Sand, sun and a spade

I love living where I do, in a small cosy estate in the East, a stone’s throw away from the wonderful food of Katong, easy access to shopping at Parkway Parade, a cool night breeze wafting in my living room, and most importantly, the East Coast beach a ten-minute walk away.

I’ve lived in this estate for most of my life, and as a youth, I must admit, I never found the allure of the beach. Not only did I become a parent did I realize how much fun a little sand and water will be – and free to boot!

Jay was occupied with a simple spade, and digging a h9ole big enough to stand knee-deep in.

Anything that will occupy him for 20 minutes – is a good endeavour in my books! Haha!

My younger prince is not as adventurous when it comes to sand play. Yet.

He refused to take his shoes off, and hardly wandered a foot away from where we were sitting! His choice of fun? A pail of sea water and some water toys! But I remember Jay only enjoying running on the beach after he turned two – and the turning point was the weekly chance at sandplay at his childcare. So there may be hope for Xav yet! Heh heh…

Nonetheless, spending a morning with the hubs and my two boys, followed by a very satisfying lunch at one of our favourite restaurant (Waraku) made for a perfect end to our Saturday!

Last weekend was also coincidentally our 6th wedding anniversary, and while we’ve tried to make some couple time the last few years, this was a weekend with a very tight schedule. So this was our little day out with the boys, and a mini-celebration. Sometimes I am a little amazed at how long we’ve known each other and been married, but without a doubt, it has been one awesome ride with my best friend and lover, and God’s blessing on my life!

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Memories of Bali

Started by Madeline of MadPsychMum, she got a bunch of us mummy bloggers to be reminiscing about past trips that we’ve been on. Around the World in 18 Days, anyone? Hop on this blog train and get some wanderlust (and inspiration) for your next trip.

As I was preparing this post, and looking at my past photos, I too was itching to go for an overseas trip. Which is apt – since the hubby and I and Jayvon will be popping over to Bangkok, Thailand in the middle of the month. My first overseas holiday post-Xavier! (Yes, I’ve been to some church retreats in the last 18 months, but as I was on the planning committee for these retreats, it can hardly be considered a holiday!)

Oh, but back to the present subject matter. Let me introduce the sunny island of Bali to you!

We brought the then-2-year-old Jayvon with us, and settled on Bali for our family destination because a couple of colleagues went and had good things to share about this island – especially when travelling with kids! As I was about 7 months preggy then, we brought our domestic helper along, and due to budget constraints (having to now book two hotel rooms instead of just one), we decided to go with the affordable Harris Kuta resort.

It was clean, no-frills, and located along the very busy Kuta beach. I probably would want to stay somewhere off Kuta though, but the advantage is that you can easily access the shopping areas and of course, Kuta Beach.

Me and Jay and my fat tummy.

Nic was determined to go for a full-day tours, to immerse ourselves in some Bali culture. Me? I wanted to just lie down. Haha! But nah, we all went for a very nice full day tour to visit some temples, and a coffee & spice plantation and even a volcano! (My blog entries of this tour!)

Apart from this full day, we spent most of the trip wandering the streets of Bali, checking out the local fare and clothes and knick-knacks on sale. Of course, my domestic helper who was Indonesian was a good help when we wanted to bargain! Haha!

Some sights we wouldn’t see in Singapore…Rustic-looking and colorfully-decorated vans for public transport that are PACKED to the brim!

Handmade kites for sale, decorating the houses in Ubud.

Seafood dinner literally by the beach at sunset.

Horse-carriage riding!

Affordable massages – which we helped ourselves to everyday!

Aah, loved it!

Oh, but how can I end off without a quick introduction on the yummilicious Indonesian food? We had traditional Balinese fare, Japanese, Western and more! The only disappointment in terms of food – was the KFC outlet! Haha!

And of course, I come away from Bali with some awesome memories of my two-year-old prince. :)

I hope you enjoyed my little recount of our last family trip to Bali, and I can’t wait for our adventure to start with Xavier as well!

