Shrek The Musical comes to Singapore

Posted in Event Listings, Media Invite, Uncategorized, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

I remember it was a long long time ago when the first Shrek movie hit the big screens..2001 to be exact. It was definitely pre-kids for me, in fact I wasn’t even an adult yet! But Shrek was truly a fairy tale of a different kind, one with an unlikely hero and a sense of humour. I also remembered my sister in law using one of the songs from the Shrek soundtrack for her wedding march-in, some years later. After all, Shrek the movie did have a pretty awesome soundtrack too.

Fast forward 15 years later to post kids me and its not hard to believe that my kids love Shrek too. We even went on a cruise in pursuit of them. :p

Shrek The Musical based on the Oscar winning DreamWorks Animation film is coming to Singapore for the first time as part of its first ever international tour. It’s no surprise that the kids have requested to watch Shrek the Musical, the moment they saw its posters hanging from the beams at the Marina Bay Sands. To be honest, I have been bombarded with these ‘demands’ every single time, we pass a poster, spot a brochure at Sistic or see a commercial on TV.

And can you blame them? After watching the animation version of Shrek and his friends on the big and small screen countless times, imagine the appeal of watching ‘real life’ Shrek, Princess Fiona and everyone from Far Far Away!!

This live adaptation of the popular animation Shrek brings the hilarious story of everyone’s favorite ogre on stage. For those of you who may not be as familiar with the story, in a far away kingdom turned upside down, things get ugly when an ogre – not a handsome prince – shows up to rescue a feisty princess. Throw in a donkey that does not keep quiet, a villain with a short temper, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you’ve got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there’s one on hand and his name is Shrek.

We can’t wait to catch this ‘Shrektacular’ when it comes to our shores in June and just in time for the school holidays. So for those of you who are still wondering what to do with the kids during the June holidays, tickets are on sale now from Sistic.

When: 8 Jun 2016 onwards

Show Times:

Tuesday – Friday 7:30pm
Saturday: 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Sunday: 1:00pm and 6:00pm

Where: Mastercard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands

Price: From $65

How to Book:

1) www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing or www.sistic.com.sg

2) Phone – +65 6688 8826

3) In Person – Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby

Grab your tickets soon and we’ll see you there!

JahBella’s Mummy

23May2016

Cold Storage Kids Run 2016 [Media Invite]

Posted in Kids health, Media Invite, Uncategorized, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

Jah and Bella just completed their 2^nd Cold Storage Kids Run yesterday and they are already looking forward to next year’s race! Mummy on the other hand is still recovering from getting up at 5am. :p Despite the rain that was still falling as we were driving to Gardens by the Bay at 630am, their spirits were not dampened one bit by it. Thankfully the rain stopped just as we were walking to the event area and the rain left us with muddy puddles (our shoes and freshly groomed car weren’t too happy about that) and a nice overcast sky (which made the humidity so much easier to bear with). The kids of course didn’t care about any of that and were just really excited that were making our way to the race.

Bella and Mummy before the race starts!

A milo boost before the race!

While we were able to race in the same category (Jolly Kiwi) last year because Bella was 2 and Jah was 4. We had to divide and conquer this year, with Bella still in the Jolly Kiwi Category (2 – 4 year olds) and Jah in the AIA Vitality Category (5 & 6 year olds). I was abit apprehensive about splitting up because Bella raced the whole way on Joel’s shoulder last year and I was going to race with her this year. I kept reminding her that Mummy was not going to carry her and that she really had to race on her own. I have to say I am extremely proud of this little lady because she showed me a determination that I have not seen in her yet. She raced the entire 800m on her own and only asked to hold my hand at around the 400m mark, right about the same time when I noticed that she looked alittle tired and was slowing down. Good job Bella! Mummy is so proud of you!

Insisting that I didn’t need to hold her hand

After finishing our race and collecting our medals, we headed over to the barriers near the Finish Line to wait for Jah and Joel. Even though their category was just after ours, we had more than enough time to find a spot and wait for them to race to the Finish. In fact we waited quite abit because we were in the first group of Jolly Kiwis who were flagged off and our boys were in the 4^th Group of the AIA Vitality category to be flagged off.

