More Fun and Frugal Birthday Cakes

It turns out the most popular post on Pilgrim Parent at the moment is
Birthday Cakes for the Fun-Loving and Frugal

So here are more cakes, created since that last post. All are made from Betty Crocker cake mix, and the icings are either butter or whipped cream based.

Porthos’ 6th birthday cake – an aircraft carrier with Lego figures and models made by Porthos himself.

Milo powder and nuggets simulate soil and rocks in this military-inspired, sugar-saturated creation for Athos’ 7th birthday.

Aramis’ 3rd birthday cake is a train featuring chocolate-chip cookie wheels, windows made of Loacker biscuits, and Kit Kat tracks.


Athos is begining to outgrow cutesy cakes so we had some difficulty brainstorming for his 8th birthday. Since he likes Lego so much, we decided on a Lego block cake. I’m a little embarrassed to say most people had difficulty recognising it

Make sure to check out these other cake posts too!
Birthday Cakes for the Fun-Loving and Frugal
The Smoke-Emitting Prehistoric Cake
The A380 @ Camel Diaries

Stuck in a carpark (or why I hate monopolies)

First, thanks to everyone for the good wishes and I’m pleased to say the quarantine is over and we once again have free access to God’s great wide world.

So it’s ironic that soon after the quarantine was lifted, I found myself stuck once again. [WARNING: this post has nothing to do with parenting, and everything to do with Pilgrim Mom the irritated customer. Please skip if you have better things to do with your time....]

I had gone to Bukit Merah Central to run some errands and parked at the multi-storey carpark, a Cashcard-only facility. After my errands I was about to leave when I realised I had left my Cashcard at home (we had sent our vehicle for servicing and had taken it out of the IU).

Free Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream!

The Pilgrim family is mad-keen on ice-cream. So I had to share this flyer which a friend sent me – free Ben and Jerry’s on Tuesday 29th April! It’s only at selected outlets so do read the flyer for details.

Ben and Jerry’s has a special place in my heart. I went to college in the US. It was my first time living overseas, and the first weeks were a mixture of wide-eyed wonder and deep homesickness. My roommate K was also a little homesick one night and we both went out to the nearest convenience store and bought two tubs of Ben & Jerry’s. It was the first time I’d ever heard of it. I can’t remember what flavour she chose but how could I resist a name like “New York Superfudge Chunk”! The ice-cream was amazing, and together with the fellowship, made me feel a whole lot better.

New Paper: The Most Boring Household in Singapore

This interview with up-and-coming Singapore politician Grace Fu focuses on her role as a parent. It struck me as containing many nuggets of parenting wisdom. I submit it for your consideration.

The Electric New Paper: The Most Boring Household in Singapore

I have to do a quick linkback to an earlier post concerning the Wii, and another on the modern-day malaise called the Nature Deficit Disorder.

Pilgrim Discovery: The Animal Resort!

A couple of weekends back, Pilgrim Dad was in an adventurous mood so we piled the family into the truck and headed north with no destination in mind – really!

We found ourselves in the Seletar area, and flipping open the street directory, our curiosity was piqued by a box marked “The Animal Resort”. So we drove over and – lo and behold! – found hidden treasure.

The Animal Resort, located at Seletar West Farmway 5, is a mini-hub of pet services. You can buy, board, groom and train your pet there, and also find most of what you’d need to care for Fluffy.

But what was most charming for us was

Freecycled Home For the Froglets

I joined the Singapore Freecycle Network a few months back. It’s basically a community that aims to connect people with things to give away, with people who want those things. It’s been fun (and heartening) to read the regular mailers describing things that people are giving away.

Anyhow, Athos has Show and Tell next week and he’s decided to bring the froglets to school. Rather than spend money on something I only needed temporarily, I thought I’d see if the Freecycle Network would have anything to offer. So here is the request I put up:

A meal, a movie and a whole lotta love

Grandpa and Grandma took the boys for the weekend so Pilgrim Dad and I got to have a date last night. We haven’t done this as regularly as we used to ever since the Primary One early-morning action began, so we really relish our alone time when we get some!

