Category: Attractions

All the attractions we have been to!

Singapore Zoo and River Safari – Part 2

Mrs Messy 0 Comment Attractions ,

Have you read my first post on Singapore Zoo and River Safari? We went back to Singapore Zoo (thanks to my sister’s free tickets again) to explore the parts we didn’t manage to!

Sadly, this time round when we went back, we were not able to dine in at Ah Meng’s restaurant like before, because I was still waiting for my vaccine to take effect. Hence, we had to buy takeaway from Ah Meng restaurant. I ordered the same food – Lotus Root and Peanut Soup + Vegetables + Brown Rice at $7.90. It was delicious, healthy and affordable. In fact, I felt the portion was even bigger when I purchased takeaway. The container cost an extra $0.30 though, and if you need a plastic bag, it was extra $0.10. So do consider bringing your own containers and plastic bag if you want to save money.

I didn’t manage to take a clear picture of the menu last time, so here it is! Looking at the menu, I really feel this brown rice + lotus root set is the one with the best value.

Remember that Ah Meng has a bistro, and not just restaurant? I managed to take photos of the menu there too! The food seems much more expensive that Ah Meng’s Restaurant’s though.

Their drinks menu! The cost of the iced tea is the same as my lunch 😡
Their snacks menu!

After buying the food, we could eat anywhere within zoo that had benches. There are a few such locations throughout the place. We proceeded to KidzWorld to find a somewhat sheltered bench to sit down and eat. We were not the only ones – some other families were eating food there too. Be mindful of macaques though. Some staff walked past as we were eating and they warned us about some macaques they had seen at the forest area behind KidzWorld. We were mindful throughout our meal but thankfully were not attacked by any.

We waited to book the Animal Friends show…and again, it was booked out within a minute! Seriously, how fast could the other people be? Disappointed, we nonetheless were happy that our son was awake this time during the visit at KidzWorld – he was sleeping in the carrier when we last visited. This was his first time exploring KidzWorld and he stared wide eyed at the animals. The funniest part was when he cuckoo along with the roosters!

Similar to booking for shows, you can actually purchase limited animal feed sessions via QR code when you are at the zoo. They have feeding sessions for the goats at KidzWorld. They used to put a bunch of leaves right beside for all visitors to pluck and feed the goats, but this has stopped. I am not sure if it is due to Covid, or because the zoo is putting the goats on a diet, or perhaps they are hoping to earn more money from the feeding sessions. The feeds are not expensive anyway, at $5/session, but they are hugely popular and always sold out.

Rooster pen – they are supe noisy!

This time round we also walked around the other side of the zoo, and managed to see the giraffe, zebra and hyenas. Not sure if it was due to the heat, but the animals didn’t seem very active and were just lazing around. We visited the cheetah too, and she was the most interactive of all.

A bit too interactive – looking like she wants to eat us!

We went to River Safari again too, and visited the giant panda Kai Kai, who is getting all the attention while his partner is on maternity leave. I am sure River Safari would be crowded once Jia Jia and baby return to their enclosure. For this trip, it was noticeably less quiet and crowded than the last time we went, which was before Jia Jia gave birth.

The papa who didn’t get his paternity leave

Overall, it was a wonderful trip that complemented the first one, as we purposely visited areas we didn’t manage to go to the first time round. With Covid cases on the rise, the zoo is probably one of the few safe places to visit since it is almost fully ventilated. We are hoping to bring Baby L again there soon, and here’s hoping we can finally watch the Animal Friends show!

Tayo Station

Mrs Messy 0 Comment Attractions ,

Taking advantage of the National Day public holiday, we decided to bring our small one to Tayo Station! The capacity was still capped at 25% then and I was nervious as to whether we would manage to get slots. Thankfully, we did even though it was a PH. We purchased tickets for 2 adults and 1 child via Klook, spending $31. This is cheaper than buying from their website/over counter, which costs $34 for the same 2 adults and 1 child. Prices are slightly discounted for weekdays.

Tayo Station is located at E-Hub, Downtown East. Since we had booked the earliest slot which was play time of 10.30 am – 12.30 pm, we arrived at Downtown East pretty early. The whole place was rather quiet except for NTUC, where there were many people purchasing groceries. When we reached Tayo Station, there were already some families outside waiting for the place to open. At 10.25 am, a queue started to form. It was cleared very quickly. We were asked to show our tickets via the Klook app, do Tracetogether scan, temperature taking and clean our hands using sanitizer and then – in we go!

