Christmas Wishes!

 Wishing my blog readers a special and blessed Christmas celebration...

......and a joyful new year!

KL Bird Park Coloring Contest 2011

KL Bird Park's annual coloring contest is back! This time entry fees are lower i.e. RM30 per child. All participants will also receive a KL Bird Ranger one year membership (worth RM80). The main benefit is unlimited entry into KL Bird Park for the child and one accompanying adult. KL Bird Rangers receive 15% discount for retail purchases at any of the souvenier stores at the park plus free entry for all educational activities organized during the school holidays.

So, I signed up both of them for the contest - category A (3-7 yrs). The older kids compete in category B. We were told to bring our own color supplies i.e crayons/oil pastels and color pencils, a folding table and/or mat. After registration,  everyone enjoyed some refreshments i.e. nuggets, potato wedges and spring rolls. The contest started promptly at 10am. Participants were given 2 hours to complete their work. Parents were allowed to accompany their child but not allowed to color for them nor to provide consultation. But then, the organizers were not too strict about this.

Marissa was very enthusiastic about the contest - she used wax crayons to color the macaw. All done within 45 minutes!

Estimated around 100 participants! The Hornbill Cafe was packed with parents and children. Most of them came with folding tables like Ikea's breakfast in bed table (RM19.90). I thought the folding table was not really necessary but looking back, should have invested in 2 for the kids cos they were bending a lot while coloring.

Evan - concentrating intensely on his coloring - only for the first hour! After that, he was tired and wanted to finish up as soon as possible.... hence the background was not colored well.

Evan & Marissa - first time taking part in a coloring contest.

Finished masterpiece - good - but not good enough to bag any of the prizes! Anyway, all participants received a KL Bird Park 'eco' bag with a tee shirt, pen, hand fan and Happy Feet 2 games & trailer DVD. There were 5 consolation prizes per category and 3 main winners. Prizes were sponsored by MPH, Speedy and KL Bird Park.

While waiting for the results to be announced at the amphitheater at 1pm, participants can watch the 12:30pm bird show or explore the park.

The macaws were a talented lot! 

Mr Bill the mascot made an appearance during the prize giving ceremony.

We left the park immediately after the prize giving ceremony and went for lunch. Too tired to explore the park! Will be back there soon!

National Visual Arts Gallery

Malaysia Art Book Fair 2011 is currently happening at the National Visual Arts Gallery until 15th December. There are quite a number of booths featuring various publishers and artists. After touring the booths, we admired the art works of accomplished artists displayed at the gallery. Admission is free. The National Visual Arts Gallery is opened daily from 10am-6pm.

Artist at work - canvas art

 Caricature artist

 Something for the kids!

 Marissa throwing the dice

Gap Casting Call Voting & FirstBIKE contest

Remember that I wrote something about Evan taking part in Gap Casting Call 2011? His pic has been uploaded on Gap Malaysia on Facebook. Well, he was not chosen to be one of the 25 semi-finalists in the boys category (6-11 yrs). Anyway, voting has begun and will end on Christmas. The contestant with the highest votes will represent Malaysia in his/her respective category.

If you would like to cast your vote, just follow this link.

I was browsing some websites looking for bicycles for the kids and stumbled upon a Facebook contest organized by FirstBIKE. 

It's a simple contest whereby contestants will have to answer a question by commenting on the contest post (something like slogan-writing) and then get your friends/family to vote. The comment with the highest votes on 15th Dec will win the commenter a FirstBIKE Basic pictured above worth RM549. The winner must collect the bike from FirstBIKE's showroom at Mid Valley latest by 23rd December. 

I've submitted my entry for this contest and I am currently in the 2nd position. So, if you have just a minute or two to spare, please help me win this bike for Marissa. Click on this link. Then, LIKE FirstBIKE's page. Once done, you can see the contest post. Find my comment (Tuan Hui-Wearn) and then click LIKE. Thank you!

Artis Trial Classes @ Publika

Publika is a new shopping mall that recently opened at Hartamas. We went there to have a look - actually to eat at their non-halal food court. Lots of shops were still not opened for business though. 

There's a new branch of Gymboree Play & Music, MPH bookstore, +wondermilk, Marmalade cafe, Ichiban Boshi, Boost juice and Artis Kids Store.  Artis Kids Store is a concept store featuring a few mini arty crafty stores. They are currently giving free trial classes for kids during the weekends until next week. 

Evan attended a class at Reart where 'junk' is used to create 'art'. Marissa tagged along although she's too young for the class. They both made a bracelet out of a mineral bottle, newspapers and paint.

