Christy @ Kidsrsimple, Author at Kids 'R' Simple

What do I hope my kids to remember about me?

I just finished 2 books by Khaled Hosseini, Kite Runner and And the Mountains Echoed. In the stories, there were many reminiscences of childhood memories as the characters grew up to adulthood and aged. Everything that shapes a person ties back to his childhood memories and his growing up experiences. I think of myself and wonder what kind of memories will my kids grow up remembering fondly of or on the flip side, what memories they wish not to surface again.

When my kids were young, we were much more carefree and ventured more outdoors and nature. There were so many new experiences and new places to go. There were no or minimal homework and tests. No expectations too. The kids enjoyed everywhere we took them to. All things were considered fun and funny. Things were simpler. I wonder if they would look back and remember those happy days.

Now that the kids are grown up, opportunities to go outdoors for play reduced dramatically. Despite the fact that our kids have no tuition and more free time than most other kids, we certainly do not go for as much outdoor play as before. 2 days of weekend are spent on art class, soccer class, piano class, homework and tests revision. Any leftover time is spent reading, watching TV, groceries shopping, running errands and meal times with grandparents or cousins. I wonder what memories would the kids remember of these weekends. Hopefully not the homework and thronging between classes. It will be good if they remember the family time, the sleepover at grandma’s, dinner with cousins and grandparents.

These days, without a maid at home, I lost some precious time to doing house chores. You lose some. You gain some. I lost some precious time with the kids after work and not to mention blogging time, but the kids gain discipline and no longer take a clean house for granted. My hours after work are divided into completing minimal house chores, especially those that irritate me tremendously if not done (eg. A clean dining table and 80% clean floor), and coaching the 2 elder kids whenever they need my help and playing with the youngest. As we have implemented 930pm lights out, it practically leaves almost zero family bonding time on weeknights.

Sometimes, one of the elder kids would tell me that homework was done for that day and that would be a lucky day to play a game of monopoly together. We have no time for TV after dinner. I am often spotted walking briskly from the dining table to the sink and back while one ear hearing some school matters from one child with the other ear hearing some escalating squabbles and anticipating my involvement. I am mostly not looking at the speaking child’s eyes when he/she talks. I wish I have more ears, more eyes, to really listen. I am a bad role model in paying attention. What do my children remember of me? Mummy never listens. Mummy never stops what she is doing to pay attention to me. Oh..

I am not too sure if house chores are to be blamed entirely. I remember when I had a helper, I did not have much luxury to look the kids in the eyes when they talk. The problem must be with me. It is a bad habit of mine to look out for something to do and forever busying myself like a headless fly, obsessed with completing chores perfectly before going on to be with the children. Should I return one night and do nothing about house chores and really do nothing and only sit and listen to each and every child when he talks? Maybe this will change the way of life I have been so tiredly accustomed to. Maybe finally, I get to be carpe diem. I may even get to spend more time with each and every child. Surely, I do not want the kids to remember me as a tired, unsmiling mother who is forever in a rush.

Periodically, one child acts up, melts down and for some time, becomes the attention seeking child. My first thought goes to blame myself for not spending more time with this child, causing him/her to undo all expected good behaviour we have painstakingly taught them. Just recently, I tried to allocate 20 minutes of uninterrupted time with every child each night. I want them to know that Mummy cares for them and am interested in all that happen in school. It is not easy to implement this when I have so little time for everything. But certainly spending 1-1 time with my children deserves priority over any other chores. I shall update you how it goes with this change.

One friend of mine comments that I had not once mentioned about spending time with my husband whenever I lament about having not enough time spent with the family. I guess he is the most neglected of all. He hardly complains although I should not take things for granted. I realise that we can never assume that there will be lots of time in future when our nest is empty to think about spending more time with our spouse. Live in the moment because we never know what will happen tomorrow or the next minute. I wonder how people allocate time for all family members. Perhaps I am too structured. Perhaps I harp too much on spending time with kids. Perhaps I am too hard up on myself. Perhaps life is actually very simple: just let go, relax and enjoy family bliss. The formula could be really no formula at all.

