Media Invite: SG50 Roadshow

I was invited to the media launch of the SG50 celebrations last Saturday.  What is SG50?  Simply put, it is a celebration of Singapore, a celebration of what it means to be Singaporean, in anticipation of our 50th birthday in 2015.

On National Day this year, we jostled with the crowds at One Fullerton, waiting expectantly for the fireworks display.  What I didn't expect was the sense of pride that filled my heart during the aerial flypast bearing the Singapore flag.  I became keenly aware of the fact that despite my gripes about certain aspects of life in Singapore, I am proud to be Singaporean and am grateful and blessed that I can call this nation my home.

With this sense of awakened pride, I felt that it was meaningful to be part of the SG50 celebrations and went to the roadshow to find out more.

The booths at the roadshow revolve around 3 themes:

1) Celebrate Our Heritage

2) Celebrate Our Community

3) Celebrate Our Dreams

Celebrate Our Heritage

For SG50, the focus on Chingay will be on Singaporeans showing love for Singaporeans.  You can express your love for Singapore by making flowers out of recycled plastic bags in the ''We Love SG Flowers Booth''.  The flowers will be used on the costumes of the performers and for the collage as seen in the photo below.

Learn how to make flowers from recycled plastic bags at this booth

Celebrate Our Community

The Care and Share@SG50 is a national fund-raising and volunteerism movement led by Community Chest.   As part of the SG50 celebrations, every donation you make till 31 Dec will be matched a dollar to a dollar by the Government.

Celebrate Our Dreams

The SEA Games will again return to our sunny shores in 2015 after a 22-year long hiatus and will be held from 5-16 June 2015.  The theme "Celebrate the Extraordinary" is about connecting individuals, communities and countries to their dreams.  

Take a photo with Nila, our SEA Games mascot

Can't get enough of Nila

E was surprisingly interested in colouring the mascot.  This was because he got to write encouraging messages to the athletes representing Singapore.

Share your wish for Singapore's 50th birthday at the Wish House.  The Wish House will be travelling around Singapore to collect wishes leading up to the grand opening of the National Gallery Singapore in November 2015. 

The next road show is held from 27th to 28th September, 12pm to 6pm at Northpoint Shopping Centre (Basement 1).  Do pop by for a visit if you are in the vicinity.  

 More photos from the roadshow at Toa Payoh Hub.

Like the SG50 Facebook page and redeem any item from the mama shop

Celebrating cultural diversity

Princess Farmer Girl

I was applying lip gloss when E looked at me with a disturbed expression.  I usually use a tinted lip balm which is of course a lot more subtle than this shiny liquid that was screaming for attention, my son's attention that is. 

E: What is that?

Me: Lip gloss.

E: Eeew! It's disgusting!  I don't want to look at you!

C: Mummy, it's very nice.  I like it.  Can I wear it when I grow up?

When you have a boy and a girl, you do get plenty of interesting conversations with opposing perspectives.

Later, I asked E why he thought the lip gloss was disgusting.  He said it looked like blood! Okay, fair enough but hey the lip gloss was not even bright red in colour, it wasn't even red for that matter!  I'm learning to see the world through an eight year old boy's eyes and it sure is mind-boggling.

Now, let's steer clear of blood and gore and move on to something more pleasant.  The subject of today's post is actually C.  The princess in the house.  Or more accurately "the princess farmer girl", a new term she coined herself.  Simply defined as a princess who likes to take care of animals.  

 

Does the princess syndrome come inbuilt in every girl? By princess, I don't mean in a diva sort of way but in a "ooohh, I love all things girly and pink is my favourite colour" kind of way.

I'm finding it quite refreshing after raising a roll in the dirt type of boy, figuratively speaking.  Though, it can get somewhat frustrating especially when you are already late for an appointment and the princess has declared that she only wants to wear that particular dress which is in the wash.  She doesn't get her way of course and puts on whatever that was chosen for her, crying tears of despair as she looks longingly at that dirty piece of laundry which she has set her affections on. 

Her favourite dress.  If she gets to decide, she will choose to wear this every day.

Recently, she attended a wedding and ever since that day, she has been telling me on a regular basis that she wants to grow up quickly so that she can wear a wedding dress.  And she reminds me of the necessity of an outfit change.  One white and one red, she says in her best 3 year old serious voice. 

