Karvased ja sulelised

Tegime pyhapaeval ara veel yhe kohustusliku Singapuri valjasoidu - Jurongi Linnuparki, mis on nagu loomaaed aga ainult lindudele. Kannatab taielikult vordluse loomaaiaga valja. Vaga ilus dzhungli moodi haljastus, kynkaid ja vett ja suuri puid ja vaikseid lilli - koike mis vaja yhesonaga. Tegime alustuseks vaikese soidu "panoraili'ga" - rong, mis soidab korgel ja sellelt saab hea ylevaate, mida ja keda lahemalt vaadata. Hasti tore raakivate lindude kogu on seal, aga me ei osanud nendega vist oieti raakida, igatahes onnestus ainult Robertil ja Beatrice'il yhelt linnult mingi jutt valja meelitada ja see oli ka kasside keeles. Paris palju linde oli sellistes suurtes lindlates, kuhu kylastajad said sisse minna. Yks Uus-Guinea tuvi oli vaga julge ja huvitus tosiselt minu varvastest, mida ta ilmselt mingiteks soodavateks marjadeks pidas ja hoolega nokkima hakkas.

Eriti suures "aviary"s on suurim kunstlik kosk - 30 meetrit ja kogu ala nagu yks korralik vihmamets. Ise me ei nainud seal nii palju erinevaid liike alguses, sest koik olid kuidagi puudes peidus aga sattusime sootmise ajaks ja siis ilmus ikka igasuguseid tegelasi lagedale, yks kirjum kui teine. Soogiks olid ussid, tougud ja tirtsud ja onu andis lahkelt pealtvaatajatele topsikuid soogiga, mida korgel hoides linnud lausa kae peale lendasid. Nokkisid nii, et touke lendas ymberringi. Koik lapsed sattusid suurde hasarti ja korjasid lopuks mahakukkunud usse topsidesse tagasi. Raoul oli isegi nii julge, et vottus yhe tirtsu, aga viskas selle maha, sest see "hammustas" teda.

Vaatasime veel roovlindude showd, kus kotkad ja kullid lihatykke ohust pyydsid ja pealtvaatajate peadest nii ligidalt yle lendasid, et vois tunda tiibade puudutust. Vaga muljetavaldav.

Olime seal kogu pika paeva ja lopetuseks veel manguplatsil. Olen juba harjunud, et sellistes kohtades on harilikult ka veemanguplats, nii et ujumisriided olid kaasas ja Beatrice ja Karl said ennast maha jahutada. Raoul on viimasel ajal otsustanud, et ta ei taha enam ujuda, nii et ka seal mitte.

Hasti palju venelasti oli kylastajate seas, kuulsin siis tapselt ara, kus on koige paremad ja odavamad kaamerad myya jne.

This has been another busy week. The boys were off school Monday and Tuesday. (The school takes apparently every chance!) Monday was "youth day" and Tuesday parent-teacher conferences. We went to the Science Centre on Monday with Mia and Alex and had a great day. Discovered a lot that we hadn't seen last time, also took swimming stuff so the kids could play in the water playground which is really great.
Tuesday's meeting was a surprize as I had expected to hear a lot of terrible things about Raoul. Instead the teacher said since the start of this term the boys have swapped their roles with Raoul being good, sitting and listening quietly and Karl disrupting the classes and playing rough. The report referred to last term though and in there Karl is doing very well. Raoul has been not happy to go to school and almost every day I have to lift him into the bus with lots of resistance. At school however he seems to be happy. So I have no clue what is going on.
Yesterday we had a girls day out with Beatrice and went to the Asian Civilizations Museum, just the two of us. Very nice and quiet. The collection there is really impressive, also a lot of interactive and hands-on things to do for the kids. There is a special exhibition from Vietnam and we did a quiz with Beatrice being very good at finding the objects we had to look for. Afterwards we walked over to the Merlion on the riverside to have a close look. We had only seen it from the tourboat before.