Today, I shall return home, forget about the house chores and connect, relax and walk into each child’s room to spend uninterrupted minutes before I take a book to read or play a game with any child who is free to entertain me. I want my kids to remember that their working mother does return home to have a relax evening, who is ever ready to look them in the eyes and really connects with them. Especially to my girl, I want her to know that a working mother does not need to slog at house chores after work. She can have happy and relax moments even when she is a mother of 3.

Crossing to 2018 – Discovering Myself

2017 is over and it had been a terribly busy and hectic year. However, that also means that I have discovered many things about myself that I never noticed about and all these good and bad experiences will be added to the many grandma stories to be told to the kids and grandkids in future. Haha, I think and prep myself far ahead, don’t I?

Through various opportunities, I have discovered some aspects of myself which I never knew about. I discovered my capabilities. I discovered my strengths. I discovered my weaknesses. I discovered my likes. I discovered my dislikes.

You may be laughing at me about me knowing so little about myself at this mid-life period. I guess, when someone is approaching 40s, there are some new things you learnt along the way and internalised to be your abilities and interests and some things that you know very well whether you are confident enough to accept or reject.

Discovering Myself At Work
The first time I heard someone tell me that I have more confidence than I know about it, I laughed it away. And that person insisted it was my blind spot. And after that, I begin to take the compliment seriously. It was not just one person, but more people telling it to me in one way or another. Perhaps, as an Asian, it is humble to not acknowledge your strengths and as a result, I have never knew myself exuding so much confidence that it actually became threats to others in the workplace. It is a good feeling to know that I am portraying myself as a confident person and my first thought goes to the kids’ impression of me. It will be good that they see their mummy as a confident woman, especially to my girl. I hope I am a smart, intelligent and confident woman whom she would like to role model after.

Unfortunately, in workplace, things may not be rosy as a result of this confidence I have. I brushed feathers, caused anxiety and ended up with sour relations with a handful. But, I also gained compliments, affirmation and forged friendships with others. As much as I try to stay low profile, I seem to remain in the bad books of some. I cannot help it and hence have to live with it. All these make me stronger and gave me many opportunities to hone my EQ skills. I think I am thankful for people who make me stronger albeit in unpleasant ways. Even at such unwelcome situations, I am glad that I find positive takeaways!

Discovering Myself as a Teacher
If you had followed our PSLE journey, I had been a tutor to my Missy and brought up all her subjects by 2 grades from P6 SA1 to PSLE. I will not take all the credit to myself because without a cooperative Missy, this could not have happened.

Teaching Missy has taught me lots of things. It made me more patient than ever, but still there is room to improve. It proved to me that I was able to put my mind to do something well against all odds and criticism as long as I believe in myself. Believing in oneself is powerful. Just like what I always tell my kids: If you think you are able to do it, you can. Your mind can control your capability as long as you set your mind to do it.

So, it was a hectic PSLE year that sees me learn the P6 syllabus, craft revision and teaching methods and then teach at the same time within a short 9 months period. Nothing can be achieved if not for the strong support of my family together with the strong belief in me from my hub and kids that gave me the strength to bite the bullet to success. It was really unbelievable now that I look back at the past year.

Discovering Myself Through House Chores
Ever since my helper went back for good, we have been helperless for 2 months. Despite everyone’s well-meant advice that I should continue to employ another helper for my sanity, I guess I was stubborn enough to decide otherwise. Just like my insistence on not employing tutors for my kids, I was determined that I can do the house chores together with my kids, and for long term. After all, it was not so long ago that we never had helpers till 3 years back. Now that the kids are all 3 years older, it should be rightfully easier than before.

Doing house chores really does help in strengthening one’s health. I feel it is true! I have been much busier at home doing lots of chores on my own. I feel I am being brought out of my comfort zone and forced to yield my physical and mental strength to ensure our household is run on clockwork.

Some things have to be sacrificed like lesser me-time and blogging time. I am forced to juggle work, household, quality time with kids, me-time and self-care at the same time. I am still fine-tuning and learning. I believe without a helper, it benefits everyone in the family. The kids are so much more independent than before! Through their help, I discovered their characters too. Each has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. I am able to use the opportunity to correct bad habits and train independence. All these are intangibles that, I am glad, come at the right time while the kids can still be moulded and trained. It is worth it to sacrifice my hardship to gain all these!

