The season of gifting is right around the corner. Have you already thought of what presents to give your loved ones? If you have no idea where to begin, you can consider Floral Garage Singapore, one of the best florists providing flower delivery for free in Singapore.

We were thrilled to receive this Joyous Santa Chocolate Hamper from them! It is filled with mouth-watering snacks that would make the receiver smile and reminisce their sweet childhood memories. If you are looking for something that kids will love, you can also get this Giant Rudolph Christmas Balloon that will surely make their day!

This Christmas, Floral Garage Singapore offers a range of selections of Christmas hampers, gifts, and flowers that might be what you are looking for.

Other than flower bouquets, flower gift boxes, flower arrangements, flower baskets, and flower stands, you can also get hampers, soft toys, helium foil balloons, party supplies, and more at Floral Garage! They also have different gifts and flower selections like Cake & Flower bundle, Wine Gift Box, Fruit Hamper, and many more. You can also search for other gifts based on occasions!

Getting something for your loved ones, friends, or family? Use “Mypreciouzkids” to get 8% off all products. Find them at www.floralgaragesg.com!

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I didn’t intend to write a blog of my dining experience at Ellenborough Market Cafe but I wanted to document my first time experience having a buffet dinner post Covid. Truth to be told, I have not had any buffet meals since the start of Covid as I always hold on to the notion that a proper buffet is one where you go to all the stations and pick and choose what you fancy, and that experience is not longer possible no thanks to Covid.

My perception has changed dramatically after having my first buffet festive dinner in 2 years just this week at Ellenborough Market Cafe! One thing for sure, the menu is still extensive (I didnt manage to try everything on the menu) but  instead of having to go to the various stations and sometimes needing to queue at the live cooking stations, all I had to do was to pick up a pencil and mark the food I wanted to try and the request portion -1 pax, 2 pax.

As it was just me and my husband dining, I ordered mostly 1 pax portion (as you can see in the photos below) as I wanted to try almost everything. No need to queue, no need to walk around , just sit at my table and wait to be served, I think I wouldn’t mind this relaxing dining too especially those days when I had to help the kids take their own food. I imagine if my kids were in attendance, they will happy tick off what they want to eat and be served – definitely way more relaxing that the old ways of buffet.  With this pandemic, I tend to what to see the good in the change, and I am happy to reconcile the differences and looking forward to my first family buffet experience soon too! 

Back to the Festive Menu this year end offered by Ellenborough Market Cafe, if you are familiar with their menu like me, I am sure you know of their peranakan fare and also their famous durian pengat. Adding to their main stays are festive offering like honey baked ham and turkey too from now till 2 Jan 2022. 

I started off ordering some cold and hot starters – rojak, satay, ngoh hiang , seafood platter, sashimi and special mention is the chilled soya broth noodle – so light and refreshing, perfect starter!

Then I had an array of peranakan favourite-  Ayam Buah Keluak, Blue Pea Rice, Otah Otah, Kueh Pie Tee and a mix of western offering such as grilled BBQ meat, pasta and special festive offerings such as Honey Baked Ham with caramelised pineapples and cinnamon apple sauce and Roasted Tom Turkey , braised red cabbage with port wine sauce.

I must say that for some old folks are not so much into raw food or western food, this buffet is a good choice as they will definitely enjoy the Asian offering in particular peranakan food, rice and laksa and for kids, there are pasta and kids menu too. 

Of course, the one I waited for the entire dinner – durian pengat, this dessert to me is synonymous with Ellenborough, a must have for me every time I visit and my husband was super happy with his chendol and ah baling (glutionous rice ball). And for western desserts, special mention cranberry mascarpone cream puff and Christmas fruit cake.

And these are probably just half of what is on the menu, but we didn’t have stomach space for it unfortunately. We added a bottle of house white wine at $40 which is really a steal and we also had very attentive service given there are many different small orders – an overall pleasant first buffet dining experience post Covid. 

