Of Hermit Crabs and Wave-Surfing

Instead of staying in Singapore to revise for the mid-year exams, like what most people did, we decided to take a short break over the Easter long weekend and escaped to Bintan! It was a lovely 3-day, 2-night stay at the Bintan Lagoon Resort which was entirely rejuvenating and refreshing.

Yes, it might be a little crowded there at times, and yes, the food might be a little unsavoury in some restaurants, but hey, we had a perfect view of the South China Sea and was barefooted in white powdery sands half the time! My kind of chillax holiday for sure!

We spent hours on the beach, body surfing with the surging and crashing waves, drinking loads of salty seawater as a result! We dug holes and built clumsy sandcastles on the sandy beach.

We interacted with frantic hermit crabs in all sizes and colours, admiring their resilience and their myriad colourful shells.

We created a protective moat where we gathered a few shy hermit crabs together. Can you spot them?

The girls were fascinated by the hermit crabs!

We had long leisurely breakfasts and other meals, where we did nothing but fooled around and chatted with one another. We took long walks by the beach, encroaching into the part of the shore that resembled no man's land and true wilderness, with deep mysterious forests beckoning at us. We strolled into the multi-hued, tangerine colours of a glorious sunset which gradually faded into mellow lavender twilight...and were bitten by pesky sand flies as a result!

I tried (rather unsuccessfully) to be a typical Singaporean tiger mother as well, so yes, in the lazy sweltering afternoons, we spent indoors where the girls did some revision (not much, but some was good enough for me!). We were truly working and playing hard!

All in all, a wonderful short stay, being so close to the wild, tempestuous ocean again!

Their Reading Adventures

With hubby and I being fairly avid readers, we know how books can open up worlds of imagination, knowledge and creativity - just through plain old simple text. Pretty amazing, isn't it? So, it had been gratifying that both our girls are very much into reading.

There was a little time when we worried about Little Bee because she was (and still is!) more interested in toys and TV, compared to books. However, I had been surreptitiously creating opportunities where she would have no access to TV, computers or toys for protracted periods of time, and hence had to depend on reading as a form of escapism. And then she was hooked!

I thought of summarising very loosely the main types of books that our 2 girls are reading or had read, just to see if there are different reading preferences between the 2 of them.

Big Bee

Big Bee started reading chapter books from the second year of kindergarten (K2). She had a very healthy dose of Enid Blyton when young, discovering the whole spectrum of Blyton's stories, and then went through the usual popular children's classics and now, teenage fiction. She tends to be (very) obsessed by certain series at different stages of her life, and like me, would devour entire series before her fanaticism died down.

K2
Rainbow Fairies and other simple fantasy series

Primary 1
Enid Blyton's fantasy series - The Enchanted Wood, Wishing Chair, the fabulous "O'Clock Tales" which used to be my favourite when I was younger, eg 8 O'Clock Tales (she read my original copy from the days when I was 8!)

Also started on Amelia Jane's (Naughtiest Girl) series but she was fairly neutral to the series.

Primary 2
Re-reading Enid Blyton's The Enchanted Wood's series at least 7 to 8 times...she was that enchanted!
Started on (and was hooked in a major way) Enid Blyton's Malory Towers and St Clare's series, which I believe she re-read many times over as well!

Primary 3
Started reading classics like Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, Little Women, etc. Her personal childhood classic is Black Beauty, even till now.

Hopping around Roald Dahl's books but was fairly neutral to them. Her favourite Roald Dahl book is Mathilda.

Discovered Enid Blyton's adventure and mystery series, and was addicted! Entire series like Famous Five, Secret Seven and all the Adventure Series were chomped down by her rapidly! At her peak addiction stage, she could complete 1 to 2 Famous Five books in a day. This was also the year that her eyesight went drastically bad because she spent most of her time buried in books.

