Canon Camera & The State of Fun!

My kids love cameras and tell me, which kid doesn’t?

We were invited to Canon Family Blogger Photo Shoot Out to have a day of fun at Sentosa and to try out Canon cameras. If anyone would have remembered, last Saturday was those days when you wished you had a beautiful sky with enough sunshine to take good pictures while having a good time, but of all days, that was the only day it rained non-stop for the few hours that we were supposed to be having fun. Still, we enjoyed ourselves more than we could imagine despite the rain. Nothing’s going to stop us from having a great time at The State of Fun!

Each blogger family was given a set of clue cards to unravel the stations to go. We were able to choose from a range of Canon cameras to bring along to snap pictures while having fun at each station. As my kids love cameras, Canon was very kind to let us bring along 2 cameras instead of one! So, XX brought with her a Canon PowerShot SX60HS which has a WiFi function to transfer pictures to my mobile to upload to instagram quickly. YH brought along a shockproof and waterproof Canon PowerShot D30 which was perfect for little hands and rainy day!

At Guardian of Prosperity

Our first station was to go to the Guardian of Prosperity! Guess where was that?!

That’s right! The 37m tall Merlion!!

We took a picture at its mouth and the view outside was great except that the sky was gloomy.

What we did immediately while on the go was to transfer the picture from the camera to my phone.

You just need to download Canon free app called Canon Camera Window. Next you enable the WiFi function on the camera by pressing on a little button at the rear. Then your phone will detect the Camera WiFi connection and you will be able to see the same photos that appear in the camera on your phone! Transferring the picture via Canon Camera Window app to my mobile is as simple as that! If you have an Android phone, you can even use the NFC sensor on the camera and transfer the pictures by simply tapping the camera and your Android phone together! For bloggers like us, it is extremely easy and helpful to immediately transfer good image quality photos on the go via WiFi to share on all social media platforms.

I must say the photos are well-taken even in dim light. Not forgetting that most of the photos were taken by my kids with shaky hands, the photos still turn out pretty well!

On our way, YH took this picture with the PowerShot D30 and I really like it! It looks like an award winning photojournalist piece! Don’t you think so?

As it was raining cats and dogs, most of the stations were closed. It was a pity we did not manage to go to the other 4 stations while having the Canon cameras. However, in order not to disappoint the kids, after the official event ended, we brought the kids in raincoats and adults in ponchos to Sentosa Toyland which was sheltered in a huge tent.

At about 7pm, the rain finally stopped for us!

With the Canon sponsored entry tickets on hand for the rest of the stations, we quickly went about to try out the activities at The Skyline Luge, The Tiger Sky Tower and Go Green Segway Fun Ride.

At The Tiger Sky Tower

It was a blessing in disguise that we had a clear night sky after the rainfall. Hence, we could enjoy the paranomic view of the beautiful Singapore skyline as the revolving Tower rose up to 50 storeys high! The kids could spot the huge brightly lit Christmas tree at Vivocity. I had been to many other countries’ observatory tower in Thailand, Sydney, Toronto, etc, but it was my very first time on Singapore’s very own observatory tower! And, it makes it more meaningful that my first time was also my 3 kiddo’s very first! It’s certainly worth a remembrance and hence we bought some souvenirs here.

At Go Green Segway Fun Ride

This is our second time on the Segway. The first ride was at the Families for Life event at Singapore Sports Hub a few months back. The prior experience did help us to ride smoothly with more confidence this time. Especially, when the 300m track was so dim that we practically had to depend on the lights from afar that filtered through the trees and probably also depended on the moonlight if she was visible that night, I am not so sure. The Segway was easy to manoeuvre. You just have to lean a little forward to let it go forward and return to the standing posture to stop it. The Segway was very interesting for all of us, except that my Little YT could not join in apart from wearing his helmet to fit in with the rest of us.

At The Skyline Luge

We were glad that the Skyline Luge opened till 930pm daily. Hence, we could experience The Luge at night! The Night Luge has lightings along its tracks which is a different experience from Day Luge. We were happy that Little YT could join us this time round as he sat between his Papa’s legs. We took the longer track called the Dragon Trail of 688 metres long. Papa took the lead and me was behind the 2 kids to ensure no kid was left behind me. We had absolute fun as we half raced and half cruised down the track. All the while, Little YT was calmly seated with his helmet on. The 2 older kids were screaming in excitement as they enjoyed the thrill of a mini night race.

The Sky Ride

After we had great fun racing down the track, we took the Sky Ride to get back to where we first started. The Sky Ride took us on a breathtaking view of Sentosa as we took in the night lights from high above.

It could have been a much enjoyable ride for me if not for my stupor of sitting outside the restraint safety stopper which was supposed to go in between my legs. The worse part was XX who was sitting beside me shifted the same way with me and she, too, had no restrainer between her legs! So, when our seat was taken high up above the trees and travelling at what seemed to be eternity, my hands started to break out in cold sweat! I was worried that in case of any emergency brake, XX and I would be flung off through the hole between the restraint bar and the seat! You could bet how much I was wishing for the ride to end even though it should be an enjoyable ride. In order not to frighten XX, I tried to chat with her and managed to make some jokes as I secretly prayed for a smooth ride. Also, I prayed for Little YT to sit still too, when I saw 2 seats in front of us, Papa was leaning towards Little YT for the entire ride to soothe him. That makes me wonder if The Sky Ride was not so suitable for unpredictable little ones.

Thanks to Canon, we had a wonderful day full of adventures. I had not had so much fun for a long time. I felt like I was back to my younger days when I was game for any adventure, except that it felt better to do it now with my 3 kids and hubby!

I was also happy that we had a chance to try out the Canon cameras. I know with my own camera, I would have shouted “be careful” here and “take care of the cam” there. The shock proof camera took away all these shouting and worries and I was able to relax even when Little YT took several selfies of himself with the Canon PowerShot D30!

And for the not so shock proof Canon PowerShot SX60HS, my girl was better at that camera than me! She taught me how to turn the screen 180 degrees so that it could be tucked in nicely back to the camera rear while still viewing the screen. She also taught me how to zoom in and out and power on and off while I was figuring out the camera for the first time. Kids learn fast, don’t they? Or maybe mummies are slower, especially mummies like me with 3 kids.

If you are thinking of getting an easy to use good camera with WiFi function, do check out the Canon PowerShot SX60HS that we used. It would be good for sharing of good quality photos on the go.

If you have kids and would love to have a peace of mind when you hand the camera over to them, you should check out Canon PowerShot D30. It could go underwater up to 25 metres and drop resistant at 2 metres high. I think this camera would provide lots of fun for the kids if they can take pictures while swimming or snorkeling.

Last of all, apart from the great cameras and great places of visit, I think a positive mind goes a long way in turning what could be a total spoilsport day to a day of amazing family fun day! And that has to thank the 4 determined adults (Kel and I, Summer from ahappymum and her hubby) to believe that the rain would stop for our children 🙂

Disclaimer: We were honoured to be invited to Canon Family Blogger Event to have a hands-on experience on the 2 cameras mentioned in the blog as well as to enjoy Sentosa, The State of Fun! Thank you Canon for the beyond wonderful experience we had! You guys are awesome!