EURO Fun Park

We went back to Ipoh during the long weekend and had the chance to visit the EURO fun park which will be there for two weeks. According to our family stay in Ipoh it has been years since the last time they had the fun park. I doubt it actually comes all the way from Europe, but it is so rare these days it becomes a big draw for families with young children.

I was quite thrilled to bring Kah Yen there, though at the back of my mind I knew she would be too young for most of the rides. Turns out, this girl is certainly more brave and daring than I thought.  She went ahead to take rides with children mostly older than her.

She went up the big wheel with Daddy and Grandma. It was so high I myself didn't have the courage to go up, of course I used the big belly as a perfect excuse. She was not scared. She just enjoyed making funny faces in front of camera nowaways.

This is her on the aeroplane ride. The thing turns much faster than I expected. I am glad it did not scare her.

This is her on the high way train. This train has 5 to 6 cabins, is fast, goes up and down terrains, and horns each time it comes down from the slope. It is obvious her favorite. She took it twice.

  

This is me and her on the animal train. This is more like the kiddy version we sometimes see in outdoor carnivals in Singapore.

There are other exciting rides too, but I'd be crazy if I allowed her to take these two below.

 

Art Garden

After hearing so many mummy bloggers taking about Art Garden, we decided to bring Kah Yen there as well. Museum is also a fun place for family outing. What's more I have been in the "doing more art activities with Kah Yen" mood recently, hence I am visibly more excited than her about our outing.

We went two weekends back. We had a fun time drawing and taking photos in the Enchanted Garden, I personally think that's the best exhibition among all. It is bright and vibrant. There are round table at children's height for drawing and coloring. There is this magic mirror to display each child's art work. And the rainbow bridge right in the middle is a big draw for the young kids.

We went through the rest of the exhibition pretty fast. They are either too abstract or too creepy for Kah Yen's age. 4-5 years who are interested in physics, science and experimenting might enjoy the exhibition more. There are more art activities on the second and third floor too, but it is more suitable for older kids. Kah Yen was not able to focus very long for the 3D cat and the watercolor project, the husband and me were the one busy drawing.

She did enjoy making the hot air balloon with color paper and glue though.

All in all, it is a good place for a Saturday morning out. I'd love to go back and visit the art museum more often in the future.



Children drawing at the Enchanted Garden



Our art work displaying on the magic mirror

 

Kah Yen and the magic tree house



On the rainbow bridge



Making a hot air ballon to travel around the world

Oh did I mention that she is in the "I am the photographer" mode? The moment I mention we are going to the art garden and we can take a lot of nice pictures. She went to her toy shelf to grab her toy camera!

Kah Yen the young photographer



Punggol beach

We went to the beach on Saturday morning.

Punggol doesn't exactly have the best of beaches. Not the type where you can dip yourself inside deep blue water, or sun tan wearing your favorite bikini, or even have a lovely family picnic. It is more of a port than a chill-out beach. But, for children, as long as there is sand and water, plenty of open space for them to run about and the hot sun to let them sweat to their heart content, it is already a heavenly place isn't it?

And I love that punggol beach is only 5 minutes away from our house by a feeder bus. Imagine I can wake up at 9 o'clock, take a bath and get everyone to eat their breakfast, then we can go to the beach for two hours and still come back for grocery shopping and lunch. No need to plan one week in advance. And the best part is I can bring Kah Yen alone despite my big belly. Since this is a beach feeder bus the driver is used to families carrying babies, strollers and all sorts of things onto the bus, she is extremely patient. I'd carry Kah Yen up and seat her down, carry the stroller up, and then a plus size bag filled with beach mat, sand toys, snacks and changing clothes, sit for 5 minutes and repeat the three steps again to bring everything down.

Look at the smile on Kah Yen's face while waiting for our bus, it is all worth it. And like all toddlers, she insists on carry her own property (the bag of sand toys) and let nobody touch it.

We usually feed the fish and turtles first. I never knew turtles eat bread too.

Then we spend some time on the sand playground. The weather is extremely hot, I can faint anytime just by standing there. But Kah Yen can sit on her favorite swing for almost half an hour, came down only when I asked her to.

