There is no nursing room here. However, there are diaper changing rooms next to the toilets on both floors. Actually they just have to put a chair or armchair into these rooms to make it suitable for nursing. They are certainly large enough.

Our boy can count and read/recognize numbers at 20 months old. His favourite thing to do now at shopping malls is to point out to the large labels with numbers in them and shout out the numbers as he points. Here is a video of him at the carpark.

Yes we are teachers, and specifically my husband is a Mathematics teacher. However, we do not force our boy to learn numbers at such a young age. We tried flash cards when he was 3 months old but lazy us only did it with him about 1-2 times a week before we gave up by the time he turned 4 months old. We believe in learning through play and learning through experiences. He has been going to child care since 18 months old but they don’t teach him numbers or alphabets either. So how did our boy manage to be able to read at such a young age? We were pleasantly surprised but thought back at what we did that could have made that impact in his little brain.

1. Count when you are going up the lift
Since he was little, we will occasionally count the numbers in the lift as shown on the LED screen as the lift goes up/down. It helps that we stay on the 10th floor. 10 numbers is not to little and not too many. By occasionally, I mean about once out of every 10 times up/down the lift. Of course when there are people sharing the lift with us we do not count out loud for our baby. At about 18 months, he surprised us by saying 10, when we reached the number 10, and 1, when we reached the ground floor. Since then, we counted more often as we saw he was very interested with the blinking numbers.

2. Encourage, do not force.
When we noticed he could say 1 and 10, we would clap and say “yay!” or “well done!”or “clever boy!”. As we counted more often in the lift, (we will still only count when we are alone in the lift), he picked up more numbers like 2, 5, and 8. He is not interested in the numbers all the time when we are in the lift. We take his cue. When he looks up at the numbers, we will count for him. When he doesn’t, we won’t. They do not need to learn how to count at this age anyway. If they do, it’s a bonus.

3. Transfer the Learning.
He was really good with numbers 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10. That’s all he could count. He will practice when he wakes up by reciting “2, 5, 8, 1″. That humoured us quite a bit. Once we were at a carpark, he pointed and shouted “2″! That was when we realised he not only could count (a little), he could recognise the numbers! We proceeded to point out all the number 2s when we see them. And it became a game for him when we were outside. Later on he picked up 5 and 8 as well. And subsequently other numbers. He read large price labels on sale items, counter numbers, people’s jersey numbers, etc. Our playmat at home has some numbers too and we will get him to look for the numbers for us.

One example of a jersey he pointed to an shouted “5″!

4. Reinforce the Learning
When visiting the library, we will borrow a few books on numbers. He likes to read them at home as he knows what he is reading, and of course he gets a lot of praise from us. On top of that, when he is drawing(or rather scribbling), he will get us to write the numbers for him and we will oblige. He has toys that count as well that he has been playing since 6 months old but now are more meaningful when he plays them. A few of these are Fisher Price toys.

An example of a toy he used to play with but is much more meaningful now.

5. Repeat and Repeat.
When he could count and read and recognize 1-10, he still could not say “Seven”, probably because it was the only number with 2 syllabus. When he comes to seven, we will help him with it. Now, at 20 months old, he mumbles a “seven” when we show him the number 7 and ask him what it is.

Other ideas:
This portion is from friends who are encouraging their toddlers to count. You could buy number magnets and let them play with them on the fridge. Or introduce blocks/toys with numbers. Some common ones are bath toys. Number charts can be a good investment too, or you can make your own! IPad/TV? I personally don’t like this but I know kids who have learnt a lot from these devices. Do you have anymore suggestions? Comment below!

All these suggestions are applicable to learning alphabets as well. (except for the lift portion. You can replace it with the “ABC” song though) However, I think numbers are easier to start off with as there are only 10 different numbers whereas there are 26 different letters in the alphabets!

Remember, at this age, learning should be fun. Do not do drill and practise now! Do not make them detest learning if not you will have a hard time later on when they start schooling. They will learn when they are ready. Playing, interacting and exposing them to different things and experiences are more important now. Have fun!

