Christy @ Kidsrsimple, Author at Kids 'R' Simple

Holding It Together as a FTWM of 3 Kids Without A Maid

To be honest, I was scared counting down to maidless days. After enjoying life without the endless house chores, the thought of going back to doing them worried me. It is not so much as in whether I will be able to cope, it is more about losing the quality time with the kids, if I will step into the house after work with a foul mood seeing a messy house and stepping on oily, sticky floors. I had been through that phase and it was not something I wish to reminisce about. I remember that each time when I came home from work, as I stood at the doorway and looked into the house, my mind is full of frustrations and naggings about school shoes strewn about, toys littered around, beds unmade, pyjamas on the sofa, etc. And the next thing was me picking up toys with my handbag still on my shoulder, and kneeling down to mop the floor in my work clothes. I needed to tidy up the house in a jiffy in order to feel good for the evening. Hence, the kids got the worst of me and it was nothing proud at all.

Actually those days were only 3 years ago before I decided to employ a helper. I had then changed job and work took up much of my time. With an extra pair of hands, I was able to concentrate on work and was happy that I could play with the kids after work, free of house chores. Having a helper also means that I could have my couple nights out or girlfriends nights out in peace. I could sneak out for late night supper with my hub. I freed my caregiver who is my Father-in-law from cooking as well. He was able to relax with his grandchildren instead of making time for cooking chores. In the crucial year of PSLE this year, my helper was a great help to ensure that my revision with Missy was efficient. With her around, I did not have to worry about other distractions and house chores. All was good till my helper decided to get married and ended her contract with us and we decided not to employ another one.

Why do I insist on Not Hiring Another Helper?

You would have asked me why I did not hire another helper. The main reason is a request from Missy. She asked not to have a new helper simply because she does not want to attach feelings to another helper and be disappointed and sad when she leaves. She also insisted that she will be able to help out in the house. I debated for a long time with myself and my hub about giving what Missy wants versus what I WANT. I know that with a helper, everyone has more of my time and I need not slog on my leisure hours. But I had to give Missy a chance to show that she is capable of helping out. Besides, it is time that the kids learn responsibility and independence without help. Weighing the pros and cons, the cons of not hiring a helper actually outnumbered the pros. Still, we bite the bullet and go maidless.

Weeding Out Bad Habits From the Kids

For those with helpers will know that whenever the helper goes out on her off day, the house will be messy in less than an hour. Cups piled up in the sink, toys and books all over and floors got dirtier faster too. We will know that these will miraculously be tidied and cleaned by night time and nobody bothers to even wash a cup. Hence, on the first few days after my helper left, my house is in complete mess. How things operate in the house have to change, so I thought it is time to start educating the kids. Here are some basic things that we want the kids to chip in to help and learn a thing or two.

Ensure pyjamas and home clothes are worn at least twice before they go into the laundry basket. I have madness trying to clear the house loads everyday!
The kids help to fold the clothes and put back into their wardrobe. Even simple things like folding clothes can learn a trick or two. I am happy to teach them how to fold it nicely and straighten out creases such that ironing is not needed for clothes worn at home. This is also for them to see how many sets of clothes they conveniently throw into the laundry basket and with the repercussions of this act happen to be more washing, drying, folding and keeping.
The kids have to wipe all traces of crumbs and spills. It helps that my youngest spilled some honey water near our bedroom door and everyone saw that the ants infested the sleeping area because the spills were not wiped thoroughly. This also reinforced to them the long nagged rule on no food and drinks in the bedroom.
The kids have a chance to learn how to iron their own clothes. Their grandma came by and she had a fun time teaching them how to iron and the kids were all impressed by my mum’s efficient and time-saving method of ironing clothes.
The kids learn how to hand-wash clothes. It may seem common sense to us adults, but if the kids had never done a chore, they may not know where to start and how to do it the right way.
The kids have to make their own beds every morning and hang their pyjamas in the right places.
The hanging of towels has long been a persistent nagging item, hence now, I bring out hangers and designate a place for them to hang.
Toilet manners – being considerate for the next person who uses the toilet. The kids were taught to lift up the toilet seat before or after use depending on the who is using. This prevents ammonia from filling the toilet with pee on the seats and such.
Cooking – the kids gain many opportunities to learn cooking from me. Such life skills are better taught to the kids than to the helper.

There are more bad habits that I am trying to discover and correcting them one by one now that I can see the consequences so clearly.