Kylaelu

Viimased paar paeva on hakanud tunduma, et see siin on vaike kylake. Eile ei olnud poistel kooli vaid opetajate kohtumised vanematega ja seetottu laksime enne meie aega Go Go bambinisse, mis on kooli ligidal. Pealegi ei olnud Beatrice seal kainud ja talle ikka veel meeldivad vaga sellised ronimispaigad. Vaevalt olime sisse saanud, kui nagime poiste klassivenda Matthew'd - see sama, kes kaib ka nende taekwondo koolis. Ei tea kyll, kuidas see nii juhtub, et meie teed pidevalt niimoodi ristuvad. Igatahes oli koigil muidugi eriti tore, kui said juba "vanade" sopradega koos mangida. Matthew ema on Malaisia hiinlanna, isa austraallane. Ema kaest kuulsin ka, et taekwondos on veel yks poiss nende klassist. Poisid olid juba enne oelnud, et "see poiss on meie koolis", aga mina ei olnud teda seal nainud ja arvasin, et ajavad kindlasti midagi segi, sest asiaadid on ju meie jaoks ikka ysna sarnased. Tuleb valja, et poistel oli siiski oigus - tegu on lihtsalt ysna uue poisiga, keda ma ei olnudki nainud koolis. Kusjuures eelmine kord taekwondos raakisin ta isaga - molemad vanemad korealased! Aga muidugi ei tulnud koolidest juttu ja nii jaigi see selgitamata. Nyyd sai lahenduse veel yks mysteerium - nimelt oli Karl eelmine nadal mingi pahandusega hakkama saanud koolis ja pidi istuma "pahanduse toolil". Raoul seletas mulle, et ta oli teinud midagi jo-jo'ga. Ma veel imestasin, et mis saab jo-joga teha, mis on nii suur pahandus. Nyyd selgus, et selle uue korea poisi nimi ongi jo-jo (ei tea tapselt kuidas nad seda ladina tahtedega kirjutavad, aga nii igatahes koik haaldavad). Nii et Karl oli nahtavasti Jo-Jo'le haiget teinud. Nyyd on igatahes neli poissi yhest klassist sattunud yksteisest soltumata samasse taeokwondo-kooli. Ja seda Singapuri miljonite elanike ja tuhandete voimaluste hulgast.
Koolis ootas veel yks yllatus - arvasin, et kuulen palju Raouli pahandustest aga selgub, et kuigi ta ei taha kuidagi kooli minna, on ta seal roomus ja tubli. Opetaja sonul on poisid peale vaheaega justkui rollid vahetanud - Raoul istub ja kuulab ilusti, samal ajal kui Karl on nyyd see, kes ringi ronib, ennast ja teisi segab ja tyli kisub (rough play). Ma loodan, et ta toesti ei ole neid parast vaheaega segi ajanud.
Parast kaisime poes ja seal kadus Karl ara ja jarsku helistas Beatrice'i klassi Hannah ema, et leidis Karli. Nemad olid ka juhtumisi samas poes. Vaike kylake.

BBQ

Finally we got our act together and used the BBQ pit outside our living room window. We had invited Beatrice's friend's family over as well as Mia and hers. They are all more experienced barbequers than we are so that way we were on the safe side. Had some lovely fish and beef and it was great fun with all the kids in and out of the pool and having fun on the playground while we could enjoy the meal and a few bottles of wine. Very tired today.

Beatrice's weeks

A lady having a rest at the dragon boat race

Now Beatrice has finished school and we have some time for the two of us trying to catch up on things that she has missed. We went to the library on Monday and it was a very different experience compared to the visits with the boys. Yesterday I took her to the Mozart exhibition that we had seen with the boys. Mia and Alex came along and we had a great time. It was so much more appropriate for their age and they could enjoy a lot more of the activities - like trying to write with a feather - and learn something actually. Then we had lunch - Beatrice her traditional chicken-rice - and a coffee and we got back running from the bus stop just in time to meet the boys school bus as it arrived at the gates. That was a tight timing.

Beatrice had her 1st Taekwondo lesson yesterday at last. She was not keen to go as she had to go by herself. It was only because I promised her a big golden star that I got her on this bus. However it was a whole different girl who returned with a wide and proud smile. She had made friends with the other kids and earned her first yellow strip on the belt. And I must say the star chart has worked wonders with her - doing a lot of things without a moan and always looking for ways to help at home in order to earn some more happy faces. For the boys the effect is limited. Karl is keen to get some happy faces and does his chores when we stand in front of it and count in the evening but Raoul couldn't care less.

Also the boys had their second TKD lesson on Saturday and seemed to enjoy it. However Raoul was being his good old self and gave the instructor a hard time. Although it was more in a joking mood so there is hope.

On Sunday we went to see the dragon boat race which is a big yearly event with many countries and many many local teams participating. Lots of expat teams as well. It was quite good fun to watch it with the drums banging and pretty boats with dragon's head and tail. We are too few to set up an "Estonian dragons" team though. Afterwards we went to the East Coast Park that we hadn't seen yet. It covers the whole eastern coast of the island and is nice for bicycling. There were people swimming as well. But looking at all the thousands of ships anchoring right outside, I don't really know if I want to swim there. People go there even camping for weekends. Also there is one quite funny attraction - waterskiing on a lagoon while strapped to lines that hang in the air and pull the skiers around and around. They use something that looks more like a snowboard with boots and everything. There were some young kids going around and the more skilled ones used the little "mountains" built in the water to demonstrate jumps and turns. I have never seen anything like that.