Asia Archives - Page 9 of 22 - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Dubai 2017 Day 3 – Creek Park and Dubai fountain show

Posted on January 28, 2017September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Our first day of the Lunar New Year started with K crying for milk at 630am in the morning. Quickly made him some before he went back to sleep. At least he was waking up a little later than before, much closer to what was supposed to be in Singapore.

An hour later, everyone was awake. We got ourselves ready and mommy prepared the lunch ingredients and let it simmer in the cooker while we went downstairs to have some breakfast.

We entered a Lebanese fast food restaurant called Man’dushe street and ordered a chicken Tika wrap, a orange juice and a latte while mommy popped by Carrefour next door to get K a box of cereal (they were sold in small individual boxes) which he loved. Somehow nearing the end of our meal, K dropped the box and we had to get him another one.

We went back to the apartment and prepared to go out. Decked in new clothes because of the Lunar New Year, we packed K’s meal in a Lock and Lock tupperware that we bought in Carrefour as we have forgotten to bring the container from Singapore, we left the apartment for Dubai mall to take a taxi.

The morning was cool and the walk was not too bad. We didn’t have to get into the mall for the taxi as I hailed one on the main street and asked to be brought to Creek Park.

It was a quick journey there, a 15-20mins drive and we arrived at entrance 1, for 30Aed taxi fare. The entrance costed 5Aed per adult and K did not need to pay.

The first thing that caught K’s attention was the colourful bouncy castles on the left of the entrance. We proceeded there and paid a 20Aed per hour for K to enter, and thus began the everything also must pay visit in this park. He was so happy to get up castle and climbed all the way up but apprehensive when reached the top. As another little girl came down the slide, we encouraged him to follow and he did, only to be off balanced. That frightened him and then he didn’t want to come down the slide again though he wanted to climb up. The girl even wanted to show him how it was done by going up and down the slide but K was too scared to do it again. Unfortunately adults werent’t supposed to go up, and mommy being the smaller size of us two had to go up and bring K down.

K went to climb another one and again was afraid to come down the slide, even when so many other kids did it. But fortunately this time around, he managed to slowly come down the stairs by himself. We left this little compound and got onto the static rides just outside, one time costing 5Aed. I went to get a blueberry smoothie drink for 10Aed.

On the right side of the park was a large helicopter simulator in a huge helicopter but didn’t seemed to be in operations. There were also a small compound for camel and pony rides, there were 2 of the tall animals there walking in circles with their passengers high above. We walked towards the playground where there was some slides and swings and ladders to climb while mommy went to sit at the bank of the creek to avoid the sun. Then K had his lunch by the bank bench under the shade too.

After the 30 mins lunch break, we walked to the Dolphinarium and was disappointed to find out that the next show was at 3pm and it was only 1230pm. Should have checked the timings before assuming that show was frequently on. We walked to the souvenir shop and mommy bought a tee for K and also noticed that there was a Happy Valley cafeteria and we had our lunch there. I got myself a meehoon for 29aed and mommy bought a burger set for 20aed and didn’t realized it came with 2 burgers. We had to takeaway one of them. K concurrently down a bottle of milk and fell asleep on the chairs while we had our lunch.

After lunch, I carried K outside and we decided to just sit in the park while K slept. Under the shade of a tree, the grass was comfortable enough for us to sit there and rest ( I even dozed off lying down on the grass patch). Mommy went to get an ice cream cone and just after we finished, I had to move my legs already numbed from K lying on me, and that’s when K woke up angry with only just 1.5hrs of nap time. We tried to get him back to sleep and walking him to the banks but he stayed awake.

Almost 230pm and we proceeded to the Dolphinarium to get ourselves VIP tickets for 120aed per adult and 80 for K(slight difference from the standard tickets but with better seats). We went to the restrooms before proceeded to our seats.

The arena wasn’t big and before the show began, the host was selling off lucky draw balls for 20aed for a chance to get prizes such as photographs with the dolphins. There were many in the audience who wanted to try their luck but only the top 3 balls that were caught by the dolphins will get something. 3 out of 20plus did not seemed like good odds to us.

The show began shortly and on time. It started off with an illusion show, with 2 tricks. They were good tricks though it seemed a little out of place of this place. The second were clowns doing their clowning and splashing water into the crowd. Typical clowning fun. The third act was some nice acrobatics on the ropes above the water. They hanged from the ropes and moved with such skill and balance that it was just amazing to watch.

The seal then came out next with some of its own acrobats, starting off with the easy tricks then followed by really difficult ones such as moving on its flippers like legs and even balancing on one flipper. It was amusing yet a little too unexpected that an animal can do such tricks.

The highlight of the show was then 2 dolphins, jumping out of the water with such height and making a splash during their introduction! From then it was lots of high jumps and out of water poses and even some singing. Of course there was the lucky draw part where the audience who had bought the lucky ball threw all together the balls into the pool and the first three ones that were picked up by the dolphins won something, while the rest of the 20 something paid for these 3 winners essentially. I was particularly entertained by the part where the dolphins played beach ball with the crowd and they could hit the ball out of the water really far into the crowd.

After the show, we left the park and took a taxi readily available at the entrance. We wanted to visit the Hard Rock Cafe (which we usually would if there was a branch available) and it was situated at Festival city, 25aed and 15 mins away. K was having fun with the staff and running up and down the slope while mommy and I got ourselves some tees. After the short visit, we tried to get a taxi back to the apartment but again was unable to readily get one as the driver wasn’t familiar with the place and had asked another passenger to board. We waited for another one and called the rep whom explained to him and the driver was able to bring us back to the apartment, 30aed and about 15mins away too.

Back at the apartment, we gave K some milk and wanted him to take a nap as he didn’t have adequate nap time earlier on. Mommy prepared his dinner and he managed to fall asleep. All of us rested as well.

Woke K up at about 715pm after about an hour of nap time and brought him to bath and get ready to go out for dinner. We managed to leave the apartment about an hour later and it was a 15mins walk to Dubai mall. On the way there, we saw the fountain show started and quickly walked into the mall to avoid the crowd after the show. We couldn’t watch the show anyway as it was too crowded too.

After walking around, we ended up at Wafi gourmet for some Lebanese cuisine. The restaurant was still quite packed and we could only managed to get a table near the entrance ( this restaurant had outside fountain views options but were full). Ordered some chicken rolls, a grilled lobster, a grilled sea bass two juices and a desert for 325aed. The food was quite tasty especially the mains.

