Baby-Friendly Singapore: Jurong Bird Park

Baby-Friendly Singapore: Jurong Bird Park

When I learnt that we would be visiting the Jurong Bird Park when we were in Singapore, I was not really excited about it - after all, I thought it would simply be a park full of birds. However, after a day at the Jurong Bird Park, I felt that the long trip there was really worth it. 

From our apartment in Hougang Avenue 10, we took an MRT to Boon Lay and walked towards the bus stop to take Bus 194. There were signs everywhere, so I'm pretty sure you would not get lost. 

After a good 4 - 5 minute ride, we reached the park. After alighting the bus, people rushed for their photo op with the sign so if you're a signage fanatic, I suggest you try your luck on beating the crowd. 

The entrance of Jurong Bird Park showcased a lot of beautiful orchids! And for a more comfortable photo op with the sign, there's also one here. STILL! Other tourists were crazy about the same idea so good luck!

Adult tickets cost S$28 or Php 900 and children tickets (3 yrs old and above)  S$18 or Php635.  I'm not sure though if this includes the Tram ride because ours had. This is different from the Bird's Eye View VIP Buggy Tour which can only cater a family. We did not take the tram ride since we wanted to enjoy the park on our own time. So, yes, we walked around the 20-hectare paradise!

Some told us that we could tour Jurong Bird Park in the morning and the SG Zoo in the afternoon; however, I do not recommend this one! Jurong Bird Park is Asia's largest bird park. Its 20-hectare space is home to 5,000+++ birds from different species. If you really wanna enjoy the park with your kids, it’s better to allot a whole day just for Jurong Bird Park.

Its exhibits include *Penguin Coast *World of Darkness (Owls) *Pools Amphitheatre (High Flyers Show) *Heliconia Walk *Spoonbills *Shore birds *Scarlet Ibis *Royal Ramble *Hornbills and Toucans *Window on Paradise *Lory Loft *Birds of Prey *Jungle Jewels *Southeast Asian Birds *Mandarin Duck *Bird Discovery Centre *Dinosaur Descendants *Swan Lake *African Waterfall Aviary *Parrot Paradise *Pelican Cove *Shoebill **Flamingo Lake *Songbird Terrace *Riverine *Wetlands *Macaw Island *Flamingo Pool *Hawk Walk (Kings of the Skies Show) and *Breeding Research Centre.

Most of the birds in the park are species I did not know even exist! Or birds we have only watched at National Geographic, Discovery Channel, or Animal Planet. We were totally starstruck with the exhibits. *ehem! flamingo! *ehem Scarlet ibis! *ehem! Vultures!

Scarlet ibis - lovely! 

For S$2, we got to feed three fish to penguins and another S$2 to feed colourful lories at Lory loft. Be careful when feeding the birds though because some tourists would distract "your birds" so that they could feed them themselves. I guess this is to provide a better photo op.

Flamingoes are really pink!!! 

Besides these, there were also shows everyone could enjoy. There was the "King of the Skies Show" which featured falcons, owls, and oh-my-god vultures, the "High Flyers Show" where parrots and lories did some aeronautical tricks, and the "Lunch with the Parrots" where we could have lunch with the parrots. The latter required purchase of food and beverage. It’s a good experience, especially for the young children to eat lunch while several parrots perform a number of tricks.

Eating at the Jurong Bird Park would not be a problem because there's Ben & Jerry's for ice cream and some snacks, Bongo Burgers, and Hawk Café.

Our meal at the Hawk Cafe 

Young children could also enjoy "Birds of Play" at the Jurong Bird Park. This is a big bird-themed water playground! This is not a pool so parents need not to worry about their children getting drowned. Babies would surely enjoy wading at the Birds of Play to help them refresh and get rid of the birdy smell. Of course, parents are welcome to enjoy this playground with their kids. Watch out for the big bucket!!

My niece waiting for the big bucket! 