Last weekend, we didn’t have anything planned for Riley on Saturday. We decided to bring him to the Jurong East Library to renew his animal books (Last month’s theme was Animals). This month, he is all into numbers, and so we decided to swap his current books for a Numbers theme.

At the library, I encountered two kinds of parents that leave me scratching my head. I wonder if they know that children copy the actions of their parents. Tell me if you have seen these types before.

Type 1: My handphone is most important.

This parent was literally 99% on his handphone, typing furiously away on one hand while carrying a toddler in the other hand. I was reading out loud to Riley when I spotted him. He saw what I was doing, pretended to browse some books, picked up a book, and chucked it into his toddler’s hands, and returned to his phone.

Why do some parents think that by bringing their child to the library means that the job is done? The venue is only the beginning.

Type 2: You shall not touch my books!

This parent was sitting with his child. They have selected roughly about 20 books which they placed around them and the parent was reading to the child. Another toddler comes along, and was briefly distracted by the books that this parent had, and took a book from “his” pile to flip. Immediately the parent got all defensive and gave the “WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING MY BOOKS?” death stare to the toddler. He was on the verge of snatching the book back from the toddler, when the toddler’s maid came along and got him to return the book, and brought him to pick out another one.

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Riley managed to pick up most of the animals names quite well. He knows that the lion roars, because he heard it roar at the zoo, however he thinks all giraffes go “Ummmm”. In case you missed the previous episode, click here “The Day Giraffes Were Not Tall”.

After spending about close to 45 minutes choosing and reading books, we were ready to leave. And this was when I spotted a trolley that had a sign that said “Please return books here after browsing.” It was empty. I see a lot of books lying around. It seems that parents are fine leaving the books all over the place and leaving it up to the librarians to pick up after them.

This was not the kind of behaviour I wanted Riley to follow. So I turned to Riley, and gestured to the trolley and I pointed to the books and said “Keep” :)
He still could not understand, so I demonstrated one book for him to see.

Well, as all learning goes, you will not get it right the first time. This is an NG for Riley’s first attempt to keep the library books.

After a few tries, he decided to practice his shuttle run here.

I get funny stares all the time. But seeing how Riley now knows that he has to keep his books after reading, it is worth it.

A parent must always have a keen eye for teachable moments. If at the library we are more concerned about our phone or about the “ownership” of books that we spotted first, we might miss opportunities to guide our children to learn more important lessons in life.

There are no nursing rooms here but each floor has a diaper changing unit located in the handicapped toilet.

Go to the one at Takashimaya or Paragon instead if there is a need to nurse.

Located at levels 3 and 5

Amenities:
Electrical points available inside Breastfeeding room.
One Breastfeeding room and 2 changing stations.
Changing stations each had a bin underneath it for easy disposal of diapers.
No water dispenser

Remarks:
Very clean! They even provide a sample of baby Gaia moisturizer to use if need to. Bags are also provided for disposal of diapers. There is only one Breastfeeding room though. So hopefully no one is using it!

As the baby neared 2 years old, we wanted to bring him for a holiday that he would enjoy instead of somewhere where we would enjoy (ie shopping, eating). We searched online for many ideas, spoke to many mummy/daddy friends, coupled with the discount that Silkair was offering, we finally decided on the destination. Phuket. Not Patong beach though, but somewhere quieter with few people on the beach. It was also a plus point that the flight would take less than 2 hours. So Phuket, off we went!

When we reached the hotel which was about 20-30mins drive from the airport, we were greeted pleasantly by their staff there. They even gave a little toy to Riley as a welcome gift. The adults got a drinks apparently made from flowers. We were briefed on all the things we could do at the resort. The resort was on large land space but only about 3 storeys high. We were then brought to our room by the porter.

