Ice Skating at The Rink

We have had a really FULL December holiday. I don't know how it happened -- and sometimes I don't know why I do it to myself -- but it did. So full that I never got round to writing about it.

Well, on Friday, Noey came home from school and told me that they were all asked to share what they did during the school holidays with the class, and that he told everyone about going ice-skating with his friend D. Since it made such an impact, I think it's a bit of a pity if I didn't record it for posterity.

I've wanted to check out The Rink with the kids for a while now, but never got round to it. But it was on my list of things to do during the school holidays so when NerdyMum asked us out on a playdate, we decided to take our kids out on the ice.

Of course, I conveniently forgot about the fact that I really don't skate very well when I made this clever decision to bring both my kids to ice skate. It only occurred to me the night before that it might be more than a bit difficult to manage two children struggling on the ice when I would also be struggling. Gulp. I consulted NerdyMum on a change of plan but we decided we'd just stick with it and hope for the best.

Learning to balance and walk around on blades!

I'm glad we went in the end as we all ended up having a good time -- and getting quite a workout! We rented the kids the Penguin Skating Aid (available for kids 10 and under who are below 1.2m in height) and it more or less kept them on their feet. The penguin is rather heavy though so it wasn't that easy to use if you're tiny and don't know how to move on the ice. But once you get going, it does it's job of helping you skate along quite nicely.

All with their penguin companions before we got on the ice!

On hindsight, it was probably not the best decision to have brought Meips along. The smallest boot size they had was still considerably too big for her, and the penguin was too heavy,  but since she was there, I thought I'd give her a go anyway. Thankfully NerdyMum, who is a much better skater than I am, was able to guide the two boys along, leaving me to try to help Meips. It certainly wasn't easy to help her get going when I could barely move myself! It was cold on the ice but I got hot and sweaty very quickly. Eventually I decided to upgrade Meips' penguin to the adult Seal Skating Aid for me. The seal allows for a child to sit on it too, so I was able to give Meips rides around the rink. She definitely enjoyed that better! Even Noey enjoyed a few goes on it.

Getting Aunty D to take him for a spin - a much faster one than Mummy! 

The two boys with our skating aids. Lil' D was pretty good with the penguin. At the end of the session they both wanted to shed their supports but we thought it would be better to wait till next time.

Meips taking a break. She even made a friend in the process: that girl next to her came to sit beside her and later volunteered to take her on a spin on the seal.

We called it a day shortly before the end of our two-hour session, and I told the kids that the next time, we are definitely going to rope in their Yiyi, who is a way better skater than I am! 

It was a good experience though it's not something we can do too regularly I think because it sure was an expensive outing. These were the rates for our 2-hour session:

Adult admission: $14 per person
Child admission: $12 per person
Skate rental: $3.50 per pair
Penguin skating aid: $10 each
Seal skating aid: $15 each

(You can find the full list of rates here.)

For the three of us, I forked out over $70 for two hours. Yikes. I probably have to save up before we can go again. But I'm looking forward to it.

If you're thinking of skating at The Rink, do remember check out the Public Skating Sessions Schedule before heading down. The Rink is closed to the public at certain times for training and events, and it would be a waste to travel there, only to be unable to get on the ice. Tickets are sold for specific 2-hour blocks too, so check the timings too, to maximise your ice time.

Maybe we'll see you on the ice next time! 

We survived!

The Rink
2 Jurong East Central 1
JCube, Level 3
Singapore 609731
Tel: 6684 2374/5
Web: www.therink.sg
Opening Hours: Mon -- 10am-9.30pm | Tues, Wed, Thurs & Sun -- 10am-9.30pm | Fri, Sat, eve of PH & PH -- 10am-11.45pm

Kite Flying at Marina Barrage

It seemed like a perfect windy day activity -- kite flying.

It had been raining every afternoon for practically the whole month, so I wasn't sure if the weather was going to hold out for our afternoon date at Marina Barrage. But God was gracious. On this day, it rained earlier than usual, leaving the weather clear in the late afternoon. Us parents didn't take chances though, and dressed our kids in wellies, for fear that the ground might be wet. As it turned out, we didn't have to, but it sure made for cute pics!

