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The Kao Kids

Nat Kao Reviews

Remaining a speckie (ft. Essilor® Stellest™ myopia correction lenses)

July 27, 2021

So this one is kinda still not ready for Ortho-K. No matter how I persuade, cajole and bribe, he remains firm that he wants to continue to be bespectacled.

What about trainings? I ask. What if you perspire and your specs fall off? And… oh, your degree increased again, shall we just try Ortho-K now that you are 9 going 10?

No, is still his answer. Since I’m never one to force, and always believe that we can only support our children when they are ready, here we are with this dude and a slight increase in his myopia after a year with the kids’ trusted Uncle Brian from AeroV.

Brian from AeroV has been caring for the Kao Kids’ eyes for many years now, and we go to him for all our eyecare needs.

Thank God for myopia control lenses in the market. I can live with things going up by 50 degrees every year.

Nat with his new degree for both eyes captured in his Essilor card

This year, we are trying out a new lens in the market. Calling itself “a game changing innovation in myopia control”, Essilor® taps on its exclusive breakthrough technology to design Stellest™, myopia control lenses consisting of a constellation of invisible microlenses to correct and control myopia by sending a slow down signal that helps prevent eye elongation.

When using myopia control lenses, you need to look at the centre which is the focal point

With more near work using digital devices (especially for this one who loves his devices), I am more assured when he has such innovative lenses on instead of the traditional ones.

At least I know wearing these will actively help to slow down myopia progression, which can accelerate at a very exponential rate at his age.

Nat wearing his new Stellest™ lenses with a spanking cool black frame

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Nat Kao Reviews The Kao Kids

Officially three speckies in the house (ft. MiyoSmart lenses)

November 13, 2020

So the last child has officially joined the fray of spectacled beings in the Kao household.

Three sighs for the three kids with myopia who now needs correction for their eyesight.

I’ve put the older two under Ortho-k lenses with Brian from AeroV and I’ve shared much earlier in the blog back in 2017 how Ben went through the process rather seamlessly. In 2017, he was only 8 then. But well, my firstborn being my firstborn was a sensible and adaptable child. Becks followed her brother’s Ortho-k footsteps when she was 9 after two years of spectacle-wearing and adapted quite readily.

We recently discovered how Nat’s myopia deteriorated quite quickly during Circuit Breaker (for the uninitiated foreign readers, this period was our local version of a lockdown, no thanks to Covid) and it wasn’t a good sign at all. Of course never a good sign with this one – we should have seen it coming because this was one child that loved the screen and playing Minecraft more than anything else in the world. When he returned to school after the lockdown, this one complained frequently of not being able to see the board clearly and we knew we had to go to Brian (Uncle Brian, as the kids now affectionately call) and get his eyesight sorted.

We were quite ready to put him on the Ortho-k path when this one cried out he wasn’t ready and we were quite at a loss on what to do until Brian introduced us to a new revolutionary lens that does pretty much what Ortho-k does for the eyes while the wearer is sleeping as he is awake wearing them.

Introducing MiyoSmart lenses, a revolutionary, international award-winning spectacle lens, based on a Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments Technology or ‘D.I.M.S. Technology’ which helps in myopia management and slows down myopia progression.

The MiyoSmart lens (top) has a patent protected D.I.M.S segments creating a myopic defocus effect which helps to reduce myopia progression

So no choice, right – since this one expressed clearly that he wish to remain bespectacled for the time being. It seems that putting him on MiyoSmart lenses is the best and wisest idea for now. Nat did take about a few days to get used to the various de-focused points in his new MiyoSmart spectacles when he received them but was good to go thereafter.

This was Nat on the day he collected his MiyoSmart. The markings show the focus point while the rest of the lens were defocused.

We are due for a checkup soon and I’ll update here on his myopia progression. Fingers crossed for this one!

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Product Reviews The Kao Kids

Eye care, I care – Review of Eye Care Monitor from BenQ

August 10, 2019

These days if you tell me anything is ergonomic and good for my kids’ eyes, you can take my money.

With digital learning being inevitable, I am so glad for an eye-care monitor from BenQ that is large enough and fully adjustable when my three growing kids are engaged in screen time.

