School Transfer Approved!!

On 16 Dec we received the approval letter from Education Department. I felt relief. Now we confirm Jian can transfer to new school when school re-open.

Before that we will go back to current school to get Jian's report card, student particulars form,dentist check card etc.I called the headmistress and she said the teacher will be around only on 2 Jan 08.So,we schedule to collect and pass to new school on that same day.

So,there are a few thing I need to do following that.
(a) To register for MRC after school care.
It seemed that Jian like to join the MRC nearby his new school.They had a trip to USM as an Astronomy excursion in Muzium & Galeri Tuanku Fauziah on 13 Dec as part of this school holiday program. The objective of the excursion is to expose the students to meteorites, sun gazing and a journey into galaxy.Besides, they also experienced the making of water rocket and parachute.

(b) To cancel the school bus service
We will bring Jian to school so school bus service is longer needed which I will call to cancel.

Little Wei Zhi had high fever and measles

This few days,little Wei Zhi fell sick.First it started with high fever on Thurs morning.The nanny called us to bring him for doctor consultation.It's terrible, the temperature went up to 39.6C and doctor immediately insert half tablet of fever medicine to the back side.Poor little Wei Zhi cried out loudly.Luckily the fever gone after that.
However,starting from Sat morning, we found red spots on Wei Zhi's face. We brought him to specialist again and according to doctor it might not be the real measles.There was no medicine given and the only advice is to drink more water.I am getting a bit worried about Wei Zhi who's weight did not gain since 6 months old and maintained at around 8kg till now at the age of 8 months.

After checking the growth percentile calculator, little Wei Zhi falls into the following percentiles: Weight = between percentile 10 and 25

http://www.loveyourbaby.com/baby-growth-calculator.html

What do the percentiles mean?
If the child is in the 20th percentile for weight, for example, he weighs more than 20 percent of children his age and less than the other 80 percent.

This means that Wei Zhi is under weight at the moment.

1 Dec: Jian goto MRC holiday courses

Tomorrow 1 Dec, Jian will start joining a holiday courses offered by MRC Bayan Baru for writing composition in English,Malay & Chinese.This MRC centre is within walking distance to Jian's new school. If school transfer is successful,our plan is to send him there for after-school care which includes bathing,lunch,homework guidance,tuition in all subjects. For school holiday now,we let him familiarize with the environment and teacher. The fee for holiday course is about RM300 and the duration is four weeks whereas time from 9-12am. The principle is so kind that she let us send Jian earlier there at around 7.30am before we go to work and we will fetch him back during our lunch time. Actually Jian has attended English course in another MRC centre before when he was four years old and completed level 8 when he was six years old. I like the mind mapping teaching method by MRC which create long term memory in kids and I hope this can help Jian to master the study easily and happily.

Congratulations Jian..

On the last day of school, Jian brought back a trophy to our surprise.
I only knew that he is number three in his standard one study after the school graduation/convocation .There was prize giving for other contests. Of course,I felt happy for him and told him that this would be a good souvenier indicating that he has studied in the school before. As you know Jian will be transfered to a new school next year.

Jian told me that actually he is number 2 initially but somehow teacher deducted 1 mark and resulting his position drop to number 3. Well,this didn't bother me anyway. Congratulations Jian,k eep up with the good work.

12 Nov -Transfer School

On 12 Nov , Piao and I went to Jian's Primary School to sign on the school transfer form officially as requested by the headmistress. Here ,I would like to thank lovely A and the headmaster of our destination school for their precise information and advice. Sad to say that the headmistress for the current school is not that cooperative.Thus, I would like to list out the necessary steps and documents needed for those interested.

Get your documents photostated with the original copy for reference.
(a) IC of parents (both sides)
(b) electrical/water bill for new address or S&P
(c) marriage certificate
(d) envelope with stamps (to be send back by Education Dept)

After that, inform the headmaster of current school and submit the documents. The school will ask the parent to sign on the transfer form. It is being told that by 15 Dec, we will eceive the mail which indicate whether the school transfer application is approved. Another way is the submit the form and documents ourselves to the Jabatan Pendidikan Daerah near the school we applied.This may speed up the process and may only take 1 day to 2 weeks for the results. In our case, we let the school submit the application.

