Random Highlights of 2011

H started wearing glasses

R turned 5

H turned 7

H School Action Song team emerged Champion for Zone Bangsar

Girls birthday bash at Fit for 2, Bangsar Villaga

An important milestone for H - starting Primary One

H performing at KLCC

H receiving her prize during the Annual School Prize Giving

H Attended Speech and Drama classes at KLPAC

The girls attended my cousin s's wedding in October

R was Puteri Santubong at her school concert

Deepavali

Family vacation to Krabi

H first school sports where she was the flag bearer

Family getaway to Cyberview during the Hari Raya break

H starred as Judge Ant at KLPAC's production of 'A Bugs Life'

Random highlights of the girls in 2011

Primary 1 completed

Phew! A huge sigh of relief as Harvynna has successfully completed Primary One. Today was the last day of school and she happily went to school to call it a year. It has been one busy, hectic, crazy year for me especially trying to combine school, all their activities and managing the household.

To expand on my previous post, I am elated that Harvynna did very well in her exam. She scored 100% for 5 out of 7 papers and came out 2nd in her class. I am so proud of her. Way to go, girl. It was tough, for me, at least as I prepared her for her exams, spent time doing revision with Rowena pleading for attention at the same time, and the laundry piled up sky high as I let laundry take a backseat to the exams. A lot of blood, sweat and tears on Harvynna's part especially for the Moral paper - which to me is a stupid paper, with the highest level of BM used. How on earth do they expect a standard one kids to understand that. She would burst into tears as she found it tough. But it paid off as was the only one who obtained 100 marks for that paper. But I must say, that I am really lucky where Harvynna is concerned, as she is a very dilligent girl. Every night, I would assign a couple of revision pages for her to complete after school while she is at the babysitters place and she would complete them on most days. She could easily not bother as I am not around to supervise, but she does it on her own initiative. It was a proud moment for me when she received her trophy on stage.

Now that her exams are over, she is busy catching up on her reading and I basically allow her to do what she wants (that was the promise I made her before her exams). She is growing up so fast to the point that I cant keep up sometimes.

Puteri Santubong and puteri Sejinjang

Rowena still has another 2 weeks of school. She had her annual concert last month, where she was puteri Santubong. She will be taking her taekwando exams next week, where she would obtain the orange belt. Rowena is clearly more of the active sort and prefers to enjoy life rather than conform to structure. One more year of kindergarten and she is off to Primary school.

Both of them started Odissi classes to instill a sense of dance and also for them to get in touch with their roots!

Puteri Santubong - captured

Rowena's updates

Just looking through some previous postings and it seems like its all about Harvynna. Not that I am biased - just that there is a lot to update since she started Primary school. Rowena is still the happy go lucky girl with a mind of her own. There is no way I am able to control her as she does what she wants and does not care about the consequences. She is a survivor - this one.

Started her on Enopi classes since July as she needs someone to sit down with her and practice with her. She climbs all over my head so I cant do it with her. She is progressing slowly but surely. I dont push her, but it irritates me that she refuses to do her homework and ends up bullying the teachers in class. Now, i can see that she responds well with praise - when she gets the answers right, her face lights up and feels very proud of herself. So I guess I have to praise her all the time.

As for swimming, she is progressing not as fast as Harvynna as she still has a fear of water when it is a pool she is not familiar with. But she totally enjoys her swimming lessons.

In school, I am very happy with her reading progress. She is catching up fast and can read quite a few words. She tries to read books, the titles of movies on TV and feels very proud that she is doing well. Bravo.

So, I guess, I need not worry too much about her, if she wants to do something, she can - so I will just let her progress at her own pace. Its different with Harvynna where she naturally wants to excel at everything and is very competitive in nature. Rowena just wants to smell the roses and take things one step at a time. The 2 videos here describe her best!

Term Break & updates on the girls

Its the short term break in conjunction with Hari Raya. Was so looking forward to this break.... i look forward to any break as I dont have to wake up at unearthly hours to get Harvynna ready. Its' such a blessing that we live 5 minutes from her school, or we would have to wake up much earlier. That's why, as much as the school has not lived up to my expectations, she is still there!!

I can't believe that its almost September. 3 more months and its the holidays. Harvynna will be in Primary 2 and Rowena will be a senior at her kindergarten!

Let's see...... what has been happenning so far?
 - Harvynna completed her mid term exams and did fairly well. She scored high 90s for all her papers (including Mandarin!)But, the competition at her school is so great. Everyone did well - almost everyone goes for private tuition, some of them were even asked to change their answers during the exam, but not Harvynna. - no private tuition (I am her tutor), no help at all... so i think she did very well. It was a good eye opener for her - she was the best student in her kindergarten, so she became quite complacent. Now, she knows that this is the real world, so you have to work hard. There is no shortcut.

