She Is Four

My dearest Mei,

You are officially four today. You’ve been counting down the days till this day so it was of no surprise to me hear from your Papa that you bounded out of bed this morning and shyly waited for him to wish you happy birthday before bursting with excitement. (I was out sending your Gor-gor to school.) That is so you, by the way, as was your later pronouncement:

“I am four years old!” you said proudly. “Soon I will be five?"

Tarry a while my dear. You still have quite a bit of growing up to do, even as I have to accept that you are my baby no longer. I guess in many ways, you stopped being a baby a long time ago. You, my dear, are my bright, funny, really cheeky, LOUD, and above all, fiercely independent sweetheart. You want to do everything yourself, which is sounds like a wonderful thing for a parent, but isn’t always the case. I put on your shoes for you and you’ll take them off to put them on again yourself. I put in a puzzle piece for you and you’ll take it out to re-fix it yourself. “I know how to do it,” you’ll tell me impatiently as I try to give you instructions on how to do things. And honestly, you do manage to do a lot of things yourself. (Well, maybe except for going to the toilet yourself instead of asking me many MANY times a day.) I’m pretty sure your sheer stubbornness plays a big part. You are one who needs to be schooled by experience and I can only pray that life would treat you kindly.

Over the past year we’ve seen the social side of you develop. You LOVE being with your friends, to the extent that Mummy here becomes persona non grata. I recently joined your class for a trip to the theatre, thinking we might be able to enjoy some bonding time. You were happy to see me, right up to the point when you realised you would be sitting with me in the bus instead of with your friends. You were not a happy camper. Yes, at three-years of age, you already think I cramp your style. It is for this reason that your father and I are thinking a bit more carefully about where you should be going in Primary school for it seems to us that who your friends are will come to have significant bearing on the type of person you turn out to be. I’m glad we still have a few years more to decide.

At the same time, I’m glad that we have a few more years to spend with you during these preschool years. We get a little time together everyday now after I pick you up from school, now that Gor-gor is in Primary 1, and I try to use that time to play and catch up with you, To listen to your stories, play your games (for they must always be your rules) and read you books that you love. You’ve also started showing more interest in words and can recognise quite a few sight words, so these days when we read together, you will suddenly start pointing out and reading words that you recognise. It feels like something has clicked in your head as you slowly pick up more words everyday. You even recently learnt to spell “Legoland”, thanks to our recent trip up. A very important word to learn to spell as your Papa would tell you! More than English though, it is Chinese that you’ve learnt to read really well. You are always pointing out words that you recognise — recently it was all the "福" and “年” on your ang pows — and you love to pull out your Berries book and flash cards to read on your own. I’ve even caught you trying to teach them to your soft toys. “When I grow up, I want to be a Chinese teacher,” you have declared on more than one occasion. Your Papa and I marvel at the fact that you’ve taken to the language so well despite having really minimal exposure to it at home. Long may it continue.

My precious little daughter, my birthday wish for you is that you will always know, like you know now, that your Papa and I love you very very much. That that knowledge would stand you in good stead as you journey through life. That you will walk close to the Lord and grow to be a woman after His own heart. And that you will stare down every challenge with those huge eyes of yours and meet every trial with grace and good humour, knowing that we will always have your back. I used to cringe at parents calling their daughters princess, but that was before you came along. Then I understood. Because you really are our princess, precious and rare. And strong and brave and clever and funny and everything that a princess should be. 

Happy birthday princess.

Loving you always,
Mummy

6 Today

He's 6 today, something he's been waiting for for a while now.

"My birthday is coming soon!" he used to shout in April, May, June. No matter how often I told him that October was a pretty long time away, it never put a dent in his enthusiasm.

Well, today was D-Day and he woke up with a big smile, ready to savour it.

I spent some time looking through his old pictures last night and got a bit teary eyed seeing how much he has grown over the past 6 years. It's that eternal mummy-struggle -- wishing your kids would grow quickly to be more independent and yet wishing that they'd stay your little babies at the same time.

