Black Swan

Sometimes when I am away from the maddening crowds and the hustle and bustle of city life, I pretend that we are far away from Singapore, and yesterday was one of those days. Just because of the word "park" (I was supposed to go to Cluny Park Road instead of Cluny Road), I ended up at the wrong end of Botanic Gardens and found ourselves at Swan Lake instead of Eco Lake. Because of that, we chanced upon an all-natural playground (No plastic in sight!) and I knew it was going to be a special day. Fate had brought us there. The little girl climbed and went down the slide again and again till she was sweaty and ready to leave. After all, we were at the "wrong" place, though it felt really perfect.

The all-natural playground - a rare sight in Singapore

So we finally got to Eco Lake and that's where the day turned magical. We met Ayn and her mummy who showed us the black swan and its nest. The black swan was a beauty! That's the reason why we had gone to Botanic Gardens yesterday as Wada had been posting about the black swan and I just had to see it and show it to the little girl as well. What a treat that was as we had been reading a book about how robins build their nest, lay eggs in it and wait till the eggs hatch. 

Before Ayn and her mummy left, the little girl got three origami swans which Wada had folded. The little girl was so happy with them that she held on tight to them and showed them to all the ducks and birds in sight.

Calmly sitting on its eggs

Then a worker came to feed the birds and the ducks, doves and pigeons came clamouring for food. They swooped down from different corners, or glided in from the lake, quacking and crooing along the way. I loved the noise and all the activity as they added in to the whole swan nesting experience for the little girl.

Clamouring for food 

The swan was unperturbed by the noise and activity around it

While waiting for Sofie and her mummy to arrive, the little girl asked if she could run around and of course I said yes. She ran to and fro, all smiling with arms wide open each time she ran back to me. How I love such freedom and wild abandonment. Run and be free, little girl!

Running freely

After her friends Sofie and Sharleen had arrived, they looked at the birds near the lake, the ducks swimming in the water, and the fishes and turtles in the lake. Then it was time for some painting at the park. I'm so grateful to Sha for bringing the art materials to the park, from drawing block and paint, to brushes, art sponges and rollers. I took some dried leaves and crushed them as I thought it would add a nice touch to their artwork since we were at a park. 

I watched as the little girl painted away with a brush at first, layering and mixing the colours as she went. Then she used the sponges to add some pretty texture to her work, followed by the rollers for a nice effect. To top it off, she pasted the crushed leaves and two origami swans (the other swan was given to Sofie). But she didn't want the swans to be white, so she added some colours to them. And this is how it looks like after the paint has dried and I love it!!!

Nesting swans

We walked to Jacob Ballas after that but much to our disappointment, the park was closed on Monday, so we went back to Eco Lake so that the girls could do more running, climbing, bird-watching, singing and dancing, which were all child-led. The perfect overcast sky truly added to the out-of-Singapore feeling that I had. In fact, I knew exactly where I was yesterday - West Park on an autumn day in Munich, where we were at this time of the year last year. Now I feel totally rejuvenated after that day trip yesterday.