These pages will record my everyday living with my husband John and my three precious children (Josh 9, Joey 6.5, and Josie 4.5), as I homeschool and train them to know and love God. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 22 May 2009 16:14:00 -0500 Fri, 22 May 2009 16:14:00 -0500 On Wednesday, John took a day off so we could all go to the Fort Worth Zoo. It's half price Wednesday! Love those gorgeous flamingoes! Joey got sunscreen all over his face! Poor kid got bitten by fire ants at the off-site parking lot even before we got into the zoo. We were just coming out of the car, and he stepped on an ant pile. He's so nondramatic, since he has such high pain threshold, thanks to his SID/ASD. Josie, checking out the animals so intently. Guess what! She's looking at those elephants! Thank goodness she didn't ask to ride them this time. Josh's all geared up to brave the heat and the animals! Another word for zebras...... yeah, Marty! (from the movie Madagascar.) This mountain goat just stood there like a statue begging to be photographed. The kids enjoyed feeding the birds. These birdseed sticks cost $1 each. John bought one each for the boys, but Josie got a couple for free because of her smart mommy! :) They managed to lure the birds down to eat on their sticks. There were a lot of these birds, but most of them were way up high, not caring to be fed. It's probably because they were full from the abundance of tourists feeding them. Daddy had to lift Joey up to feed a bird. We took a snack & water break. Josie driving away with her animal friends. I like my 50mm lens and I don't like it at the same time, but I think I've finally figured out how to manually focus my pictures! Love those penguins! They look like they are having a meeting. We all had a great time checking out different animals at the zoo. Story of the Prince Alligator and Princess begins here. It was love at first sight ............. she saw him, and he saw her. "Princess, will you give me a kiss?" "Sure, will do, my Prince Alligator!" -- he didn't change into a prince like a frog prince did, what happened? Josh, checking out a turtle. Joey loved the reptile house, "Daddy, look at that!" The tree monitor said hi! Interesting-looking lizard. I bet its head would puff up real big if it was mad! She's enjoying herself thoroughly, even offered to carry the backpack that held the water and the snacks. In total amazement of seeing these fun reptiles! (I'm guessing she's thinking as long as these are behind the glass, she's safe!) She's finally in a good mood after getting over the initial disappointment of Daddy not wanting to carry her all through the zoo. (She really needs to walk more, both the boys had to walk on their own since 2 or 2.5 years of age since their younger siblings are only 2 - 2.5 years younger. She already has two extra years of pampering!) "Would you like to share some of my candy?" "Too bad, my mommy said you can't have any candy!" Very beautiful looking lizard! Josh had fun at the Fort Worth Zoo! My favorite is seeing the flamingoes. They seemed to really have their own personality. Some are nonchalant, doing their own thing. while some are bickering and fighting for their territory.......................... just like a human society. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/692122/ Fri, 22 May 2009 16:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/692122/ Yesterday, I woke up with a start. I dreamed that I had cancer and only had a few months left to live. It was a horrible feeling, leaving all that I'm familiar with, leaving my family and friends, preparing for the unknown. Yet, within me, I know, death is not the end. It's a new beginning.   I guess, you could aptly say, what I'm thinking in the daytime, surfaces as dreams at night.   Since last year, we've had friend after friend sharing their struggles and their sorrows with us. First, it's a dear friend's daughter (she's 6) who has an inoperable brain tumor. At first, the doctor's prognosis was not good, saying she has only a few months, but a miracle from God pushed through, and she's doing considerably well for over a year. http://www.carepages.com/carepages/nickylee   Then, we heard that a woman (John knew about their family since they also grew up in Dallas) a few years younger than me (she's only 34) had Severe Aplastic Anemia. It's a disease of the bone marrow, where it stops producing enough red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets for the body. So, all of a sudden, she had to stay away from her children and husband, because she could get sick from them. Her friends, family and strangers heard of her story, rallied and organized bone marrow drives to find a bone marrow match. Recently, Jodie had a bone marrow transplant and is reported to be doing well. Praise God! http://www.carepages.com/carepages/jodiegee   Beginning of this year, we heard from a girlfriend in town who found out she had breast cancer, and Flora's my age (36). They acted really quickly, so she had a mastectomy done within a month, and later started on chemotherapy. I couldn't help feeling for her and her family for what they had gone through in the short months of discovering the cancer. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/flora (password: floralin)   Soon after, we started hearing from John's friend (I think he's younger than John) from college that he had been ill while serving as a missionary doctor in China. At first, they couldn't figure out what he had, but he was in really critical condition, he had kidney failure, lung failure, bone fracture, lung infection, and inability to walk. Then, they flew him out to Hong Kong, and finally the doctors there figured out he has cancer, Multiple Myeloma. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/wayneho He has a wife, and two young children.   