Legoland Malaysia – waterpark

Day 2 in Malaysia saw us having a lazy start to the day, the boys had slept from about 5pm the night before (Master 1 from about 3pm) so were awake at about 8am. We mooched around until about 9.30, when we headed over to Legoland. As the parks only open at 10, we planned to grab a quick breakfast at Medini Mall, right opposite the entrance to the main park before heading in. Dinner the night before had been a few sweet rolls from a bakery near the hotel. The only food place within walking distance, so we decided good ol’ Burger King would fill the gap & guarantee the boys ate well. Their coffee was crap, but the food as you would expect from any Burger King anywhere!

KFC to the left, BK to the right…

Poser of note

This clown!

Master 1 discovered coke zero!! Oops

Before entering the park, I made a stop at the ticket counter to pay for Master 1. 11 ringgit to get in to the water park, but it did include 2 swimming nappies. The change rooms/locker area was large. We got away with using a small locker & just stuck the pram up on top of a row of lockers. I left my phone in there too so not a lot of photos while in the park. The floor was tiled but they did have numerous dryers blowing across them to keep them from getting too wet. But you have to watch your step as it was extremely slippery if you happened to follow someone in who was dripping wet. We hired 2 towels for 30 ringgit each, plus a 30ringgit deposit per towel. Make sure you keep the receipt, otherwise you will be going home with 2 boring white towels!

Once we were all changed, we headed over to the Build a raft river. The older boys left us in their wake as they charged off down the slow flowing river. They didn’t bother trying to build a raft! Master 1 loved the big building blocks and continued to enjoy these the whole day. Both my elder boys can swim, and there were numerous lifeguards on duty at all areas so we gave up trying to keep them with us & settled for keeping them within sight most of the time. There were also life jackets for anyone not comfortable in the water. They knew not to leave under any circumstance, and if they couldn’t find us at any point to just find a dry place outside to sit down & we would find them. Master 5 was in bright green & Master 6 bright orange, so were easy to spot! The park is relatively small too, and was relatively quiet. No queuing for the slides!

Build a raft river and Duplo Splash Safari, Master 1 & Hubby in front of the elephant

Wave pool. About 1.4m deep at the back wall. Very Gentle waves

Wear bright colours!

Loads of seating by the wave pool.

Joker Soaker in the background. Boys spent a little bit of time here

The Duplo Safari again. A couple of slides for those that couldn’t use the big slides. Master 1 with Hubby on the other side of the elephant. 

Joker Soaker,Master 5 in the green near the top of the structure

This was popular!

Master 6 tried every slide, Master 5 only the slower ones! A couple of them required a large tube to go down. Master 6 & I went down a few times on the Brick Blaster but needed a third person to go down the Splash & Swirl with us. We convinced Master 5, as it was a tube you climb into, with a bottom, and relatively gentle. He loved it so decided to try the Brick Blaster with us…this one involved a couple of sections where the tube goes quite high up the side of the ride, he DID.NOT like that one!

We spent about 4 hours there as we had to head back to Singapore for our flight the next morning. We wanted to get back into Singapore in order to get  decent nights sleep as we had to be up at 6am the net day. We easily could’ve spent another few hours there, but the boys were happy to leave as they had been on everything numerous times.

We didn’t stay at the hotel, but it was in between  the 2 parks so we got a few piccies on the way passed

We loved these signs!

So well done

These Lego figures were all through both parks

Lego is not cheap in Malaysia, apparently as there is one supplier who has monopoly over all Lego prices! We allowed the boys these, they could make their own minifigures…33ringgit for a set of 3, or 55ringgit for 2 sets of 3.