Well, there are a few reasons why we decided to transfer Jian to another school.
(1) Infrastructure of school:
(a) left portion of the school classrooms and area is overtaken by developer for housing project which already in progress.
(b) front portion of school will be allocated for road expansion by government and the basket ball court will be gone.
(2) Teachers' altitude
(a) there are teachers who canned standard 1 students every day for not bringing books, home work etc. In addition, the teacher like to pull hair or pinch student as a punishment for making minor mistakes in Maths. This make me feel students are under pressure.

After much consideration ,we decided to transfer our son Jian to a school for its caring environment and I hope we have made the right decision.

Piano mini performance

On 2 Nov, Jian attended a small music performance organized by his music centre. He performed two songs. Jian has been learning Piano for half year now and sometimes he just lack of practice since we are busy and didn't really monitor his progress. But,anyway I felt proud when watching him playing piano during the music performance. Well we brought little Wei Zhi there to support his big brother and surprisingly he could sit there hours to watch the piano,ensemble, guitar performance etc.

He he ...Laughing baby Wei Zhi

Wei Zhi and his big brother Jian was playing in the playpan one day,and their laughing sound were so loud and clear. I quickly grab the camera and passed to Piao to took a video of them. Well, when you feel blue,don't forget to visit and watch this video clip to cheer you up, wa ha ha :)

Wei Zhi went coffee shop on 08/11/08

On Nov 08 (Sat), the family went out for a dinner at Bah Kut Teh opposite Tesco extra.

This is the first time we brought Wei Zhi out for dinner.He get excited and used the little spoon or toy to knock on the table and threw them away after get bored.So,I was busy picking up the staff.

Not long after, he showed some frustration because it is his biological clock call to sleep.Knowing that, we quickly placed him in the stroller and pat him to sleep.Just within minutes he fell asleep peacefully and we continued with our yummy Bah Kut Teh.

Nearly 6 months -- Wei Zhi Sit and Crawl Stage

Hi hi,
As an updates, little Wei Zhi learn to sit and crawl at the moment. Everything he can get will go into the mouth.The only way to prevent foreign material inside his moth is to let him has a pacifier in his mouth.He specially love the newspaper and plastics bag.Whenever heard the sound of those two thing,he would turn his body towards it and grab it quickly.

He recognizes people and only let selected people to carry him around or else he will cry within minutes. Those VIP includes me,Piao and BB sitter.

Wei Zhi like to yell and talk but appear to be a little bit introvert compare to his brother.Well, I think we have two sons with different character.

7th Sept 2008 -- Wedding Dinner

Jian : Am I cool??

On 7th Sept Sunday night , we attended a wedding dinner at Taman Sentosa (Xin Fu restaurant) ,Bukit Mertajam.It took us around 45 minutes to reach there by Penang bridge as the traffic is smooth. So as usual, the dinner started around 8pm even it was stated as 7pm.By then, Jian seemed to have a hungry stomach and ate eagerly when the food is served.

A relative submitted a paper to the karaoke MC to ask Piao sing a song on stage. Ha, but it turned up the singer name list is too long and Piao manage to escape from performance on stage.

When returning home, there was accident at Penang bridge and we reached home nearly 12.00am midnight. Overall it is a tiresome trip.

Little Wei Zhi is 5 months old today

Hi hi, today I am exactly 5 months old already! Hurray..
I have been driving this Walker since last two weeks and now I can control my movement bit by bit to destination I like. It's pity that my hand still can't reach those interesting things on the coffee table.I believe one day I will reach them.

Batu Ferringgi's Adventure Zone

Jian: Here is Golden Sand.I love the beach and tower!!

Well , as part of the school holiday activities, we brought Jian and parents in law to Adventure zone located in Golden Sand Resort,Batu Feringgi.It was an event organised by Hospital Pantai Mutiara,free for kids and adult only RM10 each including a simple lunch and games for kids. Normal rate is RM30 for 2 hour session. The activities started around 10.00am and ended at 2pm. The Adventure Zone is not that big but it's enough fun for Jian.He love the Astra slide using rug and also the double drop slide with ball pit exit that he can relaxingly shake his leg on the edge of the slide.I only tried the ball pit exit slide only once as I am a bit scared.

