A week of culture and discovering the Orient with so many amazing countries to explore residents were swept away, from Philippines kite making to a food tasting afternoon there was something for everyone to join in with. Another fabulous week organised by our incredible activities team always with residents at the heart of everything they do.
Monday morning, our paint and sip club assembled in the day lounge, we enjoyed a morning of leisurely therapeutic water colour painting, while listening to classical Chinese music.
We spent time in our garden view courtyard, we have loved watching the vines grow and seeing grapes growing along with all the other sensory plants, from fresh herbs to floral roses.
Others played word games and took on brain training puzzles linked with the orient.
That afternoon our music therapy session took place in our garden view lounges and some one-to-one’s across the home.
Music therapists offer specific music therapy approaches to further enhance the quality of life.
Tuesday morning as we explored China the second biggest country in Asia after Russia, we took on a fun chop stick challenge, bringing us lots of laughter as we tried to eat cake only using chop sticks.
That afternoon, we arranged our donation flowers in our garden view lounges, keeping with Chinese tradition we learnt that flowers and plants have their own symbolism, the colour of a flower can also give it a special meaning in Chinese culture. For example, pink and red are colours of celebration, good luck, and happiness.
In our day lounge, we indulged in a Chai tasting afternoon, we tried two varieties of chia before learning facts about how the tea is produced and the different flavour.
Wednesday morning, we played a flag picture quiz in our garden view lounge, identifying the flags as well as the countries from the shapes of the landmass.
We had a magnificent game of oriental bingo, flags from around Asia. Bingo can build social connections, increase hand-eye coordination, and maintain your cognitive abilities and focus.
That afternoon, we engaged in Oriental samosa making, we learnt how to fold a perfect samosa triangle after filling with a delicious spicy vegetable filling. Then we enjoyed them freshly cooked with afternoon tea.
Cooking can help stimulate senses that aren’t being used as much as they once were. If cooking was a favourite pastime, it can stir up memories of fond traditions, family time, and much more.
Thursday, we spent our day immersed in a sea of freshly cut flowers as we spent time listening to classical music while arranging sunflowers, roses and other bright cheerful flowers.
Friday we painted and coloured iconic images from the Philippines, the flag as well as a jasmine flower.
The act of colouring can increase eye and hand coordination. It also improves dexterity, grip control, and focus. It is important for seniors to strengthen motor skills as much as possible, and colouring is a great way to do this.
We also loved our visits from Elvis, and we can’t believe just how quickly he has grown.
That afternoon, our Oriental food tasting cart rolled around the home offering a taste of the Orient to all, from spring rolls to chicken satay.
Saturday morning, we made Chapi-chapi these are small two-stick kites that can be quickly constructed from cheap materials. It is very popular in the Philippines. The name itself colloquially means, “assembled fast” or “quickly improvised”.
We loved our traditional Filipino lunch that afternoon prepared and served by our very own chef Ryan, Thank you.
The dining areas were decorated with flags and bunting and we admired the traditional artwork table mats.
While others watched the weekly movie, we played a fun game of ping pong and a small group of us took on a game of scrabble.
Sunday morning our garden view lounges took part in therapeutic colouring and others took part in our coffee morning newspaper social, sitting together reading the morning papers chatting about the daily news while enjoying hot drinks and a slice of cake.
Sunday services were streamed across the home for those that wished to watch.
There was also a variety of board games on offer, dominoes, snakes and ladders, our volunteer joined in, we really appreciate her weekly visits.
We invited Home Manger, Shabana for afternoon tea with us on Sunday afternoon, as we heard it was her birthday. We gathered in the day lounge and indulged in white chocolate birthday cake and lots of tea, sharing stories of birthdays and the history behind our names.
The whole home was invited to come and join the celebrations and tuck into the yummy cake.
A splendid afternoon and we all want to wish Shabana a very “Happy Birthday”.
