Little Giraffe Story House 长颈鹿故事館 & Little Moments Cafe 容易揾

I first got to know about Little Giraffe when I randomly stumbled across their Facebook page quite a few years ago, back when they were still operating out of a shipping container. Fast forward a few years, I read about how they had a makeover, converting a Chinese new village wooden house into what they describe as a community library designed for kindergarteners and primary school-aged children.

They have convertible spaces that connects both the in and outdoors (if you look properly, there is a window frame that is open to allow children to climb onto the outdoor deck from inside the library). I guess this also allows for a better flow of air and light.

They claim that 90% of their books are picture books and are mainly in Chinese, although they also have Malay and English books. I am guessing that they also serve as a transit point for the children from the Chinese school just up the road, to promote some parent-child bonding time, as they require children to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Needless to say, this community project also hopes to cultivate the habit of reading.

In addition to borrowing and reading books, they also have monthly story-telling sessions by qualified and experienced story-tellers. They also have handicraft sessions that enhances the parent-child relationship.

Thanks to a group of enthusiastic architecture students who worked on a shoestring budget of donations, the transformation took place, whereby much of the material were adapted or recycled. They recycled the wood that were taken apart from the original frame of the building. Some were made into the furniture, some were made into the shelves of the library. Wall panels are left in their original colours, so that we could see a little of the building's history. I really appreciate their effort in preserving the "story" that is housed within these walls.

You could see the Rojak Wan aunty prepare your rojak from inside of you choose a strategic spot

Unlike how they used to only be a book club, they added a cafe to this new upgrade. I suppose they would need some form of additional income to keep the place going. The "quiet" library part of the building is cleverly separated from the "noisy" cafe part of the building by the original living room that now serves as a buffer area for the public to move around.

So what do they serve here? Personally, they serve food that has heart and soul, not much of those fancy cafe stuff. The ones that we like best would hands-down be their rojak and cendol. The rojak here is by Rojak Wan, who apparently has been serving fruit rojak from a truck in TTDI since the 90s.

Both dishes come in generous servings and both do not fall short on taste. They even come served in tableware that I could find at my grandparents' home.

They also have home-cooked main meals, which they rotate. One of those meals is this Oh Bak Ji rice (pork and yam ball rice):

It is like a Japanese omurice with pork and yam ball (yes, it has that Japanese curry, too). If you are feeling like going meatless, they have a breakfast meal that does not have ham or bacon:

They serve coffee too, and that includes Vietnamese drip coffee that will surely give you a little zing to keep you properly caffeinated for the day.

Oh, and be prepared to have your lap turned into a snuggly cushion for the neighbourhood cat. For those of you who suffer from ailurophobia (in simpler terms, cat phobia), you have been notified ;)

Little Giraffe Story House 长颈鹿故事館 & Little Moments Cafe 容易揾
114 Jalan 15, Batu 11 Cheras, 43200 Cheras, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
M: 016-613 7362, 012-632 2955
Wednesday to Saturday Noon to 10:00pm
Sunday Noon to 7:00pm

The Teamwork Rainbow

One of the many activities that we frequently carry out at Honey Bee is completing scenarios to display on our walls. These scenarios are like large scale craft projects, which involve a group of children, sometimes from mixed age groups.

For this rainbow scenario, the children were guided by Puan Nora and Miss Foo, who modeled what to do for the children to imitate and complete independently.

Some children chose to sit on the floor, some chose to stand while a few others chose to grab chairs.

There was much negotiating that occurred between the children; lots of asking for glue, passing different colour paper and asking for help with tearing or cutting.

They would also ask the Puan Nora in Malay, "Puan Nora, macam ini ah?" or Miss Foo in Mandarin, "这样可以吗?"

It is always a sight to behold to watch children working collaboratively, as they use so many of their existing social, cognitive and language skills. In addition, the sharing and negotiating that occurs further develops their emotional and higher order thinking.

