Go the Distance - April

Go, Go, Go!! April was the month of sports and games. The boys have their sports days, inter school sports and state level sports. I have gotten used to the extra hours of practising and the extra effort sending them everywhere. The boys both enjoy their school experience, and participating in sports or club is a key part of this. Win or lose, they'll learn a lot about themselves and their limits.

These days, sports day was not all about competition. It's a lot of Fun....

... doing a tribal dance

.... or a mummy race

.... walking barefoot on the tracks

..... to attend the Pharoah's wedding...

... a few of the invited guests

Jin just made it to the podium in the 200m race. 

For the record, Jin's comeback after a longgg hiatus.

 Wei has a very different experience in sports day this year. He's always very physical and the athletic one in the family. But this year, he surprised us with his participation in the cheerleading team!! He even played the role of a commander in the pre-sports marching competition. He's not the kind of person who seeks the limelight but as long as he can participate in something, he won't mind anything!!

The cheerleading and marching team led by Mrs Sarah Cheng, one of the most inspiring teachers in the school. 

This would be the last Sports Day for Wei in the primary school. And a memorable one too.

If there's something you're interested in but your school has no team or club, then start one. SJIS is a new school and being a new student, Jin joined the Chess Club at its infancy, with few active members for the first year. From playing amongst themselves, they eventually tried their hands in the inter schools and later state level tournaments. The chess club has become a popular club in the school these days. If you're passionate about it, do it, others will follow.

 Scale of the national age-group chess tournament!

A special appearance by the world-renowned Russian chess grand master, Garry Kasparov!

.... in full concentration....

A lot of what we learn in school we will forget, probably those we remember will be the experience of being on a team or a club??

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Al-Attas Garden in Janda Baik - 4 August 2012

Image
Besides being a well-known contentious writer, little do we know that Syed Hussein Alattas is also a self-taught gardener and an architect. He had built Taman Hana in Janda Baik from scratch and named after his wife.  Taman Hana sits on a 8-acre plot of land in the quiet village of Janda Baik. It boasts a collection of 1,000 species of plants including fruit trees, more than 700 big flower pots and five buildings that include the home of the Alattas family.  The good news is that it is open to visitors every day.  As we made our way past the entrance, this place appeared unkempt. It was well beyond its heyday (in 2008) but still showing off its faded beauty. Some parts were badly neglected, which was so unfortunate, because it originally was to be a quiet kampung retreat. A mix of traditional Malay, Peranakan, Indonesian and colonial British architecture and a Minangkabau styled roof. Syed Hussein had actually started building the structures in 1982 and he spent a lot of time
Read more

Spilling the Beans in Ipoh - 6 Apr 2012

Image
Ipoh's familiar specialty - Nga Choy Kai or the Taugeh (Bean Sprouts) Chicken. What else to accompany the poached chicken than the fresh, fat and crunchy Ipoh famous bean sprouts!! The bean sprouts are served blanched, with a dash of sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce. Ipoh is a well-known food haven in Malaysia, and most will agree that Ipoh's bean sprout is the best in Malaysia. The premium-grade bean sprouts come from the Buntong New Village, which is also my husband's hometown. Growing bean sprout requires only water and more importantly, watering techniques. Madam Toon told us that there were at least 8 operators in Buntong. They were all family-owned businesses, and the three Toon brothers have been growing bean sprouts for more than 70 years.  Bean sprouts are grown from black mung beans imported from Myanmar. The beans need to be watered every 4 hours throughout the day for 5 days, no shortcut, otherwise they will be not be fat and juicy. At
Read more

A Potter Village in Sayong - 30 May 2013

Image
Pit Stop at the Perak royal town, Kuala Kangsar. The 1st rubber tree in Malaysia was planted in this town. That's about all I knew about this place. Labu Sayong or water pitcher from Sayong village, known for its health value to help migraine, lower blood pressure etc due to the special properties inherent in the local clay. Before this, we didn't know much of labu sayong.  We didn't go to the village or plan this visit. Out of curiousity, we bumped into this unassuming workshop at No. 3, Kg Setia, Enggor, run by Mohd bin Harun.  Pakcik was very open and gave us a tour of his workshop and how he makes labu sayong. His warm, friendly welcoming people made a lasting impression on all of us - a trait that we've lost in the big cities. The traditional way of making labu sayong uses hands to mould the clay into the shape of a 'labu' (gourd-like vase) but this is too slow. Now, the clay mixture is poured into standard mould blocks. It's
Read more