We left LLM at 3pm & headed for the Tuas checkpoint. I had read something about having to pick up entrance cards before hitting the toll counters by pulling over somewhere but I only remembered once we were AT the counter & handed entry cards to fill out! The same cards we had to fill out on the plane before landing in Singapore. If I had thought about it, I should’ve tried to get more cards while on the plane! It would’ve been quicker! But it wasn’t a problem, it just took about 10min to fill all of them out before we could get through. Then it was a quick peak in the boot before we were on our way. Despite what the traffic looks like in the photo below, it took us about 3min to get from here to a counter, 10 min at the counter itself, 2 min to get boot checked & then we were off.

heading back into Singapore

We stayed at Hotel 81, a chain of hotels that we have used before. Very simple but relatively well priced. Of course, the street was crazy busy due to the time of day we arrived, and the fact we were in quite a popular area! We dropped off our bags & headed back out to find dinner. The boys settled for McDs, while Hubby went out later looking for something more curry-like for us!

And before I knew it, it was time to get up & head back to the airport! We loved visiting Legoland & I cannot recommend it enough…but wait until the kids are tall enough!

 

 

 

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Legoland Malaysia!!

We recently took a trip to South Africa to visit family and friends and decided it would be great if we could stop over in Singapore, head across the border into Malaysia and take the boys to Legoland. As we only had a 2 day stopover, I knew it would be tight but I was determined to make it work. I took to the “blogisphere”* and read all the reviews from families with young kids that I could find. All very helpful, knowing kind of what to expect & to look out for. Although, admittedly, I did forget a lot of the tips until I experienced the situations for myself, and then I was “ohhh, yeah now I remember someone said this or that about this”.

So, without further ado, here is our experience of Legoland Malaysia aka LLM(& maybe a tip or two if you are planning a visit).

As we were going to RSA for my father’s birthday, the timing of our LLM trip was not something we could control,if you like. Thinks like day of the week/weather/tourist seasons etc etc didn’t even come into play. We were flying back to NZ on a specific date so that was when we were going to LLM. When I later went to look into weather & what not, I realised that we would be visiting during Singapore’s school holidays, albeit the last few days (not the Malaysian ones though, so that was a relief) and everything I read about the best time to go said to avoid school holidays and high season! Which I assume to be Nov/Dec/Jan but don’t quote me on that.

Anyway, we arrived in Singapore from Cape Town at 06.10am on a wed, after an almost 14 hour flight, Master 6 slept about an hour on the shoulder of the stranger next to him, while Master 1 dozed here & there and Master 5 slept exactly 0 seconds the whole way! Needless to say we were all a little tired when we landed! After working out that we had landed at terminal 3 and had to make our way to terminal 2 to fetch our hire car, we strolled between the 2 easily. Only about 10min or so, we didn’t bother with the skytrain.

After picking up the car, working out that the GPS they gave us was faulty, replacing said GPS we were on our way. I chose the self drive option as it just made sense when lugging around 3 kids, 2 backpacks,1 large tog bag and 3 carry on packs! Oh, and a stroller. It meant that we could come and go as we pleased, not having to wait around for buses/taxis. I had planned on driving but Hubby basically said “good luck”, so I made him drive! It was pretty busy in Singapore itself, but the drivers were strict rule followers, and once we got onto the highway, it was easy going. I had expected the border check point to be busy, as I had seen & read some horrifying accounts of how busy it was. We went the Tuas check point way as it is supposedly less conjested than the main Woodlands one. It took us all of 10min to clear both sides! We had a singapore cash card already loaded with cash, from the car hire place, to pay the toll & then just purchased a Malaysian touch & go one on the Malaysian side. Both can be topped up easily. Everything is very well sign posted so it was very simple! They do make you open the back window to check passengers, but you don’t have to leave your car until the return journey, where the driver has to open the boot for a quick inspection when entering Singapore. Presumably to check you aren’t bring ciggies & alcohol over the border.  Also, on entering Malaysia your car needs to have the tank 3/4s full to avoid a $500 fine. LLM exit is well sign posted so no hassles there either. All in all, it took just over an hour from Singapore airport to the car park at LLM.

