Water Venture Sembawang 2D1N Family Science Camp

[ Media Invite ]

Boon Yee and me attended a 2D1N Family Science Camp last week. The highlight for the kids (Cheekiemonkies mobilised whole family!) must be the water sports.

Boon Yee (no3) and Ash standing next to their 10.8 Standup board.  This platform can support up to 2 adults and 4 kids!

Organised by PA’s Water Venture Sembawang, families got to enjoy a variety of events.

Star gazing, Forest walk, Intertidal walk and water activities.

Water Venture Sembawang is located at postal code 759058. It is about 5km kayak from Punggol Barat Island (scenic view here)

A few tips:

-Nearest bustop is 15mins away Sembawang Park

-You will be getting 3G 4G signals from Digi, Maxis, Celcom. Some signal from Starhub and M1 and zero from Singtel. Switch off your social media  and enjoy more family time 🙂

-We found out Bottle Tree restaurant is on the second floor, in case campers are looking for supper

 

The camping site is very new and just next door to Water Venture. Infact, we are the first group to use their 8-men tents!

Clean amenities, there is a hot water dispenser. No aircon and warm showers 🙂

Families help each other setup their tents, we were unanimous in choosing “sea-view”!

1)When I heard about the 2D1N Family Science Camp activity, I quickly accepted the media-invite 🙂

I really miss our Pasir Ris Camping experience and wanted to expose the kids to more camping fun.

2D1N Family Science Camp
2D1N Family Science Camp

Ice breaking games for families.

We got to illustrate our masterpieces on the floor too, graffiti with license :p

Some other activities include “protecting our eggs”. Basically you wrap the eggs with tons of paper, bubble and throw the bundle down.

We were throwing from table height, and I heard they used to throw the eggs from second floor heh heh.

Our sea activities were delayed by 3 hours, no thanks to thunderstorm and heavy rain. The wind was so strong a few tents toppled over.

We decided the sea was too choppy for a smooth ride 🙂

Our camping instructors and guides kept our moral high by engaging in more games and interactions. Kudos!

The floor is wet, entrance is flooded but fortunately interior is only slightly wet.

 

5pm and we got all clear to Kayak! Hooray, this was supposed to be the highlight for many families and was nearly canceled due to rain.

2) Most choose kayaking, but I really wanted Yee to experience Standup paddling. I thought it would be the standard one-man board, but we end up clustering 6 paxs to a board haha.

The 10.8 board is much more stable compared to one-man board, and once we are comfortable, we all stood up and attempt paddling to Johor (joking!)

 

Image credit Kelvin (Cheekiemonkies)

Ash and Yee decided to paddle some adventure on their own. Although we only had 1 hour of paddling, it was super FUN and I am so glad we proceed even when it drizzles.

Yee has forgotten about his Standup Sitdown paddling experience in Sabah Gaya Island (blog).

Wash up but not ready to slumber yet. Campers take note, it can be cold at around 2 or 3am in the morning, you might wish to standby long pants, socks and blankets.

3) Diy Muah Chee was fun for kids and families. It tasted delicious too!

4) Jungle walk just behind our campsite, hear the crickets and spot the bats. I told Yee it is too bright as we can still see our hands.

5)The last activity for the day was Star Gazing. We spotted Jupiter and the moon’s craters through the telescopes!

I always thought Singapore has too much light pollution and we would find it hard to spot stars, much less planets! The friendly guides shared more constellations in our galaxy.

Monopoly card games and instant noodle till 10.30pm, Nights Out. I believed I KO before the boy.

We all agreed it is more FUN to camp as a big group.

Day 2 arrived with the a beautiful egg yolk! Sunrise in Singapore is always late around 7plus am.

Actually, we got free alarm clocks from Johor’s Mosques. The speakers were relaying their prayers from 6am onwards hee hee.

 

Mist covered shoreline.

Day 2 was the launch of Family Aqua Carnival @Sembawang. Busloads of families were invited to enjoy a day out with sea sport and fringe activities.

Some were queuing for mini banana boats (really cute), while others learn more about conservation.

 

Conservation mascots.

Remember to save water when you shower or brush your teeth ok.

6)Intertidal walk towards the direction of Sembawang Park. When it is low-tide, we can spot more marine creatures along the coast.

 

 

Singapore’s Northern beaches are not really clean and we spotted much rubbish strewn around. Most are washed ashore.

Some helpful folks volunteered to clear a few bags of rubbish.

Perhaps Water Venture Sembawang might consider “beach conservation” as part of future activity? It would be meaningful for kids to understand first-hand how human’s plastic waste end up polluting our sea and habitats.

 

We caught some crabs in an isolated lagoon. None of them become chili crab.

If you are interested in intertidal walks, do pop by SengkangBabies’ offshore island experiences here. (Semakau, Chek Jawa, Sisters Island)

And so we ended our 2D1N Family Science Camp on a high. We were happy with the outdoor activities which were both educational and entertaining.

