Boys.Girl

Travelling with kids

2012-02-26T23:48:00.004+08:00

It is never easy to travel with kids, no wonder some say holiday trips can be "suffering,
or back-breaking" with kids.

For us, we have to manage our expectations, cut down that romantic candlelight dinner. Traveling as a couple is totally different from traveling as a family. Our focus, itinerary are all geared for kids. We recommend that you always have a plan-B, as you can definitely expect some hiccups :p

If you have not travel oversea or even hesitate to bring your child on that first flight, why not consider driving to Malaysia? It is near, you plan your own journey, and the exchange rate is in our flavour.
Once you have more confidence, go further.

Ensure your itinerary is flexible, so that you can still enjoy, and there is no need to rush from point to point. It will be exhausting, and we hate it when everyone on the bus is waiting for us !
Personally, we prefer free & easy tours, when we can take our own sweet time to savour the sights, food and culture.

Money is important, our (2+4) accommodation and flight tickets will form the largest expense ticket in our budget. That's why we need to research ! We do not need the Best "resort, food or experience" that money can buy, but we definitely do not want to pick a LEMON ! We find blog reviews and references extremely important.

Do drop by our travel itinerary in Apac (Krabi, Taiwan and Malaysia roadtrips are recommended)
--> http://sengkangbabies.blogspot.com/p/holidays.html

From young, our four kids have been traveling with us. Although our budget cannot fly us to Europe and US, they had no lack of fun when we travel in Asia.

The No1 tip for parents who are traveling first time with kids, go try our bus and MRT first :p
(and please remember to leave the car and maid at home)

No2 tip, after every holiday, the kids will always remember the farms, animals, nature, rather than the City, the themepark, the food etc. Kids do not need a sophisticated itinerary :)

.

Shopping Centres Roof top water playgrounds

2012-02-26T00:11:00.002+08:00

It seems like all new shopping centres are now equipped with rooftop water playgrounds. We have been to a few, maybe your kids will love some water fun too? Click on the photos for our blogposts :)

...Changi City Point

All Kids love water !

.... Nex

..... Sembawang Splash

We have not been to the following water playgrounds yet... IMM

....and Vivo City.

Image for Vivocity and Imm are from the respective links,[Vivocity], [IMM].

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Looking at the colourful slides, swing, water sprays and even Treehouse, it is definitely nicer than barren concrete. SengkangBabies say, give us more Green spaces anytime :)

We will update you with the latest Roof water arena next week.
Someone has decided to bring the Zoo to the roof haha !

Meanwhile, if you are interested to know more about our playgrounds, just click on our "playground" tag.

.

HFMD outbreak (Hand Foot Mouth Disease)

2012-02-24T19:10:00.010+08:00

Recently, Straits Times reported that HFMD incidences are peaking again :(
Parents whose kids are in childcare center will be praying hard for their kids to stay healthy.

We do not know when our child will be infected !
..and we can only hope for all parties ( teachers, parents and kids) to practice good hygiene routine.

From personal experience, it is very demoralising to bring your kids daily to school, and discover another classmate down with illness, one more added to infection statistic.
(16 cases and MOH will force school to close).

Traditionally, HFMD used to breakout after kids return from their holidays, but this time round, the disease has decided to pop up earlier. We blogged about the “bochap” and “selfish” parents back in 2010
Read --> http://sengkangbabies.blogspot.com/2010/08/hand-foot-mouth-disease-hfmd-go-away.html

If you see parents bringing their sick kids to school, sound the Alarm, tell the parents off, or at the very least, escalate to the teachers and principal.
Teachers are the gatekeepers, but we understand some parents are very inconsiderate (不自动).
Just because they cannot take leave, they will bring their sick child to school, maybe infecting the other kids !

Teachers can highlight importance of hygiene, and reinforce good hygiene practices by asking kids to wash their hands regularly (and sanitizing).

..but we just need one irresponsible parent to bring a sick child to school..
.. and the rest is history...

=== === === ===

It sucks, when you are a responsible parent, but is indirectly affected because of some selfish parents.
For parents with more than one kid, the family now risk having another innocent child affected !!

Extracted from --> http://www.hpb.gov.sg/health_articles/hfmd,
do not bring your kids to school if they exhibit the following symptoms :

· fever
· sore throat
· ulcers in the throat, mouth and tongue
· headache
· a rash with vesicles (small blisters, 3-7 mm) on hands, feet and diaper area. The vesicles are typically on the palm side of the hands the sole side of the feet and very characteristic in appearance
· loss of appetite

=== === === ===
More information can be found at MOH website too
http://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/diseases_and_conditions/h/hand_foot_mouth_disease.html

Take care.

.

