Preview of the Imaginarium: A Voyage of Big Ideas

Ever since Tiffany turned 12 months old, I became more enthusiastic in looking for activities that we can do as a family. Especially activities that engage both parents and child, so that none of us will feel bored or left out.

Thanks to CRIB, our family scored entry to the private preview of the Imaginarium: A Voyage of Big Ideas. Before we attended the preview, I imagined Tiffany running around excitedly while her father and I stand aside and take pictures of her. After all, it is an art exhibition for children. However, I was proven wrong as the Imaginarium was really engaging for the adults too!

Some background on the Imaginarium:

The fifth edition of Singapore Art Museum's annual contemporary art exhibition for children, the Imaginarium: A Voyage of Big Ideas is inspired by the crescent moon on the Singapore flag, symbolising a young nation on the rise and its capacity to dream big and think large. It focuses on the themes of adventure, discovery, new possibilities, and 'Big Ideas'. 

The artworks range from installations which require visitors' active participation to complete or enhance the artwork, to poetic and comtemplative works, and playful magical worlds to roam and discover. The exhibition as a whole has been curated with careful attention paid to how children learn and play, and to appeal to different senses, modes of learning and exploration.

As we begin our journey through the Imaginarium, we were welcomed by fascinating and beautiful illustrations sprawled across the walls at each stair landing. Named Imagine-a-doodle, the massive artwork (by Singapore collective Band of Doodlers) that spans all four levels of SAM at 8Q brings to life a fantastical version of the Singapore story, through adaptations of local folklore and of an imagined future.

The Singapore Story by the Band of Doodlers - definitely my favourite artwork of the exhibition!

Us in front of my favourite wall

Starting from the highest level, Dream House is the work of South Korean artist Jeeyoung Lee. Here, Lee created a fairytale-like gingerbread house filled with candy that visitors can pick and 'plant' in a larger-than-life 'garden'.

This exhibit is a no-shoe zone, so if you are icky about your child walking bare feet on the ground, do remember to put socks on for them. For yourselves, please do wear shoes that are easy to take off and put on. I saw a few mummies struggling with their footwear, so do yourself a favour and save the hassle.

Papa 'planting' a candy with Tiffany. If only this 'garden' was real, and there were candy trees in real life, I would be a very happy mama! :P

Children having a good time playing among the 'trees'.

 On the third floor, we were amazed and enthralled by the work of Canadian-born, Singapore-based Vincent Twardzik, Green II: Interstellar Overdrive. The artwork here comes alive only when visitors cycle on stationary bicycles which are hooked up to various objects.

Though it is stated on a sign that this exhibit is suited for children 8 years old onwards, I really like that there are baby seats attached to some of the bicycles so that they can still be included when parents visit with them. Here, KU is powering a radio while Tiffany enjoys the 'ride' behind. 

Comfortably seated and secured in the baby seat.

On the second floor, we had fun at the moonroom, which is a space for exploration and learning. All the walls, save for one, had cute moon/space-related illustrations on them. I was really amazed at the talent of these artists!

So, what about that one wall which had less doodles? It is this one in the picture below, called the doodle deck. According to our guide, workshops will be held to teach children how to draw and they can then fill up the remaining space on the doodle deck with their own artwork. I think it's a really good way to get children excited about art - letting them contribute to the exhibition and have their work shown to the public alongside the professional artists.

In addition, children could write a letter to the moon and the best letter each month gets a reply from the museum's moonwalker!

Letters to the moon and thrown into this message transmitter to be read at a later date. Good luck, children!

There were other interactive activities in the moonroom, such as origami folding. The tables had folding instructions stuck on them so that children (and parents) can have fun folding their own paper rockets!

Making an origami rocket with papa

Writing a letter together to the Moon!

 On level one, we were given the opportunity to become architects and builders of our own make-believe cities. Drawing inspiration from urban-planning, Singapore artist Chiang Yu Xiang invites everyone to create their own housing estates and city skyline with Tetris-shaped housing blocks in his We Built This Estate! interactive installation.

I personally loved the stuffed characters that were velcro-ed onto the walls and I'd go a step further to say that children can have fun creating their own stories with the characters and their cities.

 The 'windows' of the HDB blocks also have adorable hand-drawn characters peeping out at visitors! On the lower 'floors', the 'windows' are filled with artwork submitted by children. I love how children are made to feel included in the exhibit once again!

Hugging my favourite stuffed character with Tiffany.

