Holidays - 2nd week

*Malacca Trip*

28 Nov, Wednesday

went to Malacca with Xin Ning & Pin Ping. Had Baba Nyonya lunch at Jonker Street: Baba laksa, curry noodle, Baba cendol, durian cendol, mango cendol! Droolin' now :P

went to Nadeje Bakery near Dataran Pahlawan & Mahkota Parade to taste the 20-layered cake Hooi Shan & friends recommended. Wow~ it's really nice! It didn't really taste like a cake, but a lil' bit like egg tarts! It's quite crispy! Droolin', droolin'~ Too bad we didn't get to take a picture of that cake. To be honest, Pin Ping did take a shot but 'thanks' to her camera phone, the file was corrupted and couldn't be viewed >.<

went shopping at Mahkota Parade, bought a strawberry yoghurt mask at Sasa.

bought snacks at San Shu Gong at Dataran Pahlawan opposite Mahkota Parade.

it's raining very heavily on the way back, quite dangerous. Luckily Xin Ning's a very experienced driver, so we reached home safe & sound :)

#Mentally Disabled Kids' Centre#

spent the whole week at the centre volunteering to look after the special kids here. They've disabilities like Down Syndrome, autism, learning disorder, hearing disorder, cerebral palsy, attention deficit syndrome, hyperactivity, visual impairment, speech disorder, etc.

this centre caters for special children aged 6 - 12 years old. There are 2 other centres in Batu Pahat - Day Training Centre (13 - 17 years old) & Job Training Centre (18 years old and above).

these centres are founded by affluent samaritans in BP and managed by properly trained teachers & caregivers.

Those special childrens were treated like normal kids. They were more or less equally talented (however, some autistic children were very talented!) but slow in learning. They learnt how to be discipline & about team-work. All of us had to be very patient & caring as they're not normal children.

On the 1st day i went, they learnt about X'mas. Dedicated teachers even took the effort to dress as Santa Clause & prepared activities for them to play. Normal teaching & learning method was not seen in the centre. The special children learnt through different ways which were more interactive than normal classroom style with a whiteboard.

On the 2nd day i went, there were only 2 special kids who urinated in their pants, and those 2 kids did that when i was playing with them >.<>

Dentists & dental nurses from government hospitals went to provide dental check-ups and talks to the special kids at the centre. Some of them were really difficult to handle as they wailed & shouted & pushed the dentist away. Wow~ I could tell how challenging it'll gonna be when i start to Paedodontology in my clinical years :P

We had annual year-end parties on Thursday & Friday. One of the special kids there, a girl was very talented in dancing and we invited her to perform. She acted like any other normal kids! Teachers & volunteers there danced & performed in a sketch to entertain the special kids & their parents. A primary 5 boy & his friend who occasionally volunteered at the centre performed lion dance & Chinese Yoyo too! I was the videolady :P

Kiwanis International, an NGO (non-government organisation) was also present on the party to bring X'mas gifts to the special children.

Most of those kids benefited a lot from the centre as they got the chance to learn like normal children. I was told that some kids, especially autistic ones who had been very poor in socialising were slowly improving & could respond to orders & questions. Actually they should be treated equally like normal children, and help should be provided to aid them in blending into the society and living like one of us. Kudos! to the teachers & caregivers at the centre.