A Juggling Mom

Playeum A World Full of Stories exhibition

November 22, 2016 Comments: 3

Playeum’s latest exhibition, A World Full of Stories

The school holidays are officially here! While the kids are rejoicing at the long-awaited break from school, you can keep keep them busy in a good way at Playeum’s third and latest exhibition, A World Full of Stories that launched on 15 November 2016 at Gillman Barracks.

A World Full of Stories’ offers a series of interactive and open-ended spaces for young minds from the ages of 1-12 to feed their creative imagination through role play, storymaking, illustration, writing, drama and puppetry. Here there are no rules and kids can thinker about with that appeals most to their sense and interests.

Story Cubes

Here kids are encouraged to get lost in a good book or two with some of the world’s best story books in the book corner. I really liked the idea of an open display of titles with their vibrant book covers in the wooden shelves that’s just calling out to be read.

Or perhaps your kids prefer making up their own stories. Here children are encouraged to spin their own tale using the magnetic surfaces of these cube shaped structures with visuals of places, characters and objects which can take them from a fantasy or an adventure story.

Story Caves

Who doesn’t like hiding in a cave? Sophie went wild running in and out of these immersive and multisensory cardboard caves with the little friends that she made at day.

One of them had a glowing magical environment where it lit up by luminous objects and the other had cups, funnels and tubes running through it that allowed kids to experiment with sound. Plus I think they really liked that it was kid sized which sends an unofficial signal for parents to keep out of their play zones.

Story Raft

Another of Sophie’s favourite spot was the story raft. This centerpiece right in the middle of the space at Playeum just calls out to every kids to jump onboard and pretend they are out at sea on a raft.

While it may be simple in setup, there are lots of possibilities where kids can take turns being the Captain on the steering wheel or paddle away as a member of the crew. They can also have a time of art and craft and create their own jelly fish with recycled materials or play with kinetic sand, something which Sophie never gets tired of playing.

Chalk painting

Another activity that was a hit with Sophie was chalk painting. I was surprised to learn that you can make chalk paint simply by mixing chalk powder that’s been crushed up with water and they’re ready to go on glass panels.

There’s something just so therapeutic when you allow the paint brush to take over as you watch the colours appear on the glass door. I’ve been told that it can be easily wiped away as well, so give it a shot as an indoor rain activity at home in the bathroom 🙂

Fantasy Dress Up

Kids can dress up to be who they want to be at this space with plenty of materials to choose from. The idea is so simple but I can foresee endless possibilities for both little boys and girls and it sure makes a fantastic play date idea too!

The Story Booth

Still in line with their story telling theme, this interactive story booth invites children to share their stories in a purpose-built space, enabling them to document their creations through photography and video.

Play Making Space

I liked the open area at the back of the space where kids are welcome to get hands on and make puppets and toys from upcycled materials, from cardboard to cloth, pipe cleaners and much more.

Children can also stage their own puppet show and be the little budding directors they always wanted to be behind the screens complete with sound and lighting effect.

A Film Full of Stories

If your kids prefer listening to stories instead of being their own storyteller, then head here where some of Singapore’s finest storytellers whisk you away with their stories as the walls light up with glowing story icons and motifs on the surrounding walls.

The Chalk Wall

Don’t forget to get your kids to leave their mark and add their own chalk artwork on the huge chalk walk. It’s literally a canvas waiting to be filled by the creative imagination of kids 🙂

Holiday Camps

Do check out the series of Holiday Camps held in November and December 2016 in store at Playeum where kids can learn to be their own flim director, or experiment with sand doodling or coding.

More information can be found on their website here.

A World Full of Stories by Playeum

Dates: 15 November 2016 to 30 April 2017
Location: Children’s Centre for Creativity, Blk 47 Malan Road, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109444
Admission prices: $22 per child/parent pair, additional adults $10
Opening Times : Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm
Visit Playeum’s website for more information or click here.

Here’s other’s mums take on A World Full of Stories

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*A Juggling Mom was invited to the media invite to write this review. All photos and opinions are my own.

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Hana Restaurant for Flying Soba and Udon

November 9, 2016 Comments: 4

One thing I love about Instagram and Facebook is how I can easily discover the latest happenings in town. This can be anything from family friend activities, to the newest attractions and of course new eateries and restaurants, especially the oh so Instagram worthy ones.

