Brought the gals to 2D1N trip to Legoland and Hello Kitty town from 9-10 Dec. We joined the tour which was organised by Tamp Central cc which was just 5 mins walk from our home and assembled at 7am outsde the CC. MIL also joined us cos she heard from her friends that it was fun.
The coach went by tuas second link, customs was fast and we changed to a Msia coach, and a malaysian tour guide joined us.The tour guide also told us a piece of good news. He changed the itinerary, instead of going to Legoland first, we will be going to Hello Kitty Town first. He said that since it's sunday, it's better to go Hello Kitty town first and only go Legoland on Monday cos Legoland will be very crowded on Sunday and there are a lot of long queues. Since it was still early (before 9am), they brought us to BF first.
We reached Hello Kitty Town 10 mins before opening hr so we waited around until the tour guide managed to get our tickets. There is a nice gift shop just before the entrance and there is a cute HK table with a few chairs and HK toys there so the gals were happy to wait there. Once we entered, we queued for a ride at the Hello Kitty tea cup ride.
There are 5 different stations at HK town and our ticket entitles us to have 1 turn at each station and the staff will stamp on the ticket. We went straight to the nail station cos RA and RL love to have their manicure. The queue was not long so we wre given a piece of nail stickers and got in less than 10 mins. I expected to see at least 1 staff to help the gals to do manicure, but there was no one. Just bottles of nail polish on the table and we have to paint the nails ourselves. It was totally DIY so I was disappointed. What is the difference from me painting the gals' nails myself at home? There was two nail polish drying stations at the corner. It was difficult to paint the nails for the gals cos the nail polish was a bit dry and v sticky. Also, there were only a few bottles of pink colour which the gals wanted. The rest were red and purple. But there was a 15 mins limit at that station so the guard asked us to hurry up even though I came into the room late after bringing RL to the toilet.
11-1130am was time for photo taking with Hello kitty and Daniel. The queue was one of the longest but more people joined in behind us. Then we went to Cookie Making station, the queue was longer by then. When we went in, we were given a piece of Hello kitty shaped cookie each and 1 paint brush. There were 3 bottles with strawberry jam, chocolate syrup, lemon jam. The 'cookie making' was just decorating the Hello Kitty's eyes, nose and whiskers with the jam/syrup. What seemed so easy for adults, was not as easy for young children. RA had no problems dotting the eyes and nose and whiskers. But RL dripped the jam all over cos she didn't have good fingers control and partly because the paint brushes given were as thick as 1 cm and the brush was already bushy.
We went for lunch at Red bow cafe. We ordered fried bee hoon with fried chicken wing set, fried rice set and sandwiches. The fried bee hoon was good but spicy so the gals refused to touch it after 1 bite. The fried rice was not v nice cos a bit bland so the gals ate mainly the chicken wings and sandwiches.
We went back around 1+pm and the queues were quite bad by then, but we still had 4 stations left - Jewellery making, Hello Kitty House, Hello kitty Costume dress up, Magic black. Jewellery making station to me was a waste of time, they gave us a shiny chain each and a pendant so all we had to do was hook the pendant onto the necklace. Don't even need to loop through the necklace. Why go through all the trouble to queue for something so easy? Might as well just include the pendant and necklace as a free gift when we buy the tickets. Duh.
Anyway, Hello kitty costume dress's queue was the longest. Maybe because it involved putting on the HK costumes and posing for photos. We had time to go for another round at the Hello Kitty tea cup ride and visit HK house while MIl helped us to queue at the costume dress up station.
The last station was Magic Black. Frankly, I didn't really understand the game concept except that we need to wave the 'magic' lamp at different stations to get different alphabets to guess a code. The castle was quite nicely decorated though. the code was 'black' and we were given a certificate for guessing the code correctly.
We left the HK town at 4pm, and went to Amansari Hotel JB City Centre for check in. Check in took quite long cos our rooms were not ready despite the tour guide calling the hotel ahead of time to get the rooms ready. We had requested for connecting rooms, and were lucky to get two rooms with a small connecting corridor that we could lock from inside. There was no bathtub but that is expected of a 3 star hotel. But the hotel was very adamant and refused to give in when we requested for 1 more bath towel for RL.
After shower and buffet dinner (included) at the hotel at 7pm, the tour guide brought us shopping at KSL. We went to Jusco and bought some cheap tights and PJs for the gals. The gals were tired after we came back cos they didn't have any naps, so they ko quickly.
