Category Archives: Children’s Activities

Singapore’s Asian Civilization Museum: Handicrafts, Heirlooms and Hookahs

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Happy Labor Day!

May 1 is a national Singapore holiday.  This meant for Andy he did not have to physically go to the office but because few other counties acknowledge this day his email account was still flooded by work from the States and London.   Oh well!  Such is the life of an expat.   We did, however, take advantage of some free time to visit the Asian Civilizations Museum.

Singapore today is a melting pot of nations and has been an important worldwide trading port for generations.  This museum represents various cultures of Asia and contains a remarkable diversity of wonderful treasures.  The galleries are generally separated by geographical areas and the displays are lovely.

This is from the southeast Asia area.

Beautiful Stone Carving from India

Currently they have a special exhibit of artifacts recovered from a 9th century AD Chinese shipwreck discovered as recently as 1998 in the Java Sea.

Detail of a Flask from the Tang Shipwreck

There is also a special display of fabrics from India from the 1400s to 1900s.  The intricacy of the details is stunning.

There were many interactive screens.  This one had the jewelry displayed in a case with a black background but would illuminate where the pieces belonged on a statue when you pushed a button.

In the Indonesian cultural display a video of a traditional dancer played behind the instruments.

Several areas, specifically designated for children,  provided educational opportunities about different cultural centers around Asia.  The displays included costumes, books and play objects.  The kids really enjoyed these and the photo opportunities were priceless.  Here Aidan and Sydney dress the part of patrons in a traditional Chinese Tea House.

In “India”, Aidan took the role of a maharaja very seriously. Sydney acted as his guard.

Drums boomed in the Nomadic Middle Eastern tent.

Sydney looked like trouble was brewing behind the drapes.

Aha! They found the hookah pipe!  The children came up with the pose spontaneously which simultaneously amused and frightened Andy and me.    We can only hope that they never look this way in college :)

We were all impressed with the museum.   The collections fantastic and the kids loved being part of the journey.   It was a wonderful reminder of some places we have been, will travel to or hope to explore some day all under one roof.   Now if we can only keep them off the hookah….

Hello Elly! An Introduction to Theater

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Today I took the children to their first play.  Actually, I have to qualify that it was their first professional performance.  Aidan reminded he was in a wonderful production of Scrooged this Christmas at Brookwood School.  Nevertheless, we went to the Esplanade Recital Studio to see Hello Elly!

Syd Had to Wear a "Tutu" to the Play

The play is inspired by a story called the The Elephant and the Tree written and illustrated by Singaporean author Jin Pyn Lee.  I was not familiar with the book but we purchased a copy at the production.  It is simple but nicely illustrated in black and lime green.  It tells the story of an elephant and a tree that grow up happily together, then watch their forest destroyed by man and finish their days in captivity recounting a better time when they were free.

The elephant has to work hard labor for humans and the tree becomes a wooden saddle strapped to his back.  Kind of an darker version of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstien from my youth.  .

Fortunately, the play was much lighter.  The actors sang songs about elephants and the production was based on Elly the Elephant and Tree’s quest to find words that begin with each letter of the alphabet.  The children sat on the floor instead of in chairs and there were many aspects that involve their participation.

Sydney Grabs a Colored Ball Representing a Rainbow

The program stated the show was for 2 to 4 year olds.  Aidan was on the older end of the audiance spectrum but he enjoyed it.   It distressed him though when the cast member described first as “the hunter” was looking for Elly and we were asked not to tell where the elephant was hiding nearby.  The two year olds of course kept yelling “He’s Over There!!!”  Aidan kept telling them to shut up so the elephant could be free.  Definitely a difference in developmental stages.

The "F"lower Plays the "G"uitar

Fortunately the “hunter” turned out to be a  park ranger and the deforestation of the trees could be undone by clapping and singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”  Aidan astutely asked if the buildings were gone where then do the people live.  Ugh, too many questions for a ABC play maybe that is why 4 is the upper age limit :)

At the end of the play Aidan said “That Rocked!!” so I took that as a big thumbs up.   In April they are staging a production of The Magic Seashore where you join the lead characters Ling and Peppy to learn the ups and downs of prepositions!?!  Only in education obsessed  Singapore are the preschoolers learning prepositions in America we are happy if our toddler say “up” and reach somewhat in the proper direction.

Finger Foods in Singapore

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This morning we had a tour with our “relocation expert” Sharm.  Sharm is ethnically Indian but her family has been in Singapore for three generations.  She is very proud of her country and very helpful as we try to navigate our way around a new culture.  Today Sharm wanted to show us sites that were particularly fun for children, so we all piled into a van and were off to explore the island.  Our first stop was Pasir Ris Park.  It was a lovely series of playgrounds right on the beach on the eastern side of the islands.  Aidan of course buried himself in the sand and became filthy at the first stop.

Then we drove a bit more alone the island to the East Coast Park.  This is a lovely place where families will come on weekends to enjoy the ocean.

All the touring made us hungry so Sharm suggested some “finger foods”.  We drove to the “Little Malay” part of town and stopped at a small restaurant called Kim Choo Kueh Chang.  First we tried some Peranakan food delicacies.  Peranakan is the description of the culture of people who are ethnically Chinese immigrants who have mixed with the  Malay culture since the 16th century.  Essentially it is “local” Singaporean food.  Singapore like the US is a blend of ethnicities so it is very difficult to define local.

The first food we tried was Otah.  This is made from a Mackerel fish paste marinated with chili, lemongrass and othe spices then wrapped in coconut leaves and grilled over a charcoal flame.  You take the toothpicks out of the packet, pop off the top and eat out the the middle.  It was very much like eating a tamale.  A little spicy and very good.

Sydney demonstrates eating Otah.

The second food we tried was Bak Chung.  This is a pyramidal shaped steamed sticky rice dumpling wrapped in leaves and boiled.  The one we sampled was filled with minced pork however they can mushrooms, coriander seeds, mung beans  and even melons.  These were more in the family of dim sum.  The sticky rice was gelatinous and a little sweet.  The pork was a bit spicy which was a nice contrast.

Bak Chung on display

We enjoyed our sample of local “finger foods”.  Aidan liked it so much he congratulated the shopkeeper on a job well done.

Hiking Singapore Style

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Our family loves to hike.  Yesterday we did a trek around the MacRichie Nature trail.  The location was only about a 15 minute cab ride from our apartment but it felt quite remote when we arrived.  One unique attraction is the TreeTop walk.  This is a 2.5 km trail that has a suspension bridge in the trees so you can see the view from the canopy.

A beautiful view of the canopy

Sydney on the Suspension Bridge

I think the hike was an excellent metaphor for how I feel in Singapore.  The surroundings seem familiar yet there is are objects which are so foreign and exotic it constant reminds you that you are not home anymore.  For example here is a leaf Aidan found…Seems ordinary enough until look at it and hold it up.

Aidan and the giant rainforest leaf

It was almost as big as him!  Also the animals are a bit different.  They do have your typical squirrels but we also saw a whole troop of monkeys.

Long Tail Macaque

Aidan and Sydney were amazed by the long rows of ants.  The rows of ants seemed to go on forever.  Aidan also found a snake. He found it first and picked it up so fast.  ”Don’t worry it’s not poisonous because it did not bite me.”  Great deductive reasoning from my five year old.

The Non-Poisonous Snake

It was lovely adventure.  So far I am enjoying the excitement of our journey here in Singapore.