Discovering My Likes
I was never a bookworm when I was young. Somehow, starting from 2 years back, I began to enjoy reading. Becoming a parent has also opened the door wide to reading classics I missed in my childhood and rejuvenates my interest in books from the past. This year, I discovered the gems of Classics and I am happy to have read 11 books in 2017 😃

1) Beyond The Tiger Mom by Maya Thiagarajan
2) The Call of The Wild by Jack London
3) The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
4) Girls Uninterrupted by Tanith Carey
5) To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
6) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
7) How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn
8) Screens and Teens by Kathy Koch
9) Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
10) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
11) Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

I make it a point to jot down each book that I read. I try to introduce good books to the kids too. I hope they will gain their interest in books eventually. Now, they are reading books slowly, and need prompting now and then. I believe one day they will find a whole wide world in books when they find their reading interest!

Discovering My Family
2017 is a year of relationship building. We have lots of opportunities to forge stronger ties through hosting dinners and attending family dinners regularly. At the crossing of 2017 to 2018, all of us have love for one another! I am talking about our parents, in-laws, siblings, siblings-in-laws and siblings’ kids. I can’t be happier with our family bliss. Family is really everything that we need in life. Building good relationships with every family member is not easy at all. It takes everyone’s magnanimity and open hearts to accept one another’s differences and faults. It takes everyone to look beyond misunderstandings and doubts. It takes everyone’s efforts to meet and create opportunities for get-togethers. I hope that we can continue to enjoy such family harmony into 2018 and beyond!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone’s heart is filled with love and magnanimity too!

Safari Zoo Run 2018 – 10th Year Running for Wildlife

The run events that can survive for 10 consecutive years must be quite something and deserve a look into why they remain popular! Come January 27, 2018, Safari Zoo Run is going to be held for the 10th year raising awareness for wildlife conservation. Now, for any kind of runs, it is important to know what you are running for. Many can be attracted by the runner’s entitlements, the running route, fringe activities, but do not realise the theme behind the runs. If you would spare a moment to read and understand why a run event is held, perhaps it would make it more meaningful to join in the race.

What is Safari Zoo Run about and what are you running for?

Safari Zoo Run was conceived to commemorate Singapore Zoo’s famous matriarch and one of Singapore’s most loved animal personalities — Ah Meng the Sumatran orangutan, who died of old age in February 2008.

Safari Zoo Run 2018, like all its 9 years of hard work, seeks to raise awareness on wildlife conservation. For adults, we may already know about endangered animals, but may not pay too much attention about it. For kids, how do they have the awareness? What better way to do so than to send the message to both adults and kids in family runs and individual runs? And this is the reason why Safari Zoo Run remains one of our favourite family runs so far! Running for a good cause!

I make it a point to explain to my kids why they participate in a run event, hoping that it will make them run with motivation.

How do you raise awareness by running?

Safari Zoo Run 2018 is proud to feature 4 animal icons namely: Ah Meng the Orangutan, Chawang the Asian Elephant, Canola the Manatee and Sunny the Hornbill. Read this infographics below to choose which one you wish to support! Each animal icon team supports an endangered wildlife species in Singapore. Do your part for wildlife – join a team and run for wildlife today!

Another way to support this worthy cause is to give donations to the Wildlife Reserves Singapore conservation fund which will go a long way in helping preserve wildlife species. Visit this link to make a donation: www.giving.sg/wildlife-reserves- singapore-conservation-fund/safari_zoo_run_2018

What we love about Safari Zoo Run 2018?

So… what attracts us so much to Safari Zoo Run?

1) Running past the animals!
We are going to run past lions, zebras, giraffes, and many more animals! Just like our last Safari Zoo Run, we do not mind getting all distracted saying hi to the animals that we passed by! That is perhaps the reason why family runs are usually not competitive, simply because the kids are running haphazardly!

2) Free entry to the Zoo and River Safari!
Who doesn’t want value for money stuff??? A quick calculation will tell you that the Safari Zoo Run is worth your every cent. Yes, considering a free entry to the Zoo (worth $33) and free entry to the River Safari (worth $30) on event day, PLUS 50% discount to Night Safari (saves you $22.50) and Jurong Bird Park (saves you $14.50), PLUS Race apparels, T-shirt, Finisher’s Medal, well, and not forgetting you are running for wildlife and bonding with your family and friends at the same time, I hope you are already convinced!

