Happy Birthday Christine

Today, Arman attended Christine’s Birthday Party at the Commons Block. He got an invitation a couple of weeks ago. Melur was a little jealous, not being able to attend. It IS Arman’s friend, after all. Anyway, we got Christine a present and had Arman write a message on top.

Christine invited a LOT of people to her party. I think nearly the entire class was there. Christine also had a magician at the party, which was very entertaining. You can check out the video later. He’s really good, and catered to little kids. Funny. You just have to check out the video later.

After the magic show, it was food time. Cheese pizza was served (which seems the popular and safe food for children’s birthday parties). The kids all got a souvenir from the magic show. And after food and cake, there was a final activity – I call it the “Pull the string and get the candy from the piñata” event. You’ll see that in the video too. I’ve kind of joined all the short clips together for you viewing enjoyments. See:

Anyway, I think Arman had a lot of fun. I was surprised to see him play with all his friends. Here you see him with Qianah and Maddy from Kinderclub. They really seem to get along well.

Happy Birthday Christine

London Almonds

When Eid comes to Malaysia, one of the more popular pastries for the festivities is the London Almond. I don’t really know why it’s called the London Almond, or if the recipe is even from London, but it simply is delicious. And with Mommy venturing in baking these days, she made a few batches of it. Don’t they just look scrumptious?

Anyway, we can’t wait for Eid to come. 10 more days to go… Anybody want some London Almond from Vancouver?

Presents from Malaysia

Today, we received a big package from Malaysia. Oooh… I wonder what it could be. Arman and Melur were very excited to get something in the mail, and what more, a big package at that. The package actually contains little gifts for the kids from their Aunties and Nenek from Malaysia. Check it out:

So the kids got new Baju Raya. You’ll see them in the new clothes from Eid day in 2 weeks. It’s a surprise. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Nenek, Mak Long, Oteh, Andak and Pak Usu. The kids loved the presents.

Selamat Hari Raya

Melur's Belated Party

It's finally time to have Melur's birthday party. Melur's birthday was actually 2 weeks ago, but due to the availability of the birthday venue, we weren't able to host Melur's party until today. Our little townhouse is way too small to host any kind of party really. So we opted to have it at the UBC gymnasium. We arrived at the party late. I know, it's our own party, how can we be late? But we had some cake and zipcar trouble. Note to self: for big events like Melur's birthday, don't skimp out on the zipcar rental, and get it for the whole day (instead of just an hour or two, which is want we started out doing). When we arrived, all the other guests were already there waiting for us. We quickly got things started. Basically, for the first half of the event, the kids would hang out with a gymnastics instructor, and do some fun gymnastics stuff. Mommy stayed with the kids and took videos, while Daddy had to go run errands, namely, get some pizza for the party. Take a look at videos from the gymnastics portion of the party:

Our favorite pizza place wasn't open when I arrived (the open at 4:30 pm on Sundays), and so I had to drive down to West Point Grey for some Pizza Hut. When I got back, the gymnastics portion just finished, and it was time to relax with some food and cake. We moved the kids upstairs to where the food was and started the festivities.

The kids were really famished (and parched) after an hour of gymnastics. We quickly pulled out the pizza, drinks and other snacks. And true to form, everybody was focused on eating and drinking. Before long, it was time to get the cake out. We got Melur’s cake from Dairy Queen again. Mommy (umm… I mean Melur) really likes ice-cream cake.

We were about to dismiss for the day, since our time was pretty much out. But we hadn’t open the presents yet. So we decided to quickly go through the Present Opening portion of the party. Look at all the kinds of presents that Melur got… mostly arts and crafts. Here’s a summary video of the festivities. Wish you were there:

Happy Birthday Melur

Another Happening on the Hill

On the way back from swimming today, we noticed a fun fair of sorts outside University Village. It was another Happening on the Hill. The kids had lots of fun there last year, and so we decided to drop by. I didn’t bring my Kodak camera, so had to settle for the camera phone.

Arman and I have our swimming classes half an hour before Melur has hers (with Mommy). And so for half an hour, it was just Arman and I at the Jim Everett Park. Melur and Mommy joined us soon after.

There were lots of things to do, as with previous years - free popcorn, games and prizes; even the same spin art and inflatable play areas. Check it out:

Anyway, this was a nice change to our usual “Go straight home after swimming”. Hope the kids have fun. If you’re here in September, you can look forward to a Happening on the Hill.

Shopping and Booster Seats

Mommy and Daddy went to the Metropolis Mall at Metrotown today, to do a little shopping. Since today’s little shopping event was all business (we had a lot to get for Raya, for the kids and for the family in general), we got Kakak Jehan to baby-sit while we were away. And we zoomed away in our little zipcar, which we rented for the day.

Kakak Jehan is a great baby-sitter. We told her to use the camera with the kids while we were away, and she did with some pictures and a short video. Take a look at the kids having lunch together in our dining room:

Anyway, we got back later in the evening, with lots of stuff from our trip. The kids got lots of new clothes, and a new set of bedding for Raya (something more appropriate for the cold winter weather). One item of particular interest is the booster seats we got for the kids. It recently became mandatory in Canada for children aged 9 and below to be buckled with a booster seat when travelling in cars. And so we got a pair from Zellers. Arman was really anxious and excited to try them out, and so we did. What do you think?

After putting away all our stuff, we put our booster seats to good use, and made a short trip to Safeway as a family, to get a few supplies.

Ride Safe in Canada.

Pick-Up Arman

Arman started school this week, and this time around, Daddy will be picking up Arman after work. Last year, I sent Melur in the morning, and Mommy would pick her up after school. This year, Mommy sends Arman and Melur to school in the morning. Mommy still picks up Melur, since Melur finishes school early, around 2:45pm. So I'm left with Arman. Anyway... we're still getting summer-like weather, hopefully for a few more weeks. Arman has his bike, and so we took the trail back home. Unfortunately, Daddy lost his bike a couple of weeks ago, while attending a Java seminar downtown. That was my fault really, for forgetting to lock the bike in my haste to get to class on time. Oh well... it IS the end of summer, and I wouldn't be biking to work for very much longer anyway.

So we took the trail back home, Arman on his bike, and me on foot. It wasn't so bad. The weather was good. I find myself going through the same things with Arman today, as I did with Melur just last semester. Melur liked taking the trails to school, since it was downhill. Arman has to work a little harder since it's a little uphill on the way back. Arman is so chatty, as all his teachers have come to realize. Arman is always so inquisitive, but he usually remembers everything we tell him, so I don't mind explaining him things in detail. And we spend most of our trip home talking about how things work.

Welcome to Kindergarten, Arman. Keep that inquisitive spirit going!