After that, Marissa attended Toddler Workshop which is more age-appropriate for her. She handcrafted a fish out of a paper plate and color paper. She could follow all the instructions and had no problems with painting. She really enjoyed the class, I must say.

Five mini studios under one roof.... on the left - it's art workshop where kids learn about canvas art/painting/drawing etc.

On the right, Toddler Workshop and Clay Art are beside each other. Space is quite cramped so classes are kept small - which is all the better.

Teamo Kids Bake Lab is beside Reart. My friend Joyce is the owner of Teamo. We met while attending Wilton's Basic Cake decorating course at ICCA in April. At that time, she was in the midst of planning and setting up her quaint little bakery. She offers classes for kids e.g. baking, cookie decorating, cupcakes etc. I wish I have my own little bakery like this too!

Artis Kids Store charges a membership fee of RM40 (one time payment). Then you can choose any of the programs offered by the various studios at a discounted rate. They also offer kids party packages. 

If you are going to Publika for a visit, don't forget to go to the food court : EAT and B.I.G.'s grocery store.

Swimming Lessons

Evan has just swimming lessons right here in the comfort of our condo's very own swimming pool today! Evan did very well for his first lesson. Only trouble is he tends to tense up his muscles while trying to float..... which results in him sinking. Another boy who's 4 years old learns together with him. Fees are RM50 per lesson. Each lesson is 30 minutes.

Everything Lego!

For Lego enthusiasts - Bangsar Village II is currently having a Lego Star Wars exhibition (free entry) opposite Zara. There are large scale models of various scenes taken from Star Wars movies e.g. The Battle of Hoth, Planet Endor and The Pod Race.  

There's also a section just outside the exhibition hall for Lego fans to build an 8-foot tall R2D2. Just purchase RM100 in a single receipt or donate RM20 to join this fund-raising activity. Each time R2D2 is completed, BVII will donate RM5000 to charity. So, the more people who join and help build R2D2, the more money BVII will donate. The target is about RM60K. 

Taking advantage of the school hols and Christmas season, TRU is having a 50% off sale on all Lego Toy Story & Lego World Racers merchandise. Other selected Lego sets are on 30% discount. There are coloring contests during the weekends too - open to kids aged 7-12 yrs.  

As this post is about Lego, I would like to share my latest cake creation....
Lego brick cake and 9 cupcakes topped with real Lego minifigs and edible Lego bricks. The lego brick candle holder was specially made by me too. All this for my brother a.k.a. The Brick Boss.

Jim West Puppets Dinosaurs!

After reading about Jim West Puppets Dinosaurs! in The Star last month, I decided to book tickets for the highly-acclaimed show. I bought 3 premium seats online via Gardner & Wife who are the organizers, plus another lap seat (half-price) for Marissa.

The venue is PJ Live Arts (Jaya One, PJ) and the shows will end on Dec 10th. We went on a Thursday morning and  there were so many kindergarten tots! I think the kids were from at least 3 different kindergartens! I even met one of my blog readers there who introduced herself to me!

Just outside the auditorium there were 2 booths selling toys and books. As you can see, the books are mainly related to dinosaurs!

 The both of them enjoyed the show very much! Even myself and hubby!

The 1-hour show was very interesting and educational plus there's lots of tips for the kids to make their own puppets at Jim West Puppet's website. The auditorium is quite small but it's best to purchase seats in the centre for the best view.

I've also decided to become a 'friend' of Gardner & Wife - fee is RM35. Benefits include ticket upgrades and priority booking..... and special prices for tickets. The next show will be from 15 March to 1 April 2012 titled : The Owl who's Afraid of the Dark. There will be another in May & end of 2012.

Artsy Bugsy Painting

Another art & craft session! Cardboard bugs with googly eyes! 

4 different bugs in the kit - inclusive of instructions, glue and paint.

A spider is not a bug..... although it was in 'A Bug's Life'....

 This was the snail - assembled by Marissa with my help.

 Then the 2 of them painted it.

The grasshopper was quite tough to do. Evan painted it on his own. Next up, Christmas tree decorating with hand-crafted ornaments! The 2 of them are so looking forward to it as the Christmas tree (bare) is already up with 2 pressies underneath it.

Eiffel Tower & Wintery Kit

Evan was given a DIY Eiffel Tower craft kit for his 6th birthday in August. We decided to build the tower today while Marissa took her afternoon nap.

It was quite complicated for a child to do it entirely by himself so I was on hand to help. After everything was done, Evan cleaned-up the mess.

Here he is - smiling proudly with his Eiffel Tower. He couldn't wait to show Marissa and Hubby his creation.

