Time flies. I been a SAHM (Stay at home mother) for close to 1.5 years. During this long break, besides being able to spend more time with my gal, it also allows me to pursue many of my other interests like gardening and DIY.
Gardening
We started by planting herbs at the corridor outside my house. The herbs we planted were mint, catnip, lemon balm, parsley, ginger, sweet basil. Surprisingly, the green beans which my gal planted and brought back from her playgroup grew very well and even blossom to grow flowers and bean pods too! I remembered when I was a young kid, I used to grow green beans too but after the green beans sprouted, it just die off. So I was so surprised to see my gal green bean plant thriving so well. So far the herbs are growing well too. We installed the DIY self watering drip system so that our plants are being feed with water constantly.
I am planning to grow vegetables or perhaps sweet potatoes too. But our space outside our cooridoor is limited. So this needs to be plan carefully so that our neighbours won't complaint.
DIY
Did quite a fair bit of DIY home improvement during this time. Check out my DIY labels on my DIY creations! Did some more DIY too with my wardrobe and my gal's little work desk. So far I was quite happy with my DIY and reorganizing of our house by removing the clutter. The house looks more spacious and cleaner too.
With time spend to take care of my gal and all these interest and hobbies to occupy me, my daily schedule is fully packed. So what I do is to create daily to-do list on my handphone so I can keep to my schedule and remind me to complete my tasks.
Will I be going back to the workforce? Yes I think I will as I am also worried that I may lose my market value if I leave it for too long even though I am quite used to my current regime. I started looking out to jobs which interest me and allows me to have some work life balance to spend time with my child. Wish me luck! :)
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Friday, January 29, 2016
Ting Ting development milestone @ 35 months (Potty trained journey)
At 35 months, she is now fully potty trained! Hurray! Today, she even requested not to wear her diaper to her playgroup. She is now very comfortable peeing and pooing in her potty and seems to enjoy it too! All the efforts paid off! No words could describe my relief.
I actually started potty trained her when she was 18 months. I thought the earlier I start training, the faster she adapt to it. To prepared her, I borrowed potty story books from the library and read to her every night. Then I even gotten a potty which would play music whenever she pressed the flush button so as to get her interest and stimulate her.
But I was wrong. She was showing so much resistant that she would cry and refused to sit on the potty. It was always a wrestle with her to get her to sit on the potty. I even bought 2 other types of potty as I thought the first potty with music might be distracting for her to use. I even paste her favourite Dora stickers on the potty just to get her interest (but actually it works too).
There was a time I was even doubting myself if I had been a good mother as I couldn't trained her to be potty trained. I looked around the kids around her age were somehow already potty trained. So I got nervous that she might lose out to others in development. But then after some time, I realised that I cannot forced her to use her potty. The more I forced her, the more she showed resistant. So I decided to relax and took things naturally. But I continued my education to read potty story books to her, used incentives like star chart and letting her watched her favourite peppa pig videos to attract her to sit on her potty. So instead of pushing her, I am luring her to use the potty. And suddenly one fine day, she sat on her potty by herself to pee. Then everything falls into place. And tada, she is fully potty trained now, just before her 3rd birthday!
So here's my sharing of her potty trained journey of what really works for those parents who are having headache to train their kids. But my methods may not suits all as every child is unique :)
1) Do not force upon the child
Yes, this is the number one rule. The more you force, the more they will resist. Just relax and takes things easily. If today the child does not want to sit on the potty, it's ok. Try another day when the child is in a better mood.
2) Education
This is something which works. What I did was to borrow some potty story books from the library and read to her every night. The content of the potty story books are about how the children ditched their diaper and used the potty. This is to influence her not to resist using the potty. These were some of the books we read:
3) Incentives
I love incentives! In my previous job, one of my project was to devise incentive programs to boost staff performance and the results were amazing! So I know how powerful incentives can be if implemented appropriately. For me I used a star chart as recognition of her good deeds everyday and sitting on the potty is one of the "to do" items. Other "to do" items include sharing, saying please and thank you, feeding herself, keeping away toys and many others which I will take turns to rotate the "to do" list everyday. There will be maximum 5 "to do" items to be fulfilled every day. But sitting on the potty is a permanent "to do" item on the chart.
