Fish Feeding @ Changi General Hospital

A favourite hangout for the kids that is convenient and fun on days when we have nothing to do but want to spend some family time together is to simply take a walk down to Changi General Hospital (CGH), buy a snack, purchase some fish-food and feed the fish!

Showing off the pellets we've just bought from the stall behind.

The fish food can be purchased from a nearby stall for $2, and the proceeds go to charity. After the bag has been emptied, the Ziploc bag is returned to the stall vendor to be re-used. The children enjoy feeding the fish here because, they are large and slow, making it easy to appreciate their form and movements. The water level is also raised above the ground and generally low enough so that the children, who are shorter than adults, have a good view of the fish up close. In addition, the pond is partially bounded by low glass walls which make it easy for the children to see the whole fish laterally, instead of just observing them from the top as per many other ponds.

Tossing the goodies into the pond.

Fish gather round to lap up the pellets in close proximity to the children! Note the low glass panels.

A large fish approaches the pellets to swallow them. The fish here move very slowly, making them easy to observe and appreciate.

The surrounding is also enhanced by greenery and sitting areas, making it a rather nice place to simply sit down and enjoy the view. Since the pond is not too large, it is also easy to monitor the children from a distance.

On one occasion when mummy was away, Daddy brought the girls down for lunch at CGH's Houseman's Canteen followed by a quick lunch for the fish after picking them up from school.

There are usually other children around the pond, and sharing our fish food with them is a great way to make friends and teach the kids to be kind and sociable. It also brings a smile to their faces when they feel good about having shared what they've been blessed with.

Inspecting the pond carefully, we find that many people have treated it like a wishing well, and the floor of the pond was littered with coins. We're not sure if this is a good idea however, as the bacteria on the coins can make the fish sick. However, whoever is cleaning up the aquarium is likely to earn a few extra dollars.


There are some very large fish in the pond, like this catfish. Can you spot any coins at the bottom of the pond?

There are a few signs with very cute cartoons depicting how we should care for the pond and the fish. The kids had fun reading these too.

Pointing out which food is acceptable for the fish!

Snacks (for humans) would include anything you can grab from the 7-Eleven, Mr Bean, Subway and Delifrance Cafe outlets. If you're in for something heavier such as lunch or dinner, you can eat for very affordable prices at the CGH Houseman's Canteen. The girls love the fresh fruit juices too. Alternatively, there is a Qiji outlet nearer the Accident and Emergency Department from which we love the homemade drinks and their famous popiah!

Houseman's Canteen: Sliced fish soup with bitter gourd;

Qiji: Popiah!

Steamed rice with steamed egg, potato and vegetables for $3.20.

We are unsure if anyone else would consider the hospital a neat place for a family hangout, but we're fortunate to have it around the corner from our block. It's been a place filled with family moments for us whether it's a post dinner stroll, supper, fish-feeding outing or simply a place to buy and 'ta bao' (pack) food home!

Universal Studios Singapore: Ministry of Education Family Day 2013

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to experience Universal Studios Singapore (USS) on a budget: $25 per person covering all rides, a $10 meal voucher and a $5 retail voucher. K. went free as she was under five years old. All this was part of the Ministry of Education (MOE) Family Day 2013. Daddy actually missed the opportunity as all 6000 tickets were sold out. However, we were one of the first to jump at the opportunity when another 1000 tickets were offered.

The event opened its doors at 7 pm. We took an MRT down to Harbour Front station and hopped onto the monorail, alighting at Waterfront station. By the time we arrived at USS, it was already about 7.20 pm. Daddy rushed to the Waterworld Amphitheatre to drop our lucky draw tickets just in time before the cut-off for the drawing of the top ten prizes, while Mummy took the kids on a recce of the vicinity before finding somewhere nice to eat.

Monorail tickets!



The crowd at the Waterworld Amphitheatre, eagerly anticipating the lucky draw results!

It's a pity we didn't win anything. The coupon numbers were so 'nice'.

There were a number of these adorable giant soft-toys walking around the Hollywood section. As much as A. wanted to take photos with it, K. was intimidated by their overwhelming presence and preferred to stay away.

We decided to eat at the Hollywood China Bistro as we had cravings for something soupy...

