We had to disinfect all the beds in the house (Esther, David, Joseph and YowCH & Grace) due an infestation of bed bugs. We used both insecticide and we also bought bed bug spray. Thank God that it wasn’t a severe case and that Samuel’s bed is not affected. The bed sheets were rinsed in boiling water and washed.
Here’s a photo of the adult bed bugs against YowCH’s fountain pen.
YowCH brought Esther, David and Joseph, together with friends Isaiah and Nathaniel to hike at Macritchie, covering both the Tree-top Walk and the Jelutong Tower this morning. Please click on the photos below to get to the page:
Good news, Joseph is now a cyclist. He can go around unassisted and makes good turns and stops. Time to teach him traffic rules.
Esther and David took the time to practice slide-braking and tight turns, and to help guide Joseph. Each clocked max speed of 25km/h at this carpark. The full-face helmets look very fierce.
The three older children had a good time cycling around the carpark at the school near our flat.
Samuel enjoyed the shade and the fun, too. He sat nicely in the Aprica, not once crying!
The car fuel efficiency started at a rather poor 8.5km/L when we started and with better driving skills, the efficiency has gone up to a stable average of 11.0km/L for the past 2 years. For cruising long distances in our trips to KL and back, it has clocked about 12.0km/L if we keep below 120km/h (but that’s normally not the case as we drive at upwards of 140km/h).
Last night, driving Grace’s parents and sister to the airport on the MCE and ECP with very clear traffic and keeping within 80km/h to 90km/h, the car registered a high 17.1km/L or realistically 16.2km/L (adjustment by 5% from past records, the car meter is too generous). That’s 3L of fuel at less than $6.00 to run 50km to the airport and back. Not too bad for a heavy car like the Isis.
The yellow bike that Joseph has been training on had so many crashes that the front wheel is off-alignment and wobbly. so we bought another 2nd hand bike for him on 14 May 2014. This Urata bike is normal (nothing special) and we got it at $45. The wrappers were still on the bike, but it is at least 3 years old given the rusty parts.
The first thing we did was to remove the unnecessary weights (basket, rack and plastic wraps) and then adjust the seat, handlebar, brakes and kick-stand.
The bike is not too bad, Joseph can ride it, and will continue his training on this. The yellow bike is now at Moh Guan, back-up training.
Given the Vesak Day holiday on 13 May (Tuesday), church organised a Family Day outing at Labrador Park. We arrived early at about 7:45am and had some in-line skating before the main group joined us at 8:30am.
Here is the opening prayer by Pastor, and we had some fellowship time over picnic and games. WE also brought along our cajon, electric guitar, portable amplifier and microphone, all well used in the event.
This is the eFG area.
We participated in games and had lots of fun interacting with our church friends.
A small birthday dinner at Tunglok Signatures Vivocity on 7 May with Grace’s parents and Gene. This is YowCH at 40 years of age:
YowCH insisted on ordering the “Dragon paw”, which is actually stewed crocodile hand! Nice.
After dinner, we drove to Holland area and picked up some second hand Lego Primo for Samuel. The blue aeroplane and pilot on the left was actually Joseph’s, the train set is what we got this time ($15).
The white Lego brick is there for scale.
Samuel loves the Primo, nice colours, nice size for grip and good to chew on.
Last Saturday, while Esther and David were at Chinese class and Grace at work, YowCH coached Joseph in cycling. He can go for a short distance and balance better now, but still not yet cycling.
Then on Sunday, we went swimming again. Esther can now do breast-stroke and free-style, and started on back-stroke. David is able to breast-stroke now, but needs more training to go long distance. Joseph is still playing about, he needs to get serious about learning to swim.
The coach also taught Esther and David to get into a life-jacket while in the water, and both can do it nicely.
Samuel is quite adapted to the water, and enjoys his dips in the pool.
Seriously, he doesn’t even choke or cry after we dip him into the water!
Samuel will get his PR paperwork done at ICA tomorrow on 6 May, and we took a recent coloured passport photo of him, as required.
Well, we also took the other children.
Here are a few of the outtakes of Samuel’s photo taking.
A short update on our terrapins, they have grown rather large, twice the length they were when we got them. The colour has also gone rather dark, and they eat much more than before.
The tank will probably have to be upgraded someday, but we won’t have the space for them…
We had dinner at Far East Square and here are the children posing with some bronze sculptures of Ching Dynasty children playing.
Today, we had our first match for the “South West Little League” – West Coast CSC vs. Bukit Batok East View RC. There are 5 categories – Under 6: 1 game (Joseph), Under 8: 4 games, Under 10: 4 games (David played 2), Under 12: 1 game and Above 13: 1 game. Grace was working (on a Sunday) so YowCH had all the children with him. Esther helped with the photos (together with another parent, Mr Liew) and looking after Samuel. Parents of the teammates also helped look after Samuel when both Esther and YowCH were in the field.
Here’s the team photo:
And here’s the pre-game photo of the two teams:
Coincidentally, both teams are red (we remembered BB as green).
YowCH was the manager for the Under 6 team. Joseph played goalkeeper for one half and striker for the next half. His game was a 1-1 draw.
David played goalkeeper and defender. He played two games, both won with 3-1 and 9-0.
Both David and Joseph played well and had a good time.
Here are some photos of Samuel during the game:
Thank God for nice weather and great games. We won 7 games, drew 3 and lost 1, scoring 24 vs. 6. A good chance for Esther to practice photography, too. Liew was using the 200mmf2.0 lens, fantastic DOF blur!
