tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55008882893155468972024-03-07T16:57:10.326-08:00Kembara Melur & ArmanThis is Our Journey... Malaysians in Canada<br>
Starting in Vancouver BC since Fall 2006<br>
And now in Kingston ON since Summer 2009<br>
See it unfold as we share our stories and experiences from abroadAzroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.comBlogger324125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-47778735751984884812013-07-06T13:21:00.000-07:002013-07-06T13:21:58.116-07:00Strawberry Picking @ Fruition Berry Farm<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwoxoxc319vqeLUxFZml_nzQ3VaNBipSXa6XCkGPbDBWCUbaY8OSmcM9gBq8OnVJBNb91zGmpcRMy6JAklglyar8vOgOnRgbL8Pd_Q5iy-hwLnoSg6UojR1N9X36QnZnIvowBfrDgWj3j/s1600/IMG_0312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwoxoxc319vqeLUxFZml_nzQ3VaNBipSXa6XCkGPbDBWCUbaY8OSmcM9gBq8OnVJBNb91zGmpcRMy6JAklglyar8vOgOnRgbL8Pd_Q5iy-hwLnoSg6UojR1N9X36QnZnIvowBfrDgWj3j/s320/IMG_0312.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicious, red strawberries - ready for the picking. They tasted as good as they look.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
July 1st is Canada Day. We usually go to see the parade on Princess Street or join the festivities (face paintings, horse/wagon rides, min petting zoo) at the Grass Creek Park. This year, we went strawberry picking instead. There's a really great u-pick farm in Kingston - <a href="http://www.fruition.ca/" target="_blank">Fruition Berry Farm</a>. It is not that far, only about 15-20 minutes drive from the house.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This was our first time strawberry picking in Kingston. <a href="http://gokun2.blogspot.ca/2007/07/strawberry-picking.html">We went once before... a long time ago while, vacationing in the UK</a>. That time was not so great because it was at the end of the season. This time around, the strawberries were at their peak. There were lots to pick. It didn't take us long to fill our two 4-liter baskets. The strawberries are spray-free too, so we got to taste them while picking. They tasted great - sweet and fresh! These strawberries were probably the best strawberries I've had - kids and Roy agreed too. We'll definitely try to come again next season.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIh8TRkJjoDhqGmafckJTNsZHUWFSGWN-FkpK_TkPC_oG0VTWoFxRTRzwEHhGIiwI-hASGIrOp3fNTM30u1PYBXslbqkIRvj3FBXsix-l3t3NzJbIZqF01u53veQ6MzOntbmQSu5lOc4g5/s1600/IMG_0327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIh8TRkJjoDhqGmafckJTNsZHUWFSGWN-FkpK_TkPC_oG0VTWoFxRTRzwEHhGIiwI-hASGIrOp3fNTM30u1PYBXslbqkIRvj3FBXsix-l3t3NzJbIZqF01u53veQ6MzOntbmQSu5lOc4g5/s320/IMG_0327.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our loot - kids had a great time</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44XIU39ZiVQHnxZLuSkcpSmwB3HTtoBQ-uSs63jGtABLnQdJEoON6PIC8MVwyvXpFrJqI4f_jslCb3f54KbWnSSrkUhycYlO-E3jryM30QDxKBpXoKSW6BXPgD0n9F2JIH3y-phQCclry/s1600/IMG_0325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44XIU39ZiVQHnxZLuSkcpSmwB3HTtoBQ-uSs63jGtABLnQdJEoON6PIC8MVwyvXpFrJqI4f_jslCb3f54KbWnSSrkUhycYlO-E3jryM30QDxKBpXoKSW6BXPgD0n9F2JIH3y-phQCclry/s320/IMG_0325.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur enjoying a strawberry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-66346775498077162882013-05-11T20:17:00.002-07:002013-05-11T20:19:30.295-07:00How Melur Got Her Email Account<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaVo07y5T-zhEzF3sWX0XWgZHwI8vds6CTcjeb_XQd0bQSg9UpMoyeDPiovrCzDtmdVwDin9aiKakKmXX_8951UbDb0CNNliV07T7ujISr7jAkRNT0fxiN6RUUF3Bs_P6URHuN1DWeUq7/s1600/IMG_1483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaVo07y5T-zhEzF3sWX0XWgZHwI8vds6CTcjeb_XQd0bQSg9UpMoyeDPiovrCzDtmdVwDin9aiKakKmXX_8951UbDb0CNNliV07T7ujISr7jAkRNT0fxiN6RUUF3Bs_P6URHuN1DWeUq7/s320/IMG_1483.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kingston's annual spelling bee contestants - junior level - Melur on the far left</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Melur had been asking for an email account. She said she's the only one in her class who doesn't have one. Roy and I were not sure about this. We were worried about spam - among other things.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
Anyway, in the end I made a deal with Melur. She'll get her email account if she enters the Kingston's annual spelling bee and gets through to the tie breaker round. To get through to the tie breaker round, she needs to be able to spell all the words listed in the guidebook - about 300 words or so. She was happy to accept this challenge. We worked hard for about 3 weeks before the spelling bee. Here's how we went about it:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
1. Melur went through the words for 1-2 alphabets every day. She'll write each word on a flash card.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
2. I'll quiz Melur every night on the words from the flash cards. Roy and Arman also did this; basically whoever is free for that night helped. But whenever Arman did the quizzing, it usually ended up with the two of them screaming at each other **sigh** Melur would scream that Arman is pronouncing the words wrong and Arman would scream Melur's just making excuses for not getting the spelling right.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
3. We went to the spelling bee practice. They had this about 4-6 times before the actual spelling bee. We attended the practice twice. The first time is just to see how it is, and Melur joined in the second time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
4. We also had a family spelling bee on the weekend. We did this once. Melur and I went one on one, and I think we drew. What can I say... the words are not easy ones.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_oh1IW8hGuZjSPWeMiSRWn8-6msTgFuBSqgJXYPtRl-BmHjnllpq08SIMnOJVV0C2dbOXEMQuXGACvxgJaQ59YSO3NY0BJY1H2DcPQzryEkY6JYSRT1jA0i09a86QLbNc7jhkL21Fskb/s1600/IMG_1479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_oh1IW8hGuZjSPWeMiSRWn8-6msTgFuBSqgJXYPtRl-BmHjnllpq08SIMnOJVV0C2dbOXEMQuXGACvxgJaQ59YSO3NY0BJY1H2DcPQzryEkY6JYSRT1jA0i09a86QLbNc7jhkL21Fskb/s320/IMG_1479.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur was a bit scared in the beginning, she became more confident after the first preliminary round.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On the day of the spelling bee, Melur was a bit scared at first. But, she went through 5 preliminary rounds and spelled the following words correctly: tacit, uxorious, lithosphere, rectitude, and reconstructed. For the tie breaker round, she misspelled "reassurance" and that was that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
<br />
You can watch the YouTube video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34axxRRxZ_w" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtfDkvqqIzZ9qNBUuvVYgxspkFE_c_gqqCMHUI-vgNLtfxOZ4GozfplsZQS-XV8oyy5CcMN0p58_SVNkYMTZpdia8r4BR4_Bw5-WS751-fW03GPLm_aZBMi0orM-nNtPXr68J7m5-DayD/s1600/IMG_1480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtfDkvqqIzZ9qNBUuvVYgxspkFE_c_gqqCMHUI-vgNLtfxOZ4GozfplsZQS-XV8oyy5CcMN0p58_SVNkYMTZpdia8r4BR4_Bw5-WS751-fW03GPLm_aZBMi0orM-nNtPXr68J7m5-DayD/s320/IMG_1480.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had a good laugh about this - they misspelled Melur's name - with double Ls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">
Roy and I are proud that she made it through to the tie breaker round. I asked Melur if she wants to do this again next year, and she said YES! Melur's goal next year is to win a trophy - so at least third place. She has to be a "big reader" for this. We'll definitely come back again next year for the spelling bee. Wish us luck!<br />
<br />
PS - That night Melur got her own gmail account.<br />
<br />
- Posted by ehaz</div>
Azroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-30965753780074783872013-03-11T19:23:00.000-07:002013-03-11T19:23:00.754-07:00Movie: Oz, The Great and Powerful<table><tbody>
<tr><td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNGBzGST86aNf0Dl4NG1ocDm44c70J1ACb3GrlOatZal3VeGcZFLQYBen_Ys2PbOd29AGlBgERsTkLdO9CTVajK3H3ItsQzKwq23vtiWm8-Sa-0i5OOAmNHjYmByhsxKfxra3hY9PywOK/s1600/2013-03-09+17.59.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNGBzGST86aNf0Dl4NG1ocDm44c70J1ACb3GrlOatZal3VeGcZFLQYBen_Ys2PbOd29AGlBgERsTkLdO9CTVajK3H3ItsQzKwq23vtiWm8-Sa-0i5OOAmNHjYmByhsxKfxra3hY9PywOK/s320/2013-03-09+17.59.04.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur and Arman in front of the poster for Oz, The Great and Powerful</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We went out to watch "Oz, The Great and Powerful" last weekend. The last time we watched a movie at the theater was in January for "The Hobbit" (I love this movie! Can't wait for the second one in the trilogy to come out). We also decided to try the new movie theater in town - <a href="https://www.empiretheatres.com/kingston">Empire Theaters @ Kingston</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_z9HtwVoaWinBsE79IrKbACbRIm7G099uMIJc-treDGWDvA0DSev0qi7A1RLRlo4-IXNhl3Wrepja4q2PfBy2XeVN-9Y7aQgVMcz4-XcqPHS_Jfdmf7j1ZfsHFzk1sRyig4PrCD3PrqFT/s1600/2013-03-09+17.59.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_z9HtwVoaWinBsE79IrKbACbRIm7G099uMIJc-treDGWDvA0DSev0qi7A1RLRlo4-IXNhl3Wrepja4q2PfBy2XeVN-9Y7aQgVMcz4-XcqPHS_Jfdmf7j1ZfsHFzk1sRyig4PrCD3PrqFT/s320/2013-03-09+17.59.36.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something new in town</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The new Oz is not a re-make of the old classic, "The Wizard of Oz." It has its own storyline. You can think of it as more of a prequel. The movie focuses on how Oz became the ruler of the Emerald City. And a big part of the storyline is on how the Wicked Witch of the West came about. