First time to Gardens by the Bay and Children's Garden

Today is childcare holiday since CNY chu2 falls on a Sat. Decided to take leave since it is also a school holiday for hubby. Let RA choose between LEGOLAND and Gardens by the bay and surprisingly, she chose GBTB. Maybe it's because she has never been there before. Bought tics from an online seller at a discount in advance. But I was so busy trying to teach RA her spelling that we left the house almost 11am.

Then the GPS didn't know about MCE and directed us the wrong way so by the time we reached GBTB, it was almost 12noon. Luckily one of my friends directed me to park at Satay by the Bay. The nearest carpark from the new Children's garden playground. So we had lunch first. A lot of stalls were not open due to CNY hols so we had toast bread and bak ku teh.

Then we had a hard time trying to find Children's garden cos we had no map and the signages were incomplete at a fork so we didn't know which direction to take. It was 1+pm by the time we found the children's playground. Much too warm for the kids to play in the midday sun so we decided to head to the observatories to cool off in the air con first.

We went to the Cloud Dome first then the Flower Dome. Lots of walking for the kids but they were energized in the cool mist and didn't complain much. There were lots of 年花 to be seen at Flower Dome so MIL enjoyed it. Maybe it was CNY period but food selection was really bad. We wanted to go to Pollen café at Flower Dome but we stood there for a good 5 mins before the waitress told us they were full unless we had reservations. Well, they should have at least put up a signage then. Zzz...

By 315pm, RL was restless and kept asking to go to the kiddy playground. So, we walked back to the Children's garden. The sky was a bit cloudy by then, so the sun played hide and seek. The children cafe also had no food. Just drinks cos they said their food supplies will not resume until Wed or Thurs.

The gals spent about 15 mins at the mini playground. Only two swings (1 small and the other so small and close to the ground that it was a joke) and a very small slide. Not big enough for a crowd so kids kept on queuing for and jumping queue for the only 'taller' swings. But even the taller swing were so low that their feet brushed the floor when they were swinging. The playground is meant for kids aged 1-5 years old and RL is only 4 yrs old and about 96cm tall. So they definitely builts slides and swings meant for 1-3 yrs old.

I was getting tired of watching the stiff competition at the dry playground so I decided to let the gals go to the waterplay area. We are resisting the idea initially since RL just got better from their cough/cold. It was a big waterplay area but the set up was very basic. No slides, no water shooting guns, so trickling tiered drains like those found at the zoo. Maybe it's because it was sponsored by Far East. But it was fun for the gals who were busy trying to catch some water.

But by 4pm, RA complained that she was very hungry and her eyes are painful from the strong sun. Since there was no food sold at the Children's cafe, we rinsed them off quickly at the kids open shower area and headed back to Satay by the Bay for an early dinner. At 5pm. Lol! The kids were starving by then so they ate the yummy fried noodles, fried bee hoon by Marina View BBQ Seafood at record time. The city satay was good too. Though expensive at $0.70 per stick. MIL ordered rojak and kueh pie ti so we really had a feast.

We spent about 5 hrs at GBTB and parking was $8+. Better than expected. It was a much smoother ride from MCE all the way to KPE (TPE) then back to Tampines. On the way back, RL tried hard to keep her eyes open. Blasting frozen songs all the way helped cos they were singing to the tunes.

All in all, GBTB was fun for a first timer. The air con observatories were a nice touch and there were many varieties of flowers for nature lovers. But with pre-primary kids, the children's playground and waterplay is too small for us to revisit anytime soon.

Happy 6th Birthday RaeAnne!!!

RaeAnne has turned 6 years old today. She has been excitedly waiting for this day. Being her last year in Elfa, we also decided to splurge a bit so I got her a Magician to do a magic show and balloonist. Danny, the Magic Prince was recommended by my friend Joyce and I had personally seen him in action at Joyce's daughter Charis's birthday party two years ago.

And he is still as good today. Besides the usual magic tricks, he had a really cute platypus puppet and he is a ventriloquist and he made the platypus come to life. He also had two doves which he used in his magic tricks, doves which he trained himself and are set free at his garden to walk and fly once he reaches home.

He usually has 2 assistants but today only one came cos the other is on reservist. His rates aren't cheap but he is really is good at entertaining and managing the rowdy K2 kids. Even the principal asked me to leave his contact behind. Haha.

After her birthday party in school, hubby has to go back to work so I brought RaeAnne to Tampines Mall to choose her birthday present. She went to Toy R us and chose a Barbie electronic pet dog with a vet kit using ang pow $ from Yeye and Nai Nai.

RaeAnne and I are both feeling a bit wistful about this last birthday party in Elfa because this is her graduation year and her next birthday will be at a new school without her classmates. She already asked me today whether for her next year's birthday, can she don't go to school? But I told her no. I already let her ponten school for the last 4 years. Some of her classmates still attend a full day at cc even if it's their birthday cos their parents can't get away from work so she is already considered lucky.