The rule of the game is she will earn a star whenever she try to sit on a potty irregardless she pee or poo. As long as she is willing to sit on the potty, she will be rewarded with a star that day. If she earn 2-3 stars, she can go playground or cycling or have her favourite cookie or yakult and many others. If she earn all 5 stars for that day, she can watch her favourite peppa pig videos. Now peppa pig videos is biggest incentive for her as she is a die hard fan.
The rewards selected must be something the child likes and can be given or done easily. Start with something which is easy for her to attain first. For instance she will get one of her reward when she earned 2 stars. Getting 2 stars is easy. And if she earn 3 stars on the same day, she get another reward. But the biggest reward was getting all 5 stars within the day. The stars must be given immediately upon she fulfilling the good deed. Rewards must be awarded immediately too once she earned the required stars. This is so that she can see the results quickly and will reinforce her behaviour to do more good deeds.
By getting this head start, she is more willing to sit on the potty. Finally one day, she took initiative to sit on the potty by herself and pee!
4) Wear little underwear/panties
I bought a Charlie Banana training pants for her at a cost of about $15-$20 if not remembered wrongly. But in the end, she doesn't like it as it was quite thick and not easy for her to pull down the pants. So I let her wear those little kids cotton underwear/panties which only cost about $5 for 3 pieces. It is cheap and good! Cotton is good enough as it is soft and cooling. But try to buy 100% cotton. Most importantly, easy for her to pull down. It will be better if can buy the child's favourite characters underwear so he/she can relate to it but that will be more expensive.
And so after I let her wear the cotton underwear, she would pee or poo in her underwear initially as she was not used to it. A lot of clean up was needed but it is ok as it is part and parcel of the process. Gradually, she learned that it was awkward to pee or poo in her underwear and dripped or dropped all over the floor. Then she started to take the initiative to use the potty. It is a natural process.
5) Give lots of praises and encouragement
This is one thing I realised, everyone love praises. I believe everyone regardless of age, will thrive and strive to do good if they are praised appropriately on their good deeds or behaviour. This is especially so for kids. I believe we need to constantly encourage them even though they may not do well the first time. This is so that they are willing to try again. Try not to scold your child or let them feel bad when they spilled their pees or poos on the floor. They are just kids and don't mean to dirty the place. Instead, let them know it is ok for accidents to happen and try again next time.
Give them lots of praises whenever they try to sit on the potty regardless the outcome. Focus on their action or behaviour when praising. For me, I praised my gal whenever she try to sit on the potty, even though she may not pee or poo in it. I would praise her for doing a good job by trying to sit on the potty. I think it works because at least she is more receptive to try sitting on the potty.
6) Don't expect overnight results
It takes time really. Don't expect immediate results that your child will use the potty within 1 day or within a week. Be prepared to take weeks, months or even years! The key is don't get discouraged if your child don't seems to be potty trained as fast as others. Every kid is unique. Just be confident that they will eventually get trained some day as long as you lay the foundation.
For me, I initially thought I could train up my gal within a week, but I was so wrong. In the end, it took me close to 1.5 years. Yes it is very slow as compared to other kids. But well, slowly but surely, she is potty trained now :)
7) Just a simple potty will do the job
It is a waste of money to buy those expensive, fanciful and musical potty in my humble opinion. I tried that, but doesn't work. She ends up playing with the potty more than sitting on it. So I just bought her a simple, down to earth and plain colour potty. It is easy to use, functional and no frills! What I did was to paste one of her favourite characters Dora stickers on her plain colour potty just to personalised it as hers.
