Cheng Ho Cultural Museum, Lorong Hang Jebat, Melaka 23 August 2015

Cheng Ho Cultural Museum is informative. I came unprepared, that is with no whatsoever sharing with my kids beforehand. I have forgotten almost everything I learnt in school !  When I paid for the tickets, the lady at the counter told me there will be a tour guide! I was thrilled. I thank her profusely and walked to where she pointed to. At the entrance, Jimmy, the guide greeted us with a friendly smile and share generously and passionately with us. I think I learn more from him than all my years of schooling in a the history class.  

Hui stared at the "precious" upon learning about castration ! 

Looking for lost treasure in the well. 

Besides having vast knowledge of Cheng Ho, Jimmy is also funny. He tried to trick us into believing that these machinese are used to torture the criminal !

This is how a sleeping cabin looks like in one of the many ships in Admiral Cheng Ho's voyage. 

Catholic Church Of St Francis Xavier, Jalan Banda Kaba, Melaka 23 August 2015

According to a HS mom, M, one can hardly see a pipe organ in a church these days.

The stain glasses here are beautiful and filled with meaningful verses from the bible. 

A confession room. 

An excerpt from Wikipedia,  

1. "In Catholic teaching, the Sacrament of Penance is the method of the Church by which individual men and women may confess sins committed after baptism and have them absolved by a priest. Although it is not mandatory, the Catholic rite is usually conducted within a confessional box, booth or reconciliation room "

Exploring and cycling at Banda Kaba, Melaka 23 August 2015

The children cycled while I walked, marvelling at the unique structures of the homes and life at Banda Kaba. 

There is a praying altar on the ground, at the left side of this house. The little door of the altar is closed in the day. At night, the door opened, revealing what is shown on the photo below. 

We have not seen anything like this before! Interesting!

Dear hubby had a small talk with a local resident. He said he learnt a great deal from this man. 

En cycled at the narrow alley of the neighbourhood.

Most of the roofs have triangular pointy shape. 

Melaka traditional kampung house seems to have stone stairs covered with multi-colour tiles. 

The owner of this home, a friendly woman whom I spoke to, said she has been living here since she was a kid. She doesn't want to move as this area is very convenient as compare to the new housing area.  The kampung house was extended to the back and at the bottom as well. 

The kids experienced my type of playground, what I played as a kid. She said "Sliding down the hard wooden slide was painful !" 

Apa Kaba Homestay, Kampung Banda Kaba, Melaka 23 August 2015

It was such a blessing to stumble upon this kampung homestay which is more than a 100 years old! The owner lives at the same house with us. 

The driveway into Apa Kaba's spacious compound. 

The entrance to the check-in front desk and also where the rooms are. 

Our room 's window. 

The door to the right is our room. Both the rooms are connected through a door inside the rooms. Our room is RM131 per night, for 4 of us with breakfast.  

The connecting door became the correspondence mode between my children and the children next door. Notes were passed through the gap under the wooden door and a gentle knock would followed. 

The antique oven.

There are many of these ventilation holes. 

The airy open air courtyard.

Old-fashioned lock.

Our bedroom 's window. 

We rented some bicycles to cycle around Banda Kaba. The rental is RM10 per day and deposit of RM50 is needed. 

Volunteering at Turtle Sanctuary, Pantai Padang Kemunting, Pengkalan Balak, Melaka 22 August 2015

The holding pond was well cleaned and brushed by the volunteers. En spent one last moment and sent love thoughts to the turtles.   

Without any hesitation, she would jumped into the pond and scrubed. I admire her enthusiasm. 

Hui raked the dried leaves at the nursery. 

It is so hard to look for plastic resin pellet at the beach. Maybe I am inexperienced. Find out more on pellet here. 

Beach clean-ip. 

I love this part, hatchling released. It is different from the usual ones that we have done. We were told to form a "V" or "U" shape and stayed put to watch. No photography and no touching/holding the baby turtles. Just watched them with no interruption.  

Hui's DIY Paper dolls August 23 August 2015

Homeschool Scout with Quek TL August 2015

Sharing on World Scout Jamboree 2015's experience by Quek. 

Receiving scout badge, the special moment kids had been waiting for. They worked hard for it.  

Packing survival kit. 

Some of the contents of survival kit.

The list of tests completed.

Basic photography.  En did a selfie!  

Scout T-shirt planning. 

The second term ended. How time flies!  It has been good so far, outdoor + activities + a passionate and kind teacher. Thank you Quek. 

July 2015 scout here. 

Bush-Craft with Orang Asli Semai, Raman Bah Tuin (4) Build Shelter 26 August 2015

After the previous lesson on buiding a shelter, today we try to build one with minimal help. 

The frame-work was low because that was the maximum height the tallest child could reach. 

The view under the shelter. 

The back view. 

Side view.

I helped out a little and found myself enjoying the process. 

Raman showed me "Selaput Tunggul" again, after I told him I still could not be sure of one when I see it. 

"Kapal Terbang" 

It has the same function as "Selaput Tunggul", to stop bleeding.

"Daun Senduduk" 

Papaya leaves juice cures dengue fever. In order to take away the bitterness, add "daun Senduduk."