This is All Your Fault!

Recently, mummy and I went shoe-shopping. I saw a pair that I really liked but unfortunately, it was not available in my size. The biggest size was still too small for me. Since I liked it very much and insisted on having it, I settled for another colour (but same design) of my choice.

However, still feeling rather dissatisfied that I could not have what I initially wanted, I came up with a silly accusation right after mummy has made the payment...

Me: Mummy, this is all your fault!

Mummy: Huh? What fault?

Me: Because of you, I can't wear that shoe.

Mummy: Eh, eh... why blame me pulak???

Me: Because you always give me so much rice to eat, make me grow so much until I always cannot fit into the shoes that I like...

Mummy: *speechless at first, then rolls eyes and laughs out loud* 

Shoe-shopping has never been easy or fun for me because I am a "Bigfoot". I have a pair of extremely fast-growing feet. Very soon, I can forget about shopping at the children's shoe section. As it is now, I am already wearing adult-sized socks.

My foot (on the right) in comparison with mummy's standard size 7 foot... and I am not even 7 years old yet! 

Salad for Mom

On 3rd May, two weeks before Mother's Day, I brought home a little something for mummy. It was a small box of Italian lettuce that I planted in school. This lettuce was part of my school's ongoing Farm-to-School project. Before this, I also planted some cherry radishes and harvested them for my lunch at school. I also made a scarecrow using recycled materials at home and placed it at our vegetable plot. 

Well, back to 3rd May... Mummy was very surprised and happy to receive this gift... all grown, taken care of and harvested by my very own little hands...

Italian lettuce FRESH from my school farm :) 

One week later, on the Friday just before the Mother's Day weekend, I brought home more surprises for mummy. I made two things in class...

First, I made a "You are my number 1" medal 

Then I made salad with my class teacher. It was a rather special salad which included peanuts and white radish on top of the usual salad ingredients like lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomato and broccoli.

It was so yummy that I "fought" for the last bit and even "drank" up all the dressing @-@

Note: After upgrading to the latest Blogger Apps (for mobiles), all the photos in my blog appear to be blur and grainy once uploaded. Mummy is very unhappy with this so-called "upgraded version" but she doesn't know how to revert back to the old one. At the meantime, we will have to make do with blur photos. Sigh...

Fun Fridays and 1st Progress Report

Fun Fridays

I love Fridays because I don't have to rush home to do my homework after school. On other days (Mon-Thurs), I usually spend the whole evening (sometimes even until bedtime) trying to complete my ever-increasing but never-ending pile of homework. 

Sometimes, it is not surprising to find me dozing off even before my homework time begins...

School is fun but very tiring as well... 

Well, Fun Friday means not going home to do homework right after school. Fun Friday means getting off the schoolbus and heading straight to the nearby mall...

... to enjoy my favourite egg tart (the custard is very smooth, milky, creamy, aromatic and addictive!)...

... and drink my favourite fruit juice...

... and then head over to the park just opposite the mall...

...to pick flowers from the ground and peel off their petals (I love you, I love you not)...

... or just prop one on my ear... Nice? 

After a fun outing, we usually go home for bath and dinner (that mummy has pre-cooked earlier). I even get to watch a DVD of my choice on bed before retiring for the day. How fun, eh? Totally no homework on Fridays! :)

1st Progress Report

I received my first progress report for Term 3 last month. Despite missing all the lessons for Term 1 and 2, I had no problem catching up with my studies. My class teacher commented that I am a very keen learner and I display great enthusiasm towards learning. I am quiet most of the time but I do participate in classroom activities when prompted to. I fared quite well in all the subjects except Social Studies (mummy is not sure about the content of this subject because there is no book and very little homework for this). All my lessons and study materials and are based on the Singapore syllabus.

I scored full marks for English and Maths :) 

An Evening at The Bund

We went to The Bund again some time back, on the same day that we visited Yu Yuan Garden. Surprisingly, it was ME who asked to go there again and when asked why, I simply replied "just to lepak la" :) 

The last time we came here, it was still in the middle of winter and the freezing cold drove us away even before the sky turned dark. This time, we stayed around until all the buildings were brightly lit up. We bought our favourite street snack and "lepak-ed" there until daddy managed to capture some nice photos of the place. 

The main view at the Bund is the Lujiazui Business District. During the day, there is nothing special about this place....

... But when the buildings start lighting up one by one, the place comes to life.

Some spring blossoms at our sitting area (a long, elevated wooden deck)

Our favourite street snack... Sweet and delicious roasted sweet potatoes. It's so aromatic that you can smell it from a mile away! 

The massive Saturday crowd on one side of the Bund...

... and the quieter side on the other.

