“Are you falling in love with this place yet? We’ll likely be back soon…” – ruthwongwrites on blogspot.
“Well, it looks like you can easily spend a whole day at this place. Jolie wanted to get back into the pirate ship water play area after the playden when she saw the water fun had resumed after the rain. She was so sad to leave! I promised her we'll be back.” – camemberu.com
“The place is great, the fees were reasonable (adults get in for free!) and although the food there wasn’t consider cheap, the taste was better than what I expected.” – lazymummy.com
I bet you got interested upon hearing about the attraction, Port of Lost Wonders (POLW) that was just opened in April 2012! It is located in Palawan beach, known to be a family friendly beach in Singapore’s island, Sentosa. Sentosa is also known as Asia’s playground and is one of the must-visits for tourists when they come to Singapore. There are many attractions found at Sentosa and Port of Lost Wonders would be one of them. Here, let me tell you some interesting things about this place.
POLW was opened and mainly built for children, both boys and girls, aged between 3 to 10 years old. Not only children are welcomed into this kids club. Adults who come with these kids are encouraged to spend a day in the kids club as POLW encourages busy parents to spare some time and attention to their children while strengthening family bond. Let me tell you about what they have to offer.
There are various activities arranged for the day where it starts at 10 am in the morning all the way to 6.30pm in the evening. Tickets are available at the ticket counter. Charges are applicable for children 12 years of age and under while accompanying adults enter for free. On weekdays, the ticket would cost SGD$10 per child and they will get 50 curio coins (I will explain further about these coins in a while) to play the different activities. While on weekends, it would cost SGD$15 per child and they will get 100 curio coins as there would be more activities on weekends. Loyal visitors can also apply for membership at SGD$120 per annum and offers benefits.
How do you get there? It is now very convenient to access the island from Harbourfront or from Singapore’s biggest shopping mall, Vivocity. If you go via public transport, they have monorail services, cable car or they now have the Sentosa BoardWalk where people could take a little stroll into Sentosa.
This is where it gets exciting as I tell you how it works for the guests! At the start of the day, children will be given a number of curio coins as they are required to pay a certain amount of coins in order to play an activity. As it is important to train them from young, POLW is also providing a learning experience by encouraging children to be independent and responsible for their own spending. The parents are allowed to help out but they highly encourage the kids to do it on their own. If the curio coins are still not enough, they are able to top up their curio coins at SGD$1 for every 10 curio coins. Aside from the curio coins, the kids will also be given a port pass where they are allowed to decorate with stickers and also the achievement stamps with each activity. With five of these achievement stamps, they can redeem a gift at the retail store.
The Pirate Ship where the water play area is. Now, let me tell you more about the different parts of POLW. They have the pirate ship, where there’s water works for kids to have some fun in, the curiosity island where little nature-life discoveries are made and the hatch patch for the little toddlers to roam around. They have little activity booths around the play den with a mini foam party.
Where the little ones get to have a little foam party!
As for families, they have The Deck where families can have a picnic at this scenic area as well as the Celebration Island for families to celebrate birthdays of their little ones.
The area is primarily for children in the day with their fun-filled activities but at night, adults and business companies can also book the venue for corporate events.
To add on, I find that the different areas are located strategically within the venue. I love the layout and decorations. I was surprised that the decorations and layouts of the whole place is all done up and maintained by their very own crew. The crew is definitely a creative bunch of people and I could see the fun atmosphere they would provide for the kids over at POLW. They call the crew the “Wonder Crew”. These crew members would also be responsible in operations of the activities programmed for the guests.
Oh of course I would not forget about the food! Though guests are allowed to leave the venue to visit other places to maybe grab a bite and come back, guests are not allowed to bring outside food into the area as they have their very own restaurant Port Belly. This restaurant serves food that would tickle the taste buds of both adults and kids, like soups, pastas, pizzas, grills and desserts! It was definitely great to know that they still consider the guests with food restrictions like having halal food. Though the Port Belly is not a halal restaurant, they own a halal eatery outside of POLW with a kitchen strictly preparing halal food. They take orders from these guests and they will send it over straight from the kitchen.
Plus, they own a retail shop that sells little things like toys, games, beachwear, stationeries, and other souvenirs for guests to purchase and bring home for keepsakes.
I compared this kids club to some other places in Singapore that offer similar services like for example Polliwogs. However, these places usually cater more to the kids rather than having the adults around. They serve like a “childcare” service while the parents spend their time doing some shopping on their own. For POLW, the free entrance for accompanying adults encourages the parents to put aside other plans and spend their day at the beautiful place. Due to this, the revenue would not come from the sales of tickets but from the retail store and restaurant.
I would say that this place would be good for recommendation as it encourages family bond which is what we need in the society now. As we can see due to the higher standards of living, families lack of family time especially young parents with children. POLW is a perfect place for the families to have a day out. It is also located by the beach to provide relaxation for the stressed adults. However, I do think that they still need to look into having activities that could engage siblings of both age groups of teenagers and children. The activities there might not appeal to teenagers’ liking and this can mean their last visit to POLW.
I would also give thumbs up as safety is looked into pretty well over at POLW. They have a first aid booth all prepared in case of injuries and such. Also, the waters at the water play area are ensured that it is safe for the children as they are more sensitive than adults. Water samples are sent for laboratory tests so as to ensure the pH and safety of water. Hygiene is being kept well at all times. They have put up some rules so as to make sure everyone share the same good experience.
This attraction contributes in terms of the economy of the country as it has revenue from the sales at the retail and restaurant. As Singapore relies greatly on Tourism, attractions like POLW play a big part in contributing to the economy of the country. This would definitely be an appeal to all families as people should value family time. A fun and nice place to have a relaxing time at the beach too!