Primary 4
Peer influence set in! Started thinking that Enid Blyton is too childish, and began reading fantasy fiction like Percy Jackson, lots of Greek mythology books, Shakespearean adaptations in the form of novels, Lord of The Rings, Narnia, and the David Eddings series which hubby and I used to love. Unfortunately, she was not a fan of David Eddings or Narnia, but really loved the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (which she re-read multiple times again!).

Primary 5
At the beginning of the year, she went a little overboard on Harry Potter, and completed the entire series in a couple of weeks. Once again, she indulged in her usual re-reading and also watched the entire Harry Potter movie series in a few weeks.

She was feeling a little lost in the middle of primary 5, so I introduced her to Mitch Albom and Anne Frank. I think she could not quite understand the scale of horror in Anne Frank's diary until we went to Dachau in Germany. Surprisingly, she liked Mitch Albom quite a bit!

Her friends started reading more teenage fiction, and she went absolutely bollocks over The Hunger Games trilogy last December (which was when I finally decided to let her read this series, after months of persuasion). Her first discovery of more mature romance in these books should be pretty memorable! I also started reading all these teenage fiction these days, just to make sure that the content is appropriate, and I must say I really like Hunger Games too!

Primary 6
More teenage fiction ensued. She has now wolfed down entire series of Divergent, Mortal Instruments and Clockwork Prince, and is heading for John Green next!

Little Bee

Little Bee is a relatively late reader, compared to her sister. Until now, she still prefers doodling, toys and TV more than books. However, if she chanced upon a book she was fascinated with, she would be totally focused. She has shown a lot of interest in Roald Dahl, which is a complete difference from her sister! She does not really like Enid Blyton's Enchanted Wood series, although she completed the first 2 books of that series. She is also more "practical" and less fanatic than Big Bee, in that she does not believe in re-reading books, at least for now.

K2
Reading was more "academic" for her, as in I used books to get her to recognise more words. Peter and Jane series was a big thing in her life then! She also read lots of Ladybird books. She started on Rainbow Fairies, but was not very fascinated by them.

Primary 1
Started on Enid Blyton's books, mainly The Enchanted Wood series. She was still reading a smattering of picture books then, but was beginning to be intrigued by Shakespeare. She loved the simplified Shakespeare stories in the Usborne's children series, and frankly, I was surprised that Shakespeare appealed to her. I guess dramatic Little Bee loved the plot twists and comic tragedies found in many Shakespearean stories!

Primary 2
She discovered Roald Dahl recently, and for the first time in her life, ravaged a few of his books in a short time! She read almost all his children's books, except for The Witches, which freaked her out. Her favourite Roald Dahl books are Mathilda, James & The Giant Peach and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.

I bought a copy of Usborne's adapted stories from Charles Dickens, and again, I was amazed that she was captivated by Dickens! She finished reading all the 6 to 7 stories in the Usborne book in less than a fortnight - which was considered a feat for playful and active her.

She also started reading Enid Blyton's Malory Towers, and although she was a little intrigued in the beginning, she still prefers Roald Dahl. I am in the midst of looking for more Roald Dahl's books for her, so any recommendations would be great!

Until now, I still find it really amazing that the Bees' preferences in reading could be so different! What are your children's reading adventures like?

Colours Of Nature: Deserted Island

Cerulean skies, white powdery sands, crystal clear waters with little fishes darting around, not afraid of human intruders. Lush overgrown woods with not a human soul in sight.

Silence. Pristine silence that lets us hear the diligent buzzing of bees and the whisperings of wild lallang that sways in the gentle breeze.

This is not a national park in a foreign land. Nor is it a beach paradise overseas. 

Instead, this is a little slice of paradise in Singapore - Lazarus Island. As part of hubby's and Big Bee's birthday celebrations, we had a bit of an escapade in Lazarus Island. We were far from the madding crowds of over-populated Singapore, and we could finally listen to the silence of nature.

We trudged in the luxuriant, deserted woods, occupied only by huge grasshoppers, crickets and swarms of angry, large red ants that freaked the girls out! 

We plunged straight into the spotlessly clear, unsullied waters and played with the teeming fish all around us. What untouched paradise is to be found just a stone's throw away indeed!

