Ballet : RAD or CSTD

Blur mummy never realised that there are two different ballet syllabus. I only realised when the Crestar counter staff told me RA will be having open house last Fri so that parents can decide whether to register them for ballet exam next April.

Apparently, there is RAD (annual exam every April) and CSTD (exam every April and Oct). All the mummies friends and my cousin, Shirley, whom I asked, have daughters taking the RAD ballet UK syllabus. None were taking CSTD, the Australian syllabus.

But RA and RL's teacher, Ms Qiu Li Tong at Crestar Tampines is teaching CSTD syllabus. Basically, RAD is more widely recognised and is more technical while CSTD emphasises more on performance. I did some research on my own too. There is more discussion at ksparents for those who are interested to know the difference.

So now, I got to decide if I want to switch from CSTD to RAD. I got both gals to do a trial at Sunday morning 1145am with Ms Joy Foo the RAD teacher as recommended by Valerie's mum (RA's cc classmate). RA was quite reluctant initially cos she wanted to stick to Ms Litong's class and she doesn't want to do exams. But I asked her to just try out once first. If she doesn't like it. I will just let her learn ballet for another year and forget about exams for now.

Ms Joy has a very big class of at least 20 kids, first with older gals (p3 or p4) as well as those 4-6 yrs old. But she will spilt up the groups and let the younger gals sit and watch the older gals. Then about a short while later, the older gals will exit and she will focus on the younger ones. When I peeped in, I saw my gals playing with big shiny pom pom balls and thought to myself, hey, that looks fun. How come I never saw RA doing that before. Valerie's mummy, told me that's because the pom pom balls are part of RAD syllabus. Valerie has been learning from Ms Joy Foo since she was 3 yrs old.

Ahh.... No wonder. We never knew what we were missing. haha.

Anyway, the magic of pom pom balls for just one 45 minutes lesson cannot be underestimated. After the class, I asked them if they enjoyed. And both did. I asked RA if she wants to go to Ms Joy Foo class. She said yes. I asked her if she wants to try the ballet exam and have 1 extra ballet practice per week and she also said yes.

I asked Ms Joy Foo and she is happy with both their performance. She said if I don't mind RL waiting one more year before she can take exams in 2015, both gals can be in the same class. Of course I didn't mind. I am glad that I can drop off both gals cos logistically it is easier than having back to back ballet lessons on Friday nights from 730 to 9pm. But I will be on my own to bring both gals on the bus since hb is not free on Sun mornings.

Since RA wants to do the pre primary ballet exam, we still need to send her on Fri evening 645pm for coaching class from Oct to March. But at least it will not finish as late at 9pm. So logistically it is better.

Since RA enjoys ballet for now, I will expose her to extra coaching ($600 for 6 mths, not cheap) and try the exam and see if she can take it. I really don't want to overload her after she starts primary 1 so I feel K2 is a better time to test water about taking ballet exams. If she loves ballet even more, will consider letting her continue with the yearly exam syllabus. But if she hates it, we can either drop ballet or just let her learn for leisure. Either way, it will give me a better idea how to maximise our limited enrichment budget.

Legoland again...

We finally drove to LEGOLAND in our own car last Sat. Must really thank our neighbours Lijia's parents for patiently showing us the way. Previously, we took the coach bus and hired our own van driver. Although the drive to Tuas is quite long, both gals napped in the car as we left Tampines around 2pm after their music classes. But we cleared both sides customs quite quickly, RA woke up at Tuas checkpoint and RL woke up at Malaysia checkpoint.

When we reached LEGOLAND, it was around 3+pm. There was hardly any queues so we went for the rides that we did not try previously. When we went in Dec last yr, we only tried the boat ride, the train and mini land cos the queues were too long.

This time, the first ride we tried was Technic twister ride (like those teacups). Only RA got to try it though. RL is only 96cm tall so she couldn't meet the height limit for quite a few rides. She did not meet the height limit of 110cm so she could not play the Technic twister so I accompanied her. Both gals wanted to play the Aqua zone waveracer ride but RL did not meet the 100cm height limit. By then, I bought them a single scoop of rainbow ice cream to cool off. So they were quite happy with their ice cream and did not feel disappointed.

