A Juggling Mom

Weekend Getaway to Johor Bahru

March 30, 2016 Comments: 61

March was a busy busy month at work for me. Though I made initial plans to take Sophie out during the March school holidays, these got shelved and she had to spend her holiday at both grandmas place.
Thankfully, I did managed to take a day off during the mid-week and we went to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. It was really fascinating to learn that we had our very own Natural History Museum to boast of and that ought to deserve a blog post of its own, which I need to get down to soon I promise.
Anyway, Alexis and I felt bad that we didn’t get to spend much time with Sophie during the March school holidays and decided to go on a weekend getaway to Johor Bahru over the Good Friday weekend. Unlike the other trips where we made the mandatory visit to Legoland, we decided to explore the other places in JB this time.

Getting to JB

Since we sold off our car early this year, we got a driver to drive us in and out of JB. This was a contact shared by a friend and the MPV was more than enough for the three of us, including our luggage. We anticipated long jams to JB, since it was a long weekend. But it wasn’t too bad as the whole journey took 3 hours from our home to hotel in JB. And when you’re not doing the driving, the jam becomes that much more bearable too.

Stuck in a jam to JB

Stay in JB

We stayed in two hotels for our 3D2N trip and the first hotel we stayed was the Puteri Pacific, a 4 star hotel with a very convenient location in the city centre, just across City Square.

On the second day, we checked into Doubletree by Hilton and we loved it even more! Besides the warm reception when we checked in, we were delighted to receive their famous chocolate chip cookie. And that my friend is how you impress your guests. The hotel looks spanking new, clean and modern and the pool and gym was up to mark too. Yes, I actually hit the gym during this trip and my PT even reminded me to train for my upcoming run >.<

Shopping and Eating in JB

As the hotel was just across City Square, we headed there after we dropped our luggage since we couldn’t check in yet. Ironically, the first thing we ate was the famous Penang Chendol and Asam Laksa from the Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul on level 3.

Penang Chendol in City Square

This is the very same stall that I’ll hunt down whenever I’m in Penang and on my recent trip there last year, I brought my parents there and they loved it too.

After a satisfying brunch, we did some shopping in City Square and here you can find familiar brands like Cotton On, H&M, Royal Sporting House, Uniqlo, MPH, Popular, etc. And yes, you can even use your local Popular member card to enjoy greater discounts, though I must add that the selection of books was rather disappointing and we bought our books from MPH instead.

With our stronger currency, things naturally seem cheaper here but nevertheless, we’re still discerning shoppers and bargain hunters looking for good value and one place that I enjoy shopping at is Padini. I usually get basics like T-shirts, tights, dresses for Sophie and their range of clothes for adults are not too shabby either. Another place I shop for basics is FOS and Sophie chose a Frozen t-shirt that was retailing at S$10.

Lunch was an easy decision and we settled on Dragon-i as Sophie was looking forward to xiao long bao. But this time some of the dishes were more of a miss than hit, but I don’t think that will stop us from returning.

But when it comes to food, there are plenty of options at City Square, like Seasons (like our Swensons), Kim Gary, Sushi King, Old Town, Papa Rich and the list goes on and on.

Angry Bird Activity Park

Since Legoland was not on the agenda for this trip, we decided to take Sophie to the Angry Bird Activity Park in Komtar JBCC, just next to City Square. While most of the blog reviews didn’t seem too promising, we were not deterred by it since Sophie surprised us with how much she enjoyed The Little Big Club on our last visit.

The place isn’t very big and while you pay RM75 per pax for adult and child, you only get to be in the park for 3 hours as they have 3 timeslots for the day, 10am-1pm, 2-5pm and 6-10pm.

Alexis very gamely agreed to accompany Sophie while I continued with my shopping and here are some photos he took while I shopped at Daiso (it’s only RM5.30 here), Padini, and the sports wear shops.

Angry Bird Activity Park in Komtar

Hiding among the eggs and on the go kart

The main attractions are the trampoline and foam pit which Sophie went for again and again. She also rode the go kart but was terrified to try the drop zone.

But the poor thing got ill after 2 hours and was running a high fever, so we cut short our visit and headed back to the hotel for her to rest.

By evening, it started to pour. So I sent Alexis to buy dinner from IT Roo Cafe where they supposedly have the best chicken chop in Malaysia. And not just in JB but in Malaysia.

