The wheels on the bike...

We hopped over to East Coast Park some time ago, to give cycling as a family of four a go.

We were planning on going on two adult bikes with child seats initially, but Christian insisted on his own little bike instead, so, of course we catered to his every whim and fancy :P

Lovin' it!

So, we rented a little bike and an adult one with the child seat - so Ewan and I could take turns going on the big bike and watching Christian.

And we had a blast!

Christian wasn't going too fast, so the, ahem, accompanying parent had to keep pace with him (walking of course).

But Connor was nonplussed about going fast - in fact he loved it, and shrieked away merrily. He also loved it when he looked up and saw our faces looking back down on him.

And away we go!

After a while, Christian sort of realised he was getting the shorter end of the stick, and wanted to have a go on the child seat on the large bike.

It was hilarious because he actually changed his mind at the last minute and was starting to yell "No, no, no, noooo!" but daddy had already taken off. He then realised that it was pretty AWESOME and changed his tune altogether.

So, now he's realised that how shiok it is to be ferried around, we're planning to go again, this time with two adult bikes and child seats. Looking forward!

Horsing around - Gallop Stables Punggol Ranch

About a week ago, I had to visit the Gallop Wagons in Punggol for a feature I was working on. It so happened that Ewan was looking after Christian that day, so they tagged along.

I was pretty excited about heading to that part if our island -punggol point- because it's always been kind of secluded. There are a few things I associated that place with: Going to OBS, the major seminary, and memories of my dad taking us there when we were kids to watch people fish.

It recently underwent some major renovations, so the place has changed quite a bit - the old jetty isn't there anymore. But back to our initial destination: The Gallop Stables.

This is the sight that greeted us. 

Gallop Stables at Punggol

Christian was taking his nap, so Ewan brought him to the eatery there, Curry Garden, while I took a walk around the grounds and spoke to the owner. There are 45 horses and ponies in total, and they offer riding lessons, pony rides, as well as stays in the "wagons" - pretty much chalet style. It was pretty cool cos everything was really rustic and of course, horse themed.

Christian soon woke up and it was time for him to go on a pony! We were ushered to the back, where the stables were, and he was fitted with a cool looking helmet.

All ready for the ride

He was all excited, but he got a little nervous when it was time to climb on the pony's back. So daddy carried him up front to get to know Mr pony a little better first.

Step by step

"The horse got so much hairrrr"

He soon warmed up to the idea and was willing to get up on the pony's back, though he still insisted on holding my hand. Still, we were off!

All aboard!

He gripped my hand pretty tight but he was all smiles... Definitely loving it!

My little cowboy

The guy who guided the pony took us one round around the area - I'd say it took about 5-7 minutes. The cost for a ride like that was $10 and I'd say its totally worth it because seriously, how often do you get to ride ponies in Singapore?!

Still grabbing my hand

Christian was thrilled and was telling everyone about his ride after that. The cool thing is that kids as young as 2 can ride (Christian is 2 and a half).

We'll be back - maybe even plan a stay at the wagons once the kids are older.

The Mahs

Legoland Malaysia Waterpark

We received an invite to Legoland Malaysia's new water park last week and I was all excited about bringing the boys when I realised that Connor didn't have a passport yet! Doh!

After realising that Ewan's passport was on the way to expiring as well, we quickly sent the online applications to ICA and kept our fingers crossed that the passports would be ready in 10 days - and they were!

So, on Saturday, we happily packed ourselves into the car, along with Marra, my mum's helper who'd help us out with the kids.

Christian was super duper excited, having seen the Legoland ad on Okto the previous day and my parents had told him that he'd be going tomorrow.

Super psyched

The drive was pretty smooth and easy all the way to the checkpoint at Malaysia where there was a bit of a jam. But once we got past that, it was really easy to get there. Took us about an hour in all.

The walk from the car park is a little long, especially if you have kids. But we later discovered that there's a drop off point for passengers too, cutting the walking distance.

We also spotted the "dry" Legoland area, which we'd been meaning to check out some time soon, and the almost-ready Legoland Hotel. Would be a blast to get a room and check out both Legoland sites!

Walking towards the park

Entrance to the main Legoland

And walking by the Legoland Hotel, still under construction

Entrance to the Legoland Water Park

The first thing we did when we got there was to have lunch! It was really tempting to just get going straight into the water but the kids had to eat and it was already half past noon. We had chicken and cheese sandwiches at the Brick Bay Cafe - RM25 for a huge Focaccia sandwich, fries and a drink.

Marra and Connor at the Brick Bay Cafe

There, we ran into my colleague Jass and her family. They'd gotten a cabana and invited us to share - perfect! I forgot to take pics but the cabanas cost RM150 for a day's use, and comes with deck chairs, a safe, and cooler to keep your drinks chilled. It was a great idea and alternative to just renting lockers. There were even Cabana hosts who would take your orders for food and drinks and have them sent directly to the Cabanas, saving you time and effort queuing for food.

Right in front of the Cabanas is the Wave pool. This was perfect for the bubs, because it was shallow - even Connor could sit comfortably in the water.

Enjoying the wave pool

Big C perpetually trying to wrestle Daddy

For the little Kiddos, the Duplo Splash Safari was perfect.

Riding the croc

There were Duplo characters that had steering wheels, water spouts, etc, and Christian absolutely loved it.

He also majorly hogged the mini-slides - which meant Ewan had to do them with him some 20 times.

