Spanking New Playground at Tampines 1

While there are quite a few water-themed playgrounds atop some of the local shopping malls, we've never took Kenan to one. Well, let me clarify. He did go to one once, but it was by chance that we came across it. Since we didn't bring along an extra set of clothes for change, the boy didn't get to play there.

So I was really happy to be invited to a special preview of Singapore's first wet-and-dry wildlife-themed rooftop playground at Tampines 1.

Accessible by escalator on 5F (near Amore Living and KOHONG Fish Spa), the playground is divided into different areas to depict different continents and endangered species.

For example, the bigger polar bear slide and the smaller seal slide (two bottom pics) represents the Antartica. 

There are also educational signboards to teach children about the specific region and about the animals. However, I had been too busy chasing Kenan and trying to take his photos and forgot to snap pics of the signboards.

This is the dry play area. It didn't keep dry for long as children who played at the water area came over to enjoy the facilities and got the place wet as well. So even if you think that your child will only be playing at the dry area, do bring along an extra set of clothes since there's a high chance that the place is wet too.

Kenan was initially more excited about the balloon than the playground itself. He only got more interested with the playground when the balloon burst. Thanks to Tampines 1, the little boy also got to play with a water gun that came with the goodie bag we received.

And Kenan made some new friends too. As you can see, he couldn't resist hugging them!

After all the play, children can take a quick shower or get changed at the toilet/shower area which is located to the left of the entrance.

You can also check some other bloggers' write up and to see more photos:

MadPsychMum

SengkangBabies

mamawearpapashirt

A Juggling Mom

And do visit to Mommy Cafe's Facebook page as I've uploaded more pictures over there.

Thank you once again to the management of Tampines 1 and the really nice folks at Fleishman-Hillard for the invite. We had a really great time!

The playground will officially open to public on 10 March 2012. Have lots of fun at this spanking new place!

Shopping My Way

When it comes to shopping, my son has his own way of doing it.

At the toy stores:

1. Let me walk around and try out every single toy I find interesting.
2. *Target locked on* This is what I would like to have, let me carry it around while I shop a bit more.
3. I'm heading to the cashier, dad/mom, get ready the money! (Yes, it's true! He seems to understand about the having to pay money bit!)

When dad/mom tells him "no" to buying his choice item, depending on his mood, he may be sweet enough to hand us the toy so we can return it to the shelf, or we'll end up in a wrestling match trying to get the toy out of his tight grip.

But when shopping has nothing to do with toys, this is what he does:

*Sorry for the blur photo* The look of delight on his face when he finally found the ONE (haha... yes, in this case, it's men's brief!!)

When daddy, mommy say it's time to go, he dashes out faster than either of us could catch him (if you're wondering, nope, we didn't buy the brief!)

Then, it's off to 'window-shopping'!

Does your little one enjoy 'shopping'? Do you often succumb at the toy stores and end up buying stuff for him or her?

A Walk in the Park

Yesterday was one of those days where I could hardly get any work done, thanks to my ever restless toddler. Even the helper couldn't pry him away from me, as he kept climbing up my chair and tried to hijack the laptop, or he would pull my hand to make me come down from the chair and play with him.

I decided to bring him out to the park, specifically the Bishan Park, because he would get to see lots of dogs there, which he so loves.

However, I have another agenda too, which was to visit the new McDonald's (didn't get chance to during our previous visit about two months ago).

While I'm not a fan of fast food, I thought it looked like a great place to hang out, since it's situated within a park that should look really quite good after all the renovation works are completed.

To get to McDonald's, we have to walk across an arched bridge that is built over a river converted from a canal (it looked more like a stream at the moment, since the water was very shallow).

But just getting to the bridge and crossing it took us a really long time, as Kenan was so attracted by the dogs he saw along the way that he would literally run after them.

Mid-way up the bridge, we saw a family fishing, and many curious passers-by stopped to look at their catch, which they kept in a pail of water. I have no idea at all what those fishes are called but I'm told they are edible and taste really delicious when fried!

My curious little boy was so excited about the fishes that he almost dipped his hand into the pail to touch them.

