Chess at Starbucks

It's such a nice day today. I thought I'd take Arman out to Starbucks for a chess game, just Arman and Daddy. Check it out: Doesn't he look so confident playing chess? He's pretty good at it. I wonder how good he'll be.

Arman Skates Again

Arman had another school trip to the skating rink today. Arman's grade teacher, Susan, is really active. She takes her class out on field trips quite often. And for that, we're extremely grateful. Arman is getting all kinds of experiences he'll hopefully remember for a long time. Anyway, Mommy blogged about one of Arman's previous ice-skating trips. I just wanted to add this one picture of Arman that Mommy took today.

Hip Hop Dance

Melur and Arman have been taking Hip-Hop dance lessons at school. After 3 months of weekly practice, the school organized a performance day for the parents. Unfortunately, Mommy and Papa got the tickets for the matinée show, which is scheduled during the lunch hour. Only Mommy could attend the show since Papa has to work. But no worries... Mommy will try her best to capture Melur and Arman doing “bad ass” Hip-Hop. Yes, you guys can see the videos of Melur and Arman during their Hip-Hop performances. Melur has her game face on... she got all her moves right... and what attitude! Miss G. (Melur's teacher) said that Melur took easily to the dance, and had no problem getting her steps right... She obviously loves the more artsy stuff... dance, and lots and lots of colouring... Arman on the other hand... well, he was definitely fun to watch. He kept smiling and looking at Mommy with the camera. He even waved. After the show, he told Mommy that he was glad she came to see him dance like the other parents. Awww...Maman, of course Mommy's going to be there! Wouldn't miss it for the world... All the kids in the school participated, and they put together dance routines from all the classes. The combined routines tell a science-fiction/action story. If Mommy understands it correctly... it’s something along the line of superheroes freeing humans who were being imprisoned by evil robots. Both Melur and Arman were superheroes in the superhero group by the way... On a side note, the Hip-Hop program is the school's way of making sure the kids fulfill their physical education and cultural arts requirements. Mommy and Papa would like to congratulate U-Hill Elementary for finding a creative way to make learning so much fun for the kids. Watch out, wait a minute... let me put some Brooklyn in it!

More Snow

It was such a nice day yesterday with the Harry 8K Run. But today... IT SNOWED! Take a look at the snow out from our porch. There's a fair bit of accumulation over night. Hopefully, it'll go away soon.

Harry 8K Run and Malaysia Food

Mommy and Papa love to run road races. There are plenty in Vancouver, held almost all year-round. As with last year, our first road race for this year is the Harry 8K Spring Run, which is an annual run held on the first Sunday of spring. However, unlike last year, Nenek is not around to play with Melur and Arman while Mommy and Papa do our run. For this time around, we asked Kakak Jehan to baby-sit.

Since the 8K run is at Stanley Park, we dropped off Kakak Jehan and the kids at one of the playgrounds there. The runners will pass the playground on their route... so Mommy and Papa were hoping that they’d be able to see the kids... maybe hear some words of encouragement from them. What actually happened was that the kids managed to see Papa from the throngs of runners (must be his bright blue running jacket), but they couldn't see Mommy at all... (Note to Mommy: buy a bright running jacket for next time!). Later on Kakak Jehan told Mommy and Papa that the kids went on the sandy area to collect seashells. They also had an altercation with a couple of crows... the crows stole one of the plastic food containers that Mommy packed for the kids.

After the successful run (shameless plug: just look at Mommy's Supergirl pose on her profile... that one was taken right after crossing the finish line), all of us (including Kakak Jehan) went to our favourite Malaysian restaurant in Vancouver - Seri Malaysia in East Hastings. The owner/chef, Uncle Jamal, is originally from Mersing (Mommy's hometown), and a few of Uncle Jamal's relatives work at the hospital where Nenek used to work... what a small world isn't it? We ate a very hearty lunch - satay, nasi beriyani, gado-gado, and sirap bandung... Lastly, a shout of thanks to Kakak Jehan for making it possible for Mommy and Papa to run the Harry 8K this year...

Another Chess Club Day

Nothing really different went on today. It's another Sunday, and another Chess Club day. It's become sort of a routine. But Arman has a lot of fun playing chess with his friends. After chess club, the kids always have a little fun at the playground, just outside the Old Barn Community Centre. Here they are enjoying themselves in the fine Vancouver weather.

Hope you've having a good weekend!