Deepavali 2015 at White Lodge Preschool

I love that Elise's playschool takes advantage of every festival going. They've been making lanterns and learning about the tales of Rama for the last few weeks.

Here's Elise sitting on the wall outside school wearing a lovely silk Indian dress, complete with green and gold bangles and even a bindi. And slightly wonky bunches. Well, you can't have everything.

She also took to the treehouse after school:

And loved her outfit so much, she even went to the supermarket with me after school in it!

Happy Deepavali everyone!

Rebecca and Elise x

UN Day - White Lodge Preschool 2015

White Lodge preschool is a wonderful environment for Elise. It is truly multi-cultural. Their core value is 'accepting difference' and Ross and I love the fact that every week, Elise is learning something different about another culture, country, type of food, group of people or landmark.

This week they have been learning about Niagara Falls for example and pouring water down a plastic mini waterfall. Last week they made chipatti and in a week's time they will be celebrating Diwali! It never ends.

UN Day is no exception and the school really goes all out on this event. It is held annually at the American School in their gymnasium and parents and teachers volunteer to host stands for the many different countries the students originate from. The stands showcase national costumes, share cultural artefacts and customs and offer tray upon tray of delicious local foods. Our scones were on the UK stand of course!

This year, there were stands for UK, USA, India, Japan, Switzerland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, China, Bulgaria, Germany, France... the list goes on. It is an incredible event that never disappoints.

Here are some photos from the event:

The day started off with a clash and a bang with a traditional Lion Dance

We were greeted by a character bringing good luck... must research who he is!

Here is the stand representing Japan - a teacher hands out origami shapes and animals to the children

The school's Mandarin teachers treat us to a traditional Mongolian dance

Uncle Mo, the resident musician, plays the sitar for us all

The South Africa stall was my favourite!

Elise's 'passport' showing all the 'countries' she visited on the day!

A very special day which was lots of fun and we all learned a great deal!

Love and hugs

Rebecca and Elise x

UN Day and Elise's Cultural Background

Elise's preschool is celebrating UN Day this weekend with a big festival. No doubt I'll post something on that too...

But for now I thought I'd share Elise's 'story' so far. I offered to read a story to Elise's class the other day and her teacher, Miss Lisa, suggested I might like to talk about something relevant to where Elise is from.

Ok I thought - how about we do some little collages, covering the significant places in Elise's life, and share those with her class.

Elise is English, was born in Australia and now lives in Singapore. I thought that might provide some interesting topics for us to chat about in her classroom!

So the topics I looked at:

• What children like to do in each of these countries
• What foods the children like to eat / are 'native'
• How the weather affects life in each place
• Which animals are native

Here's what we came up with (please forgive the stereotypes - I was talking to a group of 3 and 4 year olds):

England is often wet and so children play outside in their wellies a lot. It also sometimes snows in England! Not many of the children in Elise's class had seen snow before - awwww! Children like to eat bangers and mash, strawberries and orchard fruits like apples in England. England has rolling fields and a queen, who lives in Buckingham Palace and she has many guards who look after her:

Australia is a hot place with plenty of desert. People spend a lot of time on the beach and swimming in the sea. There are many culturally interesting factors about Australia - aboriginal culture being one of them. Elise's class had just recently done a project about aborigine art so they connected with that picture. There are many animals that live only in Australia such as the kangaroo, koala and echidna. Avocados and oranges are grown here:

Singapore is hot, humid and tropical and it has tropical rainstorms. Children love the water parks as a way to cool down! It is a city and has many wonderful sights, such as the big wheel (The Singapore Flyer), Gardens by the Bay and the Merlion. Cuisine includes lots of rice and noodles... and smelly durians! Native animals include monkeys, the pangolin and sea otters:

The children enjoyed spotting the different fruits and animals and talking about different ways to play. It was a fun way to spend time with Elise's class and share some interesting stuff about her with her friends!

Love and hugs
Rebecca and Elise x

Dim Sum

No Asian experience is complete without enjoying dim sum for lunch every so often!

Elise loves char sui bau (light steamed pork buns)... here she is tucking into some!

September 2015 in Crystal Jade, Vivocity, Singapore

We are also having some garlic spinach, long bau and bbq pork sesame buns... delish!

