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Toy Story 4!

It is the final week of our school holidays and Daddy J suggests we head out the to Gardens by the Bay coinciding with the Children’s Festival happening from 15th Jun – 30th Jun 2019! While we had previously been there on our kindy’s field trip, it would be our first visit as a family to the gardens! Yay!

The toys are back! Tucked amidst the lush foliage of the Supertree Grove area are pop-up carnival games stalls and special missions to be completed. We team up with our favourite characters Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Bo Peep to complete the tasks, meet new and old friends along the way while having a blast of a time!

With our trail book in hand and following the signs to the carnival!

 

Can someone please let us know what fruit tree this is? Sure looks like Daddy J’s favourite pomelo, right in the middle of the garden!

Greeted by Woody & Jessie at the Bullseye Games…

Woody’s Coaster Rescue, which was by far one of the most (if not THE most) popular stall of the day judging by the queue…

Jessie’s Ring Capture and Bulleye Rescue…

Flag off at the Buzz’s Star Adventurer! Jon seems a tad too big for the littl’ red swivel car by now…

Meeting Bo and her sheep (Billy, Goat and Gruff!) at Bo Peep’s adventure!

Mr Duke Caboom and our new friend Forky the Spork…

 

At the end of the day, we had a BLAST of a time!

Best part of it, says Daddy “It was FREE”…

Free stickers for completing at least 3 of the challenges, styro planes (we caught a red and blue each during the frenzy of the Ball Drop), the awesome lazer, lights and sound display (from 7pm), and LOTSA fun together with Daddy and Mummy J!

And what’s a visit to the Toy Story 4 Carnival without actually making it to the movies for the actual movie itself?

That very same week we hit the box office…

It was a very good story with a good mix of old and new toys. Of the new cast, we liked (what Daddy called ‘separated at birth) the twins… Ducky and Bunny (the yellow and blue guys) the most…

At the end Mummy stepped out teary eyed and said it was OK to cry… we think she sobbed buckets by the end of the movie, not sure if it was because it was funny, scary or sad. We guess it was a bit of it all 🙂

 

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JJ at Legoland Hotel JB

Well it happens JJ’s favourite aunt – Gugu J manages to book out The elusive Ninjago Lloyd (aka Green Ninja) room on a mid-week Wednesday, so what d’ya know we pack our bags and head to the Legoland Malaysia Resort! BIG HURRAY for the HUGE Ninjago fans JJ are.

We have had the annual passes for some years but never actually utilised the discounted rates on Legoland Hotel so this was an opportune time to leverage the 20% discount on rooms.

Turns out we would be coming straight from KL the day before so when we got to the Legoland Hotel we were just yearning to stay in and rest. Alas while we really did just hibernate in the room, rest was elusive as there was just so much fanfare and excitement – the oohs and aahs from JJ the moment we stepped into the room, admiring the tastefully done Ninjago-themed decor (what else would you expect!), Legoland toiletries and amenities (!) , to getting thru the treasure hunt and eventually unlocking to secret chest to uncover our treasure!

Legoland Resort Malaysia Johor Bahru undergoing a facade face-lift.

Lobby/check-in with Lego Knights Castle (akin to Daddy J’s Black Knights Castle) and Pirate’s Ship play area!

The usual disco lights and music play go on when the elevator doors close – “Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of a team (by Tegan and Sara)”… different elevators have different themes ranging from Adventure, Pirates, Kingdom…

*Elevator dings* we’re at Level 5 and greeted by none other than Master Wu. Ninjago rooms share the same level as Pirates-themed rooms, which is also the same floor as the hotel pool.

Getting into our Lloyd-themed room…

Treasure hunt instructions laid out on the bed.

[Spoiler alert] Click here for the answers to unlock the treasure chest!

Lego-styled toiletries! Literally everything is AWESOME!

The pool which was virtually empty when we got there in the morning after brekkie. But then again, who would need a pool when you have the Legoland Water Park right at your doorstep! *Splash!*

We did head out eventually to the Legoland Theme Park for our regular dose of Ninjago ride (note Jon beat his record of 204,750 with full bragging rights to it!), dragon roller-coaster (Jo) and for dinner at the Medini Mall (we walked past the newly-opened Sealife aquarium)

There are nightly activities at the Lobby, ranging from movie nights to kids playing in the lego pits and running through the pirates ship deck or knight’s castle. That night we were there though, we enjoyed a little Hari Raya magic show! Kids were all in their PJs, literally wayyy past their bedtime!

