Yamaha JMC assessment Fundamental Skills Survey (FSS) for 弟弟

弟弟 finally made it to the first big milestone for his music class, the Fundamental Skills Survey assessment for Yamaha JMC graduates :) It's his first external exam outside of kindy. I keep forgetting what does FSS stands for and had to search back for 姐姐's certificate :P

We are the first to reach the school and he's also the first on the attendee list. The examiner is a pretty, nice lady. When we went into the room, he greeted his teacher and the examiner. First he sang his chosen song "Lullaby of Stars". I can tell he tried his best, but I wish he could have sang louder though. Then it was solfege singing, teacher played 2 phrases, he listens and sings them. Then it's listening for the chords. After that only it's playing his chosen pieces, Little Red Shoes and Falling Leaves from Primary Book 4. Next, it's listening to teacher play melody of The Dove, then he plays them with accompaniment. Lastly, it's meeting up with examiner, and singing the notes examiner pointed out. Finally, the examiner congratulated him for a good try at singing and playing. Phew! Everything done in less than 15 minutes I think. When we're out, most of his music class friends are already here.

弟弟 and his friends from music class

He's been practising throughout the 6 months for JMC Primary 4, even though it just seems like 5 minutes during the weekdays. About 1 month or so from the date we sign-up for the assessment, teacher had given them chance to perform their chosen songs to the class and other parents. They also sing their chosen song, first in group and then gradually they sing individually for the class. At the same time, teacher let them sing lots of solfege exercises and learn to listen to the chords they learnt. This was taught throughout the 2 years they are in JMC but got more intensive near to FSS :)

Here is a video I took during his class for singing Lullaby of Stars. Actually it's quite a difficult song for boys to sing, but he insisted on it.

And here is 弟弟 playing Little Red Shoes, Falling Leaves and The Dove. Usually teacher will let him play on piano, but on this day, it was a clavinova which has a harder touch. When he played The Dove here, he was a little rough, so teacher corrected his handling of this song :P And his variation for The Dove during FSS is slightly different after teacher taught them a little pattern for it.


During lessons, teacher will slot in some fun time for them, such as singing this lively song "Feeling Great Yeah". I think with a video the memory lives on for them :) He also enjoyed another song called "Treasure Hunting" but I didn't video it as parents are to sing along.

I'm just so relieved he completed his FSS assessment! :) Teacher had started to introduce them to JXC Book 1 songs, so he would be starting JXC completely from next week. At the same time, I think teacher will start preparing them for the JMC graduation concert too! 弟弟 will be kept busy :P

As a parent with children going for Yamaha's Junior Music Course, we have to be very patient. Skills are learnt a little by little, starting from single notes, to chords, from listening, singing solfege etc. Of course, when they first started there is no "song" to play for adults to enjoy. They start by playing accompaniment to the CDs. Some of our relatives even commented, "what, this is playing piano?" when they asked the children to play at the beginning stage. There is no need to rush it at this point in "playing a song". I'd rather them go slow and steady with teacher's guidance than to rush into playing at wrong tempo and lack of musicality, you know how some kids go fast when they are at a familiar part and go slow when they are not when they start playing pieces. This is so wrong as they should hear and feel the music and not just simply play notes. I can see tremendous progress with 姐姐 as she moves into JXC and I'm sure 弟弟 will too.

The 2nd Mid-Autumn FestoRama 2013 月圆花好 at Beach Street, Penang

First time we pay a visit to the Mid-Autumn FestoRama at Beach Street. On our way to the venue, we saw the classic Mini cars being driven to a side street :) 弟弟 was quite amazed these classic cars were vroom-vrooming away like how he drove the antique car at Genting theme-park :P

Decorations at Mid-Autumn FestoRama 2013

We thought they have a traditional children's games portion but we couldn't find it, it's not even listed in the program detail given out on the site. So the children just kind of hang around this lantern riddle 猜灯迷 games booth operated by Sin Chew Daily. We can check for the correct answer with the organizer, so it's quite fun seeing 姐姐 enthusiastically going back and forth to check if she got a correct answer. If you guessed the riddle  correctly, they will give you a little set of earrings and the lantern you "hit" or 采到了. We manage to get 4 lanterns, some were contribution from 姐姐 and some from 爸爸. Her school Mandarin teachers will be proud to know it's the knowledge they part on her. We spent more than 1 hour there since 姐姐 is so determined to get lanterns for herself and 弟弟! The lanterns are now hanging prettily in our home :)

This photo of 姐姐 and 弟弟 from Sin Chew Event facebook page

My dear children keep showing off their lanterns from lantern riddle booth

This Ah Huat mascot is really funny walking around. The children said the mascot stepped on their feet so they stepped back on him :P Ooh, children, he couldn't see with the big head-piece you know, it's not intentional. 姐姐 really pantang people stepping on her precious hello kitty slippers.

