homeschooling

I wouldnt say that we did homeschooling during this one year here in Japan. It was more like enrichment for the gals after they return each day from a full 6-7hrs in the public school here.

Only about a couple of hours each day, about 4 days a week.

Today's the last day of school for the gals in the public school. That means that we would be homeschooling more till we return home next month.

We are just very glad that we have less than a month of homeschooling to do. In fact, with all the trips and activities planned, we have less than 3 weeks for us to catch up as much as we can.

Glad because both the gals and I do not enjoy homeschooling.

For the gals, homeschooling is not fun. And I can understand why. In school, they have their classmates and friends. They dont need to know the answer to every question that the teacher asks. But back at home, they are the only student, and they had better know the answer to the teacher's questions. =P

I realise that not all the learning comes from the teacher in a school. A lot of peer teaching/learning takes place among the children. When they are at play, or at work.

But back at home, it's just me and them. And as their mother, I do have my expectations of them, to be able to understand quickly, to grasp concepts fast.

For me, I dont think homeschooling is my cup of tea.

I love the classroom but one on one is really not funny. Especially so when it is me versus the 2 of them, different levels some more. And I must confess, I do not have very much patience. At most I will repeat my teaching or instruction twice. And if they still dont get it by then, I lose it very fast. My bad. =(

Tomorrow we will be starting homeschool again.
The gals are anxious, so am I.

I shall be patient.

happy and sad

We received our ID's drawings for Rachelle's room this evening and it was beautiful. Rachelle was of course delighted, she totally loved it.

When Joanna saw the drawings, she got really upset. I guess it really hit home that there is no major change to her room.

Rachelle will be getting a new bed, a study table and wardrobe. Joanna just gets a new coat of paint cos the double-bunker in her room is also a huge study table, and she has a rather large wardrobe.

Oh wells, it was really no fun watching her cry. If hubby and I could help it, we would love to renovate both their rooms. We just dont have the budget for such a project now.

Hubby and I thought long and hard, thinking how we could at least cheer Joanna up a little.

Besides asking the ID to propose a more 'mature' colour theme for her walls, we are also planning to buy her a beanbag and a standing clothes hanger.

Hopefully she will feel a little better when we tell her our decision in the morning.

now what?

Hand mixer has been shipped home.
That means no more baking unless I wanna build some muscles whisking.

Made a beanie hat for everyone.
That means no more knitting or crocheting for me.

Completed making 37 friendship bands.
That means we're ready to say goodbye to Dendo Elementary School next Monday.

And I am getting a little more restless each day.

I tried packing my wardrobe this afternoon. And after sorting and throwing out some stuff, I only managed to vacuum pack 1 medium sized bag.

Cant keep the winter clothes cos we are still needing them now and for the trip to Hokkaido.

Cant keep the autumn clothes cos we will need them after we return from Hokkaido till the day we leave for Singapore.

Cant pack my kitchen cos meals have to be prepared still.

So what now? =P

house sweet house

Gonna get back our house this weekend! =)

Tenants have written a sweet email to us, thanking us for the beautiful 14 months that they had spent in our house.

Cant wait to see the drawings and colours for the minor renovations that we are gonna to do. It's good to know that the house would be 'new' when we get back. =P

5 more weeks

Life is a little different now.
Groceries shopping is a little different now.
Routines have just been thrown out of the windows.

I am beginning to plan lunch and dinner menus by the week. Trying to clear as much stock as I can, especially those brought over from home.

No longer do I go for large bottles of soy sauce, mirin or sake. It's all small bottles now. No more bulk purchases.

In another week, the gals are gonna stop school. That means I am gonna have more time to home school them. It seems like a lot for us to catch up. But at least we keep going, the gap is just gonna get narrower. =P

Actually with so many activities and trips planned out for the next 5 weeks, there is really not much time for homeschooling. Thank God that Math for both gals are already up to date with the school, Science is almost there, halfway more for Chinese and as for English, there is no textbook, so I really dont know how much we have missed out.

Though hubby and I are stressed over the gals' school, we are also trying to make the best of the remaining time here in Japan.