We went to the shade to consume some milo and biscuit, before going to the beach to burn ourselves into roasted pigs.

I think she can play the sand and water for hours if I didn't call her to go home. Sometimes I wonder what children are made of!

Hope for more of such lovely mornings before our second baby is born. When that happens, it will be Daddy and Kah Yen outing most of the time.

City Girl

Despite my strong belief that childhood should be spent on the outdoors, gettting dirty by digging holes in the garden, hunting leaves in the woods, jumpping in a puddle barefooted, playing with mud and sand and stones, walking on grass and balancing on log...... I found it quite impossible to create such a childhood in urban Singapore, to replicate my own childhood in China for my daughter. I have come to discover that Singapore has inevitably produced a city girl in my daughter.

When we were travelling around Bali for the past week, there were a few occasions we can't find a decent toilet with the standard toilet bowl. They are the squat-down type, and the floor is generally wet. My daughter, whenever we were going to pee and I opened the door of such a toilet, she would shake her head "No, I don't want to go pee pee. It's so smelly! No, I don't need to pee pee." And magically, she can hold her urine for another two hours, which never happens when we are in Singapore.

And when we brought her to the beach to play sand, she refused to sit on the sand, and everytime her hand touches the sand, she'd spend the next two minutes shaking and clapping to get rid of it. In order to get her to enjoy sand play, we two adults sat on the sand to get our hands and feet dirty and created all sorts of castles and minuatures. She just pretty much stood there as an observer.

Coming back to Singapore, I have determined to bring her outdoors more often. I believe nature is the best playground and also the best teacher. Staying in punggol gave us the advantage, we are closer to nature. So far, we brought her to the waterway every week, her favorite activity is to throw stones in the river. We brought her to the neighborhood park to hunt for caterpillars, snails and spiders. We brought her to punggol jetty to feed fishes and turtles, and to get her hands and feet dirty on the beach.

She is getting acquainted to her new friend quite well I'd say, though she still insists on sitting on a mat and refuses to walk near the water.

(PS: I was holding an umbrella because it started drizzling, not because of the beach sun. No, I am not a city girl.)

Daddy Day Care

I spent the whole of Saturday in office. Kah Yen went to Daddy day care. In Daddy day care, there is no cook, no cleaner, no planned program to follow, the only principal cum teacher is none other than Kah Yen's Daddy himself.

In Daddy day care, the principal may be exhausted by the end of the day. The student? Definitely had loads of fun.

They went for cycling first thing in the morning.

They gave themselves a pancake feast at Macdonalds.

They were ready for the next stop when the stomach was satisfied.



They headed to Kah Yen's favorate place - the library. They never forgot to have some fun even at the entrance.

Library was our favorate place too. Library is a place we can let her break loose without worrying she is idling or getting into trouble, for she will always be surrounded by books.

They had lunch and then enjoyed some kiddy rides. I asked Daddy if the kiddy ride was a treat because she ate her lunch well. "No," said Daddy, "It is to let her be exhausted so she can sleep the whole afternoon when we go back." The principal is smart!

The effect was quite the opposite though. She had so much fun she did not fall sleep till almost 5pm, which finally gave Daddy a much needed personal time.

I was stuck in the office till 9pm. By the time I reached home, she was already asleep. I missed her, but it was so assuring to know that she had enjoyed her day with Daddy.

More of Daddy day care in the future? I surely don't mind!

The Land of OZ - the Flower Dome

It's been a long time since I posted anything here. The reasons are nothing out of the ordinary - Moving house, adapting to a new routine, re-organization at workplace. I was just too busy and too tired to sit down and write.

But I will still try my best to keep this blog going, I was often reminded of the purpose of me starting this blog - to record down the growing years of Kah Yen, the simple moments of joy and laughter that we share - time will soon pass and I would miss those moments. This blog will help me remember.

Anyways. We brought Kah Yen out two weeks back after a longest time. We visited the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay. We are wowed by it immediately. For a moment we felt we have entered the Land of OZ, if you have watched the movie "The Wizard of OZ" recently.

