It's a hairy affair - Our favourite outdoor activity

I like the fact that we have always been an outdoorsy type of family.

Since Angel was born, come every weekend, we would bring her out on road trips in Sweden, spend a day at the beach, have a barbeque or simply laze around in the park. Now that we are back in Singapore, we like to explore different corners of Singapore and breathe in all the beauty and joy you can find on this small-but-not-that-small island.

It would be tough for me to pick our favourite outdoor activity because if you were to talk about swimming, hiking, running or building sandcastles, we love them all. However, there is one particular activity which makes Angel beam with delight a little more than the rest.

That is - visiting zoos and coming up close with animals. I do mean any animal. In fact, she even adores insects, reptiles and marine creatures too.

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We have this affinity with animals and somehow they seem to brighten up our day and bring big smiles onto our faces. One of my favourite pastime back in Sweden was simply to sit by the lake with my girl on a hot summer day, enjoy the cooling breeze while tossing pieces of bread to the swans, ducks and seagulls.

By the age of three, Angel has ridden on three ponies and a horse, touched a python, witnessed a penguin parade, had breakfast with zebras and visited a lion's den. Quite a feat, right?


As much as my girl is afraid of the dark, loud noises and scary monsters, she displays exceptional valour when it comes to the hairy creatures. I have been amazed by how she would not hesitate stepping into a cage filled with animals to feed and pat them, how she would not shun at the sight of furry caterpillars or flying bats and how she would place a snail on her palm and still be able to put on a wide grin.

To date, we have visited over 20 European cities and it is not a surprise that we would include the zoo in almost every of our itinerary. The above are some of the zoos around the world we have set foot in. From the Scandinavian moose, the King penguin to the Icelandic horse, we are lucky to have witnessed the beauty of every of them.

If being with animals makes my girl happy, I sure don't mind letting her come up close with them. So long as they are not wild boars, skunks or man-eaters. Rabbits, goats, hens, ducks, dogs or even elephants, if she wishes to feed, touch or pat them, by all means. We do our part as protective parents by constantly reminding her about the importance of hygiene and how she needs to make handwashing a habit, especially after coming into contact with animals.

Perhaps when the hubby and I chose to have our wedding pre-shoot at the zoo, we half knew that this was going to be our favourite spot next time. Well, now that we are parents of two and have become close Friends of the Singapore Zoo, visiting this place becomes at least a monthly affair for our family and it never fails to bring us joy and laughter.

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?

What is your favourite outdoor activity? 

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This post is sponsored by Lifebuoy. By empowering mums to protect kids from germs, we can better enjoy outdoor activities knowing that we are one step ahead of infections.

Disclosure: This is part of a series of sponsored conversations between Lifebuoy and A Happy Mum. All opinions are my own.