This is the bridge that links to McDonald's.

By the way, the revamped Bishan Park will have three new playgrounds - Adventure Playground (offering climbing play facilities for teenagers),  Bubble Playground (rubber moulds set in a sea of sand) for younger kids, and Water Playground - for children who enjoy playing with water. I'm looking forward to bringing Kenan to  these playgrounds once they are open!

Do you have a favourite park you like bringing your kids to?

Visit to the Kids' Kampong - Getting to Know the Animals

I used to think that I know where all the nice places of retreat are in Singapore. But in recent months, I've been delighted to discover some new rustic spots around the island. Since then, I'm on the lookout for more of such places - places we can escape to from the daily grind and everyday stresses, places that allow us to connect with nature. All the better if it is a great 'playground' for my active toddler.

And the latter is exactly what the Pasir Ris Kid's Kampong is. But don't envision a venue where the animals roam freely like in a real kampung (which I was hoping for), nevertheless, you'll get to see animals that are commonly found  in kampungs back in the good old days.

I found out about the place from a good friend few months ago, and we finally made our first trip there last Sunday.

The Kid's Kampong is located within the Aqua Fauna Centre at Pasir Ris Farmway.

Entrance fee is at $1 per person, which includes a packet of feeds for the animals. Our boy gets to enjoy free entrance. So we had two packets of feeds - one just for the rabbits, the other can be used for all other animals.

Close-up of ticketing counter

Activities you can look out for at the Kid's Kampong:

• Longkang fishing using net and bucket (check out the charges here) 
• Rod fishing
• Animals feeding - fish, birds, ducks, chicken and rabbits

Let the journey begin

Upon entering the 'kampong', this is what you'll see:

A family with a small toddler enjoying some fishing fun at the 'longkang' (which means 'drain')

We began our journey at the 'Birds Station'. We didn't feed any of the birds as Kenan wasn't interested. Instead, he was attracted by something else..

.

The koi pond and the hundreds (my guess) of koi swimming in it. It was quite a sight.

Kenan tried his hand at feeding the fishes. Be prepared to get a bit wet as the fishes swam right up to the edge of the pond and splashed water about as they fought with one another to get a bite.

Next was the chicken. He was so eager to touch the chicken he almost got his little finger pecked!

There are two areas with ducks, this one is built at the koi pond. 

 While Kenan always enjoy looking at the ducks in books and would often go "duck, duck", he wasn't a bit interested with the real ones right before him. It's as if he wasn't sure what they were. Was he thinking why were the ducks white, whereas those he sees in books are yellow? Well son, this are the real ducks!

The rabbits were definitely Kenan's favourite! He was smiling with so much joy and excitement when daddy held his little hand to touch the rabbits' noses. He stayed here for a long while.

Besides the animals above, there's also a tortoise pond, the second area for ducks and a place for washing hands.

We were there in the late morning and before we knew it, it was already time for lunch. We enjoyed our visit, and felt that it was a truly educational trip where our little boy got to see what the real chicken and ducks look, sound and even smell like.

By the way, you can also host children's parties here. I thought it would be a great venue.

Pasir Ris Kid's Kampong

11 Pasir Ris Farmway Way 1

Singapore 519355

Tel: 6583 9030

Opening hours:

Mon - Fri: 9am to 6pm 

Sat, Sun & PH: 10am to 7pm

Please call beforehand if you want to visit on a weekday, as the place may be closed for school booking.

A Charming Little Cafe

Been a litte quiet on this blog as I'm busy decluttering my home. It's something I was supposed to do even before Kenan was born. But he came three weeks early and then there was no time at all, except until now.

But however busy I am, there's one place we've discovered that I would love to share with you - the Riders Cafe. I first read about it from mommy Corsage's blog and decided it's a place we have to visit.

So there we were last weekend.

At Corsage's advice, I called up (about two weeks in advance) to make a reservation. It was a good thing I did that. The place was full when we arrived and it appeared that walk-in customers would have to wait quite a while for a table.

