Confession time – it’s not that uncommon for us to be erm, chronologically challenged each morning because the older offspring often finds it hard to fall asleep especially on days when he’s had more lessons, and because…………
this.
(This day she got him too.)
Don’t know which is scarier – the makeup or the 3 seconds you have left to clean it off and run for the bus. Occasionally however, we luck out.
Wait for the school bus Like A Boss
Safely on!
Rockstar being received by Birthday Boy, who is his taekwondo classmate
Little Kids in hats making their own pizza up ahead…
Little pizza chefs suiting up in disposable hats and aprons before being given wipes to clean their fingers before they start
Express Lady After They receive generous helpings of tomato base: Does anyone know how to spread the sauce around? Do you go “SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT”?
Miss: <nods her head enthusiastically><joyfully> YEEESSS!!!
(You don’t; you’re supposed to jiggle the pan about… )
jiggled the pan about earnestly trying to spread the sauce when told though (but the Pizza Express lady did the actual spreading for her)
Toppings Galore…
Mouth off at each other about their concoctions…
Hop off your seats with precious pizza pan in hands
Bowl all the adults over with cute overload from all the little paper hats and aprons queueing nicely to cook their pizzas
(Child labour never looked so good)
Killing time (and apparently a balloon dolphin with petting) while they wait for their pizzas to cook…
Birthday Dad is the little kiddie party entertainer!
(Gutsy move – because sure, you can occasionally look dorky to colleagues, strangers, friends…. but God forbid you ever look uncool to your kid’s friends! Oh, the horror! You guys with kids getting older, you know what I’m sayin’ right?)
Did he pull through? <suspense> One mum turns to me and whispers, “(Kind of OMG) Does he do that as his full-time job?” So the verdict is: Yes, he pulled through (but no I don’t know the answer to that 😀 Big Ben and Cheese Brothers, the really popular British children’s party performers and comedians are dads too – I think they mentioned somewhere in their acts……. Which is where I guess the question came from 🙂 )
Then it’s moment of truth time!
Proof of the pudding……..
……………………….
………………………..
…………………..
Y-eah she didn’t stop eating for quite a long time.
The yummy end.
Epilogue:
The Miss insisted on bringing the dolphin home. The taxi queue was easily 50 people and no cabs outside Times Square on a weekend and so we ducked into the train station…
Where they immediately stopped us and gave us the bag for the dolphin 🙂
“Selamat datang…..”
“…we have many reasons to celebrate…”
“We CELEBRATE with pride the Independence Day of our country.”
“We CELEBRATE the coming together of MAHK and MCCHKM in joining hands for the first time to organise the Merdeka Day Ball.”
“We CELEBRATE the first year of MCCHKM.”
We CELEBRATE our presence in Hong Kong and Macau and we CELEBRATE our long lasting bonds with our friends in Hong Kong & Macau….”
Yes that is an extremely loud YYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM…….. SENGGGGGGGGGG………!
So many overseas Malaysians and their friends, choosing at this time to declare loudly and publicly their still-Malaysian-ness.
Merdeka Ball 2015. Or, A Story By The Numbers.
The ~620-attendee event sold out way in advance of ticket sales deadline, and as everyone in Hong Kong knows, there is nothing that raises the value of a seat nearly as much as the inability to purchase one 😀 (That alone would’ve made me quip “A Very Hong Kong Merdeka Ball,” except… other than it being at the JW Marriott in Hong Kong with the then-reigning Miss Hong Kong pageant winners and other celebrities at a premium table bought by TVB….. it was a party very much coloured by Malaysian dress and food.)
Platinum head table went for HKD 98,000, Premium diamond table for HKD 78,000, Gold and silver for HKD 50,000 and HKD 38,000 regular seat tickets HKD 1,480 or HKD 1,280 (HKD 300 off those prices for their own members, so yeah the fee you pay for membership is offset by various activities discounts pretty quickly)
~620 attendees standing for the national anthem
The Merdeka Ball in Hong Kong is a celebration by Malaysians living abroad – many of whom have been living here for decades (for e.g. we are told the average time Malaysian Chamber of Commerce members have been in HK is 25 years), some from very humble beginnings, not a few of whom have become wildly successful professionals and businesspeople with outstanding personal achievements.
It is a “show of commercial strength… of many successful Malaysian businesses and many successful businesses run by Malaysians” who have made the deliberate choice this day of a celebration by way of saying to the rest of Hong Kong: AND We Are Proud To Be Malaysian.” Ok, that might be a little louder than the Secret Handshake That Doesn’t Exist, that I once wrote about among us Malaysians.
