Special Guests from SG

We have special guests from Singapore this week. Aunt Mei Yan and Uncle Clement arrived on Friday for their honeymoon trip. After picking Justin from school, we went to Krispy Kreme to buy doughnuts. While we were in the queue, the waitress gave out original Hot Glazed doughnuts. We both had one each and it tasted yummilicious - warm doughnuts that literally melt in your mouth! The dozen doughnuts that we brought home were snapped up the next day.

Jonathan posing with Krispy Kreme hat

We had dinner with Aunt Mei Yan and Uncle Clement before they continued their journey to Hakone, Kyoto and Osaka. They came back to Tokyo the following week with lots of presents for us - lovely red bean pastry, Monster Inc. and Pooh bear buckets from Disneyland filled with popcorn. We headed to Aikihabara for lunch (they gave us a treat too) at Sushizanmai. The seafood comes fresh from Tsukiji Market everyday.

That was the first time I tried sashimi Uni (roe of sea urchin) but it tasted a little too soft for my liking. The rest of the sushi and sashimi was fresh and good. Oishii!!

Set meal which comes with Chowamushi and Miso Soup

Aunt Mei Yan and Uncle Clement

Justin enjoying his food while
watching Shinkansen trains go by

After lunch we went to Yodobashi, a huge store which sells anything electronic including bicycles. Yes, bicycles. We bought bikes for the kids and they did a "test drive" at the garage.

Justin on his Cars McQueen bike

Jonathan on his Anpanman bike

Hanami at Yoyogi Koen

Spring is here and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. We went to Yoyogi Koen for Hanami, which means "flower viewing", or cherry blossom viewing. This is the time when Japanese hold Hanami parties under the blossoms. It is also common practice for people to reserve good spots under the trees early in the morning.

We found our nice little spot, laid the tarp and the boys began to play soccer. I sat down and soaked in the atmosphere. Birds chirping happily, groups of people having their parties with lots of food and drinks, people taking photos of the cherry blossoms, etc. It was also a pretty sight to see the cherry blossoms fall to the ground when the wind blew.

Playing at the park

It's the weekend and the weather is great! More outdoor fun for the kids at a nearby park. The kids spent most of the hour at the sandbox with their spades and shovels.

Cherry Blossom trees behind the shed

The two naughties

I tried to get them to smile for the picture on the right but Justin was in his cheeky mood. He refused to look at the camera and Jonathan followed suit acting "bochup". When I finally gave up, they started acting silly and making funny faces.

Learning Chinese

Teaching Justin to speak Mandarin at home comes as a challenge to me. I grew up in an English speaking home. Although I passed my Chinese with good grades, I did not speak much Mandarin until I started my first job. That was the time when my spoken Mandarin improved significantly. Even then, hubby says I still speak Mandarin with a funny accent.

As much as I am aware of my limitations, I will still endeavor to teach both of them as far as I can go. I started coaching Justin beginning of this year but it was difficult because of the limited resources in Japan. Thanks to Hui Li, who recommended me some books and even bought them from Singapore for me!! I have received the books, thank you so much! The "Basic Chinese 500" series is well-illustrated with the chinese words, hanyu pinyin and English translation. Just what I need.

At the moment, my aim is for Justin to recognise Chinese characters. His peers back at home are already writing sentences like 我的家有五个人 and 这是一张桌子。 However, my focus is to teach him to read first rather than to write.

I made a surprise discovery when I asked him to read one of the Pelangi series books "你看到我吗?". All this while I have been reading to him and teaching him some simple words here and there. Today, I started reading the first page, and then he continued on the whole story (with some help). The video clip shows Justin reading the book.

Can you guess how he managed to read it? He used hanyu pinyin!! I am surprised because I haven't formally taught him yet. I think he used phonics from his English reading, as well as the tone marks which he learnt at HESS International Kindergarten in Taipei. I am pretty amazed he was able to put them together.