Coming up on the blog train tomorrow…

Tomorrow, lilsnooze reminisces of her one & only holiday, sans children, at Maldives. A place which needs no introduction, she hopes the photos will bring out the beauty of the place known for white sandy beaches, deep blue seas and turquoise reefs. 

Lilsnooze put her high heels into cold storage for 1.5 yrs and is currently trying to master Home Economics 101& be the full time mother to her 2 young children while her husband studies. She blogs about the family's new adventures in the West Coast of USA , at This Blessed Life

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Of motor cars and bubbles!

Another packed weekend for us! I love spending time with my two boys and the hubby, and this weekend, we had a lot of fun together. Here’s a quick recap of what we were up to this weekend.

First up, we had a date with some motor cars at United Square. It was a new venture by my friends, and we decided to bring the boys for a spin and to support them!

It looked so fun – vintage cars that my friends specially imported in. Jay and Xav both loved it! We frequently bring Jay to play with the motorised cars (there’s one store that sets up shop at East Coast Beach), and the cool thing about this was that the kids had a “circuit” for them to race!

Jay and his Ferrari. Black like Batman’s car, which is why he chose this!

Pleased as punch as he makes his laps!

Xavier was close behind, courtesy of the remote control. Xav literally just had to sit back and let Daddy do the controlling. It was a fun time for Daddy too… haha! What is it about boys and remote controls, yeah?

And it was so fun, and the boys insisted on trying on another car. 

If you do make your way there, these vintage cars have more zoom and speed! Much more enjoyable for my little speedsters!

All in all, it was an awesome Saturday morning, and if you want to pop over, this will be running next weekend (Sep 8 & 9) from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at United Square (the area just outside Swensen’s).

That afternoon, both kids slept well as you can imagine, after spending close to 30 minutes in the hot noon sun!

And ordinarily I’d allow them to sleep in, but not this Saturday – because we had a date with a photographer! The very talented Steph Tan, who organized a special photoshoot marathon to raise funds. For such a noble cause (and on her birthday to boot!), and for a chance for a mini family photoshoot, I’d booked my slot with her months back! Haha! She was a whiz with the kids, though Jay was disappointed Roo (her gorgeous daughter) wasn’t around – as she was during our other photoshoot with her earlier this week.

Two semi-grouchy boys didn’t make for easy subjects, but they slowly warmed up to Steph and her warm ways. Very slowly – it was almost at the end of our time with her! I am waiting for the photos,  but we only managed to snap some shots on the hubby’s iphone.

My drama-mama little boy.

And the toy that won their hearts and coaxed the smiles – a bubble gun! I brought a bubble wand too, but for my impatient boys, this quick-working bubble gun excited them more!

All in all, a most wonderful weekend! ;)

How was your weekend?

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A mummy-endorsed school skipping day!

On Wednesday, I had a photoshoot with the two boys, and I decided to take the whole day off (even though the shoot’s only starting at 3 p.m.) and even got Jay to skip school for the day. Now, I fully understand such “skips” will probably be frowned upon when he reaches the Primary School system (which is in *gulp!* three years time) and so I want to take every opportunity to allow Jay to “pon tang” (i.e. Singlish-speak for skip school) – as much as my annual leave will allow, anyhow!

The venue: Bishan Park, and I reckon this is our first time there with the kids (shocking, I know…)

There were other kids around, and Jay made some newfound friends!

(Photos credit: Rachel Teo)

What were the kids so enamoured with?

They spotted a huge kite stuck way up high in a tree, and were busy contemplating how to “rescue” it!

Isn’t it amazing how something like that will fire up their imaginations, and they even found a branch and wanted to use it to “poke” the kite down (either that or maybe they wanted to climb up on it… Haha!) I love the expressions on their faces.

This should be the stuff of childhoods.

Running around with friends, dreaming up awesome adventures together, (attempting to) climb lamp-posts…

(Photos credit: Regina Moo)

Wrestling with dinosaurs and motor cars…

And so, so much more!

All in all, it was such an enjoyable photoshoot with blogging mummies Regina, Adora & Madeline and their cutesy kids, and a good chance for our kids to also have some fun as well!

