Caroline's Wonderland

Ok .... I think I have lost some of my bento boxes!!!! Can't find it anywhere :( :( That's the consequences of forever moving houses and maybe I have lost them in the process of our relocation 2 years ago, or the one 4 years ago*I guess*. Oh dear, I hope I didn't loose any of my bento tools or bento books though (aikkks!!).

Anyway, I have started to make some decorated meals for Angel again during our trip back in Shanghai last month. With no bento boxes, I don't know whether it's still considered as Bento, hahahahaha.

Here it goes ....

Hello Kitty Mince Meat with Mui Choi (Hello Kitty 梅菜猪肉)

Looks simple but took me 1 hour+ to prepare this. I decorated the face and ribbon with beet root.



Lunch was Hello Kitty Mince Meat over some rice, plus Beet Root soup. Ok, needless to say, when I came out from the kitchen, Angel had polished up ALL her food in a lightning speed before I manage to even take any picture! *jaw dropped* I really hoped that she didn't choke that day .....



Tomato-Eye face Rice

This is easier to prepare .... tomato fried rice, broccoli nose and grill chicken for mouth :P This is enough to make Angel happy :)



Disney Clarabelle the Cow

Don't know whether Clarabelle looks like this but Angel is please with it.



This time I did get the camera ready before she starts eating like what happened yesterday ...... smile and say CHEEEESSSS ^_^ I can't wait to eat!!!



Little Monster Egg Noodle

I didn't actually planned to do anything with this Mushroom Egg Noodle that I prepare for Angel breakfast. But then ...... this little girl wope up adn saw me preparing her breakfast in the kitchen then open the kitchen door and said,"Uuuuu .... I wonder what mommy will make for my BENTO this time!! I can't wait!!!!" then skipping away happily while clapping her hands.

*Gulp* How to disappointed her ah ...... so I make this loh with no effort at all :P :P. Raisin monster as bumps on his head, mushroom eyes, veggie nose and ketchup eyebrows and lip.

I told her the monster is still sleepy and luckily, she is happy with it and say, "Wow .... a sleepy monster ~~~, COOL!!!" @_@



Sanrio Shinkansen Train

She suddenly loves tuna bread spread! So I make her a tuna bread Shinkansen train sandwich for breakfast. 2 little quill eggs at the side and some cherries! So lazy to find my bento mould so I just do the train free-handed from memory.

I used some remaining bread crust on the train for decoration purposes and told her not to eat it as it's a bit thick and hard to bite but she is so excited that she ate everything (except those picks and food cups).



Little Penguin Tuna Spread Bread

Ok .... looks simple but Angel actually teach me how to make this penguin. We actually 'discuss' what should we make with a plain piece of bread with tuna spread without having to use any of the bento moulds/tools

Ya bah .... washing them is hard work you know, I got no maid you see, huk huk huk :(


Cut both side of penguin as wings, bread crust for beak, again, raisin for eyes and strawberry jam for cheeks. We used the back of the Teddy Bear Chocolate biscuits which looks actually like a paw to make its feet. Again, cute and very easy to do penguin is done, 100% Mommy and Angel's creation *yippie*

She is so happy with OUR first own creation and insisted to have the same penguin bread for the next few days and want nothing else!! I am more then happy :)



Little Miss Bear and Caterpillar in Garden

Little Miss Bear mince meat in a garden with 2 tiny bear made of quill eggs at the side + 1 busy caterpillar made of steam broccoli. Strawberries heart, carrots sun and a stalk of flower with strawberry and broccolli at the side (that is if you noticed that. Angel say the flower looks ugly, hahahahaha). Again, totally bento mould/ tools free today so no more washing :)

She doesn't eat veggie especially if she can still "identify it's original shape" but this time, she wallop the entire caterpillar in no time!



To put a smile on her face is really that simple! And the consequences since starting to pack these cute little meals for her was ...........

She has gain some weight, add in a small package (i.e.a round belly) and looks chubbier when she return to school :) I think I should stop doing bento for her for awhile now, hehehehehe.



How I wish I could do that same for Annabelle as well before I hear "someone" in the house saying, "You have nothing better to do ah???" :( :( ...... wait lah, till Annabelle is back in Shanghai then I will make the same for her too. Can't wait :)

Before Angel turned 5 years old few weeks ago, we asked her how she wanted to celebrate her birthday. So, here's a summary of her list:

1. She wants to Celebrate @ her "Shanghai Home" (Top of Angel's list!!)

Ok ok ... since no Disneyland so I think Shanghai is not bad too ya :) Daddy's hard earn $$$$ all gone to flight company liao, hu~ hu~ hu~ *crying*



2. Eat Haagen Dazs 100 time! @_@

I know you didn't gets to eat ice cream very much but 100 time is way too much, my dear!

And also, Haagen Dazs in Shanghai is so expensive as compare to KL and this 3 small scope cost us around RM40++.

Nope, she only gets to eat 3 times of her favourite ice cream within a week and no more :P :P



3. She wants to go to Toys 'R Us

...... and stay there long long time, not only "5 minutes" as she puts it *hahahaha*



Have to put her jacket back on as inside is a bit freezing. I just bought this jacket from H&M KL not long ago. Quite a good bargain, but looks like she will soon outgrow from it :(

She stays in Toys R Us for a good 1 hour and me + hubby are like her bodyguard, waiting for her patiently, following her everywhere till she is done with all the touching here and there.