A very common picture that you would find in many Shanghai postcards ;)

The Oriental Pearl Tower

The Bund at night (it is just a stone's throw away from the famous Nanjing Road)

To get to the nearest subway station (to go home), we had to walk through Nanjing Road (from one end to the other) again

                                          Night scene in the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street

Onion to the Rescue!

Last Thursday night, when we were getting ready to go to bed, I complained to mummy that my left ear was a little painful. Mummy paid no attention to it :( Later that night, when I was supposed to be already asleep (I am currently still co-sleeping with daddy and mummy for more warmth), mummy noticed that I kept tossing, turning and making a lot of noise, obviously very disturbed by the discomfort and could not sleep well.

It was about 11pm and daddy was already sound asleep while mummy was still Candy-Crushing :p when I woke up crying. I told mummy that my ear was very, very, very painful. I cried until I vomited as usual (hmm, what's new?). Mummy was about to hand me the vomit bucket (only just 1ft away) when I couldn't hold it any longer and threw up on my pyjamas, bolster, bed and quilt. Aaaargh!

After cleaning up the mess, mummy quickly Googled for an easy (and temporary) home remedy for earache. She browsed through many tips and suggestions (mostly recommended vinegar) until one of the threads caught her attention. It had 87 comments and many of the comments were positive feedbacks, thanking the contributor for sharing.

Since we had onions at home, mummy felt that there was no harm in trying it too. She followed the instructions closely... Sliced the onion, heated it over the stove fire and placed one piece in my ear (when it has cooled a little). The onion gave me instant relief and within minutes, I dozed off and was fast asleep. No more tossing, turning and crying. The onion really worked like magic!

This was the reason why onions worked :)

When I woke up the next morning, the pain was gone. However, over the next couple of days, I could still feel a very slight pain in my left ear every now and then. Daddy and mummy decided to bring me to see a doctor just in case there was an infection, which could lead to complications later.

On Saturday, we went to a hospital to consult an ENT specialist. The doctor examined my ears and revealed to daddy and mummy (through enlarged photos on the screen) that both my ears were stuffed with a huge amount of ear wax! My ear wax is the wet and sticky type (very hard to clean but mummy still helps me to clean them from time to time).... so the doctor did a thorough cleansing on both my ears and found a slight infection near my left eardrum. I was given some ear drops to clear the infection. The doctor also cautioned me not to let water get into my ears. When I go swimming, I'm encouraged to wear ear plugs.

Cleaning in progress...

This "machine" was used to suck the sh** out of my ears ;)

Eating Out 2 - Sheng Jian

Soup dumplings aka "siu loong bao" is a very popular food in Shanghai. One of the variations of siu loong bao is "sheng jian" (生煎) or fried dumplings, where the top part is fried to an aromatic crunch while the soup still maintains inside the dumplings.

Our favourite "sheng jian" shop is Yang's Dumpling. It is a popular chain found in many malls.

We usually order their springy mung bean noodles (粉丝) to go with the fried dumplings.

Springy and chewy mung bean noodles with fishballs, tofu puffs and black fungus

Sheng jian with crunchy, golden-brown top and sesame-seeds-covered bottom

I don't like the thick dumpling skin but I like the meat filling. Mummy doesn't eat meat so she eats the dumpling skin and I eat the filling :)

The kitchen is just beside the dining area and from the large glass window, we can see how the kitchen helpers work with their fast, skillful and efficient hands! (This photo was taken from the take-out counter beside the glass window)

A slightly different version of sheng jian from another shop... with black sesame seeds

Here's something not related to sheng jian but it is quite uniquely China...

Red dates yoghurt ;)

Surprisingly, it tastes really good! Both daddy and mummy love it but not me. I still prefer mine plain or fruit-flavoured :)

International Friendship Day and Friendship Woes

How I ended up schooling in an international school is entirely due to a twist of fate and maybe, luck. Up until late last year, daddy and mummy were still preparing me for Std 1 in one SJK(C) near our home back in Petaling Jaya (we only got news of our impending move to Shanghai in late Oct 2012). Everything that they had planned for me earlier did not materialise. Instead, we were all thrown into a whirlwind of events, including a complete lifestyle-restructuring, before settling comfortably here.

Well, here I am now, enjoying the many privileges of studying in a "guo ji xue xiao". Fostering international friendship is probably one of the best experiences for me so far. Mummy is happy to note that I have made friends with children from around the world. They are J from Korea, T from India, P from Spain, J and Y from Singapore, H from Malaysia, E and M from Taiwan, C from Brazil, A from Italy, M from Hong Kong and R from Japan.

