[Day 3] Exploring Siam Ocean World, Bangkok

Siam Ocean World is one of the largest two-storeys in-door aquarium in Southeast Asia which is located at the basement of Siam Paragon Shopping Mall in Bangkok. The exhibit is divided into 7 zones with individually designed theme and apart from its recreational options, it also proves a very good learning center for kids too.

With our Day 3 schedule packed with fun at Siam Ocean World, afternoon tea at Agalico and cruise dinner on board Chao Phraya Princess, I am sure you will be excited to follow us through the posts and read about our experience in those places.

As usual after our morning breakfast at Cuisine Unplugged which is located near the hotel lobby, we took the free Tutu Shuttle Service to the nearby BTS station to our first destination at Siam Ocean World.

At the ticketing counter, their friendly staff take time to explain to us about the different types of tickets and from their recommendation, we took the Family Package for @ 3,150 THB (SG$128.00) which includes 2 Adults and 2 Children (age 15 years old and below) and each ticket includes:-

- Back Of House Tour
- Glass Bottom Boat
- Pepsi (22 Oz)
- Salted Popcorn
- Happy Fish Happy Feet
- 5D Theatre

Basically Siam Ocean World is divided into 7 Zones featuring Deep Reef, Living Ocean, Open Ocean, Rainforest and etc. And within the aquarium it features more than 30,000 marine animals in its tanks which brings amazing water world experience for visitors.

[Siam Ocean World] Zone 1 - Weird And Wonder

Upon entering the aquarium, you would see all sort of weird and wonderful sea creatures such as king crabs and rare species like Coconut Octopus (row 1, right) and Leaf Scorpionfish (row 2, right) in Zone 1.

[Siam Ocean World] Zone 2 - Deep Reef

Further down at Zone 2, you would see a huge tank featuring marine life which you will find in the coral reefs.

[Siam Ocean World] Zone 3 - Living Ocean

Whereas at Zone 3, we get to visit the "Back of House Tour" where we have the opportunity to touch and witness the real operation behind the scenes of how the Aquarium actually works. Beside that Zone 3 also features some underwater rules of survival and how sea creatures protect themselves against predators.

[Siam Ocean World] Glass Bottom Boat

For some family fun, Glass Bottom Boat ride (usual price 150 THB (SG$6.00) per person) featuring a 5 - 8 minutes ride around the tanks with one of their boatman "gliding" the boat was awesome. We enjoyed our ride spotting fishes underneath but if you are keen you can also grab a cup of shrimps to feed the fishes. The experience is pretty pretty exciting as you get to see fishes like sharks, eagle rays and etc just right below your feet through the glass bottom boat.

[Siam Ocean World] Grab some shrimps for 100 THB (SG$4.00) per cup to feed the fish during Glass Bottom Boat ride.

[Siam Ocean World] Zone 4 - Rainforest, Zone 5 Rocky Shore

There are many interesting creatures and animals waiting for you in the rainforest at Zone 4 where you get to see animals like "Giant Water Rat (3rd row, 1st picture)" which look rather cute as compared to those scary street rats. Other than that, there are also Penguin, Golden Snakes, Poison Spiders and etc.

[Siam Ocean World] Happy Fish, Happy Feet

Our family combo tickets also entitled us for the Happy Fish, Happy Feet treatment where we happily sit and relax our feet in the cold jacuzzi which is filled with little fishes that softly nibbles on our skin. Indeed it was a fun experience for first timer like us to enjoy fish spa.

[Siam Ocean World] Mini Aquarium inside a microwave

[Siam Ocean World] Zone 6 - Open Ocean

[Siam Ocean World] Zone 6 - Open Ocean

[Siam Ocean World] Zone 6 - Open Ocean

Everyday around 1.00pm and 4.00pm there will be a "shark feeding show" at Zone 6  where visitors could gather around at the sitting area to watch the 5 - 10 minutes feeding show. At this zone, it features a 270-degree tunnel where you can observe sharks, stingrays and other sea creatures that are found in the deep ocean.

[Siam Ocean World] Zone 7 - Sea Jellies

Remember to drop by the Sea Jellies zone before you leave the aquarium. You will be amazed by these cute jelly fish in those colour changing light tanks which makes them look so stunning under those lights.

SIAM OCEAN WORLD
Level B1 And B2, Siam Paragon
991 Rama 1 Road, Pathumwan
Bangkok 10330 Thailand
Telephone: +66 2687 2000
Website: http://siamoceanworld.com

Opening Hour:
10.00 am - 9.00pm (daily)

Note:- Nearest BTS station to Siam Paragon is SIAM Station.

[Fuji Japanese Restaurant] Fragrant Green Tea from Japan

We had lunch at Fuji Japanese Restaurant which is located near the food mall at ground level of Siam Paragon Shopping. Even though it was past lunch hour at around 2pm+ but there were still quite a long queue outside waiting to get it. And since it was only 3 of us, we managed to get a table in about 15 minutes.