The next day we just took it easy – having extended breakfast at the Bricks Family Restaurant (sprawling with KIDS!), playing video games at the Games console room and watching tele in the room before checking out at noon (note the hotel’s official check-in and checkout timings are 4pm/11am respectively).

 

After checkout we were deliberating between going into Legoland again or checking out the latest attraction (Sealife) – given it was sweltering hot then with the noon day sun blazing, it really did make more sense to do a look-see at the air-conditioned Sealife.

Sealife Malaysia officially opened its doors in May 2019 after almost a year in making since groundbreaking in August 2018. Legoland regulars would remember the works-in-progress through this time, the dust and temporary walkways from the open air carpark to the park entrance… but alas, this is all now behind us! Owned and operated by the UK-based Merlin Entertainment Group, the fresh-faced Sealife Malaysia joins a network of >50 other such aquariums/oceanariums around the world (Merlin is also synonymous with Madam Tussauds, Sydney Wildlife Zoo, among others).

In all, we spend slightly more than an hour, zipping* through the various exhibits but spent disproportionately most time at the life-sized aquarium screen – similar to whats now super popular at kids’ play areas and entertainment centers, the one at Sealife Malaysia though has individual screens (not just paper you colour on and snapshot with the digital projector) where kids (and adults too!) design their own sea-life and spawn them into the vast underwater world…. Daddy J himself gets creative with his zebra inspired starfish.

Kids to Daddy: How do you tell the difference between a zebra-striped Daddy and Mummy star fish?

Daddy J: Daddy starfishes are black with white stripes, but Mummy starfishes are white with black stripes

JJ: 🙂

 

*Note: the layout is cleverly designed over 3 levels of exhibits intertwined and accessed by steps (there were lotsa climbing up and down steps to the different floors. Not to worry though as there are also elevators to make accessibility easier!

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JJ in KL

With the school holidays currently underway, Mummy and Daddy decide to take JJ on a short road trip to KL.

Unfortunately this wasn’t quite planned ahead, the impetus to go really came from Mummy J’s cuz who sent her a note just last week about a 40% promo code for Kidzania Malaysia (ATOM40)*. We were lucky to have been able to leverage this promotion. Daddy J actually only booked it on 31st May itself! We ended up paying RM171 vs. what would have been RM261 for regular priced tix (2A+2C aged 4-17)**

*Note this is coinciding with the Kidzania KL Science and Space Programme happening 25th May – 16th June 2019. Disclaimer: This promotion is only applicable for online ticket purchase only from 19th April  – 31st  May 2019, valid for the following visit period from 20th April – 16th June 2019 with exception on 5th June 2019.

**Note Kidzania SG online price totals SGD$184.3 or RM552.9 for the same 2A+2C configuration but should not be taken as a 1-1 comparison. While there are obvious similarities, there are also stark contrasts in experiences between both. An example of this is that SG offers a Paddle Pop ice-cream making experience while this is not available in KL/MY. The latter however does have a Mc’Donalds burger making experience which is also unique between both locations.

Having secured the Kidzania tix Daddy J then proceeds to scout around for hotels during the week of 9th June. Where else to go but to the trusty Hilton Honors App. Given the gang has previously tried the Hilton KL (Jalan Stesen/KL Sentral) and PJ Hilton, we decide this time to book out the DoubleTree by Hilton located at Jalan Tun Razak, a stone’s throw from KLCC. It turns out Hilton APAC was having its timely APAC sale so we swiftly book out our rooms.

With the bookings in place, we set off on Monday (12th June) morning!

Beautiful morning to beat the Monday blues, with clear blue skies and the perfect company for a 3-hr ride up North!

Traffic was a breeze as most were probably already back at work post Raya holidays.

Midway through we make a pit-stop at Daddy’s favourite spot – The Perhentian Jejantas Ayer Keroh (Air Keroh Overhead-Bridge Rest Area) with the usual All-American A&W, KFC, Baskin Robbins and Dunkin Donuts!

KFC vs. A&W?

