My Brother The Chef

My brother has a deep interest in cooking (unlike me!) and relished in cooking for the family. Over the Father's Day weekend, he invited our family, together with my Mum and Dad, for an Italian feast that he single-handedly whipped up for all of us! He almost baked a strawberry dessert, if not for me asking him to take a rest and spend quality time with us in the living room! 

It was such an enjoyable evening. We were treated to starters of a piquant salad filled with fresh lettuce and strips of brilliant carrot, complete with tangy Japanese dressing that piqued our appetite. Then, he brought out steaming plates of spaghetti bolognese with succulent shiitake mushrooms and tomatoes, and a plate of mouth-watering pasta with prawns just for Mum because she doesn't take beef. Glorious! 

Mum was beaming - she was probably thinking that her cooking genes did end up somewhere, unfortunately not in her daughter, but in her son! 

We all enjoyed the evening so much. Thereafter, we sat down and went through all our holiday photos, and had a great time chilling out. The Bees were entertained to bits, and we certainly look forward to another feast cooked by their beloved jiu jiu!

Flapbooks

Last week, we worked on 2 flapbooks, customised to the Bees' different learning levels. As part of her Japan lapbook, I recommended to Big Bee that it might be very meaningful for her to list down all our trip highlights in a day-by-day format within a book. She loved the idea and when I created a flapbook together with her, she set forth to work on this project immediately with zest. 

Little Bee wanted a part of this project, of course. Whilst it was apparent why she could not work on a similar holiday project, I adapted her flapbook to something that she can personally write on - so that she can practise her writing skills and more importantly, to feel very involved in the creation process. As I am quite keen for her to be familiar in writing numerals, we created a flapbook for the numbers 1 to 10! 

Dense concentration...but only for a while! 

They both worked earnestly on these flapbooks - Little Bee for about 20 minutes (as that is the limit of her usual attention span!) whereas Big Bee wrote intermittently on hers over 2 days (she was still in her holiday mood and was not too used to writing loads yet!). 

Cover of Big Bee's flapbook with labels of the days in our trip.

Dates of our trip with brief highlights of each day. This is a remarkable way to let Big Bee remember our vacation, as she mentally ran through with me what we did each day. I found it very worthwhile, especially when we have post-vacation blues! 

Little Bee's number flapbook. Maverick her drew an arrow at "1", proclaiming that "1" could look like an arrow. She needed my help in writing "2", so I drew dots for her to follow. But she wrote the rest of the numbers independently. She drew a heart beside "9" because she told me she thought that was the nicest written number of all.

Inside her flapbook: I got her to draw out the number of items for each number (you can imagine the amount of coaxing as we approached "10"!) and also got her to write out the corresponding words for each number. She was rather distracted by then, so I had to use dots to lure her to write these words!

I found that projects which involved their direct creation and writing tended to be more memorable for the Bees. And true enough, the Bees kept referring to their finished flapbooks and could not stop showing them to their Papa and Grandma! 

Breakfast With The Birds

We just started our new homelearning theme this week - Forest Animals - and the Bees love it! To introduce the theme, we went for daily 45-minute walks around our lush estate every morning, immersing ourselves in the forest-like vegetation, scouting for squirrels, monitor lizards and birds. 

Big Bee's imagination was imbued with all that she read in her favourite Enchanted Wood series as we took these enjoyable walks. Coupled with our recent experiences in the various theme parks of Japan, she would launch into delightful commentary a la an Enchanted Wood theme park tour. Excerpts from her tour introduction: "And now, we are approaching the slope of doom where it is dark and dangerous, walk very carefully and quietly....we are getting close to the forest of horror where snakes and monitor lizards live....oh! We are now reaching the forest of the squirrels....this is the path of joy with many flowers and trees...." 

We even identified 2 potential candidates for our very own Faraway Tree in the estate - a grand tree with orange-tinged bark and another enormous majestic tree with expansive branches that reaches way up into the sky. Every time we walk past these trees, Big Bee would exclaim that these are our Faraway Trees! 

Little Bee - being rather timid at times - would cower in fear whenever we strolled past areas of "doom" or "horror" with jie-jie's description, and would skip with lighthearted beatitude through sections of "happiness". As for me, I just found it all so entertaining, immersing ourselves in this pretend forest and living an alternate life of fantasy! 

With the lovely weather yesterday morning, and prompted by Big Bee's eager question about "What are we doing today?" the moment we woke up, I decided to have an impromptu breakfast picnic with the Bees - right in our estate! I packed kaya sandwiches, cookies, fruits, raisins and coffee, much to the Bees' excitement as they hovered around me, suggesting what I should pack for their picnic. Poor hubby was immensely jealous as he had to go off to work whilst we had so much fun! 

We then ambled around, looking for that perfect picnic spot where we could pretend that we were in an abundant forest, and then settled down for a lovely breakfast beneath the solicitude of raintrees and flame of the forest trees. It was a brilliant breakfast - the Bees were absolutely enraptured as they sat on our little mat, munching on goodies with nature all around us. Of course, there were the inevitable sibling scuffles here and there, but all were peaceful eventually, and we had our signature Enchanted Wood walk after breakfast. 

We even spotted 2 yellow lovebirds, serenading us throughout much of our breakfast, much to the Bees' excitement, and Big Bee was snapping photos of these birds enthusiastically.

Can you spot the 2 lovebirds? 

What a perfect morning. Who says we need to venture out of our backyard for new experiences? Sometimes, a rich and vivid imagination coupled with an awareness of the beauty in the places nearest to us would be more than sufficient :)

Land Of The Rising Sun: Part 2 (Osaka)

Day 5, 9 June (Wednesday)

We woke up with much elation in a new city and a wonderfully spacious hotel facing the glittering Osaka Bay. More theme parks awaited us! This time, I was anticipating this theme park as it would be something new for me - Universal Studios Osaka.