After dinner, we went outside to watch the 10pm show and this time, it was far less crowded and we managed at least to see the fountain. The show was a short 3 mins but enough to wow us, especially when the water curtain shot up so high into the air. It’s a pity still that we could only catch the partial view as the full view would be a grandeur (the area at the Souk Al Bahar would be less crowded and had a fuller view).

Then it was the walk back in the cool evening but tiredness made the walk felt longer than usual. Back at the apartment, we quickly got changed and have K go to bed while I took care of the garbage bringing the bags to the ground level. I checked out the supermarket as it felt weird not having any beer on a holiday trip, but none were sold. Got back to the apartment for my bath and then straight to bed.

Dubai 2017 Day 2 – Al Burj Arab and Souk de Jaimeira

Posted on January 27, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

K woke up at 5am plus and asked for milk. I woke up to do it for him, having to go downstairs to get water and milk powder, the cons of a double storey suite. He drank and went back to sleep for a little.

We all woke up at about 630am having already slept around 10hrs already, due to the time difference with Singapore. The floor to ceiling window exposed the Arabian sea and the view of towering Khalifa in downtown Dubai was a nice view and with the skies illuminated orange by the rising sun, it was a nice view to wake up to.

TV that comes out from under when activated

K started to get active and headed to the steps. We had to get him ready for breakfast such as changing his diapers and clothes and also brushed his teeth and turning on Minions on VOD did not help get him to stay still. We prepared ourselves too and by the time we left, it was almost 8am.

There were 2 restaurants offering buffet breakfast, one Asian and one international. We checked out the Asian one first but settled on International as K wanted to have cereal. Chose to sit Alfresco and it was a little chilly with the morning sea breeze and mommy went to get K his sweater.

K sat in a comfy high chair to eat while we got ourselves the international choices from the comparatively small buffet table. The quality of food was however very good. Ate for about an hour before we took a walk around to the new extension where the infinity pool was, to take photos. K had fun running up and down the bridge. We then left as mommy felt cold and took a lift to the 27th floor to have a look. As the staff was preparing for brunch, we were denied entry so we went to the 18th floor and asked for the Kids’ club.

At the same level, there was also Talise Spa and a library and several private rooms that I wasn’t sure of their purpose. K stayed in the small Kid’s club for about half an hour, playing the toys and the slide and having fun before we all went back to the room. Made K some milk and he dozed off. We packed and got ready to leave, at the same time mommy and I had some of our complimentary choco cake for our anniversary which we couldn’t finish. In fact there were so much food that even staying in for the whole day we couldn’t finish any, such as the complimentary fruit platter, the sparkling date juice and the coffee from the Nespresso type machine.

Mommy took a final dip in the jacuzzi while I laid in bed with K enjoying the last bits of this room. Our check out was granted extension till 1pm but it was surely not enough.

K woke up slightly after 1230pm. I wasn’t confident that we could check out on time if K had to finish his lunch so I called the butler to see if they had any containers that we could carry the porridge in but was only offered a box as they did not have any. Furthermore I had tried to call multiple times but there weren’t anybody picking up until some time later. We eventually left the room leaving the luggage behind for the bellboy to pick up.

The check out was done at the same level itself with the butler. Gave my credit card and a swipe and 2.8k later, we were done. The bellboy also retrieved the luggage and gave us the luggage stub and we went to the ground level. The fountain was dancing and K was mesmerized by it. Later we went to the staff just outside the entrance to arrange for a buggy to the Jumeirah Souk. It wasn’t long before one came and drove us for about 5 mins before we arrived. We still had to cross a security post and then a small bridge before reaching the souk.

The souk was not particularly old one but a modern one in fact. We walked about in the aircon space but didn’t really stop for anything to see. Then we went into a Jamba juice bar and ordered a wrap and 2 smoothies. I fed K his porridge but he didn’t take much.

After the lunch and brain freeze, we walked to the ELC store nearby to have a look. Things were about the same costs back home. K too was being fussy and didn’t want to move. We reckoned that he was trying to poop but he didn’t say anything. We carried him to the toilet and he cried. Changed his diapers in the toilet but he didn’t poop at all. After washing hands, he began to fuss and cry again until we went out in the open and he stopped.

On our way back to the initial point where we disembarked, saw a mobile stall selling kids tee but we didn’t like the colors. When we returned to the security post, we were asked questions and had to produce the luggage stub to gain entry – the beach and the area there were restricted to residents. Others behind us couldn’t pass and had to turn back.

As we waited for the buggy, I went on to the fine sandy beach and took a photo and a selfie with Al Burj Arab. There were quite a few buggies running around the pathway but only dedicate ones go back to Al Burj Arab. It wasn’t long before the buggy showed up. Then it was the same route back to the hotel entrance.

Once at the entrance we alighted and K and mommy went into the hotel to look at fountain while I went to retrieve the luggage which was with the bellboy who also took care of getting the taxi for us. There was a private unmetered Lexus car that came we boarded it to our next accommodation. I didn’t know the address and thought it was at Dubai mall, indicated on the Airbnb map so the driver brought us there for a fee of 80Aed.

The Airbnb rep called but I couldn’t understand him well so asked him to message me. He gave me the address and as I checked with the info counter and also log onto the free Dubai mall wifi that I found out from google maps that it was in fact outside Dubai mall, at least a 5 mins walk. With 2 luggage and a toddler and a potential sweaty walk, we decided to go back to the taxi queue at G level of Dubai mall to go there.

As it seemed to be a new apartment, the driver wasn’t familiar with that place. After asking around he still didn’t know where it was, even after I showed him on google map. It was until I showed picture view from Airbnb that he realized and got on the road.

It wasn’t the most efficient way to get to the apartment as he got into the highway and made one big loop. However the costs wasn’t high, about 20aed with me guiding him along the way and he had to stopped next to the road illegally while we got off.

The rep met us and helped with the luggage. With the passport, he did a quick record of it before bringing us to the 18th floor. It was a small place and didn’t look very new. The kitchen was open concept with queen size bed next to it. A balcony gave us a clear view of the Al Burj Khalifa and the Dubai mall. It was definitely a great many downgrades compared to the night before.

