Friday, July 29, 2011

Ballet for Marissa

Marissa wanted to attend ballet classes so I obliged her by sending her for a trial class.
I called up Sri Wilyah Ballet at TTDI and the receptionist told me to come to look at the school and she even stressed that the school has ballet classes for 3 year olds. But when we went there....... we spoke to one of the teachers there : Ms Alice Yap, and she said there were none! According to her the receptionist was new and actually gave us the wrong info. Ms. Alice told me that we can bring Marissa to her own dance studio : Sole to Soul Dance Studio at Sea Park. She has a class for toddlers. Marissa will need to be assessed to see if she's ready for class or not. Unfortunately the class is on a Friday evening and being the blur driver/map reader that I am, I am not confident of driving there with the kids by myself. So, we decided to send Marissa for a trial class at Jean Gan Academy of Ballet at Uptown, which happens to fall on a Thursday - which is hubby's off day. 




Above are the pics taken at Jean Gan Academy of Ballet. The baby ballet class is for 45 minutes. About 10 girls in the class. All dressed up in a ballet dress (white with pink bow) and bloomers and ballet shoes. I was in the trial class throughout and so I got to observe what was being taught. I find that the teacher was just going through the motions. She just wants to the class over with and proceed to the next class. Not very patient and whenever the children asks questions, she tells them to keep quiet. Marissa was OK during the class as this was her first time, I think she was quite blur.

At the end of the class, the teacher zoomed off to another class upstairs. Then the receptionist gave me a VCD of one of their charity concert - Dance Galore 2005. She explained to me the fees & what are the items that I must purchase before class. Trial classes are FREE.

I wasn't so satisfied with the class so I decided to call up Sole to Soul Dance Studio. I brought Marissa for their baby ballet class the following day, I had trouble finding the way but thanks to the friendly staff of STSDS, I managed to make it on time. Again, the trial class was free. Alice - the principal and artistic director of STSDS conducts all the ballet classes there. I went in to the class together with Marissa. I was very impressed with Alice's style of teaching. She could connect with the children and makes the class very fun. Her passion for ballet and teaching clearly shines through. 

After the one-hour class, she advised me to start Marissa when she's older because as of now, she's still too young. Can't focus so well yet. At times she gets too distracted and does her own thing rather than follow the class. So, I've told Marissa that and she accepted it without any fuss! For now, she is contented with watching ballet dances on TV and also reading Angelina Ballerina on the iPad!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Busy with Baking

Been busy experimenting with various recipes. So, here are some pics of the cakes that came out of the oven! Evan's birthday is coming up - and I'll be baking his birthday cake and cupcakes (still undecided on the flavour!)


Lemony cupcakes with Princess edible image.
 
Cinnamon cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream

Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting



 Modelled some sugar figurines : teddy bear & bride (too short!) & roses

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sports Day

TJC's biannual sports day - this time held at Dream Centre. Smaller place but cosier. As usual, there was a march past.... and then a rousing dance performance by the 6-year-olds.




Video of Evan in action during 6 Petunia & 6 Daisy's sports event simply entitled "Finding Nemo"



His team struck gold! Hooray for Yellow team!

Victory! He's still on a winning streak with the Snakes & Ladders board game.

The sports day was very well organized and everything was completed in a breeze. It was cloudy most of the time but as the event ended with the prize giving ceremony, the sun started blazing.

Pastor Margaret from DUMC awarded the medals

Feeling very proud of himself.

Posing with Joe - from Hibiscus class.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

New Interests

 Marissa was all decked out in PINK! Thanks to Khaufu for the cap! 

Her latest craze : BALLET! So, we have decided to send her for a trial ballet class at Jean Gan Academy of Ballet, Damansara Uptown.

This is Evan's latest craze : Snakes & Ladders. We bought the compendium of 30 games for him as a reward for his helpfulness at home (tidy up bed, wake up early, clean up room etc). Why Snakes & Ladders? Well, cos he saw the game being played on TV (Charlie & Lola). I played twice with him and I lost both times. Larry played with him a total of 4 times and Evan won all 4 games! 

Evan is also interested in acrobatics (his own word) - actually it's more like gymnastics so he will be attending a trial class at Fly Kids, Solaris Mont Kiara.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Marissa at Smaland

Marissa entered Smaland at Ikea for the first time! Evan went in together with her but immediately dived into the ball pit and left Marissa behind! She slowly climbed up the steps and carefully went into the ball pit as well on her own. Hubby waited outside throughout the entire hour while I went to buy groceries. Marissa thoroughly enjoyed herself and even went out for a toilet break with daddy's help. While picking up the kids, the friendly Ikea staff gave us 2 complimentary coupons for ice cream.


Yummy ice cream! Like my shoes? 

Monday, July 4, 2011

Modesto's

We found ourselves at Modesto's (The Curve) on a Thursday evening. The restaurant is tucked away in a corner just beside Big Apple Donuts. We chanced upon it when we needed to bring Marissa to poo-poo.

Ordered their signature crispy shredded duck served with steamed popiah skin, sauces, cucumber and spring onions. RM25 for a complete set. Extra popiah skins available at RM6.

The duck was very very well done! Marissa enjoyed munching on it too cos she loves all things crunchy.

We ordered a kid's meal for Evan: Pizza Tonne Fungi which is essentially thin crust pizza bread topped with tuna and mushrooms in a tomato-based sauce. Also very well done - yummy! He managed to eat 70% of the pizza. The rest went into Mommy and Daddy's tummy. The pizza comes with a soft drink and costs RM10 nett.

Highly recommended for their signature dish & kids' meals!