Sengkang Babies

Last December, River Safari started trial run on it’s River Quest. This is the boat ride to bring you deep into the Amazon Basin. River Quest was not ready during our last visit.

The official opening is 9am, but we arrive at 8.30am to see a long queue infront of us.
Yup, it is the school holidays.

Boat ride is on a first come first serve basis, and we were allocated the 12pm slot.
Those coming after 10am can forget about the boat ride.

Child must meet minimum height of 106cm, which we think is too “conservative”. The boat ride is very safe, and kids 100cm should be able to enjoy it with parents’ supervision.

While Mummy is queuing for the boat ride ticket, Boon Yee is busy fending off a hungry crocodile.

The good thing about arriving early is the animals are fresh and eager to share a photo with you.

Someone is reluctant to pose with the real crocs.

Kai Kai would be happily performing his bamboo chewing show, and our Red panda is always so active 🙂

If you are visiting River Safari on a weekend, and if you are a Panda fan, do head straight to the Panda enclosure to beat the crowd.

You can always u-turn to visit those exhibits which you have skipped.

Saying hello to Panda’s baby. We heard Panda babies cannot apply for Singaporean citizenship, they must be returned to China 🙂

At the Panda exhibit’s exit, there is a small window for visitors to catch Inuka at 10am. That is our Polar Bear’s feeding time. In case you are wondering, Inuka resides at Singapore Zoo, and we blog about his home “Frozen Tundra” in June2013.

Some of the other animals and fishes which were spotted, sucker fish and sunbathing otters.

This Arapaima not only look old, they are prehistoric !

Electric eels, the big ones can produce enough jolts to electrocute horses !

Both Anaconda and Candiru are scarey. Guys peeing in water might risk something slithering into their urethral OucH !

Everyone is curious about River Safari’s latest ride, River Quest.

Even though the queue was long, it is still bearable. Each boat can take up to 10 passengers.

Getting ready for our River Quest. Those who like water should try to go to the front row.

Animals along the cruise, we see more signboards than animals 🙁
Most of them were enjoying their afternoon nap.

We suspect those who boarded the boat before 10am should have better views 🙂

(credit : poster from River Safari)

“JAGUAR JAGUAR”, we shouted loudly to get it’s attention but he is not stirring.

Kang and flamingos.

Video : Very tame ride, we were not impressed with the sleeping animals. Daddy had to make some voice over to heighten the kids’ anticipation.

Map of the river cruise. One round will take about 12 minutes.

We noticed the squirrel monkies are bolder now..

Oops sorry, Daddy is referring to the cute primates who swing from the tree. They will try to snatch unsuspecting tourist’s bag of food (Do not expose your food to the monkies!)

At 10am, River Safari had more visitors than residents. School holidays might not be the best time to enjoy Singapore’s attractions 🙂

River Quest might be disappointing for us, but the giant fish tanks from Mekong and Flooded Amazon remain popular with our kids. They love to spot the giants! Do not forget about Jia Jia and Kai Kai too.

River Safari tickets are S$25 and $16 for adults and children respectively.
With the completion of River Quest, we suspect River Safari ticket will eventually be S$35 and S$23. Click for Park Map.

Do pop by our previous River Safari experience, we did a comparison of River Safari, Sea Aquarium and Adventure Cove too.

Discover more photos of River Safari on SengkangBabies Fanpage.

(Media Invite)

We have not been excited over new playgrounds for a long time,
and Gardens by the Bay (GBTB) has a new addition this January.

Members of Gardens by the Bay (Friends of Garden) were invited to a sneak preview of FEO Children’s Garden in Dec.

Sponsored by Far East Organisation (FEO), that is how our playground got it’s name.
Let us share why FEO Children’s Garden will be on parent’s lips as one of the must-visit playgrounds.

Near the entrance to FEO Children’s Garden, you will find this arching plant landscape. It looks like a backyard in Europe, or someone’s orchid in Australia.

