An Exquisite Afternoon

On June 15, Hubby and I took the girls to Capella Singapore for an afternoon tea indulgence. It was a weekday afternoon, and one of the luxuries of weekday outings was that there was practically no one around, which was so gratifying for us. 

We pampered ourselves with a traditional 3-tier afternoon tea set. We were able to select different varieties of tea sets ranging from Peranakan, traditional old English and Japanese. Hubby chose the Peranakan set, whereas I aimed straight for my favourite English tea set. 

Hubby's Peranakan tea set

My English tea set

The glorious aspect about high tea in Capella was the brilliant range of teas available for our selection - in all semblances of exotic names and flavours! Hubby selected a fruity, berry-infused tea, whereas I allowed myself to be nourished by a heavy-flavoured Turkish tea with a slightly tangy zing to it. Refreshing! 

The Bees loved the food and the ambience. I am lucky that they could sit through an entire 2-hour long tea session, including Little Bee, so long there was good food with beautiful surroundings! They munched happily on the afternoon delights, chatting and giggling with us.

The Bees loved the strawberries here, and the waitress taking care of us was so kind as to bring out 3 entire trays of cut strawberries for us, much to the elation of the Bees!

It was so tranquil sitting beside the full glass doors, alongside the aquamarine pool whilst admiring the lush, verdant trees and shrubs surrounding the pool. It felt like a little vacation! 

We managed to stroll around the hotel grounds a little after our tea, and were awe-struck by the panoramic views of the South China Sea glistening around us. What an alluring afternoon indeed!

Rise Of The Red Moon

I am lucky that my hubby shares my fascination with astronomy. Which was why we were chatting animatedly about the phenomenon of the red moon in the wee hours of June 16. Out of an uncontrollable impulse, we decided to leave the Bees sleeping at home, and bolted out to the dark grounds of our estate at 3am just to observe the progress of the lunar eclipse. 

It was bewitching to watch the lunar eclipse unfolding right in front of our bare eyes. We stood in the refreshingly cool air of the deep of night, listening to the musical rustling of ubiquitous tree leaves dancing with the rising wind. Our eyes were glued to the mystical and age-old process happening right above us in the celestial heavens - until 3 precious minutes just before the exact time of complete lunar eclipse when the moon was slated to emanate a blood-red semblance.

 

I tried taking some shots of the lunar eclipse progress and could see the moon gradually becoming a sliver of red from a rather large, luminous gibbous shape in less than an hour! 

Right at 3.18am, the moon was abruptly blotted out by a thick, dense, angry cumulo-nimbus cloud which brought with it strong howling winds and a deluge of cold steely rain. Just 3 minutes before total eclipse!

We were sorely disappointed, and ran back into our home in the ensuing rain. But at least we watched the progress of the eclipse. And more importantly, we spent a little couple time under the cloudy skies in the witching hour. Rather romantic and magical, I must say :) 

An Afternoon Of Recreation

We had a spate of playdates during the last week of the June holidays, which was wonderful for the Bees to catch up with some of their friends whom they meet only during school holidays. On 20 June, LP and I took some time off work and indulged in a restorative weekday afternoon of fun, games and food with her 2 vivacious boys, WW and WD, and the Bees.  

The kids immersed in a vigorous session of bowling, getting all excited with fantastic sportsmanship. Bowling is an excellent recreation for older kids, as it fosters strong sportsmanship, competitive camaraderie and teamwork in the kids. In addition, the best advantage for the parents was that we could literally sit back and chat - leaving the kids to their safe devices for almost an hour! 

We also enjoyed an indulgent bout of arcade games (not my favourite activity for children, but it was the school holidays after all!) before heading for a well-deserved teabreak.

We then headed to LP's house where the kids basked in yet another energetic play session, while the mothers continued our chats. 

A great afternoon for bonding between both mothers and children! 

Universal Delights

PF and I brought the kids to Universal Studios on 23 June, and had a fabulous time. This was my second trip to the theme park, and this time, I chose not to bring Little Bee as she did not enjoy the rides previously. Without Little Bee, we would also be able to take the high-risk thrill rides! I did ask Little Bee repeatedly if she wanted to go, but she kept emphasising that she didn't like Universal Studios adamantly, and that she would be happier with grandma at home. I guess she is still a zealous Disneyland fan at this age. 

Anyway, we bought the Express Pass, and it was such a blessing! I remembered the long and sweltering hot queues that we had to experience last December when we were there, and shuddered. This time round, the Express Pass enabled us to breeze through the queues, without needing to wait an extra minute! It definitely enlivened our overall experience of the Park!