I'm quite sure she didn't get this girly girl thing from me.  I'm a low-maintenance kind of girl.  I don't brush my hair till it shines, erm I sometimes even forget to comb my hair.  I put on makeup only when I feel like it and that's usually when I think the occasion is worth the hassle of me preening in front of the mirror.  I love my well-worn tank tops which have holes in them.  Okay, lest you picture me in rags or worse gaping holes at inappropriate places, I shall clarify that the holes are really tiny.  And that's just my walking around in the neighbourhood attire.  I do dress much better elsewhere.  I'm low-maintenance, not a slob.

So, I don't think I contributed to her being this way.  Well, it's a fun phase and I'm enjoying her.  My princess. 

As the years pass, we will look back at this phase in her life and have plenty to laugh at and chat about over manicure and chi-chi high teas.  Just us girls.  The princess and the queen.

P.S. To the boys in the family, you are of course welcomed to join us.  It would be nice to receive some gentlemanly help with the shopping bags.

What's love got to do with a roach?

What a way to start the day! The morning routine was anything but predictable, what with me grabbing the toilet roll only to realize that I held in my hands a roach that writhed and wriggled for its dear life! I dropped that despicable thing and it fell on my lap!! 

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I ran out of the toilet and the hubby said calmly (as though this was an everyday occurrence), "I should have filmed it down." 

I was expecting nice-sounding, loving, sympathetic words to precede a heroic act. After 14 years, I'm still trying to get used to the fact that his love language is acts of service and not words.

But in a life and death situation such as this (life for me and death for the roach obviously), actions are most definitely valued over words.

In hindsight, the whole episode was rather hilarious. Imagine a half-crazed woman dashing out of the loo to be faced with a very willing audience of two. The kids respond to screaming of the blood-curdling type very much faster than the yelling of the high strung mum sort.

Bear in mind that I was answering nature's call when it all happened. My reflex action was to dash out and not pull up.

No nurturing mum image here. It looked like I was caught in the act with my pants down (literally). That was the sight that greeted the kids. Throughout this whole saga, the hubby was sitting in bed, looking at his phone. 

And he said those words.

He then proceeded to confront the enemy and deftly defeated it.

Who knew that a random incident such as this could stir up feelings of love very unexpectedly. I started to recall the many acts of love he had shown consistently over the years. It was easy to take for granted the seemingly mundane acts which often pale in drama to the romantic allure of flowers, gifts, fine dining and heart-melting declarations of love.

As I type, the hubby is helping me pack my laptop and stuff so that the bag can be ready for work tomorrow. He bathes the kids more often than I do, reads to them before bedtime (covers my reading duties when I'm feeling lazy), babysits them without complaint when I hang out with my friends. And not forgetting exterminating pests and bugs of all kinds and training our son to do likewise. (E now picks up dead baby lizards with a tissue and tries to gross his sister out with it.)

The list of mundane acts goes on. 

Gosh, this is beginning to make me sound like a sloth. I work hard. I do. Really. Real hard.

I am guilty of placing a lesser value on those little acts of love. Today, I remember and I am thankful. I now know to look beyond the words (or the lack of) to find one who will rise to the occasion, whatever the need.

Not ending this with "I love yous" and other mushy gushy WORDS. I'll go make him a cup of hot drink instead.

I couldn't resist including this photo :) My man of action!

Terror in the Night

This was our second time on a night train and the kids' first time. I reserved the entire compartment (meant for six) so that we can enjoy some privacy. I remember our virgin night train experience from Zurich to Vienna where our bunk mates nonchalantly stripped down to their undies to get ready for bed. Having such an act committed in close proximity (it was a really small compartment with six bunk beds) made it all the more awkward.

No more sharing of tight spaces with strangers and I'm sure it works well both ways. I can imagine the not so pleasant thoughts going through the minds of people who just discovered they had to share the compartment with a family of four - two of whom were highly excited and very enthusiastic about their first time sleeping on the train.

E was scaling the bunk beds with a passion that could rival an adventurer on an expedition to Mount Everest. C wanted to sit near the window, watching the people and houses whiz by. They did whatever exploring they could in that tiny space.

We went to bed rather early, at about eight plus as we had to be up at about five in the morning to change trains at Munich. 

The night terror began in the wee hours of the morning (perhaps terrifying only to me, the sleepy hubby was void of any emotion). 

I don't sleep well on trains nor on planes. Moving transportation does nothing to lull me into dreamland. I drifted in and out of sleep and at some point, I realized that the train had stopped moving. I thought it was a cursory rest stop for the driver but after a long time, the train refused to budge. 