The choice is obvious as we make a beeline at the A&W restaurant with the regular suspects of waffles, Coney dogs and root beer floats! It was a good 20-min wait (thereabouts) but definitely worth the while! A&W Changi Jewel was still maxed out when we were there just last week (on Hari Raya) waiting for Grandpa and Grandma J’s flight back to SIN and it was truly a scene of “People Mountain, People Sea” (colloquial in Cantonese for heaps of people!). With this in mind, we were thankful for the relatively shorter queue here. Soon it was time to dig in…

After a hearty meal, Daddy J needs a solid navigator up front to keep him focused on the road while Baby J tries to catch some shut eye.

It wasn’t long before we arrive at the Sungai Besi Toll Plaza in KL!
Spot the KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers in the background!

Arriving at the Hilton Doubletree KL co-located at the Intermark Mall.

The Lobby is setup on the 1st floor of the integrated office/shopping mall. Very interesting as the lobby could be easily missed for a swanky lounge/bistro in the mall.

Pleasant surprise to be informed we were upgraded to an Executive Room with lounge access and check-in facilitated at the Lounge on the 34th Floor.

Welcomed with the usual DoubleTree Hospitality – Chocolate Chip Cookies!

View from the top!

In our room!

When we returned in the evening, we were pleasantly surprised at the complimentary extra bed, which we gladly accepted and promptly reconfigured to a little kiddy cot!

Swimming pool on the 10th floor, adjacent to the Gym and Tosca Italian Restaurant.

Breakfast at Makan Restaurant (Level 11)

Very good spread of ‘Healthy Breakfast’ segment, Salads, Cold Cuts, Noodle and Egg station, Chinese Congee, Malay (Nasi Lemak!), Indian selection with made-to-order Prata/Dosai/Chappati!

They even have a cordoned-off area for HH Gold and Diamonds which would have been useful if there were bigger crowds.

 ‏  

Kids choice, and Daddy J’s Nasi Lemak, and a live-Teh Tarik station!

 

Day#2 – Kidzania Kuala Lumpur

 

First stop – Spritzer Bottling Facility.

First task was to deliver 3 cartons of Bottled Water, thereafter returning to the Bottling facility to produce (bottle blowing machine!), perform filtration, bottling of filtered water, and then the Heat/Steam machine to label the bottled water!

I don’t remember the kids ever working that hard, until now…

  

The apprentices posing with their guru, or boss… and even got to keep the bottles they bottled – one for each kid!

Vitagen/Marigold Milk Factory.

Very interesting lessons on pasteurisation, homogenisation and fermentation. Mummy J did find the end product a tad too sweet for her liking though -perhaps the kiddos added a little too much sugar! Nonetheless the JTwins had no qualms about slurping and sipping it all up! Slurppsss…

Burger Making @ Mc’Donalds

Reporting for work…

Kids got to eat their very own cheeseburger – literally the very ones they made themselves.

Pilot training at Air Asia!

Chocolate Making at the Chocolate Factory

  

Firefighter!

Jon having a go at rock (building) climbing while Jo has a go at the girlie stuff @ the Kurls salon.

   

Random pix from around Kidzania World!

 

At the end of the day, with the money (Kidzos) earned  through blood, sweet and tears, the kids can buy out stuff from the Kidzania departmental store.

Note the Kidzos currency can be used at any of the other Kidzanias around the world. Just make sure you don’t convert the notes into a bankcard (stored value). The ‘banks’ are apparently different around the world so just keep them into Kidzo notes.

 

 

Day#3 – PetroSains, KLCC

On Day#3 after breakfast, we went up to Level 34 to check out the spread at the lounge…

 

Coffee made with Love for Mummy from Jo… 🙂

After check-out, we headed to Suria KLCC, aka home of the Petronas Twin Towers.

The Twins and the Twin Towers.

 

The handy Touch ‘n Go card for easy payment at exit gantries to avoid the lines at payment machines at major malls in Malaysia.

We had previously been to the KLCC but never knew about PetroSains until we read about it couple of days before this trip. Seems PetroSains has been around for the past 20 years!

PetroSains is a Discovery Centre (the Malaysian equivalent of the Singapore Science Centre or so we thought*), owned by the national petroleum company Petronas, and located smack in the middle of KL, literally in the heart of KLCC (Level 4/Centre Atrium).