Anywhere but Singapore 🙂

Look at FEO Children’s Garden’s map, this playground is 5 minutes from “Satay by the Bay“, 10 minutes from Marina Barrage. You can expect the promenade area will be abuzz with activities in the evening and weekends, jogging, cycling and even scooting.

The entrance to Children’s Garden is next to Cloud Forest, follow Red arrow from Carpark to entrance (not sure whether there is a back gate).

(Image credit GBTB)

Obstacles trying to thwart the kids’ advance. We all know the Final mission would be the water play area, right ?

And so they twist, hop, wriggle through each stations. Sometimes they break the “exercise routine” with a slide here and there.

No one can resist the slides !

Besides the obstacles, you must have noticed the scenic views from around the Garden playground. You either see the Domes or MBS.

The TreeHouse (6 to 12 years old) must be one of the highlights of FEO Children’s Garden. There are three levels for kids to navigate.

Holes and Nets are recommended for bigger kids. Parents please hold on to the younger kids, as we do not want them to fall down the wrong hole or get entangled !

Slides are good for everyone, including adults, but do take NOTE that descends are super Fast ! (Checkout the video of Daddy below, reminds us of Changi T3 slide)

We did not show you all the obstacles or slides, because the kids are all eager to change into their swimming gears!

There is one more huge slide, which can sits three comfortably, and it looks very Fun, provided you do not land on the wrong side :0

Video : Up the Tree House down the Slides, and Water Fun

Sandy Playground at the base of the Treehouse.

Where are the Dragonfly sculptures?

We spotted a majestic KingFisher nesting near the playground.

Plenty of space (Children’s Garden spans one hectare!) for kids to play Police-catch-thief. Pity the police as the thieves can climb, slide and hide in so many corners !

Look at the Green platform below, give it a spin and hop on. Once it is rotating, it can be quite challenging to dismount ! It can get pretty disorientating, so we recommend you to sit down 🙂

Do not leave younger kids alone or standing near when it is spinning, kids jumping down might lose their footing and cause a collision.

After all the running, what is the best way to cool down?

While kids enjoy the wet playground, parents can lie down on the orange beach chairs. It is a moment of bliss under the huge umbrella, listening to the soothing piped music.

Fish fountains for the little ones 🙂
The kids’ favourite activity would be to block the fish mouth from squirting out the water stream, thus causing the water to rain onto the beach chairs :p

Alas, we hope the Parents have spare clothes too…

Water Play Area for 6 to 12 only?
This Water park is too much fun and should not be exclusive for the younger folks :p

Parents need not be shy, others will be staring, but it is definitely ok to act “cool” once in a while (no pun intended).

Siblings enjoying some water Fun. Daddy should join in next time.

Love the Dome’s reflections, the night scenes with long exposure should be mesmerising.

There are washing facility for everyone to dry up. there is no excuse not to bring your swimming trunks and costumes to FEO Children’s Garden anymore.

These stone fishes have a good view of MBS and Cloud Forest. Can you spot Mummy in the beach chair?

We have talk and share so much, do you know what is the best thing?
This playground is FREE !

21 Jan 2014 is the official opening date, and we have all the
Fun photos in our Fanpage album.

If you ask SengkangBabies to rate FEO Children’s Garden, they will not hesitate to give full marks (10/10) for Fun Factor.

Daddy and Mummy cannot disagree 🙂

SengkangBabies are proud to be one of the Garden Angels (ambassadors), you are most welcome to pop by our Gardens adventures.

Pop by GBTB Website and Fanpage for the latest updates.

** FEO Children’s Garden is closed on Mon. Tue to Sat 9am to 9pm.
Details here.

*** do pop by OurPrincessDana and CheekieMonkies’ account of the Grand opening.

Sengkang Babies

River Safari’s River Quest

FEO Children’s Garden scores 10/10 for Fun factor