Last week during our trip to Sentosa we visited this place- The Maritime Experiential Museum & Aquarium. It was our first time visiting the museum and were excited to see what activities the museum had for the kids as I heard that it was a kid-oriented museum.
As we entered the museum we were greeted with this massive ship hull. The ship was a replica of Admiral Zheng He’s ship which he traveled during his voyage from China to the far west. The crest on the center of the ship is a Chinese Guardian Lion which is suppose to protect the ship and it’s passengers.
The journey begins in China where the ship stock up on silks and Chinese pottery which they would be selling/trading at the different ports of call.
Rice is another commodity which was traded. It too with the China brought along on the ship was highly valued. Earthenware and vases too were among the traded commodities.
The boys making their own paper Chinese Junk. Love these hands on activity stations which they have in the museum. The junk however wasn’t that easy to fold and the boys had to get some assistance to make their junks.
Wooden figurines made in Indonesia. The Indonesians are very famous for their carvings and here are some carvings depicting their traditional folklore with a batik tapestry in the background.
Wayang Kulit or more commonly known as Shadow puppets are commonly used to tell stories which are passed from one generation to another.
The kids were given cut out puppets to colour and play with. As you can see Tiger girl had different plans for the ice-cream stick which was used as the handle for the puppet.
Traditional Indonesian kites used for kite flying (layang layang). I love the intrigued sewing and patterns on these kites. They must look magnificent soaring high up in the sky.
Spices like pepper and nutmeg that are commonly used in Asian food were also found on board Admiral Zhang He’s fleet.
Spices used for Garam Masala- A famous Indian spice mix.
A loom used to make Persian rugs and carpets.
African drums made with animal skins.
It was a very educational trip for the boys and they learned a lot that afternoon about merchant routes and the origins of the various items like pottery, spices, instruments etc.
Is there a Maritime Experiential Museum & Aquarium where you are?
The year is coming to a close and it’s time again to do a recap of the highlights of 2011. The boys have been having a blast these few weeks feasting and having fun with all these fun rides that are available during this festive seasons. They couldn’t get enough of this motorized go kart ride and wanted to have another round. Unfortunately they do not come cheap as I have to spend at least $80 to redeem a single ticket for each child. I wasn’t willing to spend any more as we had already completed our purchases so it was 1 ride per kid.
January
I stated the reasons why my kids only have swimming and Piano as extra activities besides school in – Only These For your kids?
I came out with a list of 20 items of thing which I would like to complete. Unfortunately I’m still not able to complete some of the items on the list like- Visiting Japan, Losing 14kg( Managed to lose only 6kg this year), date night and brushing up on Japanese and French. I’ll be importing this to my 2012 list o 20 items to do.
Feburary
I recieved lovely blue roses from R for Valentine’s Day. I wrote about my love for The Mixer however I settled for a Kenwood instead. I tried to find my balance with the new schedule and handling the 3 kids solo. It hasn’t been easy but I’ve managed to survive the year sticking to it. I too did some forward thinking when I penned a letter to my future teenage son.
March
We celebrated Monkey boy’s 7th birthday with a 3D racing car. His taste in cakes and requests for birthday cakes have changed a lot throughout the year. I started off with store bought cakes for him and have slowly progressed to baking my own 3D cakes. I also did a mini round up of the 1st quarter top 10 photos The boys had their first visit to the zoo for the year and we are hoping to bring them again this week if the weather permits.
April
Monkey boy got a chance to try being a snake tamer when we went on a day outing to Sentosa. The kids also visited the Botanic gardens and the Bonsai exhibits there. I created a list for All students – a take on how students should behave in the classroom from the point of a teacher. It was also a busy time for me as I moved the blog from the old inefficient server to the current one- Oryon.
May
It was a rather reflective month for me as I wrote about My Greatest Love. We started the makeover process in our house with our Kitchen renovation . We have been staying in our current place for 8 years and certain parts of our house needed to be replaced due to wear and tear. Tiger girl’s hair had started to grow and she has is getting more photogenic as can be seen in these High Chair Shots.
June
We took our 3 kids on their 1st trip overseas for the year. It was the first time that Tiger girl was on a plane. They really enjoyed their week long vacations to Penang, Malaysia. I wrote a short series on Preparing for Primary One. It was the only series that I ended up writing for the year. I hope to write more series come 2012.
July
It was a month of birthday celebrations. We celebrated my grandmothers 85th birthday and my mom’s 63rd birthday in the same month. I did some posts about my 3 kids and how Tiger girl really resembles me. Just look at the Mummy and Me photos. I’m sure you will agree that she’s the splitting image of me. I wrote on the Top 10 facts of Monkey Boy, Doggie Boy and Tiger Girl. We went for our 1st staycation of the year at Marriott Hotel down at Orchard road. The kids really had a blast.
August
It was the 1st trip for Tiger girl back to Hong Kong. We took her back to celebrate her 1st birthday with the rest of the relatives and family. It has become tradition that all our kids fly back to Hong Kong around their 1st birthday. I highlighted 10 Blogging Tips for New Bloggers which I would have loved to know when I started blogging back then. I also mentioned the 10 reasons why I wouldn’t publish certain comments and how I try to prevent SPAM here on this blog. I celebrated my 33rd birthday and mentioned about the Importance of Family Bonding .
September
The highlight for this month certainly has to be Tiger girl celebrating her 1st birthday. She has changed drastically both physically and mentally since she was born on the 12th of September 2010. We stuck to the 3 cakes for the 1st birthday tradition. It wouldn’t be fair if she didn’t have her 3 cakes as her brothers did when they were one. The kids also visited the Singapore Art Museum to take part in the Kids festival which they were having.
October
October was a month for photo taking and making of collages. We took another trip to the Botanic Gardens as we had visitors in town and were bringing them around. I wrote about my Family Tree and the rich heritage which the kids have. 22 Things which I have done and haven’t done .
November
The National Flower Congress was the first which I visited this year. I love the orchids which were on display at the exhibition and snapped more then 300 pictures that afternoon. Tiger girl too loved viewing them and even got down to walk around when we were at the Gardens By The Bay.
It has been Angry Bird Mania this month. We celebrated Doggie boy’s 5th birthday and I baked him this Angry Bird Cake. We went on our 3rd trip of the year to Bali, Indonesia. It was a very beautiful place and I can see myself visiting that island again with the kids in the future. I talked about my wishlist when I was a kid and how grateful I am that this christmas I have received everything that I wanted.