Shops in Greenwich V

2012-02-23T16:10:00.005+08:00

Daddy had earlier blog about our Amazing Race adventures at GreenWich V. You can watch how the three teams challenge each other to eat the most haha. {Click for Video}

Today, we would like to share more about ToastBox and Home-Fix. Actually, this is Daddy's homework, after all we did enjoy ourselves two Sats ago :)

#01 - Paul's thumbs up, the universal language for TipTop. The curry chicken is tender and not too spicy, and we love the milky gravy. Daddy can eat plain rice with this gravy alone.

When Wei saw Daddy scooping the curry, he quickly rush over to satisfy his craving. Yes, our boy loves everything spicy and hot, and that includes Wasabi !

Another signature dish from ToastBox is their Peanut Butter toast. The thick and sweet spread of Peanut will hit your nose. Needless to say, it was gone before we can say "Peanut ... Butter" !

After eating our fill, our next challenge requires us to build a cabinet ! Ok, Daddy exaggerated, we need to find two tools needed for cabinet fixing.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
#02 - It did not take us long before we solve the clue and head to Home-Fix. Where else can we get all the tools under one roof? In the olden days, we have to rely on 五金店 , but now Home-Fix serves our Diy needs.

In Home-Fix, you will not go wrong with drills :p
Even if you are not quite a handy man, we can always rely on the friendly staff's recommendations.

Off topic, Daddy's best friend is WD40. One spray fixes everything.
(Squeaking door, rusty bicycle chain, dry cabinet rollers etc)
WD40 has been around for 50+ years, do you know what it stands for ?

Your light bulbs store, every man worth his salt must know how to change light bulbs. Unless you prefer some unscheduled RomantiC moments :p

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
More group photos :)

Interested to know more about the other shops in GreenWich V ? Do drop by our team's recommendations :
- Sandra (BerryLite and Empire State)
- Phoebe (Gong Cha, Prima Deli and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf)
- Klessis (Cedele and Soulworks)
- Paul (Phoenix Medicaland Paradise Inn)
- bloggers' challenge (eat, walk, guess, eat, walk, see, play.. repeat for 10 outlets !)

Now you know about team Lifestyle's powerful kids (both big and small), share our joy, vote and stand to win $50 vouchers. Voting starts 13Mar, click here for Voting instructions.

Click on photo below to read blog posts from the other teams..

** Photo credit from team Omy and Phoebe
More event photos can be found at SengkangBabies fanpage :)

.

Who are http://purebloggers.com, OnlineSeoSearches.com ?

2012-02-20T16:40:00.003+08:00

As a blogger, you get invitations to attend events, or help promote awareness. Sometimes, we love the limelight or we get extra privileges, but Sometimes, we also get weird invitations.

#01 - Avoid invitation from unknown sources
With so many spams and social phishing laying around, we should be paying more attention to suspicious invitations. Who know, which hackers or porn website might be tagged to your blog !
(Daddy admit he loves conspiracy plots from FBI, CIA, NSA spy movies)

#02 - Turn on your comment-spam filter
All comments will need to be approved before publishing, you will see some funny characters trying to pose a comment on your blog.
Fortunately, most are advertising, and not spammers. (cbox and text boxes are the worst source of spams)

Can you imagine what will happen if your blog crashes, or you mess up the html while playing with widgets? Most bloggers are not html programmers, so a regular backup will help. You do not want to spend countless night trying to decode "< a> and the < / a>" !!

#03 - Daddy tries to backup his blog and template at least once a month.

It is a simple 5 min job, which hopefully will ensure our SengkangBabies blog runs smoothly.
Have you been backing up? You will be surprise how easy your blog can crash :p

ps.. if you have backups, try to restore onto a "Test" blog. Just to ensure your backup SOPs are working as it is. Assumption will only lead to disappointment.

.

We saw the Dog Whisperer today

2012-02-19T02:20:00.004+08:00

..actually Mummy found Dog Whisperer's poster. Cesar is like our best friend's version of Super Nanny.
He talks to dogs :)

We had earlier blog about this weekend's National Geographic Channel Free Pet Shop. The rain did not stop dog lovers from gathering.

The ground is muddy, the drizzle came and go, but that did not stop the crowd (humans and dogs) from mingling at East Coast Park (behind carpark D1).

Kids help themselves, and pat so many doggies. (they avoid any dogs bigger than themselves keke).
Actually, all the dogs were very well mannered.

Cute Maltese, but behind every cute dog, tells a story of abandonment :(
Today's event was meant to encourage dog adoption, and prevent dog abuse.

Wei Ting and Alvin brought their beloved Kushi along, come let us sayang you :)

For non pet owners, it was quiet an eye opener. When Wen Yi mention dog was wearing diaper,
we thought he was joking haha!

Groom and treat your best friend. The cup cake looks tasty enough for human consumption keke.

