Legoland - Malaysia

After Hello Kitty Town we asked the info desk about a bus to legoland they gave us a timetable (still no watch) and we made our way to the bus area. The majority of Malaysians we met were ridiculously helpful, their generosity being completely genuine as well.  The taxi guys waiting near us actually motioned for a bus a stop and everyone waited for us to get on, turns out it was the wrong bus but we were clueless so any help was great.  Now the taxi guys could of benefited from that situation, you know offering there services but they didn't and we hoped on the next bus :)

Now legoland, costs 140 RM about 50 Australian dollars, again I'm not sure if it's completely worth that but will probably depend on how much you like Lego. Ben and I like Lego but our overall impression of the park was that it was aimed at young kids. We decided we probably would of had more fun at Universal Studios in Singapore but I still really enjoyed legoland :)

My favourite part was probably all the little details, like these kids gate jumping at the entrance and that toilet sign made me giggle

We went on a bunch of rides including, this one above called Dino Island which lives in the Land of Adventure (the park is made up of 6 areas).  We ended up going on this ride twice.  We were insanely lucky there were no cues - I'm not sure how that happened, since it was a Sunday, the first weekend of school holidays in Singapore and for the first time on our trip, the weather was sunny! Anyway totally no complaints, I think I would of enjoyed legoland a whole lot less if I had to cue up! Dino Island btw is Legoland's version of splash mountain and luckily for me a whole lot less scary! 

This is in the Lego Kingdom section and is the entrance for the Dragon Ride :) 

The fire hydrants above were part of the Lego rescue academy were you control your own fire engine and have to put out a fire, Ben and I, well mostly Ben came first place! woohoo take that small children!

These little guys are in a ride where you get to shoot stuff with a laser gun, It's fun and dark and Ben totally whooped my butt. I thought I was doing really good too until we compared scores at the end :(

Lots of photo opportunities :)

Maybe one of my favourite features, the toilets!

More shooting fun!

pose-a-reffic!

Seeing all the little brick details still makes me happy

and I definitely had to take a picture of this guy, the spitting image of me and my way too many cameras :p

We geeked out, it was fun :)

The flags! Possibly one of my favourite Lego pieces, actually I liked all the Lego in the kingdom area probably because our neighbours had the castle set when I was little and I was jealous!

I like how he seems a little scared of me, I probably approached way too enthusiastically but then in the second photo he did the peace sign with me! Well I think that's what he is doing :)

Dino Island again! You get seriously splashed on this ride, probably the most I've ever been wet on a ride. The first time was good because my underwear didn't get soaked through and since it was super hot, the dunk was appreciated, but the second time, soggy undies, so not cool. They have these body dryers and when we first saw people using them I scoffed but the second time I suggested they might not be such a bad idea. Well turns out they cost a pretty penny, bad idea, lol.

We ran over to see what she was painting - night scene - way to cheat legoland!

This is mini-land which, when, I read the reviews online, everyone seemed to rave about. It was cool but I kept thinking they picked quite boring scenes to spend thousands of hours on, for example, airport runways, boat docks, I dunno! I'm hard to impress I guess :p

 The train was one of the few things we didn't go on just because there was a line! How dare people :P

The dragon!

More mini-ness

Lol!

I had planned us to be there till closing, I was really worried we may have bitten off more than we could chew doing hello kitty and legoland in one day but we seriously had all but finished by 5pm. I think if we actually had to line up for any ride that would of eaten into the time but if you're lucky like us and without kids you can easily zip through the majority of attractions in a few hours.

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Haw Par Villa - Singapore's Abandoned Theme park

When I read Singapore had an abandoned theme park I went a little crazy with excitement! Turns out it's more neglected than abandoned but no worries as Haw Par Villa is still complete and utter rad-ness, abandoned or not! A quick run down...Haw Par Villa was opened by the Tiger Balm brothers, Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par in 1937 back then they called it Tiger Balm gardens, it was eventually bought by the Singapore government in 1988 who re-named it, charged entrance fees and lost a whole lot of money! Fast forward today and according to locals it's not the place it once was, it's now free entry but because it's no longer receiving the same maintenance or love it gets the abandoned title.

Here's what I found... Ben and I rocked up on a Thursday when the gates opened at 9am, it was raining and apart from a few other peeps and some grounds keepers the place was deserted. Yay for us, we took off our shoes, jumped around in the puddles and went exploring this amazing place! Now when people say abandoned they don't usually say "opening hours" or "ground keepers" so to me this place was alive and pumping! An hour or so later, the rains had eased and there was a whole bunch of other people and tour guides. I'm sure it's quite a different place to when it first opened but I felt the peeling paint only added to the creepy charm! On another plus the train station is metres away so it's super easy for anyone to get there :)

So what is Haw Par Villa about, well firstly when you arrive you are instantly meet with huge structures, crazy details, colours and lots and lots of statues - I may have let out a little squeal of delight! As you start venturing around you start picking up on a creepy vibe - those whacky Tiger Balm bros thought it was a good idea to make a moral teaching Disneyland! (my words now their's :p) The park displays diorama's from Chinese mythology and seems to cover a lot of folklore tales. Ben is amazing and read all the accompanying signs and I just wandered and listen to Ben tell me the most interesting tales :)

You can see above the entrance to the famous "ten courts of hell" which I'd previously read, had been a boat ride with the whole outside structure in the shape of a dragon!!! Despite the lack of a dragon or boats, the ten courts of hell, is home to some serious messed up dioramas, when people talk about the whacky-ness of haw par and the appropriate-ness of this place for kids they are usually referring to all the little dioramas inside! I'm going to save all the little figurines for another post because I kind of went photo mad and even then I can't post all the pictures because some are seriously just too gruesome!

Happy tiger outside! Well happier than what's happening to all those little figurines inside :p

The lotus pond was my favourite!

I got giddy just looking at all the colours in the park!

Told you I was in love with that pond!

Me with the Tiger Balm Mascot and laughing Buddha!

This bit really was abandoned...sssh, I believe they used to have the shows here, back when the park charged an admission fee.

The park also plays homage to different countries, unfortunately I felt Australia's representation was the most boring, I swear the only part of the park not colourful :p

Playing in puddles :) Ben and I seem to often find ourselves on rainy holidays I've learnt to maintain the attitude that you can have just as much fun in the rain!

I wonder if this too was for the hungry ghosts?

What's behind the red door? Mmm, not much :p lol

Okay stay tuned for another Haw Par Post!

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