Day 4 Hong Kong

We decided to return to Harbour City as we did not explore much of it previously. So we walked from The Mira Hotel to Harbour City.

There are lots of high-end boutiques at Harbour City. These are all the authentic boutiques of course. We walked around and shopped. We stopped by a cafe for coffee. The cafe was overlooking the harbour and we saw Superstar Virgo docking. It was a beautiful sight. 

Beautiful view

Then we shopped some more. We returned to our area along Nathan Road and explored the shopping centres around there. Thereafter we returned to our hotel.

We really wanted to try halal Hong Kong food. Afterall, if you are in a country, you have to try their food. We saw that Ma's Restaurant was located between Prince Edward Station and Sham Shui Po Station. To go there, we need to take the MTR and it is about 3 stations away. But after searching some more, we discovered that there is a 2nd Ma's Restaurant branch in Tsim Sha Tsui itself! And this was just a short walking distance. It is at H8 Building, on the 8th Floor. The address is: H8, 8F, Hau Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui. We called to confirm that it was opened and indeed it was. Ma's Restaurant is a halal-certified restaurant.

We had a delicious and satisfying meal. We were so glad to have found this gem!

How to get to Ma's Restaurant at Tsim Sha Tsui:
From Nathan Road, enter Granville Road. As you walk down, you will pass by Carnarvon Road (do not enter this road). Walk a little bit down. You will then spot Cotton On on your right. Walk into the alley next to Cotton On.

Walk down the alley and you will come to this:

H8 building is just behind me as I took this picture. In other words, I am standing in front of H8 Building where Ma's Restaurant is.

Go to H8 Building and take the lift to the 8th floor. There is a security guard at the lobby. The minute he saw us, he told us : "8th floor". Haha, I guess that must be the only halal restaurant in that building.

So go up to the 8th floor. The door will open up to this:

And you are at Ma's Restaurant! They have all the halal certificates and newspaper articles displayed. The waitresses and the chef are very nice people indeed.

The restaurant layout

Our orders:

We really enjoyed eating at Ma's Restaurant. In fact, Auni and hubby requested to return to this restaurant again.
p/s: They have baby seats too ;)

Day 2 & Day 3 Hong Kong

Day 2

We planned to meet up with my brother's ex-maid who is now working in Hong Kong. It was her day off and she really wanted to meet up with us. She came over to Mira Hotel with her friend and was so excited to see us.

She took us to Kowloon Park. It is a big park. There is an area where you can view birds. There is also a children's playground. We saw a swimming pool there but it was closed for construction. Anyway, December is too cold for swimming.

After that we walked to the Star Ferry Pier to have a look at that area and take photos there.

Later on we went to Harbour City. I love Harbour City! It has all the big brand names. So we shopped. Not much though since we had company. We swore that we were going to return to Harbour City to shop again.

We then returned to our area and proceeded to the same Mediterranean Restaurant at Chungking Mansion to have our dinner.

Day 3

We woke up early to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. 

We purchased the On-Loan Octopus Card from the counter at Tsim Sha Tsui station for 2 kids and 2 adults. Ulfa is already 4 so she needs a card too.

Adult - HKD150

Child - HKD 70

Each card holds a deposit of HKD50 which will be refunded to you along with the unused amount minus an admin fee of HKD9. The amout above is inclusive of the deposit. So initial stored value for adult is HKD100 and HKD20 for child.

We took the MTR from Tsim Sha Tsui, stopped at Lai King and switched to the Tung Chung Line. We stopped at Sunny Bay and took the special Disneyland train.

Cute Disneyland train

When we reached Disneyland, we took some obligatory photos at the entrance. Then we proceeded to purchase the tickets. We paid for 2 adults (HKD499 each) and 2 kids (HKD355 each). Nuha gets free entry as she is below 3 years of age.

