A Juggling Mom

Why it’s okay to go to bed angry

November 2, 2015 Comments: 15

Never go to bed angry. I’m sure you’ve heard of this marriage advice before.

In our early days of marriage, Alexis and I were on the same page that any differences and unhappiness should be promptly resolved, least we allow ourselves to “let the sun go down in our anger”.

But over the years, just before bedtime became the witching hour for us when patience wears thin by the end of the day and our tiredness gets the better of us. We become easily snappy and irritable which sometimes escalates into quarrels when we can’t see eye to eye. And the irony is that this has been happening more often ever since we got Sophie to sleep on her own.

Since Sophie still needs me to settle her down to sleep, it’s not unusual that I end up dozing off which I’m sure happens to most mums right? When I emerge from her room after half an hour’s of cat nap, I look forward to catch up with hubby and have a quick chat about our day or pick up on a discussion we had earlier in the day.

But instead what greets me is a hasty goodnight from him as he finally takes his eyes off his handphone.

Great, I come out of Sophie’s room and try to ask how his day went and he just shuts me off after spending who knows how long on his handphone. And by then, its usually late so I do get it that he wants to sleep, but then if I didn’t come out from her room, I’m pretty certain he’ll still be glued on his handphone.

So I shoot him with some sarcastic remark only to be given the cold shoulder or else he’ll tell me to go to sleep and we can talk about it tomorrow.

I do heed his advice on some nights. But on other nights, when I’m wide awake and wouldn’t take no for an answer, I will push him over the edge by saying things that are totally uncalled for which ends up making both of us mad.

And the very morbid me often has thoughts like, what if we don’t resolve this and I die an angry person and not hear I love you because we are both so mad to say it the night before. And that’s when we end up in the predicament of do we go to bed angry or resolve it there and then?

Really, it’s okay to go to bed angry

And you know what, I think it’s taken us more maturity to hit the pause button and agree that we can sleep on it without having to resolve the conflict even though we may still be fuming and pick up where we left off tomorrow when we are thinking more clearly instead of sliding down the slippery slope and get things blown out of proportion when we say things we don’t mean and may jolly well regret the next day. And we all know that not only is a hungry man an angry man, a tired man is also an angry man.

But of course these days, I try to take it less personal when I catch him using his handphone in bed even though he tells me he’s sleeping … After all, I’m guilty of doing that to Sophie and she’s been ever so patient with me.

So yeah, take a time out when you’re both tired and you’ll likely wake up with a clearer perspective and be more clear headed than you did last night to resolve the issue at hand. You may even see how the argument sounds so silly or trivial the next day after you’ve had time to cool down and always remember that winning an argument is never the point when you’re both on the same team.

Do you always resolve your conflicts before bedtime or do you also choose to sleep on your arguments? Let’s hear it.

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Penang Family Vacation-Our Stay at Golden Sands Resort

October 28, 2015 Comments: 18

The month of October can be summed up in two words for me, Family Vacations.

And unlike other trips, where it was just the 3 of us, this time, my in-laws and parents came along and it was 3G family vacation first to Bangkok my in-laws and then to Penang with my parents. I’ve so much to share about both trips so I’ll start with our Penang trip while it’s all still fresh in my memory.

We took a short flight to Penang on Air Asia. Thankfully I don’t have to bring along my usual arsenal of in-flight entertainment for Sophie for the one hour flight. But I did prepare books and did an impromptu crossword activity to prep Sophie on the places we were going and seeing on our trip. She also made a paper aeroplane for the Captain and scored herself a photo with him!

The lucky girl who got to met the Captain of the plane

After we picked up our rented car from the airport, it was off to the hotel where we checked into the Golden Sands Resort, located along the popular Batu Ferringhi beach. When I was doing my research on family friendly hotels in Penang, the hotel came up many times among friends who gave it glowing reviews especially from those with kids. Besides the usual family friendly amenities, we liked that it gave us an opportunity to head to the sandy beach and get our toes in the sand and sea and be close to nature.

Golden Sand Resort in Penang

Being Golden Circle members, we were ushered to the Cool Lounge for check-in where we were greeted with warm hospitality and a welcome drink. Here guests can use their facilities like complimentary internet access, borrow books or watch the TV if the rooms are not ready yet. The hotel very thoughtfully arranged to have our room on the same level as my parents and we had the Deluxe Sea Facing Room while they had the Deluxe Hill Facing room.

Our room was furnished in a modern and contemporary style that exuded a very comfortable and relaxed resort vibe. I especially liked that the we had a full glass panel for the sliding door that opened up to panoramic view of the sea while overlooking the swimming pool. Sophie was welcomed by Polly the Parrot, the mascot for Adventure Zone that is an indoor playground right on the same grounds as the hotel!

