My way of releasing stress

During the weekend before my exams, I was very worried over my exams. Due to this, Mami gave me a very light revision. I spent some time playing, and doing arts and craft. I realised that it was a great way to release stress. Shaun TiTi did one as well.

Roller Blading with Friends

My classmates and I seem to enjoy roller blading very much. It seems to be our regular hangout when we are free. This time round, we had 2 new classmates. My TiTi joined us as well.

Praise God

I want to thank God for my results. I did pretty well. To celebrate, my friends and I are going roller blading this weekend. I can't wait.

Here comes my examination

Tomorrow marks the first day of my examination. I did not do much revision. Mami just gave a few pointers e.g. "remember to be careful with your capital and small letters, read the instructions carefully, make sure I do not miss any questions etc." Before Mami could start, I was already in tears. Mami gave me a hug and asked me why I was crying. I told her that I was fearful that I would forget. Mami reminded me that I have studied hard for my exams. I needed to trust God and rely on His strength. I hope that I remember that too.

Delicious Mother's Day Dinner

We made it! Dadi, Shaun Shaun and I did it! We made a perfect Mother's Day dinner. The photos shall explain by itself.....

Washing our corns

Salt and butter on our corns

Into the steamer

We wanted to make mash potato. After boiling the potatoes in the hot water, we placed into ice water to peel the potatoes.

Hot potatoes into ice water for 10 seconds

Easy to peel

Mashing

We marinated pork chops early this morning. Dadi and I bought these in the morning wet market at 6:45 a.m.

This is the meat we bought in the morning

Into the Halogen Oven

Frying garlic

Frying lettuce

Our end result.......

Mami said it was super delicious. This dinner was prepared by Dadi, Shaun Shaun TiTi and I.

Happy Mother's Day, Mami.

For stressful mothers

My teacher posted this video on facebook. Mami felt that it was really funny. This is dedicated to all stressful mothers.

If you can't see the full lyrics in English, go to the link directly from youtube.

Gunalah Peppermint Gel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91zYjK2nsow)

Will my Yeh Yeh cook for Mah Mah tonight?

I called my Yeh Yeh last night and told him that he should cook for Mah Mah a Mother's Day dinner. I suggested to him that he can pair with my cousin Joel who is the same age as I am. They can both cook together. I hope Yeh Yeh would listen to my advise.

Mother's Day gift and a kiss

I saw some students buying flowers from the bookshop in school last Tuesday. I was so excited and I found out that one stalk of flower cost RM5.00. It was certainly a perfect price for me because I had RM5.00 with me. Mami had given me RM5.00 to keep for emergency purposes only.

I have never used the RM5.00 for buying anything since I started school and I was too afraid to use it this time. So, I came back and asked Mami permission if I could use it to buy something important. I guess Mami trusted me and said yes.

The next day, I used my money to buy her a stalk of rose. I was super duper quaduple happy about it. I proudly gave it to her when I saw her after school. She was certainly very happy.

This was the flower I purchased from the bookshop

I asked her for more money. I wanted to buy one for my Ah Mah and another for Mah Mah. Mami gave me only RM5.00 to buy for Ah Mah. She said that I wouldn't be able to send the rose to Mah Mah because she stays in Ipoh. It would not be practical to insert a flower into an envelope for postage. Without responding to Mami, I took the RM5.00 and immediately ran to the bookshop to buy one flower for Ah Mah.

On our way home, I asked Mami if she could drive me to Ipoh now. I told her that I wanted to give Mah Mah a stalk of rose, give her a kiss, say goodbye and we can drive back to KL immediately. Mami laughted at my response and said that it would not be practical to do so.

When I arrived home, I gave the flower I purchased and gave to my Ah Mah. I wished her Happy Early Mother's Day. I was too shy to give her a kiss. Ah Mah was filled with joy. She said that she has never received a flower from her grandchild before.

On a separate note, I also made this in school for my mother.

 

Wishing all other mothers, Blessed Mother's Day.

I am cooking for Mother's Day

I am super duper excited. I came out with an idea that I should cook for Mami for Mother's Day. So, I picked up the phone and immediately called Dadi while he was still at work a few hours ago. I told him that he will be paired with me. I asked him what we should cook and I whispered some recipe to him. I didn't want Mami to hear my conversation. Poor Dadi, he sounded puzzled.

After putting down the phone, I asked for permission to use Mami's labtop. I googled "how to cook with halogen oven". I watched some videos on the YouTube and now I have some idea what I want to do.