Me was lugging around their water bottles and umbrellas :( We didn't really watch the stage performances much, at the time we passed a cheer leading group was performing and then some talk time with a celebrity.
Too bad there was not much other activities that interested the children. Most of the stalls are either selling food/drinks or selling art and craft. There's a similar booth doing lino painting but we didn't want the children to get dirty so we didn't try it this time (we already spent a lot of time there during George Town Festival). Another stall had lantern riddles too but one must get 8 answers correct to get a prize, too challenging for us :P The other booth that the children get to play something is Magnum, if you get a ball while rolling a Magnum device then you get a little gift. There were a lot of folks pushing Celcom packages, ok so they are one of the main sponsors but who would go there to sign up phone/date package since it's a cultural event?

Wish there was more games :P

Spade's Burger at Bangunan Lip Sin, next to Maxim Dim Sum

We went for dinner later at Spade's Burger at Bangunan Lip Sin (next to Maxim Dim Sum, in fact I think they just use a portion of Maxim) to try their hand-crafted charcoal burgers. They did not open on time at 6:30pm as stated in their faceboook page. We were there at 6:30pm and the staff were just arranging tables, not only that, the tables were stained with chilli sauce from the day-time dimsum place. I mean, if you say open at 6:30pm means you clean-up and arrange everything and greet your customers at 6:30pm isn't it, and not just arranging tables/chairs at 6:30pm. They didn't have enough staff and didn't serve us the drinks we ordered, we had to take it ourselves from the counter after waiting for some time as the children got thirsty (smelling smoke from their grill). Why couldn't the guy just pass the drinks to us after we ordered and paid?

Let's just say the charcoal bun they use is not toasted or warmed, and I prefer a lightly toasted bun. Their beef burger was not bad, the chicken burger was nice according to 弟弟 and 姐姐 ate all the oink-oink burger. However not sure if it's because we're the first to order, the pork burger seem like just barely cooked and tasted really porky. We felt that Ric's Burger definitely beat this one hands down even though they don't have as much variety, for food taste and price and not only because of the ambiance. Ok enough complaints, we will not go back to Spade's Burger anymore, no thanks for burger buns which are not toasted/warmed. I don't care if charcoal buns are not supposed to be warm :P

It's Mid-Autumn Festival, so what is celebration without the essential mooncakes? This year, we enjoyed many varieties of mooncakes including the box 爸爸 bought from Taiwan (sorry, even though it's expensive but the local ones actually taste better, so no need to buy next time :P) We got the yummy snow-skin mooncakes from Thung's mommy this year too, and finished in no time :) The other cute cartoon mooncake is a Doraemon mooncake redeemed from Queensbay Mall.

Snow skin mooncake with Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse from Thung's mom, they are yummy!

Doraemon mooncake with lotus paste

弟弟's first permanent tooth!

This calls for an individual post for 弟弟. For getting his first permanent tooth and losing his first baby tooth at about 6 years 8 months of age :) Just a week after he told us of his shaky tooth, 爸爸 helped him remove that shaky tooth easily, right after he came back from business trip.

弟弟 after his first baby tooth removal. The new permanent tooth is already visible from this photo :)

There was no tears nor screams, what a brave boy! 爸爸 is already experienced in handling children's loose teeth, so it was handled promptly. 弟弟 was very cheeky after getting the annoying loose tooth removed. Hopefully the permanent tooth will grow properly in the location it's supposed to. Otherwise it's another child visiting the orthodontist in the family :P

At night, we went to Ric's Burger again. This time 爸爸 get to try the rice burger. The rest of us still preferred their cheeseburger :)

Rice burger at Ric's Burger, only available dinner time.