Look out for some preview shots of my photoshoot, as well as the details of the blog campaign that started this all!

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A soapy day

I am not really a soap person. I mean, I bathe and all, but somehow using a bar of soap seems a tad… messy. But boy, has soap “evolved” since my younger days! Now it can be infused with essential oils, made of organic ingredients, used for detoxification or acne-clearing… really, the possibilities are endless!

Sharon of Oak Tree Baby organized a soap-making class for the children at Soap Ministry, and on a lark I decided to sign Jayvon up for it. I wasn’t sure how he would take to this, but I was open to let him try it out!

I have never seen my soap in such shapes before!

 

And even a tray of soap-sushi? Totally awesome!

We reached a little before the class started, and Jay was poking around the various shapes, and when he laid eyes on this, he had his soap mould chosen!

Robo-soap, anyone?

Jay even got to know a new friend Noey, and the boys excitedly examined the tools of the soap-making trade laid out before them on the table. Soap-making is a pretty simple art, as you just need to get the calculations correct, and Soap Ministry supplies everything from the digital scale, to the soap cutter, to more than 300 soap molds to suit any taste!

I kept reminding Jay to make some soap bars for his teachers for Teacher’s Day, and he remembered one of his teachers loved Hello Kitty, and that was the mold he decided to get.

The purple mold holds the Robot, the orange one is a Dinosaur shape that Jay chose for Xavier, and of course, Hello Kitty molds!

The participants were introduced to the three different soap bases, the benefits of using soap and essential oils. After thinking, Jay decided to use purple for his soap, and infused each bar with vanilla essence.

Many teachers were on hand to guide the children in ensuring the soap mixture was well-stirred.

Learning how to fill the molds.

Ta-da! Now for the soap to harden.

And when the moment of truth came, you can literally hear the gasps of happiness at how the soaps turned out and the sighs of reliefs that it went so well!

Check out his Hello Kitty bars? Cute to the max!

And Jay was uber-happy with his robot, as the detailing came out beautifully! Xavier’s soap?

Another success!

All in all, soap-making was made simple and fun, and Jay was so happy he wanted to return to make more soaps (he has his eye on a “gun” mold now).

If you are keen to check out a class for either your kid(s) or yourself, check out Soap Ministry’s website or Facebook Page.

Linking up with Susan’s Motivational Monday post today, experiencing something brand new has never smelt as wonderful!

Disclaimer: I paid for Jay’s class personally, and am in no way otherwise compensated for this post. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

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Of water and plants

Weekends are precious for us, especially since we work on the weekdays. So we do try to bring the kids somewhere a little special. I have two water-babies, and they love water play! We decided to go to the Marina Barrage to let the kids run wild a little.

Such a joy to see the two boys splash, karate-punch, jump and squeal around the sprouts of water.

After an hour of frolicking in the water, we decided to walk from the Barrage down to Gardens by the Bay – which was about 5, 10 minutes away.

I look forward to the day when the hoarding’s removed, as the view’d been pretty fabulous. Soon, the domes came to view!

It was our first time there, and we didn’t expect to see these:

Erm, nope, not the crowd (that’s expected) – but the stone animals lining the area! It thrilled both my boys to bits!

(Okay, I don’t think it’s very safe for kids to try to mount these statues, but it’s tough to tear Xav away without at least a little bump on the small elephants! Explanation for his reddish cheeks here – this was before we used the cream!)

We walked around, and did the usual touristy thing. Photographs!

The real Supertrees (above) and a tree whose branches look like the Supertree (below)!

We wanted to settle our dinner at the foodcourt…

but apparently so did a few hundred other people. There was a queue to enter the food court! Yikes… Guess that will have to wait till a while later.

Anyways, the Gardens were lovely to walk around, especially on a cool weekend afternoon.

Looks to be a frequent haunt for us as well! A friend mentioned she went on the Garden Cruiser Tour with her kids, and it was a quick 20-minute ride around the entire Gardens with commentary, so I am looking forward to that too!

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