4th Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

The 4th Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is now on from 15-18 March 2012. 

We went there early Thursday morning to buy tickets for the hot air balloon ride. Arrived at about 7am and quickly went in queue. Managed to get no. 240 & 241 (for Larry & Evan cos Marissa too short and I am afraid of heights!) Only 300 tickets available for sale each session.

After paying RM20 for the tickets, we went over to another field to see the various hot air balloon participants set up their balloons. The weather was balmy and all the balloons went up into the air by 9am.

 Interesting balloon from the USA

 More balloons dotting Putrajaya's skyline

Then Larry & Evan went up on the hot air balloon ride! This was the view from their balloon. Total of 5 balloons available for rides. 

 Evan inside the hot air balloon wicket basket.

At 10:15am, Evan took part in a coloring contest for 5-8 year olds. First prize was a helicopter ride! But his art work was not good enough to win.

Last stop was the bouncy castle - RM5 for 20 minutes of play. 

The kids wanted balloons of their own too - so RM10 spent for 2 helium filled balloons of..... Hello Kitty and Batman! Lots of stalls selling merchandise e.g. Le Run bicycles...I even got a box of free sanitary pad samples! 

Bought some local food but didn't taste very good but fret not, there's always KFC and Pizza Hut trucks around to cater to those hunger pangs. The official merchandise stall has very well-designed souvenier tees for adults and kids. We spent RM70 there for 2 tees - one for Larry & one for Evan.

Orbing

Best to go there early in the morning, get the tickets for the hot air balloon ride then see the hot air balloons float up. If you can't make it for the morning sessions, can always opt for the evening session.

Other interesting activities : orbing, wall-climbing and archery. Helicopter rides available during the weekends. Fireworks scheduled for Sat nite and be mesmerised by the glow-in-the-dark hot air balloons!

Kidzania!

We visited Kidzania on Sunday - during their afternoon session from 4pm-9pm. It's the very first weekend since Kidzania opened on Tuesday 28th Feb. If I had a choice, I wouldn't go there during the weekends but since we received complimentary passes which were valid only for the weekend.....

Some general info on Kidzania:

Weekdays - only 1 session from 10am-5pm.

Weekends - 2 sessions : 10am-3pm and 4pm-9pm

Kidzania charges RM55 per kid from age 4-17. toddlers age 2-3 pay RM35 only.

Babies enter FREE. Adults need to accompany children below 8. Admission tickets  for adults cost RM35. For senior citizens, it's RM30. Foreigners pay more to enter.

 

Understandably, the queue was pretty long. It took us half and hour to get in. We had to get the 'boarding passes' to take a 'flight' to Kidzania. After that, all of us were tagged with a wristband. The kids received their cheque for 50 Kidzos.

 

First stop was the bank to cash the cheque! You can even open a bank account to deposit your money too. Any unused Kidzos can be kept there for next visit or you can just take the Kidzos back with you - which means a higher risk of losing it!

Marissa went to a fashion boutique for modeling classes! Had to pay 10 Kidzos for the class. The kids practiced sashaying and posing on a stage in the boutique. They get to choose an outfit to wear and apply make-up too. After all that practice, the kids get to 'work' at the theater (see pic above). Very nice stage!

Marissa paraded on stage solo and then she came out again with a partner. She wasn't a wee bit scared! After that, she was paid 8 Kidzos for the job. Total time spent there - 1.5 hours without us!

Evan wanted to be a policeman. So we took a queue number and when his turn came, he was very excited. He was assigned to look for clues together with 2 other boys. The entire stint came to an end within half hour after the task was done. After that we had dinner - which wasn't any good at all cos it was overpriced.... and we can't go out for dinner cos no re-entry allowed.

Next stop for Evan - the firehouse. Unfortunately he didn't get to put out the fire at the hotel during his session. Seems like it's only once every hour. So next time will try again. 8 Kidzos for working as a firefighter.

Marissa wanted to be dentist. She's probably the smallest and cutest one there! The kids were taught how to brush their teeth before they went on to check the dummy patient. Here she earned 12 Kidzos!

