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.