Book Review: The Special Bear

Posted on December 22, 2016 by kennicolas

The Special Bear

by Gabrielle Yang

ARMOUR Publishing Pvt Ltd

An impressive front cover illustration of the book

A “catchy” front cover illustration of the book

For those of you looking for something extraordinary to share with your little readers this holiday season, do try the book – The Special Bear. Written by Gabrielle Yang, this book shoots straight to the readers’ hearts and will open their minds to the understanding that not everything good needs to be pretty and perfect.

Not your usual tale about beautiful princesses and heroines, The Special Bear is the story of a Teddy Bear who was created by the Toy maker to be a bit different than all the other Teddy bears before him. Since he was different, he had always thought of himself as the ugliest bear in the world, and has always been treated terribly by all the other toys in the shop.

Because of this, he has always been sad and lonely. But unbeknownst to him, his special purpose would be revealed, when one day, a beautiful lady arrives into the toy shop.

This book is a soulful read for kids (and even grown-ups), providing a lot of insights regarding the reality faced by children, and everyone else, who are called to be a bit different due to their physical appearances. It reinforces our young readers with the values of Kindness, Courage, Self-appreciation and Friendship. And furthermore, emphasizes that it truly does not matter what you look on the outside as long as you’re beautiful on the inside.

Sof described this book as “comforting”

The book has colorful and vivid drawings on each page wonderfully illustrating the story, and it even includes some activities at the end of the book for our dear little readers.

Ethan was impressed by the colorful illustration from cover to cover

The Special Bear not only has one of the most interesting stories that I’ve seen in a while, but it would also help your children grow and understand to appreciate people for who they are inside and not just for their physical appearances or differences.

My youngest boy giving you his thoughts about the book 🙂

McDonald’s Happy Meal, reboot!

Posted on September 6, 2015 by paulanicolas

Notice our children’s faces when we mention to them the phrase “Happy Meal”?

Their eyes widened, their smiles reach from ear to ear, they giggle non-stop, and excitement ensues. This scenario is common even in our home every time I decide to have a trip with my kids at nearby Mc Donald’s.

Then recently, I heard the news that educational books will be included in every Happy Meal, and it was my turn to smile. Something amazing has truly come over to that red lunch box named “Happy”. Not only will we be feeding their tummies, but we will be fueling their imaginations and minds as well.

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DK books set shown here were provided for the purpose of this review.

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Happy Kids with DK books from Happy Meal

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Reading time!

Kids, Mommies and Daddies, you can now enjoy a collection of eight Happy Meal Books, specially selected from the renowned Educational books publisher Dorling Kindersley’s (“DK”). These are the “Watch Me Grow” and “WOW” series.

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A whole new collection from Happy Meal: DK Books for young and old!

The “Watch Me Grow” books explore an animal’s life through their own point of view. This collection of popular animal titles includes “Panda,” “Penguin,” “Butterfly,” and “Elephant.” As with my 5-year-old Zack, this collection is perfect for your preschoolers (aged 3-5 year olds).

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Zack, showing the inside pages of Watch Me Grow! Penguin book

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Interesting back cover 🙂

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Watch Me Grow! Penguin

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Watch me grow! Panda

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Watch Me Grow! Butterfly

The “Wow” books collection, on the other hand, is ideal for your lower primary children just like my Ethan and Sofie (aged 6-9 years old). Each “Wow” book is a spectacular show-and-tell experience, exploring and illustrating each subject in a unique way through stunning photographic images. Your kids will enjoy the vast collection of facts and trivia presented through “Wow! Human Body,” “Wow! Art and Culture,” “Wow! Space,” and “Wow! Ancient History.”

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Our voracious reader, can’t take her hands off the book!

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WOW! HUMAN BODY

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WOW! ANCIENT HISTORY

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WOW! SPACE (with free stickers inside 🙂 )

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WOW! ART AND CULTURE

Don’t miss out the opportunity to collect these amazing “purse-friendly” books. Visit your nearest Mc Donald’s restaurant from 11am on 3 September 2015, and you will receive a free Happy Meal book with every purchase of a Happy Meal while stocks last. You and your children can look forward to a choice of two new titles that will be launched every Thursday at 11am.

Week 1: 3 Sep – 9 Sep

Watch me grow! Panda
WOW! HUMAN BODY

Week 2: 10 Sep – 16 Sep

Watch me grow! Butterfly
WOW! ART AND CULTURE

Week 3: 17 Sep – 23 Sep

Watch me grow! Elephant
WOW! ANCIENT HISTORY

Week 4: 24 Sep – 30 Sep

Watch me grow! Penguin
WOW! SPACE

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Away from the gadgets!