Love the little barn setup with bears and hens and easter eggs. They make the garden appeal to little children too.

Which little girl does not like pretty flowers? See the smile on her face.

This is a cactus inside the African garden. This first caught the eye of Kah Yen and guess what she called it? - Mickey Mouse! I absolutely love the imagination of little children.

Christmas in the sky

We brought Kah Yen to Singapore flyer on Christmas day.

Well, it all started from a flip-the-flap book I read to her on county fair a while ago. On the book there were a big wheel and a hot air balloon. She asked to take hot air balloon, I told her she couldn't because there wasn't any in Singapore. To make her feel better, I told her there is a big wheel called "Singapore flyer" in Singapore and we will take her there one day. I am thinking the one day will come only when she is 3 or 4-year old.

But everytime we read the book again, she will ask me "Kah Yen is going to big wheel yah?" And everytime I have to say "Yes, we are going there really soon". They say parents should not promise young children too easily, I learnt my lesson!

It so happened the husband saw some charity booth selling Singapore flyer tickets at S$10 each, so he bought six tickets. We went there with another family with two older children.

Kah Yen totally enjoyed it. I was afraid that she might be fearful of height, but nothing of that sort. In fact it is probably one of the safest places in the sense I can close my eyes and do not have to worry she runs into danger, 'coz there is no place to run to. The moment we stepped into the cabin, she started running and jumping around, pointing and shouting the names of things she knows. She also followed Korkor and Jiejie whereever they go and acted like a big girl. I can't even get here to stand still and take a decent photo. 





I have been to Singapore flyer once before and I thought I would never go up again for my lifetime. Come on, isn't it boring for us adults? But with the children, that 30 minutes felt just too short.

iLoveSingapore Walk 2012

Love is going the extra mile to show you care.

We brought Kah Yen to the iLoveSingapore Walk 2012 last Saturday at Marina Bay Waterfront. It is an annual charity event organized by TOUCH Community Services and participated by the LoveSingapore network of churches. 

Bringing Kah Yen out for a walk with thousands of others is definitely one great way to spend a beautiful morning. The 3km walk is right at the city center, with Singapore river, the new MBS hotel and the beautiful city skyline right in front of us. 

We needed to be there by 7am, so we had to wake Kah Yen up at 630am, one hour earlier than her usual timing. She cried and refused to get up when we tried to wake her, but when we told her we were bringing her out for a walk, she immediately jumped up. Babies really love to go out.

We were waiting for the walk to start. Kah Yen was very excited by the helium balloons flying up to the sky.

Daddy carrying Kah Yen on his shoulder.

Two balloons, two children.

Singapore river just starting to wake up.

We passed by many interesting places. Kah Yen was especially drawn to the merlion, the boats and the many Christmas tree decorations along the riverside. 

I hope we have more chances to bring Kah Yen to participate in such events in the future. It is both fun and meaningful.

Band of toddlers at the playground

We have been bringing Kah Yen to the neighborhood playground before she even learnt to walk. We enjoyed spending time with her there. In the beginning we would follow her whereever she goes and show her how to play the different equipments. However, as she grows and becomes more mobile, we usually encourage her to explore the playground on her own while we lay back at the bench. No not because we are lazy parents, but we want her to have a chance to learn to socialize with other children at the playground.

Kah Yen is a relatively quiet, conservative and timid girl. (I really hate to label her like that but I don't know how else to phrase it). She is always a little scared of strangers coming near to her or staring at her. Sometimes she is afraid of bigger kids or even toddlers of her age too, when they are too rough and too intimidating. At the playground, when other kid come too close to her, she steps back. When other kids climb up the staircase or slide she is on, she quickly moves away. When a group of bigger kids are playing something fun, she will watch them but always from a safe distance.

We worry about her, unavoidably. Hence we continue to make effort to guide her to interact with other kids. Now that she is a big girl, well, almost, she is turning two soon. We notice she is more comfortable playing with other kids now.

Yesterday Daddy brought her to the playground, and afterwards showed me a series of photos of her with other kids. It is always so interesting to see the way children play, even though I was not there myself.

