Parenting - It's a Climb

I thought he might be too young. But we managed to find a bouldering place for kids - BFF Climb and he could climb. Honestly, I think I might have more fun than him (a parent is required to tag along) and it took a little cajoling before he made his first ascent. But I did realise that there were many learning points which we can impart to our kids from bouldering. 

• Problem Solving: Given his height, he is bound to have some trouble climbing up. It was a great opportunity for him to explore other options. I would ask him probing questions i.e. Do you want to try this boulder? Maybe Mummy can support you from the side?

• Perseverance: There were many times he wanted to give up. With a bit of encouragement here and there, he actually managed to climb all the way up (for the mini slides). And every time he succeeded, I would point out to him that he made it and he could do it. 


• To give a try: For the longest time, he was also pretty adamant on just climbing and sliding down the mini slide (without using fully the harness). My kiddo tends to be a bit more hesitant and risk-adverse, hence I feel like I need to play the role to push him out of his comfort zone. There is nothing wrong with his dormant personality but at his more impressionable age, I would like to play a more balancing role so that he has the courage to venture and explore (should he wants to) in future. 


• Being a role model: So I actually challenged myself to climb and beat my own timing, with my kid cheering for me down below. It was at this point I realised the importance of being a role model. I can't just push him out of his zone and challenge him to achieve if I was not giving him the impression I was doing it. I am proud to say "I beat myself and achieved the goals I set for myself"

I came out feeling immensely proud of both myself and my kid, and it is an awesome feeling. Would definitely see myself making a trip there again. By the way, BFF Climb has awesome staff that helped to look after my kid when I made my climbs. I never really see myself as much of a bouldering person. But I guess I am wrong :P

Review: The Race Around The Moon

We are really quite getting into the groove of theatre works. Fun fact, I actually considered a career in that direction which probably explains why we are using our influence to share a little more. We caught the last show of The Race Around the Moon by Gateway Theatre. 

Just to share a little more about Gateway Theatre, it is a space that supports Singapore's artises in the arts and entertainment. The genre can range pretty widely. The Gateway Kids Club is one of the more interesting programme that is geared towards storytelling and craft making activities. And it is all free, the only con would probably be its location, since it is a bit of a walk away from the nearest train station. 

The show itself happened at the Sky Garden. There has been some changes since the last time I was there. A canopy was added. Compared to the formal theatre, the atmosphere here was more relaxed and the children could laze around with their parents on the mats laid on the fake grass lawn. Apart from it being a little warm, I do like the whole area. 

The show itself had a lot of dialogue and did not have any song-dance segments which the younger children would have preferred more. The play is self-written which I would describe as a modern take and twist to the original tales of Chang-Er, Jade Rabbit and Wu Gang. Costume-wise, I guess it would have been more impressive if they could dress in period wear. The show ended with a lantern making session which my toddler really enjoyed. It was good bonding as we pasted and decorated the lantern with him. 

Acoustic-wise, the sound vibrates within the whole arena. When my toddler had a mini melt-down, it was very daunting because his screams could easily drown the whole cast and everyone stared my way. Oops. Fortunately, we were quickly directed to the the calm room. (away from the judgmental eyes of other parents, thank god). The corner was very inviting and a place we could practice positive parenting. 

Also, it happened to have a really pretty feature wall which we use to take a bit of photos for both the little ones. As you can see, the handmade craft is pretty well-loved, appearing in a good 50% of our photos someway or another :P

The Smeds and The Smoos Review

About half a year later, we finally made another trip to the theatre. And this time we didn't stand outside throughout. I guess I would call that a success. Our kid quietly sat through the show, peering intently. So far, we observed he doesn't interact much with the stage actor's prompts. Very occasionally, he will point and clap along. It was a good start. 

Some differences was that we went with a bigger group this time round. My parents tagged along. This meant I had extra pairs of helping hands. Do remember to get the booster seats for the kids because it will elevate their height and not be blocked by the adults sitting in front. 

For parents who are keen to introduce their children to the theatre early, we would strongly suggest ABA Productions. We have went to their children shows twice - one sitting outside and I have to say they put a lot of thought into their productions. Both shows were on engaging stories and incorporated catchy songs. Our first show - Stick Man (read our experience here) had a tiny live band at the side to introduce different instruments and the sounds to the kids. 

The lighting and the costumes were very on point for The Smeds and The Smoos. Although it is a children's productions, my parents and myself enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Also, we really like that they used proper English, following the story, throughout the show!

If you come early, there will always be colouring stations set up for the kids. Do remember to check out the booth selling children's books. It has a nice curation of the popular books and I always enjoy flipping through some of them to have a sense of the content and moral values it conveys. Personally, I like stories that have a good flow. :)

Till the next show, I will be documenting the siblings' introductions to the arts so that fellow parents can have a sense and take a page. :) Hopefully, we can soon proudly declare ourselves as the friends of the arts. :D

Polar Photo Cake: Making our own cake

Parents, you must know this! Especially if you child (like mine) takes some odd penchant over some odd looking creature that no one knows about. My toddler was crazy over Hop Hop the owl and requested that for his birthday cake. 

It was so tough because no bakery was commissioning it and we needed it to be halal as well. With Polar Photo Cake, you just need to find a nice clean picture. (Note: you might need to do some edits yourself because there are copyrights issues if you rip directly offline.)