We are just so looking forward to our snowboarding trip next week! =)

friendship bands

After 2 weeks of pulling and tugging at numerous threads, the 37 friendship bands are finally completed!

I thought they were rather easy to make so I made a suggestion to the gals, asked if they would like to give their friends something for them to remember their friendship by. Thank God only Joanna took the suggestion. =P

It was not funny making so many. I made about 10 on the first day, that's cos hubby was away on a study trip and I did nothing but knotted the whole day. Each band took about 40min of non-stop knotting.

But they were so pretty to look at. =)

34 regular bands are for her classmates, 3 special heart-designed ones are for her teachers. Hope they like it! =)

happening weekend

Friday
Hosted a dinner for 4 Japanese and 1 Korean at our tiny place. 2 of them had specially requested to taste Singapore's Chicken Rice. Hubby and I had a hard time deciding what the dinner menu should be. Cos another guest does not fancy red meat and we Chinese are such carnivores!

So after a couple days of thinking through, the dinner menu for that night was Chicken Rice, Bak Kut Teh, Asam Prawns, Glutinous Rice, Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Pork (made with gluten) and Salad.

I started preparing since about 9am. I had to. Cos I only have 1 claypot, 1 steel pot and a shallow frying pan. I literally had to plan what to cook or blanch first.

In the midst of cooking, hubby and I also changed our bedlinen. I even managed to wash 3 loads of wash!

Dinner was a huge success. Guests really enjoyed the spread. I also served a dessert, not made but just put together. Pudding with strawberries and a choc biscuit at the side. =)

I was so tired at the end of the day. But totally happy that our guests were satisfied and most importantly, they enjoyed the food. Almost everything was finished, except for a portion of Bak Kut Teh.

Saturday
It was a regular day at the gals' school. But they get the Monday off.

The school invited all parents to observe how our children study and interact in school. There was a special ceremony planned for the 4 Graders. 二分の一成人式{ni-bun-no-ichi-sei-jin-shiki}, which literally means half of coming of age ceremony.

Adulthood is when one turns 20 in Japan. So the 4 Graders are half an adult and a special ceremony was prepared for them.

Hubby and I swelled with pride when Rachelle made her speech in front of all the 4 Graders and parents, all in Japanese. I needed a translation from hubby after that. =P

Really think the gals love the education system here. So much fun, pace is so much slower. They have time to nurture the whole child, not just his brains.

This is really something we will definitely miss when we get back home.

Sunday
The children staying in the International house had come together to plan their own farewell party which was to be held tonight. And I had to make pizzas for them.

We went to Ginza in search of a toy that a friend has asked us to get, but to no avail, we will have to try another place. So the gals bought little gifts for their gift exchange for the party.

It was such a cold and cloudy day. As I did not have any ingredients for pizzas, I had to make a trip to the supermarket to buy some. So I made Japanese pizzas instead, I made お好み焼き{o-ko-no-mi-ya-ki}. Cos I have just enough ingredients for that. And I made really small ones, bite-sized ones.

It's good to hear that the children loved them and finished every piece that I had made. =)

Well, the end of yet another week. That leaves us with just 5 weeks to go. So fast, too fast, time is slipping too fast.

Another exciting week ahead starting with tmrw.

We're meeting Mariko-san to view a Hinamatsuri, an exhibition of dolls. It's Girls' Day on March 3rd, and households who have girls in their family would put up dolls dressed in kimono. This is to wish the girls good health and life. The dolls are promptly kept after March 3rd cos it is believed that if the family leaves the dolls out after March 3rd, the daughter will marry late.

Interesting.

Then it's off to Kidzania on Tuesday. Our final visit, this time with Korean friends.

Hokkaido trip is the following week! Looking forward! =)

beanie hats for all

After the recent trip to Yamanashi and experiencing all the snow and cold, we realised that the beanie hats that I made for hubbby and myself were still better than those bought. =P

The beanie hats were stretchable and large enough to cover the ears and they were quite good looking too.

