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

18Mar2015

The Things I Miss about having a baby and the Things I Can’t Wait to do when they Grow Up

Posted in Our Thoughts by jahbella

You know how we all talk about how life changes once you have kids and how you will no longer be able to do all the couple stuff that you used to do. We parents also talk about how we can’t wait for our kids to grow up alittle so that we can finally ‘pick up where we left off’ and do and enjoy all the things we did pre-kids.

While I talk about those stuff and occasionally miss doing the pre-kid stuff or think and look forward to doing the pre-kid stuff once they grow up. There are also times where I think back to the baby stage and miss having a baby around.

I absolutely miss….

Babywearing my kids (I absolutely love baby wearing, in fact I might even have a baby just so I can ‘wear’ them! 😀 But…. of course I change my mind once I remember the late night feeds, the colic and the clean-ups ;p)

Photo Source: https://www.pinterest.com/glancyevans/babywearing/

Having a baby that can sleep anytime and anywhere as well as extended hours a day.
Not having to negotiate when I need to shower/ change a child

You will notice that this list is relatively short for me :p (Yes so I’m sorry Jah but I will not be having my 3rd baby anytime soon..maybe ever).

The list that is significantly longer for me, is the list of things I can’t wait to do when the kids grow up. Ironically though they are not the list of things I would like to finally do alone or enjoy with the hubby.

They are a list of things that I can’t wait to do with Jah and Bella and I can tell you that this list is ever-growing…

I really can’t wait…

To bring my theatre boy (and hopefully theatre girl) to a proper play or musical..no not kids theatre but the real thing!
To travel extensively with the kids. Plane rides where I don’t have to stay one step ahead of them and we can all just enjoy our inflight entertainment. Oh yes and itineraries need not revolve around naptimes and bedtimes. 🙂 Night markets here we come!

To be able to enjoy a spa day with my little girl. The boys are welcomed to join too if they want.
To have nice restaurant dinners with the kids. One that doesn’t require me to feed them first and then speed eat myself. We can all enjoy our steaks/ omakase at a leisurely pace.
To catch family movies (cartoons and non-cartoon ones). We are almost there…:)
For the kids to pick up golf and for us to play as a family…perfect flight!

Yes so while I’m pretty sure there are some stuff that I might want to finally do alone or enjoy with the hubby when the kids grow up..I am also pretty sure that both the hubby and I are on the same page when it comes to the things that we really absolutely can’t wait to do WITH the kids when they grow up…its going to be loads of fun!!!

What are some of the things that you miss about having a baby or can’t wait to do alone or with your kids when they grow up?

JahBella’s Mummy

14Mar2015

Amazonia Indoor Playground – Review

Posted in Reviews, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

A long time ago, back in the day when my only child was just starting to explore the wonders of indoor playgrounds and when our old bones were just being introduced to this unfamiliar concept of crawling on all fours for more than 5 seconds, I heard about Amazonia. However my research led me to believe that this particular indoor playground was not suited for my 1 year old child (yes Jah was a really early walker/ runner so we took him to indoor playgrounds really early). I read it consisted of huge structures (3 storeys high) and steep slides and well that was all it took to deter me then.

So when we were brainstorming really hard for a new place to bring the kids on a weekend without help, we thought maybe we could finally give Amazonia a shot. Jah is a lot older now and well Bella is the 2^nd kid and we know how parents get abit more relaxed and ‘complacent’ after the first :p It also helped that we found two Amazonia discount vouchers in the house (don’t remember how we got them).

To be honest, I found the place to be alittle on the pricey side but I suppose that also explains the crowd levels which made it rather pleasant. There were 3 areas for play – 1 area for pretend play/ masak masak near the entrance, a toddler area for under 3s (which I never got close to because Jah just refused to play there) and the huge 3 storey playground structure.

Actually the huge 3 storey structure was pretty forgiving on our adult bones. Given its height and higher ‘ceilings’, I found that I was on my fours a lot less and also because I refused to crawl through tunnels now. It was alittle less forgiving on my knees though, because the distance between steps were pretty wide. While I would say that the structure is probably safer for the older kids, Bella didn’t have much issues getting around as long as we were with her to ensure her safety.

My favourite part about the entire place was actually their café and the fact that they served proper food. A lot of indoor playgrounds which we have been to, would serve the usual nuggets, fries, hotdogs, snacks and the occasional pizza. However we got to order a substantial meal – a hot plate of Beef Rendang and Nasi Goreng which at least meant that we didn’t have to go home hungry after all that activity. Yes, Joel and I were working quite hard for our meal!

Kids Menu – Spaghetti

Kids Menu – Fish and Chips (I apologise for the half eaten pic – there was at least 4 slides of the fish) 🙂

While the place and some of its facilities/ toys seem alittle dated, it is generally a nice place to bring the kids if you are looking for something alittle less crowded or rowdy. Having a café with a good menu also helps and its location in a mall also makes it good for running errands or finding alternate food options. 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy

9Mar2015

JahBella’s Day Out at Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Posted in Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

The very first time we visited the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden, Jah was a mere 5 months old infant. I remember Joel and I pushing him around in his infant car seat cum stroller and taking a stroll through the ‘little park/garden’. Quite obviously we didn’t find anything suitable for a 5 month old and proceeded to forget all about that little place in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Fast forward almost 3 years later and now with 2 kids in tow, we decided to head over to the Jacob Ballas Children’s Gardenfor one of our weekend morning outings.

The Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is free of charge and the only requirement is that kids are accompanied by adults and adults are accompanied by kids. I found that requirement quite cute. :p Oh and also no food and drinks a lot so please feed the kids before going there.

We fed Shaun the Sheep before our visit and we got a happy sheep!

The garden has a small water play area (mainly equipped with little jets and sprays on the ground), a sand pit area, lots of interesting fruits and plants growing along the pathway, a suspension bridge, a nice treehouse with 2 slides and a large sand area as well as lots of other educational areas for the other kids. We spent almost 2 hours at the gardens and most of our time was spent at the treehouse and exploring some of the little nooks and crannies of what Jah calls the deep dark woods! We even had some fun narrating and role-playing the Gruffalo story while exploring the ‘woods’.

We spotted bananas on our walk in…:)

Mummy! The bananas are green! My favourite colour!

Quick guys!!!

Huge treehouse!

The garden is supposedly targeted at 5 year olds to 12 year olds (especially the more educational activities) but my 21 month old toddler and 3 year old kiddo did just fine although you will probably want to keep a close watch on those age groups and follow them around. We also saw lots of kids their age who were happily enjoying the water play area and the other sand pit.

Think the sand there was quite tasty too…

Come meimei…korkor wait for you..

Meimei! We are going on a mission!

Whee!!! Byebye!

A mouse took a stroll in the deep dark woods, a fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good!

Be prepared for the kids to get alittle grubby with all the sand and sweat but nothing a little water and washing can’t solve.

Literally a tree house…

And yes they entered it..

There is also a little café at the entrance of the garden and that was where we headed for our quick lunch. The kids were pretty wiped out by the time we were ready to leave so we figured rather than pack them off somewhere for lunch, a quick fix at the café was just perfect.

The seating area is very family friendly and they even had little chairs and tables for the young ones. The seating area can get pretty packed at times but you will eventually be able to get a seat if you wait around alittle. We were fortunate to find empty tables as we were exiting. The café has a wider ala carte menu however I didn’t notice it and ended up ordering their set menus. The meals took about 10 minutes to be served which was perfect for famished and impatient children. A wonderful morning in all and definitely adding it to our list of places to go that won’t break the bank. 😉