Fictitious Characters

Drama is an element that definitely brightens up a child's world, instills endless imagination and inspires creativity.

Which was why I was really glad when I received a notice from Little Bee's school that one of the school days would be designated for a parade of imaginary book characters, where the children are supposed to dress up in a character found in a book, bring (and read) the book with the character and parade in front of the entire school.

I am secretly delighted that the school, unlike some other schools, are willing to sacrifice a day of boring and monotonous academic learning for really fun imaginative play like this. I thought this helps to encourage confidence, creativity and a love for reading in a child.

Needless to say, Little Bee will dress up as one of her favourite princesses. In previous years, she would dress up as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, but this year, she could finally fit into jie-jie's Cinderella's costume, so she was determined to be Cinderella. And of course, she knows the story of Cinderella so very well :)

She was delighted to be decked in Cinderella's sparkling blue dress, complete with white gloves and a little handbag.

And it was a sight fit for elation when I saw all the classmates gathering together, examining each other's costumes and guessing the characters that their friends were acting as. Little Bee's classmates were mostly like her - strong, colourful personalities, with assertive and extroverted traits, and more importantly, a significant sense of loyalty and friendship which is evident in all their hugs and highly familiar gestures with each other.

This being the final year in which she would spend with them in kindergarten, I hope they would strike up a lasting friendship that would remain strong even in the primary school years, like what Big Bee had experienced.

Meanwhile, can you guess what some of these characters are!?

Bewitched By Bali

I do apologise for the long radio silence. Our little family of four had been enchanted by the allure of Bali from 6 to 13 June. 7 luxurious days of gorgeous beaches with spectacular waves, of breathtaking cliffs and emerald rice fields, of nestling deep in the rainforests and hills of Ubud, and being woken up by roosters and birds, of boisterous days with friends and quiet moments with ourselves. We are back, but our spirits are enlivened by the spirituality of magical Bali :)

This is my 3rd time in Bali, and the family's first time - and I am delighted that Hubby was totally captivated by the sheer beauty and serenity of Bali, especially Ubud. The girls enjoyed the company more - we were joined by PF and her family in the first leg of our trip, with 4 nights together in Intercontinental Jimbaran Bay. The Bees had the most gleeful moments playing ceaselessly with their childhood friends, Eugene and Claire. Thereafter, they enjoyed the deep tranquillity by ourselves in Ubud, bonding tremendously as a family, where we stayed for 3 nights in a stunning villa deep in the virgin forests of Ubud's remote villages.

Unfortunately, I am experiencing some difficulties transferring my digital images from my camera (hence my silence as well), so I am going to use some photos from the Internet to illustrate where we stayed.

The sunset cafe of Intercontinental, by the beach and the crashing waves of Jimbaran Bay, where our 2 families spent much time chilling by the beach.

The splendid villa in Ubud that we stayed in, complete with a private pool where monkeys drank water from!

...with astounding views high up in the hills of Ubud, a plunging valley and a gushing river through the valley

We have our own private bale (gazebo), complete with deck chairs, an outdoor living and dining area, and a marvelous four poster bed in the bedroom

I will be writing more about this trip soon...

Busy Days

The June holidays had sneaked upon us stealthily but steadily, and life is still as busy as usual. In the months leading to the holidays, school life was frenetic with lots of work and revision for the Bees. Hence, almost every night was spent on homework, 听写 and other readings.

Therefore, it was with a colossal sigh of relief that school was out in the final week of May, and that we could start planning our vacation in peace. Thus far, I had been letting the Bees relax incessantly, with no serious homelearning activities except for lots of fun and painting (see their latest paintings below, and yes, Mummy Art School only opens during the holidays these days!), as well as plenty of gatherings.

