Chilling Out In Marina Bay Sands

We watched the Mickey's Music Festival in the theatres of Marina Bay Sands on 11 September, but Hubby and I were not very impressed, largely because we felt disillusioned by the mix of current pop songs in the musical repertoire. We prefer the magical old songs of Disney, but those were jarringly mixed with rock beats this time. 

However, Little Bee loved it, and watched the entire performance captivated with rapture. There were also a lot of other kids who were bopping and dancing away to the fast-paced rhythms, so I guess it could be a generational divide that only Hubby and I did not enjoy it! Big Bee was utterly blase and nonchalant about this, solely because Miss Tween thought it highly uncool to be watching Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Disney Princesses in a show, haha. 

What Hubby and I enjoyed most was the relaxing lunch beside the Rain Oculus of Marina Bay Sands, where the kids were enchanted by the gushing water and incessant sampan rides drifting past us. We also particularly loved the ArtScience Museum, when we visited the Van Gogh art exhibition. 

It was indeed a fulfilling day - another instance where we need not travel out of Singapore to be truly entertained!

Here is Little Bee's super short diary entry on the musical show, and what she drew to depict it.

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Today, I went to the Mickey Mouse Musical. I dressed up as Cinderella. I like the show because I like Little Mermaid. 

Yoga For Kids

The Bees had been immersed in yoga since a very young age, when Big Bee was 6 and when Little Bee was 2. They both love doing yoga, I guess because it reinforces their relaxation levels and they probably find the poses fun yet challenging. 

Yoga for children is highly beneficial as the various poses and sequences help to reduce the stress of living in this hectic world. It also strengthens the awareness of their own bodies, which is something that we had all taken for granted these days. Physically, it is not all about stretching but could be rather strenuous, enhancing the strength, resilience and flexibility of our kids. Oftentimes, the Bees were perspiring from the sequences after just 30 minutes!

Most importantly, most of these poses help to improve their concentration levels and mental focus, encouraging them to dwell in the present moment. This certainly helps in their learning and memory abilities, and helps in creating mental clarity, which is so important in these fuzzy days of modernity with so many distractions.

We had not been doing as much yoga as I would like, and I think I need to incorporate this into their regular routines on a weekly basis. The Bees love doing yoga, and would often plead with me to turn on their favourite yoga programme. I hope I am disciplined enough to start weekly sessions with them! 

Here are the Bees attempting the pigeon pose, which is a fairly intermediate pose - I guess kids are naturally a lot more flexible...

From A Distance

The feeling of missing the family whenever I am on an overseas work trip is truly inexplicable. When overseas, I used to derive news about the Bees when they were little toddlers from my mum or Hubby over the phone. Then, gradually, I got to converse with the kids a little over the phone. And since late last year, we had been using free internet video, and the Bees had been highly participative chatters! 

However, the crucial milestone would definitely be during my long 2-week trip to the UK in June last year. I started an email account for Big Bee, and we sent a couple of brief emails to each other! That was exhilarating and liberating, as in I could speak directly to her through my emails. 

And during my recent 9-day trip to China a couple of weeks ago, I just casually mentioned to her to email me. And I had the loveliest surprise when I received an email initiated by her on my second day abroad (in the past, it was usually me who would initiate the correspondence first). 

Furthermore, this time, her emails were a lot more informative, longer and were redolent with the hues of her personality. And the biggest bonus was that we were corresponding so regularly, once every 2 days (in the past, she only sent 1 to 2 emails at most)! What touched me the most was that after her very first email to me, I received a wonderful e-greeting card from her, with a little sad bear looking up at the moon, proclaiming "I miss you so much!".

I was almost tearing in the privacy of my hotel room - my eyes brimming with tears of happiness. 

The felicity of corresponding directly with a child is truly gratifying. It is so meaningful to hear our child's voice through the words she writes. 

Little Bee is a little young to correspond by email, but I was pleasantly surprised today again, when I flipped through her diary to find one more new entry that was not initiated by me! Once again, it showed fantastic motivation by Big Bee and excellent teamwork between the 2 sisters for Little Bee to write about her outing to my parents' house when I was away. Apparently, Big Bee was on a date with Papa, so she persuaded Little Bee to write about her grandparents' trip for her. 

Hence, these days, whenever I travel, it is indeed delightful to read about what the Bees are up to - from a distance, from their perspectives :)

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Little Bee's pages from her diary (with one page of illustration) could be found below.