This exhibit is also a no-shoe zone and I'd highly recommend socks here for toddlers as the 'grass' is rather rough on their soles. Tiffany refused to walk or even be put down when we were here cos she didn't like the 'grass', which was a pity cos we really thought she'd enjoy the colourful illustrations on the wall and the stuffed characters. :( so, lesson learnt here, we'll bring socks for her the next time we come!

Closer look at the 'grass'

These are not all we saw, but please do come down with your children and experience the exhibition for yourselves! There are so many activities within the exhibits themselves that parents and children alike will enjoy. Best of all, you can do things TOGETHER. :)

Imaginarium: A Voyage of Big Ideas is opened from 14 March to 19 July 2015 and entry is free for all Singapore citizens and PRs. For more information, please visit www.singaporeartmuseum.sg

Fun at the photobooth

Thank you SAM for having us and for CRIB, Singapore’s first social enterprise that aims to empower women entrepreneurs through networking, matchmaking and incubation, for making this happen!

Disclaimer: KU and I were invited to the media preview for the Imaginarium. We did not receive any monetary awards to write this review. All views expressed in this  post are ours.

Pregnancy Diary II: Into the Second Trimester

This week's my 19th week of pregnancy and my tummy has grown exponentially. Sometimes I wonder if it's due to all the junk food I've been eating and I (quite routinely and very paranoid-ly) keep asking KU and my mum and sis if my bulging tummy looks like the result of too much eating or if I truly look preggers.

But that aside, I've been unemployed for about a month now. The first week, I had a feeling like I was on a holiday, cos in the past 6 years, I've never quit without a job, and even in between jobs I usually get only a day or two of rest before starting on the new job. But slowly. I've settled into sort of a routine: Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, I wake up about 8-ish and go for a 30-minute walk at the stadium near our place, then I come back and do abit of resistance training; after which I make breakfast, eat, and then get some housework done for about 2 hours, then it's time to make lunch; after lunch, I either watch TV or make jewellery, then I make dinner, and wait for KU to come home. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I sleep in cos I don't exercise on those days; the rest of the morning is pretty much the same as the other days, and after lunch I'll walk over to my sister's place to spend some time with her and my precious little niece. :)

In the second trimester, there are a few very minor changes for me. My tummy has grown quite a bit and I can't fit into most of my pre-pregnancy clothes anymore. Due to the large tummy, I also have a bit more difficulty bending over to wash my lower legs when I shower, and I find that even when I can do so, I lose my balance more easily. 0___0

Nowadays, when I do my walking at the stadium, my calves and shins cramp more easily and they usually don't let up even when I stop to stretch. So I'm trying to take it easy and walk at a slower pace, but even then I still have to stop twice in a half hour to stretch out the cramps. :(

The water retention is also getting worse in my legs. I can't seem to wear any of my covered shoes, so my best friend is my Birkenstocks now. But I reckon I'll need to loosen the strap of the top of my Birkies as the pregnancy progresses. Thanks to Aunty Kat advice though, I think the water retention's not as bad as it could have been, cos I've taken to propping my legs up on a fat pillow when I sleep, so my calves are not that fat yet. *thanks God*

Sleep-wise, I'm having more trouble falling asleep. Probably cos I'm actually a stomach sleeper, and with the baby, I definitely can't sleep on my tummy anymore. These days I try to sleep more on my left cos that's what the pregnancy books say is the best sleeping position for baby. And I definitely can't sleep on my back anymore cos I've had some back problems previously and the pregnancy has just made it worst, so sleeping on my back gives me such a horrible horrible back ache.

Sometimes though, I feel like it's so surreal - me carrying this little human inside me. Besides the physical changes I'm experiencing, sometimes I can't believe I'm going to be a mother soon. But the moment I'm really looking forward to now is to feel our baby's first kick. :) I keep wondering how amazing it would feel and I think when it happens, it will really drive home the fact that I am pregnant and the constant kicking will be a testament of that. :)

Looking at my mummy friends and my own sister, who are enjoying motherhood, I'm sure it'll be fun times ahead . :)

See The World: Paris-London (Part IV)

So, the next day, we took the early morning Eurostar train back to Paris where we were going to stay for 2 more nights before returning to Singapore. :((

Those 2 days were really very relaxing days cos there wasn't much we wanted to see in Paris anyway. I don't know why, but we weren't interested in the usual famous tourist attractions like the Pantheon, Sacre-Coeur etc. But one thing KU wanted to do was to photograph the Eiffel Tower at night. But I didn't want to go to the Eiffel Tower at night cos I've heard horror stories of the streets becoming exponentially more dangerous when it gets dark and I wasn't about to take any risk.

