Summer vacation means bored children at home.
I have joined the horde of parents who want their children to avoid using the gadgets for hours and hours. These devices are addicting and children have a hard time controlling themselves. If they are to use their eyes for something, I would rather they read books.
My eldest, Ella, said that reading books without illustrations or pictures is boring… Until, she read Rick Riordan’s The Heroes of Olympus series. She finished the five books this summer! She didn’t even read the Percy Jackson series yet. Ella was also done with the trilogy about Magnus Chase.
Summer vacation also means exploring kid activity places on weekdays. The days when some locations are not crowded. Therefore, we went to Okada Play for the first time. And probably the last. I’ll tell you why later.
According to Wikipedia: “Okada Manila is a casino resort and hotel complex located on the Entertainment City gaming strip in Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines.”
It is an enormous place, and has a deep, labyrinthine parking area. The interior design of Okada Manila is seemingly whimsical and reminds me of the Wonderland from the story Alice in Wonderland.
At Okada Play,
the entrance fee of three children and two adults costed us Php2,850.00 in total.
Upon entering, we were given paper bracelets. There’s a cubbyhole area for the shoes and water bottles. It’s a good thing we do not need to buy water for the kids, they can go to that area to drink when they get thirsty.
These were what we needed:
- Jugs of water (check)
- Socks (check)
- Face towel or cloth diaper for wiping sweat (I only brought one, which was not enough)
- Extra shirts (left this in the car)
- Money for buying snacks (check)
I would recommend wearing thicker socks and socks with dark colors on the soles, because all of us walk around on socks and the floor was cold. With the exception of the restroom where they provided rubber slippers.
What they did…
Even though the air conditioner in this indoor activity play place was chilly, the children were sweating from sliding, wall-climbing, dancing, pretend-playing, interactive gaming, shooting hoops, etc.
This is the perfect slide for my three children. 😀
The widest slide I have ever seen!
Exercised her muscles with wall climbing.
Every hour or half hour, it seemed, an announcement for some group activity would blare from the speakers. Two of my kids joined one activity where they danced. Each participant was given a juice box. My daughter asked me to take a group photo of them.
Tiny City
There is another area, it’s gated. It reminded me of Kidzville or Kidz City. Actually, Kidz City also has slides.
Anyway, there’s a little community inside this gate. A house, a supermarket, a bank, a school and more. After playing for thirty minutes, the staff would ask the children to vacate the place; they would then clean up the stray toys and everything else. My little ones look forward to pretending they were grocery-shopping, and then stocking up the pantry and ref.
When the children get active and begin to sweat, we parents must be ready with not just water, but snacks as well. We bought snacks at a food stand inside Okada Play. I cannot remember what we bought, but it’s a bit pricey, as expected.
My eldest discovered an area at the back that allows kids to play video games.
Here she is, playing a Mario Brothers racing game.
I don’t know what this is for. I saw this in the area where the video games were.
After a few hours, it was time to head home. When we were in line for the removal of the bracelet, we realized that there was no system for checking if the grown-up the child is going out with is his/her guardian. Okada Play did not take our photos or let us fill up any forms when we arrived. The bracelets didn’t have security codes or something, just a piece of water resistant paper.
That’s what Rix and I disliked about the place. The security. Which is very important.
Otherwise, the children enjoyed and the place was clean. Parents or yaya‘s just have to keep a close eye on the kids.
For the next few days, the two little ones would ask to return to Okada Play. But, we returned to Kidzania, instead. 😛
