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Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up Motherkao loves... Reviews The Kao Kids

All in the picture now, thanks to Orange Studios

September 3, 2013

Fatherkao has almost never taken a break from being the resident paparazzo in the house. Since 2009, he’s been bending, squatting and contorting in all sorts of awkward positions with his DSLR, capturing precious moments of each of our kid as they tumbled, crawled and toddled in their growing years. Picture-perfect moments with the kids are also always unpredictable, which means as the resident photog, he’s always on standby mode and ready with his equipment to snap a shot.

Which also means that the number of photographs that we have with him in it are way too few the children always end up asking, “Where is Dada in the picture?”

It is for this reason alone I had agreed almost immediately when Orange Studios contacted me to review their studio photography service. Finally, Dada can be in the pictures, and we’re gonna have some nice family portraits!

Prior to the photoshoot, Orange Studios’ photographer, Ryan, rang me up for a chat to learn more about our family and the kids. He asked what Ben, Becks and Nat loved, what they enjoyed doing, and to name some activities we do together as a family. He suggested that I could bring items that each of the kid liked, books they enjoyed reading and toys they love playing with together, and individually. He also suggested how we could be coordinated outfit-wise, and asked me to think about ways I could make the couple shots special and even suggested that I bring something that was representative of Fatherkao and I during our dating days.

I packed two sets of clothes for the family – one formal and one casual – plus all the stuffed toys that each kid loves: Lego blocks, some of our favourite books, some balls and their favourite of all favourites – Nerf guns. I almost packed in some wine glasses, a bottle of wine and our dusty scuba gear (I think my flippers would disintegrate if I wore them – it’s been so long!) for our couple shots – but by the time I was done packing for the kids, I saw three of those giant Ikea bags lying in the hallway (to my horror) and decided I would be too crazy to be lugging the alcohol and scuba stuff all the way to the studio.

At the studio, we met Ryan and Wini, his lovely assistant, and they helped us settle in and feel comfortable very quickly. I didn’t tell the kids what I packed, and when they saw the Nerfs, the plushies and the Lego Duplo, boy, did they go wild! Getting them to do what they do best (going wild like apes) wasn’t too difficult at all. They quickly warmed up to Ryan, who engaged them in non-stop chatter and jokes, and the kids in turn had fun playing and posing for the camera. There were so many spontaneous moments and much laughter in the studio, thanks to our friendly photographer’s creative and sometimes wild suggestions for shots, and we all had a ball of a time jumping, walking, talking, playing and shooting Nerf guns. It was really fun taking pictures as a family.

I shall let the pictures do the talking:

As you can see, Ryan does a really good job making sure everyone looks comfortably natural and happy. He captures the spontaneity in the moment, and does it extremely well.

We were also given a 20″x 20″ canvas print by Orange Studios, which now sits proudly on the telephone table in our living room. The canvas print quality is superbly impressive. The colours are vibrant and the finish is clean and a beautiful sleek matte. If there was one moment I would want to capture in time and preserve it for eternity, it was that – my young children living their childhood to the fullest and our very blessed family smiling for the camera.

Thank you, Orange Studios, for giving us this opportunity to laugh and play freely, and to have fun together as a family!

*Here’s something for Motherkao’s readers who wish to have a spontaneously smashing good time with Orange Studios!* Orange Studios is offering a $150 cash voucher for readers of this blog if you book anytime from now till 3 October 2013.

The Terms & Conditions that apply are:

1) You need to schedule your photoshoot within 2 months of this post, which is by the first week of November.

2) The cash voucher can be used to offset whichever package(s) you book.

To find out more, contact Orange Studios at +65 8606 6951 | +65 8606 6950 or connect with them via their FB page. Remember to quote “Motherkao” when you make your booking!

You’ll have fun for sure, this I can assure you!

Disclosure: We were invited by Orange Studios to smile for their cameras and to review their studio photography services. We were also given 10 photographs in soft copies and a 20″ x 20″ canvas print of our favourite shot. All opinions here are based on our experience and solely my own.

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Family life as we know it Food, glorious food! Invites & Tryouts Motherkao's recipes Product Reviews The Kao Kids

The Kaos here drink milk!

August 28, 2013

The Kaos in the house guzzle milk. And I mean guzzle. We drink as much as 6 litres of fresh milk every week, sometimes even more.