I have told Mami that Dadi and I will be cooking dinner tomorrow for Mother's Day. I hope my Dadi remembers to buy all the ingredients for our menu tomorrow.

Oh... a few minutes ago, Mami received a text message saying that he is feeling very pressured. I think he doesn't know how to cook.

Wish me luck.

MHP Vouchers from school

I did it. I managed to receive RM50 MPH vouchers from school.

My school gives this reward to any student for borrowing from our school library and reading 5 English and 5 BM books from January till April. I was quite surprised to have received it. Initially I thought it was for the whole year, and now I realised that it's for the first 4 months. I was the only one in my class who received it. It made me really proud.

Badminton lessons

Mami feels that it is time for me to have some relaxing lessons to mentally destress myself. She recently enquired and found a badminton coach who teaches at Kampung Pandan Sports Complex. The lesson for a group of 4/5 students cost RM100 for 4 sessions, 2 hours each.

I hope to be able to start my lessons next month after my mid-term exams. I wonder if I can be the next "Dato Lee Chong Wei", especially when we have the same surname.....

Roller Blading again

Today was a holiday for my school. It was an occasional holiday declared by my school. It was also a perfect time to do revision for my exams, starting on 15th May. However, Mami was kind enough to bring my roller blading.

A few of us gathered and we had a new friend from another class who joined us. I had a great time, although I have blisters on my legs. It's really fun and a great way to de-stress myself.

I did not miss out in my revision. I did some Maths exercises in the morning before leaving for roller blading, and I did more in the evening.

I hope to be able to go for roller blading more often. I am beginning to be good at it.

Birthday Presents for my 7th Birthday

I am very blessed to have so many birthday presents. I thank God for them. Here are some presents received....

From Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah. The books are really good.
I started reading the book about Animals.
It's very easy to read.

This was from Aunty Julie.
She also gave a birthday treat by paying for my
roller blading entrance fee.

This is from Aunty Shireen. It's a 3D Crystal Puzzle.

This is from Aunty Jenny. A photo frame and it is
sitting in my room so that I can see it
before I sleep every night.
This is Mami's favourite photo of her
precious boys.

There were other presents. Ku Ku and Ah Kim bought me a Dino Lego, Ah Mah bought me a Transformer space ship, Ku Ku bought me an Uno Stacko and Chinese Chess, and Dadi bought me XBox Kinect.

I am very blessed.

Reflection

Mami asked me this question.... "Benjamin, are you happy that Dadi and Mami had chosen this Primary School for you?". I immediately said YES! Thinking back, Mami is relief that God had chosen this school for me.

I was registered to a famous Chinese School and was accepted to the school. But Dadi and Mami agreed that I would be too fearful going to the school. They did not want to kill the spirit of independence in completing my homework. They did not want me to have too many tuition lessons (Mami can't read a single word of Chinese characters).

Dadi and Mami then explored 2 private schools in Cheras. One had a better syllabus and curriculum. However, it was much farther compared to the another. Initially, Dadi was keen to send me to the school with better syllabus. Yeh Yeh, Mah Mah and my Ah Mah all played a part in giving their feedback. They felt that the school distance should be taken as a factor. It would be pitiful for a young child to spend so much time on the road to school.

Thank God Dadi and Mami had listened to their advices. Finally they agreed to the decision to sending me to the school nearer to our home.

Reflecting back on the decision made, I am glad I am in this school. I guess when one option looks very promising, it may not be the best for me. The second option doesn't look that convincing but God knows best. Also, Dadi and Mami both believe in honouring their parents. They believe that God will bless us when we honour the decision of our parents.

Do you know why Mami feels that this is the right place for me? Because I am certainly more cheerful and joyful in this school. I am also less stressed and amazingly, I have not been thinking of my exams. Yes, I have been doing my revision, but that's it! I do not have sleepless nights, although my exams are less than 2 weeks away.

God is certainly good.

Roller Blading

It was my birthday yesterday and coincidently, it was an off day for my school due to our sports day last Saturday. There was an impromptu meetup for Roller Blading. I was so happy to have some classmates coming for Roller Blading at Bangsar Shopping Centre.

I really enjoyed myself. Dadi and Mami invited my friends for a small lunch and arranged for some cupcakes to celebrate my birthday with my friends.

This birthday celebration with my friends was unexpected by anyone. Dadi and Mami decided only when they saw a few of my friends there. Though unprepared, but it was certainly my best celebration ever.

First time roller blading

1 candle represents Standard One. It doesn't represent my age.