A big box came for us!

Unboxed, and loving the size!

Super easy to set up, and now left on their study desks to be connected to anything they need

Staring at the screen for extended periods forces the eye muscles to keep focused at an exact spot, making it easier to cause eye fatigue or other vision problems. I have ONE child left not ‘stricken’ by the spectacle syndrome, and surely now, this screen is here to give him (and the other two, too) a comfortable screen experience so the myopia does not strike (0r worsen, for the other two)!

The BenQ Eyecare Monitor also offers these FIVE features:

1. Brightness Intelligence Tech: BenQ’s unique Brightness Intelligence Technology (B.I. Tech.) can automatically adjust the monitor’s brightness according to the ambient light, so that students can focus on computer programming or coding instead of spending time dealing with the complicated monitor settings.

2. Low Blue Light: Blue Light Technology filters out harmful blue light for both good sleep quality and eye health.

3. Flicker-Free: Flicker-Free Technology can effectively diminish eye fatigue and irritation for better viewing comfort and studying efficiency.

4. Height Adjustment: the GW2480T with ergonomic design can be customized for height, tilt, pivot, and swivel makes it fit better with different stages of growth.

5. Color Weakness mode: Scientific research shows that congenital color vision deficiency affects 8% of males and 0.5% of females. The GW2480T with a Color Weakness Mode can help this group of students feel the joy of color and see the true colors of this world!

My only child not in glasses

Please stay this way, ok!

BenQ is offering an awesome deal this National Day. They are taking 7% off, no GST, from 1st Aug to 31st Aug 2019 for GW2480T Eye-Care Monitor at BenQ Brand Store. Find out more about other GW Series Eye Care Monitors here and learn more about what’s now in our house for the Kao Kids here.

Disclosure: We received a GW2480T for the purpose of this review. All opinions here are our own, and no monetary compensation was received. 

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Family life as we know it Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

Family Life As It Is [Outdoor fam photography with Bespoke Photography]

April 8, 2019

We got our family photos updated recently, and in view of how posing in a studio would be challenging (HAVE YOU SEEN MY KIDS LATELY? They make all sorts of funny faces!), we grabbed at an opportunity to have our family photographed outdoors instead with Bespoke Photography.

I liked that I had no idea what to do for our one hour photo shoot BUT the Bespoke Photography’s photographer had many ideas and still gave me full autonomy to decide. He supplied suggestions, colour schemes, outfits, and even asked me to send him shots and styles that I would like to recreate.

I had initially wanted to head to Gardens by the Bay, but truth be told, I would be too tempted to run into the Cloud Forest if the heat got unbearable, so I went with the photographer’s suggestion of going to a lesser known place in Canterbury Road for a picnic, some frisbee and football with my kids, and lots of running around.

And we got more than shots of us playing frisbee and football that lovely Saturday morning.  I love it so much that the photographer captured the little moments of us doing things together – observing, talking and piggyback-riding.

These are very precious moments to me.

It’s not every day that someone comes along and captures the kids at play, but it is every day that the kids play this way. Surely then, I need to remember my kids playing in their wildest, and happiest.

The days are long but the years are short, and soon, childhood is but a memory. We certainly had the opportunity to freeze some moments in time that Saturday morning.

Just one hour, about 70 photographs captured, and I got naturally edited photographs within 2 weeks!

There’s a lot of sentiments just browsing the photographs again and again and I must say Bespoke Photography offered a much-needed service in my busy-ness to allow me to slow down and give thanks for my active, healthy and happy family. Definitely something to budget in at various milestones of our family life, and I am glad we now have pictures accurately depicting what family life is like, with the kids being 10, 9 and 7.

Check out their very reasonable rates here.

Disclosure: We were invited to a one-hour photo shoot with Bespoke Photography. All the running and sweating and exercise was done by the Kao family and not stunt doubles. No monetary compensation was received. 

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(Self) Examination Ben Kao Family life as we know it Getting all sentimental now Nat Kao

Being mama to my fabulous Feb boys

March 8, 2019

I always find it hard this time of the year not to go all crumbly and soft and shed tears of nostalgia and reminisce.

