The Nile Cruise

Finally, as my posting to Egypt is drawing to a close, I had a chance to take the legendary cruise down the Nile. We had a great time and Le Le enjoyed the sleeper train rides very much!  My Sister Eileen came over with a number of her colleagues in December 2011 and I got them a package with Spring Tours and hopped on the Nile Cruise sector. Here are some photos to share...

Celebrating Shan Le's 4th Birthday at Urban Toddlers

We celebrated Shan Le's 4th birthday at his school on Thursday 14 October 2010.  His birthday is on 18 October 2010 but we decided to do this little party earlier as he needs to attend speech therapy in the afternoon on his birthday.

We had a very close shave on Thursday and we almost missed the time the school allocated for parents to hold birthday parties.  Well, we actually arrived at 1.20pm when we were supposed to start at 1pm.  After 1.30pm, all the kids will start to leave. It was a hectic day really.  Our driver, Samir, had to go for a minor operation and I had to drive down to Maadi with Irene to collect the cake and cookies.  I was held back because of work and left late.  Worse, I could not find find my way to Kum's Cake and spent about 15 minutes circling Maadi looking for the place and got muy bumper dented in the process :-(

The worst part is getting stuck for a good 10 minutes in Kasr El-Nil street in downtown Cairo.  I should not have taken that road! But fortunately, the road cleared up and I managed to get to the nursery in time for the party.  We rushed to place the cake and laying out the plates and serviettes while the teachers and helpers get the kids to sit down.  We sang the birthday song for Le Le in both English and Arabic, blow the candles, cut the cakes and finishing them up all in 10 minutes!!!

The sad thing is that I lost the video clip I took with my Android phone....

拜读三字经

善乐这一个月以来每日上下课在车里都听着朗诵[三字经]的CD。也不知道是他的记忆力好呢还是[三字经]的文字押韵的太好，他已经能背下二十八四句168个字：


人之初，性本善。性相近，习相远。苟不教，性乃迁。教之道，贵以专。
昔孟母，择邻处。子不学，断机杼。窦燕山，有义方。教五子，名俱扬。
养不教，父之过。教不严，师之惰。子不学，非所宜。幼不学，老何为。
玉不琢，不成器。人不学，不知义。为人子，方少时。亲师友，习礼仪。
香九龄，能温席。孝于亲，所当执。融四岁，能让梨。弟于长，宜先知。
首孝弟，次见闻。知某数，识某文。一而十，十而百。百而千，千而万
三才者，天地人。三光者，日月星。三纲者，君臣义。父子亲，夫妇顺。


希望这中华“蒙书之冠”能为他奠定良好的论理，道德以及语言基础。

解读三字经

最近我正在收看百家讲坛钱文忠教授解读[三字经]，感触良多．[三字经]据说是宋朝以来传统中国儿童的启蒙读物．'人之初，性本善．性相近，习相远' 短短十二个字的开头就包含了中国儒家的深层思想．我们先不去争论这哲理是否正确．毕竟，千百年以来人性是否善恶各家一直争论不休．钱文忠教授将［人之初，性本善］论为我们对人类的美好期望的看法，我是非常赞同的．可是我也意识到人的善性是需要后天的教育方能展现的．

回顾我当初为善乐命名的时候，我就是希望他這一生萬事都 '以善為本, 為善最樂'．我們終究無法照顧他的一生. 我們可以作到的就是灌輸他正確的價值觀, 讓他一生受用不盡. 我們深切相信, 只要他能以善待人, 他會感覺他的人生是快樂的. 当初想法至今没变. 可是认识了[三字经]后让我更进一步的思考要如何灌輸他正確的價值觀. '养不教，父之过'. 把孩子生下来却不教育他, 是父亲的过错. 教育孩子可不仅仅是给与他知识而已.更重要的是灌輸他正確的價值觀.


在现今的教育制度, 重心是放在学习知识上. 正确价值观的教育则是次要. 因为我们国家的多元化, 国家教育对于价值观的灌输是相当敏感的. 必须提防以一个种族或一个宗教的观点来设定'正确'的价值观. 基本的是非对错事没什么敏感. 但其他的价值观比如[三字经]及儒家所倡导的孝悌就不一定是所有人所一致认同的. 对我而言, 教育的重心应该放在正確价值观的灌输. 既然校园注重于知识的教育, 家中身为父母的我们就必须加强教育孩子正確的价值观而不是一昧的督促学校课业的得失. 这是我的个人看法也是我对于善乐的教育方针.


要如何实践就得深思一翻了......

忙碌

忙碌！进入任期的最后一年原本应该是可以从容的应付业务上的一切。没想到这第三年是如此的难熬。办公室的装潢工程已经展开，我几乎天天都得加班。周休二日也时常需要回办公室监督工程。能给与家人的时间越来越短。精力都投入了业务也无法提起精神和乐乐玩耍。回头思来，这牺牲是不是太大了？唉！多说没用，谁叫我是个尽心敬业的老实人 ;) 怎么说也不能辜负乡亲父老上司下属的重望吧！做不好我也没脸面对妻儿父母。业务虽然繁重，可是每当完成了一项任务都带来激励自己的动力。就这么埋头苦干下去吧! 总会有海阔天空，日出天明的一天。现在向往的是八月份的短暂假日让我回国稍微喘一口气。埃及还有许多景点我还没去。为了不留下遗憾，我必须精心安排安排，重点的尼罗河轮船古埃及之游我一定得腾出时间落实。原本想从埃及到不远的欧洲捷克布拉格度假。看样子机会渺茫的很。

