The Baby Elephant's Tea Party

Nila Utama is one! He is the first elephant born in nine years at the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. A BIG bundle of joy to his mother Nandong and father Chawang at 151kg, the one year old asian elephant is now a whopping 544kg! :p

We were invited to Nila's little tea party where the little one whose name is that of the Palembang prince who founded the kingdom of Singapura, was presented with a giant birthday cake made of carrots, wheat and ice, among other ingredients. Us humans had a mighty delicious elephant shaped chocolate cake and other tea-time yummies.

"The birth of Nila Utama was a significant milestone for us as it underscored the importance of education and conservation of Asian elephants in the wild," said Mr Kumar Pillai, General Manager, Night Safari. "This mini event is not only a birthday celebration for Nila – it also highlights the success of captive breeding programmes like ours and the plight of these beautiful animals in the wild."

The Asian elephant is an endangered animal. There are only between 25 600 and 32750 of them in the wild. Poaching of Asian elephants for ivory and meat remains a serious problem in many countries especially in certain regions of India where some people consume elephant meat. The illegal trade of live elephants, ivory and hides has become a serious conservation problem. You can help by not buying ivory products and spreading the word about the plight of the elephants.

Here's wishing little Nila Utama a very happy birthday and the continuing survival of the Asian elephant!

the kids doing some wild art work for Nila

Dylan enjoying the elephant fondant, he ate the entire elephant without touching the cake! :D

the yummy chocolate cake

my two elephants

we had a lovely tram ride to the elephant exhibit

all the kids were excited to meet Nila!

here he comes with his mummy! and there's the huge birthday cake prepared for him by the zoo

Kayden just recovered from HFMD thus he wasn't very chirpy :(

Dylan trying to feed his "elephant" peanuts :p

cheeky bugger!

the boys loved their elephant plush

Farewell ngiah ngiah Ah Mah

To differentiate this Ah Mah from my maternal Ah Mah, my brother and I call my paternal grandmother ngiah ngiag Ah Mah. "Ngiah" is teochew for beautiful :) She had this portrait of herself in her house which showed an elegant young lady so the term ngiah ngiah Ah Mah was coined and stuck to this day.

Last Saturday afternoon, ngiah ngiah Ah Mah left us :'(

During my childhood, my brother and I will spend afternoons at her flat in Farrer Road. It was a house full of curios and knick knacks and we loved the white arowana fish she had in a 4 feet tank and the couple of canary birds she kept. Once they even made nest and laid a few eggs! She was strict with us when it came to manners and will smack our legs with a cane if we shook them while eating at the dining table. But still my brother and I enjoyed ourselves at her home and looked forward to Chinese New Year visiting every year.

Towards her last couple of years, she got dementia and will keep giving us ang pows when we visited her during the new year as she forgets that she had already given us one. Aunty Mary will joke and tell us to stick around longer for more red packets :p This CNY when I took this shot of her with my iPhone, I was hoping it will not be the last one ever but unfortunately it was...

Today as we bid Ah Mah farewell, the sun was shining and that reminded me that it was her that gave Kayden his chinese name. She named him Yong Ming - Forever Bright, he was born on a sunny afternoon. And it was another sunny afternoon that we say goodbye to you. I chose a white rose and placed it over your heart. Dear Ah Mah, I have no doubt you lived a great 90 odd years, and understand that it's time for you to rest in peace. See you on the other side, I'll miss you. 

Win a WowART lesson this holiday for your child!

Your budding little artist at home will be thrilled to know that WowArt Learning Studio is having a holiday program this coming year end school holidays. During the September holiday, they offered art workshops only but this time, they will be taking the classroom outdoors and offering WOW Camps! Students will be able to explore, experiment, feel and play in these hands-on sessions. In the Artist & I workshops, your child will be exposed to great artists of all times such as Henri Rousseau, Van Gogh, Claude Monet and Edgar Degas through painting on canvas.

To know more about WowArt, do visit their website or read my boys' experience with them here and here.