[Fuji Japanese Restaurant] Zura Soba Noodles With Assorted Tempura

Zura Soba is a type of chilled soba which is often served on a sieve-like bamboo tray, garnished with strips of dried nori (seaweed) and served together a dipping sauce known as tsuyu (mixture of dashi, sweetened soy sauce and mirin) with chopped spring onion and an quail egg.

[Fuji Japanese Restaurant] Fuji Sashimi Bento Set which includes Miso Soup and Chawanmushi @ 310 THB

Our set of Fuji Sashimi Bento Set which includes Miso Soup and Chawanmushi cost around SG$12.60 which is about 310 THB. Although the quality might not be as good when compared to those high end Japanese restaurant but with the price that we are paying the quantity is enough to feed two pax. 

Fuji Japanese Restaurant @ Siam Paragon
G/F Siam Paragon Shopping Complex
991 Rama 1 Rd, Pathumwan
Bangkok 10330 Thailand
Telephone: +66 2 611 7168
Website: Fuji Japanese Restaurant

Itinerary of our Bangkok (Thailand) travelogue are as follow:-
~ [Day 1] Our Family Trip to Bangkok (BKK), Thailand
~ [Day 1] Exploring Asiatique, The Riverfront
~ Cuisine Unplugged and Executive Lounge @ Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel
~ [Day 2] Exploring Chatuchak Weekend Market
~ [Day 2] Health Land and Mahboonkrong (MBK)
~ [Day 3] Exploring Siam Ocean World
~ [Day 3] Afternoon Tea At Agalico, Bangkok
~ Day 3] Dinner Cruise On Board Chao Phraya Princess, Bangkok
~ [Day 4] Lunch At Secret Garden, Thai Cuisine And Bakery
~ [Day 5] Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi)

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Hina-matsuri Festival @ Liang Court Shopping Mall

From 15 February to 3 March, Liang Court Shopping Mall is having a 2 weeks celebration for the tradition Hina-matsuri - Japanese Dolls Festival. This is the first time in Singapore, Hina-matsuri is celebrated in Liang Court in honor of all girls, with wishes for good health and happiness.

We are so excited to be one of the invited guest bloggers to join in their Bento Workshop as well as making our own snowman using "real snow" from Hokkaido.

Our Bento Workshop instructor is Shirley Wong (in blue yukata) who features all her Kawaii (cute) Kyarabens (character bento) at http://littlemissonigiri.blogspot.sg/ You can take a look at her website for more bento ideas if you are interested to make your own bento too :)

Material for the Bento workshop.

All the kids were excited and can't wait to get their hands on for the bento workshop.

First the kids were told to mix in green and pink Furikake (condiment for rice) into their cooked rice to form the HinaMatsuri Characters.

Although I am a bit worried for my boy to handle sharp knife while cutting the vegetables but afterall he did a great job on cutting and shaping the bento characters.

My boy's Hinamatsuri (Japanese Doll Festival) Bento.

Group Photo taken with the kids and Bento Workshop Instructor, Shirley (right with blue yukata).

Hina-arare (rice crackers/rice puffs)

Above are some of the traditional Hinamatsuri snacks that you get from Meidi-ya at Liang Count Shopping Mall. And they even have a mini Hinamatsuri food fair selling all kinds of festive snacks such as Hina-arare (rice crackers/rice puffs), Japanese candy, Mochi and etc.

One of the hit for Hina-matsuri Festival is snowman making which bought in by Tampopo restaurant. According to them, those are "real snow" which was air-flown from Hokkaido in support of the event. Although we cannot experience winter in Singapore but these "air-flown" snow definitely brings in fun and laughter between the kids and their family during they visit.

Other than the "snow" at the atrium area, there were also more inside the Tampopo Restaurant where they display snowman and snow play area for the dine-in patrons.

Without second thoughts, our dinner was at Tampopo (partly because of the snowman *grins) and my kid enjoy his Meal which consists all his favourite items from Onigiri, ebi tempura, Tonkatsu and hard-boiled egg.

Complimentary box of snow from Tampopo, Liang Court which they brought in from Hokkaido,

For this coming weekend, 2 - 3 March there are having 2 big events like:-

{02 March} Mega Chirashi Zushi (1.30pm to 3pm): For the first time in Singapore, you could join in the record-setting attempt at assembling a mega Chirashi Zushi (scattered sushi) with colorful toppings that is served during Hina-matsuri!

{3 March) Girls' Party (2 - 5pm) : Bring your kids to join in the Girls' Party at Liang Court's atrium with traditional Hina-matsuri food, non-alcoholic sake, and fun activities with live performances on stage!

