Visit: Fire Station

Following Boy #2's obsession with fire engines, we organised 2 trips to the local fire stations at Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur. We wrote in to the stations, requesting permission to visit, and they were more than happy to oblige.

The visit usually begins with a fire safety briefing, from the use of fire extinguishers and how to crawl through smoky conditions.

Kids get to dress up in actual fireman garb, including the hefty fire-resistant jackets, gas masks and fire boots.

The Sri Hartamas is larger and has a fireman's pole the kids can slide down! Kids could ride rounds in the fire engine and climb up its ladder.

The highlight of the visits are usually the water hose time — kids get to play with the hoses and run in the cool spray. Definitely a free and fun-filled educational trip everyone should go for!

Parks: Lake Gardens

We were invited to a cycling playdate at the Lake Gardens. While we were not strangers to the vicinity, we were pleasantly surprised by the refurbished and relatively well maintained grounds.

First off was this sprawling Fantasy Wonderland playground! Several different nursery rhyme and fairytale-themed slides and climbing gyms and tunnel! It was really a kid's dream play land.

After the kids had a round at the playground, they took off onto the bike trails. Along the way, we enjoyed the scenery and landscaping.

Party: Mexican Fiesta

We had a couple of family celebrations in September so we decided to have a fiesta, with a Mexican theme.

Girl has been learning cooking, so this was a chance for her to practice her fajita-making skills.

To set the ambiance, wee decorated the venue with themed cut-outs, paper lanterns, cactus and various props.

 For instructions on how to make Mexican tissue paper flowers, click here.

Yummy dinner! Hijole!

Science: BASF Kids' Lab 2013

Chemical company BASF runs its annual Kids' Lab programme to introduce kids aged 6-12 to the world of chemistry through safe and fun experiments.

This year, Boy and Girl got to join in the fun, decked in their aprons and safety glasses. They learned about acid and pH with the red cabbage indicator, discovered the secret of diapers with super absorbers, and mixed their own sun screen lotion. 

Definitely an educational experience ... especially since Mummy didn't even know what chemistry was about until she was in Form 4 :-p Thank you BASF!

 

Garden: Edible Gardens

About 20 years ago, when my grandparents moved up into a link house in PJ, my Ah Ma set about planting vegetables in her little garden. I used to laugh at her — she was acting as if she were still in her kampung.

But now, thanks to Facebook groups advocating healthy eating, raw food, herbs and such, I realise how practical and useful it is to have an edible garden.

Today, Ah Ma gave the kids a little tour of her patch, showing them her custard apples, sweet potatoes and various leaves suitable for soup etc.

I asked her, "Do you still need to go to the market to buy vege?"

"Yes," my 87-year-old Chinese-speaking Ah Ma replied. "But these," she swept her hand across her garden, "are or-ga-nic!"

Nature: Adventure in Fraser's

Fraser's Hill used to be a favourite childhood haunt, but it's been many years since we made a trip there. So when the opportunity arose, up the hill we went!

First stop: Visit to the Jeriau waterfall. Water was freezing cold! A real refreshing treat.

The next day, we took a short hike down the Pine Tree Trail.

 

The diverse flora ~ God's beautiful creations

 The kids were real troopers!

Under and over

Scrapbook memento of our trip!

At the Paddocks.

Pine cone art: Happy Malaysia Day!

Experiences: Meet the Author

We were having lunch at a little cafe, Food Foundry, when Girl saw a sign on the table about a Book Signing session with local author Boey Cheeming that weekend. She was very excited and wanted to attend it, so we went.

Boey, who is also an animator and artist, authored "When I was a Kid" and its sequel, "When I was a Kid 2", which contained anecdotes of his childhood memories.

The little session was surprisingly well attended by fans, who were treated to some background information about the author and his books as well as the reading of a few of the stories.

We got our books signed. Girl said she enjoyed it very much as it was her first time at a book signing and meeting a "famous" person :-)

Toys: Have you ever seen a LASY?

Boy was reading his Young Scientist magazines and was intrigued by the various LASY models shown.

The LASY system, invented by German engineer Peter Larws in 1971, is an educational construction system that uses just 10 different pieces that can be combined into hundreds of different geometrical outcomes. Read more here.

The original LASY factory in Germany has since been closed down, and the new Taiwan-based production is under the LOWE building and construction toy brand, which is fully compatible with LASY. It took a bit of online hunting but Mummy managed to find some secondhand "original" LASY toys.

Starting off with the designs in the magazine, Boy also moved on to experiment with his own designs.

For more fun and creative design ideas, check out this Lasy Toy FB page.

Music: Learning new tunes

Boy had a chance to sit in Big Sister's piano lessons this year, and he picked up a few skills himself, much to Mummy's surprise. He exhibited a good ear for music and progressed fast, despite not having formal lessons.

Part of what we do at home now is to get him to practice working out tunes on his own before adding in accompaniment chords. We started on Do-Re-Mi, and soon he was working out his favourite songs by listening to them repeatedly on Youtube.

 

He also returned briefly to his ukulele under Daddy's guidance.

Parks: Cycling Far and Near

Cycling is really a great leisure sport with family and friends.

One lazy afternoon, we piled all our bikes into the car and took an impromptu trip to our country's administrative capital, Putrajaya. Dubbed "a city in the garden", it holds many scenic and beautiful recereational spots that you can check out.

We parked at the Maritime Centre and cycled along the huge lake. We couldn't go all around, though, but it was a picturesque ride anyhow.

Visit: Royal Selangor Visitor Centre

Royal Selangor is one of the renowned international brands that's synonymous with Malaysian handcrafted skill and pride, and its Visitor Centre in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur is a masterful showcase of it all. Unfortunately, most KL-ites would not have been there before, so it's really a hidden gem for both local and foreign visitors.

Record-breaking pewter mug

Admission is free and includes a tour through a museum and the factory. Very educational and eye-opening.

Tin-mining history

Money of old

 

Twin Towers made of stacked pewter ware

Visit: Farm in the City

It's the school holidays! We decided to bring the kiddos and some of their friends down to Sri Kembangan to visit Farm in the City. As the name suggests, it's a farm-cum-petting zoo in the middle of housing estates and shops.

I found the ticket pricing (RM30 for adults; RM25 for kids) a bit on the high side, which was what stopped me from going all these while. We took a promotional family package, which included a teeny-round pony ride — else I wouldn't pay RM7 for that! The animal show was also a little disappointing — the one at the KL Bird Park was much better, I felt.

Other than that, there were quite a lot of interesting activities that kids of all ages would enjoy, so I guess it's worth a trip.

Map of the Farm

Explore a vegetable garden

Feed the animals

Catch fish (or attempt to)

Match the ducks

Homeschool: Scribbles and such

Boy is drawing a little more now to illustrate his lessons.

Science lesson for the day from Young Scientist ... Bacteria! Perhaps not the best topic for a slightly OCD boy Every time we read about washing hands, I have to remind him that he should NOT wash his hands ALL the time.

Geometry with a little "Mummy of Librity" (sic).

English lesson on adjectives: "Mum. I chose to write about you. I tried to write good things only."