After church on Saturday evening, we headed over to Tuckshop for dinner. I had eaten there once on the recommendation of a friend, and liked the place a lot. It’s a little hole in the wall along Tanjong Pagar Road (opposite the Duxton shophouses) and serves low-key, good quality, cafe food. Pilgrim Dad had the fish and chips, and I had the steak sandwich, both of which are among their more popular dishes. But the revelation for me was the ice-cream, which they bring in from Ice Cream Chefs. If you follow this blog, you might know that the Pilgrim family are big fans of Island Creamery. So it was a great delight to discover another establishment that creates its own locally-flavoured ice-cream. Pilgrim Dad had the Nutty Peanut Butter, and I had the Nutella Delight. I discovered later that they have other local flavours like Milo Peng, Durian Decadence and Kaya Lotee. Oh my!

After dinner, we went home and watched Akeelah and the Bee, a DVD which we had rented. Thoroughly enjoyable, and I would heartily recommend it for any family movie night. The movie is about Akeelah, an 11-year-old black girl from the inner city who aspires to win the national spelling bee. The story is a classic tale of the underdog, well told through a strong script and sterling performances by Keke Palmer (Akeelah), Angela Bassett as her mother, and Laurence Fishburne as her tutor. The film is rated PG due to some “light” profanity, and was also criticised for stereotyping Asians, but is otherwise heartwarming and eminently watchable.

Rediscovering Singapore

The past few days at work have been extremely challenging, and I have not felt this stressed and anxious in a long time. But there were some wonderful highlights. One of which was the opportunity to bring a group of international visitors on a tour of Singapore.

The tour was organised by Journeys, a Singapore travel agency which does the Original Singapore Walks. I was thrilled when I found out, because I’ve been wanting to do one of their walks for a long time and have never found the time. Journeys is strongly history-based, which means their tours are stuffed with as much information as the knowledge-hungry tourist (and curious local) could possible want.

We started our journey at

Freecycle!

I encountered the term “freecycle” a few months back but never got round to looking it up. Thanks to Alternative Mom’s comment on my previous post, I was reminded and went to look it up.

The Freecycle Network began a couple of years back in Arizona, USA and now has 4,221 groups and 4,335,000 members around the world. The idea is basically to connect the people who have things to give away, with people who want those things. I am completely sold on the idea.

And the great news, my friends, is that Singapore has its own Singapore Freecycle Network! An excerpt from its Yahoo Groups webpage:

Whether you’re looking to discard or acquire an item, you’ve come to the right place. Computers, furniture, clothing, magazines – no item is too big or too small. (That said, we request that you keep in mind that this is not intended to be a Christmas wish-list. Asking for LCD TVs, XBox’s, PS3s, etc., is a bit over-the-top.) Since this is a Freecycle list, ALL items must be 100% FREE and not subject to exchange or sale.

As of this writing, it has over 4200 members. I have just signed up as member #4211 – will you consider being #4212?

Join the Singapore Freecycle Network.

Too. Much. Stuff.

After hosting 6 multi-family garage sales, it’s become painfully clear to me that we are living in a consumer society in which we often buy things we don’t really need, or in quantities that we don’t require. (True of the Pilgrim family too, by the way.)

Which is why I was struck by what’s going In The Trenches of Motherhood. This mother of seven is taking one year off buying anything other than essentials, and writes some great posts about (non-)shopping at Target and Ikea. And then today, a friend sent me the link to The Story of Stuff, a compelling (though somewhat long) video about the crisis of our materialist economy. Watch it, if only for the superb graphics.

What will you do about it?

Wii = Exercise? Think again.

The Pilgrim family does not own a Wii, and we have been sorely tempted on a few occasions to buy one. The kids played on their friends console and loved it. And hey, at least it gets them on their feet and moving about.

BUT, if you think that the Nintendo Wii works as a substitute for exercise, check this article out.

The Smoke-Emitting Volcanic Prehistoric Cake

We celebrated Porthos’ 5th birthday last week at SAFRA Toa Payoh. (Read a previous review here.) This was our first time hosting a party there and it was a great experience mainly because the entertainment took care of itself!

Our big effort in the run-up to the party was the birthday cake. Now if you’ve been following this blog, you might know that the Pilgrim family is big on fun yet frugal cakes. Still, my heart missed a few beats when Porthos said he wanted a cake with dinosaurs, a lake and a volcano (!!!)

But reminding myself of the good Queen’s admonition, we talked it through, worked it out, and here is what transpired.

Concourse – Slated for the History Books

Porthos’ birthday party is a few days away so we made the obligatory trip to The Concourse at Beach Road. I wrote a post about this wonderful oasis of party supplies almost a year ago in the run-up to Porthos’ 4th birthday. It’s a wonderful hub of Christmas lights and music and decorations now, and we found everything that we needed there.

