Last week was the opening week for the most highly anticipated kids edutainment facility in Singapore, Kidzania. After years of anticipation, Kidzania is finally  opened its door with many corporate partners, local and international brands. My girl and I were invited by Seriousaboutpreschool’s first outing to Kidzania.

Last year, I have done a review of Seriousaboutpreschool’s online portal and its launch party which can be found in this post. If those are not familiar, Seriousaboutpreschool is a One-Stop Portal for parents to find enrichment courses, holiday programs and group activities for their pre-schoolers 0-6 years old. This is a wonderful portal for first time parents or parents who are looking to the most suitable enrichment centre for their child. For parents who have tried some of the enrichment centres, they are able to share their experiences and be rewarded! Parents can register for free here. Some of the rewards for parent’s review includes passes to Explorer Kids, Pororo Park, Hokey Pokey, Cool De Sac, Port of Lost Wonders and sticker labels from my favourite label maker, MUAkids (my review here)

Do note that this is not a complete post of Kidzania as it will require a very very long post.

the privileged kids who get to visit Kidzania on its opening week!

Something that is very close to my heart is photography. If I can have an alternative career, I will probably be a free lance photographer. So it thrilled me to see photographer (or photojournalist to be exact) as an occupation that the kids can partake at Kidzania. Canon Singapore is one of the corporate partners in Kidzania. They manage 3 locations in Kidzania of which 2 are for printing of photos taken by the roving Canon photographers (one located inside and one located outside at the ticketing counters). 

This is where you get the photos taken by the Canon photographer printed at the end of the day

The final location where Canon can be found is where budding young photographers can try their hand in being a photojournalist using a DSLR or a digital camera for the younger ones.

Canon imaging academy

There are two job offerings at the Canon which are photography student and photojournalist. It is suitable for kids aged 4+.

The kids trying their hands on the DSLR. This is such an opportunity as I will never let my kids touch my DSLR. I used a Canon DSLR myself for the past 7 years!

Next, they will be brought around Kidzania snapping pictures as tasked by the “employer”. And in return they get to earned Kidzos which are salary in the adult world.

For the all other “jobs”, feel free to have Canon photographers take lots of photo of your child in their uniforms. At the end of the day, you can purchase them at the Canon photo both. After SGD 60 , you can buy back all digital copies (max of 15 photo per family) which I thought was a good deal especially if there is more than 1 child. There are some occupations like the first officer, baby expert etc that parents can’t even take the photo from the outside as the pretend play facility is above ground.  These are some photos purchased at the Canon booth after a day of “hard work”. 

Thank you Seriousaboutpreschool for the super fun day at Kidzania!

Disclaimer: We were invited to join in this outing with Seriousaboutpreschool. All opinions and photos are solely ours. 

For the very first time,  I have attended one of  The Little Company’s(“TLC”) productions not knowing what to expect. Ever since the first time I watch TLC’s production, I have been very familiar and comfortable with what to expect and most instances the story line as well as they are mostly based on popular children’s stories.

Hanuman , The SuperHero  Monkey is a collaboration between TLC and Imitating the Dog from the UK. They have  chosen Monkey theme based story as this is the year of the Monkey. Last year being the year of the goat, they had the The Three Billy Goats Gruff!

For the first time, the first thing I did once I took my seat at the auditorium was quickly go through the story line with my kids especially my 7 year old. I worry he will be lost as he is not familiar with the story line and cannot appreciate it much. As for my 5 year old, I am quite sure even after I have narrated the story line, I will confuse her more, so I chose a different approach, ie just let her watch.

The story begins with the abduction of Sita, who is the wife of Rama. She was captured by the Demon King, Ravana. 5 years later, Rama looked for his childhood friend Hanuman to help him rescue Sita who once had super powers. Little does Rama know, Hanuman has lost his super powers  as he has misused them to his own benefits and caused disturbances to old folks and the weak. Rama had Hanuman put together a  team to rescue Sita. And together with Stacey, Riley , Millie and Taylor, the five monkeys form the Super Hero Monkeys who will trained to rescue Sita.

After a feast of banana smoothie before the rescue mission, Hanuman confessed to his team that he did not have any super powers.In his dream, he met a vulture called Sampati who told him if Hanumna employs his powers to achieve good, the super hero powers will return to him. The morning after, not only did Hanuman found inner strength, the other monkeys were also impressed by Hanuman’s change and powers. Together they flew to Lanka.

Sita has been kept captive in the city of Colom in Lanka.  Like in all stories, the good defeats the evil and order is restored. I shall not elaborate further especially for those who are going to catch the show.

Imitating the Dog (UK)  is the creative brains behind of all the visual spectacles and sound effects that is seen and heard throughout the show. They used the power of projection, sound and animation to create a whole new experience even for regular theatre goers like me and the kids.

Even at the very beginning, they created an opening scene whereby each character was introduced and their names projected on the stage. Super cool effects! Just the opening credits in movies. How they move the props around the stage was seamless and effortless to create the opening scene and introduction to each character. Then, the story begins with Rama (projected on screen) narrating the introduction and how his wife was abducted by the evil Ravana. I have not really seen the cast in regular TLC productions before, and I would say they made a commendable effort for their first outing with TLC.