He's no longer a baby really, all lanky and stretched out, full of interesting observations and randomly astute remarks. I knew it that day a couple of months back when, at the Botanic Gardens, he asked to go read some displays some distance away and I let him. As he walked away it hit me with a pang that he had grown up. I didn't need to go with him to read him the charts, or make sure he didn't go the wrong way or wander into the path of some cars, and most tellingly, I didn't need to go with him because he wasn't scared. For my somewhat clingy boy, it was a significant thing.

Today, I'm staring at time slipping by and really feeling it. Today I want to say stop. Tarry a while, and be my baby for just a bit longer.



My dear boy, how ever did you grow up so fast?

Happy 49th!

For the whole of Term 3 thus far, the kids have been learning National Day songs in school.

Every day I've been regaled with versions of Majulah Singapura, We Are Singapore, Count On Me Singapore, Home (English version and the chorus in Chinese), Reach Up For The Skies, 我的家在陋巷, In A Heartbeat, and One Singapore. There have been accurate versions (Noey) and not-so-accurate (Mei). But whether accurate or not, they have certainly been sung with gusto.

The kids had a lot of fun celebrating National Day at kindy last Saturday, with the celebration being combined with a mini-games day for the school. Singing and waving flags was definitely one of the highlights.

Tomorrow, they will sing the songs for the last time, before we pack them away for another year. We don't have tickets to the NDP, so we will be watching the parade at home. I toyed with the idea of dragging everyone out to catch the fireworks live, but in the end, I decided I didn't want to miss the rest of the show. In my childhood and teenage years, it was a tradition in my family to watch the parade together on telly while munching on pizzas. This year, my parents have their own plans but I'll be reviving a part of that at home with the kids. We'll watch, sing, eat, and say a little prayer for this land that we live in and, despite all that we might gripe about, love. 

Happy 49th Birthday Singapore!

Happy 88th Birthday Mama!

DD's sweet little grandmother turned 88 on the 6 June, and just about the whole family turned up to celebrate.

It was dinner for everyone at Ah Yat's Seafood at Turf City. My first time there and I was surprised to find that it was HUGE! And packed on a Friday night. The food wasn't bad -- seafood is always good in my books -- and with the reasonable pricing, I guess I could see the draw! 

Before dinner, the kids had a great time checking out all the seafood in the tanks outside at Unique Seafood Market. There were all varieties of weird and wonderful seafood on sale which patrons can purchase to have cooked at either Ah Yat's Seafood or Owen Seafood nearby. It was a very interesting concept and the prices were really quite reasonable. I made a mental note to come back to check it out.

Seafood aside, what the kids enjoyed best was the time spent with their cousins. The four little ones played their own games and made a bit of a ruckus, prompting disapproving stares. 

And when it came time to sing cut the cake and sing the birthday song, you can bet they were up there to help out. Dear Meips then surprised everyone including her Chor Ma by throwing her arms around her for a hug.

(Kids dressed in their Fox best, including little Jaja in his Brazil jersey!)

Happy birthday dear Mama! You are very well-loved.

Doing the Tarzan Thing at Forest Adventure

I think the first time I got to try out a rope course was probably at Outward Bound School during my secondary school days. Noey on the other hand got the chance to pretend to be Tarzan last weekend at the ripe ol' age of 5 (and a half) when he attended his friend's birthday party at Forest Adventure.

(Kids birthday parties are so awesome these days, aren't they??)

Forest Adventure has been on my radar for a while so I was very excited to have the opportunity to check it out. This is a tree top adventure course situated inside Bedok Reservoir Park and comprise of a Grand Course for adults and a Kids Course for children. The Kids Course, which we were there to attempt that day is specially designed for children aged 5 to 10 years and has a minimum height requirement of 1.1m. It has 16 crossings and finishes off with a zip line (which was everyone's favourite part!).

When Noey first got the invite to the party, I thought he might be a bit a bit nervous about participating, so I showed him some pictures which I found on the website to familiarise him with what was expected. He seemed eager and unfazed, which I took to be a good sign.  