A kids free dinner

Today is our 9th customary wedding anniversary. We wanted to have dinner without the gals to get some couple time. Unfortunately, the car's air con is spoilt again so we cannot go to any far flung places for romantic dinner.

Went to Ngee Ann city instead since I got errands to run. Went to Angus restaurant cos it was just outside the taka toys dept. Yes we still can't help thinking of the kids. Lol.

Dinner was good. For once, hb likes his steak cos he likes the grilled hot plate steak not the soft drowning in gravy type of steak like Lawry's. We did not see a single kid at Augus so it was indeed a good choice for couple time. Hope we can go again. Lol.

Art class at RC

I saw a poster at the lift lobby recently advertising Art class at the nearby RC on Tues nights at 730pm - 9pm. 8 lessons for just $80. Quite affordable and it's near home so I thought maybe I can get the gals to try it out together since it is just at the block in front of us and they accepts kids from 4 years old so both RA and RL can go together. Best of all, hb and I can get 1 hr of me time for jogging maybe. haha.

RL was a bit whining and crying initially but the teacher bribed her with a sweet and she was fine after that. We peeked in at 845pm and the gals were hard at work, painting. Thought the horses they drawn and coloured were not bad though RL's horse had some help from the teacher for the back and the legs portion.

Carrot soup!

The gals borrowed this book "Carrot Soup" from Tampines Library a few weeks ago. A cute story of a rabbit who was trying to make carrot soup but all the carrots that the painstakingly planted disappeared from his garden. The gals loved the story but it was due so we had to return it a few days ago. After I returned the book to the bookdrop, RA told me Mummy I am very sad. Why, I asked. She said because you promise (to follow the recipe on the storybook) to make carrot soup for me. But you returned the book without making the soup.

Guilty as charged. I thought she would have forgotten what I said. But never mind, it was easy to remedy. I told her it's ok, mummy will google for recipe and make the carrot soup for her as promised. All thanks to Jamie Oliver's online recipe, I adapted from there, omitted the nutmeg and ground coriander and substituted the vegetable stock with chicken stock.

I made carrot soup this morning. It was easy to make. If including cutting the carrots into slices (the step that took the most time, after I discovered my food slicer, it was much faster), it was about half an hour of prep and cooking time. Much easier than making mushroom soup in fact cos I don't need milk or cream. I made enough for 4 adults and I brought some extras to my bro and mum to try. RL usually doesn't eat carrots when I cook in ABC chinese soup or stir fry. She prefers cucumbers, cai xin and lettuces. But the small pot of carrot soup has 5 carrots worth of fibre. She definitely took a lot of carrot today. Haha.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy birthday to the gals' dearest Daddy and my dearest Dada. Poor Daddy had to start his reservist training today so we could not go out for dinner. Only fish head curry and home cooked food at ILs tonight and a simple Kenny Rogers lunch yesterday with the kids. Since they had ballet, we couldn't dump them and go anyway on our own.

Well, hopefully 2015, you would have graduated so no more reservist and we can go for a nice celebration. Happy Birthday again and may all your wishes come true! :)

Ear piercing at b*dazzle at Wisma atria

We all pierced our ears today. RaeAnne was the one who kept asking us to bring her. So we went all the way from Tampines to Bdazzled at Wisma Atria as recommended by my friends because it is 100% sterile since they use disposable cartridges sealed in packs. They also have two staff so both ears can be pierced at the same time. Better for kids.

But after RA chose the pure gold pink crystal earrings ($178), she chickened out n refused to sit on the chair. Kept trying to cover her ears. Grr.... So someone had to be the brave one n show her the way. Can't be Daddy so it was only Mummy. I have never pierced my ears b4 so it was hard for me to submit my virgin ear lobes to the nice ladies. They were trying to convince it to get the diamond earrings that were $500+. But it was out of my budget. Plus I already have a pair of tiny diamond earrings from my 四点金。So I chose a pure gold light blue crystal earrings to match RA's.

First, they wipe my ears with antiseptic solution then they dotted each ear lobes with a marker. Checking that they are balanced. Then they sprayed numbing spray on both ear lobes. The actual piercing was v fast n not v painful. Less painful than an injection I felt.

Both ear lobes were done together as they had 2 staff. Good for kids cos at least they cannot chicken out after piercing just one ear. If we had gone to parkway branch, each ear lobe must be done separately cos there is only one staff there.

After I have pierced my ears, it was RA's turn. She was still trying to shirk away but I got her to sit on my lap cos she was still afraid. But at least she didn't cry. RL saw both our earrings n decided she wanted to do it too. She chose the pink earrings too. She was brave n did not try to cover her ears but once the piercing was done. She cried loudly. The ladies had to pacify her with sweets. After taking 2 sweets, she was a sunny gal again. :p

Total damage : $556 including 2 bottles of ear care solution.