1 down…

2 down…

3 down…bliss

As we refused to pay the almost NZ$400 per night to stay at the Legoland Hotel, I had booked us into a 3 bedroom apartment for a mere NZ$89! Albeit a 10min drive from the park, KSL resort. Comfy beds & lots of space for the 5 of us, although no wifi or eating places within walking distance. And we were on the 20th floor, with windows that swung right open! Luckily, the kids were too tired to do anything but sleep from the time we arrived until the morning!

eeeeeek

Great views though

Lounge…no wifi 😦

Anyway, back to LLM, we arrived just as the park opened at 10am. I had purchased our tickets the week before, online. They seem to always have some special going on so I got ours for buy one get one 50% off. And Master 1 was free into the main park and 11ringgit to get into the waterpark (which included 2 swim nappies, which are compulsory) Because of the special, I bought separate 1 day tickets into the main park & waterpark. I thought it would be better to go into the main park on our first day, due to being so tired, keeping us more alert on the second day when water would be involved! When using these tickets, it has to be booked for a certain date, with no refunds if the parks close due to bad weather. I believe they close the water park completely if there’s thunder, but again, don’t quote me. It did indeed rain around lunch time on our first day but the rides carried on & it was a welcome relief from the relentless humidity! The combo tickets didn’t fall within the promotion so they worked out a bit more expensive but I would go for those if we ever found our way back to Malaysia again. They allow multiple entry into both parks & to move freely between the two. Our single day ones only allowed one entry into whichever side we had booked for the day.

We shuffled our baggage around so that I had all the valuables in one of our carry on packs, which came into the park with us, and left the rest in the boot of the car. If anything was stolen from the car, it wouldn’t be a disaster as everything important was in a secured locker within the park.(40 ringgit for the day) We took in our own stroller but I believe you can hire one inside the park. It came in handy for a tired Master 1 as there wasn’t much for him to do that first day. Parking was 10ringgit and a 2 min walk to the entrance

No queues when we were there, but I bet it gets busy during peak season! 

While it was raining, Master 1 got to play here…not much else for him to do during the day as he didn’t meet age/height restrictions

Hubby & I took turns riding with the older two boys, Master 6 was far more adventurous than Master 5 so he got to ride twice on most of the faster rides.I think the longest we waited to ride anything was 5 min. Most of them we walked right onto! I read a lot of reviews, with most people saying that the roller coasters were pretty tame & more geared towards the kids. Well, duh, it IS Legoland! But we found the faster rides quite hair-raising! Hubby refused to go on The Dragon as well as the Adventure Island water ride…admittedly he made his decision after seeing Master 5 & I completely soaked at the end! I’m glad we kept that til near the end as it’s no fun walking around with soggy underwear, despite using one of the body dryers!

The Dino Island water ride

The roller coasters were just enough to make us scream, but not to lose our lunch.

A view of the biggest of the rollercoasters, with the waterpark and hotel in the distance. Taken from the Observation Tower

The Aquazone WaveRacers were a hit with the boys, great to cool down too as you get a bit of water sprayed on you. Most rides had a height &/or age restrictions. Both my older boys could ride everything, although a couple had to be with an adult, and a couple we said that Master 5 was actually 6 as he will be 6 in 4 months and is practically the same height as his brother. I have lost count of the number of times I was asked if they were twins! He didn’t go on the big roller coaster so I didn’t feel the need to not allow him on the “lesser” rides because of 4 months.

Master 5 taking things very seriously

The regal Master 6

Hubby indulged in a curry while in the park, which was apparently delicious, but the kids & I stuck to drinks and then icecream as it was just too hot! We didn’t get to any of the 4D shows as it wasn’t really something the kids were interested in.

A very peeved Master 1

Master 5 enjoyed Merlin’s Challenge with Hubby, very tame fastish train like ride. And the older two had a go on the Dublo train but apparently it was boring (although I secretly think Master 5 enjoyed it immensely!) We skipped the Lost Kingdom as the ride didn’t appeal to any of us! We ended with the Rescue Academy & Driving School, with Master 1 napping, and Hubby helping the boys “put out a fire”. This one made Hubby work hard, moving a fire track & then pumping water for the kids to squirt the fire! My camera had dies by this point so no pictures, which I am gutted about as it was great fun! The Driving School was hilarious. Master 6 was so serious & followed all the road rules, Master 5…not so much! I am pretty sure you would fail your license for ramming cars purposefully! You could purchase a drivers license afterwards but we didn’t bother.