TLC productions are well known for their songs. There were some songs in this production and a theme song with a easy sing-a-long chorus but it is not quite at the same standard as typical TLC productions. That said it was a commendable effort given that they have to act , sing and interweave their movements with all the animations and computer imaginery projected on the stage.

All in all, with the collaboration with a foreign creative partner, a whole new dimension was brought to children’s productions. Rama appeared as a projection on the stage instead of an actual person, a clever use of props  and animation to “voice” Sampati , the vulture who appeared in Hanuman’s dream and mostly important, the portrayal of evil Demon King , Ravana. Catch the show to see how all the characters are represented in a unique way through special effects and animations supported by a real life cast. If regular TLC has become too predictable in form and story line, do catch this to see for yourself the new genre of children production using animation and technologu.

As for my kids, there were more questions asked as it is quite unlike what they are used to see in TLC productions. How did Hanuman defeat Ravana? How did they have moving eyes and talking mouth projected on the stage?

Take a sneak peek at the trailer of this production, for those who loves comic books, superhero and curious to see how digital animation is being used for theatre productions, this is The show for you.

Hanuman – The Superhero Monkey

1st April to 30th April 2016 

Disclaimer: We were given tickets to the show for reviewing purpose. All opinions are solely ours, and all photos specified are credited to Singapore Repertory Theatre.

In recent years, there are many kids related run events throughout the year. There are many themed runs too which attracts the young and the young at hearts. The most well known of all  and one that have been around for the probably the longest time, being in its 9th installment is Cold Storage Kids Run. The run will held at the The Meadows, Gardens by the Bay on 22 May 2016 (Sunday). This run will also feature a sports-themed family carnival.

For the first time, the run will have two child celebrities as ambassadors – Iryan Fandi and Abbie Rose Humphreys. In the recently concluded 2 day road show and pre registration event, the two ambassadors conducted a football and a workout clinic respectively inline with the theme ” Eat Healthy, Get Active”.

Abbie Rose Humphreys

Iryan Fandi

There are the race category. Big J being 7 , he can either join the Happy Grapes family fun run or the sprint category (which will be timed). For younger kids, it will be a fun run categories. In the past years, the number of participants was at 6,000. For these year, they have kept it to 5,000 so that this will be a more pleasant and enjoyable run for all! And this is probably THE only run that all my kids can participate in at same time!

Early bird discounts are from now until 23 March,

Registration Fee:

Sprint $35 (Early bird $32)

Family Fun $44 (Early bird $40) (Includes Jolly Kiwi Chase and Stroller Chase)

Do key in promo code: REFBLOGGER16 for a further 10% discount especially for mypreciouzkids readers. Good till the end of registration period!  And if you registered before early bird period ends, it is 10% discount off the early bird discount price!

Cold Storage Kids Run 2016
Date: 22 May 2016 (Sunday)
Time: 7am to 12pm
Venue: The Meadows, Gardens by the Bay
Registration Fees: Click HERE
Registration Period: Now until 3 April 2016 or when the race capacity of 5,000 is reached, whichever is earlier. Register online via www.kidsrun.com.sg.

Do follow their facebook to get first hand info of the run.

Given that I had loved the 2013 Mandarin version of The 3 Little Pigs so much, I went to this year’s  The Little Company/ Singapore Repertory Theatre’s first children’s production of  The Three Billy Goats Gruff《三只山羊》with high expectations. And given the fact that I have watched the sell-out English version (of the same title) last year, the story line was clearly very fresh in my mind. I guess I have some high expectations to be met. Coming out from the first weekend of the show, sharing some of the highs and lows of the show.

It is always more fun to watch the Mandarin dialogue/script

I have the privilege to watch both the English and Mandarin version with my kids. Somehow even for me who is not so conversant in Mandarin, there are many subtle jokes using the Chinese language which is oh- so-clever and witty which somehow the English language may not be able deliver. These are probably more for the adult crowd which form probably half of the audience! Yes, you need to keep in mind that you are not just entertaining the children and riskinig the rest(ie the adults) dozing off (especially for matinee show after a full lunch).

Probably a Danny Yeo’s signature as the previous production of the The 3 Little Pigs were also peppered with jokes and witty liners that could only be scripted in Mandarin. Go watch it and you will know what I mean.

The songs are so catchy as always and its so nice to hear them sing in Mandarin

A signature of TLC of course, the songs are all so catchy and easy to sing along be it in English or Mandarin. I can’t wait for TLC to produce the newer version of the TLC songs on CD so that I (I meant my kids) can sing along in the car. And the best way to learn a language or to have easy exposure to a weaker language is through music and songs! So once they have the compilation of the Mandarin songs out on a CD, I will definitely be first in line to purchase it!