Little Bee's Underwater World

Big Bee's Marine Wonderland

Big Bee invited her best friend to hang out at our home for a whole day last week. Just last night, we had a dinner gathering with PF and family, where the Bees could catch up once again with Eugene and Claire, playing rowdy rounds of hide and seek while the adults planned for our imminent vacation. Hubby also just bought Kinect for the girls yesterday, and we had such a roar playing with it the entire morning (even me!) until my muscles are now aching from all those vigorous actions required by Kinect!

We also spent our days on lazy breakfasts, languid saunters in the parks, long walks with our dog Aidan, and enjoyable afternoon coffees in different cafes. We had lots of family errands to run this month, but spent a lot of time chilling as a family, and I had planned plenty more gatherings with other friends and family.

Little Bee also just received her confirmation of admission into Big Bee's primary school, so it is yet another milestone for Little Bee - the primary school odyssey! A new chapter will begin for her...

More importantly, I am taking almost 2 weeks off work so I could spend even more time with the Bees!

Am eagerly waiting for the next coming weeks indeed!

Rough And Tear Math!

Life had been immensely hectic for me, with crazy working hours, Big Bee's mid-year exams and Little Bee's increasing school load in preparation for primary one. Which is why I have absolutely no time to conceptualise comprehensive homelearning plans nor do much elaborate activities with the girls. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the light beaming at the end of the tunnel will shine brightly soon.

Meanwhile, I make do with whatever little time I have to spend quality time with the Bees. Which means hastily rigged homelearning materials which may not be the best in aesthetics but nevertheless, helped achieve learning outcomes!

Last month, Little Bee and I were learning about number bonds and addition, and I had absolutely no time to prepare anything fancy. Hence, I just pulled together some scraps of papers and toothpicks, and taught her the following concepts. She was tickled by the little bits of papers that I tore to make counting tokens, and loved this concept of learning where we tore bits of paper whenever we needed them! I just placed the final number (10 and 5), and she arranged the below bonds herself.

Colours Of Nature: Of Cygnets And Ducklings

They say swans mate for life. 

A family of swans and their beautiful, fluffy cygnets (photo taken by Big Bee)

And everyone knows the transformation of the ugly duckling. 

A group of ducklings gazing across the lake (photo taken by Big Bee)

Notice the gorgeous downy feathers of these adolescent cygnets? (Photo by Big Bee)

With so many beautiful fables surrounding the swan, we felt truly privileged to witness the exquisite offsprings of the 2 resident swans in our favourite part of Botanic Gardens, and another brood of ducklings that appeared mysteriously! 

That was almost a year and a half ago. 

I remember the Bees were so elated to play with the different varieties of birds, squealing in excitement and basking in their proximity to these feathered creatures. 

That was when that part of the Gardens was still relatively quiet. And now, with the completion of the MRT near the Botanic Gardens, many people throng the verdant grounds which used to seem so boundless and uncluttered. Now, the meandering emerald pastures are filled with people, and the atmosphere buzzed with liveliness and gay chatter.

Which is perfectly fine, as everyone should enjoy more time outdoors, especially in land-scarce Singapore. But I miss my tranquillity and quiet. And I think the swans miss that halcyon peace too. The cygnets and ducklings had undoubtedly grown into adults, and the cygnets are nowhere to be found, probably transported by the park authorities to somewhere else.

Only the ducks and the parent swans are left behind

Which is a wee bit sad because the park may be resonant with sounds of humanity, but the quiescent way of life for the swans and ducks seemed to be a remote past now. 

Still, we frequent Botanic Gardens for our breakfasts and tea breaks, immersing ourselves in the verdure and assimilating the serenity of the atmosphere. 

Oops, another addition to our family joined us - and disturbed the peace of the park further!

Here, we hope our girls could understand the virtues of soaking ourselves in the present moment, appreciating the beauty of nature, listening to the sounds of Earth around them, and listening to their own hearts through this stillness. 

I hope there are many more of such oases in time to come... 

