Gotcha, Kids! 娃娃看世界

This picture was taken last CNY with friends in a school performance.


Bernice was invited to film in this MediaCorp production 'Gotcha, Kids!' 娃娃看世界 last Saturday. She had the first filming with some of her classmates in the school.





The show is to catch the candid respones of young children in various situations. Althought it is nothing new, but the responses of the children are genuine & can be funny. It gives the adults a glipmse into the kids' world. We watched the first episode before giving our consents for Bernice to be filmed, did not want to risk her being in a show that is distasteful.


The second filming was to give the child individual screening time - doing solo for about 10- 15 minutes, before editing. There were about 6 kids from her school & 6 others from other schools. The school teacher & supervisor of the centre are quite proud that the kids perform well during the first filming. We waited from 9.30 to nearly 12noon before it was her turn. Bernice was very composed and natural. Being a 'kiasu' mum, I had repeatedly remind her not to be fearful & be herself. She went off wth the production crew, without me, to the filming venue. She knew I was waiting for her round the corner.


I'm proud to say that Bernice proved herself to be a confidence & helpful girl, as she is taught. She actually helped the cleaner aunty to clear the mess on the table in a hawker centre & mopped the floor. She later complained that the mop was too heavy for her, but persisted since the aunty had asked her to help.


Filming is definitely not as easy as we thought. One needs to be prepared to wait and wait and wait. When we arrivd at the meeting place, the show hosts - Quan Yifeng & Pornsak were all ready - resting in the MediaCorp bus. I think they may have report to work around 7 or 8 am for wardrobe & make-up. The actual filming starts only around 10 am. The last girl (Bernice's friend) finished around 4 pm.

Parents are quite keen to get their children on the national TV, although there is no monetary incentive. I supposed all we want is the experience & excitement to be seen on national TV. Bernice helped to put my feet firmly on ground by saying " Mummy, they have to cut away the part that the children don't do well. Maybe I won't be on TV or only for a short while" She remembered what her teacher told the class & not be overly disppointed if they 're not featured on the program. Impressive. Thanks to the school teacher for being practical & helpful to prepare these 5-6 years-old to be realistic.

Was told by an excited grandma(Bernice's classmate) that the show is scheduled to telecast on 23/4/09 & 30/4/09

Nostalgia

Found my childhood photos under a drawer last night. They were given to me by a aunt who did spring cleaning & wanted to cleared off these 'unwanted stuff'.


When I was young, my late father often took my siblings & me for outing on Sunday. I don't quite remember those outing but do remember my father drove a lorry (with a cab that was so huge) This is me @ Katong beach - a favourite hangout.








This is my first photo taken by a 'professional photograher'. I remembered a man came knocking on our door, asking whether we were interested in getting our pictures taken. He was a door-to-door photographer. I was in my favourite dress - pink & purple pokker dots with a lovely purplish slash. My childhood friend Ai Ling had a similiar dress but in pink & red dots.

According to my father's writing (@ the back of this photo) this picture was taken just 2 days before I turned 5. It was a long long time ago.





We stayed in a 1-roonm rental flat @ Kim Keat Avenue. Still remember the address Blk 197 Kim Keat Ave 222-L. Many years ago HDB flat were given alphabets indicating the level. But as we build more flats highter than 26 floors, it has to be changed to numerial with a # in front. The 3 blocks of rental flats had long been demolished. The vegetable farms, which were just across a canal, replaced by the CTE & Potong Pasir housing estate.

It has been a long long time ago.

Attractions in Melaka

Eye on Malaysia- Melaka

Quite a new attraction. A standard ticket costs RM20, for Malaysian adult it is RM10 (need to show Mykad) & child fare is RM5. We had 5 turns during a weekday morning. One full turn is about 2 minutes (Yes, we used a stopwatch to time it) This gondola (as it is indicated in the ticket) can sit up to 6 persons. Rather small internally. Quite like this ride, compared to the Menara Taming Sari (the revolving "Gyro Tower' that brings one up to 80 metres for the panorama view of Melaka city.

The Maritime Museum

Built in 1990 is the replica of a Portuguese galleon. You can't missed it when you walk along the river. Limited collection of exhibits. But one can't expect much afterall the entrance fee is only RM3 (adult) & RM1 (child). It is a cheap way to cool down since the place is air-conditioned in a hot, hot, hot Melaka. We have to take off our footwares when getting into the museum, but good thing is that plastic bags are given should you decide that leaving footwares on the shelves is not an option.

The 'road' map of our Melaka River Cruise

The smile on our faces after we got our life jackets

Melaka River Cruise

Melaka was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage on 8th. July 2008.
We went for the cruise in the morning. It is a 45 minutes cruise, giving us opportunity to view this old city. The adult ticket is RM10 & RM5 for child. We are the last family on board & have to insist of having life jackets(which were taken up by the other tourists). Saw lots of construction & improvement work along the river - mainly to improve on the looks & make walking possible. The cruise is neither informative nor interesting. But it does give a quick glimpse into Melaka history along the river.

We are not avid shoppers, but we do love to visit local supermarkets when we travel. We went to 3 supermarkets - Giant, Carrefour & Jusco during our trip. Nothing fantastic. Brought MILO & lots of tibits. (Mamee which is their local product)

Self drive to Melaka

Drove up Melaka & stayed for 3D2N.

We started off from home @ 7.30am. Cleared the immigration by 9.00 am @ Tuas. Slight congestion, but tolerable journey. Both husband & I were a little anxious as it is our first self drive all the way to Melaka. But with the help of the research done via internet, we managed.

The journey was smooth, we only had one stop (somewhere after Yong Peng) for snack & toilet break. The children slept through half of the journey. This helps to make the journey pleasant - at least I need not 'entertain' them much.

We were lucky to be able to check -in Holiday Inn Melaka @ 12 noon as the 2 deluxe rooms I booked via their website are avaialable. We got 2 super-single beds in both rooms with city view. If I want a king bed, which are all straits facing, I need to pay more (RM $50 excluding govt tax).

We have 1 room with bathtub & the other with standing shower only. Both rooms are spacious. In fact I had only 1 room that accommodate all the 4 of us on the second night. The package comes with free breakfast & free internet access. Read somewhere in the net that the breakfast is not great. I find it ok. We ae spolit with choices - a spread of local food, bread & cheese (at least 6 varities), cereals (4 types), fresh & soya milk, and 3 diiferent type of juices. My favourite is the pink guava. The resturant is generous with their tea & coffee serving in a big mug, not those cup & saucer .

The spacious room, our HQ in Melaka

Went to Jonker street after check-in. Headed to Chung Hwa, a coffeeshop that specialised in the famous chicken rice ball. But there was a Q - about 10+ persons waiting for their turn to try out the rice ball under the sorching sun. We went to Famosa Chicken rice ball resturant @ Jonker Street instead. They have several branches in Melaka & alittle touristy too.

Famosa pricey compared to Chung Hwa (which i tried 2 years ago). But we are all famished, paying RM 39 (for half a chicken,small plate of roasted pork, fishball soup, 20 riceballs & drinks) is worthwhile. The resturant thought not air-con but is cooling. We did some exploration of the place which is 2 storey with the type structure of the Straits Chines house.