My boys are Feb boys and this time of the year each one of the boys adds one more candle to the cake and I’m always an emotional wreck.

I have penned many such entries every February as a mother because there’s just too much emotional flooding not to write and get it out.

Nat turned SEVEN on 20th and Ben turned TEN on 26th. I cannot believe that it is double digits now for my firstborn. Has it really been a decade already since I’ve mothered this child?

Both the boys are sassy and smart (and sometimes smart-mouthed) and they are growing up so fine, I find it hard to believe so many years have gone by. Nat is learning to navigate the forays of formal schooling, making new friends and discovering his interests.

Along the way we’ve found out he’s got a nasty temper when pushed and can really immerse in name-calling so much so you don’t want to piss him off and rub him the wrong way. He gets especially annoyed when his clean and neat and organised private spaces have been compromised by his siblings, or if I gave instructions to make everyone pack that included him because that to him is grossly unfair – he is the most organised child of the lot, so he thinks!

We’ve grown to learn that this boy does have fangs. Hurhurhur.

The other one, my beloved firstborn, is 10 this year and I would never have imagined him being almost as tall as me now and weighing so much that I can’t, for all the strength in me, lift him even a quarter inch off the floor. I know someday he will stand taller than me, which I need to prepare myself mentally for. This boy frustrates me to no end with his quirks (think farts and burps and the ‘floss’) but at the same time lets me in to his world with all that’s trending including fortnite dances, lame jokes, unfiltered language and everything he loves as a boy. I am just afraid I will not have him as a boy very soon and the thought of seeing him as a croaking, pimply teen is making me cry a little every morning when fb invites me to revisit my memories. I see all those cute little chubby Ben faces and I’m not joking, I really lay in bed to cry.


Boys, if you are reading this some day, know that mama has had a hard hard time adjusting to you guys growing up so fast and maybe that’s why sometimes she’s a little lunatic and emo on days you just don’t get her.

Those times you got frustrated not knowing why your mama was like that? Yea. Cos she also has got bad, bad separation anxiety she basically couldn’t function.

She too, has to grow, little by little, to accept that you boys will someday grow up to be fine young men and that she no longer can hold you both like the babies she used to squish.

 

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Becks Kao Milestones and growing up Reviews

Seeing well with Zeiss MyoVision Pro lenses at W Optics

October 10, 2018

Not all spectacles are made equal.

I would know. I wore them for most of my childhood, teenage years, all through adulthood till I became a mother. I went for Lasik only when Ben smashed my glasses being the curious baby he was.

And I wished spectacles that could control my myopia were readily accessible to me back in the days when my vision got worse with every yearly health checkup. My lenses just got thicker and uglier.

Yes, there is such a thing called myopia control lenses, and just by wearing it, your myopia gets some form of control.

And who else knows it better – that myopia needs to be controlled in childhood – than me. I have lived through it and I do not want my kids to experience uncontrolled childhood myopia.

Becks gets to reap the benefit of technology, specifically an innovation from ZEISS. And thanks the folks at W Optics, she got fitted with a pair after a routine eye checkup to ascertain her eye health.

At the very spacious and welcoming W Optics at Great World City, Becks was introduced to a friendly optometrist who took her through a series of tests in the rooms with the “machines”. Though initially shy, she soon warmed up when the experienced optometrist made small talk by asking her questions about her lifestyle, which was essential in understanding her habits and routine. Of course, a parent needs to be present at all times, and I happily chipped in by echoing her bad habits and how she loves to lie down on her stomach to draw on the floor.

Which became a perfect opportunity for the expert to share tips on maintaining good eye health with good habits: being mindful of the distance when she does near-work, getting enough outdoors to get Vitamin D, eating well and taking regular vision breaks from the screen.

She also did a comprehensive eye checkup that consisted of evaluating the state of her eye pressure, binocular vision, visual acuity, visual function, colour vision and corneal and retinal examinations. These checks were brief and didn’t take long.

The assessment findings, save for a slight increase of power in her right eye, came back normal and assuring. We were then introduced to the ZEISS Myopia Management solutions for children. They comprised two solutions: ZEISS MyoVision Pro Lenses and ZEISS MyoKids Lenses.

