Aesop’s Fables – An upcoming production by iTheatre

Posted in Plays/ Theatre by jahbella

Do you have a favourite fairy tale or fable as a kid? A story so ingrained in your memory that you find yourself repeating them to your kids even without the help of a story book.

I recently realized that Jah really loves hearing the ‘traditional’ stories that we used to hear of as a little kids. The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and the Frog Prince are just some of his favourites. Amidst all the new cartoon storylines with fancy songs and dance steps, we have seemingly neglected to tell the age old fables teaching good morals and values.

That’s why I am really looking forward to iTheatre’s new production, Aesop’s Fables which will be opening on 26 February 2015. As the name suggest, it is a theatre play showcasing some of Aesop’s famous stories, using marvelous mask, puppetry and live song and dance.

A perfect combination of theatre, fables and music for my theatre boy!

So if you are looking to introduce your child to some of Aesop’s Fables, check out the poster below for details on the show and how to book your tickets. 🙂

Oh and I wonder how Jah will react when he finds out that there is actually a story that revolves around the Gingerbread Man! Coming soon in an iTheatre production in May!

Stay tuned for our review on iTheatre’s Aesop’s Fables! 🙂

Photo credits – iTheatre

JahBella’s Mummy

24Jan2015

Kidsfest 2015 – The Gruffalo and Our First Play of 2015

Posted in Plays/ Theatre, Reviews by jahbella

Jah and I attended our first Kidsfest show and our first play of 2015 today (definitely more to come!!) We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I think I just might have found my permanent theatre companion. 🙂

Goofing around before the show

We caught the Gruffalo at Kidsfest 2015 and if there is one story which Jah and I know like the back of our hands, it’s the Gruffalo (lots of kids and parents knew the stories by hard too!) We have watched the movie and read the book so it was only right that we also caught the play.

For those who are familiar with the story (book or movie) and the tone at which it is told (often in a whisper or calm tone), you would expect that the play was also going to be ‘level toned’ if you get what I mean. But the play was quite the opposite and totally hilarious!

The first thing Jah asked when we entered, was “mummy are we in the deep dark woods?” so kudos to the props team!

The deep dark woods….

The actors also hit it out of the park from the start of the show. We had kids and parents laughing non stop from the beginning even Jah who is ever-serious at plays, was extremely tickled and totally mesmerized by what was on stage.

Totally comfortable…totally captivated..

I’m having lunch with a Gruffalo…

There were jokes weaved in that the kids got and there were jokes weaved in that only the parents got. The play had whimsical and nonsensical moments (in a good way) and it was awesome fun!

We or at least Jah also enjoyed the wide range of merchandise available for sale at the foyer. Yes my little theatre-going shopper of a son came home with quite a loot and to be fair, mummy also really liked the stuff.

A new school bag anyone?

Some toys too perhaps?

Bella and Joel joined us after the show for a family pic. The organizers had arranged for a photo opportunity wall and we could have our photos taken and sent to us via email. A wonderful souvenir photo for families!

Family pic!

I love how this little boy is slowly and truly starting to enjoy theatre plays and musicals. Of course it also helps that the kids theatre scene in Singapore is getting a whole lot more interesting and vibrant. I can’t wait to start cultivating the same interest and love for theatre in Bella. 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy

18Jan2015

Why your kids may think you are confused?

Posted in Our Thoughts, Parenting decisions by jahbella

Aren’t we parents supposed to have our act together all the time? We should know everything or so we would like our kids to think. And we most certainly are not confused, heaven forbid they ever know that we have confused moments! However some of the things we say or do may cause our kids to think otherwise. :p

What time should I wake up?

Jah gets up at approximately 7am on most mornings (I say most because sometimes he thinks that 6am is a fabulous time especially on weekends). So on most mornings (weekdays) I try my best to get his butt out of bed as quickly as possible. Weekend is a different story all together, on weekends he tries his best to get my butt out of bed while I repeatedly tell him to go back to sleep. On weekday mornings, I also talk to him in my most animated and liveliest voice possible to excite him about going to school. While on weekends, our conversations are conducted with my eyes closed and yes a grunt from me counts as a conversation.

Where should I sleep?

Our bedtime routine would start with me putting Jah to bed in his room at 9pm. Every now and then Jah would try his luck and ask if he could fall asleep in my bed, to which the answer is always “No, you are a big boy now and you have to sleep in your own bed.” He will then proceed to wake up at around 1am to 2am, to look for me. Sitting in his room while I wait for him to fall asleep, is truly the least appealing and most frustrating thing in the world, especially when I had just been awoken from a deep sleep. So every night without fail, I will walk into his room when he wakes and ask if he would like to come to my room (at least I am in my nice comfy bed while he falls asleep). Sometimes he tells me no and then I will proceed to harass him until he says yes and we ‘pack’ up his blanket, pillow and teddy and head over to mummy’s bed.

Potty or Diapers?

I might have been guilty of this once or twice before or I most certainly had entertained the thought. This was something I definitely struggled with, in the early days of potty training. You know the early days where your child isn’t fully potty trained and he was still in diapers during occasions like bedtime or outings? Do you remember the moments when that little child would turn to you and go “mummy I need to pee” and your response to him was “it’s ok, you can pee in your diapers”, just because it was more convenient/ you were feeling alittle too tired/ lazy to deal with this now. :p

How big/small am I?