Because it was only 25% capacity, I estimated there were only about 30 children or less per slot. With adults, it was roughly about 50 pax at most, which is wonderful. Can’t imagine how crowded it would be at 100% capacity. There was an area where parents can sit and dine, and there were sufficient tables for each family to claim one table and place their belongings on it.

The first area we went to was the giant playground filled with tunnels and 2 slides – Gani’s Playground. Parental supervision is required for kids below 3. Our child was around one of the youngest at the park that day, so I think most families rushed to book slots for Tayo’s Road Circuit when we went in. We had a blissful 20 minutes or so of the Gani’s Playground entirely to ourselves. Baby L couldn’t climb most areas on his own though and Mr Messy and I followed him very closely for each step. Take note that there are some sudden drops within the place – so make sure to watch your child carefully.

Gani’s Playground

There are two slides within Gani’s Playground, and both are not suitable for children 3 years and below due to the speed. It is also not allowed for parents to slide down with their child on the lap for safety reasons. However, we observed many parents violating this rule, and after a while we went with the crowd and my husband brought Baby L down on his lap for the less steep slide. It was fast, but not dangerous as my husband could control his speed.

Rules poster
One of the slides – this is the less steep one and the one we tried with Baby L.

The next area we tried was the ball pit area! Keep your belongings safe on you – for a moment I lost my handphone and had to search for it among numerous balls. Luckily I managed to locate it within a short while. We spent a short time at this area and did not return to it for two reasons. First, it was one of the most crowded play areas and given the narrow space, it meant coming into close contact with other families. Some of the children were also too excited and were jumping into the pit/throwing balls repeatedly, which was not safe for Baby L, who was much smaller compared to them. Secondly, the ball pit was deep relative to Baby L’s height and there were times he got buried among the balls. He thought it was fun for sure, but we were worried he couldn’t breathe well.

The ball pit! It is located in a narrow strip of space next to Gani’s Playground

We then brought Baby L to the Toddler area, which had 2 slides and a Tayo bus. Boy, he was really happy at this area! We spent the most time here. Although he couldn’t climb up to the slides himself, it was the first time he could slide down on this own, as the slides were not steep. He enjoyed himself so much I think he went on the slides at least 20 times. The slide on the bus is much steeper though and he got a shock trying to go down on his own – landed on the floor as he couldn’t control his speed.

There’s also the Tayo Road Circuit – we didn’t manage to take photos here, only videos. Although it is more suitable for older children, the staff said we could bring our son to ride together on one vehicle. He wasn’t that interested in riding though – he was more interested in the tools at the toolbox station, and wanted to bring the toy hammer with him /sweat. In the end we ended our ride earlier and returned to the toddler playground above.

Another area is the sand pit area. What I like about this sand pit is that the ‘sand’ is actually small cuboid blocks, and not tiny sand like the ones found at Poporo Park. I did not have to worry that much about him swallowing those blocks. He spent some time here burying himself in the pit.

Finally, there is a resting area you and your child can go to to watch videos on Tayo Station. It wasn’t a popular place though – guess the kids prefer running about!

At the end of each section, a Tayo Station mascot would come out and walk one round around the area. Sadly we missed it as we were busy playing at the Toddler’s area. Take note that Tayo Station, unlike Pororo Park, does not have a diaper changing station or hot water area. They also do not have a cafe that sells food, though there are some vending machines selling drinks and snacks.

Let us know if you have been to Tayo Station, and what you think of it!

Zoo and River Safari

Mrs Messy 0 Comment Attractions , ,

I haven’t been to the zoo since I was pregnant as my father was against it. According to some old traditional belief, pregnant women should not visit zoos to see animals. So I was pretty excited when my sister received corporate passes for Zoo and River Safari and offered the passes to us.

I was up early on the day of our Zoo trip, happily preparing and overpacking as usual. I took two packets of wet wipes and way more snacks than required. Initially I wanted to delay the trip out of fear of wet weather, but I was glad we went ahead with it because from the following Monday, dine-in was reduced to 2 pax again.

