childhood idiot box encounters..which somehow moved on into plans for my kids

i was watching sesame street on the hallmark channel today. there was nothing else good on tv lah.they were showing the same stuff that i used to watch when i was a kid (except there wasn't any elmo's world last time)and amazingly enough, it was still relevant.and i actually learnt stuff from big bird and co during my formative years.

i counted along with count dracula and sang along with gabby (that hispanic girl), maria(her mum),geena(that sandra bullock-ish white lady) , gordon(the bald black guy) and bob(the dude who looked like an emaciated CS Lewis who made birdseed milkshakes for big bird).

i made fun of baby bear's lisp and fell asleep whenever snuffalufacus(is that how you spell it?) entered the scene. his voice was just so sselloooow and hypnotic.

i still remember ernie's song "rubber ducky you're the one" and wondering if my eyebrow's looked like bert's (curse of the hairy indian..WHAHA).

and grover, that blue dude, is that his name? always cracked me up cos he was such a fool.

and one time there was this episode on radishes, as in the kind they have in the west, the red bulbous ones. and they looked so pretty so i asked my mum to buy them when she went to the market.but she came back with the eastern version of the radish, the long white one (mullangi in tamil), the stuff they put in rojak. i was so disppointed.

i tried eating cookies like cookie monster and got scolded for making such a mess.

i had my oscar-the-grouch phase where i was extremely rude for a toddler and had to be put in my place.

never really liked elmo cos every other kid liked him(or is it her?) and wanted to be different.and always wanted be one of the random kids who got featured as extras on the show.like those who could tap dance or something silly like that. it would've made my childhood if i'd appeared on sesame street.

so anyways, cos the show did so much good for me, i'd want my kids to watch it. everyday. and the old episodes, mind you. haha i'm sure the dvd'll be out by then.

Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away

on my way, to where the air is sweet,

can you tell me how to get

how to get to sesame street

hmm..some other shows from my childhood inculde:

• dorling kindersley(DK) something (you know that company which publishes all these really cool info books? there was an accompanying science show at one point of time. absolutely loved it. its where i learnt about metamorphosis properly. i also had that famous book with the caterpillar on the front, dang i forgot the name, but that was rubbish compared to the real deal and the stuff i learnt in DK. and how tadpoles became frogs too!)
• blue's clues(what can i say.i loved it so much that i'll still watch it now. if only i knew what time its shown on playhouse disney)
• bear in the big blue house(great interactive show that teaches kids manners..unintentionally)
• hullabaloo (british production that didnt last for too long but the brit accents were fascinating even way back then)
• zaboomafoo (where i learnt about animals in a kiddie context.the discovery channel was fascinating and all but a bit dry for a kid. and my first encounter with lemurs!i knew that lemurs were native to madagascar before most adults)
• kids at work(yes yes i know it was a local production but it was pretty good for a show coming in with such low expectations. i even sent in a letter or a drawing or something. and i was kinda starstruck when i realised that one of the cute guy hosts of the show was Kah Chun's neighbour in cardiff grove which was and is still 5 mins from my place)
• power rangers (as violent as the show may seem, the first few seasons made them look quite noble and heroic. esp red ranger. but i liked yellow ranger, trini, the best cos she was a girl AND she was Asian AND she could kick ass.Represent!)
• polka dot shorts. (the only line i remember from the show was by this bear dude who said "coincidence? i think not". and i immediately started using it in my phrase vocabulary until my friends said "stop it lah"!")
• barney and friends.(i always thought baby bop was a pushover so i didnt like her much. but i loved the fact that the kids had a strange talking purple talking dinosaur who would hang out with them after school everyday and the teachers apparently wouldnt have a clue. and i loved their playground too! that wooden construction that could be a pirate ship one day and treacherous jungle obstacle, on another day)
• hi-5. (excellent show for fashion conscious kids. no lah.they have great songs too..some of which i can still rmb up till today. "l-o-v-e, i love you and you love me. l-o-v-e, thats the way its meant to be".and its amazing how they managed to infuse ozzie culture into the whole thing like in tim's section where he'd play the didgeridoo once in a while.pft.)
• bananas in pyjamas. (another ozzie production. nothing fantastic about this one but it still kept me glued to the telly. and i still use the line "b1, are you thinking what i'm thinking? i think i am, b2!"as code language ;) )
• art attack. (nuff said)

i'm quite sure i watched a lot more things. but yeah, would be interesting to see what kinda kids shows there are on tv when i have kids. but sesame street is a MUST.

and as far as possible, i'd like my kids to go to sarada kindergarten where they'll receive a top notch pre-school education(i hope that sorta standard will still be around in the future).oh and i forgot! tumbletots! yes i'll prob send them to tumbletots when they're 2-3 years old. ya know, just to get em nice and flexible and sociable too. you meet all sortsa kids there so its a good place to start off making friends and all that.

i would like my kids to go to Rosyth school. to keep the tradition alive. practically the whole of my father's side went to rosyth. as in my dad and his brothers and sisters, and all my cousins too(except one..traitor) and me and my bros. hopefully miss chan will be ousted by then and mr foo will come back and then it'll all be rosy.i still remember the principal mr foo cos he was the one who wrote a personal message in my report book in primary 2 saying "well done! keep up the good work". that was the highlight of my lower pri school life.haha.

after that, i dunno. we'll see how it goes ya? but that's the plan so far..