I’m sure age and size has featured very often in our reasoning/ explanations/ excuses to our kids. “No you are too small/ young so you are not allowed to do this, wait till you are older” or “You are a big boy now so you shouldn’t behave like this”. If I were my kid, I would probably ask me once and for all, so am I big or small? Make up your mind mummy!

Being a parent is tough, trying to keep track of the excuses/ reasons we give our children and making sure they all match up. Being consistent is especially tough when you only have sleep in mind. It’s really hard to think like a mum when you are in a sleep induced state. However I have to say being a kid is even tougher especially when mummy is so confused. They probably wished they could shake some sense into us. 😉

How confused are you? 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy

13Jan2015

NSRCC Changi Staycation – Review

Posted in Birthdays, Reviews, Staycation by jahbella

We decided to rent a bungalow at NSRCC Changi to celebrate Jah’s 3rd birthday. We thought it will be a nice way for JahBella to spend the weekend and to ensure enough space for our guests and their kids.

We checked in with Jah at about 2pm after his Transformer outing at the Science Centre. We were entitled to free parking in front of our bungalow and 1 additional lot for our guest at $10 per day (Note that it is for 1 fixed vehicle so not interchangeable). All other guests had to park at the nearby guest carpark E.

The bungalow had 2 levels, with the living room, dining area, kitchen and 1 bathroom on the lower floor and 2 bedrooms and the 2nd bathroom on the upper level. There was also a BBQ pit outside each bungalow (we didn’t use ours as we were catering). Each room had 2 single beds which means you can accommodate four people in the rooms and have the option of adding another 4 mattress sets (at $2 each per night). We ended up renting the additional mattress sets as it started to storm pretty badly after Jah’s birthday party and his auntys and uncles decided to stay the night. Bath towels and toiletries were provided but I would suggest bringing your own.

NSRCC Changi is also home to one of the Jumbo Seafood branches and we headed there for our dinner on the first night. It was a Friday night but relatively empty and peaceful. I have to say that the food was pretty awesome! The kids enjoyed it and so did we! The service was also very good in fact the manager came around several times to check on us and to get our feedback and was very receptive. He also remembered us when we came back the next afternoon for a Dim Sum lunch and the Dim Sum lunch was also pretty good! Although you will definitely have to make a reservation for a Saturday lunch.

Please excuse the half-eaten food

Our unit was just across from the playground and the swimming pool. It poured the morning in the early morning hours and I was worried that the kids wouldn’t be able to go swimming. But as ‘predicted’ by Jah, “the rain will stop in 2 hours!” and it did. Come 9am, the rain went away and the sun was out in full force! There was a children’s pool and a water play area as well as an adult pool (which doesn’t allow kids in floats). The kids were more than happy to play in the water play area which was ankle deep and the children pool which was chest deep for Jah.

After swimming, the kids headed over to the playground to dry off. I loved the playground, it was a pretty decent playground with enough challenging things for Jah to do without us having to worry he would hurt himself while Bella could also enjoy yourself with the simpler task.

Check-out was between 9am to 10am the next day and you will have to call housekeeping before you check-out. The housekeeper will do a simple stock take, sign off on your form and you will have to leave the bungalow immediately while she locks up. The check-out process was efficient and effortless and we were out of there in 5 minutes!

Honest opinion? It may not be your fancy hotel room with a nice plush king bed and white linen but it is definitely a good staycation option with lots of kid friendly activities to occupy. I can’t complain when the bowling alley is just a walk away that some of the adults managed to sneak off for a few rounds of bowling while the kids were sleeping. I will definitely bring our own bikes the next time around so that we can do our family cycle trip along the coast. 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy

22Dec2014

Fire Station Open House – JahBella’s first visit

Posted in Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

I have always wanted to bring Jah for a fire station visit but figured we will wait till he is a little older to ‘get it’. So when we were looking for a ‘quick morning outing’ this Saturday, we thought why not the fire station. A quick morning outing for us = one that will allow us to be home by 12 noon for a nap and is usually required when we have an early evening commitment planned.

We found out that most fire stations in Singapore conduct Open House tours every Saturday from 9am to 11am. We weren’t sure if this meant that we could go in at 10am? 1030am? So we headed out bright and early and arrived on the dot at 9am. We later noticed that tours were being held as visitors came in, some tours fuller than others and I suppose it also depends on the manpower at the station at that point.

We were given a tour of the station, well more so of the vehicles and equipments which the Firemen use. The highlight for the kids was of course when they were allowed to use the equipment to fight the ‘fire’/orange cones. As always Jah took a while to warm up to new activities and was abit hesistant to fight the fire or to sit in the vehicles for photos. He decided post tour that he would ‘do more’ the next visit.

Bella on the other hand was super eager to get her hands dirty. We really didn’t think to offer her a chance at fighting fire, I mean she is only 19 months old but she actually ‘asked’ to do it. She is well and truly our little no fear fighter.

We didn’t quite know what to expect from the fire station visit but I would say it was a rather educational tour especially for the adults and it was good fun for the kids. Every kid was given a little SCDF plastic fireman helmet which Jah and Bella loved and yes this is definitely an activity that we would do again.