Seeing the Difference in the Kids

The helper could not have left at a better time. Right now is the school holidays and all the 3 kids have many chances to hone their house chore skills. There are many times I was pleasantly surprised by their good gestures to keep the house clean.

One day when I came home from work, I saw that the floor was sparkling clean. All the shoes were neatly placed, toys were kept properly and my youngest pulled my hand excitedly to bring me to his room. On the cupboard beside his bed was a set of pyjamas neatly hanged onto the hanger. He was so proud of it and went on to show me his bed which he made his bed with blankets folded nicely too. Guess who initiated the clean up? It was none other than Missy. I think she does a better job in delegating house chores to her 2 younger brothers than I do! No wonder they say that having a girl as the eldest child is the best!

On another day, Missy saw that I was very tired and still had to wash some dishes in the sink. The moment I stepped out of the kitchen to do some other chores, I heard her wash the dishes without any prompting. It was a simple gesture, but it warmed my heart very much. If we still had a helper, I will not see this thoughtful side of her.

I know that the kids are showing their love in one way or another through helping out in the house. It warmed my heart and I am really blessed to have these children. Before my helper left, I wanted to draft a time-table for them on designating house chores. I never got around to working out this time-table. Surprisingly, it is still working fine in our house. Half the time I need any help, all I have to do is to assign and one kid or another will come helping. Of course the other half of the time falls to deaf ears especially when they are playing or engaging in some activities or if they say “Later”, I will still end up doing it because it is so much easier and faster to do them myself. Nevertheless, with 3 extra pairs of hands, most of the time, the house chores can be done in 1/3 of the time!

Holding It Together as a FTWM

So, as far as it goes, things are still working out fine without a helper. I have also constantly reminded myself not to lose my cool or get into a bad mood over house chores. I consciously kept calm and tell myself that it is alright to have a dirty and untidy house. I start to get use to it by taking everything slowly and portion out the things I want to do, like packing the shelves or cleaning a room one day at a time. The last thing I want to do is to spoil everybody’s mood or sacrifice bonding time because I want everything to be neat and clean and perfect.

I admit that at times, I feel tired trying to hold everything together.

Dealing with house chores can really get on one’s nerves because the chores are never-ending and the satisfaction of clearing them does not last more than 1 day. Everyday is a new day and it also means that a refreshed set of house chores are waiting to be done!

For a full time working mum, it is not easy to stop all stress and fatigue at the door and turn on smiles and happy mood into the house at the end of a work day. The house chores have to be managed on top of managing the kids, dealing with tantrums, educating little ones and still leave time for play and bonding. I always say workplace should value mums because if they can multi-task so well in the house, they can definitely do a good job at work.

I am still fine-tuning how to change my mindset on the threshhold of cleanliness and not let house chores take up my time with the kids. I can feel the stress and fatigue affecting my interaction with people too. Plus the lack of sleep and working late nights that make me function a little off balance. I lost my cool with the kids a couple of times. I find myself offending many people around me with tactless statements that mean no harm. I am trying to hold everything together in the house as well as social life, work life and family life. I am not a superwoman, just a normal person juggling many balls on hand and trying to find a good balance.

I may not have a clean home, but I certainly treasure a happy home. Now that I see the kids are learning responsibility, independence and thoughtfulness to others, I think we made a right decision to go maidless and I hope that we can do this in the long run together.

Active Slim Program – 5 Tips to Reduce Weight and Maintain It!

I hope you have been following my slimming journey with Halley Medical Aesthetics. If not, you can scroll to the bottom of this post to read all the posts on CoolSculpting and Active Slim Program which has helped me to sculpt slimmer thighs, reduce weight and get back my confidence.

Active Slim Program provides nutritional counseling and adds on meal replacement for healthy weight loss. I learnt the right ways to cut down my excessive weight to a healthy BMI, all thanks to Jean Tong, my nutritionist at Halley Medical Aesthetic.

So far my statistics have been satisfying. From the first visit to the last, below are some encouraging numbers, nothing drastic but steady and healthy numbers:

● Weight – reduce by 3kg over 6 months (without medication)
● Muscle weight – increase by 0.8%
● Body Fat – reduce by 3%
● Waistline – reduce 7cm

One may expect that weight loss is the obvious indicator of slimming success, but it would be more accurate to take in the holistic numbers like muscle weight, body fat and final BMI. In fact, from Active Slim program, my waistline actually decreases by a whopping 7cm, which I think is really amazing! I am happy that muscle weight has increased, body fat has decreased and hence I am not so bothered about my final weight. The truth is that my target weight falls short of 1 kg. However, 4 months after the program has ended, I am still able to maintain my weight 4 months ago, and I think this is an incredible feat to celebrate about!

