Happy March Holidays!

Hello everyone! I am having a one-week March holiday! Yippee!

We had a wonderful start to our holidays -- we went to see the Disney on Ice: Princesses & Heroes ice-skating show!

Look! It's Minnie Mouse! She and Mickey and Tinkerbell were the hosts of the show.

This was the scene for Aladdin. It was like an Arabian marketplace.

 

Here is Aladdin meeting the genie. I think it must be hard to skate when you are all covered up in that fat blue costume. 

 

It's rich Aladdin and Princess Jasmine! They are heading down to do a romantic dance.

  

The seven dwarfs! Except they were more like seven strange grownup men.

  

It's Belle doing a cancan dance with forks and spoons! And a giant candelabra.

  

Here are all the sea creatures in the underwater scene!

  

These are some crazy dancing octopus things.

 

It's Ariel! She is my favourite princess. 

 

Hello Ariel! 

 

That's the dragon from Sleeping Beauty. It was huge and shot out fire from its mouth at the prince -- cool!

  Cinderella arriving at the ball. Isn't her carriage nice? 

 

This is Tinkerbell at the finale. The carriage she was in rose up into the air and fireworks came out from it!

  

Here we are after the show. I'm holding my Ariel teacup souvenir! 

 

Here we are waiting for dinner at our favourite Japanese restaurant. We are looking at our show tickets. 

 

This is me making my maki face. Kani maki is favourite (that's the crab meat one).

We had a great time! See you again soon! 

Staycation!

Hi everybody!! How have you been? Today I thought I would share with you some pictures from my little holiday over the weekend! My Mom calls it a "staycation", which means a vacation you spend in your home country.

We stayed at our favourite hotel. They are always so nice to us there! Here you can see us having orange juice because our room wasn't ready yet.

My little sister and I love staycations because we get to do all sorts of fun things that we don't do at home. Like lounging about all day doing art and crafts and watching TV at the same time!

The hotel bathroom is so nice and big. They give us lots of huge towels and awesome-smelling shampoos and soaps. Here I am after one of my baths. I am wearing my abominable snowman pajamas.

We had bubble baths every day. My sister and I love playing "restaurant" in the tub. We serve each other food and drinks that we make out of bubbles!

Of course, I got to do a lot of swimming, which I love!

And I went into the jacuzzi too!

This was a crow who came to look at us at the pool every day. Sometimes he -- or maybe she -- drank water from the pool. I don't know if that was good for him. My Mom said he almost pooped on her. One way you can tell a crow from a raven is that a crow doesn't have a tuft of hair on its bill. So this is a crow.

We got to eat tons of yummy food too! Here I am having breakfast -- sausages and bacon and scrambled eggs, plus hot chocolate, juice and fruit -- yum!!

We ate out too, which is always fun. Here I am having biscotti with my hot chocolate while waiting for my cheesy baked rice.

We went shopping, and also played games at the mall. Here, my sister and I are playing the "jumping squares" game. We jump on the big tiles according to the numbers and directions my Mom calls out. The winner is the one who reaches her first.

That day I brought Monkey with me. He looks a little concerned because he doesn't get out much.

We also went to the arcade, where I played my favourite drumming game about five times! If you play well, you get coupons that you can exchange for gifts.

One really exciting thing that happened was the lion dance right in the hotel! I'd never been so close to one before.

The lions were really cute and did lots of cool things. They threw lots of oranges and vegetables at us. I caught one orange that they had thrown, and put my hand in one lion's mouth to get another! Here, you can see the lettuce that they had just spat out at everybody. The lettuce had been hung up really high and they had to do acrobatics to get it down. The Chinese word for "vegetables" sounds like the word for "fortune". In this picture, they are doing things in their tummies with a whole tray of oranges.

When they got up, we saw that they had peeled all the oranges and made all kinds of Chinese idioms with them. This one is "feng sheng shui qi".

The time came for us to say goodbye to our beloved hotel room. Here I am hugging the bed. I'm really glad we could have such a nice little break like that. It's good to rest and relax sometimes don't you think! I'm already planning my next staycation haha! See you soon!

Fruit or Vegetable?

 

Here's Molly Mouse and Harland Sheepdog having their breakfast! Molly is telling Harland about the homework she got back from Mrs Roo yesterday. Their class has been studying food groups, she explained, and she had classified tomatoes as a "vegetable" and not a "fruit". 

"I don't know why Mrs Roo said it was wrong," Molly told Harland sadly.

"Well, did she explain to you all what exactly a fruit is, and what exactly a vegetable is?" asked Harland.

"No..." Molly replied slowly.

"Then how would you know?" Harland asked.

"I don't know! Maybe it's something we're supposed to just know in our hearts!" Molly said.

"That's just silly," Harland said. "First, you have to know what makes a fruit a fruit, and what makes a vegetable a vegetable. But I can tell you why tomatoes are fruits and not vegetables. My Daddy helps take care of the garden and he knows all about it. He told me that if it has seeds, then it is a fruit. So, tomatoes are fruits. That also makes things like cucumbers, peppers and squash fruit. Of course, we also eat other parts of the plant, like the leaves or stems; those are vegetables".