Look who we found ? Ms Lin, Yi's former teacher. Her friend was so kind to loan us a dog to walk around. Kids were over the moon with excitement.

Yi is quite an expert at letting the dog lead him, or should it be the other way round haha?

Doting big brother, we can see kids' loving nature when they are handling pets.

If your kids love animals, bring them to East Coast Park on Sunday for an unforgettable experience.
As we do not own any pets, our younger kids get startled easily (maybe intimidated) by the bigger dogs.

Video : How does Cesar read dogs' mind ?

More doggy tales can be found at Sengkang Babies album :)
More updates about Nat Geo Free Pet Shop can be found at their fanpage.

We would like to thanks Genevieve and team for informing us about this event. Although we did not adopt any dog, our family had a fun outing today.

.

Chingay in Sengkang

2012-02-18T13:40:00.004+08:00

Tonight parade will be at Bukit Panjang, and tomorrow Jurong.

We spotted PM lee on one of the floats. Kids were happy to wave back to vips.

..but we are eagerly waiting for "mother of all mobile-columns" to return to Singapore NDP. Wei and Kang could not forget the impressive 2010 lineup. Click link below for the video clips.
http://sengkangbabies.blogspot.com/2010/07/ndp-2010-rehearsal-with-mobile-column.html

Video : Mobile columns..streaming

.

Nothing is Insignificant

2012-02-16T23:58:00.002+08:00

How many 20 years do we have?
1st 20 years studying..
2nd 20 years working..

That's life's mathematics for adults.
Kids grow even faster, month by month.

.. their shoes no longer fit after a few months
.. they have grown bulkier, Daddy struggle to carry 12kg Xin with one hand !
.. no more diapers, changing of milk formula
.. they do not need bodyguard to bring them toilet in the night anymore
.. school bag suddenly so heavy 15kg (Primary school)
You get the idea...

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

When we are working, or busy with projects, do we sometimes pause for a few seconds, and ponder, imagine what are the kids doing at home or school? Daddy sometimes remind Mummy to take more photos of their activities.

Activities..
Waiting for school bus, their favourite corner at playground, Xin learning hallelujah, and Yi singing in Mandarin ! Daddy did not know our kids were making some hamsters FAT !

It make you realised time flies. Kids grow up overnight.
Starting from today, Daddy and Mummy will maintain an album..to keep all the insignificant photos :p

If you have been missing some kids activities recently, what are you doing about it?
Some of us can always make another baby, relive the ~~insomia~~ stages again,
but SengkangBabies confirm stop at four haha.

Memories, are not only made of milestones, memories are only complete when we have all the tiny insignificant moments. As Chinese would say "酸甜苦辣" (sour sweet bitter spicy).

We will add more insignificant photos along the way.. to remind us that we should not take anything for granted. Click to unlock our album.

Wei, where are you going next?

ps.. if this is the first time you are visiting Sengkang's Babies, read our introduction page :)

.

I want to grow old like them !

2012-02-15T21:04:00.002+08:00

Cool! who say old people cannot be happening !

This choir does Rock, and it's member's average age is 80 years old !
Just hear them croon in the video clip above.

Definitely not your average Grandpa and Grandma :0
Come May, Young@Heart will be in Singapore as part of "Singapore Arts Festival".

Interested to find out more about Young@Heart's bio info?
Do pop by their homepage or Fanpage :)

What an inspiration !

...

Greenwich V - Bloggers' challenge

2012-02-13T18:50:00.018+08:00

Last Sat, SengkangBabies went to Seletar Hill's new shopping mall, Greenwich V.
Omy, together with Far East team had organised an Amazing-Race.

Fifteen bloggers in three teams, "Urban, Village and Lifestyle" will roam the new lifestyle hub,
cover 10 shops each, complete some tasks, and stuff ourselves silly !

All these sounds easy, until you take our kids into account, we have a Bigger team. You see,
Lifestyle team consist mostly of parent bloggers Klessis, Sandra, Phoebe and Paul.

So, we gather at Empire State for the briefing and late lunch. Nobody is listening to Alvin and team when we saw the BURGER haha !! Can you blame us? the burger is HUGH and tasty!

Mushroom or Terriyaki Chicken pizza, both are Nice :)

Hold on, we have not even started Amazing Race yet, how many more dishes
are we going to consume along the way! Bloggers look at each other, and loosen our belt (gulp!!).

More to come...

At 3pm, waiting for Flag off, after our full meal at Empire.

Jesslyn is our assigned Game Master. She will provide hints for the next task, and the team will have to make an intelligent guess.

The ten clues for today.

#01 - Yogurt at BerryLite Yeah! Everybody loves it, and nobody notice Daddy Andy cannot take sour Yogurt :p

Really love our Red theme, Lifestyle = Lively!

