5 reasons to visit Underwater World Sentosa

[ Media Invite & Tickets giveaway ]

Mention Aquarium in Sentosa (or Singapore) and RWS SEA Aquarium comes to mind. However, we will give you 5 reasons why “UnderWater World Sentosa” (UWS) is worth visiting with your family during the June holidays.

– Visitors can touch and interact with stingrays (real ones, not those BBQ sambal variants)
– Watch pink dolphins and sealion perform, and these marine dudes love the attention!
– Kids can learn about eco-system and marine creatures
– SEA aquarium is always crowded, but UWS allows visitors to slowly soak in the sights and exhibits.
– During the June school holidays, promotional price of $19.90pax (usual price $29) comes with a buffet

Feeding fishes Underwater World Sentosa

01. Dolphin Lagoon performance (Daily 11am, 2pm, 4pm and 5.45pm)
Although it is named Dolphin Lagoon, do not forget the sealions. Glenda loves to grab your attention.
Underwater World review

Pink Dolphin saying Hello to audience.
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Daddy found out from the trainer how to differentiate between fish and marine mammals (eg dolphins and whales). Hint, mammals flip their fins up and down, and fishes flip left and right.
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Kids are impressed with the acrobatic and friendly dolphins and sealions. They can juggle balls and hoops effortlessly!
Underwater World dolphins

02. Ray of Fun and Touch pool
Kids are encouraged to touch the stingrays and star fishes, but try not to lift them out of the water. The stingrays’ barb has been removed so it is very safe, and the shark will not bite 🙂
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Try touching the smooth jelly-like skin of the giant Leopard ray. Watch them glide gracefully over the water. It is always surreal to touch a stingray, these magnificent creatures are normally seen during open water dives.
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Video (Link) : Catch all the underwater actions from our GoPro!

03. Tunnel and Travelator (take your own sweet time)
As UWS is less crowded (compared to SEA Aquarium), kids decided to sit down on the travelator and enjoy the sight! Some might even try to walk backward on the “treadmill” 🙂
Tunnel Underwater World Sentosa

Look at the overhead stingrays and sharks, so magnificent and carefree.
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Wow SEAFOOD Giant Grouper! Not sure whether we eat the grouper or is it the other way round!
Underwater World Sentosa promotion

04. Education and interaction
Remember the “River Monsters” episodes with Jeremy Wade. Some of the monsters and giants from South America are right in front of us and easily measure 2m in length!

Arapaima, Pacu, Catfish seems to live in harmony.
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Do not litter or throw rubbish into our waterways, as they will flow into reservoir or open sea, polluting our ecosystems. Kids are reminded to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
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We have not seen the underside of a sea urchin before, the roe is a delicacy in Korea. Boon Wee dreaming about sashimi spider-crab.
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Can you spot the Unicorn fish?
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Interaction and knowledge, kids had fun learning about animal and fish anatomy. They get to understand how predators and preys evolve and try to outsmart each other.
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Boon Yee posing with Iconic shark outside Underwater World, siblings wanted to have a closer view of clown fishes.
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We said Hello to this shark in 2005 and 2011 too.
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05. Buffet at Island Cuisine
Kids help themselves to multiple scoops of ice cream.
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Nice view of Reflections and Keppel Bay.
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Buffet bundle with entrance tickets of $19.90, is only available during June holidays.
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After feeding ourselves, kids wish to feed the other animals.
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The carps are always hungry, they will suckle your fingers too.
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Quite a few old turtles spotted. There is an underpass to watch the turtles underwater.
We reminded the kids to keep their hands off the pond.
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On the way home, we found the usual peacocks and babies, and a new attraction. The lifts allow visitors to reach the top, I am curious about the view from the top.
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We would like to thanks Underwater World Sentosa (UWS) for the fun invitation. We hope more families will get to enjoy the special promotions during June holidays.

More details :
– UWS is opened daily 10am to 7pm
– Usual price $29.90 and $20.60 for adult and child respectively, but June tickets are $19.90 (children under 3 free)
– Get the latest updates from http://www.underwaterworld.com.sg
– Our last visit to Underwater World in 2011, and recent SEA Aquarium (RWS)
– More photos uploaded onto our Fanpage album