It started drizzling then and some people rushed to get umbrellas and ponchos. My kids and I were wearing hooded jackets thus we were undeterred by the slight drizzle. We saw Mickey and Minnie and a whole lot of people lining up to take photographs with them.

We ate here. This is Explorer's Club at Mystic Point.

There are two halal restaurants at Disneyland. One at Mystic Point and the other is Tahitian Terrace at Adventureland. We ate at Explorer's Club at Mystic Point. Japanese, Indonesia, Korean and Southeast Asian cuisines are served at Explorer's Club.

We got on the rides at Disneyland. Ulfa enjoyed the "It's a Small World' boat ride at Fantasyland the most while Auni enjoyed the Mystic Manor. Nuha enjoyed everything of course, though she did say that she was a little afraid at Mystic Manor. 

At Citygate Outlet. Nuha having fun with the
Minnie Mouse Trolley Bag we got for her at Disneyland.

We spent about half a day there since Hong Kong Disneyland is pretty small.

After Disneyland, we went to the Citygate Outlet which was very near Disneyland. From Disneyland, we took the train back to Sunny Bay. Then switched to the Tung Chung Line and stopped at the next stop - Tung Chung.

We did some shopping. Bought stuff from Kate Spade and Guess. By then it was nighttime and we headed back to the hotel.

Day 1 Hong Kong

For the trip to Hong Kong, I booked a flight with Scoot. The flight was scheduled at 0155 HOURS. However, about 6 hours before the departure time, I received an SMS and an e-mail that the flight was delayed. The flight was now due to depart at 0520 HOURS from Singapore and will arrive in Hong Kong at 0900 HOURS. We did not fret much about that as it worked to our advantage. Our original flight was to reach Hong Kong at 0535 HOURS. What were we supposed to do in Hong Kong that early?

Anyway, I prefer night flight or early morning flight when travelling with the kids they will fall asleep during the flight. Whenever we take the aeroplane, I normally have lollipops with me. I will give them to the kids during take-off. I will also bring extra just in case their ears get blocked during the flight. When that happens, I will offer them the lollipops again.

Fluffy white clouds

When we arrived at Hong Kong Airport, we took the maps and the brochures just past the immigration. Mira Hotel provides shuttle service from the airport to their hotel but it was rather expensive. There are many ways to get from the airport to your hotel.  You can take the Airport Express, the airport bus service or the taxi. You can find out more about all these on this TripAdvisor site (click here). 

We chose to take the taxi instead and proceeded to the taxi waiting area. There are staff there to guide you if you are unsure on which taxi to take. In Hong Kong, there are 3 types of taxi to choose from. Which one to take will depend on the area that you choose to go to. 

Red taxisRed taxis operate throughout most of Hong Kong, except for Tung Chung Road on Lantau Island and on the entire south side of Lantau Island.

Green taxisGreen taxis only service the New Territories.

Blue taxisBlue taxis only operate on Lantau Island.
Source: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/plan-your-trip/practicalities/transport/getting-around/taxi.jsp#ixzz3MGY2kuwQ

View of Hong Kong taken in the cab

We took the Red Taxi (Urban Taxi) as Mira Hotel is situated Tsim Sha Tsui. The total cost of our cab fare is HKD 260. Do ask for a receipt (as informed by the airport staff). Our room was not ready yet when we arrive and check-in is only at 3 p.m. So we left our luggages with the bellhop as was told that our luggages will be placed in our room when it is ready. 

We then walked around our area a little. Mira Hotel is located along Nathan Road, next to Miramar Shopping Mall and Mira Mall. It is very near Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. Mira Hotel is surrounded by shopping malls. You can also walk to Harbour City from Mira.

Opposite of The Mira

We walked around to search for halal restaurants. Heard that there is a lot around the area but we could not find any. Finally saw a sign for a halal Indian restaurant and we settled for that. However, the food was pretty disappointing. We explored the area a bit more. By then it was 2.30 p.m. We returned to Mira Hotel and our room was ready. Our luggages had already been placed in the room when we entered.

