Field trip to Doughworkz by PastaMania

Today, Janelle went for a field trip to Doughworkz by PastaMania organised by her school.

I heard about this program by PastaMania before but I have not really check it out in details. This is a program that provides children the opportunity to have a hands-on experience in making pasta or pizza. At K1, parents are not allowed to join in the field trip and I was not able to join anyway (since I have just started work again).

Janelle was very excited about the trip and jumped out of the bed this morning when I told her she was running late for the trip.

She shared with me that they learnt how to make pizza but they were not allowed to bring the pizza back home though. It's a pity that we cannot be there to see what she has learnt or done in the program. But I can see that she has enjoyed herself in the process as she proudly show me what how she made the pizza when I reached home.

Showing me how they squeezed the dough. Isn't the chef hat cute?

The items in the goodie bag. A discount voucher, a notebook and a brochure

Disney On Ice - Treasure Trove

Brought the kids to watch Disney On Ice on last Sunday. It is Janelle's 2nd time watching Disney On Ice and Jayven's 1st show.

While waiting for the show to start. The blur mummy mistaken the show time as 11.00am but actual show on 11.30am

The happy princess with her happy buys ie the princess mirror and princess brush

The excited boy

Selfie with my little prince

Selfie with my princess

The vain princess looking at the mirror after brushing her hair

There was a photo booth that charged high price ($25). But the kids insisted on taking photo there and we cannot take pictures using our own camera unless we pay for professional shots. Well, it is supposed to be a magical Disney day for them so hard to say no.

The first half was pretty boring for the kids as they were either not interested with the characters or they were not familiar with them. I guess Toy Story, Alice In Wonderland and Peter Pan will be more popular with the older kids. Janelle was waiting patiently (which led to restlessness) for her princesses to appear. Jayven was more interested in Mickey Mouse but there was not much appearances from the Mickey family. Hence Jayven was very restless towards the end of the show.

Personally, I prefer the earlier Disney On Ice Worlds of Fantasy that we brought Janelle to on 2011. I hope that they can include longer showtimes / appearances for Mickey family for the next show. Perhaps they will include Frozen princesses ie Elsa and Anna too. I'm pretty sure that they will be a big hit with the kids.

March Holidays

It's the one week holidays! Nowadays there are so many activities, programmes, workshops and holidays classes to keep the kids occupied during the school holidays.

The kids are thrilled when they chanced upon the mini fun fair carnival at Compass Point and the Exotic Turkey in Changi Airport Terminal 3.

The fun fair carnival at Compass Point

The Mechanical Horse ride which she has to work harder (bouncing up and down) for the horse to move

They have the bouncy castle, which is the biggest hit with all the children at the fun fair carnival in Compass Point. However, there are time slots given for limited children to play at a 15 mins interval. Hence it is better to book the next available time slot earlier before the kid get disappointed.

There are also other games stations such as rolling the ball, shooting and archery. It is a mini carnival but good enough to entertain the kids and exhaust them (especially the bouncy castle). In fact, we were there twice for the kids to play at the various stations.

Shoppers have to spend $50 at the mall to change for a fun pass for the child. The fun fair is available till this Sunday (23/03/2014).

Photo taking area. Welcome to Exotic Turkey exhibition at T3

And at Changi Airport Terminal 3, we get to discover Turkey with the interactive exhibition and the kids love the activities at the Horse Riding Town. There is also a horse riding available but the mechanism seems easier than the Mechanical Horse in the fun fair at Compass Point. While the kids have to bounce up and down to move the horse at the fun fair, the horse in Horse Riding Town in Exotic Turkey is motorised and can move on its own (switch provided to on and off the horse). Janelle prefer the motorised horse as she was having difficulty in getting the Mechanical Horse to move at the fun fair.

Apart from the fun horse ride, the children can play fishing among a pool of syrofoam balls. Candies will be given as reward when they managed to fish the magnet out. They can also climb out the steps to the Trojan Horse but no one else seems interested in that except for Janelle during the 10 mins session.

Exotic Turkey will be available till 13 April 2014 but Horse Riding Town will only operate in the weekend ie 29 & 30 March, 5 & 6 April and 12 & 13 April 2014.

Shoppers have to spend $40 to redeem the pass for one child to enter the Horse Riding Town. Changi Rewards members can spend $30 to redeem the pass. Similar to the Bouncy Castle in the fun fair at Compass Point, there will be different sessions and they will offer the next available time slot for entry. The interactive exhibition is available throughout and free to all.

Guess we will be visiting T3 soon for another round of Exotic Turkish fun for the kids.

Goodbye SAHM!

I am having mixed feelings.
One side of me is feeling excited!
The other side of me is feeling anxious, worried and sad :(

Yes, I have found a full-time job and I am going to be a FTWM once again from next week onwards. Financial independence! Finally! I can shop and spend without guilt (reminder to self: please spend wisely! I'll try my best!)

