Halloween in Singapore: costumes and supplies

There's nothing scarier on Halloween night than a bunch of little devils, ghouls and witches roaming around your block, demanding for treats.  

The Bride of Frankenstein and the Evil Witch 

Typically falling on the last day of October, Halloween has become a huge event in Singapore.  Kids and adults alike love this occasion where they get to fantasize, put on make-up and play dress up in their favourite characters and let their imagination run wild.

The Devil and The Angel

Most adults usually make do with Halloween accessories which they can easily get at any supermarkets (NTUC, Cold Storage or Carrefour) or department stores like Isetan Singapore or Robinsons.  Or they can rent a costume from speciality costume shops like Number 1 Costume Costume, Talent House Studio, Foreigners House of Costumes (Tel: 62823110) and one of the oldest suppliers in town, Costumes & Mascots (Tel: 62990882).  Depending on the quality of the costume, rental costumes may cost you between $50 to $200 for a 3-days period, and terms and conditions vary with each company.

For children, it is simply easier to purchase costumes as you don't have to worry about wear and tear and the forfeit of your deposit.  Also, if the costumes are of a more generic nature (like princess or pirate), they can be re-used on other occasions (birthday parties or school performance etc).  Plus, it is also economy of scale if you have kids of the same sex - you can recycle the costumes for the younger ones or exchange with friends who have children of the same sex.

So, where can you buy costumes for kids in Singapore? 

1. Almost any places that sell party supplies will have some costumes or accessories for you.
2. Toys "R" Us - catering to the various needs of kids, this toy retail chain offers a range of costumes for children the whole year round.
3. Spotlight - you can buy a range of costumes here, or if you are good with needles and thread, get the materials and make one yourself.  In addition, Spotlight has a range of supplies and decorations for you to choose from; a definite must-visit when preparing for Halloween.  
4. Mini Princess - a great concept store that lives up to its name, this store sells the prettiest dresses for your little girls, including princess and fairy outfits at very reasonable prices.  You will also love the lovely 'girly' shoes and accessories to complement the outfits.
5. The Internet is a wealth of resources for your shopping needs.  Check out these websites to get your costumes.

• www.ebay.com.sg
• www.bugsparty.com
• www.halloweencostumesonline.com
• www.buycostumes.com

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Tips for shopping online

1. Give yourself sufficient shipping time for the costumes to arrive.
2. Make sure the website you are purchasing from has good on-line safety features to protect your credit card and personal details.
3. Clarify the return policy before making a purchase.

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Even if you are not a big fan of dressing up, you may wish to decorate the entrance of your home to join in the fun. Click here for the list of party supply places and have fun when the little tykes come around with their face-painted or masked outfits begging for tricks or treats.

Happy Halloween!

Salut to our super daddies

This Father's Day, we celebrate the men who willingly and courageously practice active fathering.

While many Singaporean families still honour the traditional roles of mum as the main caregiver and dad as the main breadwinner, we see more dads taking an active role in parenting and caring for their kids. They may have heavy work responsibilities during the day, but once they are home, these dads roll up their sleeves and jump right on to the parenting bandwagon willingly.

Like these families, my husband and I practice shared parenting.  If I have work to do, he’s in charge of the kids.  If he has to travel, I take time off work to be at home.  I’m the disciplinarian in my family, while he takes his role as mediator and jester very seriously. But sometimes, our parenting methods differ.

Take last night as an example.  I wanted to finish work so I could celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, so I asked him to put the kids to bed. They usually read in bed before lights are turned off, so I was expecting some peace and quiet. But within minutes, there was a ruckus of tambourine bells, peals of laughter and loud singing coming from the room.

“What was going on?” I fumed, more mad at my husband than the kids.  He’s supposed to wind themdown, not UP.

I opened the door, all ready to yell, but was stopped short as my two munchkins rushed towards me and words tumbling out of their mouths, gleefully invited me to join them.   They had (with daddy’s help) created a new song and couldn’t wait to present it to me.

My kids exhibited such sheer delight as I watched the trio (father and children) belt out the silliest song about chicken rice being their favourite food; their gusto and laughter were infectious.  It may be bedtime, but the kids were having fun with dad.  My earlier grudges were replaced with gratefulness that their father could create special moments like these for the kids in spite of his busy and sometimes stressful work schedule.

