WOW your child this September school holiday

All kids look forward to holidays like us adults unless if like me you have kids of your own, then a holiday isn't really a holiday, you have to plan activities for your kids to do :p Well, I have a great suggestion for you and your kids this school holiday, join the WowART Studio Holiday Workshops! The workshops run from September 5-9 2011 and are for children aged 2.5years till 12years.

Both Kayden and Dylan have been with the art school since the start of this year and after each lesson I am ALWAYS pleasantly surprised with the quality and creativity of their art pieces. Have a look below at some of the photos I've taken with my iPhone of their art pieces which always garner oohs and ahhs from friends on Facebook :p



Dylan was just 2.5years when he started and no, he was not too young. The holiday workshop for under 4years is specially designed for the younger children and has a wide variety of medium and artworks for them to choose from. Clay modeling to wire sculptures and yarn painting, their little hands will be filled as they enjoy the process of creating their own art!

For the older children, they have two main workshops to choose from - Artist & I and Claybook. Artist & I is a canvas workshop where 2 impressionist artists Claude Monet and Edgar Degas are introduced. The Claybook workshop allows children to unleash the writer in them as they enjoy the pleasures of handling clay. They create their own stories and make the characters from clay. This 3 day workshop is sure to keep the child entertained and allows room for them to be creative. Each lesson is 2.5hours and I would recommend this workshop if you have the time.

Details of the workshops and fees are below. You can also give WowART Studio a call at 6352 2221 for more information or to reserve your place in the workshops. Early birds enjoy a 5% discount if you sign up before 30 Aug 2011! Do update me here if you bring your kids to the workshop, I am sure they will enjoy themselves whilst unleashing the artists in them :)

In A Heartbeat for Chloe & Aleks

Today we celebrate our nation's 46th birthday and as with each national day, there is a new song for the celebrations. The official song this year is "In A Heartbeat".



This song cannot bring on the flood gates like my all time favourite "Home" but the music video is well produced and tells the story of Singapore from the perspective of a family, mainly the Mother and Son. As their life journey progresses, so does our nation. I feel this would be an opportune time for me to share with you the tough journeys and needs of two little Singaporeans Chloe & Aleks who both suffer from rare disorders. Chloe from Pompe Disease and Aleks from Gaucher Disorder, both of which are very rare genetic disorders and require a huge sum of money annually for their treatment. As these conditions are extremely rare, no organisation nor government body provides funding of any kind in Singapore. And it is with more awareness and support that we can hopefully put Singapore on the map for government funding of Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSD) and Rare Disorders Society Singapore (RDSS) patients.

What is LSD (Lysosomal Storage Disorder)?
All lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) have a similar origin: a genetic (inherited) problem that causes a deficiency or malfunction of a particular enzyme in the body, so the enzyme cannot properly rid cells of waste material. There are no cures for most of the LSD and treatment is mostly symptomatic. However bone marrow transplantation and enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) have been tried with some success in some cases.

I hope that you can show your support for the RDSS on their Facebook page.

Or support the RDSS Piano Recital Charity Fundraiser.

Let’s come together in a heartbeat and help little Singaporeans like Chloe and Aleks by raising awareness of rare disorders, fighting for their right to survive and the need for treatment beyond economics and politics with (hopefully) government funding!

Rollercoasters

Almost everyone I know enjoy a rollercoaster ride. Well not me. I am terrified of them except for these two rides which I find still acceptable - the Wipeout @ Dreamworld in Gold Coast Australia and the Viking which was formerly at our East Coast Park. Eerrmm that was some years ago, I may not be able to stomach those rides now. So imagine my horror when we arrived at Sentosa's Imbiah Lookout at the invitation of Sentosa and was told that we will be experiencing 4 different "rides". *GULP*

The first seemed harmless enough, we were ushered into the Sentosa 4D Magix cinema to watch "Pirates". The boys were excited about watching a movie and were curious when given the 3D glasses to wear. I got a little suspicious when I saw that some of the seats were wet. Hmmm. It was a first time experience with 3D for the kids and even I was astounded by how we seemed to be "in" the scenes and part of the action. The opening screen was a treasure map unrolling followed by a cannon turned towards you then BOOM! Kayden let out a shout in fright and after that he was afraid of every emerging scene. Haha my little chicken boy ;) His younger brother was much braver and managed to watch the rest of the movie laughing at Captain Lucky! Be warned, you will be tossed about in your seats, have some water sprayed at you, wind blown and even some tickles at your feet to complete the 4D experience!

Next up was the Extreme Log Ride! Ok this one I was not looking forward to because it simulates a real rollercoaster ride with wind blasters and 9 motion capsules nestled within the theatre, all operating on a state-of-the-art 6-axis motion system. Objects come to life right off the screen with your 3D glasses on. We were rushed to the top of the mountains, before plunging down the deepest valley while dodging flying logs! I have to be honest that I closed my eyes for the most part of the ride (ok, actually throughout the ride accept for the moments when it seemed safe) :p Kay decided to not wear the 3D glasses so he wouldn't be frightened by the ride but he enjoyed the motion on the capsules we were seated in. Legs wobbling, we moved on to the next ride.

Phew! It wasn't another rollercoaster ride, it was a fun 3D shooting game while seated on motion-based saddles called Desperados. Dylan had to sit on my "horse" together with me as he was too short to sit on his own. Then we all galloped through the dusty town of ‘Wild West” while shooting bandits, cactus and other objects with a laser gun :p It was fun and everyone enjoyed this one!

Finally to end the morning's thrills, we slowed down with a ride on the Tiger Sky Tower. Thank you Sentosa for your generous invitation and we hope to be back for more 3D and 4D experiences soon! :)

(all shots taken with the Lumix GF3)

Didn't win lah!

Sorry for the hiatus since the Singapore Blog Awards 2011 ended with me being a loser in the Best Family Blog category. I have been sulking and on strike and zero inspiration to write whatsoever. You believe me? Hahahaha! No no it's nothing like that at all! Since they announced the 10 finalists weeks ago, I already had my bets placed on my friend Ed from Edunloaded and Daphne from MotherInc! I was just asking for votes so I don't come up last if they suddenly decide to announce from 1st to 10th place :D A big hearty congratulations to Daphne for clinching the prize! She writes really well and totally deserved the win. So congrats woman!

Anyway it was a great party that Omy hosted at the Shanghai Dolly. I got to meet all the other family blog finalists and everyone was so nice it's sick! How can competition be that friendly but it was :) Ok ok except for some star bloggers who think they are too high class to mingle with us newbies. But it was great meeting new friends and old. Here's a group picture of all of us parent bloggers which I stole from Leonny's blog :p



Apart from those I mentioned earlier, here are the rest of my competition :D Yvonne, Klessis, Sandra, Andy and Sharon.
It was wonderful meeting you all and hope to do this again soon if not next year! :)

I would also like to send a big shout out of THANKS to all my friends, family and clients who voted for my blog. Thank you for taking the time to do so, I really appreciate it! Ok! Now I got to work harder and write better and post more often to have another go at next year's award. I'm ready for the challenge, let's go!