation (what' new?) and couldn't find the entrance to Fidgets. In the end, we started playing only at 10.50am.

Somehow I was not as brave as the last time I came here to play. Maybe I was a little intimidated by the rough angmo boys. An angmo boy pushed me when I was driving in the "aeroplane". Mommy used her stern-est voice possible to the boy not to push people and play nicely. He ran off immediately. Mommy reminded me to shout "GO AWAY" if the other children tries to push me.
I had a lot of fun at Fidgets! I learnt to climb down from the top of the structure today and I was so thrilled. I ran up and climbed down so many times that I lost count! Mommy was following me. I could hear her back breaking and she was panting very hard.

We said goodbye to Fidgets at 1230pm. Mommy brought me to eat fishball noodles again at the coffeeshop nearby. Yummy!

After lunch, I fell asleep in the car when mommy was driving home. I was quite tired.

Me and Me Time

自己一个人带孩子带了两个星期，加上最近学校很忙，我已经像一个耗尽能源的电池了。今天因为我得在下课后赶回家等水喉工人来修理漏水的洗手盆，我就告诉我妈妈说今天我就不多跑一趟带媛媛回家了。我今天要有我自己的时间！！！！

水喉工人走了之后，我就到IMM去准备吃晚餐和买衣服鞋子。到了IMM，大概5点半。我在底层绕来绕去走了三圈，还是不能决定要吃什么。麦当劳？不要。高脂肪，高卡路里。Pepper lunch?不要。吃完之后整身油腻腻的。Long John Silver？ 不要。全是油炸的。拉面？不要，太涨了。食阁？天啊！腻都腻死了！一个人吃晚餐，真的蛮难决定的。后来，看到Cafe Cartel的著名排骨有打折！一客才卖$12.50！挺划算的！我就走了进去，问清楚晚餐时间也有优惠，才点了排骨。否则我就会点海鲜类的食物。我把菜单翻来翻去，内心一直挣扎着要不要点雪糕或奶雪。最后，理智战胜了馋虫。我喝开水，吃排骨。唉！要不是为了我日益上升的体重，我需要这么尴尬吗？？

趁在等食物的空档，我立刻拿出一叠作业来改。不错不错！竟然也给我改完一个小班的一份作业！我的作业已经堆积如山了。再不改，就要拿铲雪机来清理了。

我决定今天的shopping只看自己的东西。我不要为孩子shopping。我不要为老公shopping。Hey, it's ME TIME!我要好好宠我自己！那么卖力地工作和照顾家人，现在我要犒赏自己！

因为刚才没有吃到雪糕，心有不甘。于是就跑到售卖日本雪糕的摊位去买了一杯抹茶的雪糕。哇～～口味独特又不会太甜！冷冷的雪糕从我的舌头溜下我的喉咙滑过我的胸腔钻进我的肚子，一阵满足感顿时从脚底升起，直冲脑门，仿佛谈了一场轰轰烈烈的恋爱！

填饱肚子，身心满足之后，就开始我的“购物治疗”了。我每间店都跑进去看看，可是就是没有一双鞋子或一件衣服合意。我已经对此不再感到奇怪了。因为人总是这样。当你没有钱或没有时间shopping的时候，你一定看到满街都是你喜欢的衣服鞋子包包和首饰。当你真正要去买东西的时候，这些好料全都躲起来了。

后来，我只买了两个眼色的眼影，算是给自己一个交代。

说好自己不要帮孩子买东西的，双脚却不听使唤地走进了卖小孩子的东西的商店。孩子不在身边，我甚至听到每一孩子的笑声或哭声都以为是媛媛！

等等！现在是Me Time，不要迷失自己，ok?!

