Fantasy Trees

Thanks to the birthday last week, we have a LOT of wrapping paper in the house. And since I am not one to discard paper that easily, I decided to make our holiday cards this year with 'recycled' paper.

We made these 'Fantasy Christmas Trees'...


If you look carefully, you might be able to spot the 'ToysRUs' or 'Barbie' wrappers :)

We get a lot of paper delivered home for free (letters, junk mail, publicity materials etc), and with a little imagination these can be made into interesting art and craft projects. Recently, I picked up a book from the library called 'make it!' It has many 'high mess factor' projects for children involving paper, plastic, metal and cloth. Quite an interesting book that explains the importance of recycling in kid-friendly terms.

A 3ft stack of flattened cardboard boxes translates to 1 tree! Let's practise the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle...and be creative in the process :)

Annalakshmi

We were in the heart of Chinatown, wondering aloud about the eating options. There weren't many, unless you were willing to consider local Chinese cuisine or fast food. We walk into a mall, and there, a signboard greets us: Annalakshmi...where vegetarian dining is a cultural experience.

Intrigued, we step in.

Judging from the ambiance and decor we guess it to be a high-end restaurant. Almost all the tables were occupied, and when the 'waiter' guides us to our table, we notice that more than 60% of the guests are not Indians. There were many local Singaporeans and expats. This is not usual in Indian joints in Little India, so we assume that this particular place must be good. And expensive.

Our curiosity is further peaked when we don't find a price listed beside the items in the menu. What kind of restaurant is this? Was is it like a P-O-R (Price on request) tag that one found beside canvases in expensive art galleries? Mom-in-law can't take it much longer, so she summons the nearest 'waiter'. He tells us with a smile, 'You eat what you like, and you give us whatever you want'.

'Wow!' says Kanchan, echoing our thoughts.

We ordered a variety of south and north Indian dishes, and I have to say, the quality was excellent! The concept, we thought, was brilliant. And judging from its high occupancy on a weeknight, I would say, Annalakshmi has gone a long way in introducing quality Indian vegetarian food to the locals, many of them meat-eaters.

A few words on Annalakshmi...it is the culinary arts section of the Temple of Fine Arts, a non-profit voluntary organisation dedicated to the promotion of Indian culture, heritage and the fine arts. It was started by His Holiness Swami Shantanand Saraswati, and is completely run by volunteers. There are several Indian sculptures and artifacts on display which one can buy at the restaurant, though of course, these items are highly priced.

The address is: 133, New Bridge Road, B1 -02 Chinatown Point, Podium A, Singapore -059413.
They also serve a buffet (no onions or garlic) lunch at Annalakshmi janatha at 104, Amoy Street, Sgp Mon to sat: 11:00 - 15:00

Website: www.annalakshmi.com.sg

Do visit!

Seven!!!

12 kids high on sugar X 3 hrs = 1 dead Mummy
This equation pretty much sums up Urvi's 7th birthday...

She woke up at 7(!) in the morning screaming 'It's my birthday! It's my birthday!' That set the pace for the rest of the day. Thammi made the traditional 'payesh' (a dessert made from rice and milk), and Dadu performed a Puja. The remainder of the morning went in all the last minute preparations for the party in the afternoon.

Urvi in her new 'Indian robe'... Move over Kareena....

Guests started arriving at 3 p.m. After several minutes of 'Aunty, she's not letting me sit beside Urvi' and 'Aunty, when are we going to eat the cake?' and 'Aunty, can I have my return gift NOW?' I decided it was time to start the first game...Passing the Parcel. The older kids groaned. I don't blame them...as a kid my reaction to this game at birthday parties was quite similar. With activities like 'Recite a poem you learnt at school' or 'Show us a dance' or 'Recite the 8 times tables'...the one idea uppermost in every kid's mind was how quickly to get rid of the parcel.

Our activities were slightly different, and by the third round kids were clinging on to the parcel refusing to let go :) One had to write her name on air with the tip of her nose, or recite 'Twinkle Twinkle' but between each word insert 'OM' or 'BOM', scratch 1 arm and 1 leg at the same time, hop on the right leg and laugh loudly then hop on the left and not laugh, point out 5 red things quickly etc. In addition I had kept several 'Surprises' in the parcel. Anyone who was lucky enough to get a 'surprise' got a 'surprise gift'!