Undauntedly one of the best dinner buffets in Singapore with a good mix of East and West so that both young and old can enjoy too ! You can check out my IGS highlight “Ellenborough”

Do check out their festive delivery menu if you wish to host at home or mingle in a bigger group in the comfort of home. 

Adult $88 ++Child $44++

Reservation
Phone: +65 6239 1847/1848
Email: dining.merchantcourt@swissotel.com

This was probably the first time small C ever deal with modelling clay for some creative funand perhaps my first time too. So you need to heat the modelling clay with hair dryer for a less than 1 or 2 minutes , after you can easily mold it into what ever shape you want. Small C used this to create the ground for the snails and also the insects and little creatures surrounding the papier-mâché snails.  What I like about modelling clay is the motor skill development as they used their little hands to mold and make minute details and figurines perfect art for 6 year olds. 

The final 2 weeks was technical drawing about environmental concerns which was also very interesting for our young ones to learn about our mother earth and the environmental damage that is ongoing now and they get to draw about these in an hour glass showing the danger/concern and what it harms – animals, sea animals, etc

Small C is indeed very sad that the regular art enrichment classes have ended for 2021, that is how much he enjoyed his Sunday art classes at Heart Studio .  From a parent’s perspective to see his growth in terms of perseverance, patience, problem solving skills, creativity and most important motor skill development (as I look back to my initial post 1.5 years ago when small C started with Heart Studio ) is truly not just learning to draw and paint or merely art class for kids but there is so much more to it.  

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Heart Studio

1 Charlton Lane #01-04, Singapore 5396

(65) 6554 7563

info@heartstudiosg.com

Wed-Fri: 10:00am to 8:30pm, Sat: 9:30am to 6:00pm, Sunday: 9:30am to 4:30pm

Ever since I moved into my current house 6 years ago, I dreamt of having a proper Christmas tree (full size filled with lights and baubles) as I have never really owned or had a Christmas tree ever in my home before. Even though I am not a Christian, there is something magical about Christmas and Christmas trees. 

Now that my kids are older and are able to help me set up a proper Christmas tree and having to spend 2 Christmases in Singapore (including last year), I think it is also fitting I have a proper Christmas tree at home so that we have something to look forward to for a change.

By which I mean a 7ft tall Wunorse Openslae Artificial Scotch Pine Christmas Tree from Christmas Tree Singapore. Looks like a real Christmas tree  – very realistic scotch pine (what you see on the website is 100% real photography) so the only difference I would say is just the smell (if it was a real tree). With its auto open branches, it is super easy to assemble and also to store. Once it opens up, my kids just have to open up the branches to make the density more uniform. With 600 tips for my 7 ft tree, it is really dense just like the real tree. So the kids were more than happy to help with the assembly and decoration (first time for them assembling and decorating a Christmas tree). I reckon this will be our annual activity from now that we have a proper 7ft Christmas tree that would actually last for many years to come. 

Besides this version, you can choose the other variety likes Bushy Evergreen, Shinny Upatree , Alabastier Snowball or Pepper Minstix and comes in 3 sizes – 5ft, 6ft and 7ft.

As this is my first ever Christmas tree and am clueless about the decor part of the Christmas tree, I order the value bundle which comes with 3 Bauble Colour of choice, 1 Christmas tree topper and 3 sets of LED light (warm or white) so that the tree can be decorated beautifully as soon as it is assembled. You also can buy extra ornaments, ribbons to make it even more magical which they also sell on their website , You can get the kids to make their own Christmas tree ornaments.  I choose a more unconventional colour which you can say more like Frozen theme – blue, silver and white light . Probably next year, I can buy another set of baubles and decors in warm colours too so that I have different look and feel for different years! 

For a more elaborate tree, you can buy and add more decors – ie to add on more baubles of different shapes and sizes, fake leaves and berries and ribbons too! 

All done and decorated and ready for Christmas, now I have another happy problem, I need to get ready the Christmas presents for the kids  that goes under our first ever Christmas tree. 

