My Little Climbing Room (Exclusive Media Preview and Giveaway)

Posted in Giveaway, Media Invite, Uncategorized by jahbella

I remember a time a few years ago (honestly not too long ago) when both Jah and Bella would look forward to their next session at an indoor playground almost every weekend. Of course this usually meant that the poor parents (us) had to crouch, crawl and bend through the average 2 hour session. We have almost stopped visiting indoor playgrounds entirely in recent time because these bones are getting older and the kids now don’t need us to join them but WANT us to join them. But more so because most indoor playgrounds now lack an appeal or a challenge to the now much older JahBella.

When My Little Climbing Room invited us to an exclusive sneak preview of their new attraction for kids activity in Singapore, we thought why not? After all, its been some time since we have been to one of these indoor playgrounds and the concept seems alittle different.

We told JahBella that we were taking them to a ‘climbing place’ and they wanted to go immediately. These monkeys have taken to climbing recently so I was also happy to unleash them while the adults could ‘sit back’.

We got to My Little Climbing Room on a weekend afternoon and there was ample parking at their location (The Promenade @ Pelikat). Yes hooray for the North-East siders because this is just at our backyard..no need to battle the East or Central crowds 😉

Each pre-scheduled session last for 90 minutes and the kids got tagged and suited up as soon as they arrive. As with all ‘dangerous’ activites :p they had to watch a safety briefing video although honestly I think it is really more for the parents to learn how to use the rope system. My Little Climbing Room is literally a room lined with different types of climbing walls, with varying degrees of difficulty and levels of interaction. Kids were given a mission card where they could collect stars for each level of difficulty that they complete. There were also little balance equipments to play with while waiting for your turn or if you just wanted to take a break.

The session started with the kids all running off to claim a wall and a parent/ adult would have to help belay them or tighten/ loosen their rope as they climb up or come down the wall. Easy peasy for the adults since the kiddos were well pretty light 😉 The kids took awhile to warm up and get their groove. All starting alittle apprehensive and giving very cautionary looks to their parents. Almost as if they were asking, you sure I can climb this? That’s when I realized we probably tell them “no don’t climb” or “please come down” abit too much as opposed to “go for it” or “you can do it”

By the time the kids were all warmed up, it was time for a ‘break’ (for the parents that is ;p). The staff at My Little Climbing Room took over for the next 30 minutes and starting playing games with the kids. Lights out, music on and let the games begin! The kids were going crazy! Screaming! Squealing! Laughing! Running! Climbing! Oh this is going to get them nice and tired. 😀

The kids went back to their climbing routine after the games and if you think they were too tired for more climbing by then. Think again! The kids all seemed to have this sudden renewed appreciation for climbing and they all somehow went higher and did better. Jah and Bella almost didn’t want to leave when it was time to go.

Verdict

Jah is 6 years old and most of the walls were right up his alley, save for a few harder challenges where he really had to push himself in order to complete. But they honestly challenged him more than they deter him. In fact, we were almost at the end of the 90 minute session when he realize he still had a few missions to complete. He was almost resigned to coming back another day but suddenly found a new burst of energy and yes he completed it and claimed his prize.

Bella who is 4 years old, was able to complete most of the Level 1 challenges and hung out a lot more at the interactive walls such as the number wall and the obstacle course wall. She didn’t complete her mission list but was totally chill about it because she had so much fun!

If you are wondering if your kid is too young for this, the answer is no. My Little Climbing Room caters to children below the ages of 4 too but it will just mean that they have to take baby steps to scaling each wall but still an awesome introduction to the world of climbing!

My Little Climbing Room has just opened their doors to the public 2 weekends ago. If you are thinking of heading down to try the place out, we would doing an online booking first to make a reservation. As there are fixed slots throughout the day and each slot can take up to 15 children, it would be best to have a slot secured so that you don’t end up waiting around for the next slot. Admission is free for one adult, with every paying child and $5 for an additional adult. For more details, check out https://mylittleclimbingroom.com/

GIVEAWAY

My Little Climbing Room has also very kindly offered 2 pairs of admission passes to 2 of our lucky readers. To enter, just follow the following steps

Like My Little Climbing Room Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/mylittleclimbingroom

Like Growing Up with JahBella Page

https://www.facebook.com/growingupwithjahbella/

Like and Comment on this post in Facebook and tag your friends. (Every friend tagged is an additional chance to win)

Giveaway ends 19 Oct, Thurs (2359hours)

14Jun2016

Shrek the Musical – Our Favourite Parts!

Posted in Event Listings, Media Invite, Plays/ Theatre, Uncategorized by jahbella

Jah and I recently went on a mother-son date to catch Shrek the Musical at the Marina Bay Sands.It was the first time that we/ Jah was catching a full-on musical (2 hours and 25 mins long!) together and at a time slot that would take him way past his bedtime of 9pm. But oh we had so much fun! At the risk of revealing too much about the show, I will attempt to share our 5 favourite things about our time at Shrek the Musical (not in order of preference).

