Pierce Reservoir

If we haven't already fulfilled our outdoor/nature quota for the day, The Place to go would be Lower Pierce Reservoir to watch the sunset. It's not a far walk from the main road or car park to the grass and water. We like Lower Pierce Reservoir because it has a cosy, kampong feel.  Most of the people there are regulars who go at the same time every evening, so after a while, you'll start to recognise some of them and smile at them! Children will usually be hopping on the rocks, peering at small creatures hidden among the rocks, or rolling on the grass. There are always some men...

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A train-themed birthday party

We had a Gruffalo-themed birthday dinner earlier this year. For the little boy's birthday, he requested a train-themed dinner! It was fun and easy to make using construction paper, a loo roll, 4 bottle caps and a full tissue box - so the tissues could be the smoke! Our tissue-box train pulled carriages of food, chugging over edamame train tracks and past vast banana leaf meadows. After dinner, the children had a craft session to make their own tissue box trains!...

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Mid-Autumn Festival and making snowskin mooncakes!

I'm so blessed to be part of a loving and multi-talented homeschool co-op! We made vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free Snowskin mooncakes during our Mid-Autumn-themed lesson. Each mum contributed something - I did the Chang'E and Mooncake Rebellion stories while the other mums prepared the ingredients, the lantern-making craft, the poems, songs, and food. On my own, I would NEVER have attempted to make mooncakes, but the other mums prepared the glutinous rice snow skin paste and the lotus paste, and all we had to do we to knead them, shape them and put them into the molds. It was so therapeutic...

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How do snails do it?

How do snails do it?  Very. very. slowly. Sometimes, I'm amazed by the little things that children observe but adults miss. The little ones are constantly pointing out the squirrels, garden lizards, frogs, insect nests, and critters that are all around us in the neighbourhood. We spotted this amorous duo making love under the pale moonlight near our apartment. We watched them for a good 10 minutes, but they barely changed position! We often go for slow nature walks together (covering 200m in 30 minutes!) and we take our time to drink in every detail and see who can point out...

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