After a sumptuous breakfast, we took a leisurely 15-minute stroll to Universal Studios from our hotel. The weather in Osaka was considerably warmer and more humid, as we headed further down south. We were one of the first entering the Park slightly before 10am! 

Universal Studios seemed to target a whole different set of audience, compared to magical and fantastical Disney Land. The scale was huge, with a strong slant towards movie and Hollywood magic - some of the capacious sets like Jaws' Amityville town, Land of Oz, the vast Hollywood Boulevard and majestic New York City straight from the Spiderman's movie set fascinated Hubby and I to no end. The Bees were more tickled by walking mascots like Shrek and Princess Fiona, Hello Kitty (much to Little Bee's delight but Big Bee's cynical aversion!), Pink Panther (the girls were amazed by the huge Pink Panther shop with its endless array of merchandise!) and the Sesame Street characters (Cookie Monster, Elmo, Big Bird, etc). All these characters from TV and movies transformed right into life for the Bees, much to their open-mouthed enthrallment. 

I prefer Universal Studios to DisneyLand largely due to the absence of dense, large and overwhelming crowds. Hence, we were able to amble around the Park in a relaxed fashion, enjoying the entire ambience and beautiful late afternoon golden sunshine. The scale of Universal Studios in Osaka was huge and we could literally lose ourselves in the various sets that evoke different worlds in various eras. I particularly loved the ubiquitous bronze "Movie sets plates" on different props and sets, highlighting which movies these props were featured in. 

With lesser crowds, we could watch a lot more shows although we could not be part of many rides as these catered more for bigger kids. However, losing ourselves sauntering in different worlds more than made up for the lack of rides! Needless to say, the Bees' favourite show was the Sesame Street musical fiesta held on the open street in the cool, pleasant early evening hours with stunning sunlight from the setting sun. Hubby and I really enjoyed the thrilling and loud Waterworld show, much to the Bees' chagrin! 

It was a truly enjoyable day, and I thought it was a pity that Universal Studios had to close at 6pm, leaving us with no chance to view it in the dark, complete with glittering Hollywood magic at night!

We had a fast but delicious dinner of springy ramen at a nearby mall before adjourning back to the hotel for an early and relaxed night.

Day 6, 10 June (Thursday)

The next day dawned bright and clear for us to explore the rest of Osaka! A few highlights of today:

1) Having a lazy 2-hour breakfast, giggling with the Bees and munching on food galore. Yum - my type of ideal holiday breakfasts!

2) Sailing away on the harbour on Capt Line, the ferry that transported us to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan on the other side of the bay. The Bees were excitedly scuttling around the ferry, enjoying the azure blue bay with seagulls and a busy port ambience. 

3) Spending the entire afternoon in pure amazement in the massive Osaka Aquarium, staring in close proximity at ocean creatures like the largest fish in the world, the colossal whale sharks, cheery porpoises, graceful manta rays, intelligent dolphins that seemed to interact with the Bees from the other side of the aquarium, and witnessing a mind-boggling array of never-seen-before fishes! Hubby, the Bees and I were absolutely bewitched. 

4) Spending the early evening at a nearby food complex in the Tempozan Marketplace, losing ourselves in the quaint labyrinth of tiny Japanese food stalls, gorging on Japanese food delights. Osaka is known as the food capital of Japan, and we were not disappointed, trying a plethora of ambrosial food and snacks!

5) Sitting comfortably outdoors under the spotless blue sky and enjoying the resplendent evening sunlight while watching the Bees interact and play with some very tame pigeons. Such relaxed mode of holiday is indeed ideal.

6) Strolling without direction around, eventually settling for a metro ride into Dotombori, the glitzy shopping and restaurant district of Osaka with dazzling neon lights and endless pachinko outlets! The Bees were not thrilled by the city sights but Hubby and I were pretty dazzled by the ubiquitous bright flashing signs!

7) Having a wonderful buffet dinner at a do-it-yourself Japanese kushiage (deep-fried) restaurant! Kushiage is a Japanese-style deep-fried kabab. Kushi means skewers and age means deep-frying in Japanese. Bamboo sticks are used for kusiage in Japan, and skewered vegetables and meats are breaded and deep-fried. It was so fascinating for all 4 of us. We selected the meats and vegetables on skewers, rolled these food in a plate of bread crumbs and then dipped the skewers into a basin of hot simmering oil. Then, voila! The end result was a piece of breaded, deep fried kushiage that was so succulent and delicious albeit very unhealthy with all those oil! However, the Bees enjoyed cooking their own dinner so much that we spent a good 2 hours in this restaurant, with the 2 of them dipping and deep-frying an endless supply of kushiage. Burp! We were so full and sleepy by the time we arrived in the hotel that we slept almost immediately!

Land Of The Rising Sun: Part 1 (Tokyo)

Our trip to Japan started at least a month ahead of our scheduled departure, with lots of planning on where to go, how to go, what to do and where to stay. And followed by the booking of necessary logistics like shinkansen and air tickets, hotel rooms and theme park tickets. 

Furthermore, Hubby and I knew that we simply had to travel light as we would be travelling to 3 cities, using only public transport and lugging 2 very active kids. Thus, we adamantly (and successfully!) squeezed all our travel stuff into one luggage bag with one pram. And we were all set for the voluminous train rides across central Japan from Tokyo to Osaka to Kyoto and then back to Tokyo again! 

It was really fun planning the trip, although I must say too much planning (I am a typical overplanner) did make me a wee bit jaded by the time the holiday started! 

