TSOD Dance Workshop

23 Sep 2012 (Sun):

After Rachel's class this afternoon, I received from Ms. Wu a note concerning a Dance Workshop for her students.

Workshop: 26 27 28 29 & 30 Nov 2012
Venue: TSOD Yishun Studio
Performance: 02 Dec @ SCGS

This is a good exposure for the kids as both ballet & hip hop lessons will be taught. However, its the price that puts me off. $220 for 10 lessons, 2hrs 15 mins each lesson, from 930am ~ 1145am.

And then there is also the concert ticket @ $15 each. Rachel is defintely keen to go so I will check with the other parents to see their views on it.

Mid Autumn Festival @ Chinese Garden

22 Sep 2012 (Sat):

30 Sep 2012 (Sun), fifteen of the lunar calendar is our annual Mid Autumn Festival. Though is it not declare a public holiday in Singapore, we celebrate it as part of our Chinese heritage & culture.

I bought the kids to the Chinese Garden this evening. We had dinner at a nearby coffee shop before heading over.

Entitled " Fairy Land " as the theme fo this year celebrations, we were able to see brightly decorated lantern exhibitions such as The Little Match Girl, Bambi ( i think so), Snow White, etc...

Then there is the nightly stage performance - Sichuan Acrobatic & every weekend's firework display.

Admisson to the theme park is S$14/adt & S$10/child but with passion card, u get $2 off.

We also bought paper lanterns @ S$2.50 each & had ice creams before watching the firework display.

Exhibits will be on display from 07 Sep right up till 07 Oct.

Here's wishing everyone an early Happy Mid Autumn Festival.

And a video i took to showcase some of the acrobatic performance. Enjoy.

English Stellar Worksheets ~ Unit 15

16 Sep 2012 (Sun):

A follow up on Lionel's English lessons. They have completed unit 15 on the Stellar worksheets. I am vey sure an assessment for term 4 will come very soon & I'm glad that Lionel has understood all the lessons conducted & dutifully completed all given homework.

School holidays are just round the corner; in fact in just another 2 months. And Lionel's " honeymoon " year will fly away soon. Comes Primary 2, it is more hardwork & learning.

Mushroom Cycle #4

14 Sep 2012 (Fri):

This is cycle #4 of our mushroom records. The craze has died down & the mushrooms did not sprout as many spores as before.

In fact, only 1 log has at least 20 sprouts & the other, well, a few teeny weeny ones.

We started this cycle on 10 Sep 2012 right after we came back from our Bangkok trip & by this evening, the mushrooms were ready to be harvest.

I am not sure there will be a cycle #5 but we will still continue to grow it. Lets see the end results. I know of some mushrooms with cycle #7 already & still growing. Power!

The hardworking one of the 2.

The miserable log which decided to end its life span.

4 Heavenly Kings

13 Sep 2012 ( Thurs):

The craze for mushrooms & black fungus has died down & the kids are onto a new project - 4 Heavenly Kings namely Cotton, Long Beans, Sunflower & Cherry Tomato. We are trying to plant the seeds & see if we can have 4 new potted plants + yummy harvest.

I bought these 4 sets that comes with a pot, fertilizer, seeds, plant vitamin, paint & decorative stickers & ice cream sticks.

Long Bean & Cotton.

Cherry Tomato & Sunflower.

The kids painted the ice cream sticks & we identify the seedlings by stating which pot is what. Now, we sit back & wait for the 1st sprout. Let's see who is the fastest.

Wushu Lesson

12 Sep 2012 (Wed):

These photos were taken last Fri, 07 Sep 2012 during their weekly Wushu lessons.

Lionel & the rest of his team mates, all in different ranks having their moves taught by their Shi Xiong.

And these are the ones i took of Rachel ( the one in ponytail) & Alexis since they were paired up for their lesson. Alexis was not very sure of her moves & although Rachel was trying to explain to her & showing her step by step, she was still not sure about it & seems to be staring into space, or rather, distracted by others.

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ Departure

10 Sep 2012 (Mon):

Right after our driver dropped us off at the Airport Link Station, we paid 90baht per person & was issued 4 tokens. The train attendent told us the train will leave in 3 mins. We dashed into the lifts & aross the platform. If we missed this train, the next available one will be at 6pm.

I do not even have time to take a photo of the outside. In one of the photo below, you can see the kids sitting down comfortably. We were on a non stop route, directly to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. Hey! The whole trip only took 15 mins & we arrived at 545pm.

Check in counter for Scoot was at counter G & it was already opened for check in. We had dinner at one of the eateries & bought local products. Gate G4 was at the very end & near to the gate, an airport staff ran towards us & asked if we were on flight TZ301, hurried us as the gates were closing... huh... but its only 715pm.

Its no wonder I did not see anyone inside the boarding room. Everyone was already onboard the flight. But another couple was also late & was behind us after we sat down. The flight was ahead of scheduled & we arrived back into Singapore safe & sound.

I like the way the cabin crew made the announcement after we land, something about thanking us for choosing Scoot & hope to see us again... and LETS GET OUTTA HERE.. haha!

