Laughing Ger

My Gym Open House

Following my post on signing up for the free trial for My Gym at Djitsun Mall, Ang Mo Kio, the day came for us to attend the trial. We arrived at Djitsun Mall to see that the escalators are not working yet, so you will need to take the lift up to My Gym. The earlier session has yet to leave, but staff were nice enough to let P in to try some of the structures first. They had a ballpit, 2 trampolines, a playground structure and plenty of mats and equipment. I like it that the lesson area is fully carpeted and they had padding in areas where kids could bump into.

While the earlier session sang their goodbye song, P and I sat by the side and watched. She couldn't resist the playground structure after a while and I had to watch her instead. I realized I didn't get a picture of the playground structure, but it's strange because you need to take a step down before you can slide. In my opinion, that's quite dangerous for bubs wearing socks, because they could fall easily. I never really had to 'spot' P when she goes on the slide sat neighborhood playgrounds, but for this one, I have to.

The session began with everyone gathering at the red circle. The teacher sang a welcome song and we have to go round to introduce our bubs and their age. P is somewhat smack in the middle in terms of age. We have a handful of kids that are 2 years old, and the rest at about 18/19 months old. The teacher led us through some songs and patting actions. P didn't do very well with the sit down activities and at one point in time, she even wandered off to their "storeroom" where they kept balloons and a lot of colorful equipment. Yes, I think P was going for their balloons. I had to pull her back and luckily, they started the bubble session. P was jubilant, and really raced all over trying to chase bubbles. After the bubble session, we settled back down for a puppet show. The teacher handling the puppets had to do some dialogue from behind the puppet scene, but we could barely hear her voice. It would be great if they could play some sort of story from the radio instead.

The last part was an active gym session, and the part that P and I really like. There were 3 stations - Handstand, rolling and swinging - and all led by facilitators. For handstand, P had to hold something like a push up bar placed on the floor. The instructor would make sure she holds on, while the role of the parent is to lift up her hips and the other facilitator will help to stretch out her legs. P did 2 really decent handstands, and I'm really proud of her. The rolling station was performed on a gym mat that looks something like a slide. The child needs to roll forward by tucking her chin on her chest. I've done this numerous times on my bed at home, and P never fails to be amused. However, P couldn't seem to get the idea at this station, and I was too self-conscious to be giving a demo with a queue of parents behind, so we just did a flimsy one and left. Last station, swinging like a trapeze! P totally totally enjoyed this. The child has to hold onto a wooden bar (suspended from ceiling), swing 5 times and the parent has to catch her. P was laughing out loud all the way, a look of joy on her face. Parents at the side were all telling me she's super happy. Unfortunately, she didn't get to do a 2nd round on this.

And, it was freeplay after that! Lesson was shorter than I expected, but staff told me it was only a snippet of their usual lessons. They gave out brochures about lesson pricing and birthday packages. Their promotion for that day was 3 weeks free with 20 weeks sign up. Each lesson will cost $40++, which is quite expensive in my opinion. Hubby wasn't all that keen too, so we didn't sign up in the end.

River Safari

It's hubby's birthday today, happy 29th! We were thinking what to do for the day, and I suggested the zoo because I had plenty of fun there on my birthday. What's more, it's free entrance for me. Hubby said ok, so I started to pack wetsuits, sunblock etc in anticipation of going to the water playground at the zoo. Before I could complete my packing, hubby told me he has yet to recover (runny nose for past few days) and wouldn't be up to playing with water. We changed out minds and decided to check out the River Safari instead.

River Safari is the newest addition to Wildlife Reserves Singapore’s portfolio of award-winning parks. Nestled between Singapore’s two award-winning wildlife parks – Singapore Zoo and Night Safari – River Safari offers an unforgettable adventure inspired by eight of the world’s most iconic rivers. This $160-million attraction features state-of-the-art exhibit design, Southeast Asia's largest panda exhibit as well as the world's largest freshwater aquarium. Housing one of the world’s largest collections of freshwater fauna, the park features over 5,000 specimens representing 300 species. And that includes Singapore’s resident giant pandas, Kai Kai and Jia Jia.

