Wednesday Wander: Pottering in Penang

I realize that I hardly do any travel posts on Penang, probably because we mainly go up to visit the in-laws, and the places we visit tend to be rather off the beaten track. Also, most of the food we eat is located on the mainland and not the island, so I thought there was no point doing food recommendations since visitors usually stay on the island.

However, while I've not written much about the hubby's hometown, it is very much part of our family's life. Penang is a messy mix that sometimes borders into cultural chaos: it has its own charm, it has all that good food, it has a rich history, but you can see how parts of it are slowly falling into decay. The new shopping malls tend towards uniformity, and have been springing up like mushrooms, and you get the feeling like you've been transported back to Singapore when you venture inside. The old malls are left to slowly die off, and you see empty, abandoned houses, some in ruins, around the town. But mess and decay aside, there is so much to love: the variety of food, the old shops nestling amidst new up and coming cafes, the murals and art that dot the corners of the town. And of course, we love it because it was where the hubby grew up. I realize I should write more, about this Penang that we know and love, because it is not what you really read about. 

Anyway, for this trip, we spent most of the time staying with the in-laws, but we moved to a hotel in Batu Ferringhi to join a friend and her kid who were visiting. Batu Ferringhi reminds me of Sentosa in a sense: the beaches, the touristy vibe, the expensive food. It is a great place to stay if you have kids and want them to have time at the beach or by the pool, however, the food there isn't fantastic. It does have a huge pasar malaam (night market), which we love to explore, as not only does it sell the usual imitation goods, but also paintings and reproductions. We love the butterfly farm that is nearby too. 

Most of the good food is based in town, so we headed down to town one morning sans kids (except the baby), and had a nice time walking around. We had laksa and cendol, in the cafe at Armenian street opposite the bicycle mural, and both dishes were pretty good. We explored the old shops, admiring the pretty colours and tiles gracing the front of the shops. One of the places we love to visit (my friend included) are the old householdware shops, that stock everything from plastic buckets to all manner of kitchenware, and it's interesting (at least for us) to wander through these shops looking at the stuff they sell. (A side point: have you noticed how deep some of these shops are? I love how some of them have these tiny little courtyards in the middle, and how high their ceilings soar.) We popped into Chin Seng Leong on Armenian street, which stocks all manner of vintage findings, from old telephones, toys to clocks and bicycles. We also browsed at various shops selling various pretty things. 

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Him Heang at Burma Road to pick up some tau sa piah for friends, and had to queue for that. And we also had to queue for apong (malay pancake) on the opposite side of the road (more on apong over here). The apong was good, but the wait was crazy! (Apparently the two stalls selling the pancakes are run by brothers, who no longer talk to each other.) 

Anyway, will blog more about Penang in another post, and all our previous posts about Penang can be found here. Meanwhile, have a great week!

Wednesday Wander: Hay Dairies

Our nature inquiry co-op paid a visit to Hay Dairies recently. The kids got to see the goats being milked, and it was interesting to see how the workers efficiently lined up the goats to be milked, and how quickly the groups of goats were rotated for milking. 

Everyone also got to try goat's milk, which even came in chocolate flavour! Lil J loved both the natural and chocolate flavours, and was busy slurping away. Junior J, however, took one sip and declared it wasn't chocolatey enough. I had expected that the milk would be strong-smelling and tasting, but surprisingly, it wasn't the case!

As we walked around the little farm, Junior J spotted animal footprints in the concrete. We had an interesting time discussing if those were goat hoof prints, or some other animal's, and Junior J spent a fair bit of time drawing animal foot prints after that. I really love these moments of incidental learning!

Anyway, there wasn't much to do at the farm, aside from viewing the milking session and drinking goat's milk. Milking takes place from 9 am to 11 am, and you can just walk in without an appointment to view the session. However, larger groups of 20 pax or more would need to pay a fee, and would be given a tour (detail here). So if you were to visit this farm, my suggestion would be to pair it with a visit to another nearby farm, like the Jurong Frog Farm, and perhaps end of your adventure by dining at Bollywood Veggies (The food they serve is really yummy. But do note though, that the bistro does not provide high chairs). 

Wednesday Wander: Jurong Frog Farm

Our Nature Inquiry co-op have been exploring various farms this month. One of the farms we visited was the Jurong Frog Farm (Do note that the farm is in Kranji, and not in Jurong!). We signed up for a tour of the farm, and I must say that it was probably the most interesting tour we've done so far! The tour cost $8 pax for individuals above 2 years of age, and started off with an introduction to frogs in general, and the history of the farm (which they kindly cut short for us since we had young kids):

The kids were taught about the different parts of the frog, and learnt how to differentiate the male and female frogs. They were also given time to hold the frogs, and many of the kids (and even mums) bravely took up that challenge. 

The children were given containers of food pellets to feed the frogs. They also had a chance to take a look at the various stages of the life cycle of the frog, as there were stations with tanks containing frogs in various developmental stages that were set up for another school group that was visiting. 

