My Cameron Highlands Trip

On the Saturday of the National Day weekend , I woke up very early to get ready to go to Cameron Highlands. Daddy had gone on Friday because he and two other bikers (uncle Yi Kiat and uncle Hong Ming) wanted to ride slowly. Mommy, Bailey and I went downstairs to wait for auntie Kelly to pick us up. Her son was Christopher and was 9 years old. I was very excited. My favorite part of the trip was the second day ... ... ...

That day we went out for breakfast together with the rest of the bikers. We occupied four tables at a nearby coffee shop.We had porridge, chee cheong fun, some tofu with fishballs in soup and barley dessert . The tofu with fishballs in soup was delicious, I didn't really like the rest, but I just ate them anyway. In the picture below, I am the boy on the left (in front).


After this, we went back to our rented house to rest for awhile before we headed to the Boh Tea Plantation.


The road to the Boh Tea Plantation was exceptionally narrow. Only one car could drive through at a time. So Uncle Kester who was driving the car, had to be very careful and give way to cars coming from the other direction. At times, I felt like the car might fall down the cliff. We let the bikers go in front because they could weave through the cars and buses. On the way there, we stopped to take a few pictures of the mountains that were covered with tea plants. In the picture below, you can see that half of the hills are brown while the rest are green. This is because the green leaves of the plants have already been plucked to make tea.


When we reached the plantation, we found some of the bikers, including Daddy. Mommy said that Uncle Yi Kiat accidentally turned into the strawberry farm on the way and was now lost!

We went on a guided tour that told us a lot about how they made Boh tea. We also went to play a bit in the bushes.


We had a little snack at the cafe there. It was a warm and sweet strawberry pie. After this we went outside to take group pictures.


We drove down the hill to have lunch. Some of us went to different shops to eat while Uncle Avery and Uncle Yi Kiat went to get a massage. When we were all finished, it started to rain. We went in the car to go to the strawberry farm while the bikers waited for the rain to stop. At the strawberry farm, we took some pictures and looked at some cacti.

In the night, we went out to have steamboat. When I finished, Bailey, Christopher, Uncle Kester and I went back first. We stopped at a shop nearby to buy strawberry strudel. We took such a long time there that the other bikers came to the shop too. I found an interesting toy at that shop. It was a skull that can be squeezed. When you squeeze it, the "blood" and "worms" inside the skull will pop out from the eye sockets!

The next day, we went back to Singapore. On the way down the mountain, we took some pictures from inside the car. This is a picture of Daddy riding his bike down Cameron.

What I Like To Eat

I composed this poem myself!

What I Like To Eat

I like to eat,
A sugar coated sweet,
And things like that,
But I'm never fat.

I like to eat,
I'll eat fish meat.
I'll eat sushi,
And I'll eat green veggie.

I like to eat,
I'll eat chicken meat,
I'll eat anything that is yummy,
But it must fill my big tummy!

How Fun It Is To Be A Fish

I Wish I Were a Fish

How fun it is to be a fish
To always be free to swim and swish
My delicate rainbow tail.

I can sleep whenever I'm tired
And have lots of peace and quiet
No noisy siblings with tiresome tales.

I can play hide-and-seek all day
On pastures of green algae
Or chase and dance with pretty ladies.

No use crying if my friend dies
Just nibble him up! Isn’t that nice?
A fish's life is filled with jollies!

My First Horse Riding Lesson (in Malaysia)

On my birthday (Saturday), I woke just after the sun had risen to go to Malaysia for my first horse riding lesson with my friends. They were Christian, Ekklesia, Ariel, Ecclesia, Seraphina, Anastasia (a baby) and Noah (a toddler). The riding school we were going to was called Riders' Lodge. We had a long ride in our friend’s car. During the journey, we talked mostly about horses.

When we reached the riding school, we went to the stable to look at the horses. There were horses in every stall. The horses were of different colours. We saw that some horses were outside being ridden. We went out to look at other adults ride their horses while the smaller kids went for their pony rides.

We went to the reception area to get a drink. It was cold and sweet, just nice for a warm day. We drove out to find a coffee shop nearby to have lunch. When we came back from lunch, we went to the jacuzzi to play. I had a fun time playing with my friends.