So we visited the Eiffel Tower in the day.

The Tower with gloomy skies

After that, we visited the Invalides museum (or Musee de l'Armee), where Napoleon's Tomb is. The entrance fee to the tomb was EUR15 per pax (if I didn't recall wrongly) and cos we were too cheapo to pay for the ticket, we tried to find neglected doorways which would lead us to the tomb. Hehe.. (There was free entry to some of the other parts of the museum.) But to no avail, so KU made do with taking pictures of the exterior of the museum.

Had a nice walk from the METRO station

While we were waiting to the train back to our hotel, I saw that that particular station we were at had very nice mosaic art on its ceiling. It made me wish that Singapore's MRT stations didn't look so sterile. BUT. After experiencing the train system in Paris, I'm grateful for the efficiency we have back home.

And we ended our day with a good meal at the hotel cafe, which served very decent food.

My shrimp and vegetables roasted in paper box style

KU's steak with beans

The next day, it was shopping in the morning at Galeries LaFayette and Pierre Herme, and to the airport and home sweet home!

See The World: Paris-London (Part III)

I was very much looking forward to our 4th day in London cos we were going to visit one of England's most famous and historical attractions - Stonehenge!

I've wanted to visit Stonehenge ever since I watched Brave (the Pixar animation) and finding out that it was an important historical site made it all the more attractive to me. It was definitely one of the top few items on my bucket list! It never crossed my mind that we could visit Stonehenge on this trip until my sister introduced me to this website called Viator, which organises tours to practically all the major attractions in most major cities in the world. So we booked a full-day trip with the company to Stonehenge, Bath and Salisbury.

Our first stop was Salisbury, where we visited the Gothic Cathedral.

"This spectacular building is unique in being built almost entirely in one architectural style, Early English Gothic and has Britain’s tallest spire (123m/404ft) plus numerous famous literary connections. Discover the world’s finest original Magna Carta, Europe’s oldest working clock and the stunning living water font designed by sculptor William Pye." (Read more here) 

T'was a gloomy day, indeed

 

 

 

Always loovvveeee stained glass!

To be very honest, I didn't really know how to appreciate the cathedral. Of course I understood the importance of the Magna Carta (erm.. after KU told me), but I just didn't get the whole place. :x It could also be because I was just dying to get to our next destination - Stonehenge!

"Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds." (taken from here)

Yeah, babyyyyyy!!!

Instagrammed Stonehenge

        

It was a pity though, that we could only view the monument from about 200m away. :( Our tour guide told us that a few years ago, visitors were allowed to go right up to the monument and touch it, and some of them actually went armed with tools to chip off part of the monument to bring home. Hence, the government decided to create a boundary in order to preserve what was left. :(( I would really have loved to be able to touch the stones and have a picture with it!

But anyhoos, we were still considered a lucky bunch, cos we were told that starting from later this year, visitors would be allowed to view the attraction only from a further distance!

So, on our last day in London, we visited the Warner Bro. Harry Potter Studio!

I wouldn't really consider myself a diehard fan of the HP films, but I HAVE read all the HP books and watched all the HP films and loved both print and on-screen versions, so this was a must-go for me.

There are directions to the studio on the Warner Bro. website, where you can pre-purchase your tickets (highly recommended). We took the tube to Euston and transferred to the Overground to Watford Junction - the entire journey taking us almost 2 hours. From Watford Junction, go to bus stop 1 in the adjacent bus station and board the HP bus. (Return Ticket: GBP2)

"Woohoooooo!!"



The cupboard under the staircase - Harry Potter's room!



When we stepped into the studios proper, the first thing we saw was HP's old room - the cupboard under the stairs. I was very excited to see that there was really a bed, shelves, luggages etc. in it, like someone really did live in it!

 

The Grand Hall

 

Crests of Hogwarts and the 4 houses

Costumes: McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape



The next room we were ushered into was the Grand Hall, where all the opening scenes of the films were shot. And there were people who screamed/squealed/cooed in excitement and everyone was rushing to take pictures of everything.

 

Gryffindor common room



Potions class with Snape

Hagrid's hut

Dumbledore's office

Mrs Weasley's kitchen

Death Eaters' costumes

We're in Diagon Alley, yo!!

Weasley's Wizard Whitzies - that guy holding the tub was really puking!

Hogwart's Bridge

We were told that the props and sets in the studio were all actually used during the filming for the HP series. All the flying scenes were filmed in front of a green screen and then superimposed onto the relevant backgrounds. This was shown to use in a short video and it was amazing to see the effects!

