Tag Archives: Esplanade

PLAYtime! – Hello Ling

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I have so many posts waiting to make their way from my mind to this blog that I’ve decided to blog about our most recent activity first! We caught Hello Ling at the Esplanade this morning and it was Adam’s very first play. I think he did quite well. There was no whining or crying and he didn’t attempt to leave halfway. He was occasionally distracted by the Hello Ling sticker on his shirt and the Hello Ling mask but he enjoyed the performance! PLAYtime! is recommended for kids 2-4 so I think it was just a wee bit simple for Anya but she had fun too.

I liked how the three actors were energetic, enthusiastic and genuine throughout the performance which I feel is important when acting for young children. The kids learnt about different concepts of light such as what makes a rainbow, what makes shadows, how light is needed for plants to grow, etc. There were different elements to catch the children’s attention and whenever Adam got distracted, I would be able to get him interested in the performance again by pointing out one of the actors making his/ her way through the audience or something being projected on the big screen.

The next PLAYtime! performance is Hello Adam from 3-9 Nov and we’re definitely catching that just based on its title!

Adam's first play

Adam’s first play

watching the performance

watching the performance

the three actors

the three actors

Anya was entertained too

Anya was entertained too

watching one of the actors making shadows

watching one of the actors making shadows

the kids giving it a try

the kids giving it a try

Hello Adam pretending to be Ling

Hello Adam pretending to be Ling

Hello Ling!

Hello Ling!

Hello Adam!

Hello Adam!

Flipside 2013 at the Esplanade

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I read Debra’s post on Flipside at the Esplanade and went down to check it out with the Family and it was a lot of fun. We checked out some of the 3D optical illusions at the concourse area and took some silly photos there.

Flipside

Flipside

sitting on a 'chair'

sitting on a ‘chair’

Anya really enjoyed making her way through El Laberint, an open-air maze of doors and windows. Each door had to be solved to be opened. Anya’s favourite was one where she had to use a hook to pull up a small hoop. It was way too high for her so I had to carry her while she held the stick with the hook.

El Laberint

El Laberint

going through

going through

pulling on blocks to open a gate

pulling on blocks to open a gate

she pushed and I opened

she pushed and I opened

did this one for her

did this one for her

The kids were intrigued by the Human Trees, two people dressed up in costumes to look like topiary. We followed them around for a bit and managed to get a photo taken with them. Considering that the costumes must have been hot and uncomfortable, they were very sporting.

We also caught a bit of the Budak Pantai performance and listened to about 3 songs before the kids got tired and cranky. It was definitely a good way to spend an evening! Will look out for it next year because they have different performances and activities on different weekends.

Human Trees

Human Trees

watching the performance

watching the performance

Budak Pantai

Budak Pantai

Singapore Arts Festival 2012: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

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Photo Credit: Tom Kincaid

I don’t have time to watch very many things these days but I really wanted to catch The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle because I’m quite fond of Haruki Murakami books. I almost didn’t go in the end because I was frightfully tired that day and I really had to drag myself down to the Esplanade. I’m glad I caught the production because it was visually quite stunning and I loved the use of the light/ shadows and the projection of video and photo images. I thought the puppet was a bit overused and it would have been better if the puppeteers had worn black gloves. The pacing could have been tighter at certain parts of the show. On the whole, it was a good adaptation of a Murakami book and definitely better than the movie adaptation of Norwegian Wood. I’m now tempted to re-read the book but don’t know if I have time for the 607 pages!

Loola’s by Awfully Chocolate

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My sister and I had dinner at a very crowded Loola’s last Friday before catching Richard III. I have the knack of ordering things that are not available and I did it again that night when I ordered their Hoegaarden Mussels. So we ordered more starters and shared a main instead. Since Debs has already reviewed the place, I’m just going to say that I’m so glad there’s now somewhere interesting to go before a performance at the Esplanade. I really want to go back and try the desserts properly because I only had time to wolf down a chocolate hazelnut cupcake before the play.

Loola's by Awfully Chocolate

capellini & roe; creamy tomato bacon soup

crab cheese souffle; marrow & toast

pan seared braised pork belly

PLAYtime! – Oh, What a Noisy Zoo!

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photo from PLAYtime! Facebook page

photo from PLAYtime! Facebook page

Anya and I went to watch Oh, What a Noisy Zoo! at the Esplanade on Wednesday. We definitely enjoyed this a lot more than the previous PLAYtime! production. Anya had a good time singing, dancing and doing the actions to the songs even though we were seated quite far back from the stage area because we’d gotten there just in time for the show. I liked how they used shadow puppets at the beginning to show the little girl cycling to the zoo especially since the recent Octoburst! included a shadow puppetry exhibition.

When the elephants came out, they sang the One Elephant Went Out to Play song and played a freezing game. The song and game were later used for the monkeys too. It would have been good if the monkey segment had a different song from the elephant one so that the more restless kids wouldn’t get bored. But Anya has been making me sing the song and play the freezing game since Wednesday so I guess the repetition made the song and game stick in her mind!

I wasn’t too pleased that the Delphin people had a booth there because I find them very aggressive in the way they sell their products and services and also because they were blocking the poster of the performance so we couldn’t take a photo in front of it like we usually do. The next PLAYtime performance is Hello Elly! Haven’t decided if we’re watching that yet. Will see if the cousins want to watch as well!

The Nutcracker by SDT

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As part of their Dance Appreciation Series, the Singapore Dance Theatre performed excerpts from The Nutcracker along with explanations of common ballet terms at the Esplanade yesterday. Fifi very kindly agreed to watch the performance with Anya since Adrian was away at a golf tournament and children below the age of two were not allowed into the theatre.

Anya watched a musical performance of The Nutcracker last year and she enjoyed the singing and dancing very much. There were mice, snowmen and colourful sweets at that musical so she told Fifi that she was expecting to see lollipops at this performance. In the end, there were no lollipops so Anya was rather disappointed and was restless during the performance. She didn’t want to take any pictures with the characters either. I guess I won’t be signing her up for ballet lessons any time soon!

Anya & Fifi

no lollipops here

no lollipops here either

Octoburst at Esplanade

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Brought Anya and Adam to the Esplanade yesterday for the Octoburst Children’s Day activity. I’d initially planned to bring them there in the morning so that Anya could do some colouring but decided to meet up there with Selena and her boys at 4pm instead. The thing about going out with kids is that you can make all the plans you like but whether these plans can be carried out ultimately depends on things like how long they decide to nap, how long they take to eat, etc.

We eventually made it there about 5pm and went to watch the Baby Piano Project at the library. The kids weren’t very interested in the music. Then we had dinner at Thai Express and caught a bit of the Malay Dance at the Concourse. After Selena and the boys left, we went to the Jendela visual arts space and Anya had a lot of fun playing with the shadow puppets. She wanted to be the puppeteer and the audience at the same time! Many of the puppets showed signs of being handled roughly by other kids. I really can’t understand why parents don’t ensure that their kids treat public property with care. :( Anyway, we’re going to watch excerpts from The Nutcracker by Singapore Dance Theatre at the Esplanade tomorrow. Hope Anya enjoys the performance!

Octoburst - The World We Live In

Baby Piano Project

tried to get a picture of the older kids together

Asher making faces before dinner

colourful things on the ceiling

Malay dance

Anya the puppeteer

Anya in action