He arrived at Forrest Adventure in high spirits and he and his friends all quickly got in line to get strapped up before they set off. Each kid got a harness and a helmet, and they were shown how the attach themselves to the safety line. And with that, they were off! I was a bit taken aback since I thought there would be more of a safety briefing, but I guess they were securely attached to the lines and there were instructors up the trees who were ready to help out where necessary, so they were pretty safe.

It was a bit scary for me to see him up up there on his own, about 3m off the ground, and I was definitely waiting for him to freeze up or panic, but whaddya know? He totally relished it! Guess it helps that he doesn't have Mummy's fear of heights. Instead, he gamely progressed through each stage, and waited patiently behind some of his friends at times when he was held up. The obstacles were not always easy and there were some which were suspended, so they were wobbly and it did freak some of the kids out. I was really proud of my little adventurer!

After al the climbing and crossing, the zipline at the end was a sweet reward.

He enjoyed the zipline experience so much that he went up again for a repeat round just so he could come down again. 

Satisfied smile upon completing the course!

He got a certificate of achievement for completing, which I thought was a nice touch.

It as a really great experience and I think I might have to bring him again some time, and maybe I'll attempt the Grand Course myself? We'll have to see about that! 

Forest Adventure
825 Bedok Reservoir Road (inside Bedok Reservoir Park)
Singapore 479244
Tel: 8100 7420 (general information and individual bookings) | 81007421 (corporate and school groups)
Web: www.forestadventure.com.sg

Rates:  

Three

My dearest Meips,

Today, you are three. You raise three fingers when asked how old you are, the third finger coming up more slowly than the other two, as you get used to the idea of being a year older. "This is three, right?" you asked proudly. I think you've been waiting a long time for the day.

I sometimes wonder: has it really been only three years since you've come into our lives? You've come to fill our lives and our home with the force of your personality (and your loud voice) and we can't imagine our lives without you. No one can resist picking you up and hugging and kissing you when you are within reach. You usually struggle away, but once in a while you'll throw your arms around me and give me a kiss with a sweet "I love you Mummy", and I can assure you that, for me, that is one of the best feelings in the world. 

You've grown up so much in the past year, as evidenced by the fact that you started school this year and shed nary a tear. Never have I seen a child make a calmer entrance into school. It wasn't that you weren't afraid. In the beginning, I could sense your uncertainty, but you put on a brave front and carried on. It must have been a bit overwhelming to start, with new teachers and unfamiliar faces around you. Your English teacher is also away on maternity leave this term so your school day has been conducted primarily in Chinese, a language you are unfamiliar with. But you've adapted so well.

These days you are always singing Chinese songs at home (小手拍拍 and 早安老师 being your current favourites, 恭喜恭喜 last month) and will insist on singing grace in Chinese at every meal. You don't get all the words right but you get more accurate as the days go by. You learnt all the names of your classmates within a month and get really excited when you see them anywhere, and will quickly turn to me to tell me, "That's my friend!" And you really love school and your teacher. There hasn't been a day when you've objected to going to school. In fact, you really want to go everyday. "What are we doing tomorrow?" you asked me one Saturday. "It's Sunday tomorrow, Mei-mei, so we're going to go to church," I said in reply. "And then after that we'll go to school?" you said hopefully.

Li Laoshi told me that you're very sensible (懂事) and she never has to worry about you in class as you know how to follow along and do what is necessary. I am so proud of you and how well you're doing in this regard. Sometimes I think it's funny how well you've taken to school considering how you refuse to believe anything I say when I try to teach you something at home that is contrary to what you think you know. Perhaps it's because I'm not your teacher, just Mummy. May you always keep up that enthusiasm for school and learning as you grow up.

On the home front, you've also grown by leaps and bounds. You're completely potty trained, even at night, so we are now completely off-diapers in this household. After you got proficient with using the potty, you basically just decided that you didn't want to use diapers any more, day or night. Your Daddy believed you could do it. "At most, she can't do it and we'll put her diaper back on," he said casually, while I not-so-silently freaked out about the fact that it was my bed you were going to be wetting (since you were sleeping with me at that time) and that I was the one who always had to wake up to mop up the bed and change the sheets should there be an incident. But you were determined. "I'm not going to pee," you said. And even though you had yet to turn in a dry diaper in the morning, against my better judgment, I let you try going diaperless. Of course, I barely slept a wink that night. I was so sure you were going to wet the bed. Except that you didn't. And you continued to stay dry night after night till I realised that you really were well and truly diaper-free.

