Back to nature

I can't believe it took us so long before we visited the Botanical Gardens. You would have thought that since we lived in the countryside for 5 years, we would have been there sooner. Well at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm going to blame it on the humidity again.

So last Sunday, I thought enough's enough. I really have to brave the heat & bring The Girl there. I believe it was SIG (thank you) who recommended that we go to the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden.

Walking to the Children's Garden, we came across a foot reflexology path. After explaining what it was, The Girl, without any hesitation, took off her shoes & started running up & down barefooted. That's my girl, alright.




She was extremely curious and would stop me often to ask what the trees & plants were. Thank god the Botanical Garden is great about naming everything. I'd forgotten that they also have many fruit trees. It has been ages since I last saw a jackfruit tree.

The Girl gingerly walking across the suspension bridge

The Jacob Ballas Children's Garden is the outdoor equivalent of the Science Centre. Lots of interactive stuff for kids to play with - like cranking the dial to generate mist

The Girl is all wet not because she was perspiring but because she had just been to the Water area. I didn't pack a swim suit & I couldn't say no to her especially since it was hot so I just let her play in her panties (therefore no pictures).

I wasn't entirely ill equipped, I did pack a picnic lunch & mat. We found a nice spot to have a picnic amongst the trees. As we're munching our lunch, I was thinking to myself why had it taken us so long to come here.

I had gone there thinking that we would be there for an hour, max 2 hours. We were there for 5 hours. She wanted to touch, feel & try everything.

The tree house was a big hit. She generally doesn't like to participate in any activity if there are too many kids around. But we went there just after a passing shower so it was empty. She could run around to her heart's content well at least until the other kids started to show up.



Then after that, she insisted on going to feed the swans. So we made our way across the Botanical Gardens again, looking for Swan Lake. Now you know why we were there for 5 hours, that & the ice cream break.

There I was feeling pretty proud of myself for having the foresight to bring a loaf of bread to feed the fishes. Until I met a family who not only brought loaves (plural) of bread but also bags of vegetables. Remember the swans in Geneva who loves bread, their Singaporean cousins would have none of that, they only eat leafy vegetables. The family has another little girl too. It wasn't long before they became friends & they very kindly offered The Girl bread & veggies for the marathon feeding session.

We had so much fun that we exchanged numbers & promised to have another play date there soon.