After leaving us with the introduction of the apartment, we left for the 24hrs Carrefour supermarket which was on the ground floor just steps away. Went to buy bottled water as what the rep advised and other groceries such as bottled milk, chicken drumstick detergent and washing powder, etc.

Carrefour supermarket next to accommodation

We returned to the apartment and fortunately someone was coming out from the card access door that we could take a shortcut to the lift. The first thing back at the apartment was to give K a shower and I filled the bathtub with water which was a little yellowish and no wonder the advice to buy bottled water. Mommy in the meantime prepared dinner for K. After K was done, we watched cartoons on TV while mommy took a quick bath. K seemed to look tired, after all he had already been awake since 12 noon so I went off to Dubai mall on my own to get us some dinner, K waving goodbye to me without asking to follow.

It was a short walk to the mall and the night view of downtown was quite nice. There was a trolley in nice traditional design but unsure where was it’s journey. I couldn’t find the entrance and had to walk along the private carpark to get to the atrium where I could see the Khalifa light show and a big crowd waiting for the fountain show to start. I took some photos and also saw the very short fountain show. It was difficult to move after the crowd dispersed.

I walked into the mall trying to find Chinese food. Went for the food court and was amazed to meet a colleague in the largest mall in the world. To prevent walking unnecessarily to the food court, I consulted the interactive electronic board to the food court. The 3rd floor had many stores selling kids stuff and I saw some shoes but couldn’t decide what to buy. Went to the food court first to get Chinese food mixed rice for 31Aed and Italian pasta for 36Aed before going back.

With the free wifi, I was able to whatsapp mommy but she was responding so I walked back to the apartment. Unfortunately I got lost and couldn’t find my way around with all the roads around. Along the way I saw tons of exotic cars from Lambos to Rolls Royce, belonging to disgustingly rich people there. When I finally went back the same route, I was already very tired. Indeed the biggest mall in the world. The mall wasn’t tired streams of people still come in at 9pm. Wonder what was its closing time.

En-route I heard echoes of boom boom bouncing off the tall buildings that sounded like fireworks but I couldn’t see it. It wasn’t at the Al Burj Khalifa. I only realized that it was somewhere near where we were staying. Wanted to snap a photo but it ended just as I got ready.

Walked around the building to the front entrance as I didn’t have the card access and returned to a dark room as K had already slept at 9pm.

We proceeded to have our anniversary packed dinner of mixed rice and pasta in the dark with the Khalifa light show on. Then I went to bath and went to bed, no problem dosing off due to time difference probably. Meanwhile in Singapore it was already Chinese New Year.

Dubai 2017 Day 1 – Arrival in Dubai and Al Burj Arab

Posted on January 26, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

I woke up at the usual 6am that I am used to for work, but this time was in preparation for our trip to Dubai, as a way to celebrate our anniversary. K was not used to this timing as he usually wakes at 8am for his preschool. However, with the noise and the movement in the room, he was soon awaken and chirpy as he was, he quickly warmed up for the trip. He couldn’t finish his cereal and so we brought it along in the car, with the expected occasional spill and such. Before we really got onto the highway, I again forgotten to bring my tickets and itinerary and had to ran up to get it.

Thursday traffic was bad and at 715am when we left, it was slow. Had to take the SLE TPE route since we had a jam at the entrance of the BKE. Our flight was at 935am and that meant a good time to check in was 735am ( we didn’t had the habit of checking in online). We weren’t going to make it.

When we finally arrived, it was almost 815am, and just before we could get out of the car, K puked. It must have been the drive there, and my dad’s moving and braking too frequently that might caused the motion sickness. Luckily we managed to reduce the damage by catching the puke with his bowl.

Went in to the airport after leaving my parents (my mom was leaving for Hong Kong for her holiday), and got K changed out to a new set of clothes while mommy went to wash up herself. Then we checked in the luggage at Emirates, no queue and was done rather fast. Proceeded thru immigrations and spent some time at the windows, plane spotting ( K was fascinated with planes) while mommy went to the toilet to wash up further as there seemed to be a lingering smell of vomit. When she returned, we then went to the nearby toys store (Kaboom) where mommy bought a Paw Patrol puzzle book for K while I changed his diapers. Then we proceeded to board the plane.

It was a full flight and we were given a seat at the end of the 2nd last section for economy. I was thoroughly impressed with the plane as it was the most high tech one I had boarded! Touch screens for all control panel and screen. There was USB charging port and 3 pin plug charging. There was also on board wifi which however did not seem to work. For K, there were 2 items given, one a reindeer pouch that contained a blanket but could also be used as something to hug and a magnetic drawing pad. It was quite adorable.

Changi was having a huge queue of planes about to take off and our flight took off at 1005am, 30 mins from the actual time of departure. K was already watching the onboard entertainment system for a while, complete with his own kiddy earphones. It wasn’t too hard getting him entertained and he was acting nice.

Huge screen and charging points on Emirates

Free blankets and drawing board for kids

What came for lunch also impressed me a lot. The child meal was indeed a meal, and not some puree nonsense. It had almost the same number of side dishes as the normal adult meal and they looked tasty! K was having a meat ball spaghetti meal and he loved it. There was also desert in the form of a cherry cheese cake and a box of goodies such as a packet of Milo, jellybeans, Kitkat and stuff. Feeding him was troublesome, although there were colourful utensils to feed him with, he loved to help himself using his fingers to take the spaghetti and in the process of making a mess.

Adult meals were pretty tasty too, and they really left a good impression of Emirates for me. After the meals, I went the toilet just behind us, and changed for K his diapers. He had pooped and I was pleasantly surprised that the toilet was actually pretty spacious, only that it was only one of them there in the lane. There wasn’t a changing table too and K had to stand on the seat of the toilet bowl to change out.

K fell asleep closed to 12noon and for at least 2.5 hrs, I had time to myself watching Star Trek and even part of Deepwater Horizon undisturbed, and sometimes dozing off myself. K woke up at about 3 pm and we fed him some bread and Milo and he spent the rest of his flight time entertained by the shows or the new toys that he had. There were at least 3 times where the plane was slightly bumpy due to turbulence.

Al Burq Khalifa can be seen from the airport

We disembarked and proceeded to walk to the immigrations. It was a really long walk and a bulk of the people proceeded onto their transition flight, kinda expected since Dubai was like a good transition point from East to West. We arrived around 130pm but immigrations was terribly slow. By the time we completed the 5 lines of people waiting to get past, it was already almost 330pm. There were no priority queues for family and it seemed like forever, especially with an active 2 year old running around.

