16 Nov 2018 - Nintendo Switch as a Reward

We have made a promise to Jerlene and Javier months ago that if they do well for their examination, they will be rewarded with what they have been wishing for, which is a Nintendo Switch.  We kept our promise and their wish came true today.  They were overjoyed when they see the package!

After unpacking and setting up the console, they were glued to the sofa for the night.

15 Nov 2018 - End of Year Report Cards

Today is the time of the year when Jerlene and Javier get back their school's report cards.  Jerlene also participated in an inter-class captain's ball competition and received a trophy for being the runner-up.

Both of them did quite ok for their academic results.  Javier once again (3 years in a row) was awarded for good academic results while Jerlene was awarded as an I-CARE (values of Integrity, Care, grAtitude, Respect and Resilience, and Entrepreneurial Spirit) champion.  Both of them will be attending the award ceremony next year to receive their awards.  Below are the comments from their form teachers.  Excellent, Jerlene and Javier!

Jerlene will remain in her current class for P6 next year while Javier is being allocated to one of the four Integrated class which they now called RIM (Rosyth Integrated Model).  This is a programme that was introduced last year where the class will consist of both GEP students as well as high ability learners.

To reward them of their good results, we went for dinner at their favourite Japanese restaurant at Nex.

11 Nov 2018 - Hiking shoes for the coming trip

We went to Decathlon Mega Store at Chai Chee today to buy a pair of hiking shoes each in preparation for our upcoming overseas trip in slightly more than a week's time.  We are getting more and more excited as the date gets nearer.  :-)

4 Nov 2018 - Multiple buds on Sunflower stalk

All this while, I thought there is always just one flower on a Sunflower stalk.  However, this morning, I saw several "bud-look-alike" things on the stem.  Are these also Sunflower buds?

3 Nov 2018 - Tongue Twister (Peter Piper)

Javier did the below tongue twister within 7 secs in the video. In fact, he can do it in 4-5 secs sometimes. Can you do it? :-P
Give it a try!  Below are the words.
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?"

27 Oct 2018 - Blue Pea Flower

Our Blue Pea plant has finally bloomed with its first flower after we planted the seeds about three months ago.  Initially, we thought it's some weeds growing wildly all over the pots and its vines twirl over all the nearby plants.

Our Orchids have also blossomed!  Nice!

21 Oct 2018 - Moon Bugs (DOS game)

For those who are around my age would definitely find the below picture familiar, right?  It's probably one of our favourite computer game about 30 years back.  It's a DOS game called Moon Bugs.  The reason why I brought this up because Javier once again requested for ideas for his new game.

I did a search on YouTube and showed him how the game Moon Bugs work.  After watching it a few times, he went back to his workstation and started working on it.  About 1.5 hours later, he told me his new game was ready for testing.  And he called it "Return of the Pork" which has the Angry Bird theme as usual.  There seems to be nothing that he could not code.  Click on the below picture to try it.

Like it on his project if you think it's cool.  :-)

20 Oct 2018 - Master of Scratch Programming

It's has been a while since I last checked on Javier's progress in his Scratch Programming.  When I went to his page today, I was overwhelmed!  He has a total of 66 projects currently shared to all.  Most of the projects are games and quizzes of different types.  There are arcade, shooting, platform, puzzles, board games etc.  You name it, he has it.

In the afternoon, Javier came to me and said he had run out of ideas on what game to create.  So I told him, "Make me a Flappy Bird game"!.  In 2 hours time, he came back to me and said, it's done!  He names it the Flappy Angry Bird game.  I was surprised that he did it so fast!  Being his beta tester, I tried it out and it actually works!  Click here to try.

Then he asked for more ideas.  I suddenly thought of the snake game in those "old" Nokia phone and told Javier to create that game.  In addition, I gave him an extra challenge.  Make it a 2 players game if you can!  Few hours later, he called for me to test out the game.  He actually did it.  Try it here.

It's really amazing to see his passion in coding and what impresses me the most is his ability to learn it by himself.  Proud of you, Javier!

20 Oct 2018 - Ballet Parents Day

Once again, it's Parents Day and we were invited to the dance studio to watch Jerlene practise her ballet exercises.  Time really flies and she's now in grade 4, which means she had been doing ballet for about 6 years!  Let's see how much longer she can persevere as the routines are getting tougher each grade.  So far, she had been quite determined.  :-)

Here's how she did for her ballet exercises.

14 Oct 2018 - Taekwando Sparring Grading (Junior Black Belt)

After the previous grading, Javier received a provisional pass for his Junior Black Belt.  He had passed his patterns and interview.  Today, he took the sparring grading and if he passes, he will receive his 1st Poom.  As usual, they assembled outside Toa Payoh Sports Hall for some warm up exercises.

Javier is getting ready for some actions!  :-)

Below video captured how he did for the grading.  His kicks are much improved from the last time.  Way to go, Javier!

7 Oct 2018 - Our very own Sunflowers grown from seeds

This is our first time trying to grow Sunflowers from seeds.  This was how it looked few days ago.

And this is today.  All 3 stalks of Sunflowers have blossomed!

A nice close shot below.

This is really satisfying.

4 Oct 2018 - Lunch with kids at SOD Cafe

Today is Children Day's eve and they had 2 hours of celebration at school.  I picked them up from school after their celebration and had lunch at SOD Cafe, Ci Yuan CC.  We ordered a glass of lemonade, which was this month's special.  Looks nice and tastes good!

30 Sep 2018 - A fun afternoon at River Safari

The last time we visited River Safari was 4 years ago.  We like this place more than the zoo because most of the exhibits are sheltered.

It's always nice to see these magnificent animals housed in themed exhibits that mirror iconic rivers of the world from the Mississippi to the Amazon.

Jerlene and Javier spent quite a while at the touch pool which we had missed the last time we were here.

We did not get to see Kai Kai and Jia Jia (Great Panda) as both of them were resting in their chambers.

The next section of the park was what Jerlene and Javier had been waiting for, the Amazon River Quest.  We went for this ride twice.
It was another fun outing for all of us.

26 Sep 2018 - Sunflower bud

Our first attempt to grow sunflowers seems to be pretty successful as I could now see the bud.  If all go well, we should be able to see the sunflowers in a few weeks' time.

Today was a cool and windy night.  Time to sit down, relax and enjoy the night sky.  :-)

14 Sep 2018 - Is that really lemon grass?

From our pot of lemon grass, there is a particularly long stalk growing up to 3 metres tall.  Is that really lemon grass?  Can lemon grass grow so tall?  Think I gotta do some quick research......  :-P