Still, no names in this one – too many VIPs, dignitaries, and contributions <intimidated mummy blogger> – instead, a post about a great party to give our kawan-kawan (friends) a taste of Malaysia outside of Malaysia. No Can-Can but still Very Can :). Full event pictures here and here (with downloadable souvenir program).) Be warned: There are a lot of important, well-dressed people with their hands in boxes (there is a non-exhaustive list of lucky draw prizes at bottom of this post).
Like this person.
However, now to the festivities.
Star performer of the night was one Shila Amzah.
Ladees and Gentlemen, Ms Shila Amzaaaaah!
I had never heard her sing before this night, and for all of you out there who haven’t heard her, lemme tell you – she can seriously give Mariah Carey a run for her money. Except Mariah Carey is probably not fluent in Putonghua as well as English and Malay. This Merdeka Day, Ms Amzah sang (and spoke) in all 3 languages, after asking the audience which language they prefer. She’s about to have her first concert in Hong Kong and a thing I said a little earlier about what happens with sell-out tickets in Hong Kong comes to mind 🙂
… Preceded by….
Sherine Wong;
Comedian extraordinaire Kuah Jenhan killed that night:
This is him telling you the difference between a bullet shot at the hero of a Bollywood movie vs a Hong Kong cops-and-robbers movie
However, here’s the REALLY BIG ONE.
Designated charity of the evening was the Viva China Children’s Cancer Foundation. They work to bring the best knowledge from the US to China and (if I heard correctly in the speech that night) all their doctors are pro bono.
What happened next formed the spirit of this entire blowout celebration for me:
To inspire donations, one VIP had, (with pretty short notice) decided to arrow nominate the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce Chairman to go up and sing onstage.
Question: Without alcohol, would you be willing to go up there knowing your act will then be followed by some serious-deal singers as well as someone who has not only won a bunch of professional singing competitions but is about to have a likely sold-out concert in Hong Kong shortly?
He did. OMG he really did.
All around, ball organisers and staff with mikes and camera start moving swiftly back and forth among the many, many tables, each proudly named after a Malaysian State or Town. One donor at our table has a slight wait…… before he is attended to by a notably breathless (if immaculately dressed) ball committee member. (And no, it’s not like they just had uh, two people to do this or something. There’s – I don’t know, looks like a dozen? – people walking swiftly around the ballroom.)
The numbers start to climb.
NOW IT’S A PARTY.
HKD 30,000 here.
HKD 50,000 from over there.
HKD 10,000 right next to me.
One MC has happily pledged HKD 10,000 herself (and with her own mike 🙂 )
The number crosses HKD 210,000 within minutes.
“<imperiously> MR CHAIRMAN – I donate 10,000……….. RINGGIT!“ an appreciative burst of laughter from all around. (About HKD 20,000).
HKD 13,800 (auspicious number. Someone’s going to have a good day at work, Monday.)
HKD 100,000 (ok ying liau loh.)
Over HKD 380,000. Who’s counting? I can’t keep up.
Malaysian Association contribute HKD 11,000.
It’s intoxicating. Adrenaline, Ladies and Gentlemen is legal. Do-good-ing, along with so many others, is out of this world.
Around HKD 500,000, Mr Chairman breaks into “Pang Yau”. “Friends.” If not for a barely detectable waver in pitch at the very beginning, I would have wondered if it was a recording. Somewhere at the back of my mind I remember an A-list pop star once defended her choice of frequently lip-syncing to pre-recordings during concerts instead of singing live, saying how difficult it is to keep in tune, what with the disorientation of surrounding acoustics, echoes, stage lights, and yes, the pressure of a live audience.
People start giving him their table flowers
Across the room, a hand goes up. HKD 120,000. The numbers start again.
The figure is around HKD 750,000 now.
Egged on by all the excited new fans (not a few of whom appear to now be brandishing the flowers from their tables), the room is soon filled with a recording quality (but much more spirited) version of “Ai Pia Chiak Ai Ia”.
Our other MC pipes up (after I think gamely also putting in another HKD 10,000 at some point), “If you guess the right final amount, YOU GET TWO MUSANG KING DURIANS!!!!!!”
All Da Ladies In Da House, MAKE SOME NOOOO-ISE! -pic from tallypress.com
I’m slightly disappointed at the lack of a picture of two giant and very delicious-looking durians being waved around onstage by someone exquisitely dressed in a tux. Or gown.
But – HKD 916,980. I am so turned on right now.
Malaysian Chamber rounds it up to HKD 928,000. (Why Not? <shrugs>)
This however, Ladies and Gentlemen, is NOT THE FINAL ANSWER.
I mean, someone won the Musang King durians (no one’s going to cry foul and Referee Kayu over that, right.. Come on…) for guessing within HKD 10,000 of that figure, BUT……. then some VIPs must’ve thought…..