And it just doesn’t stop there, the love for learning continues with specially planned activities for your children. From 10am-12noon starting next weekend, join Ronald McDonald for a session of Art and Craft and Fun Reading at the following restaurants:

12 Sep – McDonald’s West Coast Park

13 Sep – McDonald’s Jurong Central Park

19 Sep – McDonald’s Bishan Park

20 Sep – McDonald’s Ang Mo Kio Park

26 Sep – McDonald’s Kallang

27 Sep – McDonald’s Ridout Tea Garden

But wait, there’s more… what makes the “happy” meal truly better.

More good news as Mc Donald’s Restaurant has announced an adjustment on their menu, with considerations for health conscious parents. Now, every Happy Meal option is assured to come in a less than 500-calorie count. Kids can now enjoy the nuggets fried from Canola Blend oil. This reduces the level of saturated fat by approximately 30%, and that’s a lot. Corn Cups are now lower in sodium content, but if your kids are not a fan of it, you can also choose healthy Apple Slices for their sides. Additionally, they have also included Magnolia Lo-Fat Hi-Cal Milk for our kid’s beverages, which is a definitely healthier choice! We appreciate and hope that McDonald’s continues in their direction to be more health conscious in every meal that they serve.

Our own versions of “Happy”

Watch Zacki’s World in YouTube

Posted on December 18, 2014 by paulanicolas

Initially he thought that the dragon egg is real

Initially he thought that the dragon egg was real

Hi guys!

While the merry makings are happening all around, I would like to invite you all to watch my son’s YouTube debut – Zacki’s World.

Aside from being a “Dragon Riders of Berk” fan, he was also inspired by A LOT of toy review videos he was watching in YouTube.

Months ago, while we were having our usual “window shopping” at Toys ‘R Us, he came across some dragon eggs. He was wondering if it were real and he might have a real pet dragon inside.

Not to spoil you guys, I do not recommend this 10-dollar toy to your children.

But shooting this video, and seeing my excited kiddo patiently waiting for the egg to “hatch” was kinda worth it. Not bad for a four-year-old.

Hopefully we can do another video soon 🙂 Please click the link to watch. Thanks a lot!

Zacki’s World

thanks to Kuya and Ate for accompanying Zack during the “unboxing” of the toy

ROOHI HAIR SOLUTION PRODUCT REVIEW

Posted on June 21, 2014 by kennicolas

This is an honest and an unsolicited product review of Roohi Hair Solution. Since it gave us a desirable result, we would like to make the public aware about it too. All of the thoughts expressed are of writer’s opinion only. To know more about the product, please call or message Dr. Talat Fatima at +6583955040.

A 100 ml bottle spray of Roohi Hair Solution will only cost you 20 sgd

Roohi Herbal Hair Solution is a Back-to-Nature product that gives your hair the healthy and long life using all natural herbs.

A couple of months ago, I’ve started to try a new hair Product suggested by my wife, which she discovered from her friend.

Now, being a typical guy, I feel uneasy with the thought of putting things in my hair, aside from the regular daily shampoo (and the occasional styling gels).

I’ve never really been very fussy with my hair, and I usually leave it just the way it is after a few strokes with a comb. However, during that time I have noticed that I was having some dandruff problems and increased hair-fall. Not sure if it was due to the stress at work, or maybe the humid weather, or if was simply “age” that’s starting to catch up with me. And so I decided to try it out.

The name of this hair product is Roohi Hair Solution.

It is a spray-on hair growth product containing all natural herbs. The main ingredient is the Indian Gooseberry (Amla) which is said to be also used in other successful hair-growth products. It is also highly nutritious and is a dietary source of Vitamin C, minerals and amino acids. Roohi comes in a 100ml spray-on bottles, which makes it very easy to apply in your scalp and hair. And when applied to the scalp, it gives off a refreshing effect. Since it is an all-natural solution, it is also better to keep it in a cool place (such as your fridge) to give it a longer shelf life.

Roohi is a product that I would recommend for men who are having hair-loss problems, but can also be used by women who would like to have a fuller volume of hair. Aside from nourishing the scalp to promote growth of new hair, it helps to fight-off dandruff and also has the effect of giving your hair an even darker, more black color. And since it is made from all-natural ingredients, it is safe for children and teens to use as well.

I have tried this product regularly for a couple of months and did see an improvement on my hair volume. It has also definitely, removed any dandruff problems I had while I was using it (whether I was feeling stressed or not). As for the darkening of the hair, I have not noticed this much as my hair is still pretty much black, although my father (who has tried it as well), did say that it has helped blacken his hair when he used it. Friends and family who have also tried it, have advised different improvements of hair re-growth as well. One downside that we have noticed is that it has a distinct scent that may be strong to some. This I believe is due to the concentration of the Gooseberry which is the main ingredient in this hair growth formula. We once noticed from another hair-growth formula that it also uses this Indian Gooseberry, but it vaguely had that distinct scent. We then found out from it’s ingredients that the Gooseberry was of a much lower concentration and was masked by artificial fragrances.