We heard the next Family Science Camp will be on 09/10 June. Do find out more package details on :

https://www.facebook.com/WaterVenture
-Tel: 6755 0225 (Tuesday-Sunday, 9.30am-6pm)
-Email: pa_wvsembawang@pa.gov.sg
Www.onepa.sg

 

Thank you PA and Water Ventures for the Fun Invite, we hope more families will get to enjoy the great outdoors too.

ps.. our previous PA Water Venture experiences at Marina and Sengkang were soaking FUN too. (Sengkang Kayaking post)

-> https://sengkangbabies.com/sports/paddle-fest-2016-at-anchorvale-cc

 

 

Our family’s First camping experience

[ Sponsored ]

Our first camping experience. This is a dry run for many more camps to come 🙂
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I have a dream.
One day, I wish to bring the kids hiking (read our hiking journeys) followed by camping.
Imagine waking up in the forest, near to a valley or waterfall, watching the sun rise together.

Dreams start small, and when we saw White Sands’ Urban Camping invite, we quickly jump on the “urban” adventure. The itinerary sounds Fun!
White Sands - September Outdoor Fun

Camp site was next to White Sands at Pasir Ris, which easily accommodate 60 tents and above. This is not your usual campsite like Pasir Ris or East Coast 🙂
Camp setup under the hot sun! Work faster and we can hide in the shade. We brought our own 8-men tent, which is slightly bigger than our neighbours’ haha.
setting up a camp

We will share our camping shopping list and recommendation in the next camping post (happening very soon!)

Last weekend’s Urban Camping package was $50, but first 50 signups got to bring back the 4-men tent worth $49.90 too.
We heard the package was sold out 🙂
white sands Urban campers

Tent interior, ours is a 8-men tent from Winning (about $110). We got 3 airbeds, I was not prepared to sleep on the tent material and feel the mimosa underneath haha (unless I am in No4).

We would recommend a tarmac (the blue lining) as it provides another layer of protection for your soles, and against drizzles (or urine).
camping tips

Be Prepared, Scout’s motto. Not only camp fire, but character building, independence and more.
I tried to influence the kids to join the scouts, but they need more motivation.

The scouts were running around helping the campers setup their tents or start their BBQ fire. Thank you!
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One of our first challenges was orienteering. We can navigate without a compass, seek out the scouts and shopping directory for the next clue, navigate White Sands Mall tenants to complete our puzzle.
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This was a great opportunity for the kids to figure out the clues themselves, I just took photos :p
When we work as a team, nothing is impossible.
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Never mind small or big fire, we learn how to use fire starter and charcoal. Scouts were on hand to help families 🙂
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Once kids know how to sustain the fire, they took turn to flip the food to prevent overcook.
We saw many families helping out with each other, sharing “charcoal” or even chairs and tables.
Strangers become friends, I love the community atmosphere 🙂

Our dinner taste especially nice, knowing how much effort and smoke we had to endure haha.
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Barbeque is fun, once the fire starts. Mommy and Boon Xin joined us halfway after their shopping trip 🙂
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Our BBQ dinner (fishball, crab, chicken wings etc) were all inclusive in the “Urban Camping” package (sponsored by Gurney Drive). What a steal!
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Looks good right! Although we got some burn chicken wings and sausages, the overall experience was Fun and a good learning opportunity.
family bbq experience

Luckily, we did not send our ham, sausage and fishballs to the cook-off competition (another camping activity). Other teams got prawn and fish, too elaborate and delicious!
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Looking at the crowd and enterprising families, I would say White Sands’ Urban Camping campaign was a roaring success!
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white sands camping

(Last activity before we sleep)

Night walk to Pasir Ris Park (end point was supposed to be beach) but we had a quick detour and headed back. Too short, and too bright 🙂
Perhaps the kids in our group are still too young.

You might notice that participants can park their cars next to the camp site, and we got to shower at Pasir Ris Sports Complex.
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No stars, as Singapore is normally too bright (light pollution), but we play aeroplane chess and read some books. Light sleepers will have problem dozing off as campers sleep late, and we could still hear kids running around near 11pm.
white sands camping photos

The unseen volunteers and scouts. Thank you for making everything works! Many campers are first timers, your assistance helped us to settle down quickly. My kids are definitely keen to explore more campings in the future 🙂
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Good Morning, Starbucks and sandwiches await 🙂
We woke up around 0630, clear our bladder and prepare to dismantle our tent.
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This is too good to be true, I need to remind kids that real camping are more hands-on and need to spread our own kaya 🙂
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With this camping experience, we are ready to venture further.
3D2N might be a stretch, some will miss their smelly pillows, but I am confident there will be less resistance if I broach another Camping outing 🙂
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Thank you White Sands and Singapore Scouts for the fun event!
Families who are considering camping, but concerned about amenities would love Urban Camping’s concept (hey 7-11 is just 50m away hee hee).

Do look out for future holiday events from White Sands on their website.

We would recommend you to pop by “Tan Family Chronicles” camping post too. They inspired us to go camping and enjoy the great outdoors.

*More camping photos uploaded on our Fanpage album.