Here are some highlights of our 11-day trip. Unfortunately, I am too lazy to download photos taken from our SLR camera, so I am putting photos (mainly of the Bees) taken from my trusty Canon IXUS. Hence, there are not many picturesque postcard-types of shots. 

Day 1, 5 June (Saturday)

1) I love taking early morning flights with the family, so we could wake up before the first light of dawn kissed the earth, and revelled in the majestic sunrays slowly warming up the roads as we travelled to the airport. For this trip, we were out of the house by 7.30am, in preparation for a 9.40am flight! The Bees were almost bursting with excitement and pure happiness, chatting away in the airport lounge animatedly. I love seeing them like this!

2) Both the Bees were rather restless and impatient on the 6-hour flight. Although Big Bee had her movies and entertainment system to play with, 6 hours was a relatively long time for her to be strapped to her seat all the time. Little Bee was incessantly asking me whether we were reaching. It was frazzling to answer their impatient questions every 15 minutes, but really amusing to see them so eager to touch down! 

3) We finally arrived in Tokyo at 5.30pm and waited for the airport bus to take us to our hotel - which was another long arduous journey! Eventually, we reached the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel, which is a Tokyo Disney Resort official hotel, by 8pm! Hubby and I were fatigued by a whole day's journey, yet the Bees were so energetic, running all around the beautiful hotel lobby. 

4) I loved the hotel room for its sheer size, with 2 double beds that we pushed together so the whole family could snuggle together like sleeping hamsters! I also really appreciated the capacious balcony overseeing the azure bay. The Bees were so taken in by a window that opened up from the bathroom to the bedroom, and were clambering in and out of the window continuously. Tomboys indeed! 

5) We ordered room service for our dinner only at 9.30pm. But the Bees were delighted and ravenous, so they devoured much the food in record time. 

6) We finally sank into bed at 11pm, snuggling and burrowing alongside each other, giggling and chattering away in the dark, until eventually heavenly slumber beckoned us into her Eden.

Day 2, 6 June (Sunday)

We began our holiday with much fanfare and anticipation - to Tokyo DisneySea! The Bees particularly loved the Tokyo Disney shuttle bus (more like a Disney-themed bus with Mickey introducing himself blithely in Japanese!) and the Resort Liner (their version of an exclusive Disney MRT). It provided the right ingredients for a perfect setting before the real thing!

It was a day of immersing the Bees in breathtaking architecture and sonorous Disney music that filled our souls with happiness - with lots of theme park rides thrown in! Initially, we were somewhat seared by the desert-dry blistering heat of a Tokyo summer, and it took us a while to get adjusted to the dry hot weather. 

The Bees loved all the rides we took - from a leisurely romantic cruise on a steam liner along the "Massachussetts river" to a brilliant Little Mermaid musical resplendent with a kaleidoscope of colourful dancers and a beautiful mermaid singing haunting tunes from the movie. The Bees' favourite "land" was the Mermaid Lagoon, with its magical twinkling lights and dark twilight ambience simulating the mysterious underwater world. 

Big Bee took a junior roller coaster with me, while Hubby spent some quality time with Little Bee. Big Bee and me had such a fun time giggling and chatting in the 30-minute queue, as well as jumping in pure anticipation of the ride, behaving like little girls! It was such an exhilarating ride, with the wind blowing against our faces and the stupendously steep dips and sharp turns. I screamed way louder than brave Big Bee, as my poor old heart could not tolerate such excitement! After the ride, Hubby commented that both Big Bee and me looked exceedingly "high" on adrenaline! 

Mealtimes in DisneySea were always memorable because of the stunning architecture cloaked in a magical ambience. We enjoyed an alfresco dinner in the cool evening, right in front of the arid landscape and pompous volcano of the land of Vulcania. We were treated to a few loud volcanic eruptions, replete with ominous rumblings and dense grey smoke. The Bees were screaming away in exaggerated terror, but I could see they were enjoying the spectacle, especially Little Bee. 

We roamed around DisneySea in the imminent gloaming, enchanted by the ubiquitous twinkling fairy lights against a beautiful lavender twilight. 

We then witnessed the grandiose and awe-inspiring Braviseamo show that was a magnificent extravaganza of light, pyrotechnics, fire and water, complete with loud haunting musical effects. Shortly after, we were spectators to a brilliant display of fireworks right overhead! What a dazzling end to a spellbinding day!   

Day 3, 7 June (Monday)

The day dawned bright and early for another trip to the famed Disney Resort - this time to Disney Land! The Bees were fluttering around with pure excitement, but for Hubby and me, having accompanied them to a Disneyland almost yearly since 2007, we felt rather jaded. However, if the Bees are happy, we would be too! 

The summer weather was scorching hot in Disneyland, so much so that it bordered on unpleasantness. We were all squinting our eyes silly in the hot noon sun. And to add to our discomfort, today happened to be a public holiday in Japan! So the crowds were thick and dense, much to my chagrin. Thankfully, by mid afternoon, the weather was considerably cooler, hence we were able to enjoy Disneyland more.  

Big Bee went on a thrill rides spree, and emerged from all these rides glowing and grinning. Little Bee enjoyed "It's A Small World Ride" and loved chasing Disney mascots around the park, but she did not relish other thrill rides, preferring to wave at her jie-jie from the parameters. 

The finale would definitely be Little Bee and me caught right beneath the blossoming and majestic fireworks, just when Hubby and Big Bee were happily sailing in the skies within Peter Pan's ride.

It was magical, just Little Bee and me, caught in a flurry of excitement with the Japanese, far away in a foreign land, with dazzling fireworks exploding right above us, enveloping us in an ambience of enchantment. 