This is our room! We took a pool access room. Once we opened the curtains and Riley saw the pool, he literally wanted to jump in. It was a good thing that there was a shallow portion of it maybe meant for kids to play or for adults to lounge in. Note though, this is not a private pool. It is linked to adjacent rooms. However, less people (practically none) swim in it as compared to the main pool. Reason? The water was SUPER cold! Riley would still insist he goes in there at least once a day though. He would be happy just sitting on the first step and splashing at the COLD water. Next time we come to this hotel, we would choose a garden access one instead, which is closer to the main pool and beach. And so we do not have to be in the cold water with him. (hee…) The hotel room is not carpeted. Pros is that it is clean and not sandy. Cons is it can be slippery with water. So we had to make sure the floor is always kept dry for the toddler.

There is no bath tub for the bath room. However, there is a large shower area with a rain shower and the toilet bowl is in a separate room. Here, you can also see how the pools of the pool access rooms link to each other. They do not link to the main pool.

This is the main pool which is next to the beach. The front part of the photo shows the large, shallow toddlers area which is a gradual slope from 0m to 0.50m. Further back is the deeper pool which is at the maximum 1.40m deep. Many older children swim there too. There is a small pool bar by the side that serves 1-for-1 drinks from 5-7pm everyday. Even drinks like coke and smoothies are 1-for-1! Needless to say, we spent quite a lot of our time in this pool. In the late mornings, the sun comes into the toddlers pool area which makes it warm for the kids. However, just remember to put on sunblock for both the kids and the parents. If you want a cooler and shaded area, the adult pool is partly in the shade. There are shallow areas there for kids play too but you have to keep a close watch as the shallow portion could dip into the 1.40m depth.

Next up is the beach! The good thing about this hotel is that the beach connects right to the hotel! From our room which I consider it far from the beach, is about 3-5 mins walk. From the main swimming pool, it is about 1 min walk? This photo was taken at about 9-10am in the morning. As you can see, there are shaded portions of the beach and we were really thankful for that! Number of people is really little as well, most of which are families with little children. The sand is very clean with no litter at all. And water is very clear. In case you didn’t bring your own, you can borrow a beach mat from the counter that you get the pool towels from. One thing to note though is that there is dip in the water and it is especially close to shore when it is the low tide. (By the way, in this pic, it is low tide, with high tide at about 11-12nn) The dip is from legs-waist height to about shoulder height. Got to watch out for kids wading in.

This is the restaurant where we had our breakfast which was included in the hotel booking. It had an attached kids room that was only open for the kids for breakfast. The kids also had their own spread of food. However, this portion was often infested with ants and flies, so we would take the food for Riley from the adult buffet. He enjoyed the little tables and chairs though, with the colourful utensils. He insisted that daddy and mummy sit at his table with him but the restaurant has a rule that only one adult can be inside with one kid. So we had no choice but to take turns to keep him company. There are 2 restaurants in the hotel. This, and another one next to the pool called Pesto. Both serve similar foods. Kids menu is exactly the same. However, Pesto focussed more on pasta and pizza and this one, called the J’s Restaurant had more local foods. Both places served pasta but the one at Pesto was much yummier. Kid’s meals are free with every adult main course ordered at the J’s restaurant. This offer does not apply at the Pesto. However, there is a live singer/band that entertains from 6pm every evening. There, you can see the beautiful sunset too. There is a nightly buffet dinner at the J’s restaurant. But if you do not like their buffet, you can always order ala-carte. Ala-carte prices are average about $15SGD. Bills can be charged to your room and paid with credit card later on. So you can go cashless your entire stay. But too bad we didn’t know about this so we hadd to use up our baht.

This is the Kids’ Club at the hotel, located next to the spa. (By the way, we didn’t visit the spa at all. Bookings are usually full for the day, so it would be good to make bookings for any spa service at least 1 day in advance) We spent a lot of time at the Kids’ Club too. This was part of the reason why we chose this hotel. It is full of places to entertain the kids. At the Kids’ Club, they hold planned activities everyday. Some examples are face painting, balloon making, etc. And these are free! You can also pay for some activities like the batik painting. You can literally spend the whole day there. Even without the planned activities, kids are entertained by colouring, reading, ball pit, slide, other toys by the side (eg. blocks, doll-house, wooden tool box, etc), Electronic games like Wii, watching Cartoon network on TV etc. Parents can leave their kids there the entire day if they are above 4 to be cared for by the staff.

