However, he did not receive any letter or birthday stickers from Disney Junior informing him of the feature, like he did in previous years.  As such, we were not able to record the feature when it was shown on TV, as we did not know what time slots to wait for.  Instead I managed to record it off the computer, from the Disney Junior site.

The background *accompaniment* you hear is courtesy of Ethan and Hannah…and sorry for the streaming of the video, which was not very smooth.

I made use of the Organic Soup Mix beans that I had, and explained to them both that the task was to sort the beans according to type and color into separate cups.  They had to work together to complete the task.

It was fun to see how attentive both Ethan and Hannah were, trying to complete the task on hand.  I assisted in telling them that they could each take a different type of bean and then sort that out.

They were done in about 15 minutes.

And then I asked them to count the beans in the individual cups and I provided some sticker labels to label the number of beans.

Kids enjoy simple pleasures in life - and they were so proud of their “completed assignment” that day and couldn’t wait to show Daddy when he got home.

On Monday morning, armed with our day backpack, camera and loads of energy (somewhat), we made our way on foot to the nearest MRT station near Bernard & Pei Ling’s house…..but….halfway there, Pete turned around and asked,

Pete: Did you bring the (Bird Park) tickets?
Me (giving him a blank stare): Nooo…..I thought they were in your bag!

So while the kids happily whiled away their time playing in the play structure in one of the HDB flats, I walked back to the house to get the tickets.  It was a little extra exercise for me, and we haven’t even gotten on the train yet!

We had actually left the house quite late and when we boarded the MRT it was close to lunch time.  So we decided to stop at Jurong Point Mall for lunch…instigated by pictures of Burger King’s food in the MRT too, actually!

Ethan was busy looking at the MRT map and telling his sister which station would come next and which station we would get off.

…and finally we arrived!

It was our first time at the Jurong Bird Park and one of the highlights the kids wanted to go to was the Lory Loft Feeding.

“Mommy, Mommy, can I feed the birds?” Hannah would ask, and hold up her hands as if holding the bird feed.  But when we arrived, as soon as I was handed the sweet bird feed in the little plastic cup, I daresay at least 4 or 5 lory birds swarmed towards me and started eating from the bowl.  The kids would not hold the bowl, and they were visibly afraid.  We tried to cajole them into feeding the birds, but the most we got was them touching the feeding bowl together with Daddy (missed the chance to take a picture though. Boo.)

Other pictures from our enjoyable Bird Park trip:

It was a hot, hot, hot day that day (contradictory to the weather forecasted then), and the kids had their Kidz Banz sunglasses to protect their eyes (and look cool at the same time)!

Yup, those came in handy especially when we were watching the Bird Shows…

As you can see, there were lots of pretty, colorful and interesting birds to see…and we all had tons of fun!

…at Dino Dig, where kids can pretend to be archaeological experts or little paleontologists and look for fossils and hidden relics in the sand.  Very cool!

…and possibly the kids’ favorite part of the excursion: the Panorail ride!  It’s like a train that goes around the Bird Park but it’s high up above everything, so you get a panoramic view of the surroundings.  We got unlimited rides because it was past 2p.m….see? Latecomers have privileges too!

The main reason the kids loved the panorail was because it is AIR-CONDITIONED!!

Here’s the photo that caused us to miss our bus back to the MRT station by a few seconds!  I just had to take a picture of this rare multi-finger banana plant (forgot its name, but will google it later).

We reached Bernard and Pei Ling’s place after dinner and then made our way to our hotel near Orchard Road.

Here they are, at the end of the day, all ready for bed, and relaxing in our room at Traders Hotel, playing on Daddy’s iPad.  Traders also had free wi-fi - hurrah!!

We were tired out, and were eager to rest for we knew the next day would bring another new exciting adventure!

]]> http://duhbulats.giddytigers.com/2011/12/28/day-2-singapore-getaway-jurong-bird-park/feed/ http://duhbulats.giddytigers.com/2011/12/20/day-1-singapore-getaway-southward-bound-and-the-marina/ http://duhbulats.giddytigers.com/2011/12/20/day-1-singapore-getaway-southward-bound-and-the-marina/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:42:28 +0000 joyce http://duhbulats.giddytigers.com/?p=5042 It was a Sunday on December 4th when our long-awaited family vacation was to begin.  Both Ethan and Hannah had been eagerly looking forward to this day for weeks, and I had told them that they would need to get up extra extra early that morning, for our cab would arrive to pick us up to the airport at 8a.m.