The special features of the Adventure zone is the slides. There are three different slides:-
•Astra Slide– Height 18ft. (5.5m) length 50ft. (15.2m)
•Double Drop Slide with ball pit exit – Height 20ft. (6.1m) length 48ft.(14.6m)
•Drop Slide – Height 24ft. (7.3m) length 75ft. (22.9m)

* Safe for children aged seven and above

After the play, we continue the day by shopping at Gurney Plaza and watched the Dark Knight Movie at GSC. This is Jian's favourite Batman's show.

Finally we had our dinner at the old coffee shop opposite Jetty known as "Under Big Tree".

School Holiday - seaside

As you may know, school holiday began 16 August till 24 August. So we promised Jian to have some fun time at the seaside near our house after his exam.He scored 100 marks in 3 subjects this time which are English,Chinese (Essay) and Science.

It was evening and we took some pictures near the seaside.Though our house only a few minutes of walking distance to beach,we seldom been there.

1st Aug : August Birthday Celebration by colleagues

Every month our department will organise a birthday celebration lunch for those who born in that particular month. So far we have birthday lunch throughout the year, except January. For August, July babies will organise for the birthday lunch.

This time we are having Japanese Food at Koyotei Restaurant,Hutton Lane to celebrate Eric and Tik's birthday.I was a bit late for the lunch due to unforseen circumstances.

The restaurant is quite spacious where total 36 of us only occupied one third of the dining hall.I ordered Saba Steak Set Lunch which includes Saba steak,rice , miso-soup, kobachi , chawan-mushi, fruits. For me, the food seemed to be not much special.. Nevertheless, we have secret recipe cake and it is chocolate favour. Yeah, one point to mention is the rest room is equipped with transparent glassy basin with water tap spraying out water.Look nice!

Standard 1 Exam for the third time

Jian had his exam last Thursday and Friday on Bahasa Cina (Writing), Bahasa Malaysia (Writing), Maths (in Eng) and Science (in Chinese). This coming Wed & Thurs, Jian will continue other 5 test papers ie,
(1) Wed - Bahasa Cina (Comprehension),
(2) Wed - English
(3) Wed - Maths (in Chinese)
(4) Thurs - Bahasa Malaysia (Comprehension),
(5) Thurs - Science (in English)

This round, I have lack of time to prepare him for the exam as we have baby Wei Zhi now. But I tried my best to slot in some revision time when Wei Zhi has a nap.Jian show his interests in the exam this time, hoping to score high marks . This is due to the reason that school teachers revised with them and he is motivated since he can answer most of the questions.

Event : Penang PC Fair (8 Aug~10 Aug)

The next PC fair is coming soon!
The duration is 3 days from 8 Aug 08 to 10 Aug 08 and venue is the same at PISA (Penang International Sports Arena) . This year,for the first time, my brother has a booth in PC fair selling online games and some computer accessory.When free,I will definitely go to visit his booth on Friday.

Every year the PC fair is crowded with peolpe around. If you need computer related thing, it is a good chance to compare the price and get promotion items with some free gifts.

28th July 08 :Celebrate Teacher's Day

Just one week after Hou You Sea Food , we had opportunity to taste the other Penang Teluk Kumbar Sea food again. On 28th of July, that is the Monday evening me and family members went to attend Teacher's Day Celebration for Jian's primary school. This is the first time , PIBG held the occasion in Hai Boey Sea Food Restaurant.
We have not been here for almost three years and this restaurant has gone into expansion and renovation. The kitchen become bigger as well as the toilet is newly build. Car park are equipped with lamp post. There are even swings connected to trees branches near sea side and become wonderful place for kids,especially Jian who love beach so much!

Lots of lobsters and crabs for you to choose. But tonight they are not our favour. We had 8 courses dinner tonite. There are as in the following :-

(1) Appetizer with 4 separate dishes: deer's meat, fried crispy durian,

(2) Sharp Fin (which is really yummy yummy)

(3) Herbal Chicken (the soup is so delicious)

(4) Nestum Fried Big Prawns

(5) Vegetables with mushroom etc.

