Train Park

The day after the museum, I discovered the camera issue. I took our old standby, the Canon Powershoot with us to a cool playground nearby. It came recommended to us by some folks Ted works with who are also staying in this temporary housing. I'm not sure if it's called Henderson Park or Tiong Bahru Park, but we refer to it as Train Park.

While it pales in comparison to the awesome parks of Somerville, it was different enough and fun enough to keep us entertained for an hour. It's sandy, sunny, and has this big structure that looks like a train going off its rails. It has an actual merry-go-round. Can't remember the last time I saw one of these. The one in Cambridge Common doesn't count.

Zoe and Wyatt liked riding in these cars.

This is Zoe doing her cute pose in between two of the train cars.

Oh my gosh, ever since we arrived, Ella has been asking where there are monkey bars. She is obsessed. We finally found some!

Inside the crazy train cars

This is what the outside looks like. And a spiral staircase just like home!

There was also a simple maze.

Zoe has taken on two new habits. One, calling her daddy "Ted" instead of "Daddy", and two, pretending to be a cat in pictures.

Ella on the swings. The trees and landscaping are kind of different here.

The day we went was hot, HOT, HOT. This is not a shady park but it's only a few bus stops away and we knew we could get good and sweaty and head back to the apartment for a swim. Our routine has been to get up and make breakfast (usually oatmeal, so tired of making oatmeal) and toast. Then we head out before the kids get too cabin-fevered and start to fight. We explore for a couple of hours and head back home to change into bathing suits so we can eat lunch by the pool and swim. For transportation, we walk and/or ride the bus. I keep thinking that will make them good and tired for a nap, but usually it's just quiet (ish) time after that until I make dinner or wait for Ted to come home so we can go out to dinner. We have found that it's cheaper to go out to dinner here (usually) than to make it. We can all eat well for about S$15 (US$12ish) before drinks. Food from the grocery store is much more expensive though. That's why we usually eat breakfast and lunch here and go out for dinner. Sometimes we even have a swim when we get back from dinner. It's lovely.

I won't post any pictures, but the day after the Train Park trip, I took the kids to Orchard Road to a shopping center called Plaza Singapura. We were trying to pick up some swimming accessories that were affordable. No, I will not pay 30 bucks for a pair of goggles or set of dive toys. Yikes. We found all that, but Wyatt threw the biggest blockbuster of a tempter tantrum I have ever seen right in the middle of the mall. He threw himself onto the ground shrieking. He refused to walk. My hands were too full to carry him. When I pulled his arm trying to get him on his feet, he lifted his feet up. It was ugly, lasted for 15 full minutes, sorry Singaporeans! Eventually I got him onto my shoulders and ran out of there with the girls jogging after us. The problem is that there are so many people, so many shops, that there is nowhere to go to have "the talk" with the kids. We eventually took an escalator down to the train station and I found a corner to talk to Wyatt. He stopped freaking out and decided to walk. What an ugly morning. We took an escalator back above-ground to catch our bus and went for a nice, cool swim. Wash that memory away.