And I’m not alone in my gratitude.  Read what some of our readers feel about their super daddies:

Joanna Tan says: My hubby Shawn & our 25 months old Boy. Shawn is more like his friend than father. He will go down to Nigel’s level and interact with him. For example, he will play “basketball” with him. He is also the soul of Nigel’s Fave toy, Mr Monkey. So the 2 of them are Best Buddies! Always the one Nigel runs to when I scold him. Shawn will make sure he will spare time for Nigel almost everyday to have at least 1/2 hour playtime to Bond. He is the one in charge of his night feeds till now still, as Nigel still needs night feeds.

Grace Miranda says: My husband is, maybe for me, an ideal dad to my kids. My niece told me more than 18 yrs ago that when she gets married, she will look for a guy like my husband or maybe he will grab him from me. Now my daughter is saying the same thing, she will find a man who is like his dad, who can carry himself well physically, emotionally and spiritually. She said when I get angry with her she gets upset at times, BUT when dad gets disappointed she just feel like “super-guilty”. Because he will talk to her in a very soft-manner and will not tell her that she is bad or what, but will talk to her in a very positive way. He is always there for them and mostly they can see that their dad loves their mom.

Joann Hernandez says: My husband is a very patient and loving dad. He takes care of my gals when he isn’t working. Before we all go to bed he will send my kids to brush their teeth and change to pyjamas. Even in the middle of the night he will bring them to the toilet when the kids need to pee. But the most touching of all is when the kids are sick, he is the one who wakes up at night to feed their medicine.

Happy Father’s Day to all the daddies out there!

This post first appeared in theAsianparent.com where Meiling is the editor. It was also re-posted in Shawn & Jo's Little Nigel blogspot.

City Square Mall: Easter and Earth Day

Come to the island's only eco-friendly mall to celebrate Easter and Earth Day this weekend! Shop at the Earth Day Flea Market and enjoy free activities for the kids.

To celebrate Easter and Earth Day, City Square Mall will attempt to set a new record in the Singapore Book of Records for the Largest Egg Cartons Display. Shoppers can contribute by painting on egg cartons which will then be assembled to create a mosaic image of Earth.

Date – 24^th April 2011

Time – 4pm

Venue – City Square Mall, Level 1 Atrium, 180 Kitchener Road, Singapore 208539

Admission/Tickets – Free

Enquiries – www.citysquaremall.com.sg

Additionally, from 22 to 24 April 2011, there will be an Earth Day Flea Marketfeaturing handmade arts and crafts from non-profit organisations like WEworkz, Mother and Child, Breakthrough Missions and Moses Project and City Square Mall’s tenant, Sunflower.

While you shop, your children can paint on recycled egg-shells at the fun Eco-Egg Painting Workshop. No registration is required and all activities are free.  So, mark the dates on your calendar and head on down to Level 1 Atrium, City Square Mall.

This post first appeared in theAsianparent.com

Earth Hour: fun and freebies

Where will you be during Earth Hour? Join GV Yishun or the City Square Mall for fun activities and premium collectibles, and show your support of Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is an annual global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund)  to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It is held on the last Saturday of March with the sole purpose to request households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour (at 8pm) on that one day.

If you are not an environmentalist, but support this cause and are environmentally friendly or are interested to know more about this movement, here are some of the places you can go on 26 March, Saturday, to have fun and show your support.

Best of all, these events are FREE!

GV Yishun supports Earth Hour!

In support of Earth Hour, GV Yishun will stop movie screenings and turn off all lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm on this day!

Join them for an hour of fun with an intimate unplug performance by Butteribs of SUPERBAND 2008 fame and stand to win prizes from Hasbro!

In addition, snag up their Limited Edition Earth Hour Snack Pack, on sale for the one hour at only $8 (U.P $12.30)! Snack pack includes 64oz Popcorn, Mentos, Pocky, Glaceau Vitaminwater and Popcorn Bucket! Available only during the one hour!

And that’s not all – purchase a pair of tickets to any movies screening at GV Yishun after 9.30pm, present your ticket stub to redeem for a set of GV premiums! Whilst stocks last!

Here’s the itinerary:

8.20 – 8.30pm = gather outside GV Yishun / Collection of GV premiums

8:30 – 9:25pm = Butteribs performance / Sale of Earth Hour Snack Pack

9:30pm = Movies resume

Go Beyond The Hour with City Square Mall

From 7pm to 9.30pm, City Square Mall will host a series of activities to celebrate Earth Hour with its shoppers. Some of the activities include:

• “Kite-Making with Glow-in-the-Dark Paint” session using recycled paper
• “Candle Making” workshop with recycled materials
• “Message on a Tree” booth where shoppers can leave their best wishes for a greener Earth.