*At the end of the day, while we had initially wanted to do only an hour – asking the receptionist how quickly we could get through all 11 interactive zones, we were blown-away at the quality of exhibits, depth of research that had gone into the planning and running of the centre and customer-centricity of the staff and volunteers manning the various experiments. Verdict – It definitely exceeded the JJ Twins and more so Daddy J and Mummy J’s expectations. A well-deserving 5 diapers for the PetroSains Discovery Centre!

 

Capsule ride which you get into at the start of your journey. You get into the pod again at the end of the day to wrap up your day and exit PetroSains.

Dinosaurs are alive at the Dino exhibit in PetroSains!

A 3D printer working its magic…

Kids and Mummy have a go at Robo-Soccer and later at VR soccer!

Fun Science with helpful volunteers and staff.

The Top-Side of the mock Oil-Rig was by far Daddy J’s favourite exhibit! Kids get first-hand experience on what an oil rig is, what is looks like, and the dangers and safety aspects on living afloat one. An incredible way to exit is via a tall-slide. Don’t worry about if your kids are decked in shorts, or dresses – the thoughtful staff have pull-up blankets which kids slid into before sliding down the 2-strorey slide so you don’t have to worry about burns or abrasions at the end of the day!

Check out the emergency escape raft!

Formula 1 fever!

Jo cracks the code…

And the Twins pit their brains against each other in a dose of sibling rivalry on who can focus the longest! T1 wins here, while T2 emerges winner of VR soccer!

Augmented reality sand box at the Molecule/Nanoworld…

 

At the penultimate exhibit – Digi Cybercafe World…

By the time we got out it was 4pm! (we must’ve spent some 3 hours in PetroSains!). Not wanting to wait and fight-out the notorious KL rush-hour traffic, we packed sushi from Isetan and had a very late lunch en-route down South!

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Grandpa J’s Birthday High Tea @ The Fullerton (Town Restaurant)

Last week we celebrated Yeh Yeh (Grandpa J)’s 70th!

Considering it was Wesak Day holiday on Monday, 20th May we decided to have local* high tea at The Town Restaurant at The Fullerton Hotel.

*local since there is also the option of English afternoon tea at the beautiful sunlit atrium Courtyard at the Fullerton.

Nonetheless for the purpose of the lunch celebration we decided on the local offering at The Town.

Literally the Best Chicken Rice in “Town”. 
Thumbs up for the chilli and ginger sauce as great compliment to the chicken, Sio Bak (roasted pork belly) and duck!

  

Another famed local specialty – Laksa and Satay (chicken, lamb and beef variants on offer)… Mutton boy obviously going for the chicken!

 

Quinoa salad and more salads (Achar!)…

 

And finally… sweets & dessert! Cendol, Kueh Kueh (or Kuih Muih!), AKK (Ang Ku Kueh), Kuih Lapis, Ondeh-Ondeh and Portuguese Egg Tart! Works well with a glass of cincau, bandung or soya bean milk…

  

Watered down with some Longan and Almond Tofu and Ice-Cream!

  

The nice folks at The Town took some pix and made it into a nice Birthday Card for Grandpa J – Awww, what a nice surprise!

And the final verdict from the JJ Twins?

Thumbs Up for The Town!

   

After a hearty lunch (or high tea!) we decide to take a stroll to the nearby Merlion Park, do the touristy stuff and soak in the picturesque sights of beautiful Singapore! Kids posing with the baby Merlion, with Mummy Merlion doing what she does best.

 

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Happy Mothers’ Day 2019!!!

Happy Mothers’ Day 2019!

Dear Mummy, I love you. Thank you for caring for us.
Dear Daddy, I love you. Thank you for loving us.
From Joanna

Dear Mummy, thank you for loving and caring for me.
Dear Daddy, thank you for buying me toys and books.
From Jonathan 

   

Aww… it was definitely a surprise for both Daddy and Mummy to be receiving this from JJ.

Yes it’s Mother’s Day today (2nd Sunday of May*), but as Father’s Day happens only next month (16th June 2019), Daddy was definitely not expecting anything, much less a card from the kids – thus a very surprising gift indeed to a Sunday morning!

