Updates on ballet & rhythmic gymnastics

My 2 little munchkins completed their ballet exams last month. Evan took his 3rd exam: RAD Ballet Grade 1 and Marissa took her very first exam: RAD Ballet Pre-primary in Dance (PPID).

Sole to Soul Dance Studio organised a trial exam and parent's day for students taking the ballet exams. Both Evan and Marissa did well in their trials! In fact all the kids in Marissa's class were so cute!

Evan photographed above with his 2 classmates and their ballet teacher: Ms Alice. The girls were wearing their character dance skirts. And all 3 of them were wearing character shoes.

Marissa in her ballet attire

Easter at The School: International Rabbit Show and rabbit petting zoo. The kids were elated to be able to play with the rabbits. There was also free popcorn, balloons and cotton candy.

For the International Rabbit Show: lots of rabbits of different breeds were on display for the judging.  At the petting zoo, the kids get to go into a barn and pet the rabbits. Limited number of kids are allowed per session. Rabbits were also available for sale at a mini booth outside the barn.

Marissa joined the identification programme by the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (Rhythmic Gymnastics) at the National Sports Council, National Sports Complex, Bukit Jalil. The objective of the programme is to identify new talents for the development of the sport. She is currently under probation for 3 months together with a small group of 6 year olds. Her coach is Ms. Alisa from Uzbekistan. Training is for 1.5 hours per session every Saturday and Sunday…… adding on to my never-ending chauffeuring duties. She stills continues her rhythmic gymnastics classes with Ms Carolyn every Friday. 

As for me…. I have cut down on my cake orders this month of May. I hope to teach a few classes at Cake Connection SS2. Biz at The Red Cherry at Pop is improving and has expanded to include a wide range of homemade artisanal gourmet food and drinks. Do check it out if you are around PJ's Jaya One.

Year of the Wooden Horse!

Here are some snippets of CNY celebration:

 The Gardens Mall has lovely 1960's Shanghai theme props and decor - perfect for snapping some portraits of the kids.

Mid Valley Centre Court has CNY bazaar and the kids were so happy with this blob of a cotton candy made by a Chinese man from China. 

RM10 for this roll of sweet floss! 

 Thanks to my brother Chung who came back from  Germany - he took this portrait with his camera. Kids decked out in new clothes.

Another shot taken at The School -  a newly opened enrichment mall by Jaya One

 Celebrated my dad's 70th birthday (early celebration) since everyone was around on the first day of the lunar new year. 

I made some cupcakes cos not many of us.

 Marissa's drawing of Koi fish published in Star Child column on the first day of CNY!  Full page as below. This is her second drawing which was published. The first one was published last month. 

Reflecting on 2013

What a year! 2013 brought along so many new challenges for me, personally. It was the year that I quit my job as a tooth doc and concentrated on supplying desserts for sweet tooths. Many friends were surprised with my move - what a waste they say, should have renewed my license to practice so you have something to fall back on lest you fail. I believed God will provide if this is the path for me….. and He was faithful indeed. I thank God for the 50+ cakes, 3000+ cupcakes & cookies and a dozen or so dessert tables and parties. I am so blessed to have wonderful team members who made it all possible. 

For the first time, I was published in a magazine (Her World Malaysia Dec 2013 issue), was interviewed & videoed by fz.com and one of The Cherry on the Cake's cake (Nescafe) was published in one of the Chinese dailies. The Cherry on the Cake was also invited by Astro's Lifetime Channel for a charity drive for breast cancer welfare in conjunction with Nuffnang's Food Fest. The Cherry on the Cake was also invited by Maybank as a pioneer blogshop to try out their Maybank2U Pay system. Just last month, my little pop-up store: The Red Cherry, opened at Malaysia's first retail hotel: Pop by Jaya One. For all these blessings, I give thanks and glory to God. 

For the new year, I've decided to scale down on cake orders and to take it easy. As I am writing this, I just completed my very first cake for the year and will be delivering it to the party venue later.

On the homeschooling front, kids are doing Math, Science and English. Yeah, decided to put aside Mandarin and BM for the moment. For the past year, they have been attending ballet, swimming, music, piano (Evan), artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and English lessons. This year, Marissa will start on her piano lessons. Her teacher is Ms. Julia Quay of Ann Perreau's. We've stopped Marissa from attending artistic gymnastics end of last year so she can concentrate more on rhythmic gymnastics. As for English lessons at Lorna Whiston, considering to stop after first term and maybe switch to British Council once they commence classes at their new branch at The Curve in April. Kids also participated in various activities throughout the year i.e. Petrosains Science Fair, BSF Lab Science workshop, Homeschoolers Sports Day and Art Fair. Evan attended a ballet performance at Istana Budaya while Marissa attended a theatre performance at PJLA, Jaya One. 

We travelled to Legoland, JB this year for our family trip and of course to my hometown in Segamat and also to Seremban twice for parties. We also attended our church family camp at Port Dickson. Hubby and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary at Tanjong Jara Resort sans kids for 4 days! This year's honeymoon will just be a simple getaway nearer to home. Also planning for more trips with the kids - Malacca/Penang….. and Singapore for my SIL's wedding.

Celebrated my mom's 70th birthday in May 2013 with a dinner and I got the opportunity to make a fondant cake for her. Next month will be my dad's turn (still figuring out what design for him!). The kids also had fun with their birthday celebrations. Marissa had a princess party and this year, it will be Evan's turn…. probably a wizard, magician or a mad scientist theme party.

Looking forward to what this new year has in store for us! 

The Red Cherry

Been busy the past month planning and preparing for the opening of my pop-up shop : The Red Cherry. It's in a spanking new mall - The School which opened its doors just last week on the first day of December. The School is Malaysia's first enrichment mall to cater especially for kiddos. The main tenants are Yamaha Music School, Learning Fresh, Junior Science Lab, Bee Bop Circus Play gym, Blok Space and Center for Asian Photographers. As for my little shop, it's actually located in an area of The School called Pop. 

Pop is a retail hotel for vendors like me. There are many lots available for rental varying from XS size to XL size. Rental charges depends on size of the lot and duration. I can check in  and check out my goods any time e.g. 1 day, 1 week, 1 month etc. I don't have to be there physically to sell my goods as Pop has a centralised cashier system and vendors are provided with barcodes. 

The Red Cherry stocks Gymboree children's clothing, LEGO toys, lunch boxes, toothbrushes and baked goods e.g. cupcakes/cookies/cakes/macarons. So far, business has been rather slow due to the low traffic to the mall - being new. In anticipation of this, Pop is giving all vendors 3 months stay at the price of 1. Hopefully more and more visitors will drop by The School once all tenants have moved in.

My kids posing with a huge letter 'I' - for ice cream with a red cherry on top!