I'm grateful that I was able to have Ashley Day spent at the IOI City Farm at IOI City Mall in Putrajaya. Maybe some of you are wondering what is Ashley Day? Well, it is a day that I will dedicate to each of my child and spend precious bonding moments just with them. It is something I read from an online article when I was pregnant with my firstborn. And I will make it a point to do this for each of my kids; especially now I have 3 kids. It's a day where she gets to decide what she wants to see and eat, a day where I get to know her and she gets to know me and what I do too. So it is an equal opportunity for both of us to understand and learn more about each other better.

That's why today was the day I brought my daughter to this latest edutainment center that is the very first urban indoor farm park in Malaysia. It is with a huge built-in indoor living planet that is located at AT6, Level 2 of IOI City Mall, IOI Resort City, Putrajaya. It is directly one floor right above District 21. Opening along with the Phase 2 of IOI City Mall in Putrajaya on 25 August 2022, IOI City Farm comprises three different zones - Greenland, Little Rimba and Freshwater World. Spanning across two levels measuring about 18,000 sq ft, plant and animal lovers will feel at home at this interactive and engaging indoor farm park. Visitors will get to interact and observe various species of plants, exotic fishes and adorable animals in the petting zone.

“IOI City Mall is excited to showcase the wonders of nature indoors for all to learn about the beauty that mother nature holds at Malaysia’s largest mall. This city farm in a mall concept is one-of-its-kind in Malaysia and it brings together three elements of nature – greenery, animals and marine life all under one roof. We hope that all our visitors will be able to enjoy what our indoor farm park has to offer,” said Chris Chong, Head of Retail of IOI Properties Group.

IOI City Farm comes complete with qualified zoologists, aquarists and botanists. Therefore visitors and even children visiting the IOI City Farm will get this rare opportunity to ask questions and learn from the experts. Unlike other aquariums or farms, there will also be a line-up of various activities such as fun fishing, DIY workshops and animal interaction, among others. Even young children like my daughter who just turned 3 years old enjoyed her time here and learned a few new words through experience fun interaction with the animals here.

When entering the premises, we were greeted with lush greenery and picturesque green surroundings. This Greenland zone is home to an indoor collection of 111 living plant species spread across nine sections. It will feature a Vertical Garden, an Urban Farm, a Glocave, Mystical Cave, Season of Colours filled with giant lotus structures, Teeny-weeny Forest, Insectopia, and Roots N Seeds. One of the highlights of this zone is the 21.4m2 centrepiece known as the Green Glades. It is an open terrarium concept that represents an open forest. This terrarium will be filled with a variety of flora species. 

We saw many plantation here that is pretty commonly found in most Asian home kitchen. They also have exotic plants and even flowers as well. 

Children will get to explore and learn about vegetables, herbs and fruit plants in the Vertical Garden. Meanwhile, Insectopia will educate them about how and why insects and plants play an important role in the ecosystem. Like this butterfly collection here shows the different variety and how it plays a role in our environment. 

Be prepared to be amazed by the magical plants that glow in the dark at Glocave which we didn't enter, kinda missed it because we were distracted by the breath-taking view of the waterfall in front of the Mystical Cave, where more species of plants are waiting to be discovered. Even plants that is grown with water is also showcased there. And these are real plants my friends.

Then we passed by The Barn that was a nice area for workshops and events or parties that is super kid-friendly as we were heading to the Little Rimba, or also known as the cute and cuddly corner will features 17 different species of animals from around the world such as the sugar glider, hedgehog, Bengal cat, racoon, chinchilla, marmoset, fennec fox and others. Children will also be able to get up close with child-friendly furry friends to pet, feed and interact with them. My daughter super love this area the most and wanted to head back in again just to come back to pet the rabbits, guinea pig, duckling and chicks. When she petted the rabbits head, she screamed out of excitement. The animals were just too cute to keep that excitement in. Then again, this is where education can take place for my child to learn how to control their excitement and not scare away the pets and also gave me a heart attack when she screamed. (I also terkejut lolx)

Entering through this area and onwards we were headed to a staircase that was headed downstairs to the marine life. Here at the 6,000 sq ft Freshwater World, there are over 50 freshwater aquatic species ranging from river giants such as the Amazonian arapaima and Amur sturgeon to tiny crustaceans such as vampire crab and bamboo shrimp. Visitors will also be able to interact with the team of aquarists who are ready and eager to educate all on the aquatic species there.

Aside from this, there are also several pools that visitors can be engaged in such as the interaction pool and touch pool where young visitors can dip their hands into the water to gently pet the underwater creatures. There is also a feeding pool where visitors can feed the fishes and a catch pool for visitors to try their hand at fishing. 

My daughter pulled back her hands when a fish was about to feed from her feeding tool because we don't pour the food out into the water which is more better for the fish and the water too, it's a very cute bottle with fish food in it and the fish is suppose to suck the food out like a baby sucking on a milk bottle. It was so adorable! We tried our hands at fishing but to be honest, if it was crowded then come another time because the fishes were all hiding at the bottom of the pool because too many trying to catch them. I caught a few water instead of fishes and gave up trying. But it was a good experience, not easy to catch these guppy fish that swim by super fast.