These solutions are both customised for myopic children and optimised for their lifestyle.

We were recommended the ZEISS MyoVision Pro Lenses for Becks after her assessment.

ZEISS MyoVision lenses follow the principles of “Peripheral Defocus Management” by the correcting the peripheral “hyperopic shift” affecting myopic eyes and sending a signal to the eye to reduce the progression of eye elongation, which can result in the reduction of myopia progression.

This means that power isn’t equally spread out in each lenses, in layman speak. This translates to the image projecting on the retina centrally, and the peripheral image being shifted  forward instead of backwards as compared to standard lenses, in the long run reducing the chances of her eyes elongating. We all know that shortsightedness happens when that happens.

Becks also picked out a from Swissflex which was light, bendable and flexible. Comparatively speaking, the frames felt weightless to the one she is wearing on now.

Initially she wasn’t too used to her new spectacles but I am glad to report she is liking her spectacles more with continual wear.

A visit in 6 months is due next March to assess if the myopia treatment is working and that her shortsightedness doesn’t deteriorate and remains stable. If so, it is unlikely she needs another change of glasses (yippee!). Afterall, we’ve gotten a pair of very good spectacles that controls her myopia when her eyes move to see near and far, comes with the ZEISS UVProtect Technology, as well as the ZEISS DuraVision BlueProtect coating that blocks light from digital devices.

With technology, we can prevent and protect. And free up our time to do more important things.

 

 

***

Disclosure: We were invited by W Optics to try out ZEISS Myopia Management. All opinions here are our own.

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Holidays! Motherkao loves... The Kao Kids

It’s Seoul Good (II): Doing Seoul with 3 Kids – Jjimjilbang at Siloam

September 19, 2018

If there’s anywhere I needed to visit in Seoul with my kids, it had to be a JJIMJILBANG.

Because?

Because this:

Photo credit: https://Aminoapps.com

I needed a reason to put on a sauna “uniform” and wrap my head up in a ‘Princess Leia’ towel bun.

And because watching so many kdramas and k-variety over the years have reinforced this message: you ain’t been to Korea if you’ve not stepped into a jjimjilbang. A jjimjilbang is a korean sauna and an integral part of korean culture. In this huge expanse of space, you would find public baths, pools that rid your body of toxins, grooming and face-care services, entertainment zones, gym, ‘fomentation’ rooms of varying temperatures, and places to sleep and even spend the night.

And so to one we went. The 3 kids, fatherkao and I spent an entire day at Siloam Sauna.

Of course, before we headed there, I did some research on this particular sauna which was a stone’s throw from where we stayed (literally we see the building from Seoul Station), so as to brief the family as to what to expect. That Backpacker has an entire guide to this place (plus an awesome video), and I made tons of notes from just that one blogpost, so you absolutely need to check her post out. (Thank you, Audrey!)

We went in the day, after a light breakfast of Paris Baguette buns, and opted for both access to the bathhouse AND the other floors. We were given a locker key, a set of clothes to change into, minimal instructions in korean about how males and females need to be separated, and in a hurry, we parted ways and forgot to state exactly what time we should meet on the 2nd floor. I just said, “See you later”, and not knowing what to do (the boys were lost!), we kinda only regrouped after some time and searching for one another on the various floors. So much for making notes!

So the sauna is HUGE. It’s an entire building. There are 6 floors in all including a basement. You pay and enter into the changing area on the 1st floor, get completely undressed in a gender-specific area, walk down the stairs to enter the public bath (take everything off; the only thing allowed is a towel). You need to take a bath first before entering the different pools of varying temperatures with various health benefits. There’s also a steam room and a jacuzzi. Becks and I tried every pool except the one with the freezing water. I enjoyed soaking in the warm mugwort one (can’t remember, think it was maybe 60 deg C?) and it smelled medicinally beneficial. Only beware of standing up suddenly because like being in the onsen, sudden movements can result in fainting spells. True story.

We had a good mummy and daughter time together

While waiting for the boys, we found these hot stones to put our feet in!

