Playtime for the Kids in Rizal Park Children's Playground

According to Pediatrics Journal:

Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children.

In short, play is good for our children, Samuel and Samantha. It is also a good way of bonding between me, My Beloved wife, and the kids. That's why I join playing toys with the kids. I  join their pretend plays and sometimes horseplay with them.



Unfortunately, our hometown in Laguna woefully lacks public park. That city doesn't have any green public park or a decent playground. This is a big contrast to Baguio City and Tagaytay that have wide green public spaces. In fact, our family has to go to Nuvali just to give the kids a wide green space to run around.

So, one day we decided to bring Samuel and Samantha to a big playground. We brought them to Rizal Park Children's Playground.

Rizal Park Children's Playground is big and has slides, swings, seesaw, and other things that the kids will enjoy. The best thing is that there's no entrance fee, which is like the playground in Baguio's Burnham Park. 

Samuel and Samantha ran with excitement the moment they entered the playground. They went up and down on this rainbow slide.

They also had a good time with other slides.

Swings and monkey bars.

What I like about the Rizal Park Children's Playground is the whimsical and playful designs of the park like these bench carried by frogs.

Then there is this statue of a fish being eaten by another fish, which is a playful design for a tunnel.

Statues like these reminds me of monsters and characters from Studio Ghibli movies.

Our favorites in Rizal Park Children's Playground is this life-size and larger-than-life statues, such as these dinosaurs:

Then there is giant hippo, where my son bravely entered and had a good photo in its mouth.

These statues are the reasons why I wanted to bring my children to Rizal Park Children's Playground. I always see them every time I ride the LRT train and I know that my children will marvel at the dinosaurs.

There is also a big statue of the pawikan.

Of course, I imagined my kids being devoured by this giant sea turtle.

The whimsical characters and larger-than-life statues in Rizal Park Children's Playground is very good for enhancing my children's imagination. The people who planned this park really thought about the children who will use this playground.

Rizal Park Children's Playground features things that can be found in fairy tales such as this "shoe house".

Then there is a pumpkin house...

...which reminds of the carriage used by Cinderella.

Rizal Park also has a volcano.

Do not be afraid. That volcano is dormant and will no longer throw up sulfur and ash.

My Little Ones had the great time in Rizal Park Children's Park. I was happy to see them enjoy. Sadly, I observed not-so-good things during our tine there. 

One not-so-good thing is the rudeness of other kids inside the park. These kids throw sand and gravel on the slide and other kids.

Another not-so-good thing graffiti and vandalism of park visitors. I saw plenty of writings in the statue and other park amenities.Other visitors also throw their garbage anywhere.

Graffiti in Rizal Park Children's Playground.

These not-so-good things are not the fault of Rizal Park administrator but by Filipinos themselves! It reflects our nature as Filipinos. And it is saddening. 

Despite the not-so-good Pinoy behavior that I observed, I will still bring my little ones to the Rizal Park Children's Playground because this is one of the very few places where they can experience the joy of play, which is also the joy of childhood.

- - -

Read about my other post about Rizal Park, which is about the Luneta Park Dancing Fountain.

How to Get Easy Philippine Passport Appointment through the Courtesy Lane

Getting Philippine passport quickly is not that easy. The first reason is that getting a good schedule for passport application or renewal is difficult because the quota for each day is easily filled up. The second reason is that the lines to various steps of the passport application or renewal are very long.

One way to bypass the scheduling hassle and the long lines is to apply for passport application or renewal via the Courtesy Lane.

So if you are

1. a regular government employee

2. an immediate family member (spouse, child, parent) of a government employee

3. a retired regular government employee

4. a senior citizen

5. a person with disability

6. a solo-parent 

7. a minor child of a solo-parent

8. a pregnant woman

9. a seven-year old minor

10. a parent or minor sibling of the seven-year old minor. 

11. an OFW

...then you are in luck because you can use the Courtesy Lane.

I personally experienced the Courtesy Lane at the DFA Consular Affairs Office in Pasay when I recently renewed my passport. I did not set any appointment but I just went to the DFA Consular Affairs Office in the morning.

Take note that the courtesy lane only accepts passport application in the morning and closes in the afternoon.

The Courtesy Lane is located at the second floor of the DFA Consular Office. Here are the steps for passport application and renewal in the Courtesy Lane at the DFA Consular Office:

Step 1: Checking of Documents

The clerks at the entrance of the Courtesy Lane office will check if you complete documents for passport application or renewal.

The requirements for Philippine passport application are the following:

1. Accomplished Application Form, which is downloadable at the DFA website.

2. Original and photocopy of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Authenticated Birth Certificate on Security Paper.

3. Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Authenticated Marriage Contract on Security Paper or Report of Marriage for married females who are using their spouse's last name. Original and photocopy of Local Civil Registrar Copy of marriage certificate is not clear or cannot be read. If the married female opts to retain maiden name, the marriage contract is not required.

4. Any of the following acceptable IDs with one (1) photocopy. 

The requirements for Philippine passport renewal are the following:

1. Accomplished Application Form, which is downloadable at the DFA website.

2. Current Philippine ePassport or expired Philippine passport with photocopy of data page

3. Original PSA authenticated documents that will support the change of name, such as, Marriage Contract, Annotated Birth Certificate, Annotated Marriage Contract to show annulment/divorce/court ordered instruction, and Death Certificate of Spouse.

You will be given a queue number If your documentary requirements are complete then you can enter the Consular Lane office. 

Step 2: Document Processing

A consular officer will asses your application. This is when you will be asked if you want to expedite your passport application renewal.

Step 3: Data Capture

This is the step where a consular officer will encode your personal information and take your fingerprint and photo. Check carefully if the information that the consular officer encoded is correct because an incorrect information will appear on your passport. 

Step 4: Payment

This is when you will pay the necessary fees fir passport application and renewal. The passport fee is 950 pesos. If you wish to expedite the process then you have to pay 1,200 pesos.

Make sure that you will not lose your receipt because you will use this when claiming your passport. 

Step 5: Passport Pick-up

There is an option to have your new passport delivered to your home or workplace. I, however, opted to just get my new passport in the Consular Affairs Office on the appointed date.

There were no queue and it was quick. I just handed out to the the consular officer my receipt and then I got my passport in less then 10 minutes.

Adding all the time I spent during every step, I can say that I only spent less than 45 minutes transacting with DFA Consular Affairs Office. That was quick and I commend the DFA for this.

- - -

Do you want to know what countries to visit that doesn't need a visa? Read my post 2019 List of No Visa Country for Filipinos

.