Day 4, 8 June (Tuesday)

'Tis a day for journeys - long train journeys! We were departing for Osaka via the bullet train (shinkansen), but decided we should take it slow and easy in the morning. Hence, we indulged in a luxuriant 2-hour brunch at the hotel's restaurant, where the Bees were serenaded by cooing musicians, much to their awkward embarrassment! 

We then launched into a journey of 5 arduous train changes - from Disneyland to the main Tokyo station, where we boarded the shinkansen, and then from the Shin-Osaka station to the Osaka station, and then to the Universal Studios station where we were staying at the excellent Universal Port Hotel with a wonderful large room that can take in 3 big beds! 

It was certainly laborious lugging that big 50 kg luggage with 2 deadbeat kids. But I think the journey itself was an experience that remains indelible in our holiday memories, and we want our children to understand the joys of the odyssey rather than remembering a country for its tourist attractions. 

We had great fun in the 3.5 hours shinkansen ride - the Bees were chomping on their favourite onigiri with tuna, which was a perfectly nutritious and fast meal! The girls fooled around with each other, yakking about all things under the sun. Big Bee was burrowing her nose into her favourite Faraway Tree books most of the time, whereas talkative Little Bee would be chattering non-stop with Hubby and me. Plenty of bonding time! 

Finally, we stepped into Universal Port Hotel - fatigued, dog-wearied and exhausted in a journey that lasted from 3pm to 9pm. Thankfully, we were rejuvenated by a hotel with excellent service, fantastic rooms and lovely ambience (our room was huge and faced the stunning Osaka Bay) - and deep, sweet slumber encompassed us as we sank into the large, soft heavenly beds...bliss!

Messy Fun

Little Bee loves to immerse her little hands with paint during our painting sessions. Then she will smear her palms all over a drawing paper and revel in her handprints. She loves messy play of all kinds, and usually creates a chaotic environment if we leave her to her own devices during playtime - pen scribbles on her hands, playdoh all around, miniscule pieces of cut paper that she labels as "snow" all over the room.

Little Bee with monstrous purple hands, roar!!! 

Her attention span is still very short and I still find it challenging to conduct homelearning activities with her, compared to the more focused Big Bee. It is an uphill task trying to teach her to write and read through the conventional methods. However, she loves art and crafts as well as painting. My Bees have very polarised learning styles, but hey, that's life, isn't it? 

Recently, Little Bee had been scribbling on a whiteboard at home, and this was what she drew of her good friend, Olivia, together with some scribbled handwriting as messages to her friend, at the start of the holidays. I guess she probably missed her friends with no school during the holidays! 

As I subscribe strongly to Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory when designing our monthly homelearning curriculum, it was fairly evident that Little Bee leans more towards the spatial/visual, musical/rhythmic and interpersonal intelligences. Hence, I try to create activities appealing to these intelligences and learning styles of hers in order to facilitate learning that is more fun for her. 

She drew this over dinner by herself one night - "F" for Flower Fish

Learning numbers the messy and intimate way - right on her fingers! 

It had worked thus far, but at times, while looking at how busy Big Bee is with her academic work in primary school, I do wonder how Little Bee will adjust to a rigid primary school curriculum, where there is minimal visual and musical stimulation. I just hope to quickly build a strong foundation for her in these preschool years so that she will not need to adjust too harshly. 

Ice-cream Sticks

We bought a pack of ice-cream sticks for a craft project that we were working on, and that was the best buy ever. With its simplicity, the ice-cream sticks were like a clean slate of activity that the Bees could spend hours of imaginative play on! 

They used the sticks to build models of houses and other structures, they decorated and scribbled on them, they formed pictures with the sticks and I could even create an impromptu number recognition aid for Little Bee with the involvement of Big Bee drawing the relevant pictures. Wonderful! These handy sticks certainly kept us busy for an entire afternoon! 

Friends Galore!

With the cycles of preschool, kindergarten and now primary school, Big Bee has gathered many good friends along the way and I must stress that her social life is really busy at a young age of 8! 

At the beginning of the holidays, she requested for a playdate with her best friends from kindergarten, Rachael and Lizzie. By this age, all the playdates and parties are unaccompanied by parents, which means the hosting mum would need to be extra vigilant over the visiting kids, providing apt entertainment and refreshments for them. I love to host big kids though - they are absolutely charming to chat with! 

So, one fine Monday afternoon, Rachael and Lizzie descended unto our humble abode, to the pure excitement and delight of Big Bee. She was literally jumping around for joy when they arrived, and the trio was hopping and whooping in big kids' heaven when they gathered. Little Bee was also thrilled by their visit, and was eagerly following all the big jie-jies around like a little puppy, wanting to participate in every activity! 

It was a fun-filled afternoon - they acted silly, talking about boys in Big Bee's bedroom for a while, then proceeded to have an indoor picnic in my living room, feasting on snacks. After tea, I brought all 4 girls out for a session of boisterous bubbles, after which the 3 big girls proceeded for a rowdy tryst of outdoor catching and hide-and-seek at the clubhouse while poor Little Bee rested at home reluctantly. We had another teabreak at the cafe, and that was my favourite part of the playdate. We gossiped about boys, school, vacations and every girly thing under the sun. I was glad that the girls were very open with me around and yakked like normal. I hope to be Big Bee's friend in addition to my role as her mummy as well. 

We then adjourned back home where Little Bee was anticipating our arrival, and all 4 of them settled down for a bout of quiet play over the board game, Game Of Life. What a fun afternoon!