8) Peer influence
I think this is a very powerful tool. By exposing the child to their peers who are already potty trained will motivates them to use the potty as they want to follow what their peers are doing. For my gal's case, some of her classmates in her new playgroup were already potty trained. Everyday the teacher will bring those kids who are potty trained to the toilet to pee or poo. So when she saw her friends were potty trained, she wants to follow too. I think this is one of the reasons which influenced her to be more receptive to use potty too.
So for parents who wants to start potty train your child, my advice is to expose your child to other kids who are potty trained at the beginning so they can learn faster. Childcare centres, kindergartens and playgroups are some of the places for the child to get exposure. Having siblings will be the best as I noticed usually kids with siblings learn potty faster.
Hope my above potty training tips can help those parents who are having a heachache to potty train their children. :)
I actually started potty trained her when she was 18 months. I thought the earlier I start training, the faster she adapt to it. To prepared her, I borrowed potty story books from the library and read to her every night. Then I even gotten a potty which would play music whenever she pressed the flush button so as to get her interest and stimulate her.
But I was wrong. She was showing so much resistant that she would cry and refused to sit on the potty. It was always a wrestle with her to get her to sit on the potty. I even bought 2 other types of potty as I thought the first potty with music might be distracting for her to use. I even paste her favourite Dora stickers on the potty just to get her interest (but actually it works too).
There was a time I was even doubting myself if I had been a good mother as I couldn't trained her to be potty trained. I looked around the kids around her age were somehow already potty trained. So I got nervous that she might lose out to others in development. But then after some time, I realised that I cannot forced her to use her potty. The more I forced her, the more she showed resistant. So I decided to relax and took things naturally. But I continued my education to read potty story books to her, used incentives like star chart and letting her watched her favourite peppa pig videos to attract her to sit on her potty. So instead of pushing her, I am luring her to use the potty. And suddenly one fine day, she sat on her potty by herself to pee. Then everything falls into place. And tada, she is fully potty trained now, just before her 3rd birthday!
So here's my sharing of her potty trained journey of what really works for those parents who are having headache to train their kids. But my methods may not suits all as every child is unique :)
1) Do not force upon the child
Yes, this is the number one rule. The more you force, the more they will resist. Just relax and takes things easily. If today the child does not want to sit on the potty, it's ok. Try another day when the child is in a better mood.
2) Education
This is something which works. What I did was to borrow some potty story books from the library and read to her every night. The content of the potty story books are about how the children ditched their diaper and used the potty. This is to influence her not to resist using the potty. These were some of the books we read:
I love incentives! In my previous job, one of my project was to devise incentive programs to boost staff performance and the results were amazing! So I know how powerful incentives can be if implemented appropriately. For me I used a star chart as recognition of her good deeds everyday and sitting on the potty is one of the "to do" items. Other "to do" items include sharing, saying please and thank you, feeding herself, keeping away toys and many others which I will take turns to rotate the "to do" list everyday. There will be maximum 5 "to do" items to be fulfilled every day. But sitting on the potty is a permanent "to do" item on the chart.
The rule of the game is she will earn a star whenever she try to sit on a potty irregardless she pee or poo. As long as she is willing to sit on the potty, she will be rewarded with a star that day. If she earn 2-3 stars, she can go playground or cycling or have her favourite cookie or yakult and many others. If she earn all 5 stars for that day, she can watch her favourite peppa pig videos. Now peppa pig videos is biggest incentive for her as she is a die hard fan.
The rewards selected must be something the child likes and can be given or done easily. Start with something which is easy for her to attain first. For instance she will get one of her reward when she earned 2 stars. Getting 2 stars is easy. And if she earn 3 stars on the same day, she get another reward. But the biggest reward was getting all 5 stars within the day. The stars must be given immediately upon she fulfilling the good deed. Rewards must be awarded immediately too once she earned the required stars. This is so that she can see the results quickly and will reinforce her behaviour to do more good deeds.
By getting this head start, she is more willing to sit on the potty. Finally one day, she took initiative to sit on the potty by herself and pee!