Oh wait! But my kids are so used to having their mummy 24/7, sending and fetching them to and from school, cooking their favourite dishes, feeding them dinner, cleaning them up, showering them, playtime, colouring and tucking them to bed. Well, I can still send them to school (the whole house have to wake up earlier), shower them (perhaps) and tucking them to bed (90% of the time, I hope). Needless to say, the time spent with my babies (and my hubs) will be much lesser as compared to now.

But with both kids in full-day childcare now, it is time for me to return to work and contribute to the household expenditure. Afterall, my hubs has been holding on to the fort for a year and it is time to relieve him of the financial stress. With such high cost of living in Singapore, it is really tough to survive on single income especially with 2 kids.

Nontheless, I am feeling grateful. It has been a fantastic and wonderful 12 months for me to break away from work and devote myself to caring for my kids and family. I shan't repeat my thoughts all over again. You can read all about it here. 

I know that I will start to feel guilty for not having enough time with my kids again. I'll feel worried if they are sick and I am not able to be by their side taking care of them. I'll feel sad and disappointed if I miss their firsts, their funny conversations and their antics. I'll feel really down if I have to work overtime for urgent timelines and unable to tuck them to bed. I'll feel apologetic if I have to work on weekends with even lesser time for them. I can no longer slow down my pace in the fast-paced working environment.

Yet I am so excited about returning to the working society. First and foremost, I will have a steady paycheck every month. I am looking forward to adult interaction and maintain my sanity. I can put my skill sets to good use and feel competent whenever I achieve the goals or objectives set. I can dress up and indulge in cosmetics and skincare products.

I guess one can never have the best of both worlds and the choice is for us to make. I really feel blessed and lucky that with the support from my hubs, I am able to stay home for a year to look after the kids. My kids have taught me alot of things that one can never learn from textbook and we have established a stronger bond.

My dear Js, mummy promise you that I will maintain a work life balance and I will spend quality time with you. I want both of you to know that I love you deeply even though we have lesser time together when mummy start working.

Goodbye SAHM! It has been a wonderful and memorable experience.
Hello FTWM!

Family vacation - Hong Kong

Since traveling with my firstborn was a breeze, we decided to bring her to Hong Kong Disneyland in July 2011. It was also my first visit to Hong Kong. No guided tour needed for Hong Kong. We saw great deals for air tickets in SQ so we gotten the tickets, booked the accommodation and off we go.

Morning flight out to HK hence the sleepyhead with her bolster and beloved Minnie

Requested for a cot in the hotel room but she preferred to cuddle between my hubs and me

Walking distance to Tsim Sha Tsui Station from Kowloon Hotel

Our first stop - The Peak

It was very crowded! Think we waited for the 2nd or 3rd tram before we could get in

Typhoon #4. The wind was very strong and I had to hold on to my girl to make sure she did not fly off

 

The view from The Peak

That was how strong the wind was then

100 years anniversary

As there was a bundle deal for the tram tickets and Madame Tussauds Museum, hence we visited the museum too. Janelle wasn't that interested in the wax statues though.

She was definitely more interested in the all-time favourite Mickey Mouse

The night view of The Peak

Well, the main purpose of visiting HK with our girl was the Disneyland so we brought her to her first Disneyland on the second day.

The Disney train to Disneyland

The entry fee to Disneyland

Janelle was asleep when the parade started. I carried her out of the stroller and woke her up as I did not want her to miss the parade. And I was glad that I did so. She was fascinated by the parade as the familiar characters marched past us. At 22 months, she was able to identify many characters that she has seen in Disney Channel.

As she was still very young when we went to HK Disneyland hence we did not go on any rides. But we have bought a few Disney souvenirs which she still hold onto dearly today. The big Stitch is one of them (and it was supposed to be mine). She still hug the Stitch to bed every night.  

The next day, we explored Harbour City which is within walking distance from Kowloon Hotel. We didn't really shop though as the prices was not cheaper than Singapore. But what could we expect from a shopping mall? We also went to Temple Street but we did not shop much too. In fact, we did not buy alot in this trip.

And for dim sum, we found a pretty decent restaurant near Kowloon Hotel known as Mu Dan Ting. Food was not too bad though we have tasted better ones in Singapore. Perhaps we ought to do more research before visiting Hong Kong again.

Though we did not buy much for ourselves, we bought quite a bit for Janelle at Disneyland and at the Disney store in airport.

Last bit of shopping at the Disney store in the airport before we board the flight back.

And I always love Changi Airport. They have playgrounds at the public areas, departure halls and transit areas. See how happy Janelle was when she saw the playground.

Overall, it was a good trip but we did not shop alot though. Will definitely visit Hong Kong again with my 2 kids and Ocean Park will be in the itinerary.