I absolutely love the planning at the Cold Storage Kids Run because this ensures that participants in the same category are staggered for safety and crowd control reasons and parents with kids in back to back categories have time to participate and wait for their other kids to come round the bend. 🙂

Although I did have a little scare when I saw Jah reach the Finish Line. Mummy’s instinct told me something didn’t look quite right when I saw him approach the finish line. He looked a little too pale for my liking. When I finally met him at the medal collection area, he complained that he had a tummy ache and that he wanted to lie down and sleep. I carried him and he immediately flopped into my arms, rested his head on my shoulders and went almost limp. My heart was in my throat at that point as I saw him turning whiter.

I quickly realized that he might be having gastric pains and low blood sugar because he had refused breakfast in his excitement this morning and only had 2 cups of milo from the Milo truck. Thankfully a nice lady happened to be giving out packets of sponsored chocolate milk and vanilla bread and I quickly gave him some chocolate milk and he instantly felt better! Colour started returning to his face and lips and he had the energy to stand on his own again. Phew!!! The poor boy did not realize that we had prepared bread for him in our back pack and he had thought that he wasn’t allowed to eat his breakfast since we had left the house already. Lesson learnt to feed them before their race and thank goodness for the sponsored refreshments at the race!! Quite literally our life savers!!! I am truly proud of his boy who managed to finish his 800m despite the discomfort and pain that he must have been feeling. I think it might be true what they say about boys not wanting to let their daddies down.

I still can’t believe how different my babies were during the race last year versus this year and despite having to be in different categories and Jah feeling alittle sick, I am kind of glad that I got to see the determination in them.

My little babies last year!

Time flies…

On a side note, they did have a Family Fun category for kids between 2 – 12 years this year and Jah and Bella have already requested that we join the Fun Dress Up category next year so that we can all race together again and play dress up as well! 🙂

Until next year!

JahBella’s Mummy

Disclaimer – We were invited to participate in the Cold Storage Kids Run 2016. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions and photos are our own.

17May2016

Our Proposal Story – Blog Train

Posted in Blog Train, Our Thoughts, Perth, Uncategorized by jahbella

Hopping onto the Proposal Story blog train after Michelle Hon and Cherie Lim..

I had missed the How I Met Your Father blog train a few weeks ago (definitely a story I will want to document for the kids someday) so I’m at least going to try and tell our Proposal Story 😉

So here’s the back story…Joel and I had been in a long distance relationship for 3 years, him in Perth and me in Singapore. It was 3 years spent on long distance phone calls and sms-es (Skype was really unstable and glitchy and there was no FaceTime then 😦 ). I also shuttled up and down, visiting him every 6 months and we pretty much spent my visits there travelling around Perth..ok maybe not all around but mainly to Margaret River. Wine! Need I say more :p

The yesteryear

From our 1st trip to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse while Joel was still studying there

In September 2007, we were back in Perth with his parents, this time to attend his graduation. We decided to take a trip to Margaret River prior to the graduation ceremony, to show his parents what we enjoyed most there.

It was 16 Sep 2007 and we were going to make a trip to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse that morning.

The view as we approached Cape Leeuwin that day

Joel and I had climbed to the top of the lighthouse on a previous trip. The climb was pretty tedious but the 360 deg view of the ocean was phenomenal. Joel tried to convince me to take a climb up that morning but I reasoned that unless his parents were joining us, there was really no point since we had already done so once ourselves. I was determined not to make that climb and I clearly threw a spanner in his plans. Looking back, I remember him looking visibly irritated and then abit lost (possibly restrategising :p)

After awhile, he suggested that we take a walk towards the rocks and ocean and give his parents some time alone to take in the sights. We walked off towards the ocean and while I was trying to find a spot for us to sit down at and enjoy the view, Joel was quickly walking off in front of me and ignoring my calls. Now it was my turn to get irritated and I decided to plonk myself down on a comfortable rock and wait for him to turn around.

After a few minutes of what looked like fumbling though his jacket pocket (yes all these on hindsight and I am clearly very observant :p), he decided to turn around and sit next to me. Honestly the rest happened in quite a blur, from me being annoyed that he had wandered off, to him going down on one knee and me saying yes). And as they say the rest is history 🙂

We had the presence of mind to document the ‘Proposal view’ after..:p

It rained shortly after the proposal and we proceed to lunch at the Watershed Vineyard. We had the most awesome dessert platter and spotted a beautiful rainbow after the rain..

The sweets we enjoyed for lunch after the proposal..our first dessert as Fiance and Fiancee

Side note – We will be making our first visit back to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse after Joel’s proposal 9 years ago. This time with 2 kiddos in tow and we are going to show them the spot where Papa asked Mummy to marry him 🙂

A rainbow to signify our new beginning..

