Bento #57 - Domo Kun

Japanese Curry on the left, Domo Kun crispy fish fillets with watermelon mouth, cheese and nori details, white rice under Domo Kun, broccoli, corn and edamame skewers

We had a simple dinner of home-made crispy fish fillet and Japanese Curry.  I chose Domo Kun as it is the simplest to cut the fish fillet out.

Unfortunately, I made the mouth and eyes before frying and just guess-timated.  I feel it is a little undersized so my poor Domo Kun looks a bit off.

But Kimi loved it and finished his dinner very quickly. :) We love Japanese Curry!

Bento #56 - Wooly Bear

Broccoli, cherry tomatoes, corn, panfried salmon, bear onigiri with pork floss, turkey ham & nori facial details

I was inspired by Karen, another bento-mummy for her floss covered bear ongiri.  And I was also keen to introduce pork floss to Kimi.  I tried it before but he simply disliked it.  Armed with a small pack which I had bought last week, I made some sammies the other day and so far, he seems to like it! Yay!! Next, I'll intro the fish floss cos, frankly, I'd prefer that, my personal favourite! Yummy! Fish floss sammies are so yummy!!

It was a little hard to mould as the rice were not wet/starchy enough.  Although I had already wet the mould before putting in the hot rice, it was still rather grainy.  And I never expected that the floss would take some effort to stick on!  Really not easy.  Perhaps more practice as this is my first 'coated' onigiri.

I served the bento with a bowl of Beetroot & Corn Soup but this time I added some Bitter & Sweet Almonds.  He lapped everything up leaving behind 1/3 of the rice and 1 cherry tomato.  That's fine cos I've given him a large piece of salmon. 

After dinner I gave him a medley of mango, fragrant pear, blueberries & longan.

By the way, I submitted this entry to "What's for Lunch at our House" where Shannon showcases what other bento-mummies are doing.  Rather interesting, click on here to see what other creations.

Bento #55 - Happy Lemon Brekkie

Happy Lemon shaped sandwiches filled with peanut butter & jam, cheese and ham details, golden kiwi, blueberries & sugar prune

Yesterday we went to ION and passed by this bubble tea shop and immediately Kimi asked for it. I heard some raves about it and can't wait to try it too. :)

I thought the little girl looked so cute and decided to recreate it this morning for Kimi breakfast.  Pity, I couldn't find anything red in my house (ran out of apples) that I could use for the eyes and mouth. So, I settled on using the ham... really looked washed out.

A little disappointed but Kimi enjoyed this PBJ sandwich, I'm so happy!! Hopefully he will start to enjoy bread from now.  Keep on praying. :)

Bento #54 - Seal Brekkie

Home-made Cheese pancake with nori details on turkey ham, blueberries & longan

Super rush today as Kimi woke very late.  So, I just made a quick pancake sandwiched with slices of La Vache quirit (Laughing Cow) Ham Flavoured cheese.  I was so rushed, I just dumped everything in.

Art Class - Project #5

Today marks the end of Project #5 and they will start another new theme next week. 

After reading a short Dinosaur story to the kids, Teacher Maria asked them what they would like to add in the background.  Kimi refused and only added some soil and stone on the ground and a dark cloud.  As there weren't as black.grey paint around, Kimi just took some green and drew.  He told Teacher Maria that dark clouds were coming

Then, when he saw his classmate painted polka dots on her dino, both Kimi and the other boy wanted to do the same!  Teacher continued to reiterate on what is background, foregound, etc.

Bento #53 - Chicky Family Brekkie

3 chicks representing papa chick, baby chick & mama chick. All made with bread and filled with egg mayo.  I used the heart-shaped pick for the crowns and beaks, nori for eyes and  ketchup for their blushing cheeks. Added a corn gummy to show them enjoying the corn together, blueberries in a chicky egg-cup and a banana

Inspired by Racial Harmony Week, I decided to do a Happy Family theme.  I think all things start from family?  If we are happy at home, we can learn to be gracious and live alongside with others right?

I saw Alice making some really cool bread onigiri and thought I tried it out using egg mayo as filling.  Kimi doesn't like cheese and egg now so I am still trying to re-train him although he ate these foods everyday when he was small.