#02 - Carrot Walnut cake at Cedele, love it ! Ms Cheng took her time to recommend Cedele's best dishes, and we were not disappointed.

Do try out their Valentine concoction (Iced Choc Rose, and Lovely Berry MilkShake). Cedele is daddy's favourite outlet for today's challenge :)

Some of you might be wondering, how come our team always finish our tasks first? Daddy is not counting the number of members in our team, but **hint hint

The kids sure can eat a lot !

At every F&B outlet, we just order the kids to charge Front Line and attack. Kids prove useful too, when adults are penalised for wrong answers !

Thank you Gladys, your star jump is perfect, kids really make our day a Fun one !

#03 - Gong Cha (贡茶), this is Singapore's 40th outlet. Wow, Singaporeans are thirsty for more Gong Cha !

#04 and #05 -Daddy will share more goodness about Toast Box and Home-Fix in a separate post.

#06 - Waffles at Prima Deli. We always have spare room for chocolate waffles. Did you know Prima Deli is also Singapore's longest running food franchise?

#07 - Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf, we need a recharge. We know the cheese cakes are superb, but ...
Coffee and tea will do.

#08 - The most value-for-money proposition of the day came from Phoenix Medical. Our team consist of (Leader, TimeKeeper, Photographer, and Caption Writer), the toughest job must be TimeKeeper aka Paul.

At every outlet, Paul has to ensure we finish our task on time. Now, you can imagine how challenging it is to drag the kids away from their favorite pastries, fries, hotdogs or yogurt! So we unanimously ~~arrow~~ recommended Paul for some rewarding facial scrub.

Actually, Paul like facial, but he was quite uncomfortable when Mummies and Daddies start snapping away like paparazzi.

His face is so radiant after the wash :p
(we notice all three teams sent the guys in for wash, wonder why?)

If kids get sick of munching, there are always magic-show and story-telling to entertain them. They love the dragon tattoos. The fountain at the center seems to be popular with kids, with or without swimming attire.

#09 - Paradise Inn serves great Chinese cuisine. Unfortunately she is our 9th stop, and our stomach is 90% filled ! We heard their double boil soups are very famous.

Fortunately, we did not start with Paradise Inn, otherwise we will be so full, and will have trouble completing the other F&B challenges !

#10 - Klessis interviewing Elly, Soulwork's most popular stylist. Soulworks is 4-in-1 outlet, for your Hair, Nail, Face and Body pampering.

After 2.5 hours, and 10 outlets, who will be the winner? Daddy just knew our group is exhausted, climbing up and down with kids in tow is no joke !

Guess Village (green) or Urban (black) team won? Click on link for result and photos.

Team Lifestyle receiving our 2nd prize award, some member have already gone off, as kids are too tired :)

Congrats, we received a $200 voucher for our effort, courtesy of GreenWich hub.

Yi : Daddy, can I STOP eating already? (this is his honest feedback keke..)

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
You can gather more info about Greenwich at their website http://www.greenwichv.com.sg

Credit. We would like to take this opportunity to thanks Far East and Omy for this fun event, and the F&B outlets for hosting us and prizes. Photo credit to OMY and Phoebe (BPDG).

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Daddy's personal thoughts...
- maybe we can cover five instead of ten outlets. Everyone will be able to savour the gourmet and services more passionately, yielding more quality and comprehensive reviews.

- Daddy actually felt like letting the F&B outlets down, when we cannot finish some of the food (food is good, but we were too full)

- More importantly, we will have more time to interact with our blogger friends :)
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

.. our Supper, courtesy from Chinta Manis.

Take a look at Team Lifestyles' contributions :)

If you are still hungry after above photos, do pop by Sengkang Babies fanpage !

.

Sushi Tei Serangoon Garden

2012-02-13T16:30:00.003+08:00

One afternoon, we decided to have our lunch at Sushi Tei Serangoon Garden. Mummy is a sushi fan, however, Daddy is always reluctant to dine out with kids...

Prawns and Unagi are always popular with kids.

Kang is taking his own time to enjoy his cuisine

Soft Shell crab, our family's all time favourite. Kids just love the crunchiness !

California handroll for Daddy.

Chawamushi is good for Yi and Xin (smaller kids), but even they prefer solid food like Fried Rice nowadays... Normally, a simple Bento set will satisfy their hunger pangs.

Is it true that as long as kids are full, they will listen to us and behave? Daddy doubt so, as kids will start playing another trick to purposely annoy parents haha.

Food and service is good, and kids were in a good mood.
However, Daddy will always prefer to eat home rather then outside. To ask our kids to settle down
(with all the finger-to-lip ssssh..) is a Formidable challenge.

..and you might not get to enjoy the meal thereafter keke. Bon appetit (later) !!

