KidsStop – Science Centre (Review)

The weather has been very unforgiving in recent weeks and there are only that many water play trips we can make before the kids threaten to catch a cold or get totally bored of it. So we decided to make our way all across the island to Jurong where you will find Kidsstop within the grounds of the Science Centre.

For those who are familiar with Kidzania, I would say KidsStop is a little like Kidzania but probably in a slightly less structured set-up. Kids get exposed to various occupations such s builder, doctor, pilot, archaeologist, chef etc and they get to play and explore these occupations with some lessons in science throw in.

We weren’t sure if Jah would take to the place or be totally lost and we were even more unsure or actually had no expectations when it came to whether Bella might enjoy the place. But both kids were absolutely blown away. They were very happy with all the larger than life structures and we’re happy to roam about and move from ‘station’ to ‘station’.

First stop – totally fascinated with being a builder and playing dress up

Jah and Bella handling the cockpit on their own

Our pilots for this flight

Archaeologists hard at work

Doing some grocery shopping on his own

Dealing with the check-out process

Time for our little chefs to do some cooking

I’m scared so I’m just going to sit outside the space shuttle and let my brother do his thing

Ostrich Syndrome

How many teddy bears do I weigh?

Trying their hands at being surgeons (no pun intended)

Reinforcing what we learnt at the dentist

Kidsstop sessions are split into a morning and afternoon session. We were there for the morning session which lasted from 10am to 130pm. We figured they would last till about 1130 or so before we would grab lunch somewhere. While they did last till 1130am before we dragged them out to grab lunch, Jah and Bella also requested for an encore session after lunch before we finally had to drag them home with promises of another trip soon.

Round 2 – getting the hang of things and decided to wear the costume as well

Meimei you can sit here and be my co-pilot

Thankfully food is available just outside the entrance of Kidsstop which meant that the adults did not have to put up with another Macdonalds meal and the kids didn’t have to deal with a car ride to the nearby malls. Food at the Kids Cafe was pretty decent, given that the mains were coming from the Chinese restaurant next door. Yet it offered a child friendly environment which made it less daunting for parents with hungry and tired kids. :p

So if you are looking for a place to beat the heat but yet you don’t want to be crawling around an indoor playground then Kidsstop might be worth a drive to. Especially so after they lowered their admission price which makes it a lot more affordable for big families or for return visitors. Do remember to bring your IC though as there are different rates for Singaporeans and Foreign visitors.

Jah woke up from his nap that evening and the first thing he asked was “mummy can we go to Kidsstop again? It’s so fun, I really like it!” 🙂 so yes I guess we will be going back soon..

JahBella’s Mummy

27Apr2015

Pasir Ris Park for Kids – JahBella’s favourite playground

Posted in Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

This post has been long overdue but I am kind of glad that I had put it off until now. Pasir Ris Park has been one of our favourite go to places on weekend mornings since Bella came along. Not only is it Papa and Mummy’s favourite places because it’s super easy on the pocket ;). Except for the money you have to spend on the ice cream and drinks from ‘ice cream uncle’s’ van, everything else is free.

And the reason why I’m glad that I’ve put off the post till now is because today was one of those days where Jah and Bella were ultra adventurous.

They normally spend a couple of minutes playing with one or two things in the park (yes there are tons! as you will see from my photos) Then they will spend the rest of the time just playing with their sand toys and sending me or Joel on multiple water collection trips. There is a water point for washing up so no worries about the kids getting grubby.

We brought our picnic mats just to have a place to sit at while the kids play with the sand. But we had no such need because we spent an hour going from ‘station to station’. We have also done family picnics there before so if preparing some finger food or snacks is your thing then there are lots of big spaces to plop yourself for the morning.

There are lots of ‘stations’/ play areas for different age groups. Playgrounds from the smaller ones to spiderweb climb areas for the bigger or more proficient kids and then there is also everything in between. The kids will never get bored because there is just so many activities to choose from. Even the simplest of structure which to me, looked like looked well just like an ordinary ‘useless’ structure, was a source of amusement for the kids. They spent a good 15 mins scaling it up and down and walking through and around it. Yes my imagination leaves much to be desired but I’m amazed by their creativity.