We love Mira Hotel so much. We opted for a room with two twin beds. The room comes with a Samsung Handy smartphone. You can make FREE international and local calls with it. It comes with unlimited 3G data connectivity. So we used the Handy around Hong Kong, accessed Google Map, checked out restaurants and promotions and made calls to Singapore with it.

Didn't take a picture of our room but it looked like this. We opted for 2 twin beds.
Source: http://www.themirahotel.com

The room also has a 40 inch LCD TV which you can also use to access the internet. The minibar was free for us. There is a separate bathtub and shower area. I also loved the fact that the sink is outside the washroom!

Since our hotel room was fun, we spent some time in it. Later in the evening, we went out again. Met a guy who gave us a brochure for a halal Western and Mediterranean food. So we checked out the place. It is at Chungking Mansion, the building next to the mosque. There will be someone standing nearby to key in the passcode for you to enter. The restaurant is at level 2. Can't remember the restaurant name thought. Was it Al-Maedah? The waitresses are Filipinos. Very nice ladies. The food was awesome. We had Chicken Pizza and lamb rice. We packed the food back since our girls were already asleep.

So that was the end of our Day 1. Pretty uneventful. 

Trip to Hong Kong & Seoul

I had originally booked a trip to Hong Kong for the family (Hubby, me and the 3 girls) for the year-end school holidays. I was not really interested in going to Hong Kong but I thought that it would be nice to let the kids experience Hong Kong Disneyland since it is the nearest Disneyland to Singapore. 

So the flight was with Scoot since we got the flight at a good deal (or so I thought) during one of the promos. The hotel we booked for our stay there was The Mira as it was situated in Tsim Sha Tsui, along Nathan Road, one of the shopping districts. Our stay in Hong Kong was to be for 6 days.

Thereafter, I started to get the itch to go to South Korea (must be due to all the Korean drama series). I managed to convince Mr Hubby to continue our holiday to South Korea after Hong Kong ( the kids helped with the convincing too). Furthermore, Hong Kong and South Korea are not that far apart. Our flight to Seoul was with Hong Kong Express and our flight will be from Hong Kong Airport. Our stay in Seoul will be with Pacific Hotel as it is located in Myeongdong, one of the shopping areas in Seoul. 

Singapore to Hong Kong via Scoot Airlines. Stay in The Mira hotel in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong to Seoul via Hong Kong Express. Stay in Pacific Hotel in Seoul.

Seoul to Singapore via AirAsia. Transit in KL for 1h 40 min

I normally choose the hotels that have rooms big enough to accommodate the family. I will also tend to select hotels that are in the shopping districts. Travelling with 3 young children with no other helpers can be quite challenging (as most parents would know). Therefore, when the location of the hotel is within the shopping area, we can always go back to the hotel to leave our purchases and continue with the shopping again later on. My girls are now 2, 4 and 7 years old. Nuha and Ulfa are still very young and would definitely not be able to take long hours of shopping (but shopping must still be done... Hehe). Hubby and I agreed that this holiday trip will be a relaxing one and we will not rush. As such we had our itinerary carefully planned out. 

In the next few blog posts, I will share on our trip to Hong Kong and South Korea. Watch out for them! In the meantime, check out below for some tips on getting a cheaper airline fare.

Tips On Getting a Cheaper Fare

When booking for flights, I noticed that there were times when taking a return flight with the same airline can actually cost much more. 

1) I would normally use websites such as Skyscanner and Kayak to compare prices. 

2) I would also sometimes type in one-way to my destination and one-way back as it can be cheaper that way. 

3) Get alerts from the different airlines for promos.

4) Book your flight way in advance as it is cheaper than most last minute bookings.

Legoland Malaysia - Themepark

On the second day of our stay, we had to chekout from Hotel Legoland at 10a.m. So after checking out, we left our luggage at the Baggage Services provided in the hotel and then we made our way to  Legoland Malaysia Themepark. It was the first day of Chinese New Year so we were treated to our roaring display of lion dance. My girls and my nephews were excited of course.