Not to mention that we get to visit the Zoo and River Safari all in a day! Our kids never get tired of the Zoo!

3) Running for a good cause
Ok, I shall not repeat this again! Please scroll up to read “What are you running for?” 😛

4) Family Run Category
Safari Zoo Run has 2.5km and 5.5km family run categories! We are going to run the 5.5km family run this time round! Our previous run was a 2.5km which was perfect for our toddler back then, however, now that he is 5yo, surely we can run a longer distance to see more animals along the way! We will be running through the Zoo and Night Safari. We are prepared to run, hop, jump, walk, skip, whatever, to get to our destination! We have never run such a long distance together with the kids. It is gonna be exciting! Crossing my fingers that the youngest will not ask to be carried!

Race Categories and Fees

Race Category		Normal Rates 8 Nov – 7 Jan 18
10KM SAFARI ZOO CHALLENGE (COMPETITIVE) – Runs through Singapore Zoo and Night Safari	MEN’S OPEN	$80
	WOMEN’S OPEN	$80
5.5KM SAFARI ZOO RUN (NON-COMPETITIVE) – Runs through Singapore Zoo and Night Safari	ADULT	$70
	JUNIOR / KIDS**	$50
2.5KM SAFARI ZOO KIDS DASH (COMPETITIVE) – Runs through Singapore Zoo	BOYS	$55
	GIRLS	$55
2.5KM SAFARI ZOO DASH (NON-COMPETITIVE) – Runs through Singapore Zoo	ADULT	$56
	JUNIOR / KIDS**	$50
AGE LIMITS: MEN’S & WOMEN’S OPEN • 16YRS & ABOVE \| ADULT • 18YRS & ABOVE \| JUNIOR • 13 – 17 YRS OLD BOYS / GIRLS • 6 – 12 YRS OLD \| KIDS • 4 – 12 YRS OLD

*Loyalty rates applies to past participants of Safari Zoo Run in 2017 only.
**Adult supervision by a registered 5.5km Safari Zoo Run (Non-Competitive) or 2.5km Safari Zoo Dash (Non-Competitive) Kid participant is required. Due to safety reasons, one Adult participant can only be paired with a maximum of 2 Kid participants in the same category. So what happens if you have 3 kids or more? You may write in to safarizoo.run@hivelocity.com.sg and the organisers will consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
**Children 3 years & below as of 28 Jan 18 may enter for free (without runner’s entitlements) in the non-competitive categories. An accompanied Adult registration is required.

If you are a WRS Family and Individual Member, you will be entitled to a special 15% off prevailing rates! Please contact membership@wrs.com.sg or call 6269 3411 for the promotion code.

Christmas Promotion!!

Don’t worry if you have not signed up and wish to do so, but miss the early birds discounts!
For the 12th day of Christmas, enjoy 12% off the race fees using promo code 12OFF! Hurry now as it’s the last day for this promo!

Not only that, for anyone who registers from now till 5 Jan 2018 using the promo code 12OFF, will stand a chance to win a pair of slots from the 5.5KM or 2.5KM Category!

We are all excited to get ready for our first long distance family run to kick start a series of run events in 2018! We can’t wait for Safari Zoo Run 2018 to come! Hope to see you there too!

Disclaimer: We were given complimentary entry to Safari Zoo Run 2018. Stay tune to what we will be doing on the run day itself!

So… Did We Survive to Tell The Tale of Our No-Tuition Route?

It all started with Missy failing her Math in P3. That really was a turning point for us in how we deal with academic expectations or rather, no expectation. I had a realisation to be more involved in my kids’ academic instead of being a laid-back mum for way too long. We re-visited basics, dealt with terrible attitude to seeing the change in Missy with a super good attitude, and then customising our unique 30 minutes revision to suit her learning style, insisted in no-tuition route, and finally improving by leaps and bounds in P6 PSLE results. This sums up our No-Tuition route for Primary School and Missy and I DID survive to tell the tale.