JahBella’s Mummy

This post is part of the ‘Proposal Story’ blog train, hosted by The Chill Mom.

Up next is is Angie from GrowingHearts123. Angie is an educator at heart and by profession. She blogs mainly on how she engages her 3 kids with hands-on activities especially the Visual Arts. In her letter to her kids, she shares on how Papa tricked her with an empty recycled ring box!

12May2016

Phuket Holiday (March 2016) – Food and Activities with Kids

Posted in Food, Holidays, Phuket, Thailand, Tips with Kids, Travel with Kids, Uncategorized by jahbella

So what do you do when on a beach holiday in Phuket, Thailand? Laze in the sun and eat all the Thai food you can of course! If anyone tells you that eating Thai food with kids in tow is not possible and that you have to settle for Western food or Fast Food, don’t believe them! We had Thai food every single meal and the kids ate fine.

The Orchid – Opposite Katathani

If you decide to stay at Katathani like us, don’t miss the awesomely authentic Thai food found just across the street from our hotel at a restaurant called The Orchid. In fact we only discovered it on the 2^nd day after trying some other cut-throat restaurant on the same street, which was catered more to the Western palate and currency conversion. Their Tom Yum Goong, Beef Fried Rice, Curry Powder Prawn/ Crab, Fried Banana with Ice-cream and sundaes became our staples for every lunch until the day we left. We wished we had found the place earlier and the kids were happy to have their local beef fried rice plus a sundae of their choice at every meal. :p Come on! It was a holiday after all! 🙂 Everything was really value for money!

Perfect with lots of little green chilli padi!

Curry Powder crab!

1 sundae a day, keeps the tantrums away..:p

Goreng Pisang with Ice cream and honey…looks are deserving because this was awesome!

Tuk Tuk Rides

Because we spent the day just lazing about in the pool and enjoying the waves in the sea, we could only afford to explore Phuket in the evenings. We would take a cab from the hotel to the places we wanted to visit in order to get an estimate of how much each trip should cost and use that gauge when ‘bargaining’ for a Tuk Tuk on the return. The fortunate thing was the fact that we met very reasonable taxi and tuk tuk drivers on this trip and no one tried to fleece us. We found that we were always quoted the same/ correct rate for the return Tuk Tuk ride and it made the entire experience a lot more pleasant. The kids were also really thrilled to take their first Tuk Tuk ride of the trip and they were very intrigued by the fact that some Tuk Tuks were more fancy than others (loud hiphop music + colour changing lights). Unlike the smaller Tuk Tuks in Bangkok, the ones in Phuket can sit 6 adults comfortably so we only had to hire one since we had 4 adults and 2 kids. Definitely a must do with the kids if you head to Phuket!

Bella with her Aunty Tabitha..look at that smile 😀

Kata Night Market

Our aim on this trip was to allow the kids to experience some of the night markets/ food markets without being caught in a human jam. We ended up at 2 different markets on 2 different nights.

We made our way to the Kata Night Market on our first night and have to say we or I was slightly disappointed. Things were rather quiet and we later realized it was probably due to the high supply of night markets all over Phuket. Nevertheless, the kids were very happy that they got to pick their own fruits choices to ‘create’ their own fruit juice. Jah picked a grape + lime combination which somehow turned out better than what the adults chose. We got our fruit juices and took a customary stroll through the market, picked up 2 t-shirts for the kids and then tried to find a place for dinner.

Brain freeze anyone?

Thank goodness for our mobile wifi and toddler carriers which came in super handy. It allowed us to navigate our way through the streets of Kata with the kids safely on our backs and head to dinner. We even found a Pancake stall near the restaurant we had dinner at, yummy!!!!

Our Tulas to the rescue

Malin Plaza Patong

The 2^nd night we headed to Malin Plaza Patong which was more of a food market. There were shop spaces for souvenirs and clothes etc but very few of them were open. We decided to make a zipline for the food and also to look for a table to settle down at. Yes the nice thing about this market is the fact that there are tables and chair set up for you to consume the local street food bought from the stalls. We picked up some local fried food, Pad Thai for the adults, non spicy noodles for the kids and desserts all round. It was a nice experience even though the food may not have been the yummiest we have had or the most value for money.

Nice spacious seating under the stars at Malin Patong Plaza

Waiting for his dessert at Malin Patong Plaza

This might not be the most adventurous Phuket itinerary for families but it was certainly something a little different for us. Perhaps the next time we head to Phuket, the kids will be old enough for an island hopping tour..although I’m hoping it doesn’t happen too soon. We definitely still appreciate our afternoon naps and are perfectly happy to just laze on the beach and load up on Thai food 🙂

Time to go home

But a donut each first..

