We had a lovely spring weather and a three-day weekend recently. So it was a wonderful opportunity to take our toddler out, especially since he still seemed to be jet lagged from our San Francisco-Taipei-Hong Kong-Bangkok-Islamabad flight last week.

A colleague who also has a toddler told us about this brand new playground near McDonald’s so we decided to check it out in F-11. What an amazing place, it was certainly the biggest playground park I’ve ever seen. They had everything from the standard seesaws, slides, and swings to zip lines and climbing walls. There was even a toddler section, but regrettably the equipment were of cheaper plastic material that already started to fade from the sun and break as if bigger and overweight kids have been abusing them. But it doesn’t matter because our boy had a great time. At least the major equipment are all world-class and durable quality, really meant to withstand the harsh outdoor elements and over-energetic kids.

Best of all the entrance fees were only Rps. 10/person — which is like 1.2 cent. Which makes us worry and wonder if there are enough funds to maintain and repair so these wonderful equipment will be around for a long time to be enjoyed by kids of all ages and sizes.

It looks like the Snugli baby carrier is going to be our latest favorite baby item, after we brought James to the Daman-e-koh within the Margalla Hills National Park this past Sunday. The weather was sunny but cool in the morning. We saw monkeys, geese, peacocks, and other birds although James preferred to sleep again. We attracted some attention from locals who were amused at the sight of Brian with a baby strapped to his chest.

The park is a favorite hangout of locals, who go there to have picnics with their families under the trees. Expats, on the other hand, prefer to hike on the various trails within the park. There are also restaurants by the viewpoint areas, where one can admire the city of Islamabad even if the haze gets in the way most of the time. It’s a pity we didn’t have enough cash on us to sample the barbecue, but we’re sure we’ll be visiting this area again so James can get some fresh air.