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"Years ago Michal Wang, Lizhi's father, had been born in Singapore. He had lived in Singapore all his life until he went to England to study. There her met another foreign student, Juliette Fournier, Lizhi's mother (though of course Lizhi was not born till much later ) and they fell in love and got married ... and neither they nor Lizhi had been back to Singapore since." (pg 7 and 8)

Observe: Michal was living in Singapore until he went to England and met Lizhi's mother.

Notice: Lizhi was not born in Singapore and neither Lizhi or her mother had met Michal's family in Singapore.

Wonder: If they had not met Michal's family, have they met Lizhi's mother's family?

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Character: Ah Guan

Lizhi saw an old man standing near the gate. He was holding a stick and watching them. Lizhi thought that he must be the old gardener her father had mentioned. She wondered whether he remembered her far. If she got the chance she would tell the old man that her father had remembered him. She waved at him but he turned away and disappeared into the trees. (p.31,32)

Inference:

I think that the old man is a quiet, and lonely man. He is shy to approach Lizhi as he was worried about Lizhi's reaction to him.

In my opinion, I feel that this interaction between them two is pretty awkward. If I were to ever go through the same situation, I would be a little creeped out but, since "I" thought that my father knew him, it would be kind of normal. However, turning away and disappearing into the trees after I waved to him, was abnormal, and a little insulting to "me".

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Quote:
""My father doesn't want to see you, "Aunt Mona said. "He won't change his mind. He asked me to find out the real reason why you brought the girl all the way here. The girl's very dark isn't she. Almost as dark as you. It's hard to imagine she's half Chinese. ""
(Taken from page 26, chapter 4)

This quote reveals that...
1.  Aunt Mona is an insensitive person.
I say this because...
1. She did not care about what she said and called Lizhi dark in front of Juliette. I think she hurt Lizhi's feelings by judging her by her skin colour.
2. Aunt Mona also made reference and sort of pointed the finger at Juliette, saying that Lizhi was almost as black as her, and it was hard to imagine she was half Chinese.

The quote reveals that...
1. Aunt Mona is a liar.
I say this because...
1. In the later part of the story (Chapter 13), Ah Guan was actually well and he was not sick. Aunt Mona also lied, saying that "Lizhi's grandfather" asked her to ask Juliette why she brought Lizhi here.

The quote reveals that...
1. Aunt Mona is curious.
I say this because...
1. Lizhi's grandfather did not ask her to find out the real reason why Juliette brought Lizhi here, Aunt Mona was just curious and wanted to know why.

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" When he had some time between jobs they all got very excited because he loved going to new places for exhibitions and meeting other artists. 'Iceland or Japan?' Lizhi remembered him asking her mother. 'The Reykjavik Arts Festival has the Iceland Symphonic Orchestra playing and there will be outdoor painting with live models, but we've never been to Japan before-this Kitakyushu Festival looks interesting too ... ' Pg 65

This quote reveals that...
- Lizhi remembers quite a lot of her father.

I say this because...
- She remembered and even thought about  her father's conversation with her mother, Juliette.

The quote reveals that...
- Lizhi enjoys travelling with her parents.

I say this because..
- Lizhi said that whenever there was time to go new places, she would get all excited.

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"It was not suprising that Bwe Bwe was scared of talking. Aunt Mona was even fiercer to her than she was to Lizhi."  pg 36 "Bwe Bwe was scared of Aunt Mona and Lizhi knew that sometimes after she got a scolding she would go to her room at the back of the kitchen to cry." pg 36

This quote reveals that Bwe Bwe is and shy, timid and quiet person.

I say this because, usually a person would cry without others knowing about it, but only an introverted person like Bwe Bwe would do that.

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"Lizhi's father had explained it to her. 'Nothing is wrong with the way you look. You are the most beautiful girl in the whole world - except for your mum of course - and everyone else is jealous!' Her father would always talk like that. Her mother called it 'Michael's nonsense' but she smiled when she said it and Lizhi could tell she liked it even if she called it nonsense." (page 26-27)
The quote reveals that:

Juliette is very humble

I say this because:

Juliette smiled and enjoyed hearing that she was very beautiful in Michael's eyes, but she did not show off and instead hinted for Michael to stop

The quote reveals that:

Michael loves his wife and treasures both Lizhi and her.