The 3 big kids had crazy and fun times screaming in the thrill rides, squealing in the 4D show, gossiping about big kids' stuff in general and debating about taking certain rides. In the end, we took all the rides, except for the Battlestar Galactica ride - which I aim to take with Big Bee the next time we are there! 

Some highlights of the rides we took (very brief descriptions as I do not want to spill out spoilers inadvertently!):

(A) Madagascar zone

(1) A Crate Adventure

We set off with glee in this ride, expecting a thrill ride, but it was actually a very relaxing and serene boat ride with a couple of tiny surprises here and there. A good start to our day! 

(2) Party-Go-Round Carousel Ride

With the Express Pass, we completed all the rides (with lunch and teabreak thrown in!) by 4.45pm. Which was when we decided to hop on the carousel ride since we had nothing else better to do! The big kids found it boring, but Little Bee loved it when she sat on it last December. I loved it for a little reprieve from all those screams-inducing thrill rides! 

December 2010: The Bees on the same carousel. Little Bee loved it!

(B) Far Far Away zone

December 2010: The Bees loved the Far Far Away land of princesses and fairy tales

(1) Enchanted Airways roller coaster

The kids loved this mini roller coaster, and dragged us to take it twice. Do not be fooled by its mini scale. It was actually very hair-raising for me, with its blood-curdling dips and precarious turns. I screamed non-stop every time I took this ride. Big Bee loved it for its stimulating and blood-pumping twists though. Whew. 

(2) Magic Potion Spin

We did not take this tiny ferris wheel this time, but I took it with the Bees when we were here with Hubby last December. It was a very claustrophobic and dark indoor ride - nothing like those towering, glorious ferris wheel where we could gaze at panoramic scenery! 

(3) Shrek 4D Adventure show

The 4D effects were brilliant and so very realistic. We loved this show! 

The grandiose castle of Shrek 4D's show

(4) Donkey Live

Again, we watched this last December, not this time. It focused on a stand-up comedy show with Donkey. Rather entertaining, but not very tempting to watch for the second time. 

(C) The Lost World zone

(1) Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure

It is imperative to bring ponchos along for this ride, because even with ponchos, we were utterly drenched! This was rather over-rated, in my opinion, but worth a ride for the thrill of seeing dinosaurs and for the feeling of being in another land. 

(2) Canopy Flyer

We took this with zero anticipation, as the ride looked so harmless from below. Boy, we were all in for a surprise! The height was formidable, we had our legs dangling in mid-air, the ride was swift and titillating, and some of the turns high up in the air were heart-stoppingly rapid! Those with height phobia, beware! We were all breathlessly excited after this ride. Fun! 

A still from a videoclip that showed Big Bee ascending up the park! 

(3) Waterworld

We watched this when we were in Osaka's Universal Studios, enjoyed the effects but could not understand a word of Japanese which they spoke. Here in Singapore, the effects were still riveting and we were able to understand the entire storyline. The kids were captivated and stunned. 

(4) Dino-soarin'

After all these heart-palpitating rides, we decided to cool down with a nice, tame round-about ride (like those Flying Dumbo rides in Genting or Disneyland). Big Bee and Claire were propelling their dinosaur way up in the sky, and I was sitting alone in front of them, just enjoying all their giggles and delight. 

(D) Ancient Egypt zone

This would be my favourite zone, as I always felt like I am in another world, another time here, with all the majestic ancient Egyptian buildings and statues towering over me, spiced up with mysterious and sombre music. 

(1) Treasure Hunters

As we were waiting for our lunch to be digested so we could enjoy other rousing rides, we decided to take this calm and mild jeep ride, which was more suitable for younger children like Little Bee. 

Perspective from within the jeep

(2) Revenge of the Mummy

The highlight of the day! After much persuasion by me, Big Bee squared her shoulders and agreed to take this signature ride. I loved this ride for its pre-ride dim, atmospheric ambience, its pitch-dark roller-coaster ride (I prefer not to see where the coaster dipped around!) and for its beautiful yet haunting interiors. 

The ride was extremely electrifying and tremendously mind-blowing - it was truly intense! Everyone was jolted through their senses with huge rushes of adrenaline thereafter - stupendous indeed! The children were spooked by the eerie and cryptic ambience too...!

Sighs of relief after they had "conquered" The Mummy ride!

(E) Sci-Fi City

We could hear the screams of the people from the Battlestar Galactica rides reverberating and echoing throughout the whole theme park. It was also very entertaining to watch the death-defying and heart-stopping loops, turns and dips of the 2 roller coasters. 

