SG50 outing to Jurong Birdpark

Time to get out and play especially after that torturous stay in the hospital to treat Jonas's constipation. As both my husband and I are not working on National Day, we decided to take the chance to bring him out to unwind. We dated our godson Xuanle and his parents Weiwen and Jade as it has been a long time since a get together and we missed him. 
In conjunction with our SG50( Singapore independent since the year 1965), there are several places of interest giving out discounted entry fee rates. We decided to bring the kids to the zoo since both of them seem to like animals. But later on we gave up the idea as we reckon the crowd will flock there as it is a very popular tourist attraction going at a discounted rate on a public holiday. Eventually we chose to go to the Jurong Birdpark instead with the Singapore Science Center as our wet weather outing location. We are very lucky the sun shine brightly on that day without any showers at all. My husband wanted to drive there but the carparks are all full when we get there at about 11.45am and we have to park all the way up on the hill and walk down with Jonas in pram. I think it is quite dangerous as we are just walking on the sides of the roads as there were no pedestrian pavements. Maybe the authorities should do something about it in case of accidents.
Weiwen and Jade are still waiting for the bus at Boon Lay interchange so we decided to grab a bite as we have not taken breakfast yet. As we are having our lunch in one of the cafés, they reached and went to queue for the tickets first as they had already eaten. The food here are of course tourist priced, so it's advisable to eat before going or pack your own lunch boxes. Jade printed out the SG50 discount coupons from internet and got the tickets at half priced. $14 instead of $28 for adults. No entrance fee for both kids as they are under 3 years of age.
The boys enjoyed themselves observing the birds and taking photos. I am surprised some of the birds are allowed to roam freely in an enclosed habitat. Jonas enjoyed looking at the penguins which are kept in a cold enclosure area.

We forgo taking the tram and walked around instead to let the boys explore more. The place is too big and we only managed to see some of the exhibits before proceeding to the play area to let the boys play. They enjoyed running about and going on the see saw but both of them refused to try the swing and I wonder why.
After that, it was time for the High Flyers show so we started off to the venue early to grab a good seat. It was really very crowded that day. Even though we went like half an hour earlier, the first few rows are already taken. We have to leave our prams in front and sit at the back.

The show started and Xuanle loved it seeing all the colorful parrots talk and fly around. There are also pelicans, flamingoes and a lot of other birds. The birds flew very low over our heads but we were told to keep our hands down and not to touch the birds. Volunteers from the audience were asked to hold hoops and parrots fly through them swiftly even though the hoops were really small. It was a great show which ended with photo taking with all the birds. However, Jonas was too tired and fell asleep even before the show started and woke up only after the show ended. So he completely missed the wonderful show.
Jonas sweat a lot during his nap so we decided to change his diapers and a dry shirt that we have brought along. Then the children were fed as it has been quite long since their lunch.

After that it was already 4.30pm and we decided to leave early so that we don't have to squeeze with the crowd. My husband walked uphill alone to drive the car down as it was inconvenient with our prams. We went to the nearest mall Jurong Point to have our early dinner as all of us were famished after a long day outdoors. Then as we were too tired to shop, we sent our companions back and returned home early too. All in all, it was a tired but fruitful and enjoyable day spent with our loved ones. I definitely will not hesitate to bring them out again as I prefer them to be more outdoorsy rather then being cooped at home. They are really too active so we must have more such activities to drain some of their adrenaline. Maybe next time to the zoo?

Things you must not forget for an outing with LO:

1. Always bring along your pram though you may find it inconvenient. It is handy when they are too tired to walk and you are too tired to carry them. Acts as a trolley for your outing barang barang too!

2. Do bring extra clothings for LO so that they won't catch a cold wearing their soaked shirts through play.

3. Pack food especially their favourite treats so that they can be distracted for a while when they get cranky.

4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Make sure they drink lots of fluids to replenish what they have lost through sweating. And I tell you boys sure sweat ALOT!