Somehow, the bread onigiri don look as round and smooth as Alice's.  Not sure it's the bread or my method.  Hmm, I must find out. :)  If anyone knows, pls tell me ok?

Racial Harmony Week

This week Kimi's kindy celebrated Racial Harmony Week and the kids had foods from the 4 major ethnic groups in Singapore on each day.  They started their 'food feast' on Tuesday with Vegetarian Bee Hoon for Chinese, bringing in their own chopsticks and utensils.  I was nicely surprised when Huang Laoshi told me that Kimi finished his portion including the fishballs.  Kimi do not like to eat fishballs at all!

Then on Wednesday, they tore at Roti Prata with their stubby fingers and Kimi relished in 3 servings of non-spicy Mee Goreng on Thursday.  I think the kids loved today most - it was nuggets, fries and baked beans!  They even had cake as 1 of their classmate had a birthday celebration today.

Eveyday this week, the kids would learn about the different ethnic groups.  It ended with the kids wearing their favourite ethnic costume today.  Kimi told me when I picked him up, that his teacher said he looked very nice today! Haha!!

Kimi posing with Harry before leaving for school

It would be really nice if we could get a Finnish or Norwegian costume when he is a little older. :)  Anyway, I think Kimi had lots of fun this week and although he struggled to go to school on Monday and Tuesday, it eased a little from Wednesday.  Kimi's separation anxiety is getting better! All Praises to Jesus!

Kimi wanted to display his kung-fu prowess just as we were leaving. I think he felt 'empowered' as he don the kung-fu suit! Lol!

Bento #52 - Boy Bear

A simple butter and chocolate bread sandwich cut out using a bear rice mould cutter and decorated with 2 kinds of cheese and nori, rambutans and golden kiwi

Got this bear idea from Alice, she makes wonderful snack bentos too and does an awesome 3D bear!  Quick and easy for me. :)

Singapore Garden Festival

We went to the SGF to experience it since we missed the show since it started.  It's nice to see more Singaporeans getting interested in gardening.

It was a little boring for the boys till they got to Level 4 where there were more interesting hand-ons for them like getting a weaved bird, drawing on interactive screens and learning about the different trees and leaves.  I felt this was more real for them.  Level 6 was too 'mature' and 'arty farty' for them to appreciate. :)

Anyway, nice to see familliar faces again! :)

My personal favourite - garden balconies

Kimi observing the lady weaving a bird out of a leaf

Kimi showing his little leaf bird

The 2 boys bouncing the birds

Bento #51 - Aliens & A Mouse

Sweet corn, wiener shaped mouse, blueberry skewer, edamame skewer, pear cut in space-ship shape and nutella pandan bread sandwich cut with tulip cutter and decorated with cheese and nori

Another snack box for church and today's theme is aliens!  A little mouse went up the moon and met 3 alien friends and 2 more cute-faces aliens.  Actually Kimi liked the aliens from Toy Story but I had no time to re-create that so this pacman-like alien will suffice. :)

SAM - Art Garden, Children's Season

I've been wanting to bring Kimi to this exhibition cos I heard so many good things about it but never had the opportunity.  Finally, I told myself, I had to get there by hook or by crook.  And, yes, we did, on the last day of the exhibition, after church. :)

Overall, it is good as the many reviews had said.  We spent a nice afternoon there.  So glad we managed to catch 1 free screening of ABC Soup.  This is so cute and hilarious!  It showcases a few Weimaraners posing as humans using all the alphabets to make a yummy soup. And along the way, the kids are introduced to all the alphabets and the words that starts with the corresponding alphabets.  We loved the show and Kimi laughed so hard too!  Such a pity, we couldn't catch the rest of the screenings.  There's an exceprt here .

The cute and oh-so obedient dogs :)

Hop, hop, hop, hop like a rabbit!

Kimi asking me to take a pix of the 'castle' he has built with the few bean bags he could get his hands on.  Love his ingenuity to work with how little he has. :)

The Floribots made from origami and grows and blossoms into a flower

The Enchanted Forest - One of Kimi's favourite as there were all sorts of animals in it!

