March | 2014 | Mummy Priscilla

One week is really not a long time for a break. It’s already Friday and school resumes for the kids on Monday.

As mentioned in my previous post, I didn’t make plans in advance for this school holiday. We just went along with what the days may bring.

It’s been fun bringing both my mum and Phoebie out together. For my mum, I just wanted to keep her occupied and get her out of the house for some fresh air. It can get quite depressing for her, missing my dad. For Phoebie, well, she just loves going out and having fun.

Yesterday was quite crazy because a couple of friends and I planned to bring the kids to the Children’s Garden at Gardens By The Bay, pretty much at the last minute. I’ve been to Gardens By The Bay only once, and that was before the Children’s Garden was open.

I knew the garden attraction was accessible by public transport, but just to make sure, I decided to check the website before we left the house.

Transport information like this is one of the best things that the Internet has brought about.

When we first arrived at Bayfront MRT station, it was raining. Correction, it was pouring! Mum, Phoebie and I ended up walking around Marina Bay Sands for a while, hoping the rain would go away. It wasn’t until like almost two hours later that the rain finally stopped. By then, it was Phoebie’s nap time but I knew she would be too excited to sleep, so I let her skip her nap.

I didn’t want my mum to get bored watching kids play, so I passed her my camera and asked her if she wanted to tour the Domes while we brought the kids to play. She was okay with that arrangement and said she would join us once she was done.

This would be the first time Phoebie and I came to the Children’s Garden. I was told that there is a water play area but I wasn’t sure what else the place had to offer.

From the map, it looks like there is really quite a bit for kids to explore.

We were a little disappointed when we saw that the water play area was closed due to the thunderstorm. The rain had stopped but because the staff had to wait for information about the thunder and lightning moving away from the area, it was closed until then.

A lot of people were waiting at the amphitheater and we decided to join them. That was a good thing because we were there for about 5 minutes and the reopening announcement was made.

I love that they had water play designed for different age groups. This makes it safer for little toddlers who want to play with water and parents can worry less about the tots being run over by bigger kids.

There are also playgrounds designed for the different age groups.

Because the main objective of our visit was for water play, our kids spent a long time at the water play area.

Phoebie must have been quite overwhelmed by the strong jets of water at the big kids area because she came up to me after a few minutes and said she was done playing.

Despite the simpler set up at the tots area, Phoebie was clearly happier there and played there for a much longer time.

When she finally got bored of water play, she joined her friend Sophie at the playground to play with sand.

I like this sand playground because there’s a faucet for users to rinse their feet.

Here’s little Sonia doing a demonstration.

We didn’t explore the other parts of the Children’s Garden because the kids were occupied enough at the water play area and the playground.

I must say that I really like the place. For one thing, it’s free of charge. For another, it’s well equipped with a shower area and good clean bathrooms. A bonus point is that the Garden staff are alert and are keeping a lookout for people who may break rules. I forgot about my footwear and stepped into the water play area and the staff came to me almost immediately. When some kids were a little too rowdy, the staff could be heard blowing their whistles to warn the kids.

With easy access by public transport, it’s definitely a nice place to bring kids.

Here’s mum, Phoebie and I with little Sonia, all worn out but happy after the outing.

Phoebie was pretty much knocked out by the time we got home in the evening, especially having missed her nap. But it was worth it, knowing she had so much fun.

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Today’s outing was a lot milder, compared to what we did yesterday. I needed to get some yarn from the shop in Chinatown where I always buy my knitting stuff, so I brought my mum and Phoebie out.

I showed Phoebie a number of colours and she insisted that light blue was the right colour for her baby brother’s blanket. I was thinking yellow, but it was firmly rejected by the big sister. In spite of that, I was happy to involve her in choosing things for the new baby.

We went to visit my cousin (and I forgot to take pictures) at his work place before I brought my mum to my favourite 锅贴 (Chinese for potstickers) restaurant for lunch.

I ordered this dish called “Chinese pizza”, which is basically like a minced pork and chives pie, and Phoebie surprised me by saying that she wanted to try it, on top of her usual noodles. She loved it so much that she gave it two thumbs up. Haha…

I was glad that my mum liked the food at the place. Both my parents are people who hardly eat at restaurants, so I wasn’t too sure whether mum would like it at first.

By the end of our outing, Phoebie was playing with her Popo’s sleeve. And I take it as a good sign and that she’s grown much closer to my mum over the past week. This is probably what makes this week most worthwhile.