Yishun Park Playground – Family Fitness with Skechers

We have never thought of giving up our family weekend outings even if exams are nearing. We enjoy outdoor play. It refreshes the mind and lift up mood. While our kids are still keen on going out as a family, we will treasure every single opportunity to bring them to nature, parks and playgrounds. Last weekend, we visited Yishun Park Playground and yes, we wore our Skechers shoes along to test out the comfort!

Yishun Park 9

We have never thought of giving up our family weekend outings even if exams are nearing. We enjoy outdoor play. It refreshes the mind and lifts up mood. While our kids are still keen on going out as a family, we will treasure every single opportunity to bring them to nature, parks and playgrounds. Last weekend, we visited Yishun Park Playground and yes, we wore our Skechers shoes along to test out the comfort!

We hardly venture Yishun for playgrounds as it is not known for huge playgrounds and parks like Pasir Ris Park Playground and West Coast Park Playground. But the hub has been driving past this Yishun Park and has seen that the playground facilities look very fun, hence, he suggested to make a visit here.

A Merry-Go-Round Spider Web Structure

Yishun Park 1

A Bigger Spider Web Climbing Structure

Yishun Park 2

Mini-obstacle Playground with Slide

Yishun Park 3

Yishun Park 4

Mini Rock Climbing with 2 Slides on each side

Yishun Park Rock Climb

Balancing Rope Obstacle and Suspension Bridge

Yishun Park 6

Suspension Bridge at Yishun Park

Playground with Long Tubular Slide

Yishun Park 7

Yishun Park 8

Rock Climbing on an Inverted V Rubber Mat

Rock Climbing Structure

Isn’t this park awesome? There are jogging tracks beside the playground. Me and hub were able to jog while the kids play. But as usual, the kids sighted us and ran up to jog alongside with us when we really thought we had the luck to have some couple time on a weekend! Fat hope! Well, we enjoy exercising together as a family. Couple time can be arranged on other days.

Family fitness at Yishun Park
Look who outran us?!

Have you noticed the bright and cheerful Skechers Shoes on our feet? We have tested the shoes’ performance on the Yishun Park jogging tracks, the grip on climbing ropes and obstacles and the responsiveness on various grounds of sand, pavement, and even wet floors when we continued our weekend play to Safra Yishun Swimming Pool.

GOrun 5 red and purple

Our family is very new to Skechers shoes and my first pair was only recently bought from my US trip. I loved the GoWalk series to bits when I wore them to walk up and down 5th Avenue for hours without feeling tired. We heard lots of fave about Skechers shoes being extremely light weight and comfortable. And true enough, that was exactly our experience with the shoes! My hub’s first exclamation upon trying out the GOrun 5 in red/orange was: “They’re so LIGHT!”

Indeed, being light weight is a big advantage for attaining speed in running and responsiveness to avoid injuries. Both my hub and I love the GOrun 5 series especially when approaching towards the end of a long run, we did not feel that we had to drag our feet. GOrun 5 is the 5th generation of the GOrun series and its innovative technologies provide excellent cushioning and impact protection. Missy, being almost an adult has her first adult size sport shoes with the same Skechers GOrun 5 in purple. We chose the same colour so that we can go twinning on the same shoes! Isn’t that’s what having a daughter is all about?!

GOrun 5 Purple

Both the boys are wearing Skechers Flex Advantage 2.0 shoes with Air-Cooled Memory Foam insole. They, too, are enjoying the amazingly light weight footwear so that they can run fast! The Skech-Knit Mesh one piece fabric also allows breath-ability, hopefully cutting down the sweaty stench that the boys tend to have. They have chosen the bright blue colour which is an easy match to most clothes.

Skechers Flex Advantage

With the good grip and high comfort level, I have a piece of mind when the kids wear Skechers shoes for sports and play. You bet that from now on, Skechers would be our top favourite for comfort shoes. And we are going to wear them to our next family run event, Shape Run 2017!

Skechers Family

Back to Yishun Park Playground, here is the address if you are wondering how to reach here:

Address – Yishun Central, Yishun Avenue 11, 769027

Yishun Park is a 14-hectare park in Yishun, Singapore bounded by Yishun Ave 4, Yishun Central, Yishun Ave 11 and Yishun Ring Road. It is within the vicinity of Northland Primary School and Safra Yishun Country Club.

Disclaimer: We were sponsored Skechers shoes for a review on our experience. I am certainly a Skechers convert for comfort shoes after this review!