So if you are free this weekend, perhaps you would like to bring your kid(s) down to Liang Court and join in the Hinamatsuri Festival too!

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Great Kids Cook Out @ United Square Mall plus Junior Chef Cooking Competition

With September school holiday and a few public holidays like Hari Raya Puasa around the corner, why not bring your kids to embark a Creative Culinary Adventure as United Square celebrates its 9th Anniversary. At the event kids are able to pick up cooking techniques and explore recipes from celebrity chefs like Forest Leong and Catherina Hosoi plus Ellena(myself, a food blogger)

For this event, United Square Shopping Mall hopes that with some creativity added to those dishes it might be able to ‘help’ picky eaters by transforming eating into a fun and enjoyable learning experiences from the 4 interesting set up kitchens. And as part of United Square 9th Anniversary Celebrations, Great Kids Cook Out event are held from 26 August to 11 September 2011 where children aged 4 to 14 years old can personally prepare nutritious and creative dishes and learn basic table etiquette from experts of the field.

Great Kids Cook Out

26th August - 09th September

In order to let your kids participate and have fun in any of the kitchen shown below, you would have to spend at least $80* at United Square retail outlets to entitle a "Cooking Pass" to qualify for The Great Kids Cook Out.

For Age Group 4 – 8 years old

Pizza Making conduct by myself and my group of chef to enable kids to design their own pizza using healthy wholemeal bread with fresh vegetables topping such as Broccoli, Cucumber and Carrot together with tomato base pasta sauce and shredded cheese. (Pizza design created and endorsed by me)

Kaya Fondue Making conduct by Chef Forest Leong and her group of chef to teach kids how to cook up some health and delicious kaya using fresh ingredients and serve it on some designed cutout wholemeal bread.

For Age Group 9 – 14 years old

Next Bento Making is also another kitchen handle by myself and another group of bento chef where participant gets to learn moulding the rice ball and assemble the bento box with cooked vegetables, grilled teriyaki chicken, and quail egg.

The participant for Bento Kitchen will get to learn and bring back either one of these set of bento which I am sure they will be overwhelm of their master piece. (Bento design is created by me)

For the same age group if you are not keen in Bento, perhaps making Rainbow Snowskin Mooncake from Chef Catherina Hosoi will be great for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival too.


More related photos on the Great Kids Cook Out HERE at Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page.

For your information, this is a Daily event starting from 26 August till 09 September from :-
~ Mondays to Fridays: 11.30pm to 7.00pm
~ Saturdays and Sundays: 11.30am to 8.00pm

United Square mentioned in their facebook (HERE) that as the kitchens are always having full classes they advice parents to go early with the kids or try to avoid weekends crowds!

Junior Chef 2011

And for the coming September School Holiday, Parents World together with Untied Square Mall and Health Promotion Board there will be a "Junior Chef Cooking Competition" on 10th and 11th September where participants get to either decorate a cake or cook out a dish to impress the judges(Celebrity Chefs Forest Leong and Catherina Hosoi, plus myself) and walk away with attractive prizes and trophy.

For more details of this Junior Chef Cooking competition and registration, please refer to Parents Word official website HERE. Closing Date for registration is on 05 September 2011. For enquirers you can call 6295 0810 or e-mail to daniel@parentsworld.com.sg

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Singapore 1st 3G Family Centric Foodcourt by Foodfare

Last weekend after our Bukit Timah Railway tracking, we decided to settle our dinner somewhere in Clementi Mall. To our surprised the Foodfare located at level 4 has a new 3G(three generation) dining concept whereby everyone in the family from grandparents to young toddlers can enjoy a wonderful mealtime and bonding together.

Upon entering the foodcourt you will see a lot of cute Bento boxes special cater for kids' portion of meal appears on each individual stalls. And at one back corner of the foodcourt there is a stage design area with toddlers friendly furniture such as low table and broad seats.

But that evening when we are there those seats are all taken by a few groups of "in-considerate Young Adults/Teens" due to the crowded dinner timing. And even though they have finished their meal, they are still stuck on their seats chit chatting leaving parents with young kids standing nearby waiting for seats which suppose to be cater for young kids. Perhaps the foodcourt management should do something about the toddlers seats area.

For your information, there will be a kids' menu on each table showing all kinds of kids' bento meal packed with local dishes such as fish soup noodles, western food, chicken rice and etc. Each set of bento comes in smaller portion of food in order to prevent food wastage for kids compared to the adult serving but the price was not really budget too. The Nugget and Fries set that we ordered cost S$3.00 with some soggy fries and cold nuggets which I was not really happy about it.

And happen that if you kids like any of the 4 design bento box you have to purchase with another extra S$3.00 on top of the kids' meal price.The Bento box purchased will be given separately for the kids to bring home while their meal will be served from the bento box provided from the stalls.

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