4. She wants a Double-Decker Bus ride @_@

Although she is very prone to car sickness but she just can't stop from asking to go for a Double-Decker bus ride whenever she is back in Shanghai! And she will turn very quiet after a few rounds feeling car sick but still, she doesn't want to get down from the bus!

No tourists on the bus that day!



So we transformed into 2 tourists touring Shanghai for a day again :P :P

RMB 100 (50 ringgit) per person -Shanghai Big Bus Tour. There is also a cheaper version of this double decker bus at RMB 30 (15 ringgit) per person - City Bus Tour, but expect more tourists and fighting for good seats lo.

We went to The Bund (上海滩) at the far end, can you see it?



5. Insisted to go to Nanjing Walking Street

This is another place that Angel must go. The very famous Nanjing Walking Street (南京步行街). Why????



Sigh, she is totally hooked with this little train which takes passenger from the beginning of Nanjing Street to the end of the street. She then will pay for another train ride and take the train back to where we start our journey.

Again, when she is up, she refused to get down!!

RMB 2 (1 ringgit) per trip per person one way including children, reached destination less then 3 minutes per trip.



6. Drink Coke and Japanese Food @ 和民

Ok, this is not in her list actually but after the Double Decker bus rides followed by a few rounds of that little train ride in Nanjing road, mommy is getting really car sick and need to find a place to sit down!

Too dizzy to even take picture of the food too but tell you, this restaurant is fabulous!!!

She gets to have her favourite drinks of all - coke + lemon and she told me, "Mommy, this lemon coke is so nice oh!" and drank 2 glasses!!!!



7. Dessert @ 恒记甜品

This is her must must list to do too!! This is by far her most favourite dessert of all!!

She managed to finished a big bowl even after a full meal!!!!!! RMB30++ (15 ringgit) per bowl of her most most most most favourite mix fruit in mango juice dessert.

"No sharing please .... not enough for me when it comes to this mango dessert!" :P



8. Go to the Great Wall, Beijing

For some reason, she starts asking about Great Wall after seeing a picture of it and tell us she wants to go to the Great Wall.

So we did make it a trip to the Great Wall in Beijing. Not a very ideal place for family with young children especially those active ones *gulp* and I almost have heart attack watching Angel making her climb!!

And half way, she did ask daddy to carry her! Carrying a 20kg kid walking up on a slippery steps?? We can't even walk steadily ourselves and too many people on the great wall pushing each other around.



So we sweet talked her into walking herself and this girl is like a wild horse let loose! @_@ So dangerous throughout the journey and my blood pressure raised quite a few times throughout the climb. And I am glad, I am glad that we make it safe and sound!!

So at the end, this little tough girl successfully complete this very dangerous journey and slippery climb all by herself! Long relief from mommy and daddy but a big Well Done my girl! Well done daddy too!! Well done mommy!!! *phew phew phew*



9. She want To Eat Something "Special"!

Or should I say she wants mommy to eat something "special"? She actually begged me to EAT those "still alive" scorpions still moving on that "satay stick"!!!! (or is that lava that I saw???) Eeeeewwww .... No Thank You!!!

I would never ever eat those even when I have nothing to eat, will you??? *yucks!!!*



I think eating a steamboat the Beijing-way is consider special too, my sweetie??

It's call 北京老火锅 ：） Steamboat in a very ancient Beijing style hot pot using "burning hot charcoal" to heat up the soup which they dropped it in the middle opening as you can see from the picture :) :)

Again, steaming hot pot which is definitely VERY dangerous especially with kids who can't sit still and always wants to touch here and there whenever you didn't pay attention!!! And adding to that, a bunch of very careless and carefree waitresses who is walking pass by with hot burning charcoal and hot soup all night long?

*we had a very 'stressful' dinner that night* hahahahaha



10. The forbidden City of Beijing

She is very happy indeed as her dreams finally comes true as she has transform into the Little ancient Princess - 小格格 wearing that little outfit we rented from the The Forbidden City. She keep posing even for the other tourists who is taking her picture as if she is the movie star.

She looks very tired as it's way past her napping time. The Forbidden City is much bigger then I thought too! So tired ..... but feels great!

Everything is the same as seen on the TV dramas here :) :)



11. She wants to swim!

After a hectic day, she demand for her swimming and splashing time!

Ok .... we can't swim in the cold winter weather but we sure can swim in the warm hotel room bath tub :P :P Another must do thing which she enjoys to the max!!!!

Why not the pool but the hotel bath tub you might ask?
Answer: Daddy and mommy are too tired to even move a finger let alone swimming! That's why :)

At the end of the day, this has become her most favourable thing to do out of the entire list!!

Hhhhmmmm, in that case, should we just omitted the rest and skipped to list no. 11 instead next time? *thinking*



Mommy and Daddy had great fun and hope that my little girl had a whale of a time too :)

(Another belated post)

This is the first time that Annabelle receive birthday gifts from Yi Yi and Ah Gu for her 1st Birthday. But due to mommy's busy schedule and she is so cranky during her actual birthday night (time to sleep), she only gets to open those presents few weeks (yup!!) after her birthday.

