We are back! With a kid activity review no less – Kidzania Singapore

Hi everyone! I know we have been very quiet of late (for the last 3 months to be exact). Our family has been plagued with one family emergency after another since February and to be very honest I just haven’t been in the mood or had the energy to write much.

However a little episode with my handphone’s memory being wiped out this past week, reminded me of the reason I write. I lost all my photos from Jan to April 2017 😦 Exactly the period I stopped blogging for. So here I am again, determined to not lose any more of our memories.

We were originally supposed to be on a family trip to Bangkok this last weekend. A city that we used to visit as a couple every year and one that we have not been back to for almost 10 years. We had promised the kids, many fun activities and they were particularly looking forward to Kidzania Bangkok. We also figured it would be a cheaper first time to Kidzania, just in case they didn’t take to it and were afraid to try out the jobs. But as luck would have it, life threw us a few curveballs and the trip was cancelled.

Thank goodness we have a Kidzania right in our own backyard so that we could still keep our promise to the kids albeit a more expensive experience.

We bought our tickets online (few dollars cheaper than at the door) and crossed our fingers and hope that it wasn’t too crowded on a long weekend. We have heard/ read the horror stories of the weekend crowds and were a little worried on how diluted an experience the kids would get.

We got to the check-in counters (resembling an airport) at 10am and were quickly tagged to our kids with matching ‘watches’. This meant that our kids could not leave the place without either one of us and I later found out that I could access all our professional photos just by tapping my watch at the photo shop. Our whole family was synced up!

First stop for the kids was the bank, to activate their debit card and bank account where they would store their salary or pay for activities. As we started to walk into the bank with the kids, a staff stepped forward and say “Parents, please wait outside”. Haha what a shock to the system..:p

Jah and Bella came out of the queue a couple of times to ask for us to join them but eventually were convinced that they could just queue together and it would be fine. Jah completed his banking fuss free because he knew his birthday. Bella on the other hand was sent out to ask me for her birthdate before she could complete her transaction.

We headed to the Qatar Airways Pilot and Cabin Crew jobs first and took a queue ticket for 11am. We wanted to try the Paddle Pop Job which was right next to it but the lady told us to come back after the airline job because we wouldn’t finish in time for our 11am slot. I love how the other jobs were very aware that the kids were all probably holding an airline queue card and made an effort to help us plan rather than blindly taking us in for the job. 🙂

To kill time, we ended up at the Spritzer water filtration job, honestly not the most natural job that I would have chosen but the kids were willing to give it a shot and we were all in for a surprise. The facilitator in charge was a dream! She managed to engage the kids and made things so fun for them even though I’m sure the subject wasn’t the most interesting or exciting. They will laughing, giggling, high fiving her and running around (not sure that’s allowed in a real lab though :p). They loved it so much that it helped them relax and got them very keen to try on the rest of the jobs…phew!! A big thank you to her!!!

We headed back to the airline job and Jah and Bella were quickly ushered off to their training while Joel and I made ourselves scarce, in case they came running out to look for us. The pilot and the cabin crew had to be separated so we were worried that Bella would freak out because she would only do a job if her Brother did it with her. We were not allowed to see how the pilots did their job but one parent would be invited on board so that the cabin crew could serve them. Jah later told me that his pilot job was very fun and he wanted to come back for it again 🙂

We spent a good 5 hours at Kidzania that day. I was surprised the kids lasted so long but then again you really do need to spend that amount of time, given that most jobs last 20-30 mins minus the queueing time and we were there on a relatively quiet day.
The kids also attempted the following jobs

Paddle Pop Ice cream Maker (Free Ice Cream!!!)

SCDF (You get to ride in a fire truck and rush to a hotel fire to put it out)

Candy Maker

Abbott Milk Lab (Bella was really tired by this time and the only reason she decided to join the 30 mins activity was for the money. Yes I kid you not! She was just waiting to be paid so that her Brother would not have more money than her, in his account)

KFC (They initially wanted to do the CSI job but changed their minds because they needed a mid day snack and yes they earned their mid day burger :p)

And this was probably 1/3 of the career options they had. The kids had so much fun that Jah is already planning for his next visit and has also asked for a trip to Kidzania as his birthday treat.
It helps that there is some semblance of continuity for the kids too because they get to bring home the debit card which they activated and keep their salary in the card and reuse it for their next visit!