With pre-mature male balding happening commonly these days, I would still prefer to keep a nice mane as long as I can. And with what I’m seeing and hearing so far, I would continue to use it as well.

Try it and see for yourself.

Some thoughts on the movie: “Delivery Man”

Posted on March 12, 2014 by kennicolas

Over the last weekend, my wife had invited me for an afternoon movie time to relax ourselves. We watched a family-comedy film entitled ‘Delivery Man’ (which I initially thought was an action flick, similar to Jason Statham’s ‘The Transporter’). It was a nice ‘feel-good’ movie, featuring Vince Vaughn as the lead. It was a remake of a 2011 French-Canadian film called ‘Starbuck’. Throughout the movie there are lots of things that show the difficulties, but also happiness, that one can experience when becoming a father. There were dialogues in some of the scenes that had caught my attention, as they were good thoughts to ponder.

The scene when the protagonist’s father sat down and talked with him about his money problems:

Father: “When I left Warsaw to go to the States, my father gave me $10… That was everything he had. I couldn’t turn down his help, so I promised him I’d pay him back 1,000 times over once I got rich. My father died when your mother and I still didn’t have a cent. I… I always wondered what was harder for him. Not being able to give his children enough, or not being there when they hit hard times. My great good fortune in life is to see you boys everyday. That, for me, is success“

That scene was meaningful as it presents the reality of fatherhood.
Having worked overseas myself, I feel for all the fathers out there who have fallen into a similar situation. The need to sacrifice being with your family just to be able to provide a better way of living for them. As fathers, we always want to give our children their best chance, even at the cost of us being with them, our own happiness. Though some might dispute that being with your children is much more important, it is equally just as difficult, to be with your family knowing that what they have in their day to day lives is not sufficient, and that there is a way you can provide more if you are not there.

There are also other entertaining scenes to watch out for and I would like to recommend this movie to all the fathers out there.

Here’s the official trailer, please click the link below:

“Delivery Man”

image credit: Dreamworks skg

A better tasting seafood-flavored instant noodle

Posted on January 23, 2014 by paulanicolas

Are you an instant noodle lover?
Wanna try something new?

Here’s how:
Mix 1 1/2 cup of hot fresh milk and
1 cup of Nissin Cup Noodles SEAFOOD flavor only
Wait until the noodle is soft enough to eat

Add up some fun by replacing the hot water with fresh milk. I should have done this before, it tasted better than I expected. Try it and let me know what you think!

*disclaimer
Instant noodles are very high in sodium and should not be taken everyday,
drink lots of water right after your noodle meal

thanks to Kevin for sharing his sense of adventure with us 🙂

There’s a bug in that lolli!

Link

Are you a foodie? Or more like… fond of eating sweets? Yes? Well today is your lucky day! I would like to show you a very interesting confection that you might want to try, it’s the only one of its kind and can only be purchased in some parts of the U.S. or online (at hotlix.com).
Featuring… the stomach turning, sweet in the outside, crunchy in the inside Hotlix Lollipops!

…… or I am the last to know?
I’m not being paid for this okay, I just find it really interesting!
It has flavors like
Tequila
Green Apple
Strawberry and
Lemon

I watched some reviews from the YouTube and you can click the link above if you’re really curious

So watcha think guys?
I’ll let you know my verdict once I get hold of one. (but I would rather display it so my kids can see… their obsession for sweets is really bad)

My brother said it’s fine… he gave it a two-out-of-five stars.

And what’s more, they also have chocolate dipped insects, cheddar cheese larvets, sour cream and onion crickets- these crazy sweets have been around for almost 25 years! Check out their website (hotlix.com) to know more, they have weird non-insect sweets too.

Photo credits:
hotlix.com
thanks also to Xan and Ric, I’m no longer the last to know 🙂

Singapore: The Three Great Gardens in the Heart of the City

Posted on August 9, 2013 by paulanicolas

Aside from the USS, Singapore Zoo, and the Sentosa Island, there are a lot more places in SG that are worthy of a visit, if you’d fancy a stroll. You need not go far and commute too much, since SG has one of the easiest and most tourist friendly transportation systems in Asia. Allow me to introduce to you three great gardens that can be found in the heart of this exciting city.

1. GARDENS BY THE BAY

This has always been on top of my list. I’m always amazed by the innovative ideas Singapore has to offer, and one of it was strategically placing 11 “Super Trees” in the city, which is both beautiful and has an environmentally sustainable function. These artificial giant trees has solar panels on top, gathers solar energy, and helps to power up the recycling facility underneath the park. For adventure seekers, you can also have a different view of this garden by taking the canopy walk which goes from one tree to another. A bridge walkway 128 metres long and 28 metres high, can captivate you with a nice overview of the park and its surroundings, and the display of lights during the night is also a sight to behold. In case you get bored, get ready for a different kind of shopping and dining adventure at the Marina Bay Sands, just located across the gardens.
Continue reading →

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