An overall strong cast with regulars like Ann Lek and some noteworthy new faces

I love to watch Ann’s performances as she has been a regular cast in many of the TLC productions be it English or Chinese. Most recently, she was Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island. So its nice to catch her once again in a different language as she is one of the best bilingual actresses in the TLC productions. I have a few favourites and she is one of them! Another note worthy performer was “Mei Nao Mei” who is the little Bo Frilly.

Enough of how I rate the production, what do my kids think?

Yes, it was clearly mentioned that the recommended age category was between 5 to 12 years old. I had watched the English production before and know how “scary” the Troll is. I was quite confident that my coming to 3 year old is able to handle most part of it and still be entertained. Small J had to come out with me towards the end of the show  (sd my girl needed to visit the restroom like 5 minutes to the end of the show!) only to insist he wants to be back inside to catch the remaining part of the show. So much for being scared at some parts of the show then the Troll was scaring the goats!

As my older two kids are not very strong in Mandarin, they sat through without being very lost , partly as they have watch it before and also the production was pitched at their level. They being veterans to TLC productions (we watched at least 1 to 2 productions a year),  this is another memorable show in their opinion. There was an audience interaction segment whereby the kids were asked to mimic the exercise drills/workout so that the goats can muscle out the Troll. They truly enjoyed that segment!

I felt could have been better was that the Troll was in fact the most important character in the production that they could cast a stronger actor to play the role.  It is often more difficult to play an evil character than the hero or the goody two shoes. I remember the actor (cant remember his name) who acted in the English production of the The Three Billy Goats Gruff was quite good and convincing. I felt the actor who portrayed the Troll in this Mandarin production wasn’t as convincing, or as evil or lack some stage presence . Compared to my absolute favourite, George Chan portraying the Big Bad Wolf in The 3 Little Pigs back in 2013, the Troll didn’t quite come on par.

Thankfully the overall cast was good, the very strong and witty script interpreted by Danny Yeo in Mandarin, the catchy tunes that we can sing along even after the show and with not many Mandarin productions in Singapore, I would still grade this as a must watch . Given that my kids are fortunate to watch many wonderful English local and foreign productions, a Mandarin production doesn’t come so often which makes this an ah-mehhhhhhzing experience.

The Little Company’s The Three Billy Goats Gruff《三只山羊》

Thursday 18 February to Saturday 26 March 2016
Mondays to Fridays: 10am
Sat: 11am and 2pm (note there are no shows on Sunday)
Venue: KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT (which was previously known as the DBS Repertory Centre)

Recommended for children age 5 and up.

Tickets priced from SGD25 and up are available from SISTIC Agent (list of agents), through Sistic Hotline (Tel: 6348 5555) SISTIC Mobile App or SISTIC Website. For information on applicable discounts: visit this website.

Disclaimer: We were given tickets to the show for reviewing purpose. All opinions are solely ours, and all photos specified are credited to Singapore Repertory Theatre.

Treasure Island was perhaps one of the more complicating stories that has been brought to life by The Little Company (“TLC”). I was initially worried so I quickly head out to the nearest book store to grab a copy of the Usborne Reader of Treasure Island which was at J’s reading level and we read together.

Even in the concise storyline by the Usborne Young Readers, there were many characters in the story which even as an adult find it difficult to link one to another. But the takeaway from having read the book was that J had an overview of the key characters in Treasure Island. And I told J that in the play Jim Hawkins will be a girl in the play instead of following the original storyline.

photo credit: Singapore Repertory Theatre

photo credit: Singapore Repertory Theatre

I was mesmerised by the elaborate costumes and the set which was switched effortlessly between Admiral Benbow Inn, Hispaniola and Treasure Island. It was perhaps one of the best sets I have seen from TLC.

After watching the play with 2 younger ones who didn’t really know the story, they are able to enjoy the play as well as there were many catchy tunes and a many cute singing coconuts and a parrot. There was some parts where C was about apprehensive when Jim Hawkins was captured and tied with ropes but at the end of the show, she told me that she did enjoyed it as  well. As with all children productions, the story ended with a sweet note! Shall not elaborate too much so as to not to create a spoiler!

Probably the longest and the best The Little Company’s children production that I have ever watch! Though it was recommended from ages 5 onwards , my 2 and half year old did enjoy himself tremendously. He remembered Long John Silver’s parrot and singing coconuts ( it was one of the lighter moments in the play, clearly a crowd’s favourite) The intermission of 20 minutes in between 2 halves of 40 minutes was very much welcomed especially for younger kids.

Remember to take of photos with cute standee before or after the show!

Weekdays (Tue – Fri)
Standard: S$35, S$32
*Family Package of 4: S$119 for Cat 1 tickets
*Family Package of 4 (with TLC CD Vol.2): S$131 for Cat 1 tickets
Weekends (Sat & Sun)
Standard: S$45, S$42
*Family Package of 4: S$153 for Cat 1 tickets
*Family Package of 4 (with TLC CD Vol.2): S$165 for Cat 1 tickets
Get your tickets here

Disclaimer: We were given tickets to the show for reviewing purpose. All opinions are solely ours, and all photos specified are credited to Singapore Repertory Theatre.

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