Now for some exciting news! WowArt is offering one lucky reader of my blog a free workshop pass for your child! This is what you have to do:

1. Please "Like" the WowArt Facebook page
2. Help us re-post this blog post url http://maryannkoh.blogspot.com/2011/11/win-wowart-lesson-this-holiday-for-your.html on your own Facebook wall
3. Let me know that you have done all this by leaving a comment on this post
4. Drop me an email maryann@thestudioloft.com.sg with your contact details so that I may contact you if you are the winner

That's it! Last date for participation is Wednesday 16 November 2011. My boys will be at the workshop too on top of their regular Sunday lessons, hope to see you there! :)

My day with the chicken pox boy

I spent today with my elder son Kayden, who has been down with chicken pox since last friday. He isn't having a bad outbreak as he has been inoculated previously. Don't ask me why he still caught it but we are thankful it's just like 15 pox over his upper body. His sexy legs were spared haha, not even one!

As I was helping him get dressed after his bath, I started to notice things about this not so little boy. His bermudas have become shorts... he doesn't dislike pink... he owns a cute baby paunch... he has a lovely smile and nice lips... he is bashful... and this is the best thing I noticed - he still loves me despite the younger brother and my work claiming almost all my time! *yay!*

After doing some artwork, we walked over to the neighbourhood mall for his favourite Japanese lunch. The usual order is cold soba noodles and egg sushi. Once we sat, he proceeded to take a plate of Tamago off the sushi train. Followed by another in quick succession. I exclaimed that he must be famished! He replied,"No, this plate is for di di." But di di is not here darling. "It's for him when he comes back from school." *melts*

So there I sat across the table from this sweet boy, all grown up and independent, doesn't seem that long ago when I was still cleaning up his diapers. I can't help feeling that I had lost precious number of moments with him since Dylan came along. It's like he was 3 years old then 6 years! Where did all that time go? I got a little sad. I made a decision there and then that I must get to know my firstborn again. His dreams and ambitions, his joys and heartaches, I want to know them all and for him to share with me his deepest thoughts. I want to be his mother and best friend again. But for the moment, we are mother and son sharing a day together, and that hug and kiss from him when the day ends was just what I needed to remind me that I have a wonderful son who loves me.

I love you Kayden! 

Canada Cuppies

A few months ago we tried our hand at photographing cupcakes by the very talented Audrey from Sugar Pie Gourmet Cakes and Classes and yesterday I planned a session for the girls Wen Lin & Joanne to have a cupcake decorating class with her and yes, we took more photos :p

Here are some shots of the cupcakes which Audrey made for the Canadian Association of Singapore. We were after an autumn feel with warm hues. All those leaves you see are handmade with fondant and totally edible!

Cetaphil Giveaway

Tell me if this sounds familiar in the mornings. Walking into the bathroom, you stand infront of the mirror, a ton of products sitting at the basin area waiting to be applied onto your face. You end up using just one or two. That's me! Cleanser then moisturiser. IF I am not lazy, I will apply a sunblock but that's rare. I prefer a fuss-free facial cleansing ritual and Cetaphil fits the bill.

Originally developed by skin experts, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is a soap substitute that preserves your skin's natural moisture. So it softens your skin as it gently cleanses. Its special formulation won't sting your eyes and can remove light make-up without clogging pores. It also does not leave a sticky residue over the skin surface. Developed to be used with or without water, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is pH balanced and lanolin and fragrance free. It's non-drying and non-irritating properties makes it a gentle formula ideal for every age, every stage and every day. Cetaphil is the leading brand of gentle skin cleanser in Singapore.

Now for some good news - Cetaphil has travel packs up for grabs! Simply tweet (or retweet) the following text:

4 Cetaphil Travel Packs up for grabs! Tweet this & stand a chance to win! More abt Cetaphil on @maryannkoh http://bit.ly/n3TkJd #cetaphilsg

Giveaway is limited to one entry per twitter account, and those residing in Singapore only.

There is also a Cetaphil roadshow at Jurong Point on 29 & 30 October 2011 from 12pm to 9pm where you can win travel packs, iPad2 and cash! So if you are looking for a fuss-free way to keep your skin healthy and beautiful, try the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and clear some space from your basin! :)

Happy Children's Day!