* Mother’s Day happens on the 2nd Sunday of May each year
** Father’s Day coincides with the 3rd Sunday of June each year

As we had pre-celebrated MD with Grandma J last week, we spent some time with Ah Ma and Ah Gong yesterday, taking them to Bollywood Veggies!

Tucked away at the Kranji Countryside, this quaint and quintessential farm is a welcome getaway from the hustle bustle of city-life Singapore.

 
  
 
  

Sitting on a sprawling 10-acres of land, this abode also boasts a cafe, a culinary school, a museum and of course the renown fertilizer-and-pesticide-free farm.

 

While waiting for lunch (Nasi Lemak Platter and Warrior’s Thali for 2), JJ lose no time with the balls and hoop.

 
 

Free banana muffins, Bollywood Veggies eco-friendly tote and Pandan leaves!

Ample parking, and the Kranji Countryside Express bus service with pick up from Kranji MRT and plies the following route (note cost of $3/head/trip applies),

  • Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
  • Nyee Phoe (Gardenasia)
  • Gallop Kranji Farm Resort
  • Kranji Marshes
  • Bollywood Veggies
  • Thong Hup Gardens
  • Hay Dairies Goat Farm
  • Jurong Frog Farm

 
  

As an aside, jotting down some notes from Pastor Val this morning:

in this ever-competitive society, lets take time to be the intentional parents to our kids.

It doesnt need to be quantity time, but so true to ensure the time we spend with them is truly quality time, the time that truly counts.

Instead or stressing over the PSLE or O-Level scores, here’s an alternate perspective…

PSLE – Primary School Leaving Exams can otherwise be translated to:

  • Person (or Parent/s)
  • Showing
  • Love &
  • Encouragement

O-Level’s L15R Score (L1 or Main Language Paper/R5 – 5 Relevant Subjects)

L1

  • Loving relationship

R5

  • Righteous
  • Rested
  • Resilient
  • Respectful
  • Responsible

Yes, we’re definitely not undermining the basis of the education system, but definitely worth considering the other important (if not more critical) aspects to our kids’ wellbeing and development.

Here’s wishing all Moms (and Dads since this cant happen without the equal partnership of the DDs) a Blessed Mothers’ Day 2019!

Signing off from Sunday brunch @ Mackers! Pix of the JJ Twins from 6 years ago on Mothers’ Day 2013!

 

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JJ at Midvalley Southkey (Sogo @ Johor Bahru)

Midvalley Southkey (Sogo @ Johor Bahru)

Midvalley Southkey officially opened its doors on 23rd April 2019 (pretty queer considering it was a mid-week Wednesday but reckon it would have been auspicious enough a date to warrant the official opening!)

Having wanted to visit since then to get first dips (in all-things-new!), The J Team finally paid a visit on Friday.

I must say hopes were high given the known reputation of Sogo and Midvalley (if its anything like the Midvalley KL, it should be good!). There was also a certain level of standard to be had since other recent JB malls (ala Capital, Paradigm) quite frankly failed to live up to expectations.

From the outward facade, the mall does look pretty impressive, making it a point even to construct a flyover to enable south-bound visitors to exit the EDL highway conveniently as a final pitstop before hitting the Malaysian Checkpoint at BSI.

View of Midvalley Southkey on the EDL (Eastern Dispersal Link) Expressway South-bound.

North-bound view from the EDL showing exit slip road in 250m.

Entry into the carpark was seamless as there were not many people (to our surprise at least) on a Friday evening. Found out subsequently there were at least 3 other entry/exit points so thats definitely a PLUS point which helps disperse the traffic and influx of mad rushers in/out. Pleasant surprise also that Touch & Go (TNG) was accepted (seems like the default mode these days).

Inside the carpark it was apparent that the owner/management were pretty much in a hurry to open their doors, evident from the less-than-complete workmanship on the walls and lacklustre paint job. The more-than-ample parking however made up for the superficial deficit(s). Noteworthy also that there were MANY dedicated disabled-parking lots, so here’s a KUDOS shout-out to team Midvalley for being intentional social citizens! YAY!

  1. Pix of entry via TNG
  2. Pix of ample disabled-parking lots
  3. Download the mall directory via below link.

www.midvalleysouthkey.com/pdf/shop-mall-map.pdf

Overall 4 levels spanning 3 courts/wings (Centre, North and South), the remaining top 2 levels are (3F/3M) are still works in progress (no known current anticipated opening at this point).