Lijia and his Daddy went for the dragon roller coaster. No amount of persuasion could convince RA to try the junior roller coaster ride. So both of them ran to Forestman hideout, and enjoyed themselves at the multilevel playground. RL had a bit of abrasion on her thighs sliding down the metallic enclosed slide though. Next time, must remember to wear pants for her. We managed to watch one 4d movie on car racing though we missed Cheema cos there was a technical fault for the 515pm show. The air con was a welcome respite from the heat. We tried the Observation Tower ride this time too.

RL couldn't do the Kids Power station rope pulley ride either but RA enjoyed it doing it with Mummy, the slow n steady way and with Daddy, the fast and furious climb up. Both gals tried the Royal Joust ride, the beetle bounce, Lost kingdom laser gun game. Hubby and I even went for the Dinosaur island water slide ride. RA wanted to try the water slide ride too but failed the min 120cm, 6 yr old limit. She was very disappointed and sulked but I think it is too thrilling a ride for her. The height drop from 2-3 storeys was scary for me. RA even panicked on the gentle beetle bouncer so I think she could not have handled it.

We decided to upgrade to an Annual pass since we had already paid full price for our tickets RM140 for adults and RM110 for kids. Just needed to come twice and it will be worth it for the RM275 adult annual pass and RM210 kids pass. As long as Lijia's family is coming again, we can tag along. Haha.

We went for dinner with the other 3 families (Lijia, Benjamin and Shi Heng Kai, all from Elfa CC) at Absolute Thai at 8pm. Left LEGOLAND at 915pm and we were the last few cars there. Went to top up petrol at Shell station near checkpoint and reached home sweet home around 10+pm.

Couple trip to Bangkok

Went for a short 3d2n trip to BKK with hubby last Thurs. Actually it was more like 2 days cos we reached BKK on Thurs evening and flew back on Sat 4+pm. We almost didn't get to go cos RL started a low grade fever 37.7 on Sun night. I couldn't take leave due to a work event so hubby brought her to see the doctor. The GP for some reason suspected HFMD but there were no ulcers, just that her throat was red. We separated the gals on Mon and Tues and brought RL back on Wed night. But she still had fever on Wed early morning so we brought her to see the doctor again on Thurs morning after sending RA to school. Temp was still 37.7 but dr confirmed it was not HFMD so we decided to go on with our trip. If we cancel, we cannot claim anyway. Since it was a slight fever and not even HFMD.

We stayed at Novotel Platinum hotel, right next to Platinum Mall and with a linkway from the 6th floor hotel lobby to the mall. It was a very convenient location because we can upload our shopping loot at our hotel before heading out for dinner or elsewhere. But changing lifts at 6th floor to reach our hotel room was a bit inconvenient. The hotel toilet has not bathtub so the kids won't like it. I didn't like the shower stall had no door and there was an air con ventilation duct just above so there was cold air blowing at me as I was showering. Brr... Not suitable for kids.

We had a 4 hr couple massage at So Thai Spa, Bangkok. Had to take a taxi there. Taxi ride was about 20-30 mins. The spa was at a shophouse, it was a quiet set up. I could occasionally hear dogs barking but otherwise it was silent when I had my massage. The foot scrub, herbal ball and aromatherapy massage was relaxing, hb and I fell asleep at some parts. But I will not recommend to someone who really has bodyaches cos my masseur did not ease the knots on my shoulder even though I pointed the painful area. My masseur who was an older lady was also a bit rough and abrupt. Instead of lowering my limbs slowly after massaging it, she literally dropped it while holding on. Overall, the spa is ok if your hotel is nearby. But I will not especially take a cab to go to the spa again. :P Maybe, next time I will try Coran Spa or even the budget range Healthland.

We were out from morning for the two days and only came back at 11pm after the shops close (10pm BKK time). Really cheong for 2 days cos there were lots to buy and I was helping MIL and a friend find some stuff. I grabbed 2 pairs of slippers, 2 dresses, 1 pair of jeans and 1 pair of shorts for myself. And hb got 2 tees and 1 pair of jeans. The biggest winners were the gals cos we bought lots for them, from party favours to dresses, PJs to shoes, hair accessories and socks. We bought so much that I had to get a box from the party favours shop and ship the partyware back. We bought so much cos it was cheap. Playdough party packs were only $0.80 while the bigger pack with a rolling pin was just $1. Was a bit worried that we will exceed baggage allowance but luckily everything weighed about 20kg.