It was quite slow in terms of other activities at school. Since the school team emerged runner up at the State Action Song competition, they did not proceed to the National level. She has started practising again as they will be performing for the Hari Malaysia celebrations in September.

She did complete Semester 2 at KLPAC - the students put up 'musical magic' where the 7-9 year olds put up the nighmare before Christmas. I am sure Amy Chua would have shook her head as the performance took 3 hour practises on Sundays for 10 weeks, and she was one of the 20 performers!! Well, she enjoyed it, and does provide good exposure for her, besides making new friends.

She took part in her school sports day. Being the tallest, she was the flag bearer. However, her team did not do too well, but she enjoyed the experience. Her class was Team New zealand. Next year, we will win it :)

In terms of swimming, Harvynna has progressed very well. She is swimming quite confidently and is not afraid of going to the deep end. Rowena on the other hand, is still quite scared, and has only just started letting go of the ladder!!! I hope to stop their lessons by the end of this year. Its quite a costly affair for the 2 of them.

Taken in July at my birthday dinner



Completed Semester 2 at KLPAC




Flag bearer for School sports day





KLPAC performance



I feel kind of bad, that I am not able to provide the same support to Rowena. First, of all, I dont send her to school anymore, so I dont get to meet with her teachers that often. But I am very pleased, that she has improved tremendously in her reading. I think she is progressing well in this department. As for her Maths, she has started Enopi - she actually sits with the teacher,but I have yet to see much progress. The teacher says that she is good, but gets bored easily. She enjoys ballet, and she does show me from time to time, what she learns at ballet. Oh yes, she just passed her Taekwando exams and is now a yellow belt. She was so proud to have acomplished this and earned a certificate - she so wants to be like her sister; bagging prizes and awards.

2011

My first post for the year!! With the convenience of Facebook, blogging is such an effort.

2011 began as a new and exciting year. Harvynna started Primary One and Rowena is now a semi-senior at kindergarten.

Let's start with Harvynna:

Its been more than a month and she has settled in well at her school. Well, the first 3 weeks was more of an orientation programme. It was only after that that they started with lessons proper - of which, she is bored to tears. She wonders why she does the same work that Rowena does at kindergarten. Poor gal! She said that ' I know you sent me here because its the best government school, but it is still lousy'. Told her to keep that opinion to herself or she will be blacklisted!!

The only consolation is that they have watered down the BM syllabus, so its not as difficult as the KBSR syllabus. To overcome her boredom, Harvynna has increased her appetite for reading. Her favourites are Amelia Jane and Mr Meddle  series by Enid Blyton, The Magic Ballerina Series and Roahl Dahl books. She thinks Roahl Dahl's books are the greatest!
To maintain her sanity, she continues with her Taekwando classes at her previous kindergarten (together with Rowena), and also goes for Musical Theatre, Speech and Drama and will start swimming lessons this weekend. Hopefully, all these activities will tire her out and she will complain less!

Most of her front milk teeth have dropped and have been replaced by permanent teeth. Its quite funny to see that the permanent teeth are much bigger than the milk teeth.

As for Rowena, she is now in the 5 year old class. She still can't read and refuses to learn. I tried many tactics, but she still does not want to learn - so I decided not to push it. Eventually, she will learn. After all, her ambition is to be a 'tol counter'   - the person who collects toll money at the toll booth.

But her Maths skills is slowing improving.  I guess she is keen on picking up the necessary skills for that job!
She goes for Taekwando, Ballet and Speech & Drama and will also start swimming. She loves anything that has nothing to do with academic learning.(except for Taekwando as she gets lots of scolding from the teacher)

The year has only just begun and it is already madness. From waking up at 6am to prepare her breakfast and lunch, send her to school and head off to work myself and rushing around on weekends for enrichment classes. To think, there's just another 13 years more to go!!!

Concert & Graduation 2010

                        Harvynna's graduation ceremony

                            Rowena's monkey dance

                          Harvynna's Tiki Tiki Dance

                            With my celebrities

Year End 2010

Its been a while. Making it a point to put something down as it is almost the end of the year and Harvynna starts a brand new era next year. What has been happenning since the last post?

 - family holiday to Cherating. We went on a short getaway to Cherating during the long Merdeka break. It was the first holiday in 2010. Pathetic, but somehow we managed to do it. The girls had a whale of a time swimming, lazing, eating and just spending time with us. Rowena was quite sick before we went. But once we reached Cherating, she immediately got well. The last day of our trip was cut short, as Rowena was summoned back to KL for a TVC shoot.