So if you are looking for a really good park to spend some time at, you can try Pasir Ris Park (the end near the Home Team Chalets). Now I’ll just let the rest of the photos do the talking.

JahBella’s Mummy

23Apr2015

Bali Holiday (March 2015) – Pirates Bay Nusa Dua

Posted in Bali, Holidays by jahbella

Jah is currently in his ‘I am a pirate yo ho ho!’ phase. I vaguely remember him being in a similar phase when he was about 1 but I think he was too young to be excited about more than a Jake and the Neverland pirate show. So this time around we thought we would indulge him in his pirate phase when we heard about Pirates Bay in Nusa Dua, Bali.

There is really very little information online about the place. The only things I managed to gather from its website, was the fact that it was a team building site and it also has a cafe with tree top seating.

To be honest, I kind of regret hyping it up to Jah because I was alittle disappointed by the place, myself. To be fair, we only had drinks there since we were going to Ku De Ta in 2 hours. But I think we were fortunate that we were there as a big group because we could at least kick a ball around alittle, bury some little ‘treasures’ (sweets) in the sand for the kids to find and entertain ourselves.

Perhaps the place would be livelier over a weekend (we were there on a Monday) or maybe the ambience would be different after sunset (we went at 10am). If anything, I was quite impressed by how they built the treehouses and pirate ship. We actually saw people working at it while we were there.

Nevertheless, I would say that the place is a simple place to chill out with family. Just remember to bring a book (if your kids will give you some downtime), sand toys and ball for the kids and some of your own treasure to perhaps do your own little treasure hunt. 🙂

P.S – We saw that a Waterpark was being built right next to it. Perhaps it would be a complementary product that could add alittle more excitement for people making a trip there.

JahBella’s Mummy

20Apr2015

Bali Holiday (March 2015) – Pandawan Beach

Posted in Bali, Holidays, Travel with Kids by jahbella

A little misplanning due to the fact that it was the day after Nyepi and many shops/ restaurants were not opened before 1pm, threw a spanner in our plans for the morning. So we decided to head over to a local beach and left it to our Villa Manager to recommend and decide. (Honestly huge step for Mummy but about time that I got started and kept to my 15 things to differently in 2015 list – read it here.

Our Villa Manager/ driver suggest Pandawan Beach which is a 10 minutes drive from our villa. We were told that they recently ‘discovered’ and constructed roads to access the beach a few years ago therefore we had to pay a entry fee to go in. ($5 for foreigners and $1 for locals). I expected less crowds given that it was a pay to access beach but well no such luck.

We were dropped off at the ‘end’ which was supposedly safer for play and ‘swimming’ whereas the waters further down were apparently better suited for surfing.

We walked along the beach (to our left) and shops (to our right), trying to find a good spot to settle down. There were beach chairs lined up all the way and you could rent 2 chairs + an umbrella shade for $5. After settling down in a pretty squeezy spot, one of JahBella’s Aunty did some exploring and suggested that we forgo our rented seat and head further down where it was more spacious. (So a tip for everyone, keep walking! The spots towards the end are definitely more spacious and relaxing and rental is the same price. First timer mistake!)

The waves were pretty huge/ majestic/ frightening. The kids did not dare to venture close to the shore which was fine by me. They played with their sand toys close by to our rented chairs. While the adults took a dip in sea and well were crashed by the waves a lot. I was eventually ordered by Jah to get out and not go into the waters because it was too dangerous.

But Jah! It’s so fun! (Yes I told him that and he was not impressed.) 😦

The waves can get pretty big and can really wash up quite far towards our chairs and even towards the road and shopfront so do watch out for your bags and slippers. Bella was absolutely terrified of any water touching her at all. So unlike her but pretty amusing to watch!

There are also taps/shower points situated along the beach so no worries trying to rinse off or wash off the sand.

We settled for lunch at one of the local Warungs located just behind our rented beach chairs. Just be aware of which table you occupy and which warung you ordered from as they can get quite territorial. We had some simple nasi goreng with fried chicken and Mee (abit like bak chor mee), fed all 9 of us and paid $20 in all!

Honestly a simple morning out in Bali which we would probably never have done on our own without the extra pairs of hands from JahBella’s uncles and aunties. And I’m quite glad that we did it and got to expose the kids to something totally different from what they know in Singapore.

Next up Pirates Bay and all the food we ate in Bali…

JahBella’s Mummy

16Apr2015

Day in A Life – DIAL with JahBella

Posted in Blog Train, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

Today I’ll be hoping onto the blog train where Jacqueline of The Little Mom left off and I’ll be taking you through a day in my life – our “Helpless Sunday”. 🙂 Yes it is one of those weekends where we require double the energy (because we no longer outnumber the kids) and we are operating on half the rest or wherever rest the kids will allow us that day. :p

8am – Our day starts bright and early between 7am to 8am when our children’s natural body clock demands that the whole family gets up with them as well. We typically spend the next hour getting everyone ready and are all set to leave the house by 9am.

9am – We have decided to keep things really simple today and find ourselves heading to a playground at a nearby mall. It is Jah and Bella’s first time at this playground.

9.30am – The weather decides to make us scramble alitle and it starts to pour, 2 minutes into our play! We decide to have some breakfast at Swensens, hoping the weather would eventually clear up.

10.15am – Thankfully the weather clears up by the time we are done with breakfast and the kids get to burn off some of that energy. Phew!!

What you don’t see in the playground photos, are the multiple trips I had to make to the toilet that morning. Yes both kids decide that this would be an absolutely fabulous time to do a Number 2, one after the other…and mummy was toilet IC for the day…:/

11.15am – It was time to pick up some lunch while the kids are still in a happy mood and can cope with some waiting. The kids also get their much awaited balloons and are super cooperative! Well except for Bella who melts down when her bread was taken away from her in the car….yes she has been eating since 9.30am….zzzzzz

12.30pm – We settled down for lunch as soon as we reached home and the kids are fed, showered and ready for their naps by 1.30pm. Although it is really anyone’s guess how long Bella would actually nap. We are trying out a new routine today with me being in charge of putting both kids to nap (we usually divide and conquer) but lets see how this works..really crossing our fingers today!

1.30pm – Off I go with Bella in my Rose and Rebellion In-Between Carrier (yes this is slightly bigger than a regular baby carrier so it fits a young child perfectly with lots of space to spare) while Joel watches TV with Jah. Mission Completion! The little one falls asleep in 5 minutes!!! Now to remove her from the carrier and hope she doesn’t rouse…:) There is hope for rest today!

1.40pm – Off to ‘collect’ Jah for his naptime – this one takes a little longer to fall asleep but is less torturing on my back since I just have to lie next to him and hug him to sleep. Asleep in 20 minutes! Nap time for mummy until Jah wakes up. 🙂

4.30pm – Kids are up! Activity and snack time!! Yes, Bella has been tasked to clean the table because she was naughty and drew on the table and floor instead of in the book. Tsktsk!

6pm – Off to get some drive-thru Macdonald’s and to get the kids out of the house for alittle while…

8pm – Movie night after dinner..winding down for the evening before I drag Jah off for his shower and bedtime…Tonight we are watching Percy Jackson!

9pm – Off to bed for the kids (takes me about 30 minutes to put Jah to bed) and then some relaxation time for the parents…

930pm – Some relaxation time for the parents…some entertainment and wine!

Just another weekend (and let’s just say this was one of the smoother days :p)..just another day in the life of JahBella’s Mummy.

This post is part of the Day in a Life blog train hosted by Mum in the Making. Click on the button below to take a 24 hour peek into the lives of different mummies, or link up with your own post!

Next Up on the blog train tomorrow!

Pearlyn is mum to a primary schooler and a toddler. She loves her role as a mother, although she wishes she could nah less sometimes. She blogs about how God has blessed her family at Blessed Family.