Evan decided to spend 10 Kidzos to scale up this wall! He just made it as the minimum height is 120cm. I must say he was very brave to climb up so high! But he didn't know how to come down cos he didn't pay attention when the Zupervisor explained to him. Anyway, he tried jumping down and managed to land on the ground. He bumped his left arm on the wall though but he was OK. Evan said he will try again on the other wall next time - there's another wall beside this one which is more difficult.

Next, Evan wanted to drive a car but he is too short to obtain a driving license. So, had to settle to being a mechanic at the car workshop. He checked the engine, changed a tyre and used a wrench. All that hard work earned him another 8 Kidzos.

Marissa decided to spend 10 Kidzos at the cooking school. The kids learnt how to prepare a love sardine sandwich. All kids brought back a heart-shaped sandwich cutter which they used during the class and their sandwiches wrapped in foil. While Marissa was busy learning to be a chef, Evan was busy delivering packages as a Poslaju courier guy. Ka-ching! Another 8 Kidzos!

Total for the day - Marissa still has her original 50 Kidzos left. We brought her to the souvenier shop and redeemed a toy for her. All toys at this shop costs 50 Kidzos. As for Evan, he ended up with a total of 76 Kidzos but it wasn't enough for him to buy a dart set which costs 300 Kidzos at the departmental store. So, he decided to save up for it. 

Last stop, we went to the Sony booth to see what the photographers have in store for us. After scanning our tags, we chose 3 photos (RM50). You can choose to have the photo become a jigsaw puzzle too but it's RM30 each. The softcopies of the pics will become available for download at Sony's website after 3 days.

There's still more to explore as the place is only 70% occupied. Quite a number of establishments were not operational e.g. The milk factory, ice cream factory, Dell notebooks, Sushi King.....  Next time, the kids will get to be pilots, work in a hospital, whip up a burger, be a judge, act in a show, be part of the CSI, be a manicurist etc. I forgot to mention that there are 2 establishments catering specially for the toddlers called Urbano. Lots of toys, books, ball pit, bouncy bedroom, kitchen, games room etc.

All of us had fun and we will certainly be back before Marissa's 4th birthday! 

A Series of Firsts

Over the weekend, Marissa started her baby ballet classes at Sole to Soul Dance Studio. Bought her a leotard (RM55) and paid up the fees : RM20 for one-time registration and RM50 fully-refundable deposit (cos got cases of students who attend one or two classes and just disappear!). Class fees are RM60 monthly and if you start like in the middle of the month - the fees are pro-rated. 

She wore a pink tutu which came together with a ballet book I purchased some time ago.... and pre-loved ballet shoes (although shoes are not required). She could follow the instructions and it was evident that she had a good time dancing during the entire 45-minute class. 

Then on Sunday morn, Marissa attended children's church together with her brother. Previously, she didn't want to go or she would only just stay for the singing. This time she stayed on from the start to the finish! 

Evan started on the Specialist Music program at Anne Perreau's (now known as V & A Music Center). It's a weekly 2-hour class on music appreciation where the children (max 5-6 per class) will learn about composers, instruments and theory of music but in a fun way. There's a 15-minute snack time for the children to socialize too. His teacher is a very young, nice and patient lady : Ms. Phylicia. I sat in during the class - only 3 students present.... the other 2 being girls! They were so talkative - just like Evan! He was quite comfortable making friends with the girls though..... ahem!

He will attend this program first until he is ready to progress to the piano. Fees are based on terms i.e. 3 terms in a year and each term is 15 weeks. RM500 - refundable deposit required but no registration fees.

Sorry for the lack of photos - for the first time.... I forgot to bring my camera and didn't take any pics! 

Anyone knows where I can get a used WHITE upright piano? May need one in future!

Singapura O Singapura

Our much anticipated Singapore Trip started on February 1st - a public holiday for KLites. 

My brother drove us to LCCT for our flight on Air Asia. Touched down in Singapore Changi Airport and had lunch at Burger King. Then we took the free shuttle van provided by Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel (East Coast). Photo above taken at the hotel lobby while I was checking-in. I booked 2 packages at the hotel : Stay 3 Pay 2 and Scratch-and-Win. Both packages were for the Superior King room. Complimentary extra bed and wi-fi. Kids eat free for breakfast. Coin-operated launderette was a plus point - I did 2 huge loads of laundry during our 6D/5N stay there.