This little girl didn't know how to blow her own birthday candle yet but when it comes to opening up presents, she needs minimum of help.



She is very curious wondering why there are something popping out from inside the ordinary looking bundle of "paper". She always takes them out so carefully :P



She got a Hello Kitty from Yi Yi!! I didn't expect that she would turned into a Hello Kitty fans one day too but looks like she is heading that direction as well *giggle*. When she got her first Hello Kitty, she poked its eyes, touch its' mouth and then squeezing it hard!



She is very reluctant to tear those wrapper off at first but she did :) She is a very gentle baby as oppose to her Angel Jie Jie but ........ not anymore.



I think she is so happy with this interactive book that her Ah Gu got for her. And her happiness is all written on her cute little face, isn't she?



Annabelle @ 1Y

One evening after Angel woke up from her nap

A: Mommy!!! Where is my 'telephone'???
M: Huh?? What telephone? You don't have a telephone.

A: I have!!!
M: Where you get a telephone? *curious*

A: I make it myself just now.
M: Huh?? You "make" a telephone? I didn't see you "make" any telephone just now.

A: I DID!!! I DID!!!

Then she suddenly pull out a piece of folded paper from the pile of waste paper that I was about to throw away later.

A: Phew!! There it is~~~~, MY Telephone!!

And when I look closer, I saw this .....

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v
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^ ^ Her very shinny "Telephone" (mobile) decorated with glitter glue and gems. *laugh*


That day she also done a lollipop all by herself and proudly show it to everyone! She is indeed a very handy little girl :)



When put aside of those naughty moments which I have lost count, most of the time this little girl is just like a little magician with her little magic potion that will never fail to put a smile on my face at the end of the day ^_^


^ ^ My Lollipop, yum yum!

Angel @ 5Y0M

(A very belated post again .... :P)

This is a very very x10000 belated post (and much more to come too, aikkks)!!!! Annabelle is almost 2 years old already and yet, I only started to post about her 1st birthday celebration in June last year, sigh! What to do, I was blocked from access blogspot nor facebook from Shanghai :(


At first, really so much "dramas" of getting Annabelle's first birthday cake! Everyone seems so busy and those who can bake good cakes seems to be so 'LCLY' (if you know what I mean :P :P) But finally, a found a malay baker who come to my rescue and I am really thankful to her! At last, what I want was beautifully baked, phew :) :)


We flew back to my hometown for the celebration and we certainly had the most wonderful Chinese dinner at MLH restaurant with families and friends (the family of Annabelle's nanny). Glad that both kids were very well behave that day and Annabelle got her first taste of 'restaurant food' on her 1st birthday :P :P


I also got a big and unforgettable birthday surprise from my little Annabelle on Annabelle's cake blowing ceremony! When we was singing birthday song and taking family pictures, suddenly Annabelle lean over and give me her first kiss!!!!!!! *almost in tears of joy*

My oh my!!! Actually I haven't seen her for months and I just got to see her again few days before her birthday which I think she has no memories of me at all. And yet, she just suddenly lean over and kiss me which surprised everyone! Wuahahahahahaha ...... Until now I also don't know what makes her do that as she is not those kissy-type of baby .... but I am glad she did!! That's the best gift from her that I will remember for the rest of my life ^_^


^ ^ Annabelle's first kiss to mommy!!! Then both of them kiss me non stopped till I was almost in tears of joy :)

But throughout the celebration, someone is not-so-happy and start crying and making a lot of trouble just because it's not 'her' birthday *sigh* She was not very please that she doesn't have all the attention anymore and the cake is not hers :P My Poor Angel.


^ ^ Although Annabelle can't blow out the candles but she is able to cut the cake after I show her for the first time :P
There she was, cutting her 1st birthday cake all by herself .... horizontally :P :P


^ ^ Angel Jie Jie also wants to have her own cake cutting session :P She is not totally happy in the previous picture, isn't she :P


^ ^ My baby Annabelle is finally 1 year old!!! Time flies!!!!

Although we have spend lesser time with Annabelle for the past 1 year but we do hope she knows that Mommy, Daddy and Jie Jie Angel loves her very very much!!!! She is just one sweet little girl to be with and honestly, I really enjoy spending time with her and this is the first time that I feel like I am a true mother to a baby girl (enjoying motherhood) rather then shouting all day long like a MAD MAD mama at the forever crying kiddo (although I must admit that Angel has grown up to be such a sweetheart now ^_^)



"My Annabelle baby, Mommy hope that you would continue to grow up strong and healthy and most importantly happily enjoying your childhood ya! Mommy and Daddy will love you forever my little Belle!

Happy First Birthday little Princess!"

June 2011

(A Very Belated Post)

Last year we all fly back to see little Annabelle (before she turns 1 years old) at Grandma's for the very first time after we let grandma take over the babysitting job (hard work :P :P). Angel was very excited to meet Annabelle after such a long time separating from her sister.

And her in flight meal was so special too. She got a mince meat pasta which taste fabulous, a extremely cute fish bun and her favourite black forest cake in her pre-order kids meal. Yum Yum!!!

