Seb's Bistro & The Playhouse @Rochester

[OCT 2014 UPDATE] Rochester House has re-opened after a round of refurbishments, and comes with an up-sized outdoor play area too! READ MORE HERE: http://www.cheekiemonkie.net/2014/10/the-playhouse-rochester-all-new-up-sized.html

(Daddy reviews)

This post should really be titled 'How to have a quiet meal with friends together with screaming kids'.

Yup, there isn't any error.

Screaming. Kids. Quiet. TOGETHER.

While it is a common knowledge among all parents that one can never have a peaceful meal when you are lugging young children, there can be exceptions to the rule (For a price though. After all, who said the best things in life are free? Heh).

Enter Seb's Bistro & The Playhouse at 7 Rochester Park.

The wifey & I had long been wanting to bring the monkies here, but just couldn't find the time to do so. And it happened that one of my long-time friend was back in Singapore for a short holiday, which gave us the perfect excuse to suggest this place for our weekend lunch meet-up.

This kids-friendly establishment is housed in a grand old colonial bungalow, with a bistro-style restaurant as well as a fully indoor playground for the young-lings to run amok while the old-lings tuck into their food outside.

The playground is chargeable though, but let's get to that a little later.

Although situated outdoors, the restaurant is fully sheltered and comes with ample ventilation - perfect for the fickle weather that we have been having here in recent times!

Not to mention that there're enough of open spaces for the kiddos to run about too.

But running about in a restaurant is of course a strict no-no. So I would recommend the kids channel their pent-up energy elsewhere.

On a 10-feet trampoline that's what!

Obviously, the 2 boys were only too eager to demonstrate their bouncing skills. Which was a good thing too, because we were the earliest to arrive. And I would rather they bounce off the trampoline than make me bounce off the walls in the face of their incessant questioning of their friends' arrival time.

And when our friends (and their kids) did finally arrive, all the kids were only too happy to congregate within the trampoline once more.

And this gave the adults plenty of time to pore over the menu - which is a luxury for parents with young kids actually.

As for the kids' portions, the restaurant has a kids menu for them with a choice of 6 types of food at $8++ each. Each meal comes with either a glass of apple or orange juice as well.

Between the 4 of them, they had the Fish-n-Chips, Macaroni & Cheese and Chicken Rice.

The portions were rather adequate, and I reckon it's safe to say that they enjoyed their meals.

Well, that was part of the reason.

The other, being that they were seated together in their own dining spot AWAY from the adults.

Not that the adults minded of course!

So that probably explained why both camps were in such high spirits.

With the Playhouse just plonked right beside the restaurant, there is also the added incentive of finishing up one's meals fast. Really really fast.

I would too, if I were a kid after I had seen the contents of the Playhouse.

Yes, I know what you are thinking. That aircon at the top of the above picture is pure bliss.

Okay, but besides that, the Playhouse is basically strewn with loads of toys at every corner - from a make-believe cooking kitchen play area, an area where dress-up play is encouraged, to a slide with a ball pit in the middle of the playhouse.

There's also a train table with lots of trains to keep the boys occupied, as well as a craft area where kids can opt to do some quiet colouring or handiwork.

Ale, too was having exceptional fun with the slide and so, for a moment we left her in the Playhouse all by herself.

We could if we really wanted to, because there were staff within the premises who are tasked to look after the kids.

But from the spying that we did from outside the Playhouse, she remained frozen the whole time that we were out of her sight. So we thought we had better make ourselves visible once more to put her more at ease.

And true enough, she was a happiemonkie once again.

It was really a case of so-many-toys-so-little-time. Heh.

The older kids were also dictating their own fun within the Playhouse, so there wasn't really much supervision required.

And of course, the adults had a swell time catching up, while savouring their food ever so slowly. Pure bliss? You betcha.

That probably explains all our smiling faces.

And the price of bliss?

PLAY                     WEEKDAY                     WEEKENDS & PHs

1st hour                      $7.00                                   $7.00
Subsequent                 $7.00/hr                               $7.00/half hr
2hr Promo                    $12.00                                 $18.00
UNLIMITED play            $15.00                                 $20.00


I reckon 1 hour play will be more than sufficient. Anything more, the kids might get restless.

Besides, there is always still the trampoline!

A playhouse and a cafe all in one place, this is definitely heaven for both kids and parents!

Ale turns ONE!

One year ago, on this day...

We welcomed our family's newest addition.

The sweetest thing.

And now...

She learned to laugh & squeal, then sit & stand.