Then finally, after holding, feeding and observing frogs, everyone got to eat frogs! We all got to chomp on some crispy fried pieces of frog meat, as well as try some hashima (the frogs' fallopian tubes, which are boiled with sugar and considered a delicacy). 

It was a most interesting tour, and kudos goes to the staff (which interestingly seem to be made up of predominantly young females) for making the visit such a hands-on trip for the kids. The staff were able to really engage with the kids, and it was great that the kids got to experience the farm through all their senses.

The farm also sells various merchandise and also stocks frog and other exotic meat (crocodile meat, anyone?), fish, as well as hashima and snow jelly. For those who would like to bring home some tadpoles, they also sell tadpole kits. These cost $12 and consist of a tank with four tadpoles, as well as a box of food pellets. But do note, these are American bullfrogs, so the tadpoles are huge! Also, as these are not native to Singapore, you should not be releasing them into the wild after the tadpoles have grown into frogs. We split a kit with one of our friends, so the boys have been excitedly peering at their tadpoles everyday!

Wednesday Wander: Sensorium 360º, again

We visited the Sensorium 360º exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum again this week, but this time, with the in-laws, who are visiting. (Our previous visit was together with our co-op.) Since it was no longer the school holidays, the museum was almost empty, and the boys had a really good time exploring with their gramps. 

They especially loved jumping around in the noon-nom exhibit and spent most of their time there. Even baby loved it! And it was intriguing to explore the Cage again, since you'd keep expecting to feel something when you see those beams of laser. They would shriek every time the fog machine went off and blasted a cloud into the room, but would find it irresistible and run towards it afterward. 

However, there were those exhibits that required reminders to be careful, like those involving scents in bottles. Those the kids weren't too interested in. It reminded me that to engage little children one must really rely on their senses, and they must have room to explore. While older kids may be able to stand back and admire a painting and have a discussion about it, younger kids (especially boys) need to move, and touch things, and learning is best done when they also have some space to explore, without having to be told "don't touch!" or "be careful!". 

Also, I realized that the simplest things can be of interest to them, and can bring great delight. While lasers and fog intrigued them, the simple water cooler and the act of pressing a button to send an icy cold jet of water also fascinated the boys. I am glad we had the time, and could let the boys try the water cooler for awhile, without having to hurry them along to another exhibit. It made me think: how many of these simple experiences have we missed along the way, while chivvying our kids along to their next class or activity? 

(Anyway, the Sensorium 360º exhibition would be ending on the 22nd of October, so do catch it soon if you can! Here's another mum's take on the exhibition.)

Wild Wednesdays: Hunting for fiddler crabs

I love Pasir Ris Park. It is huge, it has all sorts of interesting areas to check out, from a mangrove boardwalk, a fantastic playground, to a rather interesting maze (read this post by fellow mummy blogger Ing, for more things you could do at this park). If you or your family are early birds, the beach at the park also is a great place to watch the sunrise!

One of my favourite spots in this sprawling park would be this tiny little stretch of mangrove near the mouth of Sungei Tampines. This was my research site last time when I was doing my Masters dissertation, and I spent many a hot morning standing there taking notes. While it can be full of trash (unfortunately, the beach over at Pasir Ris is not too clean), this little spot boasts of a huge population of fiddler crabs. 

Uca annulipes, female

Uca annulipes, male, at the mouth of his burrow.

Fiddler crabs are rather interesting to watch. The males wield one enlarged claw, while the females can be distinguished because both their claws are the same size. This stretch of beach is home to two main species of fiddlers: Uca annulipes and Uca vocans, which can be identified from their colours and markings. 

The males engage in waving behaviour, where they wave their enlarged cheliped, usually to attract mates. It sometimes gets pretty funny to see a couple of males waving frantically at a passing female, while she scuttles past ignoring them! 

Waving aside, these crabs are usually busy foraging at low tide. They dig themselves out of their burrows, neatly rolling the wet sand into mudballs which pile up at the burrow entrances. These critters are really shy, and would run for cover with the approach of birds or humans, so if you'd have to stay still and quiet, and wait for awhile before they would emerge from their burrows. 

Uca vocans, male.

The best place to park would be at Car Park B. Cross Sungei Tampines,
and walk all the way down to the beach (area circled in orange). This map was adapted from this post. 

If you would like to bring the kids to go fiddler crab spotting, do note:

1. Please bring lots of water, insect repellant, sunscreen, and wear covered shoes (unless you want them to splash at the beach). The mangrove area tends to catch alot of washed up trash, and it can be dangerous for exposed little feet.

2. Teach the kids to respect nature: They would have to stay still and wait patiently before the crabs would emerge. And please, resist the urge to catch the crabs!

3. The crabs will only emerge at low tide. Check the tide tables and plan accordingly. 

Read our previous post on fiddler crabs for more tips! And click here if you'd like to read about more nature areas in Singapore. Have fun exploring!