经过卖光碟的商店，进去问了一下Alvin and the Chipmunks的DVD面世了没有。啊！有了！好极了！自从去年圣诞节媛媛看了Alvin and the Chipmunks的圣诞节舞台表演之后，媛媛就很喜欢这三只仓鼠。她老爸一直念着等光碟出来了要买来孝敬女儿。我这个24孝妈妈就成全他们咯。

说好就买这一张光碟就好了。可是经过服装店的时候，又看见一件媛媛会喜欢的衣服，我又为孩子买东西了。唉！这是我的Me Time咧～～～

回到家，打开电脑，写了一点部落格，跟好友Wolfgirl网上聊天，然后老公没有课了也在以色列的麦当劳上网，跟我聊天。我的整个晚上，又耗在电脑前面了。

我要看书！我要看光碟！我要做瑜珈！我要跑步！

想做的事情很多，可是Me Time太少了！！！

至少，今天我吃了一顿从容的晚餐。

Day 13 - 11 Apr 08

I have completed the two-week course!

What does that mean?

It means I AM COMING HOME SOON!!!

This shall therefore be the final blog entry here before I head back home tomorrow. It is going to be a long and tiring flight. And I'm so looking forward to it!

Signing off, from Haifa, Israel.

Day 12 - 10 Apr 08

We've had humus, falafel, salad and pita on the meal tables almost everyday for the past two weeks, so it'd certainly be amiss if I had not included pictures of these in one of my entries.






The lunch I had today could feed at least two! I wasted no time when I returned to the hotel to hit the gym and jogged 5km on the threadmill.

The Little Mermaid Pillow Book

A few weeks ago when I was buying pyjamas for Jaimie at Les Enphants, I saw some Pillow books on sale. I asked for either "The Little Mermaid" or "The Lion King" but the salesperson told me both were out of stock. I left my contact number and asked them to call me when either of the pillow book was available. I totally forgot about it until today when I received a phonecall from Les Enphants to inform me that the stock for "The Little Mermaid" has arrived!

I was thrilled and rushed down to Bt Panjang Plaza to collect the book after my lessons had ended. It costs $19.90 but since I have the VIP card, I am entitled to 10% discount.

Jae was quite excited to see Ariel on a pillow-and-book. However, the book is quite wordy. Jae flipped the pages for about 15mins and decided to put it aside. Hmmm.... I was hoping she would be more excited than this...

Let's hope that she'll ask me to read to her someday! I am so eager to get her interested in Disney Princesses because I am a Disney Princess fan myself!

And more importantly, we are staging "Beauty and the Beast" at home everyday...hahahaha!! Ya ya... Clement will claim that he is the "Beauty".

Day 11 - 9 Apr 08

If you were to ask me what one thing I can recall in my semi-awake state throughout the lectures today, that'd be this parting joke by Dr Dan Shivtan at the end of his lesson on "The Security Challenges of Israel":

One day, God decided that He has had enough of the human race. He decided that he'd end it with a flood. A REAL flood. No Noah. No Ark. He went on and summoned the leaders of the various religions in the world, to tell them the news.

"Tell your followers that in two weeks, there will be a flood and that'd be the end of all things. Now go.", He said.

The leader of the Christians returned and announced to the Christians, "In two weeks, there will be a great flood. Do not fear. Have faith and pray, and we'd meet again at the Pearly Gates."

The leader of the Muslims went back and addressed the Muslims, "In two weeks, there will be a great flood. Trust in Allah and carry out his biddings. Allah akbar!"

The leader of the Jews got back to Israel and spoke to his people, "In two weeks, there will be a great flood. We now have two weeks to learn to live underwater."

Such is the essence of the Jews. Survivors, they are.

Other quotes from Dr Shivtan include:

If you want to insult an Israeli, just tell him he's "nice".

Arab democracy. That's an oxymoron. Like good morning and military intelligence. They just do not exist.

People always tell me I'm a pessimist. I don't disagree with them. After all, what's a pessimist but a well-informed optimist.

I like this Dr Shivtan.

.........................................................................................

My daughter is speaking so much now, so suddenly, and I am missing all of it! Argh! I WANT TO GO HOME!