弟弟‘s kindy recently passed a memo to the kids about their year-end concert. Parents have to pay RM100 for the costume and event, which is fine with us. However the next part about serving buffet at the ballroom after the concert, paying RM90 per adult and RM50 for additional child attending is a real turn-off. This kindy is really all about money-making and sucks parents' blood dry. Previously the other kindy both kids attend only charge for costumes and event. In the end, we decided only 爸爸 will attend his graduation concert, 姐姐 might be having her Yamaha Grade 9 exam around the same time, so it's no use paying now and not get to attend later.

Oh this reminds me, they also had a memo saying they now have pre-standard 1 preparation for the kids. If they can't even teach 6 years old syllabus properly, why should we send our child to them for pre-standard 1. That's why I just added a ticker to the sidebar to celebrate 弟弟 finishing kindy. We'll be glad for him to leave this kindy behind!

Penang Hill Visit During 2013 Raya Weekend (槟城升旗山)

Finally we made it to Penang Hill during this Raya weekend! We prayed for good weather, and luckily even though it's cloudy, it didn't rain during the day. Still pretty blue sky, nice blue sea, but with some grey clouds overhang at certain areas.

One of my favourite photo for this trip with Penang Bridge in the background

We got a local family package which is available for those with Mykads. Our tickets for 2 adults and 2 kids below 12 years old are only RM18. Wow, if you forgot your Mykad, you have to pay the foreigner's fare. There were Rela members on duty at various spots at the bottom station and at the streets to move human traffic :)

At the train station and on the train

I felt the "blue coach" travelled really, really fast. Maybe because there are many visitors this weekend and they stepped on the gas (or programmed it to move much faster). 爸爸 felt it was not so fast the first time he took it during Ally and Keryn's visit.

People mountain people sea (人山人海). This is the best we could take of the new Penang Hill furnicular train or blue coach as the guard kept on asking everyone to move along to prevent "human congestion".

Took a few photos around the viewing platform near the top train station. It's all about views from Penang Hill for visitors, even us. The air is mildly cool, even 姐姐 was in t-shirt and shorts.


With Penang Hill signboard

More view

We stopped at David Brown's Sky Terrace @ Strawberry Hill for tea. There is great view from the Sky Terrace with cool air. But the children chose a high table (meant for drinks) so we didn't get to sit outside.

Around David Brown's Sky Terrace

They took a photo on the way back from toilet. This became 爸爸's favourite photo :)

The snacks we ordered - cappuccino, Devonshire cream tea and chocolate mousse

I only came for the scones, the Devonshire cream tea (RM24) comes with a pot of tea and is meant for one. I shared with the children and they loved everything that comes with it. Is this considered a bit pricey? At Cameron Highlands, we had scones set for RM12 but tea is to be ordered separately. We ordered the chocolate mousse (RM15) for the children to share and 爸爸 had cappuccino (RM12 but it was so-so only as they don't specialize in coffee). Only snacks/finger food available at the Sky Terrace, for the mains you have to go to the David Brown's Restaurant.

Around the garden at David Brown's Restaurant

Around the garden and grounds at David Brown's Restaurant

After that, it's going around for a little walk. Since I haven't been here for a long time, the old food court had been renovated to a new complex called The Astara Bukit Bendera. There's a viewing platform, and from here we can see work is still being carried out on another walkway with view towards Batu Maung (at least it looks like that to me).

The viewing platform from The Astaka Bukit Bendera

The Owl Museum but we didn't go

The old first-generation Penang Hill funicular train.
The Astaka complex viewing platform in the background with many visitors.

We didn't see the red-and-white train on display though. Could we please have the red-and-white coach for memory sake like this first-generation train? Our first visit was with the red-and-white funicular train.

Anyway, throughout this visit, the children keep wanting to revisit the playground in their memory.

Somehow from this angle the sky is always beautiful

Loved the colours :)

They're having fun!

The view from the side of the Hindu temple is nice too. A cruise ship is passing by.

Reluctantly they have to follow us around to experience some nature trail. So we rested first near what used to be the fountain. And we had to resort to giving out sweets to soothe their hearts. Actually 姐姐 didn't want to go because she's prone to attracting mosquitoes.

This place used to have a fountain, now it's a garden.

More walking around

Loved the way 爸爸 captured the trees :)

Self-declared nature trail as we don't have energy for the real one.

We dare not allow him to walk any further from this trail.

