My Legoland Malaysia Trip

I've always wanted to visit theme parks way back when I was a kid. I'm sad that I haven't even been to Enchanted Kingdom, a famous theme park in Laguna, Philippines. Now that I am able to save up and afford to visit one, I'm happy that my friends were able to come with me. We went to Legoland, Malaysia last 19 October and here is how our day went.

Sheila and Chrislei, my friends who now work as nurses in Singapore, were with me to enjoy the day. We started our day by meeting up at 8am in one of Yishun's bus stop to travel towards Singapore Flyer. As we were not sure how to get to Singapore Flyer, we spent quite a few minutes on the streets leading to the Flyer. All of us were quite confused on how to get to the Flyer even though we can already see it up ahead.

By the time we were able to figure out how to get to Singapore Flyer and look for WTS Travel, all seats for the 10:30am bus were already full. We were trying to catch the direct bus to Legoland which they offer and 10:30 am was their last bus for the day. It would have been good if we did advance booking but nevertheless we just laughed that we had to find another way to get to Legoland.

We rode the MRT again towards Jurong East station and looked for the bus towards Johor Bahru. It was 11 am when we arrived in Jurong East and we were already hungry so we decided to eat in the station's food court. After eating, we paid 4 SGD to board the bus to Johor Bahru. 

Waiting for the bus

We stopped by Singapore's Immigration for our stamp out and rode the same bus again towards Malaysia. It was 12nn when we arrived at Johor Bahru's CIQ 2nd Link but the JPO2 bus that would take us to Legoland Malaysia would come by at 2 pm. We didn't want to lose much time and decided to take a taxi to Legoland instead.

Finally after 4 hours of travel, we reached Legoland Malaysia! It was quite a long walk from where the taxi dropped us but when we saw the big sign, we gained back our enthusiasm.

There were a lot of counters at the sides which were manned by friendly personnel eager to answer questions. We showed them our tickets to get in. I found a map stand directly in front of the entrance. I got one map but was not able to study it well because we were too eager to begin the fun.

As it is nearing Halloween, this was what greeted us further from the entrance.

It was hot and humid when we came but this didn't stop us from enjoying. The first ride we tried was Project X.

There was no queue when we went in so we were immediately ushered to the coaster seats. Chrislei, the brave one, sat in front. The staff was kind enough to take our photo.

At first, I though the ride was scary. But then it was not! It was short and exciting. We would have been able to ride for another round but we chose not to because we still had a lot to do.

There were playing booths scattered around the place which had big stuffed animals as prizes.

Chrislei tried to win one by shooting 2 out of 2 balls in the big basins. It sounded simple until she tried it.

I was particularly amazed with Miniland. This place depicts some tourist places all over Asia. We saw legos built to become the flyer in Singapore, the airport of Kuala Lumpur, and a town in the Philippines. I took this opportunity to be photographed with India's Taj Mahal because I may never have the opportunity to see it for real.

Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China

This is Tanah Lot located in Bali, Indonesia. My goal destination. If you would all be so kind to help me win the trip to Bali contest, I'd be here for a holiday in December. :)

Moving further, we went into Land of Adventure. This time we rode the Beetle Bounce which was a small version of Hongkong Ocean Park's The Abyss. It was fit for kids but we tried it anyways.

This is Dino Island. A ride that would get us wet. We wanted to try it but thought otherwise because it would be pretty uncomfortable walking drenched afterwards. I saw a lot of kids who enjoyed this ride. It did look thrilling. 

We then went forward to Imagination Land and because it was not yet time for the Lego 4d Show, we rode the Observation Tower. I always loved being in observation towers. It helps to know how big the place is and what other places were interesting to visit. These were our view on top.

While waiting for the 4d show to begin. Taken while we were sitting outside the Lego Studio. We're so ready to see it!

We then figured out how to find the bigger roller coaster we saw from the Observation Tower. The ride was called The Dragon and we had to get into this horror decorated castle to queue for it.

The ride was longer and equally exciting as the one we did earlier. We noted that we already had enough rides so we went in and browsed through the many souvenir shops they had inside.

Tired from the rides and shopping, we tried out food from The Cafe. This lego guy welcomed us in.

We were ready to go back to Singapore but we were late to catch the 3:45pm bus back to CIQ Link. With an hour to waste, we went and explored the Legoland Hotel.

And took our photos at the entrance of Legoland Water Park. Good job with the swimming pose, Sheila :)

We even had time to browse through the shops located opposite the entrance. There were a number of stalls for food and drinks. Thanks Chrislei for the treat!

I super loved the day I spent with my friends at Legoland. My legs were tired from all the walking and my tummy hurt from all the laughing (despite the delay we had). It was truly a memorable day. And one more nice thing I had from Legoland is that I found my Knight in Shining Lego. Sweet!

Thank you for reading and 'til my next blog! :)

Help me win a trip to Bali :)

So I found out about Discover Wonderful Indonesia's Win a Trip to Bali contest last night. It has always been my dream to get to Bali, Indonesia. I long to see, hear and feel the atmosphere of this famed tourist spot. The place has always been present in my bucket list. Checking flights from Thailand to Bali was my daily ritual. The thing is, its expensive to get from here to there maybe because of the 3 hour flight and I'm sure because of it's popularity as well.

photo courtesy of asiaexchange.org

While browsing in a travel forum that I belong to, I found out about this contest. I immediately went into its face book page and read more of the details. Join me in reaching for the price, too. What you need to do is to go click on the link on my facebook page. You will then be redirected to Indonesia.Travel's Face Book page. Click the "Enter Here" button to make your own Indonesia Travel Wishlist. You can do this by selecting the places you would like to visit in Indonesia. There are a lot to choose from and I know you'd like to put them all on your list. You can only choose 6 places but then you can make more than one wish list!