Wheee!

One of the slower slides, but he loved it anyway

Even Connor had a go!

There was a build-a-raft river, which was pretty much a lazy river kind of ride with a twist: There were these floating foam bricks that riders could collect along the way and attach it to their tubes.

Enjoying mummy time

Till this happened

Connor was having fun sitting on my lap, till we went through a water shower - My bad, I didn't even know there was one on the ride! It gave him quite the shock, and he struggled quite a bit, so I had to take him off the tube to calm him down, haha.

So, we completed the river like this, much to his delight.

Happy again

Proud to have completed the river, sans tube

Daddy and Christian, meanwhile, had a blast, collecting as many bricks as they could.

Brick hoarders

Champion hoarder

The larger rides looked awesome as well, but well, we've got little kids and there was more than enough to keep them occupied.

 We also loved the Lego models, scattered around the park, which just added to the atmosphere.
 

Can't believe even this guy is taller than me

Poke-ty poke

We ended the day at the shop, which didn't have much, but we did pick up a few minifig magnets for RM6 ($2+)... what a deal!

The ones Christian decided were "his"

And the others

We were lucky to have left slightly earlier, at 3pm+, as the kiddos needed their naps - and thankfully we did, as it started storming shortly after. We kids were so konked out their slept all the way back to Singapore.

One with bricky

 Looking forward to our next visit there - probably at the main Legoland!

The outdoors

We love taking the kids out on weekends.

But more often than not, because of our humid weather, we end up retreating to a nice, air-conditioned shopping mall.

Yes, along with half of singapore'a population. Which means huge crowds, lotsa noise and no space for strollers.

Well on Tuesday, despite the heat, we decided to suck it up and take the kids to the Marina Barrage. We'd been here before, but never spent much time just lolling about, enjoying the sunshine and breeze.

Kite spotting

We forgot to bring our kite, didn't pack our picnic mat, nor did we bring a basket of goodies, but the impromptu-ness of it all was part of the fun.

Baking in the sun

We discovered there was a little shop selling kites - but they cost an unearthly sum, starting from around $25 for a teensy one! Instead, we bought a bottle of bubble solution and an "old school" spinning wheel toy and headed for the roof.

Bubbling

As daddy and big C ran around chasing bubbles and spinning wheels, I settled down with lil C who was simply in awe of everything going around him.

Teensy picnic mat

He sat on his diaper changin mat (no picnic mat, remember?), watched the colourful kites soar, the older kids (including his brother) run around, and dug into the ground, exploring the grass and soil. He got his chubby little fingers all grubby, which in my opinion, was absolutely adorable!

Bros

Christian had a brilliant time (attempting) blowing bubbles, watching the kites and chasing the spinning wheel.

Mickey kite's up there somewhere

At times he simply wandered off, observing his shadow, soaking in the outdoors.

That's my shadow?

It was a really pleasant change from being cooped up indoors with air conditioning and digital devices all the time. Great way to spend a couple of hours. :)

NZ South Island Part II - In and around Timaru

Ewan's mom and Dez live in Timaru.

So we spent a number of days there, just relaxing, exploring the town.

It's a cute little place where everything seems less than 10 minutes away.

There, we familiarized ourselves with some of the local stores like Farmers, Warehouse, and Whitcoulls.


Warehouse was especially awesome when it came to great deals for DVDs and Blu Rays.

We got the entire first season of Fringe on bluray for just $39. Heh, no surprise we kept going back. Think we grabbed about 15 DVDs/Blurays in all.

Ewan and his mom also found some time for a tennis game at one of the local clubs.

It was drizzling and really cold though, so I stayed inside the club house, taking photos :p



We also made a quick visit to Caroline Bay.

The local beach front is known for its fairs and rose garden. But we went in the evening - about 8 plus, and though the sun hadn't set, it was so chilly so all we managed was a quick stroll at the fair (the rides looked so rickety though!) and goofing around at the fitness corner.


The great thing about staying at Dez's place is that he's got neighbours who keep sheep, cows and donkeys.

A couple of times after dinner, we would take a stroll down the lane, and go bug the animals.

SHEEEEEP!!!!


They've really got a herd mentality so whatever the leader did, everyone else followed.

Except for this guy...


... who let us pose for pictures with him.



There were three donkeys which were sooo cool.


We would pluck the weeds near the fence and feed them and they loved it!


Once, we tried giving them a carrot, but I think they had never had them before and were kind of wary.


We learnt from a young girl who lived there that their names were Charlie, Sinda and something else that I can't remember.


Another favourite animal of ours in New Zealand, were of course the ducks.

These, we saw at the Botanic Gardens in Timaru.


Ewan's mom had packed a few slices of bread so we could feed them.

Ewan's mom also took us to the Timaru local museum.

This little place was really interesting.

It had everything, from the town's history, to the native wildlife of New Zealand, and stuff about the Maori culture.

The giganto Albatross, which apparently after it takes flight from the colony, doesn't return for another five years.


Here's also where we learnt about the poor Moa, which is now extinct.

The huge 7 metre tall bird was hunted by the Maori, and often fell into deep pits.

Its immense weight meant it could not fly out.

The whole species eventually died out, though according to Dez, some people claim to have seen it in recent times.

It's leg itself is already as tall as a human being.


That's about it for Timaru, and we definitely hope to go back some day, this time with Christian (not in belly but running around), to visit Grandma! :)