Our typical day at the hotel is like this. 8am breakfast, 9am beach, 10am pool, 11am shower and rest, 12nn lunch, 1pm nap and rest in room, 4pm Kids’ Club, 6pm dinner, 7pm Kids’ Club again, 8pm Sleep. For late sleepers, there is twice a week where they will screen movies outdoors in the garden. Take note to bring your mosquito patches/repellents though, if you intend to be outdoors when it is dark.

Overall we enjoyed our stay there. We were there 5 days 4 nights and we never took a step out of the hotel. If you intend to do day tours and shopping, it would be better to stay at Patong beach area and not Mai Khao area. if your intention is to have a relaxing and exclusive holiday and want to stay at the hotel, this is the one to go for. That explains why most people there are families with young children. By the way, we were trying very hard to find out if there was aiport tax to be paid when we depart but couldn’t get the answer anywhere. The answer is, there isn’t! The hotel also provides shuttle bus service to Patong area. You will have to pay for it but it is cheaper than taking a cab. Journey takes about 1 hour. Do comment if you want to know more about the place. I will try my best to answer the questions. :)

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Location:
B2, next to 4Fingers, which is next to Kopitiam.

Amenities:
Hot water dispenser
3 changing stations
2 Breastfeeding rooms
2 armchairs for waiting daddies
Electrical point in the Breastfeeding rooms.

Many products are much cheaper when we buy from their original USA websites as compared to buying them in stores in Singapore. However, many of these websites do not ship to Singapore. Thus, many of us participate in sprees maybe because we are not sure how to make purchases ourselves, or being new, we feel it is safer to buy under someone who is more experienced. I started off that way. But then I thought, why should I keep letting these spree owners earn money? Why don’t I learn to make purchases myself and save some money from paying the spree owners? And I did. However it was not a short process as I couldn’t find step-by-step guide anywhere. I had to ask people who were willing to answer my many questions. In the end, I managed to purchase, and have been doing so ever since. :) I hope this post will help first-timers to buy from sites like Carter’s, Osh Kosh, Gap, Disney, Victoria’s Secret, Ralph Lauren, etc. Please feel free to comment if you have any questions to ask. I will help you as much as I can. Hopefully in time for the upcoming Black Friday Sales!!

1. Sign up with a Shipping Company of your choice
Here are some links to some of the companies that are commonly used. Personally I prefer Comgateway due to their prices and cashback reward system. They also have some discounts with DBS cards, and so far, their customer service is ok. I only tried Vpost and Comgateway so far. And I didn’t really like Vpost’s prices and customer service. But I think they have discounts with Citibank cards. How to choose which one you might ask. I would say first, check which credit cards you have and which have discounts with them. Then trial and error based on reviews from your friends on the service and speed of delivery.

Comgateway: http://www.comgateway.com/
Vpost: http://www.vpost.com.sg/
MyUS: http://www.myus.com/
Borderlinx: http://www.borderlinx.com/

During registration, give your address that you would like them to ship to. Eg if you know you won’t be home to receive the parcel and want to save the hassel of having to go to the post office, you can key in your mother’s address knowing that she will be home all the time. At the point of successful registration with the shipping company, you will be given an USA address. Take note of this address as you will need it in the next step.

2. Register with the Website you would like to purchase from
Go to the website you intend to buy from, and register with them. For the address, key in the USA address you were given at the point of registration with the shipping company.
For example: If you would like to order from Carter’s/OshKosh (which in fact is the same website and company), go to www.carters.com and click on “Sign In”. You will be prompted to key in your email address. Click on “Create an account” and then follow the rest of the instructions. Just remember to use your USA address when you register. You can always change this USA address later on if you intend to change the Shipping Company.