4) Wear little underwear/panties
I bought a Charlie Banana training pants for her at a cost of about $15-$20 if not remembered wrongly. But in the end, she doesn't like it as it was quite thick and not easy for her to pull down the pants. So I let her wear those little kids cotton underwear/panties which only cost about $5 for 3 pieces. It is cheap and good! Cotton is good enough as it is soft and cooling. But try to buy 100% cotton. Most importantly, easy for her to pull down. It will be better if can buy the child's favourite characters underwear so he/she can relate to it but that will be more expensive.
And so after I let her wear the cotton underwear, she would pee or poo in her underwear initially as she was not used to it. A lot of clean up was needed but it is ok as it is part and parcel of the process. Gradually, she learned that it was awkward to pee or poo in her underwear and dripped or dropped all over the floor. Then she started to take the initiative to use the potty. It is a natural process.
5) Give lots of praises and encouragement
This is one thing I realised, everyone love praises. I believe everyone regardless of age, will thrive and strive to do good if they are praised appropriately on their good deeds or behaviour. This is especially so for kids. I believe we need to constantly encourage them even though they may not do well the first time. This is so that they are willing to try again. Try not to scold your child or let them feel bad when they spilled their pees or poos on the floor. They are just kids and don't mean to dirty the place. Instead, let them know it is ok for accidents to happen and try again next time.
Give them lots of praises whenever they try to sit on the potty regardless the outcome. Focus on their action or behaviour when praising. For me, I praised my gal whenever she try to sit on the potty, even though she may not pee or poo in it. I would praise her for doing a good job by trying to sit on the potty. I think it works because at least she is more receptive to try sitting on the potty.
6) Don't expect overnight results
It takes time really. Don't expect immediate results that your child will use the potty within 1 day or within a week. Be prepared to take weeks, months or even years! The key is don't get discouraged if your child don't seems to be potty trained as fast as others. Every kid is unique. Just be confident that they will eventually get trained some day as long as you lay the foundation.
For me, I initially thought I could train up my gal within a week, but I was so wrong. In the end, it took me close to 1.5 years. Yes it is very slow as compared to other kids. But well, slowly but surely, she is potty trained now :)
7) Just a simple potty will do the job
It is a waste of money to buy those expensive, fanciful and musical potty in my humble opinion. I tried that, but doesn't work. She ends up playing with the potty more than sitting on it. So I just bought her a simple, down to earth and plain colour potty. It is easy to use, functional and no frills! What I did was to paste one of her favourite characters Dora stickers on her plain colour potty just to personalised it as hers.
8) Peer influence
I think this is a very powerful tool. By exposing the child to their peers who are already potty trained will motivates them to use the potty as they want to follow what their peers are doing. For my gal's case, some of her classmates in her new playgroup were already potty trained. Everyday the teacher will bring those kids who are potty trained to the toilet to pee or poo. So when she saw her friends were potty trained, she wants to follow too. I think this is one of the reasons which influenced her to be more receptive to use potty too.
So for parents who wants to start potty train your child, my advice is to expose your child to other kids who are potty trained at the beginning so they can learn faster. Childcare centres, kindergartens and playgroups are some of the places for the child to get exposure. Having siblings will be the best as I noticed usually kids with siblings learn potty faster.
Hope my above potty training tips can help those parents who are having a heachache to potty train their children. :)
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Preserving old photos
We have thousands of old photos dating from the 1950s and had been putting off digitizing them for years.
I did some limited work many years back but it was tedious work, having to scan and crop the pictures manually.
A few factors prompted me to give it a shot again:
- After moving to Linux and realizing it is possible to do it without shelling out $ the traditional Microsoft way or purchasing some professional software just for a one time personal project.
- Google Photos now offering free unlimited photo storage and album sharing so I can share albums to family members to view even on their mobile devices.
- With a growing family tree on Geni.com, it's high time to provide some historical photos
Although this post is 6 years old, it saved the day and provides the means to split the scanned pictures automatically.
http://madebynathan.com/2010/05/13/scanning-lots-of-photos-at-once/
My setup: Fedora 23, Gimp 6.8.16, Epson L355.