Yup, you guessed it. So Close Ah? Why Not Push It Over HKD 1,000,000 Ah?
Ladees and Gentlemen – Mr Brave Enough To Come Up Here And Sing To Inspire Everyone To Chip In AND ENJOY IT IMMENSELY
SO VIVA CHINA CHILDREN’S CANCER FOUNDATION GOES HOME WITH HKD 1,063,000 – with love, from the Big Malaysian Party.
After dinner, there was supper. The street food of good friends, shared together casually at the end of an evening of camaraderie and bonding.
Sources say, gone in minutes!
The dancing and partying however, lasted til the wee hours.
At some point in the evening, there were lucky draws…
Yes there was a HKD 15,000 BMW bicycle…
Though top prize was a pair of HKD 30,000 earrings…
*Fireworks*
Ok well here’s a rough list:
1) Heting Jewellery – Earrings @HKD 30,000
2) 3D2N Tour Package to Singapore – SIA flights and stay in Kings Hotel Singapore incl 2 breakfasts @HKD 20,500
3) BMW Sports Bike @HKD 15,000
4) 6D5N SuperStar Libra Cruise Miyakojima and Naha, Japan – Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom for 2 persons @HKD 14,800
5) 3D2N Travel Package to Penang for 2 persons – Dragonair flights and stay in Shangri-la Tanjung Aru (incl 2 breakfasts) @HKD 12,000
6) 3D2N Travel Package to Penang for 2 persons – Dragonair flights and stay in Copthorne Orchid Hotel (Superior Room including 2 breakfasts) @HKD 11,880
7) 4D3N SuperStar Virgo Cruise to Sanya and Halong Bay for 2 persons – Ocean View Stateroom @HKD 10,420
8) 3D2N SuperStar Libra Cruise to Penghu, Taiwan for 2 persons – Deluxe Ocean View Room @HKD 8,160
9) Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral – 3 nights stay in Sweet Suite incl 2 breakfasts @HKD 6,388
10) Manathai Khao Lak – Weekend stay in Junior Suite incl 2 breakfasts @HKD 6,000
11) Mira Moon Hotel Hong Kong – 1 night stay in Full Moon Residence (incl 2 breakfasts) @HKD 6000
12) Samsonite suitcases @HKD 5000
13) Samsonite suitcases @HKD 5000
14) Samsonite suitcases @HKD 5000
15) JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong – Weekend stay in Premier Mountain View Room (incl 2 breakfasts) @HKD 4500
16) Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral – 3 nights stay in Loft Room @HKD 3888
17) Manathai Koh Samui – Weekend stay in Lamai Suite @HKD 3000
18) MontBlanc Pen @HKD 3000
19) Mary Kay Cosmetic Basket @HKD 2500
20) Mary Kay Cosmetic Basket @HKD 2500
These are the then-reigning Miss Hong Kong pageant winners exiting with some of their table prizes and door gifts
Table prizes and door gifts
Very nicely wrapped premium honey…
Also leather wallets, assorted large bottles of biohealth pills…
(Think the rice is to symbolise “plenty”… There was a nice table set up outside (so no they didn’t put a 1kg bag of rice for guests to carry around haha) and had a ticket with which they could use to collect the rice as they left that evening, or let it be donated – there’s many food collection drives in Hong Kong for such staples…)
(It’s a lot – like, a big shopping bag full of stuff for every single person ok. Party on, this Saturday night, tomorrow no need to do your grocery shopping :D)
Our table prize was a big box of tea leaves, but I was eyeing the sheep for the Miss and so we swapped 🙂 (there was also Pak Fa Yau medicated oil in there..)
That’s the tea we originally won… New York Times jewellery box and folder on the table…
And this us. Possibly the only pic we took that night, somehow. (I had no nice batik skirt to go with my Nyonya Kebaya top (I have a few, lovingly sized for me by my mum or passed down from my grandma) unfortunately)
And now it’s time to take a bow…….
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet some of the amazing people who have made the ball happen, and their friends. (Apologies if I missed out anyone – obviously, I don’t know everyone)
and as the last credits roll across the screen of this blockbuster…………………….
Him! He! Of the red shorts and flip flops!
