September Holidays 2013

This September Holidays had been quite interesting for us as I would like to categorize them as :
Devotional time
Artistic time
Fun -filled family outing time

Being Devotional:
Arshi's term 3 holidasy were during the 2 nd  week of Sept.We greeted the holidays with a  devotional start.Couldn't get it?Vinayagar Chathurthi was that Monday and we prayed the almighty for prosperity.I made kozhukattai,sundal,appam,vadai,payasam as neivedhanam for Vinayagar and my hubbby did the pooja.That evening we went to Senbaga Vinayagar temple.Arshi  and ourself prayed the almighty and there was an exhibition going in in the temple about Saiva Hinduism.Arshi got  to know  a  little bit about the topic and  we too gained  many unknown facts about saiva siddhantahm in that exhibition.

Being Artistic:
Later, I took Arshi to HeART studio where she painted this beautiful painting -Tea time by Van-Gough.Isn't it lovely?

Arshi did Warli painting, a Maharashtra's  tribal painting in Tampines Regional Library along with an introduction about what was a warli painting .It was new art form for me as well.We enjoyed the session.

That week, I took Arshi to Century Square and she made a  card for mid-autumn fest using origami rabbit.

Later at the weekend,  we also painted a lantern   as Vivo city was attempting to create Singapore Book of records for the largest display of hand painted lanterns.

Family outing:
That Saturday, we went to S.E.A. Aquaruim and  had  a great time.

It was just like  a blink for the holidays to happen and end.I am happy we had great time.Looking forward for the term 4 holidays where I can look forward for more fun.

Malay Heritage Centre

One Sunday in September 2013, I was part of Bedok Public library's tour to Malay Heritage Centre. It's also my first visit to Bedok library."Fill yourself with the Arts" is a  series of programs conducted at various libraries across Singapore. This was part of Walk with us Series. I registered for the programs and took Arshi along.2 way transportation was provided free of cost.A great initiate by NLB.

Malay Heritage Center is located at Istana Kampong Glam.It is a  place I had never explored before.I got to know about Malay culture,the changing trends in Malay community,Malay community leaders and also the Malay who were reason behind building this strong nation.This Malay Heritage Centre was opened to public in the year 2005.It was built some 160 years back.They have aquaried the place after the Government had declared it as  a  conservation place.We were lucky enough to have a  guided tour of the centre where our guide explained many of our queries.The photos will speak now:

Community pioneers

First President of Singapore

Some art crafts

Zubir's Singapore's  national anthem composition

After coming from the Malay Heritage Center , I was able  to know more about the Malay culture,how they have evolved in Singapore and how their lifestyle has changed with the changing times in a  very interesting way and more importantly about their contribution to this red -dot nation.


P.S-I attended this as part of -‘Fill yourself with the Arts’, organised by NLB

My Mid-Autumn Celebrations - 2013

Mid-autumn Festival is  a  Chinese celebration and is also called as lantern festival.They celebrate it  on a  full moon day by lighting up beautiful lanterns and by tasting the yummy moon cake.They also light sparklers on that day. I always find this particular festival very lively and very colourful. Though it falls on a   full moon day, I can see lantern fest being celebrated as  a  community celebration where people from all races take part days before the actual festive day arrives.Many Community Centers (CC)and Resident Committees(RC) organize various events for teh lantern festivals.Even malls have fun filled activities for the public  to engage.There are many moon cake stalls in the various atrium's of malls.Every year I try to be part of this mid -autumn fest even though I am a  non-Chinese.

This year our mid-autumn celebration started rather unexpectedly. I had mentioned about our trip to SEA Aquarium.There was mid-autumn celebration at VIVO City.Guess what?An attempt to get into the Singapore Book of  Records was being made to be part of Singapore's largest number of hand painted lanterns were being displayed and it was a  success too.We joined in the fun and painted a  lantern .All the  three of  us painted .The display was rather too beautiful.As it as a  very long display, we couldn't spot our lantern.

display of lanterns

Arsheitha also took part in  the mid-autumn celebration held  at Century Square in partnership with NLB, where she listened to a  story telling session about how  the mid-autumn celebration came about and the tale of Rabbit and the moon.She made  a  greeting card using Origami pattern rabbit.

Then on the  actual lantern fest(19-9-2013), Thursday, I took Arshi to our  near by park where there was mid-autumn fest going on.Arshi had painted her own lantern that day and so we bought that for the celebration.

Moon Cake

lanterns

Arshi painted these two lanterns

Kids from different races participate making it a  community festival

Candle lit lantern

LED lantern

It was a chill evening and   and  we  were greeted by soothing Chinese melodies .I could see people of  all ages gathered there with their lanterns lit up and walking around the park.Nowadays, with the technologies , we have LED lanterns  too .I could see  a  mixture of  both candle lit lanterns as well as LED lanterns being lighting up the whole park.Kids with lanterns  are always beautiful.Took a    few pic a s  usual.I couldn't spot moon that day.Arshi and myself  were looking for  moon  till 9.30 pm  but  couldn't spot any as the sky was too cloudy.

What is mid-autumn celebrations without a   visit to China town in Singapore?The next day, I took Arshi to China Town.Every year, mid-autumn is  celebrated in a  grand way there.I have bee going to China Town for both Chinese New Year as well as Mid-Autumn festival for a   few years now.I had  planned  to go there almost 2  weeks before but was postponing it.Beautiful and  colourful lanterns were hung around the streets of China Town.It was  a   beauty to see  them both in the day time as well as  in the night time.The lights in the lantern were lit up   during night time.

I also made a    quick visit to Buddha Toot Relic Temple.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

 We walked across the streets.

There was display of  hand painted lanterns outside China Town MRT.They just looked  so lovely.They were painted by school kids.Arshi loved  all of  hand painted lanterns.

Beautiful lanterns were still being hung outside some shops along Pagoda Street for sale.I loved watching the various Chinese stuff which were sold there.

 Night View:

I visited the two Hindu Temples -Lyan Sithi Vinayagar temple and Sri Mariamman temple that day before heading to Little India  for Arshi's music class.

As I walked along , I spotted the beautiful harvest moon lighting up in  the sky.

We stood    for a  moment to capture its beauty .Sometimes pausing for a  moment does provide some great beauty for us  to see and enjoy.