MBS Skating Rink

Skating Rink at Marina Bay Sands

Clarissa started learning rollerblading during the last December school holidays and rollerblading has been her favourite sports since then. She would ask me to roller blade with her (along the canal behind our place) whenever we have some free time, especially during the weekends. Alycia, on the other hand, was not so much a lover of this sport as compared to her sister. Although she had 4 years of head start, she couldn’t really blade very well as Clarissa. In fact, it was only recently that she could blade (properly). It’s pressure from her sister, probably. 😉

Earlier this year, we had two visitors from Australia and we brought them to Marina Bay Sands (the blog entry is here). We showed them how much Singapore has changed and one of the things that caught the attention of the kids was the skating rink in MBS. They had since been nagging at me to bring them to the rink.

Getting used to the surface

The kids soon learned that ice-skating is quite different from rollerblading. The principles are basically the same but because there is less friction on the ice surface, it’s generally more difficult to move. It took the kids a while to get used to the surface and as a disclaimer, I did not skate on the rink personally and these were feedback from my children. Moreover, the rink is not made of ice. Instead, it is made of some synthetic material to mimic the ice surface. It’s not as smooth as ice, but close enough (according to MBS). Personally, I find it closer to wax than ice. But for $6/hour, I wouldn’t complain. 😉

One thing that I like about kids is that they make friends very easily. The boy above, whom I forgot his name, just came over and made friends with my two princesses. He started with some small talks and in no time, the three of them were playing together. Sometimes, I wish I could be like them – To be able to approach somebody and make friends just like that. ;-(

If you were to ask me “Which is more fun? Rollerblading or skating at MBS?”, I would think rollerblading  is better. Everybody seems to be either walking or moving at a very slow pace at the rink. In fact, I didn’t see anybody blading in a very smooth fashion. Nevertheless, the kids enjoyed themselves and said “We will be back!”.

Alycia couldn't brake in time

Clarissa fell and injured herself

Taking a break

We will be back!

Guests from afar

Come meet Patty (the possum) and Kiwi (the Kookaburra). They are Clarissa’s and Alycia’s new pets that Uncle Anthony and Aunty Siew Chin brought all the way from Melbourne, Australia.

Uncle Anthony is my father-in-law’s buddy when they worked together more than 20 years ago. He had since migrated to Melbourne and they had not met each other for a long time until we visited them in Melbourne in 2009. Uncle was very happy to see us then and he showed us great hospitality and gave us a nice treat at an Italian restaurant. After that, we ended the evening with much fun feeding the possums at a nearby park.

Uncle Anthony and Aunty Siew Chin

Time flies and when we learnt that they are making a short trip to Singapore, the kids were very excited to meet them again. We were told that this was supposed to be a “eating trip” for Uncle Anthony and hence we planned for a seafood dinner at the Singapore Flyer; where we had the famous chilli crab.

Helix Bridge

After dinner, we took a stroll on the helix bridge towards the Marina Bay Sands where they had the chance to look at the YOG (Youth Olympic Games) park and the casino. Singapore has developed so much in recent years that this was also the first time for my parents-in-laws too.

ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands

Unfortunately Uncle and Aunty will be traveling to Malaysia on Friday. If not, we could be a better host during the weekend.