Fatherkao adds fresh milk to his coffee and Milo. I add it once every few days to some Earl Grey tea if I don’t get my daily bubble tea fix. Ben and Becks drink milk fresh from the carton every morning at breakfast, every afternoon with snacks and every night before they go to bed. And I’ve not even introduced Nat to fresh milk yet. I think when he finally joins the fresh milk drinking club, we’ll have to kidnap a cow.

And for a couple of years now, we’ve been drinking Greenfields. (If you ask me why we switched, it was simply because Starbucks uses it.)

Ben and Becks drink Greenfields Fresh Milk before they head to kindy every morning – and they love Greenfields Chocolate Malt best!

Originating from Indonesia and established in 1997, Greenfields milk does not include additives, chemicals, antibiotics and hormones. Fresh milk from Greenfields is single-pasteurized, which means more nutrients are retained. Their milk is also produced, pasteurized and packed within the dairy, and Greenfields’ integrated dairy farm based at Gunung Kawi (Malang, East Java) is of the highest quality and meets the world’s toughest microbiological standards.

The Greenfields Integrated Dairy Farm at Gunung Kawi

I like the idea that the dairy farm is kinda like it’s next door, compared to milk that has to travel a bit longer than Indonesia to reach us, like those from Australia or New Zealand; which means when Greenfields call their milk ‘fresh milk’, theirs is kinda fresher than those dairy farms which are further away.

Greenfields produces Honest Milk, and we like that it is fresh and safe for our family, and that it tastes great too.

Besides our daily affair of guzzling milk by the cartons, fresh milk is often a key ingredient for my cooking and baking. It’s a must-have in our ham and chicken Alfredo, clam chowder, sliced fish soup and curry chicken – because it’s way healthier than coconut milk and evaporated milk – and is one of the essential ingredient for my cupcakes and pound cakes which I bake for the kids for their breakfast and tea.

I recently made Hot Milk Cake with Greenfields’ High Calcium Low Fat Milk, which was a hit with the kids. This simple, classic pound cake is so easy to make and so yummy to have. Trust me, you will wow your kids with this recipe.

Hot Milk Cake (Recipe yields 12-16 servings. Half the recipe if you don’t need so much, but it’s pretty addictive so making more is always a good idea!)

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 cups caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour / plain flour
2-1/4 tsp baking powder
1-1/4 cup 2% milk (I use Greenfields 1.3% Low Fat Milk)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed (about 150g)

Instructions:

1) In a large bowl, beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes till you see them turn a thick lemon colour. Gradually add sugar and beat till mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.

2) Combine sifted flour and baking powder and gradually add to the batter. Beat at low speed until smooth.

3) In a small saucepan, heat milk and unsalted butter under low heat until butter is melted. Gradually add to batter and beat until just combined. (That’s why it’s called ‘Hot Milk Cake’!)

Hot milk cake ready for the oven!

4) Pour into a greased or lined baking pan and bake at 175°C for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near centre of cake comes out clean.

5) When the cake’s cool, slice and enjoy!

Freshly baked yumminess

Slice and enjoy!

What a way to load up on the calcium I say, with fresh milk every day and milk in our food and desserts!

Greenfields Milk is available at most supermarkets at $5.95 for their 2-litre bottle (all except at FairPrice), $3.25 for their 1-litre pack and $1.50 for a pack of 200ml Greenfields Milk (only available at 7-11).

Buy any 2 x 2-litre Bottles or 3 x 1-litre Packs to get your free limited edition double walled cup. Promotion is valid from 12 August, while stocks last and available at major supermarkets and hypermarkets nationwide. Limited to four cups in a single receipt.

This recipe and post was brought to you by Greenfields.

Disclosure: Thanks to the milk man from Greenfields who delivered a few 1-litre and 200ml packs to our doorstep, we got to enjoy (more) milk this month. The good people at Greenfields also paid me to write this post. All opinions here are my own and based on my experience. We’ve been drinking Greenfields for a few years now, and it’s currently our favourite brand of fresh milk.