If you have a young toddler, we will also recommend a comfortable child restrain.
Read our earlier review --> Sack'n and Seat

Click for more information about Sushi Tei.

.

National Geographic Channel Free Pet Shop

2012-02-10T19:17:00.007+08:00

Are you a pet lover? You hate dog and cat abuse?
Maybe you want to learn more about dog grooming?
Or you simply want your kids to enjoy a beautiful day with some poodles?

If your answer to any of the questions above is Yes, this event is for you.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

On 18.19Feb, from 12 to 6pm. 80+ dogs will be gathering East Coast Park, Dalbergia Green.

National Geographic Channel (NGC), together with four other dog shelters (Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), Animal Lovers League (ALL), Gentle Paws and Noah’s Ark), will be advocating for dog adoption.
You will also learn about the efforts taken to save abandoned dogs too.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
We do not have any dogs, cats, basically no pets in our home.
Our guppies never last longer than a week, and the closest pets we have are snails (read about escargot here) !!

..but we always teach our kids to take care of little animals.
In case you are interested, there are other activities to entertain your family :

- Demonstrations by dog groomers
- Talks by obedience trainers
- Doggy Massage sessions,
- Samplings by a dog bakery, pet food companies,
- Owner and dog portraits by professional pet photographers,

More information can be found here -->
http://www.facebook.com/natgeofreepetshop

**updated 2012Feb19 - we went to pat some dogs on day 1

.

Spiritual Thaipusam

2012-02-09T17:01:00.009+08:00

Last Tue, Daddy pop by to witness his first Thaipusam celebration.
Ironically, as a Chinese, Daddy has not been to any Taoism or Buddhism events yet :p

Thaipusam is meant to celebrate Lord Murugan's victory over evil.
As part of the celebration, devotees will walk overnight from Sri Srinivasa Perumal temple (Serangoon road) to Sri Thendayuthapani Temple (Tank road) Some will carry milk pots, and others will carry Kavadis.

You may pop over to wiki Thaipusam any one time, to get the definition of terms or significance of rituals.

A 10min walk from Farrer Park MRT, will lead you to the majestic Sri Srinivasa Perumal temple.
It seems like only devotees are allowed through the front gate, so Daddy make his way to back door.
As a mark of respect, please remove your footwear.

We can see various Kavadis in the center compound, some are already decked up. Kavadi looks hugh upfront, and it will be amazing how our Indian friends cart them and march 4.5km tomorrow.

Groups of devotees sitting in a group, offerings of fruits for their Gods, and chanting their prayers.

Peacock feathers are used extensively as decorations everywhere.

Preparation of Milk pots. These will be carried over Devotee's head as they march to Tank road.

All Devotees look serene, eager and ready for their big event. We get to hear chants sounding like "Huat Ah" (not the Chinese version. Daddy understand this is an Indian ritual to invoke and get close to Gods)

Designated devotee will enter into a trance, and it will take a few men to hold him down. (I am not here to judge, but each religion has it's own rituals. We can definitely respect each other's beliefs).

Daddy is very proud that in Singapore, everyone can practice their own faiths with freedom.
Multi-cultural events will bring a dimension of richness and colours to our society.

Meanwhile, more and more people are worshiping in the Temple. Curious tourist and photographers
can be spotted mingling among the devotees.
Devotees ready to honour their Gods.

Thaipusam is very much a family event, showering support for one's family, relatives or friends.

You will be surprised how families openly accept our requests for photos. Everyone is so friendly !
We hear even those devotee pierced with heavy Kavadi will gladly slow down for you :)

Other interesting sights within the Temple. It is very interesting to see Chinese, Caucasian
mingling among the crowd. Most are here out of curiosity (just like Daddy).

Temple compound is crowded and can be smoky! Everyone is anticipating the midnight hour.
(Daddy's Nikon D5000 was hunting desperately to get the focus point, manual-focus seem to work better)

Soak in the atmosphere, the sound, the scent, the Sight !!

Just before midnight, the first wave of devotees are ready to walk, with their milk pots.

At Midnight, devotees, with milk pots over their head start their slow walk to Tank road.
The trial will last from midnight to the next day 10pm !

Mesmerising lights along Serangoon road..

Rest points along the route, to ensure no one goes thirsty or hungry. Volunteers will be inviting visitors for some treats too :)

More information about Thaipusam or other Indian festivals are available at Hindu Endowment Board.
You may drop by Jerome's blog post, to view more about the morning Kavadi walk.

For more photos, do drop by our SengkangBabies Fanpage.
(most photos are not sharp, as Daddy struggles to focus his lens )

See you again,Thaipusam, in 2013 Jan.

