Singapore

We flew from Barcelona to Singapore – two pretty easy 6 – 7 hour flights with a little stop at Dubai along the way. Unfortunately, our bags were not uplifted at Dubai which we were informed about once reaching Singapore. Not the end of the world, but definitely disappointing. After being on the go for 24+ hours, it’s nice to be able to go to your hotel, shower, wear your own fresh clothes… There was no real reason for the baggage delay (that we were told anyway) – the ground staff at Changi were very nice and very understanding. I asked if there was any compensation from Emirates for the delay: 5 minutes later I had 200 Singapore dollars of ‘emergency’ money in my hand. This was more compensation than I had bargained for!

Our taxi driver dropped us off at a 24hr market that sells just about everything! We did a bit of a quick shop for toothbrushes, deodorant, underwear, summer-weight clothes and PJ’s. I tell you, don’t expect to come out of a Singaporean market buying underwear with your dignity intact. Hamish held up a pair of what I can only describe as ‘bloomers’ and said “These should fit you Mum!” Jeez, thanks mate… I did find a pair of my sized undies, (not 3XL’s) however it was the boxers Rod purchased for he and Hamish that were, well, snug.

We finally checked into our hotel, showered and crashed – well after midnight. To cut a long story short, we got our bags back by midday the next day, but only after a couple of phone calls and a strong hint from the Changi Emirates staff to pick our bags up if we wanted them by 4pm.

 

Legoland – Malaysia

In the early planning stages of this trip, we decided that our last week should be spent relaxing either on the beach or by a pool, in a warm climate. After a bit of discussion, we decided upon Singapore. It was only after searching for a resort-like hotel that I stumbled across Legoland, just across the border in Malaysia. We were pretty excited and knew Hamish would love it. A brief discussion about the price ended in me booking three nights with two days access to Legoland Theme Park and Water Park. We kept this a secret until we arrived at our hotel in Singapore Thursday night. Hamish, as anticipated, was very excited.

I’ll let Hamish tell some of the story, but Rod and I have been so impressed with the staff here at the Hotel, as well as both theme parks. They are super polite, have jokes with the kids and ensure you are well looked after – nothing at all like the Australian idea of customer service. The kid-centered approach here is just awesome – not a tablet in sight, kids are busy building Lego: at the pool, in the lobby, in their rooms, in the restaurants.

The buffet breakfast here is massive with a real mix of Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Indian and Western breakfast foods. Hamish has been keen to try (everything) the Asian dishes such as fried rice and chicken curry. Being in a Muslim country, the bacon is beef and the sausages and salami are chicken. It’s interesting. I didn’t realise what a delight it is to have curry for breakfast.

 

Legoland, by Hamish

 Friday

We got the taxi and we started going to Malaysia. The taxi was like 50 minutes long, but that didn’t bother Mum, she was relaxing. When we arrived, I started playing with the Lego in the hotel lobby. The Lego is in a Pirate Ship and a Castle.

There were lots of mini figures behind the reception desk.

The outside of the hotel has GIANT mini-figures and the hotel looks like it has been made out of Lego!

We went up to our room, which was on Level 3. The theme of our room was Kingdoms – with Knights, shields and dragons. There was a quiz for me to do to try and work out a code to unlock a safe. Once I worked out the code, the safe unlocked and inside it was a Lego pack for me! (it’s a Star Wars Pod-Racer). My bed is a bunk bed. The hotel has a pool and we went to it. I swam for a bit, then I built a huge yellow shield from giant Lego bricks. I thought it was fun.

 

Saturday

This was our first day at the Legoland Theme Park. The first thing I saw was Batman! I got a photo with him.

Then, we explored all the areas and went on rides, like:

• Lego City – Boat Ride, Fire Truck Rescue

• Land of Adventure – Beetle Bounce Ride, Pharaoh’s Revenge, Dino Island (we all got soaked on this ride!)
• Ninjago World – Ninjago The Ride, I also met Kai and Sensei Wu and got a photo with them

• Imagination – 4D movie called Chima, observation tower ride, musical fountain, Kids Power Tower

• Lego Kingdoms – Dragon’s Apprentice Roller Coaster
• Mini Land – lots and lots and lots of miniature buildings/ships/trains

After this (which was a lot) we went to the Water Park. We went on lots of fun slides, played in the splash park and went on the Build-a-Raft river. I really liked the splash park when the bucket fills up and tips out on everyone – you get soaked!

 

Sunday

Today we went back to the Theme Park and went to the areas we missed yesterday. Plus, we went on a couple of rides I really liked from yesterday (Technic Twister, Aqua Zone, back to the Ninjago Ride and the roller coaster).

The weather was super humid – Dad got us ice-creams. We were happy to go back to the Water Park. We stayed there for the rest of the day and had lunch there, too.

I asked Mum and Dad why don’t all parents bring their kids to Legoland? Because I think it’s the best place in the world for kids.