There was also a room full of scale models made from cardboard. All the scale models were that of every single set in the movie. The crew was super committed to making everything as perfect and accurate as possible, hence such dedication! It was really awe-inspiring to see the intricate models on display - I can't imagine what kind of talented people worked on the movies.

Scale model of one of the sets

At the end of the tour, there was a larger scale model of the entire Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade. It was taller than everyone in the room and once-again, very very awe-inspiring. KU and I spent a good 15 minutes just taking pictures of every part of the model. It's like every time we look at the model there's something new to photograph. Too amazing.

A scale model of the entire Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade - it was impossible to capture everything in a picture!

The last room was dedicated to the 4000 cast and crew who worked tirelessly on the HP films. Their names were written on boxes covered in coloured paper and stacked on what looked like book shelves.

The cast and crew who worked on the HP films

And sitting in the corner was a guy who knew where the names of the cast were. I went up to him and asked for Emma Watson and he immediately knew where to point with his laser pointer! (I probably should have asked him for a fake person to test him. Hehe..)

The HP bus which whisked us away

With that, it signalled the end of our wonderful tour at the Warner Bro. Harry Potter studios. To me, it was totally worth the GBP29 we paid per pax because of the sheer amount of stuff we were shown (I didn't even cover half of what we saw in this entry!). Next on my bucket list is definitely Orlando's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

See The World: Paris-London (Part II)

On the 4th day of our trip, KU and I woke up bright and early to take the Eurostar to London. 

A personal note I'd need to file for future reference is that taking the Eurostar requires going through customs at the train station, which I was unaware of. I set the alarm for us to have just enough time to grab a quick breakfast, travel to the train station and check in. Imagine my horror and panic when I saw that we still had to get through customs.

For the 5 nights in London, we stayed at Marriott Hotel Marble Arch, which was about a 10-minute walk from the Marble Arch tube station. What I liked about our hotel was the easy access to the touristy parts of London, and the many cafes nearby. There were also a couple of supermarkets in the vicinity which we patronised many times.
 

Wall mural on the platform of Marble Arch station - most tube stations had some form of art on the platforms

Cos we arrived in London close to noon, lunch was at this pub near our hotel called The Tyburn (18-20 Edgware Road, Marble Arch, Greater London, W2 2EN). There's a promotion every day, and we were quite fortunate that our visit happened on their Steak Day. For about GBP7 each, KU had a steak set with a beverage and I had huge slab of ribs with a beverage. In our opinion, the food quality was very decent for that price. It didn't hurt too that there was free WiFi in the pub! We didn't know at that time that we were going to return to the pub every single day for the whole duration of our stay in London.


Day 1 in London: Steak Day lunch

Day 2: Eggs benedict for breakfast

Day 3: KU's breakfast set and my toast and yoghurt

Day 3: Chilli con carne for my dinner

Day 4: KU's steak dinner and my Tyburn burger which came with Jack Daniel's sauce for the fries!

With nothing much planned for the rest of the day, we decided to take a trip down to see the Big Ben and soak in the fresh air along the River Thames.

River Thames

Hello, Ben!

The London Eye and er.. some building

The London Eye and the iconic red bus!

The next day was pretty relaxing for us (read: nothing planned). All that was on the agenda was afternoon tea at Grovesnor House. So we made an impromptu decision to visit Covent Garden Market since it came highly recommended by KU's best friend.

The Market is made up of a few different smaller markets, like Apple Market, Jubilee Market, etc. But because we there early in the morning on a weekday, the other markets were not opened. :(

A word of warning: when you take the tube to Covent Garden station, please please pleaseeee take the damn elevator to the street level. Not many tube stations have elevators - everyone takes the stairs, and when KU and I saw everyone going to the elevator, we thought that there wouldn't be space in there for us and, thinking that we don't want to wait for the next round, we decided to take the stairs. BIG MISTAKE. We were so winded from climbing the spiralling staircase, and it was quite a loonngg way up. Another couple followed us up the stairs too! *giggles* So, the lesson here is, follow the locals.

My very winded husband. LOL.

Jamie Oliver's restaurant

There wasn't very much to shop for at the different Markets. Or maybe the stuff just didn't pique my interest enough for me to buy anything. The stalls at Apple Market were selling mostly handmade art like jewellery, drawings, cards, and even clocks! Jubilee Market was mostly made up of stalls selling clothes. I was on the lookout for cheap baby clothes and I saw this really cute onesie for infants which read "Best Aunt in the World". It was pink, and plain, no cartoons/patterns etc. and it cost GBP16. *faints* So, no purchase there either.