Accelerator

We took the Accelerator, which was like a rotating teacup ride. The kids - as usual - turned the spacecraft immensely fast, leading to dizziness for me! Overall, a very bearable ride. 

(F) New York

Lights, Camera, Action!

Hubby first brought us to this spectacle, and we were awed. This was a movie studio that re-created the magic of movies, and showcased how a studio simulated a Category 5 hurricane - all within a movie studio. Amazing. The Bees were rather frightened back then though. This time round, we were on the first row and very near to the hurricane effects, so the kids were rather daunted too! I thoroughly enjoyed this show :)

(G) Hollywood

Monster Rock show

During our last visit in December, we caught the entertaining Monster Rock show. Very pop concert with lots of songs like a typical musical, and a great place to take a break from the heat and thrill rides! 

Meals

We had our lunch at Mel's Drive-in, which was a 50s rock and roll retro diner that I loved! 

Our lunch :P

We also headed for an alfresco teabreak right in the magical land of Far Far Away with Ben & Jerry's ice-cream. And finally, scrumptious dinner at the chic Hollywood China Bistro. 

What a fun day - and we will be back during the next school holidays, with a ride on Battlestar Galactic, no less!

Shakespeare For Children

I had always been an avid admirer of Shakespeare's works, having studied quite a number of his plays intensively for 5 years, and having watched many of his productions. Which was why I was elated when I saw this book for children in the bookstore one day - and bought it immediately. 

I want the Bees to be acquainted with his plays and the main themes associated with some of them. Perhaps not with the complex language that they probably would not be able to understand now. But definitely with him and some of his signature plays. 

And the beautiful element of this book is that the writers simplified his old 15 century English into easy language just for children - complete with such enchanting illustrations that captivated the Bees! There are, however, pockets of legendary Shakespearean verses highlighted within the illustrations, and I do read those to them, much to their bafflement. However, I just asked them to enjoy the bewitching rhymes in his lilting iambic pentameters. And they did. 

An example (let me indulge myself!): 

But soft! What light through

Yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. 

To which Big Bee gave me a bewildered look and uttered, "I don't understand what you are reading!". Haha!

On Friday night, I started reading my favourite Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, to the Bees, uncertain of their reaction to archaic character portrayals and plots. To my pleasant surprise, they were both transfixed. Last night, as I continued my readings, they would not allow me to stop even after I had read a few chapters, until I had to coax them to hold on to their anticipation and wait for tonight. 

There was another key reason why I stopped reading Romeo and Juliet last night too. For those of you familiar with the particular play, you would know its tragic ending. I suddenly realised that the ending may not be suitable for little kids, and now I am wrecking my brain on how to address the ending tonight! Do I make up an alternative ending for the Bees (not a wise choice)? Do I gloss over the ending quickly (still tragic)? Do I skip through the final chapters? Do I proceed to another happier play like A Midsummer Night's Dream? Incidentally, there is also Macbeth in the same book! Anyway, the Bees are now hooked to Romeo's and Juliet's story, and had explicitly persuaded me to read tonight.

What do you think?

In the meanwhile, I had better go hide the book. Big Bee had jovially expressed that she would be sneaking out the book to read herself!  

Space Word Cards

I created some word cards a couple of months back to strengthen Little Bee's vocabulary recognition of our homelearning theme on Space. 

By cutting some sentences up, and encouraging Little Bee to re-arrange the words again, this also helped her to hone her sentence construction in both English and Chinese (词句重组), which is fairly important in primary one. 

She likes to play around with these cards and forms many different statements with the various words. Good to reinforce general knowledge of Space as well. 

There is a rhyme that she learned in school which she recited to me frequently thereafter, and we had been using these cards to re-create the rhyme: 地球大，月亮小，月亮绕着地球跑，太阳大，地球小，地球绕着太阳跑，etc, hence the second set of Chinese word cards. 

More importantly, Little Bee, being the visual learner that she is, enjoys matching the English words with the Chinese ones, and then with matching pictures. I made it a point to print out realistic-looking and interesting pictures, so we can discuss a fair bit about the subjects too. She is very intrigued by the phases of the moon picture, and I had to emphasise to her that we don't see all these moons at any one time! 

By using both Chinese and English word cards together, I hope to emphasise a bilingual learning environment for Little Bee (still working very hard on this!). But more fundamentally, I am glad she used these cards as games, and would take them out to play around with them! 