Please excuse our grainy selfie 🙂

The orchestra…

We were seated in the second row of the theatre and I couldn’t resist pointing out to Jah that there was an orchestra ‘beneath the stage’. He took a peek into the ‘big hole’ in front of the stage and was excited to find that there were many ‘uncles’ playing different instruments. I think that is when it hit him that every note and tune played during the musical, was played by a live orchestra…nice..:)

2. We love love love the Donkey

If we had to choose our favourite character, it would be the Donkey. Ironically the donkey was one of my least favourite characters in the movie..but his antics, humour and voice really brought the show to a whole different level…we were really tickled by his banter with Shrek!

3. The Gingerbread Man…the real one…

What real one you say? The actual gingerbread cookie which they were selling at the concession stand. Jah had 1 before the show started and another 2 at the interval…yes thats how much he liked it so I say kudos for having theme related snacks which apparently tasted yummy and was priced really reasonably. Big win for Jah and Mummy!.

4. The Villian…

Jah had asked me before the show if Lord Farquaad was played by a ‘toy’. He remembered watching the commercial for the musical and said that it was impossible for Lord Farquaad to be an adult person because he was really small….he went to the musical wanting to ‘solve this mystery’

He finally understood how the effect was achieved after watching the show and was very impressed by it. Even I was impressed by it and all I can say is that it certainly took alot talent and dedication to do it!

5. Effects and Music

Lastly we were super impressed by the effects – the combination of traditional props and technology. The music was also really catchy! Jah was more than happy to groove to the finale song that he didn’t ask to leave even after the curtains came down. (He is usually quite the impatient to leave once he senses that a show has ended).

So yes I have to declare our first proper musical a success! And Jah is already setting his next milestone challenge…a musical 3 hours long..:p

So if you have not bought your tickets yet..there is still time…

When: 8 Jun 2016 till 19 Jun 2016

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 before the show ends its run!

JahBella’s Mummy

Disclosure: We received complimentary tickets to attend Shrek the Musical presented by BASE Entertainment Asia for a media review. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

28May2016

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.

28Mar2016

Cold Storage Kids Run 2016 + Discount Code

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

JahBella participated in their first race during the Cold Storage Kids Run 2015 last year and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. In fact they have been bugging us to find out when the next race will take place and which categories they will get to race in. So you can only imagine their excitement when we told them that the Cold Storage Kids Run will be back for its 9^th consecutive year and that we will be taking part!

While there is definitely no lack of runs/ races/ marathons in Singapore, my kids are strangely fixated on the Cold Storage Kids Run even though it isn’t ‘attached’ to any fancy cartoon/ animation character.

If you read about our experience last year [click here], you would know that we benefited from JahBella being close in age because they got to participate in the same category, the Jolly Kiwis for 2 – 4 years old. Well ok, they didn’t really participate side by side, given that Jah ran the whole 800m while Bella got carried on Joel’s shoulders almost from the starting line. But the awesome part was that the littler ones could move at their own pace and not be worried about being jostled by much older kids (which normally happens when every kid from 2 to 12 ends up in 1 category). In fact we saw many parents carrying their little ones in carriers or on their shoulders and the small ones were just really happy to be part of all that 800m excitement.

The one thing that I absolutely love about the Cold Storage Kids Run is the fact that the races are very well categorized by age. It is truly an out and out Kids Run which caters to the various ages in different categories as well as distances which the kids can cover comfortably regardless of whether it is in ‘fun’ mode or ‘competitive’ mode. There is even a stroller race if that is your preferred mode of ‘transportation’ 🙂 The ‘after party’ carnival is also a huge draw for the little ones to spend time with family and friends so yes gather everyone for a fantastic Sunday morning out!

This year, we will be participating in two different categories which means that Joel and I will have to divide and conquer. I’m taking Bella so wish me luck! Perhaps I’ll be whipping out my own carrier this time around :p

The Cold Storage Kids Run 2016 will be happening on 22 May 2016 (Sunday) at The Meadows @ Gardens by The Bay (7am to 12pm).

Race/ reporting times will depend on which category you have signed up for.

For more info on race categories and fees, please refer to this link.

Do note that the registration will close on 3^rd April 2016 or once the race capacity of 5,000 has been reached so make sure that you don’t miss out!

However if you have missed out on the Early Bird Registration Window, fret not!

Here is a promo code REFBLOGGER16 that will entitle you to a 10% discount off the registration price.

JahBella are already gearing up and practicing for their upcoming race so what are you waiting for? We will see you at the Finish Line! 🙂