On that night itself, we went to the Night Safari. Purchased 3-in-1 park-hopper tickets valid for Night Safari, Zoo and Bird Park. The main highlight was the tram ride to see the animals (mainly deer) at night. The 'Creatures of the Night' show comes highly recommended.

The next morning we went to the Dinosaurs LIVE! exhibition at the Singapore Science Center. Very interesting and life-like exhibits of dinosaurs! Had fun! We also explored the Science Center and our favourite section was the optical illusions!

Lunch was at McDonald's and then to the Omnitheatre for an IMAX movie about flying dinosaurs. Absolutely a must-see. Tickets were expensive but worth every bit. We met up with hubby's sis for dinner - Singapore Laksa! Then we went window-shopping at Parkway Parade just opposite our hotel.

On our third day in Singapore, we visited the Jurong Bird Park. In this pic, Marissa is striking a pose at the newly opened Birdz of Play water park.

Weather was balmy throughout with very light drizzle.

We watched all the bird shows! Enjoyed all of them! We also had buffet lunch (delicious especially the laksa!) with the parrots. Do not - I repeat - do not miss any of the shows! Much better than the one in KL. 

Met up with some friends for a relaxing dinner at Marina Bay.

Hubby's sis joined us on Saturday morning for the zoo trip. We had buffet breakfast there at Ah Meng Restaurant.  Then we went around the zoo - walking most of the way. You can take a tram ride and a boat ride too for a small fee.

Lunched at KFC which was just beside the water play area. Being the weekend, families were out in full force! We went for all the shows too and all of them were good! Dined at a cosy restaurant at Novena.

On Sunday, had a scrumptious buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then off to Chinatown! Everything here is so organized and clean.... actually everything in Singapore is so organized and clean - especially the toilets!

We found the Tintin Shop which is located in Chinatown on Pagoda Street a stone's throw away from the MRT. After that we went to Tanglin Mall for more shopping and lunch.

In the late afternoon, we went to the Esplanade for a dance appreciation ballet - Swan Lake - performed by the Singapore Dance Theatre. An educational performance about pantomine in ballet. Only Acts II and IV were performed. The entire show was about 1 hour. The actual ballet will be in March. For dinner, we went to a food court in 112 Katong - a shopping mall just behind the hotel.

I pulled out Evan's wobbly front tooth after breakfast in the hotel. Painless procedure really. After that, we checked out and waited for my SIL to arrive at the hotel. 

Pic above taken on Orchard Road. My SIL tortured us by making us walk the entire road! Had dim sum lunch at Bao Jing Tian (Pau Today) nearby Somerset. Very good paus! We also visited Vivocity. My SIL arranged for a cabbie to pick up our bags from the hotel and then pick us up from Vivocity to Sentosa Island.

Checked into Resorts World's Festive Hotel on Sentosa. The kids were super excited about the loft bed! SIL slept on the sofa-bed while hubby and I had the entire King bed to ourselves! No free wi-fi here... but given complimentary bottled water, welcome drinks and gifts for the kids. Dinner was at the Malaysian Food Street - so many people cos it was Chap Goh Mei..... then we watched the crane dance - a free light/sound show.

No prizes for guessing where we went the following day after buffet breakfast...... pic above taken at Far, Far Away with Puss in Boots. We rented a stroller while at Universal Studios. Not many people and hardly any waiting time for the rides. We didn't ride on any of the roller coasters though cos too scary! By the way, kids below 4 years (according to birthdate) enter free. I had to sell off Marissa's ticket cos I pre-booked it via the hotel thinking that she needs one. Good thing I managed to sell it to a Japenese lady who bought it at after bargaining for a 10% discount. I even gave her a free ticket to the Maritime Museum cos Marissa doesn't need a ticket to enter.

We had lunch and dinner in Universal Studios - food was only average. Lots of retail shops selling merchandise.

Last stop before boarding the airplane.... the Maritime Museum at the Waterfront, Resorts World. Very educational visit. Too bad we had to rush because we need to check out and catch a plane. 

Singapore is a really nice city - wished I lived there! My brother says he would love to work there next time once he gains enough working experience in Germany. 

However, prices of stuff are on the high side. Anyways looking forward to another trip.... not sure when but definitely after the River Safari is opened by year end..... and we also have lots more places to visit on Sentosa Island.