He sent me that pic after reading what I wrote about him wearing that to swanky hotels for meetings. Showed up in a suit for Merdeka Ball, though 🙂
Around 1.30 am this morning the Miss woke me. Like any nurturing mummy (blogger) I check my phone after escorting her to the bathroom and back (not because she’s scared, but because she might otherwise attach herself to the poor sleeping dog on the floor), and I see the Selamat Hari Merdeka (Happy Independence Day) messages have started to come in. Then over and over again in my head:
“Bang…. SA TEGAS, Negara TEGUH, Itulah a-ma-nah, Sikap bangsa, Yang berja-YA, Demi kedaulatan tanahair Malaysi-a
Sebagai negara Merdekaaaa”
Love this song ok… Some of these old songs are really, really nice… A reminder of old times… Anyone else from SRK St Monica, Sandakan, who still can’t get this out of their head? I actually met someone from my old primary school at Merdeka Ball 2015. (He then went to St Michaels; my parents brought me back to where they’d grown up in Penang, for Secondary School)
ps: Thought I could finish blogging Merdeka Ball today and post that as Selamat Hari Merdeka post, but I couldn’t – way too much eye candy – by way of people, by way of numbers.
Akan datang (coming soon)… A time to celebrate.
#376/ #60
I know… I’m in so much trouble…
Miss (to Rockstar): Why did you do that, it’s stupid.
(I flinch, but before I can say anything -)
Rockstar: <bristling visibly> How would you like it if you did something and I said it was “stupid”? How would you like it Ha? Ha?
Miss: I like it.
Rockstar: No you wouldn’t!
Miss: I. Like it.
Rockstar: Ok. O-kay. Come. You go do something and I’ll tell you it’s stupid.
Miss: <cheerfully> Ok…
(Goes and spins a bunch of tops like Rockstar was doing earlier when she said it was stupid)
Rockstar: What are you doing, that was so stupid.
Miss: <nods> Like it. See? Like it. It is stupid.
Rockstar: <about to explode> Then why are you doing it??
Miss: Because you were doing it.
Xena Warrior Princess’ current bedtime favourite… Because bears are lame, she’s been going to sleep with that large plastic spider… and a story about a monster who ate all the darkness in the universe. Uh…
Rockstar: You’re stupid.
Miss: No, you’re stupid.
Rockstar: You’re stupider.
Miss: You’re the stupider-re-rest.
Me: Stop. Stop with the word!!
Miss: Why?
Me: Because – because – mummies have a lot of problem with that word being used by little kids. No one’s going to want their kids to playdate with you people.
Miss: Oh. <casually> I don’t want playdate. Ko-ko you can go for playdate.
Rockstar: <snorts> Oh please. You want to go to (friend’s) birthday party? What about (other friend’s) birthday party?
Miss: <exactly same tone as before> Oh. Yeah. Ok.
An Update On Malaysia’s Political Situation And What The Future Holds, by YAB Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang for Asia Society of Hong Kong. Or, Newton’s Fantasy Laws Of Investing. Possibly also the only post where title may rival content, in length 😉
In Season 4 of The West Wing, the President of The United State’s child has just been kidnapped. They fear the act of terrorists.
Staffer 1: You’ve been a good friend to (the President), Leo, but you have other responsibilities. The people …..need to know he’s willing to sacrifice his own child’s life for his country.
Staffer 2: Would you be?
Staffer 1: I wasn’t stupid enough to run for President.
Many people arguably view politicians in general (so too investment bankers haha) with at least mild distrust, because in part of the heavy temptation in the job to be self-serving.
However, those who choose not to involve ourselves very much (like yours truly) because we “aren’t stupid enough to run for President” are displaying selfishness too <shrugs> There be still a special place in the Divine Comedy, for the souls of the uncommitted. The choice of indecision is still a choice.
As a rather deliberate “katak-di-bawah-tempurung” (loosely, “frog-in-a-well”) therefore, I often feel obliged to keep my big mouth shut about Malaysian politics. Decisions are made by those who show up, I once wrote, when a non-Malaysian friend brought me to a Women’s Political Participation Summit at City University where Elisabeth Wong was speaking – and I conveniently rarely had.
Occasionally however, mountains come to Mohammad.
When the Asia Society of Hong Kong featured a presentation by Chief Minister of Penang YAB (The Right Honourable) Lim Guan Eng, I jumped at the opportunity to make up for countless missed news reports in just this one hour hide behind a potted plant taking notes attend. Off their website, “Mr. Lim values clean leadership… …the Penang State Government was able to achieve surpluses every year since 2008, reducing state debt by 95% and increasing state assets by 50%. Penang also became the top state in Malaysia in attracting investments and FDI in 2010 and 2011 as well as becoming the first state in Malaysian history to diminish poverty in 2013.”
The highly regarded Chief Minister is introduced as “Having been to jail twice for being an outspoken politician.”
You can Google his achievements, and the circumstances under which he went to jail. What you won’t get off wiki however is being there, that evening.
Arriving towards the tail end of the cocktail reception, I spy a newly recognisable face. In a recent meeting at the JW Marriott Business Centre where I had the privilege of being a fly-on-the-wall, one of the meeting contributors had been clad in red shorts and flip flops, arguably the occupational prerogative of someone in a more creative line of work during a sweltering Hong Kong summer.
