About Dominique

http://dominiquegoh.com

Singaporean Educator, Coach and Hands on Mom of Three. Connect with me on Google+

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Top 10 Highlights of November 2014

Tiger girl at the exercise corner

Tiger girl at the exercise corner

It’s December and the start of Advent. Before long it will Christmas and we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus and  the start of a new year.  2014 is finally drawing to a close and it has certainly been a year of growth for me and the kids.

Tiger girl  rock climbing

Tiger girl rock climbing

1) November was a month of firsts for Tiger girl.  It was the first time that she attempted Rock Climbing at the Rock School in Bedok.  She was the youngest participant at the rock climbing session and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Tiger girl scaling the blue wall to the summit.

Tiger girl scaling the blue wall to the summit.

Tiger girl showed how gung-ho she is when she steadily scaled the 3 storey wall and made it to the summit.  Monkey boy and Doggie boy too managed to scale the walls and did it several times during our 2 hour session.

Tiger girl and her Minnie Mouse at the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Bouncy Playground

Tiger girl and her Minnie Mouse at the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Bouncy Playground

2) Disney has come to town and the kids had the fun at the Winter Wonderland at Changi. We were invited to try out the bouncy castle which they had set up and look at the Disney theme decorations. The kids enjoyed themselves bouncing around in the castle.

Customised bracelets ordered from Adeline Loft

Customised bracelets ordered from Adeline Loft

3) I did all my Christmas shopping early this year. I ordered family braclets from Adeline’s Loft  and water bottles from Taobao. Ordering items online  has really made shopping so much easier. It also saves me time and money as I get the best deals.

Tiger girl on her Skate scooter

Tiger girl on her Skate scooter

4) It was play and more play as Tiger girl and her brothers went on playdates with their friends. We hosted playdates at our house and also went together to try out the Amped Trampoline park.

At the Trampoline park

At the Trampoline park

For $13/ hr per kid they bounced around and had fun on the trampolines in this indoor hall. I  found it rather pricey however it was certainly a fun experience for them to enjoy.

Tiger girl all geared up for laser tag

Tiger girl all geared up for laser tag

5) Another fun experience the kids had was playing laser tag. They  chased each other around and had a good workout while playing with the guns.

6) November being a month of Thanksgiving  I focused on various activities which taught the kids about showing gratitude. We read the book – Gratitude is a Funny Thing  and made up our own Gratitude Tree.

Our Thanksgiving Tree

Our Thanksgiving Tree

7) November was a month that I opened up and shared some fact on the blog about myself.  I have been mentioning more about the kids and our experiences and it was time to give you readers more information about myself.

Strawberry cake

Strawberry cake

8) We have been going and eating out more that the kids are on school holidays. It was the prefect excuse  for me to eat cake with them while we were at a cafe.

Tiger girl and Monkey Boy

Tiger girl and Monkey Boy

9) Being positive and having  happy thoughts certainly would make life more meaningful. Looking at the happy smiles of the kids  really helps to perk up my day.

Tiger girl and me at Laser Tag

Tiger girl and me at Laser Tag

10) Having fun and enjoying oneself is certainly good. Besides the thrills and excitement one can definitely spend time to give thanks for the blessing that one has received.  For Thanksgiving I dedicated a post to my family for all they have given me. They  are and always will be my pride and joy and my main source of motivation.

How was your month of November like?

 

 

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Chilling out at Parkland Green

The selection of food we tasted at Sandbank

The  excellent selection of food we tasted at Sandbank

Parkland Green at East Coast Park is the place to dine if you are out on the weekend.  Recently  revamped this stretch along East Coast Park  houses a mix of dining and retail outlets for families.

Last Friday the kids and I were invited to try out the food at the dining establishments and have a round playing laser tag. The kids were thrilled that they would get a chance to play laser tag as they haven’t tried the game before.

Some of the restaurants/shops we visited

Some of the restaurants/shops we visited

 

Having tried all the establishments at Parkland Green here are my recommendations.

My Picks 

(For Alfresco Dining) 

This restaurant really takes the cake for service and quality of food. Sandbank is the first restaurant that I have seen which has a 15 metre plunge pool within it’s premise.  The  concept of “cooling-off” and having a tasty meal really appeals to me.  (The pools were still under construction when we were there so we weren’t able to test it out.)

Our sampling plate.