After that we had a snack of biscuits. We went to look at the horses again and to write down the names of the horses. I found that the horse I would be riding was Snappy, Bailey's was Impian and mummy's was Kimba.

Snappy was a white-coated horse, Impian was brown and Kimba was white too. I was very scared not just because the horse was tall but because we saw a stranger crying and hurt. She had fallen down from her horse and was talking about her broken tooth. I was a little worried because Snappy sounded like a horse that might snap at me!

I got up Snappy by climbing up two steps on a wooden stair. At first, an instructor walked beside me. He gave me a whip to whip Snappy and then I controlled the horse alone. The instructor told me to sit up straight and hold the reins up. I had to kick Snappy with my heels to make him walk. I felt very tall, taller then Snappy. The instructor told me to stop the horse from walking by saying "whoa" and tugging at the reins at the same time. She told me to make the horse turn by kicking the opposite side and pulling the reins on the side I want to turn.

One by one we went to the centre of the corral (the fenced up area where we had our lesson) to practice trotting. We needed to stand up and down while we trotted. I was very wobbly. Snappy went very fast around the instructor. I felt like if Snappy went any faster, I would fall off!

In between our lesson, Seraphina had another pony ride. When she came back, we were not done with our lessons yet. So she went to feed the horses. Before we ended the lesson, we went out of the corral to ride around a pond nearby. Then the lesson ended.

When we got off our horses, took off our helmets and were walking back to the chairs beside the jacuzzi where the father s were siting, I saw Seraphina crying. Mummy told me that she was bitten by a horse on her arm when she wanted to feed it. That horse's name was Arterial. He is known to be very moody. We went to a room to comfort Seraphina and to put aloe vera on her bruised arm.

We drove for a long time to a restaurant and settled down to have a delicious dinner. After dinner, we played catching at a playground. Then we drove back home to Singapore. I enjoyed the day very much.

My TripTo Tioman Last Year

This post is copied from my journal. It happened last year in July.


On Sunday morning while it was still dark, I took a train to Kranji then hopped on a bus to go to the Singapore checkpoint. It was a short ride before we arrived at the Malaysian checkpoint. I then took another bus. In the bus I ate raisin bread and looked out of the bus window.

When we reached Mersing, we found a place to have lunch. While we were eating, my incisor dropped out!


After that, we waited to board a boat that will take us to Tioman. We waited for quite a long time. So, daddy and I went to explore the beach. I was worried that the boat will arrive while I was walking around. When the boat finally arrived, we boarded and put our big and heavy bags in a corner for bags. It was very cold inside the boat so daddy and I went up to the top deck which had a roof and railings. There were even seats to sit on but, all the seats were taken up. I took some photographs and one of them is now on the top of Bailey's ( my brother's ) blog. Up there, I looked out at the waves and the bright open sea.

When we reached, I was so excited that I ran out and looked in surprise because it was so beautiful. It was about to rain. We ran to a shelter just when the rain started. When the rain stopped we went to look for a chalet to rent. We were at a town called ABC where there were no air-con houses. We decided to go to another town beside ABC called Tekek. But Marina Park ("sea park" in Malay), the place we wanted to swim at was at ABC. Daddy said, "We will get a taxi when we want to go to Marina Park."

When we found a chalet with air-con beside the sea, we settled down and went out to see the beach and the shells.

For dinner we had seafood and sweet and sour chicken. In the night, we went to sleep in the room of mosquitoes.

The next day, the weather was good for playing on the beach. This is a picture of Bailey and I monkeying around outside our room's front porch railings.

In the middle of lunch, it rained but we were in the shelter. Our neighbour was going home on that day and he happened to be eating at the same place. So we talked to him while we waited for the rain to stop. We ate ice-cream after that for our dessert. Mine was green apple flavor. It was yummy! When the rain stopped we went back to the chalet. In the night we went out to look at the stars. When we were tired, we went to sleep in our chalet of mosquitoes.

In the morning we went to Marina Park to have some fun. We got a taxi to bring us there. When we reached Marina Park, we took off our clothes (we had our swim wear inside).

We swam and swam almost the whole day. For lunch we ate a burger. First we took a towel and dried ourselves, then we ate our burger. When we finished eating our burger we went to swim some more. After awhile, I was tired, so I rested.