Well, miracles DO happen when the kids excitedly got ready and did not dilly-dally.  We got to the airport well on time and even had time to grab a quick breakfast at McDonald’s in the departure terminal first.

It was another short wait for our plane to arrive, but you know…the kids got restless and kept asking, “Why is our airplane not here yet?”, “When are we boarding?”, and the like.

We’d redeemed airplane tickets using our Krisflyer points (finally), and it was an exciting occasion for the kids because I felt this was the time they would both remember they were in an airplane together.  The last time Hannah boarded a plane, she was only 4 months’ old, and could only lie down in a crib!

The kids occupied themselves with complimentary doodle pads from SilkAir and drank some milk and juice that was served, and before we knew it, we had already landed in Singapore.

Here’s Ethan taking a whiff of the yummy samsui chicken we had for lunch at Soup Restaurant in Terminal 2 Changi Airport.  It was to be the first of many chicken rice meals he would enjoy in Singapore…

Our agenda for the first day was to make our way to our friend’s house, and pretty much have a free-and-easy time and rest.  But when we arrived at Bernard & Pei Ling’s place, Ethan and their son Joel began bonding almost immediately, playing Nintendo Wii and didn’t want to rest at all.

Little Hannah, who felt a little left out, decided to try her hand at some Legos instead.

Later that evening, we took a walk to the nearest MRT station (about 15 mins away) and took the MRT to the Marina.  We had dinner around that area and proceeded to take a stroll around the harbor.  We could see Marina Bay Sands in all its glory, with the Singapore Flyer close by.  We were armed with umbrellas because it was drizzling, and sometimes raining too.

Hannah appeared to be a little jealous because Ethan and Joel were walking together, and she felt left out, so she was a bit whiny at times.  But we still made it all the way to the Merlion in front of Fullerton Hotel and then to Raffles Place to board the MRT back.

]]> http://duhbulats.giddytigers.com/2011/12/20/day-1-singapore-getaway-southward-bound-and-the-marina/feed/ http://duhbulats.giddytigers.com/2011/12/15/water-play-and-a-surprise-in-december/ http://duhbulats.giddytigers.com/2011/12/15/water-play-and-a-surprise-in-december/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:24:13 +0000 joyce http://duhbulats.giddytigers.com/?p=5017 We just got back from our family vacation in Singapore last week, and I am far far behind in my blog postings.  I’ve got so many drafts sitting and collecting digital dust, and other non-blogging things to do too, so while I gather my thoughts and (hopefully) publish alternate posts about our Singapore getaway really soon, here are some pictures taken at Pauline Kor Kor’s condo’s swimming pool, during our recent trip to KL for the Barney show…we had the whole pool to ourselves that day!!!

**********

Oh and by the way, check out this month’s issue of BabyTalk, where Hannah picture is featured in the Star Toddlers section.

And if you like reading, you could also read one of my personal Christmas stories here, featured in that same magazine  Just click on the image to enlarge it.

Turns out we did see all of the above at the Barney’s Space Adventures show, held at Plenary Hall, KLCC last weekend…well, save for Mother Goose and the kids though.  Mother Goose did not make an appearance because I suppose she doesn’t take too kindly to anything “outer space”y, and as for the kids, well,…they were replaced by some singers and dancers who looked quite like adults to me.

Hannah was in total awe when Barney and his friends appeared on stage, so awestruck was she that she could hardly sing and dance, and could only watch in amazement.  During the 20-minute intermission in the middle of the 90-minute performance, she was visibly upset for a while, asking me, “Where’s Barney, Mommy?”

And when I told her Barney and his friends had to make their way to the perfectly purple castle and the journey would take them 20 minutes, she wailed, “Nooo…:(”

Her brother Ethan, on the other hand, was having the time of his life, singing and dancing and clapping to almost every song during the performance.

In fact, Daddy looked more excited to watch Barney than he was when we went to watch Cats some years ago.

It was an enjoyable show, and fun-packed with great songs the kids enjoyed.  I might add that the seats were really comfortable too, and the sound system was superb.  There were some people who showed their true Malaysian kiasu colors by moving from cheaper seats at the back to the front more expensive seats, since the hall wasn’t full…ah, but that’s a story for another day.