3. You are ready to shop! But remember not to exceed $400sgd!
Start adding items into your cart, check out, and key in your credit card details etc. So far from experience, DBS cards give slightly better exchange rates with USA websites. Your shipping address (your USA address which you keyed in at the time of registration) should automatically be reflected. For billing address, you can key in your Singapore address. Remember to keep purchases within $400SGD if not you will be charged GST. This $400 limit includes shipping as well. As a rule of the thumb, when I purchase kids clothes from Carters, I try to spend about $200-$220 each time. This will maximise shipping cost and stay within the non-taxable amount. $200usd will be about $260-$290sgd. Shipping will cost about $40-50usd which is about $65sgd. That will be about $350, quite a safe amount to stay clear of the $400sgd limit. remember shipping is based on weight and size of the items. The example I am giving here is based solely on kids clothes only. Try not to buy less than $200 unless you are combining purchases from other websites as well. If not the shipping will not be worth it. Get a few friends who stay nearby or are people you meet often and buy together.

Happy Shopping!! :)

Located at
Level 2, next to the toilets at the main shopping building.

Amenities
2 changing stations
1 Breastfeeding room
No water dispenser and electrical points

Located at “Birds of Play” (Children’s play area). This is the nursing and changing room. There are many diaper changing rooms around the park itself.

Amenities:
3 changing stations
2 Breastfeeding rooms
Hot/cold water dispenser

I’m surprised that they bothered to build such a nice nursing room at a place of interest. This nursing room is definitely much nicer and larger than those located at the zoo or river safari where more people go to! In case the kids are playing, there is also an outdoor shower area.

Located at every floor (photo taken from the one at level 6)

Amenities:
1 changing station
2 Breastfeeding rooms each with a chair and powerpoint
Hot/cold water dispenser

Photos generously contributed by Shakilah Ramli.

Location: Level 4

Amenities:
1 breastfeeding room
1 changing station
hot water dispenser

Review (by Sylvy Soh):
Clean and spacious. Careful of hot water splashing onto the changing mats if baby is lying there. The motion-triggered lights automatically went off after 10-15mins. I go a shock when the room turned pitch black. Having a light app in your smartphone will be very useful.

Photos generously contributed by Sylvy Soh.

And so, although this is my second baby, I decided to go for a hospital tour. My gynae delivers at Mount Alvernia and Mount E Orchard. I delivered my #1 at Mount A and was upset that for my first night, all the single rooms were full. As a first time mum, I really wanted and needed the company of my husband and his support by being there. Also, I had wanted the rest that I badly needed after the birth. I was pushed into a quad room and the other mummies who were there were chatting or had visitors or were watching tv and I couldn’t rest. Lucky thing was the very next morning I got upgraded to a single room. This time round I really wanted a single room.  But people are telling me Mount E is more ex (which of course it is) and is old, not like Mount E Novena which is like a hotel. Well, I decided to go down to just take a look to help me decide.

We booked a tour last minute and the only available slots were on Mondays at 4pm. Not sure if all along that was their only time-slot. But it fell on a Monday when both hubby and I could make it, so we went! We only did a tour at Mount A 2 years ago. So we didn’t know what to expect other than some goodie bags and some refreshments. Well, all hospital tours are the same. This is what they will give you. :)

So as we registered at the lobby, we were immediately given our goodie bag. So while waiting for the tour to start, we had fun rummaging through it to see what was inside. In a Mount E bag, they gave us a package from Motherhood Magazine which consists of some Kodomo samples, Mamypoko Newborn diaper sample, and Bepanthen samples. There was also a card to call NTUC income to collect a free gift but that’s just too inconvenient to do so. (Take note that the hospital uses Huggies and not Mamypoko which was given as samples by Motherhood) Stemcord gave a nursing shawl which is a very useful gift for those who intend to breastfeed. I have a similar one that I bought last time! For those giving birth in 2015, we will be given a nursing shawl too as part of the SG50 gift pack. There was also a file with all the documents inside with information on package prices, parking prices, cord blood banking, birth registration and the form for pre-registration.

