The Biggest Bouncy Castle in Town

Bring your kids down to Changi Airport for a fun time at the biggest bouncy castle in town! At terminal 3, row 11, you'll find Spongebob's underwater town bouncy playground. Standing at approx 10 metres tall, it is truly the biggest bouncy castle we've ever seen. It features a ball pit, a maze and a super tall slide! Open daily from 12 noon to 10 pm. Simply present any single-day receipt with a minimum spend of $20 ($15 for Changi Rewards members) for 10 minutes of play time at the bouncy castle.  

Ball pit

Maze

Super tall slide!

Yay!

In the same terminal, located just before the departure immigration, you'll find Spongebob's Pineapple House and Santa's cosy room. During show times (daily at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm), visitors can help power Spongebob's Pineapple House to life by peddling on Santa's sleigh. Pick up ping pong balls, and exchange them for goodies at the redemption booth. No minimum spending required.

Spongebob's Pineapple House

Powering Santa's Sleigh

Exchange ping pong balls for goodies here

Spongebob's potty

Spongebob's bedroom

Santa's Village

Helping Santa with some work

So if your little one is a Spongebob Squarepants fan, or if you are looking for activities to occupy them during the school holidays, make a trip to Changi Airport today! You can also purchase Spongebob Square Pants and friends plush toys at the airport. Made exclusively for this event, each plush toy can be purchased for $3 with a minimum spend of $60 in Changi Airport public areas ($120 for grocery purchases) and S$120 in transit areas. 

Disclaimer: We were invited to the preview of Changi Airport's Christmas festivities. All opinions are my own.

Odyssey Submarine, Bali

Some 20 years ago, I went to Hawaii with my family and we booked a submarine tour to admire the depths of the ocean from within a submarine. On the day that we were supposed to sail, the trip was cancelled due to bad weather. I was sorely disappointed. When I found out that there is a tourist submarine that sails from Bali, I jumped on the opportunity to bring the boys on their first submarine journey. It was a first for Dean and myself as well.

Odyssey Submarine sails from Amuk Bay on the eastern coast of Bali. It is a short drive from the Bali Safari and Marine Park. Ticket prices include hotel transfers and a buffet lunch in addition to the 45 minutes dive trip. Kids under 5 sail for FREE!

Amuk Bay

Welcome drinks

The submarine takes 36 passengers, and goes to a depth of approximately 35 metres below sea level. All of us passengers were weighed prior to boarding, so the pilot/crew can work out the counter buoyancy required to surface. The length overall of the submarine is approx 17 metres, and width approx 4m; basically that is enough room for 36 passengers to sit comfortably in front of a clear panel, to enjoy the beauty underwater (kids under 5 do not have their own seats).

The Submarine

I have a life-jacket!

On the submarine deck

View from submarine aft

Waiting to go further underwater

View forward

Hello scuba diver!

Photo op with a scuba diver

What a view!

All smiles

Do secure your bookings with payment at least 1 day in advance. Most sailings are full and we saw two families being turned away while we were waiting for our dive.

For more of our Bali adventures, click here!

Book Review: Emily Lim's Picture Books

I first picked up Emily Lim's picture books before I even had kids. I was drawn to the beautiful illustrations and I liked how Emily has cleverly woven life lessons into the stories so simply and beautifully. I have since introduced four of her most popular books to my boys, and we've read them countless times. These 4 books have been recently been reprinted and made Penpal Whizz compatible. The narrations made the words come alive and the boys get to play simple games with their Penpal Whizz.

Bunny Finds the Right Stuff

Bunny Finds the Right Stuff tells the story of an unhappy bunny who did not like the way he looked. He found himself flat footed, floppy and short of stuffing. He went about searching for ways to fill himself up but ends up in a big mess, causing him to feel even more blue.

His friends learnt of his predicament and went about helping to make him feel better. Children read about how bunny's friends rallied around him and went about giving a little bit of themselves to cheer him up. A heart warming story about friendship that many young ones can relate to.

Prince Bear & Pauper Bear

Pauper bear lived in a toy shop. He was poorly stitched, his eyes did not match, he was forgotten and unloved. He longed to be picked up by a child who would love him and play with him. Prince bear on the other hand was well stitched and wore a crown. He thought highly of himself and was also looking forward to the day that someone would buy him and bring him home. A couple of days before Christmas, a little girl came to the toy shop and brought Prince bear to her lovely big house. Pauper bear looked on sadly. Soon after, a little boy who did not have much money came by and asked to buy a teddy bear. The shop keeper gave him Pauper bear for free.

We read about how the lives of Prince bear and Pauper bear changed as they entered the house of the girl and boy. A story about love, friendship and a boy with a big heart.

Just Teddy

Just teddy was made by a master toy maker in a toy factory. He often thought he was different from the other toys in the factory and tried hard to fit in with everyone else. His journey of finding himself brought him into the arms of a little girl who loved him just the way he was. 