It started with Kah Yen blowing her bubbles - one of her favorite things these days ever since we allowed her to blow on her own. 

And a sweet little girl was drawn to the bubbles, she came over to sit beside her and watch.

Another girl came along. No words exchanged. Kah Yen continued to play on her own. If I was there I would take this opportunity to teach her to share, Daddy totally forgot about it since he was busy taking photos.

Then, a baby came to the playground in a very fancy baby car. All of them were drawn to the baby car immediately and one by one they moved towards the baby. No words exchanged.

Kah Yen showed her affection to the cute baby by blowing bubbles right at her face! Apparently that's her way of sharing and giving. Daddy corrected her later.

The three kids conveniently played with the baby's car like nobody's business. This baby must be an angel to allow three big kids to take possesion of her property just like that. Look how innocently she looked at them.

Just like that, they formed their own "Band of Toddlers", no drinking of blood or swearing of pledge, not even a word was spoken. Just like that.

I love the way they play together. Sometimes we call toddlers "social morons" because they never bother to say "Please", "Thank you" or "Sorry", they snatch things as if everything is theirs, and whatever they see first, they play first. Yet at other times they can play in harmony like they have always known each other, they care little about each other's differences, and what belongs to one person soon belongs to everybody.

We adults surely can learn a lot from them.

Dear Zoo

Dear Zoo,

My mummy once read me a book that says if I write you a letter, you will send me a pet. But I am not writing for a pet, I am writing to tell you how glad I am that I have met you.

Last Saturday, my daddy and mummy finally brought me to the zoo. When I was younger they always discussed whether they should bring me to the zoo, the answer is always no because they are afraid that the monkeys will fetch me home, or they would say grandma told them if I look at monkeys too much, I will look like one and that won't be a pretty thing for a girl. Adults always have strange logic, I don't understand them, most of the time.

We were first met by the otters. They are so small, but they seem to have so much energy. When I went near the glass that keep them away from us, they all ran to me and made funny and loud noises, like they were mighty glad to see me. I was mighty glad to see them too!

Next we went to the Splash Safari to watch the sea lion show. This is the first time I saw a sea lion, and it is completely different from a lion! The sea lion likes splashing in the water just like me at shower time. But he also likes many other things, like eating fishes, jumping up to touch the ball, flying through a ring circle and standing up-side-down with his two hands. He is quite a good dancer too.

After the show we went to the primate kingdom. Primate kingdom is full of monkeys, different kinds of monkeys, some has very long and thin tail, some has a white patch near their backside, like they are also wearing a cloth diaper, some is orange in color, some climbs up and down the tree like a spider. I wanted to ask mummy if George was also there. You know George? He is from Africa, he is a very curious monkey. The book says he went to the zoo in the end. 

We also went to the Elephants at work & play show. The elephants are very smart and funny, but they are so big I don't dare to go near them. I am afraid they will kiss my ear like this:

After the elephant show we went to see the giant tortoise. I don't quite like them at first. They look so grey in color that I almost mistook them as big rocks. And they look so old. Mummy told me that one of them was 178 years old. Now I remembered a story Mummy once told me about a tortoise and a hare, they went for a race, and despite the hare ran very fast, the tortoise still beat the hare and won the race. Mummy said it is because the hare fell asleep, but I think it is because the tortoise is very good at walking. He had been walking for over 100 years!

Look at this tortoise, he is so big, I opened my mouth as big as I can but it is still five size smaller than his. And his neck is probably longer than me!

I also met hippo, lion and cheetah face to face and saw many others like white tiger, giraffe, zebra, rhinoceros. Oh yes I especially loved the two honey bears. I pointed at them and called "Ah Pooh", which is the name for my baby pooh, mummy is so surprised I can tell they are the same species, even she doesn't know Ah Pooh is a honey bear, she has forgotten what she read to me!

You are so mighty big and we couldn't finish visiting every part of you this time. I was so tired I collapsed into my mummy's arm after lunch, and we took a taxi home. I promise I will come back again, really soon! I send this photo of me to you so that you can remember me the next time I come! Send my regards to all the animals I have met and all those I have not met. Thank you.

Your truly
Kah Yen