We seldom go out lately and we should. Puipui is getting a little sturdier and Albany is no longer a toddler. Both of them will probably appreciate more outings. Unfortunately, this Summer has the knack of being cooler during the week days and hellfire unleashed during the weekends. So we ended up hiding in the house for many weekends.
Since the Missus told me there was that cool water feature at Cockburn Central, I decided to take them out one Saturday morning to check it out. I was a little apprehensive because Jen got us travelling all the way to Caleya to visit a playground that was supposed to be super fantastic but it was very, very underwhelming. To make it worse, there were about 2-3 huge groups of people holding parties and there was even an Elsa air castle set up for kids to jump in. I had to keep an eye on Albany throughout, teach her to queue up for her turns and apologise to crying babies who was a tad too slow in grabbing their swing seats. I felt like working in a child care centre that afternoon, screaming kids running circles around me and all.
Fortunately, Cockburn Central was pretty cool in the sense that although there were like-minded parents who brought their kids to play (in swim wear no less!), the place wasn't packed out like I feared. It turned out that it was just a water feature in front of a train station in the middle of a hippie town with hippie apartments on high ground. So the water place was that little fountain thing at Bugis Junction without onlookers giving happy children the dirty looks and children actually really had fun there without reservations. I was slightly surprised hippies living in those apartments above us must have generally enjoyed the joyous screams of children playing with water down there.
Behind us were some decorative containers painted in bright colours and a hippie cafe that asked of you to SMS them for a cup of coffee.
Mind you, the apartments didn't look bad at all. Driving through the small roads leading to the heart of the place made me feel the energy and vibrancy of the place the way it was intended. However these apartments didn't come cheap. One could easily get a landed property not too far away. That wouldn't deter the hippies of course. A train station within walkable distance, big malls within 1-5 minutes drive, hippie eateries and cafes nearby should be too attractive for them to resist.
Albany had fun playing with water and smiled in her sleep that night. So I reckon we should be going out more often. In search for the next hippie town.