Bangkok for Kids: Art in Paradise Bangkok

Posted on August 17, 2015 by missuschewy

Heyhey chewys! We have come to the third and final post of our three-part series on things to do in Bangkok with kids! As I had mentioned earlier, there are many child-friendly attractions in Bangkok but since we were only there for a few days, we had to plan carefully to make the most of our trip! We went to Siam Ocean World on the second day of our trip, and Kidzoona & Molly Fantasy on the third, but realized that we didn’t get many family snaps which was a pity. So, on the fourth day of our trip, which also coincided with my birthday, we decided to head to Art in Paradise, the first 3D art museum in Bangkok! What better way to take interesting photos that will serve as wonderful memories many years down the road? 🙂

Art in Paradise is located within Esplanade Shopping Mall, which is some walking distance from Thailand Cultural Centre MRT station. Silly me got it wrong and we walked all the way to Thailand Cultural Centre after we exited the station. Upon realizing that there’s no Art in Paradise there, we took a cab to Esplanade Shopping Mall. Please don’t get confused like I did! Admission for adult foreigners costs 400 baht and 200 baht for children above 100cm. All footwear are to be removed and deposited at the counter before entering the museum. There are over 150 paintings across various themes and we had so much fun posing for photos, Little misschewy included! Shall let our photos do the talking 😉

Art in Paradise Bangkok is a great place for families to create memories through interactive 3D art. Even though Chanelle might be too young to know how to pose, her unintentional poses and occasional photobombing make the photos interesting! Hope you guys enjoyed this post! Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy 🙂

Art in Paradise Bangkok
99 Esplanade Room No 408
4th Floor
Rachadapisek Road
Din Daeng Bangkok 10400
Tel.: 026-609-130
Email: aipbkk2013@gmail.com

Opening Hours:
Daily
10am – 10pm

Bangkok for Kids: Bangkok Sea Life Siam Ocean World

Posted on August 14, 2015 by missuschewy

Helloooo daddies and mummies! Here’s our second of three-part series on things to do in Bangkok with kids! If you have missed our earlier post on Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy, click here to read it. You know how it’s kinda funny when misterchewy and I look back on our last trip to Bangkok in 2012.. We were trying to decide if we should visit Bangkok Sea Life Siam Ocean World while we were at Siam Paragon. After much deliberation, we both agreed to take our kid there the next time we visit Bangkok. Three years later.. HERE WE ARE! 😀

Little misschewy had not been to the S.E.A Aquarium at Sentosa so we reckon this would be an eye-opening and engaging experience for her. Furthermore, she knows what a fish is so we thought it would be interesting to introduce different forms of marine life to her. The tickets are priced at 990 baht for adults and 790 baht for children 3-11 years old. We only needed to purchase a pair of adult tickets which worked out to be around SGD 80! We managed to save a bit by getting the Weekday Early Bird rate at 745 baht for adults, which is about SGD 60 for a pair. We saved $20! However, the small catch is that you have to enter before noon on a weekday! With proper planning, it wasn’t difficult at all.

Indeed, from the moment we stepped into Siam Ocean World, Little misschewy was so enthralled by all the different types of fishes that we spent quite a fair bit of time before moving on to the next species.

This Octopus is really ginormous!

Lionfish! Reminds me of my scuba diving days. I wanna go diving again! 🙁

We stepped onto a glass panel and watched various sharks swim underneath us. Pretty cool!

This seems to be meant for kids and it’s sooo cute!

Little misschewy was initially afraid and clung on to misterchewy tightly. But after awhile, she refused to leave! LOL.

Heyyy fishie fishie!

Now, that’s a different kind of ‘fish’! Hahaha.

The otters were just lazing around!

This is the part where visitors get to touch and feel marine life such as starfish and sea cucumber.

Going on board the Ocean Feeding Boat allows one to get up close and personal with sharks, stingrays and a great variety of fish. SEA LIFE staff will provide an insightful introduction while feeding the fish by hand. It costs 180 baht per person and this activity is available from 10.30am to 8pm.

Adorable penguins!

Some of them were just standing still for so long and I actually wondered if they were real. Haha.

There’s a mini playground within Siam Ocean World!

This part of Siam Ocean World took our breaths away. It’s really magnificent plus the music that was being played had that mysterious mood to it. Watching all these gigantic sharks swim around was such an amazing experience!