Besides the elephant, Kimi also loved tigers

Kimi doing some colouring after some urging from me

He wanted to colour it blue and black - must be he remembered how the Blue Morpho Butterfly looked like.  Alot of impatience in this piece of work I would say.  Totally ignored the boundaries. :(

Kimi trying to cut out the shape of the butterfly

In the end, we had a good laugh as the butterfly got butchered literally.  Kimi looked at me and we both burst out laughing!  I think he knew that the poor butterfly had quite a fair bit of 'wings-trimming! lol!

The Funky Forest - Kimi liked this too as it was very interactive.  See how the river diverts its flow when Kimi stood in front of it?

 And trees can grow according to your movements.  Cute!

Night Festival @ Museum

Singapore is getting more exciting!  The Singapore Museum organised a Night Festival for 2 nights with activities and shows for young and old.  As hb had to work on Saturday, we decided to go on Fri after Kimi's SM class.

We were keen on the shadow and string puppet show, The Red Tree performed by Thai puppeteers.  Overall, I would say that the storyline can be a little overwhelming for the young ones, however, the interesting play of lights, shadows and puppets and the ever-changing scenes made the show enjoyable.

The story is adapted from award winning Shaun Tan’s famous picture book. It tells of the journey of a girl who seems impassionate to this world as she passes helplessly through many dark moments, yet ultimately found what made her world brighter again. - National Museum, Singapore

The little puppet girl. She is very small, about 40-50cm. Pity, we did not get to take pix with it or touch it.

Initailly I tried to reason and think about the plot and all.  But, I felt rather disconnected and found it incredulous.  In the end, I'd reckon to best enjoy the show was to just take in the 'sights'.  That is, to just relish in the play of lights, props and scenes.  To think too much about what the plot is about or what or where the protagonist is going really kills the joy of watching.

But, most importantly, Kimi loved the show.  He quickly related the story to hb when it ended.  Hb couldn't join us as he could not find any parking and was late.

When we came home, Kimi insisted on setting up a mini stage/screen using my poster bed curtains and his soft toys.  I made some funny characters as 'shadow puppets' with my hands to tease him.  He had lots of fun pretend playing before bed.

Hama Fun!

I just realised that I had forgotten to blog about these wonderful beads - Hama Beads.  These can be bought at Growing Fun.  We made this in January and Kimi had lots of fun with it.

You can use the stencil and follow the colour or just create your own.  Iron on it and it becomes a rigid display!  Excellent for training fine motor.

 Kimi, concentrating intensely 

 The finished whale

A Fire-ful and Hort Day!

We did so much today!  After Art, we went to visit the Seng Kang Firestation with Karen and Kylie but I had totally forgotten that it starts from 9-11am.  We were there close to 11am and they were just finishing a tour for a group of childcare kids.

Although it was supposed to be closed at 11, they were very kind and allowed the kids to play with the fire hose, put out a fire and roam about and photo-taking.  Thank God for His favour!  Else, the kids would have been very disappointed.  This is our 2nd visit to a Fire Station and we intend to do another round at Central Fire Station the next time! :)

 

Kimi asked to take pix with this fireman, Kylie and Karen

Kimi's favourite!

After taking pix in the back cabin, Kimi boldly asked the fireman if he could sit in the front cabin instead.  See how happy he is?

Another one of Kimi's favourite vehicle - the bike

After the firestation visit, we went for lunch at a nearby mall before going home to shower and get ready to pick Charmaine for a next round of playdate.  This time, to Hort Park.  Kimi made some new friends.  I hope we can get together again so the kids can play together again! 

As Kimi did not nap, we didn't spend too much time there.  But, definitely, we will be back!

Playground galore!

Good climbing!

Climbing with Ju

Charmaine's friend's daughter, Kaylene, she's so sweet ya?   Kimi requested to take a pix with her! Cheeky boy!

Art Class - Project #4 & 5

This is the finished piece of the canvas parrot that Kimi did last week which I had forgotten to post.  Besides the last project's Elephant.. this got to be by far my favourite.  Oh oh, hope I won't keep saying that week after week?  I like it cos it is on canvas and the colours are just awesome.  Love the blends!

As promised, Teacher Maria started with Dinosaur theme this week.  Actually, Kimi wanted a 3D papier-mache but they did a 2D drawing instead.  Before lesson, Teacher Maria showed them some books first before giving them some pieces of scrunched up paper/newspaper, toilet rolls and got the kids to 'assemble' the dino before sketching.