With 3 adults and 1 baby and a pram, we took a taxi to the Zoo. I was surprised when the driver turned into the new carpark – it looked so posh and nicely designed, with pictures of animals over the walls. Here we had a bit of mishap when Mr Messy lost his handphone but the kind taxi driver who picked it up drove back specially to return to him.

We reached the place at about 11 am and there was already a lot of people heading to the zoo. As my sister had visited the zoo just a few weeks before, she advised us that only two restaurants – Ah Meng Bistro and Ah Meng Restaurant, were open inside the Zoo. The KFC located at Rainforest Kidzworld was closed. However, all the restaurants outside the Zoo, including KFC and Inuka Cafe, were still open.

Having checked the menu online beforehand, I decided to lunch at Ah Meng Restaurant as there were a variety of choices which were suitable for my son too. Didn’t want him eating KFC at such a young age!

If you are planning to head to the zoo too, I suggest you dine early, because a later timing means a much longer queue. We joined the queue for Ah Meng Restaurant at about 11.30 am, and waited for 15 minutes to place our orders. The area inside was free seating, capped to 5 pax/table. If there were no more indoor seats, we had to sit at the outdoor area at Ah Meng Bistro. This meant a hotter sitting area and besides eating lunch, you would be lunch to all the mosquitoes around too. However during Covid period, it might be advisable to sit outdoors instead.

We were informed by the staff that the indoor area was full and we need to get outdoor seats. However when we passed by, coincidentally a family got up to leave and we snagged the table.

Did you think that food at the zoo must be expensive? Not really!

Lotus Root and Peanut Soup + Vegetables + Brown Rice at $7.90. I think this set is really worth it, especially since it came with brown rice!
This hainanese curry chicken noodle is $7.90 too. The portion is big and the broth is spicy but delicious!
Oyakadon. We lost the receipt and can’t remember the exact price but it was less than $10.

We spent some time enjoying the food here and as mentioned, do come early for lunch. As we ate we watched the queue outside get longer and longer. My son ate mostly my food – he enjoyed the lotus root soup and took to the brown rice. The curry noddles was too spicy for him, but he loved the egg and chicken in the oyakadon.

After the hearty meal, we made our way to KidzWorld to register for the show. Take note that registration for shows open up 1.5 hours prior to the show time, and you must physically present at the show area to scan the QR code to register for the show. Pretty smart – the website will ask you to switch on your GPS to determine your location and you can make a booking only after the website has determined that you are really at the zoo.

Sadly, even though we were at KidzWorld five minutes after registration opened, the show had booked out by that time. We were only five minutes late! We were rather disappointed as it was a kid-friendly show and Baby L had just started saying ‘dog’. Am sure he would definitely love the dogs appearing in the show! Oh well, we know to be earlier the next time round.

Registration for the show is via QR codes. You ahve to activate your GPS to be able to register for the show

Due to Covid measures, the wet play area and pony rides have all been suspended. The KFC at Kidzworld is closed too. However, the carousel was still open and it was really crowded. Having missed the show, we walked around the rest of the Zoo, viewing the other exhibits.

Saying hello to the elephants! One defecated and urinated right infront of us.
Saying hello to the little otter family!

After a few hours at the Zoo, and having managed to catch one show – The Rainforest Fights Back – show at Shaw Foundation, we decided to make our way to River Safari so Baby L could see the pandas. Purchased a cute and delicious snack along the way!

Cute animal buns at $2.90 each! They are sold at a convenience store outside the Zoo, and within the Zoo there is a food cart outside Ah Meng Restaurant that sells these buns, slushies and other snacks.

The first part of River Safari was air-conditioned and we welcomed the cold breeze after the heat at the Zoo. If you are tired, there is also a Starbucks next to the entrance of River Safari, but it is always crowded – spotted long queues the two times we passed by. As we were in a rush to go home, we did not explore River Safari in detail, going straight to the pandas exhibit to greet the two giant pandas. We then made a dash to the only show at River Safari – Once Upon A River – but sadly again we missed the show. Unlike Zoo where we had to register for the shows using QR codes, the show at River Safari used the traditional method of queuing.

Kai Kai lazing around. Jia JIa only appeared for a short while before heading back inside.

