(Nov 16) S.E.A Aquarium

We were very blessed. Aunt CC gave us free tickets to the SEA aquarium...and so here we were on this State of Fun on a blistering sweltering day!

Ah gong was so sweet, he sent us as he knew it would take us a really long time to get here via public transport. What would we do without our trusty reliable ah gong who braved rain and shine to send us to our far flung destinations all the time? We walked past the trick eye museum...

and took the tickets and went in....we were stuck at this pottery interactive station for a super long time...it was...utterly unbelievable how a simple station could engage the kids for so long

First, you stretched the clay into the shape and height you wanted

then put it in the furnace

then you added whatever designs and colours you wanted from the panel of selections!

finally, you put it up on auction and they somehow put a price tag on it...ha!

eh, we did really spend a long time there, haha just took a look at the number of vases we photographed! Mine fetched the highest price of $300 plus...we saw someone whose vase fetched $520...no inkling how the price was assigned, but it was funny seeing the kids wait with bated breath for the price to be shown...haha

Jun was captivated by the water, as always...he certainly had a blast there.

there were different types of sharks, now that the kids could understand and absorb knowledge, they were so eager to ask questions and hear what the boards said...well, maybe they inherited my thirst for knowledge!

ah, we could never pass the opportunity of taking photos with photo cut-out booths.

we did see the blue lobster later on, it was a most stunning vibrant BLUE

and would you believe it? We actually caught the Pikachu meet and greet session and was the FIRST in line. Orrr, how tong leaned against and hugged Pikachu...

they were totally thrilled beyond words. We found these adorable plushies, eh, but they cost an alarming $50...i was grateful you two understood the value of money and never whined to get toys...

well, mama always believed in the sweetness of disciplined spending and waiting...so you two got $2 or $3 each week, depending on your behaviour, as pocket money. It would be saved and used for christmas presents at the end of the year. Well mama allowed some indulgences along the way...but nothing too expensive or fanciful...but it certainly taught the two of you to be more careful with money...especially the spendthrift tong!

while jie headed back to the pottery station, tong pleaded to take another photo with Pikachu and he brought out his Pikachu figurine...it was a tad small to be seen, but it was right in his right hand...orrr how he beamed with joy...ha...

even the toilets had a nautical theme...ha, told them to pop their heads out of the toilets for a shot

it was lovely...not too crowded

Squirtle with a picture of a turtle...jun actually understood the meaning of taking a photo. 

when I told him to freeze, he would chuckle and run to the opposite wall

yup, this was the wall he would run to. I told him to STOP and he chortled and ran to the opposite side AGAIN. so this happened many times, while the older two decorated their vases.

So glad that we got to see Pikachu

ooo a sunken ship, i loved how elaborate the set up was...oooooo

it was just so fascinating...sometimes I felt...i was the one who was enjoying the excursion the most of all...mama never had the chance to go for such expensive trips when I was young...well.. you three were utterly blessed...

xun remarked that the jellyfish were swimming upside down, perhaps to camouflage as corals so they would not be eaten by predators. A couple overheard her and I had the feeling that they were totally impressed with her observation...well...i thought that was a really interesting proposition...

it was beautiful...

ah, they spent $7 on this candy floss...yup one of those indulgences they could get from their pocket money...jie returned me $3.50 once we got home...eh...tong asked me to take the money from his piggy bank...that rascal...

we actually spent the entire afternoon there...the kids were so upbeat and energetic, though xun was on a drowsy cough medicine and jun was supposed to nap twice a day...

wished I had captured the fun we had at the TOUCH pool....ooo we fiddled with starfishes and sea cucumbers...oooo....

went back to where ah gong dropped us to wait for him to pick us up to meet papa for dinner...well, next time, we would get uncle XS to get the free passes for Trick eye! As I exclaimed before, we were so awfully blessed by generous friends. heh.

Well, this was only the first day of the holidays, the rest of the year was packed with playdates and activities, we did not even have time for the shows at malls yet! 

Love you, my precious ones, love you to the farthest flung planet and back.

(Nov 16) Christmas was coming +Singapore Philatelic Museum

Just a regular day at church while waiting for papa to come and pick us up...the zany munchkins were up to no good and sprinting up and down the hallway...and pressing their faces against glass panels to make wacky faces...haha...

another ordinary day when mama was on the home with only jun after buying her lunch at Plaza. glanced up to see foamy fluffy streams of clouds..how lovely!

