Tag Archives: malaysia

Legoland Water Park

We spent our second day at the Legoland Water Park and it was a good thing because it was slightly rainy that day. Unlike over at the theme park, we had to pay RM10 for Adam (toddlers 0-2 years old) to enter and were given two pieces of swim diapers. We left our stuff in one of the all-day rental lockers so I didn’t really take that many pictures of the place.

The Red Rush ride was closed that day and they also closed the Joker Soaker ride later in the day even though it was open when we first got there. Considering that there aren’t that many attractions in the water park, it was quite disappointing that 2 areas were closed!

raring to go

raring to go

funny Lego man

funny Lego man

Joker Soaker

Joker Soaker

can you spot Anya?

can you spot Anya?

scrambling around

scrambling around

Red Rush

Red Rush

There are life jackets freely available but you need to pay RM20 to rent towels. Shoe racks are found everywhere so if you don’t want to walk around barefooted, you can leave your shoes at the shoe racks.

There were very few attractions that Adam could do so he spent a lot of time at the Duplo Splash Safari and went around the Build-A-Raft river a few times. Anya couldn’t go on the ones with a 107cm minimum height limit but she still had quite a few options and managed to have fun there.

We were there for about 3-4 hours before it started raining quite heavily. After grabbing some lunch, we went back to the hotel and Adam had his nap while Anya and Adrian rested for a bit before heading back out to the theme park.

Splash Out

Splash Out

Anya's turn

Anya’s turn

Adam in his life jacket

Adam in his life jacket

Duplo Splash Safari

Duplo Splash Safari

Anya thinks Lego girl needs a life jacket

Anya thinks Lego girl needs a life jacket

floating down the Build-A-Raft river

floating down the Build-A-Raft river

paddling with bricks

paddling with bricks

Lego Slides Rider

Lego Slides Rider

having a blast

having a blast

Twin Chasers

Twin Chasers

hand in hand

hand in hand

in the wave pool

in the wave pool

lunch while it's raining

lunch while it’s raining

The Legoland Water Park is fun but I wouldn’t travel specially to Malaysia for it because it seems to me to be quite a repetitive series of slides. It’s worth checking out if you’re staying at the Legoland hotel so you can do the theme park on one day and the water park the next.

Legoland Water Park is open daily from 10am to 6pm. The map is available here.

Legoland Hotel Malaysia

The Legoland Hotel in Malaysia opened on 29 November so we just had to make a trip there to experience it for ourselves. We drove over on Adrian’s birthday and stayed for two nights. The kids loved it! We got there at about 10am and couldn’t check in until 4pm so we left our luggage there (in a very secure holding area) and went to the theme park.

The process of checking in wasn’t the smoothest. We booked a Kingdom-themed room but the room that was meant for us had some maintenance issues so we were asked to wait about half an hour, then upgraded to a premium Adventure-themed room in the end. The good thing is there’s so much for the kids to do in the lobby that they didn’t mind the wait.

Legoland Hotel

Legoland Hotel

kids headed straight for this pit

kids headed straight for this pit

view from Legoland Park

view from Legoland Park

huge Lego figures

huge Lego figures

in miniature

in miniature

castle in the hotel lobby

castle in the hotel lobby

pirate ship in the hotel lobby

pirate ship in the hotel lobby

wall of Lego figures

wall of Lego figures

Lego flowers

Lego flowers

I thought the Adventure room was really fun but Anya had some issues with the Egyptian mummies, spiders, scorpions, etc there. I think she would have preferred the Kingdom room. The room is very decent but strangely doesn’t come with any toothbrushes and toothpaste so we had to buy some from Medini Mall. There are several bottles of mineral water provided though and those were very useful for our trips to the theme park and water park!