The very first time both sisters met with each other, and they looked a bit baffled :P :P I think Angel must be wondering how come Annabelle was not lying down like a baby on bed anymore and little Annabelle certainly looks a bit intimidated and have no memory about her big sister who keep kissing her and addressed herself as "Jie Jie, I am Jie Jie Angel~~" :P



And daddy's first time carrying little Annabelle after such a long time and she is no more the skinny little baby lying in his arms when he last carried her. Of course little Annabelle keep staring at daddy wondering who is this gigantically man with a very tan skin tone coming near her smiling from ears to ears as if he has strike jackpot :P :P

And then .........



The poor little girl cried! But yet, she dares not cried out loud as she looks so scared so she weep softly asking for rescue.

As for mommy, I have better luck, at least she is willing to let me hold her hands supporting her to stand up on the floor, no crying, no weeping. *phew*



And daddy bought little Annabelle her first gift after such a long time! A Tigger soft toy daddy personally hand picked himself at the mall. So hello there, the little 'miss tiger' meeting Tigger :)



There they are, my 2 most precious little darlings in this whole wide world! Yes .... they are my world and my life now :)

Although both of them are now constantly snatching toys from each other most of the time, crying and screaming is a norm in the house which sometimes drives me up the wall, but I am grateful and thankful that I have them both in my life and that they will never have to play and feel alone again.


^ ^ Saw the fish hanging on the bedside?  That's Angel first gift to Mei Mei Annabelle which she bought with her own savings :)

From this moments onwards, they will have each others companion along the way throughout their growing up years, until forever. And a best friend and playmates who they call ....... Sister ^_^

I hope that I can update my little Annabelle's development as much as I could just like what I did for my Angel, but I guess having 1 and 2 kids makes the difference in terms of time. Our sudden move to China also means a totally lost my internet access to blogspot, multiply or facebook (blocked by government) hence it's almost impossible for me keep contact and update as much as I would like to.

But since Angel start schooling in Malaysia half year ago, I starts flying between 2 (or more) countries every 2 weeks or so means I spend most of the time 'flying' rather then blogging. Tired ..... but I am trying to keep my blog going and try to post as much as I could when I am back home in Malaysia.

Little Annabelle is quite different from her big sister. This little sweetie pie doesn't fond of her picture being taken. I have less pictures of her as compare to Angel as Angel would requested we took her pictures and happily posing for us, but no luck with Annabelle as yet. But when she finally does look at camera, she either give us a fierce look or she would move so much that all her pictures looks 'blurry'. I remember Angel were in that 'blurry picture' stage once before too, capturing a decent picture seems impossible.


^ ^ In the 'blurry' picture stage

Since she is approaching nearer and nearer to the 'terrible 2', we have started the 'naughty corner' on her too. And when we say '罚站' and put her at her naughty corner, she wouldn't dare to move at all and start weeping softly holding onto her handkerchief wiping her tears like a little missy being bullied :P So 'kesian' just by looking at her weeping softly.

Unlike her big sister, Angel would retaliate and screaming on top of voice already if she were being put there!



Annabelle apparently to be a very tall girl and she can reach onto almost anything on the table already. But when we said "No" for something she wanted to reach, she would put her hands at her back and staring at the thing for a very long time, wanted but don't dare to touch them!

But these few weeks, she has changed into a totally different person, starts grabbing onto everything that she possibly could reach and 'No' doesn't seems to work magic on her anymore.



She is a huge fans of food and anything that can be eaten. She could finished a big bowl of rice, following by a huge bananas, then a bottle of diluted apple juice and starting to asked for her share of biscuits!!!! She surely have big appetite!

She manage finished 1 1/2 big Chinese bun (大包) all by herself too!! @_@ She is still having her milk every 3-4 hours intervals and also her 3 meals of solid food. At night, she is still waking up 1 or 2 times for her midnight feeding and if we don't give her, she would keep crying and refuse to fall asleep afterward. So normally her big can of 1.7kg milk will only last about 10-14 days @_@



She starts self feeding at 18 months too and refused to be fed most of the time. Lately, she would starts playing on her food rather then eating them nicely. She also doesn't want to eat porridge anymore and prefer rice or noddles. Most of the time, she loves to wipe her meal all over her face and hair and then ask us to see her naughty action :P


^ ^ She would be able to tell us "Hhhhhmmm, nice~~! 好吃~~~！" if she loves her meal.

Annabelle's hair grows very slow too. We did shave her hair as according to the tradition during her 1 month old but I think it doesn't worked to make her hair grow faster and thinker :( Therefore, she looks very much like a baby boy and most of the time being mistaken for a "handsome boy" instead. *laugh*


^ ^ She dislike her picture being taken and when we asked her to smile, she would give me that very fierce look of hers @_@

Luckily she is ok to put on her hat or hairband, and she would grab for them when she knows that we will be out shopping. She can be looking very girlie at times but once the hat/ hairband is off, she will transform back to "him" :P



Annabelle loves books too and play with dolls (Angel is afraid of most dolls). Learning wise, she could remember all the pictures representing A-Z and pointed them out all correctly and telling us 1-10 if she was in the mood. She can communicate with us pretty advance now (calling me for dinner too) and when we asked her, "Are you happy?" and she would answer, "HAA~PEE~~~~~" and give us a big bright smile :)



Unlike Angel, Annabelle doesn't likes drawing at all and until now, she doesn't even have a single masterpiece of artwork completed. She would play with the crayons, throwing them around and even scribble them on her high chair but just not the drawing board we bought for her :(


^ ^ Mommy, I don't like to draw ok?!
So please can you stop asking me to draw again?