Mount Elizabeth Orchard encourages you to do pre-registration before the EDD so that when you have labour and come to the hospital, there is no need to worry about the paper work at all. There are a few ways you can pre-register. You can go down personally to the Admissions corner at level 2 near the drop off point (photo below) to do the registration. you have to bring the pre-registration form, your IC/Passport and a doctor’s letter that states when your EDD is. You will queue up, do the necessary administration and collect a white envelope at the end of it which you have to bring on the day of your labour. You can also fax in these documents to the number stated on the pre-registration form. But you still have to turn up to sign the documents and collect the pre-admmission package (the white envelope). You can also scan and email the documents to the personnel who brought you on your hospital tour and she will submit the documents for you. You will still have to turn up to sign the documents and collect the pre-admission package.

After the birth of your child, you have up to 14 days to register the baby at this room to the left of the Admissions counter, afterwhich you will have to do it at ICA. If you want to do the birth registration, you will need the original marriage certificate and both ICs of the parents.

Next, they brought us to the delivery suite which is located on level 3. If pre-admissions had been completed prior to the time of labour, we can proceed directly to the delivery suite. If it is not done, it is still ok. Mummy will go to the delivery suite but daddy will go to do the paper work.

At the delivery suite, you will be hooked up to the CTG for them to monitor the contractions and the baby’s heartbeat. There is an attached bathroom. (In Mount A, 2 rooms had to share a bathroom) You don’t have to proceed to any observation ward prior to the labour ward. (I think only KKh have to do this. At Mount A it was direct to the labour ward too) However, if the 7 delivery suites are full, (which they said happens during peak periods on days like Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, etc) they will place you in a temporary room to observe first. One delivery suite actually comes with a bathtub for mummies who wants to have a water birth. I thought this concept was very interesting. Those who are interested, can just tell the hospital staff of your birth plan. What I liked about the delivery suite was that there is a comfy sofa on which the daddy can lie flat and sleep while waiting. I remember in Mount Alvernia it was just an armchair, though my hubby didn’t have a problem snoozing while waiting. After delivery, you would remain in the delivery suite for about 1-2 hours. They will be cleaning and weighing the baby and if you so choose to breastfeed or have skin-to-skin, this is when you do it too. This room is very close to the operating theatre and the NICU in case there is a need for emergency C-sect or if the baby needs extra attention.

After this 1-2 hours, you will be pushed to the maternity wards which is on level. 4. On entry to the maternity wards, the deco along the corridors makes it very hotel like. The olden, high-class kind of hotel deco. It gave a very posh, tai-tai feel to it. Another mummy who went to the Thomson Medical Centre (TMC) for the hospital tour commented that here, the corridors are much larger and spacious. It is also quieter here. TMC felt like everyone was rushing here and there. While visiting the labour wards, there were 3 babies just delivered and had to be pushed along the corridor to the nursery and they had to make space along the corridor and it had a very busy feel, compared to Mount E Orchard which had a very relaxing, spa-like feel.

On the way to the wards, we passed by the nursery. To my surprise, there was only 1 baby in there! Was there only 1 mummy who gave birth there today? The tour personnel explained that they encourage rooming in with the mummy, if possible 24 hours, unless the mummy needs to rest. Hubby’s and my first thought was: Confirm we need to rest. Hee hee. Babies and Mummies will be tagged with a “Hugs & Kisses” tag. If happen someone pushes the baby out of the ward, the mummy’s tag would sound an alarm. If the nurse happen to push in a wrong baby to the mummy and the tags don’t match, an alarm will sound too. If it’s the correct baby, a melody would be played. This is so interesting and cute. :) Of course it is all for security and recognition of the baby. Even daddies are not allowed to push the baby from the nursery. Only mummies or nurses can do so.

The maternity room will be where you stay for the next 3-4 days. At the time of the tour, there were no double rooms available at all. Due to the high demand for single rooms, they have converted almost all rooms into single rooms(26 single rooms in all), leaving only 2 double rooms and all 4 beds were occupied at the time of the tour. The room size of the double room is slightly bigger, with the furnishings exactly the same, just that instead of a lodger bed for the daddy, it is another bed for another mummy, with curtains to separate the 2. From what I saw when I peeped into one of the double rooms, it is still quite spacious if guests were to visit. The single room is simply furnished with an attached bathroom. There are the usual amenities like the safe, closet, minibar (pay for every consumption). Toiletries are provided, sheets/blankets/pillows are provided for the daddy as well. Additional perks for the mummy are 15 minutes of post-natal massage and a celebratory dinner for 2 or a cocktail party for 6.