Still, we enjoyed ourselves at the end when we reached the giant aquarium. It reminds me of the one we saw at SEA Aquarium, but on a slightly smaller scale.

At the exit, we also saw a display of the entire Mandai park, consisting of Zoo, River Safari, Night Safari and the soon-to-be moved there Jurong Bird Park. The highlight was an eco-resort. I am wondering what sort of experiences it would bring but I am sure it would burn a hole in our pockets too.

The site of the eco-friendly resort. I am already excited for it!

Overall, Baby L enjoyed himself very much at the Zoo and River Safari. If you are planning a trip, fret not even if you have yet to be fully vaccinated. The Zoo is an open space and there are benches around the place where you can sit down and dine with a group size not exceeding the current recommended group size limit. Take note that the Zoo no longer provides physical maps – refer to the e-version here instead.

Let us know if you are planning a trip to the Zoo, and do share with us your favourite animals!

Universal Studio Singapore!

Mrs Messy 0 Comment Attractions ,

To celebrate my birthday, we brought our little one to Universal Studio Singapore. Since it was my birthday, I received a free magnet, a voucher for a free bag of popcorn and 15% off retail and dining vouchers.

Prior to the trip, I was very excited packing his stuff and imagining the rides he could play. Of course being only 14 months old, I doubt he could play many rides and I guessed the trip would be more for him to sightsee and run around. I was thinking he could play at most 3 rides – Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase (a slow, kid friendly ride where you witness Elmo and friends battling monsters), Madagascar: A Crate Adventure (a slow boat ride – won’t get wet, don’t worry!) and King Julien’s Beach Party-Go-Round (a carousel).

However, when I was there I was really disappointed to know he could only play 1 ride out of the above 3, and that is the King Julien’s Beach Party-Go-Round. For the other two rides, he was sadly too short – for the Space Chase, a minimum height of 92 cm was required, and for the Crate Adventure, the minimum height was 80 cm, which he was just a few cm short of. Take note that the minimum height requirements stay despite having a guardian accompanying. You can check the minimum height requirements for the rides here.

The only ride he could play!

As we went in June, group sizes were capped at 5 pax and I believe operating capacity was at 50%. The place was not crowded, but because there are not a lot of kid-friendly rides, there was quite a queue for King Julien’s carousel. The first time we played, we were there early (about 12 pm) and we waited only 15 minutes. When we played one more round at 5 pm, the queue was at least 30 minutes. Safe distancing measures contributed to the queue – only unmarked seats could be taken and capacity was halved.

Look at how empty the place is!

Sad that he could only play one ride so far, I sustained hope that he could enjoy himself at Magic Potion Spin, a small ferris wheel inside Fairy Godmother’s Potion Shop. Sadly, the ferris wheel was closed and I was not the only disappointed parent who brought her child out of the shop.

However, to my surprise, there were two other rides he could take – Dino-Soarin (I certainly wasn’t expecting him to be able to take this one!) and Treasure Hunters. For both rides, a child below 122 cm must be accompanied by an adult. Take note that your child must be able to walk independently as hand held infants are not allowed. When we wanted to enter the queue for Treasure Hunters, the staff asked my husband, who was carrying my son at that time, whether our son could walk. My husband had to put my son down to prove my son could walk independently.

Queue for both rides was fast, less than 20 minutes. The queues had safe distancing markers on the floor and each party (max of 5) was supposed to stand in the individual circle. After every ride, the staff will clean the seats with wipes.

Since I purchased my tickets via Klook, I was entitled to a free set of nuggets for each adult ticket, and a free cake + coffee/tea for each senior ticket. I redeemed the nuggets at Jungle Bites, a restaurant in the Jurassic Park area. Luckily there were seats and we sat there, resting our legs while my son napped. For the senior’s cake set, it had to be redeemed from the Malaysian Food Street’s drink stall. Sadly, they no longer seem to be offering free food sets – instead they are giving retail vouchers.

Because of Covid measures, take note that no shows are allowed. Hence all shows, including the exciting Waterworks, were suspended.

Due to the wet weather, and because of my son’s age restrictions, we didn’t play as much as we had hoped. Still, he had fun walking around and sight seeing in general. He went wild in the shops too!