The cafe is at the junction of Jalan Dhoby and Jalan Pahang and you can’t miss their shop. We had both the grilled chicken chop and deep fried chicken chop that was accompanied by thick wedges of potatoes, cold slaw and mushroom gravy and both versions were super yummylicious, not too greasy and the batter was just nice too.

Poor Fifi, only had a soupy noodle and refused to touch any of it because she wanted to recover quickly so that she could go swimming the next day.

Here’s the address for it and do note that they open at noon.

IT Roo Cafe
Address: 17, Jalan Dhoby, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening Hours: 12-10pm

Besides shopping and checking out the awesome local food, we also went cafe hopping and checked out the street art in JB. If you’re heading to JB, then don’t miss these posts where I share some of my shopping finds and places to go cafe hopping across the causeway as well.

Like/Share this:

A Magical Time at Disney on Ice Magical Ice Festival Review

March 13, 2016 Comments: 2

It’s been 3 years since the Disney movie Frozen captured the hearts and minds and even vocal chords of children all over the world. Who says they are ever going to Let It Go… And this year, the pair of royal sisters, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna makes their very first appearance on ice at Disney On Ice Magical Ice Festival along with the ever adorable Olaf, Kristoff and his loyal pal, Sven the reindeer.

Waiting for the Magical Ice festival to start

The 2 hour show kicked off with an energetic and colourful opening by Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy with a very lively team of ice skaters, where their high energy routine got the audience anticipating for more.

The show featured 4 of Disney’s well loved movies, The Little Mermaid, Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, and of course Frozen.

Just like the movie, there was an upbeat atmosphere for The Little Mermaid where the ice skating rink was transformed into a sensory feast for the senses when it came to, Under the Sea , led by Sebastian. The ice skaters came dressed as various sea creatures and crustaceans, from sea stars, to fishes to sea horses and sea rays.

But the most impressive performance that had the audience spell bound was when Ariel got her wish and transformed her tail for legs and did an aerial performance while being suspended on rope! That was some world class act!

The floating lanterns were of course was the highlight in Rapunzel as the spirited teenager goes on a journey to discover that she’s the lost princess after all these years of being locked away in the tower by the evil Gothel. Her rendition of Mother knows best had me winking my eye at Sophie… subtle hint..not! haha.

Her beau Flint Ryder was both charming and annoying and I found his protrayal most realistic and true to character as he flirted and tried to get Rapunzel to return his stolen loot.

Specially selected kids who got to take part in the performance

The oversized Maximus with 2 ice skaters maneuvering it displayed great coordination as they brought the character to life and took centre stage here with the rest oft the ice skaters.

This year, Belle and the Beast finally makes an appearance with their own segment. The segment opened with the scene at the town square where Belle was introduced as the one that Gaston has his eyes on for marriage with song and dance by the villagers.

When it was Be our Guests, the little ones belted alongside with gusto where the stage burst with a dazzling display of colour, songs and dance.

Delightful characters like Lefou, Lumiere, as well as the motherly Mrs Potts and Chip also lent their charm to the whole segment as they tried to get Belle to fall in love with the Beast to break the spell. The transformation of the Beast into the prince had us holding on to our breathe and of course it was a happily ever after ending for him and Belle.

Finally when it was Frozen, the whole place screamed with excitement! A true testament that these little fans have not Let It Go after all these years since the movie became such a phenomenal hit at the box office.

Olfa was so adorable and the part where his head was knocked off had us all in shock because… well you’ve got to watch it to catch the surprise yourself. And we all awww at the part where he said the famous line, “because some people are worth melting for”.

Queen Elsa and Princess Anna at the coronation

We especially liked that they kept most of the special effects for the Frozen grand finale where there was pyrotechnics and special snow effect when Elsa ran from Arendelle up into the mountains to build her ice palace.

The whole place was like a huge concert when kids and adults alike swayed and sang to the song of Let It Go. I took a look over at Sophie and she was absolutely beaming as she sang her heart out with the other kids.

Olaf’s In Summer Song was another hit where he sang about what he’ll like to experience in Summer along with bustling and cheerful looking butterflies, birds and bees in a array of colours with fancy dance moves!

Overall it was a sensational show and I must say that while the princeses all have their fans, it was Frozen that stole the limelight that evening!

Every segment follows the movie closely and each story can move quite fast to keep it within 20 mins or so. But it’s injected with lots of songs and dance in between so there is never a dull moment.

