Sassy Mama’s Guide to (Alternative) National Day Celebrations

 

Here’s how to celebrate National Day in a different way with the kids

With two whole days off this coming weekend – hello four day weekend! – we’ve been doing some serious planning here at Sassy Mama. If you’re anything like us, you probably forgot to enter the ticket raffle for the National Day Parade and don’t have tickets (otherwise it’s likely you wouldn’t be reading this!). So instead of telling you about what you’ll be missing, we thought we’d give you a few other ideas on how to enjoy your days off. Here is how we plan to keep ourselves busy and get into the patriotic mood.

1. Who needs them anyways?

With no tickets to the ‘real deal’, this is the perfect excuse to create your own National Day party at home! Invite the neighbours over for some Singapore Slings (does wonders for the festive spirit!) and cupcakes with red and white frosting. If you’re not in the mood to bake just order these limited edition cakes from Swissbake and you’re all set.

And you know what’s so great about this celebration that you’re now planning? It’s the perfect way to throw a party with a legit reason to put the kids in front of the TV — to watch the parade of course! Paint their faces, get little flags and watch the live coverage. Feeling fabulously festive? Pull together your very own family choir and practice this year’s theme song “One Singapore”.

2. Get away from it all

Not in the mood for a petit party? Then leave town, or at least go as far north as you can. Sembawang Park is a true hidden gem at the very northern tip of Singapore. Looking over the coastline towards Johor, this is a lovely place for the family to just get away from it all. Since it is a bit of a hike, it can take up to 1 hour to get there (depending on where you live) so plan for a whole day outing. It is so worth your while since the park has just had a makeover and is now super clean and super green and has everything you need for a fun family outing (running water and toilets are no exception!). Did we forget to mention the battleship playground? We did? Well we guarantee it will be a smash hit with the littlies!

We do however recommend you bring your own picnic lunch as all the BBQ pits are already booked out (we were disappointed when trying to book one ourselves!). If sandy sandwiches aren’t your thing, then you can always head to Beaulieu House for a chilled family lunch. Booking ahead is probably a good idea but they are usually quite accommodating. While the food is nothing spectacular, the restaurant’s location overlooking the water most certainly is. Before you head back to town, make sure to take a stroll on the natural sand beach and dip your toes into international waters.

Sembawang Park
Sembawang Road, Sembawang North

Beaulieu House
117 Beaulieu Road, Sembawang Park, Singapore 759837
Tel: (+65) 62579234 

3. Pay it forward – a different family activity

This is probably one of the loveliest things we’ve heard of in a very long time! The Dash of Kindness 2013 is a race aimed at promoting spontaneous acts of kindness. On 9th August from 1-6pm all race participants will trek around Singapore and spread kindness to strangers, encouraging them to do the same. Talk about paying it forward!

Families (with children from the age of 4) or friends can form a team of 4 to 6 people and complete an act of kindness from a designated list of 100. Each act will have a ‘Kindness Score’ allocated to it based on difficulty and the team that earns the most points will win a prize!

Whether it is to brighten up someone’s day or teaching your kids how to become better citizens, this is a great event and only costs $10 per person to enter. Get your team together and sign up today!

The race starts at *SCAPE from 1pm onwards.

*SCAPE
2 Orchard Link #04-01, Singapore 237978
Tel: (+65) 6521 6565

4. Discounts for (celebratory) families

There’s nothing quite like a good deal to put a smile on a mama’s face and thanks to our little red dot’s birthday, you get to enjoy some celebratory discounts at many major attractions around S’pore. There’s 50% off entry prices at Jurong Birdpark, 30% off at the Night Safari and 20% off Singapore Zoo admissions. There is a ton of other good deals for you to check out too so bring on the coupons and get out there mamas!

5. If you can’t beat the crowds – join them

We know it sounds crazy but what about trying Sentosa on a public holiday? They’ve certainly gone out of their way to get us out of the house this weekend.

Got an arty streak in you? Then hop on the Sentosa Express from VivoCity (always a hit with the kids) and start your day off with a family stroll around Samantha Lo’s exhibition, “The People’s Republic”. The exhibition consists of a series of anything-less-than-ordinary signs posted at Siloso Beach. The artist, who was sentenced to 240 hours of community service earlier this year for spray painting signs and buildings around Singapore, has also created the “Lepak Corner” at Beach Plaza. This corner is a tribute to our beloved Singlish.

If all of this wasn’t quite enough there’s also a private collection of vintage cars on display at Palawan Beach. A great one for small and big boys!

From 4.30 pm onwards you can also hit the Grill N’ Chill at Merlion Plaza and jazz it up with Jeremy Monteiro’s Organ Trio on Palawan Beach. There will be food and drinks on offer with Happy Hour prices between 4:30 and 6:30pm.

6. Party crashers

Just because you don’t have tickets to the parade doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to get in on the action. It’s probably best to avoid fence climbing and fake tickets but there’s nothing wrong with getting as close as you can. But how do you do that?

Plan a day out at the lovely Marina Barrage to enjoy the surrounding water, boats and greenery. While you are there why not walk the little arts trail to check out the sculptures? It’s nice and doesn’t take too long, which means it is suitable for all ages. When the kids get warm and whiny, let them cool off at the water play area next to the water playground.

When afternoon comes, take the kids clubbing! No? Well why not take the whole family for a drink at Ku De Ta Club Lounge instead? From 5:30pm to 9pm they offer special drinks prices with the best possible view you can get.

$38++ gets you a glass of the house pour and a space to enjoy nine fighter jets swishing by (around 7pm) and of course front row seats to the grand finale fireworks (just after 8pm). Rumour has it there will be a face painter and some kids entertainment on site but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Pssst…if you’ve got really sharp elbows (and the patience of a saint), you can always enjoy the fireworks and the fighter jets for free from the surrounding quay (but then there are no drinks included of course…!).

Marina Barrage

8 Marina Gardens, Drive Singapore 018951

Ku De Ta Club Lounge

1 Bayfront Avenue, Marina Bay Sands SkyPark, Singapore 018971
Tel: (+65) 6688 7688

See you on the town mamas!

And now to the not so fun part — road closures — make sure to check the latest news here before heading out.

 

Top image sourced from Kevin Utting