Being in a country like Singapore that has almost "passing showers" every other day makes indoor playgrounds a hit with kids and parents alike. The air-conditioning for indoor playground is an added bonus when the weather is terribly hot and humid too.
On 25 May 2012, Derek & me took leave from work to bring Gerrard for his passport collection at the ICA Building. Not knowing what a passport is, he isn't too excited until I told him that it is a book that has his photograph in it and allows him to go to other countries. The first "characteristic" seemed to perk him up more as it made the small book more personalised. I'm really glad I made an e-appointment for the collection as the place was filled with people (as usual). We arrived just 10 minutes before the appointment as there were no available lots at the carpark and the whole waiting and collection took about 30 minutes in all. I am really impressed by the improved efficiency as I remembered a few years ago during my own passport/ IC collection, I had to wait at least 1 hour.
And because of ICA's efficiency, we ended up with a bit of time on our hands before our dinner. Since we were already in the city area, we decided to check out Hokey Pokey at Suntec City. This indoor playground was opened in March 2012 and I recalled reading online that this was conceptualised by a group of young mothers who became online friends after they got pregnant. Wanting a place where kids can roam freely (and safely) with a wide variety of educational toys, they decided to open Hokey Pokey. As it was an "impulse visit" for us, we had not brought along our socks which are a must for indoor playgrounds. In fact, we have many pairs of socks (kids AND adults as we accompany Gerrard in) at home already. Nevertheless, Gerrard was excited to start playing.
What's great
- The slide was very fun as it ended in a ball pit with pastel-coloured balls (that's a plus point visually for us mummies!)
- Gerrard was immensely thrilled by this "Roller Coaster" where he holds onto a car and pushes himself down a slope. He was very careful initially, wanted me to push him but after a few rounds, he couldn't wait to do it himself. I think it sort of gave him an exhilarating feeling coming down.
- The place is bright with natural light streaming in near the windows and is clean. Halfway during our play, the staff turned on the bubble machine for the children and I observed one staff using a cloth to mop the floor area after the bubbles session. Think it's really nice of them to take that into consideration as we are always on the look-out for our kids to be careful not to slip on the soapy bubble water.
- As only 1 parent could accompany the child, the other parent/ friends get to enjoy a cuppa and read some magazines.
- This place is not only about just playground stuff, it has a range of other toys like kiddy laptops, kitchen sets, alphabet blocks, musical instruments like drums, triangles, castanets, toy pianos, Fisher price, Leapfrog items and so on.. It is like a combination of playground & Toys Haven.
Even, better, if...
- I had expected it to be bigger. I am not too keen to come on a weekend as I can imagine how crowded it will be. Even the parents waiting outside may not get to sit around as there are only 4-5 seats at the counter area.
- In addition to the ball pit slide, there are 2 other smaller slides but as they are placed on the floor without an extra mattress/ padding, the bums can get pretty painful from sliding down. Gerrard said "Ouch!" when he landed and I had to drag a flat bean bag over to ease the pain.
- It is rather costly at $25 for non-members on a weekday although it is unlimited play. Maybe they had intentionally priced it this way to entice patrons to sign up as members as it cost $15 for members.
To Gerrard, the plus points heavily outweigh the minuses and he was reluctant to leave for dinner. I think we might go back again the next time we are on leave on a weekday =)
https://www.facebook.com/sghokeypokey
Situated at Suntec Tower 3, 3rd Floor, between Toys R Us and the GV cinema.
Tel: 68845385
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