ZZizzling Heat!

For the past couple of weeks, the heat has been very unforgiving to Oman residents. Not only has the temp reached (unofficial) heights but the humidity has gone up as well - in a normally dry environment, we're being pegged with 55% humidity whereas (to my knowledge) 30 is the norm.

So that, plus me having worked 14 days straight prior and the little-girl having a 1-day mid-term break (haha! notably shallow enough reasons), we trooped to much cooler scenes. We first loaded up some needed calories for the day's activities - continental-style breakfast at Stomach in Al Jawarahat (friday's breakfast buffet - kids eat free until end of June - but that was before they saw the big-little-girl eat so I dunno :D -- geez I zinged my own daughter - bad bad bad father)

After the much needed flexing (of the tummies), we headed for Grand Hyatt's pool. Luckily, there weren't much people around and we came early enough to get good poolside seats. We even got to have our lunch on the pool bar. The water was nice cool and the artificial-river-esque-canal never got boring. Leaving the pool only for the occasional pee and the mandatory sunblock re-app, we kept ourselves submerged until we were all ripe and pruny and the little-girl was just the right shade of cherry tomato.

Al Sahwa Park

One of the more popular parks around Muscat and is one of the more favorite venues of most Omanis and expats - to either wind down after the day's activities, to exercise or to just hang out with friends and family for a picnic. Even the little-girl couldn't restrain herself from inspecting every grand maze there was.

And so, after a full week of work May 6th, we (the T, U and V families) decided to just eat out for dinner. We zoned in on one corner with a few benches, laid out the food and began the three-hour dinner. We took our seats on the grass and proceeded to catch up on stories, news and plans...in between munches, of course. The park was quite peaceful and relaxing, the weather was light and cool that night and, best of all, we even had our own live entertainment...thanks to Jopet and his acoustic guitar. Just what we needed...

Becky ,Ginormica, Hannah and Spock

After four months we decided to visit the big screen again...

First was Confessions of a Shapaholic, I've been waiting for the movie to be shown here and was so excited to watch it. I read the complete shopaholic series and became a Sophie Kinsella fan and got to read her other books, Domestic Goddess, Can You Keep a Secret and Remember Me?. What do I think of the movie? I'm glad I read the books.

Monsters vs. Aliens for our little-big-girl. As expected she loved it and laughed at the funny scenes of B.O.B. We also bought advanced tickets for Hannah Montana The Movie. When we got there the next day the movie house was packed with teenage girls. As soon as it started they were screaming and cheering for HM but our little girl was just quietly enjoying every catchy song of HM.

Last May 9, fifteen minutes before screening time, we tried our luck to buy tickets for Star Trek. Luckily we still got nice seats. As we were watching, I started becoming a fan - same as the little girl. There was one Enterprise scene and Vivian asked "Daddy, why is the spaceship upside down?" and my husband smiled and told her that he will explain later.

Mathletics

BSM hooked up with an online numeracy educational website, Mathletics. They asked all of KS1 to participate for one week, for free, and try out the site. The little girl liked it. The combination of having it online and that it taught maths in a very visual manner made it very, very interesting for her. She was able to finish several levels and most of all, she saw very practical applications of learning math.

Laminated Star

stars abound...

As part of their literacy curriculum, the school employs Guided Reading as a tool for the kids' development. Needless to say, we're so proud of the munchkin. On top of that, the little girl was genuinely excited she got the certificate, which I take to mean she's at least enjoying what she's been doing. We, the oh-so-broken records, drill into her the importance of learning how to read particularly during lazy afternoons. Feedback from her teacher is very good and it makes us want to 'see' her in action more...what we'd give to be a fly on the wall in her classroom. Congratulations my dear!!

Guided Reading:

... In small groups the children learn to read and appreciate books, both fiction and non fiction. ...expose the children to phonics and high frequency words, and to engage the minds and emotions of the children. ...the children learn how to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary, how to use punctuation when reading for an audience and how different font styles are used for effect. ...encouraged to discuss texts, make predictions as to outcomes of stories ...

Stopping up top

Over the past days, we have been inundated with the flashes of Pacman's hooks and jabs, the endless slow motion loop of that whopping left that sent Hatton to bed... and as Filipinos, we are LOVING it! Manny continues to deliver and we, in turn, exhaust our trove of superlatives on the guy who, seemingly, can't do anything wrong...except well maybe go into politics.

Write-ups left and right weighing in on what-ifs, could-bes, what-me-thinks, what-you-thinks...the euphoria will be here for some time and that's to be expected. Some think he needs to hang up the proverbial gloves already - everybody knows the guy has enough money and greed seems too preposterous given his demeanor. Its probably a 'strike while the iron is hot' thing...or just simply love of the sport.

We love the Pacman not just because he is thriving in his element (and we're along for the ride) but because he is also Manny, the endearing pinoy package - me libreng 'I mean' and y'know pang kasama. Now, take that same guy; same package and put him in a different playground- let's say (and cringe) politics. Politics being what it is will expectedly have an ill effect on the persona that is Manny. And that's not to take away anything from Manny's capabilities, politics is simply too dirty a game. It's like deciding to go into mud wrestling - you may win the fight but it doesn't matter, your both covered in muck. And that simply won't do, what with the reverence Filipinos have placed on Pacman's persona ...the country's lost too much already.

So, for my coin...let the guy fight in a hundred more rings. Let the guy keep fighting 'till he does a Rocky VI...he's already being likened to him anyways. The alternative is just too much of a dark place. If he goes down, he goes down as a ring fighter and not on a politician's platform...they don't deserve him.

Wii and the Board

For over a year or so now, we've deliberated, delayed and doubted on whether we should buy our own. Me and the wife aren't really into games and game consoles but hearing all the positive feedback from friends and write-ups we decided to, finally, jump in. So, as we toured the innards of Hamley's (part of Dubai Day 3 I never got to write about), we found our fated Wii Sports console with a strapped in Wii Fit (essentially for free).

So now, fast forward to about a month after...it has ingrained itself into our daily routine. The wife has made Fit a daily morning habit...and she has the Fit Credits to show for it from Yoga, Strength and Aerobic Exercises to the balance games. The big-little girl has grown fondness for the aerobic exercises and surprisingly, even yoga and, of course, the balance games. As for myself, while I do the occasional Fit stuff but I've stuck mainly with the sports disk. The real benefit, however, is that it is another thing we get to do as a family. We watch out for each other, teach and encourage each other...complete with body slams on a bowling strike. Downside is...we're getting more behind on things we have to watch (series and movies).

complete attendance

Over the course of the school year, we had noted that missing school days tends to be a tad more critical during these times. Comparing to last year, where missing a few days wasn't such a big deal, missing school this time meant losing out on a lot more content and therefore harder to recover from...and recognizing that this early in her years is already saying something. While we didn't really gun for it, we were pleasantly surprised that she got a certification for complete attendance last term.

My first thought was yeah(!), she's reaping the benefits of the school quite well...good value for my buck. Typical hardworking dad response, right? But then...on a more altruistic angle, the wife points out that it also meant she never got sick and that she was healthy the entire term - and that that was more important above all else. (insert introspective pause here) Ahrm, okay... my bad...haha!

geez...it's not even summer here yet.

Reading...Stage 7!

The big-little girl set another milestone today. Her reading books got upgraded to the next level... Stage 7 (orange tags). Based on the International School Oxford Literacy Web (naks!)... she appears to be advancing quite well for her age and her age group - she's still in Year 1 (Y1)...and she sounds like she's starting to pick up the British inflections somewhat.