In this story, children learn that each of us are fearfully and wonderfully made, and special in our very own way. There is no need to change the way we look to fit in, because we are all "one-of-a-kind".

The Tale of Rusty Horse

Rusty horse was an old rocking horse that was forgotten by everyone. He used to be a favourite with the children but now that he is old and rusty, no one really wanted to ride on him anymore. That made him really sad. He longed to be a real horse so he can take children on horse-back rides. One day he met a fairy who granted his wish... he became a real horse! Read about Rusty's adventure in this delightful book.

  

GIVEAWAY

Emily Lim will be giving away 4 of her books to 2 of my blog readers (2 books for each reader). To enter, simply follow the Rafflecopter instructions below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In addition, the distributors of Pen Pal Whizz is also giving away an $80 voucher which you can use to buy either the Pen Pal Whizz, or many more Pen Pal Whizz books to add to your collection. Send in your entries for the draw here.

Emily Lim's books are available at: 

Kinokuniya Bookstores

Popular Bookstores

MPH Bookstore (Raffles City) 

Tango Mango (Tanglin Mall) 

Big Bookshop (Harbourfront) 

OG Albert Rainbow Shop (Robinson Road) 

Attic Pals (Tanglin Mall) 

Smart Alley (Centrepoint & Changi Point)

Lovina, Bali

We spent one night in Lovina, with the sole purpose of watching dolphins at dawn. I was won over by Princess Dana Diaries' recommendation and decided to stay at The Lovina Bali. The hotel started operations in September 2012, so it was barely a year old. I loved everything about it. We were upgraded to a beach front deluxe villa that came with a living room, a fully equipped kitchenette and a spacious bedroom that had a king sized bed and a roll-away cot for Noah. The swimming pool was right outside our room, and the beach was just a short walk away.

Bedroom

Living room and kitchenette

Hotel Pool

We arrived shortly before sunset and decided to have a seafood grill dinner at the hotel's restaurant on the beach. It was the best dinner we had in Bali. Main courses start at US$20. Nathan and Noah were thrilled when we decided to let them build sandcastles while we waited for our food. That gave Dean and I some "couple time". We talked about the first time we came to Bali as a couple, more than 10 years ago. I don't remember doing very much in Bali then... Just lazing by the beach and enjoying a full body massage. With Nathan and Noah, we are not able to enjoy a couple massage like we used to, but we managed to explore all the child-friendly attractions that Bali has to offer. Holidays will never be the same now that we are 4. :)

Sunrise to Sunrise, Great is Thy Faithfulness

Building sand castles

I really love seafood grill dinners. After all these years, Dean knew exactly what to order for me. I can't quite remember what we ordered for the kids, but it was yummy too... they finished everything on their plate!

Dolphin Watching

We got our driver to link us up with a fisherman to bring us out to sea to watch dolphins. The cost per boat was IDR500,000. It looks to me that each boat can take 6 to 8 people although I don't know what the legal capacity is. While we were having dinner by the beach, there were several boatmen hanging around asking if we wanted to go on a dolphin watching tour with them. So I suppose it is pretty easy to find your own boatman. You can also get the hotel to arrange the tour for you, but I suspect it might be costlier. The Lovina had direct access to the beach and hence, the fisherman was able to pick us up from our resort beachfront at 5.45am.

It was the first time that any of us rode in an outrigger canoe. It was pretty stable and thankfully none of us got seasick. They had life jackets for the adults, but no kid-sized jackets for the boys.

While we were waiting for the dolphins to appear, we saw the sun rise over the horizon. Such a beautiful sight!

The fisherman knew exactly where to take us... after sailing for about 15 minutes or so, we spotted the first pod of dolphins... The boys were thrilled!

I am so glad that my boys are such great travellers... they didn't grumble about being dragged out of bed at 5+ in the morning and were generally enthusiastic about everything I had planned. :P I really loved the Lovina Bali resort and it is a pity that we were only staying one night. I recommend spending at least two nights here just so you have time to laze by the pool / beach, and enjoy a relaxing massage. We found the rates at the hotel's spa pretty reasonable, but were not able to book a slot at our preferred times. I'd love to come back to this resort just to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

For more of our Bali Adventures, click here!

   

Suzuki Violin

Nathan has just completed a 40 week Suzuki Group Violin Course for children aged 3 to 4 years old. The Suzuki method is a method of teaching music conceived and executed by Shin'ichi Suzuki (1898–1998). Very often referred to as the mother tongue method of teaching / learning a language, pre-schoolers as young as 3 years old are capable of learning to play the violin before they can even read. Very much like how babies pick up their mother tongue from listening and mimicking.

I enjoyed learning with Nathan as we attended the violin classes together. He went thru the rigour of daily practice, took part in his very first violin concert, and tasted the fruits of his labour as he slowly managed to play familiar tunes from memory. In the 10 months or so, his class managed to complete the first 9 pieces in Suzuki Book 1 (from Twinkle, Lightly Row... all the way thru to Perpetual Motion). 