When we finally regrouped, we checked out Level 4 as a family. Called the fomentation rooms, there are rooms in varying temperatures from sub zero to almost boiling point laden with good stuff like jade and crystal and salt and mud. There are cave-like pods to sleep in for privacy and mats for resting and I couldn’t last more than 5 minutes in any room because the kids were zipping in and out and I had to mind them for fear of disturbing the people who needed their fomentation therapies.

Nat and I lying in the charcoal room

The kids and fatherkao in the ice room

My husband decided to challenge this room that’s 86 deg C! He worked out a good sweat!

Lunch was on Level 2 and I had the best soondubu jiggae (spicy tofu soup) that Seoul trip. The bibimbap (rice with mixed vegetables) was lovely and so were the mandoos (dumplings). My kids ran in and out of the eatery to play at the adjoining kids playroom and watch korean cartoons.

After a short rest, fatherkao headed for a body massage while the kids and I checked out Level 3. There was an arcade and a table tennis room. No surprises there what the kids did.

Ben teaching Nat how to hold a bat

We met 2 teen boys from Singapore a while later and the kids became quick friends sparring in good fun while I just lay on the straw mat right outside the games room and caught some sleep.

Becks wasn’t too interested in being with the boys so she checked out the karaoke room and hung out with me.

Checking out the noraebang, although we can’t sing any song !

She hung out with free wifi while I rested

Fatherkao joined in the table tennis fun

Baduk, anyone?

There is an arcade room too! Guess who was happiest.

The boys played table tennis for a long time and by the time we were done, it was time for dinner. We agreed to spend some time in the bathhouse floor and to soak in the pools for one last time before meeting on the first floor.

When we regrouped again for dinner, our kids’ conversations were all about what they saw in the bathhouse basement. The details were hilarious and I loved it that this experience was something they wouldn’t forget for a long time. Siloam Sauna’s a great place to add to your itinerary if you have even half a day to spare. I love it that we hung out and the kids could explore the place freely. It would have been best if they were interested in taking naps but I got some shuteye and fatherkao got a massage and that was a good bargain already!

Got my towel bun fix!

Made the hubs join me :p

The kids enjoyed the sauna experience on our 2nd day!

~~~

IT’S SEOUL GOOD: Read more on our Seoul Adventures here as the SG Running Man team!

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Holidays! Motherkao loves... The Kao Kids

It’s Seoul Good (I): Doing Seoul with 3 kids – Running Man Thematic Experience Center

September 14, 2018

Many people expressed how they never imagined there would be so much to explore and experience in Seoul for 16 days with 3 kids. So I thought I’d start this ‘It’s Seoul Good’ series because Seoul has been so good to us. We pretty much covered our planned itinerary (and more) when we were there in June.

And YES!!!!! there is much to do because Seoul has a place for kids too.

For my mission-loving, Running Man-crazed family, that is.

If your family is like ours and loves Running Man – the long standing variety show (we were fans since Episode 1) – and are old enough to try Running Man-style missions, you absolutely need to form a team and head to Insadong.

A pity we didn’t wear our Running Man t-shirts complete with our name tags like crazy fans.

At Running Man Thematic Experience Center at Jongno-gu, Insadong 5-gil, 종로 1.2.3.4 가동 (it’s at B1/F of SM Duty Free Shop/ Hana Building), you have up to ONE hour to complete all the missions in the place, earn as many R-coins as you can to score a badge. There are 6 experience zones where you can attempt it individually…

As a pair…

Or cheat a little like us if it gets difficult – and tap on team work!

Kwangsoo would be proud.

If you have it planned in your itinerary, get a headstart with discounts from Klook or Trazy or kkday. If not, it’s straightforward to purchase tickets from the folks at the counter. Ask if they speak English and there would be someone who would be able to explain how it works to you.

What was our experience like? To be honest, I knew about it but didn’t think this was something worth our time and money – because ‘is it BO LIAO or not to do this on our holiday???‘ (loosely translated, bo liao is ‘doing something silly’ in Singlish). I had going to this experience center parked at the back of my mind as a back up if we’ve done all that we wanted to do – our cultural tours, our street eats, our NANTA show, our day trip to Nami, our zoos and whatnots, etc etc etc – and it would be one of the last things we might do/ can do if we really ran out of things to do.

So I didn’t tell the fam about it for our day out at Insadong.

Turns out, we serendipitiously chanced upon it while looking for a toilet on the way back from checking out Poo Cafe and Ssamzegil and well, I think we can all guess what happened.

Like what do you mean you didn’t wanna tell us till we run out of things to do?

What were you thinking to not come here on our very first family trip to Seoul?

Hey, we love Running Man, shouldn’t we do this?

C’mon, mama, let’s go, we want to do this now!

Please, it’s gotta be Running Man. Even if it’s bo-liao.

My husband was the one that found me most ridiculous to stash it for like, Day 16.

DUH, no brainer, we are here. Let’s go.

And so, on our 3rd day in Seoul, we had one of the best times of our lives.

Makes us all wanna watch re-runs of Running Man again and again!

This experience just makes me realise that it was a good thing I did not plan for Lotte World or Everland. My kids would not go on rides and coasters but give them Running Man, they will do it again and again.