Free delivery for all orders above $100, they also have a showroom  – 22 New Industrial Road, Primax, #03-15, Singapore 536208 if you are unsure which tree or size you wish to purchase. It is less than 1 month to Christmas, time to make this Christmas an extra special one for your kids this year and make this a new annual family bonding time too! 

In the spirit of giving this Christmas, the sponsor will be giving away 1 $100 Christmas Tree Singapore  voucher to ONE winner, you can get a tree or if you already have a tree, you can also use it to buy the decorative items. 

Update 9 Oct: There will no longer be Quarantine Order for close contacts any more as announcemed by the ministry on 9 Oct 

I actually had this all blogged before the announcement on 9 Oct as I have never felt so helpless in my life. 

I will not and shall not forget what the stress and the anxiety that government had put me through 10 days before PSLE. There is no endemic , the way Covid-19 is being treated is very much pandemic which so much emphasis of contact tracing with minimal infrastructure to support it. 

It was on 21 September that i received a phone call from the child care (whenever i get calls from child care or school is it is normally bad news, never good news) so true enough, they told me that they have a positive Covid-19 case in K2 (same level as my youngest but not the same class) and to pick up my boy and they will be closed for the remaining days  f that week for deep cleaning. The next message was to wait for a call from MOH. 

At 6pm that day , true enough a MOH officer call me to tell me that they will be an sms sent to serve the QO order till 27 Sep and that a CISCO officer will call me the next day to explain it all to me and any queries that I have and that there is a possibility of a LOA for my school going kids (i totally panicked, as my P6 had the final few days of revision).

At the point in time, if a child is on LOA, there are many procedures to abide by before allowing him to sit for PSLE. The worst case scenaro, , if my youngest is  tested positive, then the rest of the household will be on QO including my P6 boy (at that point in time all QO kids are unable to sit for the PSLE).

At that point, though there is a remote possibility, it is a possibility as this is hitting right at home -just 9 days before PSLE, in the midst of all PSLE prep, here am I wasting time calling officers and ensuring my P6 is not disrupted in any way possible especially emotionally. As there were no QO SMS and any further calls of what to do, I sent my 3 other school going children on 22th September given that I have no further information but a very vague phone call purported to be from MOH and pushing all responsibilities and explanation to CISCO.

On the later part 22th Sept morning, after finally receiving the sms QO and CISCO calls, I called the primary school to inform them of my QO at home. They told me that my primary school kids need to be put on LOA (Leave of Absence – they cant go school but they can go out) until my QO kid is tested negative on the PCR entry swab test. So depending on how fast the PCR comes and its results, there are 2 possibilties – positiive QO the entire family (ie P6 missing PSLE as well) , or negative, LOA is rescinded and they are returned to school , potentially for most of the household except the ones on QO life as normal. 

Given any other time (ie not PSLE) i will gladly QO myself with my youngest at the hotel (his classmate and mum were allocated to Grand Copthorne) however given that I needed to be there for my P6, I chose not to be the caregiver and my husband decided to QO with him at home (they were only allowed out of the ensuite room by wearing a  mask).

Luck was on my side for once, the PCR came back negative when I checked at 5am on 23rd September and the primary school kids were clear to return back to school that every morning. They were lucky as they did not miss a day of school. (frankly, i have no issue missing school for my P4 and P2, but it is a different story for my P6, I do not want him to be disrupted due to no fault of his)

And there is still one more final hurdle which is the exit PCR on 25 Sept, only with a negative, will we be allowed to return back to normal life for the entire family on 27 Sept. The QO was set to end on 27th Sept noon, and by then , the PCR results still wasn’t out . The entire day of 27th  , I spend my entire day calling MOH and CISCO, each pushing the responsibility to each other without any resolution. To make thing worst, at 8pm on the 27th Sep I receive an SMS saying that the QO was to be extended another 3 days to 30th Sept (instead of spending time and effort on my PSLE boy, I had  make calls to MOH and CISCO the entire day (each time to  be put through more half hour of waiting time for the call to be picked). Another round of calls asking why the extension, where is the PCR results. (if it is a positive, my P6 will be implicated , at that point in time  a QO means no need to go for PSLE at all though the rule was relaxed a few days later).