** Pardon my ignorance,
if I have misrepresented any facts or ritual, I offer my humble apologies, please feel free to correct me.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Tips (including tips for those without the luxury of 70-200 F2.8 lens :p )

Logistics
- for those driving, you can park at 'Plaza by the Park' (per entry $2.20 after 5pm), then take MRT to Farrer Park MRT
- From Farrer Park MRT, follow the crowd
- 8pm onwards preparation will be ongoing in Temple, it gets more crowded until the 11th hour
- Organisers might block you at front gate, go to the back gate. Remove your footwear !
- Spend 2 hours indoor at Serangoon Temple, 2 hours follow procession, and 1 hour at Tank road temple.
- devotees are friendly, but do not let your photography get in the way of their rituals

Timing
- 0800 - prepartion starts
- 0001 - Devotees will march off with milk pots. They will go in intervals, to prevent bottleneck.
- 0600 onwards - Kavadi will start moving off
- 1600 to 1800 - another cycle of Kavadi

Photography
- Indoor close proximity, Flash might be intrusive, use big Aperture instead.
- My humble lens struggles to auto-focus, under dim light and smoke, end up I have more success with manual-focus
- For night procession, bring your external flash along
- Wear comfortable footwear, as sidewalk is uneven

.

Transformers are coming to Singapore

2012-02-07T19:06:00.005+08:00

"Transformers, more than meet the eyes". This caption has been lingering around
since Daddy was in his secondary school years, that is easily 20 years ++.

From the 80s, the rise of the machines !

This March 11-14, Autobots and Decepticons are coming to Singapore !
Hasbro, together with Resorts World (RWS) will bring Transformer Mania to Sentosa ! COOL !

Introducing "TRANSFORMERS CYBERTRON CON 2012".

What are the highlights of this CyberTron event?

- view how Transformers have evolved over the years
- grab your souvenirs, animation and video games
- take a photo with 22 Foot Optimus Prime, the biggest Transformer model
- for the kids, Transformer drawing classes, with Hasbro artists
- not sure whether there are cosplay performances.

Daddy is willing to queue up for a photo with Devastator !

~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Tickets are now on sale at http://www.rwsentosa.com.

- Day ticket : $12
- Four days VIP package : $68
- Battle Pass : $72 (Adult), $62(kid), inclusive USS ticket and CyberTron Con entry
- The Epic Battle Package : $988 (3D2N inclusive a pair of USS tickets ). Only for the die hard fans !

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Imagine, a weekend of mind-numbling experience with Robots. Mummies might not get it,
but Transformer have bond Daddies and Sons over the years :)

Watch USS's Transformer Ride

11-14Mar, remember your date with Transformer.
For more updates, do pop by Transformer Fanpage, and http://www.cybertroncon.com.

.

Penang family trip

2012-02-06T19:21:00.009+08:00

Food, Food, Food ! Mention Penang, and Food comes into our mind !

The last time we went Penang, Mummy and Daddy were not expecting four kiddos.
We were still happily indulging in our honeymoon freedom :p

10 years is way too long to revisit Penang. So this March, we will be marching at Batu Ferringhi
and munching at Gurney Drive.

From Hard Rock Cafe Hotel (awesome pool), to AdventureZone (hugh slides !), to Street food and more food,
these four bloggers make it impossible, not to go to Penang !

Now we have a problem, which food to drop from our to-eat list :(
Owning to logistics (kids again), we might have to sacrifice some good food to cater for kid's itinerary :)

.

Domino Pizza

2012-02-05T02:05:00.015+08:00

A few bloggers were invited to taste Domino Pizza's new "Double Loaded Chicken" pizzas.
(Double dosage of grilled chicken breasts)

Linda, Domino's marketing manager, demonstrated online Pizza ordering process. Domino guarantees that your pizza will arrive in 30min, or the next one will be free.

When the Pizza arrive, click click flash flash. Yes, we are also food bloggers haha.

The Big BBQ

In between pizza slices, we feast on finger food.

Staff are happy at Domino's, happy staff means high morale and pride, likely leading to quality food. We are just curious why most staff still remain slim ?

Enough photos, which pizza shall we attack first?

Chicken temptation, this fellow is spicy hot and delicious ! The thin crust was crunchy too.

After a while, we lost count of the variety of pizzas.

Meatzza, for carnivorous meat lovers !

For the full range of pizza, click on Domino's website.

Insiders will recommend those pizzas mark as "Top Secret sauce" !

We save the Best for last, and it is not even a Pizza haha. Dessert is yummy Chocolate Lava cake.
When the Lava flows, it taste heavenly ! (a must for all choc lovers)

Fellow bloggers and new found friends. Someone really can eat and she puts us guys to shame haha. Check out the following blogs, Cat and Domo, Alex, Melissa and Rudy.