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Invites & Tryouts Motherkao loves... Reviews The real supermom

More reasons to shop at RedMart

August 15, 2013

If you’ve not been to RedMart, you really should. And you don’t need to travel physically there, push a trolley or wish that the ground would swallow you up when your kids monkey around and pinch everything they see along the aisles, cos’ all you need is a mouse, a computer and internet connection. If you have an iPhone, you could even download their app and grocery-shop on the move.

RedMart has close to 4,000 items in their store, and you could buy everything from baby supplies to pregnancy test kits to ready-to-eat briyani.

I am really impressed with the wide range of products they have in stock. During my previous shake-legs-grocery-shopping experience, I found the Chianti (Fatherkao’s favourite type of red wine), all the ingredients (from their extensive range in ‘Indian Selection’) which I would ever need to whip up a meal to rival Muthu’s Curry (not that I can, hurhur!), organic cleaning agents (like BabyGanics and Green Cleaners) and items like Eno, Panadol and calcium tablets to stock up the medicine cabinet.

I was really glad to have found this at this price!

Baby-safe cleaner at a discounted price!

Wide range of selection from Food & Beverage

And oh yes, if you ever found buying contraceptives embarrassing, you could even buy them here! No more need to explain to the kids that what you’re getting ain’t some funky candies!

The ‘Sexual Wellness’ Section at RedMart

And for someone who’s big on product labels, I particularly appreciated the fact that at RedMart, I could view every single product in this online grocery store close up. This is something that gives Redmart an edge over its competitors. Especially for someone who’s a stickler for labels like me.

I don’t buy sauces, pastes and mixes without reading nutrition facts and I am on a constant look out for no-no’s like monosodium glutamate when I buy my oyster sauce, ketchup and sambal belachan from the supermarkets. I check where products are made and when they expire. I make sure that when I buy food, the “Trans Fat” reads 0g and “Cholesterol” 0%. When I get cleaning agents and bath products for the family, I always made sure they were sulphate- and paraben-free. I scrutinize every single ingredient that goes into making the product, especially the kinds of chemicals, and I consult Dr Google on the spot should I suspect something amiss.

At RedMart, I am glad that even though there are brief product descriptions provided for every product, I get to scrutinize the labels on the products just by mouse-ing over the area I wish to see enlarged before I decide to add them to my cart.

Case in point: remember I mentioned I needed to be consuming oatmeal for the rest of my life because the doctor instructed me to lower my LDL? I found Bob’s Red Mill Organic Brown Rice Farina Creamy Rice Hot Cereal (that’s a mouthful!) and decided I might want to be eating this for forever.

And since forever might be a long time and I’ve never heard of Bob’s Red Mill, I was really glad to be able to read the cooking instructions and all the other finer print on the packaging before buying it.

Reading the label closely

At RedMart, items are not just cleanly organized into distinctive categories – like products meticulously shelved in supermarkets – you also get value-added shopping experience because you get to read product labels too, just like being there at the supermarket!

Now, how’s that for more shake legs grocery shopping?

More details:

The store comes to you at RedMart, with its large product selection of home essentials, same day delivery within 2-hour delivery windows (so you need only be home for 2 hours), free delivery on orders above $75, competitive prices and automatic reminders to restock. RedMart knows you have better things to do!

Disclosure: The good people at RedMart sponsored this post. All opinions here are my own.

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Food, glorious food! Invites & Tryouts Motherkao loves... Reviews

Turbo action on cake (introducing PrimaDeli’s new range of cartoon cakes)

August 7, 2013

We haven’t caught the latest DreamWorks animation, Turbo, on big screen yet, but we got a piece of the action today with PrimaDéli’s new Turbo cake range.

PrimaDéli sent over their Turbo Racing League cake which features SuperTurbo and Friends on the edible icing and the fluffliest chocolate sponge covered with layers of light fresh cream. A really nice gesture to perk up our long weekend!

An orange-themed Turbo cake was what we had for dessert today!

As with all cake, there must be a reason for eating it. At least that’s what the kids think. So we stuck four big candles and eight little ones all round the 1 kg cake, sang a birthday song to Singapore, and sat down together as a family to enjoy the deliciousness of fresh cream and choco sponge.

Singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Singapore with gusto

Excitement in the air: eating cake, National Day, long weekend!

The deliciousness of fresh chocolate cream by the layers

Licking their cake forks and loving the light cream and fluffy sponge

The kids were licking their plates and asking for more cream after they were done chomping down their slice of cake. After they had their fill of cream, they quickly asked, “Can we please go watch the snails?”