I say this because:

Michael was telling Lizhi that she was very beautiful, but stopped and complimented Juliett's beauty.

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"Well, Michael thought that since she's part Chinese   "
Aunt Mona's face changed.

The quote reveals that:
Aunt Mona does not like Lizhi being part Chinese and she might be racist.
I say this because:
Aunt Mona interrupted Juliette's sentence by changing her expression.

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"It was delicious. Lizhi enjoyed it so much that she even stopped asking questions." (Ch 9, p. 70)
This quote reveals that Lizhi likes Singaporean food very much.
I say this because although she's very curious by nature, she she stopped asking questions as she wanted to enjoy the food.

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"Well, he was unconscious," Julliette said. "He never woke up after the accident. I suppose I was hoping for the best till the end, no matter what the doctors said... I told him to rest and to sleep until he was ready to wake up   but he never woke up. He promised me he was going to take a rest stop after the Austrian project was completed ..." she broke off. Lizhi's father had completed the Austrian wall painting only two days before he was hit by a car. (Page 31)

Observe: There were pauses in between every sentence.

Notice: Julliette kept defending for Michael whenever Aunt Mona said something impolite about Michael.

Wonder: Why didn't Julliette take a fight with Aunt Mona since Aunt Mona was so impolite.

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" 'No need to clean,' Bwe Bwe explained to her. Even Bwe Bwe's shyness and fear cound not stand up to Lizhi's friendliness--at least when Aunt Mona was not around. When Aunt Mona was around she did not talk to Lizhi at all. 'Inside is all things from long ago. Keep safe inside so no need to go in to clean.' "
Pg 35, line 9

Observe:
Bwe Bwe does not talk to Lizhi when Aunt Mona is around and only talks to her when Aunt Mona is not around.

Notice:
Bwe Bwe is afraid of Aunt Mona.

Wonder:
How is she treated by Aunt Mona?
What does she think about Aunt Mona?

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The gravy tasted of peanuts, which Lizhi loved. There were also sliced hard-boiled eggs, fried shallots, prawn fritters, squid and hare-bee which Ah Guan said was dried shrimp. He let Lizhi squeeze the half lime over his plate as well as her own.

It was delicious. Lizhi enjoyed it so much that she even stopped asking questions. Ah Guan and even the stallholders who gathered round their table laughed to see her eating so happily.

"Next time she must come and try the mee siam," one man said to Ah Guan, "and the satay. You must bring her again!" (p.70)

Observe: Lizhi loved eating the Singaporean food.

Notice: Lizhi has yet to try local Singaporean dishes. She seems captivated by the taste of the dishes.

Wonder:
1   Why did she enjoy our local dishes so much? Has she never tried something similar to the mee rebus?

2   What was so special about the food to her?

3   Why did the other people sitting at the table want Ah Guan to bring Lizhi back to eat more dishes?

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"Aunt Mona was even fiercer to Bwe Bwe than to Lizhi.
Then, because she did not want to scold Lizhi, she would find some reason to scold Bwe Bwe"
Page 36
"Bwe Bwe was scared of Aunt Mona and Lizhi knew that sometimes after she got a scolding, she would go to her room at the back of the kitchen to cry."
Page 36 and 37
" 'We better go back now. Or else Madam will come back and be angry.' Bwe Bwe was scared of aunt Mona even when she was not there. "
Page 44

These quotes reveals that:
1. Aunt Mona is a very fierce person.
2. Because of her intimidation, Bwe Bwe was so scared that she was even scared of Aunt Mona when she was not there. She even cried because of Aunt Mona. This is the impact of Aunt Mona on Bwe Bwe.

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" Looking at Lizhi Wang you would see an excited girl with pale brown skin, big curious eyes and curly black hair. Even though she was almost ten years old, Lizhi had never met her grandmother or her Aunt Mona or any of her fathers relatives before." pg 7, para 1

This shows that Lizhi is new to the place she is currently in and is curious (big eyes). I also think that she is excited because she had never met any of her father's relatives before. She does not seemed to be from Singapore as she has pale brown skin and curly black hair.

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Aunt Mona said this with a smile, but in a voice that sounded as though she expected them to be angry with her, but neither Lizhi nor her mother minded. (pg 26)

Observe: Aunt Mona spoke with a smile but sounded as though she expected Lizhi and Juliette to mind.