Last Friday was International Friendship Day and we were encouraged to wear traditional costumes from our native countries. Luckily mummy did not forget to bring along my baju kurung. I have been wearing this same old outfit for all the cultural events in my kindergarten since I was 4 years old!

From left: 4 years old, 5 years old and 6 years old in the same baju during my pre-school years at Peter & Jane kindergarten.

Now... soon-to-be 7 years old but still donning the same baju... in China :) Oh, and it's not that I did not grow physically. Mummy bought a size 8 and had it altered (shortened the bottom) for me to wear when I was younger. It fits perfectly now and she doubts it will still fit next year ;)

Circular for International Friendship Day... I guess my ethnic costume should be cheongsam but err, nevermind... :p

From the circular that I brought back from school, mummy understood that there would be some snacks on sale too so she gave me RMB10 as pocket money to buy something to eat. This was my very first pocket money and it was an equivalent of RM5.00!! Daddy and mummy only had RM0.50 the most during their time but of course that was more than 3 decades ago hehe. I have never bought anything before in my entire life and mummy had to give me lessons on how to buy things… how to pay and receive change if there is any.

Mummy was eager to find out what I had bought with the RMB10 so that was the first question she asked me as soon as I alighted from my schoolbus that evening. To her shock and disbelief (couldn't believe I could be so naive and silly), I told her I did not get to buy anything because I gave the money to T, my best friend. T saw the money in my purse and asked for it. I wanted to please her so I handed the money to her without any hesitation! International Friendship Day ma… whatever my friend wants, I give la… @_@ (ok, I did not say this. It's just mummy's sarcastic remark)

Mummy was not very happy with my "whatever... anything goes... never-say-no" mentality. She felt that I was being taken advantage of and I was also an easy prey for bullies. Earlier on, T also demanded for my dough figurines (3 of them that I made every week at my craft class until mummy had to intervene and put a stop to this). She also took away small gifts (rewards) given to me by my teacher for my academic achievements. Mummy did not know how to deal with this problem so she handed it over to my class teacher.

With friends come joy as well as problems. I feel very comfortable talking and playing with my friends but I find it extremely difficult to approach them when they borrow my things without returning them. I dare not open my mouth to ask. This has led to some of my belongings (mostly small items like erasers or pencils) dwindling in numbers. Despite numerous warnings from mummy to take care of my belongings, the situation kept getting worse. From one to two to four missing coloured pencils, I came home one day with just these...

More than half gone! How pathetic...

Daddy and mummy kept telling me that it is not difficult to ASK for whatever borrowed from me that is not returned. After all, those things belong to me and they are righteously mine! I really hope I can overcome this fear soon! (Fear of approaching people to ask for something)

We Adopted a Panda

... a toy one, that is haha :) It was love at first sight during our recent trip to Ikea and daddy thought there's no better place to "adopt" a panda if not in China. It was also inexpensive at only RMB29 (less than RM15) so mummy gave her nod of approval and the cute little panda came home with us. Introducing Le Le 乐乐, my new companion...

Soft, fluffy and cuddly :)

It all began here...

My new BFF

Now, this post is not so much about how much I love Le Le. It is where Le Le originated from that surprised us. It is easy to assume that Le Le was locally made. We thought so too but we were wrong. Out of the hundreds of toys that I have, I can safely say that 99% of them are made in China. Le Le falls into the 1% because she is made in Indonesia!

Isn't it ironic that something so China-related and bought in China was not made in China? ;)

Yu Yuan Garden

Two Saturdays ago, we played tourists again and visited Yu Yuan Garden - the most famous garden located in the heart of Shanghai Old City. It is a classical garden built during the Ming Dynasty in 1577. One of the unique charms of this place can be seen in its ancient building designs with pagoda-like roofs.

We did not go into the special garden specifically (will leave that for our next trip here) but we just walked around the bazaars surrounding the garden. The place was super crowded and teeming with tourists!

This mini town consists of only Chinese traditional buildings like this...

Just outside one of the many bazaars selling all kinds of stuff that attract tourists, from handicrafts to food

The massive Saturday crowd

Local sweets and goodies

Trinkets and small souvenirs

China's most loveable mascot

We walked on the "nine-bend" zigzag bridge. Saw some fish and tortoises in the shallow pond below

Scenery as seen from the bridge...

When east meets west... It is not surprising to see Starbucks or Haagen-Dazs sitting amidst this very traditional Chinese garden :)

We had a light snack of stinky tofu, egg tarts and herbal jelly (gui lin gao)

I also had a "small" cotton candy... (I wanted it very badly and mummy requested the seller to make a small one for me. She made this for me and said "nah, a small one for you..." @_@)

Cheeky face :p