Kanchan was the DJ and he made sure that every kid got a chance. This was challenging as some of the kids held on the parcel, while the kid next to him pulled at it. The foot-tapping music of Elton John's 'I'm still standing' was interspersed with loud laughter every time the wrapper was torn open. Tharun impressed us with his sharp intellect...to the question 'Name 5 animals or birds that start with the letter C' he completely ignored the cat, cow or chicken to name cheetah, caterpillar and chameleon!

The game ended with Samyuktha winning a set of color pencils. By this time, the one question weighing heavily on everyone's mind was 'When are we going to eat the cake?'

So that's what we did next. Candles were blown, the cake was cut, the birthday song was sung. It was time to bring out the pizzas! Thammi had also prepared 'vegetable chop', a very Bengali savory, the recipe of which I hope to post soon on this blog.


The ever helpful (M)adhav right beside Urvi, in case she needed help in blowing the candles.

Once the tummies were filled, it was time to jump some more and burst balloons and scream at the top of your voice. If you thought the kids couldn't be more excited, think again! Complete hysteria broke out when we announced ... a treasure hunt!

Some of the kids had to leave early, so Kanchan divided the remaining 9 kids into groups of 3, while I quietly sneaked out to hide the clues. I had taken advantage of Kovan Melody's sprawling grounds and its many interesting nooks and corners (the tree house, the fish and turtle pond, the Purple Dinosaur and the mysterious Island of the Umbrellas) as spots to hide the clues.

The three teams named themselves 'The Cheetahs', 'Spring' and 'The Peacocks'. I had made separate sets of clues for all the teams, so that the hiding spots did not overlap. The clues were made with chinese symbols, hieroglyphics, crosswords and number sequences. K got the mothers involved. Each team had an 'aunty' who was to accompany them throughout and guide them if necessary.

Here are examples of some of the clues...


One of the clues was ' To the opposite of KEY, Add the letter B
I am usually followed by a number
I'm a group of apartments in a tall tower
There are many of me
In Kovan Melody
What am I?

This was followed by a number series where the kids had to figure out the missing number. I asked K to suggest a series, and he replied 'Give them something simple, na. The Fibonacci sequence, for e.g. ' From that point on, it was clear I had to do this on my own.

Sarah, Samyuktha and Mitali poring over the hieroglyphics

After about a three-quarters of an hour or so, all the teams were successful in solving their clues and finding their treasures (the return gifts). The feedback I got from the kids was that the clues were a little tough, but the hunt was extremely exciting and enjoyable. The moms too appreciated the effort, and some of them have already been requested to do similar games on their kids' birthdays.

By 8 in the evening, Thammi, Dadu, K and I were barely able to move a limb.

Urvi was still jumping.

Eve of the Party

Tomorrow is the Big Day! Excitement runs high in our home...Thammi is in charge of food and maintaining an overall sanity, Dadu is helping out with the decorations, I am in charge of games and entertainement (!), Urvi is completely hyper...she's blowing balloons only to burst them the next second, then making some crazy artwork with the bits of burst latex (like we have time to clear that mess up!), and Kanchan is doing what he is best at...being a recluse.

Meanwhile, we have 18 invitees and 22 confirmations. (Don't ask!)

Here are some pics of the decorations. We made them ourselves, the circle thingies, that is. We bought some shiny and colorful Christmas wrappers, cut out circles of various diameters (using saucers and dinner plates). Then folded them in half, then quarter and then 1/8th, and cut the sides with 'crazy' scissors. Then opened them out carefully to reveal a perfectly symmetrical design. Kindergarten stuff.

I'm putting up the pics a day in advance just in case the decorations (and I) don't survive tomorrow!

Sentosa

Dadu and Thammi are visiting currently, and we're taking advantage of every 'rain-free' day to visit all the tourist attractions of Singapore. Last Sunday, we went to Sentosa Islands, a large amusement park with several rides, shows and beaches.

We took the monorail (The Sentosa Express) from the vivocity mall, to reach Sentosa in the early afternoon.