I HAVE NEVER FELT SO HELPLESS IN MY LIFE. 

From the recent reports of 500 kids missing PSLE due to Covid-19 related restrictions, I can totally emphatised, my boy came so close to almost being in that statistic. We only received the PCR negatives on 28th Sept and only then i can feel more than ease (this was T-2 before PSLE)

The best i could do was just to keep it all away from him as he does his final revisions, he didn’t know what was happening and the frustrations and the extreme anxiety that i had (since 21st Sept the day I received the call from the child care informing of the positive case ) something that i hope i wont need to go through personally ever again. 

I practically blame every one there is whether or not it is their fault though I know for sure it is not my fault as all I did was only send my son to child care,  but till today i only hold one person accountable for my extremely stressful experience that was extremely unnecessary – the government for their policies and regulations without the adequate infrastructure to support this and still bulldozed their way through it (and yesterday they “admitted” the waste of resources and remove the requirement for QO for close contacts)

This is not another article on PSLE as there are many many articles written on it with basically saying PSLE is one of the many many milestones in life, and that it does not decide your future – I think you don’t need another crusader on this. 

My own perspective, like anything in life, be it sports competition, examination, music grading, all must be done in all seriousness to the best of one’s ability. If you have a piano grading, don’t you practise non-stop to perfect an exam piece, so PSLE is no different if you put it into the same context. 

As my first child enters the examination hall today, what have I learned from my experience thus far as we ending out almost 1 year of hard work. 

1. For FTWM, do not burn your leave or take any sabbatical leave – the kid was hardly at home , for mine he had 3 days of supplementary classes in term 3 and some day in between he has tuition after school, even if he is home at the regular times, I bet he has tonnes of homework that he need to complete (most time he tells me teacher say to do it on his own without parental help)
2. Start early (but some say P3 but I think that is a bit too extreme)  – I started during the P5 school holiday last year trying to familiarise him with P6 syllabus as school teachers have to finish the entire P6 syllable in half a year which is quite a task (of course, if your child is attending tuition, most tuition would also start P6 syllabus once the year end exam has ended (end of P5). This also stemmed from my first time doing the MOE primary school syllable I wanted to be on top of it before P6 academic year starts
3. Set realistic expectations so that both child and parents are not disappointed, as much as every parents’ dream of a perfect AL4 result (new PSLE scoring system) I know very well, this is an impossible target for my child , I set believable targets for him and true story, when he exceeded my target for his prelim in 2 subjects, I was over the moon  (this was a great confidence booster for both himself and me going into the final papers) – I have actually done up a goal sheet of the target for each 4 subject of course with “alignment” and agreement from the ultimate stakeholder ie my child 
4. For cooking mama, fuel them with nutritious food and lots of fluid consumption, as I am no cooking mama  (i left this task to #mypreciouzkidsdaddycooks and I do believe in the power of chicken essence ( that is what I consumed during my exam days too) so I ensure that he takes this regularly and on exam days,  be it placebo or truly does its job , I think chicken essence does no harm and nothing beats outdoor time , break and rest! 
5. The hardest of them all – which I have failed many times – not to show negative emotions/disappointments to the child, easier said than done but I did pass my final “test” when my youngest child was given a QO 10 days before PSLE (we have exited luckily), I was so anxious and worried as my P6 will be implicated and worst , missed the entire exam but I kept my emotions under wrapped as he prepares for his final revision. With all the COVID disruptions, parents need to be level-headed more now than ever. I know it is easy to complain and rant but it will not help at all mentally to both parents and the child

Hope this has been helpful to next year new #PSLEmum and also as a reminder to me as I have my other 3 more runs. The only silver lining probably would be I get the graduated kid/s teach the younger ones instead of taking it all on my own like this year. Then again I do hear secondary school life is even more busy with many many more subjects so probably it will only be my wishful thinking. I guess in 2 years time  I am more prepared in supporting my no 2 more than I have this year. 