That was four months ago. Till this day, you have only wet the bed maybe three or four times. Once when you couldn't get off the bed in time to get to the potty and twice because you were probably just too tired. Thank you for making it so easy.

In other ways too, you've continued to show your independent streak. You insist on picking your on clothes and there really isn't much we can do to stop you since you can change entirely on your own. Yes, you can pull t-shirts off you own head and put them on, you can do and undo buttons, pull up and down your pants and put on your own socks. The only thing you can't do is probably reach your dresses because they are hanging too high up. It's not surprising to see you coming out of the room wearing a different outfit because you decided that you wanted to change. You are also rather adept at feeding yourself. I still can't believe you can do all that because it took your brother much longer to master those skills.

I often feel like you learnt to do things on your own because you had to. Not a day goes by that I do not feel guilty for not giving you all the attention that you need. With Gor-gor's homework and Gor-gor's piano practice and having to send Gor-gor for classes, I find that you are always patiently waiting for me to have the time to bring you to the playground or for a swim. We'll do more together this year, I promise. I too know that your childhood doesn't wait around forever.

In the meantime, do stay the funny, adventurous, independent, lively little girl that you are. We love you, sweetheart. Happy 3rd Birthday.

Love always and beyond and to the moon and back,
Mummy.

Mr Men And Little Miss At The Groovy Giraffe + A Great Promotion!

This weekend, my little girl turns three. Yes, three already! Time is really flying by.

To celebrate, we're had a very small party with family and a handful of friends and neighbours. I asked the little girl who she's like to invite to her party and she named "Papa!" and "Kong Kong and Popo!" and "Nainai!" and all of our nearest and dearest. Our Nomi loves nothing better than having the whole family together so all her favourite big people are coming to celebrate, and some little friends too.

Of course, me, being me, I can't have a party, however small, without a theme, so I decided to based this party on Noey and Nomi's current favourite books and make it a Mr Men and Little Miss party. It was a fun one and I can't wait to share it what we did with you.

But first, I'm here to talk about the favours. My favourite party favours are books since a) I think reading is a great habit, and b) I think books go a longer way than sweets and snacks. So I've always managed to incorporate a book for our little guests to take home. For Nomi's first birthday, it was How To Catch A Star, for her second birthday, it was a series of Charlie And Lola books. This year, I bought Mr Men and Little Miss books, naturally.

But because everyone loves them and has a few copies of these books themselves, I was extra thrilled to find variations of these books with different stories at my favourite remainder bookstore, The Groovy Giraffe!

I've previously told you about the great deals you can get at The Groovy Giraffe, so you can imagine that I was thrilled to find these: 

Mr Men and Little Miss stories, in a nice big size AND at a nice discount! Win-win-win, I say. 

I bought the lot including some for my own kids, and I hope the other children enjoy them too. 

Speaking of The Groovy Giraffe, they have recently achieved more than 1000 likes on their Facebook Page, and to celebrate, they are running a promotion to give readers a 15% discount on all books in the Children's Category! (Which yes, includes the Mr Men and Little Miss books!) Just key in the coupon code "GET15OFF" to enjoy this discount! Valid from now till 19 March 2014, so move fast!

Here are some of my book recommendations, if you're wondering what to get:

1. Dr Seuss Classic Collection (20 book box set collection) -- $99.90 (RRP: $251.58)

Dr Seuss has been a favourite for generations, and this 20-book box set like The Cat In That Hat, Green Eggs And Ham, and Oh The Places You'll Go. This not-always-in-stock set is a great deal so grab it before it goes out of stock!