There is no fairy tale to tell here. No miracle too. The ingredients to succeed in the No-Tuition path are many. They require perseverance, cooperation, the right mindset, everybody’s contribution and support in one way or another. But I guess if you were to ask me what are the major ingredients, I would say there are 2. One is Missy’s good attitude towards her studies and the second, me having no expectation on Missy’s results. And I mean really NO expectation.

PRIMARY 4

Back in P4, our revision times were totally unpleasant.

Missy would roll her eyes, look elsewhere, cross her arms, and often, I would slam the table, engage in shouting matches, and we end up angry with each other. It was impossible to teach and at times, I was debating if I should even beg her to cooperate! Those times, revision was a waste of time and nothing went inside her ears.

PRIMARY 5

Perhaps it was a growing up phase, come P5, Missy started to become cooperative and our revision gradually become effective. She could absorb concepts and explanations fast. It became a breeze and joy to teach! I could not even believe it was just a few months ago that I was tearing my hair teaching her.

PRIMARY 6

Missy continued her good attitude into P6 year. In P5, we concentrated mostly on Math so that she could catch up on her Math basics. You wouldn’t believe it. At the start of P6, I realised that I neglected her English. Perhaps it was more like I accepted her borderline pass in this subject for the longest time and I don’t even know why I paid no heed to the warning bells! To be frank, I debated on whether to send her to tuition for professionals to teach her English. Even though I used to teach Adult English Course, I was not confident in bringing her up to the standard to score a better than borderline pass within just 9 months!

I discussed with the hub who gave me a very wise advice: Revise on English nightly for just 30 minutes, no more, no less.

I panicked. How can 30 minutes a night be sufficient??? We should do at least an hour! Or else, how can I bring her up to the standard within 9 months? Mind you, we are talking about basic plural, singular rules! Well, I decided to listen to the hub to keep to a short revision. On syllabus, it was kind of my forte to plan out our revision curriculum. I bought an English Grammar book. We started on basics, really basic English. We kept to 15 minutes teaching, and 15 minutes practising. Before we started, I had a pep talk with Missy. She had to cooperate for a full 30 minutes and I ensured not exceeding the 30 minutes and then we would be done. A stop watch helped to watch the time. We ended up with a super fruitful revision. Although it was only 30 minutes, she improved her English quickly. I also encouraged her to read books to complement the learning of English language.

P6 SA1 Results

Then SA1 results was released, Missy’s English results stayed the same. But some sub-papers improved and some marks were lost for other sub-papers due to carelessness. I thought maintaining results may also be an improvement on its own. It is not easy to maintain the same results if you think about how difficult it gets with every progression of the examinations. We continued to work hard through the June holidays to see if our hard work would be paid off in the Prelims. There was no drastic increase in marks, but certainly we saw improvements here and there.

Apart from English, I taught Missy Math and Science as well. I learnt along with her on Math and had to learn it fast to be able to teach her. Each time I was stuck, I looked for help from teachers and my hub. Eventually, Missy could do her Math problem sums faster than I did. It was a satisfaction to see her grasp her Math concepts fast and tackling the difficult questions by and by. She was encouraged by how she could do more and more questions correctly. She began to love Math.

For Science, I must say that going to the Marshall Cavendish Science Workshop for Parents and Students helped Missy to score from a C in SA1 to an A in her PSLE. That was an amazing improvement that neither she nor me expected! Many had feedbacked that Science paper was quite tricky. Having 2 grades jump in Science was totally Missy’s efforts! She did not need any tuition to achieve a 2 grades jump! We are soooo proud of her!

PSLE Results

Not only Science, in fact almost all her subjects had a 2 grades jump in PSLE except for her Chinese which she had a one grade jump to the maximum! Now, you should have guessed how she had fared in her SA1 and before. Yes, despite her results were not satisfactory in most parents’ eyes, her Dad and I stick to the belief that she will made it one day. We have never put any expectations on her just so that she has no pressure to shine on her own, achieves excellence out of her own efforts with no external tuition help, and we are ready to celebrate her results no matter what she will achieve. To reiterate this point, I made an arrangement to deliver a bouquet of flowers to her just 1 day before PSLE Results release day with the following message:

As long as she tried her best with no regrets, she is our pride and joy!

