Seoul Day 3: Preview of the New Children's Space at Seoul Grand Park, "Avion"

Nope it wasn't planned! We're back in Seoul for the week long school holidays with family and today's itinerary read 'Seoul Land' (http://eng.seoulland.co.kr/) all over it.

Stopping for a hot breakfast at Seoul Grand Park Station...

Uncle whips up a lean soup with traditional skewered fish cake to warm up on a cold morning.

We were ready to spend the warmest day of the weekly weather forecast enjoying the great outdoors of Seoul Grand Park... only to be greeted by this upon arrival:

Closed thanks to bird flu! Oh no... what do we do now?

The children were oblivious to the fact that our plans were thwarted and enjoyed racing up and down the open spaces while the parents figured out what to do. Just then, we spotted some men putting up a banner advertising the new children's playground. We asked them if it was indeed open and they confirmed that it was.

Enjoying the park while the grown-ups figure out what to do...

Even upon arrival, we took a good amount of time trying to figure out how to get it in! The main entrance wasn't even opened to the public yet. Ticketing booth was located inside the building, Walk into the mini art gallery and ticketing counter is on the right. 

When the adults scouted the place and figured it would be a good substitute for the great outdoors, we bought our tickets and planted ourselves right outside a cafe while some of the dads took the kids to explore the play areas.

Exchanging our tickets for lanyards that we wore around our necks...

Shoes had to be stowed away in lockers... 2 pairs in each locker.

A small cafe on the ground floor selling cup noodles, drinks and simple snacks.

The first room we explored was creatively designed with padded floors and walls that allowed kids to have fun with Velcro 'noodles'.

Getting all tangled up...

Reminiscing 'Gulliver's Travels'...

Every hour, there would be announcements calling children to participate in organized activities and shows. This time, we caught a shadow theatre, and after the show, kids had a chance to participate by playing with cut-out props to make their own shadow plays.

Just outside the shadow theatre was the hippest wall to wall ball-pool I've ever seen, complete with padded climbing walls. The kids exiting from the theatre enjoyed bumping around in here for a while.

In this room, kids helped themselves to a basket of LEGO and be creative! There's a wall where you can fix your blocks on to make words or designs...

... and individual work stations to  exercise your creativity.

The following hour, there was an announcement calling for interested kids to join in an art session scratching drawings into a prepared crayon board to make interesting designs. The kids participated in the session on their own without understanding a single Korean word the instructor was saying, and still had fun and a nice drawing to take home.

The building is 3 floors high, and it took quite a while before the kids had enough of the first floor and proceeded to the second floor, where they were further 'wow'ed by a full scale play ground an indoor obstacle climbing course, soap bubble play area, wood-chip 'sand' pit, make believe camping ground and amphitheatre blaring cartoons. Really a feast for the senses, and in a way too much for my grown-up abilities. However, it was a holiday, and the kids were in full gear without need for refueling. We sent some parents out to buy back a late lunch (the hosts were understanding enough to make an exception for us as they understood that their cafes were not yet in full operation) while the kids continued their exploration.

The 'Bouncing Castle'!

Everyone's on the merry-go-round!

Play campsite... note a tired daddy knocked out in one of the tents!

Slippers are provided for toilets.

A cozy and strategic corner from which parents can monitor the play area while chilling out over a cuppa. You'll be happy to note that you're entitled to free WiFi usage anywhere in the park.

You can make really big bubbles here. The floor gets a little soapy so slippers are provided.

A family enjoys some clean 'sand-play'in the wood chip pit...

The ladies at the soap shop will conduct a free soap making session for one child per family. Coupons for this activity are available at the ground floor entrance.

Boys will be boys... hence the cars!

Typical indoor fun.

A corner for the 'very young'.

Finally, lunch arrives in the form of traditional black bean noodles, rice noodle soups, and traditional pancakes, which are quickly divided and conquered at the ground floor sitting area.

