Tag Archives: neighbourhood

Old Dragon Playground at Ang Mo Kio

When I was a kid, my paternal grandmother lived in Ang Mo Kio and we would visit her occasionally. From time to time, my cousins would take me down to the dragon playground nearby to play. And many years later, I’m playing at that same playground with my own kids.

This particular playground is at Blk 571 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 and is about one or two bus stops away from Ang Mo Kio MRT Station. The sand has been replaced by the spongy flooring found in modern playgrounds and I actually prefer it because I always imagine cats using the playground as a giant litter box.

Our kids these days have such exciting playgrounds: wet and dry, indoor and outdoor, free and at a fee. I honestly thought they would be quite underwhelmed by the dragon playground and maybe just hang around for a bit to humour me and let me take photos. But Anya and Adam were ecstatic when they saw the dragon and they spent loads of time there chasing each other up and down the dragon’s back. I’m glad I could share this piece of my childhood with them and that they had so much fun there!

Dragon Playground

Dragon Playground

climbing up

climbing up

chasing each other

chasing each other

on the dragon's back

on the dragon’s back

up and down

up and down

pause

pause

peeking at mummy

peeking at mummy

dragon's head

dragon’s head

getting ready to slide down

getting ready to slide down

whee!

whee!

and back up again

and back up again

back for more

back for more

a final picture before calling it a day

a final picture before calling it a day

My other heritage playground posts are from 2011 and one of the playgrounds has since been demolished. Sad face. Read about the Toa Payoh dragon playground, the Dakota Crescent seal playground and the Clementi sparrow playground.

Anya in her Tennis Class

Since Adam has taken up tennis, Anya decided that she wants to play too! So we signed her up for a 4-6 years old class at The Tennis Club. There are more kids in her class but they have 2 instructors and the instructors are more strict with the group than the one for the 2-4 years old. I think she really likes her white tennis dress and having her own little racquet.

warm-ups

warm-ups

trying to hit some balls

trying to hit some balls

picking balls

picking balls

getting a sticker

getting a sticker

posing in her dress

posing in her dress

Tennis Trial Class for Adam

We signed Adam up for a tennis trial class for 2 to 4-year-old kids at The Tennis Club and he enjoyed it! There were two other children in his class and they all looked like they were having a good time. The class started with some warm-ups and the kids ran a couple of rounds around the indoor court and then jumped through hoops. The coach then got them to catch some balls with little nets before getting them to try hitting a few balls.

I like that the coach was patient but firm with the kids. She was very encouraging but didn’t let them get away with fooling around. So we’ve signed him up for classes and now Anya says she wants to go for a trial class! We’ll see how things go for her.

jumping on hoops

jumping through hoops

catching balls

catching balls

listening to instructions

listening to instructions

waiting for his turn

waiting for his turn

trying to hit some balls

trying to hit some balls

I think he liked picking up the balls

I think he liked picking up the balls

stickers!

stickers!

drinking water after class

drinking water after class

Stirling Highway at Ridgewood Condominium

I’ve been meaning to visit Stirling Highway for some time and finally got around to it on Saturday. We only had the baby with us because the kids were busy meeting and greeting the Prime Minister over at the Clementi Arts & Culture Festival so it was a chill brunch.

I have a thing for sweet-salty combinations so I ordered the pulled pork buttermilk pancakes with Jack Daniel’s-infused maple syrup. It was really good and I wolfed down everything! The pancakes were fluffy and the pulled pork was melt-in-the-mouth tender. I also had the mocha and it was very chocolatey and comforting.

Adrian had the breakfast platter with Portobello mushroom, two eggs of your choice, sausage, bacon and bread. It was quite decent and he particularly liked the garlicky mushrooms. I appreciated the generous serving of greens and tomatoes in the platter.

Stirling Highway is at a convenient location for us so we’ll probably be back to try their lunch and dinner offerings and the desserts!

Stirling Highway

Stirling Highway

chocolatey mocha

chocolatey mocha

pulled pork pancakes

pulled pork pancakes

brekkie platter

brekkie platter

Westgate Wonderland

We went to Westgate Wonderland last Wednesday and had a lot of fun! It was closed when we got there because it had been raining before that and there was a lightning alert. But after waiting about 20 minutes, we managed to go in and play.

My aunt drove us there and held on to the baby so that I could play with Anya and Adam. Honestly though, it was difficult for me to fit inside! Anya ran off to play with random stranger children so Adam wanted me to play with him. My poor neck and back! Eventually I gave up trying to follow them around and just got Anya to help her brother at the more challenging bits.

I love the garden theme design of the playground with the insects and flowers at the toddlers’ play area, and the flower pot and treehouse at the play area for older kids. The only bit I thought could have been better designed was the final part going up to the treehouse. There’s only one way up to and down from the treehouse so it gets really congested and kids end up stepping on each other! I think the giant watering can at the wet playground area is so adorable. The blower room and changing room are very useful and a really nice touch.

treehouse

treehouse

climbing up

climbing up

walking across

walking across

going across the bridge

going across the bridge

sliding down

sliding down

flowerpot

flowerpot

inside the flowerpot

inside the flowerpot

being watered

being watered

wet play area

wet play area

splish splash

splish splash

baking in the oven

baking in the oven

dry and comfy

dry and comfy

climbing the wall

climbing the wall

making music

making music

David makes music with his feet

David makes music with his feet

ladybird at toddler area

ladybird at toddler area

caterpillar

caterpillar

three munchkins

three munchkins

flower drums

flower drums

Westgate Wonderland is on level 4 of Westgate Shopping Mall (Jurong East MRT Station) and is open from 10am to 10pm. For safety reasons, they restrict the number of people in the playground at any time so be prepared to queue if it’s crowded.

Tim Ho Wan at Westgate

Tim Ho Wan has been in Singapore since last April but I’m not fond of long queues so I only tried their dim sum at Westgate recently when I met up with Pam there! That branch has a relatively short queue that moves fast. The food is good (but definitely not worth queuing hours for) and I like their famous char siew bun. All photos are taken with my iPhone so the quality’s not great.

baked bun with BBQ pork

baked bun with BBQ pork

inside the famous bun

inside the famous bun

chee cheong fun with char siew

chee cheong fun with char siew

steamed egg cake

steamed egg cake

pan-fried turnip cake

pan-fried turnip cake

beancurd skin rolls

beancurd skin rolls

siew mai

siew mai

har kow

har kow

mango sago

mango sago

Pam & I

Pam & I

Ice-Skating at The Rink

The first and only time we took Anya ice-skating was in June last year. Back then, the smallest skates at The Rink were too big for her and they didn’t have the penguin skating aid yet, so she was basically just slipping and sliding all over the place. But she’s been learning inline-skating and when Adrian took her skating last Saturday, she was much better and also a lot more confident with the skating aid to help her!

at The Rink

at The Rink

stopping to say hi

stopping to say hi

posing with her penguin skating aid

posing with her penguin skating aid

practicing on non-slippery ground

practicing on non-slippery ground

hanging on to the penguin

hanging on to the penguin

moving on her own

moving on her own