More greeneries around Penang Hill

I like this photo taken by 爸爸

Last photo with Bukit Bendera

Not able to wait for sunset, we took the train down. The wait was less than 15 minutes, and the ride was about 5-10 minutes (gut feel as I didn't really keep time, I'm not here to review their efficiency). At certain steep parts, it felt like a slower version "roller-coaster" to me. Forget about leisurely chugging along as in the old days. Thanks to the "roller coaster" of Penang Hill, we didn't have to wait long now.



We're in the first section going down. Standing room only though, luckily the children are already big enough to take care of themselves and enjoy the ride.

We have a video but I have to edit it, so let's see if I will upload.

The Penang Hill bottom station

It had been a fun day!

Visit to Waterfall Hilltop Temple and Nine Emperor Gods Temple (Butterworth Tow Boo Kong Temple 北海斗母宫)

Our plan is to visit Penang Hill on the second day of Hari Raya holiday. But it seems like everyone has the same idea to visit Air Itam today :P The road leading to Air Itam is so congested that it's almost a standstill! We couldn't bear the traffic jam as it is one-way to Air Itam and difficult to weave out later. So we gave up our initial plan and go to another "hill" attraction - Waterfall Hilltop Temple (sorry, I'm not sure what is the official name of the temple).

View from the stairs overlooking Gurney Drive

Actually this day is not so good even for outdoor photo as the sky is too cloudy and greyish. Still we couldn't be staying at home all the time since 爸爸 was on business trip before the holidays. There's a sign somewhere showing there's 513 steps to the top. We went up the steps on our bare feet, there is a sign to take off your shoes just before the steps starts. I think 爸爸 about to faint around the steps in the above photo kekeke.....  

Taking the steps slowly. 姐姐 showing 300 steps at the top right photo. 

Can see both the old temple and new temple from here.

We're not at the correct visiting time, the temple is closed by the time we are at the top. Next time, we should reach the top before 12pm, or after 4pm. We plan to come again :)

The new temple. It's closed so we couldn't go inside.

Outside the waterfall hilltop temple

Since we're already around Gurney Drive, and expected Gurney Plaza/Gurney Paragon to be congested, we went to Straits Quay. 

Straits Quay Raya decorations

The inflatable playland "Jungle Combo" is free on the day we went, later I saw from Straits Quay facebook they are charging a fee for entrance.

Inflatable playland "Jungle Combo" at Straits Quay which the children loved :)

The children only agreed to leave the inflatable playground if we bring them to the playground they used to go to. Suddenly there was this sign saying "Straits Green Playground-By-The-Sea". Faint at the fancy name :P

At Straits Green, Playground-By-The-Sea

Combo photo of our lunch at Blue Reef @ Straits Quay and Thai food dinner at Cherry Blossom

Hehe, I also dunno why we seems to be on a visiting temple spree. The next day we went to Butterworth Tow Boo Kong Temple or also known as Nine Emperor Gods Temple. It's too beautiful a day to be at home, and we couldn't go many places or get stuck in traffic jam on the island as 姐姐 still have classes in the afternoon. 

The main entrance of Nine Emperor Gods Temple (北海斗母宫)

Opposite side of the main entrance

Butterworth Tow Boo Kong Temple. Sigh, the boy wanted some shade and he didn't mind at all if he's using a girl's hat.

In front of Tow Boo Kong Temple

Fountain inside the temple

In front of the 斗母娘娘 shrine

Pagoda and dragon decorations

百子图 and lanterns

We went to pay respects too (as usual in 爸爸's style), not just taking photos. After visiting this temple, 爸爸 say he remember another very popular temple in the same area. Tapi he is not very sure of the way and didn't manage to find it :P

We saw an air-force base instead. There's a fighter jet on display so 弟弟 wanted to see it up close, influence from the new Disney Planes cartoon, you know.

Plane at air-force base and Ban Chuan Chicken Rice @ Chai Leng Park

For lunch we had Ban Chuan Chicken Rice at Chai Leng Park. It's the children's favourite chicken rice in Prai. They serve all sorts of fried condiments, but their favourite is the hard-boiled eggs and crab-stick roll. The sour plum drink is nice too. Then 姐姐 had to go for her usual classes. There was slow traffic but it's moving towards Juru toll, phew! Some of the crowd are making their way out from Penang :P

They polished off all their kid's meal for dinner later. Gosh, no longer able to share the adult portion...

Their identical kid's meal, with chicken burger, fruits and orange juice