This is the one place we wanted to bring our Lil girl to in Shanghai. We decided to forgo Shanghai Disneyland since beyond having Mickey and Minnie in some of her utensils, our daughter hadn’t really been exposed to the allure of the House that Mouse Built. And it costs a bomb to go… On the other hand, the little one loves dinosaurs and the Shanghai Natural History Museum is pretty much built around its dinosaur exhibits, so it was a no brainer for us.
The one big winning feature of the museum was its gigantic dinosaur exhibits. This consisted of replica fossil displays but the greatest attraction for the kiddos had to be the animatronic brontosaurus that was displayed at the main exhibition space (see below).
When the Lil One first saw it move, she was squealing and waving her hands as if she was a groupie seeing her pop idol performing. The photo below was taken during the umpteenth encore by the dino superstar — there was no sign of the enthusiasm fading. We had to set a time limit for her to leave the “concert”….
Besides dinosaurs, there were also many exhibits of replica animal specimens. Some of these were of current animals and others of prehistoric animals. Quite a sprawling space. The building is actually a large underground space which probably went 7-8 floors down. So when we entered, we had to make our way downwards instead of upwards. Quite an interesting architecture — this article that described the building much better than I ever could.
It was a great place to spend the time with our kiddo. It was nice seeing her enjoy it so much — the joy reminded me of when she first played with a bubble gun as a toddler….
Signing off here. Thanks for reading. Will leave you with what I thought were the best pictures representing the breadth and scale of this museum. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!
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.
Jungle gym concept with plenty of Freeform climbing
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.
Lil one having a picnic…
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.
Went to the Singapore Zoo some months back with the little one on a public holiday in April 2023. Again, this post is actually long overdue as I couldn’t find the time and energy to write. This was a father-daughter date as missus had a gathering with her friends and didn’t usually fancy the heat and olfactory sensations of a zoo visit.
This was the first time I had visited the zoo since I was in primary / elementary school — thirty plus years ago. So it’s a new experience for both the Lil Miss and myself. First thing that struck me was the massive scale. We drove there for the visit and while doing so, we had to pass through the areas under construction to house the Jurong Bird Park’s feathered friends (see link to earlier blog post). It was a good few minutes of driving before we finally reached the zoo’s multi-storey carpark.
Little one was excited to go to the zoo but was equally upset that she didn’t get to share the experience with Missus. So for much of the drive, Lil Missy was pining for her mummy. It was surely a test of concentration to drive with a crying kiddo behind you but I am well conditioned enough to get through it — my baptism of fire being a near cross-island drive when she was less than a year old.
The multi-storey carpark was really massive and you will need to take notes on where exactly you park if you don’t want to go through the panic or not being able to find your car — which was something I went through. Photos of the parking space surroundings, parking lot number and exit / entrances you walk through are a must.
When we got there, little one had thankfully gotten over the fact that Missus would not be part of the trip — I didn’t do anything other than to stay calm and weather the storm (which might be the best approach). So the first thing to decide was which animals she wanted to see. She was more familiar with animals from the books and flashcards so that was what I planned to show her. There was a tram service that runs through the different exhibit areas and, knowing how massive the zoo is, was the most logical way for us to get around.
So off we went tram hopping. First off, to see some Asian elephants. This was an amphitheater which visitors can observe the elephants in an enclosure as well as being a show / stage. When we were there, there wasn’t a show on and the elephants were just chilling.
Asian elephant.
We then went about trying to search for the African animals that the little one was familiar with. This was in the “Wild Africa” zone which required us to take the tram to the number three stop. The Lil girl’s reaction to seeing the animals was surprisingly muted. Maybe she was in awe of them but I was expecting her to make some verbal responses. Instead, she probably came across as quietly curious — the opposite of rabid fans of pop stars and very similar to how Singapore concert goers used to be (seated and politely clapping).
A lioness. I wonder if the brown pile was it’s faecal matter…Rhinoceros lounging around…
The animal the Lil girl was most interested in was the giraffe — she had the most reaction to it. I could see her visibly awed by their imposing stature. She even expressed interest in taking part in the feeding session. Alas, it was something which we needed to book in advance so we couldn’t do it. Lil one was not super disappointed and just shrugged it off — phew…
Giraffe.How to get up close with animal stars…
I think the feeding session ($8 for one portion of giraffe food) requires you to plan and commit to a zoo visit more than two weeks in advance. I tried simulating a booking and the slots were full even for up to about 3-4 weeks in advance. The next time we visit, we will definitely be planning this weeks in advance so that the Lil one can take in the experience of feeding a giraffe.