Centre Court

South Court

Village Grocer @ North Court

Pros:

  1. Carpark payment via Touch and Go!
  2. Ample disabled parking lots
  3. Ample elevators (unlike AEON/Jusco Tebrau which is still our current fav!)
  4. Uniqlo and A&W (Akan Datang!), Texas Chicken
  5. Kid/stroller friendly and wide-enough walkways even for twin strollers!
  6. Playground inside Sogo (3F)!
  7. Starbucks inside Sogo (2F)!
  8. Free Popcorn and Cotton Candy in Sogo (3F/Kiddy section) from 3-5May!

       

   

Cons:

  1. Raw construction debris/unsightly finishing
  2. No cinema (maybe in the making)

 

  

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Lego Ninjago

JJ are HUGE fans of the Lego Ninjago Series… prolly smitten by the same Lego bug as was Daddy J in his younger days.

One fine afternoon when we were about 4, Daddy J whips out little Lego System Black Knights Castle ensemble from the closet and intrigued us. That kinda sparked our interest in these little’ bricks yet he said we were too young to fiddle around with them – instead he shoved us some Lego Duplo blocks instead *bummer*…

One of our first Lego (Duplo) sets we bought at the Lego store @ Rinku Premium Outlet in Osaka, Japan.

We will be sure to keep this in neat condition for junior JJs in future 🙂

However since embarking on our very own Ninjago journey 2 years back, there’s been no turning back.

JJ’s Lego Ninjago journey…

Kudos to the LEGO team for the very clear and intuitive instructions. JJ have had very minimal supervision building these sets. The only help Mummy and Daddy J have provided are in ensuring the pieces stick together snugly, and the very occasional re-orientation (left/right hand of the Kai Fire Mech or left/right wing of Jay’s Lightning Jet)…

Clockwise from Jon’s hands…

  • Jay’s Lightning Jet (Blue)
  • Cole’s Quake Mech (Grey/Black)
  • Garma Mecha Man (Black)
  • Kai’s Fire Mech (Red)

Clockwise from Jon’s hands

  • Firstbourne Dragon (Red)
  • Stormbringer Dragon (Blue)
  • Lloyd’s Green Dragon

  • Ultra (White) Dragon

  • Destiny’s Bounty

  • Our favourite Ninjago City!

    

  • Manta Ray Bomber

  • Ninjago Temple of the ULTIMATE Ultimate Weapon (Ninjago Joke)

  • Ninjago Temple of Resurrection

  • Miscellaneous Ninjago sets

To top it off, we were recently gifted a Legoland Ninjago Lloyd staycation @ the Legoland Malaysia Resort by our lovely Gugu J – check out our review of that stay here.

[Updated 2022] Didi’s 10th Birthday pressie thanks to Gugu…

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Hong Kong (Dec 2018)

Hong Kong (Dec 2018)

JJ in HKG (16th – 20th Dec 2018)

Type: Free and Easy

Day -1

Daddy J comes in with the usual “LIGHTS-OUT-kids-please-sleep-since-you-have-a-long-day-ahead-tomorrow-no-story-time-tonight” yadda yadda; and we try hard to fall asleep, thinking what movies might be screening in the IFE tomorrow (hopefully no more Frozen or Peppa Pig, though Paw Patrol, PJ Masks or Ninjago would be fun) and soon dozing off with Mommy Koa and Elsa.

D1

I’m still surprised at how the kids will be up and cheery in mornings like this instead of the grumpy i-didnt-get-enough-sleep-last-night on regular school days…

Kids jump right out of bed and are literally jumping on their (actually our) beds!

OKIE DOKIE, you know the drill, transport comes in 30mins, go washup and remember to pack whoever’s going with you on the plan into your bags – Mummy J yells from the hall, frantically doing the last minute squeezing of stuff into the bags, which she does so really well (the latter only of course!).

We get to the airport, pickup our WIFI dongle from Changi Rewards counter and off we go to the checkin counters. Was a breeze as usual and off we head for some breakkie.

Soon its boarding time!