We will definitely go to bkk again one day. But maybe when the gals are bigger cos Platinum mall is very crowded and not suitable for young kids.

Teachers' Day Pressies

Mummy did not order Teachers' Day pressies early this year. I used to order from SMH Bulk purchase threads at least 1 month ahead. But with work and pv duties taking up my free time, it was a last minute scramble to get little gifts for RA and RL's teachers.

I can't bake so can't make home made cookies and cakes. But even if I could, I don't think I will make food. Because if just every kid give the teacher 1 cookie or cupcake, the teacher will be stuffed with more than 30 cookies depending on how many students she has and how many classes she teaches. From experience, there is always lots of food on Teacher's day because the school will give appreciation parties to the teachers as well. Some teachers don't dare to eat home made stuff by students or their parents either due to religion reasons (non halal kitchen) or they are worried about hygiene standards. Freshly made food have no preservatives. So they usually taste good but they can't keep well. Teachers may end up binning them if they can't finish all the food.

In the end, I grabbed everything from Daiso (travel toiletries kit, gift tags and stickers) because all the childcare teachers were going on a retreat to Bangkok this Friday to celebrate Teacher's Day. All the 3 Elfa centres are involved so more than 30 ladies. Must be quite a sight at the airport. Haha. The teachers are really excited. I heard them discussing about what tidbits to bring to Bkk. So I want to get something useful that they can use for the trip. A toiletries pack may be an auntie style gift but at least it is practical and does not take up much space.

Hubby once got a gigantic penguin from his students. Really cute but we just have nowhere to store it... :P I much prefer the simple ikea cushion that one of his students decorated with a fabric marker. If I remember correctly, the message said: "This is from one of your most awake students ever. Jolene Goh." That student has long graduated but the gift remained in our house for many years. ;)

When I was teaching, I prefer students give me a card than food. A simple hand written card is good enough. No need to be fancy. Unfortunately, my gals can't write very well yet especially Raelynn. So I still need to help Raelynn write the greetings. But I did ask RA draw and copy Happy Teachers' Day and her teachers' names on the cards and envelopes. Stickers are easy to handle so I let them decorate the cards and envelopes themselves. Hope her teachers will like it.

Happy Teachers' Day to all the teachers out there!

What's for dinner? - Make a guess

Black olive fried rice! Recipe from Sunday Times. But mine has no chilli n parsley n I only used 2 tablespoons of the black olive veg. Seasoned the minced pork with abalone sauce for extra flavour. RA had second helpings. Hee.

Slide at T3

We have not been to the airport for a very long time cos we did not bring the gals on any flights this year. Mostly short trips to Malaysia. Today, we went with the gals to T3. Wanted to let them try the T3 slide because RA's swim mates said it was very fun but we never knew where it was. Quite paiseh to be so 'suaku' since we stay in Tampines, so near to the airport.

After a quick dinner at Ramen champions, we went straight to look for the slide. Had to refer to floor plan n turns out we were at the opposite side since we parked at 3A. After walking over to the slide, I realised why we never noticed it. From far, it just looked like queue posts leading to a lift. N the slide was just a metal tubular enclosed slide with narrow curvature. Quite compact, no bright colours n furthermore, the slide view is partially blocked by the revolving gantry gates.

The slide was two storeys high and meant for kids 5 yrs n above with a minimum height of 110cm. There was a much higher one to be taken from level 3 or 4. Even though RA fit the minimum height but it took me a very long time to convince her to ride on her own. She was scared n the 2 storey slide with its gantry gates looked quite forbidding.

But once she overcame her fear n went down on her own, she was ok. We saw younger kids riding the slide so decided to bring Mei mei along for the second time. The fearless gal went down the slide lying on her tummy though it was her first time. She went down 2 more times after that but I get RA to accompany her cos she has problems pushing the exit button n opening the gantry gate.

They still wanted to slide but we convinced them to go to the viewing gallery after that. But I must say T2's viewing gallery is much better cos we are closer to the runway n planes. We could not see any planes taking off or landing at the T3 aviation gallery at all. The gals were quite disappointed but at least they had fun eating their mini dunkin donuts, climbing n sliding down the displays. After today, I think they will start asking to go to the airport more often. haha.

Hurry up! 快点!