That’s it for another post. It was sort of a flying visit which lasted almost 2 hours. I think most families might spend a good portion of the day there. Will definitely plan better next time around the animal shows and feeding sessions so that we get a more complete experience. Thanks for reading 🙂
Continuing, slowly and intermittently, to document our family holiday in Kyoto, here was a place we visited during the 50% of sunny weather that we had when we were in Japan. The sunshine was definitely a big plus since we could travel lighter without the need to bring rain coats. The photos looked nicer as well (see below).
Byodoin on a sunny spring afternoon…
We chose Byodoin (平等院) as it was supposed to be more off the beaten track for foreign tourist and likely to be less crowded. It is also located in Uji, a neighbouring city to Kyoto known for its green tea. The temple which means “Temple of Equality” was built in the Heian period as the residence for a powerful court official of the time Fujiwara no Michinaga.
Byodoin is not located in any of the bus routes within the centre but in Uji which is in the southeastern outskirts of Kyoto. Perhaps because of this, there appeared to be far more domestic tourists than foreign ones. Our little family of three was perhaps one of the handful of foreigners there when we visited. To get there from Kyoto required us to navigate the sprawling city-wide transit train system and to reckon with the not-easy-to-use ticketing machines. Thankfully, we managed to get the correct tickets for the Nara Line (see below) to Uji station.
The little one enjoyed taking trains back home and it was no different when we were on our Kyoto holiday. The 30 minute or so train ride was one of the highlights of this excursion for her. Getting off the train at Uji station, we just had to follow the crowd of locals making their way to Byodoin which was about 10 minutes to walk to.
We got to walk through a mixed residential-retail on the way to Byodoin.
We got there at around late morning with the rough plan that we would visit and have lunch after. Byodoin was not that crowded but there were quite a lot of visitors. Despite this, it was actually quite tranquil as the visitors were by and large quietly admiring the sprawling temple grounds. The grounds consisted of one central building surrounded by a moat and some other buildings.
One of the phoenix ornaments in the temple roof.
Reading the room quite well, the little one was relatively well-behaved and quiet for the visit. There were other children there who were similarly rising to the occasion to preserve the peaceful atmosphere. It was probably a place in which she at most did not mind tagging along with Missus and me. It was more of a place to enjoy tranquillity — not something a young child could appreciate yet. We were thankful for Lil Miss and the other little ones allowing us to enjoy a peaceful visit.
After Byodoin, we wandered around the city of Uji. We started Grabbing a quick bite at a restaurant close by. Food was great but we were busy eating and did not take any photos — the way food should be enjoyed, with our mouths not camera phones… The restaurant was called 大阪屋食堂 (Osakaya Shido) — something I only found out later, haha.
Downstairs from the restaurant was a charming little row of shops in what looked like a mini Shotengai building with a sign that read, “大阪屋マーケット” (Osakaya Market). Got a photo of a drawing of the building.
Osakaya Market sketch
The building mostly comprised of F&B businesses (floor map found online below) as well as small shops selling knickknacks. We went into one of them, “駄菓子屋 タイムスリップ” (Timeslip Candy Store) and the little one got a tiny rubber dinosaur costing 20 yen as a memento. One shop sells models of old Japanese houses made from tiny wooden slabs coloured dark grey as well as artistic photos. This occupied shop space 13 ー アートギャラリ「A＆M」(Art Gallery A&M).
Osakaya Market floor mapModel houses at Art Gallery A&MLil one hamming it up at Osakaya…
After the quick visit Osakaya Market, we went to find a dessert shop in the vicinity. Since Uji is known for its green tea, we looked for desserts made from the local produce. We tried 抹茶共和国 (Matcha Republic) 宇治本店 which had soft serve matcha ice cream and matcha latte. Good stuff served in trademark Japanese kawaii style.
Soft serve matcha ice cream — yummy 😋 Missus and the little miss enjoying the ice cream.
That’s it for another edition to the blog. Writing has been hard and slow. Have a few more articles left to write from our Kyoto holiday. Hope to get them out soon. Will end here with some photos of the little one wandering Uji below. Thanks for reading.
Before our trip, we had consulted ChatGPT to plan an itinerary for Kyoto. It was rather limited as the AI took it rather literally that we wanted to spend all of our time in Kyoto — or I wasn’t using the right prompt. It only suggested Kyoto City Zoo, Kyoto Aquarium and the Kyoto Railway Museum.
Missus and I liked the latter two ideas but not the first — we haven’t even been to the zoo back home in Singapore. Missus Googled and found that it was possible to do a day trip to Nagoya for Legoland Japan. The little girl liked making things with her Duplo blocks and we thought this would be most meaningful to her. So off we went.