(6) Steamed Fish assorted with garlic and

green sambal (fish is fresh and big)

(7) Yam Rice with ingredients

(8) Cold desserts (longan jelly)

The food is great and worth for money.Besides, we had a performance
on the stage by part time singer who is alumni of the Primary school. She is active and excellent singer. As overall view, I love the food and event that night.

Cloth diapers to help create a green world!

Just tested out a set of one size cloth diapers on my little Wei Zhi which already 4 months old.
To my surprise the soft lining area seemed to be more dry than the disposable diapers that I used. This value pack come with three different colours and with 6 inserts. These cloth diapers can served as fancy pant too.I have always read about the benefit of using cloth diapers in saving money and natural touch of fabric. Besides it is environment friendly product and is usable.Cloth diapers can be wash, reuse and recycle. With cloth diapers we are not throwing thousands of pounds of non-biodegradable waste into the landfills each year.

But it is not cheap to buy cloth diapers, they may cost RM50~RM80 for 1 cloth diaper with two inserts. Yes,in long term, cloth diapers is more economic.If you do the math, cloth wins. Example: Assuming usage for 2 years for 2 kids. You Save = RM 3,194 for 2 years

Disposables diapers (Average 3 diapers per day)
(2190pcs x RM0.80)

Two lovely brothers...

He he, let me introduce myself.I am Jian, a big brother of Wei Zhi.

Sometimes, I feel that I am a super hero as I am so tall and strong compare to my little baby brother. Of course,not forgetting I am seven years older than him.

Shh, to tell you the secret identity of me. Noticed what I wear? It's a batman suit,but I didn't put on the mask because i dare not scare the baby. I love my brother so much and miss him when he is not around. I help to stop Wei's crying by clapping hands and making funny sound.

Well, it works every time I tried, believe it!

Furthermore, I enjoy kissing baby Wei Zhi's cheek and singing to him. Well,I hope the time will be turned faster because I can't wait to have little Wei Zhi playing with me,especially hide and seek.

Technical Training

The whole week, we had training to refresh some technical knowledge.

It is about the transmission line theory, Signal Integrity problem, S- parameter,Smith Chart,HSPICE simulation etc.

I remembered how tediuos we had to draw the Smith Chart during tertiary study but now just with a click on the software.The results comes out fast and accurate.

20th July :Family gathering at sea side restaurant.

It is Sunday evening, and we had a family gathering at the sea side restaurant "Hou You".Too bad that it was raining and we could not took any scenery photoes.

Well, we have special guests , my younger sister who get married and lives in Ipoh.My younger brother who study medicine and back for 2 months holiday.All together 12 persons, including my mum and parents in law.

We order the special ingredient Satay (Jian's favourite), Fried squid,Luo Soon Sambal Prawn,Kap Pa wine soup, Clay Pot Tau Foo,Curry big prawn,Honey Chicken, sour spicy Crab(3) and kam Hiang Crab(3). But sorry we don't have the opportunity to take the photoes of food because we are busy eating. Next time, maybe.

I know that everyone of us is so full that we even consider to cancel the order of last dish.
Bill total up RM223 including drinks, quite reasonable ah!

Little Wei Zhi on diarrhea!

Poor little Wei Zhi had diarrhea last few days and his face shrink in dimension. We sent him to pediatrician and luckily the sickness stop.

I wondered whether it is the sign of teething but it seemed too early.Up to date , he is only 3 months and 23 days old.
Now, he would like to sit on lap and watch cartoons! Yeah, his eyes is focusing towards the TV but who knows.

Relaxing on grandma's lap is a wonderful thing for him.

9 July 08 : Dinner at Passion of Kerala

On 9 July, we had a dinner with the Director from US. Actually our department is separated into several small groups and each group is meant to brought him out for one night Penang food. Passion of Kerala is our choice to taste the South Indian banana leaf cuisine.

This "Passion of Kerala" we went is a new branch at New World Park.The environment here is much relax and cool compared to the old branch ...Of course the price is higher too.

So, as you can see in the picture, it uses banana leaf as the “plate” to place the rice and assortment of mixed vegetables, mutton, curry chicken or fish curry etc. It is also served with Papadum (a crispy flatbread). We ordered Masala Chicken,Molly Fish,Fried Crispy Squid,Fried Bawal Fish etc. My favourite is fried squid.