He or she who loves to eat and enjoy their food, knows how to enjoys life.
Tonight, we are pampered by Domino Pizza and Omy.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
For a limited time only until March 2012, Domino’s Pizza is offering their savoury Double Loaded Meal at only $39.80 (Save $18.40), which includes 1 Regular Chicken Pizza with Double Loaded Chicken*, 1 Regular Pizza of your choice, 1 Chocolate Lava Cake, and 1 BreadStix or 1 Twisty Bread (6 pcs) or 1 CinnaStix.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Have you decided to feast on Pizza already, call 6222 6333 now!
For more pizza slices, do drop by Sengkang Babies Fanpage.

.

Chingay 2012 in the heartlands

2012-02-03T16:44:00.007+08:00

Chingay will be running tonight and Sat.
The Floats are coming to neighbourhood on another schedule.

Click for schedules.

Daddy was at the full dress rehearsal earlier.

TV broadcast will be this Sunday Ch8 at 8pm.

.

Fire Station open house

2012-02-01T18:53:00.008+08:00

Every Sat from 0900 to 1000, most Fire stations in Singapore will be having open house.

The last time we went Sengkang Firestation was in 2008.
Look at how Yi has grown since then. Still very much adorable :p

This time round, our Sengkang neighbour Daddy Vincent and Xavier joined us. The kids had so much fun bantering together, talking about the ambulance, fire-engine, fireman and water fun.

We can role play as medic or fireman.

We took some quiz, and everyone gets to wear the coveted Fireman's hat !

We can play the ladder.. it is free :p
You need one adult to accompany each child, if you wish to access the ladder.

hello, can you hEar us !

A visit to a fire-station is not complete until you have a shower :p

..and Laughter :)

Visit our little fire fighters in our fanpage.
Click to read our Fire-Station adventures (Central and Tampines branch).

.

Is this the cutest Lion dance or not ?

2012-01-31T23:40:00.001+08:00

My kids were doing their Youtube thingy, when I hear them chuckle over Lion Dance drums and cymbal.

When Daddy and Mummy saw that one-man-Lion-Dance outfit, we need to know where we can rent one? Awesome cuteness !

ps.. above video from this link.

.

Chinese New Year feasting

2012-01-30T23:44:00.008+08:00

Maybe this is the only period when we can feast without guilt?
Go ahead, you can have the 5th Bak Kwa, or the 10th Pineapple tart haha.

Nothing elaborate, we visited our relatives and friends, enjoy each other's hospitality. And SengkangBabies eat non stop at every house !

拜年 at 奶奶's place

Then we pop by Ah Ma and Ah Gong's house.

Our Ah Gou(1)

Dinner at our relative's, love the curry and noodles !

Meanwhile, kids mischief act up :)

Our doting Ah Yi(2) and Lau Kim(3)

Met our cousins on Day 2

More goodies to munch

Our kids got talent ! They can really BANG the keyboard !

Cousins photoshoot

On Cny Day 7, we 捞鱼生 (yusheng). Basically we toss the mixture (with raw fish slices) high and messy, and say some auspicious wordings, all for the sake of good luck, fortune, health :)

You might be interested to read the YuSheng thesis at Wiki :p

Kids had fun, and they love the crackers !

We hope you and your family had a great start to the Dragon year too !
For more photos, do pop by our Festive album :)

ps.. this is the First year Daddy pull his tripod along, and we are so glad so many relatives obliged with candid photos. Nice memories for the kids :)

.

Trip to Ang Mo Kio Wet Market

2012-01-28T18:53:00.006+08:00

Every Sunday when we wake up, a sumptuous breakfast awaits us.
You have Nasi Lemak, Wanton Noodle, Roti Prata, and all sorts of kueh (pastries).

We are so pampered by 奶奶.

One day, Daddy ask the kids, where did our breakfast come from?
The next thing we know, Wei is tagging along with 奶奶 on her Market trip.

We reach Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 at around 7am. Normally, we can laze in bed on Sunday morning :p

The Wet market is buzzing with activities early in the morning.
Wet Market is where Singapore go to get their fresh food. Tourist are always curious about how Wet Markets and Hawker Centres have integrated into modern Singapore.

Leafy cabbage and bean sprouts.

Fish, steam or pan fried? Or simply fishball in soup?

Love the crispy duck, or shall we go for baby ribs?

Fruit stall, where is banana?

Look at the colourful photos above, Wet Market is an explosion of rich colours !
Red from Meat, Green from Veggies, White from Beans etc.

The buzz from the shoppers and stallholders is electrifying ! Everybody going about their business with a shopping list. 奶奶 must be pondering over her dinner menu.

**On to part two of our journey, Breakfast.

We are choosing our afternoon snack, maybe Marble cake?

Prata for breakfast?

..or our favourite Nasi Lemak at Blk 532?

Besides enjoying good food, our kids should also appreciate the effort and love which goes into food preparation. Every drop of rice, every strand of noodle means effort, and nobody should take it for granted.