Up On A Hill's Peak

Last month, over the Easter long weekend, my cousins and I coached up to Genting Highlands, staying at Resort Hotel, for a short but much anticipated break. The adult cousins looked forward to lots of catching up and chatting, and the little cousins looked forward to lots of playing together! We were also lucky because my mum happened to come on the same trip with her friends (although she was so busy we hardly met!) and Irene's parents also came along on the trip (same, the grandparents were all so busy that they could not meet us!).

Some memorable moments from the trip:

1) An early coach ride

Waking the family up, bleary-eyed, at 5am - in the dark dawn - to get ready for an early morning coach ride starting at 6.15am.

2) Napping!

Relaxing and napping loads on the bus while the big girls giggled and chatted among themselves. What a contrast to our previous trip where I had to share a seat with toddler Little Bee!

3) Theme parks galore

Spending lots of time with the cousins and my 2 nieces, Chloe and Val, in the indoor and outdoor theme parks.

The girls outside the open-air theme park

The little cousins had great fun bonding with each other, trying out all sorts of rides from carousel rides, a ferris wheel, bumper cars, an indoor roller coaster (erm, only Big Bee and me tried out this ride!), baby choo choo trains, rodeo rides, flying dumbo/airplane rides...you name it, we tried it!

Both my girls loved the bumper cars! Here, Little Bee was seen trying to deftly avoid another car, otherwise she would usually go around bumping others! 

The girls also had a swell time at the carnival stands, trying our hands at so many games stalls, trying to win little gifts!

It was so relaxing just strolling around and deciding on the rides to take. Furthermore, the theme parks in Genting Highlands have none of those long queues that we find in Disneyland or Universal Studios, and that made it a lot more enjoyable!

4) Taking a stroll along memory lane

The adult cousins reliving their nostalgic memories of coming to Genting Highlands together as children - as we paddled boats around the large tranquil lake that had been in existence since we were little kids!

It was so idyllic to sit back and just paddle the boat with our legs languidly (although I had to paddle a little harder because my "partner" on the duo boat was Little Bee, whose legs could not reach the paddles!). The lake was serene and placid, and it was so nice to paddle near our cousins, with the little cousins waving excitedly and shouting each other's names whenever we paddled closer to each other!

After the boat ride, we then ambled around the edge of the lake, retracing the steps of yore when we were young. We then took the antique car ride, amidst much nostalgia, and I could just sit back and enjoy the scenery because my "driver" was Big Bee!

5) Food, glorious food!

Malaysia has one of the best foods (for me) on earth. We took every opportunity to gorge on palatable delights, and the climax was reached on Saturday afternoon when all of us were feeling rather lackadaisical after a whole morning of theme park rides - so we decided to go for a cheap hotel buffet! The result was plates and plates of scrumptious local and international goodies, from char kway teow to fried bee hoon, from ice-kachang to delectable cakes! The adults stuffed our faces until we were speechless with bloated stomachs!

The girls munching away at high tea!

The kids used the opportunity to munch on sinful sweet cakes, and fooled around together a lot. A classic scene involved all 4 of them sitting on an adjacent empty table, as if conducting a meeting, with them giggling and chatting incessantly. Another classic scene involved Chloe and Val posing as models with Little Bee acting as a photographer, directing them around!

6) Easter egg hunt

Hubby and I bought 12 colourful Easter eggs (with little sweets inside), and hid the eggs all around our hotel room. Thereafter, we invited all 4 girls to search for the eggs, and boy, what energy and enthusiasm permeated the room, with the girls frantically and excitedly searching for the bright little eggs! After they found the eggs and the activity in the room settled a little, what ensued was crazy play between the girls and Hubby, while all of us watched in amusement. That was certainly a welcomed reprieve from the constant activity in the theme parks!

7) Foot Reflexology Delight


The best thing about having older daughters is that they are now able to fully appreciate the marvellous concept of spas with hubby and I! On Saturday night, four of us went to a foot reflexology spa. Hubby, Big Bee and I had the best foot massages ever, in a dim ambient setting. Little Bee was so patiently sitting in another comfy chair while quietly talking to me at times that I felt really bad that she couldn't enjoy the massages yet (the therapists told us that she is a little young for foot massages). Still, this is a good indication of future holidays!