This evening, he’s walked up a hill in the heat to the Asia Society building in full suit and tie – to sit in a packed auditorium when YAB Lim speaks.
That deserves a picture with the Chief Minister, don’t you think?
(He didn’t know I was going to do that, and neither did I – I pulled him up there when YAB finished speaking, after noticing the suit).. They took a selfie too, only he would text me later, “It didn’t quite turn out -“
“But the one with his father did” 😀
Every time a Penang-ite poses a question during the session, they identify themselves as such to YAB Lim. Most thank him for what he has done for the State. At one point he breaks off halfway, “Ay you all ah, better go home and vote ah…”
YAB Chief Minister Lim takes the audience through the economic and political situation in Malaysia as it is today. He talks about the sense of helplessness as the Ringgit plunges. The sense of anger and betrayal in “Harap pagar jaga padi, pagar makan padi.” (The fence you hope will guard the paddy, instead eats the paddy.) He describes opposition splits as blessings in disguise. How the word “donation” is better replaced with “contribution,” these days. He quotes prominent Malaysian writers, many of whom are Malay. He talks of transportation plans born out of desperation. He does not have all the answers, but offers a guarantee of being “clean”.
During Q and A, someone poses the question many people in the room were probably eager to know the answer to after most recent developments that day, and he qualifies, “We don’t know exactly what was asked when the press picked it up… but if necessary why not sit down and discuss, …with the minister who sent me to prison… twice… If he’s still Prime Minister I might be going in again, you know. But national welfare takes priority.”
YAB Lim talks of how when he was an ex-convict, never in his wildest dreams did he think he could be Chief Minister of Penang.
“It is darkest just before dawn.” He calls hope. I call also good potential entry point.
The market prices in to an investment what it already expects an investment to return. The obviously attractive buy is also an expensive one. “Newton’s Law Of Structured Product Investments” for derivatives surely holds true of their vanilla underlying as well. (Like, if Newton invested, I bet he’d totally say that 😀 )
When the rockstars playdate in a variety of their friends’ homes (because I feel the need to remind everyone I’m a mummy blog – we get to add details other articles may not, and beliefs, prejudices, what we hold important, is often laid bare in the choices we make when raising our children*), it’s not uncommon for people to tell us they locked in their nest egg during gut-wrenching property market crashes of the SARS period. “We could never afford the same home with prices where they are today. But yeah back then when we bought, we were scared.“ It not being in the Wild, Wild West but instead middle-classed Hong Kong parents who had kids’ tuition to pay, of course they were scared. Because Newton’s Law Of No Free Lunch 🙂
Not too long ago, we bemoaned a Ringgit that was “too” strong. Not our current problem. Beli buatan Malaysia (buy Malaysian products) has become an all too true highlight of the “discount buffer” you also get from the cheaper Ringgit, when you buy Malaysian.
“Risk,” as priced in to the return of an investment however, is as the market collectively sees it – the market, made up of traders, investors and speculators, who believe in the return they’re going to get, for said market risk. Because Newton’s Fantasy Third Law Of Investment Products says For Every Return There Is An “Equal” And Commensurate Return (:D)
Now, “everyone” gets access to about the same data for an investment. You have the Google, the Wiki, maybe even the Kidrex. But say one day you get to meet someone who attends work meetings at business centres of swanky hotels in red shorts and flip flops, yet puts on a suit and tie to sit in back when Chief Minister YAB Lim speaks. You watch hands go up, hear the Penang-ites in the audience identify themselves as such – proudly so, despite all that you read in the press today – they, who likely still have family, friends, investment assets, inheritances – thanking the Chief Minister for what he’s done for Penang, before posing their questions.
It’s no coincidence I drew a metaphor from The West Wing. Multi-award winning, with characters occasionally drawn from those of real life politicians, but with a deliberate idealism that some critics find unrealistic. Yet in 2006 President Obama’s The Audacity of Hope spent 30 weeks on a New York Times Bestseller List. Hope is a thing with feathers that perches in your soul – sure, but it is also the wild card in your hand that inspires you to keep going until you can play it in a winning strategy.
It isn’t very fashionable to be Malaysian over here, particularly of late – when you introduce yourself as “Malaysian”, you might get a reaction along the lines of, “S-o…. That Plane….. That Minister…. The Other Minister……..” (You know who are the best-informed and most unreserved askers of such questions? Hong Kong taxi drivers 😀 Though I had one of these questions on a most recent playdate as well. It was nice when a Korean friend retorted, “Y-eah we aren’t too proud of That Ferry either,” bless her.)