A couple of days later, Big Bee reunited with Rachael and Lizzie at their former classmate's birthday party. The trio was the only girls at a party full of boys, and Big Bee came back, somewhat shocked at the rough play of the boys - mentally tousled and bruised! I stifled a giggle at the great divide of the gender from such a young age, and finally roused her to a state of grudging cheeriness after an hour of coaxing! 

Big Bee and her primary school buddies fooling around after a concert in school.

Above all these, Big Bee still had invitations for gatherings with her primary schoolmates (which poor her could not attend because this Mum needs some rest after our holiday!) as well as outings with our good friends whose children had since become the Bees' good pals too. What a busy holiday indeed! 

My Little Helpers

In the days that my helper was away for her home leave, I was extremely lucky to have my mum come over and be the excellent chef for our daily meals, as well as my 2 little helpers who tried their best to help me clean up the house, and pack things up! Hubby was also a great help by helping me to mop the house and do the laundry. Teamwork indeed! 

Still, I am mighty glad when my helper is back. Frees up so much time for me to spend quality time with the Bees :) 

Busy Bees...or Cinderella Bees?

We Are Back!

We are back from a great adventure! We survived 11 days, 3 cities, countless subway and train rides lugging more than 50kg worth of luggage and 2 hyper-active, deliriously ecstatic kids across central Japan! Whew. Hubby and I felt more tired than rejuvenated - but the pure happiness of spending all our time with the Bees more than made up for our fatigue. 

The Bees in front of ancient 400-year-old Nijo Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Kyoto. 

With this trip, it is the culmination of our homelearning theme this June - a Japan theme! The Bees thoroughly enjoyed learning about Japan and I was amazed that even Little Bee could recognise a lot of what she learned and read once she arrived in Japan. Big Bee can now understand so much of the Japanese culture and even picked up simple Japanese phrases, compared to her previous trips there. It made the trip so much more meaningful for the Bees, I think. 

Little Bee's rendition of Japan's flag. Big Bee likened the flag to the name of Japan, telling us the red circle symbolises the Land Of The Rising Sun. 

More to come with holiday photos and our homelearning theme once we wrap up our very first Japan lapbook! 

Colours Of Nature Part 2

We love being in the midst of nature. Our weekend outings are mostly spent in the great outdoors, despite the almost unbearable heat which is a sure, sad sign of global warming these day - ensconced beneath the powerful protective embraces of antiquated trees, perched on expansive verdant fields, gazing at voluminous bodies of still or rushing waters in the guise of seas or lakes.

Our second home - the Botanic Gardens!

Big Bee trying to touch the large lily pads

There is so much that the Bees can learn from nature - the life cycles of all the amazing living things around us, inter-dependency of all species on earth, sustainability, global warming and man's true power of destruction. Probing questions had been asked by Big Bee, questions regarding the state of extinction of some species, why certain animals are seen in the environs of our estate rather than their own natural habitat (or lack of it) and global warming. Little Bee can now recognise our beautiful planet Earth from pictures, maps or our globe at home, exclaiming loudly and happily "Earth!" and trying to identify countries from the globe. She also constantly draws the planet Earth or creates it from a mixture of green and blue Playdoh.

Gazing out at a tranquil quarry, each one deep in thoughts

Achingly resplendent canopy of old gigantic trees above us

I love that this playground is built as part of the natural landscape, complete with large ants and insects along the way down!

It is so fundamental that our children learn from us the true beauty of our planet and the universe that we all dwell within. And more importantly, learn to love being in the great outdoors, revelling in all things natural and imparting a similar love and passion to their children in time to come. This is our tiny contribution towards the future sustainability of our greater home.

Big Bee and me with the golden sunset behind us

Halcyon Hiatus

We celebrated Hubby's birthday a couple of months back with a weekend retreat in nearby Bintan - just for one night, just the 2 of us and without the kids. It was a decision I made for him - not to bring the kids along and revel in our couplehood. He was rather reluctant initially and kept persuading me to bring the Bees along. I would usually acquiesce as we typically could not bear to leave the kids over the weekend with my parents. However, this time, perhaps due to his birthday celebration, I stood firm with my decision, albeit with much pain in the heart at spending a precious weekend away from our darling Bees.

On the way there on a Saturday afternoon, Hubby and I were still talking about how bad we felt at leaving the kids behind and not bringing them along for a little escapism. However, once we settled into the lush lifestyle of the resort, connecting our souls with nothing but sun, sea and the quietness of the beach, we began to unwind and appreciate our time with each other. Idyllic chats with minimal interruptions, long alfresco meals with the enchanting sound of the waves and an amorous 4-piece band crooning Indonesian island songs to tranquilize our minds into a romantic state of art, aimless walks by the beach hand-in-hand, companionable silence reading beside each other right in front of the vast endless ocean.

It was magical. Despite it being just one night, it reconnected us together and created another strong pillar in the foundation of our marriage. For we were able to take a short reprieve from being frazzled parents with no time to chat with each other to having the full luxury of 24 hours to truly savour the reasons of why we are married to each other in the first place.

Despite the initial trepidation of leaving the kids behind for one night, this short getaway was well worth it. It is also a wonderful gift to the kids, for a happy marriage is the best present for our children, really.

She Did It Again!

After Big Bee's heist of the Scrabble game with her sweeping victory of the added 50 point bonus, she did it again! 

It is our nightly bedtime routine this June holidays to play some board games with Big Bee before we turn in for the night. So, we usually indulge in Boggle, Hangman and Scrabble. It could be because this Mummy is deadbeat almost every night with housework since our helper is away. It could be I am sleepy or distracted. But Big Bee began beating me in these games where I am usually a clear winner! And last night, she had that magnificent, throat-choking moment when she laid out all 7 of her tiles for the second time in a month to form the word "WEALTHY". 