More details and T&C about promotion can be found at this link.
uw-859-05-14-5-uws-soak-in-pink-adaptation_june_holiday_e-banner
(image credit UnderWater World Sentosa)

~~~ Underwater World tickets giveaway ~~~
Thanks to Underwater World Sentosa, we have five pairs of tickets to give away. Each ticket entitles one entry to UWS and one buffet at Island Cuisine (non-Halal).

1. Contest is on our Fanpage
2. Fans must first LIKE SengkangBabies Fanpage
3. On Contest page, do indicate who you will bring along to UWS, and why.
4. Leave your name and email on our Fanpage (or you can message email address to us)
Underwater World Sentosa promotion

5. Share this page (refer step 4) on your Facebook Wall and tag @SengkangBabiesBlog
(so that we know you are participating)

6. Contest ends 21 Jun 10pm, and five winners will be picked

T&C for contest :
This contest is only applicable to local residents of Singapore
* Winners who do not respond within 48 hours will be eliminated
* Tickets will be valid for three months from point of issue
* Winners must bring their letter (and IC) for collection of tickets at UWS ticketing counter
* Buffet at Island Cuisine is non-halal, and buffet timing (1130 to 1500) and (1730 to 2100)
* Organisers reserve the right to change contest mechanics

Koref farm Johor

Over the Labour Day weekend, I brought Boon Kang over to Johor’s Koref Farm. Koref (Kahang Organic Rice Eco Farm) is a family friendly organic farm in Kluang, Johor.

Boon Kang cannot wait to feed the fish or go rafting everyday!
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Koref Farm is located in Kahang, Kluang (居銮), and it is about 2 hour drive from Tuas Customs.
Kluang photo

Head East after Ayer Hitam and drive towards Mersing direction. Take note road contains a lot of bends. (From Mersing, coastal road 3.5 hours to Kuantan, or 5 hours to Terengganu).
Koref farm map
(Koref Farm map captured from Google Map)

Great nature, endless rows of palm trees, with mountain ranges in the background.
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Yes, we have reached our destination (GPS 2.249098,103.59515).
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This lake greeted us as we drove into Koref Farm compound. Your accommodation might be one of the chalets built over the water.

40% of your activities will be related to water. If kids love swimming, make it 60% 🙂
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Chalet D house 45 guests and Chalet C (house 35 guests). Chalet C offers only basic configuration.
Urban folks in farm
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Fan, toilet, bed and mattress Checked. We need nothing else for the night. Each chalet D room can house 6 to 8 guests. (“Hotel” rates at this link)
Kahang chalet

Dormitory and A-Frame accommodations.
Farm stay no hot water

If you need something more challenging, try camping. This is normally preferred by students 🙂
camping Koref farm
(Image credit Koref)

When it rains, everyone is cooped indoors but we chose to go paddling and running rounds around the obstacle course.
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Water depth at the lake is only 60cm, so almost everyone can enjoy water activities. Life jackets are available.
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Day break.
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I tried jogging on the first morning. At 6am, it was totally dark (cannot-see-fingers-dark). End up I could only pace up and down a 200m dirt track, as I was afraid of falling into drains or bumping into wild dogs or worse spooky banana-trees encounters :p

This is the view from one of the rooms in Chalet D.
Johor Farms

It can be warm during the days but you will need a blanket at night. Be prepared to handle houseflies in the day and “flying-ants” insects (in the thousands!) will swarm light sources in the evenings. Both are harmless.
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Cute idioms at every corner, telling guests to relax and enjoy nature.
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There were so many activities to keep us entertained.
Who needs TV and IPAD when our daily itinerary shouts FUN!

Obstacle course (Free) and flying fox (RM 10). Rafting is free!
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How does feeding the fish (RM 1 per pack) and cycling sounds (RM 7 and above)? You can pedal and get up close to the fish and prawn ponds, or paddy fields. (All the farm activities are listed here)
Family actiivities Koref

Vast paddy fields, clear blue skies and white fluffy clouds.
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Swings which allow you to “slip” and leap into the lake! (Free)
Farmstay Johor

Common toilets.
Koref farm review

If you cannot live without aircon or must have 5 star buffet breakfast spreads, or you can only swim in turquoise clear water, Koref farm is not for you. But if you and family love the great outdoors and getting back to basics, Koref farm offers you an idyllic kampung lifestyle and loads of opportunities to bond with family.

No TV, no Facebook, no Instagram. Only the farm, animals and fun activities! Smiley faces.
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We believe Ah Ben agrees with us 🙂
We had work with him before (Ch8 人气满屋2) and was looking forward to catchup with this friendly host again.
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A pond filled with fish and arowanas. Be careful of the territorial male goose, he can be very loud.
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In Singapore, AVA is strict and does not allow feeding of poultry, and you cannot even touch the goats in Kranji farms. We must have caught at least half a dozen chicken and chicks in Johor! The arowanas are so used to human-feeding that they sometimes allow you to stroke them (just like a pet!)

Ducks, Goose, Chickens and we even spotted a brood of chicks! What a delight for urban folks to see live chickens running, instead of chilled poultry.
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Rabbits are fat, no thanks to constant feeding from children. Rabbits stewed or barbequed is not on the menu at Koref :p
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Photos of kids, and perhaps colleagues enjoying farming activities.
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Simple three meals, seafood prawns and fish are not available for our package. But we felt contented as it was a golden opportunity to teach Boon Kang to treasure every grain of rice. We had earlier witness how farmers toil under the hot sun.
Koref Eco farm meal
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Organic produce, we heard Koref is Malaysia’s first organic farm.
Organic farms Malaysia

In our opinion, Koref might score 2 or 3 Stars for meals, but it garners 5 Stars for farming lifestyle!
Truly an unforgettable experience.
boon Kang farmer

Additional tips :
– we cannot share more activities yet, as we want you to wait for Ch 8’s 小农夫 (Fresh farmers) in July. Consisting of 13 episodes, each week a parent-child pair will bring you to one farm (Think 爸爸去哪儿 亲子 variety). 小农夫 (Fresh farmers) hopes children will appreciate the hard work behind farming.

– We first heard of Koref Farm from Cheekiemonkies (their review link), and we were eagerly waiting to enjoy our own Kampung lifestyle.

– These chalets are not for honeymoons, unless you like neighbours to hear your sweet nothings and smooching! Accoustic isolation is non-existent keke 🙂

– GPS for Koref Farm is 2.249098,103.59515

– Visitors can pay RM10 to enter the farm to enjoy the activities without staying overnight

– There is no safe inside the chalets, just lock the door. We felt very safe during our 3D2N stay.

– The other kids are jealous that only Book Kang gets to enjoy the rustic Kampung lifestyle. You can gather more fun facts about Koref Farm on their Website and Fanpage.

Check out some other bonding activities with my kids.
– Boon Kang 3D2N (Farm at Koref), our hiking explorations
Taman Negara with Boon Wee, 2D2N Broga Hill and Sky Mirror with Boon Yee

Kahang Farm photos
* disclaimer Our 3D2N stay is sponsored by the Producer
** Updated 2017Jun – Toggle Ch8 video link, we are Season 1 Episode 10

ps.. Follow our Instagram tag #SengkangBabiesJohor for more JB adventures