But she surely has a talent that Angel doesn't have, that's singing! She loves to sing and her favourite VCD are not cartoons nor educational VCD, but Children songs or nursery rhymes. Once played, she would happily singing, swaying, stepping along to the beat of the music. Although she can't sing a complete song yet but she will follow and sing out one or 2 last few words at the end of each lines in a song.

And not forgot to mention, she has a very big feet too measuring 15.1cm at this stage and wearing most of Angel's 2-3 years old shoes!!



She is afraid of lightning and thunders and when it started to rain and thunder starts to strike, she would quickly lie down beside us in this position and not making a move! She then tell us she was "怕怕" (afraid) and starts looking for us or her Jie Jie Angel asking for protection :P :P


I am totally in love with this little girl especially when she constantly calling me "Ah Mee~~, Ah Mee ~~~~~~"

Height: 87cm
Weight: 14.6kg

@ [1Y9M]

Tomorrow, my little baby in the picture below will turn 5 years old ..... time really flies! Whenever I saw her baby pictures, I would exclaim: "Oh ~~~ , so chubby and so cute she was!"


Looks like little Angel will outgrow her sleeping cot very soon too. She has been sleeping in it for the past 5 years and time to pass her bed to little Annabelle ?



Height: 109cm
Weight: 20kg

Hobby: Copycat everything and every action mommy is doing! She even wants to wear the same clothing, same shoes, zipped her jacket the same way up, clipped the hair the same position, eat the same food, picked up the fork the same time, flipping the same page of book and even drink the water the same style and same time with me. *laugh*

@4Y11M

The school holiday is just over and we are back to our busy daily routine, waking up very early in the morning before my eyes were 100% 'awake' trying to beat the traffic to Angel's school.

School holiday mood is still all over us and innitially we were planning to go to HK Disneyland during the last school holiday but, we didn't make it at the end due to 'someone' is totally against it :(

Who?? Who else could it be??? Sigh ....


^ ^ I miss Disneyland HK, photo taken in Feb 2011

I thought that all kids would love Disneyland and it's everyone's dream to be in Disneyland (I do, although I am no longer qualify to be a kid long time ago) but I guess not for my little Angel.

We was there during Chinese New Year 2011 and she did enjoy playing in the maze behind of the hotel and also her big big ice cream cone ....


She also enjoy playing in the little activity room downstairs at the Disneyland Hotel and also have a whale of a time swimming in the hotel's big big bath tub ......


What she enjoyed the most was the 24 hours cartoon network in our room, refusing to go anywhere else but jumping on the bed doing all sort of acrobatic moves ...... *sweating*


Apart from that, I guess she doesn't like any of the rides and games in this fairyland.

And when the highlight of the entire journey - finally meeting with Mickey and Minnie that she absolutely adores in the TV, suddenly she cried out loud:

"Why they all are here?!!!!!! Why they come out from the TV?!!!! I don't want to see them here!!!! Wuahhhhh~~~~~" *She cried*


She refused to even take a look at them and her entire face turned sore! After a long session of crying while hiding under chairs and running away from the restaurant numerous time, we managed to settle her down making her gobble down some of the food. But her face looks absolutely pale and not happy at all!

My Poor baby! :(



Then after Mickey left, suddenly the crowd started to cheer on the other side of the restaurant ushering Goofy who is walking towards our direction, then suddenly I heard a very loud bawl,

"HUH!!!!!! NOT AGAIN~~~~!!!!! Heeiiiiiii YAAAAAA ~~~!!!!!! WHY GOOFY ALSO COME HERE AHHHHHHHHH ~~~~!!!!!!!" *bawled so loudly that everyone stares at us*


"MOMMY!!!!! I DON'T WANT THEM HERE!!! Huuu huu huuu ~~~~ Who asked them to come here????!!!!!!!!! Go away!!!! GO AWAY ~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!"



I guess she just does not like the idea of all the cartoon characters all coming to life in front of her very own eyes. She is totally terrified by them looking so much bigger then in the TV and keep crying and bawling till her face looks like she was going to throw up any minute @_@ Poor little Angel.

So finally, after a few minute of watching them come and go plus constant crying wanted to leave the restaurant, she finally agrees to take just 1 individual photo with Mickey Mouse (so that she has something to show grandma) with the condition that we must leave the restaurant and never come back again.

What a waste of such nice and expensive buffet breakfast ..... :( She also refused to go into Disneyland afraid that she would bump into Mickey Mouse or any of his friends too :(


^ ^ A very rare photo of Angel with Mickey and it's very precious!

And now that she will be 5 next week and we thought that we would give her a real magical tour again, but she told us she doesn't want to go to Disneyland again, just because Mickey, Daisy, Pluto and Goofy were all in there @_@.