Looks like we need to go meet the Turbo Racing League soon. Until that movie date, we’ll be slowly savouring the sweet treat specially prepared for us by PrimaDéli. What a happy start to the long weekend!

*GIVEAWAY: I have THREE Turbo Cakes to give away!*

Watching the latest DreamWorks movie doesn’t just stop at the cinemas, now you can customise your cake featuring DreamWorks’s newest action star – Turbo and friends! And PrimaDéli is giving away THREE 300g Turbo Cakes to THREE of Motherkao’s readers!

Here’s how you can take part:

1) Like PrimaDéli’s Facebook page.

2) Share this entry by clicking the (very tiny) Facebook icon at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, you can go to to this link, look for {Giveaway} and share away.

3) Leave me a comment telling me what you love about PrimaDéli after you have liked and shared.

Terms & Conditions:

The above steps must be completed to qualify.
Contest will close on 11 August 2013, 2359hrs and results will be announced on 12 August.
Giveaway is open to everyone with a valid Singapore Address for delivery. 1 winner per household address.
Winners must respond by 16 August 2013 on delivery details, else giveaway will be forfeited.
Winner will be selected randomly and Motherkao’s decision is final.
Giveaway will be a 300g TURBO cake (choice of chocolate or vanilla only).
All giveaways must be redeemed by 31 August 2013.

Disclosure: We received a 1kg Turbo cake with compliments from PrimaDéli. All opinions here are my own.

Update: Turbo’s coming your way, Adora @ Gingerbreadmum, Jolin & Arsheitha! I see you smacking some lips already!

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Becks Kao Ben Kao Going Out! Invites & Tryouts Reviews

Review: Hey Little Mousedeer!

August 4, 2013

In an earlier post which I wrote when I gave away tickets to the drama-musical Hey Little Mousedeer!, I mentioned that this production couldn’t have come at a better time.

Set in the rainforest, the drama-musical promises to take us on a journey of discovering our region’s colourful heritage, and to teach us valuable lessons about saving the environment, bravery and facing the consequences of one’s own actions. I was really looking forward to bringing the kids for this production so we can learn a thing or two about conserving our environment with the haze crisis that happened a month ago.

What I didn’t expect was that this production also did me a big favour by teaching my kids the valuable lesson of honesty and sincerity in friendship.

We caught the production at the very comfortable and cosy Alliance Française Theatre on Saturday.

In the 50-minute play, we met Sang Kancil, a crafty little mousedeer who loved to trick the animals in the forest. In a bid to show how quick-witted and clever he can be, he was often proud and disrespectful, which annoyed and offended the other forest creatures like Cicak, Monyet Besar, Monyet Kecil and Harimau. They weren’t too pleased to be made fools by the mousedeer all the time and came up with a plan to teach him a lesson. Sang Kancil did eventually learn his lesson when the other animals banished him to the forest fringe, and that was where he witnessed deforestation and forest fires taking place. He returned to warn his friends and although they found it hard to believe him, they eventually heeded his warning and escaped danger.

It was like the story of the boy who cried wolf retold in another context, and this production taught Ben and Becks (besides respecting our environment) that you need to treat your friends with respect and honesty, and not play tricks on them. And that even if you were so clever, you needn’t be haughty!

This couldn’t have come at a better time cos’ these two kids are at this phase where they have plenty of tricks up their sleeves for each other, and I’m glad they learned a precious lesson from Sang Kancil himself!

There was a lot of laughter and fun as the five characters told the story about the clever little mousedeer and his adventures. The production was staged based on a selection of regional folklore and these classic stories came to live through brilliant acting and catchy songs. Becks was singing the ‘one silly crocodile’ song after the show, to my amazement, and Ben was recounting the scenes in the play that made him laugh while on our way home. We were also given a story book (in English and Chinese) titled The Mousedeer’s Adventures and Other Stories for keeps, and I was glad to be able to read about Sang Kancil and Sang Buaya to the kids before the show, and the rest of the stories after.

All in all, we had a wonderful time on a lovely Saturday afternoon. Thank you for inviting us, and for sponsoring the giveaway, I Theatre!