With that, I am making the gals beanie hats for the upcoming trip to Hokkaido. =)

packing

Started packing today. Thank God hubby is with me this time cos he is much better at this than I.

Already sealed 2 x 30kg boxes. Hoping to ship out at least 3 x 30kg boxes by this weekend.

Time seems to be on the Shinkansen. Moving too fast. We have just about 5.5 weeks left here.

Everyday hubby and I are talking about our transition back home, about the stuff that we need to buy for family and friends, about the dinners that we need to have before we leave and when we arrive home, our house and renovation, just so many things to talk about.

We have also been shopping! Requests from family and friends seem to have come in all at about this time. Requests for ceramic knives, ceramic knife sharpener, hot water flasks, phiten products, vitamins, detergent, toys and even a camera!

Besides shopping on behalf of others, we are also shopping for our house. New dish ware. =)

Our calendar seem to be filling up really fast too.

We have at least 3 more outings with our host family, hosting at least 2 more dinners at home, at least 2 parties, a 8-day snowboarding trip and a day-trip to Kamakura.

In between, we are just going about eating our favourite ramen from different places.

So exciting! =)

a memorable weekend

Our host family invited us to their 2nd house in Yamanashi-ken over the last weekend. It was a long weekend as Friday was a public holiday here in Japan.

And what a memorable weekend we had.

SNOW
As we left Tokyo, it started to snow a little in the early morning. When we arrived in Yamanashi, it was already snowing lots! We were told that it snows an average of 4-5 days in Yamanashi during winter. The day we arrived at Yamanashi was the first day it snowed this winter.


The amount of snowfall for that day was reported to be equivalent to the 4-5 days of snow in the past years!


It began to lighten up on the 2nd day. Clear blue skies with the sun peeping through in the mid-afternoon.

Then it was all clear on the 3rd day. Lots of sun melting the almost 30cm deep snow on the ground and rooftops.

Weather was simply great for us to make our way home with our bags and luggage.

Ice Skating
We went ice skating for 3 consecutive days!


I have never succeeded learning to roller blade, let alone skate! It was my first time and boy was I nervous. But I must say that I pretty much surprised myself with my progress. =)


On the first day, I was super slow, inching my way on the 400m skating track. Fell less times than I had expected myself to fall. And all the time, I was alone. Not that no one wanted to skate beside me, but I cannot have anyone beside me. It was too stressful. I needed to learn on my own.

I was a little more confident on the 2nd day. Gliding a little more on the ice. It was a little too sunny for me and found that the snow was just too glaring.


Armed with a pair of sunglasses, we hit the ice again. I managed to skate one round in 5mins. There was once when I felt that I was doing so well, actually was enjoying skating, with the cold breeze in my face. Then I fell. LOL.

Gals totally loved being outdoors in the snow. They really enjoyed skating. =)

Onsen
We went to the onsen on the first night, after dinner. That night was super cold, icicles were forming even on the cars!

But this onsen was superb. There was an outdoor onsen. It was beautiful.

Made a dash from the door to the pool. Too cold. Then shiok-ness!! -3 degrees from neck up, about 43 degrees from neck down. AWESOME! =)

Our bodies were so warmed up that we actually perspired on a very cold winter night.

We are really blessed to have such a good host family. Their hospitality is truly impeccable.


At least 3 more appointments have been arranged with them. Including a thank-you outing with them. Planning to take them for another Cirque du Soliel show, followed by dinner at Disneysea and ending the night with the fireworks display at Disneysea.

炒米粉

Hubby returned today and we hosted dinner. I had planned to prepare a simple meal of fried bee hoon and chicken curry. So I searched the internet for fried bee hoon recipe.

2 days of searching and still I was not able to find what I like. So many of them say that one cannot go wrong with fried bee hoon cos it's just too simple to prepare.

I beg to differ.

There was just too much preparation involved. Soak the bee hoon. Saute all the ingredients separately. Fry a thin omelet. Prepare soy sauce mixture cos the bee hoon will really soak up lots of fluids. And it's not easy to get the bee hoon nice and browned evenly.