All these friends are American Chinese friends we have in the States. All these incidences made me think, "Has cancer become more and more prevalent, even in our generation, or is it just us?" When we talked to our friends in general, it seems like it's just us. Some even commented, "Well, you guys know lots of people!" But, really, we don't. We're not really a 'social' family compare to most of my counterparts, so I doubt we know 'more' people. But these incidences are alarming! Why's this happening? Is it the place we live in? Is it the food we eat? Or is it our genes have gone totally bad? Flora's not my first girlfriend who has breast cancer. My spiritual mentor who's about five years older than me had breast cancer in her early 30s. My girl cousin in Australia died of Leukemia at the young age of 19.   Some days, I feel like I can't bear to read one more update from them. Some days, when I don't get any email updates, I think, "No news is good news!" My heart weighs heavy, but I also see God's faithfulness shines through in all these people's stories. Their faith in God is unwavering, they all know, even in their sufferings and sorrows, God's love is enough. They are letting God carry them on His wings, so they will soar like wings of the eagles. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/692120/ Fri, 22 May 2009 12:11:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/692120/ The Sunday after we got back from the Genting Highlands, Josie told me right before bedtime, "Mommy, I don't feel good." I felt her, she was fine. She's a smart kid who would pretend to cough and then asked for cough drops (to her, it's candy!), so we didn't quite believe her and sent her to bed. In the middle of the night, she got up at 2am with an alarmingly hot fever, crying. After calming her down, she managed to sleep the rest of the night with the other kids. The following day (Monday), she was very hot and lethargic. I just let her sleep in my bed, and helped her feel comfortable that whole day. I'm not the type of mom to get all nervous just because one of my kids runs a fever. And normally, I won't take them to see a doctor for a cold or a fever. I usually let the fever run its course and rarely give them fever reducer because I believe that a fever helps the body fight off infection. They just need to rest and let their immune system do the work.   On Tuesday, my old friends from AOG church that I grew up in wanted to come visit me. I was hesitant because we would be leaving on Wednesday, and with Josie sick, I really didn't want to see any new people. They insisted on coming, so I put up a pretty face and let them come. While they were here, Josie proceeded to vomit and coughed like a barking seal. I knew her airways were constricted, that was why her coughs sounded really bad. Immediately, I knew what she had. She had croup. I did a search on the internet, and knew what I had to look out for. At this point, I pretty much had to eat my words (I just had a conversation with my sister-in-law about us not going to the doctor's much in America) and take her to the doctor's. So, my old friends became angels God sent in disguise to take us to the doctor's. Josie, then, was very upset (because I had company and left her in the room with Daddy), crying because she just threw up, and felt bad due to the fever. A doctor's visit seemed inevitable!   They took us to the Hope Children Hospital. After the nurse took her temperature, she immediately prepared the suppository fever reducer for her. I stood firm and said no to that. Later, when we saw the doctor, Dr. Chong, he also pressured me to give her the suppository. After listening to her coughs and checking her vitals, he concluded that Josie had croup. I knew croup when I saw one because my boys also had it before. The coughs sound like a barking seal, and it gets worse when the child is crying or upset. I wasn't too concerned about Josie, because she was fine, but the doctor put a lot of pressure on me to give her all kinds of medicine. When he found out that we were actually traveling the following day, he laughed straight to my face and said, "Well, if you don't follow my instructions, you probably won't get into Singapore." He then mentioned that with the swine flu pandemic scare, Singapore was especially vigilant in scanning body temperature on all arrivals. That day was April 29th, the world was in the swine flu craze all of a sudden when Mexico declared a national emergency. Dr. Chong prescribed five different types of oral medication for her, one antibiotics, one fever reducer, one for the coughs, one for the swelling, and one for the phlegm. Then, he also prescribed six doses of suppository fever reducer for us to use on air, so she would not be having fever when we land in different airports. By that point, I really started to dislike him. He tried to make me feel panic and when he saw none, he said, "I would have admitted her today if not for your traveling next day." Then, he smiled, and said, "I doubt you guys would be able to get out of Malaysia." Josie got a nebulizer treatment right there and then, and he ordered us to come back again in the evening for a second treatment.   