Aunty Windy, one of my forum mummy friends, shared an article with us. It is a meaningful reflection of a mummy with 2 gals who always say hurry up to her kids because she is always rushing from place to place. Something her elder daughter said finally made her stop saying these words. It is such a nice story with pics so pls do read it.

After reading this article, I felt quite guilty. Especially since I just beat RL's hands a few days ago because she refused to wear her uniform after 3 verbal warnings from me. I was rushing for work and a 915am photoshoot so I already warned them the night before that they need to wake up very early in the morning. I warned her 3 times to quickly start dressing up while I was washing up and getting dressed. But when I came out of my room, RL is still half naked, her shirt beside her and reading a storybook on the floor. She looked like she had all the time in the world and she ignored all my warnings. That made me mad.

With hubby leaving the house by 7am everyday, morning rush is always something that I have to deal with the two girls. Even when I was not working, I will always say to them 快点,快点! 迟到了! 不要慢吞吞。 不要做梦。 It is not that I am super kancheong but they really take a long time to wake up, drink milk, brush teeth and get dressed. 1 hour in fact from the time they wake up until the time we leave the house.

Inevitably, they 'waste' time asking for extra milk (RL's fav delay tactic cos after I made more milk, she hardly finishes it), asking me to tie hair (RA & RL), choose hair tie (RA & RL) negotiate to bring dress instead of PJs (RL), choose dress (RL sometimes RA), choose which soft toy to bring to school (RA sometimes RL), negotiate to bring bb bites or biscuits to school (RL), choose shoes (RL & RL). If they wake up at 8am, we reach school at 9am thereabouts. A bit late for BF sometimes cos the other kids have eaten and my gals are lazy to eat separately from her classmates unless it is BF that they like eg. cornflakes or French toast.

Nowadays, morning rush is worse because I accepted my ex colleague's request to help work temporarily part time for a few months to tide them over. I accepted the job mainly they allowed me to work part time and I wanted some adult company. Lunching alone on weekdays is quite lonely so sometimes I even skip lunch. My working hours are 10am to 4pm so most days I can afford time to send the gals to school at 8+, 9am, go home change, have BF before I go to work.

But sometimes, there are meetings, early starts to the day and I end up having to wake them earlier and earlier. Since they are such night birds, they sleep only at 11pm on most days. It is really hard to wake up at 745am. RA's classmates Sihan reaches CC at 7am cos her parents are both teachers. And her other good friend, Valerie reaches school at 730am everyday. I know there is no excuse. My kids have the luxury of time. Reaching school between 830-9am is considered late. So nowadays I got more reason to ask them to hurry up cos I need to take 2 buses to get to work and I don't want to be late.

But even though I am guilty of asking them to hurry up on weekdays mornings, I relax after school hrs n on weekends. We bring them to the playground before the sky turns dark, let them cycle or play. After parking our car, they take turns to jump off the kerb or staircase if there are no cars. As we walked home, they search for snails in the dark garden pathway especially if it rained that day. If not they shout with glee if they spot a cat or a dog. Sometimes, they point out the moon and stars in the night sky. On fri night, I let them both sleep in the same room knowing that they will take longer to fall asleep. Read as many stories as they want instead of the usual 2 per night. In the weekends, they play at the playground, look for caterpillars in my limau perut plant (they love caterpillars), spot heart shaped leaves, birds or feathers on the ground.

It will be a tough battle not to say hurry up at all in hectic Singapore. I even say it to my hubby before we had kids so I won't set resolutions that I cannot keep. But what I will try to do is try my best to stop saying 'hurry up or 快点' on weekends. I will try out 'what will you like to do? No need to rush. Take as much time as you want' instead.

And I will like to see their reactions too. ;)

Hari Raya Puasa and NDP Long weekend - ECP

We have a 4 day break due to the two PHs. But did not jet off anywhere since air tickets were very exp and hb needs to mark. So yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Kidzgo, the indoor playground at Tampines1 because RL loves it there.

RL is coughing a little so I am not keen to bring here to air con places again. Decided to go ECP for a picnic since we have not done that for a long time. Also wanted to try out the new 6 men tent we bought early this yr.

At first, RL was not keen and she insisted on wearing a dress to the beach. She does not seem to be an outdoor kind of gal. Always into pretty dresses and high heel shoes. Faint! Finally persuaded her to wear a short skirt instead so that she can do sand play without getting all wet.

