Horrible Histories: Best of Barmy Britain

[Giveaway]

Stand to win a set of family tickets to KidsFest 2017 - Horrible Histories: Best of Barmy Britain show on Sun, January 29th at 12pm @ KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT (20 Merbau Road, Singapore 239035)!

These are Cat 1 tickets worth a total of $248 in total, thanks to the wonderful folks from KidsFest!

To win, all you need to do is to complete the following steps before 08 Jan 2017 -

1) Like and follow The "Perfect" Father Facebook page;
2) Like and follow KidsFest Facebook page; and
3) Like and Share this Facebook post publicly!

Note that the show is suitable for kiddos 5 year up and any request for time / date change will NOT be entertained. Hence kindly make sure you can attend the show okay?

For more information on KidsFest 2017, check out the official website - http://www.kidsfest.com.sg/

Science Centre Visit

[Media Invite]

We seldom make our way to the western part of Singapore, except when on route to Malaysia. But we were happy to make that trip down to Singapore Science Centre for a visit recently. The Marvel fan, Leroy was asking me when they could visit Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. for the longest time, while the missus kept asking for a winter holiday, and the eldest, Steffi starting asking me about evolution. With this visit, I managed to accommodate all their requests in a day!

Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.

In case you are still unaware, this exhibition had started since 29 Oct 2016 and will run through to 05 Mar 2017 at the Singapore Science Centre, Annex Hall. This is almost "die die must visit" place for all Marvel fans, where you can find all the awesome weaponry and costumes worn by the superheroes and imagine yourselves fighting alongside as you take on your role as a recruit. You may rent the device for $5 onsite, or download the app on IOS / Android.

Personalized I.D. Card - $12 each
Printed Certificate of Completion - $10 each
Photos - $5 each

 

Useful Information

Check out the official exhibition website here.

Snow City

My wife had been asking me to bring the family somewhere for a winter holiday like every other day, and although she is not going to settle for this visit to Snow City but it sure gave me respite from the hot weather (and her nagging too)!

Useful Information

Visit Snow City official website here for more information!

Science Centre Omni-Theatre

Woohoo! The Omni-Theatre had been around for a long time and I always loved the immersive experience when watching the shows there. This time round, we were there to experience the South East Asia's first 3D Digital Dome Movie - Natural Selection 3D. It is a show about young Charles Darwin's travelling adventure onboard HMS Beagle and it features ultra realistic graphics that made my kiddos reach out their hands to try to touch the animals "floating" in front of them!

(Movie stills, credit: Omni Theatre, Singapore Science Centre)

Useful Information

Ticket Price for all shows - $14

Keeping The Kiddos Strong

With both parents having to work these days, getting a call from the childcare or school can be really dreaded at times. One will soon realize that a good portion of your personal leave may be utilized due to the sudden need to rush back to the childcare to pick up a child who may be under the weather, even though the government gives an additional 6 days of paid childcare leave. This is part and parcel of responsible parenthood.

(Extra leave for Dads, source: Channel Newsasia)

Haven’t you heard of horror stories of parents not picking up sick child from the childcare that later led to a pandemic of Hand Foot Mouth disease or what nots? To be fair, there may be reasons why the parents are unable to bring their child home, and not everyone has understanding bosses, but one must still be prepared in the event of any such unfortunate incidents. That is why there is the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Not easy I must say.

(This is how we sleep together at night, making it hard to prevent spreading of nasty bugs sometimes)

The challenge for parents with multiple kiddos, is also to keep them from spreading the bugs between each other. Take our family for example, should one of them come down with a flu, we will have a higher chance of another kiddo catching the same bug. We surely know that keeping them separated will prevent this from happening, but that is easier said than done with 4 young kiddos in our tiny 3-room flat. Hence building a strong immunity is very important to the kiddos from the start. For me, I subscribe to the “expose them to every damn thing” ideology, let them build up their immune system and that had worked pretty well.

(Involving the kiddos in outdoor activities and keeping them engaged is always good!)

Our bodies are full of bacteria and other microbes, and it is nice to know that there is no way to escape from coming into contact with bacteria. And why some people succumb to diarrhea or stomach upset while others do not, even though they may have eaten from the same source, could simply be due to the ratio of good versus bad microorganisms in the digestive tracts. Many dairy products such as yogurt or cheese contains probiotics, the good bacteria that helps promote good digestion and offers protection from the bad bacteria. But to maintain a healthy level of probiotics, one will also need to keep them happy and fed with prebiotics, the food source for probiotics! Having said that, it is never easy to get sufficient naturally-occurring probiotics from food, hence it may be a good idea to take food with added probiotics and prebiotics! You can find out more about these bacteria here.