There was a treasure map with clues that need to be solved in order to open a treasure box in the room. However, after solving the clues, we opened the box to find… the same treasure map. It was quite anti-climatic to say the least. The ‘treasure’ was supposed to be a box of Lego for the kids to play with. Our box of Lego was already sitting on the shelf and was therefore not in the treasure box. It’s a fun idea in theory, but the hotel staff need to carry it out consistently to ensure that kids have fun finding the treasure.

outside our room

outside our room

Adam getting comfy

Adam getting comfy

the kids' bunk bed

the kids’ bunk bed

they had their own TV!

they had their own TV!

some treasures

some treasures

scorpion in the toilet

scorpion in the toilet

solving clues to open our treasure box

solving clues to open our treasure box

I'm looking really tubby but this is the only photo of all of us

I’m looking really tubby but this is the only photo of all of us

off on an adventure

off on an adventure

We had the buffet dinner in the Bricks restaurant on the first evening because we were very tired and didn’t want to head out to the mall. I wouldn’t recommend the buffet dinner. It’s RM68++ for adults (above 11 years old) and RM39++ for children (3-11 years old). For that price, you don’t even get free-flow drinks from a soda dispenser. Other than coffee, tea and water, you need to pay extra for drinks. The food wasn’t spectacular either and some items were not replenished after they ran out.

cute ice-cream sculpture

cute ice-cream sculpture

Bricks Restaurant

Bricks Restaurant

food for kids

food for kids

cold cuts

cold cuts

meat

meat

dim sum and noodles

dim sum and noodles

some spicy stuff

some spicy stuff

catch of the day

catch of the day

the kids went gaga over this decadent display of sweets

the kids went gaga over this decadent display of sweets

cakes

cakes

chocolate fountain and ice-cream counter

chocolate fountain and ice-cream counter

The Legoland Hotel is so much fun for the kids and we really liked being able to head back for a nap in the afternoon and staying at the park until closing time without worrying about driving in the dark. I think the kids had more fun because they were able to come back and rest in between when the sun was at its hottest (or when it was raining) without rushing or being dragged around the entire day.

We would definitely stay there again the next time we want to visit Legoland theme park and the water park. I hope they improve the buffet meals at the restaurant or at least introduce an a la carte menu though!

March Holidays: Batik Painting

I bought some DIY batik-painting kits from a batik workshop in Malacca late last year when I was there with students. Anya finally got around to painting them this week! I’ve seen these batik-painting kits at the convenience store in Holland Village MRT and also on Qoo10 for $5.50 each.

Anya’s not the neatest painter around and doesn’t bother to stay within the lines but the good thing about these batik kits is that they still look pretty good even when the colours are haphazardly chosen and applied.

in her art smock

in her art smock

randomly adding colours

randomly adding colours

almost done

almost done

on her second piece

on her second piece

waiting for them to dry

waiting for them to dry

done!

done!

LEGOLAND!

Since I’d taken leave to accompany Anya to school for her orientation, we decided to make the most of the rest of the day by going to LEGOLAND. We stopped by Holland Village to change some money and from there, it took us just half an hour to get to LEGOLAND.

It was a great day to be at LEGOLAND because the weather was clear and the park was not crowded at all. We didn’t have to queue up for any rides and Anya could even take her favourite rides several times non-stop.

It’s definitely ideal to go on a weekday that’s not a school holiday! And also wise to bring sunglasses, sunblock, hats and lots of water.

we're here!

we’re here!

checking out the map

checking out the map

We started at the Junior Driving School in LEGO City. She was a bit frustrated at first because she couldn’t step down on the pedal hard enough to get the car to move properly but eventually figured it out and had a blast. We did this a second time later and she was much better at it.

going for a drive

going for a drive

determined look

determined look

taking the lead

taking the lead

Boating School

Boating School

looks like fun!

looks like fun!

Legoland Express

LEGOLAND Express

happy rider

happy rider

the train

the train

my strange husband

my strange husband

The Rescue Academy was tiring! It was quite a workout getting the truck to move and pumping the water to ‘put out’ the fire but it was so much fun at the same time and Anya really liked it. We did this twice too.

Rescue Academy

Rescue Academy

dashing to the fire

dashing to the fire

putting out the fire

putting out the fire

at the airport

at the airport

she chose the green plane

she chose the green plane

lunch time

lunch time

After LEGO City, we headed to the Land of Adventure. Anya wasn’t very happy with the Lost Kingdom Adventure ride. In her words, “I didn’t like the lights and the sound. The part that scared me the most was when the giant thing suddenly leaned towards me!” I had a great time shooting the various monsters though.

her least favourite

her least favourite

cute LEGO skeleton

cute LEGO skeleton

tiny in comparison

tiny in comparison

She loved the Beetle Bounce and went on it 6 times and probably would have continued if we didn’t stop her! I’m starting to see that my daughter is quite a little thrill seeker.