The belt carrying out luggage was left with almost just the two of ours. The whole area was huge and there were so many belts available. We loaded the luggage onto the trolley and proceeded to the arrival hall. Stopped by Costa coffee to purchase some pastries for our lunch, costing almost 100AED. Then we went to the taxi stand to get a taxi to our hotel, the Al Burj Arab, and as there was a line of passengers, there was also a line of taxis. Soon we were able to board the airport taxi, but were initially told to board the premier one, but we rejected the offer.

Travellators was a boon to get to the luggage!

The taxi got us onto the road quickly but we had to deal with another jam on the roads. Again there were multiple moving off and stopping and that caused K to feel unwell again. We were prepared, bringing down the puke bag from the airplane and true enough, he puked some time after we past by downtown. Then he fell asleep. We arrived at the entrance of the hotel and was asked for our passport to check if we were guests. K woke up and as the taxi moved towards the drop off point, he puked again. We paid the taxi 80 AED and the rest of the luggage and door was taken care of by the hotel staff. We were escorted to the plush sofas after being offered cold towels, for our check in and mommy brought K along to see the huge aquarium walls of fish to entertain him.

Later a hotel staff then brought us up to our rooms at level 14, along the way up the escalator, I was pretty impressed with the architecture of the internal and its plush elevators floors. At each level entrance sat a butler and when we first entered the room, I was wowed by the sheer size (it was double storey and bigger than my HDB flat). The whole place’s decor was opulent, with cushion and carpets and huge TV with sound surround. While the staff settled the room bill (there was a deposit of 2000AED too), where I had to pay with my credit card, K and mommy went around looking at the huge suite.

Our room faced the sea partially, with the Al Burj Khalifa in the distance. Snapped plenty of photos before I settled down for my lunch while K spent some time on my phone watching youtube. There was a lady butler who came and introduced the room to us, from the TV remote that controls the TV, curtains, butler and door opening, to the jacuzzi (which K called a pool) and complimentary Hermes him and her set, to the minibars and golden nespresso machine.

Sweet treats in a Burj Arab shape container

After that, I took K for a bath in the “pool” and spent some time there. Then we proceeded to go downstairs for a walk to look at the sunset. The butler went to bring us some complimentary cake and a bouquet of 7 roses to give us as a form of celebration for our anniversary. For the walk, K went for a while and wanted to returned. I thought it might be due to the cold wind blowing. I didn’t managed to get the sunset view.

Complimentary choco cake for our anniversary

Upon returning back mommy was ready with the dinner preparations and K was hungry to eat the pasta. At the same time, we also ordered room service, for a penne and the scallop and lobster ravioli, It was quite nice but we had too much food to finish. At the same time, we also had a sparkling date juice and it was quite tasty.

We followed up with some washing, for the dishes and even the smelly clothes still stank of K’s puke. There were some fireworks going on in the distance out in the waters which we were able to see. Afterwards, Mommy and K turned in early as there was a 4 hrs time lag compared to Singapore and it was way past bedtime in Singapore while I used the available Mac desktop to type this post. Early conclusion for this was then, the value that we paid for the room was over the value received.

Escape plan to Dubai January 2017

Posted on January 25, 2017June 23, 2020 by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Dubai 2017:

Total duration 4D3N
Singapore is 4hrs ahead of Dubai.
Flight time is 7hrs 25mins on Emirates from Singapore to Dubai.
Return is 7hrs on Emirates from Dubai to Singapore.

Flight from Singapore to Dubai at 935am, arriving at 1pm in Dubai. Return flight from Dubai to Singapore is at 930pm and touching down in Singapore at 830am.

Day 1 Arrival in Dubai and check in Al Burj Arab hotel
Day 2 Al Burj Arab and Souk Madinat Jumeirah
Day 3 Creek Park, Dolphinarium and Dubai Fountain
Day 4 Al Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall and Home Sweet Home

This trip was planned to celebrate our 10th year marriage anniversary. I thought that it should be something of significance and suggested we stayed in the world’s most luxurious hotel (dubbed the only 7 star hotel in the world) for a night to celebrate that. At the same time, we were doing this over the long weekend offered by the Lunar New Year so as not to overspend on our precious leave.

Budget – Budget buster and rightfully so.

Dubai was known to be one of the most expensive cities to live in and therefore, holidaying in Dubai was expected to be expensive as well. Of course, the one night of indulgence in the Al Burq Arab costed as much as a pair of plane tickets to Europe made the costs even much higher.

Complexity – Easy with the taxis that ply the roads

Moving around Dubai were relatively easy for us since we took taxis from location to location. The taxis were not expensive, clean, safe and available mostly and thus a good choice for a couple with a toddler. Jams could be bad during the peak hours in downtown and that was the only downside I could think of.

Legoland Johor 2016 Day 2 – Legoland theme park and Home Sweet Home

Posted on January 1, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

New Year day we awoke in the pirate theme room stayed in as long as we could be heading to the buffet breakfast at the same restaurant where we had dinner the night before. The same tables that had the dishes were replaced with breakfast varieties. K enjoyed his cereal like how he did everytime he was on holiday.

Big foam lego bricks that can be used to built a brick house

Before heading out to the theme park itself, we checked out of the room and kept all the luggage in the car. Then we proceeded to the main theme park to utilized the 2nd day pass of our tickets.

The park was arranged in different themes, such as Star Wars, Miniland, Kingdom and City. We started in one direction and walked around. There weren’t many rides that K could take as he was too small, and there were height limitations. The place wasn’t crowded probably because of the sweltering heat and bad humidity.

As there weren’t anything that were particular interested with, took the general direction going anti clockwise. There was an area with water gun features where people can get on a ride going in circles and using water cannons to shoot. We could only watch as this was not meant for toddlers.

Moving on, there was a building with the huge face of Einstein made out of Lego. Within the building was an activity room where there would be sessions on building Legos being held, to get the best of creativity out of kids. Of course K wouldn’t be able to do so since the only thing he knew how to build was upwards. He wanted to play with the blocks though, trying to pull himself it while I held onto him, worried that he would mess up the place.

We entered the Star Wars exhibit which had a queue and took a while to get in. Within the building there were aircon rooms and rooms of different scenes of Star Wars shows, and came with movement and lighting effects that was impressive. Though not a fan, it was quite nice to see the huge display made of Lego showing the robots and spaceships. The aircon was even more welcomed!