2. Charlie and Lola: My Completely Best Story Collection (5 books plus CD) -- $38.90 (RRP: $79.95)

Charlie and Lola are some of my kids' favourite characters and I love them too because they are so cute and the best siblings ever. In this box set, you get 5 hardcover books PLUS an audio CD, to read the books for you! Included in the set are two books that my kids enjoy: Snow Is My Favourite and My Best, and I Won, No I Won, No I Won. I think this would make a great gift and have bought one myself for an upcoming party.

3. Stuck by Oliver Jeffers -- $9.90 (RRP: $14.17)

Oliver Jeffers is one of my favourite children's authors for the lovely simple yet creative and somewhat kookie stories he writes. Stuck is one that I love because the story is so ridiculous! A little boy gets his kite stuck in a tree and goes to great extents to get it down. Read this for a good laugh.

4. Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen -- $6.90 (RRP: $8.88)

This book is described as "an affectionate storybook tribute to that truly wonderful place: the library." I have not read this book but it comes highly recommended by trusted sources and from reading the description, I love it already! Needless to say, the library is one of my favourite places.

5. Someday by Alison McGhee - $9.90 (RRP: $19.99)

Another book that came to me highly recommended, I picked this up in a recent school book order, and it is a sweetly touching ode to life told from the perspective of a mother, watching and anticipating her child's process of growing up. Definitely a book that all Mums will be able to identify with -- more than the kids, I feel! But definitely worth a read.

6. One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth -- $12.90 (RRP: $16.45)

The kids received this book as a gift from my friend and it is a lovely story of friendship between Percy the Park Keeper and the animals in the part where he lives. The book is beautifully illustrated and the kids love pouring over the pictures.

7. The Enid Blyton Faraway Tree & Wishing-Chair Collection -- $26.90 (RRP: $30.76)

Enid Blyton needs no introduction. Needless to say, I was a huge fan when I was a child and these two series were among my favourites. A quick and convenient box set so you can make sure you have all the titles at hand.

Have fun reading!

On the Cusp of 5

Dear Noey,

Even as you turn 5 tomorrow I remember the very day you were born, way back on 2^nd October 2008. You were blue and purple and had a layer of fine, oh so fine baby hair all over you. Your eyes were open and alert (little did we know at that time that you hate closing them to sleep, even now), and you gurgled a little baby gurgle when Mummy cradled you to her, to hold you in her arms for the first time.

 

When it was my turn to hold you I could hardly believe that God had given us a little living, breathing, wrinkly baby – you. I brought you outside to weigh you and to take your measurements (which you didn’t particularly enjoy). But all was well when you were wrapped up in the towels of the delivery ward, safe and cosy, your open and alert eyes scanning the room and wondering what this new world around you was, with its bright lights and strange sounds.

 

You will certainly not remember a single bit of what happened that day – your true birth day – but Mummy and I always will. You see, it’s our job to remember these things because these memories are precious to us, just as precious as how we remember your face when we are far away from you, or why we remember the meaning of your name.

 

These are good memories for us.

 

As time passes and moves on, and Mummy and I become old and forgetful, we may not be able to remember every event and every single birthday you have had or will have. But we will try our best to remember the important things. And at that time, when you are grown, you can remember things for us too.

 

But for now, just know, and remember in your heart, that Mummy and I love you and we will always love you. We love you because God gave you to us, to care for you, to teach you and to bring you up. And of course, always remember that God loves you too. He loved you so much, that he sent Jesus – his only begotten Son – to come to earth for you.   

 

Happy birthday, my dear son, I love you so. This year, I hope you grow in height, in character and in fullness of wisdom and knowledge. And remember that, when you were five, your Mummy and Daddy thought the world of you.

Love,

Papa

The Countdown to the Noah 5 Mission to Outerspace

Been feeling a little stressed, and the reason for that is a not-so-little space mission that I've been preparing for.

I'm excited for sure. You know how much I love parties! But I'm also more than a bit nervous as Noey has invited quite a few of his classmates to the party this time round. I agonised over it because I usually have too many kids already! But, well, it is his party after all, so it's only fair he gets to invite some of his friends too. I told him to pick 8 of his classmates instead of the entire class, and I had to leave some of my own friends off the list. (Sorry guys!) 