Next step is to get your friends and family to create their own wish list or to vote for yours to get more points. Its so easy peasy :)

Otherwise, you can vote for my wish list and help me reach my Bali Holiday dream. I won't forget to write about my experience and share it with all of you.

Thank you and 'til next blog! :)

Madame Tussauds Bangkok

Wincee and I have always wanted to visit Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Bangkok. We took the chance of seeing it for ourselves and so booked our tickets in advance at their website. Booking in advance allowed us to enjoy discounts :)

So last March 24,2015, Wincee and I went to Siam Discovery Center's 6th floor. The place started to open at 10 am and we were the first ones to enter it. Before doing so, we presented our vouchers along with our passports to confirm the names. 

We were amazed with the vast collection of wax figures. These figures looked very real. At first, we didn't know how to pose with them but we later on figured it out. 

This is Wincee with the world's leaders. (Most of them were unfamiliar to me. I'm not that good with history.)

 Complete with a crown and a regal chair, Wincee got to be queen for a minute. 

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, also had wax figures. It was fun posing as their secretary. The staff at Madame Tussauds had their camera situated in this part of the museum. They will take a photo of the guests and this can be printed and bought as a souvenir at the exit.

Glad to have found Einstein in one corner. I wanted to ask why he was such a genius (or why did he had a hairstyle like that?)

If only I was not lazy with my piano lessons when I was just a kid. Who knows I can also be like Beethoven? :)

We also encountered popular people from the sports world.

Tiger: "Wow, what an amazing swing!"

Kat: "yeah, thanks but where's that golf ball?" 

Taking the chance to feel David Beckman's six packs while he is warming up.

There was also an interactive game at this part of the museum. We enjoyed and took turns playing this virtual football.

People from the Entertainment Industry

Yeah, we met some cute boys. I wonder who they were. All of them was staring at one direction!

Such a thrill to pose with Michael Jackson. Good job, Wincee!

Britney Spears and Madonna were also there.

This part of the museum had a singing/ karaoke room. As the room was all to ourselves, we belted our hearts out and sang Madonna's hit: Material Girl.

People from the Movie Industry

I met Mario Maurer! My dear Mario, I've been here in Thailand for 2 years still I haven't seen you in person yet. We both have busy schedules, anyways. See you in my dreams. :)

Wincee had the fear of her life when she met Hannibal behind bars! Watch out Wincee, you'll hear the silence of the lambs any minute now.

Oh yeah, I never thought I can be tough and strong. Not when I met Bruce Lee. Don't mess with us. We're like the death squad haha!

Wincee: "It's my pleasure to be here. I'm such a fan of your show."

Lady Gaga and Wincee. Who did it better?

Childhood dream fulfilled! Hello Doraemon :)

We had so much fun (as evidenced by Wincee's big smile).

We spent around 3 hours in Madame Tussauds. We had fun the whole time we were there. Though I cannot meet all these famous people in real life, at least I saw them up close even in wax figures.

Thank you and 'til my next blog. :)

My First Taste of Black Bun Burger

My friend, Mel, came across this new food joint posted on her Facebook timeline. We were curious about this because of the unusual burger bun the color of black and green. After work, we immediately went to eat dinner at the place.

The place's name is OOy street kitchen and it was not that difficult to locate. It's just a stone's throw from Phuket Trick Eye Museum. We saw that there were 3 long tables situated at the center and 2 tables at the side which faced the wall. We didn't like to face the walls when eating so we just waited for the first guests to finish. While we were waiting, this woman who spoke good English eagerly took our orders. She mentioned that some dishes were already sold out (it was only 7pm). We ordered 5 Darth Vader Burgers and 2 Tacos. I forgot to take a photo of their menu with pricing.

When the other guests left, we were happy to replace them. The place was quite small. (I know in the future they'd become famous and have more tables :)

The chef was cooking right in front of us. For a while, I thought I was in one of the famous cooking reality TV shows (Master Chef, Hell's Kitchen). We enjoyed watching the chef and his staff prepare our food. I can say each dish was carefully prepared. Here is where our 5 Darth Vader Burgers on the plating queue.

We were overjoyed when our orders came. (We didn't had snacks beforehand at the office, this explains our excruciating hunger). To commemorate my first taste of a black burger, I had to take a photo first. :)

This Darth Vader Burger, as they called it, is 200THB (around 6 USD). When the Chef personally handed out this one to me, I took the opportunity of asking if he was the one who made the bun or if he just ordered it somewhere. He answered that it is his homemade recipe and he only makes 10 dark buns per day. He even tried to explain how he made it to us. We felt so lucky, we came early and the 5 of us got our own burgers.

The bun did not have any aftertaste even if it is black. Surprisingly, it has an added taste to it compared to the usual burgers I ate before. There was a generous slice of beef patty which was thick and juicy. We loved it so much, the burger made us very full. We didn't talk much, we just gobbled up our meal right away. 

We couldn't finish our shared order of tacos anymore. We just asked for it to be prepared for take away. I forgot to take a photo, but it looked something like this.

(photo taken from OOy street kitchen facebook page)

Our taste buds and tummies got a treat that night. Will definitely come back soon.

Thank you for reading and 'til my next blog!