Look at how cute these Despicable Me baby clothes are! Didn’t get them due to the high price tag though 🙁

We purchased dinner at the dining street infront of the casino. Take note that many restaurants were offering takeaway discounts.

This is our quick review of USS! My suggestion is, if you really want to bring your toddler there, do check the rides’ height requirements first to determine whether it is worthwhile for your child to go. For now we probably won’t be bringing him again until he is older – 3 perhaps? Before he needs to pay for a ticket. Currently, tickets are free for children below 3.

Let me know if you are heading to USS and drop me a comment on whether you enjoyed yourself!

Dolphin Island

Mrs Messy 0 Comment Attractions ,

After going SEA aquarium, we also brought our son to Dolphin Island. (Warning: Wordy post ahead! Sorry, we were not allowed to take pictures 🙁 ).

Dolphin Island is located inside Adventure Cove. Sadly, Adventure Cove is currently not open. (Due to Covid? But swimming pools can? No idea). Update: Adventure Cove has reopened! Book your tickets here.

We purchased the Dolphin Encounter ticket since he needs to be at least 4 to take part in Dolphin Adventure. As he certainly can’t swim yet, I also don’t want him to panic when in the water with mammals that would probably be giants to him.

There are two Dolphin Encounter slots each day at 11 am and 4 pm – we chose the 4 pm one. After buying the tickets, for Dolphin Island admission only, there is no need to book a reservation slot on RWS website. The reservation is only needed for USS and SEA aquarium. Therefore make sure to book the correct date when you purchase the tickets because they will do the processing backend and confirm the slot only if there is an available slot at Dolphin Island that day.

Redeem your tickets at the SEA aquarium guest services counter. Show them your vouchers and after verification you’ll be given a bracelet to wear around your wrist. We were told to assemble by 3.40 pm and yet we waited until 4 pm exactly before the Dolphin Island staff arrived. After checking our bracelets and asking us to do Tracetogether, we were led to Adventure Cove. It was quite sad seeing how empty Adventure Cove is now – there used to be a lot of shouting, laughter, long queues. All that is gone now.

The staff led us to Dolphin Island and we were told to remove all jewelery on us (watches, rings, brackelets) to prevent scratching the dolphins. We were given one free locker each to place our belongings. The staff then briefed us on precautions, informing us not to scratch the dolphin (stroke them gently using our palms), and not to touch their genital areas (it would be quite obvious where these areas are).

After the briefing, we followed them to the pools where the dolphins were kept. We were split into 3 groups, kept to about 4 pax per group. There were mats laid out for us and we were advised to lie down on the mats. My husband kept my son in the carrier and sat down instead.

The trainer was friendly and immediately called the dolphin over. We were given chances to touch the dolphin’s body – even my son touched the dolphin, though he was highly apprehensive at first – as the trainer explained to us about dolphins. The trainer then asked us whether we preferred to be wet or dry, haha!

Based on our preference (we chose dry), we then played a simple game with the dolphin using hand movements. The couple with us didn’t mind getting wet and they were splashed a little – nothing much and they dried very quickly under the hot sun. For us, our hand movement was rewarded with the dolphin waving to us.

We were then given a chance to ask the trainer questions. If you had no questions, that was the end of the session. It was a very fast 15 minutes session, and we were promptly invited out to wait for our photos. We were not allowed to take any photos within the area but there was a cameraman constantly taking pictures of us. My husband and I declined to buy any though – a single picture costs $70+.

We were then led back to the meeting point. As we walked out, a dolphin swam next to us, waving goodbye.

Overall, it was a fast activity that was well-planned and really once-in-a-lifetime. I may go back again after my children have learned to swim and try Dolphin Adventure activity next time.

SEA Aquarium

Mrs Messy 0 Comment Attractions ,

On 4th April, we brought Baby L to the SEA Aquarium for the first time! His father loves aquariums and we were wondering what sort of reaction he would have xD. It was also the first time that we brought him out with his paternal grandparents.

We booked the tickets using our SRV vouchers. If you haven’t used them yet, take note that you can only use them in multiples of $10. So do calculate carefully if you plan to use the SRV vouchers for multiple attractions.

After booking the tickets on Klook, it does not guarantee entry to SEA Aquarium. You have to book entry slots to RWS here using your ticket number. However do make sure you select the correct date on your Klook ticket as well. Strangely on the day of the visit they looked only at my Klook ticket and weren’t really interested in my RWS reservation email.