Children of all ages would surely enjoy their visit at the Jurong Bird Park. Mommies, make sure that you bring them lots of water and a change of clothes or swimsuits so that they could enjoy wading and playing at the Birds of Play.

Perfect Long Weekend Getaway: Hello Kitty Town Malaysia

Perfect Long Weekend Getaway: Hello Kitty Town Malaysia  

For mommies here in the Metro, I'm sure the APEC long weekend holiday will excite you and the your kids - it could only mean one thing: travel time! For families with young babies like Baby charley, you might want to consider visiting Hello Kitty Town in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

As the name suggests, Hello Kitty Town is filled with lots of our beloved Sanrio characters dominated by the cutest cat ever, Hello Kitty. Okay, I'm gonna be a little bias here because I just love cats, but I promise you that Hello Kitty Town won't be a disappointment.

Going to Hello Kitty Town, which is in Johor Bahru, is easier if you're coming from Singapore instead of coming from Kuala Lumpur. We decided to book our travel thru Sistic Agency that offered Hello Kitty Town + Little Big House (for little boys), two-way coach transfer for S$70 or roughly Php2,500. The pick-up and drop off point was at the Singapore Flyer, a dinosaur-ish Ferris Wheel. There we checked in, verified our tickets, and grabbed a seat at the coach bus. It took us around 30-45 minutes to travel from SG Flyer to Malaysia.

After a couple of minutes from the Malaysian Immigration, we finally reached Hello Kitty Town! Other guests were dropped off at Legoland nearby. As we entered Hello Kitty Town, we were given two pink and blue sticker bracelets and a pink activity card.

Hello Kitty Town Malaysia is the very first Sanrio theme park outside Japan. It offers a teacup ride (the only ride actually in Hello Kitty Town; there are several others in the Little Big House on the second floor), Hello Kitty's house, Black House, and an entrance to Wishful Studio.

Hello Kitty House is a small cute house of Hello Kitty filled with every possible Hello Kitty stuff! Collectors and avid fans will surely drool on Hello Kitty cabinets, beds, stuff toys, picture frames, and Hello Kitty furniture and appliances. It was totally cuteness overload!!

The Black House is a dungeon-inspired attraction where we went on a special quest to save Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel. Upon entering, we received a lamp so that we could play and look for our symbols. As we exit, we needed to give the correct 5 letter code so that we could receive a certificate showing Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel free. Otherwise, our certificate would show them still imprisoned.

Inside the Wishful Studio, we enjoyed different activities like nail polish, cookie making, necklace making, costume party. Young girls will surely enjoy the activities here.

At 2 pm, there was a quick dance show featuring all our beloved Sanrio characters in colourful fiesta costumes. Young girls scream with glee as they watched Hello Kitty, Dear Daniel, Bad Badtz Maru, My Melody, Little Twin Stars, and others performed right in front of them!

The Little Big Club could be found on the 2nd and 3rd floor - a fun place for little boys that featured other beloved children's characters Barney, Pingu the Penguin, Angelina Ballerina, and Bob the Builder. Just like in Hello Kitty Town, these characters made appearances once in a while for photo ops for the whole family.

Soon, we got hungry so we had the cutest snack ever at the Hello Kitty Cafe downstairs. Hello Kitty inspired foods like waffles and icecream were just too cute to eat!

Beside the cafe were the Toys r Us and the Sanrio gift shop where they sell Sanrio items.

Two of my favorite Sanrio Characters 

It's good to note, though, that there were no Money Changer at Hello Kitty Town, so we had to pay everything with MY Rupee or using our VISA credit card except on the 2nd floor where they only accepted cash.

Hello Kitty Town is more Baby (Charley) friendly compared to other attractions and theme parks in Singapore. Here, young children could appreciate just being surrounded with cuteness, and the crowd and the heat would not overwhelm them.

When you bring your little ones here, prepare your wallets already as they (and you) could be tempted to bring home some Sanrio cuteness!