Thanks to one particular recipe that used a soy sauce mixture to soak the bee hoon instead of just plain tap water. The bee hoon came out nice and evenly coloured.

I have never fried bee hoon before. So having no recipe to follow, I felt so insecure, I actually prayed for success.

The bee hoon looked very good, if I say so myself. But hubby felt that it could be a tad saltier, which I too agreed.

To make me more 'kan cheong', the guys reached home earlier than expected! Thank God I started cooking much earlier and was actually ready by the time our guests arrived.

The evening started with some beer and nuts while I prepared some gyozas. Served the gyozas with a salad I had prepared in the afternoon. Heated up the curry.

Halfway through with the gyozas, I served the bee hoon and the curry.

Then we had apples. Followed by coffee.

We ate from 5.30pm to 9pm. Good fun. Great company.

Hubby washed all the dishes and pots after that.
Cos he said that I had slit my finger. =P

thirtynine

It was just a regular day for me. Hubby wont be back till tomorrow.

So what did I do on this special day?

I visited the supermarket, get groceries for dinner tomorrow. Hubby and I had invited his 2 other foreign classmates whose wives had gone back to their hometowns. Thought that it would be nice to host them for dinner before they went back home.

After the supermarket trip, brought Rachelle to the doctor's to have her knee checked. Still another trip to make next week. The doctors here like to make sure that you are fully recovered before they 'discharge' you.

Then the gals and I went for a nice steak and ribs dinner. =)

I am a huge fan of birthdays, anyone's birthday. I would make sure that there would at least be a cake and a birthday song.

But today, there was no cake. Oh wells.

Just as the day was coming to an end, my neighbour came over with a birthday cake! How sweet of her. She had baked me a birthday cake and flowers too!

So there. I had my cake after all. =)

At bedtime, I made the gals pray over me. And I was especially amused at Joanna's prayer.

'I pray that mommy will live a happy life and wont grow old so quickly.'

It must have been the grey hairs that she saw this afternoon.
Time to visit the hair salon. =P

over-priced dinner

Since it was the first day of CNY, we decided to have non-Japanese food, we settled for Singaporean food. I was really looking forward to dinner. But I guess my expectations were not met.

My conclusion: There is NO Singaporean food in Japan.
Nothing comes quite as close.

These were what we ordered.

One chicken.
Half white, half fried. The fried half was a huge disappointment. It was more like a piece of chicken cutlet. And there was definitely not a whole bird there.

Buttered prawns.
When the dish was served, it looked like our cereal prawns back at home. It looked yummy till the taste test. Tasted too much of coconut, I dont know why. There were only 5-6 prawns.

Black carrot cake.
Major disappointing. Cake was too starchy. Not fragrant.

Hokkien mee.
Looked really good, promising. But I felt that it had too strong a fishy smell to it.

Char siew, Shio bak and Shio ak platter.
Portions were miserable. The amount for each type of meat was about what you would find on a regular plate of char siew rice in Singapore.

And all of the above cost 9,000yen, which works out to be about $140.

We all agreed that the chicken rice that I made some time back was much yummier than what we had. Dont think we are gonna eat there again.

农厉新年 2011

Today is 大年初一 and I am all alone at home. Gals have gone to school, so has hubby. It has never been so quiet on the first day of CNY for me. Feels kinda strange.

Japanese do not celebrate the lunar new year. Their celebrations are on new year's day itself, the first of january. Today is a regular working day here in Japan.

It was easy waking the gals up this morning. Hubby and I entered their room. "新年快乐！万事如意！身体健康！年年有余！谁要红包就给我起来！" And both gals sat up on their beds. =)

They said their greetings to us and we gave them their red packets. These are the only ones they will be getting this year. Very precious to them. =P


Though hubby has gone to school, he will be back before 11am and we would go out. Kitchen is closed from today till the day he leaves for Hokkaido on Monday. =)

Being CNY, we thought we'd have a nice dinner. So we would be going to the Singapore restaurant nearby for dinner tonight. Really looking forward, but doubt that they will have yusheng there. I am so missing yusheng right now.