When we came back for her second nebulizer treatment, I saw Dr. Chong there again. I asked him to write a letter for us, proving that all Josie had was croup, and not some swine flu that was going around the world. Once again, he showed me his disdain, "No, it won't work! They will not believe a piece of paper. You won't be able to touch down in Singapore even if you try!" I asked him, "Why not?" He then reiterated that we needed to use the suppository fever reducer on Josie because that was the only thing that will reduce the fever surely and quickly. He added, "Well, that's not good stuff. Make sure you make her drink plenty of water, because it's going to be tough on her liver." Yikes! Why would I give my child something like that voluntarily? Regardless, I knew he was just showing off his medical knowledge and wanting to make some quick bucks on panicking parents, and when he saw that I wasn't panicking, he simply toned up his pressure talk. I didn't know about all the different medicines that we were prescribed until I went to check out at our initial visit. Another thought here: In Malaysia, the doctor's clinic and pharmacy are usually one entity, making medicine prescriptions part of their moneymaking business. In my humble opinion, I think there's almost a guarantee of abuse. What doctors won't prescribe more medicines to boost their earnings?   Let's see here, this is the receipt of our doctor's visit, and the consultation fee was only RM$30, whereas the medication cost us RM$111.70, and the two nebulizer treatments were RM$46, with a grand total of $187.70.     Well, needless to say, the only medication that's of any value to us was the fever reducer. After we got back, and I showed John all of Josie's medications, he was flabbergasted. "All that?" he managed to ask. "Yeah! All that, plus the suppository too!" After I told him about the side effects, John did not want to use it on Josie. Neither do I. I just felt 'pressured' into accepting all the medications. If we were in the U.S., we might take a doctor's prescriptions but we might or might not fill them, depending on if we felt the need to or not. But at Hope Children Hospital, I didn't have a choice. All the medications were all labeled and prepped when I checked out to pay for the bill. I told John that she had croup, and told him to go read up on it on the internet. He too, agreed with me, "It's a virus, why's the doctor prescribing antibiotics?" "Beats me! I don't know either," I chimed in. He was thinking in terms of US dollar, so when I told him that the doctor's bill was RM$187.70, he thought that was cheap, but I knew it wasn't. Oh well, we got ripped off! All I wanted was an oral children's fever reducer.   On Wednesday, we tried our best to make our flights on Air Asia to go smoothly. This was already a tough point, because when I booked these flights, I didn't know that we would need to pick up our luggage in KL, recheck the luggage for the other segment of our flight to Singapore. So, after realizing this fact, the one and a half hour of transit in KL was quite tight. My friends didn't think we would make it. For a while, I almost thought about buying brand new tickets to fly directly from Penang to Singapore, but just couldn't stomach the extra RM$1000 cost, so I didn't. If our kids were all healthy, this would have been quite tough to handle already. Imagine, with two flights back to back, lots of rushing and running to get our luggage and then run to the international counter to check-in a second time, with Josie sick, and me, feeling unwell as well, the challenge just increased its level of difficulty two fold.    We flew from Penang to KL without any incidence. Once we touched down in KL, we split up into two groups. John took the boys to collect our luggage, while I went with Josie to the check-in counter to check us in, and telling them that our luggage would be coming shortly. First of all, Josie was sick, so she was quite unwilling to walk. Secondly, flying Air Asia meant you would have to walk, and quite a bit of walking to get from the plane to the building at the airport. Thirdly, I had no idea where we were supposed to go. So many challenges! Once we were off the plane, Josie had been crying about wanting to be carried. Not knowing how far we would have to walk, I couldn't risk picking her up, because the longest I could hold a 33 lb. child is maybe 3 minutes top. So, I held her little hand, and with a carry-on bag on the other, we braved the crowd and got inside for check-in. Then, I navigated my way through the check-in counters, only to be told that we weren't at the right one. They pointed us to the international check-in counters on the other side of the airport. So, we trudged over there, all the while, with my poor Josie, crying and moaning on and off, lugging a bag. After checking in, I promised her I would get some cold drink for her. Not carrying any type of cell phones with us, I had no idea how to reconnect with John and the boys. So, it was a bit of 'good luck' that while on the hunt for a cold drink, we bumped into John with all five pieces of our luggage. Checked those in, and we were set! I sat there, saying to myself, "Yeah! We made it!" Almost. Now, we just have to make sure we were all fever free, so we could enter Singapore. I quickly popped some Panadols into my mouth. See, I was beginning to feel sick since Tuesday. Then, I gave Josie some oral fever reducer, and hoped for the best.   We got to Singapore, and sure enough, there was the temperature scanner. We walked towards the immigration counter, while this person who was working on the scanner watched us walk by. A woman came up to us, and make the boys walk again, because somehow they sneaked by the radar. Phew! We made it. That's half the battle. Now, we hoped to make it to Hong Kong and eventually back to the U.S. two days later. We spent two days in Singapore, well, we should all be relaxing! but instead, we were busy meeting up with my old friends. I just kept taking Panadols to keep my fever down, and make my runny nose and coughs better. Josie was still sick, with that bad croupy cough, but she did not have any more fever. On Thursday, Josh started to cough and run a fever. I was like, "Oh no! This is unreal!" I prayed that God will let us back into U.S. safely and quickly. I was already homesick by the third week of our vacation. I told John, "If I ever plan another vacation this long, please shake me and make me come to my senses! This is 'killing' me......."   