Kidzania Singapore

We went to Kidzania Singapore on the eve of Singapore's National Day. Hubby took half day leave so once he was home, we drove to Sentosa. We parked at the Beach Station Carpark and there was a bridge to link us to Kidzania.

Tickets cost $58 for kids and $35 for adullts. Tickets for toddlers between 2 - 3 years old cost $25. If you are a Maybank card holder, you are entitled to 10% discount on ticket price. If your child is a student of Learning Lab, your child need only pay $51 instead of $58. For online booking of tickets, you can click here.

We did not know what to expect as we have read some good and not so good reviews about Kidzania. One of the negative comments mentioned that the waiting time was too long. 

When we reached the counter, there were only a few other families. We arrived at 1pm. That day, Kidzania was closing at 8pm as it was the eve of public holiday. The kids were given 20 kidzos each and an ATM card. All of us had to wear a wristband to identify the child to the parent.

Once we entered Kidzania, we noticed that there were not as many children as we had expected (we expected A LOT more). I guess it helped that we were there on the eve of National Day. I would expect a bigger crowd on public holidays. 

Recording in session

The girls have been bugging hubby and me to take them to Kidzania, so when we were there, they were wow-ed by the place. It is really a Kids City. We were on our way to activate the ATM card when we saw that the Discovery Film Studio had no queue. We remembered reading some reviews somewhere that the bank queue might be long so Ulfa and Auni decided to go ahead and queue outside the Discovery Film Studio to be a host/film editor. 

Film Editing

What you will see outside each station

Outside each establishment, you will see a sign stating the capacity of kids that can play that role at one time, time taken for activity, age limit of participant etc. For the Film Studio, the age limit was 7+. Ulfa was not 7 yet but she really wanted to try out as a Host/Film Editor. The person who was in-charge was nice enough to ask if Ulfa could read, to which Ulfa answered "yes'. She then asked if she could test Ulfa's reading to see if she was suitable to participate in the activity. So after the quick test, Ulfa was allowed to join.

The Bank

While Ulfa and Auni were waiting for their turn, I took Nuha, who is 4 years old, to activate her card at the bank. Outside the bank, I had to write Nuha's name and her birthdate on the paper with the card. Nuha had to queue up at the bank on her own as parents were not allowed inside. I worried a little then as I wondered 'What if she does not know what to say at the counter', 'What if she is scared' etc. But my worries were unfounded. Nuha went in, albeit a litle bit unsure at first. She then followed the others who were queueing and went up to the counter herself. At this point, I went "Bravo!" in my head.

Delivering Newspapers

After we left the bank, Auni and Ulfa were not done yet so Nuha went on to the Kidzania Post to try out as a Newspaper Delivery crew. She was alone as the one other girl who was in the queue wanted to try out as a Journalist. So I accompanied Nuha around her trip. I didn't help her carry the papers. I didnt help her knock on the doors or tell her what to say. She did it all by herself. She was a bit shy at first and could not remember everything that she needed to say (it was on the board she was carrying but she couldn't read all of the words yet). Subsequently she got the hang of it. It helped that the Kidzania staff were all so friendly. 

By the time Nuha was done, Auni and Ulfa were queuing at the bank having completed the Host/Film Editor job. We found out that the film could be downloaded online with the password given to us!

Thereafter the girls tried out a few other jobs like the Water Quality Assurance Specialist, Tourist Guide, Baby Expert, Runway Model, Climber, Chef and Cabin Crew.

Inside the cockpit

Qatar Airways

For the cabin crew or first officer jobs, look out for the distribution time for the jobs and queue up outside the Kindergarten for it. The staff will then give you a time for you to come back later. 

Stadium

Driving School

Runway Model

For most jobs, parents can only watch from outside the window. However, there are some jobs like cabin crew and Runway model where you can participate. For example, when your child works as a cabin crew, they will serve you on the plane. When they become Runway Models, you get to be an audience at a fashion show.

You do not really need to accompany your children around Kidzania if they are older. They can do everything on their own and it allows them to become more independent. Auni is 8 and I pretty much let her go about choosing the jobs on her own. I noticed that the kids make fast friends as they work together with other kids. 

Working at KFC

Most jobs allow them to earn Kidzos while there are some jobs where they have to pay. For example, the girls had to pay 10Kidzos when they worked at KFC (they were given 1Kidzo off as they reused their hair net). However, the fun part was they get to eat what they prepared. The girls loved this. When they ate the burgers they prepared, they commented that it tasted really good.

