Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park

The former Bishan Park was re-opened last month, and its name isn't the only thing that has been tweaked. What once was a concrete canal which ran through both of Bishan Parks is now a naturalised, meandering river filled with aquatic life.

And so with a new name of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, we cheekiemonkies (together with Kong-kong & Por-por) just had to check it out. On our skate scooters, no less... since di-di & I were anticipating a long walk. And mei-mei wasn't going to be left behind too!

Bishan Park 2 is now known as River Plains, and this is where all the past eateries were and still are, with a McDonalds joining in the F&B family.

Photo courtesy of NParks. Click to enlarge.

We didn't go there though, as we headed down to the former Bishan Park 1 which was now renamed as Pond Gardens.

Photo courtesy of NParks. Click to enlarge.

And this was one of the TWO reasons why we made Pond Gardens our first stop.

The water playground!

Although if one should expect sprouting jets of water streams, then he/she would be quite disappointed. 

Because rather than dancing water fountains, this water playground has many sluice gates which we kids can use to control water flow. 

In the process, we learn the effective usage of water management as it flows into the bigger drains.

As for mei-mei, she was just ecstatic that there was water for her to splash around.

*Do note that the water is only turned on during the weekends from 8am to 8pm, until further notice.

After we had our dose of water fun, we went in search of our second FUN reason.

Along the way, Daddy & Mummy were surprised to see how beautiful the former canal had actually transformed into a flowing river.

The canal has been converted into a natural river using bio-engineering techniques and the use of a combination of natural materials such as vegetation and rocks to stablise the slopes to prevent soil erosion, and also to form natural habitats that enrich the biodiversity of the park. Phew, that was a long sentence.

Simply put, it was amazingly picturesque and serene. 

Yes, even under the blazing hot sun.

No wonder di-di needed to sit down every now and then. I'm sure it was because he wanted to spot some of the fishes and birds along the river banks. Or NOT. Heh.

Mei-mei too, I guess.

As for me, I kept charging ahead... and was duly rewarded for all my efforts.

A huge Adventure Playground, which looked terribly fun! Not only does it have the usual spiderweb climbing structure, slides and rope bridge, there is an area for kids to try their hands at tree-climbing!

Kids nowadays just don't climb trees anymore, Daddy laments. Erm... excuse me, not that Daddy had climbed any trees before! Haha. But I still gamely gave it a shot.

And in the true spirit of a cheekiemonkie, Daddy sat mei-mei atop of one log too. And she clung onto it as tightly as she could, probably because she didn't have any idea whether to proceed up or down.

As for di-di, he preferred scurrying up the ropes instead.

And going down the slide of course!

And as I was up on the play structure, my beady eyes spied another cluster of play structures not so far away from us.

Needless to say, we were onto it in a jiffy!

These interestingly-shaped structures housed 3 different types of climbing facilities. And they were all begging to be climbed!

We scurried up the pink box first, which was somewhat similar to the ones we wrecked havoc climbed at Woodlands Waterfront.

Or if you prefer to go even higher (which we did), there is the tall spiral slide to induce more adrenaline!

The final climbing structure was much like a spiderweb one, only shaped in a ring. But I was obligated to give it a go at least once. Heh.

And I think mei-mei was only too willing to follow in my footsteps.

Speaking of mei-mei, this little sister of mine is one garang girl. She knows no danger, and is one hardy monkie. She kept insisting to skate scoot in the same manner as di-di & me, and I tried giving her some tips.

In the end, she was able to do it all by herself, albeit in a slow manner. And to think she isn't even 18 months yet!

Wonder what she would be maneuvering when she turns 24 months. A car?!?!?

And so, it was with great difficulty that we had to peel her away from the playground when the sun got too hot for our liking.

My muscles didn't let me down.

As we made our way back, Daddy promised us to bring us back for another visit and it would be the other River Plains park next.

No wonder mei-mei was appeased.

And next time, I want to venture down nearer to the water bank, so as to get really close and observe the wildlife in the river. Who knows, we may be able to catch a glimpse of the purple herons (which have been said to make regular appearance at the river) the next time too!

Useful Information:

Address: Along Bishan Road and Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
Directions: Bus Services 132, 133, 136, 165, 166, 169 and 262 from Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange. Or Bus Service 410 from Bishan MRT Station.

View more photos of us wrecking havoc in the Parks around Singapore on our Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.283678351712441.66647.110845722329039&type=1