I was stumped. And a bit deflated because it means tonight is another losing night at Scrabble for me! But the elation and pure delight on Big Bee's face more than made up for it. We played for 20 minutes. And at the end of the game, the final score is: Big Bee 178; Mummy 72 (*hides my face*). 

I think I better drink more coffee to be alert tonight. 

Of Old Friends And Gatherings

This past long weekend was a wonderful one, full of bonding sessions with close friends and get-togethers for all our kids. I love public holidays for the fact that we can have the whole day free for outings, unencumbered by bothersome weekend enrichment classes! 

On Vesak Day, we met up with 2 of my longest and closest friends YM and LP for a bout of morning picnic in the sweltering and oppressive heat. We were all pouring buckets of perspiration but the kids were oblivious to this harsh heat, scuttling and scampering all around the emerald and gorgeous grounds of Botanic Gardens. They blew bubbles, played soccer and dashed about in all directions. We had to cut short their blithe vivacity in the open to adjourn for lunch in the cool comfort of air condition in West Coast Plaza. 

We all had a great time catching up and gossiping, while the kids indulged in cutesy chatter and active games. We were lucky that there were animal rides just outside the restaurant we dined in, so the kids could be distracted for a protracted duration of time whilst the adults stood by, keeping a close watch over them and yakking to our hearts' content! 

The following night, we met up with Hubby's oldest and closest friends for a swim party and BBQ dinner at J's place - complete with 11 kids! I didn't bring any swimsuit for the Bees, but gutsy Big Bee just plunged into the pool, tee shirt, shorts and all, and enjoyed herself to the maximum. 

We had a sumptuous BBQ dinner with succulent meats and delicious bee hoon with curry. After dinner, OD and M brilliantly gathered all the kids to a dark section of the estate and distributed sparklers to all the fascinated kids! I had never seen a more orderly bunch of kids - all of them were queueing up obediently just to get their hands on the dazzling sparklers, and then arranging themselves in a neat straight line to wave the sparklers around. 

After the sparklers, the amazing OD and M whipped up a huge bunch of glow-in-the-dark phosphorous light tubes which bewitched the kids inexplicably! They were contorting their light tubes and manipulating them into all sorts of creative shapes, and it was so fun to watch them! 

After a final boisterous session at the playground, the tired adults decided to surrender and call it a day at 9pm, much to the chagrin of all these hyper kids! 

Life is really all about lasting and enduring friendships, and what better way to demonstrate the value of old friends than to let our kids bond with each other's kids. 

The Bees definitely enjoyed this long weekend tremendously, though Hubby and I were really deadbeat as our helper had gone back for her home leave. Still, it is a happy sort of fatigue - working on household chores with camaraderie and teamwork! 

Life Of A Parent Helper

May 14 was exceedingly tiring for me, merely because I had volunteered to be a parent helper for Big Bee's Zany Brainy Games Day in school, whereby parents organised a day of remarkable activities for the kids so that the teachers can mark their papers peacefully (and accurately!). 

I was also a parent helper for this same event last year. Despite the immense fatigue last year, I decided to go for a second round because I truly enjoy being around big rowdy primary school kids! Hence, this year, I became a "Station Master" for one of the games and had to judge and monitor these kids. 

Little did I know that Little Bee's Sports Day also fell on the same day, albeit in the afternoon! Under the persistent hot sun and punishing heat, it was truly an exhausting but fun-filled day, which is really what parenthood is fundamentally about! 

Morning: Big Bee's Zany Brainy Games Day

I woke up at 6.15am to dress up and prepare to stride right into school with Big Bee, much to her delight. Once again, I had wonderful networking opportunities with parents of children from different primary standards. For this event, Big Bee had written a long entry in her journal. With her permission (and some editing just to cut down on the length and details), here are some pages from her diary :) 

**Long entry by Big Bee**

Today, it was my Zany Brainy Games. I also had the highest English marks for my test for the whole primary two! Mummy went in with me to school because she was a station master. After my flag assembly, I went to the courtyard to draw a car decal. The most beautiful decal in every level will be printed out to be a real car decal for the school. I drew the school badge and my school. I coloured it beautifully. After I finished decorating my decal, I went to the hall for a dance competition. Our whole class was the first class to dance on stage with our old class in primary one. I was crazy on stage. I said to Amanda, "Ka-put" and told her that she farted. Amanda did the same to me. Me and Amanda also did a "chicken dance" all around the stage which made the pupils and parents laugh! At the last part of our dance, we pretended to fall down when we bowed. It was very fun. We watched the other classes do their dances but none of the classes were funnier than our class! 

After the dance competition, we went for our recess. I went with Amanda, Joanne and Madeline. We went to the playground for our recess. I saw Mummy near some of the benches next to the playground during recess. Soon, our whole class was at the Parents' Corner. Our class chaperones thought that our whole class was there so we started our Crazy Class Challenges! 

Our first Crazy Class Challenge was called "Castles In The Skies". We had to stack up cards to make a big triangle. It was difficult but I managed to make the biggest, tallest triangle among my class. Our team won! My classmate, Rachel, was as good as me. I managed to make a seven storey triangle while Rachel managed to make a five storey triangle. 

Our next station was called "Ping Pong Pass". Mummy was a judge for that station. We had to hold on to spoons and pass a ping pong ball. When my friends saw Mummy, they were screaming loudly, "(Big Bee)'s mother!" We passed the ball to each other. Unfortunately, our team did not win. 

After that, we went to our last station called "Crazy Hair Challenge". We had to tie as many ponytails as we can to a girl. The team that has the most ponytails tied on their hair will be the winner. I was a model while Rachel tied my hair. She tied about nine ponytails. Our team had eighteen ponytails altogether. We won again! 