After clicking the Merlion (the one here was definitely more impressive than the one in Marina Bay) we headed for the 4D show...we had already seen this one before at Disneyland in L.A., but it was fun never-the-less. Urvi got the creeps when the spider and the bees came rushing towards her :)


Kanchan and Urvi went for the luge and the sky-ride, then we headed towards the beaches.

The day ended with the laser-water-sound-fire show, 'The Songs of the Sea'. The show itself was fine, but the storyline was trite (a village boy waking up a princess with his song), and the characters (both real and imaginary) were more of an irritation. A similar show at Disneyland Park, Fantasmic, is well...fantastic! But then, you don't expect anything less from Disney.

Another similar show we had enjoyed thoroughly was at the Christmas celebrations at Antibes in the south of France. There were no fancy gadgets or props, and it was in the middle of the town square, but it left the audience spell-bound. When it comes to musical fountains and the like, nothing beats Barcelona's Fonta Majica! And when it comes to fireworks, nothing comes close to Fontainebleau's bi-annual spectacle each year at the chateau grounds. The fireworks here, we said every time, were as good if not better than the one at Disneyland!

Considering that the last three are absolutely free, and Disneyland and Songs of the Sea are not, we somehow always end up feeling duped :)


Back at the Vivocity mall, we admired the Christmas lights and decorations, before heading home.

Next stop: Jurong bird Park and night Safarai.

Party invitations

We made these really easy to make and attractive party invitations over the week-end.

You will need some sheets of colored paper, pencil, glue, hole-puncher, sketch pens, sequins and a saucer.

First, with the help of the saucer, trace out a circle on a colored paper. Cut it out and fold in half. Punch holes along the rim. Trace a shape (heart, butterfly, star) on a contrasting colored paper (using a stencil if necessary). Cut out the shape and stick the bottom half of it on the diameter, as shown. Decorate with sequins.

New arrival

There's been a new addition to our family. She's called Mac.

Lately our Dell laptop has been acting pricey, bossy, elusive, and unyielding to the various cajoling tactics that hubby and I have been trying on it. At times it would refuse to boot up, at times refuse to shut down, but mostly it had the most unpardonable habit of shutting off without any notice. Because of this K was unceremoniously booted out of several online chess tournaments, tournaments which he claims would have established his ultimate supremacy in the online version of the game, would have entered his name in the annals of the chess playing world right beside the Kramniks, the Topalovs and the Anands, but most importantly, would have proved, once and for all, to his ever doubting and skeptical wife that all those hours in front of the computer was well worth it, after all! Where would the wife get that kind of reflected glory, if he spent those valuable hours going to the market or the gym or helping out with the laundry? (Women!) I imagined a shelf full of invisible trophies...it was a heady feeling...

A new laptop, therefore, was very much the need of the day.

We vacillated between getting another Dell or making the ultimate shift...to a Mac! Our Mac-initiated friends used various degrees of threats and persuasions in order to convince us that Mac really was the way to go. After several days of 'Seriously, we should go for a Mac' we visited the Apple store, where the salesman managed to convince K that the MS Office was far superior to IWorks. Damn! We were back to square one.

K was now thoroughly convinced that he'd go for a Dell again, the MS Office for Mac being obscenely priced. Any argument I came up with (against a Dell and for a Mac) was met with I won't be able to run regression models in 'Numbers', or Will i be able to do Linear programming? What about macros? Goal programming? How will i get the STATA and SAS packages for Mac...etc etc

I persisted. She arrived yesterday. And this is what followed:

K: Just look at the packaging! Will you look at the packaging!

Me: Yeah, nice! Does it have macros?

K: Look, honey, the power cable just glides in...like that (he glides it in)...its magnetic...look I'll do it again...see?

Me: Yeah, yeah, what about regression models? Have you tried that?

K: Just look at that trackpad...look, I'm not even clicking, I'm tapping..Awesome! Amazing! Look look..

Me: STATA, SAS...?

K: Look at how that apple lights up when you switch it on! Cool, na?

Me: Linear programming?

K: See what happens when I minimize windows....it goes whoooosh!

Men! Go figure...