We at The Studio Loft had a great time planning and creating our Children's Day Walk-In which started today - fittingly on Children's Day! And what overwhelming support we had as more than 30 of you walked in and I am so sorry to have to turn a few of you away as we were really packed out for the day. It's like those shops that have the "sold out" sign put up by lunch time, now I can identify :p We hope that those who missed out today can still come for the next and final two days of the walk-in which is this coming Monday and Tuesday. We would like to thank everyone who came and made today a record breaking one for our walk-in history! Thank you! :) Special thanks to Elly and Itsy Bitsy Me too for sponsoring outfits for the children and setting up stall here for parents to shop their wares.

I would also like to thank my girls at The Studio Loft - Wen Lin and Joanne for working hard the whole day and managing to protect the props from being destroyed :p Also thanks to my Instagram mama friends (who all incidentally were clients of The Studio Loft before!) Cat, Rachel and Steff for letting your kids be our models for the trial shoot and promotion flyers.

Here's wishing all our children and yours a very happy Children's Day!!!

Hello Siri!

No iPhone 5!!!!! Drats! I've been making do with my iPhone 3Gs for so long now it's starting to look like an antique :( So when the announcement came from Apple early this morning our time that it is actually an iPhone 4S, I was totally disappointment. BUT WAIT! As I watched the video, I got more excited. The big big thing for me as a photographer was of course the new 8MP camera and optics that also shoots 1080p HD video! Not only that, they have added a 5th lens to the camera plus a larger f2.4 aperture allowing for low light photography. There's an image stabiliser when shooting videos too, so no more Blaire Witch projects :p WOO HOO!


However excited I was about the camera, there was this new assistant they introduced which you can't help but love. Her name's Siri! Check her out below.

Now THAT'S AWESOME and did you see that baking section of the video, that's so ME! I am always checking the damn phone apps for conversion of temperatures, cups to grams etc with my oily and floured covered fingers. Now Siri can help me :D *dancing around the living room*

*added on 16 oct* Ok I dunno how Siri is going to respond to Singlish but here's a rough idea from Mr Brown with S.I.M.I! HILARIOUS! If you are Singaporean, you got to listen to this podcast :p LOL!

One last great news is iCloud. iCloud stores your music, photos, videos etc wirelessly and pushes them to all your devices. Automatic, effortless and seamless they tell you. Now that's just spiffy isn't it? Here I am trying to delete photos and apps I don't use from my iPhone just to be able to store new data. So iCloud is gonna save me all that storage problem :)


Ok, you know where to find me when the iPhone 4S starts selling in Singapore, at the phone shop :D

The Big One

So it's been a month since the big birthday party for the big one before he embarks on a new milestone to Primary School. Up till lately it hasn't hit me that he's going to school, a real school and soon! I've got like 3 months left with my big baby before he becomes a slave to the public education systerm. No more happy days off when grandpa decides to bring him to the zoo. No more vacations during off peak season, we now have to jostle with other families who have school going children. Oh and not to mention the early early mornings we have to get used to. So not looking forward :s

On the bright side, we do have 3 more months to go! I intend to spend a lot more time with Kay during this period. His 6th birthday was one event he has been so looking forward to. We decided to go all out, inviting all his classmates from school and other childhood friends. Heck I even made a trial cake in preparation for this party! He wanted a Beyblade theme, now that was mighty challenging. I got Yvonne jie jie (my ex intern) to draw Gingka, his favourite Beyblade character and composed him together with a photo I shot of him in the studio to complete his party invite :) It was a sports party and he chose two of his favourite sports, basketball and tennis. This was followed by a Beyblade tournament amongst the boys. I am sorry the girls were left out but they were busy eating the cupcakes anyway :p    

Below are some pictures from the party shot by Joanne jie jie. I beam just seeing how happy you were enjoying the company of your little friends :)

 

Son, if there's one word that can describe what I am feeling as I look at you now, it's pride. How you have matured into a sensible young man. Who would have guessed as you were an extremely demanding baby. You are not only a good son, you are a loving brother and grandson as well. We hope you will be a great student too! :) Here's to your last 3 months of kiddy freedom-hood and let's have fun! Happy 6th birthday Kay! We love you heaps! *smoooch*