So, this school holiday, we ended up in KL visiting grandparent and family and then heading back to KK again, then fly back to the cold windy Shanghai instead of my favourite HK enjoying sunshine and great food.

We did have a great school break though and the holiday mood is still very much here for me.

The next school holiday will be in May and I think I am more anticipated then Angel looking forward for the day to come so that we could travel somewhere else again and sleep late!!! :P I am still in the midst of adjusting my biological clock trying to wake up at 6.15am every morning during school days. *yawning*

Hello ~~ I am little Annabelle :P
Little Annabelle can finally utter 3 words few days ago. Yippe!!! She can communicate with us pretty well telling us what she wants and also she seems to understand Mandarin, simple English and Malay too! The few words that she likes to used nowadays are:

- 要坐坐咯（want to sit down）
- 嘘!你 diam-diam (Shhh ... keep quite)
- 要 minum juuce！（want to drink juice）
- Apa tu ~~~~~ *then make an angry face*
- duduk diam diam!
- 咪，你拿住！(asked me to take something)
- 要吃饭 (want to eat rice)
- 要 nen nen (want to drink milk)
- 打你啊！(beat you ah!!)
- 我不要！(I don't want)
- 我要 draw (Want to draw)


She can also remember how to address most of us since 1 year +. Even after few months she didn't see us, she still can recall who are who:

- Nong Nong (instead of gong gong)
- Ah Mah (grandma)
- 爸爸 (father)
- Ah Mi (mom) <<---- how she calls me is super sweet!!! *melted*
- Jie Jie (Angel)
- Kor Kor (boys)
- bb (all the babies)
- Yi Yi (aunty)
- Ah Gu (uncle)
- Ah Kim (aunty)
- Aunty

She address herself as "Belle" and sometimes when she saw my dinner is on the table, she would shout at me:" Hom！！！！ 你吃饭啊！！！！" @_@
(p/s: Hong is what my mom use to call me @_@)

And today, I finally hear her uttering her first ever 4-sound words. Actually she was happily wearing Angel's bracelet on her wrist and told her grandma,
"Nah ~~~ He-llo Ki-tty!!!!" LOL

Maybe she is a Hello Kitty fan just like her Angel jie jie? I am not sure ...... :)

These few days, I was busy searching and visiting schools preparing for Angel's Primary One registration which started today 1 March 2012 until 31 March 2012. The registration was intended for kids was born in year 2007. So here I am, the big day for registering my little girl for her primary one finally :)

As a first timer, I felt a little panic because I was not aware that the registration process will starts so soon. I didn't even know which school to choose for her. Distance vs Pressure vs Workload vs Learning vs Playtime are all important to me! Maybe I was exposed too much on the teaching method of International schools while we was in Shanghai and Bangkok, feeling that the kids in Malaysia are overloaded with school work and heavy school bag. I wanted to choose a school which is different, interesting, less pressure, more interactions in class but yet not left behind in learning what they are suppose to learn at their own age too. But at the end, I know I don't have much choice if I were to enroll her into a Chinese Kebangsaan School. Welcome back to Malaysia I told myself, take it or leave it!

Angel is a little girl who loves to go to school everyday! She would cry if I told her she can't go to school today! If she were to choose between going for shopping and to school, she would answer me:

"Mommy, can I go to school and then only goes shopping later?" ya, she interest in school is as interesting as going to shopping!

I just do not have the heart to 'unintentionally' kill her liking for school! I am glad that so far I could maintain her interest in school! That's not an easy task and it's something very precious to me and for her too ..... in order for both of us to walk further, walk longer in her lengthy journey of learning and progress together till I see her getting into the society. I have to accept the fact that we were living in such condition, nothing good or bad but only learning how to control and minimise the impact from it.


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1. The A school


^ ^ A very green school!
First impression was quite good, very green and the school have a decent amount of tress and greens. It has around 900+ students currently. As I walked into the school, I saw the construction of new building blocks was still on going around 100 meters away from the classes. I was thinking will the kids be breathing in dust every day in school and will their attention be distracted due to the construction? The teachers say the impact is minimum though.


^ ^ New building blocks


^ ^ Existing Classrooms. White board behind a window? Can the kids see clearly with the flare from the morning sunshine?

It's good to have new classrooms, honestly the setting of the old classrooms is very unfavourable and conditions are pretty worn out. However I was told that once they moved into the new classrooms which is sometime this year/ next year, the old classrooms will be demolished! So is that mean construction will takes another 2 year or maybe 3?


^ ^ The 'padang' up up on the hill!!!! It should be a "fun" place for the kids :P

When I inquire about the teachers in the school, they told me it's sufficient and well trained! Oh well, how silly I am for asking such question!


^ ^ I kind of worry about the not so level-out steps and bumpy walkways throughout the school though .... maybe it's not an issue for most parent but I have my own reason to worry, I will blog about it later.

Overall, I liked the school and even will love it more if the new classrooms were ready for use + the construction work is all done! I can sent pipping hot lunch to Angel almost everyday too if she were in this school, it's near my place. The padang is a miss for most parents but for me, it's a plus! But the bumpy walkways ........ I would give it a miss. You will know my worries when I blog about Angel is her previous kindergarten :'(


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2. The S School


^ ^ A very well maintained and wide open 'Padang'! Very nice school and I certainly love the environment and classroom in the school!