The party is in a couple of weeks. While his actual birthday is coming up this week, I've pushed his party to a later date so things will be a bit slow here for a while. But it's not everyday that you celebrate your son turning 5 after all! I'll be back with more updates after!

Dinner at SEA at the Ocean Restaurant

Ever since I knew that there was a restaurant within the SEA Aquarium where you could dine while enjoying a full view of the largest tank in the place, I put it on my list of places to try. Of course it's gimmicky, no doubt about that. But I'm a sucker for such things and I figured it was worth trying at least once. DD's birthday presented the perfect opportunity.

Even though it was a weekday evening, I decided not to risk it and booked a table about two weeks before at Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora, asking that we be given a seat with a clear view of the tank. I was duly chuffed when we were seated right in front of the glass. Not only did it mean that we had an ever-changing view to admire through dinner, it also made for an interesting backdrop to shots.

Photobombed by a manta ray!

The menu was surprisingly limited. There were just four starters, four mains, and two desserts. In addition to this, there were two three-course set menus, one vegetarian and the other non-vegetarian, comprising items that were already on the ala carte menu. And the prices were, well, really really high, especially once you see the tiny portions. The starters were $25-$30, the mains $55-$65 and the desserts $22-$25.

Still, it was a birthday celebration, so we just went for it anyway. We opted to go ala carte, since the set menu offered a paltry $4 saving on the combined price of the items. This later turned out to be a good decision because we discovered that there was a Mastercard promotion for a 10% discount on all ala carte items. That was certainly better value than the sets.

As I said, the portions are tiny. At least the food was really good.

We were served rolls individually, but they pretty much let us have as many as we wanted. The olive bread was my favourite. My kids, they wolfed the rolls down.

Helping himself to the bread and butter.

Alaskan Crab Salad ($30), with avocado, chilled corn soup and salmon roe. All the elements came together really well with the sweet crabmeat. Delicious, but you can see how small it is!

DD had the Braised Beef Short-Ribs & M6 Wagyu Striploin ($68), served with lemon mashed potato and sautéed vegetables. This was really melt-in-the-mouth good. You barely needed to cut the beef with a knife - it was so tender. I know DD enjoyed this very much and would have appreciated more!

My Baked Cod Fillet & Lobster Tempura ($68). When I ordered this, I didn't expect to only get two minuscule pieces of lobster! Personally thought there wasn't much special about the lobster tempura but the cod was delicious and cooked perfectly.

The Dark Chocolate Brownie Pistachio Puree & Ice Cream ($25). This was pretty good, though not the best I've had. The brownie had that mix of crumbly-ness and chewiness that I like, and it went well with the pistachio ice-cream. That little drop of chocolate espuma was happily lapped up by the kids.

The restaurant had a children's menu, which I appreciated. It came on a big activity sheet for kids, and colour pencils were also provided. It did help keep the kids occupied during the meal. Though really, the tank was a bigger draw.

Noey had the Chicken Fingers & Chips ($22). I realise I didn't try the chicken, though between both kids I think they finished most of it. The chips were great though. Both DD and I stole many pieces.

Meips had the Tomato Capellini ($22). Yummy, but then again, I love all tomato-based pastas.

It was a bit stressful dining with the kids in a fine-dining restaurant, especially when it was only the four of us. We've eaten out in nice restaurants before, but usually with my parents and siblings in tow, so there are plenty of willing parties ready to take the kids on their laps or outside when they get restless or difficult. Meips ate half her meal standing up on her chair and we had to remind both kids to keep their voices down at times. The staff were very accommodating, but I felt bad for folks who were there for a romantic night out.

It was an expensive dinner, but an experience worth having. The restaurant is a level up from the ground of the tank, so you actually brought to the level where you are eye-to-eye with the rays and fish as they swim by. You therefore get amazing views like this:

The giant manta ray swimming past literally right before our eyes.