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ MaeKlong Railway Market & Floating Market

10 Sep 2012 (Mon):

The highlights of the trip for today was the Damneon Saduak Floating Market, enroute MaeKlong Railway Market, Crocodile Farm, Elephant Show & Rose Garden.

We were supposed to meet our driver at 730am but we waited for an hour & saw no one. The conceirge asked if we needed assistance & we told him we had booked a tour with the travel agent but no one came. Just then, another driver who is also from the same agent came, listened to our story & called the boss. We were told that the driver who were supposed to meet us has gone to the airport. What crap! How can he leave us, hanging around waiting!!!

Another driver was dispatched & he apologised for the delay, informing us of an accident the other driver met???? Anyhow, our trip has been delayed for more than an hour & we would defintely have missed the 830am train arrival into MaeKlong Station. We had some discussions along the way & the driver said we would go into the station first & asked about the next train arrival. We went told 2.15pm.

So we decided to make a trip to the floating market first. The driver bought us to a mini pier where we paid 1500baht for a ride on the long tail speed boat which would take us along the canals & a stop-by at their coconut farm. Cheap scam!!!

I enquired about the creditability of these floating markets & was told this was the original Damneon Saduak Floating Market but from what i remembered, the market was packed with sampan boats, selling all sorts of local produces/products. But from this boat ride along the canals, it was totally different. It was not jammed pack with tourists & along the way, only 2 or 3 sampans were seen rowing along the canals.

Daddy was slighly furious about the whole event & i was utterly disappointed with the way we were brushed off about our queries. The driver either turned a deaf ear to our questions or chose not to answer.

I had half a mind not to continue with the trip but i was adamant about seeing the railway market after seeing & hearing so much credits on it. Daddy suggested lunch first & our driver also suggested watching some monkey show nearby. But he did mentioned that we would missed the 230pm Cultural show at the Rose Garden if we were to catch the 215pm train. Fed up, i told Daddy to gave up the whole idea to Rose Garden & to forget about going to some stupid crocodile farm.

After lunch, we proceeded back to MaeKlong Railway Market where we walked around & waited for the 215pm train's arrival. I forgot to mention. It has been raining non stop for the whole morning right up till this point at 2pm, it was still drizzling. Needless to say, my mood was somewhat affected. Haiz!

We waited & we waited ..... still no sight of the train. We walked up & down, sat & stood around. The locals went about doing their business & were most amused, watching us & some other tourists waiting around stupidly. Our driver was not with us.

In the end, we walked out of the narrow market area, towards the station where we sat down for a drink & Daddy bought some snacks. We were told that the train would arrive at 320pm instead!!!! We felt like clowns, waiting for the past 1 hour.

Finally, the train attendent blew his whistle & the market sellers begin pushing in their stalls & lifting up the awnings. I saw my train at last.

Finally after the train arrived at MaeKlong Station, we made for our vehicle & proceeded back to Bangkok. On the way, Daddy asked if the driver would send us to the airport. We would pay him another 300baht. But he told us he has another tour for the evening & suggested us taking the airport link.

If it wasnt for the time constraint, we would have made our way back to the travel agent & demanded compensation.

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ Dream World

10 Sep 2012 (Mon):

Dream World

This was another attraction which we spent a full day in it. We booked the package from a travel agent located next to our hotel lobby.

Our driver asked if we liked to travel by the highway & pay toll or to travel by the normal way which was jammed. Of cos we chose to travel by the highway & reached Dream World in about 45 mins.

He gave us his mobile number & told us to give him a tinker once we were finished. Daddy bought a pre paid sim card upon arrival at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport for 199baht. For local calls, its 2baht per min & for international calls, its 3baht per min.

At the entrance of the theme park.

Mini wonders of the world. We have a few here like the Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal. Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Angkor Wat, The Pyramid, The Colossuem, etc...

The Giant House. All the furniture was huge but we manage to climb up onto some of them for a photo taking.

This is the Snow Town. Look at the temperature inside: minus 5 degrees celsius. We were only given a jacket & boots to wear. Its cold.... brrrrr... Daddy & the kids couldnt stay for more than 5 mins & we were out soon, though I would love to stay longer.

There were many interesting things to see & do inside Dream World. There were the animal show, 4D Adventure, Hollywood Action, Colours of the World Parade, Sky Coaster, Super Splash, Grand Canyon, Hurricane to name a few. But as we were there on a weekday, we did not manage to see all. The parade was only shown on weekends & we missed the Hollywood Action which was seen only on 1 time slot during the weekdays.


A little video session on the kids' activities. Oh ya! Daddy played some games at the game stalls & won 3 stuff toys. The largest being a dog which i will show you in another post.

We love to get wet while going on the Super Splash. There was this bridge which was the way to exit after the ride & alot of people like to hang around the bridge. Reason: as the ride came splashing down, a huge wave was created & sent water splashing right over the bridge. On a hot day here in Bangkok, the waves was a welcoming sight. Even the school students ( oh boy, huge number of them everywhere) loved getting wet even if it meant no change of clothes for them as most of them were in their school uniforms.