We hadn’t bought tickets before we left for Japan to keep things flexible. No problems though as the tickets could be easily bought online and stored in your e-wallet. Then we needed to get Shinkansen tickets to get to Nagoya (which was around 100 km away from Kyoto where we were based). This could be bought from either a ticketing machine (using cash) or at a ticketing counter. Not wanting to queue, we took the ticketing machine option. The ticket cost around ¥5,000-6,000.
Lil girl’s day pass to Legoland
It was slightly challenging to use the machine as my Japanese is limited to recognising kanji (basically traditional Chinese characters) and hiragana and katakana characters — the latter doesn’t mean much because I can read but I’ve almost zero vocabulary (same as a toddler knowing his/her ABCs but very little words). I ended up only buying one-way non reserved tickets — which meant we need to get tickets in Nagoya to find our way back to Kyoto.
We had a late start to the day, so we arrived in Nagoya past noon and took some more time to travel by a local subway to Kinjofuto station along the Aonami line which Legoland is served by. Credit to the little one. She never complained, at least not vehemently, through the long commute lasting more than one hour.
In the vicinity of Legoland was an area called, “Maker’s Pier” which houses several F&B establishments. As we had a late start, we just got bento at the train station in Nagoya to have a picnic lunch. Maker’s Pier had an artificial lawn where there was also a musical fountain. Our little one was really comfortable running around on her own when we were there. She really went wild when the fountain show started — bouncing around like an excited puppy.
Can you spot the puppy on the loose?
After the picnic lunch, we headed into the Legoland. This was already around 2pm — this would have repercussions for our visit. Our first stop was a merry-go-round ride. This consisted of “horses” in various shapes and forms (some are unicorns, tigers, etc) in the inner ring and “boats” seating three in the outer ring. Parents with children opting for “horses” would’ve to stand. Thankfully, despite our encouragement, the Lil one opted for a “boat” so we could all sit for the ride!
After the ride, we headed for a kiddy train ride but the Lil one did not want to wait in line (estimated to be 30 minutes). So we went to the Duplo Valley play area where there were Duplo pieces of every imaginable shapes and sizes. Like a kid in a candy store she was giddy with joy at the many toys she could play with.
Behold, the Tower of Power…
The Lil one could probably spend the whole afternoon playing with Duplo. However, we saw that there was a Lego factory tour and thought that we should join — it’s more for Missus and myself (the Lil one was not at the stage at to appreciate the details behind how things were made).
Chart showing the history of Lego.
There was a fair bit of crowd for this one. The tour consisted of a video show (Japanese with subs) and a factory floor showcase. Think this was expectedly more fun for Missus and myself. The Lil girl just sort of put up with it. She had to cut off her Duplo playing binge to indulge us. We appreciated her for that!
Commemorative Lego brick for the factory visit.
After the tour, we went to a play area for Lego bricks. The concept of the play area was for children to build anything they want, take a picture with it and leave their work at a display area. Maybe because she’s more familiar with Duplo, she was less ecstatic than was the case earlier. It was still fun for her but the dial was maybe at a 7 to 8 and not 11 for Duplo. She built a robot with the various odds and ends pieces. We were trying to find axle and wheel pieces for her but couldn’t — guess these pieces must’ve been really popular.
Lil one with her little robot…
At the play area, we were informed by the staff there that the park would close at 4pm. This was the part we didn’t anticipate. We had assumed without checking that the closing time would at the earliest be around 5pm. So from then on, we had to manage the time carefully as we only had slightly less than an hour.
Lil one posing with her creation.Can you spot the little robot?
We wanted to buy her a set of Lego blocks as a memento for our visit. Many other parents had the same idea. There was a long snaking queue forming at the cashier like it was a popular ride. Missus stood in queue with the Lil one while I went around in the store to look for something. We managed to find a reasonably priced Legoland Train Set (2 thousand plus yen) which seems to retail in Singapore at a much higher price.
Despite the hectic end to our Legoland visit, think it was still enjoyable for us. Missus ans I really enjoyed seeing the Lil one running free and really enjoying herself. Lil Missy enjoyed playing with more Duplo and Lego blocks than she had ever seen before. The availability of pieces that she had never played with before must have been an eye-opener for her.
That’s it for this post. Thanks for reading. Would like to write a few more posts of the places we visited during our trip. Hope I can find the time to do it. Till next time, stay healthy and safe everyone.
Ask the Clueless Middle Age Dad 