Our show at 7pm started promptly, so do grab an early dinner. There are plenty of food options at Kallang Wave Mall or Leisure Park next door. Don’t forget to check out the merchandise available from stuff toys, T-shirts, balloons and more! There are also popcorn, ice slushies that are in limited edition cups and buckets.

Olaf ice slushie

Disney on Ice presents Magical Ice Festival runs till 20 March. So hurry and buy your tickets soon!

Disney on Ice presents Magical Ice Festival

Date: 11 March 2016 to 20 March 2016

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

To book your tickets for Disney On Ice’s Magical Ice Festival , you may purchase them online at www.sportshubtix.sg.

Like/Share this:

Finding escape from my everyday life

March 10, 2016 Comments: 4

Wait, that title sounds a little misleading.

This isn’t about my plan to book an air ticket, pack my luggage and take off to somewhere far away from my ordinary and somewhat mundane life. Though I’m sure I must have entertained those thoughts when the stress level runs into an overdrive mode on days when it gets crazy both at work and at home.

Instead my form of escape lies in the form of getting creative.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ~G.B. Shaw

From scrapbooking, Project Life, cardmaking, to craft work…oh the sense of escape I feel whenever I’m lost in my craft. But it’s been a while since I found the time to do all these as I made a new year resolution to not compromise on my sleep.

I must have been slowing wreaking my body staying up late at night to blog, complete my Project Life or simply doing mindless surfing…So I made a promise to myself this year to simplify by scaling back on areas that are causing me to lose sleep over, very literally. And after I started my engines to start working out, getting sufficient rest was even more essential.

Learning watercolouring

Last weekend, I got introduced to the world of water olouring by Dorothea, the creative brain behind dottieshop and oh, how good it feel to be able to create again. And surprisingly, it felt really therapeutic to just watch how colours and water can come together to create such beautiful pieces on an empty canvas.

Plus, it’s always exciting having a fresh avenue to get creative and pick up something new with friends as we painted and chatted away. Little Sophie came along for the session too and it was nice to have her painting quietly beside me.

Practicing what we learn to blend, blend, blend

With Dorothea and the rest of the mummies who added so much colour to my afternoon that day

The key takeaway I’ve learnt is that when in doubt, just add more water and blend, blend, blend.

I wasn’t very pleased with my initial painting as the blending looked awkward, lacking the soft gradient that the others managed to achieve. And I was clueless when it comes to imagining what a flower looks like to paint the petals and stigma and oh the variations of leaves there are was simply mind boggling.

So we went back and practiced our water coloring over the weekends and they looked more decent and quite pretty too.

Watercolouring supplies

1st attempt at water colouring

After some practice last weekend

Sophie’s water colouring piece

I like how Sophie tried painting a variety of flowers and even tried her hand at brush calligraphy which she thought of on her own. These days, I’m encouraging her to direct her own learning and tell me what she wants to pick up instead of me instructing her what to do. When the ball is in her court, I do get surprised by what the idea she offers and they give me a different perspective of her interests.

I reckon I’m going to need more practicing this weekend.

If you’re keen to pick up watercolouring, here’s a list of websites to get you started

What about you? How do you escape from reality? I’ll like to hear from you.

Enjoyed reading this post? Do like my Facebook page for updates and upcoming giveaways. You can also follow me on Twitter (@Susankoh) or Instagram (@ajugglingmom).

Like/Share this:

My Little Pony Friendship Run 2016

March 3, 2016 Comments: 12

When I heard that there was going to be a My Little Pony run this year, I was ecstatic because I knew that Sophie would look forward to it. She’s been a fan of the ponies and even had her 6th birthday to the My Little Pony theme last year.

I’m still learning the name of the ponies and would often get correct by her when I mistake Rarity for for Twilight Sparkle. Seriously, how many purple ponies are there?

Since this was Sophie’s second run after the Cold Storage run last year, we decided to take it up a notch and signed up for the 1km Pony Kids Run.

If you’re a fan of My Little Pony, chances are you probably must have been at Sentosa last Sunday for the My Little Pony Friendship run at Palawan Beach too. The weather was glorious last Sunday as Mr. Golden Sun gave us a healthy glowing tan after spending a few hour at the run and and the post race carnival.

My Little Pony Friendship Run 2016 at Sentosa

In case you’re wondering, there was a good mix of families, youngsters and yes even bronies who turned up at the race.

Bronies is a term affectionately reserved for male My Little Pony fans and they certainly were not closet fans as they donned tutus over their shorts and some came in multi-coloured knee high socks!