More details on I Theatre:

I Theatre is a non-profit organization which exists to create top quality theatre for children and families. Since April 2008, I Theatre has been a registered charity and an Institute of Public Character. It relies almost entirely on ticket sales to support its work of four quality productions annually. You can also make a donation to their ‘Theatre For All’ scheme which supports needy charitable groups who cannot afford to watch I Theatre’s shows by giving them free or discounted tickets. To support ‘Theatre For All’, email team@itheatre.org.

I Theatre’s next production, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, will be staged at the Drama Centre Theatre at the National Library Building from 1 – 17 November 2013. (Recommended for ages 4 and above.)

P/S: You can still catch Hey Little Mousedeer! from now till 6 August 2013. Tickets available at Sistic.

Disclosure: Ben, Becks and I were given media passes to watch Hey Little Mousedeer! and all opinions in this post are my own.

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Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Motherkao loves... Nat Kao Reviews

And it’s a wrap at Gymnademics! [+a giveaway]

July 31, 2013

We’ve just completed a term of Gymnademics at their Pre-Fellow class, and it’s been A LOT of fun, fun, fun. Nat and I have learned and played SO MUCH together at every lesson, and for this, we really have Teacher Selene and her assistants to thank.

Every lesson for Nat at his Pre-Fellow class is parent-accompanied, which means both of us get a mental and physical workout! The class is an hour long, and we usually arrive 10 to 15 minutes earlier to get Nat used to the environment. By mid-term, Nat got pretty used to the gym studio and the routine, and even knew where to leave his water bottle!

The Pre-Fellow class (suitable for toddlers 1 to 2 years old) is structured and packed with mental and physical stimulation for the little ones from the get-go. The children engage in as many as 14 activities the whole hour, starting with the Welcome Song, followed by a recap of the previous week’s theme-based lesson. Then it’s the theme of the week, some warm-ups (in the form of song and actions) and then it’s movement time at the gym circuit and swinging on the trapeze.

Our last lesson at Gymnademics coincided with Racial Harmony Day and Nat got to wear ethnic Indon garb! Here he is learning about traditional costumes!

Our last lesson at Gymnademics coincided with Racial Harmony Day and Nat got to wear his hand-me-down ethnic Indonesian garb. Here’s a picture of him learning about traditional costumes!

Nat loves the gym circuit and he covers at least three rounds of it every lesson

Nat loves the gym circuit and covers at least three rounds of it every lesson

Unfortunately, Nat refuses to swing on the trapeze still. But he loves to hang on the monkey bar and so we let him do that instead during the trapeze segment while the rest are swinging.

Nat swinging on the monkey bar: He’s not ok with the trapeze but feels perfectly fine swinging from this!

Gymnademics is the only enrichment gym in Singapore affiliated with the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) and its curriculum is based on methods developed by the late Glenn Doman which focuses on a child’s brain development and developing a child holistically. Which means in every lesson, the little tots, young as they are, get to read flashcards and learn new vocabulary related to the theme of the week. The toddlers also do a fair bit of singing and dancing, and holding percussion instruments – something which Nat enjoys tremendously.

Music, song, action: Enjoying sing-alongs and shaking the macara

Music, song, action: Enjoying sing-alongs, shaking the macara and throwing the beanbag

Other activities also include the fruit relay (which trains the child to run in a straight line), gymnastics (which trains hand-eye coordination and develops their gross motor skills), parachute time (story time based on the theme of the week), Mystery Box (one of my personal favourites because Nat and I get to do some hands-on together) and music appreciation (learning the solfeggio, a technique in music used to teach pitch).

Counting the number of fruits together after the fruit relay

A very focused Nat doing some colouring during th Mystery Box segment

A very focused Nat doing some colouring during the Mystery Box segment

What I particularly like about the classes at Gymnademics is that the entire hour is packed with activities for the little ones and they are never once bored or restless – and that to me is quality time spent learning and exploring! The teachers are an enthusiastic bunch who are so dedicated they would even set up the gym circuit or trapeze for you should you wish to revisit a particular segment with your child. There is a lot of positivity and encouragement going around at every lesson, and this really help to boost the little ones’ confidence.

Gymnademics has been truly fun, engaging and purposeful, and I am mighty glad that Nat got the opportunity to experience that. Thank you, Gymnademics, for the invitation!