The mandatory selfie upon check in

We wasted no time after unpacking and headed straight to the pool. As a family friendly hotel, they truly won me over when I saw the shelter above the kids pool. You know how we mothers will always try to get the kids out of the pool before they get burnt. In this case, never mind that it was 3pm in the afternoon, and I can play to her hearts content in the cool of the shade, under the watchful eye of a lifeguard on duty.

Besides this pool for the kids, there was another childrens’ pool with a water slide and it was a hot favourite among all the kids who went on the slide again and again. Too bad adults are not allowed! Guess it no surprise that we were at the pool on all three days of our stay.

The pool facility was only one of the reasons that makes the resort a child friendly establishment. Young guests between 5 to 12 years old also get to enjoy complimentary access to the Cool Zone Kids Club where they have activities such as art and craft, t-shirt painting, sand sculpture and even cooking lesson so parents can sneak off for some couple time. And not to worry, complimentary meals are also provided for your child.

While we didn’t a chance to check Sophie in at the Cool Zone Kids Club, we had a spectacular time at the Adventure Zone. Yes it wasn’t just her who got to play this time, Alexis and I also got to be kids and zipped down the rainbow wave slides along with her. The main highlight of the Adventure Zone is their thrilling drop slides where they have three levels, the Hyperglide Astra Drop also known as the rainbow wavy slide to Sophie, the Double Drop and the Demon Drop which none of us dared to try.

The hair raising Demon Drop Slide with a vertical drop of 7.3metres!

I took the most mild looking rainbow slide and it was so exhilarating that I embarrassed myself and let out a scream as I zoomed down the slide on the gunny sack while Sophie laughed at me. But I didn’t let that deter me and we were off for more thrills.

We were not aware that we need to dressed in long sleeves and long pants so we couldn’t try the other two slides. But Sophie did muster her courage and took the Double Drop where she landed into what she called M&M coloured balls and oh what joy to see her pride for conquering her fears and her her excited laughter from the rush of adrenaline.

Besides the slides, there were also challenging play modules that had us crawling, climbing, swinging, spinning and running around with abandonment. We must have played there for close to 3 hours and we probably would continue for another 1 or 2 more hours if we didn’t have to go for lunch.

Lounge area for parents

Toddler Zone within Adventure Zone for little tots

Our stay came with breakfast where we started our day at the open-air Garden Cafe that overlooked lush tropical greenery. We were spoilt for choice with local delights and international cuisines from freshly prepared roti canai to scrambled eggs, nasi lemak and dim sum, just to name a few.

But more than just the food, the service staff were all very welcoming, wearing bright smiles as they ushered us into the restaurant. They would occasionally check in to see if we needed anything, asked how was our meal and assisted with every request with a smile. That’s the warm hospitality that we really appreciated during our stay which made it extra special.

Polly dropped by at breakfast

Since we haven’t been able to head outdoors back home with the annoying haze, we were more than happy to wander out to the Batu Ferringgi beach which was right behind the resort. There were little huts offering massage, hair braiding as well as sea sports.

Sophie was contented to wet her feet in the sea and walk on sand and requested to go back to the pool. And since I missed my chance to do parasailing when we were in Phuket last year, I did it this time. It was exciting at first to be lifted off from the ground and flying up high and it was such an awesome feeling until I had difficulties decending. No matter how hard I pulled to get myself down, I was still afloat and I went for another round by which time I started to panic…

Anyway long story short, I realised I was supposed to only pull one side of the parachute to decend and finally managed to get myself on the ground after a loud thump 🙁 But still it was an experience I’ll never forget.

This is our third family trip to Penang and I’m certain we’ll be back soon. The short budget flights definitely makes it easy for the family to get away for a vacation and oh the food, glorious food that Penang offers, which I must blog about in another post.

Now that I’ve experienced Golden Sands Resort, I can see how my friends all have such fantastic reviews of it and my parents have been recommending the hotel to friends and family after we got back as well. Perhaps this 2016 Singapore Public Holidays is what you need to get booking for your next Penang trip 🙂

If you’re seeking for an escape in Penang, then slip away with the new wholistic wellness escape programme at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa in Penang. The all-inclusive retreat that will allow you to unplug from your everyday routine and refresh your body, mind and soul.

* A Juggling Mom received a complimentary stay at Golden Sands Resort to write this review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are honest and are my own.

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Fun ways to learn Chinese

October 23, 2015 Comments: 2

Inspired by Beanie N Us series on nurturing a love for Chinese, I decided to also share some activities that I do with Sophie to inject the fun element into learning Chinese.

