Star Cruise Trip

Gosh! I have lost count of time and didn't realise that I've not updated my blog for such a long while! Our Bong family had just came back from a Star Cruise holiday thus let me share some pictures with you. The package was bought during August Natas Fair hence we should think it's a good deal - $970 for 3 pax for 2N. The day we set sail coincides with Deepavali so we boarded the ship with many Indians. So many that we thought we were in Little India for a second!

On a budget, we booked an inside stateroom (those cabins without windows meant for the poor lah!) which is just a cell for accomodation. But surprisingly, when we opened the cabin door, we saw a decent-sized room with ample walking space! We couldn't believe it and the first thing I did was to verify with Daddy if we were given the correct room key! A check on the floor plan revealed that there were only 2 such rooms on our floor! This is awesome!

After a buffet supper, we explored around the ship and.. well embarrassing enough, got lost. We couldn't find our way back to our cabin cuz there were 3 lifts in different wings and only 1 served our floor! The whole trip on board was relaxing but kinda boring. Actually, it was more of an eat-a-thon trip. There were 6 meals provided on board - breakfast, late breakfast, lunch, high tea, dinner and supper and we gorged so much that we felt so bloated with indigestion!

Mummy and Rynae went swimming in the children's pool once (only). The pool was miserably small with gushing, splashing and squirting water every left, right and centre. Our friend didn't like these water features a single bit as she doesn't like water in her face. She was rather turned off and complained that she only wants to swim in 'Singapore's swimming pool'. Besides swimming, there really weren't much free children's activities planned in the daily schedule. Most, if not all activites were pay-per-play planned by the child care centre onboard. We did attend 1 make-a-spider workshop that was conducted in a small room but it was totally disorganised and uninteresting. Rynae didn't even stay put for 5 min!

Does anyone I know ever been on Star Cruise and had an enjoyable, fulfilling and fun-packed trip? Maybe we should have disembarked at Port Klang and make a day trip to KL city. Anyway, it was a good life-on-board experience and a photo collection trip for us. Enjoy the photos!


Create Your Own

Box House

It was an unexpected windfall. Ah Ma's washing machine broke down and Ah Gong bought a new one for her on the day of our visit! Mummy's been wanting to make a playhouse for Rynae for the longest time but couldn't find any clean, nice, big box. I'd never spend my money on Little Tykes or Brushh playhouse that are both expensive and bulky. What am I suppose to do with it after Rynae gets sick of it? I just want something for a moment of fun so I begged for the cardboard and brought it home, almost mistaken as a rag and bone man.

Rynae pestered for the house to be built so within minutes, I fulfilled her wish, transforming the box into a house with a door and 2 windows. It may not be as chic as commercially produced playhouses but she's contented. I felt that this provides a valuable lesson to the child about recycling, creativity and concept of saving. We sponge-bath the exterior of the house with poster colours the next day. Look! Does it look like a barrack? Haha. I wonder what's the shelf life of this dwelling before it hits the trash bin.

Rainbow (What The) Fish

Whenever Mummy's web surfing, I'll try to read up on some parenting and eduational tips. From my 'research', I learned about an award winning book - Rainbow Fish which is about a beautiful fish who finds happiness when he learns to share. The book is best known for its morals about the value of being an individual. U know what? It is so popular that it is turned into a 26-episode animated television series, adapted into a musical production, has various sequels and available in software too! There were also tonnes of educational activites and craft ideas on the web to accompany this title! I have to have a read! Where else but to get it from NLB. Gaga.

Rynae loves the story and I also highlighted to her the undesirable result of selfishness and vanity on friendship and taught her about the virtue of sharing. We made paper plate Rainbow Fish too! She did one and I did one. Initially, she wanna give up after pasting a few scales, citing reason that she is tired (well, more to lazy actually) but I urged her on by telling her that the fish will feel cold if there aren't enough scales to keep it warm! She persisted and finally finish the fish decently. We enacted out the story with the fish after that.

Study Corner

This is a study corner that I set up for Rynae. Just a simple corner beside my washing machine in the kitchen. With some magnets, this is the perfect spot where she kills time while clearing her bowel and bladder. This is also the most productive place where she learns to read days of the week, months of the year and the ability to read and constuct simple sentences. It goes to show that learning can take place anytime and anywhere as long as a child is interested and attentive. Mummy has learning traps everywhere! Wohoho..

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I got to know from Rynae that the story of this term is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This is the second time that her school has read stories by this author. Gheez... his books must be very educational, I thought. So, I googled about him and the story. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is reported to have reached millions of children all over the world and has been translated into more than 47 languages and sold over 29 million copies! It is so popular that even Act 3 has adapted 3 of his stories into theatre plays! I was lucky to find a copy of said title in Times Bookshop and I had a read. Interesting. It teaches days of the week, life cycle of a butterfly and nutrition.

A caterpillar made from egg carton that my girl brought home today

Riding on the theme, I printed some story sequencing cards, butterfly colouring pages, borrowed a book on butterfly and rewatched Little Einsteins Our Huge Adventure. Butterflies overwhelming? Not really. These activites were spread over 1 week. The last I want is for Rynae to have butterflies in her stomach! Hee hee..

There is another interesting feature about this colourful insect that I want Rynae to learn and which none of the materials above taught about, is that butterfly wings are symmetrical, meaning that the colours on a wing are reflected onto the other, like in a mirror. She digested this information well and I'm so glad when she showed her understanding in the butterfly colouring pages that I printed.

