Speech & Drama Class at KLPAC

Both the kids started on their first term of Pre-school Speech & Drama at The Actors Studio KLPAC. Decided to switch them from Blubricks Speech & Drama because.... the fees at KLPAC is much cheaper at RM250 per term compared to RM380. I didn't sign them up for KLPAC's classes earlier as they were only during the weekends i.e. Sat/Sun mornings and we can't make it at that time. Moreover, the weekend classes are now full (max 15 kids).

When one of the homeschooling mommies decided to approach KLPAC to start a new class on weekdays specially for homeschoolers, I was thrilled! The kids were also looking forward to their new class at KLPAC Sentul Park cos they get to feed the fish at the pond! See pics below:

Here's a pic of the class - 8 kids (the minimum requirement). Teacher : Ms. Kimmy Kiew. Evan was the oldest kids there. Actually he should be in the Beginners class instead of Pre-school but not enough quota so he joins the younger ones. Next year I will have to enrol him for the Beginners class - hopefully there will be more kids to form a class.

The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark

It's show time again at PJLA! Direct from the UK, the Blunderbus Children's Theatre is currently performing The Owl was was Afraid of the Dark until 1st April 2012. Since we are members of Gardner&Wife, we get to purchase a family package for RM250. 

Evan wore his owl costume - which I purchased some time back when he was in kindergarten. While seated and waiting for the show to start, the cast members - all 3 of them - came over to talk to Evan! They were surprised that there was a little owl in the audience! 

It was a very interactive show where members of the audience get to participate. Very action-packed too with some unexpected moments!

After the show we manage to take a photo together with the actress who played the part of Plop the baby barn owl. 

The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark is actually adapted from a picture book written by Jill Tomlinson. It's a hilarious story about a baby barn owl named Plop who was afraid of the dark. Mrs Barn Owl had to send young Plop to learn more about the dark so that he will overcome his fear. After 3 adventures, Plop the owl decided that he likes the dark and is no longer afraid.

As for my baby owls, both of them still insist on the night light when going to sleep last night.... so need to further convince them that the dark is exciting, kind, fun and super!

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!