Ever since we decided to enrol Sophie into a SAP school, one of our greatest worry is whether she will get used to learning in a Chinese environment. The last thing I wanted for her is to struggle with the language and dislike it so much that she rejects it.

So we have been very intentional to converse with her in Chinese, pick out Chinese titles from the library, read Chinese books for her and bring her to watch Chinese plays as well as TV programs.

At 6 years old, I would say that Sophie has made pretty good progress for her Chinese and a lot of credit goes to her Mandarin teacher in the childcare who made sure that she has a strong foundation in her reading and writing. She may not be very proficient now but what I’m most heartened is that she’s more and more comfortable using Chinese to communicate with us and that includes enjoying her Chinese books and even writing.

“Those things you learn without joy, you will forget easily.”-old Finnish saying

Fun ways to learn Chinese

1. Be dramatic

Every weekend, Sophie comes home from her Berries class with flash cards of idioms. Not something I was expecting K2 level to learn since I only learnt that in primary 5!

Usually there’s a story where the idiom is introduced and I’ll get her to read the book to explain what the idiom means. But we go a step further and make up our own stories using the idiom and sometimes it can be down right silly and funny.

Other times, I’ll get her to act it out so that there is an association of what the idiom means likes these below and when I leave it to her to come with her stories, the meaning of them sticks.

2. Playing games

In her class, she’s made to do this activity where the kids needs to fill in words either before or after a word so that they learn how to use the word. It’s somewhat like Chinese scrabble, not sure if I’m describing it right and it does help her to expand her vocabulary.

At this point, she still doesn’t know how to write a lot of words, so she just shouts it out and I get tested on my Chinese at the same time. Except there are times I make gross mistake like the one below where I wrote 手指 as 手子 . A LOL moment which we laughed about when I was pointed out of my mistake after I shared it on Facebook!

Using HYPY for words she doesn’t know how to write. And no reason why we can’t add doddles and drawings to reinforce those new words she just learnt too.

3. Story telling

To help Sophie get comfortable with writing in complete sentences, we role play as story tellers and teachers and add in writing along the way. I leave it entirely up to her how her story progresses and will chip in to gives hints or suggestions if she needs help.

When I allow her to take charge and lead in the story telling, I can see her exercise her creative juices and though sometimes it may be wacky or silly, it’s ok with me as she’s having fun and not dreading it.

4. Reading Chinese Books

Friends with primary school going kids have been telling me that there’s greater emphasis on conversational Mandarin instead of written abilities in lower primary. So to help Sophie learn the proper terms which I sometimes struggle with myself, I picked up this Thematic Dictionary from Popular.

For each theme, it will the terms of things associated to it in both Chinese and English as well as HYPY. I also use the picture to get Sophie talking about what she can see from the picture and she’s getting more confident speaking and expressing herself in Mandarin.

Another series of book that I recommend is this series below where it’s catered for different age groups. I bought a few titles from the second book store in Bras Bersah for just $1.50 and some were hand me downs from her cousin.

These stories are easy to understand and the words are printed in a very clear font unlike some other books. Plus, they have flash cards with both the Chinese words and HYPY as well.

What other activities do you do to inject fun for your child to learn Chinese? I’ll love to hear from you too 🙂

For related entries on learning

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Krabi and Ao Nang food guide for families

October 20, 2015 Comments: 26

I know parents with young kids may think twice about going to countries like Thailand because they worry that the food is unsuitable for their young children. But as it turns out, there are quite a few child friendly restaurants in Krabi that we tried and I’ve also included some that are recommended by fellow travellers on Trip Advisor too.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort during our stay in Krabi and besides being a family friendly hotel, it’s convenient located in front of the Ao Nang beach front with a pharmacy, 24-hour Family Mart as well as eateries conveniently located next door. You can read more about the hotel here.

Food Centre next to Holiday Inn Resort Krabi

May & Zin Restaurant off Ao-Nang

Just next door was a food centre where they have local food as well as pizza, Korean and Muslim food. We had dinner at May and Zin which was rated #4 along Ao Nang by Trip Advisor. My eating companions, read the hubby and daughter can’t take spicy food, so we had pretty mild food like pandan chicken, green curry with chicken, fish cake and toufu soup.

The pandan chicken was well marinated and cooked with a slight charred taste, the way I like it. The green curry with chicken was pretty good too and the coconut was smooth and creamy. And the meal didn’t even cost us more than $15.

May & Zin Restaurant
Ao Nang Beach | Nopparat Thara Beach, Ao Nang,Krabi Town 81000, Thailand

We also ventured out to the main stretch of Ao-Nang and spotted a couple of restaurants that I remember reading about that are suitable for families.

