Roller Blading at East Coast Park

After trying our hands...I mean, legs, on the ice-skating rink, we decided to give it a go on the roller blades. We took a cab to East Coast Park and alighted at Carpark C4 which is just next to Burger King Restaurant. There is a roller-blade kiosk just beside the bicyle kiosk and because it specializes on roller-blades, I feel safer putting my..legs...into their hands. There is another roller-blade kiosk near the East Coast Lagoon Food Center (Carpark E2) but as it merely provides rental of blades and gears (same kiosk as the bicycle kiosk).

The kiosk we went to provide coaching lessons as well. I enquired about it but I needed a minimum of 4 participants so that option was not feasible. If you manage to gather 4 participants, you can pay just $80 each for each month of weekend classes (both Saturday and Sunday) If time permits, you can attend both the weekend classes and that would really stretch your dollars. I took a while trying to get A all geared up, making sure that her blades are fitted well and her protective pads were securely fastened. After I geared up, we were ready to go....or so I thought.



Getting Ready

I used to blade from my house in Bedok all the way to East Coast Park and back and I wasn't all that bad a blader. But that morning, my legs were just jellies! So if you were there that day, you would see two desperate young girls...fine, one girl and her pathetic mother, trying to balance our way to the skating rink which is located about 50 metres away, though I was very certain it felt like 400m! It didn't help that it was a downslope journey from the kiosk to the skaters lane and while the staff held onto A, I zoomed my way down. A parked bicycle saved me from tumbling down the lane of embarrassment.

The staff was very kind, encouraging and assuring me that I would definitely remember the good old blading days and be flying in no time. At that time, I just wanted to get us to the skating rink in one piece. Flying wasn't on my to do list that day.

The two desperate girls

K is too young to blade so Daddy rented an electric car for her to move around in. We paid $5 for 15minutes but you may choose to buy their package instead. It gives you more 'mileage' for lesser bucks. When K was done, she moved on to the bubbles bottle which we brought from home. It was enough to keep her entertained while A and I worked those legs.



The car ride definitely looked a lot easier



There are railings at the skating rink but beware, fiery red ants marked their territory firmly so be sure to find a 'clear' area before you rely on the rails. A was pretty good right from the start. Even the staff said she had a very good sense of balance for someone her age. Within 10 minutes she was off the rails and moving along on her own. As for me, my legs regained their momentum and it was nice to blade against the wind once again.

There was a coaching session going on in the rink when we were there and even though we were not part of the class, the staff came over to check on us every now and then. That was really thoughtful.

By the time the hour was up, A and I were perspiring profusely. It felt good to know that I got a workout in while A was all happy that she could balance well on the blades. Definitely a great morning for everyone.

What better way to end it but with food