~~~

IT’S SEOUL GOOD: Read more on our Seoul Adventures here at the jimjilbang!

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Becks Kao Happy days Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up Reviews The Kao Kids

Birthday fun for young (and old) ones at Timezone

August 25, 2018

If you know the Kao kids well, you would know that they’ve grown to love games. Any kinds of games from team sports and Running Man missions to candy crushing and arcade gaming.

Their father even has an arcade console with joysticks hooked to the tv at home for the kids to redeem their screen time with.

So imagine how much of a celebration took place when my kids learned that we could have a party to celebrate Becks turning 8 at Timezone Vivocity – the largest of Timezones in Singapore – and that it would come tagged with three hours of non stop arcade play.

The boys were the ones who had a party before the party first, I tell you.

While the birthday girl carefully pondered who the 15 kids that made up the invite list were, shopped meticulously for her cake, and desserts online, and scrutinised my design for her invitation card.

That’s THAT difference between having boys and raising girls, and what the reactions are about having a party. Just sayin’.

On the day of the party, we were introduced to our party host from Timezone who very warmly made sure we were all settled in to the party room, which we had exclusive use of for 3 hours. The room came complete with a refrigerator, microwave and a sink for washing. It also had ample seating for a party of 10-20 guests, a projector screen, laptop and speakers.

Party host trying to interest the two girls who were the earliest with some colouring

The cherry on the cake for me was this awesome, awesome view looking into tranquility.

My view before madness (children) entered

 

Which…. was not at all enjoyed by the kids (well, at least the adults did!) because no one was found in the party room the moment all the guests have arrived. The party host explained some basic rules for using the complimentary Timezone cards provided for each guest and the kids, well, they were soon off and nowhere near the party room!

These 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds were in game wonderland, why would they waste a minute?

Paying attention to the party host explaining how the cards work for the card readers

Queuing up orderly to get the Timezone cards that come complimentary for them as party guests

Rush is setting in! Getting their ticket buckets

Ready, set, go!

Each guest gets a card that lets them play X number of times in the arcade depending on the colour of the card readers. The yellow card reader games has unlimited number of game plays which included the car racing, the dancing machines and the motorbike races.

Have you seen a whole row of girls in full focus? Here’s some girl power for you.

6-year-old Nat racing with 13-year-old Godsis

The blue, green or red card reader games are for up to 32 tries and those games were lots of fun too, and what I felt most of Becks’ girlfriends and the boys enjoyed. They included carnival games like hoop throwing, shooting, fishing and ticket jackpots. These games let players win tickets, which then can be exchanged for items from the Timezone store! Talk about motivation for tapping and trying all day long!

This was like at the 15th minute mark of play, omg

This game lets the player think and work on precision to win real prizes including sought-after gadget; no surprises why I found Ben here

BFFs fishing away

The rainbow card reader games were best enjoyed as a group. Only 5 taps of the card were allowed for these – which included the mini bowling, bumper car rides and VR rides and roller coasters.

This is the Rabbids VR coaster which her friends dared to try but not the birthday girl

These, unlike bumper cars of days old, cushions the bumping impact with the foam and makes it completely safe for kids to go MADDDDD

A friend commented that she’s never seen this side of Becks: chatty, cheery and smiling non stop

I love watching my little girl play with her friends. These girls can be squealy one moment and feisty another!

