Celebrating Chinese New Year – Sentosa Flowers 2013

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Chinese New Year is just in a few days time and if you aren’t too busy visiting during the CNY break, do consider ushering in the year of the Snake along with the sun, sand, sea and a million blooms on Sentosa! 🙂 Sentosa Flowers was birthed in 2005 by Sentosa and showcases the wonders of creation with thousands of tropical and spring flowers in a myriad of species presented in a natural outdoor setting.

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This is the first year Sentosa Flowers is held by the beach and to tie in with the theme, Sentosa staff led by homegrown sandsculptor Joo Heng Tan will attempt to break the Singapore Book of Records with the ‘Longest Snake Sand Sculpture’:

Sentosa flowers 2013

We were honoured to meet the granule master, Joo Heng Tan, who has been referred to as “Vincent Sand Gogh” by the Daily Mail and we were extremely excited to be part of this record breaking sand sculpture creation!

snake sand sculpture sentosa

Joo Heng Tan, the sand sculptor extraordinaire guided the young ones how to create designs using coloured sand on the snake sculpture he had made:

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After the demonstration, the kids were invited to help themselves to the coloured sand and decorate any part of the snake:

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looking on happily as she worked on her design

Little man couldn’t take part as we were afraid he’d ruin the sculpture… luckily he was contented to dig sand nearby

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our final design before we had to leave for POLW

As the garden fairies are still busy putting up the flowers for Sentosa Flowers, in the spirit of celebrating Sentosa Flowers, the children were invited to Port of Lost Wonder to learn to pot a plant.

sentosa flowers 2013

photo-taking outside POLW while waiting for wristbands for admission

port of lost wonder

Alright, I have to admit that I learnt how to pot a plant that day! I’ve always wondered how to transfer plants to another pot but was too lazy to go figure that out but well, I learnt it at POLW 🙂 Never too old to learn!

The children were guided through the steps, from choosing their pots and plants to placing pebbles, soil and watering their plants.

pot a plant port of lost wonder

 

And well, since we were at POLW, what better way to cool off on a super hot day than playing with bubbles (you’d need to pay with your curios coins for this!) and taking a dip? 🙂

 bubble fun port of lost wonder

 

Here’s wishing you a happy Chinese New Year in advance and remember to click the link to find out the details of the Sentosa Flowers 2013.

 

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Chinese New Year preparations – New Shoes! {Review + Giveaway}

Chinese New Year is less than three weeks away and we went scouting for new shoes over the weekend for the girls in the family – tis a privilege to be a female! 🙂 We went to Payless Shoesource at Changi City Point, and had a wonderful time shopping!

Payless Shoesource Singapore

Payless Shoesource is an American budget shoe retailer and there is a wide variety of shoes to choose from as it carries shoes of multiple brands for women, kids and men, including designer collections such as Christian Siriano, Isabel Toledo, Lela Rose and Silvia Tcherassi.

Payless Shoesource Singapore

We had a relaxing time shopping at Payless due to the layout and the way the shoes are presented. Unlike any other shoe shops that we’ve been to, all the available sizes and designs are displayed on the shelves, so you can try them out to your heart’s content, without the need to wait for retail staff to retrieve the shoes of your choice from the storeroom. And you needn’t feel embarrassed if you end up buying none of the 10+ pairs of shoes you asked to try on. 🙂

The shoes are arranged by size, so simply head to the shelves carrying your size to check out the available designs:

Payless Shoesource Singapore

As we walked into the shop, looking for the kids’ section first, my little girl picked out a pair of rain boots on display:

Payless Shoesource Singapore

The kids’ collection, also sorted by size:

Payless Shoesource Singapore

Trying on shoes for the princess:

Payless Shoesource Singapore

Little boy trying to pick out shoes for his sis:

Payless Shoesource Singapore
And after she settled on a pair of pink rain boots and pink shoes for school, she was contented to sit at the kids’ corner where there was a kids’ table with stools and a couple of toys to entertain children while the adults shop.

Payless Shoesource Singapore

Meanwhile, I went round checking out shoes for myself and taking photos of what else you can get at Payless. And I found super pretty socks for kids and we just had to get one set – 6 pairs for only $11.90!!!:

Payless Shoesource Singapore

You can even find ballet shoes for kids:

Payless Shoesource Singapore

Various accessories for children including stylish little handbags any girl would fancy (and these handbags cost only about $10!) and sunglasses:

Payless Shoesource Singapore

It’s a one-stop shop for women who love to accessorise as there are bags and all sorts of accessories:

 Payless Shoesource Singapore

And you’re wondering we must have spent a bomb during this shopping trip, right? Well, of course we didn’t! Simply because the shoes are extremely affordable and you can get shoes for as cheap as $15!!:

Payless Shoesource Singapore

 

Sharing our spoils which cost about $105 in total (4 pairs of shoes plus 6 pairs of socks):

Payless Shoesource Singapore

 

Now here’s the best part for my readers. Payless Shoesource is giving away $10 vouchers to FIVE lucky winners! Simply participate in the giveaway by following the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Payless Shoesource has outlets at JCube, Tampines 1, Suntec, The Centrepoint and Changi City Point.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

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