The new Ikea store at Tampines was opened on 16 December 2006. According to the latest Family magazine, it is one of the family-friendly stores in Singapore. Papa and Mama decided to bring Gwendolyn for a trial on Saturday to check it out. FYI, the kid's playroom at Ikea Alexandra was a mere "ball-ground" and Mama has heard of some horror stories about that. Hence, no matter how much Lyn Lyn likes "ball ball", Mama refrained from letting her try.
This time, both Papa and Mama were amazed by the huge playroom at the entrance, with various activities for busy parents to drop their kids for some fun, whilst they go for their shopping. From the outside, Papa and Mama noted that there was a video area on a staircase, an activity table for kids to draw, some slide / crawling areas, etc. Lyn Lyn was so excited to know that she is tall enough to go inside and join the Gor Gor and Jie Jie's for some fun. We queued for a short while before Lyn Lyn is finally admitted. She excitedly removed her sandals, put on the number assigned to her container box and off she dash, exploring the new grounds all by herself. As all the parents are required to leave their mobile phone numbers when registering their kids, just in case anything happens, Papa and Mama enjoyed some carefree shopping for about 15 minutes.
Suddenly, Mama's phone rang. Someone from the "Smalland" informed her that Lyn Lyn was crying and requested Mama to go back immediately. From where Mama was, she tried to get back to "Smalland" as quickly as she could. Initially, Lyn Lyn was too upset to have noticed that Mama was standing right at the door. When she finally realised, she dashed all the way to the door and cried out loud. Below is an excerpt of the conversation of Lyn Lyn is being rescued from the playroom:
P: Papa G: Lyn Lyn
P: Was it fun?
G: (Sobbing) Yes.
P: Do you want to come back again?
G: No......
P: What happened?
G: ......
P: Were the kids rough?
G: Yes......they hit me.
P: Then what happened?
G: I hit them.
Experiencing the theory: Survival of the fittest without people she trust! Bad move...
To distract her from thinking about the bad experience again, Papa and Mama brought her for some food! This is a huge eating restaurant & cafe again, with a pavillion structure for kids to play within and parents sitting around the pavillion. Lyn Lyn was all happy again playing in a confined environment with both Papa and Mama in sight! At first, she was playing whatever was available. In the end, she got herself acquainted to a Jie Jie and started playing Ring-around-the-rosie. Initially, it was only the 2 of them, slowly, the crowd increased to 3 and then 4. Eventually, when we have to go, all the kids at the Pavillion were singing and playing that! What a scene...