The only thing I bought from the Market was this abso-fantastic lemon raspberry cupcake from The Cupcake Bakehouse. It wasn't cheap at all, at GBP3.50, but OMG it was seriously hands-down the best cupcake I've ever had in my life. Twelve Cupcakes? Baked By Lace? Pfft pffft and pfffttttt.

The cupcake base itself was perfectly light and moist, not so light that you feel like you've eaten nothing when it's gone, and definitely not oily, with bits of tangy raspberry fruit in it. The lemon frosting was not overly sweet and dense, and has the right amount of volume to match the cupcake. It was so good I was reluctant to finish it, cos I wanted the enjoyment to last longer. :(



Gorgeous cupcakes with delicious-sounding names - had a hard time choosing!

I still dream of you sometimes, my beautifulllll

Cos we'ved booked ourselves an afternoon tea session at The Park Room & Library, Grovesnor House, we didn't have any lunch, so that we could save our stomach space for it. Heh..

Grovesnor House is also under the JW Marriott name and it was a couple of minutes walk away from Marble Arch tube station too. They really gave us quite a huge amount of food, and for approximately GBP35 each, it was worth the price (taking ONLY the amount of food into consideration). Sadly, the same can't be said about the quality of food. The sandwiches were either tasteless or too salty, the best-tasting being the cucumber sandwich. HOW SAD IS THAT?? The desserts left much to be desired too, as the cakes were dry. The best items on the menu were their scones and tea. Meh. And I really wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. :(

The smile was because I hadn't tasted the food yet. Lol.

As KU had just bought himself a turntable, he was on the lookout hunt for cheap vinyl records to bring back to Singapore. A kind gentleman at our hotel gave us the addresses and directions to the vinyl record stores he frequents (being a vinyl record buff himself) and we started on our hunt.

Sister Ray (34-35 Berwick Street, Soho London W1F 8RP, United Kingdom) is a shop which sells good quality, secondhand vinyl records at amazing prices. Even I was very enthusiastic after seeing the various genres of music they had and the records of many familiar artistes in the shop. We found the records of The Carpenters, ABBA, Boney M, Queen, Rod Steward etc. going for only GBP2. And there was even a sale corner where records were going at 3 for GBP5! KU bought aproximately 20 vinyl records from this store alone and spent only about GBP30? It was unbelievable.

Our next stop was M&M's World (1 Swiss Court, London WC2H 7DG; Tube: Leicester Square), which was 4 levels of crazy, fun, chocolatey goodness! Pity though, the merchandise was quite pricey, and I really couldn't bear to part with the cash to get anything much there. There were many great photo ops though, and everyone, young and old, were queuing to take pictures with the many different lifesized M&M's figures.

After which we visited Hamley's, the World's Largest Toy Store, to buy some toys for my little baby niece!

Dinner was Pret-a-Manger, which my sister encouraged us to try cos apparently they make their sandwiches and soups fresh every day. I love their soups!

On the sixth day, we indulged my obsession for animals, dinosaurs and bones - we went to the Natural History Museum (Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 5BD; Tube: South Kensington)!

The museum has 4 different zones (blue, green, red, orange) and many different galleries (Wildlife, Ecology, Human etc.), it was really mind-blowing. Before going there, I didn't know the museum was so huge, and alas, we couldn't spend as much time as we would have liked there cos there was other stuff on our itinerary. :((

BUT. I spent all my time in the Blue zone, where the dinosaur and animal galleries were located, and I had a really good time marvelling at the exhibits! Hard to imagine that we were treated to such a visual feast for FREE.

We were going to watch Les Miserables (the musical) that evening (Queen’s Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 6BA).

Hello, Their Royal Juiciness

Dinner was at Chinatown, where we had Four Season's famous roast duck and char siew with rice. I don't take duck meat (dislike it, in fact) because I find that duck meat usually has this distinct shao smell, but the roast duck at Four Season's was really good and didn't have that smell at all. The char siew was very good too, albeit abit too salty, but the meat was juicy and nicely charred on the outside.

Walking dinner off before the show

The musical was great! The stage props, singing and songs were awesome, but because we were seated in the circle seats, I couldn't see the expressions on the singers' faces and hence didn't really feel the emotions in the songs. The musical was a little too long to me too, and I erm.. fell asleep towards the end of the show. :S I was glad we did this though, cos I've always had people tell me that we should catch a musical when we are in London, and that's another item checked off out to-do list!