Since we were early, instead of waiting inside the cafe, we decided to walk around. To our delight, soon discovered what a gem of a place it was!

The Saddle Club is tucked away in a quiet spot of Singapore, making it a great place to escape to from the hustle and bustle of a hectic city life. With lush greenery, rolling hilltops, and horses trotting about, it felt as if we were in another land - Australia perhaps.

A barren tree that stands atop the hill - looking both lonesome and poetic.

Kenan and mommy enjoying a stroll.

 

Kenan playing with twigs he found on the ground.

Daddy carrying Kenan down the hill - heading back to the cafe for lunch

The Riders Cafe is housed in a quaint little standalone building - with no air-conditioning, so you'll enjoy the air au naturel.

The cafe looks chic with its black and white interiors, while numerous ceiling fans twirling around lazily lends a laidback vibe to the place.

Menu is a simple piece of paper; coaster has a drawing of a horseshoe which I found really cute.

We were shown to a table by the window that overlooked the open air car park (by the way, it's free parking). After placing our order, the hubby kept himself occupied with the newspapers while I joined Kenan in some drawing activity (I brought along some crayons, papers and magic board). We waited for quite a while before our food arrived.

Seared scallop and saffron risotto - the hubby's lunch. The scallop a tad too salty but the risotto was really nice.

My order: prune glazed porkloin with petit vegetables and pumpkin puree. This was not from the regular menu but from their 'blackboard specials' (see the blackboard in the interior pic above). While the porkloin was soft, the texture was chalky and I didn't like it.

Chocolate cake served with a scope of ice cream - the cake was drenched in a thick velvety coat of fudge. Rich and decadent, it was sinfully good.

Overall, we enjoyed the place for its rustic setting. But food wise, we found it pretty forgettable and a bit pricey (our meal came up to about $70). But we will probably come again for breakfast. Then Kenan can spend more time roaming the hills and enjoying the great outdoors.

By the way, pony rides are available for kids. We hope to let Kenan try that when he's older.

Riders Cafe
51 Fairways Drive, Bukit Timah Saddle Club
Tel: 6466 9819

Disney Junior Debuts Today!

Disney Junior debuts on Starhub Channel 311 today!

To celebrate this event, Disney organised a launch party 'Ahoy to Never Land' at the Sapphire Pavilion on Siloso Beach yesterday.... and we were invited to the event!

Since receiving the invite a few weeks ago, I've been counting down to the event. You might not believe this but I was really excited about meeting Mickey and Minnie!

The invite states that the party would start at 9am and I was worried if Kenan might have problem getting up so early. But surprisingly, he was up before I even tried waking him. He must have understood when mommy showed him the invite and told him we were going to see Mickey and Minnie!

After breakfast at Harbourfront's Mac Donald's, we crossed the road to take the shuttle bus specially chartered by Disney (so thoughtful!) that brought us right up to the door step of Sapphire Pavilion.

Kenan enjoying the bus ride, this was his second time on a bus 

Can't wait to experience the magic of the pirate-themed party

This greeted us at the entrance - clear blue skies, splashes of bright, cheerful colors and swaying coconuts trees - what a perfect setting

We couldn't miss the chance of taking a photo here. And there were lots of opportunities for family photos throughout the event, hooray!

This was the first time Kenan stepped on sand - barefooted! Yes, I've deprived him of much fun (guilty)

As Kenan was running a temperature the last two days (due to his vaccination), we decided to minimise the physical activities. We saw some activities going on indoors and decided joined in. First up was hand printing (see what the little girl is doing) - but Kenan resisted as he didn't want his hand 'dirtied' by the paint. So it ended up looking like what I thought was a bear's paw.. haha!

Next was family photo time. We had two, and one was made into a cert for Kenan 

 

The organisers also thoughtfully prepared colouring activity but our boy was more interested in something else. He grabbed daddy's water and happily sipped away ("I'm drinking water for adults!") while taking in the sight and sounds around him.



Finally - the moment we've been waiting for. Kenan was all smiles when his beloved characters appeared on stage!

Thank you, Disney for the wonderful party! Congratulations on the launch of Disney Junior!