Mom's Time Out @ Kidzania

Remember the show, Mom's Time Out? Oh yeah, I got one for myself too, well if you could really call it a time out!

We got complimentary tickets to the Kidzania from the organizers, thanks to my post here. Although I knew kids were rather young to enjoy most of Kidzania, heck there was no way we were gonna miss this fun!

Boys looking excited at the check-in counter.

Upon our arrival, the kids got to cash their cheques at the bank.

The most sought-after occupation at Kidzania, has got to be the fire-fighters!

Amazingly the kids were calm listening to instructions at their station.

They had a short stint of firefighting after the briefing. Little do they know their mommy does firefighting at work too, in a digital kind, in the virtual world.

And oh, during our arrival we met the mascot. The little one was rather afraid of the huge figure!

Sanju attempted to queue for the pilot occupation, but it just took so long he gave up.

He did get to try his hand on being a dentist though.

This is how its done!

Then was a little training at water packaging, which by the way was so staged but hey the kids bought it!

The the little artist in him showed for a brief 5 minutes.

When we got tired, we had a break in the toddler area.

We arrived super early, so even though we did not take part in the police station, we got valuable shots for the album!

Jeev kept saying he is a Jedi, with that laser-gun-like-torch.

Kidzania was fun for the kids, more so for older kids. There were many more things we did and saw which I did not get a snap of. Also many things for the older kids to try/play. For a 4yo and 3 yo, there are limited amount of games/occupations they can try. I was very amused with the spa center for manicure/pedicure, which sadly was just for little girls, how unfair!

Mom's time out was apparent when I saw the Parents' Lounge, which a signboard saying 'Kids not allowed'. Take that, you kids! We shall go there with older boys where we just lounge doing nothing, absolutely nothing.

Happy endings with kids rummaging the souvenir stores. Sanju seen here donning his new eyewear from Kidzania. 

Kids @ Legoland

Going to the theme park is any kid's dream come true. What more if it is Lego-themed park?!

Before entering, whilst still being fresh, the boys were made (forced) to pose by their avid photographer called NanaG.

Sanju trying to make sense of the Star Wars exhibition, he only started watching the Star Wars movie after this trip. But man, were they amazed with the huge Darth Vader figurine outside, we had to buy the little ones for souvenir. We even have a picture with that tall figurine, just I can't find it.

And since the Star Wars showcase hall was dark for effects, Jeev was kinda scared and stuck to me like a baby monkey on his monkey mama.

In case you are wondering who is NanaG, here is the stylish man himself, with the kids. He loves to pose, the kids love to run away.

Notice the missing kid, he doesn't fancy posing much. Especially at Legoland.

Then some Lego building.

I did not take much pictures but my dad compensated by taking up all the memory in both our phones. The phones hung several times but thanks to the waiting time, we were able to reboot and get back to snapping pics!

And when dad is in charge, expect a lot of collage. No one escapes, no one at all.

These pictures even have a music video with 'Chennai Express' song in the background, which I will reserve for our private viewing.

And here is our very own cowboy, Quick Gun Murugan!

These are not Legoland related but I just have to share these here. Here is Jeev riding the world's smallest kiddy tricycle. After we opened up and distributed the Diwali hamper goodies.

And the handsome pair all dressed for their uncle's wedding. Ignore Jeev's surprised look, thats how they posed most of the times.

Jeev posing off his face at the local play area.

And here is Jeev flaunting his lollipop (that he never eats) at a local BKT restaurant. This was my day off from the kids, and when papa rules, you can do anything, you don't have to wear tshirt, or even your pants. 

Sanju after a happy belly wondering about the next mischief to pull.

In short, Legoland was really good, especially for 4yo Sanju, who was eager to try almost anything, but sadly he did not qualify for all the ride. As for Jeev, his age was a disadvantage. At one ride his height qualified but later his age gave it away and he was barred from most rides. Poor fella was left crying at times, and he was not alone, I saw several other frustrated mothers trying to pacify their 3 year olds, makes you wonder why do we even have buy tickets for them?

It took 3 days to write this post, but couldn't come up with a good ending punch line, so here goes, no punch line ending.. BYE!

Busy Busy House

A lot has been happening in the last 3 months. We have had very little weekend to ourselves, as it is the weekdays are all about work, kindy and catching up with family. Times have got so busy my health has not been so good, and my lack of immune is showing with constant throat infections, cold and flu.

I did sit several times wondering why did we have to be so busy? Why are we chasing so much in life? Are we not just happy with what we already have? Then, I think again, it is not exactly materialism that is keeping us busy, but it is life in general. 

Recapping back to what has been keeping us busy, there has been a chain of events related to work and family. There has been a birth, a very major project for the hubby, a prayers event for the newborn, then it is the kids' school concert, later VIP guest at home, Diwali and some more VIP guests, wedding prep and naturally a wedding followed, and then back again to some important guests, and finally last weekend was kids' mini sports at their school.

Took a week off to see the baby, give a short vacation for the kids. One day I am busy cooking a feast, another day flying to and fro JB, and then the next few days cooking and cooking major feast for Diwali, and another we are rushing about making a wedding work. In between attending several school events for the little boys. Phew!

The new arrival little fella. A little shy at first.

Playing SRK here.

Hubby at work, kinda like the Neil Armstrong's US flag on the moon, this is hubby at the highest floor of his project, with Malaysian flag in the background. See, I told you he does not work diverting traffic with his reflector jacket!

School Concert.

