MINT Toy Museum

I read about the toy museum since a long time back but had never visited it. Last weekend, I suddenly was reminded and realised that it is not too far from Marina Square where Lil Isaac was having his gym class. We had about an hour to burn before Daddy Lim picked us up after picking Lil Shauna.

We took a long walk from Marina Square to Seah Street. The museum took up a 5-level shop space in one of the buildings. I googled map but walked past it and one big round several buildings without realising. Luckily the little boy didn't complain too much. We paid $36 for a family package of 2 adults and 2 children. Oh gosh, I felt like a tourist. Lil Isaac and I proceeded to tour the museum while waiting for Daddy Lim and jiejie to join us.

The museum was fairly empty. There were 5 levels and we started from the top. The 5th level was contributed to outer space and there were many tin spaceship and robot toys. The toys are all inside full wall shelves with glass door. It isn't very children friendly; they couldn't see beyond the 3rd shelf. However, Lil Isaac was fairly entertained and was amazed at how old and expensive the toys are. I guessed most of the toys are collectors' items. We saw many that cost several KUSD. The most expensive is this mickey mouse that doesn't look too mickey mouse and cost 35 KUSD!

Lil Isaac took time to look at the display.

The 4th level was for Characters, 3rd for Childhood Favorite and 2nd for Collectibles. These are my favorite. So super cool!

Daddy Lim and Lil Shauna finally joined us when we were finishing the tour. We went back to the 5th floor and started walking the museum all over again.

Lil Shauna happily posed with the big robot.

The scaredy cat boy finally posed BESIDE the robot after summoning all his courage.  Haha.

Daddy Lim and Lil Shauna took about 20 mins to walk the museum. Lil Isaac and I took more close to an hour. It isn't exactly a very kids' friendly place. It would have been great if there are toys for the kids to hands-on.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating Lesson 8

Lil Shauna couldn't wake up on Saturday morning bcos the kids had a late night. Instead, Lil Isaac didn't sleep in and caught us while we were trying to get out of the house. Though no tears, there were plenty of "I also want to go ice skating" pleads. I am not prepared to watch over 2 kids on the ice and had to coax him to stay home. We then quickly sneaked out of the house. Before we left, he said that he wanted to learn ice skating too. Scary.

Lil Isaac called me on my mobile twice in the span of 20 mins. Each time, he repeated his request to ice skate too. Zzzzz. To pacify him, I promised to check out the lesson schedule but told him that he would only be able to take on ice skating lessons after he had completed his gym classes. He had been on at least 3 terms of expensive gym classes. I had thoughts to cease them and find him something else. Maybe ice skating is the solution? Luckily he only called 2x and was probably well entertained by the ipad.

Lil Shauna and I had Mac bfast before class. We were early and she worked on her homework while I on mine.

We went up to the rink early to realise that it was the national competition today and the rink would be closed at 2.45pm today. There was no group classes were already many skaters practicing their stuff when we arrived - all the lunges, twists, turns. Wow!

We went down to the ice and practice the usual stuff. I had seen Lil Shauna in better forms on other day but at least she managed her Mohawk. She took a rest right before the lesson and was happily playing in the rink until I yelled for her. Zzzz. By the time she rushed over to her lesson, she has forgotten all the hands up, head up nag for the past hours. Aiyoh!

The class went OK. She learnt how to skate forward after some backward strokes. Many times, I realised that it is more so Lil Shauna not understanding what Teacher Raymond wanted her to do than her inability to do it. And I had this urge to rush into the rink and tell her in a way that she understands. Other times, she just needed to practice the stroke like 300x more. This is when I come in to the picture. Teacher Raymond probably saw us practising on some occasions. After class, he told Lil Shauna that I am a good tuition coach. Haha. I was quite proud actually. The "tuition" definitely benefitted her. As compared to her friends that had started the private classes at the same time, she's probably a little faster. Seriously, it is tough to rely on a kid to self practice.

I also realised that Lil Shauna is "not there yet" in her strokes. It is constantly like the leg is not lifted high enough here and the body needs a little bit more leaning in there. I don't know how to resolve that. I see that the older skaters understood the need for precision and take effort to tuck that tummy and raise the butt, etc. As for the little girl, she is already very pleased with herself when she manages to roughly execute the move. Maybe she just needed a lot more practice? She came back after class and told me that teacher Raymond said that her spiral is not high enuff and her lunge not low enuff. OK lor, then how? Anyway, we left for lunch and headed to phonics class.

I pop back to the rink to watch the skaters warm up before the competition.

Then I saw this very little boy partaking in the competition.  He is probably about Lil Isaac's age but is so good.

He could do spiral and jumps and is so steady. His strokes were precise despite being so young. I wonder how old was he when he started learning skating.