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Overall, I thought the movie is OK. I'll give it a 3 (an average on a scale of 1 to 5). The cinematography is great - very colorful. I think they did a great job here. It also has an interesting storyline. It doesn't really have anything extra special that would make it into a classic, but it is something that the whole family could watch together and enjoy. There was one interesting part in the movie, where Oz was going down a waterfall in his hot air balloon. Because of the 3D effect and angle, you could feel as if <i><b>you </b></i>are going down the waterfall yourself. I wish they would push for this type of angle/scene even more to make the movie interactive and make full use of the 3D technology. [Note: Roy thinks this idea is too weird ***hrmmmphh***]</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My own takeaways from this movie are: (1) A bad man could turn a woman into a screeching green witch; (2) Life is unfair, you just give and give and give, and in the end he leaves you for a pretty blonde thang; and (3) If life is fair, the farmhouse and Dorothy would have landed on Oz instead.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: red;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here are more reviews:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Roy: I was expecting a lighter movie, something more kiddy. The movie is a little bit heavy, especially for kids. I would rate Oz as average, overall.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Melur: Just average. I prefer "Rise of the Guardians." </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Arman: A decent enough movie. They should have made it funnier. </div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-44482337998234757612013-03-11T15:13:00.002-07:002013-03-11T15:13:12.412-07:00Embracing Winter: Skiing @ Batawa Ski Hills<table><tbody>
<tr><td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgEAZmHXUq9GrDqi5ZsLgrK9M4hj_nyBWaC6JbjoAbWUM8H-cwJn91lTPg2DDC_-PZ24HFhmuKvBigjEaSCxkxYS2yS87fGJu1f_PLF_FUkdxQV9gwiVze_r1Dcrs9qC8bhWcCTRgrPPX/s1600/IMG_1474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgEAZmHXUq9GrDqi5ZsLgrK9M4hj_nyBWaC6JbjoAbWUM8H-cwJn91lTPg2DDC_-PZ24HFhmuKvBigjEaSCxkxYS2yS87fGJu1f_PLF_FUkdxQV9gwiVze_r1Dcrs9qC8bhWcCTRgrPPX/s320/IMG_1474.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur - the smallish bundle of fuchsia and blue - at the end of the blue-square trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Spring is almost here in Kingston. The weather is getting warmer (we moved from temperature below 0 C, to above 5 C). There's still snow on the ground, remnants of winter. But we now have more water puddles rather than snow. Yes, the snow is finally melting away!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">I've been meaning to put up this entry for a while. Unfortunately, so many other things to tend to. But today I found the time (by slacking off). Anyway, this is a short entry on what we did on February 10th, 2013 - when winter was still at its peak. The four of us went skiing at the <a href="http://batawaskihill.com/">Batawa Ski Hills</a><span style="color: black;">, which is about an hour away from Kingston. It is not a full-fledged skiing resort, "hill" is definitely an apt description. Batawa only has 6 downhill ski routes, but is the closest to Kingston and offers an affordable one hour skiing lessons. Definitely a great choice for us because we are mostly first-timers - only Roy has experienced skiing since he took lessons while in college.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Both of the kids were so excited in the beginning. During the lesson though, we discovered that perhaps skiing is not Arman and my cup of tea (to put it mildly). But Melur is a natural! She went down the bunny hill even <i><b>before</b></i> we took the lesson. She quickly graduated to the blue</span></span></span>-square (intermediate) trail afterwards. It was exciting to watch her. I think if she had her way, she'll be going down the black-diamond (advance) as well.<br />
<br />
Some pictures:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Q2ffkI8rAur788gNgPjLe7XtKJoJdG6SiT52jEx2MSvUU3svDz5mkIfFdhwiacTvESjQBZU9nrRSOXpnJwxwmMMjSz0R12yXyUyZsXAR9kEAQLboUazjpjGJWUszBrMEmCEL7tsloha0/s1600/IMG_1464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Q2ffkI8rAur788gNgPjLe7XtKJoJdG6SiT52jEx2MSvUU3svDz5mkIfFdhwiacTvESjQBZU9nrRSOXpnJwxwmMMjSz0R12yXyUyZsXAR9kEAQLboUazjpjGJWUszBrMEmCEL7tsloha0/s320/IMG_1464.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roy before taking the skiing lesson - smiling as always!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuygnrAT4nb8u9EepkFSYYdffOB561yvCm6EIYuqhmutnHqqp9PNyFpLPUUYD8G52z2EAnSVf6loWxEmLPpkgahfiHQ_BB0Qgtdua2AXqIPcHyD5CDv2zPFI2Eyda24dto1bGneipoosh/s1600/IMG_1458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuygnrAT4nb8u9EepkFSYYdffOB561yvCm6EIYuqhmutnHqqp9PNyFpLPUUYD8G52z2EAnSVf6loWxEmLPpkgahfiHQ_BB0Qgtdua2AXqIPcHyD5CDv2zPFI2Eyda24dto1bGneipoosh/s320/IMG_1458.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman - tried to ski, but I think his knees aren't strong enough. He hates not being good at things. No worries, we'll try snowboarding in the future.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMxCXM1qmnooK3MGqBZu36GdFoKSGnWLi3UGs4vt3gsWXeb22EuY4KyCuGVgf6h-S_IQe50BahYNZwfv-yKGY8Oj3dckxqTfeWwyaFZ_ZLCW3VXpVpPvkoJYZitCipeatImZKq4Votucx/s1600/IMG_1470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMxCXM1qmnooK3MGqBZu36GdFoKSGnWLi3UGs4vt3gsWXeb22EuY4KyCuGVgf6h-S_IQe50BahYNZwfv-yKGY8Oj3dckxqTfeWwyaFZ_ZLCW3VXpVpPvkoJYZitCipeatImZKq4Votucx/s320/IMG_1470.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur and Roy using the handle tow to go up the bunny hill (green/beginner trail).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-63606479624833721452013-02-06T11:51:00.001-08:002013-02-06T11:55:45.386-08:00We Are Busy PeopleWith two school-age kids, we are a busy family. Roy and I like to see the kids active, and that makes us busy too. The kids have school from 9am until 3:30pm on weekdays. They usually get half an hour rest and snack time after school, and then spent the next 1 to 2 hours on homework, school project, and piano practice.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Our weekly after school schedule looks more or less like this:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Monday</i></b></div>
<div>
Chess club - Both Arman and Roy are members of the <a href="http://kingstonchessclub.blogspot.ca/">Kingston Chess Club</a>, and they play club tournament games on a weekly basis. The club starts around 7:30pm and ends around 11pm. Arman usually comes home about an hour earlier. He gets a ride from the Chans.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Tuesday</i></b></div>
<div>
Piano lessons (7pm to 8pm) - Both kids are taking the piano exam at the end of this year.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Wednesday</i></b></div>
<div>
Islamic school or "menyaji" as the kids pronounce it (5:30pm to 6:15pm)</div>
<div>
Scouts (6:30pm to 8pm) - This is probably the kids' favorite extra-curricular activities. </div>
<div>
Badminton for Roy (8pm to 9:30pm)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Thursday</i></b></div>
<div>
Family swim (6pm to 7:30pm) - We go to the swimming pool at the Queen's University Recreation Center. The swimming is only about 45 minutes (at most), but we shower and change there. Melur and I usually take our time to get ready for dinner afterward.</div>
<div>
Dinner out after swimming. We have a list of "pre-approve" places - i.e., places that are cheap and offer healthy options. Our favorites are: Royal Angkor (Thai food), Subway, and Alibaba (they have the best chicken shawarma in Kingston). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Friday</i></b></div>
<div>
Islamic school (6:30pm to 7:30pm)</div>
<div>
Family movie night (9pm onwards) - We let the kids sleep later than 9pm on Fridays. We usually watch an episode of Grimm on Friday nights, but since Grimm is on hiatus until March, we are watching anime instead. We are now going through "Fruit Basket." We've been watching 1 to 2 episodes for the past 3 weeks. We figure that by the time we go through the entire series, Grimm will be back on.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Saturday</i></b></div>
<div>
Swimming (9:15am to 10am for Arman, and 10:30am to 11:30am for Melur).</div>
<div>
Islamic school (3:30pm to 5pm)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Sunday </i></b></div>
<div>
We try to plan a family activity together - e.g., board games, apple picking, sledding, etc. About once a month we'll go to Toronto for Arman's chess tournament. This week we might try downhill skiing at <a href="http://batawaskihill.com/">Batawa Ski Hills</a>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Between Roy's work, my dissertation/research, and the kids' school and extra-curricular activities, our family schedule is quite packed. Roy and I still need to fit grocery shopping, doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning up the house into our schedule. On top of all that, we try to fit in exercise too! </div>