不要妈妈伤心

昨晚，媛媛说要听Chipmunks的光碟。我就开给她听了。后来到了睡觉的时间，觉得这么吵闹的音乐不利于睡眠，于是就告诉她我换一张轻音乐的光碟给她听。媛媛发起脾气地大闹，还在唱机前面跟我争夺光碟。我唯恐她会跌撞到开着的木橱的锐角，于是马上把她抱起来移开，她变本加厉地号啕大哭，继续扭来扭去。我把她的手心打开，一掌就拍了下去，喝令她回到床上去，并且把眼泪收起来。

媛媛抽抽噎噎地躺在自己的床上，无限委屈的样子。后来，我泡了她爱喝的饮料给她。她一边喝着她的“甜甜”，一边用乞怜的眼光看着我。

我抚摸着她的头，告诉她我打她的原因。我说要是媛媛跌到痛痛了，流血了，媛媛会哭哭，妈妈会心痛，妈妈会难过。妈妈也会哭哭。因为妈妈爱媛媛。妈妈不要媛媛跌到。所以刚才媛媛在木橱开着时跟妈妈闹脾气是危险的。

媛媛嘴里衔着奶瓶，回答说：“媛媛不要哭哭。媛媛不要跌到。”我再追问：“如果媛媛跌到妈妈会怎样？”媛媛懂事地说：“妈妈伤心。”

啊~~懂事的好孩子。

今天，媛媛在外婆的家坐在餐桌前吃着角豆炒鸡蛋。她一时忘形在椅子上地站了起来，说她还要角豆。我立刻叫她坐下，并告诉她这样是危险的，会跌到的。

“媛媛跌到妈妈会怎样？”

“妈妈伤心。”

“你要不要妈妈伤心？”

“不要！”

啊~~我的懂事的好孩子！

Day 10 - 8 Apr 08

The port of Haifa was just a 10-minute drive from the hotel. While the tour of the port wasn't as comprehensive or intimate as the one we had over at the Ben Gurion airport, it was nontheless a quite enlightening session where we got to gain insights into their security framework, procedures and practices. At the same time, it was certainly a welcomed opportunity to get us out of the classroom environment.



..................................................................................................
Dinner today was at the Maxim Restaurant, also located within the city of Haifa. In Oct 2003, this restaurant had been the target of a terror attack by a Palestinian female suicide bomber. 16 were killed, out of which were members of families who had been there taking their weekend lunches. Wrong place, wrong time. Many more were injured. The restaurant was totally wrecked. As we spoke to Tony, one of the owners of the restaurant who survived the attack, he told us that in the aftermath of the attack, it was so painful for the survivors that they couldn't go on with the business. It was eventually throught the unwavering support and encouragement of the community that they rebuilt the restaurant from ground up, and restarted their business at the very same location. A memorial erected outside the restaurant now serves as a stark reminder of the tragic event, as remembrance of the deceased, and as a testiment of the people's resilience in the face of adversity.

Btw, Maxim serve great food too!




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As I surf through the channels with the remote, I came across this. It was quite a surprise to see Zhang Yimou's work on the Israeli tube. It was a fighting scene being screened at the moment I switched to this channel. I was waiting and half expecting the characters to start spewing Hebrew, which would have been hilarious. Imagine Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Ziyi mouthing "shalom" and "toda" to each other. Thankfully, they didn't. They'd got Hebrew subs, though.

Hohoho.


小妹：大侠在女人面前，果然最大胆。

妙语Do Re Mi

之一：

（开车往奶奶家路上）

我：媛媛有没有想爸爸？

媛：有！

我：爸爸在哪里？

媛：远远的地方做工。

我：爸爸这个星期天回来，妈妈带你去飞机场玩，然后等爸爸回来，好不好？要不要去看飞机？

媛：不要！

我：吓？你不要去飞机场啊？

媛：不要看飞机。要坐飞机！

之二：

（开车往奶奶家路上）

媛：媛媛要坐马。

我：吓？什么马？

媛：爸爸，妈妈，媛媛。Three马。

我：哦，爸爸坐，妈妈坐，媛媛坐，是吗？哪里有马？

媛：冷冷地方！aircon!