Certainly, there can be no excuse for any wrongdoing, particularly if you are the proverbial fence who has been entrusted with guarding the paddy. However, things are not seen equally across different countries either, it’s the way the entire world is. Little kids – people – die every day in some developing nations for the most horrific outbreaks and lack of basic human living needs, while over in developed countries a single suspected case of mad cow may cause a huge panic and culling, and way more press.
Thing is, you cannot choose where you are born any more than you can choose who you are born to, or what you are born with or without. In the game of Life, we were meant to do the sincere best we can, with the hand we are dealt. In other words, BO PIAN (no choice) 😀 .
If you think you’ve started off in the game of Life a little “behind”, you also try harder. Work harder. Therein lies a not-talked-about-enough benefit to not being born with a winning hand: When you are used to training while weighed down, one day you take the weights off and discover you can fly.
Soon, it will be Merdeka Day, our Malaysian Independence Day. This day of jubilee, something tells me you’re about to meet the Malaysians that now live abroad, perhaps have done so for decades, even – who continue to retain citizenship – even as they fly higher.
(Well, not quite that wordless…)
Whassup? Hangin’ Around Shootin’ A Couple-a Hoops…
The rockstars attended a friend’s pool birthday party recently at the Aberdeen Marina Club (not the only recent pool party; so many things to write about, so little time). The party venue had a water slide with a drop into the pool – no biggie for Rockstar-aged kids whose feet easily touch bottom, and no biggie for the Miss because……. she’s nuts.
The Miss proceeded to torpedo into the water over and over again, emerging to a battle cry of “Fly-ing Todd-ler!” Thing is, she hit the water with enough impact for her water wings to fly off her and eventually she also busted them (like popping a paperbag filled with air). Since she’d been regularly refusing to keep them on (to be fair she doesn’t really need them anymore but because she doesn’t seem to care about uncool things like breathing I strive to sneak them back on), I decided not to get another pair for her to keep not wearing.
Therefore our version of Sharkskin Soup
She liked being a “mermaid” briefly, but she loves being a shark. So once again we have less princess and more Xena Warrior Princess <closet proud>
ps: You guys know I’m buying time trying to finish a couple heavier posts, right? Next up……………..
Him! He! Someone got a selfie with him!
And that ain’t no Madame Tussaud’s, baby. That the real Mr Lim Kit Siang.
Check back to find out who da man got a selfie wit’ da other man. And all manner of other pressurising things and fake gangsta rap accent as I write the hardest post I’ve ever had to write, in my opinion.
#59
So, when the Miss’ class begins school proper, there’s a relatively much larger number of kids on the floors (full house, relatively large class size, waitlist and all) and so for the first few weeks attendance is staggered and parents are required to be in school throughout their day. The teacher would include excerpts like this from various reading sources or blogs in her email to us:
“…children are very sensitive to our feelings. …If we’re unsure, how can our child possibly feel secure? So I recommend always telling your child you will go (sneaking out creates much more anxiety and mistrust), and doing so with kindness, assuredness and confidence in your child as fully capable of handling this situation….”
Now, during Rockstar’s time I had waited in the lobby, and assumed this was the case with the Miss as well, so I told her so.
When we get there however, I realise nowadays all the other parents hang around in class, so just in case the Miss minds, I dawdle a little after delivering her. After 20 minutes…
Miss: Why are you still here, Mummy?
Me: Well, I thought I was supposed to wait downstairs, but none of the other mummies are moving, and that’s why I’m still here.
Miss: <frowns>
Me: You’re fine if I go? (Miss nods).
Some of the other staff overhear, smile, and wave me out with an, “Enjoy your cake and coffee” 😀 I go to wait downstairs and open my laptop. Collect a fairly cheery and calm child, to school staff saying she’s well behaved etc. Feel pretty bad to say something like “Oh, wait till you get to know her,” because this is school and I don’t want them to misunderstand that, and so I manage a “Well, it’s early yet, and she’s not shy (well downright fearless sometimes). You might get a curveball in a few weeks when she gets more familiar (i.e. a little bored – she is rather like a little Extreme Sports person :D) and just wants to see how you react…” (Still feel like I’m telling on my child.. she might not actually throw a curveball anymore….)
Second day, rather pleased and unduly optimistic about “cake and coffee”, I deliver a bouncily happy Miss to circle time, only to be told…………..
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Miss: Today you can stay, because other mummies are staying.
Me: O-or, I could wait for you downstairs like last time? <hopeful>
Miss: You can go when all the other mummies go. <knell of impending doom>
That meant if there’s another mummy on the carpet then I’m on the carpet with her, and at one point I almost got ordered into the huge sand pit and had to point out that the other “grownups” in the pit were school staff, not mummies.