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRo7gQb4nyYx-Y9z3fs3_agX4c73tE4HPhOXEirVsH-oTtqpg2V_d4OtlSNZ1LOUM8LyPts3Gwdw1xdnvOWtTtw5PfgaXYwdzYah5OVUTcZ-wQ-EIhsSUJgSUWkBMfbnkWUw_wK1N9awbV/s1600/2013-01-27+14.54.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRo7gQb4nyYx-Y9z3fs3_agX4c73tE4HPhOXEirVsH-oTtqpg2V_d4OtlSNZ1LOUM8LyPts3Gwdw1xdnvOWtTtw5PfgaXYwdzYah5OVUTcZ-wQ-EIhsSUJgSUWkBMfbnkWUw_wK1N9awbV/s320/2013-01-27+14.54.32.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing Smallworld, which is currently our family's favorite board game. This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What can we say... we are busy people.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
Notes:</div>
<div>
1. I'm thinking that we should cut ourselves some slack, especially in keeping the house clean. So what if the kitchen is dirty by Uteh's standards? We have work, kids, and ourselves to take care of. The house is not dirty-dirty, just OK-dirty. That should be good enough because there are other things in our to do list are more important.</div>
<div>
2. The un-sung hero here is of course Roy. He shares the housework, ferries the kids and myself to places we need to be, and works full-time. We don't say it often enough, but thank you for everything!</div>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-40389510395642971602013-02-06T10:21:00.002-08:002013-02-06T10:21:33.642-08:00Arman's Favorite T-shirt<div>
About twice a year I would go through the kids' closets and throw out clothes that they don't fit into anymore. I don't actually throw them out (as in into the trash bin), I usually donate the "good ones" to goodwill. This de-clutters the house, and lets me take notes on the kids' clothing needs. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Arman doesn't care much about what he wears. He usually wears whatever he could grab in his closet - he doesn't care much about wearing things that fit him and appropriate for the weather. But, there's one t-shirt that he loves to wear. He outgrew it (he got it about 2 to 3 years ago from Mak Long). He used to wear it all the time, so this t-shirt went through rapid wash-wear cycle. I decided to keep this t-shirt as a momento.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The t-shirt is bright orange (below). Arman looks good in bright, warm colours. But I think he likes it because it has a bit of an attitude. The t-shirt says: <i>"Hear no evil... See no evil... Speak no evil... That's no fun!!!" </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMf0tmt21-SRnFTGxIrqCHBEfOGx3CtHP8H3qHQCUMExqWQquTQcRe8fJZHWTXBFPOdaCXNyyEweq_ltiXUH1fnE5WyoF1HB_MyiS8VQ4lVuIVQoqoILf2TnMu3tJrJbY_5CXlqdApZqK/s1600/2013-01-01+23.52.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMf0tmt21-SRnFTGxIrqCHBEfOGx3CtHP8H3qHQCUMExqWQquTQcRe8fJZHWTXBFPOdaCXNyyEweq_ltiXUH1fnE5WyoF1HB_MyiS8VQ4lVuIVQoqoILf2TnMu3tJrJbY_5CXlqdApZqK/s320/2013-01-01+23.52.52.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman's favorite t-shirt - bright orange with an attitude. I remember him wearing this all the time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Oh, come to think of it, Arman does like t-shirts with a bit of attitude. Here's one that he really likes and could still wear. He chose this himself, which is quite a rarity. Arman's usually more of a I-like-what-you-like-just-pick-something type of guy. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLyHcaX7_W5Dd1LtiGbqDinsZG3esyBhnxoWY-C4AyUl_-Bm6Uf4yRJUsDMsRs38-yKJH5zFKCDEoy6A3ALtAOKYssNCqc8BVAYMGemcRBiKNN9HZFMGo7KM04oy7EcmGPmsRG29EGHN3/s1600/2013-02-06+12.30.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLyHcaX7_W5Dd1LtiGbqDinsZG3esyBhnxoWY-C4AyUl_-Bm6Uf4yRJUsDMsRs38-yKJH5zFKCDEoy6A3ALtAOKYssNCqc8BVAYMGemcRBiKNN9HZFMGo7KM04oy7EcmGPmsRG29EGHN3/s320/2013-02-06+12.30.19.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman likes this t-shirt too (one of the few clothing items that he picked himself). This one also has an attitude.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-953314933378613952013-01-14T09:56:00.002-08:002013-01-14T09:56:37.558-08:00Thank You Cards<table><tbody>
<tr><td>Arman and I took on a small project last weekend. We wrote thank you cards for the boys (and Gillian) who came to celebrate <a href="http://gokun2.blogspot.ca/2012/12/armans-9th-birthday.html">Arman's birthday in December last year</a>. Arman wrote this message for the boys:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Dear XXX,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Thank you for coming to my birthday party. I hope you had a great time.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>- Arman</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I took pictures of each boy who came to the party and had them printed. Each boy gets his picture as a small token from us. Just something that would remind them of the fun they had.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliTO5rB06NdFkrZb-cL05wpIlnq9DH7Gm08xhAKZjctm8wHH3PzRDveSycM7Bco7YTfbYUpTLpr4OmlPCeCJ_10x2sgXkdiNyw3gM4GyZhIr3A34TZN8LxG1fcTexLpTlvkNwe20j7lJe/s1600/2013-01-13+13.59.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliTO5rB06NdFkrZb-cL05wpIlnq9DH7Gm08xhAKZjctm8wHH3PzRDveSycM7Bco7YTfbYUpTLpr4OmlPCeCJ_10x2sgXkdiNyw3gM4GyZhIr3A34TZN8LxG1fcTexLpTlvkNwe20j7lJe/s320/2013-01-13+13.59.54.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The thank you cards and pictures</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2q8jmrVH-2cRvo30yUK7VloSUNSPdP3scNerqiKWJVfH8S85jJkE17nHvT6G7qFLM8dYNSSZcCkEV5ObFMI02OTpcvooEXLOPxn7QeAq_9FhKt2JMUekDDrvPhW90Swog3k_2GNp2V6S8/s1600/2013-01-13+14.00.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2q8jmrVH-2cRvo30yUK7VloSUNSPdP3scNerqiKWJVfH8S85jJkE17nHvT6G7qFLM8dYNSSZcCkEV5ObFMI02OTpcvooEXLOPxn7QeAq_9FhKt2JMUekDDrvPhW90Swog3k_2GNp2V6S8/s320/2013-01-13+14.00.00.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman taking his task seriously</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjblVq6S9V5WEQiqh-Qut1tB5bMiQEk94oNDY87Z2BKYgg-5iZUGTf_t5KB7DgcxKoM5pNfUXjhZ5I15Y91cSSFQ6WvfCXBs2qCoBv1gaJURSk9TYHsMcSR4l5UKl3f_NN1DVANrs8NFB8N/s1600/2013-01-13+14.34.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjblVq6S9V5WEQiqh-Qut1tB5bMiQEk94oNDY87Z2BKYgg-5iZUGTf_t5KB7DgcxKoM5pNfUXjhZ5I15Y91cSSFQ6WvfCXBs2qCoBv1gaJURSk9TYHsMcSR4l5UKl3f_NN1DVANrs8NFB8N/s320/2013-01-13+14.34.57.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proudly showing off the finished product</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This is good exercise for both Arman and I. Arman gets to practice his handwriting and hopefully, he forms good habit in terms of writing thank you notes. I get to spend some time with Arman by helping with the cards and I also need to get into the habit of writing thank you notes.</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td> </td><td style="text-align: left;"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-37540112513436515522013-01-06T11:02:00.001-08:002013-01-06T11:14:05.513-08:00Melur the Handy Girl<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the years, we’ve noticed something very interesting
about Melur – she likes to put things together. When Arman gets a Lego set, strangely
enough, it’s Melur who puts it together. And if/when it breaks, it’s Melur who
puts it together again. Melur also likes putting together puzzles.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently, I put together Arman’s new desk and cabinet. I
thought I’d test Melur by letting her put together some furniture herself. And
yesterday, she passed with flying colours.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We started her off with something simple – a work chair for
Arman’s desk. Other that unwrapping the box, Melur pretty much put the entire thing
together. She needed minimal help from me. She managed to decipher the
instructions herself:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEk6UUkXaC4paOjX5P4eFJYEyYMQ6AYzCCr7o1DX3iNKjQdMsYlIQopzkitCqOAAd_ia3ushaD06W2sQX_TpHz1CN9J5fHA66w4u1fW7K2UvmcYK77lu9v65aUygF-lN5abIDGfW9WWj1m/s1600/20130105_192427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEk6UUkXaC4paOjX5P4eFJYEyYMQ6AYzCCr7o1DX3iNKjQdMsYlIQopzkitCqOAAd_ia3ushaD06W2sQX_TpHz1CN9J5fHA66w4u1fW7K2UvmcYK77lu9v65aUygF-lN5abIDGfW9WWj1m/s320/20130105_192427.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here she is with the completed product:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4xOuzjBTKTl_v6VQKxzbPklIJAFHUnelOaIYTzRF_SYD6fmgUZ4tmstau83a1f-ZMqua8f3EI1iT4Ust3ainTq5BmbnuXeK5FxDmCPTxJWH7q80RiqKWRHKh-hBM1LHL3GkcdsF2oVKO/s1600/20130105_192412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4xOuzjBTKTl_v6VQKxzbPklIJAFHUnelOaIYTzRF_SYD6fmgUZ4tmstau83a1f-ZMqua8f3EI1iT4Ust3ainTq5BmbnuXeK5FxDmCPTxJWH7q80RiqKWRHKh-hBM1LHL3GkcdsF2oVKO/s320/20130105_192412.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So we moved on to something more difficult, a book shelf for
my office. This was a little tough, as there were some imperfections in the
fabrication. But other than a few adjustments, Melur put most of the parts
together herself. She put in every screw/bolt (although I may have tightened
them at the end). Here’s the completed bookshelf for my office:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguP0MocGyfebzRmb1MtgLwN7EQYaUKAjyl_2w26utbNk7yNvaJ3w6hWePZi1c56BqLlX1GPcn9sG5zOW3Mo12UHWgDr2TuSMHMEhSZqoBShFHz2GF-6vHhq5MLk86zJvBDzMMxV_ugNP9R/s1600/20130105_211609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguP0MocGyfebzRmb1MtgLwN7EQYaUKAjyl_2w26utbNk7yNvaJ3w6hWePZi1c56BqLlX1GPcn9sG5zOW3Mo12UHWgDr2TuSMHMEhSZqoBShFHz2GF-6vHhq5MLk86zJvBDzMMxV_ugNP9R/s320/20130105_211609.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqu5aZkSTf14mYMGPYdDfFT7evPtVjAscTFH3CWmybY4YOg5jXty_BwWSzQVkRD8Sy_YSttmce4ix8GXEKMmsCfEJHGzXQYHBi5h0yiN2ambe98IUmVJ5DB659BfUGf9oePe4JAC8GIAd/s1600/20130105_211655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqu5aZkSTf14mYMGPYdDfFT7evPtVjAscTFH3CWmybY4YOg5jXty_BwWSzQVkRD8Sy_YSttmce4ix8GXEKMmsCfEJHGzXQYHBi5h0yiN2ambe98IUmVJ5DB659BfUGf9oePe4JAC8GIAd/s320/20130105_211655.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nice job, Melur. I know who I can count on to put together
