Fun in the sun at Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Last Friday, Littlelam had a day off school so I figured I’d plan a outdoor trip for my girls. We woke a little late because, as it always happens before some outing, LittlerLam decided to go a bit bonkers the night before, and refused to sleep from 4-6am! Anyhow, I decided to go ahead with the plan despite being in a bit of a mess. Especially since I had to get the girls to finish their breakfast quickly, while cooking lunch and preparing snacks to bring along.

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is actually part of the Singapore Botanic Garden and there’s free entry, if you’re accompanied by a child. Heh. There are opportunities to learn about various plants and the food-making process of plants and sometimes they even hold activities specially for kids.

But on a normal day, the highlight for the kids would be the treehouse, where there is a ladder to climb, and 2 huge, steep slides that give quite an adrenaline rush (I went down a few times myself!). It’s better suited for kids above 3 so I had to sit with LittlerLam in the slide.

After a while it got really hot so we made a beeline for the water play area which mainly consists of several fountains that you can run around under and get wet. Somehow the kids find it very fun. I am not a fan cos of the hassle of having to bring change of clothes etc, and somehow I reckon the water isn’t all too clean. But, I decided to pander to their likes for a change, so we braved the blazing sun for a splash in the fountains. I got awfully wet cos dear LittlerLam was a little to afraid to go on her own, so I had to walk around in the splash, with her stuck to my hip. At the end of the mess, all I can say is I’m glad they enjoyed it and I’m glad that I brought snacks! Bananas, blueberries and biscuits always are great!

Tea for one

I’ve been silent on this blog, and literally for the past week because I came down with a nasty cold that developed into a full-blown flu. For the past few days now, I’ve been croaking, whispering and speaking now with a rather raspy voice cos of my bad cough and sore throat. I’m particularly bummed about being ill at this time because we are days away from Lunar New Year. And for many of us in Singapore, that means a time to dig in to a whole lot of yummy biscuits, cookies, Bakkwa, mandarin oranges and big family feasts. But because everything is generally “heaty” as we Chinese believe (the body is a balance of yin and yang, heat and cold etc..), people who are having sore throats are already very heaty and banned from eating the goodies. Or rather, eat and suffer the consequences!

But this post is not supposed to be about what I cannot eat, but a good eat that I discovered. Or rather a good drink. Because of the state of my throat , and also my emotions/thoughts yesterday, I decided to take a time out for myself. Just to eat lunch in a nice place alone, and read my bible and attempt to journal. It was all by accident that I ended up at Relish (an up-class burger cafe) at Cluny Court. I ordered a yummy Blue Cheese and William Pear burger and polished it off (scaring some people I think) and the waitress recommended me a Gryphon Lemon Ginger Mint tea when I croaked my order to her! That was a fantastic tip because I totally fell in love with that tea! Somehow it managed to warm me (the aircon was really cold there), and yet perk me up and soothe my throat at the same time. The smell was also divine. This definitely makes it to my list of top teas, which I must blog about one day

Hi 5! in Singapore

This was supposed to be posted a long time ago, but my iPod touch crashed while I was about to finish typing it up, and, well, the whole post disappeared. So I never got round to re-writing it until now. So pardon the belated-ness!

Both my girls are fans of Hi 5!, so when the Aussie singing and dancing group came to Singapore in December, I gamely decided to brave the crowds and take them to watch a show. The best thing was that it was free, right in the middle of Millenia Walk, and you didn’t have to buy anything from the shopping centre to be allowed to watch.

Uncharacteristically, we actually arrived early. And even early enough to join the queue to be the first 50 families to get passes to take photos with them. I must admit at first I was even unsure that it was the real Hi 5! Cos I thought it was too good to be true that they’d fly in and do free performances in the mall, but it turned out that it really was the real Tim, Stevie, Lauren, Fely and Casey. And I also have to concede that I am actually very impressed with their singing and dancing ability and stamina! I think I am a new fan too!

Christmas Activities at Sentosa

Littlelam really had an activity-filled December, which was both tiring and fun for me. We were glad to meet up with some of her previous playgroup friends — the girls she’s grown up with since she was about 18 months old – and we decided to head to Sentosa to participate in their Year End Holiday Activities, or rather, called ‘PLAY!