After that, we had a one hour play time. My friends and I rushed down to the canteen. Our class chaperones were very slow, they were behind screaming at us, "Do not go so fast!" When we were at the canteen, some of my friends went to buy food and some went to play the piano. When I was about to join my friends at the piano, I saw Mummy. Madeline offered some food to Mummy. Janna also offered Mummy some food. After playing the piano, my friends and I played a ghost game in a tunnel at the canteen. Someone pretended to be a ghost with their hair on their face and my classmates who were not the ghost would go into the tunnel. When they see the ghost, they would run out of the tunnel screaming. If someone got caught by the ghost, it would be their turn to be the ghost. I did not get caught by the ghost. 

After that, we went to the Sports Complex for our prize giving. First, the prize-giving parent helpers announced who won for the car decal. Unfortunately, I did not win. It was very boring. Joanne gave me and Alethea some paper to draw. I drew a picture of my school. Madeline loved my picture so I gave it to her. I thought that our class would not win anything but we did!! I was very happy. It was my best day of the semester. 

***************

Afternoon: Little Bee's Sports Day

I sneaked out of Zany Brainy Games (and thus missed the prize giving ceremony) to reach home on time to bring Little Bee to her Sports Day. She was anticipating this the entire morning, and was skipping and hopping with delighted excitement when she saw me. Despite my fatigue, and wanting Little Bee to truly experience this to the fullest, I wiggled and jiggled with her in exhilaration. 

This is her first Sports Day in school (and my 5th since Big Bee was in the same school!) but I was trying to gain a different perspective from her innocent, fresh and unclouded bright eyes...and I began to feel a growing sense of pride stealing stealthily into my being. My little baby is now participating in a Sports Day as a pre-kindergartener! She is truly a big girl, ready to fill our hearts with bursting pride. 

She loved every bit of such mega events, dancing vigorously during the warm-up dance, smiling her dazzling beam of ubiquitous grin, participating in all the races with sprightly gusto and jesting playfully with all her little friends - always with that amazing smile and positive attitude. 

We went home with her in our arms, chatting animatedly about her very first Sports Day. For me, having experienced Big Bee dashing through all the Sports Days and knowing just how swiftly time passes, I am not sure if I am looking forward to the next Sports Day. Because that would mean my Little Bee will be a big K1 girl...and growing up way too fast! 

Learning To Read

Little Bee learning to read at 3 years 4 months

This was Little Bee learning to read last month from amateurish-looking flashcards that I created for the theme on plants. She thrives a lot on positive reinforcement, hence my over-exuberant exclamations! That is her learning style. If we tell her she is wrong, she will usually lose all interest in the activities we are working on. Hence, it can get challenging for more academic-based activities where the line between right and wrong is more apparent.

"Added 50 point bonus"

For those who played Scrabble regularly, you will be familiar with one of the rules of play: "Added 50 point bonus". It states that any player who plays all seven of their tiles in a single turn scores a premium of 50 points in addition to their regular score for the turn. It is a lofty incentive that I had always aspired towards but never ever had the luck nor opportunity to reach.

A few Sundays ago, our family was ensconced in the Bees' room, contentedly playing Scrabble, using this game as a typical unwinding activity after a hectic weekend. As we started a new round of game, I saw Big Bee furrowing her eyebrows and arranging one rather long word at length. Suddenly she exclaimed, "I used up all my 7 letters!" Hubby sat up immediately, read through the rules of play intensely and declared, "Then you will get an added 50 point bonus!!! You will beat Mummy this round!"

Both of us looked at her with amazement and she was dazed for a while with delighted disbelief. Needless to say, she won hands down that evening. For the first time! And I must highlight that, since that evening, she had won the game against me one more time! Well done, Big Bee! I am now waiting for her to be victorious over me in Boggle!

Big Bee formed the word "CANDLES" from all her 7 tiles in one round. Those random letters on the top left quadrant of the board belonged to Little Bee who also took turns participating in the game eagerly!

The Whimsical Wind

The lure of controlling a kite's flight pattern and feeling its buoyancy high up in the azure skies beckoned us to Marina Barrage last Saturday evening.

I was somewhat shocked by the density of kites in the sky as well as the ubiquitous crowds! This was a very different scene from the empty verdant meadow we chanced upon last December! Perhaps it was the solacing evening sunset or the opening of Marina Bay Sands Resort that drew the crowds like ants to an anthill.

Our kites (clockwise from left): Hubby bought a gigantic red squid monster from the kite shop at Marina Barrage after his beautiful triangular kite was accidentally spoiled by Little Bee. Big Bee was having fun prancing around with her faithful and resilient My Little Pony kite. 

Somehow, together with PF and family, we managed to find a relatively lonely patch of grass beside a group of exuberant teenagers singing and strumming on their guitars (free music!) and set up a big picnic mat, complete with snacks and plenty of kites. We then settled down comfortably for an enjoyable evening near the zenith of the skies.

The kids having gleeful fun.

The wind was in a very capricious mood that evening, rising and ebbing erratically, which made kite-flying rather challenging. It was amusing to see the whole sky filled with a profusion of dancing kites when the wind was cheerily blowing and then the entire sky depleted of kites the next moment when the wind decided to go into hiding, with frustrated mortals trying their best to let their kites set sail!

Eventually, after many incidents (which included Little Bee trying to help Hubby to launch a kite and then spoiling the entire kite!) and attempts to fly the kites in the temperamental wind, we decided to sit back, relax, chat lazily and munch on chips galore! The kids were running wildly throughout the entire field, playing with frisbees, chasing each other and generally losing themselves in the thick crowds. 