I find it is easier to install the iscan package and do all the scanning with 4 to 5 pictures at a time with it, export to jpg files, then run a one time photo split job from Gimp on all the combined jpg files.
And finally ran an auto restore job on the photos to reduce the sepia tint of the aged photos with just a single command with the aaphoto standalone utility:
http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Productivity-Sauce/Improve-Photos-Automagically-with-aaphoto
It may not be 100% accurate (especially the cropping), but it's good enough. It is also tedious repetitive work, but at least it is a one time minimized effort for our precious memories.
I did some limited work many years back but it was tedious work, having to scan and crop the pictures manually.
A few factors prompted me to give it a shot again:
- After moving to Linux and realizing it is possible to do it without shelling out $ the traditional Microsoft way or purchasing some professional software just for a one time personal project.
- Google Photos now offering free unlimited photo storage and album sharing so I can share albums to family members to view even on their mobile devices.
- With a growing family tree on Geni.com, it's high time to provide some historical photos
Although this post is 6 years old, it saved the day and provides the means to split the scanned pictures automatically.
http://madebynathan.com/2010/05/13/scanning-lots-of-photos-at-once/
My setup: Fedora 23, Gimp 6.8.16, Epson L355.
I find it is easier to install the iscan package and do all the scanning with 4 to 5 pictures at a time with it, export to jpg files, then run a one time photo split job from Gimp on all the combined jpg files.
And finally ran an auto restore job on the photos to reduce the sepia tint of the aged photos with just a single command with the aaphoto standalone utility:
http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Productivity-Sauce/Improve-Photos-Automagically-with-aaphoto
It may not be 100% accurate (especially the cropping), but it's good enough. It is also tedious repetitive work, but at least it is a one time minimized effort for our precious memories.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Ting Ting Development @ 34 months
At 34 months, my gal finally is potty trained!!! It was the most difficult feat and she was quite slow in learning to use potty.
I tried all sorts of "stuns" including rewarding her with a star whenever she sit on the potty, read all the potty story books to inspire her to use potty and even allowing her to watch peppa pig videos while sitting on her potty just to encourage her to use potty.
She can now go to her potty automatically when she needs to pee. But she still not comfortable of pooing in her potty. I think it takes more time but I believe in time to come, she will be able to do so naturally.
We bought her a new bicycle few months ago and she's been learning it on and off but with no good results. She would just sat on the bicycle but dare not step on the pedals. We thought we might have bought it too early and perhaps may takes another one year for her to learn.
Then suddenly one fine day when she was practising cycling outside our house corridoor, she simply just cycle naturally from one end of the corridoor to the other end.
I was so surprised and kept praising her as she did such a remarkable job!
So we upgraded her to cycle at the playground and long corridoor at our block downstairs and she was cycling so well and fast! After a few days of practising, she can now make u-turns by manuevouring the bicycle all by herself!
I am very proud of her. For a child below 3 years old, she can now cycle independently. I think in no time, we should be able to upgrade her to cycle in the park with us :)
Monday, December 21, 2015
Dec15 School Holiday - Show time! (Part 3)
It was a belated post as was very tied up with events. We watched a few more shows at shopping malls. Check out my part 1 and 2 post about the previous show we watched.
1) Elmo show & activities @ Plaza Singapura
When we reached Plaza Sing, there was no space left so we were way behind catching a glimpse of the show.
The show was okay. Just some music and dance. It was a short duration of about 20mins.
There was some bouncing castle outside Plaza Sing and my gal was enjoying it so much!
2) Christmas @ Ion
We went over to Ion at night. Their Christmas deco was the best among the rest of the shopping malls.
My gal was enjoying the tradional merry go round. Brought back lots of my childhood memory too!
Listening to xmas orchestra @ Ion!
3) Barney and Friends show @ United Sq
As the first Barney show was good so we thought we would catch the show again at a different shopping mall.