Yusheng is the highlight for me every CNY. Especially the one together with my grandma on 年初二. That's when we get together to 开年 at my aunt's place. The yusheng there is interesting. There are so many of us that we use a large pan for the yusheng. And we have to do it twice. The above 50yo will lohei first, then followed by the below 50yo. And it is always so much fun, and mess!


Anyways, then tomorrow hubby is taking all of us to a nice dinner to celebrate my birthday in advance. He will be in Hokkaido on that day.

Then the weekends we have planned to go to Chinatown @ Yokohama to soak in the CNY atmosphere. The only thing I am afraid of is the crowd. But thought that it might be a waste if we dont go and experience the celebrations there for ourselves.

So there. This is our CNY for 2011.


Have a healthy and blessed lunar new year everyone! =)

more tarts

The previous batch of pineapple tarts were so good that it gave me the courage to try again. And it so happened that the canned pineapples were on offer too! =)

Being braver, I decided to make smaller ones and shaped them into balls. Topped each one of them with a little cheese too. I was actually trying to replicate those that I had bought from HG central last year.

It was all fun till I took the pineapple filling out from the fridge. I then realised that I had cooked them too long this time. They were a tad too dry and became hard very quickly. I quickly added some water and steamed it for a bit. And continued with the process. Put them into the oven and hoped for the best.

They looked ok after about 30min in the oven. After they had cooled a bit, it was time for the taste test. It tasted great and I was so happy.


When Joanna came back from school and tried one, she said that it was too hard. Then I took one. Yes, the filling became harder after it was cooled. Much like those biscuits with the pineapple jam in between, the sticky, chewy type which they sell in large tins at coffee stalls.

But the taste was still ok, with a cup of hot tea, it was still good. =)


Now I am thinking if I should keep this as a tradition. To bake pineapple tarts for CNY every year. =P

Blessed Lunar New Year to you! =)

rachelle

For the past 2 weeks she has been limping. When we asked her what happened to her leg, she answer was either 'I dont know' or 'never mind la'.

This morning, after leaving the house for school, she came back home 5 minutes later. She said that her left knee hurt badly and cant go to school.

Hubby and I sat her down and asked her to recall what had happened to that knee. After much tracing back of the events and the days, she said that it could be during PE lesson some 2 weeks ago.

They were playing baseball. Her friend, after batting, had swung the bat off his hand. The handle of the bat struck Rachelle's knee. It hurt for that moment but for the rest of the day while she was seated in class, there was no pain. So she didnt think much of it.

For the past 2 weeks, she just couldnt make that connection, that the pain in her knee was caused by the bat hitting it. Strange. Hubby and I just found it so hard to understand.

Anyways, hubby brought her to the doctor and found out that it could be a strain or a tear in the ligament. Large pieces of salonpas were given and some medication for inflammation.

When she got home, she got bored. So she kept herself busy with some craft work. Then she sliced her finger with a brand new pen knife.

The penknife was so sharp that a small piece of flesh was almost completed sliced off from her left pointer finger. I had to add pressure to it for a long time before the bleeding eventually stopped. All the time, Rachelle did not feel pain.

I am amazed at the high threshold for pain this gal has.

Just now at bedtime, she thanked God that she didnt go to school but walked back home instead this morning. So that she could go to the doc to seek treatment. And also asked for a speedy recovery so that she can start playing again.

That's right.
Give thanks in ALL circumstances! =)

roti john

Hubby and I were walking along the street when I spotted a man carrying a bagful of baguettes. And almost immediately, roti john came to my mind. I asked if hubby would like to eat roti john. He said ok and off we went to get ourselves a french loaf.

Chose the most easy recipe that I could find on the internet.

So with just a handful of minced meat, a large onion, 3 eggs and 2 french loaves, and in 10 minutes, we had roti john for tea this afternoon! And it was so good!

The sauce was really nice too, very authentic. All it took were some chilli sauce, ketchup, sugar and water.

Love this so much. Think gonna do this more often too. =)