"But you know," Harland continued, "My Daddy told me that the Supreme Court in a faraway country called the United States ruled that the tomato is a vegetable. They said that only if it was eaten in hand or in a dessert could it be classified as a fruit. Consumers think of tomatoes as vegetables, and that is how they should be legally defined".

"Ooh, you're really smart!" Molly said, impressed. "Thank you for explaining to me! Although I think then that a tomato could be a fruit or a vegetable, depending on if you were talking to a botanist or a chef!"

"You're right!" Harland said, and they both laughed and ate their tomato salad.

My Sylvanian Chronicles

Hello everybody!!! How have you been?? I know, it's been awhile hasn't it! Happy new year!!! I've been so busy, first with the school holidays, and now with school! I'm in a higher grade now, and I have new teachers, classmates and subjects. My days start very early now and then when I get home, I do my homework and play with my sister, or go for ballet, or practice the piano, or meet up with my friends -- so you see I have lots to do.

I have been thinking of my Sylvanians and their adventures though, so I decided to quickly write the next chapter of their story now! Remember what happened last time? If you can't you can find it here.

There was a lot of excitement because at last the Sylvanians had caught the intruder! It was a big orange cat from the Outside World! Everyone noticed that the orange cat was shivering. It did not look well or happy. Mr Owl went to get Matron from the sick bay just in case it fainted or something.

 

Everyone let Mr Walnut Cat speak to it, because after all, he is also a cat. "We have caught you at last," he said sternly. It was the voice he always used when he was scolding the kids, which they hated. "You have been stealing our food and doing goodness knows what else. That is very naughty indeed. But now that we've caught you, you had better tell us who you are".

 

And this was what the orange cat did when it heard Mr Walnut Cat's scoldy voice. Immediately, everyone went "Awww". Matron said, "Poor thing, you're shivering with cold and you look very hungry. I think you have a bit of a temperature too. Come to the sick bay and rest. You can have some cookies and hot chocolate and in the morning when you feel better you can tell us all about yourself".

 

So everyone led the orange cat up to the sick bay. Only Hester Honeyfox was there and she was already asleep. She had been having her usual sniffly nose from smelling too many flowers. Mr Owl said he would stay up with Matron to watch the orange cat since he usually didn't sleep at night anyway. Matron was glad to have him around to chat to. Staying up alone all night could be pretty boring.

They gave the orange cat some hot chocolate and put it to bed. It seemed to be really exhausted by everything that had happened, and did not even want any cookies. It lay down in bed with a grateful sigh and was soon purring in its sleep. "The poor thing is worn out," whispered Matron to Mr Owl. "What an interesting life it must lead". Mr Owl nodded and stared at the cat in that way owls do. "I wonder what we'll find out tomorrow!" he said.

What do you think is in store for the Sylvanians and their strange intruder? Stay tuned to find out!

P.S. I've put all the chapters of this story together here in case you missed any part! Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4. See you again soon!  

The Octopus Family

Hello again! Today, I'm going to show you two little movies of our favourite octopi, made by the one and only Bikbik & Roro! Above you see a video of Tweedy, and below you see Tweedy's good friend, Inky. 

This is the first little film my Mom ever made. She did it with one hand haha. Do you know that you can adopt these octopi? Well, Inky is already sold, but Tweedy is still looking for a loving home. You can find him here. OK! See you again soon! 

My Sylvanian Movie!

My Mom made this movie for me! She was experimenting with stop motion animation for the past few days, and this is her second experiment. Isn't it cute!! And you can learn stuff too. I hope you enjoy it, see you soon!

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 

Worship the Lord with gladness; 

come before Him with joyful songs. 

Know that the Lord is God. 

It is He who made us, and we are his; 

we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 

Enter His gates with thanksgiving 

and His courts with praise; 

give thanks to Him and praise His name. 

For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; 

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

My Liebster Award!

 

I'm so happy! Bikbik & Roro awarded me with my first ever blog award -- a Liebster Award! I'm so excited!

Well, to receive this award, you must share 11 things about yourself, and answer 11 questions from the giver! Then, you have to give this award to 11 other bloggers whom you think are cool and let them know (sorry, I could only give 8 because my Mom doesn't give me a lot of computer time to explore Blogland).

So, here are 11 things about me:

1. My favourite ice-cream is vanilla. 

2. My favourite movie is Brave. 

3. I would like to go to Mars. And maybe Saturn.

4. Eating at McDonalds is one of my favourite things, but my Mom only lets me on special occasions. 

 5. I like rollerblading. 

6. My favourite author is Mary Downing Hahn. She wrote The Doll in the Garden: A Ghost Story, a book I love. 

7. I collected four stickers from donating money to sick people. 

8. I hate cockroaches. 

9. I like collecting stamps. 

10. My favourite animals are platypuses and tigers. 

11. I love swimming, scootering and cycling!

And now, my answers to Bikbik & Roro's questions:

1. What do you spend the most money on? 

Folders.

2. What is your least favourite food? 

Kaya toast. Kaya is some sort of coconut jam.