I thought that is such a clever way!  There were many different pieces of shapes and sizes for the kids to choose - necks, body, legs, etc.  The kids have to use a little thinking to see which goes where.  Example, there are few sizes of ovals which they have to decide which is for the head and which is for the body. 

Teacher Maria has also started a sketch book for the kids to log their work.  Below is Kimi's sketch of the dinosaur before he transferred to the art paper.

I love how Kimi confidently draws the tail at the exact placing where a tail should be

Is dino smiling yet?

Instead of drawing like everyone else, a side profile dino, Kimi said he wanted his dino to turn and look at him and smile. 

Teacher Maria said she loves Kimi's bold and creative style.  Kimi also said that dinos must be VERY big so he wanted to fill his paper with the dino. :)

Bento #50 - Fruit Snack Box

Grapes, oat crackers, water-melon & mango cubes

Just a quick snack box for Kimi before SM class today. No cute details, nothing. Just a quick fruity snack box with cute picks which Kimi loves. :)

I love this new lunch box which I got from Daiso as the size is just nice and great for small snacks. I also got the other smaller sized box which is great too!

Bento #49 - Froggies Breakfast

Butter sandwich, mango cut in fish shape and placed in an egg cup that comes with a frog pick

A simple pandan bread with butter and cut out into frogs. Lately, Kimi seems to love frogs! If anyone sees any frog picks, pls let me know ya? Tks!!

Salmon Pockets

Wanted to do something different with the salmon I bought today, other than grilling, steaming, panfry and/or baking. So I bought a ready-made puff pastry and made a simple salmon filling. The puff pastry was rather fluffy and crisp except I felt it was not buttery enough.

Overall, it was a yummy dinner that was relatively easy and quick to do and minimal washing-up. You can substitute with any fillings, sweet or savoury as you wish. :)

Kimi's version - smaller pockets with broccoli. I had wanted to make a penguin shaped pastry as I added half a boiled quail's egg which looked like the tummy. But, it did not look anything like a penguin!! I should have cut out the shape after sealing the 'package'. Never mind, try again next time.

I had mine with some salad

Recipe

• Fresh salmon marinated with salt & pepper
• Mixed vegetable
• Mayonnaise
• 4-6 quail's eggs, hard boiled
• 1 egg, beaten
• Cheese (optional)
• Puff pastry

Method

1. Lightly pan-fry salmon till just cooked, remove and use fork to loosen meat
2. Add pre-boiled mixed vegetable to salmon
3. Mix in mayonnaise and cheese
4. Roll out pastry as per package's instruction
5. Cut out desired shape and brush beaten egg over
6. Scoop some of the salmon mixture, add quail's egg and fold over the pastry
7. Use a fork to seal the edges
8. Brush beaten egg over the pockets
9. Bake in 220 Degrees Celsius oven till golden brown

Tips

• The best way to make a triangle pocket (or any other design) is to lightly fold over 1 pc of rolled out pastry sheet into 2. Then cut the triangle leaving the folded edge un-cut. This way as you open up the cut-out pastry, you can fold it easily back after putting in the filling.

Flight of Colours

Today being Youth Day and a holiday for Kimi, he asked me to bring him to Jurong Bird Park and I roped in my neighbour, Karen and her sweet gal, Kylie with us.

Kimi wants to take a pix with every cow he meets.. remember at Farmart too?

Not forgetting his adored swans.. See, grabbing tightly onto his guinea pig, Brownie

At the entrance

Feeding at Lorry Loft - what a brave boy!

Then, Kimi said he wanted the bird to sit on his cup as he saw a lady doing that. This bird was rather impatient and greedy. So, Kimi was a bit apprehensive. Anyway, the bird pecked at Kimi's thumb and knocked off some skin! But Kimi still held onto the cup bravely as he didn't want to upset the cup and the bird can't feed on it! If it was me, I would've have thrown the cup and screamed!! In the end, I had to shoo the bird away and it wanted to peck me too! Rather aggresive bird!

But, Kimi regained his confidence and wanted to try his hand on these birds a little further down the bridge. I was so proud of his bravery and perservering spirit!

The birds decided to hold the cup themselves, haha!

At the entrace of the Penguins exhibit

The kids decided to act cute

Kimi grabbing his favourite macaw