Recently, we flew to Bandung Indonesia to attend a good friend’s wedding. This was our 1st time in Bandung, and we were definitely looking forward to explore this part of Indonesia.

As our friend was getting married at G.H Universal Hotel, we had the chance to stay in this uniquely beautiful hotel.

The place is modelled with a Italian Renaissance theme, and I can really understand why my friend was getting married here.

Hotel Rooms are a bit small, so we opted for a room that was bigger than the regular Superior Rooms. The Governor suite was definitely just the right size for my family (2 Adults and 2 kids). However,  basic toilet amenities like the Toilet Sink was a bit small for the 4 of us though…

However, the best thing about this hotel is the decoration!

The decoration was even more stunning on the night of the wedding. It was like a castle set in the midst of the Indonesian mountains.

But if you are wondering what is there to do in Bandung…well…the rumours are true. Bandung is full of factory outlets!

Here, you can find fashion from Calvin Klein,Boss, Abercombie, Armani Jeans, Fred Perry and many other fashion brands. Yes…and it is true as well…I believe some are genuine rejects, but some of them are fakes as well.

However, prices are very affordable, and I am sure that you can find a good bargain when you are over there! My wife was especially excited over the kids clothes! After all, kids don’t mind if it’s a fake Gap, as long as it is comfortable! She bought lots of stuff for the kids, especially for Nicole who was back in Spore!

It was Nadine’s birthday, and we were ready to make it the event of the year! If you are new to Parenting, you might not have realized that Children’s Parties are really BIG events, and they can be really expensive too!

However, we are always thinking of creative ways to throw a really fun party, and our latest idea is having involving food. If you have not caught on…do keep on reading…

Yes! As all kids love OREOs, we had our very first theme party of 2012, built around OREOs.

Needless to say, we did not have to do much to get some really enthusiastic fans!

Well, if you have not been to an OREO party, to tell you the truth…neither have I! But I guess that’s the fun part of party planning…Brainstorming and coming up with our own Games!  

Initially, we wanted to build a bath-tub full of OREOs and get Daddy to come dressed in an OREO Mascot costume…create our own OREO MAN (instead of Superman)

However due to budget constraints…we just had an OREO Tele-match and other  Simple Party games.  Frankly, after doing so many parties, kids are the easiest people ever, and as long as the games are fun, they don’t really need the fanfare! (We instructed the kids to come in OREO colours too! Blue, Black or White!)

In fact, the games were not very complicated. When the music plays, run around the room and shout “Oreo…Oreo…Oreo” (You get the hint right), and once when the music stops,  stand on the alphabet indicated by the game-master. There were only 4 letters to stand on, and they were of course the letters needed to form our favourite snack O-R-E-O .

And guess what? After running around for 5 times or more, I was out of breath! Haha… age catches up!  

I have not led Party Games for kids for a very long time, but their energy was contagious. Next, we had an OREO tele-match where the kids had to go from Point A to B balancing an Oreo pack on each palm. Thereafter, we did “Passing the Parcel. The kids loved it!  

And to end off the party, we proceeded to the classroom for our cake cutting session.

This lovely Barbie Agar-Agar definitely added to the Party Effect, and at $45, was definitely a great alternative to a normal Party Cake. Nadine is into Barbie at the moment, and that’s why we got her this blonde sweetheart for her Birthday.

The rest of the kids were also wondering, how were they going to eat their blonde friend later!  

Here’s a family photo with Nadine before we go! Happy Birthday Nadine! Daddy and Mummy had great fun making your day Super Special! We are believing for you to grow into a beautiful confident women when you grow – And one day when you are old enough to read this post! We want you to know that WE LOVE YOU!

Nicole is 7 years old this year. And she has yet to drop any of her baby teeth! This is considered really slow, because she had friends who started when they were in K1!

Well, looks like history is in the making! She has ONE shaky tooth, finally! But what an amazing tooth it is! Let me show you a pictorial. Do focus your eyes on those centre pearlies.

Nicole – March 2010

Nicole – December 2011

Nicole – 17 March 2012 (Can you see the gap…?)

Nicole – 31 March 2012 (That one tooth is overlapping the other, while the gap widens)

And this is today—5 April 2012:

My baby’s teeth moved! Or her jaw grew larger! And in God’s miraculous ways, the teeth just moved with it!

We can’t wait to lay our hands on that one tooth and yank it off. But of course, that would mean holding down a very violent and aggressive 7yr old girl. We checked with the dentist too, and he says it’s her jaw growing, and since no adult teeth is out yet, the gap in between teeth naturally increases! *phew!*

So the tooth fairy continues her wait… … ……  Anyone else had teeth move or jaws growing so obviously?

UPDATE – 10 April

The tooth came off! “When I was blowing my nose” . . .

So she wrote her first note to the Tooth Fairy. My oh my… check out her note!

She wants $50 for her tooth, and then she changed her mind and she wanted more. She even wrote down her address so that the Tooth Fairy would not lose her way.

I quickly said, the tooth fairy only comes for your FIRST tooth and never again! As this magical fairy is a bit expensive to keep ALIVE!…Fairy Tales are a bit expensive to upkeep in pragmatic Singapore… hahaha….