Love and hugs
Rebecca and Elise

The Singapore Flyer - the big wheel in Singapore

Elise trying to be as tall as The Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Flyer is one of the more touristy things you can do in Singapore. I was expecting to be a bit disappointed to be honest. After all I've been on The London Eye which is, quite frankly, awesome.

But I wasn't disappointed at all.

What is interesting about the Singapore Flyer is the vantage point it gives you of all the reclamation going on around it. In this photo you can see the land to the east of The Mariana Bay Sands Hotel that has been reclaimed and is waiting to settle.

You can see the two domes and the enormous purple 'trees' at Gardens By The Bay (I will post about this gorgeous place another day), but beyond that is barren land.

No doubt, if we go on the Singapore Flyer in a few years from now, this land will be filled with brand new shiny skyscrapers and office blocks. I took this photo in early 2015, so let's see! :)

Gardens by the Bay (left) and Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino (right)

If you look the other way, towards the west, you can see the business district (as well as a floating football pitch - this is Singapore after all).

You can also just about make out the spectacular Fullerton Hotel and the Merlion overlooking Marina Bay.

Business district 

Overall, I'd highly recommend The Singapore Flyer. It isn't the cheapest hour you could spend but you might be pleasantly surprised by the experience.

Rebecca

Little India - Singapore

Little India - Serangoon Road

Little India is a wonderful, slightly crazy, place that bustles with life anytime you choose to visit it. Weekends are particularly noisy and busy, when the whole Indian population of Singapore (circa 400,000 people) and only slightly fewer tourists seem to transcend its streets, alleys, hawker stalls and markets.

The overwhelming smell of incense and fragrance from the orange, red and white marigold garlands hit you as soon as you arrive.

There are a number of places you can shop and explore in Little India - some are indoors and others, out. The main road (Serangoon Road - see photo above) has a number of shophouses all along it, selling everything from gold jewellery and peacock feathers to saris, embroidered and jewel encrusted materials and durians.

Indoors, you have The Verge which is a shopping centre essentially (with air-con) but there isn't much to see here. The Verge sits on the corner of Bukit Timah Road and Serangoon Road.

You also have Little India Arcade, which is a small labrinyth of shops and market stalls. Expect to feel cramped but exhilarated... there's lots to see! This place is brilliant if you're looking for some small, authentic gifts: elephant mobiles, table runners, bags, scarves, fabrics, clothes, cheap jewellery. Not much for the blokes unfortunately!

Little India Arcade isn't big enough to get lost in; it's all spread out over the ground floor.

Little India Arcade

Now if it's saris you want, or a lovely punjab trouser suit, the place to head is The Tekka Centre. Located right next to Little India MRT train station the Tekka Centre is, quite simply, a wonder.

Tekka Centre, Little India

The upper level of The Tekka Centre is literally crammed with clothes and you will always be able to strike a bargain here. There are clothes for as little as S$5 and beautifully ornate saris for a whole lot more.

Clothing in The Tekka Centre

I have bought numerous things from The Tekka Centre including bangles, bindis, punjab trouser suits, silk dresses for my daughter... and never for much money. You can get henna 'tattoos' here, buy sparkly shoes (to match your sparkly outfits) and also get any materials tailored. Here are three lovely tailors happy for their photos to be taken:

The Tekka Centre sits above a wet market. A word of warning - if you're not keen on the smell of raw fish you might find this place a bit of a turn off.

You can buy fresh veggies, flowers, fish, seafood and meat from here. I personally am not keen on the wet markets for buying meat (but that's my preference).

Wet market, G/F The Tekka Centre

And if you can't find what you want from Little India, you could always try Mustafa's, which is a 24-hour  shopping extravaganza (located at Farrer Park)... but that's a whole other post entirely.

In summary, Little India is a must-visit-place for any local, temporary resident (like me) or tourist. It is rich in cultural flavour and will always fascinate.

If you're up for a bit of added cultural exploration, you might like to visit one of the many Hindu temples in the area: Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple (Serangoon Road); Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple (Serangoon Road); or Shree Lakshminarayan Temple (Chander Road).

Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple

How to get there:

By train: Nearest MRT is 'Little India'

By car: There is limited parking but there are car parks at The Verge and dotted about the area. I would definitely recommend getting the MRT though - it's easier!

Would you take your children?

Absolutely! Pushing a pram around might cause some issues, but that's the same with anywhere outside of a shopping mall in Singapore.

Have fun!
Rebecca