About half way through the day, we stopped in to see the Star Wars miniland… O.M.G…blown away! It was incredible. Room after room of large displays of Star Wars lego, with moving bits and all! This was by far Hubby’s favourite park of the day (it was airconned too, which helped!) Master 6 refused to have his picture taken, I’ve forgotten why!

The pictures don’t do it justice really, this is just a sample of what was on display!

As it was still raining after the driving school, and the older two were starting to unravel, we skipped miniland. Which was just as well as Master 6 had a complete meltdown on the walk to the car, I forget why exactly!

Of course, our GPS was not equipped with Malaysian addresses so we got lost, returned to the Legoland Hotel and got a taxi to lead us to the resort we were staying at…well worth the 32ringgit! Note to self, make sure directions are printed off & don’t rely on just reading the email on your phone when it’s time to drive, especially if your battery dies….

I will blog about the Waterpark tomorrow…

*that’s a word now,right??

 

Sugarfree peanut butter cookies

What to do when the kids want to bake but they really, REALLY don’t need anymore sugary treats? Google sugar-free cookies of course. But most required ingredients I’d either never heard of, or packed full of artifical sweetners,ew gross!

So after trawling a number of recipes, with the boys breathing down my neck, I decided to just throw stuff in a bowl and hope for the best.

With my two little helpers we cranked out a batch and they semi-passed the taste test. Master 4 and I liked them but fussy Master 5 did not.

We used:
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup dissicated coconut
1 egg
Mix together. Form into balls, gently press down with fork
Oven 180deg C for about 10min

A Slice of Life

Body lotion paint

Now, first off, let me clear something up…I DO NOT like setting up painting activities for the boys. Why? Because of the mess! Oh, I have no problem if THEY get messy, it’s everything else in their vanicity I’m not so keen on. Things like chairs, table, walls, food…you get my drift. So I invested in a pack of paint pens last Christmas. You know the ones, paint only comes out of the relatively small round tip and, even if squeezed, is almost impossible to get anywhere but on the paper it’s meant for. Master 3 LOVES, LOVES these and paints me all manner of rainbows every.single.day. I don’t even have to worry about covering the table (or him for that matter) as it’s totally mess free. Master 4 isn’t at all interested usually, so it’s a great way to give both of them their own time too.

A few days ago, I stumbled upon this blog post and thought I’d give it a go…outside of course! Paint made from body lotion & food colouring. I also used her idea of giving them foil, wax paper & cardboard to paint on to add a little something different.

From experience, I know that food colouring can be the enemy…add 1 drop too much and it goes from mess-free to a stain that will NEVER,EVER come out. So I cautiously added drops to the vitamin E lotion I bought and never used. I thought I was so darn clever…turns out I was mildly wrong. Although, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been…

I did, thankfully, tape the materials down to the table as the wind was not co-operating (whose bright idea was it to try painting IN THE WIND??) and the boys went nuts.

I gave them their own muffin tin of paint (to avoid World War 3), with a pastry brush ‘coz someone didn’t think to check we had any paint brushes before she went ahead with the activity! Now, I’ll be honest, it took me longer to tape down the paper in the wind than it took them to finish, but they seemed to enjoy it..

Their shirts came off shortly after this & they continued body painting. It all came off but did leave a stain on them

This short activity was followed by a rather more satisfying time in the bath. And they smelled wonderful for the rest of the afternoon!

Note to self: Don’t use packing tape on a varnished table. Hubby went to dispose of the paper 2 days after this and managed to take off some varnish…oops 🙂 

Winter fun in the sun

So today was the day I decided to start trying out a couple of the activities that I had pinned to keep the boys occupied this winter. Granted, it turned out to be a bit of a cheat as the sun was out & we could be outside (less chance of a colossal mess) which suited me just fine.