我：哪里冷冷的地方有马？

媛：round and round, round and round.坐马！爸爸，妈妈，媛媛！

我：你是讲云顶是吗？冷冷的地方？坐大象，坐飞机，坐马，是吗？

媛：是！

我：飞机，大象飞高高飞低低。马转转转，是吗？

媛：是！要去！

我：好，等爸爸回来，我们问爸爸六月假期有没有空带你去云顶玩，可以吗？爸爸做工很忙。要问爸爸有没有空，好吗？

媛：爸爸很忙。

我：是的，所以要问爸爸可不可以带媛媛去。

媛：爸爸做工远远的地方！坐飞机！媛媛要！坐飞机！

之三：

（在奶奶家）

媛：（唱）我爱你，爱着你，还有老鼠爱大米~~

爷爷：老鼠爱大米，媛媛爱谁？

媛：爱妈妈！

爷爷：还有呢？

媛：爱爸爸！

爷爷：还有呢？

媛：（思考一下）爱爷爷。

爷爷：哈哈！乖！还有爱谁？

媛：（再思考一下，发现在洗碗的奶奶）爱奶奶！

之四：

（在奶奶家）

奶奶：屋子进贼怎么办？

媛：Happi 咬！喔喔喔！（狗叫）

Day 9 - 7 Apr 08

Today we had an entire day's worth of classroom-based frontal lectures.

It was....well, I won't go so far as to call it "boring", in fact, some parts where actually quite engaging, but as classroom-based frontal lectures go, it was certainly not the learning experience that the field trips we had last week.

I ended up surfing (discreetly) the net, reading the recent posts on this blog. Love the pics of Jae playing and enjoying herself. Really surprised that she hit it off so well with new friend Eunice.

And then I started to toy with the camera and the stuff on the desk within my reach.

哇！有墨水！

Day 8 - 6 Apr 08

Today is Jaimie's 2nd birthday. Actually this arrived at 7pm last evening, when it crossed into 6 Apr 08 back home in Singapore. I was on the tour bus bringing the group from Golan Heights back to the hotel when I sent out an sms to wish my darling girl a very happy birthday. I really wished I could be by her side. Oh well, 7 more days and I'd be back.

Today is also when we experienced the so-called "heat wave". The temperature in the daytime spiked to 33degC, more than 10 degrees higher than what we'd been getting over the past week. Even though the temperature is as high as back in Singapore, because of the dryness over here, we'd hardly ever sweat. In fact, it is so dry here that my parched lips are making me quite uncomfortable, even after drinking lotsa water.

We had a half-day guided tour today. Afternoon was to be free-and-easy. After hopping onto the bus at 9am, we were brought to the Bahai Gardens, which was just a short 10-minute drive from our hotel. This was a beautiful garden constructed by the Bab, a central figure of the Bahai faith, which believed in the unification of Mankind. This was then followed by a trip to the City of Akko. We climbed up to the city tower where Napoleon assaulted in the year 1799




The city of Akko had fascinating architecture, with plenty of history behind them.







Our walk through the Templar Tunnels took us from the city to the Akko Port. This was where we had a wonderful lunch by the seaside. I ordered grilled diness fish, and washed it down with a pint of Heineken. Great stuff.





Oh, in the afternoon upon returning to the hotel, I went to the gym. 5km on the threadmill later, the digital scales told me I was 73.5kg. Not bad, considering the stuff I have been eating.
In the evening, the Singaporean delegation decided to take the taxi to a nearby (15 minutes drive) shopping mall to shop and have dinner. The mall was called The Grand Canyon. Yup, I bought more Dora stuff - a clock, a hat and a floor mat. ;P