The ticket on Klook comes with a free snack for each paid ticket. For adults, it would be a small box of 5 nuggets, redeemable at a snack store right at the opening of SEA aquarium, or at the Dino bites inside, next to their Ocean restaurant. Seniors get something else – a cake and a drink I believe, that can be redeemed at Malaysian food street. However the redemption is based strictly on the ticket you purchased. Eg if you bought 4 adult tickets, but went with 2 adults and 2 seniors, you will only be able to redeem 4 sets of nuggets.

April is also Baby L’s birthday month and we went to the guest services center located right outside SEA to redeem his birthday gift. It consisted of a cute magnet, a voucher for a free small bag of popcorn, and a discount voucher entitling the birthday person to 15% off retail or food items. You can redeem these free gifts any day during your birthday month, it doesn’t have to be on your birthday itself!

Look at how cute this magnet is!
SEA Aquarium birthday magnet: Look at how cute this magnet is!

Being a Sunday, despite the restricted pax allowed, it was still extremely crowded inside. There were queue systems implemented for some areas, such as the dolphin viewing area, the jellyfish area and of course the giant Ocean Habitat area, which I would say is the key highlight of the whole place.

There are squares in front of each display marking out where visitors should stand in view of the safe management measures. Overall the queue management system was generally ok, since people usually don’t spend too long at one display anyway. The only area where I felt frustrated with the queue system was the one for the Ocean Habitat.

The queue for the Ocean Habitat involves visitors going down the staircase and a staff would assign you to go either the left or the right side. There is another queue there – when you are first assigned, you are assigned to the back area. There is a front area where you are directly infront of the aquarium and can admire the view. If you pushing a stroller or with a wheelchair user, the staff will ask at least one family member to queue while the other family member accompanies the one in the stroller/wheelchair. Only when your family member has been assigned a spot, the staff will allow you to take the lift down to meet up with your family. In other words, no cutting queue!

Up till this part was great. However, once you’ve been assigned a spot at the back end, whether or not you get a spot at the front end depends on how fast and lucky you are. The staff doesn’t interfere in assigning people to the front spots, and the family infront of us stayed there for more than 20 minutes! We gave up in the end and left.

Baby L watching the jellyfish

Despite this unpleasant experience, generally we had a lot of fun at the place. Baby L looked around so much and refused to sleep until I forced him to in the carrier. Take note that being SEA aquarium, things are really expensive – a can of coke costs $4! And due to Covid, there is no water refilling service inside so make sure to bring your own hot water for making milk etc.

At the exit (after the shark exhibit), there may be mascots available for picture taking, but the staff would not help to take any pictures. Bring those selfie sticks because you’ll need it. Also, they have closed the section inside the Aquarium where you can touch the fishes, and shifted it outside. After exiting the Aquarium and passing by the souvenir shop, you’ll come to a small display of toads (really tiny toads in individual glass displays). After this area, there would be a snaking queue for the touch display. The two times we passed it, the queue was so long that we decided to give up straight away. If you really want to go this display, I suggest you conquer it as early as possible – we passed by at 12+ and again at 3+ and the queue was significantly longer at the later timing.

And that’s it! Baby L enjoyed his first trip to the aquarium but I think it would definitely be more fun for him when he could walk. Looking forward to bringing him again at a later age! Wonder if we will get SRV vouchers again? Heh heh. I hope this short post has prepared you for the trip to SEA Aquarium!

Bonus: you can get free parking at RWS if you spend $50 and above in selected restaurants. You can also dine at the Malaysian Food Street, in which case there is no limit to the number of receipts you can combine to form $50. The receipts can be from different stores too! You can redeem the receipts for the free parking coupon at a pop up booth next to the confectionary store at Malaysian Food Street. Or if you are very rich, you can dine at any of the other listed restaurants. No doubt you’ll hit $50 very quickly – one main at any of these restaurants is easily at least $30 – $40.

Pro tip: if you’re spending cash on the Klook ticket, you can get cashback from Shopback for any cash portion you are paying. Not on Shopback yet? Use my referral link here and we’ll both get $5 when you spend $20 and above!

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