Packed ham and cheese sandwiches and a salad but the food they liked most was the strawberry n milk popcorn I bought from Daiso yesterday. My gals have a sweet tooth or rather sweet teeth.

Weather is very good. Cloudy so it was not hot and the weather stayed that way except in the afternoon there was a constant slight drizzle. We hid in our tent thinking the rain will get heavier but it never did. The gals had a happy time rolling and wrestling in the tent with Daddy. But when the sun come out, I was feeling v hungry so we had a late lunch at Brussel Sprouts. Yummy mussels but lousy wait staff except for a guy with tattoos. The rest of the staff were impatient and can't be bothered with questions or recommendations. The guy with tattoos was the friendliest and respond the fastest. After a v heavy tea, we went cycling to burn calories. Me, not the kids. -_-

Along the ride, we saw a jetty so we stopped for a while. RA was fascinated to see the anglers. One of them caught a small mud crab and a flower crab in that short 5-10 mins we were there. But by 7pm, can tell that their energy levels were v low with no afternoon nap today. I suggested having dinner there so that we can watch the fireworks from the jetty but they were not keen. Guess they had enough fireworks since last week. They wanted to go Nai nai house instead so we ended watching the rest of the NDP on tv. haha.

Birthday celebration at Serenity

Hb surprised me with flowers to my workplace this yr. I am temping part time for my ex company cos 3 staff resigned on the same day after getting their bonus. He picked me up at 4pm n brought me to Serenity at vivo city for my birthday dinner cos he read from hungrygowhere that the food was good. I like vivo city cos there is a nice view of Sentosa n the sea front plus lots of international branded shops that I don't usually find in Tampines. Had time to walk around before dinner started.

Food really is good at Serenity especially the grilled squid, no wonder it is a best seller. It looks simple, just grilled squid with olive oil n salt. But it was so tender and juicy, so aromatic with the right smoky flavour n slightly crispy tentacles edges. If it did not cost so much $18.80 for 3 squids. I would have ordered 3 plates and finished all by myself. I wish I can replicate this at home. Squid is not expensive but how did they make it so nice. Yummy....

Another house specialty was the spanish suckling pig. $98 for a 1/4 serving for two to share. It was just a small plate so I consider it very steep. The meat was tender and moist n there were 3 types of sauces to dip it in - roasting sauce, brown sauce and tomato jam. I like both the brown sauce and tomato jam most. But it was the crispy skin that was to die for. I forgot all about counting calories after eating the first piece.

The paella was also highly recommended, we tried the normal version which was $50+. The crayfish version recommended by the waiter would have cost $70+. This is the one dish that did not wow me. Maybe it was the spices used that did not agree with me or maybe cos I had higher expectations for paella. But I did not feel that the price was worth it. I think Fish n Co seafood platter with rice was better. Smoky n v generous with seafood. Hee.


But all in all, it was a great place to have a quiet dinner. Hb even dedicated a birthday song through the live band but I spoilt his plans a little by requesting to sit outside cos I cannot hear the dedication. But I did like the complimentary brownie cake. Haha.

We hardly splurge on expensive dinners after having kids. Always family dining or kids friendly restaurants. So thanks so much dada for our couple time together. :)

Art trial at crestar

RA is serving notice to end globalart classes by end Aug. She just told me she does not want to learn anymore. I tried switching her to another class with more of her cc classmates but she still wants to stop so i decided to let her take the lead on this. After all, globalart classes are not cheap since we still need to pay for books n materials.

Brought the gals for trial class at Crestar on Monday since they also attend ballet lessons there. The class is meant for kids above 4. Rl is 4 this yr though she is 4 months short. So both gals attended together. It was supposed to be a 1.5 hrs course but they changed it to 1 hr instead. The gals did some water colour n some tracing, colouring. But before they could finish finish cutting n pasting, 1 hr was up. Think it was too short because globalart class is 1.5 hrs though there is only colouring n blending. Not enough exposure to other media.

1 hr is definitely not enough for RL who did not even finish tracing. The other kids who were around 4 did not manage to finish colouring either. So the tcr said continue next week.

RA said she likes the art class n will like to continue but I find it too exp.$267.50 for 11 lessons. $24.75 per hr. Even more exp than globalart. I am also not keen to burn monday nights after getting rid of wed nights. So I think I will just ask hb to teach in the meantime. Save $ n Time. :)