My birthday girl and her friends went in throngs to play the bumper cars all those 5 tries they were allowed on their cards. It was a whole new world hearing how loud and shrill 10 girls screaming at the same time sounded like.

What I liked most about hosting a party in an arcade was the fact that I could see how my kids, especially Becks, interacted with her friends. They travelled in packs to choose a game together, learned the tricks of scoring and doing well for each game together and had so much wholesome fun.

Groups of girls squealing at a corner. Boys guffawing at misses and hits. Adults getting excited while games are at play. There was so much laughter, it was truly satisfying to hear.

What I loved above all else about having a party at Timezone was that the adults – from parents to grandparents – can join in the fun at this party. At the ages at my kids are at most of their parties revolve around climbing, laser tagging, indoor playground cray-craying. It was nice that for a change, the gramps could join in the fun. Like when the birthday girl, her friends and Grandma were at the fishing table trying to reel a fish in! That was truly precious to watch.

For that matter, most of Becks’ party guests’ parents also joined in the fun instead of dropping them off. It was a lovely morning and afternoon spent on fun and games, and family bonding.

Grandma reeling in her catch

Grandpa looking on and giving advice

These 2 had a great time catching plushies – love it that there’s something for a 3-year-old too

It was a really no-stress, all-fun kinda party that Saturday morning. I think the only source of stress came from herding the children back in to get some lunch and to sing the birthday song. I know the kids didn’t mind at all one bit not having lunch or cake; even the birthday girl dashed out the moment the cake cutting was over.

Not many left at the table :p

Happy 8th birthday, my big baby!

She loved the cake and topper although she didn’t eat them at the party!

The lovely Timezone folks also brought her to the Timezone store to choose a birthday gift. This came as a surprise to her (I knew!) and she was thrilled to befriend Gudetama.

After the party was over, all the kids made a mad rush to count their tickets and shopped at the store for their tickets’ worth. Some went home with bouncy balls while others lugged back some sweet and memorabilia. Now the boys tell me they’re wishing that they would have their parties for their next birthdays here. I’m rolling my eyes because I know 3 hours ain’t gonna be enough at all for them.

At least I have till next year to decide.

YAY, all birthdays done, and my little girl turned 8 having a blast at the arcade with her best friends and family! Thank you, Timezone Vivocity, for the awesome party!

For more details of Timezone flagship store’s Party Package details, check out what you get for 3 hours of non stop fun here.

Disclosure: We were invited to experience the Timezone Birthday Party Package. All opinions here including squealing girls and the mayhem produced by mad kids are our own.

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Ben Kao Milestones and growing up Nat Kao

To my Kao boys

August 7, 2018

Dear Ben and Nat,

You boys turn 9 and 6 respectively this year. How time flies.

You have now become best friends to each other. You need each other every day. I see that. I see that you have need for each other in the form of conversations and play time all the time. You boys talk about everything you love under the sun from Smashers and Avengers to Beyblade and Pokemon. You make silly boy jokes and invent silly boy sounds.

And you fart and burp with such finesse ON DEMAND.

Sometimes I think you boys are the grossest ever. Your hair stinks. You brush your teeth for a total of 5 seconds. You are perpetually sweaty.

I sometimes wonder if I could raise gentlemen out of the both of you.

Beyond the dirt, booger and clamminess, I know you boys are incredibly kind-hearted souls. For one, you love and take care of each other. You protect your sister. You stand up for justice. You fight on reasonable grounds. You knock sense into one another when the time calls for it. You take care of the house. You help with the strength that you now have.

You catch lizards. You kill bugs. You shield mama from things she is afraid of.

And every single day, you would show Mama how much you love her, by saying ‘I love you’ and hugging her.

By the way, Ben, you’re already as tall as my shoulder. Soon you will be towering over me. I know that will happen sooner than later.

May you always use your strength to show kindness. When you become strong, remember to help the weak.

And may you both be brothers in life and in love. May you both always find solace and strength in this brotherhood.

And may you both always keep this view in my sight, as long as I live. Let me always see your hand on your brother’s shoulder.

Love, Mama.

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