Sinterklaas in Rotterdam

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Shenny joined in the Dutch tradition to greet the arrival of Sinterklaas in Rotterdam on 13th November 2010. 

On that day, Shenny was excitedly waited at a port for she was told the Sinterklaas would arrived by steamboat and he came from Spain.   There was a big crowd, so papa chose to stand at the higher place, so that we could see clearly when the steamboat came.  There were some singing performances on the stages too.  All songs sang were in Dutch, however Shenny could grab some simple choros they sang. These songs were about chrismas.

Finally, we saw a steamboat approaching the port.  Everyone cheered when the steamboat docked at the port.  The Sinterklaas was accompanied by lots of people dressed up special costume and these people had painted their faces with black colour.

People gathered at a port to greet the arrival of Sinterklaas.

Papa told Shenny that those people are called as Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). They were helpers of Sinterklaas. They helped Sinterklaas to chase away bad people.  On the day of arrival of the Sinterklaas, Zwarte Piet normally would distribute lots of traditional Dutch cookies namely as Peppernoten to all children.  So, Shenny got her share too on that day.

Shenny received some peppernoten from Black Pete.

After the Sinterklaas got off from the steamboat, he soon announced the beginning of festivities and said that children could receive their presents on that night with a big sock hanging next to their beds. 
Then he rode on a horse to lead a little parade to go around the Rotterdam town.  We followed behind them for a very short distance and then left for next itenary.

When mommy googled about the history of The Sinterklaas, there were many versions about it.  If aunties and uncles are interested to find out, may check this up at wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus).

Some pictures taken on that morning:

Shenny was happily taking pictures with few Black Pete.

Sinterklaas sat on the stage.

Behind Shenny were those traditional soldiers to guard the Sinterklaas around Rotterdam.

Shenny hold her nose because horses stool were very stink.

Some Black Pete played beautiful musics.

Some Black Pete had to follow behind to collect horses stool too. :)

How To Kill Free Time On Bullet Train

Shenny and her papa & mommy took Thalys (bullet train) from Rotterdam to Paris.  The journey to reach Paris was only 2.5 hours long.  However, Shenny decided to kill her free time on the train by making some drawings. 

These were the masterpieces she made when we went there:

And Shenny did the same on our way back from Paris to Rotterdam.  But this time she only spent about 1st hour in drawings and the rest of time in her dreamlands.

Here are two simple drawings she made that very briefly describe a few things she saw in Paris.  Actually, there were more she saw there but she said she didn't know how to draw those.

Few things she saw in Paris

* Rainy Day (cloud crying)

* Good Day (cloud smiling)

* Rainbow

* La Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

* Birds

* Sun and moon together on the sky

Gift to Class Teacher (Part 2)

This is the backdated post.

Last Sunday, Shenny told mommy that she would like to make a drawing for her class teacher, Ms Selene as a present.  It was year end already. 

Shenny did the drawing for her class teacher last year too.  You might be interested to see what she had drawn>> link

Here is her drawing for current year:

She chose to draw a pretty lady for her class teacher that surrounded with lots of love.

Little Chef

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After reading one of blogger mommies let her daughter, Malaika make pancake, mommy thought that she should let Shenny had a go on this too.  Normally, mommy just let Shenny stand aside observing.

One Sunday morning, mommy decided to make pancake as breakfast and asked Shenny to help to cook it.  She was extremely excited with this call. 

Too bad, mommy forgot to snap photos of Shenny helping to prepare and mix pancake batter.  But luckily mommy remembered to snap few photos and make recording later when she did the cooking.

* Pour batter into pan

* Try to spread the batter

* Checking pancake

* Play with pancake

This video clip shows how Shenny successfully flip over the pancake.

Shenny helped to cook most of pancakes and when she could not roll over the pancake, she would ask for help. 

In fact, it was a great surprise for her papa because when Shenny made pancake, papa was still snoring at bed. 

Papa gave a thump up to Shenny and mommy believed this definitely the best pancakes papa had ever had.