Ok, the bill total up RM170.75 for 8 adults.

Baby monitor from my colleagues

Well,this cute baby monitor is a lovely new born present from my Char colleagues.But it took sometime to reach my hand as it need someone to hand carry it all the way from US. Guess who he is?

This is indeed a very useful tools when I want to leave baby alone while baby takes a nap. The portable receiver will enable me to listen to any sound baby made while attending to other thing.

This baby monitor consists of a transmitter which need powered up and the portable receiver with 3 AAA size battery or DC adapter. I was about to plug the transmitter directly to the power point that I remembered US power voltage is 110VAC!!Local voltage of 230VAC will definitely spoilt the product. So, I need a step down mini transformer for conversion.

Thanks to my char colleagues (especially CK),cheers.

KWSP withdrawal for investment

For your information, KWSP has implemented new scheme for the members to transfer money from account 1 to invest in approved mutual fund. The following table show the minimum amount should be in account one. For example if you are 30 years old and having RM40,000 in your account one then (40,000-18,000)*20%=4,400.
That means you can invest RM4,400 in approved mutual fund.

Matta fair Penang

Relax yourself beyond the hectic life.


Penang matta Fair is held in PISA from 4th July to 6th July.
Don't miss this chance to grab travelling package under promotion.
For me, I am temporary tight up with my infant,at least for one year.

How much is enough for education fund?

How much education fund should I prepare?
30K?50K?80K?120K?

From statistical survey, the education fund needed as per today is estimated as:-

Category Amount
Local Government 30,000
Local Private 60,000
Local Twining 100,000
Overseas 200,000

Of course, the fees and living charges very much depends on courses and area. However, this provide us an overview of education cost. One important point we need to consider is about inflation rate. A 6% inflation rate will cause the education fund needed to be double in 12 years duration.
For my elder son, Jian,we bought him Investment Linked Education Insurans RM1800 per annum when he was 1 year old. Now he just celebrated his 7 year old birthday.Surprisingly, the investment return is higher than maximum projected return of 11% in the proposal table. I think the calculation is base on amount invested after deducting insurans charges from premium. This year onwards , we increase the premium to cater for higher education fee.

My little Wei Zhi

Well, this photo is taken when Wei Zhi was 2 months plus. BB consumes 3-4 ooze of milk on 2th month and weighted around 5.7kg. Sometimes he can't finish the milk and resulting the milk go to long waiting"lucky" our dog.

Now my little Wei Zhi always observe environment and people.He will response to Anggugu as “gu” but seldom smile when awaken, very cool. He smiles in his dreams. :)

Struggle in petrol rise..

From 5th June ,Petrol price increase tremendously from RM1.92 to RM2.70/liter.

Recently the normal people like me can feel the power of inflation affecting our household expenses. Thus, here are a few steps I suggested hoping to maintain to the same amount as previous.

(a) Car pool with my hubby daily since our company is actually nearby.
(b) Go out early by 15 minutes to avoid peak hour traffic jam which ensure smooth driving.
(c) Maintain speed of 64km/h according to Epoch Times,it is the optimum speed to consume little fuel.
(d) Take out the extra load from the car that not frequently used.For us,it's the stroller.
(c) Evaluate fuel saver online which is a magnetized piece.I just purchased one cost me RM99 to be installed near to carburetor of the car.

Here comes the Piano..

Believe it or not, this walnut coloured piano match our furniture so well!!
Hubby and I decided to purchase a used piano for Jian since he's interested in music.

Our budget shoot up from Digital Piano (CLP-230) to Kawai (BL-31) and eventually this Yamaha U3 model.

Welcome to the world!!

On 24 March special day, my little baby Wei Zhi is born.

He weighted 3.42kg which I considered small compared to his brother (Jian He) 4kg.

It's totally different experience. Well, it is .....
unexpected : as just one day before, doctor estimated baby to be delivered in 2 weeks time
less pain : the constraction started midnight but is not much impact that i was reluctant to goto hospital until 2pm
faster & express : It took just 3-4 hours to see my baby in labour room.