Then I heard what sounded like people arguing. By now, I was fully awake and worried. The voices grew louder and angrier. And when you don't understand a word, the imagination takes over. I woke the hubby up and he was obviously more interested in getting back to sleep than entertaining my wild theories of terrorism and other fears.

Then it happened. A man stormed on board the train and started yelling at the top of his voice. He ran up and down the corridors, in rage. I half-expected gun shots to ring in the dead of the night.

And just at this moment, E needed to pee. Perfect timing. I said to wait but no he can't. It was urgent. The hubby said he'll bring E to the toilet. I was thinking there was this crazy man outside and now an equally crazy man wants to risk our lives by opening the door to answer nature's call!

After what felt like an eternity, there was silence. No shouts, no gun shots (thank God). So with abated breath, I waited nervously while the hubby brought E to the toilet. 

By now, the whole family was awake. We said a prayer and tried to get back to sleep. Finally, the train resumed its journey and I could finally relax. 

When we woke up the next morning, we learned that the train was delayed for four hours! Apparently, there was a police hunt and that angry man on board the train was probably a fugitive. Besides this dramatic episode, a train ahead of us broke down and this further contributed to the delay.

We managed  to shorten our delay from four hours to one by changing trains at Innsbruck instead of Munich. We discovered this new permutation only fifteen minutes prior to the train arriving at Innsbruck. It was a mad rush to get ready, organize our luggage, a miracle with two sleep-deprived kids in tow. 

We made it and we're on our way to the highlight of our vacation.

Day 5 Vatican City

I'm on a roll. Churning out two posts in a night is a feat for me. I'm hoping to beat the procrastination bug and savour the simple joy of completing what I set out to accomplish. Who knows, it might be soon before yet another European adventure. Okay, maybe soon is wishful thinking. But never say never! I am such an optimist when it comes to my travel dreams!  

It was a pleasant stroll along the streets of Rome and we returned to the hotel late at night. We were almost scammed by a cab driver who told us that the metro was no longer in service at that late hour. I vaguely remembered reading in some guidebook that the metro runs till much later. But I wasn't sure. Deciding to trust our instincts, we walked towards the nearest metro and asked around. Thankfully, it was still in service.

We really should learn to make it back to our hotel earlier but late nights and early mornings are the norm for us when we are on holiday. Yes, even with kids in tow. The kids have been great travel buddies, eager to wake up to conquer new places, always asking,"Where are we going next?" But I'm having a change of heart. I'm thinking we should slow down a little on our future trips. Age is catching up!  

We had to get to St Peter's Basilica early as it was reputed for its long queues. True enough, a snaking long queue has formed around the massive square even though we got there around 9 plus.

Although ancient churches are not exactly child-friendly attractions, the kids had a good time, finding ways to entertain themselves and each other. I can't quite remember what E was doing here. I think he was intrigued with the ornate design of the gate or was it the height of the gate.

Our trip to the Vatican Museum was perfectly timed. It wasn't planned but it just happened that C slept in her pram throughout the entire visit. I wasn't prepared to deal with sleep-deprived tantrums in a very packed museum so I was really relieved. C woke up as we were exiting the museum, just in time for our next gelato fix.

E, on the other hand was surprisingly engaged throughout the visit. I think it helped that I got him to search for exhibits. It was like a treasure hunt of sorts - look at the photo of the exhibit in the guidebook and find the actual one in the museum. He even stopped to look at some paintings and looked like he was appreciating the details in the picture. That was very unlike my boy.

I was looking forward to the finale of the museum visit. The Sistine Chapel. But ... It was the same feeling I got throughout our stay in Rome - interesting but underwhelming. I think the fact that we were shoulder to shoulder with other toursits marred the experience at the Sistine Chapel.

We didn't opt for a guided tour of the museum as that was simply challenging with kids. What we had instead was me as the friendly "guide", reading out descriptions from the guidebook. Without it, the experience would certainly have been less interesting.

Human jam. We were walking at snail's pace.

We had a quick dinner before boarding our night train to Munich. Or rather, that was the original plan. An unexpected turn of events led us somewhere else. More in the next post ....

Day 4 Rome

The plan was to finish writing about our trip to Europe last May by the end of 2013. The reality is this: not a single post was written since I made that resolution.

Let today be the day as I need to indulge in good memories to keep the paranoia at bay. C has HFMD and I am having the sniffles and a sore throat. Lurking somewhere is the nagging reminder that I happily shared an ice-cream and a plate of noodles with her over the weekend. I am praying this is not IT.

Let me escape for a moment into a gelato-filled world, away from the memory of a possibly tainted ice-cream cone.

