Ryan's Golf Tournament

Ryan has been attending the US Kids Golf Program at Tropicana Golf Club and has recently completed Level 2 of the instruction program. Last Sunday, he had his first chance to play some real golf as the organisers (RSH/Golf House) put together a tournament known as the Golf House Junior Shootout Series. Check out http://www.golfhouseacademy.com/

To be honest, I didn't know it was a tournament as I asked his instructor James about whether he would have a chance to play on a course as part of his lessons in Level 2, which he said yes. So, I actually thought it was a playing lesson!

When I arrived in the morning (7 am) at Bukit Jelutong, tons of parents and kids already hitting balls at the driving range. We were told that it would start around 7:45 so we went down to the driving range and let Ryan hit some balls.

After an initial briefing (and compulsory group photo), we were off. It was actually great as they converted the Bukit Jelutong Pitch & Putt course (all par 3s) into a mini course suited for kids (with par 3s and par 4s). The tee boxes were a bit confusing though and the layout of the course was a bit hard to follow at first. There were actually 2 levels to play off - Blue Level 1 Tees and Gold Level 2 Tees. Ryan played off level 1 as it was his first time and also because of the yardages (no way he could make regulation from the Gold Tees with Par 3 up to 100+ yards - his BEST, PERFECT shot with his 3 wood would be about 60 yards).

Here's Ryan after his first Tee-off! Great shot and no such things as 1st tee nerves (I guess he was really anxious to get on with it since he was the last to tee-off)

He really enjoyed himself throughout the day and spent a lot of time running around the course (more like a playground).

On the 2nd hole, there was a big water hazard, ie. lake, in front of the green and he had to tee-off to the right and approach from the side. Good tee-off, but then on his 2nd shot, he was aiming across the water. I pulled him back towards the fairway as it was clearly too far to go. The joker however, turned back left after his practice swing and let fly a solid 6-iron into the water. After that, he told me, "I wanted to cross!". hahaha.... Going for the glamour shots from a young age!! :)

Here he is with his approach after having to pitch out from the slope of the water hazard.

Got it on to about 5 feet. BUT he couldn't hole it out after 4 putts up and down the hill... so got a maximum score of 10!

Overall he played well from tee to green, however, his putting distance control was pretty bad. But it was ok since it was his first time on a real course. The other key thing was his alignment as he has a tendency to aim right of the target (by quite a bit). Kept having to remind him "where are you aiming?" and pulling him back here and there.

He completed the day with a score of 66 (bogeyed the last hole for his best score of the day), which was good enough to get 3rd place in his category (Boys 6 yrs and under). His category was actually the largest and most competitive group with 12 boys. The winner shot 58.

Here's the little champion receiving his prize :)

We'll definitely be going again, of course being nice to win, but more because there are very few chances for kids to have a game and learn on a real course. When was the last time our clubs let kids (or even beginners) play?

(Note: Krystal kept pressuring me to post this on our blog...)

Thistle Port Dickson

We were at Thistle Port Dickson over the 7-9 August weekend, which also coincided with the S'pore National Day weekend. In addition to the many Singaporeans at the resort, there were also many groups of people from various organisations, who had their team building event that weekend. In two words, the resort was JAM PACKED!

Nonetheless, the boys had their fair share of digging in the sand and swimming.

Just arrived - at the entrance


Off to some digging


Ryan with his shovel


And after digging....Jaden jumped into the pool

On the second day, papa had a whole day of meeting, so I had to take care of the 2 monkeys. I brought them to the beach for more digging after breakfast.

Jaden loves running bare footed on the sand but Ryan insists to wear his sandals.


Ryan, calling the waves to come so that he can play 'chase'.

Wrote Jaden's name on the sand.

The boys got tired of the sand and we went to the Kidz Club. Lots and lots of balls there!

The room was beautifully painted too :)

And filled with all the 'fun' toys

Ryan, the sociable boy made friends with an uncle and they were playing catch


And how could they resist the trains and tracks


Difficult to get a proper pix of this boy nowadays :(

And more swimming after that :)

Jaden dreaming during his breakfast, on the third day.

Fire Station

Jaden had a 'lawatan sambil belajar' at the Sri Hartamas Fire Station end of last month. His school organised the trip with another school and there were so many grandparents and parents who accompanied their kids to the station. Jaden was lucky to have his grandmother with him, however, the trip turned out to be like a 'pasar malam', with kiasu grandparents and parents around, that my MIL was quite pissed with the poor organisation.

My MIL was one of the first to arrive at the station (9.15 am) and the staff showed her to the TV room to keep Jaden occupied while waiting for people to arrive. When she came out of the room, she noticed all seats were taken up and parents/kids were scrambling to get a place near the center where the demonstration of uniforms, talk, etc was held. Jaden only managed a place at the side :(



OOOOhhhh....the fire engine is huge!





Lucky Jaden managed to make 2 rounds in the fire engine around the station compound. I was surprised that he sat on Uncle Fireman's lap!

Jaden simply loved the trip! We read Barney's Fire Station Visit and Sesame Street's fire engine books to prepare Jaden for the visit, and he could tell us various parts of the uniform. Truly an eye opener experience for him :)

Kiddo learning Mandarin

And how does the mama teach the boy to do homework leh?

....by using the Electronic Dictionary loh....

I have forgotten most of the chinese characters I learned in tuition class when I was a little girl, but thank goodness, I still remember some basics, like the 4 sounds and some strokes. But I can't recognise most of the characters now and since Ryan is learning the 100 basic characters (and beyond), I guess it's time for me to invest in an electronic dictionary.

Easy...when I do not know the character, I just scribble the character on the screen and the dictionary will find the character for me plus the meaning in English. Also, I can choose to hear the pronunciation of the character. I have yet to explore the many functionalities of the gadget which also provides Malay translation, idioms, synonyms, penjodoh bilangan, etc. etc....

At least, with this, I can teach my little guy to do homework now :)