The Jewel Cable Car to Sentosa is a common sight when one makes his way to the Island Resort. However, its doors have been closed for the last few months due to an upgrade. Just recently, the Cable Car has opened its doors again to the public!

Closing its doors in September 2009, the Jewel Cable Car reopened last month, after going through an upgrade costing  S$36 million.

The buzz has been going on around town, and we were glad to be invited by our friend  to try out the new Cable Cars.

The kids were really looking forward to it! Check out Nathan’s Big Smile as he got onto the Cable Car!

With the upgrade, all 67 cabins are now bigger and can contain 8 passengers instead of 6. This change is rather significant, as I remember that the previous cabins were a bit cramped.

The views in the cabin have also been brought up 1 level! We took the cable car from Mount Faber to Sentosa and back again. It was a really pleasant experience especially for the kids!

The maximum height of the Cable car have been shifted up an additional 30m to facilitate the bigger cabins. The highest point now stands at 120 m above sea level.

If you are thinking about bringing your kids to Sentosa via the cable car, be prepared for the revised prices.

Tickets are at:

Adult:
S$24 – one way trip
S$26 – two way trip

Child:
S$14 – one way trip
S$15 – two way trip

(Prices include Sentosa island admission) 

Opening Hours: 8.30am – 10pm daily

Parenting Tip

1. Do not expect the new cabins to be air-conditioned! The technology for air-conditioned cabins is not in yet and therefore dress the kids in light clothing. My youngest was really sweating, when we went in the afternoon.
2. Trip across to Sentosa takes about 5-10min. Do something on the island when you get there, as it will really keep the kids excited! No child would want to stay enclosed in a cabin for too long:). On Sentosa, we went for the Luge and the kids loved it!

Kids seem to have a real knack for technology, and they run to it like bees to honey.

Mummy and Daddy both carry a Blackberry 9700, and Nicole tells us that it is the most boring phone!

She says,  “The games are so difficult and everything is so small!” 

Looks like it is not only the techies that like a BIG screen!

The iPad is going to be launched this week, and I can imagine Nicole going wild over it!  Nathan was already crying the other day when he had to be separated from a friend’s iPhone, and I can envision a similar response from him.

I think the iPad will serve as a great teaching tool for kids, as the flash cards and interactive games on it will serve to be a great teaching tool. My sister-in-law is one who uses technology wisely, as she makes use of her home projector to flash images like fireman, construction workers and even volcanos (depending on her lesson plan). Check out how she does it here!

So far, we have not bought a Wii nor an Xbox nor a PSP for the kids yet. We aim to delay their introduction to these toys as long as we can…as we are afraid of bringing up kids glued to their video games. I think the TV is bad enough already, so having ONE less appliance to deal with, can be considered a blessing

But if you considering to get an iPhone, I have listed the details of the prices below:

The WiFi-only iPad models will retail in Singapore for $728, $878 and $1,028 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. iPads with WiFi and 3G connectivity will retail for $928, $1,078 and $1,228 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively.

3G iPad models will require special microSIM cards.

iPad Data Plan from M1 Singapore

Both prepaid and postpaid plans are available at M1 website.

StarHub already provides microSIMs with its MaxMobile Ultimate 7.2Mbps plan, which retails for $72.76 a month.

Enjoy!

As your kids hit 18 months, there is a subtle pressure to send your kids for enrichment.

When the kids hit 4yo, there is another surge of pressure to send your kids for even more classes especially on the weekends. From language classes, music lessons, swimming, fencing, phonics, taekwondo, art, speech and drama…the list goes on.

Recently ED Unloaded had an opportunity to conduct an email interview with Fiona Walker (CEO of Julia Gabriel for Learning, Chiltern House Child Care Centres and Julia Gabriel School of Education) and she gives her input on Enrichment Classes for Pre-Schoolers.

1. Are enrichment courses necessary?

Enrichment courses should be just that – a course to enrich and enhance your child’s learning and experiences. The school system here offers a very comprehensive academic programme so if your child has talents or an interest in the arts or sports it is a good idea to allow your child to follow that interest and enrichment courses make that possible.

With young children you may not know where your child’s interests lie. Taking a music class, art class or tennis lessons, for example, for a term then swapping over will help you and your child discover what he or she may wish to pursue.

2. Some pre-schools offer this as part of the curriculum. Is it sufficient?

Generally Nursery age children can find a full preschool curriculum very stimulating so if additional enrichment programmes are built in I would imagine, yes this may be enough for now. You may have heard of a course which is particularly good and engaging but I would limit that to one or two weekly additional classes for young children.

As a parent you will have to judge whether or not your child is being tired out. Dragging a tired or unmotivated child to enrichment classes really can be a waste of your money. Once children are in Kindergarten they are more ready for classes which expand their experiences beyond traditional classroom learning.

3. Is there such a thing as too much enrichment for children?

Definitely! I have known many children with a schedule which would horrify a professional executive. Rushing from school to classes almost 7 days a week. There have been a number of reports on the increase of stress in young children here. I believe this stress is very much a direct result of children being robbed of their childhood and right to free play. By increasing our expectations and packing their schedule from around the age of three, we will actually be producing children who behave like hamsters on a wheel and not creative geniuses.

Children need time to think and use their imagination. Enrichment classes can feed their imagination and help them think creatively but it is no use if they never get the chance to explore and expand on that new knowledge and skill before being rushed off to the next class.