  

Can't go for Kenny G's performance

Am so sad that I am unable to go for Kenny G's performance in Genting. Mami said that the hotels are fully booked. The only place available is Awana, and she is not keen to stay there. She doesn't like the idea of driving up and down from Genting to Awana.

The Movie - Avengers

Dadi and Mami brought Shaun and I to watch the movie, Avengers. We went to 1Shamelin Shopping Mall in Cheras to watch. Dadi and Mami were not keen to bring us to the cinema in town. Afraid of any possible heavy traffic or unavailability of movie tickets.

I do not know how to describe how the movie was. All I know is that I really love the movie. I love all the superhero characters. I love Iron Man, Hulk and Hawkeye. My comments after the show were:

1) I didn't know that Captain America was the first SuperHero, in coma for 70 years.
2) I didn't know that Hawkeye is so powerful. I told Mami that I thought he can just shoot arrows. But his arrows are very powerful.

Sports Day

Yesterday was my sports day. I was initially very excited. I told Mami that I am serious about my Sports Day and I hope that my house colour would win. I was also hoping in my heart that I would win a medal for the telematch.

However, I did not win any medals. I was really very sad, and I had some tears in my eyes. Mami kept consoling me, giving me biscuits and drinks to distract me. She told me that I did very well and promised me to buy something for me as a prize.

I am feeling fine now. I told Mami that I would take away my Sports Day memories from my brain and throw it away so that I do not feel sad.

I shall try even harder next year.

Kenny G in coming to town

Kenny G is performing at the Arena of Stars, Genting (http://www.groupon.my/deals/klang-valley-kuala-lumpur/Star-Planet/716044101?nlp=&CID=MY_CRM_1_0_0_115&a=715827975).

I was introduced to Kenny G by my Science Teacher in school. I learnt that he plays the saxaphone and he played a very new piece of the theme song from the movie Titanic.

Now that he is coming to perform in Malaysia, I really wish I can go and hear him play. However, Mami has to check with my teacher to confirm my mid-term exams. According to the school calendar, my exam should end on the day before Kenny G's performances.

Signs of Exam Stress

I came back from school and prepared some exam questions for Mami to do. I'm not sure why I did them. Perhaps it would help me in preparing for my exams.

Bahasa Malaysia exam paper

Mathematics exam paper

Science exam paper

English exam paper

As expected, Mami scored full marks in my exam paper.

Treasured Moments with Grandparents

My grandparents from Ipoh came last week to spend some time with us. They stayed for only 2 nights and I wished they could stay longer with us.

I really enjoyed them. Best of all, I was able to play lots of games with them. We played Scrabble, Chess, Chinese Chess and X-Box Kinect together.

I also received birthday presents from my grandparents and my aunty from Ipoh. Mah Mah bought me some books (very educational) and my favourite Cars 2 Holly Shiftwell. Ku Ku bought me Uno Stacko and Chinese Chess.

I am very blessed and fortunate to have loving grandparents and aunty. Which reminds me, I have not given a call to my Ku Ku to thank her for her lovely presents. Mami has been reminding me, but as usual......I'm just too excited playing. I shall make the phone call soon.

Will I Have Exam Fever?

I have experienced the stress of exams even when I was a preschooler. I am a boy who worries, and I take my exams seriously. Even at the age of 5, I had sleepless nights before the days of my examination. So much so, Mami was advised to bring me to see a psychologist if my condition was too severe.

What was I worried about? I have always wanted to be first in my class. I wanted to do well, and I wanted to win an award. At that time, my kindergarden would give awards for  the first 3 positions. I was certainly aiming for the first, if not at least one of them. Despite Mami putting so much effort in preparing me for my exams, I was worried that I would forget what was taught. I was worried that Mami had not taught me everything. I was worried that I would be careless. I was worried that I didn't know what to answer. Mami was truly grateful to God for granting my heart's desire of obtaining first place in my kindergarden when I was 5 and 6 years old.

I am now in Primary One. Mami is amazed that I have not shown any signs of stress since my exams is less than a month away. I know that Mami dare not mention the word exams at home, but I do know that my examination is round the corner.

Today, Mami finally asked me the golden question. She asked me if I knew my exams would be coming. I told her yes. She then asked me if I was worried and I replied yes. She asked what I was worried about and I mentioned that I was afraid that I did not know how to answer the questions.

Mami asked me a question. She asked if I trusted God. She told me that God will send a helper, the Holy Spirit to help me during my examinations. I needed to trust and believe. Mami reminded me of the song I used to learn "I will cast all my cares upon You. I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet ....."