A Baby-Friendly Road Trip to Nuvali

A Baby-Friendly Road Trip to Nuvali

This long weekend, my roommate (my husband, btw) and I decided to have a road trip with Baby Charley. This was not her first, and definitely not her last. Come Friday, we still had zero idea where to go, but we had listed two of our non-negotiables:

1) It should be at the South where we haven't been before
2) It should be baby-friendly since this trip was for Baby Charley

"How about in Nuvali?"

Soon, it was decided that we would go to Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Using his Waze app in his iphone, we drove to Laguna despite the heavy rain in Batangas. We had fun going there since we're totally clueless how to get to Nuvali, so we just trusted the app for directions.

It was also a good break for Baby Charley (and for us, too) to get away from the city and breathe in fresh air. In fact, she was so amazed looking at the trees, the rice fields, and to see fewer cars for a change.

When we got there, thank you Waze(!), we headed to the park right away. Baby Charley enjoyed practicing her walk beside the man-made lake, and it was such a joy to see kois where we were.

It was hot, but we didn't care! 

Something green for a change 

We also rode a boat to take us for a 3 minute tour around the lake. Baby Charley enjoyed looking at the fountains, the bridge, and some birds on the tour. Although it was pretty hot in Laguna that day, she still enjoyed the boat ride because it was a little windy and the air was really fresh!

kois! 

our boat ride  

Charley enjoying the ride 

We then had our late lunch in Crisostomo that served Filipino cuisine. Our family is a huge fan of Filipino food, so we ordered Baby Charley's favorite Sinigang Gomez (pork sinigang) and tried Kinamatisang Pork Chop (Pork chop slices cooked in sweet native tomatoes served with itlog na maalat). The sinigang was heaven and the pork chop was just as amazing! For desert, we had Olimpia, which was fresh mangoes with cream pie and it was just perfect for the day. We couldn't get our taste buds off Crisostomo, so we took home more of their offered delicacies.

Getting ready to order 

Olimpia 

Kinamatisang Pork Chop 

More delicacies for take home! 

There were more activities one could do at Nuvali, but we just chose the ones that were baby (Charley) - friendly. If your kids are a little older, you could take them for biking or wakeboarding. You could also go to the bird sanctuary.

by the park 

Sadly, by mid-afternoon, we had to end our little road trip and head back to the city. I'm pretty sure Baby Charley had a lot of fun in our trip as she snoozed her way home in the car.

Tired from our road trip 

Baby Charley's Trip to Hacienda Sta Monica

On Charley's 6th monthsary, Team Hernandez was so fortunate to have joined my Grammar family to a road trip to Lipa, Batangas - Hacienda Sta. Monica.

Preparing for a trip with just my roommate (my husband, btw) is completely different from preparing with Baby Charley. There were so many things we had to consider and one of which was Charley's comfort through out the trip.

A comfortable Baby Charley meant a comfortable trip for all of us.

Before the trip
One of my favourite responsibilities as a mommy and a wifey is to prepare all our bags whenever we travel. I'm more comfortable when I do so because at least I know specifically where our things are. My roommate, on the other hand, is just happy to carry the bags to the car.

For this particular trip, we had three bags: the pink (baby) bag, the brown (hand) bag, and our blue (Jansport) backpack. Believe me, colour-coding our bags is much easier when you live with a man who thinks that all our bags are just bags and anything can be a baby, hand, or backpack bag.

My roommate made sure that the car we're gonna sue, Ford Ranger this time, was on its perfect condition - brakes, tires, lights, diesel, and all those car stuff I have vague understanding of. Although Ranger could sit in 5-6 people comfortably, we were just five adults and bags++ in the car. The other car, Innova, sat seven adults and bags+++++++++++++.

