Friday 28 August 2015

Merlion Park and More~~~

Show and Tell.  I am sure most parents with children in schools will know what that is.  But, today, I am not teaching you how to ace one.  Instead, I am sharing about how one show and tell preparation led to a couple of hours of fun for the family.

D had a show and tell and the theme was about "Many Stories… One Singapore".  The children were asked to present one significant part of the history by visiting and showing a photo of historical places, museums, heritage trails or historical figures that helped shape Singapore's future.  We were given a few examples.  One of them was the Merlion and D chose to talk about it.

To be frank, if not for this Show and Tell, I do not know when I will be there.  Can you imagine the last time I went to the Merlion Park was at least 10 years ago when I had an overseas visitor?  What about you? 


Crowded with foreigners and tourists, we felt like we were one too!  Taking photographs, reading the origins of the Merlion Park and explaining to the little ones.

"The Merlion is a mythical creature with a lion's head and the body of a fish.  The lion head symbolizes the "Lion City".  According to Sejarah Malayu (Malay Annals) written in the 15th century, Prince Sang Nila Utama of the Srivijaya Empire renamed the island Singapura or "Lion City", after spotting a lion here.  The body of a fish symbolizes the ancient Temasek or 'Sea Town', which was Singapore's early name."

Must take a welfie with the iconic Merlion, right?
There is also a baby Merlion that does not sprout water and you will not get wet.  The surrounding area near the original Merlion is pretty wet so be careful when you are near it.


We decided to take a little "adventure" since it was a Sunday.  From the Merlion, we walked to the Fullerton Waterboat House (1) and realized that it housed the 100th Starbucks Store.  


(2) Walking towards The Fullerton Hotel and around it, we saw a few sculptures near Cavenagh Bridge such as that of the children jumping into the Singapore River.

A hot day with some ice-cream to cool down.  Enjoying a cheap thrill - ice-cream from the mobile ice-cream vendors.  It is now more expensive at $1.20 but it has all that familiar ice-cream flavors we ate since young - chocolate, attap seed, corn - in a cup, cone or between a slice of bread.


Glad that it was a Sunday with no crowd.  No working executives and people jostling around.  The boys had such a fun time on the swings at the open spaces near Chevron House (3).  There are 3 swings in total and some photo-taking opportunities.  Some benches and tables are available but one could always sit by the surrounding steps.

Happiness 
Touching moments
Crossing the bridge near Chevron House / The Arcade, we were greeted by The Fullerton Bay Hotel.  With no crowd (Sunday yea…), there are some children scooting around.

(4) As we walked along to the way back to One Fullerton, we spotted a place with an awesome view for photo-taking.  Would have been much better if the sky was clear.

Presenting to you, 1 of the 10 Modified Social Benches created by Danish artist, Jeppe Hein.  You may find the other 9 around the area and have fun taking photos.  


I am the Queen… Ha ha ha
The next time there is a Show and Tell, we tell ourselves to embrace it.  Who knows what adventure it will bring.  Till then!

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7 comments:

  1. I really love the Bay area.. so historical and so many fun things to do and explore!! The last time we went to take photos at Merlion Park was 2 years ago: http://www.sakuraharuka.com/2013/04/bub-me-mighty-singapore-merlion.html

    We should go back to update our photos. Lil Pumpkin has grown so much! :P

    Ai @ Sakura Haruka

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  2. Same! The last time I was at Merlion Park was when I had a friend visiting from overseas! And really, when you go there, you become a tourist too... Sooooo many tourists there... Lol! And recently when I saw those swings at Raffles City MRT, I was thinking, why are there swings here? Maybe the working class very stressed, need swings to destress??

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  3. Lovely swing! Haven't been there with my children yet.

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  4. The children do bring us to new places or places we haven't visited in a while. That's the great fun of having kids! Lovely pictures of you and your family! :-)

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  5. What a meaningful topic for Show & Tell. It's great you turned it into an enjoyable family outing!

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  6. Lovely exploration and great finds there. Honestly, I haven't been to the merlion myself either! I hang around Fullerton area sometimes but never had the urge to go check out the merlion. Maybe i should bring the kids some day! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Who knew that a Show and Tell preparation could turn out to be such a fun time for the whole family! And now I know that's the 100th Starbucks outlet!

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