School Year End Concert & Graduation

The girl's had their annual concert at the end of October. The theme for this year was 'The Jungle Comes Alive'. Rowena's class performed a Monkey Coconut Dance and Harvynna's class performed the 'Tiki Tiki Dance'. Harvynna performed really well and was very confident. Guess her musical Theatre classes paid off. Rowena on the other hand, looked a little lost and looked like she was waiting for her performance to be over. It's her first performance on stage in front of a big audience. It was also Harvynna's graduation. This is her last year at her school and next year she will be moving to Primary One. My little girl is growing up too fast. I must say, her kindergarten has done well for her and she will definitely miss the school.

We moved....

We moved to our new place, finally. We moved because we wanted a bigger place, plus I wanted to live nearer to Harvynna's school. We now live 5 minutes away from her school and 15 minutes away from my work, which would save a lot of time next year. I can only imagine next year would be 100 times more hectic than this year with Harvynna in Primary school. I must say I am definitely a Supermum managing a full time job, 2 hyper active and demanding kids with NO maid.

Rowena's debut on tv!

Rowena's appearance in the Fernleaf ad recently.

Whats been happenning?

I hardly ever update this blog now that I can see cobwebs beginning to appear. Think am losing my mojo for updating the blog since the girls are much bigger now and I am so busy trying to keep up with life's routines!

What's been happenning so far with the girls?

1. Rowena started ballet lessons at school and she totally loves it. She actually talks about it all the time so I can tell that she really enjoys it. I made her pay for her own costume (terrible mummy). She used the money she earned from her shoot for that! My reason, is I had my doubts that she would pursue it further but she insisted that she would!!
2. Harvynna started musical theatre lessons. The teacher is good, but she was kind of put-off as the first song she learnt was 'Hello Dolly' and not some latest Jason Bieber or Kelly Clarkson hit. Lets see how that goes. She actually signed up as she aspires to be like Rachel from "Glee'. Next on the list, is vocal lessons which is due to start in August.
3. The girls did another small shoot for Colgate. Well, actually Rowena was selected, but Harvynna managed to slot herself somewhere at the back!
4. Harvynna's other front tooth is shaking - which means she would be able to sing 'All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth' pretty soon. Poor gal - she had to forgo a few casting offers due to that!
5. Both girls are sleeping in their own room now
6. Rowena is able to read and write a few words now. Quite average for her age group, nevertheless I am still very proud of her
7. FIFA World Cup - Rowena was a SPAIN supporter while Harvynna was an Argentina supporter, then Germany, then Netherlands, then Spain supporter. Basically, she does not stick to one team - she changes as the teams progress and looks most likely to win!!!

2nd Parent Teacher Meeting

The girls gave me the notice from the school that the Mid Year PTM was on. I felt like I had just attended the last one and here it is again. This year has just swooshed by - 7 more months and Harvynna starts Primary school and I havent even decided where to send her. We have done all the necessary registrations, but there are lots of things to consider. From Primary 1, 2011, all schools will have to revert to teaching Maths & Science in BM. Initially, I thought Harvynna would be safe as they were supposed to start it only in 2012, but alas, they now have decided for 2011.

Back to the PTM, it was a real long wait. I thought I will beat the queue by going there early, but there were many other earlier birds.Plus, i have to see 2 class teachers this time, so that would take even longer. I started with the BM teacher (who by the way, is an excellent BM teacher)

Well, as expected, she mentioned that Harvynna is a very good girl and catches up very fast. (yawn...)
She is advanced in her reading and writing and takes the iniative to do things and also speaks to her in BM. She has no issues with her and in fact she encouraged me to start giving her simple essays to write in BM. Looks like i will have to practice my BM too.

Then, the teacher says, 'Do you mind if we discuss Rowena no?' Then she starts off with 'Rowena is totally different from Harvynna. All the teachers here say the same thing.' Then I knew where she was heading!!
She says Rowena has a mind of her own but is very entertaining. She talks to everyone and is very friendly. Her attention span for her work is quite short so she gets bored fast. She does not seem to like BM much' - so she keeps volunteering to send things to the office so she can miss the class.
But I told her that its ok since Rowena is only 4. Then again, she says 'but when Harvynna was 4, dia sangat cepat dan verrrry interested in her work'.

Then when I went to see Harvynna's class teacher, it was the same story - Harvynna is doing very well and is a very helpful girl. I did ask her about 2 girls, that Harvynna really dislikes and the teacher said that those girls are very loud and quite rebellious - so harvynna finds them annoying. The girls are also quite intelligent so she probably feels the competition. So young - and so competitive.

Then I went to see Rowena's class teacher - she started with Rowena being very friendly and kind. She is loved by all the teachers and students and is everyone's friend.And she related a few stories about Rowena, which was quite funny yet sweet. And that was it. i looked at her and asked 'What about her work?' Then she paused for few seconds and said, that her work has improved a lot from when she first came and showed me her work - looked ok. How much can you expect from a 4 year old?. She mentioned that Rowena loves to sing and dance like she did at the last school assembly.And that was it???