But like everyone, the big question that usually follows is, is it worth all the hype and does the food taste as good as it looks.

Lately I’ve been seeing Hana’s Flying Udon and Soba appearing on IG and of course I was intrigued. Just what sorcery is used here for this gravity defying dish of noodles?!

Image Credit : http://sethlui.com/

You need to read all the way to the end of the post to know how ingenious this presentation idea is.

It’s been ages since I’ve gone to Orchard (hands up if you’re like me too!) but since Hana Restaurant is in Orchard Forum, a trip to town is inevitable.

I’m glad we went because the Christmas decoration in Orchard Road is up which means that Christmas is just round the corner. But the Christmas lighting this year looks very very modest and I don’t see the usual elaborate and extravagant dress up which I’m looking forward to.

But of course that didn’t stop us from snapping some photos for keepsake 🙂

At the Tiffany and Co Christmas tree

Snow Globe in Wheelock Place

At Orchard Forum

Hana Restaurant

This is the part where most food blog fail to mention but be prepared for crazy queues people! Thankfully, my sister arrived even before they opened and we managed to secure a table along with the rest of the diners who came like half a hour before they opened their doors. So yes, so early and then queue.

My cousin who went last week waited an hour and their food took a while too, so you’ve been warned.

So was the queue worth it at least?

Hana Restaurant

Gravity defying noodles!

We ordered their signature Flying Truffle Somen and when it was served, all our jaws dropped and Sophie gave me a wide eyed OMG look.

It was served with sakura ebi, fish roe, crunchy cucumber, seaweed accompanied with a dish of truffle dipping sauce.

I’ve seen this dish introduced on a few blogs and the presentation somehow varies so much. I’ve seen it presented in a two tiered dim sum basket, so Instagrammable right? But mine ….the picture speaks for itself

Another food blogger had quail eggs in theirs but it was certainly missing in mine.

Taste wise it was very underwhelming. The truffle taste was barely there and tasted like soya sauce which you typically have with cha soba and certainly lacked flavour. The roe was it’s saving grace as it gave a burst of flavour with each mouthful of noodles.

Though the flying somen may be mediocre, the salmon cheese maki and lobster mayo taco won us over!

You wouldn’t expect to get tacos in a Japanese restaurant because sushi, so it was surprising to find it on the menu. And the formula certainly worked where generous chunks of lobster roll was wrapped in crispy taco, and topped with ebiko, sushi rice and lettuce.

We also had the salmon cheese maki and it was so good. But my grouse, where’s the transparent four tierd drawer that I see on other food blogs?!

But no complains on the food as taste wise the salmon cheese was grilled to perfection with that ever so slight charred taste. And as the ebiko burst in my mouth with each bite, my taste buds did a little dance.

One last pose before we dig in

We also had the cod fish mentaiko and it was another dish that saved the day. So my advice is to go for their grilled items as the chef certainly knows how to bring out the best in it.

And for the final reveal of how they made the noodles fly…

Mystery revealed!

Tadah!

You didn’t really think it was magic did you? Sorry to burst your bubble.

So while the noodles may be Instagram worthy, it failed to deliver in the taste department. But then again, they have other options like the salted egg skinny udon and flying cha soba, so don’t just take my word for it and try it for yourself.

Go for the grilled items definitely as I felt they were the winning dishes that night. Overall it was a fun experience where all the diners were busy snapping photos of the flying noodles, so they wouldn’t have time to judge you if you did the same. I find that it’s a rather pricey place for a meal and we spend $85 for what we ordered.

Would I return? Probably not… so if you had a better dining experience at Hana, do leave a comment and let me know what you had. I may just give them a second chance.

Hana Restaurant

Address: 83 Orchard Road, #01-17, Forum The Shopping Mall, Singapore 238884.

Tel: 6737 5525

Nearest MRT: Orchard

Facebook: Hana Restaurant

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Weekend at St Kilda and Luna Park, Melbourne

October 28, 2016 Comments: 4

It’s the last week of October and very soon the school holidays will be upon us. While everyone around me is sharing about their travel plans to some place, some where, we decided that we are contented with one good holiday and be more prudent with our finances.

After all, we went to Melbourne in June and it was extra meaningful to us because we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary there, back to where we went on our honeymoon. Instead of envying my friend’s travel escapades, I’ll channel my energy to document the rest of our Melbourne trip and keep the memories alive.

