Khatib over the weekend

I categorise the areas in Singapore with MRT station names. Because I don't drive (neither does my hubby, or my mum or anybody else in the immediate family), when I ask people "Where's this place?", I'm really asking which MRT station is the place nearest too. Give me a road name and I'll probably draw a blank.

So I've established that Orchard is home to shopping malls, Novena is where I go for more expensive kiddy stuff, Pasir Ris is at the other end of Singapore and any place that's near Dhoby Ghaut, City Hall and Raffles Place are kind of within walking distance from all 3 stations.

Anyway, I've always thought of Khatib as a boring boring place. There isn't even a mall there. That changed when Bottletree park opened. We've been there many times and somehow it still draws us.

We went on friday again. There's much to see on the way there, from Khatib station.

We always enjoyed looking at the trees and the very many pigeons and flocks of other birds. I love that bare tree.

The park has changed. Gone is the small hut where the uncles killed and dried their fishes and sell some vegetables. The rustic small 'cafe' is gone too. In place is a stretch of, hmmm, how shall I describe it? Spaces. Spaces where a group of enthusiasts run workshops and hold exhibitions on sustainability. Over there, almost everything is done from scratch. The volunteers did up the plumbing, planted the vegetables and herbs/spices, built structures, wired up the place etc themselves. That day, a group of poly students were making mud bricks. From scratch!

Mud bricks in the making.

We also saw some means of transport from the olden days. I was glad to see the trishaw since Mandy has been asking to see one and we were also on the topic of transportation for our chinese homelearning.

I love Mandy's smile here. So sweet.

There was a small plant nursery beside.

After the tour, we had a rest.

We sat there swinging, under the shade of the trees, trying to identify the different fruit trees and enjoying the cool breeze. Totally chill.

Then, it was lunch at their in-house restaurant before we all headed home to sleep.

The next day, Jaime had jio-ed Dee and our family to a new waterplay area at Lower Seletar Reservoir. It's also walkable from Khatib station, but further than Bottletree.

We had cycled to the same reservoir before. It's quite crazy if you ask me, with the kids at the back that is. It's actually a nice cycling route but after toppling my bike twice, once resulting in Mandy hitting her head at the concrete pillar (thank goodness it wasn't a hard knock!), I absolutely don't dare to ferry the kids on the bicycle anymore.  Hubby thought it's even crazier to walk from the station so we took a cab. Ha.

The waterplay is at a new jetty which we've been meaning to check out. Would have sooner if we knew there was a waterplay area!  I fell in love with the place as soon as I set eyes on it. Both the jetty and the waterplay area are tastefully designed. Aesthetically pleasing, giving a sense of calm and peace, quite unlike most of the other waterplay areas I've seen, which use loud and jarring colours and designs.

One of the waterplay features:

Notice how they designed the railings of the jetty to resemble the stilts of the kelong? Love it.

Dark clouds were looming and it soon started to drizzle while we were having our tabao-ed dinner on the benches. Quickly, we moved to the sheltered jetty.

Despite the rain, and the fact that Jaime's family couldn't go and Dee's family was still lost somewhere on the roads, I was very very happy. Jetties are such wonderful places. Always windy. And looking at the large expanse of water always give me such serenity. Plus I got to sit on the floor. I'm a sit-on-the-floor kind of person. Whenever possible, I will choose floors over seats. Yes, I used to sit on the MRT floors. Ha.

The kids were in high spirits too. They clowned around while eating.

Barry hugged each pillar, looked up and said "Wooooooowwwwww."

Blanket of gloom still there. :(   But no more rain :)

They are into swinging their arms while walking now.

And posing too!

OMG. My boy is so corny.

The dark clouds were moving away. It seemed like there wasn't going to be anymore rain, so we went ahead with the water play.

I love the following 3 pictures. Gloomy skies never looked so good.

It was not even 6pm. Good thing we arrived and ate early. We hate crowds and at that time, most people were having their dinners so there were only 3 groups of kids there. Lots of space to roam slowly and safely.

Mandy beckoning Barry to join her by offering a helping hand.

They are such good pals now. It's so heartwarming to see them playing so well together. All the time, they looked out for each other, talked and laughed like best buddies and one will not stray too far away from the other. Always together.  很可爱哦! :)

Some guy caught a huge fish!

He let it back into the water afterwards.

The kids had a blast. They were caught grinning from ear to ear so many times. They still don't like to go under strong or heavy jets of water though. So this waterplay area is perfect for them. Lots of places for gentle waterplay.

Running away from the showers!

I particularly like this following picture:

This one too!

Barry's offering hubby some leaf soup, if I'm not wrong. :p

They stood at the fountain a long time, not daring to venture inside. And that was not the day I got myself drenched just to prove a point... so they went back to sitting in the meandering stream and watching their scoops flow away. 

 They got dried and changed after an hour of play.

We watched the sunset as the kids sat on the bench, munching an apple.I relish that moment.

When it got dark, the whole place lit up beautifully. I love how the lights are installed on the vertical planks at the railings instead of being on intrusive metal posts. Must find out the architect of this place! Heh.

We bade goodbye to the wonderful place, but not before the kids told us umpteen times that they wanted to visit the place again. "Next time, with friends! And Barry too!" Mandy said. She had been asking the whole evening for her friends. Ha.

So, friends! When are we going huh?