Monday, May 30, 2011

Juan Or’s Love for Choo-choo Trains: Past, Present & Future

Juan Or’s love affair with the choo-choo train started when his Papa downloaded Thomas and Friends’ Misty Island Rescue from the Internet. What seems like a ‘boring’ typical British cartoon turns out to be something that Juan Or watched over and over and over again. And that was when he was about 2 years 4 months old. 


Then, as time goes by, his choo-choo train things were added one by one, starting with his very first Thomas and Friends starter set. Today he is an 'ardent' collector of all things choo-choo train.  Here is a flashback of his past choo-choo train journey. 

Past (before Juan Or reached 2 years old)

Actually, Mommy bought this starter set when Mommy was still pregnant with him. However, the set was brought out only very briefly for him to see (then 1 year 4 months old) and quickly put back into the box to prevent damage and rough handling by this little boy. Only when he started showing interest in Misty Island Rescue did Mommy take it out for him to play again. 






His next choo-choo train ( or rather pseudo-choo-choo train) experience was the ride on the tram at Bukit Melawati in Kuala Selangor . He was indeed very excited because the tram looked like the choo-choo train in The Choo-choo Express of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 




Present (from 2 years old to the present)


For his 2nd birthday, Mommy bought him a choo-choo train jelly cake. Surprisingly, he wasn’t too enthusiastic about the cake although it has the choo-choo train shape.






Along the way as Juan Or grows up, Papa and Mommy took him to sit on all possible choo-choo train kiddy rides.



Papa and Mommy also took Juan Or to see the Malayan Railway exhibit at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Centre during last year’s Hari Raya celebration. The theme was “Balik Kampung” (Back to Hometown). 



Juan Or also managed to ride on the M&M’s choo-choo train at Sunway Pyramid.





When Juan Or was 2 years 4 months old, Papa and Mommy took him on his first ever Light Rail Transit (LRT) ride from Bukit Jalil station to Bandaraya. 



Nowadays choo-choo trains are so ‘modern’ looking, however, Mommy didn’t forget about the more old-fashioned ones – the steam locomotive – which is an exhibit at the National Museum, Kuala Lumpur.






Then, along the way, when the Litt Tak Toy Warehouse Sale came by, Mommy took the opportunity to buy Thomas and Friends train sets at a cheaper price for Juan Or, and much better (and more age-appropriate) than Hornby train sets for younger children. Some choo-choo train accessories were bought as well from Jusco during the sale seasons. 




Sometimes, Mommy also took Juan Or to Toys R’Us to see choo-choo trains. Can see but cannot buy ah! ^_^

 


But if there are free shopping vouchers from some redemption programme, then Juan Or gets to have the choo-choo train (with Mommy paying the difference, of course!)

 

And this is how Juan Or likes to play with his choo-choo trains – in a very dramatic manner – fall down, crash, boom, bang!!! He actually wants to imitate a scene in Misty Island Rescue where Diesel caused the jovi logs on the flatbed to tumble into the river. 



Not just that, he needs to have his choo-choo train toys paraded at the laptop as he watches Misty Island Rescue. So is he watching the show or ‘watching’ the toys (since the toys have covered quite a substantial part of the screen)?

 

Along the way, Papa and Mommy took Juan Or f or m or e choo-choo train rides on the LRT.



Mommy even sourced f or choo-choo train books to nurture his interest….


……ranging from fiction ones……



 …..to borrowing a non-fiction choo-choo train book from Mommy’s workplace’s library…..



…..to buying adult reference choo-choo train books from MPH Bookstore…..




….and junior reference choo-choo train books from other bookstores!





Even choo-choo train DVDs,…..


……choo-choo train magazines,……

 

….and choo-choo train pencilbox are not excluded!







By his 3rd birthday, his Third Aunty (from My Little Sprouts!) gave him a choo-choo train pop-out book.






And he couldn’t stop inspecting the trains, tunnels and what-nots of the pop-out book.

  

Future

This is what Mommy has in mind to continue to nurture Juan Or’s interest in choo-choo trains:

  1. Guide him in building a choo-choo train city on his own by combining all the complete sets plus accessories bought thus far. To do that, he will definitely need space to lay the tracks to form a ‘city’. So the third empty room upstairs will be all his for the envisioned choo-choo train city since he is the only child and there will be no other sibling to take the room. 
 
 (P/S: However, what you see here now is a choo-choo train city built by Mommy!)

2. Hop on the new Electric Train Service (ETS) which was launched in early 2011. This will be our future joyride family outing. We will either be heading north to Ipoh or heading south to Seremban from Kuala Lumpur .  

 
3. Get hold of Meccano toys that come with the choo-choo train designs. Mommy has just discovered this brand of toys where it’s very DIY in nature, so it’s good  for developing the child’s motor skill, thinking skill, independence of thought and all other good things to exercise the brain! The child gets to twist and turn the bolts, nuts, screws and what-nots to construct something just like how Papa does it with his hardware tools!
 


Meccano’s toys offer something for every child’s stage of development, like the Train Tool Box for ages 2 and above…..

 …..to the Meccano train that comes with flexible parts for children ages 5 and above. The parts can be taken apart again to build 5 other non-train models, so you get to have both variety and versatility all in one package! Isn’t that value for money? 



Hopefully, Meccano toys will come to the shores of Malaysia soon. So far, Mommy has not seen any Meccano toys in Malaysia’s Toys R’Us stores yet. ^_^

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Gnomeo and Juliet

Imagine when you - the master of the house - are gone and all of a sudden, your garden deco figurines come alive and have lives and adventures of their own? Well, this is certainly what happens in Gnomeo and Juliet!