Some excerpts of Big Bee's email can be found below mei mei's diary entry (she mentioned in one email that her emails are private, not to be shared with anyone else, so I need to be extra cautious to take away certain sentences with more personal information!). Max in her email referred to my cousin Irene's cute little Chihuahua that the family was helping to dogsit, much to Big Bee's thrill :) 

Little Bee's latest diary entry

Big Bee's 1st email excerpt:

Hello Mummy!!

Max is already here. He loves our house so much! He's so cute!!!   Max keeps staying on our carpet. Hope he doesn't pee or poop. BTW, Annette is extremely scared of Max. She says that all dogs bite people. Can you believe it, she doesn't even dare to touch him so she just ignored him!!!   Annette woke up SUPER late today. At 10.45 a.m. I can never wake up that late!!!! Nothing much happened today, so that's all.

Love: Nicole 

Waltzing With Van Gogh

We were transported back to the 19th century with Vincent van Gogh in the ArtScience Museum on 11 September. 

Little Bee was decked out in her princess dress because we were watching a Disney musical before this :)

It was a breathtaking experience to see such an exquisite abundance of paintings larger than life, projected as colossal images all over in a massive darkened hall. This was enhanced by hauntingly brilliant 19th century music, the most outstanding of which was by French composer and pianist, Erik Satie. 

The entire experience of inter-mingling images of his resplendent art and bewitching music was inexplicably hypnotizing. The whole family just sat in the middle of the gargantuan hall, transfixed, enthralled, enchanted. 

Big Bee meandering amongst the incessantly shifting images  

The Bees ventured a little out of our perch to sway and whirl to the alluring music and moving images. They loved being immersed in the world of Van Gogh's 19th century art, and were equally hushed and awestruck. 

I wasn't keen initially to visit this exhibition after knowing his paintings would be depicted as projected images, but after experiencing the magic, I think it was utterly worth a visit :) Sadly, the photos were taken from my iPhone, which did not do justice to the ambience of the exhibition.

After the museum, the Bees were so inspired that they wanted to rush straight home to paint! Which was exactly what they did - all by themselves. I merely let them look at some Van Gogh's paintings from some of my art books, and let them dabble in their creativity while I took some private time of my own :) It was amusing to watch them emulating Van Gogh's short, expressive brush strokes though. 

Check out their Van Gogh-style paintings here :) 

Big Bee's "Lone Tree By the River"

Little Bee's "Lone Apple Tree By The Flower Garden" She was trying to emulate - without much success! - Van Gogh's sky in Starry Night

Earnest Reproduction

One evening last month, Hubby bought a painting from an art gallery, painted by an up and coming Filipino artist (see below). 

He was enthusiastically discussing the painting to the Bees and I, when I noticed the 2 girls taking out blank sheets of white paper, and emulating the painting in their sketches! 

I thought their different styles expressed each of their personalities very well. 

Big Bee's reproduction

Big Bee's final rendition in her own style (she likes music a lot too, which explains why she sketched a fair amount of musical notes)

Little Bee's reproduction. She likes fashion a lot, which explains why she drew another stylish model beside the original girl in the painting!

Though I had spent almost my entire childhood learning art, I had refrained from inducing the Bees into formal art lessons, preferring to let their creativity flow when coming to their sketches. 

However, their recent displays of keen interest might sway my opinion with regards to formal art lessons, and I might let them dabble a little in art classes only during the holidays, as I am trying hard to cut down their enrichment classes. That being said, I must admit I spent many happy hours as a child and teenager, indulging in self reflection and internalisation through my art creations, and I would love the Bees to be able to have similar gratifications. 

The Bees, like many children, love to doodle and sketch in their free time. They are particularly inspired by distinctive styles of great artists, and would try to emulate the various styles of paintings to their own creations. It is astonishing how their aesthetic creations and styles reflect their rather polarised personality traits!

More of their art adventures to come...

Lifecycle Of An Apple Tree

We are currently learning about lifecycles, so I thought it would be fun for Little Bee to create a lifecycle of an apple tree using a paper plate. This demonstrated the cyclical nature of a lifecycle and was extremely easy to make.

First, we read a book about how an apple seed became a majestic apple tree. Then Little Bee cut out pictures of each stage and wrote down the stages all by herself, having remembered vividly what each of the stages was. 