JahBella’s Mummy

3May2016

Phuket Holiday 2016 – Katathani

Posted in Holidays, Phuket, Thailand, Travel with Kids, Uncategorized by jahbella

Our first family holiday of 2016 brought us to Phuket, Thailand. While this was not our first trip to Phuket (we travelled there when it was just the two of us, for our first babymoon and subsequently for Jah’s 1^st holiday at 7 months), this is the first trip where we have ventured out further than 15 minutes away from the airport. No I kid you not! We always stayed 10 minutes away from the airport on all previous trips and basically parked ourselves in the vicinity of our hotel. We never visited Patong or any of the shopping malls ever. Ironically, we decided to stay almost 1.5 hours away from the airport while on holiday with 2 kids and ventured out every night by Tuktuk, for dinner. Perhaps parenthood really does make you stronger, more adventurous or just flat out mad! :p

The kids were really excited about this holiday and we were all up by 5am for our really early 8am flight. The first milestone we hit this holiday? Jah no longer needing his CARES Safety harness! He was constantly coaching Bella on how she should sit still in hers and that he could handle the ‘big people’ seatbelt now. 🙂 Honestly the CARES safety harness has been a great help for us when travelling with the kiddos. You can read more about it in our previous post here.

Big boy seat belt finally!

CARES Safety Harness for this little one (who is pretending to sleep btw)

We were picked up by our hotel private transfer and we managed to fit 4 adults, 2 kids, 3 suitcases and 2-3 handcarrys. Ermm yes we were there on a beach holiday but don’t ask me why we had so many suitcases. :p The transfer was about an hour long to the hotel and Jah and I were lucky to have a nice massage function in our seats. 🙂

Massage function in the car

We stayed at the Katathani which is located at Kata Noi. It essentially is right at the end of the Kata area and spanned a really large area, with two different wings. We booked 2 interconnecting Junior Suite rooms and were located at the Thani Wing which is closer to the beach. Each room came with either a king bed or twin beds + a sofa bed and they covered the sofa bed in our room with nice clean sheets, pillows and a blanket so that Jah could use it. We also had a really decent view of the pool and the beachfront.

Junior Suite with a Sofa bed made up for Jah

Junior Suite (Twin Sharing) with the sofa bed for regular use

View from our room balcony

Garden massage ($15 for 50 mins)

The hotel had many pools throughout its property which was one of the main draw for us when we were deciding where to stay. However we ended up playing at the same pool (right in front of our block) every morning before heading out to the beach and sea. The beach was located in an inlet and the waves were rather mild (usually got a bit ‘fiercer’ around noon time) so we can venture out with the kids. While the beach is not a private one, it felt pretty private to us because we had a guard watching the entrance from our hotel to the beach and you wouldn’t really venture out to Kata Noi Beach if you are not a guest at the hotel.

Empty clean beach…peace….

The kids also had a swell time at the kids pool with their toys and crocodile float which we bought from one of the many shops in the area. They also insisted on coming back from the beach at 11am every day without fail so that we could join the Aqua Aerobics class. Oh we had tons of fun and laughter with that class alright.

Aqua Aerobics Time!

The kids club at Katathani is located at the Bhuri Wing so it was a 5 minute walk from our block but the kids were more than willing to make the walk before lunch. The kids club is supervised and had tons of toys, games and even a ball pit. They have paid activities and free ones and even an outdoor play area. The kids really wanted to play outdoors but I wouldn’t let them because it was just too hot at 12noon. We didn’t go for any of the paid activities but there was more than enough to keep them occupied. In fact it was really tough trying to get them to leave and go to lunch. *grrrr* The thing I liked about the Kids club was the fact that they have a very flexible policy. You could choose to drop off your child with the staff or you could stay in the kids club with your child. We had one too many bad experiences with hotels who insist that the adults have to leave even when we just want to spend time with our kids in the club. We had no such problem at Katathani.

We really had a lot of fun at the Katathani, my only gripe was the fact that it was almost a 1.5 hour journey to the airport which can be really tiring. But the facilities and service far outweigh that little inconvenience. I have a feeling, this might be our go to place in Phuket from now on. 🙂

Want to know what else we did in Phuket with the kids and how we managed to have authentic Thai food even though we had kids with us? Stay tuned for our next Phuket 2016 post!

JahBella’s Mummy