The next day, after BF, we checked out of the hotel at 9am, went to a local produce shop to buy some biscuits and local snacks. Then, we proceeded to Legoland. But we were still 5 mins early, could see the long queues waiting to buy tickets, and waiting enter Legoland.
to split into two boats cos each boat had max. 2 adults and 1 child. RL made noise and complained when she was given the blue boat instead of red boat like RA.
After the boat ride, we went to Legoexpress for the train ride. Made a stop at the game booth just opp the train station cos saw that it was basketball tossing and thought hubby might like it. He did and was lucky to win two gigantic angry bird soft toys with just RM40 (RM20 for 3 balls). He might have won more toys but after he got the second angry bird with the first ball of the second set, the staff told him no more. He felt quite cheated then cos he wanted to win another 2 birds with the remaining two balls. haha. But I was relieved, two gigantic angry birds is already a logistic issue and I wondered how we are going to bring the two birds back in a coach.
Wanted to go for the car ride, but the queue was long and RL was not able to ride cos of the height limit. Plus RA was feeling hot, so, we decided to go for lunch first, cos RL fell asleep on MIL's shoulder.
I was forewarned by mummy friends that the food at legoland was expensive. RM25 for a chicken rice set. But Universal studio charges similar prices so it will not be different for legoland. Which merchant will give up the chance to profit from a captive audience right? At least they serve mushroom soup, which are the gals' favourite. RL only slept for 5-10 mins so she was in time for lunch. So they had chicken rice mixed with mushroom soup.
After lunch, we walked towards Lego Imagination, and spent time at the indoor playground, and went for a ride at the mini train. By then, the sky was darkening though it was only 2+pm. Walked to Build city with RA while hubby brought RL to go to the toilet. They took a long time and by the time, they were back, it was already 2.45pm and the sky was really dark by then. Since we were in the middle of Legoland and we are supposed to meet the tour guide at 330pm, we decided to walk back towards the entrance.
Bad move! Cos before we get very far, it started to drizzle then it soon became a downpour. Though we had a stroller, umbrella and stroller cover, we also had 2 gigantic angry birds. So, in the end, we had to pause and let the gals put on their rain coats so that we can put the two angry birds into the stroller instead. By the time, we reached the main gift shop near the entrance, we were cold and wet esp the gals despite their raincoats and our umbrellas sheltering because the rainwater managed to seep in and wet their collars and sleeves.
We did not bring extra set of clothes with us cos we thought we were already equipped with rain gear. But luckily, MIL (being the wiser and more kiasu one), brought 1 set of dry clothes so RA changed into a dry tee shirt while RL got a pair of dry pants. But they were still uncomfortable cos they were still half wet. So, I went into legoland to buy a set of clothes. The shop was super wet and crowded with people hiding from the rain. I only managed to get 3 t shirts for the gals and hubby and big bath towel. Couldn't get a pair of pants for RL cos they don't sell bottoms. Only dresses and a kiddy dress costs RM179.90. Really too exp in my eyes. Total bill was RM199+ but the sale staff refused to give me two big plastic bags (for the angry birds), even when I told her I will pay for them. After much persuasion, she finally gave me 1 plastic bag. Don't understand why they had to be so inflexible about this. :/
Went to get the photos and asked RA to pick a bag of lego bricks while I waited for the photos to be printed. Had a shock when I had to pay the lego bricks. RM90+ for a tiny bag (those usually used for gummy sweets). But I had no time to quibble cos we were already late and need to rush to the meeting point. Finally, we were one of the last few to board and the coach left at 4+pm.
They brought us to a nearby shopping mall and we had a hakka chinese dinner. No time to shop this time but I grabbed a few t shirts oustide the restaurant before the coach came at 5.45pm.
JB customs was quiet when we reached at 6+pm, no queue at all. Then, we crossed over and reached SG customs. It was a longer ride from SG customs back to Tampines, so we reached home sweet home at 8+pm.
I asked RA which place she enjoyed more. Hello Kitty Town or Legoland. I was expecting her to say Legoland cos of the variety of rides etc. But she said HK town. She said it's because she can make jewellery, cookies, do manicure etc. The same activities which hubby and I thought were really too easy and frivolous. Really shows that children thinking can be different from adults so we should not impose our thinking upon them. ;P
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