We had a slight hiccup when we realised that the kites we had did not come with string. Haha. Talk about novices! But fortunately, we discovered that the gift shop at Marina Barrage stocks an extensive selection of kites AND string, so this was quickly rectified, and the Dads could get down to work.

I'm really not all that familiar with kite flying or getting a kite into the air and was mostly happy to leave DD to do the work. He was fairly confident anyway, except that things didn't exactly work out to plan. I put it down to the more unconventional shape of our kite, plus the fact that its balance seemed a bit off, leading it to tilt and dip to one side. Adding insult to injury, J and family got their kite into the air fairly quickly, and we were all gingerly offering tips to DD, prompting irritated "I know how to fly a kite, ok?" comments from him.

It took a while, but he eventually got the kite up and stable enough for Noey to have a go. And the look on his face made all the effort worth it. "I love it!" he said with conviction.

We hung around for a bit longer than we had planned, seeing that the kids were having fun. So we were pretty hungry when we headed over to the new Satay by the Bay for dinner. I don't know if it was because it was new, or because it was the 4th day of CNY, but disappointingly, hardly any stalls were open! And the ones that were open were so overwhelmed with orders that some stalls refused to even let us order anything. It was a bit of a daunting situation because we had hungry kids on our hands! 

In the end, after much queuing, we managed to get the children settled with plates of Nasi Lemak, while us adults got plates of Satay (naturally) and BBQ-ed chicken wings, and some really TASTY Bak Kut Teh. The Bak Kut Teh was a surprise - I don't think any of us expected it to be that good - but it's something I'll definitely order again if we go back.

We rounded off the evening with ice-cream (in yummy local flavours) and sparklers.  

Owing to the food situation, it was really late when we got back. Thankfully Noey had no school the following day! 

Now we really have to find another opportunity to bring the kites out for a spin again.

 

Dinos in the Ice Age

In my current role as a Stay-At-Home-Mum, I can tell you that I LOVE playdates. When I have one scheduled, it is the highlight of my week. And the best kind? The ones where the kids occupy themselves happily for significant amounts of time, leaving Mummy to chat with her friends, and better yet, have some tea. 

Yes, definitely those.

To achieve that ultimate state, I'm prepared to do a bit of homework. So for a recent playmate, my friends and I hatched a plan and made these:

Icy goodness!

Yes, that's a huge ice block with dinosaurs buried in it. I made 3 and my friend made another 2. The idea was to arm the kids with tools, strip them down and let them have a go at getting all the plastic animals out. My friend even got the paddling pool out so that the kids would could have a bit of a splash, and also have water at hand to help melt the ice. (A science lesson thrown in too. Not bad huh!)

Of course this activity is made for those sweltering hot days, and not for our current wet weather. But God was kind and the sun shone for us in the morning. Enough for us to let the kids get down and dirty with the ice and water! There were meant to be six kids, but two couldn't make it, leaving the other four to try to figure out how to get the treasure.

At the group meeting, Noey decides to show brute force. Was not successful.

Little girls tap-tapping away with their spoons. They enjoyed sticking their spoons into the big crater in the middle and trying to dig stuff out. Still no bounty.

After getting some help from Mummy, some of the ice cracks! Happy children make off with some of the loot.

The two young kids decide they'd much rather play with water, leaving the two older ones to contemplate their next step.

Eventually they decide to haul the ice into the water. Noey wrestles with his block.

Naomi wonders if there's some food she's missing, what with all the spoons lying around.

Finally, a rhinoceros is out!

And we have a dinosaur!!! 

It was all good fun. And it certainly would have bought us Mums an hour of quiet time, except that we kept hanging around trying to take photographs. Hah. 

Certainly one to dig out in the hot months!