 

On arrival at Chek Lap Kok airport we clear immigration rather quickly and collected our luggage, upon exiting customs we keep a lookout for our KLOOK driver (we had pre-booked return airport transfer via KLOOK) but to no avail. Walked on further to the rendezvous point outside Tai Hing Restaurant (Arrival Meet & Greet Hall, 5/F, Terminal 1) and saw a group of other folks talking to what appeared to be the KLOOK agent. Apparently our driver was running behind schedule and we were given a swap, which would only arrive in 30min.

No drama. we made ourselves comfortable, TAKE MORE PHOTOS and it wasn’t long before the chap arrived.

When we finally settled into the MPV, it didn’t take long for the kids to doze off.

We did have some issue with getting the wifi to work this time.

Disclaimer – we’ve used the Changi Wifi umpteen times in the past and hadn’t had any issues whatsoever. Issue here was that the device wasn’t able to connect to the internet despite multiple attempts which including rebooting and resetting the device.

Tried eventually to get in touch with support, and took almost all day before someone eventually got back to us. Good thing was that once that happened, we went through the remote troubleshooting process and finally got it working. Phew!

Daddy J was actually feeling rather unwell at this stage (probably caught on the flu bug from T1 who had been sick the week prior). We decide however to go to look for some dinner around Mongkok and eventually settled for Tim Ho Wan!

D2 – Disneyland!

We head to Mongkok MTR station which is a short 5min stroll from Hilton Garden Inn Mongkok. No fuss as there were plenty of sights and sounds to take in (the area around the hotel is predominantly hardware shops. Kiddy Caution! The area around Soy Street seemed a little seedy when we were walking back to the hotel at night, with what appeared to be some working ladies lurking in the street corners.

Apart from that it was a lovely hotel which provided us free upgrades and breakfast for the gang (Grandpa J and Mummy J are both HH Gold Members and kids < 7 years eat for free. See our other post on HH Gold fasttrack tip!)

MTR ride was smooth and comfy on a wintery December Monday as most people were already at work when we boarded the train from Mongkok station en route to Sunny Bay station before crossing over to the other side of the platform for the Disneyland Resort-bound Monorail.

We get to the turnstiles around 11am, clearly missing the rope drop (10am). We had prior to this downloaded the HK Disneyland App (similar to other Disney parks) which basically shows you the map, schedule and queue time at each destination). We will not go through the review in detail as there are heaps of other blogs which offer a lot more in-depth reviews on the attractions, rides, shows and tips and tricks).

Once inside there was a clear beeline to the Mickey meet and greet which we steered clear from. Instead, we patronized Donald whose queue was way shorter.

  

At the end of the day after clearly achieving more than 10,000 steps that day, we were thankful we had prebooked pickup/transfer from Disney back to the hotel.

D3 – Causeway Bay, Star Ferry, Sogo Causeway Bay and Light Display

[JJ hack] FYI kiddy ergonomic bags are at least 30-40% cheaper than those of the same brand in SG.

Armed with this info, we made our way to Sogo Causeway Bay to grab the Moonrock Bags after doing some comparison between Dr Kong and MR (we had prior to that ventured to the Toys R Us @ Harbour City Shopping Centre as that was listed as one of the available locations on the MR website. Unbeknown to us (until we got there and spoke to the staff), this was only available as a summer item at that location. Because it was now winter these bags were no longer stocked there! Plan B then ensued and we tracked our way on the iconic Star Ferry from Tsim Tsa Tsui to Wan Chai (Mummy J at the onset of flu which explains the facemask!). Our friendly Octopus Card was really handy and was seamless in our transitions from MTR, bus and Ferry!

*Caution: Your Octopus card is eligible for a refund which we completely forgot about until we arrived home!

Note: On departure from Hong Kong you can return it to the Customer Service Centre at the airport or to any Customer Service Centre at any MTR station to get the refundable deposit of HK$50 and the remaining value. A refund fee of HK$9 will be deducted if the card is returned within 3 months from the date of issue.

The famed MoonRock kids’ ergonomic bags…

(Picture 4 below from Dr Kong in comparison with the MoonRock ones which come in an assortment of design including Ninjago Masters of Spinjitsu!)

 

The awesome display of lights at the Symphony of Lights from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (Tsim Tsa Tsui). The other alternative location is at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai. The shows run nightly from 8pm.