Chatting on the skytrain to Sentosa

We took a Skytrain from Vivocity to the Imbiah Lookout station, where we rushed up 4 flights of escalators to catch the starting of the ‘Storytelling Comes Alive’! show, which was hosted by Mervyn from Okto channel, and was a very ingenious interactive play. The first story was Little Red Riding Hood and the girls munched on KFC popcorn chicken while watching the show, which was free admission:

Watching 'Red Riding Hood' - or rather the Big Bad Wolf and the Narrator!

Next up, we signed the girls up for the Creative Kids Arts and Crafts Workshop, which had a 1 for 1 deal for Passion card holders, so we ended up with a Craft session AND a Baking session! All this for $8.

Workshop supplies

Kneading the cookie dough that they made

Cutting out a heart-shaped cookie

The cookies the girls made - ready to be baked!

Making a Christmas Apron: They traced out the outline of the tree, then stuck on sequins, fabric etc.. in their own chosen design to decorate the felt tree.

Littlelam's tree design

Just as I was packing up to leave at 5pm (because I really wanted to avoid the ECP jam), I suddenly realised that instead of helping me to pack, Littlelam had joined her friends and sat in the front row to watch the NEXT show which was Pinocchio. Next thing I knew, she had raised her hand when they asked for volunteers and was chosen to ‘play’ the part of the Blue Fairy. Obviously, I couldn’t possibly drag her off at that point! Haha! So we stayed till the end of the show, and I’m glad we did because the girls really enjoyed themselves.  The programme ran from 26 Nov to 26 Dec so unfortunately they’ve packed up the entire marquee and left. But if they do this again the next school holidays, I’ll definitely recommend it!

Little foodies

Never underestimate small girls. This time I’m referring to myself (ok I’m not exactly a girl anymore) and a friend of mine. Both of us are below 5′ 3″ and our combined weight is probably less than 90kg. But, we managed to polish off a scary amount of carbs today at P.S Cafe Palais Renaissance. Much to the horror of some tai-tais who left an ENTIRE plate of fries untouched.

Despite the rain, which meant that the roller blinds had to be drawn because, in the words of our Indian waiter, “the drizzle is coming in”, we sat outside in the balcony. It was still pleasant and because of the rain, even more pleasantly cool. With the light jazz music playing in the background and Christmas decorations, it really didn’t feel like we were still in Singapore.

So anyways, here’s what we ate:
- a big serving of a soft shell crab sandwich with avocado and rocket salad
- a bruschetta platter with tomato & feta cheese, and eggplant toppings ( and extra butter)
- a giant wedge of cake called a Crunchy chocolate doorstop, with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream
- and copious amounts of ice-water ( which had carrot, lemon and mint in it)

SingKids at Changi Airport

On one particularly hot afternoon where I was going a bit crazy at home with the two kids, I decided to just up and go and venture to the airport for a walk – hopefully that it would help Littlelam burn some energy, and help LittlerLam be less cranky.

We had seen the new indoor playground – SingKids – at the basement 2 level of Changi T3 previously, but because it was $18 for 1 hour and we didn’t really have 1 hour to spare at the time, we decided to forgo it. This time, I was just desperate to get Littlelam off my hands for a while so I decided to pay the exhorbitant entry fee. (To be fair, this is the peak period charge. On off-peaks ie: non school holidays, it is $18 for 2 hours of play)

My little monkey is really really good at climbing and jumping on things! She was one of the only girls who managed to hang on for a full circle

A section where there were heaps of balloons flying everywhere - Littlelam made friends with an older girl and boy and they invented their own balloon game

Hamster wheel - kids actually sit inside and go around... but Littlelam, well, chose to climb and hang from it...

Littlelam having a blast jumping on the trampoline which featured a lighted base that made it appear like water

Another 'fake water' feature - a waterslide that you could slide on without getting wet!

This section I think was more for the younger kids, since it involved sitting placidly on moving toys...like these weird beans and the Care Bear lookalikes

After all that fun, we went to Ya Kun to have some Kaya Toast – and LittlerLam had her first foray into sitting on a restaurant-provided high chair!