*Time for a giveaway!*

Gymnademics is offering three trial passes to three Motherkao readers who wish to experience fun and purposeful play at Gymnademics! To take part in this giveaway, simply leave a comment here to say who you’d like to win this pass for, with your email address. Find out more about their classes for 5 months old to 5 years old here. Giveaway ends 8 August.

P/S: It would be really nice if you could LIKE the Gymnademics Facebook page too!

PP/S: I shared our experiences in an earlier review here and here. We were invited to Gymnademics for a term. All opinions are my own.

Update: AND WE HAVE OUR WINNERS…Congrats to Cheryl, Regina and Debbie! We’ll be in touch shortly!

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Fatherkao loves... Food, glorious food! Happy days Invites & Tryouts Motherkao loves... Product Reviews The Kao Kids

Smooth Operator (with help from the all new Philips Jamie Oliver Blender)

July 25, 2013

No, I’m not referring to Sade’s lover boy with diamond life.

I’m referring to this man who’s been in the kitchen lately, making after-dinner drinks for the kids and winning their hearts:

Smooth(ie) Operator

Thanks to the all new Philips Jamie Oliver Blender, Fatherkao is now the official Smooth(ie) Operator in our house. With mangoes in season, a 600-W blender with a two-speed pulse setting, a high quality 1.5-litre jar and titanium-coated 5-star serrated blades, he’s been wowing the kids with his smoothie creations effortlessly using this new kitchen tool.

The all new Philips Jamie Oliver Blender

He throws in ripe mangoes with lemon sorbet, some fresh lime and mint leaves, and pulse everything with crushed ice. Some days he adds a dash of milk and some days a splash of orange juice.

The ingredients for a refreshing mango smoothie

And the kids go on an all-time high waiting for their desserts after dinner…

Act 1, Scene 1: Gimme, gimme!

Act 2, Scene 1: Can’t wait! Gimme!

Act 2, Scene 2: Smoothie ready!

And going totally ecstatic to the point of declaring this:

Ben: Mama makes smoothie a little bit nice. But Dada makes the NICEST! Next time, when Mama wants to make smoothie, we’ll call you, ok, Dada?

Yummy yum yum, they say!

Now, that’s how the Smooth Operator stole my thunder and became the latest hero in the kitchen, with an uncomplicated blender who does all the work for him!

Keep life simple with the PHILIPS | Jamie Oliver range which includes a food processor (S$268), handblender (S$128) and blender (S$108). Available at leading electronics and departmental stores.

Disclosure: I received the Philips Jamie Oliver Blender for the purpose of writing this. This post is the second in a series of sponsored conversations on behalf of Philips Singapore. All opinions are my own. And yes, I am jealous that what I make for the kids is only “a little bit nice” but that’s just because I lent Fatherkao my Philips JO blender.

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Going Out! Invites & Tryouts Reviews

FoodArt fun at Nutriville

July 24, 2013

During the June holidays, we were invited to check out Nutriville, a social enterprise that was established in 2011 that aimed to create novel yet practical ways to empower and equip senior folks in our community to help them age better and happier. The organisation was born when the founders, two young adults in their twenties, witnessed how their grandmother’s health and well-being deteriorated after a bad fall, and after being diagnosed with dementia. These two cousins then decided they wanted to do something meaningful for the senior folks in our community – they set up Nutriville and have been trying to accomplish their social mission ever since.

How is this social enterprise relevant to me, a mother with three kids, you may ask. Nutriville has launched a series of Food Art classes for children aged 4 and above, and are committed to channel their revenue from these programmes to engage their beneficiaries. I thought it might be worthwhile to check out what exactly is Food Art and find out what this social enterprise had to offer.

Nutriville’s FoodArt Programme is probably the first of its kind here in Singapore. The programme integrates food and art to create real art work, mosaic, crafts and clay. We checked out their “Carnival of FoodArt” at their pre-opening, and Ben and Becks had fun creating their own masterpiece with corn paint, carved potatoes and coloured rice.

It was a good hour of fun for them. I must say, given the neat freak that I am with my obsessive compulsion to keep everything orderly and clean, I might never allow this mess to happen at home. I’m glad Nutriville gave the kids a chance to make a mess and go creative on their drawing paper!