Nice looking junk sailing along amidst a dazzling display of sound and lights.

 

Highlight was the horseman busker in the underground

D4 – HK Science Museum/Victoria Peak/Tram ride and Trickeye Museum

We were deliberating on whether or not to bring the kids to Ocean Park but decided to take it easy this time. We ended up going to the HK Science Museum (yay for Free Admissions on Wednesdays!) and onward to the Peak.

Note the museum is conveniently tucked in between theTsim Sha Tsui, Tsim Sha Tsui East and Hung Hom MTR stations.

  

Very visibly tired kids who fall asleep in no time after a long day out…

D5 – Olympic City playground

Without battling an eyelid, the kids were unanimous (quite uncommon!) about wanting to spend the morning after breakfast at the nice playground across the street from the hotel before heading to the airport for our flight home.

Flight home… JJ crashing Grandma J’s sleep pod.

 

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The Importance of the right Travel Insurance

Well, we don’t think there’s a real need to over-emphasize the importance of a travel insurance which should be common knowledge, but with the proliferation of products out there, it may be worthwhile to go into the contract with your eyes wide open.

Not only are there numerous products ranging from individual/family coverage, destination/region of travel, health/emergency evacuation and the usual flight delays, lost/delayed baggage or trip curtailment, there are also the suite of products covering sports equipment (including add-ons for x-treme sports!) and comprehensive coverage of car rental.

For the purpose of this write-up, we will provide the perspective on insurance coverage on car rentals only.

As the story goes, on the homeward-bound part of our trip DownUnder in 2018 as we were headed to the Perth Airport for our flight home, we pulled over at Mirabooka Caltex station (right next to Mirabooka Shopping Centre) to fuel up so as to return the car with a full tank of fuel. There was a slight drizzle, and the gang was in the car. All of a sudden, without any premonition, there was a loud ‘BANG!’. Aghast, Daddy J who was outside turned to look around (note there is no auto trigger on the fuel nozzles in AU. Seems it is a requirement by law for motorist to control the trigger manually so they don’t set it to auto stop as we do back home, or elsewhere for that matter where there is a latch that clicks when the tank is almost full).

Certainly wasn’t the click or bang from the trigger. Thus we were left wondering what had happen!

Pertubed, Daddy rushes over and tells us to lock the doors shut and heads to the front of the car to assess the situation.

We find out subsequently that a yellow Holden had backed into our rental.

The driver gets out and himself seems to be in a state of disbelief he could have erred or missed seeing our stationary car perhaps in the blind spot from where he was.

So what happens in the ensuing minutes was some indistinct chatter where both grownups were seen snapping pix of the ‘damage’ and exchanging contacts.

The long and short of the process was – we had to fill up some forms at the Enterprise desk upon drop off of the vehicle at the airport when we arrived. Instead of what would’ve been a simple, straightforward task of dropping off the keys became about a 30-min administrative chain of completing forms, providing further details, and having to dictate what transpired to the duty manager.

In the end, Enterprise charged a flat AUD$2750 damage liability fee to our pre-registered credit card. *Ouch*

What ensued in the subsequent weeks after we had gotten home to SG was the back and forth correspondence in hopes to recover the monies paid upfront for something which we were at the receiving brunt of 🙁

Fortunately though was that we had pre-purchased a comprehensive coverage prior to trip commencement with RentalCover.

Yes there was some hassle getting the docs and forms to and fro – to be fair and on hind side one would need to contend with that with any other insurer anyways. RentalCover however has been really responsive through the entire episode.

After 5 weeks from the start of process, we received a cheque for SGD$1500 (based on our selected coverage). Yes that’s way lower than the sum we were slapped with by Enterprise, but they subsequently returned AUD$2000 charged initially given the estimate for repairs came up to only around AUD$700-isd. And, because of the ongoing claim from Enterprise to the insurer and the final verdict that we were not at ‘fault’, we eventually received the full refund back to our credit card! We figured Enterprise had recovered the full damage/repair cost directly from the insurer of the guy who backed into us.

Net, not only did we get a refund on the initial damage liability charged to our card, we ended up with some reimbursement from our insurance coverage as compensation for the inconvenience and perhaps to defray some of Mummy’s shopping spend! 🙂