Our sampling plate.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs $26

This was absolutely yummy. The  succulent ribs just melted in my mouth when I ate them

Juicy Charcoal Grilled Cola-marinated Chicken Wings (6pcs) $14

Juicy Charcoal Grilled Cola-marinated Chicken Wings (6pcs) $14

I’m not really a fan of chicken wings but eating the juicy wing on the sampling plate made me crave for more. It was THAT good!!

Hawaiian Pizza at $25

Hawaiian Pizza at $25

Monkey boy really loved eating this pizza.   Cajun prawns and  jalapeno peppers made it spicy but it wasn’t overpowering.  It tasted different from the traditional Hawaiian pizza  and it certainly whet his appetite as he happily helped himself to his siblings’ shares as they don’t eat spicy foods.

I personally loved the fusion of flavours of the pizza and this is certainly a dish which I would order if I were to visit Sandbank again with the kids.

The spread at St Marc Bakery & Bar

The spread at St Marc Bakery & Bar

( For Brunch or Tea) 

St. Marc Bar and Bakery

This is the place to go for afternoon treat or brunch.  They have one of the yummiest Chocoro. The flaky croissant filled with dark chocolate is really  mouth watering.

A close up of the chocoros

A close up of the chocoros- Eating one is certainly not enough!!

The chocoro makes for a great light afternoon tea snack together with tea or coffee.

Monkey boy eating their Spaghetti Carbonara

Monkey boy eating their Spaghetti Carbonara

The boys  weren’t very hungry as we had been sampling food  at the different outlet and I didn’t expect them to be able to eat any more.

I was surprised when I saw both boys gobbling up a plate of Spaghetti Carbonara each when it was served to our table. It must have tasted really good as they finished their plates without letting me sample any of it.  Monkey boy said that the Carbonara was the best that he had ever tasted.

Little Fuji- Waffle with ice-cream

Little Fuji- Waffle with ice-cream

Doggie boy really  “attacked” the soft serve ice-cream on the waffle when it was served.  I had to momentarily removed the dish from his radius before I could cut it into smaller pieces for all to savor.

Monkey boy and Tiger girl playing with the toys at St Marc

Monkey boy and Tiger girl playing with the toys at St Marc

If you have restless kids like mine dining at St Marcs will not be an issue. There are toys available at the restaurant to keep young kids occupied. The kids took a dump truck  and the bead sorter toy  to our table to play with while waiting for the food to be served.

(For your sporting needs)

Hyper Sports

Hyper Sports

The kids were attracted to the colorful skateboards and helmets when we entered the shop.  They explored the shop on their own and were happy to browse around. They  tried out some of the skateboards and scooters that were on sale.

The interior of the  shop

The interior of the shop

There were so many things that the kids were interested in and wanted for me to purchase for them as Christmas presents.

Flipbelt

Flipbelt

Being practical, I decided on a flipbelt for myself instead.  This belt would certainly come in handy when I travel with them or when we are out exercising in the park. The kids already had skateboards and scooters at home so they did not need additional sets.

( For a fun time)

Tag Team

Tiger girl and me

Tiger girl and me

This was certainly the highlight of the afternoon. The kids couldn’t wait to play laser tag at Tag Team. We had the opportunity to experience two 15 minutes missions at each arena and loved it.

Monkey boy being showed how the gun works

Monkey boy being showed how the gun works

The boys went off with the other boys in the group while tiger girl and me went to play with the girls.  We were split into two different groups so that we could try out the different arenas at the same time.   The boys tried out the indoor – mystery room while we tried out the outdoor arena on our first attempt.

Each player was loaded up with a laser gun and sensors and lead to their bases before the game started.

My little fighter- Tiger girl

My little fighter- Tiger girl

Even though the gun was nearly as big as her Tiger girl handled it like a pro.  She happily charged around shooting the players in the opposite team when the signal GO was given.

Tiger girl and me inside the Mystery Room

Tiger girl and me inside the Mystery Room

It was an unbalanced fight from the start as we were outnumbered 5 to 3 during our 2nd mission. However we rose up to the challenge and squashed our opponents flat  as we won the mission with a final score of 26: 20!!  It proved that resilience and determination pays off and I was really proud of our achievement.

I personally preferred the indoor arena as compared to the outdoor one as the guns were lighter and being in air-con we did not sweat as much as during our 1st session. The boys too preferred playing in the mystery room as compared to the other arena.

We would certainly be back again for another round of laser tag this school holidays.

Parkland Green

20 East Coast Parkway Singapore 449875.

Disclaimer: We were invited by NParks to check out the restaurants and other businesses on a Friday afternoon. All opinions are 100% my own.