We had a great family time together watching Barney, and if that wasn’t enough, later that night, we celebrated cousin Caitlynn’s birthday at Friday’s at Alamanda too!

The kids had been looking forward to this event and were very excited when we finally arrived.  Got slightly delayed due to the heavy traffic.

We only managed to arrive in the evening, close to the end of the program, but we were still in time to witness Jeeva Ragunath (from India) entertaining the audience with storytelling, song and dance.

The Christmas decorations at Straits Quay were already up, and my “models”, as usual, were ever ready to pose.

We had a simple dinner at Secret Recipe and were just about to leave Straits Quay for home when we heard a very mesmerizing rhythmic beat coming from the foyer near the sea.  Turned out it was a group of talented performers from The Performing Arts Center of Penang (PenangPAC), making rhythm and sounds using drums, tambourines and other percussion instruments in a Drum Circle.  Ethan and Hannah started dancing to the beat, and some of the musicians started asking some of the kids to join in with the musical instruments.  Ethan and Hannah were not excluded.

Ethan got to play with some rhythm sticks, and Hannah played a triangle.  They enjoyed themselves so much and could be seen shaking their booty along to the rhythm.  They even sat in the circle together with the rest of the players.

At the end of it all, it was all in great fun and the kids were tired but definitely happy.

No wonder they’re both knocked out now!

Recently Ethan asked me to bring their Veggie Tales audio CD from my car back to our home, because he and Hannah wanted to dance to it…oh, and did I mention that Hannah also tried singing to the songs?

For weeks and months, Ethan had been telling me all about his concert practices in school.  Initially he would show me some of his dance steps, but as the date of the concert drew nearer, he told me he was not going to reveal anymore, because it is supposed to be a surprise.

His school’s annual concert has always been a grand affair, and this year the concert, which was entitled “The Broadway Kids - In Search of Happiness”, promised to be a truly enjoyable one, because I am a big fan of Broadway.  The school’s annual concert is performed by all the kids from K1 and K2, and is even grander than the wee concert.  Typically the K2 kids would play the main roles and the K1 kids will be supporting as dancers, but nevertheless, I was very excited.

Check out the one of the many lovely backdrops used as the concert props.

As the date drew nearer, Ethan would grow more and more excited.  I gave him extra vitamins every day to prepare for the concert.  They had concert camps and staybacks, full-dressed rehearsals complete with makeup and photo sessions too, and when the day finally came, we dropped Ethan off at Dewan Budaya in USM at 1:00p.m. and quickly went off for lunch before coming back at 2:00p.m. to get ready for the concert at 3:00p.m.

I’d extended invitations to our close relatives and family members, but only my Mom could make it.  Ethan was thrilled.  And his sister was equally excited to watch her brother perform live onstage!

Although we weren’t allowed to take any videos during the concert, I did see some parents ignoring the request.  I didn’t take any videos though, but the full video will be made available to us soon by the official videographer.

The show was very enjoyable and it was so much fun to see Ethan out there having fun (I’d have to say the makeup was a tad garish though, but that’s concert performance makeup for ya).  All the songs were taken from famous Broadway musicals, either in their original English forms, or translated to Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia, all with the kids voicing and singing the words.

Ethan’s item was a very lively and well-choreographed dance done to the song The Other Generation from The Flower Drum Song.  In addition, he also made an appearance in the Concert Finale, singing the theme song: Happiness.

Ethan was very happy and relieved when it all ended well, and that night, he slept ever so soundly!  (I’m not surprised!!)

I’m looking forward to next year’s concert excitedly when my boy will be contributing more

We took the kids to watch The Smurfs at the cinema last Friday, and boy, were they excited!  Hannah sat through the entire movie without getting restless or sleepy, and both kids happily sang the very distinct Smurfs tune together with the Smurfs in the show.

After the show, I explained to Ethan how the individual Smurfs got their respective names.

Me: Ethan, do you know that the Smurfs are all named after their individual character?  For example, Brainy Smurf is brainy, Clumsy Smurf is clumsy and Narrator Smurf loves to narrate a story.
Ethan: Oh, okay…and what about the girl Smurf: “Smur-fet-tee”? (He was reading and pronouncing Smurfette the way it was spelt)
Me: The girl Smurf’s name is pronounced as Smurf-fet, Ethan.
Ethan:  SMURF-fet.  (pauses) So that means she is FAT!