The PlayDome at National Museum

Last weekend, while I spent a glorious 3 days away from the mundanity of life in a hotel with 176 other women for a retreat, my two girls were left at home with Daddy and my mother-in-law. So the resourceful hubby decided to take Littlelam out to the National Museum, Singapore where a special children’s season PlayDome was set up for the first time in Singapore, partnering with Playeum, The Play Museum. (Here I’m gonna copy from the brochure cos I didn’t go): The exploratory space consists of dedicated zones, where children get to play with props, materials and get really hands-on in creating orginail art works inspired by the collection in the museum’s Living Galleries and its iconic Dome.

Black Box - or what Littlelam called the ‘giant kaleidoscope’. It features the world premiere of The Real Thing by Jordana Maisie, courtesy of Ipswich Art Gallery (Australia).

Using fabrics to create various designs within the kaleidoscope

Changing the patterns

Spot Littlelam in the pattern!

Various interactive games:

Video screen projection

Tracing patterns on the fabric

Making masks with Daddy! Spiderman and Ninja Turtle...

Maze made of fabrics that the children could pull away to get through

Littlelam having a great time dashing through! She told me this was her favourite

There was another interactive art piece which is made up of many separate pieces of string I think! It is for the kids to help the artist to make a giant dress!

Adding string to the giant dress?

There were also some outdoor installations which involved the kids drawing their own glass art piece and inserting it into ‘telescopes’ that were set up in the small grass patch outside the museum.

Littlelam drawing her images on the glass pieces

Field of telescopes!

Looking through her creation

Littlelam told me excitedly, "I climbed up on a giant chilli, you know!"

Trip to Science Centre Singapore

The last time I visited the Science Centre Singapore was long before it was branded as that, and we used to just call it Science Centre. It was a typical place for school excursions and I only remember that there were a lot of physics-related exhibits for us kids to play with. The other highlight was the Omnimax Theatre which was a big thing way back in the 80s and early 90s.

Fast forward to 2011 and I’ve got a 4-year-old and 4-month-old in tow. Daddy had scored us some free entry passes so we decided to take Littlelam to see the main exhibits, while I snuck off with LittlerLam to the CSI special exhibition at the Annex. (More on that CSI exhibit in a separate post).

Here are some of the pictures Littlelam took with Daddy:

Impressive fire tornado demonstration

Littlelam's favourite exhibit - the Echo tube

Left and Right brain confusion

Playing with various gears

Also stands for Primary School Leaving Examinations. Trust Singapore to think of this acronym

I forgot to take a picture of a new water play area that was very enticing for kids right outside the main entrance. That was one of the new features that I’d never seen before. Other than that, us parents decided that there haven’t been very much improvements to the SCS since WE were kids and it looks rather run down, sad to say. I would recommend taking older school-going kids to SCS, as they will be able to better understand and appreciate the science behind the exhibits!

Art Garden at 8Q SAM

Yes, this is a bit late cos everyone has been there and done that already, but unfortunately we just never got round to going. Until the 2nd last day of the exhibition, thankfully! I shall let the pictures do the talking:

Walter's Garden: Flying 'Walter rabbits' at the entrance

Reading the explanation and artistic inspiration

She's REALLY following the instructions to HOP!!

We actually spent the most time at this first Walter’s Garden exhibit because out of sheer coincidence, Littlelam bumped (quite literally) into her classmate at school. The two of them kinda ignored each other at first, strangely, but then it was like they suddenly recognised each other and started playing happily together. I got to meet the boy’s mother as well and we sorta concluded that the kids seem to have trouble recognising each other in a different context! But they did warm up and eventually even bargained for more time to play together. How cute!

Next, we headed upstairs to the Enchanted Garden, but to our horror, our camera was fast running out of battery. Heh, so the pictures are a bit blurry cos I didn’t use flash to save batt.

In the Enchanted Forest

Drawing her own interpretation in the guestbook

In the next room were the Floribots, an innovative, interactive robotic installation of flowers made from an origami folding. Only thing that was a bit uncool was the unfriendly Auntie who was ‘guarding’ the exhibit and barking at everyone who tried to touch it. While I agree that we have to stop the kids from touching the exhibit, we also have to understand that children will be children and can’t help but be fascinated by it. No need to stomp and clap like you’re teaching a pet animal not to bite a chair!