Mami prayed for me and I slept well after the prayer.

Another birthday present

I'm so blessed to have received nice birthday presents.

I just received another from my Ah Ku and Ah Kim. My favourite...Lego.

Legos are really expensive. I just wish that the prices would be more afforable so that I can collect more of them. I wonder where I can get cheaper sets of Legos.

Sports Rehearsal

Our school had a Sports Rehearsal at a stadium this morning. I was really excited and most importantly, I prayed for good weather the night before. Mami said that it was important to have fine weather.

God was indeed an answering God. He gave us excellent weather. It was cloudy the entire morning, with a little breeze.

I was excited to go for my rehearsal, but at the same time, I was disappointed that I was not chosen to participate in the 50m run. I was only the relief runner. I participated in the group telematch. However, my house did not win the telematch.

Big yawn.... because I woke up at 5:45 a.m.

Feeling really bored

I certainly enjoyed myself today. Although I did not win any medals, but it was still fun to be with my friends, trying to participate in my house cheer. I love the song and I tried to sing along.

This is my first experience of a sports event in such a big place. It's a great experience.

Enjoyable Public Holiday

It was a Public Holiday yesterday, and I really enjoyed the day. It wasn't a super ordinary day, but just spending time and playing with my loved ones makes me happy.

Our family arrived at Ah Ku's house yesterday at 6:30 a.m. In remembrance of my Ah Kong, we visited his graveyard at Nirvana. We would normally go there about twice a year. Once during the Easter period and another time during Christmas.

We did some cleaning. There were my 3 cousins, Shaun and myself working hard to pull the long weeds and wiping the tombstone. Ah Ku and Dadi helped too. Mami and Ah Kim were busy supervising and instructing us, while Ah Mah would trim the flowers.  Just before we left, Ah Ku said a prayer for both families, thanking God for His grace and blessings upon us and for their earthly father (which is my earthly grandfather). It was a time to remember God's goodness in our lives.

After prayers, we left for breakfast together. By the time we arrived home, it was still very early.

Mami surprised me with a box of Cars2 Lego. I was super excited. I love building Legos. I took the morning to build Lego, but there was a condition that Shaun and I had to practice our music. So, Mami spent some time teaching Shaun TiTi music theory, while Dadi sat with me at the piano.

Back to my Legos. Come see what I built.

You can actually put a car into the SpyJet

It was lunch time after building my Lego. We ate lunch and did some homework. Mami was really proud of us for doing lots of homework without any fuss.....especially for Shaun TiTi.

We took a short nap in the afternoon and I spent some time playing XBox Kinect with my Dadi. Oh, before I forget, Dadi bought me the XBox Kinect for upcoming birthday. In my earlier post, I mentioned that it was the most expensive birthday present received.

I did a little more maths equations in the evening. When it comes to homework, Mami has this rule for me all the time. If I make more than 2 mistakes in a page, I would have to complete another page of homework. So, it really forces me to be very careful in my work. So, homework isn't all easy for me. Mami would sometimes give exceptions if the homework is very difficult, especially for BM and Moral.

We settled down to our bedroom pretty early. Went to our bedroom at 7:15 p.m.. We played some educational board game. Shaun and I had some fun and by 8 p.m., we had to do our devotion time together with Mami and Dadi. This time, Ah Mah joined us too. After taking turns to pray, we headed to bed at about 8:30 p.m.

It was a fun day. I hope that there would be more public holidays to come.

Can I Run?

Sports Day is round the corner and there was a selection of runners held last week for 50m event. I was really excited and before school started, I told Mami that I prayed that I would be selected. I know that Mami didn't quite want me to enter this event. She doesn't have the confidence in me running, especially when I have flat foot.

The selection of runners was based on the house colours. I am in Blue House. So, all Primary One students from Blue House ran together. To my amazement, I came in 3rd place and my name was written on a Green Card by the teacher. The 1st and 2nd place runner's names were written on a White Card.

I was all excited about it, but did not give the details to Mami. I just told her that I was certain that I would be running for Sports Day. Dadi and Mami were proud of me. Last weekend, Dadi brought me to The Gardens and bought me a new running shoe. On that day itself, Dadi brought me to practise running in the field and taught me how to tie shoe laces. Dadi was really proud of me to be able to finally tie my own shoe laces.

On Saturday evening, Mami and I were chatting, and all of a sudden, Mami asked me about how the selection of runners went. After explaining the details to Mami, she suddenly realised that I may have misunderstood the situation. She suspected that I may be the relief runner for Sports Day. She said that it doesn't make sense to have 3 runners per house. Typically, there would be 8 runners, 2 for each house. After hearing from me that my name was written in a Green Card, different from the 1st and 2nd places, she was pretty sure that I would not be running, unless if another student from Blue House was absent.