Darth Vadar guarding the Star Wars exhibit

Depicting a scene in one of the episodes…

Then entering the heat again was kingdom that had a huge castle with again roller coaster rides that K couldn’t take. We just explored the surroundings, climbing to the second level corridor that was meant for queues. Took a photo with a Lego character knight and proceeded to move on.

Then there was a central area called Imagination. There was a rotating viewing deck of the Observation Tower that we lined up for it (short wait) and that brought us high up to get a viewpoint of Legoland and it’s surrounding, not much to see though but at least it was one ride that K can have. Then we went to the sheltered playgrounds meant for toddlers.

Static rides in the sheltered playground

Another one of the rides, this time an ambulance

There was a train ride that I took with K and it was a pretty fast one. Then K took to the playground, climbing the steps and going down the slides and playing the static stuff. It was difficult to get him to leave for lunch, at Pizza Mania just across this central playing space.

Ordered some pizza and pasta, both of which could be eaten by K. K had some fun at small tables with a hole in the middle, where there was more Lego blocks there for him to play while mommy and I took turns to eat. After lunch, we even took a photo with Lego chef, which frightened K quite a bit as he tried to touch K with his signature 2 fingers.

There was a Ninjago ride that K also took, which had an element of 3D in it, the ride bringing its passengers as ninjas to go fight and defeat some baddies, we could fight off projectiles through some hand actions. It was pretty fun and tiring for the adults but I think K felt a little scared by the monsters that came his way.

Later we did another ride at Land of Adventure called the Lost Kingdom Adventure that we could aim laser guns at targets that would activate the displays. Of course K didn’t have he skill to aim yet and he also mentioned that he was scared.

After the ride and he seemed tired because it was almost nap time that was when we headed for the exit. At the same time there was also a drizzle coming, we had decided to skip the section on Lego City altogether. Just before hitting the roads, we had to visit the huge Lego store to see what was available. There was a huge variety of Legos to choose from but as usual, it was not cheap. Mommy bought a container in the shape of a big Lego brick and we all left.

Huge Xmas tree for Xmas a few days earlier

The return to Singapore was straight forward even for road idiots such as I, but preloaded GPS would help. The immigration was not crowded as there was another holiday the next day. K fell asleep on the way back home.

Legoland was fun but very limited for toddlers. The water park was nice and had more stuff for toddlers to explore but the theme park itself was really limited since a lot of the rides had height limits of 92cm and above. It didn’t really seemed good value to do a day trip of toddlers then. The hot and humid weather didn’t contribute to the fun as the park was quite unsheltered, leaving visitors exposed to rain or shine. For myself, I would enjoy the park more if I didn’t have to sweat so much while queuing, the reason why I enjoyed theme parks in other countries (in the cooler seasons) much more than in Singapore or around the region. Thankfully it wasn’t crowded during our visit in the New Year period which would reduce the joy of the visit.

Legoland Johor 2016 Day 1 – Arrival in Legoland, Waterpark and Fireworks

Posted on December 31, 2016April 8, 2017 by ziyi

The end of 2016 was a long weekend but we didn’t had any long travel plans since we had only recently came back from Taiwan in late November. However, there was always the feeling of “wastage” of such long weekends and so we decided to just escape to the our neighboring Malaysia, Legoland in Johor for some theme park fun and stayover.

We left our homes pretty late on the last day of the year for 3 reasons. The first being that we were still packing in the morning which was not a surprise for travellers with toddler. Second was that we wanted to skip the queues that would likely clogged up the 2nd link as Malaysians and like-minded travellers might be heading north early in the morning for the long weekend. Lastly, we weren’t expecting to check in early since early check in required additional payment.

With the GPS to Legoland punched in on Google maps, we were off by 11ish heading towards the 2nd link. There wasn’t much of a crowd but still quite a couple of cars but we cleared the immigration pretty quickly. Having borrowed the a Touch n’ Go card from my friend, I drove towards the lane with “Tambah Nilai” to top up another RM40 which should be enough to cover the RM20 for the entry tolls and the round trip tolls for the highway to Legoland. It was a surprising short drive from the 2nd link, and within 15mins, we found ourselves on a relatively quiet road on the way to Legoland after following the obvious signboards and the Google GPS, preloaded while in Singapore. K fell asleep en route before we arrived into Legoland hotel carpark.

Went to the reception to check if early check in was possible and was informed that rooms would only be available at 4pm and any earlier they would contact us. However, I was already given the 2 days combo tickets that we purchased online. Went back to the car and after a while, K woke up. Without any room, we first proceeded to get ourselves some lunch.

We checked the hotel first and there was a main restaurant with buffet and another sushi bar, both we weren’t particularly interested. K was excited to play with the bricks that were readily available at the reception that he sent some time fiddling around with them and running around the Lego castle before we finally convinced him to leave. Outside the hotel room, there was a mall nearby and we walked through to find many eateries. Got into trusty “Old Town” restaurant (seemed very often that we have our meals) and had our lunch there.

After lunch, we walked back to the car to pick up the swimwear and swimming diapers for K and we proceeded to visit the waterpark first. For toddlers 0-2 years old, an additional RM11 had to be paid for entry and receive 2 swimming diapers. Then we climbed the steps to a large changing room with many lockers for rental and changed.

It was a crowded day and although there were quite a lot of lounge seats, those were mostly taken. Fortunately mommy was able to find one to sit and take care of our belongings while I brought K to the waters. Alot of the rides were meant for bigger kids and therefore we only restricted ourselves to the smaller slides. There were some small life jackets available and I got K to strap up in one before going into the pool. Even these few places he was already enjoying himself, either playing in the waters or playing with bricks at the Imagination Station. We also went around floating on a donut float at the build-a-raft river (there are some foam bricks that can allow you to really build a raft with) with K sitting on my tummy.

Lots of places to climb and slide at the Joker Soaker

While sitting on the float round the build-a-raft river

After about 2 hours at the Waterpark, we changed at the changing room and left for the hotel, as the sky was about to drizzle. The check in counter was quite busy now as guests started to check in. We were given a room on the 5th floor and after we excited the lift with a disco ball (disco music as it brought guests to their rooms), we arrived at a floor totally decorated to the theme of pirates. The rooms were also decorated as expected, with skulls and spiders made from lego bricks complimented with other items associated with pirates. There was even a treasure hunt game to unlock a chest that had a small lego gift by solving questions associated with the room, it was fun for both K and us.