We had soooooo much food in the excursion, and we made sure that Baby Charley had her own set of food, too. We brought a new can of Nan HW Two, 1500 ml of Wilkins, and six baby bottles. The adults, on the other hand, had 2 crispy pata, embutido, pesto, barbeque, baked mac, liempo, java rice, leche flan, pichi pichi, egg pie, chocolate cake, ice candy, and Coke galore! It was such a sinful Wednesday. :)

Guess who's the happy baby

On our way there
Manila-Batangas would take an average driver 1.5 to 2.0 hours, but my roommate could get us there in 30-45 minutes especially on an early morning drive.

We had to stop at Petron SLEX though for a quick breakfast at Mc Donald's. It's also essential for Baby Charley to stretch a little and for our passengers to realize that they're still alive (given my roommate's driving skills).

Baby Charley was very behaved on the trip; she's okay looking out to the window, playing with her books and rattles, and have some squealing fit disguised as a meaningful conversation with her Tita Jaizel and Tita Becca.

Finally, Hacienda Sta Monica! 
When we reached HSM, we were awed by the beauty of it. The Estacios had a small farm of siniguelas, mangoes, and other fruit-bearing trees. The house was quaint and beautiful, and the whole Grammar family fit in just perfectly.

Baby Charley loved the attention she got from all her titos and titas since she was used to seeing just me and her dad all day long. She would squeal in delight and engage in conversations with them - only she knew what she was talking about. One thing we discovered about Baby Charley was that she wanted to have her "Me Time", too. She became fussy and no amount of playtime could calm her down until we decided to put her to bed and hoped that she would sleep, but she didn't. She just played on her own, and that was it - me time! Imagine.

Unfortunately, Baby Charley wasn't able to join us in the pool since she fell asleep after drinking her milk. I think it's because it was pretty cold that afternoon and there was a soft rain, too. Yup, perfect for Baby Naps.

On our way home
It was almost 6pm when we got home, and although Baby Charley caught a few Zzzz's on the way, she was still very sleepy already. After all, it was a long day for her. So I gave her a quick washup, changed her nappy, and changed her into her bedtime pj's. Pretty soon, she was sound asleep.

I bet Baby Charley had a wonderful day in Lipa, Batangas since she saw a lot of things, talk to a lot of people, and experience new joys. Travelling with her was a little challenging, to be honest, but it was worth every second. We can't wait to travel more with her.ü

Our beautiful Grammar Family with Team Hernandez

Babies are not made for beaches

Just recently, my family from my husband's side, decided to head to Lobo, Batangas for an overnight swim. It was unplanned, and we were just informed a good 25 minutes before we left for Lobo.

our commute on our way to Batangas

Since I'm more of a planner, this kinda triggered my amygdala for 25 minutes, too.

How many clothes should I bring for Charley? How about water? How about diaper? Mosquito patches? PJ's? And the list went on and on and on and on.

Charley didn't even have a swimsuit yet. Not that it was a problem I learnt later on.

Princess Watermelon

It's quite fortunate that my husband's family has a house there so accommodation was not a problem anymore. So was the transpo going there. We took an Innova, where the mommies and kids are, and our old reliable owner type jeep, where the dads and the yayas are.

beach means sleep

After an almost 1 hour drive, we reached Sitio Danlagan where our house is. The beach is very accessible from the house, so that pretty much excited our rambunctious nephews and nieces. By this, I'm talking about a 6 year old, two 4 year olds, and two 11 month old children...plus our 3 month old Baby Charley. So you can say we almost literally brought the house down.

The following day, 6 children, 4 mommies, 3 daddies, 3 yayas, and 3 titos headed to the beach. Baby Charley didn't wear a swimsuit and she didn't care. She made it clear from the very start that she hated the water. Prolly because it was around just 7 am and the water could be a bit cold. However, right after we dried her and changed her clothes, she went straight to slumberland.

The wind was cold and fresh and it was very good for Baby Charley. Sure, she might be too young to enjoy the water right now, but I'm not worried that she would love it when gets a little older. And when she has an appropriate swimwear already.ü

The beach just across the street