My thoughts?

Well, I would LOVE it if my child could play Bach on the cello, Sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” like Connie Talbot (From America’s Got Talent Fame), Read French with the right accent, and get a fashion spread at Young Parents. And if they could eat their veggies, it would be a nice bonus

But having three kids of such differing personalities, giftings and talents, I realised that exposing them to a wide spectrum of enrichment only makes it more difficult to make a decision! We’ll keep their official structured learning during school hours, anything after, will be based on their interest, likes and wants.

And my vote goes to more Family Time! where after school hours will be spent bonding as a family! We can’t do that together in Ballet or at Art Class, and this definitely can’t be achieved if I spend half the time finding a parking lot at the enrichment centre!

Furthermore, the extra enrichment classes are a real financial strain, and I think that quality time with the kids will be a better option…although I am a bit tempted with the Chinese Language classes, as we don’t speak enough Mandarin at home!

Have you heard of a Milo Party?

When one becomes a Parent, Birthday Parties become a whole new ballgame. These days, Children’s Parties are NOT a “Non-Event” as they can come at huge expenses…

Last year, from out of the blue, Nicole came up with the idea of “Traffic Light Party!” The theme was just basically built on her favorite Colors and it was most importantly cheap to organize. This was in stark contrast to her 3rd Birthday Party, which was held at “My Gym” which cost quite a bit!

This year, in order to keep to our budget, we started thinking of a creative theme… And it all started with a Simple Ice Milo at the Coffee Shop downstairs.

As we were sipping our Ice Milo together, we had a New Idea! How about a “MILO Party!”

“Yeah…That will be Great DADDY! I Love Milo…and they can all have Milo Dinosaur at my Party!”

Daddy immediately got to work and decided to write to Nestle to ask for sponsorship for the party.

To Daddy’s surprise and delight, they replied and they were willing to sponsor us with Milo memorabilia. Isn’t that Fantastic!

Mummy got really excited, and she even wanted me to ask for a Milo Factory Visit, and maybe get the Milo Van to come to the school…Unfortunately, Milo does not allow any visits to their factory, and I think 18 kids is not a good enough number to ask for the Milo Van…:)

But, we quickly got to work in terms of the Party Invitations, and we managed to use our FREE Canon Selphy Printer to produce this personalized invitation for Nicole’s friends in school.

We were GOOD TO GO!

Check out the Party Games and the Party Photos in the next entry…

Do you remember seeing these posters? I used to see them everyday, as I was growing up Singapore in the 1970s.

But times have changed…and with a Pro-child policy in Singapore, it is a win-win situation to have children!

One of the Perks about living in Singapore is that the government is willing to help lighten the financial costs of bringing up a child.

Just the other day, I was asked by a friend, how much does the government give us in terms of “Baby Bonus” for having a child.

With 3 Kids,  I am supposed to be an expert…Unfortunately this Daddy has to look at the MCYS website to remember the figures…:)

Anyway these are the benefits in store for you:

Your child will enjoy these benefits under the Baby Bonus Scheme from birth till his sixth birthday. The total Baby Bonus benefits are shown in Table 1.

Therefore, in order to maximize your benefits, DO NOT stop at 1 child. Go for the 2nd child and more.

How does the money come?

Er…Don’t expect the stock to bring your Ang-Pow when the baby arrives at the hospital?

When I first became a parent, I thought that I would receive the money in a week’s time.

However, the cash gift is given in 4 is given out in 4 equal installments over 18 months from the birth of your child so that you can use the cash for new expenses arising from your newborn.

Above that, you would still get an ADDITIONAL maximum matching government contribution for your child’s Children Development Account (CDA)! Woopee!

To get the full story, go to this week’s article at Maybe Baby

And before I go…Don’t forget to Vote for me At the Singapore Blog Awards.

Each Person can vote once a day!

As a parent, I just love it  when the kids have a recital or a performance in school. Amazingly, it stirs up a spirit within us to want to see them excel and it’s really heart-warming to see the broad smiles on every parent’s face, as they see their little darlings perform.

This May, Nicole had a Mother’s Day Recital in School! As it was only delivered by kids at her level, it was a smaller and a  more intimate experience. (Check out her other performances here)

The teacher’s really worked very hard at it as well and here is a picture of the banner that greeted us, as we entered the school. Cool right!

The school and classrooms were also decorated by the teachers, to deliver a Fun Party-like atmosphere!

When we entered the music room, there were lots of parents there already. Everyone was armed with a Video cam or a DSLR as we awaited the performance (If u are planning to be a parent, do get one of these optical equipment, as the memories are priceless)

I went to look for the kids before the recital started, and they were excited and ready to go…Check out their excited faces before the performance.

Nicole delivered a song and dance performance in Mandarin, and it was really touching, as our little princess sang with all her heart. She definitely gave her BEST and Daddy and Mummy were so proud of her. 

In fact, All the daddies and Mummies were so proud of their kids, that they were snapping like crazy. I thought that I was at a celebrity press launch!

Mummy who was the star of the show, was proud of her little princess!

After the performance, we also got to see Nicole play the piano, as she performed some of the items that she learnt in her music class.

The song items included movement and dance into the music recitals as well. (Nicole likes the dancing!)

The whole family was there as well. Grandma was especially proud of her little Maestro!

Nicole also played tour guide and showed us around her classroom.

And of course, no party will be complete without FOOD!

Looks like the kids were enjoying it more than the adults!