The room was also quite spacious, separated the huge super king bed with the kids double decker and both areas have their own TV. K wasn’t old enough to have his own bed and thus only used the bed for watching TV. There was also a big bucket of lego bricks to play with but we didn’t utilise that.

After taking a bath, in a toddler’s tub that we asked for and was delivered to our room, we got K to take a short nap. By the time we woke up, it was already 7pm. Quickly we got ready and left the room, heading to the main theme park for some fireworks display. As we arrived at the main entrance, staff were handing out 3D glasses for guests who steadily streamed into the park. Since we had 2 day passes, we were also let into the park. We didn’t go around looking at other exhibits as we wanted to get a good spot for the fireworks, but we did manage to catch the miniland exhibits, showing some popular buildings like the Petronas towers, lighted up.

There was supposedly a VIP package for the fireworks, which included getting a drink and confirmed seats. We didn’t get those as we thought that we could just see from afar, and we were glad we didn’t do so. Sure enough guests would be seated exclusively from the crowd and even get a live show of Lego characters dancing up close to them, just before the fireworks, we thought those weren’t really worth the additional RM60 per person. As we stood close to the entrance of the VIP seating area, and got unblock view, we managed to see a great deal of the fireworks. The 3D glasses was a interesting thing as it converted the fireworks into bricks, and therefore we could literally see bricks falling from the skies! After the 5mins or so fireworks with music that wasn’t aligned with it, due to technical glitches, the Lego characters that escorted the VIPs to the park exit, with us following behind as we head back to the hotel.

Waiting for the fireworks, VIP seats in the front

We went to the Bricks restaurant to have the New Year’s Eve buffet dinner which was pretty expensive but expected. Even so, it was crowded and we had to wait for a table in the large eating area. The tables were covered with colouring paper with lego characters which kids would have a great time colouring them. There were also 2 boxes of parties accessories that could be used. Variety of food was not bad but it wasn’t very delicious. We had our fills and K had his icecream which summed up our dinner.

Table cover for colouring and box of party accessories

Just outside the restaurant was a play area with huge foam bricks that kids could use to build a decent size house. Nearby was a projection screen where lego movie was playing. We had a hard time getting K to go back to the room as he sat in the pool of foam bricks, having fun.

We welcomed the New Year, already snoozing in bed as mommy wanted K to stick to his sleep routine. At midnight, we were awoken by further fireworks set off by the Malaysian people nearby, we saw glimpses of these from our windows and then welcome 2017 by jumping back onto the huge king size beds.

Escape plan to Legoland Johor 2016 NYE

Posted on December 30, 2016June 23, 2020 by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Legoland Johor 2016:

Total duration 2D1N
There is no time difference between Singapore and Johor.

Day 1 Arrival in Legoland, Waterpark and Fireworks
Day 2 Legoland theme park and Home Sweet Home

This trip was planned as a getaway to celebrate the New Year of 2017. We didn’t cater any trips and therefore a short escape to Legoland to spend the night was planned instead.

Budget – expensive in theme park.

As expected, theme parks were never cheap places to visit. The hotel stay itself costed SGD$500 already and things sold in the theme park were expensive. However, there were some discounts for purchase of the 2-day tickets, for about SGD$160, together with the hotel stay.

Complexity – Driving took only 15mins from Tuas Checkpoint

It was a pretty straightforward drive, with signboards showing directions to Legoland. We were surprised that it was even that close! However, I felt that the area around it was still a little undeveloped and thus secluded and personal transportation should be easier and offers more flexibility, though there should be available day trips and transportation options available.

Taiwan 2016 Day 9 – Home Sweet Home

Posted on November 27, 2016September 22, 2019 by ziyi

We woke up at about 730 and prepared for the trip home. Beyond the curtains was a muddy scene in a dark drizzle. We only managed to see zebras. Mommy prepared to cook porridge and k wanted milk. He couldn’t return to sleep so we got him to look outside the window to look at the zebras. They weren’t close.

We hurried to breakfast but was stuck at the walking path as there weren’t enough umbrellas. We waited a while for some people to return. After we arrived at restaurant we were informed that the restaurant was full and we had to go to the restaurant in the theme park to have it. They have a shuttle bus but we had to wait for a while. As it was going through a side gate, we couldn’t drive there ourselves too.

On board the bus it took just 3mins before we arrived at the back side of the restaurant. The restaurant was crowded as well and it was a huge western cowboy design hall. There was a buffet line as well and had a variety of food. Got K some bread and cereal and he was happy munching on them. Coffee machine was making a line and I gave up lining for it. Had to wait for the bus back.

The same route back and it was still drizzling. The giraffes were out and at the sheltered feeding zones. From our room we could see them away from our window. We had to pack for the airport and by the time we were done, it was about 11. Checked out and loaded the luggage and as we left, we were greeted with some African dancing at the main entrance, in the light drizzle.

Drove to the car return which was in Dayuan, 5mins drive from Taoyuan airport. Pumped at the gas station at 50meters before the rental company for 200NT to get back to the original amount when it was handed over to me. The staff did a final check and charged us for the 1hr overtime of 204NT and usage of expressway fees 377NT, these fees to be paid in cash. I didn’t have anymore cash so had to go over to 7-11’s ATM to draw a minimum of 1000NT to pay it off.

They offered a free shuttle trip back to the airport but we had to wait for another group of customers before leaving. By the time we arrived at the terminal 1 for Tigerair, it was already 1230. Quickly checked in and left for the gates after some last minute shopping at Godiva. Fed K his porridge before boarding the plane back, the flight was on time. The flight back had a couple of turbulence as it left the cloudy region of Taiwan and en route to Singapore but K was well behaved and even slept 2 hours on the flight, now 2 had his own seat.

This was a trip to celebrate K birthday by going for farmstay and also an experience at the safari hotel. It was however not going well as expected due to the week long drizzle and road closures and the constant vomiting of K. However he was still happy with the cake and with our company and I guessed this met the objective of our trip.

Taiwan 2016 Day 8 – Flying Cow Ranch and Leofoo Village

Posted on November 26, 2016September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Woke up at 530 to make milk for K and stayed awake to check that he didn’t puke. Too be more certain, I made much less in quantity as well.