 

Pork rib soup.

Wan Ton Noodle Soup.

Stir fried tofu with mushrooms and vegetables.

Fried rice with shrimps.

The total cost for these dishes came up to over $50. Good thing we had the meal vouchers which gave us a $30 discount. The kids took a while to finish all this food, and when we were done, Daddy still had cravings for the items at the snack booths along the walkways.

Gourmet popcorn! We tried chocolate, caramel, and usual sweet and salted versions.

Daddy couldn't resist the giant roasted turkey legs!

These sold out quickly.

On our post dinner walk, we headed out to the 9.15pm "Madagascar Boogie" at the Madagascar Street. The street performance was a song and dance by the cartoon's characters. After the item, children were granted free photographs with the characters.

Visitors gather around for the street show!

Next, A. went for a ride on King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Around, which was basically a fancy carousel with characters from the movie. Carousels are a favourite among the girls, but once again, K. did not meet the height requirement and had to sit out with Daddy. Mummy accompanied the older girl on the ride.




Can you find us? Hint: look for the giraffe!

After the ride and a little more popcorn, we stroll through Far Far Away, soaking in the pretty lights and street life. We passed through quickly, moving on to The Lost World where we found yet another carousel. However, lighting and thunder started to flash across the sky an all rides in the The Lost World section were closed while we were in queue. We're still thankful that despite the flashes of lighting, the sky never opened up and the rain stayed away.



Entering the gates of Far Far Away...

The night scene in Shrek's kingdom.

This castle houses the "Shrek 4-D Adventure" ride.
 

Mummy gets help to navigate their way toward The Lost World.

The Dino-Soarin ride in The Lost World allows riders to control their own 'flying dino' with the push of a button. We were next in line but never made it on to the ride due to the inclement weather.

Disappointed, we left the queue and proceeded to find yet another ride. We quickly walked through Ancient Egypt as mummies were not our cup of tea. At the Sci-Fi City, we watched the roaring star attraction (that we will probably never try): the Battle Star Galactica. K. asked Daddy if he likes to ride roller-coasters, and Daddy replied by saying that even though he'd sat on some before, he'd never do something to scare himself and there was no shame in sitting out.



The Accelerator ride in Sci-Fi City. Spin your heart out on this ride! A. went for a couple of rounds (literarily) that night...

Mummy and A. after the ride... they still look fresh enough for another round!



Meeting Bumblebee along the streets of Sci-Fi City... may I have your AUTOgraph?

Lights and action at Sci-Fi City.

We looped round the park through Seasame Street at New York! This place was popular among the kids as they were familiar with many of the characters from the education DVDs mummy lets them watch sometimes. The main attraction here for A. was a ride called the Seasame Street Spaghetti Space Chase, which she went on with mummy. K. stayed outside with Daddy and soaked up the night-life atmosphere and lights.

Street scene in New York. Somewhere around the corner is our beloved Seasame Street.

Entrance to the Seasame Street Spaghetti Space Chase!

Visitors boarding the ride!

Special lighting effects bring the storyline to life!

From the information pamphlet: "Go on a space mission with Elmo and Super Grover 2.0 to stop Marcaroni the Merciless in his plot to steal all the spaghetti from earth..."



Nostalgia upon seeing some of our childhood favourites.



Elmo and Super Grover save the day... I mean the spaghetti...

And I guess they apprehended Macaroni the Merciless?

 

Flashy cadillacs parked outside Mel's Drive In, a vintage styled restaurant.

There were initially no plans to blog about this experience. This was because many of the snack booths and a few of the rides were closed after 7pm. In addition, it was difficult to take good photographs using our mobile phones in such dim night-time lighting. Also, K. was often either too intimidated by the dim atmosphere, or by the large life-sized mascots, or did not meet height requirements for the rides, and sat out most of the rides and attractions.

One of the many closed snack-booths.

However, even a mere three and a half hours there proved to be blog-worthy, and although the number of rides we tried were a mere handful, the chance to be there and soak up the atmosphere turned out to be something we decided to share.

More photographs of the event can be found HERE on the Ministry of Education Sports and Recreation Club's (MESRC) website.