Yet another mundane day at Linear...ha...did you spot tong and jun in their matching wear? Tong was always choosing clothes for jun to wear...I wondered if Jun would be the one who would choose in time to come? Or perhaps they would find dressing up in matching wear too silly then

We ventured to Lot 1 as our plaza's library was closed for renovation. Oh my, the Christmas decorations were already up. What a dazzling display with gift boxes, a ginormous reindeer, bear and Santa Claus

and the kids in this awfully comfy crimson armchair

well, they just could not resist dawdling in the snuggly armchair for a little while longer

We loved books. We were a family of bookworms...the kids' section was so beautifully done up...hopefully the newly renovated plaza would surpass this!

At the Student Dental Care!

While jie was squirming in the dentist's chair, the restless boys were prancing around, playing "find the XXX" game

 

the three lazy pigs on an indolent morning

woah, cute display at church

he looked so tall and lanky in this picture though he was a tiny one in real life...hoping for the day he would sleep deeply...sigh...

at ah ma's house - the two brothers were so lovey

people were split about whether tong or jun was better looking, they had their own fans...well, I supposed each had his own unique handsomeness hahahaha

the last outdoor play session for the K2s...jie gushed about how she would miss her friends so much and lamented how she could not believe she was nearing the end of her K2 life...well...she was afraid she would cry on the last day...ha but she did not, there was a thanksgiving party and she had a whale of a time

ha, at ICA collecting a new passport for tong. Alas, we still needed to wait till all of you were 6 before you could use your fingerprints to get in and out of the customs using the fingerprint scanners!

On a blustery and stormy day, we sought solace at the Singapore Philatelic Museum, which was just a stone's throw away from papa's office. well...jie was reluctant to come here as she recalled there were some dart and scary exhibits the other time when we were here...

to our delight, there was a really vast gallery devoted to Shakespeare's works...and there were so many interesting nuggets of information about his life and books

all in digestible bite-sized pieces adorned with pretty graphics...it was a visual feast to the eyes

there was one particular station that caught the children's attention. The museum did a collaboration with the British Council to produce short modernised cartoon clips of the classical stories like Macbeth, Hamlet, The Twelfth night, Romeo and Juliet...so we spent quite a long while watching the stories...they were so easily understood, even by 4-year-old tong...it was really awesome work by the British Council

There were many exploratory corners, like drawers with mysterious items that were used for spells...

corner where you could play with the stuffed toy food, even a cauldron that came with real charcoal pieces, eh...which jun was particularly drawn to...

ah...the cauldron.. in the famed Macbeth scene...jie did not like the cartoon about Macbeth though, she whined about the scary scenes that kept replaying in her mind for two nights...what a bummer

Wai po used to collect stamps, they were windows to the rest of the world, they depicted others' cultures, habits, beliefs...they were really breath-taking...alamak, but hardly anyone sent physical letters now...i wondered if the post would survive in the next 100 years...perhaps it might enjoy a revival? It was so romantic to receive a love letter in the post...

I used to look forward to receiving letters in the letter box during festive seasons! Much like how you two enjoyed receiving parcels now...ha, that look of jubilation, unadulterated joy on your faces whenever you were greeted by the ginormous boxes outside our doors when you stepped out of the lift never failed to amuse me

I did not know that he invented all these sayings, I loved English, I loved languages, I loved idioms, I loved funny sayings...this was SOOO cleverly done, I adored it

Oh that TV screen on which we watched the cartoons

I could not believe it but we actually spent one whole hour in the Shakespeare's gallery! hahah

Checked out the rest of the galleries - it was the year of the Monkey, so yeah, monkey business in this gallery...it was so beautifully done up...they really were so dedicated to this...I wished more people would visit the museums, they were such wealth of knowledge and experiences...

i meant, it was free for locals...and the museums' staff deliberately included so many sensorial experiences to entertain the kids

Gasp, HARRY POTTER gallery. I thought maybe not even many people knew about it as it was hardly advertised. It was oh so jaw-dropping amazingly done up

They even had those pseudo video-photos on the wall...checked out that lady in white on the top right, she would actually move if you waited long enough

oh the train to Hogwarts!

oh the legendary owl that sent letters from home

cool wizards and witches

what sorcery was this, that even jun wanted to ride on the broom? Ha, he was a cheeky one...the 1 year old was so precocious...i always told papa how advanced and mature he seemed for his age, he was always so curious about his surroundings and he displayed such a keen awareness of things 

Perhaps we could go to Disneyland Florida and buy a wand!

Went to the second storey and this gallery about the olden times fascinated us. We were running out of time though, it was time to head to papa's office. We should definitely check out the other museums some day.