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*

SIN: A Singapore Instagram Exhibition

It was back in December last year when I posted my first Instagram! What is an Instagram you ask? It is a photo you shoot with your iPhone and share via the Instagram app. It is sort of like Facebook for photos only, within your iPhone. You can follow other users and have followers within the Instagram community who can then like or comment on your photos. I became an IG (short for Instagram) addict and am known as an SGIGer (Singapore Instagramer) :D

The IG community grew rapidly and one SGIGer, @chairfreak together with @aikbengchia and @phonenomenon spearheaded a project to get an exhibition of Instagrams up this year and viola! Tonight is the opening of SIN: A Singapore Instagram Exhibition at the National Library :) SIN is an exhibition of Instagrams with “Singapore” as its theme. The exhibition is curated by Mr Goh Eck Kheng, Dr Tan Ngiap Heng (my shifu!) and Mr Chia Aik Beng (Singapore's most prolific iPhone photographer). It features Singaporeans, our way of life, Singapore architecture and of course our glorious food!

Out of the 8000+ submissions, a collection of 150 works that were photographed by the ubiquitous iPhone by everyday Singaporeans from professional photographers to full-time housewives were selected for the exhibition. I am proud to say that 3 of these Instagrams belonged to me @tubbykat :) 

If you have the time, do visit the SIN exhibition which runs from today till 30th October 2011. You will not be disappointed and perhaps even be surprised that all those photos were taken and edited with the humble iPhone!

Photo of us at the exhibition taken by my fellow SGIGer and friend @pixbykm :)

Elly Loves

Being a mother to boys, you quickly learn that there's not much clothes shopping you can do for them. Toys yes,
clothes hmmm... It's not really a problem for me as I am not a shopaholic but I know most of you mummies are!

So when the creators behind Elly (Carol and Audrey) contacted me for a studio shoot of their new collection, I was extremely excited because the latest range boasts of a BOYS collection! YES! No more looking at those websites of kids' clothing with pages and pages of pink frilly dresses that made you wish you had a daughter instead :s All of Elly's boy shirts are made from high quality imported fabrics and comes with cute and colourful prints that your little guy will just adore. Of course their dresses for girls are just as lovely, take a look at their Facebook page. They have a range of lovely toys too that I just have to get as props for our studio!

Errrm, being the thick-skinned mum that I am, I couldn't help asking them if my Dylan can be their model :p I showed them his past "modeling" photos from here and there and was elated when they said that they wanted to use him! :D The day before the shoot I kept psyching him up saying,"Baby, tomorrow you come to mummy's office then this aunty will give you a lot of nice shirts to wear, and then you must smile and pose for mummy is that ok?" Dylan,"OK mummy!" So what must you do again? "Smile and Pose"! He gave his trademark scrunchy faced smile and tilted his head to one side to show off a pose. This is gonna be a breeze I thought to myself.

WRONG!!! For the first half hour at least, he refused to cooperate, making me lose like 1/4 of my hair. Lots of promises of Angry Bird lanterns (he saw them downstairs while coming up to the studio) and Power Ranger toys later, he finally stepped onto the backdrop paper and "smiled and posed"! :D

Here are the pictures!





Hey don't kiss me I said! :D


The adorable Sophie!


Love this series with the car!




The very cheeky James :p


They kind of look alike right?!?


Hey! Your lolli is bigger than mine!


Dylan trying to stand like the octopus :)


Mia & Mona




I think Mona had the most fun!




and it's a WRAP!


By the way, Elly will be having a lovely little lantern party this sunday! We will be popping by and hope to see you there. Details below. Thank you again Carol and Audrey for letting The Studio Loft be a part of Elly! We wish you all the very best :)

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!