If you like our Wet Market adventure, a trip to Jurong Fishery Port might be your cup of tea.
Check out this fishy post --> http://grbenji.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/jurong-fishery-port/
Read our Nasi Lemak story --> http://sengkangbabies.blogspot.com/2011/08/nasi-lemak.html

As usual, more photos are available at Sengkang Babies' market.

.

Sentosa Flowers 2012

2012-01-26T19:06:00.004+08:00

On day 2 of CNY, we visited Sentosa's Flower festival. Starting from carpark, we realised a lot of people have decided to drop by RWS for their gambling kicks :p

Dragons feature at every corner.

Even dinosaurs are consider "dragons, as their Chinese name is 恐龙.

We did not follow any itinerary, we head to the less popular joints for our photos.

Some queues stretch to 20min, and we realised a lot of tourist request for multiple photoshoot ! One person, two person, whole family, then one person again! We should limit every group to maximum three photos.

Look at the crowd !

Some of the setup will be recycle for Valentine's.

Hot day, and kids miss their naps again, no wonder Yi is yawning. Only food and Fun will keep him awake.

The usual photo booths, ideal for family portraits (but you have to squeeze with others). Do take more photos and join Sentosa Flower contest.

It is a challenge to navigate through the crowd with our stroller, but somehow, we still manage to squeeze in opportunities for family portraits.
(if you need to mount that tripod, do be careful as some kids might trip your precious camera over !)

Before we head home, we decide to pop by Malaysian Food street for some snacks, but the queue put us off! Yes, we blogged about some delicious food earlier, but we are not going to enjoy more Queues :p

Of all the dragons at Sentosa, this is our favourite. Made of lanterns, Dragon looks very impressive.

If you are interested in Sentosa Flowers ,the last day is 29Jan.
We will recommend that you take the boardwalk, our carpark bill came up to $14 for 2 hours.

More Dragon photos are available from our Fanpage.
You might want to consider bringing your external flash, a lot of our photos were under-exposed under the hot sun.

.

Changi City Point

2012-01-25T11:47:00.005+08:00

If you happen to be at Singapore Expo, you might want to checkout Changi City Point. We were there last week, to soak in some Fun at the rooftop.

As shopping mall is new, playground is still very clean and well maintained. Head to Level 3 "The 3 House".

We discover Boon Yee is a sharpshooter, and he will gun you down !

Cooling respite from the Sun.

In case your kids should be bored at the playground, occasional airplanes might attract their attention.

Let us show you how to have FUN ! There is also a Dry section at the playground, but the surface areas are scorching ouch.

Do drop by our Fanpage album for more Wet look ! Indoors, there is a Petite Park for young kids. You might want to pop by Mummy Susan's review.

Need more water playgrounds?
Search our tags for "WetWetWet" and "Playgrounds".
- Nex
- Lower Reservoir
- Sembawang Splash
- Changi City Point

.

River Hongbao

2012-01-24T18:45:00.036+08:00

We went to River Hongbao (春到河畔) on CNY eve.

Entrance, we managed to squeeze in one family photo despite the crowd :)

Maybe it has been raining, or everyone is at Chinatown, the crowd situation was not so bad.

As this Fortune God throws "gold" flecks, some people were seen inverting their umbrellas to collect !

All the Zodiac animals on parade

Some other exhibits at River Hongbao.

We did not have any opportunity to try the festive food, as the rain decided to play havoc on us that evening :p

One last shot, before the rain came down again. The crowd rushed for shelter.
This is a "wet" Chinese New Year :)

River Hongbao,will be running until 29Jan2012, for more updates and information, do drop by River Hongbao website. Or you can get more auspicious photos from SengkangBabies Album :p

Huat Ah !

.

Wishing everyone a Happy Lunar New Year !

2012-01-22T17:40:00.005+08:00

In a few hours, Chinese Lunar New Year will be upon us. Kids are eagerly anticipating 新年 as they can eat all sort of goodies, especially 肉干bak-kwa!

Angpow is a nice distraction for them haha.

Wen Wei and Wen Kang will be looking forward to munching on more goodies.

..while the two smaller ones will be challenging who gets more Angpow haha !

We had one round of steamboat Reunion dinner with 舅舅 yesterday...

..and 奶奶 is preparing our favourite braised duck tonight.

Boon Xin got us some orange decorations..

Earlier, the kids had fun at our local flower mart, and gladly pose for Daddy (they are in celebration mood already haha)

We will be visiting friends and relatives over the next few days.

Wen Yi will be our Orange boy, we taught him some "Auspicious" wishes,
but he still got some American slang :p

盛港宝宝祝大家身体安康 !
more CNY photos will be shared at our RED festive album :)

ps.. click to know more about 肉干 bak kwa

.