We swam and swam for the whole day, before going to bathe. We walked back to the chalet. It took about an hours to walk back. We visited the newly built mariner on the way. There were many yachts parked there.

The next day we took the long journey back home to Singapore. This is a picture of us lying on the hammock outside our chalet before we left. Our chalet is right behind us.

Here's a videoclip from our trip.

Centipede

Centipede

I am slimy.
I am tiny.
I'm a burrower.
I’m a wriggler.
I’m a segmented, many-legged,
Shiny armoured, mighty stinger.

People hate me.
Want me dead!
Stamp their feet
And hit my head.
So I scare them with a bite,
From my poison claws all right!

Sleep Mr. Dragon

Mr. Dragon,
Sleep in the wagon.
Dream of grub,
And don't wake up.

Riddles

RIDDLES (that I made up!)

1. What does a frog call a rabbit?


2. What do crocodiles wear on their foot?


3. Which is the most calm animal in a storm?


4. What toy will a dolphins like to play with?


5. How many steps do you take to climb a tree?


6. Where do people sleep in Chicago?


7. When will there be eggs in your head?


8. What word has these letters - 1"v", 2"l"s , 3 "s"s and 4 "e"s?

-----------------------------------------------------------

Answers

1. What does a frog call a rabbit?
1. Ribbit!





2. What do crocodiles wear on their foot?
2. Crocs!





3. Which is the most calm animal in a storm?
3. A clam!





4. What toy will a dolphins like to play with?
4. A doll with a fin!





5. How many steps do you take to climb a tree?
5. Three!





6. Where do people sleep in Chicago?
6. In cargoes!





7. When will there be eggs in your head?
7. When you have headache!





8. What word has these letters - 1"v", 2"l"s , 3 "s"s and 4 "e"s?
8. Sleeveless!

Nature

Look at that bug,
On the rug.
Look at that bird,
In the dirt.

That's what I see.

I wish I saw a bumblle bee,
Will it sting me?
I wish I saw a fat pig,
Will he nibble on figs?

I don't know!

Rock Climbing At The American School

On Saturday, Bailey and I went with Mummy to the American School. Daddy went there, too. He rode there on his motorbike.

First we bought coupons for the playing. Mummy went to a room to look at books while Daddy brought Bailey and I to look at the games there.

We decided to go rock climbing. It was quite scary but I managed to go at least halfway up the wall.Once I was swinging on the rope that they attached me on because I fell off the wall. I almost kick somebody's head. He was a tall and strong helper who was there to catch the legs of swinging kids. Suddenly he looked up and the next thing I knew he was holding my leg. He pushed me back to the wall to continue climbing.

West Indian Locust Tree

The West Indian Locus Tree is a tree that has a fruit called the "Stinking Toe". It's very very very very very stinky, but people like to eat it because it's very very very sweet. It's flower is pollinated by a Nectar Drinking Bat. People use a liquid that ooze out of the trunk, called resin for a lot of things like violin varnish. The wood from the West Indian Locust Tree will not be attacked by fungus and termites so it can be used to make things. Sometimes when you are walking around some where with a West Indian Locust Tree you will see bats pollinating the flowers at night. You may also notice holes on the tree. These holes are made by woodpeckers.

What I Did At Penyabong Beach

On Wednesday, Grandad came to pick us up from home to go to Johor Bahru orphanage because one of daddy's biking friend organized a trip to Penyabong beach with a group orphans. On the car, it was a tight squeeze because daddy also came.

When we reached the orphanage, the kids were already lining up to go into the bus. We talked with the pastor before we went into the bus. He is the one who takes care of the children in the orphanage.

On the way to Penyabong, some of Daddy's friends were playing and singing some Christian songs. After a while, I slept so I didn't know much of what was happening around me.

When we reached the beach, all the kids were eager to play including me. But we all had to eat our lunch first. LOL!!!

After we finished eating, we started our fun. We took out our sand play toys and shared it with the other children. Some children dug a big pit in the sand and fill it with water. A few children helped to carry sea water using a big plastic bag we found on the beach. I helped too. We also buried our friends in the sand. I had a fun time burying one boy.

We played in the water. I played water polo with Bailey and another boy.