For me, I love the resplendent, scintillating golden rays of the setting sun framed by sun-kissed auburn clouds and a deepening lavender sky against a breathtaking backdrop of the twinkling Marina Bay Sands Resorts and Singapore Flyer.

We packed up our mats eventually, in the dusky remnants of a darkening amethyst sky.

Breakfasts On The Beach

There was a time, back in the 80s and 90s, when the only way to have breakfast on the sandy shores of a beach was to lay down a mat and have a picnic. I remember Hubby and I escaping to Mauritius in the 90s and were thrilled when we were served a basic lunch of fish in a makeshift table right beside the crashing waves, with the fish freshly caught from the ocean and grilled to perfection right in front of us.

I also remembered our keen alacrity when a friend introduced us to South Changi Beach Restaurant in the late 90s, just perched beside the sea, and restaurant patrons like us could dine with our toes snuggling in the fine, powdery sand, the candlelight flickering with wavering shadows on our faces and the sound of the undulating waves whispering right beside us.

With our affinity for the sea and sandy beaches, we had our ROM dinner in this restaurant within a romantic, enchanting pavilion under the stars and with sabulous grains of sand beneath our feet - sealing a lifetime together. When we conceived Big Bee and then Little Bee, we brought them umpteen times to this very same restaurant by the beach, where they could admire the sea and enjoy the sand whilst we chomped on breakfast goodies.

Unfortunately, we realised recently that this rustic eatery had closed down, paving the way for something swankier and more commercialised. I was somewhat devastated to hear this news. Although there are now many restaurants by the beach all around Singapore, nothing compares to this simple, uncomplicated bistro with excellent service and fantastic food.

Early this month, we decided to descend to another beachside restaurant (one of many!) in Sentosa. The sand was a wonderful nanny as the Bees utterly immersed themselves in building sandcastles while Hubby and I could sit back and have lazy conversations on a cheery Sunday morning.

Happy Bees getting down to work!

Seabreezes seem to transport magical ingredients - for food always tastes so much better at the beach!

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we asked our friends SB and C, with their kids Sherilyn and Marcus, along to this same restaurant with us the following Sunday. We had a great time catching up and watching the kids getting messier, dirtier and wetter by the minute! The kids had a marvelous time playing alongside each other.

The Bees with Sherilyn - dipping their feet in a puddle they painstakingly created!

The Bees, with Sherilyn and Marcus, digging and moulding buckets of sand!

Unfortunately, we could not loiter for long at the beach that day, as we were caught in a maelstrom of grey moody clouds, turbulent winds and ferocious rain that rushed upon us so rapidly. We witnessed in awe how the ships in the harbour were obliterated from our sight by the angry rain. It was a humbling vision, as usual, when faced with the potential powers of the forces of nature.

I think we will be back quite soon :)

Sunday Humour

Last Sunday, as the Bees and I were lazily chatting, I asked them, "Is Pink Panther a boy or a girl?" The Bees looked at me, stunned and bewildered. Here are their answers. 

Big Bee: "I think it's a girl. It's pink! But wait a minute...I think he has a girlfriend! And it wears men's clothes! But it's pink....so Mummy, is it a boy or girl?!"

Little Bee: "Girl! Of course it's a girl! It's pink coloured! Cannot be a boy! Boys cannot be pink! Pink are for girls!" 

I was laughing hilariously, and they both were not too pleased when I told them that Pink Panther is a male panther. Little Bee is still in denial. Imagine them watching the Pink Panther cartoon series all this while, thinking he is a pink female big cat! 

I had never believed nor taught the Bees gender identification through colours, because I am never in favour of any form of gender association, so I seriously wonder where all these colour associations come from!  

The Good And The Bad

This evening, when Hubby and I both returned from work, Big Bee stood right at the door and told us this wonderful piece of news, "My teacher told me that my English paper is highest in the whole standard!" 

Hubby and I were shocked and were dumbfounded for a few seconds - followed by a long and hard hug from me to Big Bee. It was very apparent that she was very pleased with our elation. However, I tore myself from the hug and asked her, "Mummy and Papa are so happy! But more importantly, are you happy with this piece of news yourself? Do you feel proud of yourself?" Big Bee gave a small bashful smile and nodded her head eagerly. 

I was delighted that Big Bee could attain decent marks without the need for hothousing, tuition (as yet!) or any academic enrichment. All we provided is an environment of love, care, support and constant encouragement, as well as some extra effort on my part to revise through some work with her on a constant basis. I hope to continue this state of no external tuition for as long as I could, despite the many skeptical parents who had incessantly encouraged me to put Big Bee through tuition to ease my workload and for her to "realise her full potential". 

But if realising her full potential with external tuition centres means not spending enough time to understand what your child is doing, I think I am content to spend a bit more effort and work to nurture my children myself - for as long as I can, and within what I am capable of - for now. 

More importantly, it is fundamental to let her know that she should be proud of what she had achieved herself - and not to use this achievement to bribe for external gains, not to exchange it for our love (for our love will always be overflowing for her whatever happens) and not to brag about this to friends. 

Life works in funny ways though. Barely an hour after I received the fabulous news from Big Bee, I received a piece of bad news. I will not blog about this as Big Bee reads my blog. I was terribly disappointed, and Big Bee knew it. I took this opportunity to impart something that I think would be even more intrinsic in our children's upbringing - that of life-long values. Not through harsh reprimands like what we used to receive as children. But, hopefully, by treating Big Bee as a friend and using logic and rationale to appeal to her. I hope it works and that she will be on my side. 

It seemed to work tonight. And I pray that she will be this receptive to me forever.