Did you know that a polliwog refers to the young of a frog? I wouldn’t have known this either, if it weren’t for a playground named “The Polliwogs”. Now, 5 years of parenting have turned me into a playground snob. There’s a cheaper and more accessible indoor playground at Northpoint, but its chaos and congestion pushed me to travel all the way to Vivo City, where we could patronise “The Polliwogs”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t just sit down and savour the rather scenic sea view, but I am nonetheless grateful. The playground sensitively divides itself into two play areas: one for children below 3 and the other for their older counterparts. Each play area is further divided into self-contained and imaginative stations, such as trampolines and ball pits. The result is that you don’t feel that people are trying to get into your space all the time. What’s more, every inch of the ground is cushioned, so I don’t have to chase after my just-graduated-from-infant-hood girl like a maniac. In fact, I’m typing this while watching her sit on the merry-go-round, trusting that if she falls, she won’t scream the roof down. My son is happily engaged with the stations and doesn’t need my supervision. This frees up energy for me to take some artistic shots of both of them in action. It doesn’t come cheap, though. Two hours of play for each child and adult requires $25 and $12 respectively, whereas the same amount of play would just set me back $35.20 at Northpoint. But you know what? My sanity is worth the extra charges, and so I’m a happy customer today. Time to feed my children afternoon tea at its in-house cafe!