Notice: The observation shows that Aunt Mona wanted to leave a bad impression behind. It also shows that she is a very open minded person and strongly feels that she is allowed to express her thoughts, expressions and emotions even though they may be wrong, at times.

Wonder: Why is Aunt Mona so rude to Lizhi and Lizhi's mother (Juliette) all the time?

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"Lizhi was also afraid of forgetting her father. At night after her mother had put her to bed, Lizhi would lie with her eyes shut and try to remember specific things about him. There were big memories like birthdays and celebrating new paintings and how he had loved birds and trees and fish... and there were small memories like when she saw her father standing outside the room waiting for her to finish her music lesson or Mandarin class. There were small memories that ran into each other and it was difficult to untangle them. But Lizhi didn't want to forget any of it so she played them over and over again in her mind until she fell asleep." (Page 11)

Observe: She is very attached to her father, not wanting to forget anything about him.
Notice: She does not want to forget anything, willing to even untangle very minor memories just to make sure she doesn't forget any part of it.
Wonder: Why would she try to remember all these minor things? Why is she so determined to memorize the tiny memories?

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"Aunt Mona tightened her mouth sideways to show Lizhi that she was making a joke.
"I'm not named after a fruit, Lizhi said. "My parents gave me a Chinese name because I am half chinese."Lizhi" comes from "Li "meaning beautiful and "Zhi" meaning wisdom."
Aunt Mona stared at Lizhi, her mouth open. Then she closed her mouth and looked cross." (p. 37)

Observe:  Aunt Mona joked about Lizhi's name to be "nice". However it backfired when Lizhi explained the meaning of her name.
Notice: Lizhi is not named after a fruit but . Aunt Mona tried to joke. She did not think that Lizhi knew the meaning of her name.
Wonder: Why did Aunt Mona choose to joke about Lizhi's name specifically. Did she mean it as a compliment or an insult towards Lizhi. Did Lizhi feel angry when Aunt Mona commented on her name?

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"It worked. Aunt Mona stopped looking defensive and almost smiled. "It does," she said. "It's the high ceilings. They don't build houses like this anymore. They don't build houses for you anymore unless you are some kind of millionaire or billionaire; they want us all to go and live in those ridiculous little boxes stuck up in the sky...." She stopped herself. "Anyway, you should go and wash up...Do you need to use the um--""
-Pg 34

Observe:
1. Aunt Mona is quite defensive almost all the time.
2. Aunt Mona does not like to live in those ridiculous little boxes stuck up in the sky
3. Aunt Mona likes people to compliment her.
Notice:
1. Lizhi does not like Aunt Mona.
2. Those ridiculous little boxes stuck up in the sky were the newly made HDB flats, which Aunt Mona did not like to stay in.
Wonder:
1. Why does Aunt Mona not like living in HDB flats?
2. Why is Aunt Mona so defensive?

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"No. That so called wife of Michael didn't say anything about the will. Anyway, there's no way she can know anything. I have the only copy of Ma's will safe here with me. It was made long before Michael met that women so it doesn't matter what Ma may have told Michael or what Michael told her. If they don't have something down on paper it's not going to count!" Aunt Mona said."  (pg 45)

Observe: Aunt Mona was clearly hiding something from Juliette Fournier, Lizhi's mother. The secret had something to did between what communications Lizhi's grandmother had wanted to make with Lizhi's father.

Notice: The communications that Lizhi's grandmother had wanted to make with her father was written on a letter. The letter had been kept safe with Aunt Mona until now. The letter was written to Lizhi's father long before he had married Lizhi's mother. Moreover, Aunt Mona was very keen on keeping the letter a secret.

Wonder: Why would Aunt Mona want to keep the letter a secret from Lizhi's mother. What was the message written on the letter. Who was Aunt Mona talking to?

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" 'We are going by the shortcut over the mangrove swamps and rocks,' Ah Guan said. 'Here it is important to keep an eye on the tides. No matter how good you are at climbing or swimming, people can only cross at low tide. " ( Pg 58 )

Observe:
` Ah Guan knows the routes of the mangrove forests.
` Ah Guan is very cautious with the safety of Lizhi and himself.

Notice:
`He knows when to explore the mangrove forests.
`He could have been there multiple times as he knows a shortcut (that is safe).

Wonder:
`Why did he decide to lead Lizhi to the Mangrove forest?