Helen Plus Three

I never tire of the Zoo. That’s where we went on one of the September school break holidays. Surprisingly we got there in about an hour in all by bus from home. The weather, thank God was kind, it drizzled a little for the very initial part of the walk but then disappeared and remained warm but not hot. Ticket prices have also gone up and up .. something like $5 more per person since the last time we were here. Unfortunately Alr does not qualify as a child any longer, only Arn so total admission was close to $100 with the boat ride on the lake, which was something new to try. We headed for the boat dock first, walking past the sleeping Tapirs. The boat ride was a pleasant 15-20 minutes, quiet, at a leisurely pace and smooth, could almost make believe we were NOT in Singapore for a little while. Of course it was too slow for Arn. We got off close to the new Kidzworld with the Water park, .but.we walked in the opposite direction to visit the old lions and the gira...

School hols are stressful unless you can afford to take them on long overseas holidays. How to keep them occupied,  is always the question at the top of your mind. What to do?  The kids have to get out of the house or they would be vegetating with the digital games. We took a trip to Sentosa, during the Hari Raya Haji holiday. Surprisingly it was not crowded at all, as we expected.  We had not been to Sentosa in a while so why not.  Sentosa can be an expensive place with a family of 3 kids, unless you plan to slump on the beach of course. But the kids needed to get out and do things.  There were no long queues which was great. We took a few rides on the Luge, 2 for me and 3 each for the boys. It was fun. Alr was a real speeder, almost crashing into the slow sign barrier. Once done,we took a walk to the other end of the beach to look for the Mega Zip (the flying fox thingy).   That was expensive like a lot of the amusements on Sentosa.  ...

On Saturday, I decided to take advantage of the bookshops special discount offer of 25%. I wanted to buy more academic practice books for the hols.. yeah yeah kiasu.    But the sale was only at the Ion where the Popular outlet is called Prologue. I suppose the name 'Popular' just won't do in a upscale mall like the Ion. Just as 'Harris" is at Suntec.  Anyway this was my first actual visit to the Ion. I usually avoid Orchard Road cos I don't like crowds. Well despite getting lost, walking every which way but the right way, we finally got to the store on the 4th level. (I must add they do have very polite information service persons posted here and there for help but it didn't help cos the lifts were full). The Ion was crowded, it was a Saturday night I suppose. We found the lift lobby but just couldn't get in and decided let's find the escalators and find a way with more walking. We found the store. It didn't look like the Popular we are used...

Saturday - the last weekend of the June School Holidays. I suggested a movie before I realised Toy Story 3 was showing. And I thought oh oh I would have to sit through 2 hours for their sake. I'm not that crazy about Toy Story but the kids are (which is OK) . Then luckily there was an alternative which they thought was a better idea, Karate Kid..  yay for Jackie Chan and Kung Fu . Why is that anyway, it's about Kung Fu but the title is Karate Kid ?... are they the same .. Chinese martial arts vs Japanese martial arts ... Jackie = Chinese...  Miyagi = Japanese..... ??. Will Smith's son is a good looking skinny little kid (10 year old Jaden Smith), and I must say has his father's looks and he acts well too. It's a good movie for the kids, there is an underlying message for them to take away about the use of physical force and simple lessons about discipline, courage and determination in spite of pain and fear. There were a few times dur...

June Hols - Week 2 / week 3 Did I mention, the boys got their first successful thrill with a kite at the beach that camping day? Rb, my fren's son, bought one, so ok I had to buy two... $8 each, er.. highway robbery !  Of course it's at the East Coast and no one else is selling any close by.. take it or leave it lah.  Anyway I digress. Actually at first I bought one, but of course (how terribly forgetful of me) they would start to fight over it right.. ah but then, ok  I digress again. Did I mention my friend said and I thought it too 'lucky she has one only ' .. (giggle giggle). They got a kick out of it, managed to get it flying... up up and away... for a little while at least. I believe it is their first sucessful attempt at kite flying [cos the last one we bought was just too heavy and would not take off, I think we killed it and buried it somewhere]. I had flown a kite many many moons ago, so it's a wonderful feeling really, there is that exciting ...

Sun day 20 Father's Day It's Father's Day, so of course I asked Father what he would like for dinner. Since my sister already 'ruined' my seafood idea (by taking him out the day before), steaks should be next .... So there are a couple steak restaurants in Serangoon Gardens, why not , he's ok with it. But nope - Mum says let's go out somewhere else, drive out further.. (meaning not close to home) go to the beach, maybe pizza ?? but I reminded her it's Father's day not kids' day. I think she was confusing taking the kids out for air with dinner for Father's day. So we (dad and me ) sigh, of course somehow we would have to go somewhere close to her 'imaginationings'. So we ended up at the Marina-Esplanade area by the bay, all in all it was quite close to her 'imaginings' - cool breeze, open space, scenery, lights.. and well we managed to find steaks, rootbeer float and some interesting combination of food (satay, onion rings, ...