our furniture in the future :p</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<table><tbody>
<tr><td></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Azroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-83206468842823678242013-01-06T09:46:00.001-08:002013-01-07T06:10:26.768-08:00Arman’s new chess coach<div>
So at Arman’s most recent chess tournament in Toronto, we met with a few other Malaysians on the circuit – James from Kedah and Gary from Johor (their kids were <a href="http://www.chesstalk.com/elo/pub/scr/joueurs.php?no=1053268">Kylie</a> and <a href="http://www.chesstalk.com/elo/pub/scr/joueurs.php?no=1097706">Eugene</a>, both from Grade 3). It was a delight meeting them. Although <a href="http://www.chesstalk.com/elo/pub/scr/joueurs.php?no=986264">Arman</a> is in Grade 4, they’re all in the same age category (Under-10, at the moment), and have very similar CMA ratings. All our kids competed in Section 1 of the <a href="http://www.chesstalk.com/elo/pub/scr/tournois.php?no=8379">Kids Grand Christmas Chess Tournament</a>, and finished in the top 10.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Living in Toronto (or even in Ottawa), you have access to a lot of resources when it comes to chess. There are many chess clubs near and around Toronto. And there are also several chess masters in the area willing to give out chess lessons – not so much in Kingston. I know Arman is anxious to move to Ottawa or Toronto to get access to chess masters and chess camps.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, I thought I’d try to get Arman a real (titled) chess master as a coach, and I thought I’d give the internet a chance. I came across <a href="http://www.onlinechesslessons.com/">onlinechesslessons.com</a> and thought I’d reach out to them. I was immediately contacted by <a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=15001270">IM Kizov</a>. We set up a first coaching session, and Arman seemed to take a liking to it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
IM Kizov is a FIDE International Master from Macedonia. I believe he still lives there. He runs his chess lessons via <a href="http://www.skype.com/">Skype</a> and the <a href="http://www.chessclub.com/">ICC</a>. One of the interesting things about this process, is that we’re getting acquainted with the tools of the trade. Arman now plays on the ICC, and we also downloaded <a href="http://www.chessbase.com/">ChessBase Light</a> for analyzing chess games.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, Arman has only had 2 lessons so far. But hopefully, it’ll improve his game. I’m starting to see some improvement in his game, but it’s still too early to tell. The <a href="http://kingstonchessclub.blogspot.ca/">Kingston Chess Club</a> starts up again tomorrow, so we’ll see how well he improves.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Good luck, Arman!</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Azroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-79352589228547421082013-01-03T11:27:00.001-08:002013-01-03T11:27:14.469-08:00The Busy BeeRoy is not only the main bread winner in the family, he's also the handyman. See what he does around the house.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwEbrxpdE5CNeCtmJ8kFXfwTDDMW58c7xTeM8L1mVZtg7ju4fgJ4dw-U2Tivl_6E5gljo15ad9jjSm6HyIjUfntx08B-AIW9r2E_7h6hmeqrTsXdhsdfuEYPzYlErPubLV5e1k_jck9w0/s1600/IMG_1381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwEbrxpdE5CNeCtmJ8kFXfwTDDMW58c7xTeM8L1mVZtg7ju4fgJ4dw-U2Tivl_6E5gljo15ad9jjSm6HyIjUfntx08B-AIW9r2E_7h6hmeqrTsXdhsdfuEYPzYlErPubLV5e1k_jck9w0/s320/IMG_1381.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to get Arman a new closet, the one he has now is old and falling apart - literally!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKlv6loQVK-UWllpC0QD9HsLiW9RfANeTXZZPeVObluJqd07ZJdmo6l8DYXEtoxvODKisEkgIr_wZ7scpXzYmYnBhhkAFEn4ph-2U_uo0TrBSIasnRx5V9TfTYb79bMzeIoHn9FiMoghv/s1600/IMG_1380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKlv6loQVK-UWllpC0QD9HsLiW9RfANeTXZZPeVObluJqd07ZJdmo6l8DYXEtoxvODKisEkgIr_wZ7scpXzYmYnBhhkAFEn4ph-2U_uo0TrBSIasnRx5V9TfTYb79bMzeIoHn9FiMoghv/s320/IMG_1380.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tools of the trade</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMRce_mj1JvYoif2xFMQWIWkXyYOwXIQ1FItwi4Sg54vkiL1X3wMze3tb3pjAuoNIQLmMnUVvSRxYVayd6NcPQ7sHBMo0SMYy0Wxc8y_kxhit4GWJEsNAuRwf3_MrSwfFWJXYboJVqOHi/s1600/IMG_1384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMRce_mj1JvYoif2xFMQWIWkXyYOwXIQ1FItwi4Sg54vkiL1X3wMze3tb3pjAuoNIQLmMnUVvSRxYVayd6NcPQ7sHBMo0SMYy0Wxc8y_kxhit4GWJEsNAuRwf3_MrSwfFWJXYboJVqOHi/s320/IMG_1384.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Showing off his handy work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYM0h7hWTdGHqL4KIv1_nfu6Eqrpi2pe5SoA52uaHKhV1K4UyTDdvjcPcUdUv6R2MEnP1h-lL4w6PbzD616vllU0B8Jk3ZWXrhwH_cuFsGre-9or_Fqu65LU8rSb6g6Fsty11L6SeNPzhs/s1600/IMG_1418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYM0h7hWTdGHqL4KIv1_nfu6Eqrpi2pe5SoA52uaHKhV1K4UyTDdvjcPcUdUv6R2MEnP1h-lL4w6PbzD616vllU0B8Jk3ZWXrhwH_cuFsGre-9or_Fqu65LU8rSb6g6Fsty11L6SeNPzhs/s320/IMG_1418.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman also got a new computer table</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0P7Nx2w42TdypqtIdEHnYMzgapG3s5jPpg-RRS3uWXXKIHPdWgS2JDS8ZPoR5QJR7TYyvel7c4mtV9PLAlBh9kvBTQhpSzNL35fk_qbvy0jrzt6Dva1tDhLMRbdd3XXH1sAu17jwHkdZF/s1600/IMG_1420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0P7Nx2w42TdypqtIdEHnYMzgapG3s5jPpg-RRS3uWXXKIHPdWgS2JDS8ZPoR5QJR7TYyvel7c4mtV9PLAlBh9kvBTQhpSzNL35fk_qbvy0jrzt6Dva1tDhLMRbdd3XXH1sAu17jwHkdZF/s320/IMG_1420.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got something new too - an additional table for the office for the extra work space</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table><tbody>
<tr><td><br /></td><td><br /></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-39128350939820889152012-12-31T21:12:00.000-08:002012-12-31T21:12:13.734-08:00Embracing Winter: Sledding @ Fort Henry<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXr7XpxFxrSuRr6AqskwjhMHHb6iN85z795S3H1buXr0XWFIr0NUesoDYMqPrK5mlkqHFJi-0dBR7vib0WXSpKmv37YNOuisxZvB34QnvRayXIwA4WmB2_HvWvciVZh4UbLb6Ml5f7sQM/s1600/IMG_1411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXr7XpxFxrSuRr6AqskwjhMHHb6iN85z795S3H1buXr0XWFIr0NUesoDYMqPrK5mlkqHFJi-0dBR7vib0WXSpKmv37YNOuisxZvB34QnvRayXIwA4WmB2_HvWvciVZh4UbLb6Ml5f7sQM/s320/IMG_1411.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roy embracing winter - sledding downhill at Fort Henry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>I've decided that the family will embrace winter this year. We've been in Kingston for almost four years, and we've never tried any of the winter activities as a family. As a first step, I decided that we'll all go sledding. Something that everybody in the family will be able to do.<br />
<br />
The kids have been sledding in the front yard (we have a mini snow hill in our front yard!) for the past few days. I decided that we'll go sledding at Fort Henry, which is the best place for sledding in town (I read this online, not sure if it's true). I can't describe how much fun we had... we were there for more than an hour... just going up and down the hill. A few pictures of us in action:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySqwywzcf9w5d1N4QAtocejIxwdzz94hEuRgMD7NuUwdPTatfLB8iI-amNSDAVrFhjmG2CAV2fP3whZPJX2JD0O3MyEFIRrygkl3bg3ED2d4ex48MOmgji1L-JNelNGnjZfnWpKKOGKgU/s1600/IMG_11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySqwywzcf9w5d1N4QAtocejIxwdzz94hEuRgMD7NuUwdPTatfLB8iI-amNSDAVrFhjmG2CAV2fP3whZPJX2JD0O3MyEFIRrygkl3bg3ED2d4ex48MOmgji1L-JNelNGnjZfnWpKKOGKgU/s400/IMG_11.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur and Arman walking uphill... trudging through snow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8xrNaimScNkLlqpE7m87WyRqEL7GLpGDpa_BlPLpbcbV-PtpixUddO7VbrtJ2zIGjnjQXu03SXUbe28W70npRJYvBcRimezay3ncTNWXbStLfPeYVOlxMsvSYsbpzV8VNpj_hawbYyH1V/s1600/IMG_13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8xrNaimScNkLlqpE7m87WyRqEL7GLpGDpa_BlPLpbcbV-PtpixUddO7VbrtJ2zIGjnjQXu03SXUbe28W70npRJYvBcRimezay3ncTNWXbStLfPeYVOlxMsvSYsbpzV8VNpj_hawbYyH1V/s400/IMG_13.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see me (in pink and blue... just like Melur), ahead of the kids. It was quite an uphill walk.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYJK7J_H0v2Qg9Q_i0KUL0-wXZUs6UUYD29DYVJ0gqUUEEEm2DCkBWRay1asYm7bE3U6UYLIepHKhQpRPEIZGOFIcSekE0W58la6-FpiBo78j7yBBi-3FZY4M9q-eTAkLqL5SrrvRQwDI/s1600/IMG_14+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYJK7J_H0v2Qg9Q_i0KUL0-wXZUs6UUYD29DYVJ0gqUUEEEm2DCkBWRay1asYm7bE3U6UYLIepHKhQpRPEIZGOFIcSekE0W58la6-FpiBo78j7yBBi-3FZY4M9q-eTAkLqL5SrrvRQwDI/s400/IMG_14+(2).JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When I first saw this picture, I thought it was Melur... No, it was me going downhill... I was laughing and screaming at the same time all the way down!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHAY8oHbnXYjJl0rK0TXws6lecl34w9FD27bVAfctaUxEmjK7SvLSf84CmGcCPe1qoeKNKfC9gnlaxL097I0wjkTncZKJvHqsYk6sEAVolSqx4Yr1nhL1XyeX2n6HOM1AXY1Fz-n4dXM6/s1600/IMG_14+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHAY8oHbnXYjJl0rK0TXws6lecl34w9FD27bVAfctaUxEmjK7SvLSf84CmGcCPe1qoeKNKfC9gnlaxL097I0wjkTncZKJvHqsYk6sEAVolSqx4Yr1nhL1XyeX2n6HOM1AXY1Fz-n4dXM6/s400/IMG_14+(1).JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reaching the bottom and seriously hoping that I'd stop before banging into the tree.