It's really something else to have the huge manta ray, and also the giant grouper -- I think it looked at least 1.5m long -- swim right in front of you. Of course my camera had to run out of batts right at the moment the grouper swam by. We did however manage to catch it in a fairly memorable family shot.

Meips couldn't resist turning to look at the HUGE grouper. Check out the size of that thing!

It was a fun evening out, but I guess the best part for my husband was being able to spend time with his family. The kids enthusiastically sang happy birthday to Daddy and both just as enthusiastically blew out the candle without asking. Haha. Happy birthday to my husband, the one who takes all my nonsense, my need to always go out and do stuff and my poor housekeeping without complaint. At least most of the time. Thank you for being a wonderful Daddy and hubby!

Happy birthday!

Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora
S.E.A Aquarium
Resorts World™ Sentosa
8 Sentosa Gateway
Singapore 098269
Tel: 6577 8888

A Birthday at SEA

It's always birthdays galore for us come August.

Actually the celebrations start a little earlier at the end of July with my Dad's birthday, then extend past National Day for my brother and DD. 

This year, for DD's birthday, I decided to book us dinner at Ocean Restaurant in the the SEA Aquarium at RWS. My dear husband loves aquariums and I thought that being able to dine while watching the fish swimming by would be a treat for him. And yes, for Noey, Meips and I too.

Since we have annual passes to the SEA Aquarium, we were able to take a stroll through the aquarium before arriving at the restaurant. I had hoped to make an afternoon of it, but with the husband having to work and the kids' schedules, we were only able to arrive at RWS just before 6pm. That's when I discovered that one hour before closing time is actually an amazing time to visit the aquarium because THERE ARE NO CROWDS. Ok, maybe because this was also on a weekday.

Definitely the only time I've ever seen the entrance to the aquarium this empty.

But as a result, I was able for the first time to walk leisurely through the glass-roofed tunnel at the entrance and admire the fish, something I wasn't able to do the last few times I visited. And snap some pics without having to creatively cut out crowds or inevitably getting some people on your picture. It was great.

My two munchkins being forced to stop for a shot.

In the process, I got to see some exhibits that I've never seen before. There were some extremely cool clusters of shark eggs where you could actually see the baby sharks growing and wriggling inside, and we finally realised that there IS an octopus at the aquarium. The octopus is DD's favourite weird creature and I know he was thrilled to see it. Now I don't know if they are new or whether I just missed them previously because I couldn't get near the tank!

Schooling Bannerfish

Shark eggs, with the wriggling, developing baby shark actually visible. It was super weird and cool.

Little Black Seahorse

Cuttlefish. Another oddity from under the sea. 

A big-eyed fish that now shares the tank with the Nautilius. I didn't manage to get its name.

Octopus!

Fascinated with the jelly fish. I can watch them floating around of a long time.

And not forgetting, the dolphins. It was really amazing to come to the corner and see them right there! Naomi didn't want to move from the tank before, but once I told her "dolphins!" she came running. The dolphins have series of interconnected pools of which they swim in, and only one with a viewing panel in the aquarium. So we didn't see all of them but were really excited when a couple swam right up to the glass a couple of times.

Here they come! A pair of dolphins come up close.

Looks like he's laughing, doesn't it?

Hello there dolphin!

Ocean Restaurant is right beside the huge tank with the world's largest acrylic panel, and we naturally took the time to admire it. They play Carnival of the Animals -- Aquarium on repeat and Noey has come to associate the piece of music with this viewing panel. It is quite lovely staring at the fish swimming by to the music. Very therapeutic!

The HUGE viewing panel. Pretty amazing actually. The little rectangles you see on the other side of the tank open into actual rooms, can you imagine! They reportedly cost about $2000 a night tho!

Oo, looks like they are going to hit each other! One ray had a big school of fish swimming over and under it, around and around. Wonder why?

Chilling away happily at the Ocean Dome.

It was hard to drag everyone away to dinner. Well, everyone except Meips who was complaining she was hungry. But the great attraction about Ocean Restaurant is that one wall is a viewing panel into this great tank, and it was really very cool.

More of that in the next post coming up!