Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Wednesday, 26 October 2011, was a holiday in Singapore. It was Deepavali, a Hindu holiday meaning “festival of lights” that signify the triumph of good over evil. Since there was no work on that day I planned to bring Hendrik out. Joseph needed to go overtime for work so only the 3 (Hendrik, Tito Jared and me) of us went to Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden (JBCG). JBCG is located at the Bukit Timah Core of the Singapore Botanic Gardens which is said to be Asia’s first children’s garden. It is dedicated to all children in Singapore with the aim of providing a unique discovery and learning experience in a garden setting.

The 3 of us arrived at the JBCG around 11:30am and were greeted with this tree sculpture. If you will notice, the leaves on the trees are actually shapes of children playing in different positions.

We saw the “Water Play” area when we turned right from the entrance. We stopped there for a while as Hendrik wanted to watch the kids playing with the water. I asked him if he wanted to join them, but as he is not a fan of water he straight away rejected the idea.

We took a photo of this calabash when we walked our way to the next spot. There were so many calabash trees in the garden. 

This is “The Magic of Photosynthesis” area where kids get to know the plant’s food making process.

I tried to explain to Hendrik how this thing works, and he was surely very interested looking at the sun and air as I repeatedly turn the the handle to make them light up.

And so Hendrik had his turn to turn the handle to light up the oxygen.

 And he was gladly pointing that he made it! =)

It started to rain so we went back to the Visitor’s Center area with the rest of the garden’s guests to take shelter from the rain. While we were waiting for the rain to stop, Hendrik saw a worm on the floor.

At first, he was afraid that he wanted me to carry him, but I told him that it was okay and that the worm won't come near him. I also got closer to the worm and took a photo of it showing Hendrik that there was no harm in getting closer to it. He got the message so he came closer and looked at it intently as it crawled on the floor.

When the rain stopped, we were the first to reached "The Magic of Photosynthesis" area. Hendrik got all the area by himself to explore. He was grabbing his opportunity to operate the machines before the crowd gathers the area again.

Then, we found our way to the entrance of the "Fantastic Forest". As suggested by its name, the area was surrounded by tall trees and various plants.

In the middle of the forest was the "Suspension Bridge". Hendrik braved and managed to cross the bridge by walking very slowly and carefully and holding my hand real tight throughout the whole time. It must have been a relief for him after overcoming that episode. ^_^

The "Cave" was waiting for us as we deserted the bridge. Here is Mommy and Hendrik asking Tito Jared to take a memento of the them of the waterfalls in the cave.

It started to rain again when we were walking our way towards the tree house, so we had to get back to the cave and took shelter. We shared the cave with a Caucasian family and waited for the rain to stop. While at the cave, Hendrik ate his Loackers as it was already past 12noon.

When the rain stopped, we went our way to the main "attraction" of the garden - the "Tree House". Too bad it was closed for renovation when we visited, but we sure will be back again soon.

After a few minutes in the "Tree House" it rained again for the third time. This time we did not take shelter at the cave, but went to the area outside the classrooms. We stayed there for about 10 minutes until Mr Sun started to show up and the sky became brighter and brighter. 

Then, we continued our walk and came across the "Timber Deck". Hendrik climbed a mini mountain and posed for picture at the top.

The "Potting Garden" where one needs to get permission from the garden staff before one can go in.

Hendrik in one of the shades in the garden.

One of the many cute signs around the garden, and this one was from the "Sensory Garden".

We took the bridge again on our way to the exit. Hendrik hesitated at first, but was easily convinced when I assured him that we will cross the bridge slowly and carefully and that he can hold my hand all throughout.

Before heading to the exit, we had a quick visit to the "Playground". Hendrik only played for a short while in the sand using the rake and the scoop that we found in the area as it was time for us to take our late lunch. It was already half past 1 in the afternoon.

I initially planned to bring Hendrik and Tito Jared to the mall for lunch. Since we were already hungry, we just decided that we try the "Kidz Cafe" located at the Visitor's Center area of JBCG. Hendrik and I ordered chicken and fish with French fries and milo while Tito Jared ordered jumbo hotdog with French fries and sandwich with chips.

We arrived home at about 3:30 in the afternoon, just nice for Hendrik to have his afternoon nap.

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