I couldn't find any clean pictures of Hop Hop, so my friend kindly drew this for me. Not every parent has an artist for a friend, so I am sharing this here so that Hop Hop lovers can have their Hop Hop cake. In fact, my kid QC-ed and could identify the characters. You would need to edit it to a square image so that you can upload it on Polar website. 

For around $30, you can effectively get a cake. You just to further customise the piping and stuffing. We brought the cake to school and our child was overjoyed. None of his friends knew these characters -_- but they sure love the cake, having multiple helpings!

Singapore Comic Con Prelude

This is quite an exciting experience for me because it is the first time I am going with my toddlers to a comic con event (though it is just a prelude). I have went for a few renditions 2019, 2013 and 2015, you can click on each year to read the review and I always had so much fun. I am no cosplayer la, but I enjoy looking at the costumes and I have friends who are cosplayers/ toy collectors so I have a bit of an appreciation. 

The prelude is pretty much a watered-down version of the actual convention. Basically, there will be stores selling merch and limited-edition toys. There will also be artist booths where you can even score some commissioned pieces. I always enjoy just wandering around and spending more time on items that catch my eye. 

For the prelude, there was the kid's cosplay competition which I found it to be pretty cute. There is just something adorable about children dressing as mini manga or comics characters. These kids were really courageous too to go on stage. Some of the costumes/ props were handmade and there was so much effort. 

My toddler was less receptive to the adults' cosplayers in particular spiderman and black panther. He found the superheroes a bit scary which was quite a pity cos I am a huge superhero fan. Other attendees told me this is quite normal and "not to give up". It does remind me a little on our theater experience. We still have a few months till the actual convention. Let's see where this goes :)

Ending this post with a photo of the macaroons we drew ourselves. This was insanely difficult. I always thought it looked so easy to pipe. Now i know... Mac Bites is so talented and her macaroons was one of the best we ever tasted. There were other activities such as the painting of totems as well. But I was so overwhelmed with the toddlers, I couldn't do everything. Could only pick and choose one activity every time they knocked out LOL.

Food Tour 37: Food I didn't really like

More food which we tried recently. Reviewing them again so that you guys can put the calories and money into better use. 

1. Western Mahua

To be quite honest, we tried Alijiang first and was super impressed with the China-Chinese food. Heard that Western Mahua was affiliated to them so we gave it a try. Personally, I don't think it is as good. It is cheaper though. But it doesn't give that wow factor. Their Rou Jia Mo (Chinese Burger) was pretty good though. 

2. Tai Er

I had a lot of anticipation for Tai Er because I heard a lot about it and generally I do like the Chinese-Chinese food. I queued around 30mins too for this. It was not really my taste at the end of the day and I had trouble finishing it. Even their sides was quite meh for me. I only liked the drink. I am not sure whether it is just me, but I am not going to be back. I have other suan cai before and I think their taste are better. Wonder why Tai Er is more popular. Hmmm?

3. Gram Cafes & Pancakes

They were kinda of trending during covid lock-down and we ever tried a groupbuy. Honestly I was not the most impressed so I wondered if it was because this taste best...fresh. Apparently, nope. I think it is those desserts that look better than it taste. Unlikely to see me there again. 

Wireless Earbuds Review: Evo Z1

Oddly, I have been really slow in jumping on the wireless gadget wagon. Shocking but true, I use a lot of wired gadgets. My greatest fear has been the earbuds dropping, me losing a side or just being uncomfortable in them. After trying the Evoxz, I have safely conclude that it is my insecurities talking. 

What I am using here is the Evo Z1 ($49.90). It is sleek looking and reasonably priced. I have been using this piece everywhere - on the roads, on official calls/meetings and doing sports. It is highly comfortable and the sound quality is pretty dope for music lovers. 

Evo Z1 has a few noise control settings with one being the sound cancellation effect. Funny story, I was walking past a construction one day and the loud sounds were giving me a bad headache. I whipped out my handy dandy earbuds and gave the cancellation effect a try and it was so effective. Although that's not the intended use of a earbuds, I am now using this device to block out unwanted noise, chatters to help me focus better at work/ during revision or working out. 

Evo is a local brand and they do have other models with Evo Z1 being the most recent release. Personally, when it comes to gadget. I would say go for the latest because it has the best technology. And honestly, the difference in price isn't that much. Unless you prefer the "Samsung look" then the other models may suit you better. :) Hope you guys appreciate this review because when it comes to newer brands, I am always hesitant and wish someone has given it a try first hehe. So here's me giving it the first go at all your benefits!

Energizer Longer Lasting Adventure

For parents out there, this is something you might be keen in. Energizer is having a gateway for 2 on 7 Oct and all you have to do is purchase $10 of Energizer batteries. (For us, it is quite easy to hit because my kid's toys use super a lot of batteries.) I did a bit of snooping and the events line up include carnival games, movie by the beach etc. 

If you are the lucky 4, you even get to join them at glamping on 6 Oct, along with a treasure hunt. A pretty interesting experience for the kids if you ask me. And best of all, you don't have to go out the way to purchase something you don't need. Seeya there folks! Remember to submit your receipts here!