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsme2UZvCRW9ZHUI0LDcwnL4cYBelNepFBpwTHPg-gswLjhddkuu6j4TzwG8nMTJlbcqHUqOSJajSfAvNK4tvDB89lUvCrEDfGzXPsblLU8Y00wuvPQV3MpMiwAGL4pRlApco0_XPufD4/s1600/IMG_1397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsme2UZvCRW9ZHUI0LDcwnL4cYBelNepFBpwTHPg-gswLjhddkuu6j4TzwG8nMTJlbcqHUqOSJajSfAvNK4tvDB89lUvCrEDfGzXPsblLU8Y00wuvPQV3MpMiwAGL4pRlApco0_XPufD4/s400/IMG_1397.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dual action - the kids sledding together.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwNgRP0tu_t-x2o6jyHhaa_d4ldKRsP_lHG8vE2Tc2HfssyuzRQri2joSBU9kLXKAe5oENMlbpuAdTkD5bGijJeiFfUHjl3etSq9iJwjbpOVhHQ_gOsuMs1UhYh929K0LEhQ0jRmDLpdO/s1600/IMG_1398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwNgRP0tu_t-x2o6jyHhaa_d4ldKRsP_lHG8vE2Tc2HfssyuzRQri2joSBU9kLXKAe5oENMlbpuAdTkD5bGijJeiFfUHjl3etSq9iJwjbpOVhHQ_gOsuMs1UhYh929K0LEhQ0jRmDLpdO/s400/IMG_1398.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the kids downhill... </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeodzEzPd92TgSyOREyLnqFhENsVHPGvxGo_LSBSIX2gzp31DAFTWCoeoYjvP73e8jjv_M9L3WV9XTQ1iB8NfecKD_MaDpI-TSDBeZaWIe_vBtLyV02TuC-eTIapyo9fTfAg3hGbPlf1gq/s1600/IMG_1399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeodzEzPd92TgSyOREyLnqFhENsVHPGvxGo_LSBSIX2gzp31DAFTWCoeoYjvP73e8jjv_M9L3WV9XTQ1iB8NfecKD_MaDpI-TSDBeZaWIe_vBtLyV02TuC-eTIapyo9fTfAg3hGbPlf1gq/s400/IMG_1399.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman sledding with his favorite style - eager for action.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4Z6mzIur0YKXsqY3XPkf8f_EvHu8ie7tSOuu8lGUAXIWVZAr4X1cpZUI3VqQRXMX7GOoeGbDuwZiytzJ3v1CctJ_P1yjvyouUQoAy6cDbhDh2QCC0DaxHYhOAu5qp21auH99FaYKiEuF/s1600/IMG_14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4Z6mzIur0YKXsqY3XPkf8f_EvHu8ie7tSOuu8lGUAXIWVZAr4X1cpZUI3VqQRXMX7GOoeGbDuwZiytzJ3v1CctJ_P1yjvyouUQoAy6cDbhDh2QCC0DaxHYhOAu5qp21auH99FaYKiEuF/s400/IMG_14.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur sledding with her favorite style - relax and carefree!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXr7XpxFxrSuRr6AqskwjhMHHb6iN85z795S3H1buXr0XWFIr0NUesoDYMqPrK5mlkqHFJi-0dBR7vib0WXSpKmv37YNOuisxZvB34QnvRayXIwA4WmB2_HvWvciVZh4UbLb6Ml5f7sQM/s1600/IMG_1411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-1544822473780544612012-12-28T21:33:00.003-08:002012-12-28T21:38:28.412-08:00Christmas, Boxing Day, and Snow in Kingston<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2hP5ljjqFDPTSHtJjNJAcvTXcETl2BS9djKeFBoerxIRGkQeZ1T6dIjSo07b69cM-uGnF1d67EOqjNigWMdAqjZdm1VWIAxaPRObn-icfv2zIjn09Ht4DuNPipAs-0wHGVNYbepznCR_/s1600/IMG_1373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2hP5ljjqFDPTSHtJjNJAcvTXcETl2BS9djKeFBoerxIRGkQeZ1T6dIjSo07b69cM-uGnF1d67EOqjNigWMdAqjZdm1VWIAxaPRObn-icfv2zIjn09Ht4DuNPipAs-0wHGVNYbepznCR_/s320/IMG_1373.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole neighborhood is covered in snow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
Just reporting on what we are up to for the past few days...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
December 25th - We don't celebrate Christmas, so we didn't do anything special on this day. But we were very productive - we clean-up the house! I got the kitchen, Papa got the office, and kids got the living room as well as their own room. We spent 3-4 hours... once in a while... the house needs a thorough cleaning. Leaving the bathroom for the weekend.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
December 26th - Boxing Day around Kingston is just so-so. We don't have that many stores, and I don't feel like driving to Toronto to shop (still tired from the conference in Orlando). We still manage to get a good haul though. Mostly clothes for myself (a very much needed a winter coat among other things!) and the kids. Papa drove us around, but he didn't get anything. Sorry, honey! Maybe you can splurge on a tablet with bigger screen for the new year.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
December 27th-28th - We suddenly got heavy snow in Kingston. Woke up in the morning and everything is covered in powdery snow. Papa spent a good part of his day shoveling snow. We can't leave the house because the drive way was totally covered in snow. The kids seem to have a lot of fun though... making forts, sliding down mini snow hills, and throwing snowballs. Some pictures below:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0T9Ek48NstKDH_kMFJCFLg8s4Zv5Pdh06edsOOzGcCdQyGLjOcNujjgmkGHA2_MRMzgnm_G8wTXeqW2fFRUMvzsLk_fj2RBRaotXN-7vu47_dO8S0kNQwkSIk3mnDIQWP1bMQ5P8rjx_k/s1600/2012-12-27+14.35.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0T9Ek48NstKDH_kMFJCFLg8s4Zv5Pdh06edsOOzGcCdQyGLjOcNujjgmkGHA2_MRMzgnm_G8wTXeqW2fFRUMvzsLk_fj2RBRaotXN-7vu47_dO8S0kNQwkSIk3mnDIQWP1bMQ5P8rjx_k/s320/2012-12-27+14.35.27.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He looks like he's enjoying himself, but shoveling snow is a lot of hard work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhIluPS7ZWU-0PPQLPVjzI-keqWYUJPNfY7goIxvxgSZUlqiQTfIeVtv6cfcW7ES0PRXjFA7mTmyIRg8BoyMnlRSpGypxHK8V9ozPy2CVolEIyaiO6HyfmbFGYyKTueGLX4lGV-6oKn8e/s1600/2012-12-27+14.36.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhIluPS7ZWU-0PPQLPVjzI-keqWYUJPNfY7goIxvxgSZUlqiQTfIeVtv6cfcW7ES0PRXjFA7mTmyIRg8BoyMnlRSpGypxHK8V9ozPy2CVolEIyaiO6HyfmbFGYyKTueGLX4lGV-6oKn8e/s320/2012-12-27+14.36.01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur and Arman building their forts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDefg_s5YzN_Z8DRaBUFy5vdaXXN-8535_wLddsrmmdVFhYV5B6Bk2g6xcsVRTveSKWUuxPAja6VTVC61QHYZhOplHoVtdRrjdy55Mbx32N9YtZ9zfDVIrn5haTOp6jpJ1isYn8Q8h1UO/s1600/IMG_1371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDefg_s5YzN_Z8DRaBUFy5vdaXXN-8535_wLddsrmmdVFhYV5B6Bk2g6xcsVRTveSKWUuxPAja6VTVC61QHYZhOplHoVtdRrjdy55Mbx32N9YtZ9zfDVIrn5haTOp6jpJ1isYn8Q8h1UO/s320/IMG_1371.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur... resting on her lazy char made from snow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxB3vcqbjlx-Xl0XweAgCouKcNWl6hQSefqe7m_3AKRXuwgLJRcvDd6CtkY4x6VFjCud7wlp2Ze8T9D6bM2ADAwE7MI7mCjH00K0Ylo2XR74xTpz8u5_KQ1y_Zqm4pdx59ht43UJpj7pRO/s1600/IMG_1370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxB3vcqbjlx-Xl0XweAgCouKcNWl6hQSefqe7m_3AKRXuwgLJRcvDd6CtkY4x6VFjCud7wlp2Ze8T9D6bM2ADAwE7MI7mCjH00K0Ylo2XR74xTpz8u5_KQ1y_Zqm4pdx59ht43UJpj7pRO/s320/IMG_1370.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman... happy in his fort</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
*Sigh* At times like these... I start yearning for the days when we can pack our bikes and go bike riding on the trails.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGBDzFsGsdf2BQWRPkNaGnMOPUTYytdox7bAJxnGkqyatNSniUV5FEhWI9hq5K6XeoFv4zUZUyeMB956FeRPczSP7rUN6EYBy1dNxm_21ZclUm7mUdrJORCStbi9FJBcb895QUFUyKq0C/s1600/2012-04-14+14.22.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGBDzFsGsdf2BQWRPkNaGnMOPUTYytdox7bAJxnGkqyatNSniUV5FEhWI9hq5K6XeoFv4zUZUyeMB956FeRPczSP7rUN6EYBy1dNxm_21ZclUm7mUdrJORCStbi9FJBcb895QUFUyKq0C/s320/2012-04-14+14.22.19.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wondering when we would be able to enjoy the warm weather on a bike trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-35225838594224120202012-12-25T16:36:00.002-08:002012-12-25T17:57:11.827-08:00Arman's 9th Birthday!<table><tbody>
<tr><td>We had a big birthday party for Arman to celebrate his 9th birthday, on Saturday, Dec 8th, 2012. We had about 12 kids altogether, including Arman and Melur. About 10 of Arman's school friends - yes, we had to entertain 10 active, loud 9-year old boys! Melur got to invite one of her friends too, and she invited Gillian. The venue was at the Cineplex on Gardiners Road. It was hotdogs, fruit punch, and chocolate birthday cake... followed by Wreck-It Ralph in 3D! The kids seem to enjoy themselves, especially the movie and popcorn.<br />
<br />
Here are some pictures from the birthday party:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifovha1g3EsCvyER3rbUc2PpWeL2oUK683AnxHzLKd3pZh2_uiRfcsq6PmtF3Kl3SurNezBz-MMP32wupoCHkthbDTSq4bdZer_p5OO7p4taQJaT2iPqHK5tdCT8MBWuya-FUUAMoSF1UG/s1600/IMG_1362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifovha1g3EsCvyER3rbUc2PpWeL2oUK683AnxHzLKd3pZh2_uiRfcsq6PmtF3Kl3SurNezBz-MMP32wupoCHkthbDTSq4bdZer_p5OO7p4taQJaT2iPqHK5tdCT8MBWuya-FUUAMoSF1UG/s320/IMG_1362.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman was so excited!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMUUir1WwNTB1yXLJTSKgnw2aTJk3UPkETmNe4LYIisOtgPpiWOyjTxZHJ_wPs926Vs5YElUftS-raWVWM1pVcujjXhMoaNu9m6nZqa1eaXyJAPye0IWIn6h7NTcSvRdzTAUH30sfb5-k/s1600/IMG_1360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMUUir1WwNTB1yXLJTSKgnw2aTJk3UPkETmNe4LYIisOtgPpiWOyjTxZHJ_wPs926Vs5YElUftS-raWVWM1pVcujjXhMoaNu9m6nZqa1eaXyJAPye0IWIn6h7NTcSvRdzTAUH30sfb5-k/s320/IMG_1360.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman blowing his birthday candle - Melur insisted on the big 9 birthday candle</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRJjKdoOTkJdVuUIspX-nG9tEaZf900Qs2S5RacLTYFlP_KSsrhmSksh701oVhZEckwdDZ0jOdPNGQammwTQ7dZWEsJqF60hBstWU_Btzz4M4WqXnVh3iGdhsiDpVJmJVmXvZwoHf0rYD/s1600/IMG_1367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRJjKdoOTkJdVuUIspX-nG9tEaZf900Qs2S5RacLTYFlP_KSsrhmSksh701oVhZEckwdDZ0jOdPNGQammwTQ7dZWEsJqF60hBstWU_Btzz4M4WqXnVh3iGdhsiDpVJmJVmXvZwoHf0rYD/s320/IMG_1367.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the birthday party: Melur and Gillian went inside the tornado simulation chamber</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-32698760349200744982012-06-03T21:10:00.001-07:002012-06-03T21:10:53.892-07:00Visit to the Falls<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>We went for a short trip to Niagara Falls about two weeks ago, spending the Victoria Day weekend there. It was a combination of vacation and shopping trip. We needed to get a few things for family back in Malaysia. Our schedule was roughly:<br />