Just then, Lil Isaac and Daddy Lim joined me and they were equally amazed. Lil Isaac started his pleads to learn ice skating NOW. The next core 1 lesson starts on 2 May. Let me think harder about it. Can I cope with 2 kids on the rink? Lil Shauna said that I can't bcos I have to help her practice. Zzzzz. Win already. Alternatively, we will wait for the next run, after Lil Isaac completes his gym class. He would be a little older then, right? The idea of having both of them doing the same class at almost the same time is very appealing too.

Mummy Lim

Old

I am 4 days away from turning 36. Now that I am in my mid 30s, it doesn't feel as scary as I thought it would be. It isn’t really that old. Humans are so good with adapting and self-comforting. Lol. However, many times I do feel very old. The signs are pretty obvious.

1. The children’s bedtime is also my bedtime.

2. I am getting very excited at Lil Shauna’s ice skating but couldn't master what she’s learning without risking breaking some bones.

3. Clubbing is a luxury that needs months of planning and scheduling in advance.

4. I don't know which are the IN clubs and when I am finally in one on them, I feel that the crowd is so young that I wouldn't be surprised if they started calling me auntie. 

5. When the club starts to get crowded, it is way past my bedtime.

6. I get exhausted after maximum 2 hours of clubbing and I needed 1 week to recover from the exhaustion.

7. Staying late at work feels more torturous than the past, which always lead to an early night for that day.

8. Even though I weigh about the same as many years back, the same clothes no longer gives the same look.

9. I have to remind myself not to smile too wide when taking picture to prevent the lines from showing.

10. I forgot… pretty obvious huh?

Mummy Lim 

Rollerblading

It was rainy for a while. Then we were busy and there were always so many things to occupy our weekends. Our Rollerblades took a rest and hid in the storeroom.

Finally on Sunday afternoon, we thought rollerblading was a fantastic activity to entertain the kids and off we went to West Coast Park (WCP). We love WCP as it is usually not too crowded and perfect for hazardous Lil Isaac. We would usually stay at the part of the park without the playground to minimise distractions. Else, no kids would want to skate. Haha.

The weather was hot. We skated for probably half an hour and all declared that we were so tired. I don't know if we were perspiring from the sports or the hot weather.

 Our parting shot. I love it. Who needs a selfie stick when we have long-arm Daddy Lim?

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating Overdose?

We didn't have class on Saturday but headed to the rink nevertheless. Lil Shauna needed the practice to master the Mohawk that she couldn't during the last lesson. Daddy Lim didn't have to work on Saturday and thus we were able to bring the little boy along. 

Usually, when the boy is on the ice, I had to watch over him and Lil Shauna barely gets much practice done bcos mummy wouldn't be able to help her. Interestingly, Lil Isaac improved quite a fair bit on the ice and we further motivated him with the game of “whoever can go around the rink 2x without falling wins”. The tactic works for quite a while and Daddy Lim and I took turns to skate with him. I took whatever time that I have to practice with Lil Shauna and Daddy Lim took over when it was my turn to skate with the little hazard. Lil Shauna knew exactly what she had to do and could practice with just Daddy Lim eye powering her. 

When the boy realized that the ”game” wasn't really a game, he was again up to his nonsense of this trick and that trick, that often made him looked like a dangerous bundle moving haphazardly on the ice. The tricks often landed in some fall but comparing to his previous trips, he was already falling much lesser and the falls seem less serious. Lil Shauna’s friend – P and XY were also at the rink. Though there was some good fun of “chase”, including Lil Isaac, they all agreed on how dangerous Li Isaac was. Lol.

For the Saturday session, we focused a lot on Lil Shauna’s posture. Throughout the almost 2-hour, I was constantly repeating “hands-up, head-up, don't look down”. Amazing, that little change in posture did magic for Lil Shauna. Not only was she full of grace (at times), the stability helped her to balance better and allowed her to execute moves that she couldn't previously. Even she realized the impact and was willing to hold her posture despite how tiring it really was. With her new shimmering (and very expensive) ice skating pants, she is indeed starting to look like an ice skater. The Saturday practice did her good and I think she is more confident for coming week’s lesson.

On Easter Sunday, the combined service started at 8am. I was intending to skip it but Lil Shauna wanted so much to go to Sunday School bcos it was gift shop day. The older children had been earning stamps and could use their stamps to exchange for gifts. We left the house at 7.30am. The little boy was still sleeping and he was also glad to skip church. Zzzzz. Lil Shauna’s trip to church was fruitful and we were done by 10am. 

I was to send the little boy to gym class at 1pm. With 3 hours to burn, we headed down to the ice again. We arrived at 10.30am but were in the q for almost an hour. The q was painfully slow as there was only 1 counter opened. On top of that, there were so many people ahead of us trying to buy student passes/ sign up for lessons and there were so many forms to fill, so many questions to answer for such. I don't know why they couldn't get some other staff to open another counter or at least try to help. The poor only cashier was trying to multi-task and definitely wasn't very efficient. 