I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart. —Shin'ichi Suzuki

In my search for a violin school / teacher for Nathan, I found that there are not that many options available in Singapore. There is only a small group of violin teachers in Singapore, much lesser than the number of piano teachers available. Most teachers only offered classes for children who are about 5 years old and above.

These are the schools that offered violin lessons for children above 3 years old:

1) Mac Music School - children aged 3 years and up start in their Suzuki Group Violin Course. It is a parent accompanied class, class size of max 6 students, both parents and students have to own a violin. Parent learns alongside the child so as to guide him/her in daily practice sessions at home. Follows the Suzuki curriculum. 

2) Mandeville Conservatory of Music - children aged 3 years and up start in their Baby Violin Course. It is a parent accompanied class, class size of max 12 students, both parents and students have to own a violin. Parent learns alongside the child so as to guide him/her in daily practice sessions at home. Follows the Suzuki curriculum.

3) Klassique Musik - individual classes only, no group classes available.

4) Wolfgang Violin Studio - children aged 2 years 9 months and up start in their Baby Beats One program, which I understand to be a music appreciation program. It is a parent accompanied class, class size of max 8 students. After one/two terms, students progress to Baby Beats Two, where they'll actually learn to play the violin. The school has developed their own curriculum, so they do not use the Suzuki books.

5) Violin Lessons Singapore - children aged 3 to adults learn at their own pace with individual or small group coaching. Lessons can be conducted in the comfort of your home, and parents have the option of learning together with their children. 

I decided on a group class for Nathan as I am of the opinion that learning a musical instrument is more fun in a group setting at this age. Nathan is more motivated to practise at home, so he can play the tunes together with his friends in class. Peer motivation is a strong motivator! Individual lessons offer you the flexibility in terms of time (as opposed to group classes that are usually held at a specified time each week), and allows you to progress at your own pace. Most teachers offer trial lessons so you will be in a better position to decide what's best for your child.

As much as Nathan has just completed the group violin course, it is really just the beginning of the journey. I hope that he'll continue enjoying the journey, as he picks up the skill of making music.

Pen Pal Whizz Review

Pen Pal Whizz is an educational tool that is not only able to play back pre-recorded narrations of your child's favourite stories, but also able to engage your child thru games and songs. It has an in-built memory of 4GBs, which means it can store over 100 books at any one time. Each Penpal Whizz comes pre-loaded with Pen Pal Whizz enabled books. Saves us busy mums the hassle of having to download the audio files to our computer, and then connecting the device so we can transfer the files. This was one of the main draws of Pen Pal Whizz for me. We were using a similar product previously, but the small memory of that product meant that we could store less than 15+ books, and each time my boys wanted to read something that was not loaded on the reading pen, I'd have to connect the device to my computer, delete a previously loaded audio file before transferring a new audio file to the pen. Which busy mum has time to do that? Not me! The only books I need to download to my Penpal Whizz are the newly released titles. But since there is a large in-built memory, it means I do not need to delete any of the preloaded books, but just add on the new files.

I was also delighted to know that the Pen Pal Whizz can read Chinese! In fact, not just Chinese, but any language! There are hundreds of Pen Pal Whizz enabled books and new titles are added every month. I have trouble reading Chinese books to my boys as I hardly read/write Chinese ever since I was done with my last Chinese exam in school. Reading Chinese books with Pen Pal Whizz is a breeze. The boys are more motivated to pick up a Chinese book to read, and they get to learn accurate pronunciation. One of the Penpal Whizz enabled books, is an English-Chinese dictionary. This book teaches us how to say commonly used words/phrases in English and Chinese. I often have Nathan asking me... "mommy, how do you say ??? in Chinese"... so this is a book we have been looking at over and over again.

Another feature I love about the Pen Pal Whizz is the ability to record and playback our own voices with the touch of just a few 'buttons'. This allows me to make my non Pen Pal Whizz enabled books, Pen Pal Whizz enabled! I surprised Noah by recording my voice as I read one of his favourite books. He instantly recognised my voice and was thrilled that "it is mommy"!

The Pen Pal Whizz bundle includes one Pen Pal Whizz reading pen (choose from 2 colours - blue or pink), charger, calculator card, MP3 card, standing dock and 18 books. The retail price is $188. There are 3 book bundles that you can choose from, categorized by age group. You can specify if you'd like the book bundle for pre-schoolers, lower primary students or upper primary students.

Pen Pal Whizz Bundle

GIVEAWAY

We'll be giving away an $80 voucher which you can use to purchase a Penpal Whizz bundle set. If you already own a Penpal Whizz, this voucher can also be used to purchase additional Penpal Whizz enabled books. To enter, follow the steps below. Giveaway closes 15 Nov 2013. Stay tuned for other Pen Pal Whizz books giveaways!

Giveaway closed! The winner is Lyndis Lee! Congratulations.

a Rafflecopter giveaway