Diwali, tired parents and kid, the other kid was away enjoying someone's phone or tablet.

The wedding of the year.

Playing tourists with the guests.

School mini sports.

Looking deeper, the event of miracle of birth, and then the holy union of two people in an amazing wedding is sign of prosperity. And given the amount of families and friends we have, feasts are natural, and hey thanks to our little fellas, we have the opportunity to attend and enjoy their  year of kindy with events like concert and sports. On top of all, hubby's project is the reason that makes everything in our life possible, which brings home the bacon, our bread and butter, thosai capati and dhal, and most importantly, the bak kut teh and char siew.

And yes, some of our weekends were also eaten up by trip to Legoland and Kidzania. A lot more photos to share later!

Something tells me I gotta stop complaining, and pause a while, and smell the baby, the wedding flowers, savour the feasts, enjoy the VIP companies and listen/watch my kids do their best performance at the age of 4 and 3 year old. Here's to life, CHEERS!

And CHEERS, again!

Disney Channel Fa-la-la-lidays Giveaway

Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la'
Tis the season to be jolly
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Fa-la-la-lidays Giveaway

Oh yes, its the season again! Though it may not be snowing but the cool weather bring the Christmas Holiday moods for all of us! 

Disney Channel has got the most froze-licious giveaway from now till 14th of December 2014. Catch all the great shows lined up and you stand to win a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland to meet Princess Anna & Princess Elsa, plus other Frozen limited edition goodies for your kids. 

From now until 14 December, tune in and watch the great shows lined up for you this month on Disney Channel (Astro Ch 615) and look out for the cool Frozen-themed contest questions. Whether it’s counting the number of Olafs or the number of snowflakes, you wouldn’t want to keep your eyes off the screen because winners will be selected EVERY DAY to receive a very special Frozen gift pack. In addition, every week during the campaign period, one lucky winner will win a trip for 4 people to Hong Kong Disneyland to meet Princess Elsa and Anna in person!  To find out more information, head over to: www.disneychannel-asia.com/holiday 

With so many froze-licious prizes to be won, let's start this Fa-la-la-lidays and tune in to Disney Channel now!

Movie Review: Big Hero 6

The recent Disney movies have been must-watch, not just because of the kids but also for their story line and message that we can identify with in our daily lives. Disney has moved on with time from traditional fairy tales to more contemporary story lines that gives the female lead more than just glass slippers.

Big Hero 6 trailers tempted us to watch it for the adorable and chubby robot. Little did we know he turns out to be a healthcare robot. Protagonist Hiro finds himself building a special bond with his deceased brother's inflatable robot. Determined to uncover the mystery behind his brother's death, Hiro transforms his friends into a group of high-tech superheros, you guessed it, called Big Hero 6.

The movie started with a robot fight, bringing in so much laughter and fun especially for the little ones with the underdog winning in the most unimaginable way possible. However, it only goes downhill after that.

It was fun watching our kids enjoy the movie. Yes Baymax is super adorable and makes funny squeaky sound as he moves, just as a balloon would. Story wise it just fails short of achieving even 50% of Frozen or Wreck-It Ralph.

Big Hero 6 is set in an imaginary or rather futuristic city San Fransokyo, a fusion between San Fransisco and Tokyo. What a noble idea to bring the two cultures together, giving a good scope for the story. However one wishes it was leveraged better than this.

For some reason Disney is trying to make new superheroes, when the world (the cinema world, at least) has plenty of. We don't need another team of Avengers or Justice League. Neither do we need a robot or microbot with fancy costumes or transformations. Nor a red coloured robot suit that has self-thrusting robotic hand. We have seen it all. All these ideas, falls behind being original. Sad but true.

Not sure how this movie would fare at the box office, but I sure hope Disney would get the message and stick to what it is best for, less action, more adventure and family drama. Or least, a movie with a message, which is lacking big time in Big Hero 6. 

And by the way, with a number already in the title, this movie will have a hard time finding a name for the sequel. Unless they go Big Hero 7.

Movie Review: Interstellar

Interstellar brings a futuristic movie with a different possibility. Instead of being a super-advanced civilization, the world slows down to concentrate on farming, to provide food for the growing population of the lone planet. No budget or support given for engineering or technology of any kind.

Predictably there is a secret government funded project that aims to save humanity from extinction, by giving mankind a possible alternate planet, in a galaxy so far away it takes a wormhole to travel through.

A group of explorers is set to travel beyond the solar system in search of a planet that can sustain human life.While the rest of the world is barely surviving on farming the last possible food, corn.

The very plus point of this movie is the director Christopher Nolan himself, who has made movies that goes beyond our thinking. Thanks to him our imagination runs wild everytime we think 'Inception', and even Batman is not the same anymore.

Interstellar is like a quantam leap back into the days I loved, lived and breathed science. Astronomy in particular was my favourite topic to read on, probably because we did not cover much of it in physics subject in school.

Interstellar does have some inaccuracies as far as science is concerned, in fact I am guessing it will be at the butt of jokes in The Big Bang Theory for those slight blunders. It is the nerd in me speaking. After all I have been a big fan of TBBT, Back To The Future and TV series Sliders (don't know if anyone remembers it at all). Space time-continuum relation, inter-dimension travel and worm/black holes are all interesting possibilities and raises a thousand questions in my head!

Last year it was Gravity that amazed me (after Life of Pi, of course). And this year it is Interstellar! While Gravity and Life of Pi were on emotional and spiritual side, Interstellar is intellectually tantalising!