By the time we reached, the mall was again bustling with people and we only managed to squeeze in some space behind. But most of the time our views were blocked. We did not enjoyed the show as much as we did at One Km Mall. So location is important when watching shows.
4) Magic bubble show @ Changi City Point
My gal loved it so much that the next few days after that she kept asking to watch the show again.
So this magic bubble show was the winner of the Dec school holiday fiesta!
4) National Play Day @ Sports Hub
We went to the event in the morning and gosh, it was a full day of action!
My gal loved the bouncing castle.
She was having great fun at the jumping jack!
She was making her hippo mask.
Yeah my hippo mask!
In the evening we went to the splash and play zone to enjoy some water fun. It was located at the roof top of the sports hub. The view was gorgeous!
My gal was carefully treading down the pool.
She slowly wading her way through the pool.
The view on top.
Nice fun place!
That rounds up our Dec15 program. It was a great fun! As mummy I also got to enjoy and felt like a young little girl again haha.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Dec15 School Holiday - Show time! (Part 2)
After the past few days of show hopping (check out my Part 1 post), we watched 3 more shows this week. Here's the sharing.
Dora is her first favorite character and she's been crazy over Dora ever since. So this is another 'must see' show. Last year we watched Dora show at United Square which was quite a good one. So this year when Dora show coming again I quickly marked it down on my calendar to watch on the first show on the first day it started.
1) Alvin and Chipmunks show @ Eastpoint Mall
It was a 4pm show on a weekday so the crowd was managable.
It was like a concert show of the cheekmunks singing pop and christmas songs. There was some 'snow' and bubbles displayed and the kids were ecstatic. The show lasted for about 25mins.
However my gal looked bored and was not as engaged. She actually covered her ears at one point as the music was quite loud. Perhaps she was not too familar with the chipmunks and the pop songs they sang did not relate well to her.
Ting Ting 
: 3.5/5
: 3.5/5
2) Mr Men Little Miss show @ Bedok Mall
We hopped over to Bedok Mall for the Mr Men Little Miss show at 7pm. The crowd was managable as well.
There were 4 characters performing and they were Mr Strong, Mr Bump, Ms Sunshine and Ms Hug. There was a short skit about sharing a hug which I think is quite meaningful. The show lasted for about 20-25mins.
My gal was quite engaged with the show and she managed to tell me that she liked Ms Hug the best among the rest of characters.
Ting Ting : 4/5
: 4/5
3) Dora the Explorer show @ Suntec City
Dora is her first favorite character and she's been crazy over Dora ever since. So this is another 'must see' show. Last year we watched Dora show at United Square which was quite a good one. So this year when Dora show coming again I quickly marked it down on my calendar to watch on the first show on the first day it started.
When we went there 30mins before the show started, the place was already very crowded and we were sitting way behind. What I liked about the Dora show was 30mins before the show started, they actually played Dora and Paw Patrol cartoons on the big LCD screen to keep the children occupied. This is the first show which did this so far and I think is a nice touch.
They performed a short skit and some singing and dancing. Some popular characters were there too like Dora, Boots, Diego and Chase and Marshall from Paw Patrol. It is one the best show which we watched so far. The show lasted for about 30mins.
My gal was fully engaged throughout the show and her eyes were like glue on to the stage. After the show ended, she refused to leave and hang around the stage to watch the Dora cartoon which they played on the LCD after the show. She is such a die-hard fan of Dora!
Personally, I also like Dora the Explorer the best among so many characters. The character is positive, likes exploring and helping others. The cartoon series are educational too which teaches children about how to be resourceful to help others or achieve the goal.
Ting Ting : 5/5
: 5/5
Verdict
If you have time for only one show, go for the Dora or Barney show as these are the best 2 shows we had watched so far. But you got to go quickly as the shows only performed for a limited time.
So this marks the end of our first week of show hopping. We are going to take a rest on the weekend as usually the shopping malls will be extremely crowded!
