Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

The little man in the house is turning seven in a few days.

And he’s oh so very excited about it! =)

Vai has been counting the days, reminding everyone how THE big day is coming real soon!

“My birthday is in TWO weeks, Mommy! TWO WEEKS!”

“Oh look! It’s FIVEEEE more days!”

“I’ll be seven! I’ll be seven! I’ll be SEVENNNNN!”

Haha … it’s nice to see such a pure excitement from a child! =)

…

Anyway, here are some quick updates on how he’s doing so far, before my memory gets rustier many years from today :

He’s been playing tennis for a year and 4 months by now, and he enjoys it a lot.

(Ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, his likely answer right now is, ‘A tennis player!’ =)

He’s lost 4 baby teeth so far.

He likes to play chess. Actually, he plays better than the sister and he’s proud of it (you know, it’s not everyday that the younger brother has ‘better skills’ than the more perfectionist oldest sister =)

He enjoys making us smile and laugh, although his random silliness often gets him in trouble too!

He’s started Primary One last month, and he loves making new friends.

Having said that though, he’s one who’s not so into books / sitting down to do homework. So those first few weeks of starting school officially here in Jakarta, well … those days were tough for all of us. Thank God for the needed strength HE gave me!

(We continually instill and remind him about the importance of developing a willingness to learn and be taught, being responsible and hard working. And, by now things are a teeny bit better. Phew! One step at a time, they say. One step at a time.)

He loves his little sister, Brie. He especially enjoys making her giggle and laugh.

He loves fried chicken.

If not given a quota of just two a day, I think he’d be eating sweets and lollies throughout the day!

He likes cuddles and hugs, and prefers to be in the company of others than to be alone.

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A note to Vai:

Levi, you’re a unique little man whom God has lovingly placed in our lives.

As you read this, perhaps decades from today, please know that we pray for you always.

We pray that you have a personal relationship with Christ, and that you grow up serving HIM whole-heartedly and become the kind of man God wants you to be. God has wonderful plans for your life, and we can’t wait to see how HE works wonderfully in your life.

Thank God for HIS love, mercy and faithfulness.

And we thank God for you.

Love you always!

Are you on Facebook like I do?

Are you aware of its privacy/security settings which we can freely modify according to our preferences?

…

The other day, our friend’s Facebook account was hacked.

The hacker then uploaded some obscene photos and TAG random friends!

Imagine if you opened your Facebook and saw such photos splashed all over your Facebook wall (and seen by ALL your friends too!)

The good news is, we can control all the tags before they appear on our Facebook!

All you need to do is go to your PRIVACY SETTINGS and modify them accordingly.

(To go to ‘Privacy Settings’, click the icon at the top right hand corner. See image above.)

And, I personally recommend that you do this as soon as possible, if you haven’t already done so.

The process is very simple too.

– Go to PRIVACY SETTINGS
– Click on TIMELINE and TAGGING
– Switch ‘ON’ the part where it says ‘Review tags people add to your own posts before the tags appear on Facebook’

Also, please remember to check the rest of the settings too, and modify them according to your preferences yeah!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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PS: To add me on Facebook, click HERE! =)

My husband and I attended a 3-day parenting workshop last week, and it was such a blessing.

We learned and were reminded of so many things too.

Now, since I usually blog about motherhood and kids, this time round I thought I’d share thoughts and tips FOR HUSBANDS =)

Tips which I picked up from the workshop.

Here goes.

… husbands often are simply so used to it, that they forget to say a genuine ‘Thank You’.

>> Appreciate your wife

Husbands,
remember to verbally show appreciation to your wife, even in front of the children.

When the wives wash the dishes, or prepare the family meals, husbands often are simply so used to it, that they forget to say a genuine ‘Thank You’.

Wives will appreciate such gestures and appreciation from their husbands. And, as the husbands appreciate the wives, the wives will in turn learn to appreciate their husbands too.

>> Be involved in housework

As a husband, do offer help and extend support to your wife!

Wives appreciate husbands who are willing to be involved here and there. Work as a team!

…

Remember, children too watch and learn from our husband-wife relationship, every day.

May God help us to be the kinds of husbands and wives that HE calls us to be.

My maternal grandparents and parents love to go out and eat together.

Actually, as long as I can remember, whenever we go out as a big family, it’d most likely be to a restaurant or some eating place! =)

And, one of the places they (read: my grandparents and parents) love to go to is Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta.

To them, it has great dining places (Rosso and Nishimura are their personal faves), and it offers good value for money to members.