It was very much the same routine again but we had to pack for the last change of accommodation for the trip so packing was included in the morning. K woke up at about 9 and quickly we had to get him changed so that we could meet the breakfast ending timing of 930. It was his birthday today and hopefully we wouldn’t get frustrated with his whining. He woke up fine.

The breakfast was buffet style held at a big dining hall just opposite the accommodation, a short walk there. We saw quite a crowd of people on the ranch grounds, kinda expected of it since it was a Saturday after all. The buffet table wasn’t having a lot of variety, mostly Taiwanese cuisine, typical of the Min Su that we have been staying. K had some of this and that and soon he was about wanting to get out of the baby seat already.

After breakfast, we first went to the big tractors that K was playing the evening earlier to play on it again. While on the way there, we saw a real tractor pulling a passenger carriage parked nearby, waiting for people to board for a tour around, for 50NT per adult. We skipped.

Next we brought him to the playground nearby as we didn’t had time to go the day earlier. There were a couple of interesting things such as a kids manual excavator on sand, a couple of bells that he was very fascinated about and a slide that was designed to look like a huge tractor on the outside. We stayed for a while and then proceeded to the animals.

Early in the morning, there were more animals to see that we didn’t see the day before. Young goat kids and ducklings were out in the fence where we could buy feed to feed them and give the kids milk. There was also an activity called the duck march where the staff rang bells to bring the duck towards them to feed them and it was lovely to watch them flock here and there. We also fed the mountain goat and the rabbits before leaving, K feeling tired with all the feeding.

We returned to the room to pack the lunch and luggage and checked out at about 11am. Our next destination was the fun place known as Leofoo village, about an hour away. It was a short drive and K didn’t fall asleep although there were signs.

The weather wasn’t playing ball and it was getting cloudy. We arrived at Leofoo resort, past the main parking for the theme park (free when we were guests of the resort) and many cars were found parked there already. Got off the car to check in at about 1215 but rooms weren’t ready. While waiting, we managed to catch some lemur in action, jumping here and there and saw some rhinos. One of the lemur actually jumped onto the walking path to the hotel rooms. We then decided to buy tickets to the theme park as there weren’t much we could do at the resort. The tickets were sold at the resort shop at a price of 900NT per adult (99NT less). Then it started to drizzle.

We then drove to the game room just 100meters away from the main reception to have our free photo taken. Then as we were shown the samples for the free tiny calendar, we couldn’t help but purchased another 2 photos for souvenir at 500NT.

Library next to the photo souvenir center

Then we drove to the theme park and got mommy and K to alight first before I found a parking spot in the crowded car park, that was available behind a bus parking area. The drizzle wasn’t heavy but wasn’t letting up either. We entered while many were seen leaving.

The theme park was arranged like the RWS in Singapore with different areas representing different continents. Went to the west first, of cowboy themes and got ourselves some lunch near the condor ride ( one that the running men took as one of their punishment if I remembered). K had his lunch too and as we tried to finish our big meal pack, mommy brought K to the nearby arcade to keep him happy. It was getting chilly as we had our lunch in a those tables with a huge sun umbrella – it only shielded us from the rain but not the wind.

After I was finally done with my lunch, we then walked around the shops and also took K onto a kids ferry wheel. He was interested for a bit before wanting to get off, maybe because it was constantly stopping to let passengers on and off.

We proceeded to walk to the next area and got in line for a ride featuring big birds which went around but also upwards and downwards. As the queue was long, K fell asleep waiting and so I got out of the queue. Mommy and I decided to just roam around to see what were the other rides available, with reference from the map that gave a recommended ride route to follow.

Bird ride that we didn’t have a chance to take

We walked through the glamorously designed Aladdin world and then finally the Africa theme where it was a mini zoo cum theme park. We saw Alcapa in real life which looked adorable and there was a enclosure with 2 huge white tigers, which allowed people to be able look at them very closely (unlike our zoo). Then we sat in one of the sheltered cafe to just rest and chat while K snoozed.

The next time K woke was already 415pm and we brought him to the huge carousel of horses at the Aladdin world as he liked that. I sat with him on a horse that could go up and down as mommy took photos from the outside. There were 4 rows of horses and many could get onboard.

Nice looking place, better if not raining

Then we walked towards the flying horse ride but it was closed already at 445pm. It was disappointing as K said he wanted to take it but he didn’t seem to show. Then we proceeded to the exit since the theme park official closure was 5pm, which was very early in my opinion.

We got ourselves some popcorn and souvenir from the gift shop near the entrance and I picked up the car to fetch mommy and K, minimizing exposure to the rain. While we headed in the opposite direction towards the resort, many cars were heading outwards.

I let mommy and K off at the entrance first for mommy to do the check in while I parked the car. We got a room from the Giraffe wing, room 112 which was said to be one of the better ones (according to some online blog like bumblebeemum and tips), as there was ample space below our room for animals to walk and that gave us a chance to see the animals up close if they do choose to roam around.

The staff helped with our 2 huge luggage and as I carried K with an umbrella and mommy carried some other bags with another umbrella, as the path was unsheltered and it was still drizzling. The room was huge as it was designed for a family of 4, having one huge King and 2 singles. The toilet was big too with 2 showers and 2 sinks. This was of course with a price, 11900NT to be exact. We managed to see zebras silhouette nearby as the sun had already set at 6 and have to switch off all the lights to see them better.

We had earlier reserved to dine in the resort at a time slot of 715pm. In the meantime K was watching his YouTube videos on bells on my Hp while we relaxed on the beds. I called reception to asked for baby tub and it was delivered to our room after a while. It was great as I didn’t even need to pump up the air tub for the entire trip. Got K to bath in the tub and changed before we headed to dinner.

There was a huge dining area on the 2nd floor near the reception and a buffet line again. This time there were more choices, a small part for kids and a small area for vegetarians. Still mostly Taiwanese with some meat and Japanese selection and pastries and a free flow of San Miguel but I wasn’t having any.

K was a little cranky and didn’t want to eat much nor did he want to sit there for too long. He made a ruckus sometimes. We left to join one of the activity that was supposed to be at 830pm but we only finished dinner at 850 and didn’t know the time. After checking with reception and they called the staff in charge of the activity to hold it just for us! We were embarrassed but K had a lot of fun, throwing the triangular cushion for mommy to catch, most often throwing everywhere else except towards mommy whom was supposed to catch it with a newspaper and folding it into half every time she was successful. It didn’t carry on for too long as K was not focusing and throwing it anywhere and we called it a day, not to take too long of the staff’s time.