When Marissa did wake up later, we opened up a new kit which I bought a few months ago. It's Charlie & Lola's Extremely Wintery Winter Activity Kit which contains a book : Snow is My Favourite and my Best and a dress-up puzzle game, snowflake stencils and silver glitter. We had fun reading the picture book and then playing the game! 

Gap Casting Call 2011

Recently, Gap relaunched its regional search for new faces of GapKids and babyGap in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, where 6 children will be featured on the Spring 2012 window displays of all GapKids and babyGap stores in all 3 countries.

To enter this casting call, a qualifying spend of RM200 in a single receipt dated  between 12-20 Nov 2011 from any Gap store is required. Professional photo-ops were set up at 2 different Gap stores in Malaysia : 

1) 12-23 Nov 2011 at One Utama

2) 19-20 Nov 2011 at Pavilion
Shooting time : 11am-6pm

Newborns-5 years were grouped in the baby Gap category while those from 6-10 years of age were considered to be in the GapKids catergory.

We were at Pavilion on the last day of the casting call to enter Evan - just for a fun experience. The day before, I purchased a pair of pink shoes in size 9  for RM119 (the very last pair at all Gap stores!) and a pair of 1969 jeans in size 7, at Gap, the Gardens, Mid Valley. Total for both items : RM258.

We were among the first few to arrive at Gap and I filled up the form and submitted the receipt. Evan received a goody bag from Hasbro Toys containing a Transformer robot (cos he's in the GapKids category). The goody bags were only for the first 100 children.

The organizers provided cardigans, shirts, caps, hats and jackets for all participants who are not wearing their own Gap clothing. Evan wore a Gap hoodie for the shoot chosen by the person-in-charge there. He was pretty serious cos I told him not to make funny faces!

The photographer took about 5-10 shots and his assistants chose the best one to be submitted. We received the complimentary photo on the spot as well.

Photos of all the contestants will be uploaded on Gap Malaysia' FB page by today and  within 5 days, a total of 100 contestants will be shortlisted by an internal judging panel based on Gap factor and photogenic quality. This means 25 photos each of baby boys, baby girls, kid boys and kid girls. Thereafter, the public can cast their votes at Gap Malaysia's FB page. The child with the most number of votes in each category will attend the final photo shoot in Singapore. Gap will be sponsoring the air tickets (economy class return) for the 4 finalists together with their parents... plus 2 nights hotel room accommodation on a twin-sharing basis. So, a total of 12 children (4 from each country) will compete to be one of the 6 winners. Of course, 2 winners from each country. There will be one boy and one girl for the GapKids category and 4 more from babyGap i.e. one baby boy and one baby girl below 2 yrs of age..... and one toddler boy and one toddler girl.

Winners from Malaysia will receive a Gap gift card worth RM2000 and a Hasbro Toy hamper. Gap Singapore also had their casting call at the same time. For our neighbours, parents had to fork out a hundred Singapore dollars to qualify for the contest and winners will receive a Gap gift card worth a thousand Singapore dollars.

I would be very happy if he's chosen as the top 25. Alas, chances are pretty slim if the Gap judges are looking for children with Pan-Asian looks as was the case last year. IMHO, I think they should select children of various ethnicity to represent their brand in this region e.g. Indian girl, Chinese boy, Malay baby girl etc. 

Abra-ca-da-bra!

Evan wanted to be a magician for his kindergarten's circus-themed costume party to celebrate the end of the school year. So, we obliged him by getting a few items to complete his costume.

We purchased a plastic top hat (RM10.90) and wand (RM6) from Party World, a cloak/cape (RM23.90) from Balloons Bouquet and a coat from Domii (RM79.90). 

All other items are Evan's own i.e. red striped long sleeve shirt, underwear and socks from Gymboree, bow tie from Domii and black pants from last year's kindy annual concert. Larry folded a paper rabbit and I helped cello-taped it to the top hat. I also made a white band to encircle the hat - to match the wand. The 'cummerbund' is actually a curtain tie-back which I fastened to his waist with paperclips! I also sewed some playing cards on his cape. Larry styled his hair with gel. Evan wanted a moustache but I was not keen. I think he looks very dashing like this!

Hubby only managed to snap a dozen or so pics at the party...... and here are the selected few:

The children had snacks, games and singing. Then Pastor Margaret gave out the prizes for best dressed boy/girl from each class. Evan's classmate who was dressed as a circus tent won the prize for Petunia class. There were tigers and lions in his class.... and a lion tamer too! 

The following morning, we collected Evan's progress report from his class teacher. With that, Evan's kindergarten years officially came to a close.