Monday, March 30, 2009 ;
3:26 PM
28 Mar
Sat
2pm was ds1's marimba lesson. ds2 fell asleep for his afternoon nap in the cab so Dh carried him directly to Mighty Deli for a coffee while I brought ds1 for his class.
Surprisingly, ds1 was very enthusiastic and eager to start his class.
Who should I meet but H and D (Indian neighbour at Crystal City whose kids are at IST too), at Cathay Future's reception! Both were there to enquire about different classes.
I brought ds1 up to his class then came down to join them. D is very adventurous. She is thinking of letting her kids join the classes too when they don't know the language well. But she doesn't mind letting them learn the language better. She was interested in the guitar lessons.
H was interested in the adult classes. I wasn't aware of them but they actually offered ballroom dancing, folk dancing, taichi, painting etc classes for adults on weekday mornings also! The charges were very reasonable, only 150yuan for 6 mths, weekly 1.5hr classes!
D's family left to go to the Cathay Future Park, just behind the building. She said a lot of her Indian expat friends bring their kids to the park too.
I asked H if she wanted to join me and Dh, and she did for a while.
We later also found out that Mighty Deli has wireless internet access, so in future we can bring our laptops to surf too, while waiting for ds1. Better than waiting inside the classroom.
When it was time, I went to get ds1 and we all headed for the park too!
We had to pay 5yuan per adult, kids under 1.2m go in free. I felt it was not cheap, because the park was not well-maintained, despite being very big and diverse in offerings. But it was an ideal way to spend the time between 3.30pm and 5pm before the kids went for their art class. We preferred being in the outdoors when they have a break.
That's the wooden play area.

Then we met H and her sons. She had gone to pick them up from their English enrichment lessons and since she knew we were going to be here, she brought them here too, so they can all play together.
At another play area with many nets, ds1 and LL (H's younger son).

Swinging rope section (Tarzan-whee!):

Stepping stones? A bit too wide for ds2 huh?

A netted contraption that will turn. ds1, HH and LL all in pic.

Punching bags... All 4 boys here.

ds2 climbing.

ds2 is too small and short for one part of the playground. This netted bridge for example. He had to go under everyone's legs. H told me cannot let the older generation see (old grannies).

ds2: Ahhh! "I'm too short to get up, I need to be saved from this net trap!"

Poor ds2, too small for everything. See the pic below? The 3 older ones all together in a row, way in front, in a netted tunnel that goes all the way up. Where is ds2?

So far behind! "Wait for me!!" he shouted. And he kept calling for HH. Maybe because HH will look out for him and help him. Not his own brother, haha. Not this time at least...
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
____________________________________________________________