For all #pslemum and #pslekids, the end is near, enjoy the “bonfire”!

Whatever the results will be ultimately, we have no regrets as we have put in out best efforts! 

It is not a secret that durian is my absolute favourite and 3 of my 4 kids share the same love of durian with me. Unfortunately durian season is slowly coming to an end, but no fret, you can satisfy all your durian cravings throughout the year the amazing creations by The Durian Bakery as recommended by Best in Singapore 

Check out the amazing selection of cakes using Durian as its main ingredient, I was spoilt for choice but I decided to try Dark Chocolate Musang King Durian Mille Crepe Cake 8″ 

As chocolate and durian are my favourites, this cake absolutely sent me to heaven and back.  Amazing 39 layers in total – 20 layers of thin handmade crepe skin and 19 layers of signature MSW SilkyGold™ Durian Puree, blended through a special process to make it extra creamy (taste just like the real thing!)

This cake is good for 8 generous slices and makes wonderful tea break dessert and a must have for mille crepe cake lovers! I can taste all the labour of love in making this laborious cake . 

I also got to try the Musang King Pastries Bundle as this was the first time I am trying their patisseries, so this is the perfect bundle to try their best sellers as it comprises Snowy D24 Durian Cream Puff (12pcs) , Snowy D24 Durian Mochi (6 pcs per box and Dark Choco Musang King Mousse

My kids absolutely love the Durian Mochi, and couldn’t have enough of it. Super soft and chewy , they were all gone in the quickest time!

My personal favourite is the other combination of chocolate and durian – Dark Choco Musang King Mousse . Every mouthful is the sinful richness of dark chocolate mousse combined with the natural bitter-sweetness of our signature SilkyGold™ Durian Puree – no words can describe how good it was, you have to try it for yourself. 

check out the glaze!

And finally I couldn’t find any fault in the perennial favourites Snowy D24 Durian Cream Puff (12pcs) for a lighter pastry which is filled with sinful durian filing using D24. 

Check out their ice cream cake and cheesecakes too! 

All cakes and patisseries are freshly baked, no preservatives added, freshly baked.  2 hours delivery available , to order, click here for all your durian cravings in a dessert! 

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My kids love Otah after attending all of its 3 volume (we are waiting for volume 4 in Dec) and I have been planning for the Otah themed staycation with Otah meet and greet (probably after exam seasons) as we totally loved theme staycations (and I love Otah myself too, so cute) !So when I came to know about the Exploratory Hands-on Farms Tour on the Otah & Friends Bus at at KKDay booth at Jumptopia, I thought this would make up for the staycation that I had put on hold due to the kids exams.

We were so excited to take first ever Otah & Friends bus tour (there are 3 pick up points – Chinatown, Sengkang and Choa Chu Kang). We were greeted by Patricia all dressed in yellow  with by exclusive Otah & Friends pillow in the bus which you’ll also get to take home in the bus (making the bus ride super comfortable).

The first stop was Kok Fah technology farm, we learned about state-of-the-art hydroponics farming techniques, smell different herbs and the kids got to try harvesting red and green lettuces on their own and savouring fresh aloe vera juice before the next stop. There was a small animal farm and a parrot named Jarius too! 

The next stop was the popular Hay Dairies, where the kids experienced feeding goats for the very first time! And we got to enjoy cold goat’s milk at the end of the feeding session. Truth to be told, this was my kids’ first time visiting Hay Dairies and feeding the goats, my boys were especially thrilled by the experience that the friendly tour guide Patricia even brought them on a second round as we had a bit more time to spare! 

On weekends, you can also shop for the freshest greens at Kok Fah technology farm at their weekend markets. 

Not part of the tour typically, but we were in for a surprise during our tour as there was a special appearance by Otah at one of the farms too. We had a meet and greet and we took photo with Otah making this tour a super memorable one for myself and the kids! 

Check out the short video of our half day hands on tour with Otah!

I can’t wait to bring more Otah fun to my kids as they loved Otah tremendously!