On Friday, our flight was scheduled at 6:40am. Fortunately we stayed at the Changi Airport's Crowne Plaza Hotel. So, it only took us less than 5 minutes to get from our hotel to the airport. But still, we had to check out at 4am. Our flight to Hong Kong was uneventful, but I was manning the kids' temperature closely, since I read that Hong Kong was on the swine flu alert, and I did not want us to get stuck there. Once we arrived at the Hong Kong airport, we had to go through security again, to get to our connecting flight. We took our time to use the rest rooms, so by the time we tried to line up, we were the last ones in the queue. Needless to say, our party of croupy-coughing kids were faced with suspicion by the other travelers who were spotting face masks, and nervously applying antibiotic hand-sanitizer. Unfortunately, my kids weren't well versed in social etiquette, so they frequently coughed with their mouths wide-open, and their hands were touching things all over. I saw quite a lot of stares and frowns of judgement from other travelers.   We finally got on our second flight of the day, flying from Hong Kong to San Francisco. I heaved a sigh of relief. It was too early to let my guard down. Because almost within a minute of taking off, and that was before the seatbelt signs were turned off, Josh promptly threw up all over the floor before him. Since I was sitting with the boys, I had to alert the flight attendant that I needed something to clean up the mess. They acted quickly, handing over a bunch of wet disposable towels and a plastic bag. Of course, John rose up to the occasion and quickly cleaned up Josh's mess. We knew it was just something Josh did whenever he had a bad cough. He's my only kid who throws up regularly. If he eats too much, he throws up. If he has a cold and a bad cough along with it, he throws up. It's so common that we no longer make a big deal out of it. But, during this swine flu scare, what's worse than exhibiting flu symptoms was traveling with flu symptoms. Immediately, Josh's vomit incident sent people's radar up.   Usually Joey would be able to fall asleep in no time if he lie down on his seat during long flights. But this time, he couldn't get comfortable. Then, I felt him, and he was burning up too. "Oh no! This can't be for real!" I told myself. I have three sick kids, and one sick adult (including myself) in our party. The only one that's not sick was John. Could we possibly get back into U.S. safely, I wondered to myself. So, armed with the kid's Panadol, I made Joey take two chewables fever reducer. I was hoping that it would make him feel more comfortable, and make his fever go away. This flight was going to be a long one, I told myself. It would take us 12 hours to get to San Francisco. That's half a day.   Josh ate the first meal they served on the plane, and minutes later, he threw up a second time. This time, we were well-prepared, and he was actually holding the vomit bag, so none got onto the floor. By this time, the passengers all around us were quite concerned. But, I had no idea their level of alarm until I was greeted by a uniformed gentleman. He knelt down next to me and asked, "Ma'am, are your children sick?" I swallowed hard and answered, "Um...... yeah, my daughter has croup, and my other kids caught it too." He had no idea what croup was. So, I had to explain that it's just a common childhood sickness, and told him that we had Josie's doctor write us a letter proving that she had croup. He informed me that the other passengers were concerned about their safety, and he needed to ensure the safety of everybody on the plane. I asked him, "Are you the pilot?" My mind was racing, entertaining the possibility of getting kicked off the plane. (Too bad! We're already in the air.) He said, "No, I'm the purser. Here's my card. May I have the letter from the doctor?" I handed him the envelope with the letter, forgetting that my receipt was tucked in there too. "Here. We have been staying in Malaysia for the past month." I thought that fact might help us since there was no swine flu cases in Malaysia yet. He pondered upon that fact and assured me that he would have it back after he had a meeting with the pilot, "Ma'am, I'll let you know our decision after I discuss with the pilot what we're going to do. As you know with the situation with swine flu, we really don't want you all to have to go through the quarantine process. That would be a huge hassle!" Wow! He actually used that word 'quarantine'. "Sure, of course! I understand the situation. I really want to get home quickly too." So, he took the doctor's letter and disappeared for a good hour. I had no idea what a purser was. When he first mentioned it, I thought, hmm....... like a bouncer? Haha! I came home and looked it up, oh, it's like a security/safety officer on a commercial flight or ship.     The doctor's letter.     What it said...........   So, we almost got quarantined, if not for that letter. I bet the purser and pilot looked up what croup was during that flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco. I almost wanted to kiss the ground when we landed on U.S. soil. It sure felt good to be home! When informed of our third flight from San Francisco to our home city, Joey grunted, "No! Not another one!" We told him, "We need to. Do you want to get back home?" He reluctantly consented, but made us promised him, "No more! No more airplane!"   Phew! We're back. But what a way to end the trip! