First School Family Day

We celebrated Labor Day - May 1 at the Singapore Botanic Gardens for Sunbeam Kindergarten cum Sunday School Family Day. It was Hendrik's 2nd school outing. Since it was a holiday, both Daddy and Mommy were available and were able to come. We also tagged along Hendrik's cousin, Ate Bek-bek, who just arrived in Singapore and who willingly volunteered to look after Hendrik while on school vacation for 2 months.

We were grouped in the yellow team, thus the yellow shirts we were donning the whole day.

Our yellow name tags according to our team color.

We arrived at the Botanic Gardens around 8:30am and were provided with light breakfast before we began the games proper.

We gathered smack dab in the middle of the unshaded part of the garden where Mr Sun was showing his mighty powers while we played various games.

Mommy, Hendrik and Ate Bek-bek busy trying to connect the yellow straws.

Then, we tested our yellow straws (connected together) if it was strong enough not to break when we lifted it. And yes, we made it...  =)  Well, all of the teams made it, so we all earned the same points.

Each group made paper planes, and the objective was to make them fly over the line about 3 meters away. Daddy contributed 1 point out of the 3 points our group made in this game.  =)

 We also bumped into one of Hendrik's classmates, Arinjay.

It was just about 9:30am and Mr Sun was already draining our energy, so we rested for a bit and and sat down on a shaded part of the garden and had Hendrik drink a lot of water to keep him hydrated.

Then, it was time for the 'Amazing Race'...

During the 'Amazing Race', we went to Jacob Ballas Children's Garden (JBCG) and came across this mini-mountain. Hendrik enjoyed this spot so much that he and I climbed up and down this mini-mountain for several times until our teammates had to call on us for us to move on with the race.

The Tree House and the slide were under renovation when we visited JBCG last year and Hendrik was not able to try it. And so, Hendrik did not miss the opportunity to try this highlight of JBCG. He sure had a lot of fun as he also tried it countless times...  =)

Then, we all crossed the mini log-bridge...

And bumped into Hendrik's nursery teacher, Mrs Lim.

We also stop now and then for a photo-op whenever we can - this time with Daddy...  =)

Even under the roasting heat of the sun, Hendrik still managed to make faces...

We must be very slow as our teammates were way ahead of us and we were walking alongside the blue team.

At last! about an hour and a half of roaming around the Botanic Gardens, we were back at base and having our so-called closing exercises. Here, Mrs. Lim was leading the music.

This Family Day wouldn't be complete without the students' doing an act together for parents, family members, teachers and friends to see. Here, the students at Sunbeam Kindergarten were singing a Chinese song. And yes, Hendrik participated and sang in Chinese. Surprise - surprise for us...  =)

All along, Ate Bek-bek was beside us, taking pictures and helping us carry things. We hoped she had fun as well. Don't worry Ate Bek-bek, we share your sentiment about the blazing heat of Mr Sun and we were also dripping wet with sweat. We just made it look like we are cool with it.  =)

While waiting for lunch to arrive, we played with Ka-Can's mommy.

After waiting for about an hour for lunch delivery, we were able to have packed fried rice and bee-hon for lunch. 

After spending half-day out, we were all ready to go home and rest...

Overall, we had a good time bonding with each other despite the scorching heat of the sun. We were able to chitchat with the other parents and meet some of the teachers at Bethesda Sunbeam Kindergarten.