As compared to our very own S.E.A Aquarium, I would say that Bangkok Sealife Siam Ocean World wins hands down in more ways than one. If you have a young toddler like us, a visit to Siam Ocean World is highly recommended! 😉
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Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World
B1-B2 Floor, Siam Paragon,
991 Rama 1 Rd, Pathumwan,
Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
(Nearest BTS: Siam)
Tel: 662 687 2000
Email: marketing.bangkok@merlinentertainments.biz

Opening Hours:
Daily
10am – 9pm

Bangkok for Kids: Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy

Posted on August 11, 2015 by missuschewy

When our friends knew about our plans to take Little misschewy along to Bangkok during my birthday week on the last week of July, many expressed their concern because Bangkok is popularly known as a shopping and eating paradise. Would having a young toddler in tow ruin our holiday plans? And more importantly, would Chanelle enjoy this trip or be bored to tears? Even though Chanelle is barely two years old, she sure knows how to play and have fun! With that, I planned our Bangkok itinerary with her interests in mind, in addition to ours. There are many things to do in Bangkok with kids but due to limited time, I shortlisted three main attractions in Bangkok for kids and families. I will first be introducing Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy in the first of my three-part series 🙂

There are a number of indoor playgrounds scattered all over Bangkok but I decided on Kidzoona based on two very important factors:

1. Kidzoona is highly accessible as it is located on the 5th floor of Gateway Ekamai Mall, right next to Ekkamai BTS Station. Kidzoona allows re-entry on the same day, so parents and children can take a break at any of the cafes or restaurants within the mall. A few other indoor playgrounds that I had researched on are located away from BTS stations which can be rather inconvenient.

2. Kidzoona’s play areas and play structures are age-appropriate for young toddlers like Chanelle. I feel that some other indoor playgrounds like Funarium and KidZania, on the other hand, target older children about 4 years and up.

Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy are two concepts under the Aeon Fantasy group, a Japan-based company which specializes in the operation of entertainment facilities for children in shopping centres. Apart from Japan and Thailand, Aeon Fantasy has also found its way around other Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, Cambodia, The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. All I want to say is.. Please come to Singapore soon!!

Upon stepping into Molly Fantasy, we were greeted by a barrage of coin-operated kiddie rides and arcade games. Little misschewy loves to go on kiddie rides these days, but ain’t nobody got time for that! Besides the kiddie rides and arcade games, Molly Fantasy houses a large play area, Kidzoona, which is what we were there for. First, we had to fill in a form and pay upfront before entering Kidzoona. Adults pay a flat rate of 90 baht but the rates for children differ based on their height and are pricier on weekends.

The green lockers are for you to store your personal belongings and valuables while the white lockers are meant for footwear. We were unlucky that the green lockers were unavailable so we had to constantly keep an eye on our bags.

There are educational toys and books for the little ones. Saw a baby boy hammering away at a wooden xylophone. Super cute! It’s a great place for young ones to get warmed up before proceeding to the giant ball pool.

Lounge area where tired parents can take turns to rest and recharge. There’s even a massage chair to sooth those aching feet!

This inflatable giant ‘hamster wheel’ is so cool!

One of the reasons why I enjoy taking Chanelle to the indoor playground is because she likes watching other children play and it brings a smile to her face.

Hahaha. The look on Little misschewy is like, “Mummy, can I play now?” We have not been to many indoor playgrounds in Singapore but the ball pool at Kidzoona is hugeeeee and attracts children of all ages!

Inflatable bouncy castle!

Chanelle tried to climb up but it proved to be too steep!

Papa Chewy to the rescue!

WHEEEE! Chanelle asked to go on the slide at least another three more times! Good workout for Papa Chewy! Hahaha.

This section of Kidzoona is quite similar to KidZania, where children are free to experiment and take on various roles in the ‘working field’. It was adorable watching how kids served their parents who acted as customers or patrons.

Of course, we couldn’t resist a photo of Little misschewy in one of these cute outfits! Her first part-time job at a burger shop! HAHAHA.

“Hello! Burgers for you?” I whatsapped this photo to Chanelle’s godma, and she replied that she will BUY ALL THE BURGERS from Chanelle! So sweet can! LOL.

Ooh! Look who’s a sushi chef? Irrashaimase!

Mummy is going to post a photo of this sushi platter on Instagram while my personal sushi chef prepares some hot green tea for me!

The hubs and I are glad that the local children we met at Kidzoona are either well-mannered, or their parents are quick to intervene before things turn ugly between kids. Chanelle happened to pick up a toy which was left behind by a little boy and he took it back right out of her hands but his father immediately handed it back to Chanelle before pulling his boy away. This lovely girl didn’t push Chanelle out of the fire truck when Chanelle climbed in. In fact, she shifted herself to make more space for Chanelle. Her kind gesture truly surprised me because I have come across selfish kids who refuse to share.

It was a joy watching the two girls smile and interact with each other and they occasionally waved at misterchewy and I!

We spent close to 2 hours in Kidzoona and paid another 40 baht for Little misschewy to go on this carousel ride before leaving Gateway Ekamai Mall. Besides keeping the little ones happy, it’s also a fantastic way to expend their energy so that parents can have a peaceful meal when their kids conk out after a few hours at the indoor playground 😉
Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy 🙂

Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy
Floor 5, Gateway Ekamai Mall, 982/22 Sukhumvit Road Prakanong, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110
(Nearest BTS: Ekkamai)
Local Phone:02 108 2650
International Phone: +66 2 108 2650
Email: contact@aeonfantasy.co.th

Operating Hours:
Daily
10am – 9pm (last entry 8pm)

Price:
Adult – 90 Baht
Child under 105 cm – 180 baht on weekdays/300 baht on weekends
Child over 105 cm – 220 baht on weekdays/360 baht on weekends

Introduction to Sparkanauts Plus Trial Passes Giveaway!

Posted on August 5, 2015 by missuschewy

– Sponsored Review –

Earlier last month, we started Little misschewy on lessons at Sparkanauts. It was never our intention to send her to such classes as we believe that all children develop at their own pace; it doesn’t matter if they start walking at 10 months or are still crawling at 15 months. When they are ready to walk, they WILL walk. Little misschewy started to take her first few independent steps when she was around 15 months but most of the time, she had a strong preference to crawl. Honestly, it was kinda amusing to see a toddler crawl on all fours but we didn’t have an issue with that. We soon realized that the problem lies with Chanelle not being confident enough to walk without any forms of support and therefore, she chose not to walk but would crawl instead. I’m very thankful that Mama Liz introduced us to Steven from Sparkanauts as misterchewy and I were clueless about how we could instill confidence in Little misschewy and get her to walk independently without resorting to having to crawling.

Sparkanauts aims to give each child an intellectual, physical and social edge in life and learning through specially design programmes that combine fun activities and research-backed teaching methods. Children learn best through play and this is exactly what Sparkanauts promote – holistic development through play. Steven proposed that Little misschewy attend the Cadet class which is targetted at toddlers between 12 months to 18 months of age. Every activity that we went through in class is designed to stimulate our child’s brains, while refining their physical abilities to move ahead. After attending a handful of sessions at Sparkanauts, I like how structured and well-organized the classes are. Chanelle is always fully engaged during the sessions which are 75 minutes long, inclusive of a 10-minute sharing session at the end of the class.

Kids like routine and it’s comforting to see that Chanelle is able to adapt well to the classes conducted and led by Teacher Rachel, assisted by Teacher Beatrice. Each week, we start off with a boisterous welcome song and a round of flash cards to get warmed up.

Chanelle is being introduced a different theme each week. So far, she had been exposed to Meal Time, Shower, My Neighborhood, Swimming and Playground. Kids get to learn about things that are related to a particular theme. In the case of “Shower” for instance, Chanelle had been presented with flash cards with words and pictures of bath tub, shampoo, diaper, towel, powder, etc.

There is never a dull moment at Sparkanauts!

During the circuit trainings, Chanelle got to walk up and down the ramps, climb up and down small steps, balance on the beam and crawl through tunnels. It is definitely a great and fun way to sharpen her balance and locomotor skills!

Fine motor skills are also being worked on during each class.

Chanelle’s favorite activity at Sparkanauts! Trapeze time!

Interesting use of puppets to teach Chanelle how to jump left, right, up and down.

For this relay activity, Chanelle had to pick up a piece of plastic fruit or vegetable one at a time, and walk to the other end to deposit it into another container.

This activity targets various areas of development such as hand-eye coordination, walking and balancing with a toy in one hand, bending down and getting up.

The items in the Mystery Box differs each week.

During this particular session, Chanelle was tasked to pinch some plasticine and place the pieces on each tooth. Afterwards, she had to brush them off using a toothbrush. We didn’t manage to complete this activity as Chanelle was uncomfortable with the texture of plasticine and kept avoiding it when we waved the ball of plasticine in front of her. Teacher Rachel noticed that Chanelle is only comfortable with handling smooth surfaces but when it came to sticky or rough surfaces, she would cringe and turn away. Therefore, we had to expose her to more textures!

Our term with Sparkanauts has not ended yet but misterchewy and I have started to see great improvements in Chanelle especially with regards to her physical development. If you are keen to experience what Sparkanauts has to offer, do take part in our giveaway contest! Sparkanauts is offering FREE trial sessions worth $58 each to two readers of missuschewy’s blog!
Simply follow the steps below to qualify. Good luck! 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sparkanauts
SAFRA Toa Payoh
293 Toa Payoh Lorong 6
#02-01
Singapore 319387
Tel: 62590307
Email: info@sparkanauts.com

Opening Hours:
Daily
9am – 5pm

Dazzling Cafe Singapore Food Review

Posted on August 3, 2015 by missuschewy

Hello! The Chewys are back from our Bangkok trip and I met Pei Rong for my birthday dinner on Sunday evening. She suggested Dazzling Cafe at Capitol Piazza which was totally fine by me, except that I was a little hesitant because I dislike having to waste my precious time queuing. Dazzling Cafe doesn’t accept reservations so we agreed to meet at 5.30pm for dinner which is super early la!

Indeed, there wasn’t any queue but we still had to wait for quite a bit before one of the service staff attended to us.

We were whisked off to the second floor of the cafe which seats about 7 to 8 tables.

Us and our mains! We wanted to order the SG50 promo set which includes 2 drinks, one choice of main (only two choices), one dessert toast, and then top up another main dish but turns out that this promo is only valid today onwards!

My Mentaiko Spaghetti in Cream Sauce ($18.90) was marvelous! The spaghetti was al dente, and the white wine cream sauce wasn’t too rich or creamy. Topped with generous amounts of cod roe, my choice of main proved to be excellent.

Pei Rong had the Spicy Seafood Tomyam Tomato Spaghetti ($22.90) which is a Singapore’s exclusive dish. She ‘donated’ her mussels to me and I think the taste of tomato kind of covered up the taste of tomyam quite a bit.

And it’s time for DESSERTS! Whoohoo!!

Keep seeing this Matcha with Azuki Beans Honey Toast ($19.90) being posted on Instagram so we know we just had to order this! Don’t you agree that it’s so pretty? Taste wise, it is quite good, and the matcha ice cream is seriously da bomb! We requested the toast to be crispy when being asked but felt that it still wasn’t crispy enough.

Thanks Pei Rong for the birthday treat! See you really soon for yours! 😀

Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy 🙂

Dazzling Cafe Singapore
15 Stamford Road
#01-85
Capitol Piazza
Singapore 178906

Opening Hours:
Daily
12pm – 10pm

The 2015 BIG Latch-On: Celebrate World Breastfeeding Week with BMSG!

Posted on July 29, 2015 by missuschewy

Hey mummies, it’s World Breastfeeding Week! The Breastfeeding Mother’s Support Group (BMSG) will be organizing its annual synchronized breastfeeding event, The Big Latch-On and here are the details:

Date: Saturday, 1st August 2015
Time: 09.30am – 11.30am (synchronized latch-on to start at 10.30am)
Venue: Speaker’s Corner, Hong Lim Park, Singapore

Join in the fun and connect with like-minded mothers, families and children to laugh, chat and build community bonding one latch at a time in a causal and friendly picnic setting. This year, in addition to synchronized nursing, the event will also have activities for mothers (breastfeeding Q&A with BMSG members and counsellors, baby-wearing demonstration, and a baby-led weaning sharing session) and activities for the entire family (face-painting, balloon sculpting and story-telling).

The Big Latch-On is informed by the principles of community development, providing the opportunity for breastfeeding women to get together in their local communities, host their own events, and identify opportunities for on-going support. This year, BMSG expects at least 100 mothers at the event, with their spouses and children also joining in attendance. If you are passionate about breastfeeding, be sure to grab your fellow breastfeeding mummy friends along to this big event!

To find out more about the event, click here bit.do/biglatchon-sg2015
See you there! 😉

#thechewysbkkgiveaway

Posted on July 29, 2015 by missuschewy

Sawadee ka~! The Chewys are currently holidaying in Bangkok! Taking things slow on our first day (it’s actually 11pm here lol) and hopefully, we will be in full gear tomorrow!

As a token of appreciation to all our readers, we will be conducting a little giveaway! Head over to our Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and Instagram @missuschewy for more details! 🙂

Headlines Hairdressing: Mucota Dyna Treatment Perm Review

Posted on July 27, 2015 by missuschewy

– Sponsored Review –

I did something to my hair recently! Readers who have been following my blog would know that I have had long straight hair for years. Truth be told, I’m getting quite sick of my hair already. After our wedding photoshoot in late 2012, the hubs asked me a few times to perm my hair because he liked the “big waves” look on me. LOL. However, I was afraid that I would end up with small tight curls and look like lao auntie so I procrastinated for quite long. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to take a leap of faith because I wanted to look different (in a better way) as I turn a year older this week! Made an appointment with Charles of Headlines Hairdressing who previously did the Mucota Dyna Argan Oil Treatment for me. Look at my hair! Still amazingly smooth and silky! 🙂 Charles helped to trim my hair first before working his magic!

This time, Charles recommended me the Mucota Dyna Perm Treatment. After getting my hair washed, Charles applied the Dyna treatment cream on my hair. If you have not read my previous post, Mucota is one of the top prestigious hair care products in Japan. Dyna is one of their many products which is the latest anti-frizz treatment technology and is 100% NO FORMALDEHYDE. It is suitable for all types of hair, and contains Argan oil which is the key ingredient in giving hair volume, making it smooth and silky. In other words, I was getting a nice hair treatment while my hair was been permed at the same time! Oh ya, my black roots were also touched up. How sweet! 😀

Twirling my hair before putting the curlers up!

Charles explained that as my face shape is round (SOB SOB), he only gave me curls that are below my chin level to avoid making my face look even rounder than it already is.

HEHEHE.

Another type of chemical was dripped over my hair to help the curls stay in shape.

This was how my hair looked like after the hair wash. The first thing I told misterchewy was, “Oh no! How come look like maggi mee?!” HAHAHA.

But heng ah! After blow drying my hair, it turned out wonderful! Loving my big bouncy curls! Price ranges from $280 to $350 depending on hair length. Quote “Charlene Missuschewy” and get at least 10% off all services and treatment! Thank you Charles and the Headlines Hairdressing team! To see how well my new hair is holding up, stay tuned to my posts on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy as I might be posting some photos during our Bangkok trip! 🙂

Headlines Hairdressing
18 Cross Street
#01-15
China Square Central
Telephone: +65 6221 6866

Opening Hours:
Mon to Fri
10.30am – 8.30pm
Sat
10.30am – 7pm
Sun & PH
10.30am – 5pm

Our First Visit to Skinny Pizza!

Posted on July 24, 2015 by missuschewy

TGIF!! Decided to roll out yet another super short post today! I guess nobody’s interested in reading about what we had at Skinny Pizza but who cares? Hahaha. Yeah this pizza chain has been around for quite a while now and there are a total of 4 outlets in Singapore. We visited the one at Raffles City Shopping Centre after our trip to Cool De Sac, an indoor playground at Suntec City.

We met up with Bee for dinner and after much consideration, decided on having pizza instead of ramen. Haha. So first up, we had a trio of starters to share amongst ourselves – Truffle fries, Sweet potato nibblets and Pork Sausage. Chanelle loved the truffle fries!

The English Breakfast ($24) had just about everything. Smoked bacon, sunny side-up egg, roasted Roma tomatoes and mixed mushrooms on a roasted Neapolitan-style tomato sauce. Garnished with rocket, basil and Parmesan, this pizza was lip smackingly delicious!

I love love love anything truffle so we also ordered the Wild Truffled Mushroom ($29)! It was so damn good and the mushrooms were so juicy! Honestly, I think I wouldn’t have any problem with polishing off the entire pizza on my own because the pizza is so… SKINNY! It didn’t really feel that substantial. Hehehe. *Glutton mode on*

Will definitely visit Skinny Pizza again when the pizza craving hits! 😉 The service was also quite good!
Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy

Skinny Pizza
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-63/64
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103
Tel: +65 6333 5069

Opening Hours
Daily
11am – 10pm (Last order 9.30pm)

The Line at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore

Posted on July 21, 2015 by missuschewy

Back in end May, my family and I celebrated my brother’s birthday by having buffet dinner at The Line at Shangri-La Hotel. Although we don’t really fancy buffets, we have always wanted to try the food at The Line because it’s so widely raved about. Ask anyone where’s the best hotel buffet in Singapore, and most people are inclined to reply The Line! Whenever I go for buffets (which is quite seldom), I head straight for the seafood section to check out the oysters because those are my favorites! Apart from oysters, there are mussels, prawns, king crab legs and the like. Eat until shiok!