We pressed ahead nevertheless and had about 1 hour left to practice when we finally got into the rink. We did the usual drill and again focused on her posture. Now, she definitely has enuff practice for the coming week’s lesson. All she needed to do is to remember to hold her arms and head high.

We met Teacher Raymond on Sunday and I told him that we had to miss the competition in KL. Teacher Raymond was very encouraging and shared that the next one that he is organizing is the Asian Championship, which would be taking place in August, during school term and would be in far, far away China, Qingdao. What?? I have to think even harder about this next one. Lol.

So did we have an ice skating overdose? The kids seem to have totally enjoyed themselves.

Mummy Lim

Cut Hair

Daddy Lim had been fussing about his "in-my-opinion-not-that-long-hair". Haha. But it irked him so much and he so badly needed a hair cut. Lil Isaac wanted a hair cut too. It is funny that the little boy enjoyed the trips to the hairdresser very much, which is great bcos boys needed to have their hair trimmed so often. Zzzz.

At one of those 10 mins hair cut place, when asked how he wanted his hair to be cut, he said that he wanted to he as stylish as Pappy! So adorable.

Maybe she was influenced, Lil Shauna wanted to have her hair cut too. Errr... There is perfectly nothing wrong with her hair. Ever since school started, she barely gets the opportunity to soak in chlorine loaded water and now has a beautiful head of straight silky hair. She went ahead with the haircut but mummy was quick to step in and insisted that 2 inch max snipped off. Heart pain leh.

It was an adorable sight to see Daddy Lim and the 2 kids all at the salon, having their hair cut at the same time. Hehe.

Mummy Lim

How Much Longer?

It must be a youngest child thing.
Lil Shauna was walking very much when she was 4ish, largely bcos mummy had to carry didi. Lil Isaac is simply lazy and was super reliable on the stroller until it started giving way a while back. The stroller served us really well, since Lil Shauna was 2.

Lil Isaac understood that he is too old for a stroller and knew that we wouldn't replace the stroller. Still, it didn't stop him from asking us to carry him. Fortunately, he is much lighter than when jiejie was his age. Even then... my back!

Sometimes, he does look like a baby. How much longer could we carry him?

Mummy Lim

Science Center

Sometimes, Public Holiday translates to "better-find-programs-to-entertain-kids-or-risk-death" day. Haha. I was lazy and didn't want to venture to far outside of West. We gave the kids choice between JBP or Science Center and they opted for the latter. I was cool about it, having read that Science Center has drastically reduced their admission prices to benefits the locals. I am a local and I totally heart the move. A family visit to Science Center used to hurt the pocket quite some but now only cost $20 for our family of 4.

Daddy Lim worked morning yday and fetched us from home at about 1.30pm. There was a long q. Admission used to be fairly quick. Apparently, I am not the only Singaporean who loves a good deal. The q was so freaking long that it took us about an hour before we got our tickets. Luckily, there is a good free outdoor playground that incorporates science outside of Science Center. Daddy Lim watched over the kids and munched his Mac lunch while we waited.

We got into the center only about 3 pm. This is our 268th visits and had seen most of the old exhibitions. We spent some time looking at the new ones though. As usual, Lil Isaac is very fascinated by balls.

He probably can spend hours in front of these exhibits if we don't urge him on. We stopped for a little snack after half an hour. Tired leh. Lol.

The kids' highlight must be Waterworks.

We didn't stay too long though. It wouldn't be fun caught with the rest of the home going crowd in the tiny toilet with limited showering facilities. There were so many kids playing at the water area.

We left for dinner shortly and headed home.  The kids were still full of energy but their poor mummy was so tired. Haha.

Mummy Lim

What kind of Homework?

Lil Shauna brought these home some time back. She needs the computer to work on them.

According to the teacher, these are good to do but not compulsory bcos not all families have a computer at home. We do and I attempted to log onto the system once but wasn't successful initially and gave up. Haha. Not compulsory mah. 

However, I think the teacher had been constantly reminding the students to go into the system and so we tried again. We were finally successful and Lil Shauna started using the computer to do her homework. 

There are so many activities inside, English, Maths and Chinese. While she was at it, I had to stand around to supervise. Zzzzz. I was surprised that she knows how to log in, used the keyboard and the mouse. Apparently, she learnt these in school. 

The activities/ quizzes are easy for Lil Shauna. However, she took painfully long to find the letters on the keyboard. Haha. And Daddy Lim super sensitive mouse that darts around the screen at mere touches isn't helping much. Hello Mr Mouse, where are you rushing to?

It is recommended that the children shouldn't spend more than an hour each time on the computer. Errrr... At the speed that Lil Shauna progressed, she couldnt get much done in an hour. Hahaha.

Mummy Lim

Really on her Own

On Tuesday, Daddy Lim and I were both stuck at work. We weren't in time to pick the girl and she finally got a chance to go home on her own.

I was worried that she would get lost but she was totally fine, making her way home safe and sound like what she was supposed to. Big girl already. Hehe.

Mummy Lim