(note: members get to enjoy two-person meals at the price of one at all of their dining outlets, on top of their many other privileges)

ANYWAY.

Thanks to Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta, our family of five went and had a wonderful staycation there the other week!

We stayed at their oh-so-comfortable rooms, checked out some of their dining places and their weekend family activities!

We took SO MANY photos that weekend, and I thought I should just share them over three blog posts, according to three different categories, haha.

So, here is my first pictorial blog post on our dining experience at Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta.

Hope you enjoy the photos!

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Lunch @ SATOO

I. LOVE. SASHIMI.

I headed straight to the raw salmon counter when we reached Satoo for lunch, and man … it melt in your mouth.

So good!

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HORIZON CLUB LOUNGE

Afternoon tea at Horizon Club Lounge. Really nice setup and ambience for those who want some peace and quiet reading the newspaper, or doing some work, while sipping some tea/coffee/juice and munching on some snacks and fruits.

Frankly, we’re still full from our lunch at Satoo, so we stopped by the Lounge and had some juice and hot tea =)

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DINNER @ SHANG PALACE

To our surprise, within 5 minutes of sitting down at Shang Palace Restaurant, the staff gave the kids some colouring paper and crayons. Can’t remember the last time we had this kind of service! =)

What a great way to ‘wait’ for your yummy food! =)

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BREAKFAST @ SATOO

They do have such a huge spread to choose from.

I must say, their standard of quality is high and whatever we had there was oh-so-yummy!

(Personally, I love their bread pudding and chicken porridge with century egg. Yummmm!)

But seriously, as much as photos do speak a thousand words, you simply need to go there and experience it all yourself =)

Do give them a call for more info / bookings.

Anyway.

Coming soon : My pictorial post on the bedrooms at Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta!

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Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta

Kota BNI JL. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 1
Jakarta, 10220, Indonesia
Phone: (62 21) 2922 9999

http://www.shangri-la.com/jakarta

…

Check out my other posts on Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta :

[PHOTOS] Checking Out : Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta – ROOMS!
https://www.oureverydaythings.com/2013/08/photos-checking-out-shangri-la-hotel-jakarta-rooms

[PHOTOS] Checking Out : Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta – Weekend Activities (Kid Zone)!
https://www.oureverydaythings.com/2013/08/photos-checking-out-shangri-la-hotel-jakarta-weekend-activities-kidzone/

A Mom shared with me the other day :

My kids ask me if I can make and create things with them, but I‘m just not creative!
I have NO idea what to do with my kids. I’m not creative like so many moms out there!

…

You know what?

We may have no idea on what to do with the kids, but isn’t the world filled with so many people who share their activity ideas, online and in their books? =)

So really, we don’t need to come up with the idea ourselves.

Simply. Copy. The. Idea. From. Others.

This is exactly the reason why activity ideas are written in books and shared online =)

(well, unless we claim to have ‘no time’ for such activities with the kids at all. Then THAT, I guess, is a different case altogether?)

Well anyway, here’s sharing with you one activity idea, something I did with Brie!

STRAW PAINTING!

What we did :

1. Mix acrylic paint with water

2. Drop globs of it on drawing paper

3. Let the child blow and … blowwww

(I helped, blew through the straw, and showed her how to do it in the beginning)

And, we did straw painting again on another day!

PS: This time, we used a big straw, the one we usually use when drinking ‘bubble tea’ =)

Verdict : Bad idea if you’re doing the straw painting activity with toddlers. It’s harder for them to blow! =D

There you go!

Simple activity you can definitely do with your kiddos, yes!

And the results are pretty =)

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Now, I must highlight this book to you : TIME TO CREATE!

This book is a must-have, because it contains loads and loads of insightful and creative stuff!

Like, how to encourage kids to draw and create, how to organise our art materials, how and why it’s great to display children’s art.

[Chapter 4 ‘Print Making’, page 63]

And of course, the book contains SO many creative ideas! Activities you can do with your children!

Like, this straw painting idea!! =)

Anyway, I really recommend this book!

*Feeling privileged too to have been invited to join her blog tour! =) *

[Chapter 4 ‘Print Making’, Page 57]

[Christie and I at the Asia Pacific Blog Awards 2011! We were both finalists in the Best Parenting Blog category, and she won the Awards!!]

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Time to Create: Hands On Explorations in Process Art for Young Children is now available in bookstores (in the US and Canada) and internationally through online booksellers, including The Book Depository, Amazon, Fishpond and Barnes & Noble.