The VIP/premier suites, which they call their Daffodil/Magnolia Suites are quite similar to the single room in terms of amenities, considering the price is more than double. It is definitely larger, with an extra sofa and living room area for guests. Minibar is complimentary and will be replenished everyday. There are also additional perks like free mani-pedi for the mum, 24-hours personal nurse, etc.

At the end of the tour, we gathered at the Parentcraft room where during your stay, (if you are interested) they will hold lessons there to teach you how to handle the baby. They also have Parentcraft lessons for expectant mummies and daddies to attend prior to birth and this course is free if you sign up with Stemcord! We then had some Q&A and were given the feedback form and refreshments. Part of the refreshments was samples of 3 soups from the confinement menu that the mummy can choose while staying here. We tried the black chicken ginseng, papaya fish soup and some herbal soup. They were not bad, quite tasty, although the fish soup was quite oily. But at least it didn’t feel like they were scrimping on the herbs for the soups.

That ended our tour and quite confirmed our decision to deliver our #2 there. Some questions that we got clarified at the tour was that parking is complimentary for 1 car. We will have to register the IU number and the car will have unlimited entry and exits during mummy’s stay at the hospital. If you had a 2nd car there is no option of a season pass that you can buy. We also found out that our #1 could stay in with us if it were a single room but we had to sign an indemnity form for his stay.

To book a hospital tour for Mount E Orchard/Novena, Gleneagles and Parkway East, or to find out more, you can contact them via this website: http://appointment.mountelizabeth.com.sg/MakeAppointment

It’s been some time since we brought our little boy to an indoor playground. We used to frequent Fidgets at the Grandstand and went to Amazonia at Great World City a couple of times. As our boy is now 21 months old, we wanted to find somewhere where there are slides and balls for him to play, and also somewhere where parking is not to expensive as we project to spend about 3 hours there. Thus we decided on going to Polliwogs at Robertson Walk.

Indoor playgrounds are usually packed to the brim during weekends and school holidays. But we were pleasantly surprised when we entered Polliwogs at Robertson Walk as there were less than 5 children there at 10:15am. (They open at 10am). We thought it may be because we were early but until we left at 12plus, there were still less than 10 children there. We were realyl happy that there were so few children there!

So first up, we went to the main play area. Hubby was afraid that when it got more crowded, the older kids would be rowdy (as they usually are) and it would not be safe for our 1+ toddler to play. The obvious thing to try first was the slide and the ball pit which both the daddy and the baby liked a lot!

Other play items in the main play area are the water trampoline, rock-climbing wall, an area where you can use guns to shoot sponge balls and some wall activity area next to part of the cafe which is the nearest part of the cafe where the parents can sit while watching their kids in the playground.

Another major attraction in the main play area was the flying fox which the daddy loved. Riley was too young to play on it though the daddy tried to carry him and hold on to the handrails at the same time.

At the toddler’s area, there was their own smaller ball pit and small scaled slides. There was a waterslide too as you can see in the foreground of the picture.

There was also a revolving tower and some wall-activities which toddlers love. Behind the toddler’s wall activity area is one of the few party rooms they have.

Here is the pricing for the parties. All packages include free 2 hours of play for all invited kids which will start after the party ends.

The cafe in the centre of the indoor playground, separating the main play area from the party rooms and the toddlers area was very large. However, even with the low number of customers that day, they took almost 20 minutes from the time we ordered to serve us our food. I wonder how long they would take to serve if the place was full. We ordered sandwich sets which I thought was simple to make. Wonder how long it would take if we had ordered something like pizza or spaghetti.

The good thing about the playground is that there is a nursing and changing room there, and next to it, there are low sinks for the little ones to wash their hands. For the toilets, you have to exit the playground via their backdoor.

