35 Margaret Drive [link]
Have not been writing for a few months. Mainly due to being busy with other things but also the fact that there wasn’t that much to write about on the family/parenting front. Still, it doesn’t mean that we’re sticking to the same routine. We’ve actually been expanding our options for weekend / leisure activities and not relying on the tried and tested.
I would like to see it more from the perspective that trying something different / new had become less noteworthy and more the norm — hence, not much of a motivation to write about. I am taking more of an attitude of experiencing new things, letting it sink in for a while, before thinking about whether to write about it. Or maybe that’s what I tell myself to excuse my tardiness.. hahaha
We recently visited the newly opened Margaret Market. This is a new eatery and retail space located within a conservation building built in 1956 as a wet market within Queenstown which was Singapore’s first public housing estate. In the building’s previous iteration before the makeover, it had a huge “38” painted against a red roofing panel (see below).
Back to the playground, it’s nestled between Margaret Market and the newly completed Sky Residence @ Dawson [link] public housing development. The playground consists of a platform for a tube slide, a network of ropes for freeform play / climbing and a mini spinning wheel / merry-go-round.
We had slowly conditioned the little one to be more independent in playing and not expect either missus or me to hover around and rescue her at the slightest bit of distress. This playground allows her to play quite independently as the obstacles (mainly climbing cargo net for the tube slide) are quite manageable for her as she becomes more physically capable and confident.
During the weekend early evenings / late afternoon when we visited, you can expect there to be a good number of families with children of various ages there. I would say that the playground would be more suitable for children at least 4 years of age as the equipment (provided by Kompan) requires children to have some rudimentary to intermediate climbing skills to get around — though there is also a more accessible obstacle in the form of a staircase to reach the top of the tube slide.
The verdict on the playground, on evidence of the little one being totally at ease with running and climbing about, is that it’s a great outdoor space. It is mostly shaded at around 5 plus and it will be especially nice when it gets breezy.
The great part about this is that since it is quite popular, our little girl gets to interact with other kids as well as sometimes grownups who might help her or speak with her. Two occasions stand out. One was of an older girl giving her instructions on how to spin in the merry-go-round and the other was another parent giving her a hand in climbing down from the cargo net obstacle. Being an only child, such experiences are invaluable to our daughter.
I would highly recommend this playground for both for the design and the overall experience. Families can probably plan their evenings around it as they will be able have an early dinner (which is the norm for families with young children) at Margaret Market after the kiddos are done playing.
That’s it for this blog post. Not sure when I’ll write the next one. Thanks for reading. Signing off for now.
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