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| First trip to The Istana! |
Last Sunday 5 August, we did something fun and spontaneous as a family. We visited The Istana! When we told Dana the night before that we were going to visit The Istana – the place where the President lives, she asked, ‘Does the President have a Kingdom?” To which we replied, ‘Ermm…yes, Dana, you can say that Singapore is his Kingdom”.
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| Majulah Singapura |
This was the first time Dana visits the Istana. We thought a visit to The Istana would be a good opportunity to embark her on National Education from young and since she loves to draw, it would be meaningful for her to draw something as a tribute to Singapore’s National Day.
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| The Iconic Gate |
We arrived bright and early at 9am just before the doors open. As we stroll past the gates, we were impressed by the lush greenery and the sheer spaciousness of the compound. We found a good spot at the Art Festival Village for Dana to start on her drawing. The morning sun was beating down on us that morning and besides taking photos, Daddy made himself useful by shading us from the harsh rays.
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| Absolutely engrossed. Can you make out what she’s drawing? |
We had brought Dana to the Marina Bay area several times in the past few weeks to witness the National Day Rehearsals and she wanted to capture down what she loves about National Day in her drawing.
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| Painting with oil pastels for the first time |
After nearly two hours of drawing, colouring and painting, her art piece is finally ready for submission! When we saw the finished product, we were very proud of our Princess’s effort as this was the very first time she’s participating in an art competition, at a tender age of 4!
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| Our Lil Artist with her gift for Singapore’s 47th National Day |
After the contest, we strolled around the vast Istana grounds to soak in the festivities. Daddy rewarded the Princess with an ice cream treat and we sat on a picnic mat to enjoy the band performances by Yuhua Secondary School (a Gold with Honours Band). Shortly past noon, The President and Mrs. President arrived in their buggy. We were delighted to meet The President, Mr. Tony Tan and Mrs. Mary Tan who looked very personable and dignified. Mrs. Mary Tan was also very friendly to the kids and she stroked Dana’s cheek when Dana waved to her. It was a most enjoyable and memorable day out at The Istana.
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| The Princess meets The President! |
Linking up with Catch Forty Wink‘s
That’s a lovely piece of drawing 🙂 And Dana can sit there patiently for 2 hours to draw!
We haven’t been to the Istana before. Looks like we should check it out at the next open house. Lots of space for the kids to run!
Ahh, I didn’t know you can visit Istana every year. That looked like a fun session and yes the drawing is gorgeous! Just dropping by to say hihi and hoping that Dana’s wound is healing well yeah. =) Cheers!