This is a so call top of the top school in KK! The amount of students is around 1,700++ and is still expending! Everything is top in this school, sports, academic, speech, etc!!! Even the amount of homework is also consider 'champion' among all!! I can understand that though. We must worked harder to achieve what we want, no pain no gain! However is that well-taken by my little Angel, I am not saying anything as yet.


^ ^ The school are so considerate!! They even provide a water machine for the students to purchase drinking water!! What a brilliant idea!


^ ^ Trophies and Trophies and more Trophies!!! The school and its' students must be doing very well in whatever they do!

I heard that everyone was fighting to get into this school and I am very lucky to meet one of the teachers there. When I asked her whether I should enroll my girl into this school,

she asked: Does your kid loves homework?
Me: Errrr .... she loves to go to school but when it comes to homework, not really, unless it's something not involving copy write or very academic homework.

She reply: Then better don't!!!! It will be too pressure for both the kids and the parent!
*she shakes her head profusely, aiikkss!!!*

I wonder will anyone answer "YES" to that ................??

After walking around the school, I met a mom in the canteen and when I asked about his son in school, she said the workload is still 'manageable' because her son is in the 'smart class' and he will do his own homework without being told to and he is very hardworking. *envy loh*

"During recess time, he will eat his bread while writing his homework. So normally when he reached home, only a few more that he need to complete, that's all." She says.

Well ..... I don't think I want nor my Angel will eat her bread + doing her homework at the same time :( Primary one will not have extra afternoon classes but those who are 'not so good' academic wise might be asked to 'stay back' after classes in the afternoon for extra classes.

The school will be having 6 exams or tests per year too which means every other month, they will be sitting for test or exams. I think we mum would certainly be very stressed out throughout the year!!! I know I would .....


^ ^ A very nice canteen! They even selling self-boiled herbal tea for RM1.00!!  I asked, no gassy drinks? They told me not allow to have gassy drinks n junk food selling in school canteen anymore! I am sooooo please!!!

And when I left, I saw few students, doing their homework outside the principle's office. They were those who refused to do their homework therefore being put there to complete it after school!!! So must remember if your kids were here, must rajin-rajin to do homework lo .....

Hubby likes this school a lot and says, it's the perfect school for Angel to make her work harder, do more works and learn more things! *hhhhmmmm .....* But this school is very hard to get in as too many people are fighting over this school. After all, it's an excellent school in whatever they do.


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3. The C School


^ ^ The basketball court cum padang of the school

The C school is my previous primary school and also consider one of the 'reputable' schools in town. This is the largest school of the 3 with over 2400+++ students and it's an very old school. The school didn't changed a bit, only more buildings were build and I can see some new classrooms was fully furnished with air con too!


^ ^ The school hall, hasn't changed a bit since those days!!!

The school compound was very clean although it doesn't look that new anymore. However, it's very well maintained including the classrooms are very tidy and clean. Not much green area in the school due to the fact that the school is in the middle of the urban city hence, what would I expect?


^ ^ The classroom, bright and wide.


^ ^ Open concept classrooms! Feels great during hot days and I liked it.

For me, the only drawback from this school is that it's a bit far from where we stay comparing the previous 2. if Angel were to get into this school, we will have to travel a long way which means waking up very early in the morning during her 6 years of primary school life. She starts around 7am! Poor kid .... I can't even send her lunch everyday as I would love to too :(

The same as School S, the school will have 6 test or exams every academic year too :( However after asking around, I find that School C has lesser homework comparing to the School S (for the time being).


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After much consideration, I have picked 1 school and submitted my enrollment form on the 1st March. I do not need to queue up at all when handing up the forms as I was the last person to enroll that day! :P

We do not know which school that she will be allocated just yet. I was told to return to the school and check it out from the notice board myself!!! No letter, phone call or notification to us parents even when the list it out earlier than that!! Ok, ok then.

However, Fingers crossed that the Jabatan Pendidikan will granted me the school of my choice la :P

Finally I can have a good night sleep after so many days! Hurray!!!!!



^ ^ Hurray!! That means Angel has successfully being registered to her first primary school!
Which school?? Shhhhh ..... It's a secret :P :P :P *fingers crossed*


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note:

Registration date: 1 March 2012 - 31 March 2012

The documents needed for registration varies among schools but the most comprehensive listed I have gathered so far was as below:

i. I.C - both original and photocopies for both mother and father
ii. Birth certificate - both original and photocopies
iii. Marriage certificate of parents - original and photocopy
iv. Passport size photo for the kid - 2 copy
v. Electricity bill showing house address
vi. Salary slip - for parents showing house income (varies among school)

additional:~
vii. 2 self addressed envelop with RM1.00 stem EACH (for those registered online)
, i.e. Selangor.

For some states in West Malaysia, you need to register online atwww.moe.gov.my/jpn before submit it to the respective school. For the rest, in my case Sabah, no online registration required, just registered ourselves to the school of our choice and filling in forms handed out by respective school.