Instead of going in a clockwise direction, we went anti-clockwise simply because we saw a lot of people heading clockwise. So to avoid the crowd, we went the other way. Because of that, we reached the Driving School and Junior Driving School. Driving School is for kids from 6 to 13 years old. First, they had to queue (about 15mins or so) then they will enter a class where they watch a video and learn a bit about the driving they are going to do. Thereafter, they get to drive on the driving compound with traffic lights and many lanes. Sounds fun, right? It is, except the long wait. The queue was too long that the older kids gave up queuing halfway and opted to go for other rides instead (but we came back later when the queue was shorter and they managed to get to drive). The Junior Driving School  on the other hand did not have a long queue but it only caters to children from 3 to 5 years old. So Ulfa get to go on this ride. The children only got to drive one or two laps (depending on the queue). But it was enough to keep the little ones happy.

Driving School and Junior Driving School

The kids getting ready to DRIVE!

There was a Boating School but we skipped that due to the long queue. We then went on the Rescue Academy. Basically, you will have to work as a family and compete against three other families on a rescue mission to put out a fire. Lots of hand pumping work involved! It was fun, nonetheless especially when you are competing with people you know. The plus point to this was that it involves teamwork and working as one family.

Rescue Academy from the outside.

We also played at the Lego City Airport. The little ones will enjoy this. Next we entered the Land of Adventure where the children rode the Lost Kingdom ride. They get to shoot laser at spiders and such. Hubby had to give it a miss as Nuha could not enter. I rode with Ulfa. Seeing that Auni had no one to ride with her, one of the Legoland staff volunteered to go on the ride with her. I thought that that was a really sweet gesture as Auni did not want to sit alone.

The older kids then went on the Beetle Bounce. Ulfa had to give it a miss as she did not pass the height requirement.

At the Lego Kingdoms, Auni gamely went on two rollercoaster rides with hubby - The Dragon and Dragon's Apprentice. Ulfa and Nuha went to play at the Forestmen's Hideout ( a playground).

The castle in the Kingdom.

The Dragon

Auni on the ride with her daddy.

At the Lego Technic, the children rode on the Technic Twister. Auni and her cousins were excited to ride on Project X, a fast rollercoaster ride. I think this is the most terrifying ride in Legoland itself, hubby queued with Auni while I waited with Nuha and Ulfa. While waiting, suddenly, the rides of Project X stopped. Two cars were stuck on the tracks at the top under the scorching sun. I quickly made my way to the queue to check whether hubby and Auni had gone on the ride. The ride had to be closed and thus people were streaming out. Thank goodness I saw Auni, hubby and the rest came out. I told Auni that she was forbidden to go on anymore rollercoaster rides (haha!! I could not go through another scare like that). However, Legoland managed to get the rides going again in less than 5minutes though they suspended the ride for a while to check.

Project X

One of the rides Auni wanted to go on but I did not allow after the roller coaster scare.

At the land of Imagination, the kids went on the Observation Tower. There were lots of people but they managed to get on the ride in about 10minutes. Thereafter, we went to the Lego Studio 4D to watch a 4D show on Lego Racers. It was disappointing. I felt that they did not showcase the 4D effects well. It was a painful 25-minute show. Even the kids could not wait for the show to end. They have other shows at different timings as well. I hope those shows are better. There was also the Duplo Playtown, a big play area with slides for kids. Both the little and big ones enjoyed the time here. Even Nuha was happy to play here. She even got to ride on Duplo Express, a small train meant for little kids.