On the 4th day, we had brunch with dear friends of ours who are now living in Melbourne. This family has been so inspiring in many ways and conversations with them, about their decision to uproot and shift to Melbourne for a new start up and quality of life made me ponder about the kind of life that I want to lead and what I want to do to achieve a more wholesome life after seeing what a full life they have. Don’t you just love takeaways like that to keep you in check?

With Ruth and her little darlings

Waiting for breakfast

Hand twisted piece of art by yours truely

Since it was the weekends, Sunday to be precise, a visit to the weekend market of St Kilda is in order for some shopping and a visit to Luna Park!

We weren’t expecting rain in winter so it was quite a damper to see lesser stalls open. I should make a mental note of it and return in Spring instead, but that didn’t stop us from having a good time.

Nutella bottle crepe stall totally got my attention

St Kilda’s pier

One thing I enjoy seeing is all the beautiful hand craft items that are sold at the weekend market and the diversity from stall to stall. There’s soap to painting, accessories to knitted sweaters, wooden treasure boxes and plenty of other nick knacks.

When I announced that I was done with the weekend market after getting souvenir for friends, Alexis and Sophie were overjoyed because …

LUNA PARK, here we come!

Power jump at the sight of Luna Park!

But first, let’s take a selfie!

If you’re in Melbourne with the family, then you got to come to Luna Park, which is just at St Kilda. After all it is Melbourne’s most well-known amusement park that goes way more than 100 years and has been delighting generation of families.

Alexis was looking forward to take the Scenic Railway roller coaster, which has the title of being the oldest operating wooden roller coaster in the world and the only one of its kind with a standing brakeman in control aboard its moving carriages. But he was left disappointed as the ride was closed due to safety issues after the rain. The last I heard, the ride is currently closed as it’s still under maintenance.

Alexis got his adrenaline fix when he spotted the Power Surge, that twists and turns and spins.. I can’t even go on without getting a little dizzy…anyway I was contented to just go on milder kiddy rides with Sophie.

Though the theme park is not very big, there is a good variety of rides for adults and kids. We enjoyed the bumper car and went on it multiple times which is always great fun. Sophie always insists on sititng with papa because she says that I have bad driving skills *boo hoo*

The Ferris Wheel was also another favourite of ours as we got a bird’s eye view of the whole park and the bay area.

We spent 2.5 hours at Luna Park and that was enough for my little one as she played to her hearts’ content. And really isn’t this what a family vacation is all about, that she gets her share of fun and it’s not about her tagging along where ever we go.

I was surprised that she wanted to go on the viking ship as she said, and these were her words, “It doesn’t look so scary, why are they screaming?” Turned out, she had a rude shock when the viking ship went higher and higher and was a lot scarier than she anticipated. Thankfully, she recovered from the nasty scare and laughed it off when daddy asked her about her experience. But she added she’s not going on it any time soon 😛

I am no fan of the viking ship and imagine I had to put on a brave front in front of Sophie when I saw her turned green and smiled like it was nothing… If only she knew how I was screaming my lungs inside and wanted to die.But isn’t that what being a parent does to us, to make us stronger than we think we are.

After being in the city for 4 days, we headed to Yarra Valley the next day and onwards on a roadtrip to the Great Ocean Road.

More details about Luna Park

Address: 18 Lower Esplanade. St Kilda VIC 3182

Opening hours: Weekends, Victorian school holidays and public holidays (Except Christmas)

Ticketing details here.

Hit the links below for the rest of our Melbourne trip 🙂

Day 1- Queen Victoria Market and Wedding Anniversary Dinner at Rare Steakhouse Uptown

Day 2- On board the Puffing Billy steam train

Day 3- Melbourne Street Art and Laneways

I’ll be sharing more about the rest of our free and easy itinerary on the blog soon.

Enjoyed reading this Post? Do like my Facebook page to get travelling updates. You can also follow me on Twitter (@Susankoh) or Instagram (@ajugglingmom) for more travel and parenting posts.

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My Little Pony Musical in Singapore – Rainbow Rocks

October 24, 2016 No comments

My Little Pony Musical in Singapore

With a primary school going kid, October is associated with exams and stress. While Sophie may not have any exams, she does have mini tests… well actually how can it be considered mini when she’s tested on a whole year’s worth of learning? Anyway, it’s all ending next week and I know that she’s looking forward to November when the school holiday starts.