It was a fantastic activity for a lazy weekday evening, and we took only 30-40 minutes to complete this. Fun! I shall endeavour to do this in Mandarin too :)

Mid-Autumn Enraptures Us

After a rather long business trip that spanned almost 2 weekends, I came back to an enchanting Mid-Autumn Festival with the family. The Friday before I was back, Hubby and my mum brought the Bees for an enjoyable lantern walk with the rest of my neighbours around the estate. It had been a tradition that I had to sadly miss this year. However, I am glad that the Bees managed to enjoy themselves thoroughly with Hubby and my mum! 

Out with grandma and lanterns! 

Lanterns around my estate

The actual day of Mid-Autumn Festival fell on a hazy, smoke-infused Monday with fumes from the forest fires in Indonesia permeating the whole of Singapore. Therefore, the usually large and luminous moon was shrouded in nebulous clouds. 

Hubby and I had a lovely, quiet couple dinner that night, which was something so rare that we appreciated every minute of it, albeit it being a very brief meal. 

When we came home, I brought the Bees out to light some refulgent candles, ignite some effusive sparklers and ambled around the dark grounds with our lanterns. 

It was therapeutic, it was comforting. It was a wonderful homecoming for me to spend some peaceful time with my little ones after 9 days of being away.   

Thrashed!

On a lazy Saturday afternoon, I took out our trusty boardgame companion, Blokus, and challenged the Bees to one game. I was feeling rather smart and smug, thinking I could beat the 2 little girls flat in no time. Hence, I was a little complacent and a wee bit distracted.

The game started fairly smooth, with our 3 parties neck to neck along the race to victory. As the game progressed deeper, I was struggling and trying my best to regain any semblance of victory and confidence. Before long, I was deep in the mire of imminent defeat. And eventually, I was the first one to bow my way out of the game. 

The final results: both the Bees had a tie! Amazing!

They first used teamwork to corner my moves, which led to my final setback and surrender. I also witnessed how Big Bee eventually helped Little Bee to think and rationalise harder without providing straightforward answers for her little sister, and this constant encouragement was truly comforting to my soul. 

This is a perfect game for teamwork (in their case to defeat Mummy!) and strategic thinking. In fact, these days, I had been using boardgames to encourage teamplay and to allay the constant and inevitable sibling squabbles. Such games work wonders to bring smiles and cooperation to the Bees. Beat the reclusive iPad, iPhone and computer games anytime!

词句重组

I use a lot of the 四五快读 books to teach Little Bee Chinese word recognition. Coupled with regular Chinese bedtime stories, I hope to be able to impart unto them a love of the Chinese culture and literature. 

However, as most parents can attest, this is an uphill task and we are faced with many obstacles. I still feel that it is not impossible for our children to be fluently bilingual in both Mandarin and English. We just need to encourage them to be receptive about reading Chinese story books. And being able to 认字, or recognise words, would be a fundamental step to enjoy reading Chinese stories. 

The 四五快读 concept works like the Peter and Jane ideology where children read high frequency words through flash cards and sentences within the books, thereby making them proficient readers. Peter and Jane works very well for Little Bee through their stories. My only qualm about these 四五快读 books is that there are no stories in them. 

However, it is still very possible to imbue interest in our children, and Little Bee enjoys our 四五快读 sessions while building up her 认字 capability. 

Recently, I incorporated games of 词句重组 and 造句 for Little Bee through these flashcards. She loves these little games and is able to re-arrange and complete the below sentences independently, without any assistance from me. We also created silly Chinese sentences to increase the element of fun, so it was really fascinating for Little Bee! 

Homemade Teacher's Day Cards

I always encourage the Bees to create homemade cards for friends and family during special occasions. And for Teacher's Day Celebrations yesterday, they were excitedly creating their own handmade cards for all their teachers in school. 

I usually left them to design their own cards by themselves, and refrained from inculcating any artistic licence on their creations. I had been pleasantly surprised over the years at the sometimes innovative and cute designs by the Bees. 

By getting them to constantly create cards for friends, family and teachers, I could also see how earnestly they worked on the cards, which is so heartwarming and endearing!

Here were what they created for their teachers this year. Zero input from me, with free creative licence from themselves! 

Big Bee's cards for 3 of her teachers

Little Bee's cards for 3 of her teachers