Next week we will continue our show hopping and other kids activities. Stay tune! 
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Dec15 School Holiday - Show time! (Part 1)
It's Dec school holiday again! It is a 'must do' thing to go show hopping at shopping malls as there are so many shows line up!
What I did this time is to compile the list of shows and planned my schedule. Almost every day is packed and filled with action!
It was the first show we watched. We attended the 1pm session during weekday so it was not too crowded. My gal enjoyed the show especially when Strawberry and friends changed into their evening gown. The show lasted about 20-25mins.
Ting Ting : 4/5
: 4/5
2) Peppa Pig show @ United Square
We quickly hopped over to United Square for the Peppa Pig show at 2.30pm. My gal was so crazy about Peppa Pig and bugged us to watch the show almost everyday. So it was a 'must go' event.
When we reached there at 2pm, it was already so crowded! We only managed to get a glimpse way behind. But most of the time the views were blocked by other kids in front.
Maybe because we couldn't see much so it was not really interesting. It was quite a let down I felt. The show lasted about 20-25mins too.
After the show, I asked my gal which show she prefered. She replied 'Strawberry!' Even though she is a die hard fan of Peppa Pig.
Ting Ting : 3/5
: 3/5
3) Barney, Thomas & Friends show @ One KM Mall
It was a show full of actions and showcasted popular characters like Thomas and Barney & Friends.
My gal was squealing with delight when she saw Thomas the train budged out from the door with steam. She was so excited that she jumped up and down.
She was equally excited when Barney & Friends came out. They sang a lot of popular kids songs which my gal could relate to. She was dancing and jumping with the music and truly enjoyed herself.
I felt this Barney show was the best so far among the shows we watched. Not only it was entertaining but we could see all the popular characters with nice kids songs. It was worth the travelling to One KM Mall although it is quite far from our house. The show lasted for about 30mins.
Ting Ting : 5/5
: 5/5
4) Spongebob Sparepants show @ City Square Mall
Although my gal is not as crazy over Spongebob as compared to other popular characters like Peppa Pig, she nonetheless enjoyed the show and stayed engaged throughout. The show lasted for 30mins.
When I asked her which character she liked best in the show, she strangely replied Squidward. That was strange consideringSquidward is not as popular as Spongebob or Patrick and it is a grumpy character.
By spending minimun $30 in the mall, we got to redeem a Spongebob activity play pass. The pass allows each child to play 4 different games only once each. The most interesting one is the bouncy castle but each kid can only play 10mins. My gal was jumping with joy and refusing to leave when her time was up. The rest of the games are neligible.
Ting Ting : 4.5/5
: 4.5/5
5) Snoopy show @ Nex Mall
We attended the show at 1pm on a weekday again. There were only 3 characters featured during the show; Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Nancy. The show was pretty simple with the characters dancing, singing and a short skit. The show lasted about 15mins only which was the shortest duration among the shows we watched so far.
The show was easy to understand and entertaining too but not as interesting compared to the other shows.
Ting Ting : 3.5/5
: 3.5/5
6) Precious Moment show @ Seletar Mall
We went to the Seletar Mall after the Snoopy show due to the proximity of the mall to our house and the suitable timing which was 3pm.
The set up is not as impressive as compared to the rest of the shows. There were a few precious moment characters dancing on the stage but no skit only pure dancing to some popular kids and christmas songs.
The highlight of the show was the free photo taking with the characters. All the other shows required people to spend a minimum of $30-$50 before taking photos with the characters. But this one was free meaning no minimum spending is required.
My gal looked bored and not as enthusiastic to dance and sing along. I think it was because precious moment characters were not as cute and easy to relate to as compared to the rest.
Ting Ting : 3/5
: 3/5
Verdict
If you have limited time to bring your kids to watch the shows, then my pick will be Barney and Spongebob show. If you have time for only one show, then go for the Barney show.
There are more shows upcoming and almost everyday is packed. Stay tune to more reviews!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)