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/692115/ Thu, 14 May 2009 16:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/692115/ Second day on Genting Highlands, we went for the Outdoor Theme Park. The carousel outdoor was bigger and prettier than the one indoor. Beautiful colors! I rode the horse with Joey. (The indoor carousel could only hold the kids, no adults allowed.) Nothing beats having two hotel rooms between us and the kids, I slept so well. We got the cheapest hotel (First World Hotel), but upgraded for RM$10 per room per night to the new wing. The boys on the Astro Fighter ride. Josie and me. It had to be a 'green' one! Lately, the kids had been wanting everything 'green'. Green gummies were almost all gone from the huge gummie bears container. Josie and Daddy on the Flying Dragon rollercoaster ride. We had to beg for a long time, because Josie was just a hair shorter than the height requirement. Josie was doing very well on the ride. I had to stay with Joey because he did not want to get on the ride. "Scary!" he said. Josie tried out the Rodeo Rider children's ride. It's similar to space shot, except much milder. She looked a little worried, when they moved up and came down suddenly! She's a brave girl to try out the ride, because Joey refused. Genting should put more of an effort to decorate this old antique car, it just looked ....... so sorry. The kids were attracted by the fish in the koi pond. We didn't even buy the fish food, we were just there, and the fish went wild with anticipation! After going through the Pirate Train ride, Joey took a picture outside. "Oh yeah!" he totally felt like he was a pirate! We paid the extra fees of RM$10 per person to ride this Corkscrew rollercoaster ride. All through the ride, I heard my brother and his girlfriend screaming! Fun! Then, we for the Antique Car ride. First round, Josie drove my brother and his girlfriend. Joey and I were in another car, while Josh and John waited for their turn. After we all had a turn, Josie insisted on going again. So, I went with her, while John went with the boys. This was when I realized that Josie wanted to be the 'driver' and 'was' the driver in the earlier ride. I was surprised because I rode with Joey on the first ride, and he did not want to have anything to do with driving. He just wanted to ride. It gave me a glimpse of understanding of my children's personality! (Because we usually feel that Joey's so 'garang' (fierce) and has a temper, he would naturally be very independent and wanted to do things himself, but really, he wasn't as independent as we thought he was. On the other hand, Josie's showing her strong personality more and more as she grew older. Though she's the youngest, her bossiness and domineering personality became clearer. Oh, I hope when she hit adolescence, we would be all right with each other!) Josie, at the wheel! Later, we went for the Pirate Ship ride, John stayed with Joey and Josie because they were too short for the ride. Thrilling! Your heart might skip a beat when the ship paused for a moment up in the air because you feel weightless for a second! John's turn to ride the Pirate Ship. Josh wanted to do it a second time with Daddy. Joey and me getting on the Cyclone! His height barely qualify him for the ride. Yikes! I think I got a bit bruised from this ride. John and Josh on the Teacups. I disliked this ride with a passion, it made my head dizzy and muggy! Josie loved this ride so much that we rode this repeatedly later while the others went for the boat ride because she couldn't ride due to her height. It's fun! Joey loved it too! I have no problems with rollercoaster rides, nor height. I like fast and rough rides, but I finally found a weakness of mine. Once, when Josie and I were on the Flying Elephant ride together, she wanted to ride it on her own. She stood up to wave at me while the ride was going on, my heart --- stopped for a few seconds! It went weak for a while, and my fear for my child's safety overcame me with trembles down to my knees. Joey, getting ready for the boat ride! (But sadly, he was not tall enough to ride.) My brother on the bumper boat. Josh was having the time of his life here! He really knew how to navigate and bump other people's boat! Jackson and Stephanie. We got caught in a rain, so we let the kids play in the kids' playground here. Josie finally got a chance to ride on an elephant, even though it's a fake one! Nobody wanted to try this Space Shot ride with me, except Josh. Whoa! We were heading up high! Once we were up on the top, we stayed for a while, before........ it dropped us a few hundred feet in high speed! My heart almost leaped out, but wasn't scared. It was a great ride, but nobody wanted to go again, so we moved on. We went on more rides till almost the park's 7pm closing time. Everyone was tired and cold by the time we went back indoor for dinner. We all had a good time, and it was good that nobody was hurt. (Well, except that I got this bad bruise on my back and one on my knee.) We probably won't be back, but the kids said they could stay for a few more days. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/688980/ Thu, 14 May 2009 13:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/688980/ Josie's first ride at the Genting Highlands' indoor park. It's a very smooth, mild ride with different vehicles. This turned out to be her favorite indoor park ride, which later she rode like 10 times in a row when the park was close to closing, of course, with different vehicle each time. Bumper car fun! This is Josh's favorite! The boys (including John and my brother) also did this like a gazillion times.   