And this school holiday, she’s in for a huge surprise because we’ll be catching her all-time favourite My Little Pony in their musical premier, Rainbow Rocks! We’re so looking forward to it as we are fans of these lovable, colourful ponies who are always sharing the magic of friendship wherever they go.

With the My Little Pony, Apple jack and Twilight Sparkle

my-little-pony-friendship-run-01-1-768x576

At the My Little Pony Friendship Run this year

(more…)

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What my child will remember about me

October 17, 2016 Comments: 24

One thing I wasn’t warned about Primary School was the number of school holidays my daughter was getting when she entered Primary One. You see back when Sophie was a preschooler, she attended a full day childcare where they had the usual public holiday closures and 6, 7 days of centre closures for centre cleaning, teachers training, etc. It was all good for me as a working mum because it means she’s well cared and I didn’t have to worry about making alternative arrangements.

Now that’s she’s in Primary School, we have extra days of school holidays from term breaks in March and September, school holidays in June, November and December. Then there’s also school closures for post National Day, post Deepavali, PTC, and this week school’s out for 4 days due to PSLE marking days.

I know Sophie is certainly not complaining, because no school and no classes. Since Primary Ones get to escape the dreaded year end exams (a huge relief), she’s likely going to bury herself in lots of reading plus tv and play time at grandma’s place.

But what these extended school breaks mean for working parents like you and me is more meticulous planning of our annual leave. I hear you too that my annual leave is just never enough especially when our kids enter primary one since the childcare leave entitlement gets cut from 6 days to 2 days.

The things my child will remember

I know it’s easy to tell our kids that mummy and daddy got to work that’s why we can’t be with them during the school holidays. But please don’t ever tell them it’s because that’s how we get money to buy them the latest toy or take them on holidays because I know for a fact they’ll rather trade that toy or holiday for dad and mum to be with them.

Between hubby and I, we try our best to take leave whenever school’s close to take Sophie out because we know it means the world to her. I know much is said about having quality time that makes up for quantity time but sometimes it just doesn’t measure up.

Work is no doubt important but what matters more is that I want my daughter to know she’s significant too. And for that she’s always very appreciative whenever we take leave to spend time with her and create precious memories in her childhood where mummy and daddy are never far away.

Cheat sheet on where to go when school’s out

On the past few occasions, we’ve taken her ice skating at Kallang Ice World in Kallang Leisure Park which we absolutely loved as it was a much needed respite from our crazy hot weather.

Sophie was a real champ going from a total noob to skating independently after just 2 hour. I just love watching her in action as her initial apprehension turns to confidence as she skate with ease and even high fioves me for another accomplishment unlocked.

Channeling her inner Else while ice skating at Kallang Ice World

Two weeks ago, we took her bowling at Orchid Bowl in SAFRA Punggol on Children’s Day because according to her, it would be a crime if we didn’t celebrate it with her :P.

Thanks to my friend’s recommendation, we found out that they carry bowling balls that were just 5 pounds, making them very suitable for children. Plus they have the most adorable games to keep score where you get to “dress” your monster.

There were other variation of game scores but we were happy with this and any thing that makes the little one tick. Oh but I gotta add that Sophie had muscle aches the next day and asked for massages, so go easy on the bowling.

Besides bowling, you can also take the kids to Splash @ Kidz Amaze, an indoor water playground where water play can happen rain or shine. Or how about karaoke at Manekineko, where you may just discover your kid’s singing prowess.

Bowling at Orchid Bowl in SAFRA Punggol

Another time, I took these two on the Circle Line to hunt for tape art at Sixth Avenue. It’s a part of Singapore that we rarely venture to but I’m glad they were game for a little adventure and even obliged with lots of hilarious poses which I shall not embarrass them with on the blog.

Rocking it!

As for this week, she’ll be mostly at grandma’s place but I’ve made plans to take her to KidZania with some friends and I hope she enjoys it since she didn’t have any company on her first visit.

The best childhood memories I had, were the moments when my parents were there

I hope that all these little seemingly small thing creates the best kind of childhood memories for Sophie, one that held her hand when she learnt to skate, one that cheered her when she first bowled, one that had bedtime stories told by mummy, one that had crazy awesome prata tower with her, one that laughed with her, cried with her and most importantly, one where I was right there for her.

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