I once attended a workshop and learned that to cultivate a new habit, one needs to work on the same thing or activity for a minimum of 7 days. The brain will then make a new connection and yes, a new habit is formed.

This evening, C proved to me that this is so true.

It was 1130pm. We had just returned from a cycling sessions with the Night Riders and she was all cleaned already but I wasn't so I left her to quickly take my bath. When I was done, C was already in bed and sleeping soundly.

I walked into her study room and saw this:

She had completed one piece of writing on her own. (she even rewarded herself with a sticker)

Daddy returned with new pets for C!

She was talking about "losing" her old ones so Daddy who had to go to his Camp in the afternoon, took the opportunity to drop by the farm and got her these.

The lady there told Daddy that these caterpillars of of a new breed of butterflies. They didn't used to sell these creatures in the past so C was all excited about them. She wanted to see what they would become... .

Good News! No, it's terrific news!

Some weeks back, Ms May called me and confirmed my fears: C didn't like to read and she would find all sorts of excuses not to do her reading in school.

Hence, I started our nightly reading sessions with her. Of course, the initial times were painful as C would try her tricks and then asked to do other things. But we persevered and now, C reads with much ease and confidence. She doesn't seem daunted by the longer passages too.

This is her daily reading passages. Ms May usually indicates what has been done in school and what needs to be done at home too.

And this was the piece of good news. We will be moving towards having C reading independently now. :)

We continued our craft session with this.

C absolutely adores making these larger than life 3-dimensional models.

And of course, we did our writing as well.

It was very nice of Aunt Venika, Uncle Alson to invite us for their Master's 5th birthday bash. Brion was a great host and he was given royal treatment by the guests as well.

The children played many games.

and pigged out just as much! Cheryl particularly fancied the sausages. Actually, she liked all the food: chips, popcorn and all.

The handsome birthday boy, Brion with his adoring parents! :)

After his party ended, the adults adjorned for another party of our own... .

Yes! Another Durian feasting time!

After many months of break, the night racers got together for a bicycle race this evening.

C was delighted when she found out that we would be because she was missing these get-togther sessions.

The kids were very serious about their race.

The Prize-Giving. We made do with whatever goodies we came with. Well, the kids didn't mind. :)

Our Princess finally won the coveted trophy!

The Night Racers!

2 days ago, Cheryl called Daddy in the afternoon and chatted with him.

She was asking him to come back early and Daddy thought he might do just that so that he could do something with her.

We went down to cycle and then C won't want to go back without making a stop there first.

Then she showed us how well she knows her machines! Daddy and I, together with the other people who were there were giggling when we saw what she did.

At home, we did some reading and then some writing in Chinese. I got her a pink marker so that she could trace the Chinese characters! Good choice because in the past, she would usually just flip through these pages and declare that she would do them "another day" but with the pink marker, she actually did several pages of writing.

And she recited the latest Chinese poem she learned.

C practised her little hands with the pair of scissors this evening.

She isn't very confident yet and despite getting her many kinds of scissors, she has yet to find one that she is comfortable using. But the good thing is, she hasn't given up. I had to guide and help her along but it was alright.

Colouring was not a problem.

Then she had to put some cotton before we glued the edges.

Pressure on the sides and viola! Done! She made the stuffed ice cream last week.

C practised her addition and subtraction this evening.

I love the way she counted with her fingers. :)

She drew some facial expressions. Of course, she had to add in the eye lashes. ha ha!

It's Racial Harmony Day and C has been encouraged to go to school in ethnic clothes.

Aunt Sonali bought C a very pretty set of clothes from India and I thought it would be perfect to let her wear it to school.

C with her best friend, Radhika!

C with her classmates. :)

I have to thank Aunt Sonali for these wonderful pictures.

We had the pungent fruit again!

Every time Grand Mummy went to Malaysia, she would always return with something interesting.

This time, she got Cheryl her own birds nest, not one but two of them!

Then we skipped dinner so that we could eat durians again. :)

C doesn't eat durians. It is not like we do not give her: in fact, we always offer her a bite or two whenever we eat but she just doesn't fancy the fruit so she ate her hor fun while the rest of us ate durians. Grand Daddy also doesn't eat the fruit and he shared his dinner with C.

As for the rest of us, .... yummy!

We will really miss these when the durian season has its run... .

Today, after a hectic morning at the Immigration Control, we thought since we were around the corner, we could visit the Peranakan Museum. It was a worth while trip as there was a complimentary guided tour of the place.

What greeted us at the reception area was this huge handcrafted beaded table cloth.

It is said that a million beads were needed to put this together.

A large part of the museum features wedding rituals, traditions and customs of these Peranakans.

On the right, is a "passport" of sorts. Then people didn't need travel documents: they only needed to be quarantineed so that they would be free of illness.

More wedding related stuff:

Wedding bed, head gears which the brides have to wear.

These baskets are familiar.

We still follow these customs, regardless whether we are Peranakan or not.

These are usually for the more wealthy Peranakans. The tea set is used during the wedding ceremony where the groom will be given a toast by his father for the one and only time in his life.

While we were looking at the exhibits, C went around looking for stamps!

This is what a typical Peranakan shop house would look like.

Baby stuff:

Kitchen:

What their dinning room would look like. It's amazing to see how elaborate their lifestyle was.

It wasn't all nice and rosy things they put on. There was a segment on death and the rituals they follow. Even the clothes they have to put on during the funeral was on displayed.

This is a Bible in malay. The altar which features Jesus is also heavily engraved with chinese deities.

There were also other things, like the jewellery the Peranakans wear on exhibition. We were not allowed to take pictures there though. Overall, we had a good time and we learned a great deal about this group of people. :)