Image credit: doubledeetay Instagram

While others like Irene and her daughter, who came all dressed up like their favourite ponies! Super chio right?

Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy

We really liked the overall carnival feel of the whole race where there were plenty of photo opportunities before and after the race as well as activities post race. Everyone was there for a fun run with their friends or family. Some had coloured hair extensions, My Little Pony hairclips, rainbow coloured tutus and some even brought their plushies along.

Before we were flagged off for our parent and child race, the MC even told us to give high fives and hugs to our kids and there was even a surprise appearance by Pinkie Pie! Too bad we were too far behind and could only catch a glimpse.

Getting ready for the flag off

Pinkie Pie spotted!

When we started to run, I heard some parents encouraging their little ones to keep going or to stop and take a breather if they were too tired. And hearing these along the way made me grin from ear to ear because we all know that it’s not about how you start but finish the race that matters and in this case, the kids certainly were learning tenacity and finishing strong.

At one point after we made a U-turn and were headed for an up-slope, Sophie started to slow down and wanted to stop. But with some nudging and cheering from mama, she picked up her pace and crossed the finishing line like a winner!

Here’s us with our gorgeous My Little Pony medals!

If you missed the My Little Pony Friendship Run this year then do look out for it when it returns next year!

Like/Share this:

Navigating the bumps in Primary One

February 24, 2016 Comments: 10

Just before Sophie started school in Primary One, a few well meaning friends reassured me that Sophie will do just fine coping academically in school given that she has laid a good foundation during her childcare days.

Instead, the first year of Primary school will be all about making adjustments to a new school environment with new teachers and friends, waking up early (yes before the sun even rises). Learning how to be responsible for her own things from her personal belongings to her own learning (think weekly spelling, ting xie and even show and tell). And of course, there’s this new arena of making friends, learning to fend for herself and how to deal with bullies.

On that note, you may have seen my outraged Facebook post last Saturday where I blew up top after Sophie was accused of being a bully and was a bully victim herself. I know, what are the odds right and I swear I got extra sensitive every time I heard the word, bully.

What do you do when your child is bullied?

I’m well aware that there’s two school of thoughts when it comes to stepping in when our kids get bullied. One camp may be all for getting the child to stand up for themselves and to resolve the matter themselves as we parents watch from the sidelines.

The other is of course to jump in to your child’s defense, help them resolve the matter and try to restrain yourself from punching the bully in the face. (just kidding on the last part)

What happened was one of Sophie’s classmates took her newly purchased pen on the pretext of exchanging it with her since she had a similar pen. However, her friend didn’t keep to her end of the bargain and always forgot to bring her pen as promise.

After trying to get it back time and time again, the classmate gave excuses after excuses and soon it became apparent that she had no intention to exchange the pen or even return it when she finally told Sophie that she lost it.

Which girl can resist such a charming jewel pen, I know…

Despite Sophie’s many attempts to get her money back since the pen is gone, this classmate avoided her like plague and would walk the other way when she sees Sophie walking towards her. Finally I got the teacher to intervene as it was clear her classmate was trying to get away with it.

I know I sound like one of those dreadful parents who keeps the teachers busy over petty matters but the child must know that what she did is wrong. Anyway, after 3 weeks, Sophie finally got her $1.30 back and her friend even returned her pen. And guess what, Sophie told me that her friend asked if she could keep the pen cap, which is the part with the jewel, and my big-hearted girl said yes.

When I asked Sophie why she agreed since it was the jewel that first drew her to covet the pen so much, she said that her friend already returned her the money to her, so to have the pen back is a bonus.

I know it doesn’t make sense to me at all but the first thing I responded was, “You are such a good friend, Sophie and I’m so proud of you.” And I meant it with all my heart even though the alarms in my head were ringing and I wished she was slightly more street smart to know when she gets taken advantage of.

Well, this is how her jewel pen looks now… or should I say her multi-coloured pen minus the jewel.

But this is good enough for Sophie and I’ve much to learn from her on being contented in the little things or the bonuses in life that comes my way, as she so aptly puts it.

There’s actually more drama behind this pen episode as well as the other incident where Sophie was wrongfully maligned and accused as a bully by her classmate’s mum, but I shall leave the details out and hopefully this serves as a reminder for her to choose her friends wisely.

Not the best way to learn it via the hard way, but at least the matter got resolved and Sophie has put it behind her 🙂

Primary One Diary

Like/Share this: