Category Archives: Out & About

Let’s go out! 4 fun-tastic ideas for outdoor family play

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This guest post is written by Sarah from The Playful Parents. She is a real play enthusiast, and has infected many around her with the play bug (including me). She has reminded me that life with children should be about play, so let’s not take things too seriously, starting from today.

Here are some fun and easy ideas for outdoor play. Take it away, Sarah!

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Tired of your usual haunts and in need for some fresh ideas on where to go as a family? Well, here are some ideas to set you off on brand new adventures. Best of all, they’re easy on your pocket, but big on fun!

#1. Discover & Conquer

You don’t have to travel far to find fun and adventures, really. As a non-car owner, I assure you that public transport travel with young children isn’t that scary or impossible. It is actually a rather wonderful way for our children to learn more about daily life.

Be a tourist around your neighbourhood. Head out on the bus, bike or on foot. Hit a street you’ve never been to before. I would dare say all neighbourhoods have gems waiting for us to discover. We just need to make the effort to look for them.

TPP Butterfly spotting Let’s go out! 4 fun tastic ideas for outdoor family play Butterfly-spotting: Trying to stand still long enough to see the butterflies

Try these neighbourhood conquests:

  • Play Trail: Do a playground hop to check out all the playgrounds. Perhaps you’ll be lucky and see if you can find any of the classic heritage Singapore playgrounds too!
  • Food Trail: Pick a favourite food and try every stall you find that sells it. Ask for recommendations from random strangers who live in the area. Search out the must-try stalls from online food bloggers.
  • Flora and Fauna Trail: Parks are fantastic treasure troves of biodiversity and great for kids to just run about. Go bird-watching or butterfly-spotting. Singapore’s NParks has produced several fantastic guides and walking trails for you to download. I highly recommend exploring the park connector trails. Or how about going on a hunt for these10 Trees in Singapore?

# 2. Host An Outdoor Olympics

TPP Obstacle Let’s go out! 4 fun tastic ideas for outdoor family playThe Terrific Tot-lympian: Trying to cross a hurdle in his path

  • Bubbles. Play Blow and Pop: Someone blow up bubbles while another chases and pops them.
  • Catching in its many variants old and new: Police and Thief, Fire and Ice. I especially enjoy the co-operative catching games where a group has to work together against the ‘catcher’ like Eagle Catching the Chicks ( Lao Ying Zhua Xiao Ji) and What’s the time, Mr Wolf?( similar to Grandmother’s Footsteps).
  • Ball games: Basketball, football, volleyball, poison ball, monkey ball.
  • Sack races: An oldie-but-goodie that is good both indoor and outdoor.
  • Obstacle Races: Gather some neighbours and their children to have an obstacle race! Here’s a starter planning list.

# 3. Do Outdoor Art

How about letting the outdoors inspire you and your young ones? Pack up your art materials and sit at a nearby park to draw or paint. Crayons, watercolours-in-a-box and a sketch book are easily portable. Even better, use Nature itself to create art.

TPP outdoor art sand Let’s go out! 4 fun tastic ideas for outdoor family playStick + Sand + Kids = Artistic Fun!

Here is more mess-free stuff to try:

  • Chalk drawing: For a twist, bring along a water spray filled with water. Spray water on chalk drawings and see how your art changes.
  • Family Profile Silhouettes: Find a sunny spot. Stick up cardstock on the wall. Stand in front of the paper. Trace the silhouette cast. Cut along the outlines.
  • Water painting: All you need are brushes and some bottles of water to paint the floor.
  • Outdoor sculptures: Gather twigs, leaves, stones and whatever catches your fancy to construct your sculptures.
  • Make a kite and fly it!

#4. Go Geo-Caching: Contemporary Treasure Hunt

Have you heard of geocaching? It’s a ‘real world’, treasure hunt game you play using GPS devices. Many cities and countries around the world have geocaches so if you’re truly adventurous, you could even do this on your holiday. Here is a list of current geocaches in Singapore. Click here to find out more about how geocaching works!

For more playful fun ideas to try, do check out The Playful Parents.

About Sarah, Family Play Advocate

Sarah is an educator-storyteller-writer turned domestic circus ring mistress. She currently runs her circus show 24/7 starring 3 males, and counting. It can be a mad yet fulfilling life. A passionate advocate for more playfulness in life, Sarah enjoys sharing ideas and resources on practical ways to live more creatively, artfully and playfully on her blog. Swing on by and say ‘hello’ to other Playful Parents like you!

Looking for a romantic dinner spot? Try Eco Gourmet Cafe at Labrador Park

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The hubby took me out for a birthday dinner on Monday, and all I knew was that we were headed for Labrador Park. After a short walk from the carpark, we arrived at the restaurant - Eco Gourmet Cafe. Here’s a photo of the restaurant’s outdoor seating just opposite the entrance.

At the entrance, cosy bar seating beckons, and the ceiling lights in the shape of bells lazily sway from side to side. My dinner date waits patiently while I take a photo. =P

As we were led to our seats in one secluded corner (there was only one other couple at the other corner of the restaurant) I found myself quite taken by the seclusion, the quietness, the casual yet jungle-like setting. It feels like you can almost touch the leaves of the surrounding trees if you just reach your hand out. It’s a perfect spot for a romantic dinner or for a small group of close girlfriends.

The service was nice and easy, the waiters kept their distance but picked up our dishes, and refilled our glasses at appropriate times and without us having to ask. Here’s the complimentary starter.

The bread was warm as it should be, and the butter was soft and creamy with a dash of lemon, which made it even more delicious!

The cream of mushroom and truffle was a winner in my books. It was topped with slices of grilled king oyster mushrooms and enoki tempura (which is the crispy thing you see in the picture below). Delish…

The medley of root vegetables tossed in ginger soy dressing was refreshing but a little too bland for me. Maybe there was insufficient dressing, I’m not quite sure.

I chose the over-roasted miso cod. The black lumpy mass behind the cod is actually squid-ink whipped potato; the squid ink gives the mash a lot more flavour. The fish was on the sweet side, due to the mirin miso seasoning, but the cod was nice and firm, and the pickled vegetables helped to balance the sweetness.

Hubby had the broiled chicken thigh with pomelo salad, mash, and asparagus. I stole a taste of his chicken because it looked so inviting and it was actually quite good — nice and crisp on the outside and very juicy.

After ordering dessert and waiting for 15 minutes, we got our molten lava cake. I must say it was worth the wait. I enjoyed every bite of the cake — the chocolate was not too rich, and the coconut ice-cream was yummy too.

Everything set us back about $130 (mainly because the cod was quite pricey).

But we had a lovely time. Nothing to complain about at all. The atmosphere was really conducive for some heart-to-heart conversations, as we shared and updated each other about what we’ve been thinking of, dreaming about, and yearning for. That precious time and connection, to me, is probably the best gift he could ever have given me for my birthday.

Eco Gourmet Cafe

30 Labrador Villa Road, Labrador Nature Reserve

Tel: 6479 8885

The duck tour that went wahhh

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So last week I managed to satisfy my curiosity about the Singapore duck tours, and got my whole family on board one of these cool amphibious vehicles. (I managed to convince the hubby because I said it would be my mother’s day gift, and also for my mum.) icon wink The duck tour that went wahhh

We travelled a short way along from the departure point at Suntec Convention Centre, and soon reached the splash point, where our duck vehicle would roll into the Singapore River. Here’s the first duck that went in. Pretty nice dive I would say. We didn’t get wet at all.

So here we are, enjoying the sights along the river.

The MBS looks pretty striking along an otherwise empty horizon.

This is where Gardens by the Bay will be housed. I checked out their website and the pics look pretty amazing. Can’t wait till it opens.

What has caught little Javier’s eyes?

Ahh, the Merlion. I wonder how many gallons of water get spewed out each day…

Everything was fine and dandy until round about halfway through, when Javier started to get cranky. Even when I fed him his favourite Gerber’s graduate puffs, he wouldn’t stop wailing. Here’s a shot of him with his mouth full of puffs, and me trying to keep my cool. Oh well, at least now we know he doesn’t like boat rides.

I must thank the tour guide, who tried to use his duckie-whistle to “quack” Javier out of his misery. But alas, Javier’s wails easily drowned out the guide’s quacks. Ah well, thumbs up for trying!

Ever since the kids came along, I’ve found new joy doing touristy stuff around town. I think I haven’t explored our own little backyard attractions since I was a little girl, and so much has changed since then. I don’t even feel embarrassed after realizing that the rest of the duck passengers were all from abroad! I guess this is one of the privileges of having kids - you tend to develop thicker skin and you don’t really bother about what other people say.

What’s your favourite touristy thing to do in Singapore? icon smile The duck tour that went wahhh