I’m working on a toddler version of, “More than 80 kids on this floor, there are a gadzillion mummies in this room. Every time 1 out of the 80-something is on the carpet or painting or etc you’re going to demand your mummy does ALL of it???” Obviously phrased that way, I will get a winning smile and a cheery, resounding YYYEEESSS!!!
“..If you can remember to, it’s always best to leave out the “okay?” at the end, since that implies uncertainty or a need for the child’s permission. ..”
Y-eah SO workin’ on it…
(Thought she didn’t have any of Rockstar’s puzzle bug (while enjoying painting way more than he did) – Rockstar used to do puzzles over and over again from when he was about 2.5, but now just over 3 she’s started to do more puzzles and less painting… Just an idle thought, because Rockstar hasn’t really done many puzzles in years, since acquiring and accumulating the mountain of Lego he’s got now)
She’s listening to shells, in this one
(and filling her bottle after school)
Giddyap, Triceratops!
Miss: <accompanied by a lot of bouncing> Issa awe-sum day, issa awe-sum da-aayy KO-KO WAKE UP!!!!!!!!
Top O’ The Mornin’, Ko-ko!
(groans)
Me (to Miss): Don’t get too close when he’s trying to wake up. And definitely don’t jump on him unless you want to go flying – um, never mind. (Because obviously she would want to go flying.)
Therein lies another dissimilarity between these two: guess which one is turning out to be a disgusting Morning Person?
“WHEEEE!” (note crazed look)
It’s hard to tell they’re related – they don’t look anything alike, one is a natural night owl despite everyone’s best efforts for years, the other has started to display some disturbing early bird cheerfulness and reluctance to go back to sleep after waking early for toilet runs. I even suspect the toilet runs are an excuse to get out of bed.
And yes, she’s been starting school proper in full (uniform) colour this week…
Peekaboo
(Yes the dog’s been with her after school each day…)
TGIF!
Waiting for his first fight
Rockstar had 3 fights that day, elimination style, as opposed to round robin (so you only progress if you win each round). Despite leaving really early, we make it literally on the dot and I run up to the counter feeling disoriented because pretty much everything is in Chinese except Rockstar’s English name in the fight schedule 😀 First time I hurry up, the people manning the counter stare at me like I have two heads.
“It’s not his turn yet.” Um, we-literally-just-got-here-on-the-dot-at-his-designated-match -time-I-missed-your-earlier-announcements. And I can’t read Chinese. (Note to everyone: If you ever find yourself in this situation, say that first. Because then a light bulb goes on and the people you are speaking to stop thinking you are just mad. Also, everyone will otherwise assume you can understand the rapid-fire fully-Cantonese announcements and schedules that seem to just fly about.)
“We will make an announcement in English.” (Throughout the tournament it will be at the back of my mind that the only thing I ever seem to hear said in English over the PA is “Rockstar please report to counter” 😀 😀 😀 )
So Rockstar and (later his friends and teammates in various other categories) wait to get in the ring for their fights…
I remember when they used to do it with pen and paper and tally it all up. Nowadays it’s on the computer, the score is on the screen for all to see, and there’s this little beeping sound when someone earns a point.
Same difference 😛 All I can see is Michelin-Man-dressed-Rockstar dancing about with another similarly-garbed child while I’m trying to take a picture or video of something, and by the time I move to see the screen, the score is… .
11-1 in Rockstar’s favour. (Oh, and he’s just about to fall over in this one :D)
We’re kicking about in a corner when suddenly we get paged, a good 4 fights early thereabouts (like, fortunately he didn’t have to go to the bathroom, necessitating taking all the gear off and then having to crazy-rush it back on ok…!) Frantically I look around for his match coach, texting while steering Rockstar to the waiting bench where other little fighters are already seated, meantime. At our rapid English chatter, 2 or 3 cute little-faces-overwhelmed-by-headgear-like-my-child’s look up wordlessly in surprise.
Rockstar enters his second fight not quite at leisure as in his first one. Ditto yours truly as I’m now the one dancing around to get a picture or video like some crazy tourist. (Waitaminit I am a crazy tourist :D)
I don’t notice the screen till after it’s all over and I’m looking at the pics in my phone
And yeah, you’re gonna have to take my word for it this one ended, if I recall correctly, 21-8 favouring Rockstar.
There appears to be a delay for the final. Meantime, I’m reminded to change the colour on Rockstar’s chest plate and he chirps, “Blue! Finally!”
It’s over so quickly I don’t get a picture. It would appear that at a score of 21-1, a walkover was called. If so, in the event it also spares the losing child’s feelings by not taking a drubbing that might run say, to 51-1 or something, I think it’s not that bad an idea. I’ve watched Rockstar train, often. I’ve held his kicking target, and at 20 kilos and 7.5 years – I only started my own 8 years of training aged 9 – Rockstar can kick like a pint-sized donkey.