We went to the cafe below to buy a piece of cheese cake to celebrate Ks birthday and they didn’t have any matches. We asked the reception and they arranged for a staff to help us with it. After setting up the candle on the tiny cheesecake, the staff lighted the candle for us and we all sang the birthday song. K was happy constantly chuckling and very interested in the fire. Pity that he couldn’t blow out the candle as we took too long and it burnt through.

The night was spent cleaning up and packing and then going to sleep, a nice finish to a fun filled day, a weary taiwan trip and a welcome of the terrible age of 2.

Taiwan 2016 Day 7 – Cingjing farm and Arrival to Flying Cow Ranch

Posted on November 25, 2016September 22, 2019 by ziyi

It was only 430am and K asked for milk. Made him a bottle and after drinking, he coughed and vomited. Managed to catch most with plastic bag, that was kept by my side due to his recent vomiting spell. Cleaned up a bit before going back to sleep. He was feeling uncomfortable but soon slept too.

Mommy was feeling tired so she didn’t cook. All we woke up much later, proceeded to clean up and pack. After K woke, we quickly dressed him up and went down for breakfast which was ending at 830. Initially we wanted to sit outside as the view was so inviting but the sun was shining too brightly so we chose inside. As it was already quite late, there wasn’t much left , though there was not much variety to begin with. There was just porridge and the things to go with it. For the porridge, what was left in the pot was almost near the bottom and thus a lot watery. There was milk tea available.

K ate some of the porridge and egg. And we had ours as much as we could before the buffet was cleared. Afterwards, while I went back up to the room to bring down the luggage, K who was quite grouchy, cried loudly when I left for the carpark, so loud that the whole building could hear him.

After I returned, we checked out and drove to Green Green Grassland to see sheeps. No free parking as all the carpark slots were filled so we drove up a level above the road level and parked at a paid parking area, for 200NT per entry. Paid the fees of 160NT per adult and 20NT for K. We followed the walkpath and walked to windmill for pictures and scenery and went to the shop nearby to get a bottle of goat milk for K who was asking for milk.

Path to parking up the slope to the left

Next we proceeded to walk over to the performance tentage to watch a horse riding show, performed by Mongolian riders. We didn’t stay long as we were siting outside the shelter and it was getting hot sitting in the sun. The riders were quite skilled, there a lot of acrobatics done with/on the horse as they ran within the stage.

We trekked back the same road and exited the west part of the park and entered the east one. Since we already got stamped on our arms we could just enter without showing the tickets.

Stalls lined the sheltered walkway to the grassland

Before us was a huge grassland with free roaming sheep. We climbed the steps and got close, touched some of them and took photos of them and with the surrounding. K was not very interested in them though. When we reached the middle of the park, there was a tree sheltered area and stalls where we took a rest. After the short break, we continued towards the castle for more photo taking and to use the toilet outside the east entrance. Bought some souvenirs from the souvenir shop near the entrance and returned to the car all the way back.

Grassland with free roaming sheep grazing

Drove to 7-11 to buy some milk and drinks and then we were on our way to Puli Carrefour. Downhill for some 30mins drive and K fell asleep. The route down was so much easier than the route up from Hualien.

As we arrived, we parked at the car park at Carrefour behind the supermarket. Mommy got off the car herself to buy while I stayed with sleeping K.

After mommy returned we continued our drive to Flying Cow ranch, pumping 300NT of petrol and getting onto the highway. It was another 1.5 hrs drive and it was very easy. Speed limit of 100 and 110 on different highway and there were speed cameras that GPS would warned. A lot of lorries on the highway and some were hogging. Saw one lorry didn’t allow an ambulance to pass.

The small road leading to the ranch was also mostly empty which made it easy to drive. While at entrance, we were informed to Uturn up the hill for our accommodation and parking. After we parked the car and mommy went to carry out the check in first as K was only just awake.

After a while mommy came back with staff to help with luggage while I brought K later. It was a cabin for 3 as mommy didn’t know if K was counted. Although it wasn’t fantastic for that price but it was definitely more spacious and private then the other rooms we passed along the way.

We got out to eat first at the restaurant next to the service center where mommy checked in. Ordered rice with meat set and spaghetti which came in huge portions, even though we were all sharing with K, it was a little too much especially for a meal at 4pm. There was a food item in the set that looked like yoghurt then didn’t taste like one, but more like milk curd.

After the meal, mommy went to exchange her coupons from the check in for milk products and bring back to the room to store first. Then we all walked towards the barn where we saw cows feeding on grass. At the barn, we saw goats and rabbits also but the rabbit enclosure ran out of feed. When it was time for the activity at the barn there was already a queue that we found out was for milking the cow experience which we didn’t want to do. Looked around the souvenir shop nearby and bought some grass to feed goats. K had fun on one of the used stationary tractor which was exhibited for kids to ride.

The sun was setting quickly and soon the sky became dark. We walked quickly back to the room to pick up K water bottle before I brought him to the 3 tractors at the service center to ride on them while mommy stayed in the cabin to cook. After a while of riding on each and changing frequently, he had enough and we went back to the room.

Having fun on the used tractor on display

Called the reception to asked for baby bathtub which they have and had it delivered to us. Bathed K and spent some time on YouTube and TV before I went out to pack fried rice for dinner from the restaurant there as it closed at 8, but because it was still too close to our lunch time, we had decided for takeaway. By the time I returned from the restaurant, K had finished his dinner. Mommy went ahead to participate in the 8pm activity of DIY cookie making and baking while I change out K diapers.

Joined mommy when we were done and she was already making the dough. A lot of people were there, filling up the big room. We watched as mommy kneaded and placed the flatten pieces on the baking tray. Then we sent it to the oven for baking. I contributed some efforts by washing the oily metal bowl while we waited for the baking to complete. The finished product looked a little charred on the sides but overall they tasted nice, and K loved it.

After the activity, we returned to the room where we had our dinner and then followed by washing up. K watched more TV and I did more cleaning up as he crapped again, while mommy visited the internal supermarket to buy milk. The night ended on a happy note for K with the usual bedtime story reading and milk followed by lights off.