Gnomeo and Juliet (read in the mind as "Romeo and Juliet") is an adaptation of Shakespeare's well-known work which revolves around the forbidden love between a man and a woman who come from two feuding families. Of course Shakespeare's version deals with real human whereas Gnomeo and Juliet deals with ceramic-made garden deco gnomes that come alive when their masters are not around (doesn't this coming-alive thing resemble Toy Story?). As you can expect, the two neighbouring masters do not get along well with each other, so do their teams of ceramic garden gnomes. See their hilarious antics - the blue-clothed gnomes vs. the red-clothed gnomes - in showing their hostility towards each other. Then one day, Juliet from the red-clothed gnome family wanted to pick a special flower situated at the blue-clothed gnome's garden and that was how she stumbled upon Gnomeo and love-at-first-sight sparked between them although they didn't quite want to admit the attraction  initially. See the two lovebirds' hilarious antics on how they struggled to come to terms with their attraction (and love) for each other and how they 'fought' for their love knowing very well that their families are at loggerheads. The good thing about this show is that it's a happy ending for everyone unlike Shakespeare's whereby the lovebirds ended up dead (*touchwood!*). Not just that, the gnome Juliet is also an articulate, strong-willed and hardy (or rather tomboyish) girl who can jump, kick, fight, and drive the lawn mower just like a male gnome unlike Shakespeare's portrayal of a very feminine and submissive Juliet. Watch this Gnomeo and Juliet and you won't be disappointed!


Anyway, just recently, Papa bought this Gnomeo and Juliet DVD and thanks to its entertaining and interesting storyline and lively computer graphics being catchy enough to sustain Juan Or's interest, Mommy was able to finish watching it (otherwise how would Mommy be able to write about it?)! What are you waiting for? Go get Gnomeo and Juliet DVD now!

Here's the official trailer if you prefer getting your foot into it first before getting hold of it with your hands!


Monday, May 23, 2011

Where to Look for Cheap but Good and Nice Ben10 Clothes




As Mommy's readers might have read before, Juan Or caught the Ben10 fever not too long ago. There was once when we went on LRT joyride and landed in Sogo, then saw one section selling Ben10 clothes. Juan Or asked Mommy to buy one for him but Ben10 clothes are not cheap, mind you! With just the T-shirt part alone (without pants), the lowest available price was RM25 and that also Mommy felt is not justified because the fabric is the type that cannot absorb sweat! So Mommy didn't entertain Juan Or's request.


Then one day, the opportunity came. We were merely window shopping at IOI Mall (Old Wing). Mommy spotted this tenant selling children's fancy dress (e.g. marshal, bear and bunny suits, etc.) but still did not know that the shop offers more than that. Then Mommy spotted one section displaying Ben10 clothes. It was chilren's suit set - singlet-styled top and a matching shorts. Price? RM14.90 for size 6, 100% cotton - cheap! Not only does the range offers Ben10 designs, but also Spongebop, Thomas and Friends and Power Rangers at that price range. If you are looking for short-sleeved T-shirt with shorts suit set and 100% cotton with Ben10 pictures and at that price range, there you have it too!









So Mommy bought a mixture of Ben10 and Thomas and Friends designs of suit sets: a size 6 and size 8 singlet-and-shorts sets for RM14.90 each, a size 10 and size 12 singlet-and-shorts sets for RM16.90 each and a size 6 short-sleeved with shorts set for RM17.90. All are 100% cotton and the cloth texture is quite thick. Although Mommy suspects these are not original Ben10 and Thomas and Friends merchandise, however, the pictures of the design are not out either. And the good news is that so far, Mommy has washed one of the sets before and found that the pictures remain intact and the clothes remain the same size after washing. Only thing is that the dye came out into the soapy water and yet the dye was not absorbed by the white parts of the suit set and neither did other clothes (Papa and Mommy's clothes) absorb the dye. After it was dry from washing, the colour did not look faded either. Yippy! The label also says: "Made in Indonesia".







Anyway, this boy was and is still very happy and eager wearing the Ben10 clothes again whenever they are dry from washing.








He even made it a point to wear the Ben10 clothes together with his Ben10 watch, called the Omnitrix! By the way, the babysitter gave him the Ben10 watch as his birthday present recently.




Be warned however that the cutting is considered small for the size no. it portrays. For example, although the label says size 6 (supposedly for children age 6), actually it's more for children age 3 to 4. The one Juan Or is wearing in the photo above says size 6. So be sure to size the clothes according to the child's body first before buying. Credit cards are accepted for whatever amount you are buying. Happy shopping!

The tenant's address:
Yang Young Gui, F43 & F43A 1st Floor, IOI Mall, Puchong. Tel. no.: 03-8076 9980

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Not Quite an "OUCH!"

Again this is just a quick post and an outdated one as well. ^_^ (Those familiar with Mommy can probably understand this!)

As usual, Juan Or likes to insist on doing certain things himself without anyone's assistance. This time, it was about closing the DVD cover. Mommy was about to press the two covers together to clip together but he made noise that he would like to do it instead, so Mommy let him. Then the next thing Mommy realized was that his shorts at the groin area got caught in between the DVD covers but luckily his foreskin was not part of it!



Of course this innocent boy did not realize the consequence of the what-could-have-been, so Mommy warned him that he was lucky he did not accidentally clip his kuku-chiau (penis), then only he realized! Finally the DVD cover slipped off by itself. And this cheeky boy, thinking it's fun to have something clipped to his penis (wait till he gets it, then he will know!!), he went on to reclip the DVD cover back onto his crotch area! *Slap forehead!*








Ta-dah!





Wait till he really gets it one day!!! *Evil grin*