Overall we enjoyed our stay there for a couple of hours. We really like it that it was very empty even though it was the school holidays. Parking was affordable too as it was open-air coupon parking which was 50cents every half an hour. Only thing we didn’t like was the long wait for the food. We should have eaten at Pies and Coffee which was just downstairs. But of course, it was more convenient to eat at the playground itself.

Would we go there again, yes! Only when hubby drives though as it is not very convenient by public transport :)

Paragon has a small children’s playground which is very convenient for you to leave the kids there and go do some shopping on your own. It is free of course!

It is located just outside Mothercare.

Located at level 4, next to Kopitiam. Follow the signs that say “Nursing room”.

Amenities:
2 changing stations
2 nursing rooms
Hot/cold water dispenser

Remarks. Big but very old. Clean but smells a bit musky. Very used. On a weekday afternoon, both nursing rooms were occupied and there were 3 strollers parked in the main area.

Located at B3, L1, L5.

Amenities:
2 Breastfeeding rooms
2 changing stations
Hot/cold water dispenser
One had a microwave oven! (L5)

Generally quite clean but well used. Channing station at L5 is just a changing mat and not a normal built in changing station like the other levels. One of the Breastfeeding rooms on L5 is larger than the rest. Plus point is they have an attached toilet!! :)

There are many people who are spreeing and earning from helping people buy from iHerb. But in fact, iHerb is the simplest overseas website to buy from! Why? Because for a flat fee of $4usd (Max weight of 6.35kg, maximum value of $200usd), it ships your items, nicely packed in a box, directly to your doorstep! They use Singpost and you are able to track your items! No need to pass links to people to buy for you, no need to check if they received/processed your items, no need to go collect from them or worse even, pay another sum of money for them to courier or mail the items to you. Best of all, from the day you order, it only takes about 1 week for the items to arrive! What are you waiting for now?

So how do you go about doing it? Here’s a step-to-step guide to help you. If you intend to do any online shopping from overseas websites, I recommend to try iHerb first. It really is the simplest. :)

1. Sign up an account with iHerb. You can click on the link to go directly to the iHerb website.

2. Start shopping! Add things into your cart. Some common things I like to order are organic snacks and Aveeno baby wash for my toddler, and Kettle chips for the hubs.

3. When you check out, key in your address where you want them to deliver the items to. Hint: Using DBS cards so far give me the best exchange rates. :)

4. If you are a first time buyer on iHerb, you can use this code PFN502 to get $10 off with minimum purchase of $40.

Simple enough? Go try it! :) You can leave a comment if you need any more guidance. :)

Happy Shopping! :) :) :)

Located at L1 & L2

Amenities:
2 changing stations
1 Breastfeeding room (with electrical point)
Hot/cold water dispenser

Remarks:
You will have to exchange your IC or driving license at the information counter at level 1 for the key to the Breastfeeding room. (No need if you just need to use the changing stations to change diapers) This is quite inconvenient if you are on Level 2. Room is clean but since changing stations and water dispenser are at a common area, it is well used by the people who work there.

Westgate mall probably has the largest free outdoor playground in Singapore. It is located at Level 4. When they first started, they were very well run with security employed to do crowd control and to limit the number of children in the playground. The even had a first aid booth. However, recently, I realised that there is no more security at the entrance. Good thing is that you no longer need to queue up to enter. Bad thing is there can be many children in the play area so parents got to be more cautious.

Their toddler area is generally quite empty and very well separated from the main play area as it is quite a distance away.

There is a rock wall for the budding climbers which is usually quite empty as well.

And here is where all the kids are. The main play area which consists of 3 different tree structures with slides and is not suitable for toddlers as parents will find it hard to maneuver inside.

There is also a water play area and although stated for 2-5 years old, many kids who are playing there are older than that. Next to the nursing room at west gate, there are shower areas for the kids.

For our boy who just turned 22 months, he was not interested in the toddler area anymore. He would have loved to play at the waterplay area but daddy and mummy weren’t prepared for that. He was too young to play in the tree structures. Thus, he settled for this which he loved. :) Saves mummy and daddy the hassle of running all over the place too. :)