Another theme perhaps closer to my heart, camera and photography and a cute cardboard craft thrown in, this is another innovative masterpiece by Heart Studio for the Little Dali class this term much to the delight of the kids. 

First up for week1 is an exploratory stage for kids to explore the type and shape of  cameras and also what is shown on the camera screen. As always kids were given samples of the different camera shapes and sizes for them to follow. 

Thereafter, would be to produce 2 hand drawn strips of film roll, to guide them a bit so that the kids don’t need to think too hard about what to draw, Teacher Jay asked them to draw based on a)photograph of themselves in a place, b)imagination and c)favourite food. Small C had a great time doodling on the 2 strips of paper which will be the film strips that go into the camera.   

For the third week is to paint the cardboard camera and to add features such as buttons and flash light! As real as it can get!

And for the final week is to put it all together with film strips that are beautifully coloured. This final masterpiece is great for pretend play too! And what we can even add on at home are more film strips that small C can doodle on!

Small C enjoyed his classes tremendously as he can independently draw and express himself through drawing. With little hand-holding, he is given lots of room to explore things he wants to draw and often able to produce creative artworks under the guidance of Teacher Jay. 

We can’t wait to see what are the themes for the final term of 2021. 

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Heart Studio

1 Charlton Lane #01-04, Singapore 539631

(65) 6554 7563

info@heartstudiosg.com

Wed-Fri: 10:00am to 8:30pm, Sat: 9:30am to 6:00pm, Sunday: 9:30am to 4:30pm

If you have been following my blog, you know that I raved about the myFirst Camera 2 which I had reviewed last year recommending it to be THE best gift for kids. We recently received  myFirst Camera Insta 2, and this has even surpassed our favourite item from myFirst last year and I will recommend this for this year gifting – birthday, Christmas or even to celebrate achievements in schools! In fact from the time, we received this camera, small J has been bringing this every where he went taking lots of photo and videos and here is the best part, printing them out for his grandparents just like the conventional polaroid camera but even better -read on. 

At first sight

Weighing a mere 232g, slightly bigger than myFirst Camera 2, I actually think this fits my child grasp even better than myFirst Camera 2. It comes with a lanyard which is perfect so that the camera can be sling and worn over the neck. With a battery capacity of 1500mAH and 2.5 hours charging from flat , the camera can last for a full day of outing. Besides photo and video taking capability, this insta camera supports thermal printing, and 2 rolls of thermal paper & 1 sticker thermal roll are provided with camera (if you run out ,you can purchase them from their webstore too. There are also decorative stickers to personalise your camera too! 

Using it 

Compared to the myFirst Camera 2, the photo quite is slightly better at 12MP and same video quality, what is clearly the winner is the thermal printing of under 10 seconds. Using this technology there is no need to refill ink or shaking and waiting for the picture to dry like in the case of a polaroid. Though it is in black and white , I would say they are pretty sharp and clear too. Here are some sample photo taken using the micro SD card provided with the camera too. 

Besides regular photos, there are also custom frames to create fun and cute photos too!! The photos and video taken easily be downloaded via the microSD card and a thumb drive reader that has been conveniently provided together with camera. 

Here are some sample photos

Loving it

I totally love the ability for this camera not just taking photo and video but on the spot printing. Besides the regular roll, there is also an extra fun factor – sticker thermal paper, now you can print your favourite photo and paste them anywhere you want, or making a photo album for your friends and family overseas that you have missed so much the past year or DIY scrap book as a fun holiday activities.

This camera has surpassed my expectations and I must say if given a choice between the 2 – myFirst Camera 2 and myFirst Camera Insta 2 I would definitely go for the Camera Insta 2 for its printing capabilties .

Here is small J explaining how to use my myFirst Camera Insta 2 which is easy and straight to kids! He had figure all these himself with zero guidance from me! 

For the month of August, with each purchase of myFirst Camera Insta 2, there is a free super cute camera bag worth $20 to house your camera. For further saving, you can quote mypreciouzkids15 when ordering online here. The camera comes in 2 colour – blue or pink and 1 year warranty.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.