Hot Air Balloon Ride In Singapore

Hot Air Balloon Ride In Singapore

I had missed an earlier opportunity for a hot air balloon ride some years back in Gold Coast, Australia. Wife and I had booked us on a hot air balloon ride but due to poor weather, the flight was cancelled at the last moment. I remember that point in time clearly as I was woken up to receive the news at 5.02am.

When another opportunity presented itself for a chance to win a hot air balloon ride during the Singapore Air Force Open House, I was elated. Much as I would have liked, my family did not manage to get on board the hot air balloon at Paya Lebar Airbase this time.

Photograph: Aviation Carnival

We arrived late to cast our tickets for the first Hot Air Balloon Ride lucky draw in the Singapore Air Force Open House. With the delay in the launch of the hot air balloon ride on the morning of 30th August 2008, coupled with our family schedule to leave the Air Force Open House 2008 early, the opportunity to ride the hot air balloon was lost.

The closest we could get to a hot air balloon ride was at the Aviation Carnival at Paya Lebar Airbase. This was located at the stadium in the Airbase where an un-inflated hot air balloon sat next to an empty basket in the center of a field. It was also a pity we could not witness any hot air balloon ride high up in the sky of Singapore as we had to leave early.

Photo: Empty Basket For A Deflated Hot Air Balloon Ride

The odds of winning a free ticket to get onboard a hot air balloon were extremely slim. Many visitors were ahead of us and more were streaming into the carnival zone to add their tickets into the luck draw box. The single hot air balloon did not look like it could accommodate more than 5 or 6 ‘high flyers’ at a time.

Picture: Promo Illustration of Hot Air Balloon Ride

I noticed the name “Wanderlust” printed on the hot air balloon of the Air Force News magazine’s promotional picture of this ride. A check on the web revealed that there was such a company providing hot air balloon ride. One of their hot air balloons called ‘Timepeace’ has the same colours and stripes as the balloon ride in the promotional picture.

According to Wanderlust's hot air balloon ride website, only four passengers can get on the hot air balloon at any one time. Their one-hour sunrise hot air balloon ride will cost US$185 per person. Unlike the DHL Balloon Ride that is anchored by wires, riders of Wanderlust’s hot air balloon will get to float across the sky with the pilot having no idea where the hot air balloon will land at the time they lift off from the ground. As hot air balloons move according to the wind, the weather condition and wind speed have major influences on the decision to take off or to wait.

Hopefully next year’s Open House will offer another opportunity for a hot air balloon ride.

You can click here to read about yg's hot air balloon ride in Cairns.

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1. Air Force Open House

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Pony Riding For Kids In Pasir Ris Park, Singapore

Above: Pony riding for kids at Pasir Ris Park, Singapore

Pony Riding For Kids In Pasir Ris Park, Singapore

Childhood Joy Hood

In childhood, horse-riding or pony riding was a particularly great thrill for me. Under loud fanfare and vertiginous lights, I used to gallop around a carousel like a crusading knight on shiny horse, arms raised to beaming parents. Nowadays, neighbourhood riding centres offer the real deal - live ponies for kids to enjoy the pony ride of their lives.

Licence Not Needed

You do not need a licence, as I found out at Gallop Stable in Pasir Ris Park at the end of Pasir Ris Green, for kids to ride a pony. As a member of the public, I could register for formal pony riding lessons for my children. But being city dwellers unaccustomed to handling large animals and pony riding, I remained hesitant to ride the ponies.

Joy Ride

Fortunately, casual introductory pony rides were available for kids to test their affinity for this sport. My 6-year-old daughter displayed jittery nerves as she strapped on a helmet and performed an awkward dance on the pony's saddle. When the pony took off with a trainer holding the reins, her posture stiffened and she never looked back. However by the completion of the lap around the enclosure, she was beaming ear to ear on her pony ride.

above: feeding a pony after pony ride

Pony Playground

Besides pony riding, my family had an opportunity to feed ponies with bare hands, using food packets purchased at the stable. Each packet of feed appeared to resemble blades of hay-like material, which the ponies seemed to enjoy. The pnoy's wet tongues felt like spongy cakes of soap, massaging our fingers. We stroked the ponies, ranging in sizes and colours, on their backs as they leaned out to passers-by through a wooden fence. I found the ponies remarkably friendly and not as apprenhensive to us as I was towards them. To maintain hygiene (for us and for the ponies) we washed hands before and after each pony feeding/touching session.


More Than Ponies

A rudimentary on-site cafe offered hydration after our hour of fun under tree-lined canopy in late afternoon heat. Close-by, bicycle and roller-blade rental stations were opened for more sporty pursuits. Toilets and washing facilities completed the amenities in this area of Pasir Ris Park. If you prefer to cool off in the evening breeze, a five minute walk will bring you to beach-side ambiance. Completing your day would be dinner at Pasir Ris shopping centre, a leisurely 20 minute walk away.

The Pony X-Factors

This pony riding eXperience for my family had been novel. The ponies were the over-riding attraction. I found the pony more lively than those at the Singapore Zoological Garden. It was definitely a well-spent pony riding afternoon. For my kids, my family, and me. First timers and repeat visitors would surely agree.

Beside pony riding for kids, do you have any kid-friendly place to recommend in Singapore?

Take care and be happy on your pony rides.

Tags: Pony riding, pony ride / rides, not horse ride / rides, not horse riding, kids, Singapore

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