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Sunday, February 6, 2011

~ It's A Great Great World Carnival (大世界) ~

If you passed by Sengkang CC, you will not miss the Great World Carnival that was officially opened by Guest of Honour, DPM Teo Chee Hean on 22nd Jan. He is also accompanied by other MPs as well as the cast from the lastest locally produced movie (directed by Kelvin Tong) - It's A Great Great World.

Event: It's A Great Great World Carnival (大世界)
Date: 22 Jan to 20 Feb 2011
Time: 6pm to 10:30pm Daily
Venue: Sengkang CC Hardcourt (Opposite Compass Point)


I heard about the 3 amusement parks that was very popular in Singapore back in the older days. (New World, Great World and I think Happy World). Unfortunately, I did not have memories going to the parks since my parents were always busy working and we cannot afford the additional spending on leisure.

Brief history
The Great World Amusement Park, also known as 大世界 ("Tua Seh Kai" in Hokkien) was situated along Zion, River Valley and Kim Seng Road which is where Great World City Shopping Mall currently stands. The landowner, Lee Choon Yung, developed the site (which used to be a Chinese cemetery) into an amusement park in the 1930s. Due to the lack of business, it was sold to the Shaw Brothers in 1941. WWII broke out very soon after and the park was transformed into a prison for Australian POWs which led to a thrive in gambling activities.

After the end of the Japanese Occupation, cultural activities were revived and the park was back to it's glory days with carnival rides, restaurants and theatres namely Canton, Atlantic, Sky and Globe. With the bloom of the television era, supermarkets and pasar malam, business at the amusement parks came to a standstill. Great World Amusement Park was eventually closed on 31st March, 1964.


Source: http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1046_2006-06-09.html

The mini version of the Great World Amusement Park has been remade in Sengkang (Thanks to Uncle Ringo) after so many years and the children has been noising us to go since it's opening. Today is the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year and since there are no visitings to go, we took the children to the carnival after our dinner.

To play the rides, you will need to purchase the tokens at the counter. Each token cost $3 and for every 6 tokens purchased, you will receive a free limited addition souvenior coin. Hubby bought 6 tokens which cost $18 already. Denver and Gladys gets 3 tokens each to decide which ride they prefer to play. Frankly speaking, $3 per ride is kind of expensive and difficult to manage especially if the family has more children. Some rides need 2 tokens to play and so it is going to burn a big hole in Daddy's and Mommy's pocket if the children are going to play all the rides!


Some of the rides within the carnival include: Swinging Chair, Mini Viking, Samba Helicopter, Ferris Wheel, Train, Convoy, Galloper, Carousel, Boat, Bumper Car, Meteorite, Paratropper and various game stalls.





Gladys gets to have fun with one of the jumping castle and had her train and boat ride. Denver on the other hand, chose to take the Bumper car ride with Mommy and also had his luck at one of the popping balloon game stall.


Gladys 'rowing' her boat. 


There are so many tempting rides for the kiddos and the queue was not too bad. The Bumper car ride is quite a good deal since it is 2 tokens per car which means one parent and child can sit and play. If only the pricing per token is cheaper, the children will have more fun trying out the other rides. ^_^

6 comments:

Herine said...

I actualy wanted to go to this carnival too cos there was a gd deal. Some online coupon sale where we can save half on the tokens!

Check out this link:
http://g2gdeals.com/team.php?id=16

Phoebe said...

Wow! Sure looks like a much better deal! $3 per ride is really expensive. :) Weekday will be less crowded :)

--andy-- said...

Mummy brought boys there last Sat. Expensive. (I think the last one is Gay-world ) (not homosexual haha)

Soh Hong Wei said...

Wow!!
Must be real fun!! =)

Joshua (ジョシュア) said...

wow, thanks for the informative site!
I was online searching when will it close so that I and my friends can pop down for a look before it closes, tks!

Phoebe said...

Sorry for the late reply!
Andy: hope mengchoo & the kids had fun (despite the price!)
Hong Wei: Uh.. it would have been more fun if it's cheaper :D
Joshua: Glad the information is helpful. ^_^ Enjoy!

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