I have never seen my child so comprehensively beaten. His opponent is in a completely different class. (Only when he took off all the protective gear did I later realise just how small the other boy was.) In the event final, Rockstar takes blow after blow to his chest plate, and when his opponent stops – just waiting the time out, having racked up a satisfactory lead (don’t get me started on them knowing how to do that) – Rockstar doesn’t fight back.
“Come on, Awesome Boy. Try.” I don’t care if everyone thinks I’m Crazy Crackpot Tourist Mum. He doesn’t move, and they call it. I prickle a little, when I see the subtlest Smart-ss Shrug and a mouthed Wha -?
First out of the ring:
Rockstar: Wha- was that? <another annoying shrug>
Me: I think they called it early because your opponent racked up too big a lead on you. You weren’t trying. Were you scared?
Rockstar: I went in very relaxed. Cos I know I already get something. And then this guy started kicking and I thought ‘Ok, this guy is just crazy good. I’m outta here.’
Me: I knew it! You didn’t even fight back!!
Rockstar: Cos I know I got something already. I wanted at least a silver. I got a silver <shrugs>.
Me: I would be happier if you didn’t get anything but you tried your best rather than if you didn’t try and got a silver!!
Rockstar: Oh. Huh. I’d be happier if I got the silver.
Me: !!!
(And Rockstar tells me when he told this to one of his teachers, she laughed and said, “Uh, you know gold is better than silver, right?” :D)
See his sheepish face!!
Rockstar does however refuse to move until he collects his nonetheless-hard-earned silver. “But I didn’t dare say anything else, you looked pretty mad,” he would remark later, about our time sitting there waiting wordlessly for him to get his medal.
Ah bu- then?
Rockstar, his instructor, and Kid Who Totally Beat My Kid 😀
Notice anything? Yes – Rockstar was in the under-8 years, 20kg category and that is a kid with a junior black belt who might actually be even a little smaller than him.
In fact, that I remember Rockstar was the most junior belt in all his fights; his first two opponents were one belt grade above him and the boy who gave him such a drubbing…… yes, a junior black belt. (Like, how old are these kids when they start training?!) In conversations with another local team mate’s mum, there were kids from all over Hong Kong competing, and some were really scary good fighters who must’ve trained very, very hard. Her own child got repeatedly kicked in the head(guard) over and over by a significantly shorter child.
As for Rockstar’s own defeat – If my child is going to learn from a drubbing, this boy was the best opponent he could’ve had. Think about it – what happens to your child’s outlook if he is hammered in a martial arts competition by another child who is undisciplined or simply plain aggressive? It’s oxymoronic. Instead, the boy who thoroughly beat Rockstar fought real clean. It is the best possible lesson I could hope for, for Rockstar. You can serve up a drubbing without resorting to anything less than full discipline and a clean fight.
In fact, I don’t think I saw anyone in competition not follow the referees to the tee. Even the ones that were visibly upset they were losing. (And btw Rockstar says he saw one little girl clutching a teddy bear she kept in her bag, in between her fights.) They’re still little kids, in the process of learning more than just the sport.
As for my little problem with Rockstar effectively giving walkover without trying… Dude.
If you are up against this guy then by all means. Walkover. Please. (pic from ign.com)
(How disturbing is it that I knew to google The Ultimate Warrior?)
Then it’s the girls’ match
Rockstar’s team mate is on next. I recognise her opponent as one of the wide-eyed little kids looking at us in surprise as Rockstar and I bustled over for weigh-in, gabbling away in English. When she’s in the ring however, she’s a fierce competitor – Rockstar’s friend tries valiantly, eventually losing respectably. Despite having been super keen to compete, Rockstar’s friend leaves the auditorium after being knocked out in the first round, taking the loss in her stride. Her mum would tell me later her daughter was watching her fights and others’ that evening, keen to compete again. (Ditto Rockstar. I suppose I should be relieved. Kind of.)
Therein lies another big lesson for our kids: How to lose. A measure of a person is how you bounce back. Besides, we don’t really want them to win absolutely everything easily at this young age do we, we want them to get a little “loser practice” in, to learn from their mistakes, at a time when mistakes cost relatively “less”… How to handle a loss is something even us grownups struggle with (look at what happens in World Cups and Tour de Frances et al). When you cannot take losing is when you lose yourself.
Meantime, Rockstar proudly wore his silver home
While passed out within minutes, oblivious to the downpour we ran just navigated…
Then he woke and hopped in and out of the train station like nothing happened (HOW do kids DO this?!)
There is a moment even after the dye is cast, before it hits the canvas. “Breathe right and you can change the way the painting looks.”
(That was me having the last word in the I Already Got The Silver Walkover Incident :P)
