My Little Ponies!

Media Invite

Some says running can be addictive, I was skeptical before, but now I am a believer.

More than just running, running with family is the ultimate joy!

This year at Sentosa Palawan Beach, more than 5,000 participants gathered for the My Little Pony Friendship Run, held for the first time in Singapore. This was an event to celebrate friendship and family all together.

(Photo credit to MY LITTLE PONY Friendship Run 2016)

For the Kuan Family, we registered for the 1km Pony Kids Run (Kless & Jayne) and the 4m Fun Run (Me & Joey).

The appeal of this run has to be the cutesy little items prepared for the participants like this print on tattoos. As quoted by my wife, only during My Little Pony Run can she put on such a cute rainbow tattoo.

  

 

My run with Joey starts first at about 9am, thankfully the weather was good and not too hot.

I asked Joey which is her favorite Little Pony character. She mentioned Rainbow Dash & Twilight Sparkle.

And before we were flagged off, the surprise nearly caused everyone to forget about the run. Joey’s favorite Rainbow Dash was out to do the flag off. Cool!

On social media, we know many of our friends were involved in this run too, so it was quite a pleasure to meet Steven and his daughter along the 4km route. He started later than us and that explained why he looked so fresh whereas, I looked so tired.

4km is not a difficult run, but for the kids, especially getting them to run early in the morning is not an easy task. This is Joey’s 3rd race since last year. But still the early timing and lack of sleep the night before caused her to feel the fatigue more than previous. After the 2km mark, she started to feel tired and eventually she walked for the rest of the race.

A couple of moments during the race, I was tempted to suggest a shortcut for her so that she can end earlier and have some rest. Every time I wanted to do it, I looked at Joey and she was still hanging on, face red from the heat, sweating profusely, legs tired but no signs of complain or giving up. I felt so encouraged by her and proud that my girl is not a person who will give up easily. I was determined to be a good father and stay the course with her so that we can both learn the value of keeping to the end.

And we did! Completed 4km run within 33mins. My girl is a champion!

Meanwhile, Kless and Jayne were waiting for their flag off. Jayne participated in some of the carnival games, drawing and coloring are her favorite.

Adults and kids, all drawn to the My Little Pony TV shows, despite the hot sun. Power of ponies.

Finally the race (1km run) starts for the younger ones.

We added yet another family run medal to our collection. I love my family!

KidZania Singapore Partners Qatar Airways

It’s finally coming this April, KidZania Singapore will offer real-life experiences, empowering, inspiring and educating kids through role-play in a kid-sized city. Truly, A City Built for Kids!

What is KidZania?
KidZania, the world’s fastest growing family entertainment phenomenon, is an unique, safe and interactive indoor edutainment center where children can experience the world of adults in a replica of a real city. Children of ages 4 and above are empowered and inspired to pursue their dreams in KidZania. Various role-playing activities will offer diverse learning experiences to help children develop new skills and attitudes to be more creative, become more aware about social values and be more confident.

Facts of KidZania Singapore
Located at Palawan Beach, Sentosa Island, KidZania Singapore will be a 7,600 square meters facility. It can have a capacity of 1,500 people at any one time.

Concept of KidZania
Play it Big only in KidZania – the land of cool kids. More than simply a kid’s theme park and a family edutainment center, KidZania is a kid-sized city where children can pick form a large number of role-playing activities, earn a salary (in the form of kidZos, the official currency of KidZania), pay for goods and services and manage an ATM card – all the things they see adults do in real life. In KidZania, kids are empowered to take charge and make their own decisions, through role-play.
The KidZania experience is about real-life experiences, reproducing adult life and therefore providing a vision of the ways in which children relate to the environment and learn from the adults around them. Children in KidZania are motivated to achieve their optimal potential. They feel good about themselves, are entertained while they learn, and gain new experiences each time they revisit the city.

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Honored to be invited for the announcement of KidZania Singapore partnership with Qatar Airways to offer children a taste of aviation fun and learning. It was an eye opener for me, especially hearing from the Group CEO of Qatar Airways, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker.

Voted the world’s best airline in 2015, Qatar Airways will be the Official Airline Industry Partner for KidZania Singapore, slated to open in April 2016. KidZania Singapore will be the second KidZania City that the multi-award winning airline is partnering with, after KidZania Kuwait.

 

Mr. Akbar Al Baker’s witty and clever replies during the short 30-mins or so interview, left most if not all of the media personnel wanting to hear from him more. When asked by the Indian media, why KidZania chose Qatar Airways instead of Singapore Airlines, Mr. Baker’s answer was a simple factual reply, “Qatar Airways has been named Airline of the Year by Skytrax 2015 and is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world now. With more than double figures growth.” A simple and direct answer that outlines the importance of this partnership, dealing with the “best”.

 

Upon arrival at the Palawan Kidz City at Palawan Beach where KidZania Singapore is housed, visitors will be welcomed with the sight of a life-size decommissioned Boeing 737 that measures 25 metre long with a full wingspan of 28 metres. Of all the 22 KidZania cities located worldwide, KidZania Singapore will be the only KidZania to showcase the full fuselage of an actual place within its City.

 

 

Visitors entering KidZania Singapore will be greeted at the Qatar Airways branded airport terminal, complete with check-in desks and personnel dressed in Qatar Airways uniforms. The facility is also home to the Aviation Academy where kids can immerse themselves in the world of aviation and travel.

 

With the help of Zupervisors, aspiring pilots at KidZania Singapore can experience flying two of Qatar Airways’ flagship aircraft – the 787 Dreamliner and the A380 Superjumbo aircraft – using state-of-the-art flight stimulators. The flight stimulation facility was also specially designed to demonstrate taking off and landing at Qatar Airways home base and hub, Hamad International Airport in Doha and Singapore Changi Airport.

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The Experience
Upon arrival, kids will check-in at the KidZania airport and pass through immigration into KidZania City!
KidZania Singapore offers multiple role-play activities where kids are exposed to real-life situations and in the process learn about how a society functions. They can pick up useful skills and values such as responsibility, independence, creativity, confidence, teamwork and financial literacy during role-play.
At KidZania Singapore, the safety of each kid is of utmost priority. Every kid who enters the park will be given a unique security bracelet for the duration of the visit, so a kid cannot leave the city without an authorized adult.
Get ready for an engaging learning experience like no other and most importantly, lots of fun!

KidZos Currency
The official currency of KidZania, kidZos are earned with every job that a kid performs. The more jobs they take on, the more they can earn, save or spend! Recognized at every KidZania city throughout the world, kidZos are used to buy products and services in KidZania City.
On their first visit to KidZania, kids will need to open a bank account and receive kidZos. They can withdraw kidZos from their account to play, shop or even save their kidZos for future visits.

You’re Hired!
From a firefighter, chef to a radio DJ, KidZania Singapore offers over 80 realistic role-play activities in more than 60 establishments with a range of difficulty to meet the abilities and interests of every child. Kids can start to earn a salary by choosing an occupation and learning about their job. They don an uniform or outfit and complete the activity or task.

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Come April, we will be thrilled to be stepping into the latest KidZania (first KidZania experience for us). Pretty sure all the kids will be dashing around the place, trying everything. When we told our girls about earning their own allowances (kidZos) and in turn used it to buy their own food, they went crazy and have both declared to stay in KidZania.

Maybe KidZania can incorporate a “hotel” segment in their facility, the girls will be want to have their own undisturbed staycation without parents. Or better still, only with their friends.