Honestly, it was also really funny to see how parents (yes us included) have a tough time letting go and wanting to solve every problem for their kids (queue cutters). It was tough not knowing what was being said in the rooms and not knowing if your child is misbehaving or following instructions correctly because you can’t hear a thing. In fact at some point, I felt like the kids were coping better than us…however it all changed at the 3 hour mark for me because by then I was really too tired to care or hawk over my kids anymore haha so not only was this a lesson for my kids in independence..it was definitely one for Joel and me too. 🙂

Oh and did I say it yet? I’m happy to be back…

JahBella’s Mummy

23Jan2017

Ezpz Playmat [Review and Mumspick Discount Code]

Posted in Online Shopping, Reviews, Tips with Kids, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

Jah and Bella love to paint, I mean which kid doesn’t love to play with paint right? Problem is, everytime these kids go “mummy can we do painting today?” My answer is almost ALWAYS “ermm no maybe next week ok?” Trust me, it’s not because we don’t have the paint supplies on hand in fact we probably have too much paint supplies, stashed away somewhere at the back of the storeroom. Because every time mummy goes online shopping, it always seems like a fantastic idea to stock up on art and paint supplies for the kids to indulge and play with. Except that paint time never really materialises at least not on a regular basis when I think about the process of hawking over them as they paint and envision cleaning up after.

What could go wrong you say? Well how about how my heart drops when the plastic cup of paint water threatens to topple over when they reach over to rinse their brush or over enthusiastically stir their brushes in the cup. Or when they splatter their paint all over the table or accidentally paint the table as they try to colour near the edges of the paper. Which is also why I make them paint while sitting on the floor which is absolutely horrible, not just their posture but gives us pins and needles all the time.

I know I know, mummy is such a control freak right? :p

But problem solved today when I was introduced to the Ezpz Play Mat. Similar to its other products in its range like the Ezpz Happy Bowl or Happy Mat which is made of a high quality silicon that suctions itself to a table (oh what I would give to have a product like that available when Jah and Bella were little!!! and meal times involve swinging arms and flying plates!) The Ezpz Happy Mat is perfect for painting, Lego sorting, beadwork and necklace making, drawing with dry erase markers or crayons, cookie decorating.

The kids were super excited that they were allowed to sit at the table to paint, without mummy constantly nagging at them to be careful with the cup of water. Or to watch where they are painting (yes mummy is very naggy sigh)

As you can see from the photos, I could fill the centre of the flower design with water for them to wash their brushes and they could use the 5 smaller ‘petals’ for their paint. We used the empty space on the right as their work space. The kids used it to work on painting their leaves and then we later used that space to place half an A3 paper for them to paint on. Yes halving a A3 drawing block paper fit nicely into that space. 🙂

Oh sure we had abit of splattering especially with Miss Bella but nothing that I couldn’t deal with and the aftermath was really quite clean and decent.

In fact cleaning was quite a breeze too because I didn’t have to carry paint brushes, cups and paint palettes on multiple trips and could just stack the play mats and take them to the sink at one go. The mats are bendable so you can still wash them pretty easily even if you have a small sink or wash area. We spent a good 1.5 hours just painting and I just sat there and watch them which made painting so much more enjoyable (for me :p)

For those who are inclined to involve your kids in baking, I think the mat will come in really handy for those little hands to help with kneading or decorating cupcakes or cookies. In fact the play mat is washer, mircrowave and oven safe too.

I foresee using the play mat when Bella gets into crafting and putting together her own little necklaces and stuff but for now painting is going to be so much more fun!

If you are keen to try out this product or other similar products in the Ezpz range, head over to Mumspick website https://www.mumspick.com/ to check it out.

JahBella’s readers are also entitled to a 15% discount on Ezpz products on the website (with no minimum order) from now till 6 February 2017. Just key in Jahbella during checkout for the discount. 🙂

Happy Shopping!

JahBella’s Mummy

Disclaimer: JahBella received 2 Ezpz Play Mats for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

15Jul2016

Nickelodeon Slime Cup 2016 – Event Listing

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

Attention all fans of SpongeBob SquarePants, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Chase and Marshall from Paw Patrol! Or at least attention all parents of these little fans!

If you are wondering what to do with the kids this weekend then come join us at the Nickelodeon Slime Cup 2016!

We have been really overwhelmed with getting our new house ready in the past couple of weeks so it feels really great to get back to some ‘normal programming’ with the kids, this coming weekend.

And what better way to usher in a ‘regular weekend’ then some Slime!! I know Joel and Jah are really excited about it…come on, its Slime!!! Girls are made of sugar and spice and well boys I’m pretty sure are made of Slime, green gooey slime! :p

Nickelodeon Slime Cup 2016 will be happening this weekend at City Square Mall.

Besides the Life-sized Foosball, Load ‘n Lift and Slime Sumo, amongst other sporting activities, there’s also fun for the toddlers at stations ranging from the Slime Salon, where kids can adorn themselves with war paint, character silhouettes and tattoos, to the Slime Strike, where kids will have to ready their aim with a slime-filled water gun.

So come join us for this indoor obstacle course event with games, sports, meet & greet sessions and did I say Slime already? :p

Remember to bring an extra change of clothes for the family 😉

For more details and timings, check out this link

See you there!

JahBella’s Mummy

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.