Guess who we saw when we first arrived?

Hubby and P got in free, so I was the only one who needed to pay to enter. They are offering a discounted price of $25 (adult) at the moment because the River Safari boat ride and animal exhibits along this ride will not be available until later this year. Upon entering, the staff sang hubby a "Happy Birthday" song, and helped to take this picture for us.

Paiseh moment for hubby, so he hid his face

The river safari was super easy to navigate. It basically one straight path that you walk through, and view the exhibits along the way. One word of caution is for you to head to the washroom before you start to explore, else the next nearest toilet is at the panda viewing area, which is like halfway through the park. There was too much fishy exhibits at the beginning of the trail, and P was somewhat disappointed, telling me "I want see animals," We pointed out various crocodiles to her and she remained unfazed. She only brightened up when we got to the panda viewing area, and it really does help that the panda area is airconditioned. It might have been the weather on that day, but we endured a breeze-less walk almost all the way (hand held fans might offer some relief).
 

The 3Ps - P, Papa, Panda

After the pandas, we took a bathroom break and found a restaurant right outside. It serves panda pau, how cute! On hindsight, this pau is really expensive and tastes no better than any red bean pau you find outside. Well, one of the touristy things we can do in Singapore :)

 

The River Safari took us about 3 hours to complete, which wasn't too bad. When the River Safari boat ride and animal exhibits open in future, you should defnitely buffer more time. Surprisingly, hubby told me he really liked the tranquil feel of the place and won't mind coming back in future. I will be back when the new attractions open.

eXplorerkid Baby & Junior Race 2013

The eXplorerkid Baby & Junior Race 2013 is back!

It was a memorable event for us last year, when P was still so babyish and took part in the crawling contest. Hubby was surprisingly gamed when I told him about this year's race, but he did comment that a leopard will not change its spots, and that P's reaction will be the same as last year, haha.

When browsing Downtown East's website to find out more about the race, I chanced upon this video which featured myself and P at slightly after the 1 min mark.

Come September 22, P will be hitting the 25 months mark, which puts her in the Toddler category of 25-30 months. Yep, no age advantage. I think they are supposed to complete some tasks before racing to the finishing line.

Due to the loyalty discount, we only paid $12 (inclusive of processing fee and mail) for this year's race. We're all looking forward to it!

My Gym at AMK

My Gym was created in 1983 by William Caplin and Yacov & Susi Sherman, who opened their first two My Gyms in Santa Monica and Van Nuys, California. Utilizing their experience in the fields of sports, dance, early childhood development, kinesiology and gymnastics, they developed a program and facility where children actively participate in a variety of structured, weekly physical education classes to gain social skills and self-esteem.

I'm quite excited to know that they will be opening a branch at AMK! We had previously gone for a trial at their Tampines centre, and I think they are quite well equipped with ball pits, climbing structures, attachable swings etc. P must have less than a year old when she went for that trial, so I'm quite keen to see how her motor skills have evolved since then.

I received an SMS on my phone yesterday, and this is what it says.

How can I pass up a chance to explore their new centre? I responded my interest and got a call from the centre shortly to confirm a slot on 14 July. Fast and efficient service.

The AMK branch is situated at the newly constructed Djitsun Mall (don't ask me how to pronounce the name, I'though I suspect it's a silent D, so that makes Jit-soon Mall). You can see it when the mrt is plying AMK - Yio Chu Kang. It's still a fair walk from AMK Hub, but it beats having to go Tampines to attend the classes. The last time we passed by the mall, it looks as if it wasn't going to open anytime soon. They had some banners showing some of the tenants, and it includes Sakae, Khongdon BBQ, Watsons, True Fitness and a few other children educational facilities. When speaking to the My Gym staff to confirm the slot for P, I asked if the mall is already open, and the answer was no. I wonder if My Gym is going to be the first tenant to open on 13 July.

Counting down to 14 July...

14 years of Friendship

Reserved a little time for friends tonight.