Our Italian adventure brings us to Rome. Now Rome was unexpectedly underwhelming. This was probably the result of poring through countless photos of historical monuments and fantasizing about being awed by their grandeur, years before I even stepped foot on Roman soil. I'm realizing that great travel requires less research, more spontaneity.

It was still interesting (travelling with kids in tow is never boring), just not the jaw-dropping amazement I was psyching myself for.

 

Posing at the doors of the Pantheon (which were unfortunately closed)

Pantheon pillars

Day 3 Tuscany

Train travel although fun for the kids, was taking a toll on a not so young man who had to lug our luggage up and down the steps. That was why we were looking forward to a road trip, a relaxing drive in Tuscany.

It was the hubby's first encounter with left hand drive but he took to it in no time. Soon, we were cruising along the winding roads and enjoying the Tuscan landscape.

The kids were doing fine on the first leg but E started feeling sick on the second leg. I mistakenly thought the distances between towns were short (about half an hour's drive) but it turned out to be one to two hours. We had to stop a few times because E wanted to throw up.

Due to the frequent stops, we arrived in San Gimignano when it was dark. Drama seemed like a constant companion on this vacation. 

The GPS failed us. Our hotel location could not be found. 

I called the hotel but the staff spoke only Italian. We asked around for directions but no one knew. Finally, someone had internet connection and gave us directions via Google maps. 

What a welcome sight the hotel was and it boosted our spirits tremendously that a cosy room in a lovely house greeted us.

We finally settled down for dinner at 10pm. Snacks are a must on any vacation with kids. And in this scenario, snacks were the lifesavers. It prevented any meltdowns caused by hunger pangs! I'm not sure if it's because we were starving but it was here that we had one of the most delicious meals.

I've always lamented that relaxing holidays are a bore (think beach holidays where you just laze in the sun) but this was really on the opposite end of the spectrum. But who's complaining? Drama aside, it was fun and memorable and I think the kids agree.

Evidence that the kids are having fun 

 

Asciano

Gelato, our daily fix. So many flavours to choose from but the boy always wanted vanilla!

 

Montepulciano

A different kind of carbonara. It's dry, not the wet, creamy ones we are used to but she's loving it.

Home away from home

Day 2 - Florence

More thanksgiving to God on Day 2!

I was trying to buy the train tickets from the machine but it was faulty and I had to buy the tickets from the counter. I looked at the long queue and prayed that it will move quickly. We had about 10 minutes before the train arrived and we still had to do the underground passage ritual complete with steps, pram and luggage to get to the platform on the opposite side.

"The train will be delayed for 15 mins."  The lady at the counter broke the good news.

Never been so happy about a train delay! Feeling all light-headed, I forgot to do the most important thing before you board an Italian train. I was walking away from the counter when a lady shouted out a reminder to validate the ticket. Wow! What are the chances that a random tourist, a complete stranger would tell me the thing I needed most when I didn't even realize I needed it. 

Thank you, God. You take care of the little details too.

Florence, here we come!

I'm glad Florence was our first introduction to an Italian city. It was charming and I think it would have been romantic if not for the two kids we had in tow. My only gripe about Florence was the weird weather we experienced when we were there.

It starts to rain and by the time we get the kids dressed in their ponchos, the rain stops. We take the ponchos off (the kids weren't too excited about them) and after walking for a few minutes or so, it starts to rain again. And we have to dress the reluctant kids in their ponchos once again. This rain pattern happened a couple of times and it was quite annoying. 

We walked a lot. I didn't even realized how much we walked until my legs felt like they were about to give way when we had to walk back to our hotel at the end of the day. On the way back to the hotel, E said,"I wished a bed would appear in front on me right now!" My sentiments exactly and we both looked enviously at C who was fast asleep, snuggled in her pram.

Aches aside, it was a lovely walk. Here are some of my favourite moments in Florence.

Kids chasing pigeons with sheer delight at one of the many piazzas in Florence

We were a little lost, turning into this alley and that. Then it appeared before us. I didn't expect the sheer size of it. The Duomo which made my heart skip a little.

 

Melt in your mouth tortellini

Carousel ride after dinner

One of the many fake Davids in Florence

Enjoying a street perfomance in front of a church

Another beautiful facade

The romantic Ponte Vecchio at night. I'm missing a kiss and I don't mean from these two.

The area near Ponte Vecchio is so atmospheric at night. People sipping wine on the streets (think the restaurants allow you to bring the glass out) while enjoying the music.