3. Where would you like to live? 

In an igloo in the Arctic with the polar bears. 

4. The last time you said "I love you" was... ? 

To my mom when I went to bed last night. 

5. Do you believe in reincarnation, and if so, what do you think you'd come back as? 

No, I think I'll stay in Heaven. 

6. The last thing you do at night is... ? 

Use the toilet. 

7. What is one of your greatest achievements? 

Winning a trophy at Sport's Day last year. 

8. Who was your first celebrity crush? 

I'm a bit too young for a crush! 

9. What are you reading now, and is it any good? 

An American Girl mystery novel -- it's fantastic! 

10. You think insects are... ? 

Helpful and sometimes, just sometimes, cute! 

11. What's your idea of a perfect breakfast? 

Hot chocolate and a pancake covered with maple syrup.

 And now, the Liebster award goes to...

1. Bichinhos na Cabeca

2. Loganberry Lane

3. My Sylvanian Love

4. Our Little Precious

5. Penspaper Studio

6. Rosie's Treehouse

7. Sweet Life

8. Terra dos Gigantes

And here are my 11 questions for you!

1. What's your favourite colour and do you wear it much?
2. What's the first thing you think about when you see a jellyfish?
3. Do you like bugs?
4. Are you an artsy-crafty person and if so, what do you like to make?
5. Do you have an aversion to sunlight?
6. What type of animal do you think of when you see a stapler?
7. Do you like listening to music?
8. Are you a dog or cat person?
9. Does the idea of a setting a broken bone bother you?
10. What's your favourite juice?
11. What's the saddest movie you've ever watched?

OK, have fun, see you soon!
  

Museum Fun!

Hello!! Can you guess what we are doing today? Yes, buying some red cha kiak!

Well no, not really. We were actually at the Philatelic Museum! "Philatelic" comes from the word "philately", which means the collection and study of postage stamps. Yeah I know -- they actually have a whole museum just for that! The wooden clogs seller was a display in the Heritage Room. They made it look like an old shophouse. In this picture, you can see me sitting in front of some dummies wearing traditional Peranakan nyonya kebaya. More about that later!

Isn't this cute! Thank you postage stamp!

Here, my little sister and I are standing in front of a talking Penny Black stamp. Yes, it really moves and smiles and talks! The Penny Black was made in 1840 and was the world's first adhesive postage stamp. It shows the profile of Queen Victoria when she was 15 years old.

Here I am looking at a whole bunch of different stamps in a display case.

Here we are in front of an elephant sculpture covered entirely in stamps! She was made by a local artist and her name is "Baby Emily".

Here we are at the "Spice is Nice" exhibition. It was made to look like an old boat, or junk. The exhibition is about the spice trade in the 19th century, and also the many uses of different spices.

Here we are working hard on the dock.

This picture shows another exhibition that was happening, called "Imagine Dragons".

There were a lot of interactive things for us to do. It was all about dragons and dinosaurs, which are sort of like dragons I guess.

A dragon boat!

A dragon stamp from Poland. Isn't he cute!

A dragon stamp from Jersey, which is near France.

Dragon stamps from Shqiperia, which my Mom says is Albania.

Harry Potter stamps from China!

And now off to our next stop -- the Peranakan Museum!

This is an old photograph of a Peranakan family. I think it is from the 1930s. In the museum brochure, it says, "For centuries, foreign merchants from countries like China and India were attracted to Southeast Asia's lucrative trades in fine products such as textiles, spices and more. Most returned home with the monsoon, but some remained behind, marrying local women. The descendants of their intermarriages are referred to as "Peranakans", which means "locally born" in Malay".

This picture shows a Peranakan bridal chamber.

This picture shows what a Peranakan bride would wear. Isn't it colourful!

This picture shows us looking at old Peranakan furniture. Peranakan furniture uses a lot of wood, gold gilt and marble. A lot of it is huge and has all kinds of carvings.

Here, my little sister and I are "talking" on old phones. They're really old. My Mom said that the one I'm on is called a rotary dial phone, from the 1930s, and the one my sister is on is a candlestick phone, which is even older. When you picked up a phone, someone would start talking to you in Baba Malay, which is what Peranakans speak. 

This is a portrait of a Peranakan lady, or nyonya. The whole thing was done in mosaic. Cool huh!

This picture shows an old kebaya. The kebaya is held together by three brooches called kerosang. Really nice ones are made of gold and diamonds or precious stones.

Here is another kebaya. See all the embroidery? Part of my family is Peranakan, so sometimes I can see my relatives wearing kebayas for important occasions like weddings. They wear a batik sarong at the bottom.

Here, my sister and I are making postcards with stamps.

This is the one I did!

And here we are taking a little rest before going home. We are sitting with the Asian Civilisations Museum cat, who is the museum's mascot. He looks just like a real cat! A curator at the ACM said he was sculpted by a local artist, and that one day the cat just disappeared. The little sign above him says, "In memory of the cat that adopted this building and became the museum's mascot, 1998-1999".

Hope you're having a great week! See you again soon!