Nutriville offers a range of courses from creative FoodArt and food-carving to healthy cooking with traditional recipes. They also have classes that promote inter-generational learning, where you can bring a senior folk to go to class with you. The senior goes free too, for every paying participant. So if Grandpa or Grandma are bored out of their socks at home, they can attend class with junior, learn a thing or two about food art and in turn, pick up some skills. Special moments of bonding included too, I am pretty sure!

If you’d like to support Nutriville, do enquire at enquiry@nutriville.org, or visit their website and Facebook page for more details on their programmes, camps and workshops. Nutriville is located at Hangout@Nutriville, 153B Rochor Road, Bugis Village

Disclosure: We were invited to Nutriville’s pre-opening earlier in June. I did not receive any monetary compensation to write this and all opinions are my own.

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Invites & Tryouts Motherkao loves... Reviews The real supermom

Shake legs grocery shopping with RedMart

July 16, 2013

I’ve written some time ago how supermarketing is now a whole new experience with three kids in tow. It’s a big excursion that requires planning and coordination of naptimes and mealtimes, as well as a good deal of strategizing on how to get my shopping-list items in the most efficient way, while keeping the kids out of mischief. And oh yes, the three of them now fill up one trolley, so I push one more extra now so the groceries can go somewhere. Which means I can never head to the supermarket without an extra pair of adult hands to help me push the kids around and make sure they don’t pinch, stab and squash whatever they see along the way.

There are some days when I really don’t feel like I want to be pushing three kids in a trolley, don’t wish to be lifting a single grocery bag, don’t want to be stepping foot into a supermarket (which is almost always crowded these days!) and wasting precious time queuing. Did I also mention that finding parking at these malls with supermarkets is such a pain?

What can I do on these “some days”, especially if the larder, refrigerator and toiletries cabinet are calling out to be replenished?

Online shopping! I hear you say.

Somebody recently told me that I should start buying groceries online if bringing the kids out is such a hassle. There are local e-grocers that offer competitive prices and free delivery within the same day to cater to the modern need for efficiency and convenience. Some time ago, I experienced one of those “some days” and decided to stock up my household items at RedMart. We were running out of rice, bathroom cleaners and snacks for the kids; plus, the doc’s just given me orders to lower my LDL, so I desperately needed to buy some oatmeal cereal and go make myself a few thousand bowls of that to eat over breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of my life. And with the recent haze crisis, I wasn’t too sure of the PM2.5 concentrations in our air to be heading out with the kids. I dread looking for parking and paying for parking, and Nat fussing to be carried after a few minutes of being in the trolley.

So I went online and got everything I needed in the comfort of my couch, using only five fingers and a mouse.

And it was so easy, so quick, so convenient! Here’s what I did:

Signed up with an email address and a password

Got a smiley and an email for registering successfully

Browsed by categories, which were readily available on the header and footer and the left sidebar

A while later…

What happens after check-out: payment, choose a delivery timing and wait for items to be delivered!

What happens after check-out: payment, choose delivery timing and wait for items to be delivered!

My orders came promptly the next day at the delivery timing I selected, and the larder was restocked. Happiness!

Orders came promptly, and we’re restocked again!

No need to push trolleys around. No need to strategise shopping route. No fuss and meltdowns. No need to have to lug the kids who somehow always had the magical ability to conjure up a full bladder despite emptying it before we leave home and whenever we’re halfway supermarketing. No need to have to hear them scream Yakult! Oreos! Apples! – and wish there was a hole to hide – whenever we go down the aisles.

Can shake legs some more.

I’ve concluded: I need to do this more often – especially if all the heavy stuff like rice, diapers, milk powder and canned food all run out at the same time – and on those “some days” when I am too bone-tired to have to run about a supermarket!

More details:

*Wanna shake legs shopping for grocery too? RedMart is offering readers of this blog a 10% discount on your first purchase! Simply check out with the code rm_mkao!*

Disclosure: The good folks at RedMart sponsored this post and gave me the opportunity to shake legs, drink a glass of Milo, and grocery-shop away online in the wee hours of the night. They were also kind enough to pick up the tab. All opinions and doctoring of the screen captures (yep, those with added emphasis and shout-outs; and also so you won’t know where I live!) are my own.