We arrived home at around 2:30pm fully exhausted. We then had our much needed nap for a birthday party to attend in the evening.

~~~ end ~~~

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Wednesday, 26 October 2011, was a holiday in Singapore. It was Deepavali, a Hindu holiday meaning “festival of lights” that signify the triumph of good over evil. Since there was no work on that day I planned to bring Hendrik out. Joseph needed to go overtime for work so only the 3 (Hendrik, Tito Jared and me) of us went to Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden (JBCG). JBCG is located at the Bukit Timah Core of the Singapore Botanic Gardens which is said to be Asia’s first children’s garden. It is dedicated to all children in Singapore with the aim of providing a unique discovery and learning experience in a garden setting.

The 3 of us arrived at the JBCG around 11:30am and were greeted with this tree sculpture. If you will notice, the leaves on the trees are actually shapes of children playing in different positions.

We saw the “Water Play” area when we turned right from the entrance. We stopped there for a while as Hendrik wanted to watch the kids playing with the water. I asked him if he wanted to join them, but as he is not a fan of water he straight away rejected the idea.

We took a photo of this calabash when we walked our way to the next spot. There were so many calabash trees in the garden. 

This is “The Magic of Photosynthesis” area where kids get to know the plant’s food making process.

I tried to explain to Hendrik how this thing works, and he was surely very interested looking at the sun and air as I repeatedly turn the the handle to make them light up.

And so Hendrik had his turn to turn the handle to light up the oxygen.

 And he was gladly pointing that he made it! =)

It started to rain so we went back to the Visitor’s Center area with the rest of the garden’s guests to take shelter from the rain. While we were waiting for the rain to stop, Hendrik saw a worm on the floor.

At first, he was afraid that he wanted me to carry him, but I told him that it was okay and that the worm won't come near him. I also got closer to the worm and took a photo of it showing Hendrik that there was no harm in getting closer to it. He got the message so he came closer and looked at it intently as it crawled on the floor.

When the rain stopped, we were the first to reached "The Magic of Photosynthesis" area. Hendrik got all the area by himself to explore. He was grabbing his opportunity to operate the machines before the crowd gathers the area again.

Then, we found our way to the entrance of the "Fantastic Forest". As suggested by its name, the area was surrounded by tall trees and various plants.

In the middle of the forest was the "Suspension Bridge". Hendrik braved and managed to cross the bridge by walking very slowly and carefully and holding my hand real tight throughout the whole time. It must have been a relief for him after overcoming that episode. ^_^

The "Cave" was waiting for us as we deserted the bridge. Here is Mommy and Hendrik asking Tito Jared to take a memento of the them of the waterfalls in the cave.

It started to rain again when we were walking our way towards the tree house, so we had to get back to the cave and took shelter. We shared the cave with a Caucasian family and waited for the rain to stop. While at the cave, Hendrik ate his Loackers as it was already past 12noon.

When the rain stopped, we went our way to the main "attraction" of the garden - the "Tree House". Too bad it was closed for renovation when we visited, but we sure will be back again soon.

After a few minutes in the "Tree House" it rained again for the third time. This time we did not take shelter at the cave, but went to the area outside the classrooms. We stayed there for about 10 minutes until Mr Sun started to show up and the sky became brighter and brighter. 

Then, we continued our walk and came across the "Timber Deck". Hendrik climbed a mini mountain and posed for picture at the top.

The "Potting Garden" where one needs to get permission from the garden staff before one can go in.

Hendrik in one of the shades in the garden.

One of the many cute signs around the garden, and this one was from the "Sensory Garden".

We took the bridge again on our way to the exit. Hendrik hesitated at first, but was easily convinced when I assured him that we will cross the bridge slowly and carefully and that he can hold my hand all throughout.

Before heading to the exit, we had a quick visit to the "Playground". Hendrik only played for a short while in the sand using the rake and the scoop that we found in the area as it was time for us to take our late lunch. It was already half past 1 in the afternoon.

I initially planned to bring Hendrik and Tito Jared to the mall for lunch. Since we were already hungry, we just decided that we try the "Kidz Cafe" located at the Visitor's Center area of JBCG. Hendrik and I ordered chicken and fish with French fries and milo while Tito Jared ordered jumbo hotdog with French fries and sandwich with chips.

We arrived home at about 3:30 in the afternoon, just nice for Hendrik to have his afternoon nap.

~~~ end ~~~