And yes, Daddy, myself & the kids were dripping wet. Haha... the sun soon dry our clothes though.

And needless to say, when you have a Naraya outlet inside the theme park, what would most tourists do? Buy, buy buy!  I bought two designs @ 470baht/310baht costing 780baht in total = SGD$31. I would have bought more if the boss hadnt pressurized his customers to finish up shopping & settle payment at the cashier as the stall was closing in 5 mins time. Such an idiotic fellow. Doesnt he wish to earn more, looking at the crowd inside his shop?

Another theme park to visit would be the Safari Park & Marine World. And a recommended tourist attraction would be the 1 day tour to Bridge over River Kwai + Tiger Temple.

Instead, Daddy preferred visiting the floating market & since i read over the internet, the MaeKlong Railway Market could be included since its enroute to the floating market, we booked a full day tour for that for the next day, together with a visit to the Rose Garden, Crocodile Farm & Elephant Show. But in a twist of events, our tour only materalized halfway. If it wasn't for the fact that we need to rush to the airport, we would have returned to the travel agent & asked for at least half the refund.

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ Siam Niramit Show

10 Sep 2012 (Mon):

Siam Niramit Show. The show is at 8pm daily. We booked our tickets online & paid 7400baht = SGD$297. It includes dinner & show. But remember what i said about the dinner in my previous post? Just book for the show will do.

We proceed to the attraction on our own. After arriving at Thailand Cultural Centre Station, we followed the direction for Thailand Cultural Centre & came up on another busy roadside.

We were stuck; not knowing where to go. I asked the security guard & he told us to stay put to wait for the shuttle bus. Hoping i got it correct, we waited quite some time. Finally it came. You wont miss the van cos it has the wordings " SIAM NIRAMIT " written on it.

Upon arriving, I went to the ticketing counter with my email print out to exchange for the tickets. There were some pre show events going on but what fascinated the kids were defintely the elephants. They requested to ride on the elephant at 100baht each. Daddy heard wrongly & thought the ride cost 1000baht instead.

The elephant mahout carried the 2 kids onto the elephant & invited me to sit in between them. Huh? I did not purchased any tickets but it was okay, the mahout told the staff. We went around the grounds & the mahout stopped to take photos for us here & there. In my mind, i cant help but wonder what if the elephant goes crazy since the mahour was not on the elephant itself but walking some distance away, calling out to the elephant to follow.

We went for dinner & therefter for the show. Again, no cameras were allowed & they have a deposit counter for you to deposit your cameras & collect them after the show. I did not want to deposit my camera & hide them in one corner of my bag. Boy! The staff did a tough search on everyone & I prayed my camera will not be found. Haha! My camera stays warm in my bag.

But though the camera is in my bag, it stayed in there thruout the show. I did not take it out at all.

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ Siam Ocean World

10 Sep 2012 (Mon):

Just one attraction & I've got so many photos to share. We bought the kids to Siam Ocean World, located at Siam Paragon. It was a 15 mins walk from our hotel.

The park itself has many different admisssion packages to choose from. But their pricing's a great difference as compared to their website.

At the place itself:

900baht/adult & 700baht/child for a normal admission.

1100baht/adult & 900baht/child for a super package which includes the 5D theatre, glass bottom boat, happy fish happy feet, back of house tour, pepsi & popcorn.

3500baht for a family package of 2 adults & 2 children which includes all of the above mentioned.

Website:

1360baht/adult & 1040baht/child for a silver package which includes admission to Siam Ocean World & Madame Tussauds. 

810baht/adult & 630baht/child for a normal admission.

3150baht for the family package.

630baht/adult & 490baht/child for a Happy Tuesday Promotion.

We were there on a Tuesday but no such package available. And the family package pricing was also different by 350baht. Nonetheless, we bought the Family Package @ 3500baht = SGD$140.

There were many different areas to explore. In our opinion, its even bigger than the Underwater World @ Ocean Park in HongKong.  At Bangkok here, they even have Back of the House Tour, Glass Bottom Boat Ride & Happy Fish Happy Feet ( fish spa).

The kids were on a shark encounter mission; the Glass Bottom Boat Ride. Surrounding us below the waters are all sharks. Daddy bought a bowl of shrimps @ 100baht for the kids to feed those to the sharks.

We went onto a " Back of the House Tour " where we saw how they do water filtration, how the sick marine creatures were cared for, the food preparation corner, the preparation for the birth of the baby sharks, etc. No photo taking allowed. :(

Touch Pool for the kids to feel the different creatures. This one staff stationed at the touch pool went around telling everyone to be gentle. " ... soft, soft ".... till at one point, i told him " .... ya ya soft soft, very soft soft already... " Haha... i know he's doing his job; who would handle the fragile creatures roughly, we wouldnt for sure. But i cant say the same for the local kids there.

** There were many students all over the park; some field trip they were having; damn noisy & loud & rowdy.

Happy Fish Happy Feet. We were doing fish spa. It lasted only 10mins but it was good while it lasted.

At the exit of the park, we got some close encounter with the mascots.