2nd favourite ride

2nd favourite ride

cute little kids

cute little kids

she took this 6 times

she took this 6 times

IMAGINATION was next on the list. Since we didn’t have Adam with us at LEGOLAND we gave DUPLO Playtown and the DUPLO Express inside a miss. It’s a good thing we didn’t bring him along because he wouldn’t have had much to do and would have melted in the heat.

Power Tower

Power Tower

pulling

pulling

The air-conditioned comfort of the Build & Test area was a great relief. Had an ego boost here because the ugly car I built beat Adrian’s Formula One-esque vehicle and several others. Anya was also determined to build a tower as high as possible to see if it would survive an earthquake.

building our cars

building our cars

my winning creation on the left

my winning creation on the left

ready, get set, GO!

ready, get set, GO!

testing her building

testing her building

with a LEGO man

with a LEGO man

Our next stop was KINGDOM. Anya’s favourite ride in LEGOLAND was the Royal Joust and she went on this 8 times. She didn’t even have to get off in between because there was no queue. She declared that she wanted to make a smaller version so that her brother could ride on it too.

Kingdom

LEGO Kingdom

her favourite ride

her favourite ride

she went on this 8 times!!

she went on this 8 times!!

round and round

round and round

She went on The Dragon’s Apprentice roller coaster ride with Adrian and really enjoyed it and wanted to go again. Her first ever roller coaster ride! I thought it would be too scary for her but she had so much fun.

her first roller coaster ride

she’s the tiny figure in the front row

There wasn’t much for us to do at the LEGO Technic section so we didn’t spend very much time there. She wanted to blast water at the people on the water ride though.

blasting water

blasting water

Singapore

a mini bit of Singapore

a melted Anya

a melted Anya

We were there for almost 6 hours and Anya was completely exhausted and wilted by then. Before we left, we dropped by the shops and got ourselves some personalised LEGO brick keychains. Then we made our way home and we were back at my mum’s place in half an hour. It was quite a perfect day!

Big Shop

Big Shop

LEGO brick keychains

LEGO brick keychains

making sure the engraving's perfect

making sure the engraving’s perfect

Malaysian Road Trip – Genting Highlands

We headed for Genting Highlands after Penang and stayed there for two nights. This time, we made sure the kids were asleep during the ascent so there was no motion sickness vomiting from Adam. The weather wasn’t great and it was rainy so we didn’t do very much outdoors. It mainly shopping and eating but Anya had fun playing too.

the rides

the rides

caroseul

caroseul

he seems pretty happy

he seems pretty happy

round and round

round and round

SONY DSC

happy rider

in a teacup

in a teacup

playground

playground

candy floss

candy floss

waiting

waiting

flying insects

flying insects

car ride

car ride

with Adam

with Adam

Anya conducting a class in a Nike fitting room

Anya conducting a class in a Nike fitting room

diaper head

diaper head

Malaysian Road Trip – Penang: Penang Hill

I remember taking the funicular train up Penang Hill many years ago with Nav and Angie. We called it the funny colour train. During our Malaysia trip, we went up again, this time with 3 extra little people!

1922

1922

the ascent

the ascent

at the top

at the top

the view

the view

old train

old train

abandoned building

abandoned building

I’m quite fascinated with the old, abandoned buildings on Penang Hill and would love to explore and poke around a little bit more on my own without the kids in tow.

up the steps

up the steps

hindu temple

hindu temple

a double rainbow!

a double rainbow!

evening walk

evening walk

view at night

view at night

When we went back down, we couldn’t get a cab so we walked all the way out to the main road but still didn’t manage to find one. A very kind passerby offered to call his taxi driver friend to come and get us but we got a cab in the nick of time and didn’t have to trouble him.

Malaysian Road Trip – Penang: Afternoon Tea at the Eastern & Oriental

We had traditional English afternoon tea at the E&O and it was simply lovely. The kids were a bit restless so it was fortunate that 1885 was relatively empty when we were there. The afternoon tea comes with many little delicious sandwiches, pastries, scones, cakes and chocolates. One of the highlights of our trip for sure!

Eastern & Oriental

Eastern & Oriental

E&O

old-fashioned lift

couldn't resist touching the Christmas tree

couldn’t resist touching the Christmas tree

decorated for Christmas

decorated for Christmas

ready for tea

ready for tea

munching on cereal

munching on cereal

a lovely spread

a lovely spread