Now that the PSLE Results are out, we hope she will go into her school of choice. She chose her desired school. We, as parents, went to the school open house to speak to the Principal and teachers personally just to ensure the school’s direction is aligned with our beliefs. Indeed, the Principal has a good reputation of steering the school well wherever he goes. The teachers, whom we talked to, sound passionate and it seems that this school is able to nurture Missy’s artistic talent too. The bonus is that this school is just a 10 min walk from our house and Missy will not need to waste time on travelling.

We are looking forward to our first child’s Secondary School phase. It will certainly be a brand new experience. There will be 8 or so subjects to study, many projects to work on, many leadership and holistic experiences awaiting, and new friendships to forge. Secondary School years are my best years where I find my BFF and good friends. I hope Missy will enjoy her teenage years and grow her talents in this phase. My only wish is that she enjoys her Secondary School days.

Taking The Path Less Traveled…

With this, I shall wrap up our PSLE Series learning journey here. So many readers and friends have given us support at times that we struggle to walk the path less traveled. Thank you very much!

It takes lots of courage to believe in what we did, ignoring well-meant advice to engage external tutors, ignoring some who were not optimistic about us. I admit I was scared because I seemed to deny Missy of getting professional tutoring help and I was seen to be taking a gamble on her “future” if what PSLE is all about. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I was afraid I would fail to bring her up to her rightful potential. She has the potential, it just takes time and time was not on our side.

However, I know that I am doing the right thing. Because I know Missy best, I was able to curate a revision that best suits her. I was also able to give her full attention on revision. With the insistence of no-tuition, there was much sacrifice and cooperation from many family members. Missy’s younger brothers had to have less of me for the 9 months. I didn’t have much time for my hub too. The stubbornness in me was determined to make PSLE a less UN-enjoyable year for Missy. I guess I succeeded because Missy was never at all too stressful in preparation for her PSLE. I ensured she still have her time for play and fun. In fact, while many quit piano and CCAs for this year, Missy even resumed her piano lessons and took her first piano exam in July. She played for the school to the Nationals in volleyball in early part of the year. So kudos to Missy for being able to juggle interests and studies in this crucial year! This is exactly what I wish she will pick up to be a holistic achiever. She is really amazing!

I hope Missy’s story is able to inspire many out there. Everything is possible and it just takes some courage to do it. With a good attitude, we can move mountains 😃

This post is published with Missy’s permission which I think requires lots of courage to reveal her learning challenges that many may put them under wraps. I am happy that she allows me to write the PSLE Series and wrap up in this way too. Thank you my dear princess, I hope your story will inspire many out there and encourage others too 🙂

Experience A Universal Christmas at Universal Studios Singapore

This year, A Universal Christmas includes many Christmas highlights, interactive workshops and interesting shows to delight everyone young at heart. You may be wondering if these are all included in the entry ticket. The answer is Yes! The park hours are extended till 9pm daily too! So, it is super worth it to visit Universal Studios Singapore from 1 Dec to 1 Jan because you get to enjoy more than the usual popular and awesome rides and attractions. Best of all, you can soak in the beautiful and everything magic Christmas mood and sights!

3 years back we had an enjoyable time at Universal Studios Singapore for their Christmas Special. We remembered every ride we took and even remembered fondly of eating dinner at Din Tai Fung after that. Fast forward 3 years later, every one of us looked forward to have an equally fun time during this period of the year again! So happy that this time, our youngest was able to join us in most of the rides and not only that, the kids got to take their favourite rides with their cousins again.

A Universal Christmas runs daily and features daytime and nighttime experiences! Here are some of our favourites!

Santa’s Workshop
Timing: 12 – 8pm
Where: New York Zone

Santa’s Workshop makes anything associated with Christmas. The Santa is recruiting elves for this holiday season. Each child or adult who goes into the workshop will go through 5 tasks in different thematic zones and collect stamps on a personalised certificate bearing their own photo. The interactive zones start with a fun photo-taking station that transforms you to an elf. After that, a door opens up to the rest of the stations like sorting letters in a mailroom, assembling a robot in Toy Factory, helping Mrs Claus to find ingredients to make cookies and finally meeting Santa Claus for a photo opportunity!