<u><br /></u><br />
<u>Day 1 - Saturday (May 19)</u><br />
11:30am-4:00pm - Drive from Kingston to Niagara Falls<br />
4:00pm - 5:30pm - Immigration (needed to go through US immigration, takes a long time!)<br />
5:30pm - 9:00pm - <i>Shopping round 1 @ Niagara Falls outlet</i><br />
9:00pm-10:30pm - Dinner @ Apple-bees<br />
10:30pm - Check-in and rest<br />
<u><br /></u><br />
<u>Day 2 - Sunday (May 20)</u><br />
9:00am - 11:30am - Breakfast and get ready for day<br />
11:30am - 2:30pm - <i>Shopping round 2 @ Niagara Falls outlet</i><br />
2:30pm - 4:00pm - Lunch @ halal buffet restaurant<br />
4:00pm - 8:00pm - Rest<br />
8:00pm-10:30pm - Dinner, sightseeing, and haunted house of wax<br />
10:30pm - Rest<br />
<br />
<u>Day 3 - Monday (May 21)</u><br />
10:00am - 11:30am - Check out and get ready for day<br />
11:30am - 12:30pm - Lunch @ Denny's<br />
12:30pm - 2:30pm - Drive to Waterloo premium outlet<br />
2:30pm - 5:00pm - <i>Shopping round 3 @ Waterloo premium outlet</i><br />
5:00pm - 8:00pm - Drive home to Kingston<br />
8:00pm - 9:30pm - Dinner @ Rahim's<br />
9:30pm - Home sweet home!<br />
<br />
See... lots of shopping, but we were buying souvenirs for Malaysia. We did buy a lot of Coach bags... I think in total about 9 bags. The kids didn't have as much fun during this trip. But we promise them that the real vacation will be in Malaysia, and we'll be going back in less than a month.<br />
<br />
And here are some pictures...<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBXQESAqcz8Zrtb3ISWPD7sNMolzYoV6lA5zVHxHxWbdlATfvVoGwSmJiy_zMIaVGDlvIREaZWdN5aqSycO1ugQMPY_A-qPcukkmxusHMwKRHwFGteUrIhA8rqi0YLWc8l50Slp1J1vAQ/s1600/2012-05-19+20.14.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBXQESAqcz8Zrtb3ISWPD7sNMolzYoV6lA5zVHxHxWbdlATfvVoGwSmJiy_zMIaVGDlvIREaZWdN5aqSycO1ugQMPY_A-qPcukkmxusHMwKRHwFGteUrIhA8rqi0YLWc8l50Slp1J1vAQ/s320/2012-05-19+20.14.37.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We bribed them with ice-cream so that they'll cooperate...</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTJp89AEaUKVTxPMwAZgRIz8_Bl8rArjnp7jx79ntw5pXDXFjgERSrKjgkda6CecWkkvMSe0nD6P9aT24D1L5GK8W-ELb-8bQ3Zi7lilRdsXT_JjPsJM9IayZ9IhHyZH7P0s8_YghzYne/s1600/2012-05-20+20.29.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTJp89AEaUKVTxPMwAZgRIz8_Bl8rArjnp7jx79ntw5pXDXFjgERSrKjgkda6CecWkkvMSe0nD6P9aT24D1L5GK8W-ELb-8bQ3Zi7lilRdsXT_JjPsJM9IayZ9IhHyZH7P0s8_YghzYne/s320/2012-05-20+20.29.00.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken from a bridge when we were sightseeing... the view is quite nice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGnooHVpxVWgXbEnliGoSGGwgx3yYM9EGUF0_ctmkr6rqiKB4m1bUOInK-02XByIi5xCRLjF0a0rF7ds9NmoBXL51j2vz79GZuyHYqxEWQ6sPuS8Ar2E7H8B3tLr2tE1HLi7gao_nfewl_/s1600/2012-05-20+20.34.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGnooHVpxVWgXbEnliGoSGGwgx3yYM9EGUF0_ctmkr6rqiKB4m1bUOInK-02XByIi5xCRLjF0a0rF7ds9NmoBXL51j2vz79GZuyHYqxEWQ6sPuS8Ar2E7H8B3tLr2tE1HLi7gao_nfewl_/s320/2012-05-20+20.34.43.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arman standing and smiling at the bridge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SLt_RqfaG2IeqS6q_7hcPQWKEFA-b7PriO8rUrbII-_u7UNbMvXFgTunlPOzoZ9xHjZ6DazTeDFHfworSAgCC6MEqs4ss7yRIPbdiSGrdwugiPyUnbrvZKSEEi5mwUPBhIEoLC_zSzwQ/s1600/2012-05-20+21.04.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SLt_RqfaG2IeqS6q_7hcPQWKEFA-b7PriO8rUrbII-_u7UNbMvXFgTunlPOzoZ9xHjZ6DazTeDFHfworSAgCC6MEqs4ss7yRIPbdiSGrdwugiPyUnbrvZKSEEi5mwUPBhIEoLC_zSzwQ/s320/2012-05-20+21.04.08.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most fun the kids had during the trip.. the haunted house of wax. The kids thought it was lame.... but Mommy was scared</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<span id="goog_1891555768"></span><span id="goog_1891555769"></span></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
</tbody></table>ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-62274887888283620262012-05-27T18:31:00.004-07:002012-05-27T18:45:39.014-07:00Melur's Science ProjectI was looking through this blog for the past few days. My, how the kids have grown... Melur is in Grade 4 now and Arman is in Grade 3. Soon they'll be in middle school, high school, and then off to college.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, last March Melur presented her science project - "Electrical conductors and insulators" - during the Winston Churchill Public School's (WCPS) science fair. She had about 6 weeks to do the project... but, well lets just say that the bulk of the work was during the last 3 weeks before hand-in (which was not that bad really, could be worse). One week was spent reading and understanding the materials - i.e., the science behind conductors and insulators. The next week was spent setting up the experiments and preparing the written report. And the last week was spent preparing for the class presentation and creating the display board for the science fair. Melur got some help... but she did most of the work. She has to because she must be able to answer the questions during the science fair and class presentation. Here's a picture of Melur and Papa putting together the written report.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-QUDJ2DiwmRvk8fYijJdhgJ7NQ1Mt9r72ySSsFBNce4jKtT9DrZTPbGMBYYeEGRXf3dt2dfjOMFwfeEPAB7WlD2grCYCNTFKnQR0NjI78C_clCRELSXh22LUVtEVWR8QuL8V_6UJxKcVx/s1600/IMG_1338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-QUDJ2DiwmRvk8fYijJdhgJ7NQ1Mt9r72ySSsFBNce4jKtT9DrZTPbGMBYYeEGRXf3dt2dfjOMFwfeEPAB7WlD2grCYCNTFKnQR0NjI78C_clCRELSXh22LUVtEVWR8QuL8V_6UJxKcVx/s320/IMG_1338.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur and Papa putting together the science report</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And here are some pictures of Melur during the science fair. For her project, Melur set-up an experiment to test whether an object is a conductor or insulator. She the small light bulb she's holding? She must be holding a conductor. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjogC6bo2jXjlRNgtniArvlxPcjfNPbHXiJf_zvPJ25zInya01806kb6ESvAdA68X9cOHTUj05by3P6gigAmmXl74s8FmivhvKiBq58ebPCBJhnPIO9saXr3W9Hio6UWtncWm4IVi-_p54/s1600/IMG_1346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjogC6bo2jXjlRNgtniArvlxPcjfNPbHXiJf_zvPJ25zInya01806kb6ESvAdA68X9cOHTUj05by3P6gigAmmXl74s8FmivhvKiBq58ebPCBJhnPIO9saXr3W9Hio6UWtncWm4IVi-_p54/s320/IMG_1346.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur and Papa showing off their stuff... </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFTL5L8mpF-bt7EhphVW6G0AVf-R525U1JC5w6-WlNDfAT_RbL_CVkNMghssTQMtZkbeeB3tj3PjHyEA2Pxt3aytDK9dU22WSOF1eR9_epIGuWr46GoLuJzAC6vUZ3uEIYMDr8nzNY7_V/s1600/IMG_1345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFTL5L8mpF-bt7EhphVW6G0AVf-R525U1JC5w6-WlNDfAT_RbL_CVkNMghssTQMtZkbeeB3tj3PjHyEA2Pxt3aytDK9dU22WSOF1eR9_epIGuWr46GoLuJzAC6vUZ3uEIYMDr8nzNY7_V/s320/IMG_1345.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur and Mommy during the science fair</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The science fair was for Grade 4 and 5 students, but only Grade 5 could go to the provincial science fair. All the projects were on display at the gym with the students minding their booths. Lots of other interesting projects were on display - e.g., magnets and magnetism, hydroelectricity, pollution, etc. Melur enjoyed doing her science project, and she's planning to go to the provincial science fair next year. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0QC0Z0K1tSRLQwfhL4Vu1s2nG1kCysSgG2zrpj5Lp95jqAq3PKh0bZeW92nYAHdI96DqC7911JNF6vK4uiz_WMkqdforjWfj4w2J0u_fEYaDhMOu2JthCgtPU5IxOOuODlYHrO4Z4WyP/s1600/IMG_1344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0QC0Z0K1tSRLQwfhL4Vu1s2nG1kCysSgG2zrpj5Lp95jqAq3PKh0bZeW92nYAHdI96DqC7911JNF6vK4uiz_WMkqdforjWfj4w2J0u_fEYaDhMOu2JthCgtPU5IxOOuODlYHrO4Z4WyP/s320/IMG_1344.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melur proudly explaining her project to a visitor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It is quite interesting to see the education system here. I don't remember doing anything of this sort when I was in Standard 4. I had projects in high school though. And definitely parents are more involved here. The instructions that came from the teachers included instructions on what parents could do to help. Maybe the education system has changed in Malaysia... it has been quite a (LONG) while.</div>ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-27430744524364574722011-09-26T19:44:00.000-07:002011-09-26T20:03:13.586-07:00Melur's 9th Birthday!We had a small birthday celebration for Melur last Sunday, Sept 25. One thing different about kids birthday parties (and weddings) here compared to Malaysia is that the size is usually much smaller. We only had 14 kids altogether, a dozen of Melur's schoold friends (all girls), Arman, and Melur. The Venue was at a cooking school, so it was a cooking and baking themed birthday party. The kids seem to enjoy themselves, they made their own pizzas (including the pizza dough), fruit kebabs, and cupcakes.