A Dip In The Pool

I just came back from a dip in the pool with Ian. I have not done so for like ages and that explains why till today I am still hopeless in learning to swim. :(

Ian is getting more confident now and even made several jumping attempts into the pool, well, though fully equipped with all the swimming gears he can get his hands on, a kickboard, goggles, a swimming trainer around the chest and a pair of arm float, I still think that this is indeed an achievement for him, at least he has overcome his fear of water.

I intend to accompany him to the pool every evening or at least thrice a week to get him familiarized with water before he starts his swimming lessons soon. I had lived in landed houses all my life but I am beginning to enjoy living in a condo environment where we get to enjoy facilities such as sauna, gym, squash, badminton, tennis, swimming, basket ball and cycling, yes, cycling.. I can see from our condo unit that on most evenings, some Japanese residents are seen cycling around with their families in the gated compound.

We have yet to utilise all facilities other than the swimming pool and would like to explore one by one when time allows.

TTDI Community Library

I had promised to take Ian to the community library in TTDI right after his exam was over. We went there a couple of times before moving here but never got around to joining the membership. Last Friday, right after picking him up from the kindy, we went straight to the library and both of us applied for membership.

Registration:
Children (4 to 12 yrs old) RM6
Adults (13 and above) RM6
Sr Citizens (55 and above) RM6
Life Member No Charge RM150

Annual Fees:

Children (4 to 12 yrs old) No Charge

Adults (13 and above) RM10

Sr Citizens (55 and above) RM5

Life Member RM150

All members are allowed to borrow 3 books and 1 CD at any one time and shall be returned in 3 weeks and renewal of books can be done at no charge by calling them as long as the original returning dates have not lapsed.

The library building and its compound not only house a library but a community hall, a tennis court and a cafeteria. The overall design of the main entrance of the building with exposure of enlarged glass windows and doors allows natural sunlight to array inside and the reading areas are adequately lit up. Perhaps it was a weekday, it's really quiet with virtually no disturbance. The kids' library is situated at the ground floor, with a no shoe allowed hall filled with kids' books and miniature chairs and tables for the comfort of kids. Parents can also accompany the kids in there to read together. What a quality and fruitful time to spend together!! I did not explore the main library on 1st floor as after Ian had finally made up his mind the 3 books that he wanted to bring home, after one long hour at the kids' library, we headed home for lunch.

The ground floor also houses a newspaper section filled with major daily papers like The Star, NST, Utusan Malaysia and Nanyang. A few round tables with chairs are provided for the public to read newspapers.

The library's opening hours are:

Tuesdays to Fridays 9am to 6.45pm
Saturdays & Sundays 11am to 4.45pm
Close on Mondays/1st week of Sats & Suns/ Public Holidays

Address:
Perpustakaan Kuala Lumpur
Cawangan Taman Tun Dr. Ismail
Lot 31204 Jalan Athinahapan
Taman Tun Dr. Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03- 7726 6310 / 7728 9244 / 7726 0624
Fax: 03- 7726 7629

Free Kumon Maths Classes

I am still undecided if I should let Ian to go for Kumon or Mental Arithmetic classes. Kumon is offering two weeks free Maths classes from 17 to 30 November. The free classes offer four study sessions.

There is one Kumon centre just across the street from our condo and a lot of transport time will be saved if I go for Kumon. But then, I heard that Kumon method doesn't involve much teaching, only typical drilling and repetitive worksheets and parents pay RM120 per month to receive homework twice a week, 1/2 hour each time.

Swimming Lessons for Ian

I have always eager to enrol Ian for swimming lessons but coming to think of having to chauffeur him around apart from his music and art classes, I hesitated.

We moved into our condo two weeks ago and have been on the lookout for a swimming instructor who conducts lessons in our condo's pool for Ian. I saw a notice recruiting students for swimming lessons on the notice board of our condo's management office this afternoon. The swimming instructor charges RM450 (10% discount for kids) for 12 lessons of basic course with a guarantee that the student would be able to swim upon completion of the course. I am inclined to enrol him to the course once his exam is over this week.

I have always wanted Ian to learn this survival skills as I am totally hopeless in this area. Since young, my little boy would only "dip" in a shallow pool with water depth max to his thigh and would never dare to go beyond that. Now that we live in a condo, I trust my boy should have no problem overcoming his fear of water. I will keep my fingers crossed.

My Streamyx is Up and Running Again!!

With us having finally moved and settled into our new place, we breathed a sigh of relief. I lived without broadband at our new home for two weeks, one week was spent to think and rethink through if I should cut my streamyx line and sign up for Wimax/Celcom/Maxis Broadband instead. We finally decided to fall back on streamyx considering a fixed line was necessary. As expected, the nightmare began for yet another week having to make numerous blood boiling calls and visits to TM Point before I finally got my streamyx account activated.

I have yet to get my free wifi modem and they had promised to call when the new stock came last Saturday but never did. Sigh.. sigh... sigh. Looks like I would have to pay yet another visit to the TM Point in Damansara Utama to claim the wifi modem as well as the free cordless phone for subscribing to their unlimited nationwide calls to any TM Fixed Line numbers for an additional RM10 per month.