This is Jakarta.

At 6.45 in the morning.

TWO DAYS before Hari Raya Aidilfitri , the big celebration that marks the end of the fasting month.

People tell me that such ‘quiet’ traffic can be enjoyed ONLY during Hari Raya holidays, in the city of Jakarta itself.

There are so few vehicles around, and it’s just sooooo good to be driving in this kind of traffic condition.

I  mean, considering that THIS IS JAKARTA, the city well-known for its infamous daily traffic jams! =)

People tell me that such ‘quiet’ traffic can be enjoyed ONLY during Hari Raya holidays, in the city of Jakarta itself.

But, once you travel outside of the city, you’ll see traffic jams everywhere!

[Wonderfully empty! This stretch is usually filled with loads of vehicles everyday]

 
Now, should we stay in the city, or should we still drive outside Jakarta with the kids?

Yet to be decided.

What would YOU do?

Strokes, scribbles and messy drawing of a toddler may appear meaningless in the eyes of adults.

They seem … random.

But really, experts say that, they actually DO mean something.

Often, they draw what they have seen, and experienced.

…

As the adults, let’s learn to appreciate little children’s artwork.

And one way to do so is : to hang / display their artwork somewhere at home where it can be seen by many.

(Don’t forget to write the date and your child’s name!)

Because we still haven’t quite decided which ‘wall’ we’ll dedicate to display the kids’ artworks at our new home (like what we did back in Singapore), we paste some of their works on our fridge, and the sides of the kids’ cabinets =)

…

WHERE and HOW do YOU display your children’s artwork?

[Waiting for our speed boat to be ready]

We’ve been told :  If you’re visiting Manado, you MUST visit Bunaken Island, one of the world’s best diving spots!

And so we did.

We went for a quick 4-hour trip to Bunaken Island, and went snorkeling.

Yes, with the older kids too!

[Our speed boat, with a capacity of about 20 people]

Btw.

Please take note of this: Do some research online (and ask around) before your trip!

As obvious as that may seem, THAT’S exactly the mistake we did!

We thought we probably wouldn’t have the time to visit Bunaken Island, so we did NOT do any research on how to get there, etc.

And, we unknowingly overpaid a few things. Boo.

Oh well.

So here I am, sharing with you some info on how we got there from the Ferry Terminal in Manado!

CHARTERING A BOAT

> If you’re going for a day trip, I’d suggest that you go in the morning, like … before 9am?

We got to the terminal at about 10.30am, and as expected, we had people coming to us and offering their ‘boat’ services. Be aware of what they’re offering!

We were told how most of the boats have left! So if we still wanted to go to the Island, we needed to charter a speed boat and the return trip fee is Rp1,150,000 (about SG$142).

What we got :
A normal speed boat, and half way through (yes, where it’s all waters around you!), the boat would stop and we’d hop over to a ‘glass bottom boat’ (where we could see the fishes below us), then hop over to our original boat and continue the journey to Bunaken Island! On our way back to Manado, we’re on the speed boat throughout.

[Tips: The glass bottom boat is interesting for small kids, as they get to see fishes right below. BUT, if you’re going to snorkel / dive, skip this part, or at least don’t spend too long on this glass bottom boat. Head straight to the island, and spend more time UNDER the actual water yourself!]

Here some facts (which we didn’t know at the time!):

> That boat rental fee was overpriced! The cost should not be more than Rp1,000,000! You’d really need to bargain hard with these people, especially if you’re a ‘foreigner’.

Do be aware of ‘peak periods’ though. My guess is, the fee will be a bit higher (We were there at the end of June)

> If you want to join the public ferry, it’s apparently available DAILY. Cost is about Rp25,000 (SG$3) per person, if you’re a foreigner. And, Rp10,000 per person for locals. Not sure of the timings though. Do google it, and be there ‘prepared’.

Before we left for the Island, we were also asked to pay Rp4000/person for ‘insurance’.

Honestly, we had NO idea what this is about, but we paid for it anyway.

(But really, an ‘insurance’? I doubt what they’d really cover if anything were to happen to us)

[Tips: Sit on the outside, and enjoy the view and the strong breeze. Do put on your sunscreen though! =)]

The good thing about chartering a speed boat is : You do get there ‘faster’ =)

I think it took us about 45 minutes to get there (instead of an hour).

Anyway.

Next, I’ll blog about our snorkeling experience there!

Stay tuned, and have a great weekend, everyone! =)

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PS: Have you been to Bunaken Island? Do share YOUR tips yeah!