<br /><br />Melur's birthday is actually around the end of August, August 30. But she was OK with having the birthday party much later in September. Mommy was too busy with her comprehensive exam, which was on the same week as Melur's birthday. We are lucky to have Melur, she's so thoughtful and considerate...:)<br /><br /><table style="width: 600px; height: 1000px;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdpsUJiEN2CYhTgR4s31GLNWAbwVam5Mo5LhN-x0Yt5xn9vT9OOz3CpD_xPc_QQ_ODXrfjg_xah_VzVX4wNHQAC7yPiON9oL9CaG1BGAyI1Xjmzygr_hwmzkfO2YeSZY0BDG7rgLGh_zK/s1600/IMG_1240.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdpsUJiEN2CYhTgR4s31GLNWAbwVam5Mo5LhN-x0Yt5xn9vT9OOz3CpD_xPc_QQ_ODXrfjg_xah_VzVX4wNHQAC7yPiON9oL9CaG1BGAyI1Xjmzygr_hwmzkfO2YeSZY0BDG7rgLGh_zK/s200/IMG_1240.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656852270023418226" border="0" /></a></td><td><span style="font-style: italic;"> Seriously working on the pizza dough</span></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuHMy0LekrtLfL_ohuCfJuSeXVV5yqkQgqXItHtZH0cQc4IQxGc96iBcMTgkoSTlDHyAduhIdpmcLE9lbO_y4LetWbZEhoM93Lioa9Wdg27weqTK4sLpHVdCyPskJSliCyT5Z8ib_IiZF/s1600/IMG_1246.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuHMy0LekrtLfL_ohuCfJuSeXVV5yqkQgqXItHtZH0cQc4IQxGc96iBcMTgkoSTlDHyAduhIdpmcLE9lbO_y4LetWbZEhoM93Lioa9Wdg27weqTK4sLpHVdCyPskJSliCyT5Z8ib_IiZF/s200/IMG_1246.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656852255218103490" border="0" /></a></td><td><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Arman working on his pizza dough, look at that level of concentration!</span></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdPB4LLW-AJbDySxFVbEComICJpH1lNbHcF1PheReR7CVstiJfd20RijNUwP-0csGHV3jG_O779AhqlBnf_P1wbmtO3I0dOp4dGa00czs3ycL9G-y_mkq0xNr1eH7zVO-QtPRSLMmUPLT/s1600/IMG_1247.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdPB4LLW-AJbDySxFVbEComICJpH1lNbHcF1PheReR7CVstiJfd20RijNUwP-0csGHV3jG_O779AhqlBnf_P1wbmtO3I0dOp4dGa00czs3ycL9G-y_mkq0xNr1eH7zVO-QtPRSLMmUPLT/s200/IMG_1247.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656852259770690162" border="0" /></a></td><td><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Arman was shy at first, but he seems to be at home afterwards. He made himself useful during clean-up time.</span><br /></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBN8-4VTfqrtnLImWqAtu878PDvWQpRdGHVPIvqRPZ_63GGr5Yee89NZwB5HVMOySCAkgyukciIDE17cmNxYGAyTmVcII5LtEmQ8rSn1tGe9RxfIUtnplz7KbxsDwtsfJefKtIeRRmamR-/s1600/IMG_1235.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBN8-4VTfqrtnLImWqAtu878PDvWQpRdGHVPIvqRPZ_63GGr5Yee89NZwB5HVMOySCAkgyukciIDE17cmNxYGAyTmVcII5LtEmQ8rSn1tGe9RxfIUtnplz7KbxsDwtsfJefKtIeRRmamR-/s200/IMG_1235.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656854577582207874" border="0" /></a></td><td><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Getting silly before the birthday cake</span><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMCPIU4eiEnPSda5b2y8t3bpzwa7p_G3bbINcqFx0HQSo27S7D-AzSncZh0J5lbzfffXIenKz6KMBG9cyliwtC0qPqywk6xcRjtYXLGjdp7pnq5c8yZelrstsbDfOJsMhHUVwL7e1YVqz/s1600/IMG_1270.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMCPIU4eiEnPSda5b2y8t3bpzwa7p_G3bbINcqFx0HQSo27S7D-AzSncZh0J5lbzfffXIenKz6KMBG9cyliwtC0qPqywk6xcRjtYXLGjdp7pnq5c8yZelrstsbDfOJsMhHUVwL7e1YVqz/s200/IMG_1270.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656854593767302402" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Birthday cake time!</span><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VvqSGOZCdXcwZQpjDddIGxzodCrSOUOAeiCKD8j7d3mbvNUhKWjQgYsDKLZxcLGmVHAkzIDvmF-bnjLnRtp1pB8KHr2YwigkGAvEyv7PQ2OfDIaIm6ziKiIy-xvaue3XKDrRVoNqAnTZ/s1600/IMG_1236.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VvqSGOZCdXcwZQpjDddIGxzodCrSOUOAeiCKD8j7d3mbvNUhKWjQgYsDKLZxcLGmVHAkzIDvmF-bnjLnRtp1pB8KHr2YwigkGAvEyv7PQ2OfDIaIm6ziKiIy-xvaue3XKDrRVoNqAnTZ/s200/IMG_1236.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656854585217140050" border="0" /></a></td><td><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Birthday loot for this year... thanks everyone, Melur loves all the gifts. </span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-5623562255245687772011-03-19T21:42:00.000-07:002011-03-19T21:56:25.251-07:00Kids Must Listen...<table><tbody><tr><td>Here's what we do to Melur and Arman when they are naughty... ha ha ha<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKTyIeFCqasWQ0NfpIdP05IHaPpH_7rZjg-wNHeq2hQSvMHYokRYcHkxbKHBmYdxRV6xAhdykODD8JPXQwd8puLm-BMyC_UHnVXn21BwFckCW1qlnPu2Yfgh_Vl9xzV0IBBIYyDhq_UyV/s1600/IMG_1155.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKTyIeFCqasWQ0NfpIdP05IHaPpH_7rZjg-wNHeq2hQSvMHYokRYcHkxbKHBmYdxRV6xAhdykODD8JPXQwd8puLm-BMyC_UHnVXn21BwFckCW1qlnPu2Yfgh_Vl9xzV0IBBIYyDhq_UyV/s200/IMG_1155.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586019162344481330" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBHYsjz1tLKXRu1kNuK5vdzzu4pMarKrYAwsfaz3d7sEDtxbY7KWOuMUPfSv9askD51krhaAMq41XIgvULadYuPelJgvFI1qJR1UDCZltHcQLNDG_IXqzOLUxHaHgilKbVq2cT8slQFAD/s1600/IMG_1156.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBHYsjz1tLKXRu1kNuK5vdzzu4pMarKrYAwsfaz3d7sEDtxbY7KWOuMUPfSv9askD51krhaAMq41XIgvULadYuPelJgvFI1qJR1UDCZltHcQLNDG_IXqzOLUxHaHgilKbVq2cT8slQFAD/s200/IMG_1156.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586021269258831266" border="0" /></a></td></tr><tr><td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-52569129385282800582011-03-19T20:45:00.000-07:002012-05-27T17:00:39.670-07:00Winterlude 2011: Part 1<table><tbody>
<tr><td>Sometime in mid-February we went to Ottawa for a short, family holiday. The trip coincided with one of Arman's chess tournaments, which was held on Sunday. We left Kingston on Friday... the plan was to spend the Saturday at <a href="http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/winterlude/snowflake-kingdom/">Jacques-Cartier Park</a>, and let the kids enjoy the snow playground. Unfortunately, the weather was warm and the snow melted... no snow playground for us. We decided to make the best of things and see what they have to offer at the <a href="http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/winterlude/crystal-garden/">Confederation Park</a> instead. They was an ice sculpture show... and other exhibits. Melur and Arman seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Here are some pictures...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNkpTjm9LQIb3rzpUniqppjKzDR0n8KFUfu1Fqe1jdmNK0tNV9YyNKXRzaljoAZQ90CmHEQfYI_m1PmOsXuUeqT3VVxU2LOb-E76LQ4r5DShMMHdAXuhM7TYmBEju3ENYSn2twr5C_0YB/s1600/IMG_1128.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586006544795686738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNkpTjm9LQIb3rzpUniqppjKzDR0n8KFUfu1Fqe1jdmNK0tNV9YyNKXRzaljoAZQ90CmHEQfYI_m1PmOsXuUeqT3VVxU2LOb-E76LQ4r5DShMMHdAXuhM7TYmBEju3ENYSn2twr5C_0YB/s200/IMG_1128.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Melur and Arman at the maple wood carving booth. They had all sorts of toys made from wood at this booth.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBtHCSixdrDORersS79hw0WdtWJwa6VFLhJBEFXjKPwk-e5UpaoeXlwpQhUNJ1wUQEql3UFs_Z94cM1J-W7zT5EJYo-LbS1PepbesCqrdCOHsyDliKO55yZFVXpKpjOpE8G70Cj669wcT/s1600/IMG_1131.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586008443774321842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBtHCSixdrDORersS79hw0WdtWJwa6VFLhJBEFXjKPwk-e5UpaoeXlwpQhUNJ1wUQEql3UFs_Z94cM1J-W7zT5EJYo-LbS1PepbesCqrdCOHsyDliKO55yZFVXpKpjOpE8G70Cj669wcT/s200/IMG_1131.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Mommy, Melur, and Arman... all three on our snow motorbike.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsr9Pf26UQAEjZlAZyj0V3xnaKcONxu5XDCbxHhHSwzXUTVn3gT1_poOXHhsmpEaRHBqTwcOc4fH_ughPIJnyYKs2t8br1MpG7-HfiDOpCSl0XG40V3o7iBzAKxLAQzt9Xau0vitq-ZdXr/s1600/IMG_1144.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586009798140110146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsr9Pf26UQAEjZlAZyj0V3xnaKcONxu5XDCbxHhHSwzXUTVn3gT1_poOXHhsmpEaRHBqTwcOc4fH_ughPIJnyYKs2t8br1MpG7-HfiDOpCSl0XG40V3o7iBzAKxLAQzt9Xau0vitq-ZdXr/s200/IMG_1144.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Melur resting on a sofa made out of ice... very, very cool.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyf3kNx6icrmQ8MlxsjxOy50m-0rnhrcqoiql4hK_z_qP_wW-2kHtAg7ezXJi7bShMaTU9CHEjzDMrNKSjo_SqWYUvVo7iCSJIZmdVrlC55imKlStRssc9YdTRQ181eFuAhRFcJIIfXJD/s1600/IMG_1146.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586010703890302706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyf3kNx6icrmQ8MlxsjxOy50m-0rnhrcqoiql4hK_z_qP_wW-2kHtAg7ezXJi7bShMaTU9CHEjzDMrNKSjo_SqWYUvVo7iCSJIZmdVrlC55imKlStRssc9YdTRQ181eFuAhRFcJIIfXJD/s200/IMG_1146.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>The four of us in front of the winterlude sign...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJCKFjORL4rlc9I38cy9MPZbpLWtp5i4jFAXhkloqXzWMDfrBJgYpygjiBAb4nFtPggqHudehT1PQoIcyPpunvJcl2YPmz-nNL_GkVLOjm_AyEaBACUXsuW8PwHSaCcX2wltjvPuvL5fA/s1600/IMG_1154.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586012092985327698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJCKFjORL4rlc9I38cy9MPZbpLWtp5i4jFAXhkloqXzWMDfrBJgYpygjiBAb4nFtPggqHudehT1PQoIcyPpunvJcl2YPmz-nNL_GkVLOjm_AyEaBACUXsuW8PwHSaCcX2wltjvPuvL5fA/s200/IMG_1154.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Papa... you can see the line for the famous Ottawa beavertail behind him. We wanted to get some... but well, as you can see... the line was too long... and was just too cold to be standing in line.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span id="formatbar_Buttons" style="display: block;"><span class="" id="formatbar_Add_Image" style="display: block;" title="Add Image"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-45849885531495806322010-12-22T21:13:00.000-08:002010-12-22T21:24:52.248-08:00Melur and the Cats<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbI9LVK1VY181GCgnzZQZltaj0KzH-PAz9OV-ylwJmFLxuAW02D0dKsVfxhcN6S-Vze_8ST1_fT3UHU2FU07P0ghmU2M9MAiQRbtBYQKYSCKDitIJAVJAt8aS9UFaXmifmJx3HpY15V6WF/s1600/IMG_1091.