Ashfall

Less than two full weeks into a new decade, the active volcano in the middle of a lake (itself caused by past volcanic eruptions) not far from the main city started spewing ash. It was a weekend, and many locals and tourists were in the city of Tagaytay when they saw smoke rising from Taal's crater. 

By early morning the next day, ashfall spread as far north as the central business district, and schools were called off for a few days. 

When students returned they were required to wear masks to protect from ash inhalation. Earthquake and fire drills were modified to include ashfall scenarios. N95 masks were added to Go bags and first aid kits. 

While it was safe by the end of the second week to walk around the metro and swimming pools cleaned up and reopened, most of us still kept stock of the masks, adding to the N95 variant the standard surgical masks sold at pharmacies because there was a new danger of a spreading coronavirus. 

 

Happy New Decade

Before my sisters and I were all married with children (actually the last time was 2008, when Little A was 5 months old), my family used to spend New Year's Eve in Hong Kong quite often. It's the nearest overseas destination from Manila, and my mum and older sister hate beaches (and places that aren't bustling city centres in general) so this was the logical choice for a quick getaway. My dad travelled here for work maybe once a month at the busiest time of his career, as did Big A and one of my brothers-in-law, and my stopovers to and from the UK were always Hong Kong, so it's a city we all love as a family.

12 years after our last family trip here (now numbering 16 rather than 5), we decided to come back, possibly for a last hurrah. After our visit with Little A last June, protests have taken place in Hong Kong every weekend, and the situation with China seems very much on a knife's edge. We decided to risk it, after much consideration, consultation with friends who live there, and generous discounts from the hotels whose revenues have dropped sharply in the last half-year.

What a good decision it was. Not only was the city quiet and peaceful, we were able to take Little A back to his new favourite places with minimal crowds. New Year's Day was spent at Disneyland, Big A's first time ever (ours was last June), and we also did Noah's Ark and Ocean Park again. And the Star ferry rides from Hong Kong to Kowloon side and back. 

We hope things settle down in this city, though we know its time as a "free" port is limited, so that until it fully becomes once more a Chinese city, Little A can enjoy it as much as we all did, growing up. 

Happy New Decade, everyone! 

Music Lover

Little A has long been an aficionado of classical music. Baby Einstein remains one of his favourites - he and a select group of young tween and teen boys comprise an online fandom, apparently, collecting toys, puppets, dvds, and other items featured on the shows. I always figured his YouTube favourites were also on the spectrum, though verbal, and maybe they are. They are older than he is and still obsessed, so I need not stress too much about the age-appropriate aspect of it all. 

Apart from the characters, Little A has learnt much about the music. Unlike the rest of the family who simply appreciate that it sounds good and took an incredibly gifted composer to make up, he actually knows composer, piece, movement, and chord for the music he loves. 

Whenever possible, we go to concerts. Since many happen to be on school nights, we sit in on rehearsals, where he is thrilled to listen, wave his hands, and "watch with glittering eyes" (thank you, Roald Dahl) the wonderful musical instruments he would love to touch.

Many of the orchestras do mall concerts, which is fantastic for the non-paying public in that it raises awareness and hopefully gets the musical bodies some sponsors for future shows. But one special event happens every Halloween since Little A was one - a children's concert at our nation's only proper theatre, where normally kids below 7 are not permitted. My mum organised this with some friends in the orchestra world, and we are so glad the tradition has continued even after her 3 year run. 

Each year, the weekend closest to Halloween, there is a "petting zoo" of orchestral instruments that allows kids to get up close and see how they work, trick or treating by sponsors, maybe a storytelling event by a local publishing house to promote their newest children's book, and the main event, the concert. Events are themed every year, and the music and "story" is woven in to match. 

Even if Little A is already of age to sit in the audience at any time, he still loves the children's concert, and we make it a tradition to go every year. He still has some anxiety about what might come and be scary, so we go through the programme and list of pieces before the show starts, so he can anticipate any scary bits and put on headphones or step outside the auditorium if he needs to. Once the concert is over, he usually looks for YouTube footage or videos taken (if permitted) of the same concert, or others. One day, we have promised to take him to Sydney Opera House and Wien Volksoper. And my dream is just for him to hang around Covent Garden watching the buskers. One day. 

Singapore, Part Four

Here we are again! This year there was a new attraction, Rainforest Lumina, which Big A said was a clever ruse. making us walk the zoo at night with nothing to see but simulated light shows, but to me was an excellent additional revenue stream for an otherwise dead space (after 7pm). 

We always get a Parkhopper ticket, which allows for one entrance per park (Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari, Rainforest Lumina and Jurong Bird Park) within a reasonable amount of time. We've never visited the Bird Park as it's located on another part of the island, but a new space is being built next to the zoo to relocate it by next year or so.

Another day was spent on Sentosa, at the SEA Aquarium and Universal Studios. This year there was no time for the ArtScience Museum, but neither was there a good exhibit on, so we skipped that in favour of his favourite music store, located in the shopping mall just down the road from our apartment. This time next month will be the annual Halloween Children's Concert, another event to look forward to. See you again next year, Singapore! 

Learning First Aid

While The Philippine Red Cross spends much of its time conducting first aid training workshops to companies and schools, the target audience is usually adults. This year, Little A is in Upper School, a sixth grader, so their year level was included in the workshop.

I spent the morning at the annual Manila International Bookfair while my son was learning how to administer CPR. His, I think, may have been a more worthwhile use of time (though I did get a lot of Christmas shopping done and supported local authors and publishers at the same time). I pray he'll never have to use his newfound skills, but am glad he has learnt how. Perhaps I ought to get certified as well. 

Grandparent Love

Little A is beyond lucky to have all four grandparents plus a great grandmother living, all in good health and fairly active.

Great Grandma is 80 years his senior, having celebrated her milestone birthday just a month ahead of Little A's entrance into the world. While he can't communicate with speech, Little A has a special bond with GGM, shown in the gentle way he treats her compared to his boisterous behaviour in general, and since Big A and I travel often, he gets to spend more time with her and with my parents as they like him to spend weekends and Halloween breaks with them. 

Big A's parents have their hands full with their only granddaughter living with them as her parents work in Singapore, but they do come by when they can to spend some time with Little A. 

My parents have seven grandchildren, of which Little A is second to youngest. These days we only get together for birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day, and Christmas, but each family tries to spend as much time as they can with them. We hope Little A can make lasting memories with his grandparents as we have done with ours. 

Turning Twelve

This year's birthday was spent at Little A's favourite mountain getaway, and once again my parents joined us for the weekend. 

He's all about The Muppet Show these days, so I hunted down some toys on Ebay, and we made a trip to the post office parcel section to pick up the books his godmum sent from Finland (via Book Depository). 

Next year, this guy will be a teen! For now, summer fun continues, and we are discovering new places and new things as well as frequenting old favourite haunts. 

Crossfit is all the rage, as well as Ninja training. One such centre recently opened nearby, so we have given it a try, and will see about fitting it into his schedule as a regular after-school activity when fifth grade begins. 

A new indoor play area for older children also opened at one of the malls where I have a shop, so sometimes I take the little guy to work with me and leave him there for an hour or two before taking him for a late lunch. Only a few more weeks, and then it's on to sixth grade!