10 Things To Do While Staycationing at Village Hotel Changi

We are back for the second time to Village Hotel Changi! This time round, our youngest was old enough to enjoy the ‘Play and Stay’ package to the fullest! The first time we stayed in this hotel, Master 5 was only 3 and there were some things he could not do by himself. So, now, 2 years later, he is able to join us in all activities and yes, he has a bed for himself too.

VHC Entrance

We are back for the second time to Village Hotel Changi! This time round, our youngest was old enough to enjoy the ‘Play and Stay’ package to the fullest! The first time we stayed in this hotel, Master 5 was only 3 and there were some things he could not do by himself. So, now, 2 years later, he was able to join us in all activities and, he had a bed for himself too.

The check in was a breeze as it is with all Village Hotels Chain. If you do walk around the hotel premise, you will notice that this hotel has many conveniences for the guests in mind!

Booking machines for all cab companies / Luggage wrapping service for travellers / Shuttle Service to Town / Airport and Business Parks

VHC Cab Booking

Vending machine for Snacks on the go and Cup Noodles that do not break the bank / Vending machine for Hot soupy food, noodles and rice

VHC Vending Machine 2

VHC Vending machine1

I am impressed that the Hotel caters all these conveniences, even though there are so many choices at the nearby Changi Village hawker centre and numerous coffee shops.

A Tour of the Rooms

VHC Rooms

We had 2 connecting Deluxe Rooms. One room had a king size bed and a roll-away bed upon request and the other one had 2 single beds. Both rooms accommodated our family perfectly. Previously, Master 5 used to sleep in baby crib but now a roll-away bed is more comfortable for him. We put the bed side by side to our King Size Bed so that I could pat him to sleep and be near him.

VHC Room 2

VHC Room 1

VHC Room 2

One of the best thing about Village Hotel Changi rooms is that each room comes with a bathtub! Each bathtub has a window! We could watch out for the kids easily from the room if the blinds are up.

VHC Bathtub

We have learnt that a bathtub is almost a MUST-HAVE for staycations! Why? Because on days when the pool is icy cold, the kids can still get their water fix in the tub! Also, after a cold swim, it is a heavenly treat to frolic in a warm tub. That is what a staycation is about: maximising the hotel room and amenities to the fullest!

VHC Handy Phone

Next, you will also want to know that each room comes with a handyphone just like the one we saw in Village Hotel Katong! This free network phone is for guests to use during their hotel stay. It is so handy to carry along without incurring hefty phone charges and data roaming charges. Best of all, you need not pay a single cent for using it!

View

This is the bedroom view overlooking the Koi Pond and the Infinity Pool is up there.

Considering this is more of a hotel for travellers with its proximity to the airport, the rooms have all the things needed for them.

Room amenities

– Individually Controlled Air Conditioning
– Hair dryer
– In-room safe box
– Iron and ironing board
– Electric Kettle
– 42″ LED TV
– Cable TV Channels
– Wireless Broadband Access
– Handy Phone
– Toiletries
– Towel
– Clothes hanging line
– Torchlight
– Fridge

Hotel services
Free Wifi
24 hour security
24 hour guest services
Concierge
Business services (faxing and photocopying)
Laundry services
Parking

VHC Bathroom

VHC Room Amenities

VHC Room Amenities 3

What are nearby the hotel within walking distance:

Changi Ferry Terminal for those who wish to go to Pulau Ubin and Chek Jawa or even day trip to Desaru!
Changi Beach for a swim and beach play and Cycling
3 Playgrounds
Civil Service Club for Bowling
Changi Village Hawker Centre for food
Public Transport

Breakfast Spread at Saltwater

There is a decent variety for the breakfast buffet at Saltwater restaurant at Level 1. Most of the foods are local cuisine, like Otah, soup noodles, rice, porridge, etc. They have Western cuisine like pastries, chicken ham, chicken hotdogs, hashbrown, cereals, etc. Service was good and food is Halal. The glass doors at the side has the Swimming Pool view, hence, we could eat in peace while we were able to see our kids in full view when they ventured near the pool.

Saltwater

Restaurant view

Saltwater 1

Saltwater 2

Saltwater 3

Saltwater 4

10 Things to Do during our Village Hotel Changi Staycation:

1) Eating Cup Noodles and eating snacks on the bed

Hey! This is one of the things that the kids very much look forward to! We hardly eat cup noodles at home and not allowed to eat snacks on the bed. Well, rules are certainly more relaxed when we stay in hotels!