PS. The antiseptic solution smarts when I was cleaning the ear lobes. More painful than actual piercing itself. The gals screamed n i got to do it for the gals twice a day. Zzz....

Raelynn's girly dreams

I was clearing out the gals' school bags last night. Guess what I found in Raelynn's bag. Can't help but laugh. All the drawings she drew were the same. I asked her today why she keeps drawing the same thing - long haired gal. She said 因为很美嘛。 This gal definitely has the makings of a bimbo.... Haha.

River Safari, finally...

I think we are one of the most suaku family with two young kids below 6 years old who have not been to see Jia Jia and Kai Kai before. The two pandas have already celebrated their 1 year anniversaries here. At first, we were waiting for the crowds to go off b4 visiting then wanted to go to River Safari on Raelynn's 4th birthday on 2 Dec since admission is free. But I was sick and RaeAnne was sick so in the end, we went to see the doctor and gave it a miss.

Two days ago, I asked the gals to choose where she wants to go on New Year's Day. Multiple choice question actually. 1) River Safari 2) Gardens by the Bay 3) Picnic. Initally, RA chose RS and RL chose GBTB. But in the end, both decided to visit the pandas.

We set off from home around 10am. Not very early haha. It's a public holiday after all and I stayed up late for SBS drama awards show and countdown last night. Did not go to the Punggol fireworks countdown party in the end since it was a rainy night.

When we reached around 1045am, we were informed that the complimentary 15 mins boat ride is already full. River Safari opens at 9am, imagine the crowds that were here before us. 1 hour 45 mins and they are already full for the day? They are definitely not ready for full steam capacity, or maybe because the boat ride is complimentary and not chargeable yet.

Anyway, I am not really disappointed since the Amazonia boat ride has a minimum height limit of 106cm. RL wouldn't qualify and RA as usual is not keen. She is basically apprehensive about all adventure rides especially one that promises to get her wet. So, we walked towards the Panda reserve passing by numerous fish tanks along the way. For a moment, we thought we were at SEA aquarium at Resorts World. Lol.

The queue to see the Pandas was so super duper long (all the way to the fish tanks) that I gave up immediately and decided to bring the gals for early lunch, brunch for me. There is only 1 eatery inside RS, Mama Panda café so needless to say, the queue stretched outside the entrance. I waited 45 mins in all before we could all sit down and eat and with people hovering over us waiting to take our table once we finished. The panda buns were over rated. The new flavour, chocolate custard filling tasted not bad but it is too watery so RL got it all over her dress and I got it all over my fingers. Grr...

After lunch, around 1pm, we went to the Panda Enclosure again. This time, we were lucky. The queue was so much shorter. It started just slightly off the wooden platform. We queued for just 10-15 mins and got to see the pandas.

Kai Kai was fast asleep and it twitches and chews while asleep. So cute. Jia Jia who was supposed to be the more shy panda was in good mood today. She walked around and around and even ate quite a few stalks of bamboo shoots in front of us. We are quite lucky. If Kai Kai is asleep and Jia Jia is hiding in the cave, we would have really come to RS in vain. Haha.

After about 15 mins at the enclosure, we walked back towards the entrance, looping the other way. All in all, besides the pandas, only the catfishes, dugong, crocodile and squirrel monkeys really caught the gals' attention. Compared to the Zoo, RS's exhibits seem quite static cos there are no feeding times, petting area, waterplay or animal shows etc. Food choices was very limited. So, I don't think we will be back in a while unless the gals miss JJ and KK, of course.

I forgot to bring along a camera but the professional 'blue screen' ones were exp. $25 per photo or $50 package price. Not worth it since RL refused to smile at the photographer so I used the app to create my own instead. The magic of smart phone technology. Haha.

Yamaha's Graduation Concerts

RaeAnne graduated from the Junior Music Class and Raelynn from the Music Wonderland course today. It was a logistic nightmare trying to attend both their concerts cos RA's class is 12-1pm and RL is 1215 - 1pm. Luckily, RL's teacher held a last minute 20 min rehearsal so we could watch most of RA's concert before hopping over to RL's.

RA is able to play tunes with both hands though her notes reading is still very poor as Yamaha emphasized a lot on listening and solfege. RL can't play anything yet since MW is more for her to learn music, movement and rhythm.

We have started private music lessons for RA in Nov and will be continuing with it since RA's class is not progressing onto next year. Most of her classmates are going to Primary One next year so most parents opt for private lessons to free up the weekends.

As for RL, we tried out 1 month of pte music lessons for her in Nov but her attention span is too short. Plus she only knows C, D, E. Not able to recognise all her alphabets yet. So I will take a break from music classes for now until she is ready for private lessons. Or if Mummy changes her mind and musters up enough courage next year to sit through another 2 years of JMC with her. Haha.

Video of RA playing Falling Leaves

Raelynn performing "Won't you like to come out and play?"

Raelynn performing "Do re mi fa man"