We were expecting more detailed interactive activities but they were really simple tasks where the whole group were ushered from room to room for different experiences. Nevertheless, the entire 20 minute or so session brings smiles to everyone even the Grandpa (my Father-in-law) who seemed to enjoy the workshop too!

Oscar’s Grouchmas
Timing: 1215pm, 230pm, 430pm, 630pm* (varies with different days)
Where: Pantages Hollywood Theater

The show’s title made us laugh. It is not hard to imagine how grouchy Oscar will be. We did not manage to catch this show at all the 4 timings as the park is so big and we needed double the time to move the 6 kids around from one attraction to another. We were simply too far away to be back in time to watch the show. Otherwise, we would love to see how Oscar transforms from a Christmas grouch to the holiday’s number one fan through an unexpected journey — discovering the true meaning of the season and the joys of giving, kindness and love. The kids missed the chance to see Elmo and the Cookie Monster too.

Search For A Christmas Star (at World of Stars)
Timing: 730pm, 845pm
Where: New York Zone

This is one of the highlights of A Universal Christmas and we made it well in time to secure a good view of the stage. Then we realised that the Airy Fairy was flying in from behind as she swished her magic wand to light up the streets of New York as she set the stage for “Search for a Christmas star”. It was a beautiful and sparkling sight. Remember to get ready your camera to take many insta-worthy pictures.

Search for a Christmas Star is a Star Search Contest where each contestant competes with his best talent. The show wows the audience with toy soldiers in break dancing, ‘Snow’ and ‘Flake’ in lovely singing, other contestants performing familiar Christmas melodies, aerial acrobatics, special effects, fireworks, snowfall, projection mapping of the New York Public Library and many more. We enjoyed the dance moves and singing in this musical that captured our attention from start till end. Not to mention that there is a meaningful moral behind the story of this contest.

There was a surprise appearance of a Gingerbread Boy and Gingerbread Girl in the finale! They must have come out of Mrs Claus Kitchen! Snow started to fall at this moment to everyone’s excitement. We were delighted to queue up just to take a picture with these 2 cuties and the talented cast.

Santa’s Snowy Sleigh Ride and Santa’s Christmas Tree House
Timing: 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm
Where: New York Zone and Hollywood Zone

We were looking forward to seeing Santa parade down the streets on his sleigh. As we missed all the earlier timings, we wanted to catch Santa after the 730pm World of Stars show for the last parade at 8pm. Unfortunately, we missed the parade by a few minutes and could only manage to take a photo instead. If you wish to catch the Santa sleigh ride, please try to go for the earlier timings.

Hello Kitty Store @ Universal Studios Singapore

We could not have come at a better time! The Hello Kitty Store has just opened just a week ago! I am sure Hello Kitty Fans will not hesitate to visit the park for the sake of this all-pretty store!

Oh, before I forget, guests can shop this year’s hottest gifts at any of the park’s retail stores and with every S$100 nett spent (One free postage applicable to a Singapore address only, with every S$100 nett spent), they can have their gifts mailed straight to their loved ones – for free – with the North Pole Postage Service located along Hollywood. This makes it so convenient for Christmas Shopping 🙂

We stayed till 9pm and not before we took the last attraction on our to-visit list which was the Canopy Flyer in the dark! It was certainly a different experience dangling your feet in the night air and taking in the night scene. We were also lucky for that day’s weather was cool and cloudy. There was some slight drizzle but that did not dampen any of our spirits. In fact, the kids wore their ponchos in the drizzle and were happy to get wet in the Water World Show Soak Zone and the Jurassic Park Rapids Ride. So, remember to bring along Ponchos to USS!

We had lots of fun at Universal Studios Singapore just like we did each time we visited the park. It gets better each time when each of the kids grows up and meets the minimum height for the attractions. I think it will become a tradition for us to visit USS during Christmas time simply because we have so many beautiful memories at USS Christmas special that accompanied the kids’ growing up years. The best part is that we will never outgrow USS because the rides are so exciting and they get better as the kids grow up! We will be back again soon!

Disclaimer: We received complimentary tickets from Universal Studios Singapore. We had great fun and hope you will too! For more information, visit www.universalchristmas.sg .