Snacks

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2) Playing card games, Reading and Relaxing

We never fail to bring some cards, simple toys, bath toys, books and writing materials to our staycation. These can entertain the kids while the adults are busy unpacking stuff.

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3) Swimming in 2 Swimming Pools!

The number one reason that we love Village Hotel Changi is because it has not one, but two swimming pools! One on the top level as an infinity pool with awesome view, and the other on the first level outside the dining area with a glass wall. You can watch your kids swim in the big ‘fish tank’ swimming pool at the leisure of having your breakfast!

VHC Swimming Pool1

Swimming Pool 2

Swimming Pool Fun

Level 1 Swimming Pool

Level 1 Swimming Pool glass

4) Checking out the vicinity

Village Hotel Changi puts up this small handy booklet to introduce the places to check out within walking distance. We left the hotel earlier for dinner to have a leisurely walk over at the Changi beach area. As Changi Village is quite far out from the city, we hardly come to this place. Hence, staying at this hotel allows us to enjoy the beach and sight fishermen’s harvest for the day.

5) Bowling at Civil Service Club Changi

As part of the staycation package, we were given a game of bowling each at Civil Service Club which is directly opposite the Hotel. The bowling lanes have bumpers for kids. Just tell the staff which bowler needs a bumper, and when it is his/her turn, the bumper will be erected. The last time we came, the elder kids needed bumpers and the youngest was not old enough to bowl. This time round, the elder kids could bowl without the need for bumpers and there was a shoe size suitable for the youngest and hence, he could join us for the first time!

Civil Service Club bowling

6) Cycling at Changi Village

Also as part of the Play and Stay package, we were given a coupon each for an hour of cycling. The bicycle shop, which is really a hardware shop with some rental bicycles, is located just directly facing the Changi Village Hawker Centre. I must say that the bicycles had seen better days and you may not find the best bicycles here to ride on. There was only 1 or 2 bicycles with child seat and not much choices for kids bicycles. We made use of the coupons anyway, and cycled along the Changi beach together, stopping to play at the playgrounds on the way.

cycling

7) 3 Playgrounds at Changi Village

There are 3 playgrounds at Changi Village if you do not already know! The one with the plastic tubular slides is located just beside the hawker centre while the other 2 are along the Changi Beach.

3 playgrounds
8) Soaking in Bathtub

This is a must-have as I had mentioned earlier! Love the window view beside the bathtub!

Bathtub
9) Koi Feeding

There is a Koi pond that your kids can feed the fishes in it. For both times that we stayed here, we skipped the complimentary feeding activity because we had too many things to do. Further, we have a mini koi pond in our house and that explains!

Koi feeding

10) Play Snake and Ladder

There is a huge Snake and Ladder on Level 1 of the Hotel just beside the breakfast area in the chill out section. This is a good bonding activity with young and old.

Snake and Ladder

Play and Stay Package

If you are bringing your kids or even parents to stay in Village Hotel Changi, you may want to book their Play and Stay Package which includes:
– One-night accommodation
– Complimentary buffet breakfast for two at Saltwater Café
– Complimentary two-hour bicycle ride OR
– 2 games of bowling per stay
– Complimentary koi feeding (first-come first-served basis, please enquire at front desk)
– Complimentary Changi Village cycling reference guide
– Complimentary parking

Superior Room – S$200.09 inclusive of all tax
Deluxe Room – S$223.63 inclusive of all tax
Club Room – S$258.94 inclusive of all tax

Room rates subject to availability and sometimes, there are super good deals that you could look out for!

I would say that this is pretty affordable to have a short staycation over a weekend for family bonding fun! Click here to check availability for the rooms!

Village Hotel Changi
1 Netheravon Road Singapore 508502
Email: info.vhc@fareast.com.sg
Hotel: +65 6379 7111 / Reservations: +65 6881 8888

Disclaimer: We were invited for a one night stay in Village Hotel Changi. We love the Far East Hospitality’s chain of hotels with its warm hospitality each time we checked in!

List of Ideas For Bringing Kids Out During School Holidays

List of Ideas of Bringing Kids OutMy favourite source of school holiday fun is none other than Cheekiemonkies blog. So many of my inspiration come from his information sharing. When it comes to what to do with the kids during school holidays, I will start planning as early as during exams period. I want to ensure my kids are not deprived of playdates or outdoor activities even though I am working full-time. So, I will take off from work and bring them to interesting places to play.

Some of my friends around me also ask me for ideas and the funny thing is: it is relatively easy to rattle off a list to them which some we have tried and loved. But when it comes to my own planning, I have much consideration to suit all my 3 kids with their different age groups. The solution is really to separate one-to-one date with each of them or combination of 2 kids while one kid is with the daddy or find a place that suit all 3 of them.