8) Breathtaking vistas

Early in the second morning at around 6.45am, Hubby whispered and gestured me to walk outside with him to "look at something very beautiful", in his words. I was intrigued. Leaving the 2 girls sleeping in the dark room, we tiptoed out to the lift lobby which was a few steps away, where there was a huge window which served as an excellent viewing gallery for nature's greatest show - sunrise! Captivated, with our arms around each other, we observed the stupendous unfolding and resplendent transformative colours of one of nature's most astounding miracles. We were bewitched by the dense tangerine gathering of clouds, by the enchanting sea of misty lavender clouds with murky peaks of other lower hills peeping through, by the gradual but alluring changes of sunlight across the gorgeous vista.

On that morning, while having breakfast by ourselves, we were lucky to discover an exquisite glass house beside Coffee Bean and Tea Leaves where four of us were inveigled by brilliantly azure skies, virginal white clouds and lush verdant alpine trees.

We strolled around, loving the chilly nip in the air and the sharp, tangy pure air of the hill top. Wondrous indeed!


This was such a fun and relaxing trip that the cousins are already planning our next getaway together! 

The Fruition Of Parenthood

One of the gratifications of being a parent is to be at the receiving end of a child's appreciation and love. And what better way to experience this thankfulness than on Mother's Day!

This weekend was the culmination of an incredibly hectic week. Craziness at work from Monday to Friday, coupled with intense exams revision for Big Bee in the evenings, and then my weekend work practically started from Friday night till Sunday evening! So, it was an immensely fatigued weekend for me. Still, despite the 12 to 13 work hours per day that I put in over Saturday and Sunday, I always count my blessings that I am in Singapore and not overseas for work, so that I could still spend some time with the Bees at night and snuggle with them at bedtime.

Yet, what was most fulfilling after coming home with flagging spirits and a languishing body on Saturday night was to be presented by 2 very special Mother's Day gifts from the Bees. The girls were really dramatic. They sat me on the sofa, and started showering me with little styrofoam hearts (used for their craftwork). Then, each of them presented a little gift to me - Little Bee gave me an enchanting bouquet made up of a little teddy bear, and Big Bee presented an exquisite bear-y jewellery box to me!

I was so touched. Hubby had the fantastic idea of giving them $10 each to buy me a present in Popular bookshop in the afternoon, and the presents were handpicked by them, which made it even more meaningful and delightful. In addition, Little Bee also presented me with a little craft that she did in school for Mother's Day and a card she hand made earlier in the day. I felt so pampered!

Craft that Little Bee did in school

A card that Little Bee put together on her own

The next day, on Sunday, after dragging my feet home from an entire day of work, Big Bee quickly informed me, "Oh Mummy! I need to give you your Mother's Day card!"

What ensued was an unfolding of a splendid handmade card by Big Bee, which was beautiful. What was most moving was her message in a little book within the card (see below), and this made me realise that this is truly a time for rewards and sweet desserts of parenthood. All those years of nurturing, frustration, unconditional loving and fatigue all rolled into one enrapturing ball of inexplicable sweetness and satisfaction. I couldn't imagine that I would one day receive messages like these from my Bees, but I am delighted and moved beyond words that Big Bee had broken this barrier yet again. This will certainly be yet another memorable moment for me again.

She drew my 3 favourite books in the pop-up orange card, complete with their titles!

She wrote an acrostic name poem for me!

 This also sets me thinking. I used to make beautifully crafted cards for my mum during Mother's Day all the way until university. Somehow, along the way, with all our busy-ness, these cards stopped, to be replaced by little packs of impersonal and meaningless ang pows once I graduated and entered the work force. I wonder how my mum felt? She diligently kept all my cards in a little box and would talk about them to the Bees. 

I think it is time to make a handmade special something for her soon....