Blue Mango
Cuisine: Pizza, European, Thai, Pasta, Swedish, Scandinavian
Address: 161/1 Moo 2, Ao Nang, Krabi Town 81000, Thailand

Lae Lay Grill
Cuisine: Seafood, barbeque, Thai
Address: 89 Moo 3, Ao Nang, Krabi Town 81000, Thailand
Rating on Trip Advisor: #21

The Lae Lay Grill is not so much a family friendly restaurant, but it sure makes for a romantic night out. I heard that this place is rather popular, so you may want to call and make booking for your dinner at Lae Lay Grill, where you can catch the gorgeous sunset from the peak. There are mixed reviews about the food and you can expect that a meals there would be more pricey than most places. But most say that service and the view is great.
If you’re up for street food, you can find them along the streets but of course do choose your food wisely. I wouldn’t go items like Mango sticky rice because it’s raw food and the coconut might not be fresh. So as a safer bet, I’ll have cooked food and pray hard I don’t get any food poisoning.

Mango Sticky Rice for just $1.50!

For our lunch on the third day, we settled on Rasoi Restaurant which is along Ao-Nang. But frankly, it was not my top choice as it started to rained and we simply hopped into the nearest restaurant to avoid getting drenched.

The restaurant offered Italian, Thai and Indian cuisine and we ordered a few local dishes. Even with a few tables occupied, the food took about 20 minutes to arrived.

The chicken satay was dry and I abandoned it after a few bites. The green curry served in a coconut husk was much better but in comparison to the one we had at May and Zim, it wasn’t as rich and creamy. The other dishes were so-so only. Not a place I would return.

Black Canyon Coffee

When in Thailand, I always make a coffee pit stop at Black Canyon Coffee and their best drink in my opinion is the Iced Black Canyon coffee. Alexis had a Thai Iced Milk Tea and it was so so sweet like how they always are. Sophie was unhappy to be left out for this coffee break so she got a chocolate frappe too!

For dinner, we went to the Ao Nang Seafood along the beach front and it turned out to be such a bad idea because it was basically a tourist trap and I felt like a stupid sucker 🙁

Baanlay Thai Kitchen
Cuisine: Seafood, Thai
Address: 22/1 Moo 2, Ao Nang, Krabi Town 81000, Thailand

Although the restaurant had a sea view, the sunset was really far from spectacular and it fact, the sun set as hidden from where we were seated and we could only see the tinge of orange as the sun went down. So don’t I’ve learnt my lesson not to be so gullible when some websites swear it’s the place to go for seafood, as the place along with the other beach facing restaurants was really quiet on a Friday evening.

Food was very average and the portions were even smaller than most places and much more pricier too. You have been warned.

But one place I do highly recommend is Bussaba Thai Restaurant.

Bussaba Thai Restaurant
Cuisine: European and Thai
Address: 129 Moo 3, Ao Nang, Krabi Town 81000, Thailand (Formerly E-San Seafood Aonang)

Bussaba Thai Restaurant

This was one restaurant I was looking forward to as I heard so many good reviews about from the food, to service to ambiance. The restaurant is more on the high end side but they are hands down one of the best places to dine at.

To get there, we had to walk in from the main road which took us slightly under 10 minutes. It’s also just next to Carnivore Steak and Grill, which I read is a highly raved restaurant in Krabi for steak lovers.

I really liked the deco and ambience of the restaurant and the staff were also very attentive and prompt in their service.

We had the fried crab meat in curry powder and salted egg and while it sounded like an odd combination of contradicting flavours, the pairing turned out to be so good and din’t seem too overpowering. And you can tell that they really put in effort into the beautiful presentation of the dishes too.

The other dishes like grilled fish fillet, beef and vegetables hot plate and prawn cakes were also a hot favourite too.

Fried crab meat in curry powder and salted egg

On the last day, we got more adventurous and ventured into a little lane near our hotel where they had a few local food stalls.

We settled on this shop, Kam Pung and ordered the usual kids friendly dishes like pineapple rice and prawn cakes.

Since it was the last day, I decided to go for Tom Yum soup but alas, I was misled by the photo and my Tom Yum turned out to be some clear veggie soup which was good for everyone in the end. Guess I’m better off preserving my voice and not take too much spicy food.

Sophie and her favourite green banana and pineapple flavour Fanta

Before I end this foodie post, you may also like to check out this place where we went for massage. After all what is a vacation to Thailand without enjoy good and cheap massage?