Our recent adventures as a Parenting Blogger brought us to Darwin Australia!

Although I was educated in Perth, Australia, one does not hear much about Darwin. However, due to a Facebook Contest, I had the chance to fly to Australia with Silk Air, and find out about Darwin for myself.

As it was Silk Air’s inaugural  flight, we had a Paparazzi welcome as we landed on the Air Strip in Darwin. Also received my first certificate from an Airline, as we were presented with special souvenirs to commemorate the whole event.

If you are wondering about the flight, it was comfortable with full flight facilities and we were even given champagne to remember the event!  

And the major question everyone is asking me…What is Darwin like?

Well, to all my Aussie friends, it is definitely smaller than Perth!

The city is like twice the size of Albany, and still very much a frontier town. Here’s a few photos of the streets in the City Centre.

To tell you the truth, it has been about 12 years since I stepped onto the Great South Land, and just seeing a Coles and Woolworths (Both are the local Supermarket Chains) brought back good memories  

Here’s a photo of the local Coles:

Most of the shops close at 5pm. But the restaurants and the Supermarkets close at 10pm, so the town is not completely dead at nightfall.

And in case you are wondering about accommodation, here is a look at the hotel we stayed in.

Ok….Now the million dollar question beckons…

Is Darwin worth considering as a vacation spot?

Well, we went on this trip without the kids, as we were only given 2 tickets, and after going there…we think that the kids would enjoy it as well.

This is definitely a different kind of adventure, as it is more out in the wild and not for the shopaholics who love shopping at Takashimaya.

And one of the most exciting adventures of this trip was CROCODILE FEEDING!

If you grew up in Upper Serangoon, and if you are thinking of the little Crocodile Farm near Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre, please wipe away that image from your mind.

Crocodile feeding in Darwin is one scary experience, as the Crocodiles come up REAL CLOSE to you, and you can just feel them “eye-balling” you as a quick subway sandwich. In fact, all that is missing, is the theme song from “JAWS” as we embarked on our Crocodile Adventure.

As Darwin is surrounded with Marshland, Crocodiles are very much of the environment. 

Northern Territory Tourism brought us on the “Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruise” for some first hand experience in Crocodile Feeding.

The boat has a upper and lower deck, where the lower deck offers more spectacular views, as you get really close to the croc,  and you can feel them breathing down your neck…

Ok….it’s time to take a look at our prehistoric friends in ACTION!

Yes! This is a close-up of my friend that accompanied me for the next 2 hours!

Check out the detail of the critter’s skin…and those teeth!

These creatures are about to 4-5 meters and they can grow up to 7 meters and 1 tonne in weight. They are so heavy that they don’t even need to bite you, but they can crush  you by their sheer weight.

I must say that these critters looked really impressive when they are eating, and they certainly are very sly and cunning when they approach their prey.

And taking their pictures can be a bit unnerving at times, as they seemed to be staring at my window! (Mind you, the windows are all the way down, and there have been incidents of Crocs jumping into boats)

And in case you were wondering, they are being fed Buffalo meat for lunch!

Besides the Crocs, we also had a trail of wild birds following the bird, and the owners gave us a chance to play with our DSLRS, as they let the birds fly down for some bread.

This whole cruise was certainly a MUST DO experience when you go to Darwin, and this is something that you definitely need to include in your itinerary when you go up to Darwin.

If you  have been walking around the Marina area, the last few weeks, I am sure that you  have seen the magnificent light display at the Bay.

As the Official Blogger for the iLight Marina Bay, I managed to interview Adrian Goh, the creator of “Garden of Light”, which is a light projection on the Art Science Museum. The exhibit incorporates  a variety of light and sound effects to tell a story about environmental sustainability and highlights the beauty of the natural world.

1. Where did you get the ideas from to do this light display in Singapore?

This projection technology has been around for many years and its very
popular in Europe. In fact Singapore has adopted it for a few times in
National Day and even the Youth Olympic games opening ceremony. However,
these are not really 3D in nature. This projection this time is the biggest
3D mapping projection so far in Singapore with content creation of 3D object
and also mapping on the building structure itself. Unfortunately this
festival’s theme do not allow us to do other "very Popular" effects like
building transforming, cracking etc. Everything has to be based on
"beautiful" and "positive" content.

2. We’ve been so amazed when we saw our local icons transformed during iLight. Was it intentional to use these familiar icons?

Yes, projection on Art Science Museum always a popular icon. It was a
challenge to project onto a 3D object with duo-axis curved, the curvature
for depth of focus and brightness is 1 of the most challenging thing in
projection.

3. Which is the most challenging display that you had to put up in iLight? Why?

I believed this is the one. 16 projectors over 3 different spot, 3 different
angle, 3 different distance 60m, 160m and 280m respectively.

4. Which is your favourite display and why?

Coral Garden, a nice blend between technology and nature.

5. How is iLight different from light exhibitions in other countries?

In this festival, you sees the sustainability effort and at the same time
being able to entertain the visitors just like every other lighting festival
around the world.

—————————End of Interview——————————————

Do check out the exhibits at the Marina Bay before 1 April 2012.