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Boost Your Child's Mandarin: Starlight Chinese Academy for Immersive Learning
Our focus in the boys’ early education was always language but I have been shocked by the deterioration of their mandarin since starting primary school. Immersive Chinese language experiences have always been important to me because it has been the way I learnt best, and I regret not having sustained opportunities for that, both growing up and in my work life.
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The Land of Mermaids
Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake
Journey Through Time: A Sweet Suzhou Roadtrip with Tanghulu, Poetry, and Song Dynasty Culture
Sweet Suzhou Saturday roadtrip, with traditional tanghulu and a cultural performance of this Song Dynasty poem by Li Qingzhao, ancient China’s most famous female poet, that went completely over their heads.
Bridging Cultures: A Birthday Well Spent Promoting Bilingual Immersion for Singaporean Students in Qidong, China
Today was such a fulfilling use of a birthday and day of leave. I envy anyone who has the opportunity and aptitude for languages and it has long been a dream of mine to enable earlier immersion study for bilingualism. It mirrors my own language journey, which I regret has ebbed and flowed with my environment and creative quality of teaching; and missed opportunities to spend more time living in China improving my Chinese and indeed, in HK improving my Cantonese.
CNY2024!
This CNY, I’ve just been so blown away by the effigy of colour, celebration and dragons- I didn’t realize Asians have so much dragon stuff. Although I couldn’t maintain the stamina to keep socialising and visiting, I felt very fortunate to spend time with the warmth of family and grateful to have friends,
Macarons Time
I’m not sure what’s worse, the 7-year old who declares in the minutiae of the start of school weekend, early-dropoff-fatigue, shoes-are-outgrown, need-art-supplies, sports-trials, that he should make macarons, or the 4-year old who wakes up and bursts into your room at midnight singing “time for Cuddles!”
But he did and they turned out pretty good!
Pumpkin Pies to McDonald's: A Heartwarming 8th Birthday Fundraiser for It's Raining Raincoats"
The boys turn 8. Last Nov, Wes baked pumpkin pies to fundraise a dinner with some of the men we met through ItsRainingRaincoats, a meaningful home-grown organization. We’d planned on briyani at Racecourse Road but did an about turn when the coordinator told us they would definitely enjoy McDonald’s as a rare treat.
Family of Six 2023 Recap: Juggling Parenthood, Global Adventures & Milestones with Four Kids
Happy 2024! 2023 is the first year that we haven’t managed a physical Christmas card. This is because it has been a very quick and a very long year, and we’ve finally been overwhelmed by juggling life and four kids. It never stops, but we are getting better year-on-year at managing.
Merry Christmas 2023!
Merry Christmas to all our dear friends near and far. Wishing you the best of health, joy and togetherness in this festive season. We love and are thinking of you all - Wey, Zhan, Wes, Pax, Pips and Roro.
Hydrogen Horizons
Left work a bit earlier today to do something quite nerdy, we went to a global robotics competition that was held in Singapore! It was so well-organized by FIRST Global, who devise an annual robotics game that simulates a clean energy process. 199 global teams were awarded match points for their robot’s ability to capture; separate and transport hydrogen and oxygen atoms, a multiplier was given for a complete, loss-less energy transfer and a coopertition bonus if global alliances could work together within a game.
Happy Birthday Pippi and RoRo
Celebrating Juniper and Rowan turning 4 this week! It’s bittersweet and difficult to believe these little girls are growing up, am so grateful for their personalities, the way they try so hard, are so cute and still say the darnest things. Too fast, my little loves.
This is 4 years old! And 7!
This is 4! And 7!
Girls and Cycling
So proud of these fierce little girls, we told them today that they were big enough to cycle with the family on the sidewalk, through the green corridor, to the train tracks.
Hari Raya Hamper Gift Drive
Proud of the boys for being enthusiastic and helpful in distributing Raya hamper gifts as part of GIC’s volunteer program with Beyond Social Services.
Learning to write P
When you’re a vandalizing but also academic 3 year old. As I go through the day, I realize why the look was quite so guilty- she has been practicing her name all around the house!
7 Year olds’ birthdays!
Birthday weekend - their birthdays have coincided with Chinese New Year for some years now, glad they got to celebrate with family and their new school classmate friends. Between all these and full back-to-office, Jan has felt a little intense
Happy CNY 2023
The Jungalow yearbook. My new sustainability aim is to only acquire children’s clothes through inheriting, salvage and consignment. I really love these shirts I found second-hand, a black H&M parrot print and an Elizabeth Little Liberty print.
First day of School! Primary 1!
First day of school! Too early, too soon. Pezzy was asked thrice on the walk in if we were “sure” he was here for P1 😂.
Kyushu is the best roadtrip, a dramatic wide open low-density country with colours and cragginess reminiscent of the US. We took the train past the Mazda factory to Fukuoka and drove through Beppu, with its steaming hillside sulphuric aquifers, pausing in the charming Diagon Alley-like gourmand town of Yafuin and the narrow and expensive ryokan-strewn cobblestones of Kurakawa Onsen;