In the journey to the island, we also sailed past many of Singapore's Southern Islands. I find it sad that there are 63 islands in Singapore, yet the majority of Singaporeans had not touched foot on many of these quiet, uninhabited islands. 

After our little excursion, the girls were really curious about Singapore's offshore islands, and we spent a good afternoon exploring some of more popular offshore islands on the internet. Islands with fascinating legends and stories like Sisters Island, Kusu Island and Pulau Hantu. I wonder which island will we hop to next?

Travelling Back In Time (Part 6): Mozart's Home & The Sound of Music!

We spent a day in Salzburg, Austria, and its surrounding regions. The historic centre of Salzburg, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is elegant and classy. It is also Mozart's home, and I could certainly feel the inspiration behind the baroque, classical music of Mozart!

I did find the town centre a little too manicured and touristy though.



However, as we ventured into the surrounding countryside, the beauty of rolling hills and huge tranquil lakes in the Wolfgangsee Lake District captivated us.



The Sound of Music was filmed in these very hills, and I could finally understand why Julie Andrews pranced around the emerald-green hills, singing away!! The entire landscape was so picturesque and stunningly beautiful.

It was a truly memorable and splendid day, and the highlights are below:

1) Strolling across the regal Mirabell Palace and Gardens, admiring the gorgeously trimmed flower beds and ubiquitous mythology-themed statues.



2) Our first view of the historic centre of Salzburg was breathtaking. The wide, placid Salzach river with the grand, baroque dome of the Salzburg cathedral and the imposing Hogensalzburg Fortress created an unforgettable and remarkable backdrop. Apparently, the fortress is the biggest (and best-preserved) medieval castle in Europe!



3) Ambling across the Makartsteg Bridge, admiring the collection of charming love locks all over the railings of the bridge!

4) Visiting Mozart's home, amidst loads of interested crowds! We even bumped into Big Bee's best friend there! What a small world!





5) A relaxing lunch at the art museum where we were able to sit back and enjoy the leisurely pace of life in this city, admiring the ubiquitous grand fountains, watching horse carriages go by and slurping ambrosial pasta!

6) Strolling around the charmingly quaint cobblestoned streets of Hallstat, a small village at the gateway to the Lake District of Austria. The architecture remains unchanged since the 19th century, and the surrounding alpine landscape of rolling hills and tranquil lake was stunning beyond description.





7) Taking a cruise around the Wolfgangsee Lake. We inhaled the pure alpine air, dreaming pensively while staring at the cobalt blue lake, immersing in the landscape around us, and listening to songs from the Sound of Music on the boat! The girls were positively blooming in such beautiful outdoors. Meanwhile, Hubby and I dreamed of retiring in these alpine surroundings!

What a beautiful day, and the breathtaking vistas will remain indelible in our memories for a long time indeed! 

Colours Of Nature: The Colour of Drought

By now, everyone must be heaving a sigh of relief that heavy rains had been pouring down on us after a long spell of aridity. I am one who love sunshine and blue skies, but even for me, seeing the first showers of the season never felt better!

It was getting quite worrying when we visited Botanic Gardens a fortnight back - only to be met with ubiquitous brown patches of dried grass and dangerously low water levels!

Botanic Gardens as seen last August

The same spot now. All we see was brown aridity.

We were quietly shocked, and strolled around the ailing gardens with heavy steps. The wildlife of the parks - tortoises, swans, ducks and pigeons - seemed resilient enough, but who can hear their calls of desperation when water levels dipped further? Already, we were able to walk on the former bed of the receding lake, and explore the riverbank by the rushes that the swans called home. How much is this parched weather going to cost for these animals?

Which is why I rejoiced when the rains came pouring down for entire days last week. Even at the expense of blue skies and sunny rays. For I am waiting to see the gardens turn verdant all over again!

Lots of tortoises sunning by the dry riverbank and greeting many curious human visitors!

Little Bee standing by the rushes...the area on the left was formerly part of the lake and inaccessible to people. We took a walk over the wet, squishy former bed of the lake there.