(I always love exposing the kiddos to nature, be it to the sandy beaches, muddy patches in the canals or into streams!)

Then you must have also heard all the fuss over organic food right? For me, I only know that organic food are way more expensive than normal food and that is what puts me off. However, as I delved deeper, I came to the realization that our food should all be grown as naturally as possible in the first place, just like how it was done way back! Humans got greedier and started mass-production, as well as turning to genetic modifications, antibiotics and chemicals to reduce casualties and improve yields. While food prices may be kept down because of these methods, we never really know how it will affect us humans in the long run, especially after noticing the ominous signs of diseases such as cancer getting commoner these days.

(Louie was barely 7 months of age when he had to go through the ordeal of getting on the drips)

As much as we try, there are times when things cannot be avoided, such as my youngest, Louie developing Kawasaki disease after coming back from Tokyo. The disease cannot be attributed directly to the family holiday but he could have avoided developing measles from another overseas trip many months later if we had remembered to bring him for his Mumps, Measles & Rubella (MMR) jab which was delayed due to the onset of Kawasaki.

(I overlooked his vaccination schedule and he ended up suffering again at 31 months)

I am sure as parents, we will always want the best for our child and would try our best to keep them away from harm, and I also try to keep the kiddos strong and happy to the best of my abilities, by bringing them for outdoor activities and reading the labels off the food we consume consciously. 

Note: This blog post is in collaboration with Friso. Kids learn from experiences whether big or small, good or bad. That’s why Friso provides the right nutrition for your child to be strong inside to take on challenges. For more information on Friso, follow them on their Website, Facebook or Instagram.

Cirque Adrenaline

[Media Invite]

The last circus I brought the kiddos to, was to Cirque Du Soleil - TOTEM last Oct. It was definitely something that the kiddos enjoyed, and it was in a grandiose setting with the performers performing for a huge crowd. No doubt the acts were impressive, but now as I look back, the performers looked small because they were performing from quite a distance.

Can't help it reenacting the poster. Funny right?

Brought the kiddos back to the familiar Mastercard Theatres for their first Cirque Adrenaline experience and even I was taken aback by their responses towards the acts. Right from the very start of the show, the kiddos were already thrilled by the comedian who worked the crowd really well. Without the use of any spoken words, he was able to draw hilarious laughters with just his funny antics!

Performing blindfolded and risking their life and limbs.

In all honesty the acts that were being performed were nothing really new. But they still required long hours of practice to reach this level of perfection and the camaraderie between the performers did not happen overnight. Watching them in person, within close proximity is exhilarating to the max and the kiddos couldn’t keep their excitement, giving their biggest applause and shouts of approval after every act!

Hanging only by the strap over her neck.

As I watched the many acts being performed, I was consciously looking out at any safety lines attached to the performers. Save for the few mattresses that popped up during certain acts, I was unable to find any other safety measures. And that was exactly what made these acts absolutely heart stopping. Because any slips from those heights would easily stop any beating hearts! Adrenaline pumping, for the performers and the audiences as well, hence the name of the show was really apt!

Thank you for having the kiddos over for the awesome act BASE Entertainment!

For me, I cannot help but keep thinking of how that lady manage to keep her head attached after getting swung around and rotated like a fan with just a strap round her neck in "Duo Strap", or how that muscular and stocky guy manage to keep his balance on numerous pipes in "Rolla Bolla" and pass two hoops through as well! Oh, and that "Lrya" performance was scary shit as well. It was beautiful acrobatic routine on a suspended hula hoop, with no safety nets or ropes and relying on just her muscular limbs. Go check out the show, you will be thrilled like us!

Useful Information

Performance Times (now till 25 Dec 2016):

Tue (20 Dec): 2pm & 7.30pm
Wed - Fri: 7.30pm
Sat (17 Dec): 2pm & 7.30pm
Sat (24 Dec): 2pm
Sun (18 Dec): 1pm & 6pm
Sun (25 Dec): 2pm

Ticket Bookings:
Internet - www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing or www.sistic.com.sg
Phone - +65 6688 8826
In Person - Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby). For more information please log onto - www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing