What about art from Singapore Art Museum?

September 13, 2011 · By ·

"Come and look Mummy, look what I created."

I followed him to the living area and saw this,

 

"Is this known as 'Mess on the floor'?" I asked him.

"No…It is a creation from long time ago, you are not suppose to touch it. Afterwards the people at the counter will scold you."

Then he added, "This is a creation at the museum and I am the artist, only I can touch it."

At least he has learnt the concept of installation art from the Singapore Art Museum. For a while I was starting to think that the only memorable thing that made any significant impact on him from our visits to the museum, is that people are not suppose touch most of the displays in the museum.

Having displays that children cannot touch at a children's exhibition is like putting a piece of cheese next to a mouse and expecting the mouse not to eat it. Maybe it might be better if they hire someone who has early childhood development background to plan the children's programme, and then save the money/effort on hiring people who will bark at the kids when their little hands reach towards the display.

It's interesting how a not so positive norm like, 'See but not touch' will be so memorable for a child. It's just like how negative experiences tend to be a lot more memorable for some us rather than the positive ones.

We are still light years behind for our local art exhibits for children. There were some improvement from the recent 'Children's Season' at SAM but until the day that they totally remove exhibits with the 'See but not touch' element, then it will be taken off my list of "Only if you ran out of places to go to in Singapore with your kids."

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Tasmania June/July 2011

July 8, 2011 · By ·

Kate's Berry Farm on the way to Freycinet National Park, Tasmania East Coast

Our first stopover on our first day in Tasmania, about 2.5 hours drive from the Hobart International Airport. Broke our no desserts before meals rule when Kyle tasted delicious berries ice cream and some handmade chocolate at this farm. There were no fresh berries though, as it was out of season.

 

View of Cole's Bay from Freycinet Lodge Cafe.

This was where we had our first burger in Tasmania, that was accompanied with a breath-taking view of the bay. After the lunch with the forgottable burger, but addictive shoestrings fries and memorable view, we checked into our cabin at Freycinet Lodge. Initially, Nana's was not too impressed with her first look of the cabin from the outside…

But was presently surprised when she realised how cosy and warm it was on the inside!

 

The small harbour at Cole's Bay

 

Kyle saw his first rainbow on our drive back to Freycinet Lodge. Rainbows seem to be a common sight in the East Cost, as we saw double rainbows the next day near the coast.

 

Stretch of beach next to Freycinet Lodge with a breath-taking view of the sunset

 

Our 2.5 hour hike up one of the trails in Freycinet National Park

 

The little trooper was so game during our hike that he completed the whole journey of the trail, and only needed to be carried when the path got a little steep along the way.

 

The bay at Bicheno town, behind the Sea Life Centre. www.sealifecentre.com.au

The seafood here is fresh and the cooking is extremely competent. We were so pleased with what we tasted that we had both our lunch and dinner at this place.

 

East Coast Wildlife Park @ Bicheno

This wildlife park is recommended when you travel to Tasmania East Coast with kids. Kyle was so thrilled to pet and feed the free-ranging kangeroos which made the trip to the wildlife park all worthwhile. We almost had the whole park to ourselves, as there were only 2 other families in the 65 hectare park when we arrived at 3pm. It was a chilly late afternoon, temperatures went below 5 degrees and I had to put on my gloves as I was freezing my fingers off.

Kyle got to see his first Tasmania devil from this wildlife park. (See animal above top left). The creature might look cuddly and harmless but they are carnivores, they can easily crunch through kangeroo bones with their strong jaws and teeth. But they are only scavengers though, not hunters.

 

Japanese food and a gorgeous view of the sea from Kabuki by the Sea, Swansea Tasmania

Apart from the welcoming change of Japanese food. The owner of the inn had a pond of ducks, a miniature horse who had a ram for companion and gorgeous flowers in their compound.

 

A rocky bay right after Kabuki by the sea

 

I suspect Kyle will be quite happy to spend most of his time throwing rocks into the sea, if we spent more time in the East Coast.

 

Back to Hobart for 2 days before moving on to the West Coast.

Along Salamanca Square @ Hobart

The serviced apartments that we stayed for 2 nights, with room views of the Hobart pier, and with the best Fish and Chips in Tasmania . www.fishfrenzy.com.au

 

Historic Richmond Village Tasmania. Quaint little village town www.richmondvillage.com.au

 

Next leg of our Tasmania adventure, the West Coast.

Lake St. Claire, West Coast Tasmania

 

Cradle Mountain Lodge

The key highlights of the place definitely have to be the cold weather (pity Kyle did not get to experience snow), warm fireplaces (he was extremely thrilled to finally see a fireplace, and was super excited when he realised we had a fireplace in our room). And having to see wild wallabies, even touch a wild wombat (which I think we were not supposed to) and experience the nature walks around Cradle Mountain Lodge

www.cradlemountainlodge.com.au

The walks that we took at Cradle Mountain felt surreal and magical. The foliage, stream, waterfalls, accompanied by the cold cold weather looked like something out of an Enchanted Forest from an Enid Blyton story.

All ready for his walk!

The things that Kyle will certainly remember from our Cradle Mountain walks will be the waterfalls, from mini streams to a medium sized one with loud cascading sounds of falling water, to poo…lots of animal excrements along the trails that we took. Which proved the existence of plenty of Australian wildlife that lived in Cradle Mountain.

 

 

On the way from West Coast of Tasmania to Launceston, we stopped over at Devonport and took a short 30 minute trainride for the experience.

www.donriverrailway.com.au

 

Bruny Island stopover in our last day at Hobart

Tasmania is indeed the best that Australia can offer in terms of nature, seafood and friendly people. Kyle and I will definitely be back to visit beautiful Tasmania again if we do get another opportunity to, and the next time Daddy will surely have to come along with us…

 

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Australia 2011 – What we ate

July 7, 2011 · By ·

The thing about holidays is that food is often a big part of the whole experience. However since I have never been really much of a foodie to start with, I only took  photos of the food that gave me the strongest impression at specific moments. All other meal moments during the holiday, I was either too lazy to whip up the cam or the other meals were not much to look at or to remember.

Seafood Paella

The first home-cooked dinner that greeted us when we arrive at Nick's place

on our first evening in Sydney.

 

The first burger that Kyle and I had in Tasmania was in Fricynet Lodge (after a 3 hour drive). The best part about the dish was not so much about the burger but the shoe-string fries, which also came with a breathtaking view of Cole's Bay.

Beef Burger and Shoe String Fries @ Fricynet Lodge Cafe

www.freycinetlodge.com.au

 

The second time we had rice was on the way back to Hobart from the East Coast of Tasmania. It kind of eased Kyle's and my cravings for Japanese food, after having to eat fried seafood and fries during every other meal in our time at the East Coast.

Japanese at Kabuki by the Sea  www.kabukibythesea.com.au

Fresh Tasmania seafood Japanese lunch that came with a breathtaking view. Swansea, Tasmania

 

The best thing about Australia's food has to be the breakfast that we had in Tasmania. Since Kyle is a major pancake fan, we went with pancakes for the 2 breakfasts that we had in Hobart, Tasmania.

Buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup, topped with crispy bacon

Italian cafe at Salamanca

 

Berries Pancakes at another cafe Salamanca Square, Hobart Tasmania

Will be posting more of what we saw and did in Tasmania, once I am able to find some down-time to blog.

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