Massage Corner

Massage Corner is actually very close to the place where we had dinner at Bussaba Thai and we went there without any any prior bookings. But I heard it’s a pretty popular place, so you may want to call first if you don’t want to get disappointed.

We opted for Thai Body Massage for an hour and paid 250 baht, which is S$50. And while we were having massage, Sophie had her nails painted.

We were ushered to a room at the basement and initially we were worried as Sophie has having her nails painted on the first floor. But seeing that there were also some guests, we asked them to keep a look out for Sophie and the staff told us that they’ll take her to our room once she was done.

The room we had was very basic as you can see above, but airy and clean. And since they were two of us, they drew the curtains for us for more privacy. The masseuses that we had were very skillful and they were also very thoughtful and asked if the pressure they applied was okay and if the air con temperature as alright.

After the massage, we felt so rejuvenated and relaxed and we enjoyed the massage session a lot.

Little Sophie also liked her manicure and they even specially painted flowers for her 🙂 Look how thrilled she was. Looks like I can bring her along for more manicure sessions.

Massage Corner
Address: 155/17 Moo 3, Soi Kor Hang, Ao Nang, Krabi Town 81000, Thailand
opening hours: 10am-11pm

So that sums up my Krabi holiday and here are my other posts if you missed them

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Seussical the Musical {Giveaway}

October 14, 2015 Comments: 42

Direct from the UK tour, ABA Productions and Diva Productions proudly presents Seussical the Musical!

That’s right, the fantastical, bombastical and songtastical world of Dr. Seuss, one of the most celebrated children’s book authors, will be here live on stage at the Esplanade Theatre for a limited period from 6 to 8 November 2015.

Seussical the Musical

Featuring a spectacular compilation of whimsical elements, characters and delightful verses from some of Dr. Seuss classics – Horton Hears a Who, Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat – you sure are off to great places at Seussical the Musical

Join the Cat in the Hat as he takes you on a journey into the fantastical, bombastical and songtastical world of Dr. Seuss. Bringing together elements from beloved books like Horton Hears a Who, Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat!

Synopsis of Seussical the Musical

Seussical the Musical follows the adventures of Horton the Elephant who discovers a small world floating by on a tiny speck of dust. This small world is floating out of control through the universe and is the home of the Whos, including Jojo – a Who with “thinks” that defy all description. Between them they must find a way to save Who from a world of naysayers and dangers.

But Horton faces a double challenge, he’s been left alone to guard an abandoned egg, abandoned by none other than Mayzie La Bird. Caught between a dust speck and his incubating egg, Horton is truly alone in the universe, but while he faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping and ends up on trial, little does he know the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him.

While the kind-hearted Horton tries to protect the speck of dust and the Whos who live on it, look out for Cat in the Hat, the zany narrator who peppers the musical with his endless tricks, and witty, thought-provoking commentary.

Seussical the Musical is fantastic for the whole family and children aged 5 and up. The musical runs for approximately 75 minutes with no interval. To minimise disruption, infant in arms are not permitted entry.

Show dates and timing

November 6th / Friday – 5pm
November 7th / Saturday – 11am, 3pm
November 8th / Sunday – 11am, 3pm

Venue: Esplanade Theatre (Address: 1 Esplanade Drive Singapore 038981)

Ticketing Details

Tickets are now on sale at any SISTIC outlets (list of agents), official SISTIC website or call the hotline 6348 5555.

Price ranges from $58 to $108

From now till 15th June, save $100 or more when you buy 4 or more Category 1 tickets to the opening night (6th November/ 5pm).

Enjoy 10% discount for purchase of 10 tickets or more.

Check out ABA Productions official website: www.aba-productions.com, Facebook page.

– – – – – – – -– – – – – GIVEAWAY FOR A JUGGLING MUM READERS – – – – – – – – – – – –

Thanks to the kind sponsors, I have a Family Package of 4 tickets (Category 1) to Seussical the Musical (worth $432 in total)

Date : 6 November Friday
Time : 5pm
Venue : Esplanade Theatre (Address: 1 Esplanade Drive Singapore 038981)

To take part in the giveaway, enter via the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please note:

Giveaway ends on 22 Oct at 23:59pm
Only readers residing in Singapore is eligible for this giveaway
Winners will be notified via email and have 24 hours to respond to email otherwise a new winner will be drawn
Please ensure that you are able to attend the show before entering in the giveaway as changing of show timing and date is not allowed
All false FB accounts will be disqualified from the giveaway

Beanie N Us, A Juggling Mom and Dinomama are pleased to bring to you a series of giveaways leading into December! Please remember to share and like our pages to keep abreast of our giveaway lineup!

* All image credited to ABA Productions

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