Despite the dry weather, there are still beauties all around us! 

Colours amidst the crude brown of aridity....these leaves were so pretty!

Colours Of Nature: Complete Solitude

There is a place in Singapore where there is no one to be seen for miles, where we can be surrounded by carpets of lush grass and verdant giants, where our ears are privy to the hushed chirps of hidden birds, where silence is ... well ... almost deafening.

This place is none other than Kent Ridge Park! 

We chanced upon it one Sunday morning, and were amazed at how deserted the entire park was. We were filled with wonder at the sight of colossal trees with mangled branches overgrown with moss - clear signs of old age. 

Most of all, we cherished how alone our little family was - a rare occurrence in overcrowded Singapore. We ambled along endless paths without meeting a soul, we climbed up and down precarious grassy slopes, and we fiddled with the many fitness stations that look so forlorn and lonely in the park. 

We learned about yet another slice of Singapore's history in the tumultuous World War 2 era. 

And we had a bird's eye view of our busy port, perched right at the top of one of Singapore's rare hills. 

It was a rejuvenating morning where we escaped into another side of Singapore. We ended our little excursion with succulent pratas for lunch - a gratifying conclusion to a peaceful morning of discovery. We will be back for sure :) 

World War 2 sites in Singapore. How many have you been to? As World War 2 buffs, we had visited more than half of these sites...just to keep in touch with the battle-torn Singapore of yore. 

PSLE and CCAs

OK, I know I just put 2 incredible acronyms into the title of this post, which might be baffling for some! For those who do not already know, PSLE = Primary School Leaving Examinations in Singapore and CCAs = Co-curricular (or extra-curricular) activities.

I cannot believe that this year is Big Bee's PSLE year and I guess I am still in denial. Whenever people found out that I have a kid going through PSLE this year, their responses would invariably be, "You must be very stressed!" or "You must be very busy revising with her!". However, fortunately (or unfortunately), I am not stressed, neither am I busy revising with her! In fact, work takes up so much of my time now that I really hope fervently she knows what she is doing on her own.

But this post is not about how we are managing the PSLE, although the real answer to that is that we are doing the same things as per previous years. We are still planning for movies and musicals to watch and places to go to on weekends, and I am still planning for vacations in June!

This post is about how much I believe in a well-rounded education for our children, and a bit about my anger when I see parents in Singapore pushing their kids to a wholly academic path, just to get good grades in key examinations like the PSLE. To me, every kid has only one year in their lives when they are 12 - that milestone threshold between being a big kid and a teen, that year of awakening when they have more mature perspectives, that year of awareness and realisation of their changing bodies and increasing curiosity about sexuality and non-platonic relationships. And yet, sadly, in Singapore, it is also the year of the PSLE.

I heard of parents forcing their children to drop all CCAs in Primary 6, and worse still, schools advocating this policy! I heard of parents doubling up on tuition, just to have a last burst to drill their kids. And worst of all, I heard of parents artificially pushing their kids' musical, sports or leadership positions in school, just so they can get a bid at the Direct School Admissions (DSA) exercise - when passions are overlooked for a tangible outcome of getting into their preferred schools.

For Big Bee, she is still as active in school and non-academic classes as before. She wanted to have a break from ballet in school this year, despite her past achievements in this CCA, and despite the many requests from her disappointed ballet teacher who had been incessantly telling her to stay on. I guess this is a phase of exploration for her as well, where she wants to get out of her comfort zone and be challenged in things that she had not always been doing.

So, she told me she wanted to try out in the trials for softball and netball, where they are looking for people in the school team. Being naturally athletic (not my genes!), she made it through the trials and into the school teams of both netball and softball. She chose netball in the end, for the kind of bonded teamwork and competition associated with it. And just yesterday, she was inaugurated into the school netball team!