One lone open flower

Ooh look! How they've grown!

In another room which didn’t appeal so much to the kids was this exhibit that combined various mediums, including animation. The theme was a little scary though and the staff there said that small children tended to cry and get afraid when they were in the screening room (which we realised was designed as a cemetary). I did like the concept of layering images within the resin, installed in this sink though:

The Sink

What was inside the sink. Images silkscreened and layered within the resin.

Lastly, we headed for the ‘Daisies’ exhibit, where Littlelam got off to a flying start. As in she literally flew across the room and hit herself against the wall in her excitement to run across the projected daisy field!

Stepping on the daisies will make them 'disappear'

In all, a great way to expose children to art at a young age. But next year, I’ll definitely try to go on a weekday, and not on the last run!

Rochester House

A few of my fellow mommy bloggers have posted about this place, and I figured that since I was trying to find a place to meet a friend of mine with her son, we’d give it a shot.

Turns out Rochester House, with its outdoor Rochester Park Cafe for the adults and indoor Playhouse area for the kids was the perfect place for us to catch up. Save for the very blur and slow waitress, who was the only wait staff there, I think the 1 hour that we spent there was definitely excellent. While most of my friends have been writing extensively about the interior of the Playhouse, I didn’t actually spend much time in there, namely because Littlelam is already pushing 4 years old and really doesn’t need me to watch her. My friend’s son is also turning 3, so we kinda just made sure the two of them settled in and then we promptly went outside to indulge in food and drink that we wouldn’t usually take when our kids were around! haha! I did take a few pictures of the two kids running wild playing, but the lighting was a little dim so the pictures aren’t very great.

Having fun sliding into the ballpit

Enough kitchen sets for everyone!

The two big kids playing with the baby toys. Heh!

My friend S who is Australian was pretty impressed with the place, and I was quite happy to have found this place too. If only it’s not so far from where I live. For the opening price of $6 per hour, your kid gets to have free reign in this wonderland of safe, regular toys. The ground floor (for the kids below 6 yrs old I think) is also ‘matted’ ie: they’ve placed those soft rubber mats throughout the entire play area. There are also 2 adults to watch the kids in case they get too violent, but the younger kids need to be accompanied by their caregivers. They also took the kids’ temperatures and used hand sanitisers, so there was some semblance of trying to maintain hygiene. (I’m only not gushing about it bcos I generally just EXPECT these measures since Singapore kinda just makes it a norm for all kids places, what with the spread of HFMD, H1N1 etc. etc..) And I’m one of those people who has a phobia of ballpits, though it seems to be a big favourite with the kids. Hotbed of germs, I tell you! Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that I found poo smeared on the balls in a Burger King ballpit at Parkway Parade when I was a kid myself. But that’s another story altogether and it WAS the early 80s.

Cesspool of germs, I tell you!

Anyhow, S and I managed to clock in a good hour of conversation over some Ginger Ale, Italian Soda and a rather large but a tad dry carrot cake. It was a little warm outdoors, but at least it was not swarming with mozzies. And because it was a weekday afternoon, it was nearly completely empty except for another expat family. It’s wonderful catching up with friends from overseas, and though I can feel super jealous that she comes home from work at 5:30 – 6p.m everyday and her husband can get back even earlier, it was also nice to know that parents all around the world do have somewhat similar struggles. (In case anyone from overseas is reading, Singaporeans generally work ridiculously long hours, ie: start at 8:30a.m and work till 7, 8, 9, 10, 11p.m or 12a.m, depending on your company culture, boss or peak season. Arriving home at 5:30p.m is generally unheard of, unless you got some special arrangement, or follow a company shuttle bus.)

At the end of the hour, I didn’t even get a shot of Littlelam’s favourite corner apparently, because when I asked her what was the thing she liked the most, she declared, “Dress up!” I did peek in from the window to see her dressed in fairy wings. I did however, get very amused with these Outdoor Speakers masquerading as rocks and couldn’t resist a token picture. (The two kids btw, were trying to step on it…maybe testing out its durability. *sigh*)

Small but powerful!

In any case, I highly recommend this place if you are staying in the West of Singapore. It’s near ACJC, Dover Rd area. Better go quick before they up the rates!