Days before Valentine's Day, I always tell myself that I don't need expensive flowers on Valentine's Day and being rip-off by the florists for something that I do not really fond of! No no to flowers!!!!!But as days went by, watching all the wives/girlfriends flashing their sweet red blossoms pictures in facebook, I started to feel pity for myself as my hubby totally forgotten all about me in the far faraway land back in hometown all alone with my 2 girls while he is in Shanghai. And this is my first Valentine's Day without hubby around too!!! *Sob sob* Then suddenly I heard honk! honk! and my mom rush into my room and handed me these

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^ ^ It says: Dear Carol, Happy Valentine's Day, from Hubby!

I asked my mom: "You bought it for me? Don't bluff me ah!!! Really from him?"

Ok, this man has not forgotten all about his wife after all! Aikss ... no chance to "faat-lan-zha" with him already and called him straight away with a different voice tone! :P

Actually he was pointing at the 'Electrical' pole on the left at first! Then .... 'THAT RAIL! Ohh …… ???!!!!

Her 1st lesson

We saw another Art Centre 'D' in town with a lot of kids going in and out everyday and we decided to take look. Angel says she wants to join the ballet lessons but they were only accepting kids 5 years old for ballet lessons.

*For that Angel has been eating 'more' veggies lately because she said she wants to be 5 year old fast! :P*

They were required to decorate their own kites and when she knows what's she's gonna do for the day, she was super excited!




Only 1 other boy (also new member) is joining her kite making class that day. Although we were given the chances to see Angel doing her art work in her class but she keeps turning around to look at me not paying attention to her teacher so I decided to wait outside the classroom , 'listening' to how her class was being conducted.




She can't wait to show me her first kite and say,"妈妈，你看！我‘发’（画）的 kite！" (Mommy, see the kite I have drawn) Her mandarin has improved tremendously over the months and she will call me "妈妈" in front of her 'Chinese' friends and teachers, instead of calling me Mommy *laugh* Sometimes I will be like "Who is mama ... oh, it's me!!" So not use to being call Mama in mandarin :P




She decorated her kites full of BALLS! Colourful balls (so irregularly shaped balls?? hehehehe) in the park with some flowers on the ground. Of course, not missing all the smiley faces again ^_^ First time I saw her do her colouring so neatly and colourfully.





Her 2nd lesson

They put her into the normal drawing classes together with the other kids who are 5 years old and she was very excited to see so many friends in her class. I waited for her outside the classroom and I can hear her loud voice saying,"我！我！我！我！”（me!me!me!）whenever teacher asking the kids to do/ perform something ^_^

I managed to capture some precious pictures of my little girl when one of her classmates went to the toilet who forgot to close the classroom door :P :P All of the kids were soooooo cute wearing their little apron doing the art work :)




After the class ended, she opened the door, walked pass me without even say hi to her own mom *Sigh! Shake head* and chasing behind her little friends saying,"我要洗手！我要洗手！'洗手'在那里？"（ I want to wash my hand and where is the wash area?）I am glad that she could communicate with the little kids more and more now ^_^

When daddy wants to help her, she asked daddy to stay away and tell daddy,"No ... I want to wash my hand ALL BY MYSELF!" Angel always has been a very independent girl since very young. But daddy must be feeling a little disappointed while watching the rest of the kids next to our girl who let their parents 'having the honour' to wash their little one's hand but him. *smile* Poor daddy~~~.




Presenting her art work! According to her teacher, she did almost all of her drawings and cutting all by herself because she refused the teacher to help her out *hhmmm ... that's her* but that was indeed a very pretty piece of work :) I am so proud of her :)




Some drawings by her classmates and the drawings all look so cute and naive! I just love each and every one of the drawings so much :) It put smiles on my face :) Some young kids were doing the pottery work in the other classroom too.




The next day, I asked Angel to draw Mommy and that's what she drew. No more 'stick man/woman' and she starts drawing fingers and eyes with eyes lashes and flowers with leaves. A good improvement isn't it?




Most importantly is, Angel loves her lesson so much. But after a month of trial classes, somehow I find the lesson is a bit ...... too 'formal', as formal as those we used to attend during our primary school years? But the drawings from the kids were so cute!!!!

I did talk to the teachers about my concern and the teacher ensured me that they won't teaches the kids how to draw but will 'guide' them instead. However, I am still in a dilemma whether I should put such lesson on hold until she is a few years older as I read somewhere from the book that such lesson would kill a young kid's natural creativity and being mould into one of the same kind?

We will be celebrating Children's Day (1st June) here in Shanghai and I think schools around here will be closing for 1 day to celebrate Children's Days too.

Sales were going on in most toys shops and parents were rushing to get some gifts to cheer up their kids while bakeries were catering for all sorts of cute cakes celebrating the day :)

I also did some baking for the day to cheer up my little girl and the little cupcakes were finally done with hubby and little Angel's "help" :) She even make 2 of her own cupcakes *smile* Can you spot them? (Answers at the bottom page)

This is my first fondant cupcakes and I just love the vibrant colours which goes well with the Children's Day theme ^_^





Happy Children's Day to all the Children in this world ^_^

Daddy and mommy love you all so so much! *muaks*


P/s: Top left (apple tree) and lower right (rainbow?) was Angel's creation ^_^