乐乐随我来到开罗也有两年多了。他也快四岁了哦。说实在，我不该接着份差事。开罗的环境和严重污染对乐乐的早期成长必定有负面的影响。刚来到这儿的时候他还不到两岁。后悔莫及！这是他的命数吧。老天保佑，乐乐他也没有多大的问题，只是语言上迟缓了点。他还是相当开朗和讨人喜爱。幼儿园的老师和校长都很疼爱乐乐，说他每日都带着灿烂的笑容上学堂。除了会话，乐乐其他方面的发展都还算正常。我们也让他到特别学习中心上辅导课程，希望他的会话能力会得到专业的辅导。乐乐的进步虽然不算迅速，可是他现在已经开始领悟到会话的功能。希望他会尽快打开任督二脉，畅所欲言！

Fayoum Tunis Little Swiss Oasis

I have been craving for a break for quite some time and finally I got a short window to make a trip out to the Fayoum Oasis with Irene and Le Le.  I really have no time or energy to plan a long vacation!  A short break will do.  We knew little about Fayoum and I did not plan much as I just wanted to get out of Cairo for some fresh air.  Le Le was not well the day before we were supposed to go but we went ahead anyway.  Some fresh air will be good for him I thought.

And so we headed out to the little village of Tunis on the banks of Lake Qarun where the Little Swiss Oasis is located.  The drive was an easy and scenic one and we had little trouble finding our way to the rendezvous point by the lake.  There we met Doris Frei, the lovely owner of Little Swiss Oasis.  From there, she led us through the village down some unpaved lanes leading to the small but welcoming house overlooking Lake Qarun.

It was beautiful and completely relaxing.  Doris made us a sumptuous lunch of chicken, rice, bread and some really tasty tuna mix.  The wind was so soft and breezy that we spent our afternoon napping away in the nice little room on the second floor.  There is only one guest room at Little Swiss Oasis.  Fortunately we did not round up my other colleagues for the trip.

In the evening, we took a walk around the village well-known for its pottery and had dinner at a small inn next door named Sobek.  As we were getting ready to turn in for the night, Le Le's condition took a worse turn and began nauseating.  His body temperature rose over 38.5 deg C and he could not sleep through the night.  Both Irene and I were also dragged in and out of bed as Le Le struggled with his coughs and nausea.  We have no choice but to abandon the trip to the desert and other sites such as Wadi Rayan and Wadi Hitan on the following day.  Doris was most apologetic though it was no fault of hers.  She was the most gracious host and she made us a delicious continental breakfast to mark a short but memorable stay.  It was a great pity we left in such a rush that we failed to take a photo with Doris.  Nevermind!  We shall return!

More photos in my Photo Album

Here are images of Little Swiss Oasis's brochure:

金虎年！万事大吉!

听说今年是金虎年。希望新加坡的生育率不会跌得太惨。毕竟是金身的老虎，应该不比龙子龙女逊色吧。我们一小家子今年就在开罗过了年。今年没办法回国和家人团圆，心里不乐意可是也别无他法。不过我们还是可以通过电脑视讯和父母及家人拜年也还算不错了。除了到同事的家和其他新加坡同胞聚会，我们也没有什么庆祝，家里也没多加春节的摆设。

不过值得一提的是我们的家在上个月内添了不少的新摆设。所有的画，拼图和电影海报都挂上各处的墙壁。我们也物色了不少家庭装饰比如埃及的木制屏风（Mashrabiya），室内植物，花盆，灯具，蜡烛，等等。。。你可能在纳闷，怎么住进来将近两年后才来布置家内摆设呢？这是因为我们在上个月在寒舍宴请亚西安(ASEAN)各国同辈的外交官。攸关国体所以必须把家里布置一番。也因为如此，在经过一番努力后，我们的家也变得更加亮丽温馨。操劳了一天后，回到家中安坐在舒适的小厅，听着醉人的音乐，闭上双眼，一天的疲劳就减轻了不少了。

上个礼拜我们和使馆所有的同僚及家人们一同到了埃及红海的度假胜地埃因素纳(Ain Sokhna)渡过了美满愉快的家庭日。乐乐玩的很开心。海水虽然冷冰冰，他却一头扑了进去，还不感觉冷。我们耗费了不少功夫才把他从水里就出来。过了不久，他就鼻水直流了，真是伤脑筋！这第二次造访Stella Di Mare，因此我们没有拍下多照片。这有几张照片留作纪念。

有亲自远方来，不亦乐乎

上个月母亲和二姐一同来到开罗度假探亲。在短暂的十天内，我也没能为他们计划些什么节目。实在是太忙了。还好我们聘请了司机，而且乐乐刚好学校放假，所以奕云可以每天带他们到开罗近郊的名胜观光。因为是圣诞节旺季，我们无法安排到南部尼罗河旁的古迹游玩。不过，我们倒是回到了亚历山大城住了两天。虽然我们上个月才到哪儿游玩，因为我们才安排一天的时间，许多名胜没有参观。所以这次就住了两天。饭店Helnan Palestine Hotel地点相当不错，客房也干净舒服。这次短短的相聚十分难得。

多了两个人家里也热闹了多了。乐乐自从回来开罗，上了豆豆班和护理课程，有了显著的进步。他开朗了很多，也会一些简单的会话。他对陌生人也不会排斥。面熟的人他也会打招呼说拜拜。母亲亲耳听他叫声奶奶也高新的不得了。乐乐的发音还不准，“姑姑”他叫成“楚楚”。这次他的收获也不少。二姐从新加坡带来大姐和她的两件圣诞礼物。我们做父母的也预备了一份。圣诞前夕他在小圣诞树下拆开礼物，玩得很开心。