Notes:

• This isn't an original idea -- one of my friends was forwarded a link and suggested that we try it out. I would credit it except that I've lost the link!
• I intended to freeze the block in layers with dinosaurs buried in different layers, but I realised belatedly that you probably need a deep freezer to do this effectively. After putting a new layer on my already frozen first layer, the ice floated to the top of the water! So I lifted up the layer of ice and chucked the dinosaurs underneath instead, giving us two layers. 
• I also learnt that food colouring makes the ice freeze weird. All the colouring tends to gather in the centre? Guess it has a different freezing point. I never realised that!

Now, who says you don't learn something new everyday, even from planning kids' activities?

Children's Season 2012: Island Adventures at the NMS

Guess what? Children's Season isn't quite over yet!

Island Adventures at the National Museum of Singapore is still running, and a couple of Fridays ago, I made a date with some Mums from church and their kiddos to check it out. I had heard good reviews from other friends and thought that it might be a good place for the littler ones to visit. 

The programme is pitched as a child-friendly  "entry point into understanding Singapore's history and heritage". To achieve this, there were activities designed and set out in three different areas.

We arrived at 10am and were dismayed that our plan to visit on a quiet Friday morning had been foiled by a big group of PCF kids on excursion. Argh. Unfortunately there was no way to really avoid them though we tried to wait it out a bit and move in slightly after they had passed through. So we just had to put up with the din and make the most of it. 

The first stop is Ahoy! All Aboard! in the Concourse at Level 1. Here, you hop aboard a ship which is bound for the island of Singapura in 1820 and find out more about the travellers making the journey to this new land at that time, the things they brought with them, and the challenges they faced. There were quite a few interactive exhibits -- the kids could turn a turbine to generate electricity to light up some bulbs, spin some threads, use a magnet to learn how a compass works, and hunt for gold, minerals and precious stones in a sand pit, amongst other things. Unsurprsingly, playing with sand was Noey's favourite!

Learning about spinning

Hunting for precious stones and materials

"Why are you looking at me instead of taking a peek down this port hole, Mummy?"

There was also a little room which showed the routes taken by the early visitors to Singapura, and the kids had some fun moving big ship magnets along the routes on the giant map. 

My unwilling models.

Nomi watching K and M move the ships along the lighted routes.

After disembarking from the ship, we arrived in the second room: Port City, also at Level 1. Here visitors get to explore and discover what life was like on the island of Singapura back in the 19th and 20th centuries. They learn about kampongs and the development of Singapura into a Port City.

There are different stations where the kids can try their hand at being a cobbler, a letter writer, a street hawker, a coolie, and a fisherman. The kids really had a ball of a time here, doing everything over and over!

S, the happy little hawker, mixing up her teh tarik.

Her hungry little customers await.

Mmm! This teh tarik is good!

Noey tries his hand at letter writing. And learns Korean from a previous visitor!

The impatient Nomi can't wait for her slow letter writer to be done and decides to try writing the letter herself.

S fixing soles to shoes.

The fishing station. Totally had the boys captivated for a long time.

Unloading the ship. And loading it again. And unloading it. And loading it again. And...

Nomi picks on a sack her own size.

Building a house on stilts.

You can also put together your own village.

We let the children play for quite a while before we hauled them outside with the promise of blocks and buildings. At Building Singapore in the Salon Foyer at Level 1, there were model of old iconic buildings that have, sadly, made way for development. I enjoyed reading about the old National Library and the Van Kleef Aquarium, both of which I remember fondly. It's so sad that my children will never know these old structures! There are also tables at which you can sit and complete join-the-dots sheets on the different buildings, which I thought was a much better activity than mere colouring. But with blocks around, my son wasn't too interested. They kindly let me bring a couple of sheets home instead, which I appreciated.

Lining up old iconic buildings in a row! That's the National Museum on the right, followed by the National Theater, Great World Amusement Park, and the National Library. 

Some of the posters with information on these old buildings. Really made me feel nostalgic!

Our attempt at a group shot in front of the magnetic board installation. These are all the kids but I guess it was a bit much to hope that they'd all be looking at the camera!