六月假期功课：看图作文

自从Big Bee的学校在上学期开始了华文作文培训班后，我发现她的华文写作技巧渐渐进步了。可惜作文培训班已停止了。我现在将要更尽力地想办法鼓励她用华文写作，多读华文故事书，多看第八频道，等等。 培养我们下一代拥抱着一个双语与双文化的社会将是我们现代新加坡人的一个巨大挑战。我对于这个挑战还没取得什么胜利呢，真的还要全力以赴。

以下是Big Bee在六月假期所自己写的华文看图作文，我觉得还写得不错，想跟大家分享。希望她对华文的兴趣会与日俱增！

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Big Bee的华文作文

星期一下午，太阳像火球一般，高挂在天空，强烈的阳光照射着大地。哥哥和姐姐背着沉重的书包，高高兴兴地从学校走回家。他们一回到家，妈妈还在厨房里准备午餐。弟弟正在摇篮里大声哭，没有人照顾他。

懂事的哥哥连忙抱起弟弟陪弟弟玩，但是，姐姐却顾着看精彩的电视节目。

哥哥终于哄弟弟开心地露出了笑脸。妈妈从厨房走出来，看到哥哥这么懂事，非常开心。

她马上称赞哥哥是一个乖巧懂事的孩子，会照顾弟弟。哥哥听了妈妈的话，十分高兴，手舞足蹈，心里乐开了花。姐姐看到了，觉得不好意思，脸红了起来。她惭愧地向妈妈道歉。

从此，姐姐每次会照顾弟弟了。

Four Little Chefs

On a quiet balmy Sunday afternoon on 19 June, 2 little girls descended onto the house of another 2 little girls, all ready for a baking class led by their Mummy's friend, Aunty Priscilla.


Excited baking pupils

And I am the lucky one to do nothing but observe and savour the scrumptious fruits of their labour!

The Bees were very excited when I received an invitation from Priscilla for a little baking session in her very impressive and well-equipped kitchen.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon when little hands were busy and little mouths were watering, complete with unhurried chatting by the adults.


The Bees scooping their yummy cake mixture into pretty little cups

We made delectable cupcakes in 3 different flavours - cranberries and raisins for Little Bee, coconut for Jessica as well as nutella with chocolate chips for Cheryl and Big Bee. Priscilla is a marvelous baking teacher, dishing out excellent instructions for the little girls to create their palatable masterpieces.


Big Bee and Cheryl with their booty


Little Bee and Jessica looking very pleased with their achievements

The ambrosial smell of the cupcakes baking in the oven was simply divine, and the moist texture of the cakes as we sank our teeth into them - simply heavenly!



We also thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing chill-out session after the hard work, with the girls basking in the golden light of a very pleasant afternoon, playing quietly with each other, and the mummies chatting leisurely. Time seemed to amble luxuriously slow in such languid afternoons :)

To Be Or Not To Be

I had posted this briefly on my Facebook last week, but had been ruminating over the valuable lessons learned, so I will blog about this - for my daughters' perusals when they grow up.

I attended a Women's Leadership lunch at the beautiful Capella last Wednesday, thanks to a dear friend who invited me. The co-author of the book, Mothers On The Fast Track, delivered a talk focused on juggling motherhood and our careers, a perennial conundrum faced by many working mothers like me. This was followed by an active debate by many working mothers about the many problems we face - and I found this session to be most refreshing and very enlightening.

View from our luncheon at Capella

I had been pondering over many dilemmas and issues associated with working mothers, and unfortunately, there are not many spaces for many working mothers to bond and share our woes. Also, frankly, there are not many women who had "been there and done that well" to mentor us. Hence, this forum was truly an eye-opener for me. More importantly, this is not a talk about whether a SAHM or FTWM is better for our children, but about how women in general consider these factors when making life choices. It is also a little about how men in general benefit a lot more from marriage and children in their careers, whereas women in general, from the chronicles of history till the present times, usually have to make very difficult choices and sacrifices.

Here are some precious lessons learned from delightful anecdotes raised by other mothers who had all of us applauding or nodding vigorously. I also think these lessons hold true for stay-home mothers!

1) We do NOT need to aspire to be a superwoman at home or at work. It is perfectly fine if we cannot excel BOTH at work or at home. It is perfectly alright for us to leave right on the dot after work, with all our colleagues eyeing us suspiciously or disdainfully - because we need to fulfill our second shift at home, and because we want to spend as much time with our children as possible.

It is also perfectly fine for us to sometimes languish in fatigue at home, with no energy or spirit to coach the kids, thereby throwing them to their own devices at times, because our kids would welcome this little respite to be creative and innovative in coming up with their own play plans.

