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Hubby’s going to London today…leaving his two darlings at home. It’s his first business trip. He’ll be away for almost 2 weeks. That’s so long! I’ve been telling Qianyi about that but not sure if she understands it.
Hubby skipped his weekly badminton session yesterday to spend more quality time with us. Qianyi enjoyed playing with her daddy very much. We are going to miss him terribly. 
Qianyi skipped school yesterday and today to attend the trial sessions at White Lodge Kindergarten. Everything went well and she’ll start her next term at this new school!
We took a cab there. She was so excited because she didn’t need to sit in a car seat. We reached there around 8.45am yesterday, very early. School starts at 9.15. The two teachers tried their best to get to know my little girl before other kids arrived. She loves the place and all the wonderful toys. She was running around happily.
She just couldn’t sit still. When she was trying to touch a CD player, a little boy stopped her and said, “Only teacher can touch!” My poor darling burst into tears right away. There were 8 kids yesterday. All are foreigners and there’s only one Chinese (from China). She’s only willing to sit still during painting session and snack time. Take a look at Qianyi’s painting below. Isn’t it nice? 
We went there around 10.30am today. After having snacks, the kids were told to sit on the mat and read a story book. When Qianyi was told to choose a book from the book rack, she didn’t follow instructions. She went to play with a toy truck. When one of the teachers told her she’s not supposed to play with the toy truck, she cried pitifully. She stopped crying when the teacher told her it’s time to go to the playground. She had a good time. She always loves outdoor activities.
At the end of the trial session, I told the principal I wanted to enroll today. I’ve brought my cheque book along because I didn’t want to make another trip there just to fill up the enrollment form and make payment.
On our way home, the taxi driver (an uncle) told Qianyi, “你很美咧！”(You are very pretty leh! ) 
Her arms and legs are long. That’s why she looks tall! Her little friend, Qianqian who is 6 months younger than her is as tall as her now. She was much shorter than Qianyi a few months ago. So, my little darling is not actually very tall for her age. I think her height is only considered slightly above average.
I showed Qianyi some old photos taken during our 3-year stay in Cambridge. Hubby let his hair grow long while we were enjoying the cold weather there. Our little angel looked at her long-haired daddy with a surprised look on her face first and then she smiled. She definitely recognized her daddy in the photos and might be wondering why Daddy’s hair looked so funny.
We visited and evaluated 2 kindergartens last Thursday and they couldn’t be more different.
The first one we checked out was the White Lodge Early Learning Centre. We were very impressed with what we saw. The programme there is very much focused on individual development and play-based learning, with the strict rule that each teacher handle no more than 6 kids for any class. Somehow the place felt very relaxed and warm (the fact that kindergarten is actually converted from a huge and beautiful corner terrace house played a big role in this). It just felt like a place where children will not be forced to conform but given the opportunity to just be themselves; a place where they could learn through the luxury of exploring things at their own pace. I think the philosophy here is very different from other kindergartens because it seems to be targeted more towards expats (more of 80% of the kids here are expats’ children). The teachers, most being locals, are warm, unpretentious and speak excellent standard English.
We visited the Crescent Road branch of Chiltern House next. We had a bad impression from the very start. A sour-faced Indian teacher told us sternly to remove our shoes even before we approach the main door. We then walked into a very cold lounge, all the air-cons were blowing at full blast. No really what we wanted for Qianyi who gets hit by bouts of runny nose quite often. An administrator then brought us round the school (a huge bungalow with 11 classrooms). Somehow the children there didn’t look happy at all. And no surprise too, wall after wall were pasted with very academically-oriented materials. It just doesn’t felt right, the place felt more like a factory churning out kids to compete in the paper chase than a nurturing preschool. Just doesn’t seem to be a school that genuinely cared for children from our observations of the way the teachers treated the kids. What’s more the fees here are about 20% more than White Lodge. A bit of a rip-off if you ask me.
The very next day, we booked a trial class at White Lodge and unless we see something terribly wrong during the trial, this seems to be the place for Qianyi.
- a posting by Qianyi’s daddy
Qianyi woke up from her nap this afternoon and shouted “toilet toilet!”. I knew she had the urgent need to pee so I carried her immediatley to the toilet. The moment I sat her on the toilet, her urine’s gushing out like a torrent. She went back to enjoy her nap after relieving herself.
Normally she would say “shh shh” when she needs to pee. This was the first time I heard her say “toilet toilet”. The way she said it was really cute.
When we attended Qianyi’s second Speech & Drama lesson at Lorna Whiston, she kept crying and refused to stay in the class. The teacher and her assistant did nothing to help calm her down. They continued teaching, totally ignored the crying kid.
The receptionist was much more helpful. She came to talk to us while we were standing outside the class. She gave me a few pieces of tissue papers to wipe the tears off my poor girl’s cheeks. We asked her if we could withdraw Qianyi from the class. She agreed that Qianyi wouldn’t get to learn anything there since she kept crying. She was very helpful. She talked to the teacher on behalf of us and she called us last week telling us we would get a refund soon.
We submitted the letter of withdrawal to Qianyi’s school last week. All the good teachers have left. We decided it’s time to find a better school for our little princess. Qianyi’s favourite teachers, Teacher J and Teacher L went missing when term 2 started. We were told that Teacher L is taking a course in India while Teacher J is having a belated honeymoon in Vietnam. The teachers actually quitted but the management told us they were coming back soon. The new teachers are not approachable and they act like a block of wood.
I called Teacher L to find out what actually happened. She told me a lot of things. The management only cares about money. When Qianyi’s face was first scratched, they told me the aggressive girl’s parents had apologized. When her face was scratched the third time, we threatened to withdraw her from this school. The school director talked to me immediately and she told me she was going to have a good talk with the aggressive girl’s parents. But they actually did nothing. They didn’t talk to the aggressive girl’s parents at all because they were worried that the parents might feel offended and would withdraw their girl from the school.
We can’t trust this school anymore. We are going to visit White Lodge soon. Hope we’ll like that school and Qianyi can start her new term there.
Elaine (Wokking Mum) tagged me on this. I was told to list down 10 reasons why I married my husband. There’s only one reason I can think of…I married him because I love him! We admire each other’s strengths and accept weaknesses.
After 5 years of dating, we decided it’s time to get married if he managed to get the scholarship to pursue PhD studies in Cambridge, UK. We registered our marriage a month before we flew to Cambridge. We spent 3 years honeymooning in Cambridge and also travelled to many European countries and the US.
Frankly speaking, I don’t think we would get married so soon if we didn’t go overseas. The idea of living under the same roof with his family was horrible. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to live with his family, especially his mother. That’s why we decided to tie the knot only when he was given the scholarship to study in Cambridge.
He has never failed to make me feel so special. I think every woman enjoys feeling special. Who wants to feel ordinary?
When he proposed to me, he presented me with a bouquet of red roses with one white rose standing proudly in the middle. He said the white rose represented me…it looked so special surrounded by the red roses.
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