/bɪ ə gʊd gɜ:l/ n. moniker of she who blogs here [also known as, bie]; adj. personal awesome advice to all female kiddos

meet the fam #thechennies

meet the fam #thechennies

Had a really happening weekend hence a series of posts I've dubbed MHW, or My Happening Weekend. Lol.
Mamas can be happening too, okay ;))

Went for high tea at Delicious (read here) and Blueprint Emporium 2013 (read here) too!
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You've probably heard of ♥ Museums: Children's Season before - a series of exhibitions and programmes across participating museums just for the kiddos! It was our first time jumping on the bandwagon cuz Bielet was too young previously. She mostly sleeps during our museum outings because of the dim lighting and nice, quiet ambience (like at Shisanhang Museum of Archaeology in Taiwan); or gets super spooked out by the crowd (like at the Titanic exhibition at MBS).

Anyways, other than Bielet's coming of age, we (or me, mainly) were excited to go museum hopping cuz of the free admission to National Heritage Board museums and heritage institutions for Singaporeans. *Beams* Among the nineteen museums participating in this year's Children's Season, there are activities galore but mostly targeted at the older children (see programmes here). ZX and I kind of withered it to a short list of museums/stuff we wanna bring Bielet to, and Art Garden was first on it. 


How can we not have a snap with Walter when we visit SAM?

There are limited free parking spots available at SAM and we were super lucky to get the last one (can you see our Ang Ku Kueh? the only car parked adjacent to the sidewalk!). We told the guard that we were going to the museum and he peered inside with a suspicious "Are you sure?". *Shakes head* This family must not look very cultural!

Before heading over to SAM at 8Q (where Art Garden is held)...

we bagged our ♥ Museums: Children's Season freebie - a tiny canvas tote that Bielet super loved. Download the flyer here to collect your child's freebie too (I just flashed it on my hp instead of printing. Save the earth!)

Mama jealous that Papa got a pic with Bielet so I forced her to snap one with me too!

Art Garden boasts four levels of activities (see full list here), but our top 3 picks are these (cuz to be honest, not all exhibits were our cup of tea):

{#1: The Enchanted Garden}
Situated on the ground floor, this is the first exhibit to welcome you to the children wonderland. Transformed into a whimsical enchanted garden city of fairy tales with an Asian twist, the full length murals really captivate your imagination and leave you spellbound. Bielet super loved running around the entire room and dubbed it "Big Bad Wolf" because of the Little Red Riding Hood mural. What a hoot that Red dons a pretty sarong kebaya and head scarf instead of the usual garb though!


Bielet went up and down these "Rainbow Steps" a gazillion times!

But also stayed still long enough to do some colouring activity onto her own enchanted mirror... If you peer closely, that's supposed to be a rainbow under her left hand. Lol.

Artists who wanna beam their artworks to the world can snap a shot and upload on facebook for posterity and a 'live' broadcast on the huge, life-sized Enchanted Mirror on one of the walls (if I'm not mistaken). Awesome stuff.

This was undoubtedly Bielet's favourite of the exhibitions because she kept raving about how the "Big Bad Wolf museum so fun" :DD

{#2: Around the Day in Eighty Worlds}
Yes, you didn't read that wrongly. This little spin on Around the World in Eighty Days beckons adventurers to take a deeper observation at what's around. "Some things may look familiar at first, but a closer look may reveal something different about them," the description teases.

The entire space feels like the set of Alice in Wonderland with the weird but wondrous, albeit in monochrome cloaked walls and flooring instead of zany colours. 


There are three activities to occupy the little ones here: 1) some treasurehunt-esque search where you have to go around the space looking for said objects (like this little spider we spied tick tocking around one of the grandfather clocks), 2) make your own kaleidoscope (where you get to choose from a few designs) and

3) another colouring/pasting worksheet - this time it's supposed to be a postcard of a hot air balloon, where you get to write your message and then add it to the museum's collection.

Bielet was only keen on pasting (we asked!) so she pasted her colourful scraps onto the balloon and dedicated it to her Papa. Heart.


Father and daughter earnestly checking out the exhibits while...

Mama breaks the chair! This shot is so hilarious. I love it.


{#3: Glossy Dreams in Depths}
Another unusual setting that pokes fun at the imagination, this one requires more PG than the Alice in Wonderland though. Kind of like the nightmare that Pooh has of the dreaded Heffalumps.


"What frightens us as we grow up?"

The slightly more creepy atmosphere - this is where you get to make your own mask.

Not your typical rocking horse, that's for sure.

There are 3D drawings and holograms that boggle your mind as you first get spun around on a bench (paper 3D specs are provided) and walk through a haunting corridor of eerie objects. ZX remarked that Bielet would get a nightmare that night! She did wake up startled a couple of times that night, but didn't scream or cry, so I guess any nightmares she had were quite mild?
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Other activities at Art Garden include film screenings [Bielet didn't enjoy being in the dark room and anyways, the short films we caught of "Share: A Tale of 2 Humpty Dumpties & a Bird" and "The Mimmers" were kind of morbid for such young 'uns. In the former, the Humpty Dumpty who didn't share ended up smashed on the floor and a school of birds swooped in to eat its yolky remains. As for the latter, the mimmers are two girls who get into a bit of a fight and after one takes a hit, she pretends to pass out and the other tries to resuscitate her with a defrib, among other attempts (all actions are mimed though). Bielet was all ready to scoot, announcing "Humpty Dumpty so scary" and "2 little girls so scary". Bleah, maybe this was the cause of the 'nightmare' after all.] and a room of glowing constellation of stars (ZX & I were rather fascinated by this but Bielet remained nonchalant).

Bielet very sweetly requested for ice cream when we were done with the exhibits so us 3 headed to Food For Thought, which alas was closed that day, and we had to settle for Dome. But thanks to the yummilicious ice cream and smoothies, it was a happy end to our first Children's Season :)) oh, and My Happening Weekend. Lol. Hope this 3-part installation signals more happening weekends to come!






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