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Becks Kao Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Reviews

Learning fun at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre [Review]

July 5, 2013

If you don’t already know, my children speak little Chinese and the Mandarin they use in speech is so poorly pronounced it sometimes puts me, the student who used to ace Chinese from primary school to JC, to shame. My children think it’s funny to converse in Chinese, although their nurturing Chinese teachers in kindergarten are slowly changing their minds about that.

As for me their mother, I am quite helpless, really. They think Mama’s telling some joke when she uses Mandarin to speak to them.

So I would gladly outsource teaching the Chinese Language to anyone other than me.

During the second week of the June holidays, Becks was invited to attend the Holiday Programme at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre (成竹华语中心). Titled Kaka’s Teeth (卡卡的牙齿), the 5-day programme was designed for preschoolers aged 3 and 4 to immerse them in the world of Kaka, the friendly dinosaur, who helped his animal friends crack open nuts of all sorts with his strong teeth.

Becks was, of course, initially very frightened to be suddenly surrounded by people who spoke in Mandarin in a wholly Chinese environment on the first day. She was initially reluctant to go for class, until she stepped further in and saw this:

Spacious play area

The school, located at Rochester Mall, is designed so brightly and cheerily to reflect the richness and uniqueness of the Chinese culture. I was awed by the details that were in the classrooms, hallway, walls and even the toilets!

A very bright and cheery learning environment that highlights the richness of the Chinese culture

Needless to say, my little girl was too happy to embrace their play before work philosophy:

Getting around in her Little Tike before class

Getting around in her Little Tikes before class

When it was time for class, we joined 7 other children (whom we would spend the next 4 days with) and Teacher Zhang Ping to explore the world of Kaka from the story, Kaka’s Teeth.

Becks at her first lesson

Over the next few days, we met a squirrel, a monkey and a cat from the story, all needing help from Kaka the Dinosaur. Kaka‘s strong teeth helped them crack open the hard shells of pine nuts, walnuts and the tough husks of coconuts.

We were also introduced to new words from the story through games, songs, flashcards and experiential learning.

Building vocabulary through flashcards, games and songs

Teacher Zhang Ping even brought food mentioned in the story to class to help the children make meangingful connections and relate to the story. So the kids got to try coconut juice, walnuts, pine nuts, and even tasted bittergourd, chilli sauce and lemon as they were learning words like 味道, 椰子, 核桃, 松子.

Making meaningful connections through tasting!

Making meaningful connections through food tasting!

They were plenty of speech and drama and storytelling bits incorporated within each lesson, which I hear, is Chengzhu’s niche. The teachers are all native speakers who spoke very well and are very experienced with children. Teacher Zhang Ping and her assistants were always engaging the kids with songs, puppets and lots of dramatic play. The kids also looked forward to the hands-on part in each lesson where they would create their own “storybook” of Kaka’s Teeth, by pasting slips of cut-outs that matched the illustrations.

Becks got to make a few pages of her "storybook" by sticking slips of paper to the pictures. The children then ran aloud with the teacher after the "storybook" was done.

Becks got to make a few pages of her “storybook” by sticking slips of paper to the pictures. The children then read aloud with the teacher after each page of the “storybook” was done.

Of course, Teacher Zhang Ping also constantly encouraged parents to help the kids retain what they learned in class by revising what she taught that day. She gave parents a quick briefing before dismissal every day on how to do just that.

Becks had a lot of fun, and actually spoke A LOT of Chinese that week! She remembered the songs, the dramatic play and the phrases that were taught, reinforced and repeated from each day’s lesson. It was great to finally hear accurate pronunciation from her. I am now more convinced than ever that I need to keep using the language with the kids, no matter how odd I sound to them. Persistence, Motherkao! Persistence!

All in all, the 5 days of learning the language was fun (and not funny, like she used to think) for Becks who thoroughly enjoyed “going to school” during the holidays. She now reads her “storybook” with pride and even went home to teach Ben what she’s learnt!

More details:

At Chengzhu Mandarin Centre, children and their families can look forward to being immersed in the Chinese language and Chinese culture, as well as holistic, meaningful and long-lasting learning experiences. The centre runs regular Adult Accompanied Programmes, Preschool Programmes and School Years Programmes throughout the year, as well as Holiday Programmes in the month of June and December.