That's me, trying out the bumper cars. It could get quite crazy, and totally not my cup of tea. My brother, a kid at heart! John in action! Joey just loved tagging along the ride. Getting ready for a rollercoaster ride. Yes, we are ready! "Let's do it again! And again and again!" said Josh. "It's cool!" Riding in a decorated car across the ceiling. That's the one we rode in, looking like lots of flowers. Some decorations all around. The Incredible Hulk! So tacky! More tacky decorations! Green Statue of Liberty riding motorcycle! The kids were excited to ride on the train. (Yeah, Josh, you can turn the head, but can't make the eyes look this way!) Choo-Choo! Chugging away.......... Hi! Josh! Hi! John! The kids also enjoyed the Merry-Go-Round. They just didn't like taking pictures that much. We did split up into two camps, John and I took Josie for her favorite ride, while the boys went with Uncle Jackson and Stephanie for bumper car fun. Now, she's riding a fire engine. A Police car. A tractor. A tow truck. And an antique automobile. The Ferris Wheel was a very bright and breezy ride. Our party was split up into two groups, and we had fun waving at each other! My sweet Josie, making funny faces! My happy girl! So many rides and absolutely no waiting time at all! (It's great to go on vacation when everyone's in school.) There was a waterway around the restaurant areas too, where you could ride a gondola with a fake person. John and me on the gondola ride. The kids were amazed at the beautiful lights under the bridge. They were just randomly waving at people. One last round of bumper car fun for everyone before we're done for the night. How do you explain over and over again why she can't ride because she's too short? Finally, we got her to ride at the Junior Bumper Car section, but there wasn't anyone else. Then, we did the Merry-Go-Round again for her sake. It's very pretty! We had matching jackets from Hanna Andersson. :) Josie and Mommy! Oh! We're getting tired since getting up at 6am to catch the express bus from Penang to Genting Highlands that day. It's something fun to do with the kids, and so cheap! We only spent a little more than $320 for all 7 of us, including express bus rides (both ways), 3 rooms for 2 nights at the hotel, indoor and outdoor park tickets for everyone and food! Caught a shot of them on the rollercoaster ride while we were on the Ferris Wheel. Time to hit the sack! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/688620/ Wed, 13 May 2009 13:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/688620/ We went to the Butterfly Farm in Penang. It turned out to be one of the best memories of our Asian trip. So many butterflies! The butterflies were attracted to Josie's red jeans. They seemed to think that she's one big red flower. Josh sort of regretted that he did not wear his red shorts. We'd never seen so many butterflies flying around before. It was simply amazing! Joey had no problem coaxing a butterfly to stay on his palm. We'd had butterflies landing on us without us knowing.  I got a butterfly on my palm too! Some species seemed to like pineapple juice, while others enjoyed flower nectar. Josh posing with a butterfly. Josh & Mommy. A green lizard. Stick insect. Leaf insect. We saw a butterfly laying eggs. It's really amazing! A colorful butterfly sucking nectar with its proboscis. Of course we had to tell Josh that he's not supposed to pluck any flowers here. There was a scorpion pit filled with scorpions. Yikes! I'm guessing that's a moth from how the wings were resting. After many attempts, Josie finally got a butterfly on her finger. A millipede pit, and we found one renegade one outside too! "Oh, the butterfly likes me!" piped up Josie. "Mommy! I got two butterflies!" Joey's in paradise because butterfly is one of his favorite things. "Don't you fly away!" she scolded a little........ "That's my princess hat!" She finally got two on her hand, that deserved a shot! What a joyful expression! Longhorn beetle. A gecko. Man-face bug. Some sort of frogs/toads. They looked very interesting with triangular eyelids. Joey loved pointing to all the creepy crawlies and calling out their names. Josie enjoyed seeing all kinds of bugs. So many butterflies! Afterwards, we stopped at the Tropical Fruit Farm for some refreshments. John wanted me to take a picture of him eating a banana. The kids totally zonked out on our way back. John's first time driving in Penang. We circled the whole Penang island that day! Gurney Drive. It held so much memories for me growing up in Penang. Josie's favorite guy in Penang, my brother Jackson. Our family at Gurney Drive, after eating at Coffee Island Restaurant. A group picture with my mom. After a huge meal, the kids voted to go to the Youth Park again. My brother suggested that I should take a picture of the kids on this dinosaur. It's been there since our days, and we had pictures of us (me & my three younger brothers) sitting on it when we were little.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/687876/ Sat, 9 May 2009 16:44:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/687876/ Taking a tram up the Penang Hill. My brother and his girlfriend came with us. It surely felt very squished and stuffy in there. Most people had to stand. Here's a view of the tram going up. John said he didn't feel very safe. The view was rather good. We were caught off guard about changing trams in midpoint, and of course lost our seats, since we were last to get on the next tram. We're there! We survived the ride! (It was quite torturous, as there were no a/c, standing in a very cramped environment.) A family shot on top of the Penang Hill Tram Station. Haha! Do we look like mother & daughter?? (I can't believe people actually ask!) Josh posing with an antique cable car. My brother learned how to walk around with Josie on his shoulders. We found a small, neat playground on top of the hill. There was a Hindu temple next to the playground. I wonder if this cannon was ever functional. It was there as far as I could remember. Joey found tons of huge spiders all around the light posts and telephone lines up high. Despite the heat and sun, we still had a fairly good time up there. There was