Playing for the school team takes a lot of time and effort, of which many primary 6 mothers (including my own mother) frowned upon, who kept asking me if she would be better off studying and revising, instead of spending 6 to 7 hours a week after school to train for netball competitions. Sometimes, these questions got me worried - am I too relaxed? Is she falling behind in studies because of the crazy amount of time spent in practice, after which she will come home, too fatigued to do much work? Questions that frankly, after peer pressure from other mothers, make me question my objectives of encouraging her to take on a time-consuming sport in her PSLE year. Some mothers did ask me, "Why not chess club where they meet once a week and where their brains can be stimulated?" or "Why not Math or Science Olympiads because some schools prefer kids from the Olympiad programmes for their DSA!"

And recently, questions arose from Big Bee herself, "Mummy, why are you not putting me in English and Science tuition? Maybe they can help me boost my PSLE score!" (She had never had Science tuition before, and only went on less than a year of English tuition in primary 4, after which we stopped). Kiasu her even questioned why I am planning for a June holiday when she prefers to revise for the PSLE throughout the whole holiday! Swirling, disturbing questions. And I must admit, I am swayed sometimes.

Yet, I am glad that Big Bee's school is a holistic one, and I have fellow mothers there who are still putting their children through CCAs that are non-academic in nature, even in the PSLE year. And most of us have the same approach to PSLE - take it easy and "see how it goes." I am really thankful for that support of like-minded mothers.

I guess what I am trying to say in this blog post is to allow our kids to really pursue their passions in whatever things they request, for them to try new things, and get out of their comfort zones - even at the expense of time that could be spent on studies. Every time she is back from her netball practice, glowing with adrenaline but fatigued by the hours of competitive sportsmanship, I would tell myself that this is a right decision.

And I think as parents, it is important for us to put forth lots of calm and composure in front of our kids before major examinations. So that they understand there is more to life than academic achievements. Big Bee and I have had long discussions this year about many "what-ifs". There is a lot of emphasis from their teachers about academic achievements, and the biggest "what-if" question from her was, "What if I did badly in the PSLE?" which to me, is a masked question for "Will you still love me?". So, as parents, so long as we assure our kids about our complete acceptance and love for them, regardless of whatever they achieve, I think that gives them enough confidence to stride on in this world, especially in a cruel world where there are increasingly more depression cases amongst children.

人强马壮，龙马精神

As I grow older, I begin to appreciate and cherish the intricate rituals of Chinese New Year. How festivities and routines are completely similar year after year. How our elderly relatives ask the same old questions year after year. These grew more endearing to me these days, reaffirming just how precious family ties are. 

We are lucky to have very close bonds with all our relatives and family members. Which is why we had 8 family gatherings and visits over the first week of Chinese New Year - and enjoyed every single moment of these. The girls got to know 4 sides of their different families from Hubby's and my family trees, and they delighted in getting to know their great-grandmothers, grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins more. Little Bee is the one who really looks forward to such gatherings, and would often feel sad whenever these occasions come to an end. She would not fail to entertain everyone with her outspoken antics and her comical expressions! 

Big Bee, on the other hand, is now a little adult. She had stopped playing with the little kids totally (much to Little Bee's distress) and had become more self-conscious. Most of the time, her nose is buried in her current favourite book (which is the Divergent series by Veronica Roth for now). Other times, she would join the adults for some casual chatting. She is in an in-between stage, and is finding her way around, yet enjoying the process, which I am relieved about.

This year, we also visited Chinatown in early January, where we were privy to the celebrations of the Chinatown light-up. We did not even plan for it, so we were pleasantly surprised to hear the deafening firecrackers and be dazzled by fireworks exploding in the skies just above us. Most of all, we enjoyed eating super yummy food in the Chinatown hawker centre and strolling around in the nostalgic People's Park. 

On the eve of Chinese New Year, we had a sumptuous and festive reunion dinner with the girls' great-grandmothers. How rare it is to have a four-generational reunion dinner! That is so special in every way. 

As we wind down from these convivial celebrations, I constantly have to remind myself not to limit our interactions with the extended families just to an annual New Year gathering. Let's hope we get to see more of our family members this Horse year!