At first I played soccer with a few other boys. After that, almost all the children joined in. My team lost because many of the good players in my team quited half way through.

We played some interesting group games. We played a few types of game like master mine we played it by drawing squares on the sand. One group has a clip board with a paper of the same number of squares. They use a magnet to plant bombs in certain squares. The people from the other group will not know where the bombs are. They will try to get to the end without stepping on any bombs.



We also caught some crabs nearing the end of the day.



After that we went to bathe then walked on the sand bars.

The Chartres Cathedral

This is the Chartres Cathedral. It is in France near Paris and is built in 1220 AD. It's a church honoring a saint. The first Chartres was burnt down. It was built another time. After that a lightning strike made another fire and the Chartres Cathedral was damaged. The church had a special tunic. People believed that the tunic was worn by Mary, Jesus' mother. Many people that worship Mary go to the Chartres Cathedral. During the second fire, some people saved the tunic. The Chartres was quickly rebuilt. The Chartres Cathedral was famous for it's flying buttresses and stained-glass windows. The picture on top is a paper model of the Chartres Cathedral I made with Bailey's help.

These are the other paper models from the same book. The book is called Mouse House. The models in the book are supposed to be houses for the computer mouse. I got this book from Aunty Minna as a Christmas present.

This is the Parthenon.



This is the White House.



This is the Golden Pavilion.



This is the Taj mahal.

The Wicked Pirate and the Gentleman

Narrator : Look at this Pirate. He looks like he's up to no good.

Pirate : I'm going to see who I can disturb... Hey! That silly guy there looks like an easy target. Let's get him. There he is. We can sneak on him. Let's do it now or he'll run away.


Gentleman : Hey that Pirate looks awfully disgusting. Let's get out of his way.

Narrator : Oh no! What is happening here?

Gentleman : ARRGGHHH!!! I surrender! I surrender!

Pirate : Haha Haha!!! I want to create more trouble. Who should I disturb next?

-----------------THE END----------------

Playwright : Dominic

Casts
Pirate : Dominic
Gentleman : Bailey

Greek Language

Hello everybody. I know how to write my name in Greek. Do you? The picture below is my name.


I wrote this myself!

Guess what this other one says.


It says "Read my blog" in Greek.

I know this because I have a history book that we borrowed from the library. It has a page that shows the Greek alphabet. Do you know what letters are alpha and omega? Do you know who said "I am the alpha and the omega."? They are the "a" and "z" of the Greek alphabet! And it was Jesus who said that.

My Nature Trip To Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Today I went to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve with my usual homeschool group, mummy and Bailey. When everybody had reached, we walked one of the trails in the park. I saw many Golden Web Spiders in the middle of their orb webs ...



... and a few Monitor Lizards basking, crawling, sleeping and swimming. I even went up close to one of the monitor lizards. I was just an inch away before I could touch it! But I couldn't go closer because it scrambled away.



We walked, talked, played games and drew. I drew one Great Egret and a Cotton Stainer Bug in my notebook.

How to Keep Guppy Fry?

Last night, Mummy was in the balcony and found some Guppy fry. We were very excited because we have never seen a Guppy fry before. Daddy also came to see. We saw the fry hiding under a rock. Later, we found more fry.


We separated the fry from all the other bigger fishes. You can read more about what we did that night in Bailey's Basking Bay.

We didn't know how to keep them alive so Mummy went on the Internet to check this out. This morning, I read the information she found and tried to answer some important questions. Here they are.

How to know that a female Guppy is pregnant?
It's belly will be big and it will have a gravid spot on it's abdomen.

How to know that a female Guppy is going to deliver?
The female will try to find a hiding place, or stay around the aquatic plants in the tank. It will rub it's head up and down on the sides of the aquarium. The female may have difficulties swimming and also will not eat much. It's Gravid spot will be darker than usual.

How often does a female Guppy give birth?
It will give birth about once every month.

How many fry is delivered at one time?
8 to 25 fry may come out at one time.

How big are the fry?
The fry is about 7mm when it is born.

What should you feed the fry and how often do you have to feed them?
We should feed the fry crushed fish flakes or cooked egg yolk mashed with water. Feed them about 4 to 5 meals per day.