The kids really had a lot of fun here. Maybe the big boys (we had a couple of primary schoolers with us) not so much, but it was perfect for the littler ones who were under 6. One of the mums who went with us is visiting from the US was really happy to have come. She said it was a wonderful space to learn about Singapore's history and that it really should be permanent. I personally agree. It would have been better with the live performing acts, but those sadly only take place in the weekend. Actually, I had misunderstood and thought that the live roving acts were only held during the open house days but have since realised that it's every weekend. So maybe we should have made the visit in the weekend instead!

Island Adventures is on till this Sunday, 22 Jul 2012 at the National Museum of Singapore. This closing weekend is also an Open House - free entry, plus extra activities, plus roving acts! I would bring the kids again, except that I won't be in town this weekend. If you are, it's worth this checking out.

June Holidays 2012

Just like that, the June holidays are over.

It was good while it lasted.

Dinosaurs-Live!

It was a much awaited outing -- the trip with YK and YY to check out the dinosuars "live" at the Science Centre.

Noey has been interested in dinosaurs ever since we went to the really excellent exhibiton at the Australian Museum in Sydney last year. (I realise I totally ran out of steam before I got round to blogging about it, which was a pity because it was really one of the highlights of the trip.) So when I heard that the Science Centre was going to be bringing in more than 50 live-sized animatronic dinosaurs for an exhibition, I made a date with fellow mummy FY to bring our dino-loving boys there.

Roaar!!!
The matching shirts weren't planned, but they're cute, no?

The boys were terribly excited. Even the long trip to Jurong (and resultant mishap for YY and his Mummy) didn't dampen their enthusiasm. Which only increased ten-fold upon arrival and seeing the dinosaurs at the entrance.

This is Stan.

YK was terribly chuffed to get on the dino ride. Noey watched, fascinated, though when I asked him if he wanted a ride too, I got a quick "no!".

Riding a walking, talking dinosaur. An Omeisaurus, says YK. I wouldn't know the difference!

I had seen some photos of the exhibition and I was a bit worried that the darkness plus the growling sounds might scare Noey. Those fears were thankfully unfounded. His enthusiasm to see the dinosaurs, plus the company of his equally eager friends carried him through. He did tell me a couple of times that he was brave though, which I think shows his underlying fear! I did tell him before the trip that we would be seeing robot dinos, not real ones, and that helped a bit I think.

Inside, there was a lot to see and do. Best for me, I had my own tour guides in the form of YK and his Mum who were able to identify all the dinosaurs without looking at the descriptive panels. Seriously. I tried reading one of the panels once to Noey, said "Velociraptor" wrongly, and got a funny look from YK who promptly corrected me. HAHA. He must have been thought that this Aunty knows nothing!

Spinosaurus

The boys checking out a Protosaurus PROTCERATOPS. (See, told you I learnt something.)

"Tywannosaurus-Wex" says YY. It was so cute, I kept trying to make him say it over and over.

Aside from checking out the exhibits, there were also a few fun activities for the kids, like:

1. Completing the exhibition "passport"

Noey was very enthusiastic about stamping. The passport costs $2. Sadly I lost it on our way home. I suspect I left it at Macs.

2. Digging for fossils

Our little Paleontologists at work. Which kid doesn't like a sand pit? We Mummies even got to chat in peace for 15 mins before we dragged them out, which is excellent in my book.

3. Shading/Colouring stations

Two absorbed boys.

We walked through the exhibition twice before the boys reluctantly left. We spent sometime in the Discovery Zone before we headed to Macs for lunch. The boys were happy, but the Mummy in me wishes that there were other more healthy options for lunch. Well, I suppose junk food is also what makes an outing a treat!

In between playing with the toys, Noey ate his whole McNuggets Happy Meal with Milo and more than his share of fries. I don't know if I should be happy about that or not. Hah.

I had come across these tubes of mini dino toys and had brought them along for the boys for an after-trip play time. I'm glad they were a hit.

Noey went home clutching his fistful of dinosaurs and jabbering about them. He even took them to bed with him when he went down for his nap.

Boy and his dinosaurs.

It was all in all a very enjoyable outing. The exhibition is on till Feb 2012. Go check it out if you haven't done so. It is worth a visit.