March 13, 2013

Writer’s Workshop: WeiQi Anyone?

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Thoughts mama kat's writers workshop, talkative thursday

Wei Qi on a board

When I was in school I never had the chance to learn this game of GO (Wei Qi). This game is more then a normal game of black and white seeds which covered a checkered board. I never learnt this game when I was in school. It would be great as I would could have picked up 6 skills just from this game.

It is a game which teaches the following.

The importance of using strategies.
How to be patient.
Photographic memory by studying and reflecting on how to place the pieces optimally on the board.
How to guard and protect your territory.
Perseverance
Learn to be gracious and accept defeat while learning to be stronger.

During the weekend the boys chanced upon a WeiQi workshop while we were at the library. We signed them up on the spot for them to attend when we heard there were still some slots available as some registered participants did not turn up.

Starting off the game

We were given a brief introduction to the history of the game. It originated 4000 years ago from China but was made popular by the Japanese. This day the Koreans are the masters of this game and they even have a degree for it at one of their universities.

Deliberating where to put his piece

It was the first time that the boys are being introduced to the game and couldn’t wait to get started playing it. It wasn’t as simple as it seems and it took some time for them to get to know the basics of how to execute the game.

Monkey boy thinking where to put his seed next.

Doggie boy got rather exasperated as he kept losing the game to the elder brother. After some time he called it quits as he couldn’t figure out how to “overpower” his brother in the game. I too found it frustrating as R was paired up with Monkey boy and he does have some prior experience playing the game as compared to Doggie boy and me.

We decided that it was a good introduction that they had to this strategy game and we will certainly purchase a set for them to try out again at home as a family.

Have your kids learned any new games lately?

What are they currently playing?

Scenes from the Streets of Chinatown Singapore

A busy street

The past few weekend we have been heading down to Chinatown for Dim Sum these past weeks after the boys swim class. It has been a while since we headed down to Chinatown for a meal. We usually settle our craving for Dim Sum at the Old Hong Kong restaurant in Marine parade. Unfortunately since the end of last year the standard of food there has deteriorated tremendously and we had to search for a new place to patronize.

The Yum Cha restauarant at Chinatown is one of the few places that offered Dim Sum for breakfast. Many of the Chinese restaurants only open after 11am and cater only to the lunch and dinner crowd.

A statue at the Indian Temple

After our breakfast we took a walk around Chinatown to take a look at the architecture of the area. I didn’t manage to get many snapshots as it was a real challenge trying to aim with the DSLR while carrying Tiger girl in the other hand. In the end after two shots I gave up and placed the camera back in the box instead. It is really no joke trying to balance an active 13kg toddler with one hand while positing the camera with the other. Hopefully the next time we go to Chinatown Tiger girl will be more cooperative and let R carry her instead.