Since I am searching for ideas, I will also share them on this post for my future reference and of course I hope you will find them useful too. I will be updating this list as and when there are new places that come to mind. If you have more interesting places to recommend, I welcome you to leave your comments and I shall add on to the list.

I have categorized into Indoor Places and Activities, Outdoor Places and Activities and Home Activities. I try to list most of the activities to be valid throughout the whole year round and not just customized to holiday periods. For those that are happening only for a short period of time, I will be updating this list regularly.

Indoor places and activities

1. Safra Punggol Splash Indoor Water Playground

Read review here.

2. Children’s Seasons (annually)
Date: 28/5 – 31/7
Suitable for age: 3-7yo

Website: http://www.museums.com.sg/programme-and-exhibitions/childrens-season-1

3. Imaginarium at SAM @8Q

Read review here.

4. Movies
If you have Safra card, then you must watch a movie using its 1 for 1 promotion on weekends! Promotion ends 26 June 2016.

Website: http://www.shaw.sg/sw_cinema.aspx

5. Kidzania

Book online is cheaper!

Review: http://www.cheekiemonkie.net/2016/04/kidzania-singapore-ultimate-activities-guide-review.html

6. Playeum

Do you know that Groupon or Deals.com have discounts for Playeum entry from time to time?

Website: http://www.playeum.com/

7. Bowling

Do call up and ensure the bowling lanes have kids bumpers, and most do!

Website: http://www.superbowl.com.sg/toa-payoh

8. Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum

Read review here.

9. Theatres for Children

Act 3i Drama for Children (currently showing in May/June 2016)

Website: http://act3international.com.sg/act3ifestival/

10. National Gallery of Singapore

Website: https://www.nationalgallery.sg/see-do/tours

11. ArtScience Museum

Some past exhibitions

Future World

12. Philatelic Museum (Stamp Museum)

Read review here.

13. Trampoline Park, Kaboodle

Website for Kaboodle: http://www.kaboodlekids.com.sg/

14. Esplanade Pip’s Box

Read review here. Continue reading “List of Ideas For Bringing Kids Out During School Holidays”

West Coast Park Playground – Awesome!

It’s been a long while since I last share on the awesome playground in the East: Pasir Ris Park Playground. Now it is the turn for the equally awesome and huge playground in the West: West Coast Park Playground! It really caters for everyone: children, teenagers, adults and elders. Come here for the Play Area, to Skateboard, Roller Skate, Cycling, Frisbee, BBQ, Bird Watching, Kite Flying, Jogging or just a leisure walk to relax and chat. I am so proud of Singapore’s fun and free places to bring our kids to and perfect places for multi-generation bonding. You really cannot miss this one!

West Coast Park Playground is comparable to the one in the Pasir Ris Park in size. Something different is that there is a Mac Donald’s here which could get very crowded on weekends.

Let’s see what are the fun activities to be found here that Pasir Ris Park doesn’t have or have but slightly different.

Zipline Flying Fox

Who can resist this one? When we were there, there were parents on both sides who took turns to help the children to climb onto the tyre and give them a little push to zip across to the other side. It is an unspoken teamwork and all parents who were there were happy to help ensure safety of all the children. I see gracious parents here and such gestures create a happy playtime for everyone.

Zipline Flying Fox

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Balancing obstacles

There are many balancing fun for the children here. All in different levels of challenges. No wonder my kids went again and again to perfect them. Some may be too challenging for little ones. Like my toddler, who definitely needed some help and his elder siblings were happy to go through the obstacle for the nth time. Continue reading “West Coast Park Playground – Awesome!”

Poolzies shoes for little feet under the hot sun + {International Giveaway!}

Poolzie5

Singapore is a sunny island and over here, it’s a common sight to tip toe around the poolside under the scorching hot sun. The floor is burning hot. Often, we endure the scalding sensation to our soles when we cross from one pool to the next. So, when we have kids, we ferry them from one kiddie pool to the next by carrying them off the ground. But, how about water play with slides and all on the rooftop of shopping centres? We can’t be ferrying them around from one slide to the next!

And you can bet my excitement when Poolzies founder offered their Pool shoes for little feet to run about under the sun and on slippery floors! It is such a brilliant idea and I wonder why didn’t anyone thought of this before? Continue reading “Poolzies shoes for little feet under the hot sun + {International Giveaway!}”