Sex Education

ST's Mind Your Body recently recommended a sex education book for ages 3 to 6 years old and I managed to loan a copy from NLB. Amazing You! is a guide to body awareness catered for preschoolers. It presents clear and age-appropriate information about reproduction, birth and the difference between girls' and boys' bodies without explicit and vulgar vocabulary or illustrations. However, there were some biological terms like labia, urethra and scrotum which perhaps the older children might understand, not for Rynae now though.

My girl wasn't too attracted to the contents and reviewed that she actually dislikes it! She was in full denial when I told her that her body will change as she grows and as she enters adolescence. Before I could finish the book, she already freak out and ran away!

Fridge Magnets

Out of impulse, I bought a pack of clay while browsing in a bookstore one day. I really wanna make something durable out of it. But what? It took me several days to make up my mind. Ok set! Fridge magnets it shall be!

Rynae has never toyed with clay before and her first comments about the craft material was that it is heavy and cold. Excellent! Now she knows the difference in texture between home-made doh, commercial doh and japanese soft clay. Maybe I'll let her try plasticine next. The magnets are actually quite easy to make and here's how we did it:

1. Mould clays with a fruit-shape ice maker
   
2. Trim off the extra clays from the edges and leave to dry for a few days
   
3. Colour with acrylic paint and leave to dry
   
4. Glue magnets to the back of each fruit shape clay


5. Lastly, take lots of photos!

Rynae couldn't mould any decent looking fruit-shape clay and I did most of the job then. Good effort there though. Her contribution came when it was time to coat the clays. Being an impatient and non-meticulous person as she always is, she brushed each piece with 1 homogeneous colour and to her, her job is done as long as the clay pieces get a decent amount of paint on them. No thought of esthetics here. Of course Mummy has to do the touch up because there were white patches everywhere!

Besides being Rynae's first clay encounter, it is also Mummy's first attempt in using acrylic paint. I wanted to use this paint because it is fast drying and I need not have to give the clays another varnishing top coat. If you're aware, acrylic paints can be quite costly and this is also one of the reasons why my completion date was pushed back because I do not have the time for purchasing at Bras Basah's ArtFriend. I call myself lucky when I found a box of 6 acrylic colours in Daiso. S$2 only! With these colours, I can concoct more crafts to paint now. And I know what I'm gonna do next.

PEBBLES PAINTING!

cool...

Poster Girl

Did you catch Rynae in the news recently? She's been talent spotted and is now a renowned poster girl! Her photos are everywhere!

Well, I'm just pulling your leg. I came across an interesting website that can digitally image faces onto pre-shot pictures. It's really fun! Wanna check it out too? Alrite... I'll share.

Go to Photofunia and try it out yourself. Go on. You'll find yourself ironically on a model's outfit, on Vogue's cover page and on Angelina Jolie's t-shirt!

Explorers In the East

After sending Asher to his first Shichida Method enrichment class, San Yi and us drove to E!Hub at Downtown East. The entertainment centre has been opened for months but none of us has visited it! On approaching the venue, we were awed by its Cadbury branded Ferris Wheel near its main entrance. This place sure looks fun! We hurried in to check out its ticket price. Our jaws dropped when we heard its charges. $6.50 for 4 min ride! That means it costs $1.625 per min. God! Even more expensive than Singapore Flyer which costs only $0.983 per min! I'd rather splurge the money on the observation wheel which offers more aerial and breathtaking views. I wanted to send Rynae to Explorer Kids but was also turned off by its steep ticket pricing. $22/child/entry/hour and each adult has to pay $1.50 to get in. I refuse to succumb to this extortion. We didn't stay long there as there simply wasn't much to entertain us. How could such a place sustain if there isn't interest and human crowd? I'll bet with my last dollar that the tenants' accounts will be seeing red soon.

We thought of settling dinner at the nearby Fisherman's Village. As it was still early, we allowed Rynae to play in the sandy children's playground and also had a short walk on the beach. Our growling stomach hurried us to fill it up hence we began our search for the Fisherman's Village, which all of us haven't gone for years. After half an hour of futile search, we still couldn't locate it. Six sense told us that it has been demolished. Indeed it is! We finally found a location map which has the spot 'Fisherman's Village' blanco off. When did this happen and where was the publicity? None of us had a clue. All of us were famished then and we make do with a seaside restuarant, Summer Breeze. Their food's not too bad. The whole day out has tired Rynae, who fell asleep in the car... all the way to the next morning, without a bath. *Yucks*

Children Day Celebration

Children's Day this year is eventful. It not only coincides with Hari Raya, it is also the day to burn bigger holes in our pockets as SBS increased their fares by 4 cts, SPH increased their prices for some of its newspaper and electricity tariffs increased by 22%. Yes! All on 1st October! What fortuitous timing huh!

To 'celebrate' this all-in-one day, we brought our star-of-the-day to Vivo City for some outdoor fun at the children's playground and pool at the sky garden. The weather was wonderful! It was windy and cloudy but the sky's not the least gloomy.

Next pit stop was the Merlion. It was the first time Rynae got introduced to this national icon and from then on, she never stop talking about it. Our friend even spat the water forcefully when she brushed her teeth, mimicking the Merlion!