And she can walk now if you hold her hand.

But the fun has just begun;

Look out world, for Ale has turned ONE!

Happy Birthday! 

Loving you always, dear princess.

From, Daddy & Mummy.

Supermarket Sweep Part 2

Back in 2009, di-di & I had our first encounter with kid-sized shopping trolleys at the supermarket.

Cheekiemonkies in 2009!

We really look so young then. Hee.

And since then, we have always been clamouring to go to the Cold Storage supermarket at Jelita whenever we need to do our grocery shopping.

Fast forward to now, it is now mei-mei's turn to be the Shopping Queen!

She looked so cute pushing the shopping cart, don't you think so?

But she has yet to her hone her sense of direction, so it was a good thing that there was a handle attached to the cart for adults to assist in the navigation.

And despite attempts to steer her away, she still managed to stumble onto the sweets section. Heh.

A little toddler's legs can only do so much walking. And so, when her legs began to tire, there was always someone, aka me, to help her out.

Good thing she's able to fit right into the cart!

Me think she enjoyed being pushed around than pushing the cart.

Daddy foresees that the next time we are back for grocery shopping, we would need THREE trolleys in order to keep all of us happy. And he reckons it's gonna be havoc!

MacRitchie's Submerged Boardwalk

Yesterday was a public holiday, so besides being able to wake up a little later than usual, di-di & I were eager to know what programme Daddy & Mummy had lined up for us.

But the best programme can often go up in smoke if the weather isn't cooperative. Luckily for us, it was an extremely beautiful morning. (Well, the mandatory thunderstorm did arrive in the afternoon but we were already home by then. Phew!)

We headed down to MacRitchie Reservoir Park with Kong-kong & Por-por, where we heard that there was a new feature which allowed us to walk on water.

Ooh, sounds exciting already!

And as we walked the park to locate it, there was still the usual photo-taking to be done. Heh.

Mr. Sun was a bit too enthusiastic huh? I think mei-mei shared the same sentiments.

It was actually quite nice to bask in the morning sun, while taking a slow walk among all the greenery.

I had no idea that all these water would eventually make its way through our taps at home, so it was interesting to hear Daddy tell di-di & me what the reservoir was all about.

Well, at least it made the walk to our desired location seemed shorter. :P

At last, we reached our destination.

The Submerged Boardwalk.

Where visitors can literally walk on water via a 40-metre submerged boardwalk from one reservoir's bank to another.

There is a water landscape area just by the side of the boardwalk, which has water plants such as the Beach Morning Glory and Pigweed to help to purify the water in the reservoir by filtering out sediment.

There are also dykes and reed beds, which filter out rainwater from the surrounding pavements before they flow into the reservoir. Larger sediments in the water are allowed to settle while the plants on the reed beds absorb the pollutants, so cleaner water flows into the reservoir.

Or at least that's what Daddy told us.

But enough of the educational bits. It was time for us to get our feet wet!

Fear of the water?

NAH, absolutely not!

We were only too happy to be walking, running and jumping (in no particular order) on the boardwalk.

See proof.

And more proof.

As for mei-mei, she simply adores water so how can she pass up such a good chance?

She even became very much the poser too!

The good thing about the submerged boardwalk is that the maximum depth of water on the boardwalk is just 5cm, hence it's safe for everyone, regardless of age.

No wonder mei-mei was in such high spirits.

Actually, make that 3 of us!

Kong-kong & Por-por were happy to get their feet wet too I suppose. Hee.

Oh, and did you know the iconic Bandstand & zigzag bridge (which are beside the boardwalk) were given conservation status by URA?

Hmmm... Daddy probably shouldn't walk or run on it then - in case he cause it to collapse. Heehee.

Any running should be done on the Submerged Boardwalk we reckon. And so, here we go again!

All the splashing around made mei-mei want to join in the action too.

So she made her move.

Watch her go!

Erm, oops. 

Luckily, Mummy was there to save the day.

But mei-mei wanted to run down the boardwalk once more.

And so she did.

Only this time, there was parental guidance.

Eventually, she deemed crawling to be a faster alternative.

As the sun approached its top most point, it was time to head back to dry land.

Do remember to go in flip-flops if you want to walk on water too, and also bring along a towel or a change of clothes if you intend to get drenched, like us.

Mei-mei definitely had buckets of fun sploshing water all around. So it wasn't any wonder that she wailed loudly when we were preparing to leave.

Til next time! Daddy & Mummy promise. :D

You can view more fun photos at our Cheekiemonkies Facebook page HERE.