2) It is fundamental that we love ourselves first (and this applies to all parents, working or not!). Love ourselves, make the choices we truly want, give ourselves ample space to grow and develop as individuals - for only then can our happiness radiate to our children and husbands. Otherwise, everything would be jaded clockwork and I had seen some unhappy parents snapping with wrath at their poor children because they are ultimately unhappy with themselves.

So we definitely need me-time for ourselves - even if it means getting our husbands or parents or in-laws to help oversee the children for a short few hours, or even 30 minutes every day, doing a little yoga, a little meditation, a little reading, a little quiet, calming time with ourselves, listening to our hearts, understanding our core essence.

However, from a working mum's perspective, this may be a little tough as we would want to spend all remaining waking hours with our children, because we had spent the majority of the day at work! But it is still possible - by waking up a little earlier before the rest of the family stirs, or sleeping a little later to indulge in the restful silence of the night.

3) It is perfectly fine if we feel so tired at work that we want to call it quits! It is normal to take a career break and get back into the workforce after we spend time with our children. It is also fine if we decide to work part-time to focus more on our children. (And the mother who mentioned this point caused uproarious laughter from the audience when she related her experiences of getting nagged by her mother-in-law if she comes back too late after work, and when she finally resigned, she was queried by the same mother-in-law on why she resigned, won't this be a waste of her experience, degree, etc? It is hard to please the wider society, so just listen to our hearts!)

In addition, a distinguished woman leader proclaimed that while it is possible to listen to our hearts and go with our own wishes, irregardless of what society tells us, it is essential that we have the key ingredients of 1) finding a good partner in our husbands and 2) having a strong support system, be it our parents, in-laws, domestic helpers, child-care centres and/or understanding employers.

Finally, the co-author posted a question that most of us could not answer in time, due to the rushed lunch hour: How would we advise our daughters in future? (or sons, as I foresee many generational transformation and gradual changes in gender roles in future)

The Bees at a recent zoo outing

My advice to my 2 Bees would be: Listen to your hearts and do what you want. Do not get hot and bothered about what society thinks of you, whether you are a stay-home mum or a working mum. And as a mum, I would try not impose any prejudice or opinion on your choices, so that you can truly select the choices you want, unfettered, carefree, unbiased.

Solar System Minibook

We had been reading LOADS about the 8 planets in the solar system in all semblance of books and online materials. The Bees now have their favourite planets in the solar system, they now know how to sing the planets song and they also know the order, key characteristics as well as look and feel of these planets. More importantly, it is a learning process that I go through with them. Nothing of the mentor-student relationship, but we all learned together and enjoyed the process thoroughly. 

To synthesise what she had learned and read, Little Bee created a minibook on the Solar System with key facts about each planet. She selected some of the facts to highlight, but copy-wrote a fair bit as her spelling is still not strong yet. She based her planet pictures on actual photos of the planets, so there might be shadings and sketchings in odd multi-coloured hues as she was trying her best to emulate real-life photos, which was rather challenging. She also added her own little sketchings and doodlings on some pages, which looked a little out of place!

We also used this book to further reinforce the concept of ordinal numbers as evident in the booklet.  

Enjoy!

Her doodlings: She was trying to highlight the day and night concepts of Earth in her little sketch of a half-shaded Earth, and drew stars to represent space.

She claimed the little dot right in the centre of Earth is the tiny island of Singapore, where she lives in. Haha, the perception of a little kid who thinks the world revolves around them. 

Nightly Spa Sessions

The Bees and us had been indulging in nightly spa sessions - by ourselves! It was a simulation/play-acting game I devised last week because the girls' bedtimes were getting really late during the June holidays (11pm!), and I had a long day, so I dimmed the lights of their bedroom, turned on some spa music on my iPhone, and encouraged them to whisper like therapists in a spa (they had been to one spa with us in Penang). Then of course, I had to be the first customer, and requested for Big Bee as my therapist. She is seriously an excellent massage therapist. Her full body massage on me was rapturous, which was followed by Little Bee's little hands on my face for my "facial".

Soon, it was Big Bee's turn and I could literally see her winding down, relaxing and all ready for bed after my full body massage for us! Same for Little Bee! Lots of sighs and smiles from them during my massage on them :) They were very tickled whenever the "male masseuse", in the guise of their Papa, massaged them though, haha. 

Thereafter, the Bees were truly excited by this game, and looked forward to the "spa session" before bedtime nightly! Big Bee, being older and probably knows how to enjoy relaxation techniques more, especially looked forward to it every night, and would insist that she gives me a massage every night as well. What a darling. 

Hence, we now have a "spa" at home, complete with soft soothing music, dim lighting and cute little whisperings. And we never failed to drift off to dreamland shortly after our 5-10 minutes massages. Divine...