I was pretty disappointed with the news Mami shared with me. She tried to console me and told me that perhaps I would take part in the Telematch event.

Well, I hope to be able to participate in an event for Sports Day. Perhaps I would know this week. Sports Day is at the end of the month.

Can you share God's love to kidnappers?

My English teacher in school was telling us stories about her childhood days when she was able to go for many adventures, like climbing a tree, watching spider fights and many more interesting activities. She added that it was a different from today because for us, we have to be very watchful about safety and kidnappers. It is no longer safe for children to go out alone for these adventures. I shared this with Mami and she agreed.

Then I asked Mami why did God make kidnappers in the world. Mami replied saying that God made man, and some man became bad because they do not know God. They do not know about God's love for them. She added that this is the reason why we share God's love to people who are not Christians.

Then I told Mami that it would be too dangerous to share God's love to kidnappers. What if I share God's love to kidnappers and then the kidnappers will say "God? Who is God, Where is God?". The kidnappers will turn around and when there is no God to be seen, he would straight away capture and kidnap me.

Mami was speechless.

Happy Easter everyone!

Sharing Jesus' Love

There is one advantage of going to a Christian School.

Every week we are exposed to the Bible. Every week we learn about God and Jesus. Because every student is exposed to the Bible one way or another, it is not uncommon for us to talk about God and Jesus. In such an environment, I am not afraid to say anything about the Bible, or even tell my friends about Jesus.

Many times during my devotion time with Mami, I am being asked "What can you do to share about Jesus to your friends?". I would always tell Mami that I am afraid. I remember last year, she asked me to tell a kindergarden friend of mine that Jesus loves her. I hesitated and eventually, I did not say it because I was shy. I told Mami that I wasn't sure if she was a Christian or what she would say in return.

Well, I am beginning to be a little more open about this. I am still afraid, but I did move a small little step ahead. Today, I gave each of my classmates the little note that I wrote "Jesus loves you". I suggested to Mami that I wanted to do this.

I was very happy to have given all my notes to everyone. But the happiest moment was when another classmate of mine requested for another card. I didn't have any extra. I gave my last card to my class teacher. He begged me for another. I found out from him that his sister who was only 3 years old is suffering from Leukaemia. He said it was a deadly disease. I promised him that I would make an extra card for his sister. He reminded me to ensure that I made a note exactly the same for him. I gave him my word.

I was happy, not because my friend's sister was sick. I was happy because I thought that maybe my card would help someone in need. I told Mami as soon as she picked me up and requested for her to stop at Tesco before headed home. I needed to buy the cards to make new ones.

I told Mami the seriousness of the disease. I didn't give much description. I just said that a person can die with such a sickness. Mami reminded me that we should pray for her healing tonight and that God will touch her heart when she sees the card. I am not too sure if she is a Christian, but she is only 3 years old.

Mami said that she prays that I am able to share Jesus' love to my friends and be an instrument of God. I don't quite understand how I can be an instrument, but I hope I can play an instrument for God in the future. I wonder if that is the same.

Special note to my friends

Mami brought me to Tesco after school today, just to buy my toothpaste. So, I entered the stationery section and bought these cards in a pack. I had an idea of writing special notes for my school friends. So, as soon as I completed my homework, this is what I did with the cards. I intend to give them to all my classmates. Each and every card was special.

Cool Haircut

This is the coolest haircut I've ever owned. I looked different and cool. 

I've got mail! I've got mail!

I've got mail! Yey! It's not a physical mail, but an electronic mail. Yes, I have received my first electronic mail.

Mami opened a Gmail account for me sometime last week. She opened it because she wanted to create one with my name and she was worried that one day it would be taken by some other people. Now you know where I inherited my "kiasu-ness" from. She did the same for my Shaun TiTi.

I wrote an e-mail to my Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah last week. I did not want to tell them. I wanted to surprise them. I am not sure if they were surprised, but today, I received an e-mail from them. I was so happy and I immediately replied them using my Gmail account.

I am so proud to be able to login into my Gmail account on my own and compose a mail. I wrote to my Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah all by myself. I composed it and sent it on my own. It was easy. I just needed to look at all the labels on the links or button. You should try it. It is fun.

Oh... I also secretly login to my Gmail account in school today from the computer in my school library. I was surprised that I could access my Gmail account.