Playtown

Inside Playtown

We stopped for a break at Pizza Mania. We did not really like the pizza. There were not many choices  available but the mushroom soup was nice. It was here that my cousin last saw her wallet. She only discovered later that she had lost it. While walking, we saw one of the staff on walkie-talkie and told him about it. He told us that he would inform all the staff to keep a look out for the wallet and told us to check with the guest services before we go off if anyone had returned the wallet. True enough, when we checked with guest services at the end of the day, one of the staff had found and returned the wallet. We really thank Legoland for the help and professionalism of its staff.

We also went to the much talked-about miniland. Honestly speaking, when people talked about miniland, I was never intrigued. I mean, why would you want to look at miniatures when you have seen the real thing. But boy was I blown away! It was beautiful. The whole set-up was beautiful and beyond my imagination. Some of the vehicles in the set-ups were also moving. We spent quite some time there.

A small part of the Miniland.

We also had a short break at The Cafe where we were serenaded to by a band. They can sing just about anything, except for 'Oppa Gangnam Style' (the kids asked for this). Apparently Legoland does not allow them to sing that. The kids opted for 'Let it Go' taken from the movie Frozen. And these people could really really sing.

Overall, we love Legoland Malaysia. The toilets are clean. There are lots of rides. If you have little ones who do not meet the height requirements, there are also themed playgrounds in the different areas for them to explore while they wait for their older siblings.

The Legoland Express. We did not manage to ride this as it was already closed by the time we reached it.

One thing to take note of is that there are not many shelters in Legoland. The weather can get really hot so arm yourselves and family with caps or umbrellas and have lots and lots of water with you. Ensure that the kids stay hydrated at all times.

You might want to consider staying at Legoland Hotel if you are there. We started our day at the themepark at 10a.m. and ended at 8p.m., yet there were still some rides we missed. We will definitely make a return trip to Legoland Malaysia.

Legoland Malaysia - WaterPark

Day 1 (30 Jan 2014, eve of Chinese New Year)

After checking-in at Hotel Legoland (see our post earlier) and exploring the hotel, we headed to the WaterPark at around 1.30p.m. The WaterPark is opened from 10a.m. till 6p.m. We had purchased 2-day combo tickets earlier when we booked our hotel.

It was not crowded at all. We rented a big locker for RM20 and dumped our stuff in there. There is a small locker for rent too (Note: Use pin instead of fingerprint scan so that your family members can also access the locker without you having to get out of the waterpark to open up the locker). There have cabanas for rent too for RM300 (whole day) or RM150 (from 2p.m.). The cabanas are for four people. It consists of chaise lounge chairs, a mini fridge and a safe deposit. You can also get the staff there to assist you with buying of food. 

We did not take the cabana as knowing our kids, we will not have time to sit down and relax. It will all be fun and play.

We went straight for the Build-a-raft river. The kids had to put on life jackets which can be found near the entrance of build-a-raft and wave pool.

After that we played a while in Splash Safari. This is for children under 5 years old. Then headed for Joker Soaker which is a water playground. It is easy to lose your child here as they get very excited to explore all the slides and water cannons.

Joker Soaker (pic from Legoland website)

Auni gamely went down the Twin Chasers while hubby and I looked after Ulfa and Nuha. We had a break and ate at Brick Bay Café. Thereafter we repeated some rides like the Joker Soaker and Build-a-raft. There were some rides that we did not go on especially those where Ulfa and Nuha could not take. Lastly, we settled in the wave pool.

Twin Chasers (pic from Legoland website)

Wave Pool (pic from Legoland website)

At around 5p.m., we decided to call it a day. We decided to go back to the hotel although there were family changing rooms provided (still segregated by gender though). Before that, we dried ourselves in this big dryer machine. It cost RM10 and can fit your whole family comfortably.

* We brought our camera along and then accidentally left it in the locker. We were having too much fun to go back and get the camera, thus the lack of pictures :)

Hotel Legoland Malaysia

Over the Chinese New Year break, I brought my children to Legoland Malaysia. We booked a room at Hotel Legoland for one night. This is truly a children's holiday (but the adults had fun too!).