BUT… I was a little dismayed to learn that

You Are Special

Thanks to a cousin, we got free tickets to I Theatre’s production “You Are Special“.

Based on best-selling author Max Lucado’s book of the same name, it features an original script, original music, and a cast that is on the whole very strong. All the actors/actresses were unknown to me so I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of the ensemble. They adopted standard American/British pronunciation and the accent didn’t slip at any point (not obviously anyway), which is rare for a mostly-local cast. There was some slapstick and melodrama, but none of the awkwardness that sometimes accompanies inexperience. Although a few of the songs weren’t especially melodious, they were well-sung. I was especially taken by the strong vocals of Dwayne Lau (Punch) and Juliet Pang (Lucia). Dwayne in particular had excellent stage presence and carried the show. Candice de Rozario was delightful as the colourful and comical Mayoress. The message of the story is the production’s strongest selling point – that all of us are special because we are loved.

Athos and Porthos enjoyed it, and there were points when Athos guffawed so loudly that those in the neighbouring seats turned to look. The actors also came out to mingle with the audience after the show which was quite a thrill for the boys.

The show is running at the Drama Centre and ends on 18 Nov. Tickets range from $23 to $38. Catch it if you can!

The Athos Squadron

Athos went on Lego overdrive recently and created this. A reminder of why Lego is one of my all-time favourite activities for kids:

Wildness And Wet On St John’s Island

Last week, my work department went for some team bonding at St John’s Island. Many of us hadn’t been there in a long while, and for me, it was a sheer delight to be out of the office and in the wild on a workday afternoon.

The only way to the island is by ferry from Marina South Pier – $15 for adults, $12 for kids (which includes island admission). Click here for the schedule. If the group is large enough, it’s possible to charter a ferry. I didn’t realise this but there is even a holiday bungalow and campgrounds – read more here. If you do intend to go though, please note that there are no shops of any sort on the island, so you’ll need to bring your own food and water.

Here’s our boat approaching the island:

Learn To Read With Starfall

A good friend sent me a link to Starfall, a free website that aims to teach children how to read. Created by the husband-wife team that was also responsible for the popular bluemountain.com e-greeting card site, Starfall has both visual, audio and animated elements, and can be used at home or in schools. The site also incorporates online reading games, and lots of printables.

I’ve used the site with Porthos because he’s not especially keen on reading. After the first 10 minutes, he was completely hooked, and I notice he’s now a lot more interested in learning and trying to read words.

Check it out!

Birthday Cakes For the Fun-Loving And Frugal

When Athos celebrated his first-ever birthday at school (aged 3), I bought a magnificent chocolate cake for the whole class from the delectable selections at Room For Dessert.

Thing is, it set me back by something like $45 .

I rationalised that:

1. With three kids and Heaven-knows-how-many birthdays ahead, this practice was not going to be sustainable.
2. What kids really care about is how the cake looks. The taste, not so much.
3. Making a cake could be a thoroughly fun activity for mother and child, BUT I had to find some way around my feeble kitchen skills.

And once again, invention (with necessity as her ever-faithful mother) came through. The solution?

Why I Love My Sarong Sling

How did I survive a two-hour walking tour with three boys under seven?

I don’t quite know. But I’m sure my sarong sling had something to do with it. Months ago I wrote a comparison of the baby carrier and sarong sling. Since then Aramis has outgrown the carrier, but the sling is still extremely useful as a baby hands-free kit

The more interesting comparison now is between the sling and a pram. Although the pram is less physically demanding (I don’t have to bear the baby’s weight), I’ve come to the conclusion that most times, the sling wins hands down. Here are 5 reasons why:

Breakfast of Champions

Most mornings, breakfast is a simple matter of cereals or breads and spreads.

But once in a while, we head out for a change, and the kids get to pick where to go. And very often, the food of choice is prata. This Indian dish, more accurately called paratha, was brought to Singapore by immigrants and has been adapted in so many amazing ways that you cannot but believe in the innate creativity of Singapore (at least when it comes to food!)

The perennial favourite for Athos and Porthos is tissue prata (aka paper prata), with a glass of iced Milo. It’s prata stretched really thin, drizzled with butter and sugar, and wrapped around into the shape of a hat. Mmmm… and look out for that sugar rush!

Here’s the one from Niqqi’s The Cheese Prata Shop near NUS.