Some reviews I read mentioned that the staff at Kidzania does not appear too enthusiastic. I guess it really depends on the staff themselves. I must say that most of the staff we met were very friendly to the kids. I particularly liked the staff - Ivy and Raihana - who were managing KFC when we were there. They were so fun and friendly with the kids, you could see the kids really enjoying their company. The kids were laughing and giving hi-fives to them. At the end of the session, the kids went up to them to give them hugs. It was really wonderful to see that. 

Kidzania Department Store is packed at closing time

We ended the day at 8pm. The kids went into Kidzania Department Store to spend their Kidzos. They had to do this on their own as parents were not allowed inside. It is good to check the balance in their cards or withdraw the money so that kids know how much they can spend. If you worry that your child might not know what they can spend on with the amount of money they have, look through the windows with your kids and tell them what are the things within their range. Alternatively, the staff inside will assist them.

As parents, we worry a lot, but they'll survive Kidzania.

Before going to Kidzania, I personally wondered how I'll survive the long hours there when it is only my kids who are having fun. However, time passes by really quickly and before you know it, it is closing time. When the girls were doing the activities, hubby and I managed to get alone time where we spent chilling out at the in-house Killiney Kopitiam and KFC (there are other food establishments there).

Other food establishment

Theatre

Tour Guide and Tourists

Climbing School

Hospital

Quality Assurance Specialists

Acting Academy

Our girls (and us) thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They could not stop thanking us after the visit. We will definitely visit Kidzania Singapore again.

Some tips on visiting Kidzania Singapore:

1) Avoid peak periods unless you don't mind the waiting time.

2) Get a lanyard for the kids to put their cards or Kidzos. You can purchase one there but they cost around $10 - $15 (Maybank card holders get 10% off). I saw some parents holding the Kidzos and cards for the kids. You can do that too but it'll be good to teach the kids to handle their own cards and Kidzos.

3) Before you go to Kidzania, tell your kids that there are a lot of different jobs they can try. Some jobs are those they've never heard of. They need not be doctors and firefighters ALL THE TIME.

4) Let your kids choose whatever they want to be. It is their city and their day, not yours.

5) Take note that you are not allowed to queue for the kids. They need to queue if they want to play.

6) Your child can activate the ATM card later if the queue at the bank is too long. They can just do the activities first.

Monsters of the Sea & Human Body Experience

I brought the 3 girls to the Singapore Science Centre sans Mr Hubby.

The plan was to go for the Monsters of the Sea Exhibition. In the end, we went for both the Monsters of the Sea and the Human Body Experience Exhibitions. Both are temporary exhibitions. Monsters of the Sea Exhibition ended on 28 February 2016 while I have no idea when the Human Body Experience Exhibition will end. It has, however, started since 31 May 2014.

The girls really enjoyed learning about all these prehistoric underwater monsters. The animatronics bring about life to these monsters. Nuha was scared, of course, seeing these creatures move but my 2 elder girls were very excited. They were practically running from one exhibit to another to learn more about these monsters. They were especially awed by the size of the megalodon and whale shark.

The exhibition is not particularly huge but took up about 1 to 1.5 hours.

Thereafter we explored Science Centre. That was when the girls spotted the Human Body Experience Exhibition and forced begged me to buy the tickets for it. So we had to go out and purchase the tickets from the ticketing counter again before coming entering the Science Centre again and locate the Human Body Experience Exhibition.

The exhibition  is basically a walk-through the human body. Alright well, it is not really a "walk-through". You can to climb, slide, crawl your way through and learn about the different systems in the body. First up, to enter the exhibition, you have to climb up the tongue and slide down the throat. If you ask me, I think almost all kids will love this exhibition. Even my three-year-old was thrilled.

First up was the respiratory system. You get to touch the vocal cords and hear them make sounds. You get to go through the lungs. You will also learn about the nervous system and immune system and go through the brains. After that is the digestive systems. You have to crawl through the gullet in order to reach the stomach. In the stomach, you see the stomach churning and you get sprayed by the digestive juices. Then the two intestines and finally you reach the end of teh exhibition where you come out from the ... anus. You come with a fart. That was the part my girls enjoyed the most :) Best thing is you get to go through the exhibition twice with your ticket. So we went for it twice. The second time was faster as we did not really listen to the explanations given by the voiceover. My girls definitely enjoyed this exhibition.

You can find out more about this exhibition from http://www.science.edu.sg/exhibitions/Pages/hbx.aspx

If you want to know the charges and the admission rates, you can check out Singapore Science Centre Homepage .

Singapore Science Centre is definitely worth a visit especially this long school holiday.

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.

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!