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbI9LVK1VY181GCgnzZQZltaj0KzH-PAz9OV-ylwJmFLxuAW02D0dKsVfxhcN6S-Vze_8ST1_fT3UHU2FU07P0ghmU2M9MAiQRbtBYQKYSCKDitIJAVJAt8aS9UFaXmifmJx3HpY15V6WF/s200/IMG_1091.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553741879890976002" border="0" /></a>We have two cats - Archie and Hermione. Melur loves those two cats. She reads to them, plays with them, and sleeps with them. Here, she made a makeshift bed for Hermione from the piano bench, Arman's pillow, and Arman's hair towel. Hmmm... how come she's using all of Arman's stuff for the cat?...<br /><br />Here you see a picture of Melur and Hermione. Maybe it's time to buy cat beds...ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-11760108071820645652010-12-18T23:26:00.000-08:002010-12-22T21:10:08.103-08:00Conversation with Arman<table><tbody><tr><td>Between Arman and Mommy about 2 weeks ago...<br /><br />Arman : <span style="font-style: italic;">What are you reading Mommy?</span><br />Mommy: <span style="font-style: italic;">Newspaper</span><br />Arman : <span style="font-style: italic;">What's in the newspaper Mommy?</span><br />Mommy:<span style="font-style: italic;"> A student fell from the roof... and died</span><br />Arman : <span style="font-style: italic;">Is the police investigating it?</span><br />Mommy: <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm sure they are.</span><br />Arman : <span style="font-style: italic;">Do they think it's homicide or suicide?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Conclusion: </span>We've been watching too many episodes of Monk on DVDs...<br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>ehaz (aka The Mommy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14094383605990621586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-45239683981444817302010-07-12T20:06:00.001-07:002010-07-12T20:12:55.221-07:00Another Spring 2010 Piano Recital<table><tbody><tr><td>This video was taken last month, the last piano recital for the 2009/2010 school year. Melur and Arman play really well this time around. Arman was even a little dramatic (you have to check it out). I got tired of waiting for Melur and Arman to add commentary for their <a href="http://www.youtube.com/melur02">Melur and Arman Show</a>, so I just pieced it together and uploaded it to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/gokun2">my own youtube channel</a>. What do you guys think?<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pFE8g_-o_8k&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pFE8g_-o_8k&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />Anyway, thanks for watching. I’ll be posting another video (in 2 parts) of our second trip to the <a href="http://post.queensu.ca/~ab25/kandptrail/index.htm">K&P Trail</a>. This is yet another video that I simply got tired of waiting for the commentary. There are still more videos in the queue for the Melur and Arman Show. Watch out for those!<br /></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table>Azroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-35409482454683876182010-07-01T19:49:00.001-07:002010-07-01T19:55:00.803-07:00Ep 9: Trip to Lake Placid<table><tbody><tr><td>As Mommy mentioned in <a href="http://gokun2.blogspot.com/2010/06/lake-placid-mini-vacation.html">a recent blog post</a>, our family went to Lake Placid for a little mini vacation. Daddy was running <a href="http://www.lakeplacidmarathon.com/">a half marathon there</a>, and we thought we’d make it into something more. We were spending money to go there and stay there anyway. Mommy’s post was pretty comprehensive, but to top it off, we’ve compiled some <a href="http://www.youtube.com/melur02">video footage</a>, and put them into the Melur and Arman Show (with commentary, of course). Episode 9 is in 3 parts (3 days of footage, after all). Take a look below:<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z8dM9Jk8tHY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z8dM9Jk8tHY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/foiZn0B5ouA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/foiZn0B5ouA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hsXGv7_nxrE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hsXGv7_nxrE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />I think that pretty much sums it up. I’d love to go again, but these trips aren’t exactly cheap. And if we did have a budget, why go to the same place over and over again? Why not go somewhere else, and try something new? Anyway, we’ll see how it goes. We’ll most likely have these mini-vacations in conjunction with sporting events that Mommy and Daddy want to attend. Where shall we go to next?<br /></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table>Azroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-82340613513297240832010-06-21T21:32:00.000-07:002010-06-21T21:35:59.862-07:00Ep. 8: ISK Graduation PartyOkay, so this is yet another entry from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/melur02">Melur and Arman show</a>. We recently went to a graduation party for Evening School students studying Quran at the <a href="http://www.kingstonmuslims.net/">Islamic Society of Kingston (ISK)</a>, just this past Friday actually. Food was great, kids had fun, and we generally had a good time. Melur and Arman couldn't wait to put the video together, and they dressed up for it too. Without further ado...<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wfapzbe9GlQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wfapzbe9GlQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />That's all folks. Still need to put together videos of our trip to Lake Placid. Will do that soon.Azroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-12075761051189252742010-06-19T18:08:00.000-07:002010-06-19T18:16:49.080-07:00Ep. 7: Toronto for ChessThis is a recent entry from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/melur02">Melur and Arman show</a>, but the trip itself is from 2 months ago, when we went to Toronto for Arman's chess challenge. There's <a href="http://gokun2.blogspot.com/2010/06/2010-ontario-chess-challenge.html">a separate blog entry that describes the chess event</a>. This entry describes the trip itself: where we stayed, went and ate. Couldn't quite fit it into one youtube video, so here it is in two:<br /><br />In part 1, Melur and Arman talk about the hotel where we stayed, the <a href="http://www.yorklandhotel.com/">Yorkland Hotel in Toronto</a>:<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hNTY8nPQaOA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hNTY8nPQaOA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />In part 2, we continue on with dinner at a halal Malaysia restaurant called "<a href="http://www.restoranmalaysia.com/">Restoran Malaysia</a>", followed by breakfast the next day at the hotel, and finally dinner at <a href="http://www.redlobster.ca/">Red Lobster</a> once back in <a href="http://www.whatsonkingston.com/">Kingston</a>:<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fjZpgUJEfuE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fjZpgUJEfuE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />It was a pretty short trip... only 1 night. But we had lots of fun. And it was our first trip to Toronto, although we weren't really able to explore much of the area. Maybe next time we're in Toronto, we'll be able to see more.Azroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500888289315546897.post-46479564074499713992010-06-19T17:57:00.000-07:002010-06-19T18:02:16.513-07:00Episode 5 & 6: Ottawa (Half) MarathonHere's a more recent entry from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/melur02">Melur and Arman show</a>, taken from our trip to Ottawa for <a href="http://www.ncm.ca/">Mommy's Half Marathon</a>. We separated the entire trip into 2 episodes, one for each day.<br /><br />Here is Episode 5 from Day 1. Melur and Arman describe our first day at Ottawa, which includes lunch at <a href="http://www.nandoscanada.com/">Nando's</a>, a quick stop to pick up Mommy's race kit, a swim at the <a href="http://www.hamptoninnottawa.com/">Hampton Inn hotel</a> where we were staying, followed by dinner at a Malaysian restaurant called <a href="http://chahayamalaysiarestaurant.com/">Chahaya Malaysia</a>:<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/93Y8E3sGlio&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/93Y8E3sGlio&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />On the second day (Episode 6), we dropped Mommy off at the race venue bright and early. When we got back, The kids and I had breakfast at the hotel, followed by a short swim, and then we checked out. We headed straight for the race to cheer her on. We picked Mommy up after the race, and had lunch at a shish kebab place.<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PqrANLKu0yk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PqrANLKu0yk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />And that was pretty much it. There was a big jam on our way back to Kingston - Bummer! Our next race will be at <a href="http://www.lakeplacidmarathon.com/">Lake Placid</a> where I will run my second half marathon for the year (4th ever). Mommy already put in <a href="http://gokun2.blogspot.com/2010/06/lake-placid-mini-vacation.html">a blog entry for Lake Placid</a>, but we'll put together something for the Melur and Arman show as well.Azroy Kandanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03121869057135888161noreply@blogger.com0