New Tap Shoes for Melur

Today, we were on a mission: To get Melur Tap Shoes for her Dance Class. Despite the rain, Daddy and the two kids made our way to the bus stop. We all had our own umbrellas. Our destination: Just Imagine… Fun Clothing Inc. located on Broadway.

It was already quite late, but we had to go today since she needs her shoes for her class on Thursday, and we wouldn’t have any other time to go. We also need to get home before dark for Iftar.

It was a very quaint little place. It specializes in costumes, but they sell tap shoes as well. Fortunately for us, we were able to secure a cheap used pair; especially since this would be Melur’s first pair of tap shoes. She was still very excited to get them.

I hope Melur enjoys her dance class on Thursday. We’ll be looking forward to her dance performances in the future.

Iftar at the Consulate General’s

Today, we were invited to break our fast at the new Consulate General’s place. He just moved in only a couple of months earlier. We made our own ‘rombongan’ and traveled there with the other Malaysian students at UBC.

The food was awesome. It’s been a while since we had some really good Malaysian food, and the beef rendang was exquisite. I found out later, the rendang was catered, though many of the other items on the menu were home-cooked.

The new CG of Malaysia was very pleasant, and we spent some time getting to know him and his family. We also got re-acquainted with the Tourism Malaysia guy, whom arrived the previous year. He had a spectacular open house last year as well, around this time.

One of the things we did while we were there was take a video, which the CG was going to submit to RTM in Malaysia. We made a video “Selamat Hari Raya” greeting for the folks back home. Hopefully, it’ll get aired for Raya. We, of course, took many pictures with the guys. Here they are, as you know them:

Top Left: Nasir, Shahrir, Ina, Mommy, Daddy & Syafiq Lower Left: Jihan, Tim & Zul

As usual, Melur made a lot of friends. The house has a very large basement, which is very nicely decorated for kids. The kids spent most of their time there playing and watching the big-screen TV.

All in all, a very nice evening. The only downside was that it was raining when we arrived, and it was raining when we left. Other than that, it was a really nice iftar. We’re definitely looking for to the Raya open house here in few short weeks.

Melur Calls Malaysia

We try to call Malaysia at least once a week. Most of the time we also ask the kids to talk to their Neneks or Aunties. Melur really takes to talking on the phone especially when she's in a good mood. She'll push the chair close to the phone... and starts talking on the phone. Awww... our little girl looks all grown-up.

SMC Ice Breaker

Today, we went to the Seri Malaysia Club (SMC) Icebreaker event held at the UBC SUB. It was an afternoon event, and Daddy’s band (Gardenburst) was performing a few acoustic numbers.

While the band prepared for the gig, Melur wrote her name on a sticker and put it on her jacket. It was an Icebreaker event, after all. She wasn’t very cooperative with me taking her picture at first, but she eventually gave in.

SMC prepared some Malaysian food for the guests. Daddy was fasting today, but no matter. The club saved some food for us to bring home. Melur and Arman however, had some nice Nasi Lemak. There was a long queue for the food, but Daddy arranged for some quick food for the kids, and they quickly began eating near the front of the room, while Daddy and his band continued to prepare for the gig.

Gardenburst performed 5 songs today, all acoustic. The sound system wasn’t very good, so I only posted the first video on You Tube. Take a look.

We made a lot of new friends today. There’s a new family who just arrived earlier this month. They live out at Richmond. Their kids played with Melur and Arman after lunch. It was, all in all, a pretty nice afternoon. What a way to start off the academic year. Wish Mommy was here...

Soccer at the Gym

It’s Friday, and it’s Daddy’s turn to pick Melur up from school again. Last Friday, when I picked her up, she was just getting acquainted with school and posted her name on her cubby. This week when I arrived, she was at the gym playing soccer with the other kids. Well… everyone had his or her own ball, but Melur was doing a pretty good job kicking the ball around. She seemed to be having so much fun.

Meet the Teacher

Today is "meet the teacher" day at Melur's school, U-Hill Elementary. It is a regular school day in the morning, but parents and students are supposed to come back and attend a one-hour session at school. The agenda is basically: half-hour meeting with the class teacher, fifteen minutes with the principal, and another fifteen minutes for refreshments.

Well, at about 6 pm the four of us started walking, making our way from home. The walk to school is usually about 20 minutes, but we decided to start out slightly early so that we can have a leisurely walk. We arrived on time and went straight to Melur's classroom. Her teacher's name is Linda. Melur introduced Mommy to Linda and Mommy managed to ask - "How's Melur doing?" Linda said Melur's fine... not much opportunity for a long conversation since there were lots of other parents there. While Papa was with Melur and Arman, Mommy looked around for a bit and saw that other teachers prepared a short speech on class activities and such. We wish that Linda did the same... It’d be better since we have a large group of parents.

Afterwards, there was a big assembly at the school gym. It reminded Mommy of her school days when they have "perhimpunan sekolah" every morning. The principal introduced each teacher and the grades they teach. We were also told that the school's project this year is "early literacy." This means that they want to emphasize early reading and writing in all the children - increase the borrowing rate for the library, put more reading materials in classes, etc. Sounds good to us!

The last session was the best. All parents were asked to bring cookies to share during refreshments. We brought Oreos... and everybody else brought other types. There was a large room filled with cookies on the tables. We had such a nice time trying out different ones... the good ones are usually home made though. The school provided coffee and milk... a nice way for Mommy and Papa to break our fast, while the kids just love eating cookies...

Happening On The Hill

Today was an interesting day. Mommy had to work, so Daddy decided to take the kids out to Safeway to buy some groceries. On the way to the bus stop, we saw a fun fair of sorts in the park, where we flew our kite just a few days before. We decided to check it out.

It was called “Happening on the Hill”, and was advertised at Acadia Park as a free event for kids in the neighborhood. The first thing the kids wanted to try was the obstacle course. They had so much fun trying it out.

Both Melur and Arman went through the obstacle course about 3 times each. I took pictures of both of them (separately, of course) as they traversed through. Arman was so happy, even more so than his usual self.

After that, Melur directed us to some free popcorn. Melur and Arman both had a helping. Melur then headed to the Staples booth to do some coloring. Arman was content just hanging out, enjoying his popcorn and water (which was also provided for free).

After Melur submitted her entry to the Staples coloring contest, we explored the rest of the fun fair. Arman caught sight of this thing called “Spin Art”, which he really wanted to try. We queued up for about 20 minutes, just to try it out. Melur was a little impatient and decided to walk around on her own. Don’t worry, the park is small and she never left my sight.

Arman finally got his turn at the Spin Art, and started pouring paint of different colors onto a spinning white card. The result was a piece of art. And during this time, Melur was able to get a tattoo (the temporary kind), play with a hammer thing, and throw darts, where she won 2 paper gliders, which she shared with Arman.

After all that, it was finally time to head to Safeway for the groceries. This event is held yearly. Unfortunately, I don’t think we have any pictures from last year’s event, but the kids did try the obstacle course then as well. The year’s event coincided with the fasting month, and so we didn’t really plan to go. But since we were here, we made a day of it. The kids were in a real good mood afterward, and Melur offered to carry our foldable trolley to Safeway. How nice of her.

And that’s how we spent this Saturday together, which incidentally is also Nenek’s birthday (the one in PJ). Happy Birthday, Nenek!