9 candles for Andre

It's Andre's birthday! My little imp turns 9 today, would you believe it. Since yesterday was a school holiday (Children's Day), it was the perfect opportunity to celebrate his special day. He told us explicitly how he wanted to spend it - have a Japanese buffet lunch and visit the Science Centre. Feed the tummy and feed the mind. Why not?

So off we went!

Lunch was at Hoshi Restaurant at IMM, recommended by Lilian. There's an ala carte buffet promotion there now, $28.50++ for adults and $15.50++ for children. They charged Lesley-Anne the child price even though she's above the 140cm height limit, so that was a bonus.

It was excellent value for money. Nothing gets my attention faster than the phrase "free-flow sashimi". Quality wise, I actually differed in opinion with Lilian on quite a few items. The sashimi was fresh but somehow, we felt the quality lost out to some other ala carte buffets we've tried. The tuna was a little mincey and not as firm. Having said that, it didn't stop us from having 6 platters of mixed sashimi and 7 extra plates of salmon sashimi...

I thought the highlight was the ebi tempura. I'm usually not a fan but these were super light and crispy - excellent! The soft shell crab was pretty good too and Lesley-Anne loved the yakitori. The tepanyaki items looked better than they tasted - ok but nothing special. Food pics here:

Can you tell he's satisfied?
Then we headed to the Science Centre, just around the corner. (Yes, we planned it that way). I haven't been to the Science Centre in quite a few years so I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have added some new and more interactive sections. I thought some of the previous exhibits were looking a little run down. The pic on the left is of an old display but always a favourite optical illusion with my kids.

One of the temporary exhibitions currently running is the F1 exhibition, which showcases the technology behind the uber cool sport. There's an actual F1 car on display and here's Andre trying out the position of an F1 driver.

A relatively new section at the Science Centre is the I-Space area which showcases IT in all its glory. Tons of interactive displays including RFID tags, 3-D games and home applications - all great fun for this little boy who loves trying out gadgets. Taking centrestage in the I-Space section is a neon-lit tree-like structure made out of optic fibres. It's pretty neat.

There was also this giant electronic soft board (sorry for bad description, I'm no techie!) where you could sms a message and see it float on display. I imagine Andre thought it was magical that the Science Centre knew it was his birthday.

We didn't visit the Omni-theatre but there's a Van Gogh show currently being screened and I thought this promotional exhibit was very interesting. You may recognise the scene below from one of Van Gogh's very famous paintings but what you may not realise is that it's an actual physical exhibit. The way the room and furniture has been painted makes the scene look uncannily like a picture. Amazing stuff.

To top off that fabulous day, Andre went home to his pile of presents and to his delight, he got everything he wanted (he made no secret of his birthday wishlist) - a couple of new Beast Quest books, a badminton shirt, more toy cars and his favourite - two boxes of Lego Power Miners. What can I say, he has very nice family members!

And of course, what's a birthday without cake? Happy birthday Andre! You'll always be my lovable, huggable, cutie pie.