Saturday - St Fagans National Museum of History
Yay, it was Saturday once again, that meant Papa would be around to take us to explore further away places. Ha, the littlest one was in matching wear with papa.
Hmm this polo ralph top was meant for 12-month-old babies. hmmm, didi was really a tad tiny for his age. Heh but we prayed that he would grow up to be tall and lanky, big and strong, and we would know it was all God's glory when that happened. The older ones remarked that 3 stood for him being 3 years old, the third child in the family and wearing 3 layers that day. ha.
At Cardiff, Wales - St Fagans Museum
Lounging in the lobby while waiting for papa to park the car
It was an massive outdoor museum and they actually moved original historic buildings from all over Wales to the current location. According to the pamphlet, it was a "walk around Wales - from Celtic times to the present day" and we could "explore how people in Wales have lived, worked and spent their leisure time".
The interior of one of the farmhouses. A real working fireplace! The distinctive smell of burning charcoal filled the air.
Kennixton Farmhouse - "The oldest part of this farmhouse from the Gower peninsula was built in 1610. It opened at the museum in 1955 but the outhouses were only donated to us recently. The red colour of the walls, and the berries of the rowan tree in the garden were thought to protect the house from evil spirits. Take a peek at the box-bed inside. The house is decorated as it would have been in the late 18th century."
A real working farm with cows and black sheep. We saw illustrations of pigs on the map (they made the visitors pa 50 pence for a copy. I thought it was a good idea so that people would not take and throw them away wantonly.) so the kids really wanted to see the pigs but we could not find them. Papa said they had been slaughtered and made into bacon. HA.
A real working mill! Grains were poured into this grinding machine and powder would come out.
Tada! How ingenious. They used water wheels to power up the machine, how awfully clever. You could even buy the flour at the stores there!
Took a saunter through the woods. I loved these kinds of natural museums. I had visited one in Japan whereby they replicated historic buildings but it was even more amazing that this museum actually housed the original ones!
We wanted a photo but the baby insisted on being in the photo as well.
The boys
My darling xun and me
Baby saw the picture of this house on the map and wanted to see it. It was way off the beaten track and in one isolated corner but it was really worth a visit. It was actually an Iron Age roundhouse! The staff explained that heat was more important than light so the olden houses usually had few or no windows so that they could keep the heat in.
A tannery. It was a pity that we could not view the interior of the building.
St Teilo's Church: "The Museum has reconstructed and refurbished the church as it might have appeared about 1530 in its pre-Reformation splendor and containing all the elements of a late medieval Catholic church. The stunning replica wall paintings include copies of originals found in the church." They took some 20 years to complete this, wow, mind-blowing. When they were moving it, they found paintings underneath the plaster.
They replicated the drawings which depicted the betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Breathtaking.
Oakale Workmen's Institute - "Opened in its original location near Caerphilly in 1917, this library and institute served as the focus for social and cultural life within this mining community in south east Wales." Watched a little of the documentary that was being screened in the dining hall upstairs, the researcher talked about how the history of Wales was mainly portrayed in a romantic tone, of bucolic farms and people engaging in farming activities. They chose to ignore the mining history as it represented pollution, destruction of land and all the negative aspects of industrialization. Subsequently, recoginising the fact that 50% of the population actually lived in mining areas, they accepted that the Welsh history included both kinds of living.
Ah, a pretty grocery store touted as "The Harrods of the Valleys".
A row of terrace houses that depicted how the ways of living (e.g. the kind of furniture and furnishings) changed over time. The children had a whale of the time popping into each house and saying that it belonged to the different people in the family. Tong's house had lots of valuable items so he said he was a rich man. Jun's house was that of a military man! Jie's house was a pretty pink one which had the more modern appliances of the TV, cooker and stove, so the kids all agreed that the last house was the best. ha.
Another lovely black-and-white house
Lunch time!
Went to the other side of the museum where the castle and grounds were
St Fagans Castle
He looked awfully cute in this photo.
We spent a total of 5 hours at the museum and this was the only place we visited in Wales. Well, papa said we supposedly had seen all of Wales. It was definitely a most wonderful place that everyone should visit if they came to Wales. To top it off, admission was free! What a gem.
Sunday - shopping!
It was rather serendipitous. Papa wanted to make use of the Black Friday promotion to buy a down jacket from Mountain Warehouse. The nearest outlet only opened at 11am but we wanted to head out earlier, so he found another outlet at Leamington Spa. We thought we would only spend half an hour there but ended up spending almost 3 hours as we found a Christmas market!
The first thing that caught the kids' eyes and made them really restless while waiting for papa to make his choice of down jacket - the game stalls!
Lunch time - jumbo hotdog. Jie could not finish it.
Tong was not feeling too well. His tummy was hurting so he did not eat much. He vomited twice in the car after the outing but felt so much better after that and was back to his boisterous self. Ha, mama's doctor friend commented that if the kids were being their usual active and annoying selves she usually did not worry much.
Papa was so indulgent, he allowed all the three kids to play on the joyride, 2.50 pounds per person!
Our handsome lad. I would have made them choose just one activity each to manage the cost.
Ah, we thought it would be similar to the game stalls in Singapore whereby you would get the prize according to the number on the chip that was found on the duck you hooked. Heh, but this one allowed you to choose any toy so long you hooked a duck!
Jun chose the police set, tong chose a sword and shield set and Jie chose a shiny light up squishy ball. Nice toys!
We left Leamington Spa and went to Coventry because mama really wanted to visit Primark.
The items were so affordable and pretty...oh my oh my
Ah, the kids were having a break while papa went to pay for the items.
Jun was increasingly behaving like his big brother and becoming a songbird. He made up zany songs like "Wings, wings, wings, I love wings" when mama cooked the braised chicken wings for dinner. Often, he would be singing to himself as we strolled down streets and his favourite song was "Lift me up", one of the graduation songs Tong sang at the ceremony.
We went to the Lower Precinct Shopping Mall as mama wanted to visit a clothing shop but it had been closed down. Alamak.
ha the rotund little Santa Clauses.
Ah the biggest shopper in the family - all things Marshall from Paw Patrol!
Ok it was time to head home! This marked the end of our third weekend in England. Woah time really flew! Next weekend - we were going to have a stayover at York!