At 8.30pm, City Square Mall will dim the lights and screen the documentary “Home” by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, showing aerial footage of Earth taken from 54 countries.

Venue - City Square Mall, Fountain Square Basement 1, 180 Kitchener Road, Singapore 208539

For more information, log on to www.citysquaremall.com.sg

This post first appeared in theAsianparent.com

Missing Daddy

After a week of sprained neck, computer malfunctions and car trouble, Meiling is glad to have her husband home again.

My husband left me last week for an 8-day business trip. While it is not the first time he has been away, it is the first time he will be away over 2 weekends, leaving me with 2 kids, a house and a host of general activities to manage. I decided to start my “Single” parenthood off in a relaxing manner.

He left early on Sunday morning, before the kids or the sun was up. I went back to bed and by the time I woke up, it was mid-morning. My kids and I decided to spend a nice Sunday swimming and having lunch by our condominium pool. The water was cold but the kids didn’t mind. We swam to warm up our bodies. I was lulled into a dreamy holiday mood with the sun on my face and the kids in the background. After lunch, the kids returned to the pool and were splashing around in sibling harmony. All was good.

Suddenly, an urgent call: “Mommy, mommy! I can’t move my neck!”

What?! I was instantly tossed out of my dream state. Like most 6-year-old boys, my son has a talent for getting into situations that challenge me to manage my own state. In this case, not to panic when I saw his head bent perpendicular to his body.

Luckily, we have a neighbour who is a paediatrician. She recommended that we consult a doctor immediately and get an X-ray just in case. The doctor we saw was extremely nice and gentle to my poor son who was wincing in pain, but keeping up a brave front. After spending the entire afternoon at the hospital emergency, my son was pronounced to have a minor sprain in the neck, but good to go home. He was very relieved his initial fear that he would become a “freak” was unfounded and very excited to show off his new neck brace to his friends and sister.

That, was day 1.

Even the technology conspires against me.

Day 2. I’m working from home to monitor my son’s neck and ensure he doesn’t get into more “trouble” – they can’t be still even with a sprain neck, can they? And of course, this is the week that my computer and printer decide to kick the bucket. I could not print anything on or offline. My wifi keeps getting disconnected and each time I upload something, it either erases or takes forever.

Usually when I encounter a technological glitch, I yelled for my husband to fix it. But of course, he is not around this week.

My husband takes my daughter to school every morning. It is their ritual. With him gone, that task fell on me. On the morning of day 4 that my husband was away, the car engine sounded funny. Hmmm, I thought, better get my husband to look at it when he’s back. Fortunately, my daughter’s school was only a few minutes’ drive from the house. I dropped her off, came back to the car, and the blasted engine wouldn’t start!!

I still had to drop my son to school, and go to work after that. What the *&%$P!!! Should I call AA (Automobile Association of Singapore)? What does one do in such situations? I should have paid more attention when my husband was instructing me on all this ‘stuff’.

After several desperate SMSes, and waking my husband (who is in a different time zone) to ask him who I should call, we resolved the situation – the car battery had to be recharged. Duh!!

I promised myself there and then to be a better student when he coaches me on the intricacies of car trouble, technological connections and other matters concerning our home.

Daddy’s coming home today.

My kids have really missed their daddy this week. He does spend a lot of time with them, coaching, playing and tending to their needs. They’ve missed his silliness, and big shoulders to cry on when they have a boo-boo or hide behind when Mom’s angry with them.

Me? I have found new appreciation for my husband’s role in our family unit. Aside from being extremely useful when it comes to the maintenance of the car, IT and electrical parts around the house, he has always been my great rock to lean on during difficult moments in my life. And I have learnt this week not to take his contributions too lightly or for granted.

He is on a plane coming home to us today; landing 10 minutes before the day is over. I am glad my “Single” parenthood has come to an end; that there is someone to share the trials and tribulations of this illustrious profession.

Whether you have anything planned for Valentine’s Day or not, it is still a day to reaffirm your love and commitment to your family unit and to each other.

So to all of you, Happy Valentine’s Day!

And to my husband, it’s good to have you home, babe! Happy Valentine’s Day!

This post first appeared in theAsianparent.com in 2011.

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing ALL Mothers a very Happy Mother's Day!!!