After lunch, we'd purchase enough tickets for an adult to accompany four children to the third floor for the 'Amazing Bugs' exhibition. It wasn't initially clear what the main theme of the exhibition was as there were large sized dinosaur robots, miniature animal displays, insect and reptile tanks, butterfly collections, a massive ball-pool, a mock up paleontology dig, and a place for kids to imprint their own 'fossils'into clay... what a mix! Nevertheless, it was mighty interesting!

Enjoying the small animals...

In keeping with the dino theme, many of these terrariums housed reptiles such as lizards and snakes.

 There's an exhibit explaining the life-cycle of rhinoceros beetles, complete with living specimens of larvae, pupae,... and even mating beetles!

Can you spot the creepy crawly tarantula?

More creepies!

The handler takes out a lizard for some hands-on learning! (This is not a picture of the handler...)

Dino-sized ball-pool...

And if you prefer something a little milder and more cuddly...

Butterfly collection.

The area is officially opened on 6 April. More information on this playground can be found on its official website (http://www.avion.co.kr/). 

How to get there:
Exit at Seoul Grand Park (Line 4) Exit 2. Go up the escalator and walk all the way straight till you see the Information Center. The Information Center is also where you can buy tickets to the Zoo and Seoul Land. Turn right, walk straight towards the SkyLift and Avion is just behind it.

Opening Hours:
April to Oct: 10am to 7pm (Last admission at 6pm)
Nov to March: 10am to 6pm (Last admission at 5pm)

Giggles - Indoor playground at Marine Parade

The kids met up with the cousins at Giggles for a play date before lunch. The indoor playground is located opposite Parkway Parade shopping centre, where the shop-houses are. It is located on the second floor and there are two entrances to Giggles. One from the escalator facing MacDonalds and another from the stairs and bridge connecting Grand Mercure Hotel to the shop-houses across the road, just where MayBank is.

Giggles has two different rooms - one as the indoor playground and another as the party room. For a start, I stepped into the wrong room and was puzzled as to why it was so spacious, with no toys, only to find the real indoor playground just behind me.

The sign to look out for when coming up the escalator or crossing the bridge

The spacious party room. Turn behind and you would find the play room.

Kids keying in their particulars into the staff's Ipad

The space opens up where parents can see everything in one glance. Try out the Number Game. Press the button on the right and a computerized voice would come on, giving you either an addition or subtraction equation. Jump onto the correct answer for the game to continue. Only thing is once the button is pressed, the whole game resets itself. The kids ended up having more fun resetting the button than playing the game.

Good old ball pool that never fails to excite

Balancing acrobat in training

Tired of height? Kids can always opt for safe play corners littered around the playground.

The little one finds it therapeutic to swirl around in her red flower.

Safe for very young ones too.

Kids make friends with one another, taking turns to be the caterpillars.

Wall of fame for budding artists

Always a stack of cartoons for the little hands to get active on

Sugary treats available for sale

Beverages on sale too. Love it that there is enough lockers for the parents to keep the clutter away.
A baby changing table within the play area so you can still keep an eye on your other active ones.  

You can plan your day such that the little have a class before her play, which equates to more ME TIME!

More work of art on display.

What I like about Giggles. The staff appeared to be very warm to children when we were there. One of the kids' mother left her daughter there before disappearing for a long while. The daughter, after playing for a while, realized that the mother wasn't there and started crying. One of the staff ran to her and tried to pacify her. He even carried her and showed her interesting toys in a bid to distract her. After that, he brought her to where the big kids were playing and that calmed her down a lot. He stayed with her throughout and by the time the mother came back, she was already playing happily. The staff in many of the other play areas which I have been to, hardly ever approached the children unless they are doing some dangerous stunts, endangering the safety of themselves and others. At Giggles, the staff went the extra mile to make sure that all the children are playing safely and happily. Good Job Giggles! We will surely be back again, especially since Parkway Parade is just across the road. I can conveniently satisfy my own shopping and food craving after the kids settle their craving for fun.