So let me start with Hotel Legoland. We booked for a one night's stay but when we were there, we really regretted doing so. We should have stayed at least 3days 2nights. We booked Kingdom room (with 3 little girls, what else would they have wanted). 

Photo taken from Legoland Malaysia website

The hotel offers 3 themes : Pirate, Kingdom and Adventure. There are 4 room types, the themed rooms (standard room, kingdom/ pirate/ adventure), premium rooms (kingdom/ pirate/ adventure), deluxe room (only pirate theme), suite rooms (only kingdom theme).

Kids' sleeping area with their own tv set.

Standard room with no wallpaper designs on the wall of the parents' sleeping area.

Premium rooms cost slightly more than the standard themed rooms but the only difference is that for the premium rooms, graphic wallpaper design is found in both parents' and children's room. Standard rooms only has the graphic wallpaper design in the children's room though the parents' were still quite tastefully decorated. Premium rooms also face the legoland park. Both rooms consist of a king-sized bed in the parents' area and a bunk bed with a pull-out trundle bed in the children's area. Both areas are separated by a wooden sliding door that can be locked from the parents' side for privacy purposes. Both areas consist of an lcd tv each so you can enjoy your channel while your children enjoy theirs. Children's channels available are Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. A box of lego set is also provided for your children to entertain themselves with. There is a treasure chest that your child can open after they solve some questions. They will the use the code to open the treasure chest. There are some prizes inside. Check-in time is at 4p.m. while check-out is at 10a.m. There is baggage services provided int he hotel. So if you reach the hotel early and the room is not ready, you can leave your bags with them.

The girls playing with the lego set provided in the room.

We arrived on the eve of Chinese New Year at 11.30a.m. As we had purchased our 2-day combo tickets together when booking the room (cheaper this way), we had to collect the tickets from Hotel Legoland. Thankfully one of the rooms was ready by then ( we booked 2 rooms as we were travelling with another family), and they allowed us early check-in with no extra charges. The second room was ready at 1.20p.m. We thank Hotel Legoland for allowing this flexibility. Check-in was fast too probably because there were not too many people around at the time. Staff were friendly and approachable. There is a wide play area for kids while you check-in. They can play with the x-box kinect, build with small lego bricks or extra large lego bricks. There is a small castle to play in too.

The castle in the lobby.

We were very pleased with our room. Toiletries were provided though iron and ironing board were given only upon request. Toilet is clean with simple design. Each level had fun decorations according to the theme. Lift has disco lights and played YMCA song when you enter. Check-out was fast with the drop-key service.

Breakfast was at Bricks Restaurant. There was quite a variety of food though taste-wise, it could have been better. For a hotel that target children as its customers, I thought the table design could be better. Table had sharp edges and with tons of kids running around, it will just be an accident waiting to happen.

On the first night we stayed, the power tripped in the rooms on our stretch so only the emergency lights in the room were working (still very bright). We were not too worried as we were just leaving for supper. By the time we came back, everything was back to normal. You need to be careful with the lifts. If you have been holding it slightly longer than you should, it will just close without warning and will not open even when you press the lift button.

I did find the aircon a tad bit loud at night though it did not disturb my sleep. Overall, my kids enjoyed staying there. We tried to extend our stay but the rooms were all fully booked so we had no choice but to leave. The hotel is located between Legoland WaterPark and Legoland ThemePark. Medina mall is just next door for you to go for dinner.

We went to Pancake House at Medina Mall for dinner. At first we thought well, a pancake is a pancake is a pancake. So I did not order pancakes. Got myself spaghetti gambero while hubby had the beef tapa. Auni ordered the pancakes. Let me tell you, the pancakes were to die for! It just melts in the mouth. It was so so soft. I've never eaten pancakes as good as that!

Anyway, Legoland Hotel is definitely a convenient place to stay if you are planning to go to Legoland Malaysia. Your kids are sure to love the hotel. We are planning for our next visit already!