I was trawling through the hundreds of ideas/suggestions & Master 3 came to have a look & immediately spotted a pin with earthworms on in! Typical boy! Of course we “needed” (his word) to have worms! As I was NOT going to go digging in the garden to find said worms, I decided to use spaghetti instead. 

Happy to help. Excuse the rather large plaster, he bumped his head yesterday & “needed” a plaster. Worst purchase ever! I blame you, mom!

The boys were intrigued when I tipped the spaghetti into the sandpit but were a little confused as to why they weren’t moving!

not quite the real thing

oooo snails mum (he called them snails ALL morning)

saving them worms from the sand & into the bucket

When I then tried to bury the worms in sand I was unceremoniously told to go away!Seeing as I was planning on doing housework that suited me just fine (no actual housework got done though, I have to admit. It was too nice a day to waste inside, any excuse really!) 

I came back out to them cleaning the worms. I asked them if they were cooking them but was adamantly told no, it was cleaning them in water.

cleaning worms

When they lost interest in that I made some paint & set them up to paint spaghetti

corn flour, water & food colouring = awesome paint that doesn’t stain & is easy to clean

We added a few other toys

Dinosaurs, making footprints on the cardboard

cars, to make tyre prints

car painting

All in all a successful activity for the boys. The spaghetti did dry in the sun while they napped but I just put it back into the fry pan & into the sandpit. Nothing the rain won’t fix…or the rats/mice may have a feast tonight (ahh the joys of country living!) The paint I put as is into a zip lock bag to use again this weekend. Cheap, easy & safe enough to eat 😉 

we love water….

We are great lovers of waterplay, not only does it keep the kids entertained for ages but what could be better on a hot day?

Yesterday I set up the sprinkler to spray over the trampoline. It’s one of those that spray in an arc from side to side. The kids thouht it was awesome! And I even got to play too, win win! It was cold but very refreshing! Of course our afternoon wouldn’t be complete without a swim in the pool. In fact, we ended our day with another swim so Hubby could join us too.

December in Photos

As I have been without a computer for what seems like a lifetime, there are loads of photos ready for a story. But I don’t have the amount of time I would prefer to tell them all so I have made an executive decision just to photo dump this post & maybe add a little explanation if needed. So here goes….

Painting/decorating Santa pictures…

…and hands of course!

Using glue was Master 3’s favourite part

Tipping out toys was Master 2’s favourite

Kindy Christmas party

Kindy Christmas Party

Cuteness!

More art days in the sun…with more painting of hands

Musician in the making

Bob The Builder

Copying daddy??

Christmas Eve cousin fun

Christmas Eve fun

Little on the cold side

Christmas morning

more cars!

Santa got us bikes!

Park

weeeeeee

Santa spoilt us…

The face says it all

I’ll do a post dedicated to the road trip we’ve just done with my parentals up North next time…it deserves a whole post to itself.

Playland fun

Yesterday was our playgroups Christmas Party. We ended up at Chipmunks Playland & the kids had so much fun!

Master 2 loved launching himself into the ball pool

pure joy & excitement

The body language says it all…his 1st time on this slide & he flew so fast my camera didn’t like it. Every other time he came backwards on his tummy

Master 3 loving the speed

What’s a party without a cupcake?

When the waiting becomes too much!

Charlie the Chipmunk came to hand out gifts

presents!!!!!!!!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……….

3 hours of fun & running around, every kids dream morning I’m sure!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

After about 10min of your actual tree being up this year it was packed off into Hubby’s man-cave! Even with cheap “it doesn’t matter if they get broken” decorations, Master 2 couldn’t help himself, smashing over the tree!It didn’t matter how many times I tried to explain how we are supposed to look after it he was just getting too much out of the attention he was getting! So away it went. I had planned on pulling it out again closer to Christmas Day but when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I loaded the boys in the car & headed for David’s Emporium to pick up a piece of green felt.

15 min later we had this…

 

 

 

Now if I could just work out how to get the blasted thing to stay stuck on the wall! Someone suggested that tape that you hang posters on the wall that can be removed without hassle, so I will give that a go tomorrow….