Taska & Tadika Kembangsari: Concert & Graduation 2013

I think by now everyone knows that I make a trip back in November every year. The reason I make this annual trip, or try to, is to be part of our centre's Concert & Graduation, which is the biggest event on our calendar. This year, this event is extra meaningful because it is to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

Mum postponed it to the final week of November, instead of the usual 3rd Saturday of November to accommodate my schedule. I missed not being part of the setting up, especially to be there at the school hall to watch the stage come to live. There is much involved in making a large empty stage fit for a childcare centre/kindergarten concert. Our main props: colourful balloons and long pieces of cloth.

Oh, and lots of wire, fishing line and stainless steel rods.

Not to mention lots of (loud) coordination between the people on the stage, below the stage and right at the top.

We had two staff members and an ex-student who decided to overcome their fear of heights to help with the tying of the cloth.

Slowly but surely, we filled up the airspace and had quite some fun positioning the different pieces of cloth.

Of course, the stage would not be complete if it did not had the theme displayed:

As the children and educators had already prepared the backdrop, we made use of it after we added some glitter to it.

The result was fantastic:

I really liked how the shadow dances as the stage lights switch. From down stage, that depth effect was mesmerizing.

The hall was full for the entire evening, something we are very proud of every year - supportive families who stay till the very end of the event.

After a successful evening, we took down everything the next morning and brought the balloons back to the centre. Like we do every year, we gave the balloons out to the children during the year end party.

Here is to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the years. Honey Bee would not be what it is today without all of you. Thank you!

Taska & Tadika Kembangsari: Double celebration

The educators started to ask which day are they to stay on after work to help pack the goody bags for the children. Mum simply replied that they will be informed. After a few days, slightly agitated, they asked again. Mum decided that this year, none of the educators will have to stay on after work because the children will be part of the packing.

Some time during lessons were used to implement this special "activity" that incorporated teamwork, communication, turn-taking, counting, sorting and sharing. This special activity in packing goody bags for everyone in their group not only allowed them to learn the fore-mentioned but also to take pride in their own contributions to the group, as well as develop a sense of belonging.

"Look, my mummy made these for us." "My daddy bought these for us." We could just feel the happiness and pride. We were done with the packing on Wednesday, our earliest to date. Previously, the packing would go on till after dinner on the night before the actual day.

Since we had Thursday free, we started blowing the balloons. More were blown on Friday morning. With the passing breeze, the children were welcome to school on Children's Day by a floating display of red, fuchsia, orange and yellow.

The children love this day. Some parents even revealed how their little ones have never gotten ready as quickly as on this morning. How could they not be excited and not look forward to having a full day of games and laughter with their friends wearing masks and party hats they made themselves?

Year after year, the parents never fail to impress. This year, this was even more so the case, as some parents contributed not just once but twice, which resulted in three things. Firstly, the children had so many presents in their goody bags this year.

Secondly, we were all spoilt for choice when it came to food.

It was like a competition to see whose contribution was the best - there were so many home-made things like jellies, cakes, cupcakes, muffins, puddings and even carved fruit!

We were so touched with the amount of time and personalised effort that the parents had invested into preparing their contributions.

 

Thirdly, not only were the children happy, so were the educators - so delightful to see the children thoroughly enjoying themselves! Of course, secretly elated that there was so much to eat, too!

But the icing on the cake would have to be that unexpected phone call from the Selangor Department of Community and Welfare asking Mum when she would be going in to collect her "stuff". Mum was not sure what "stuff" it was but the lady over the phone said that it has been there since December waiting to be collected.

Little did we know that while Mum and Dad were in Melbourne for Pei Shin's wedding with me last year, the department awarded us Model Childcare Centre for the municipality of Subang Jaya for the year 2012. Wow, we were stoked and felt very honoured! In all honesty, when Mum sent this photo to me over Whatsapp, I could not contain my excitement. I was so proud of Mum, I had tears in my eyes.

It has been a wonderful week for us at Honey Bee, a week worth celebrating.

To all our wonderful children, Happy Children's Day and to our remarkable staff members congratulations! This award would not have been possible without each and every one of you and your understanding families!