These teachers must have been trained to focus only on the positive things!

It's hard to imagine how different these 2 girls are. But I would rather have them this way, then to have 2 exact characters - definitely spices up everyone's life!!

The 2 divas

Sometime in April, both Harvynna and Rowena were selected to appear in a TVC for the Middle East and India market. Although, the amount paid was quite small, i thought why not since they get to go together and with 2 of them, the amount does not seem so bad!

The shoot was at Putrajaya and they were shooting many scenes with the adults at vaious locations - we followed them everywhere, and by the time it was 7pm (we were there since 12.00pm), they told us that they cant shoot the girls and they had to come back the next day!!!!???P#@@@ Anyway, since, they would pay us for both days, and since we waited the WHOLE day, we said ok.

So, we were there bright and early the next day, and the girls were excited and looking forward to the shoot. Harvynna loves dressing up and getting her hair done, and Rowena was just happy to be there. Finally, their turn came, and they shoot was under the blazing hot sun in Putrajaya. HArvynna did not care - she happily went under the sun and did what she was told. As for Rowena.........

the moment it was her turn, she looked at everyone and said.....'NO - I dont want. Its too hot'. She just refused to go under the sun. The director and the rest of the crew told her to go and she said,'Too hot'. In the end, the director requested for umbrellas. So while she was under the sun, she had 2 guys holding umbrellas over her head. Once the camera was rolling, the guys ran off. In between each take, the guys came back with the umbrellas!!!

At the end of the day, I told them, see acting is such hard work, you spend so much time waiting and waiting, you have to go under the sun - do u want to do it again?
Rowena said 'NO' but Harvynna said 'YES. i love it'!!!!

Last week, my cousin asked Harvynna to go for a casting, but in the end they chose Rowena!! So of course, Harvynna was quite annoyed and disappointed and felt like the whole world was against her!!

The shoot was done last Thursday, and I (and everybody else) was ready to strangle Rowena.

First of all, she refused to have her make up and hair done. All she said, was 'DONT WANT' and kept hiding behind me. They bribed her with all kinds of things and threatened to tell her uncle (my cousin) but she was not bothered. In the end, they told her that they will replace her with Harvynna and that did it. She said 'NOOOOOOOO!!!!!' No Harvynna'.

She finally warmed up and did not stop singing the song she was supposed to sing. She was finally in the mood!

 When it was finally her turn, she bullied everyone around her, demanding for sweets, water, and having her face wiped. She made the others sing for her and God knows what. After many takes, she said' I am not doing any more, you keep asking me to do. No more ok'. We persuaded her to do one final round but it must be done perfectly,which she replied 'dont tell me what to do. I know what to do' and she did it.

Gosh, I was so embarassed. I can clearly see that Rowena just does not like being told what to do. She has her own mind, and if something is not to her convenience, she just wont do it!!!

Rowena's 4th birthday party

We celebrated Rowena's birthday in Melaka at my parent's place. Again, she did not mind any cake and was willing to settle for the same cake she had last year or the previous year!! So we chose the Strawberry Shortcake Cake to match her school bag. It was a delicious sugee cake, which is quite hard to find nowadays.

Harvynna, being my dad's pet, had a cake for her as well - so all in all Harvynna got to cut 3 cakes this year. My cousin organised the games with the kids - who were quite unsporting!! I guess the older kids are already at the age where they dont want to perform in front of everyone.


It was a small, but meaningful party as Rowena was surrounded by family and close friends.

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY CUTIE ROWENA (belated entry)

My little princess turned 4 on April 25th. She was really excited about celebrating her birthday at school since it would be the first time, plus Harvynna had celebrated her bday in school 2 weeks earlier. Since my school was closed for a week due to the H1N1, I grabbed the opportunity to celebrate her birthday on the Friday before (23rd) - did not have to take any leave.

I ordered an identical cake (like Harvynna's). it was lilac to match her dress. Rowena is not very fussy, she really did not mind any cake, as long as there was a cake. She is very easy to please when it comes to things like this - unlike Harvynna, who wants everything to be perfect.

Her class party was a sweet affair - all the 4 year olds were so cute. They each, gave her a hug when she gave them their party pack. They even performed a dance for me!!

Despite Rowena's extreme naughtiness, she is a very loving lil girl. Despite the fact that Harvynna did not allow her anywhere near her class during her birthday party, Rowena went upstairs to specially give Harvynna a piece of cake. I could see that Rowena was really happy for me to be there, as it is a rare occasion that I visit her during school hours.

It was a weekend of birthday celebrations for her as we had a small party in Melaka the next day with close family and friends.(next post)