just nothing much to see up there. Penang really needs to learn more from Singapore as far as tourism goes. City of Georgetown down there. Northam Beach Coffee Shop view. My other brother, Jason and his wife, Fern. We took a ferry ride over to the mainland. The kids were quite amazed! My friend suggested it as one of the things that the kids might enjoy doing. That the Penang Bridge that links Penang island to the mainland. Penang Island. Then we went to the front where we could see the mainland, Seberang Prai. John, doing his 'Titanic' pose. Haha! Joey, enjoying the salty breeze. It sure was windy! It was a memorable experience for the kids since we don't get to ride on ferries that often here in Texas. The kids enjoyed going back to the Youth Park over and over again. Josie is adventurous in her own right. Sometimes having two older brothers can really boost one's confidence level. She really knows what she wants. The trees made a beautiful cover over the playground and provided shade from the sun. So long, Penang! We'll be back! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/687873/ Mon, 11 May 2009 11:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/687873/ First stop after we got to Penang was to visit my grandmother. Here's a picture of everybody. Mark, Josh, Joey and Josie are cousins. My mom and her grandchildren. My kids really had fun feeding my uncle's dog, Cheryl. Josh showing his cousin Mark how to draw 3D. My grandma, my sister-in-law, Hong Hooi and Mark were all eyes upon Josh. Mark had fun playing with Josh and other cousins! Batu Ferringhi beach is a famous beach spot for locals and tourists. Joey, busy transporting water to his sandcastle. My mom helped Mark overcome his fear of water initially. Josie loved frolicking upon the sandy beach than in the water itself. I think my kids would be in paradise if they could be at the beach everyday. Josie loved digging in the sand. Next time, I think we would stay at the Batu Ferringhi beach hotel for a couple of days. Watching the sun set. But really, the water wasn't very clean. Beautiful sunset! Mark ate a lot of chicken nuggets and fries. Hong Hooi, my sister-in-law and Mark. The kids were amazed by the playground in the Youth Park. The kids loved climbing up high. There were also a lot of outdoor exercise equipments to try out.   John showed Josh how this thing worked. It really wasn't quite that tough! Having lots of fun! We got really hot and sweaty too. She's just not quite tall enough yet, but still wanted to do everything we did. Turn & twist! We all had some see-saw fun! Josh + Joey vs. Daddy! Joey's doing well. My mom worked till 5pm every work day then hung out with us. She's superwoman! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/687176/ Fri, 8 May 2009 12:44:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/687176/ KL's Petronas Twin Towers. No, we did not go up there. In order to do that, we would need to get there early in the morning to queue up for tickets. But of course we didn't, we weren't morning people.   What impressive buildings! I'm not sure if they brought much economic benefits to the Malaysian economy. We were content to take pictures from the bottom. The L's in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. It's been a while since I saw Malaysian flags draped over building. A view from the top of KL Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur). A great bird's eye view of the city of KL.   KL seemed very packed and busy. Josie at the KL Tower. She's so sweet and cute, some tourists asked to take a picture of her. Uncle Ting Ling, an old-time family friend, took us around KL. They gave us these KL Tower shape water bottles for souvenirs. (I'm sure they charged us enough for the tickets to give us these!) We saw the Petronas Twin Towers from the KL Tower. Finally, a couple shot of just us! Smog! The city seemed quite polluted. Our tickets to the KL Tower also included horseback riding. Josh went first, while Joey declined. Josie was getting ready to ride, until she realized she wasn't getting to ride an elephant.......... Josh, very good naturedly, went again. On the other hand, Josie started having quite a fit, "I want to ride an elephant! I want to ride an elephant! I don't want to ride a horse! No! Not a horse!" Her temper tantrum was still quite fresh in my mind. I think a combination of traveling & some remaining jetlag could do that to a child! So sad, baby, so, so sad! Fortunately, an interesting place was close by with tons of cool bugs, spiders and critters to distract the kids. Phew! Beautiful lizard! Thankfully, a yellow python distracted her enough, that an elephant ride was soon out of her mind. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/686546/ Thu, 7 May 2009 10:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/686546/ Day 3: Jurong Bird Park    Josh was all ready to draw and sketch again. Joey liked looking at the penguins. Penguins was our first stop because it started to rain, and it was an indoor exhibit. Cool penguins, totally oblivious to our existence. The kids took a shot with the fake penguins outside of the exhibit. She's Venyce, my friend Lay Sean's daughter, who met up with us to tour Jurong Bird Park. Next, we went to see the Lory Loft where these cool birds were kept. Lay Sean and her family. We got stuck in the rain for quite a while. She's one of the Four-Gal gang in high school (together with Swee Ing, Shanny & me, of course). Venyce asked her mom to buy Josie the candy stick that she's been crying for, pretty soon, we all bought them each their own. What a nice, thoughtful girl! Penguin candy! We all fell for the vendor trap to buy our kids expensive candy at zoos & parks. Josie was a bit afraid of those Lory birds. The kids had fun playing with each other. Josh and Venyce, especially, became fast friends. After the rain stopped, the kids were let loose at the playground. Look at my 'samseng' girl! Josh was at one of his dramatic moments again. Joey took no convincing to plunge in the fun. Though Venyce was a little hesitant at first. "Do I want to get wet and dirty in this playground?" she contemplated. Very soon, she threw caution in the wind in the face of tempting fun of playing with friends. My kids found this purple dinosaur ride fun!   Josie and Venyce shared a ride too! Later, we went to wait for the Birds of Prey show, and snuck a shot of the new 'couple'. They were having fun talking about art with each other, I presume. Look how red Josh was! He's feeling the heat. Finally, the Birds of Prey show began. The eagle flew up in the air and snagged a fake snake from the pool of water! It was promptly rewarded by its trainer! Yeah, good bird! A few other birds made their rounds, wow! They all looked kind of vicious! The vulture was clamoring for a piece of meat. I wouldn't be so calm if I were her. Day 4: Sentosa Island At the Underwater World on Sentosa Island, my mom was all out touching the star fishes, sea anemones, sting rays, etc. Josie was fascinated by these marine life. I was quite fascinated too, but really, I'm not hands-on kind of gal, no, not ever! Josh had been to quite a few aquariums in the States, but he thought this one was state of the art. Huge octopus! The kids were excited to see it. Giant crab! They were counting to make sure it had eight legs. But this one seemed to have ten! Isn't that crazy? Josh, looking at the jellyfish, he knew about my jellyfish story, so had extra respect for these creatures! These looked like little mushrooms in the ocean! Don't you just want to eat them? Um......... maybe not. Sentosa's Underwater World is like a huge enclosed aquarium where the people are walking right through the middle. Cool! We saw lots of fishes, sharks, sting rays, they were so close, but we're still safe.   Yeah, my kind of aquarium! I doubt I would be at ease being in the same water as one of these! My mom had a great time! We went around it at least twice. Josie liked the automatically moving floor that took us around the aquarium. A school of fish going by. My 2 Kor took some videos of us. Josie enjoy watching the marine life. Don't know any of these fish by name, but they sure were interesting to watch. Afterwards, we went to see a 3-D action movie, then proceeded to visit the Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom. After I pointed out this huge beetle statue to Joey, he wanted to touch it. "Okay, Daddy, that's your job!" "Sure, I do the heavy-lifting!" Joey, in his element - bugs!     He enjoyed learning about insect life cycles. Josh, examining some fossils. Shocking! Prior to this, I found her 'on top' of said fossils! There were lots of specimens of various butterflies and bugs. Scorpions, centipedes, spiders, moths. Various butterflies. Crickets, beetles, leaf insects, stick insects. I thought the leaf insect looked just perfectly camouflaged! By far, the kids liked the 'real thing' so much more. More lory birds clamoring to be fed with sugar water (purchased with money, of course, superb money-making scheme). Josh was quite brave! Beautiful lory! Josh, sporting a bird confidently on his shoulder! My mom looking a little nervous, "What is it doing up there?" Okay, mom, you can relax and smile now! Joey, sneaking up to a resting butterfly. Whoa! A huge lizard just walk up to us! (Really, not sure what it's call, but it's impressive!) Here, my girl picked up a small dandelion and thought to herself, "Hmmm......... I wonder............" "I wonder................ would it be terrible if I pull that tail?" Eeek!!! Okay, Prince Charming came to the rescue, and nobody needed to slay any dragons! After raining cats and dogs, we were able to go see the dolphin show after the sun started shining once more. We sure drank lots of water during our trip. We couldn't wait to see the pink dolphins perform. Yay! We had front row seats! Joey & me. Josie, cautiously checking out the beach. Look there! A pink dolphin! The trainer was giving it a reward. It jumped through three hoops! Cool! Pink dolphins balancing balls on their snouts. There really are pink dolphins, though it was my first time seeing one. It was swimming and swinging a ring at the same time. Amazing! The pink dolphin gave a kiss to a tourist. Great! I was mortified at first thinking they were telling me to go down the water. I knew I didn't raise my hand, so I was relieved that she came up. I didn't want to get wet up to my neck. Doing more tricks to wow the audience! It even hopped out of the water. We had a great show! After the dolphin show, we went to explore the Sentosa beach.   The kids were getting tired, still suffering from jetlag. It had been a wonderful day at the Sentosa Island. 2 Kor was a great tour guide. John and I were glad that we didn't have to figure things out ourselves. The hanging bridge that we would attempt to cross. Joey & 2 Kor walking across the bridge. It got a bit bouncy, but manageable hands-free as demonstrated by my mom! It was nothing like those scary hanging bridge seen on movies. Josie, "Daddy, I need a lift!" Just a cool shot of those chain links.   We also climbed to the very top of those buildings. I bet he was wondering if he was burning off all the calories for all the yummy foods he downed in Singapore. We're done! All done! Josie, "I guess we don't need these stickers anymore. What should I do with it??" Josie, "Hmm.......... Daddy's face is a good place for it!" Yeap, ready to get back on the cable and go back to civilization! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/686515/ Wed, 6 May 2009 11:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/3JsMom/686515/