Below are the ways that I want to share with everyone how I managed to reduce weight and most importantly, maintain the healthy weight!

1. Meal Planning

Here is how my typical day meals look like. This helps me to achieve a healthy diet of 10 CHO (Carbohydrate Exchange).

Breakfast at 730am: Half a cup of low-fat milk (I used to take Milo but it is high in sugar level compared to Low fat milk), 1 slice of wholemeal bread with cheese (no sugar-added jam)

Lunch at 12pm: Salad with 2 tbsp Quinoa with palm-sized chicken breast meat and bacon bits with 1 tbsp Yuzu Soya sauce at least twice a week, plus an Apple.

Mid-afternoon snack: one cup of red date with wolfberries drink or a cup of low-fat yogurt or a serving of fruit

Dinner at 7pm: 3 tbsp of mixed brown with white rice, one serving of stir fried vegetable, one palm size of stir fried or steamed fish, 1 palm size of steamed egg, 1 serving of orange or watermelon.

The above helps me to achieve the needed nutrients in a day. Choosing a healthy mid-afternoon snack is good to ensure that I am not too hungry to eat more than what I need for dinner.

For days that I do not take salad and choose to eat out with my colleagues, I will ensure that I walk more that day or cut down calorie snack for mid-afternoon snack.

2. Taking care not to take empty calories and it is OK to indulge in SINFUL Foods once in a while!

Jean told me that we should avoid empty calorie food such as desserts, sweets, food that has no nutritional value. However, in order to be able to sustain on the weight loss journey, it is also alright that we indulge in our favourite but sinful foods once in a while. It does not have to be a strictly boring diet. Sometimes, due to social reasons, it is perfectly alright to eat out of the normal meal foods.

3. Reading Labels

Do you know how to read labels and beware of how marketing tactics can mislead consumers?
Some food for thought:

Zero fat = healthy? Not really if it is high in sugar.

Trans fat free = healthy? Not really, one serving of the food can contain up to 0.5 grams of trans fat, according to the law, and still be labeled trans-fat-free. In fact, there are healthy fats such as canola oil and olive oil, which taken in moderation, do no harm to our health.

Cholesterol = fats? NO, cholesterol is not a type of fats. There is good and bad cholesterol. Don’t be misled by labels that say Cholesterol free! In fact, we should aim to eat foods that provides high HDL (High-density Lipoproteins) cholesterol to get rid of bad cholesterol and reduce risk of heart disease. Foods with high HDL cholesterol includes fatty fish, olive oil, beans, whole grains, flax, nuts, chia seeds, avocado, soy-based products. We should take more of these!!

When you read labels, you should be comparing against the 100ml nutritional list instead of a per serving list. The highest composition will top the list. Hence, if you see sugar high on the list, it means that the product contains high sugar level.

Beware of different names that mean sugar, for example, fructose, dextrose, lactose, maltose, brown sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup solids, galactose, carbitol, etc etc etc… 100 over names to represent sugar!

Try choosing the healthier choice labels, it helps in your decision to consume a healthier option. Take note that it doesn’t mean that the product is healthy, but rather it means that it is a healthier choice compared to another brand that does not carry the label. So, you can even see the label on ice-cream! It does not mean that ice-cream is healthy, but it may mean that this product contains a smaller percentage of unhealthy ingredients compared to another brand.

4. Exercise

We can’t avoid exercising when it comes to nutrition and healthy eating. We need to ensure that we have Calories Out after we consume Calories In! Otherwise all In and no Out, in no time, we will be growing in size! A rule of thumb is 150min of high intensity exercise level per week. I know, I know this is difficult. Well, we need to start somewhere. Perhaps start by brisk walking 2-3 times a week, add on swimming or light jogging. Certainly, it beats NOT EXERCISING at all, isn’t it?

5. Cut Down on Snacking

I find that removing unhealthy snacks from my work desk is very useful. No biscuits, no crackers, no titbits. There are no distractions for me to munch unnecessarily. I keep healthy snacks like fruits and low fat yogurt in my office. I drink plain water when I am thirsty. I try not to think of drinking coffee, milk tea or hot chocolate. If I really want to, I will add less or zero sugar to the tea or coffee. Such intentional lifestyle habits help in maintaining my weight.

So far, the above tips have served me very well. Occasionally, I gain 1 or 2 kg after an overseas trip. But as long as I keep to what Jean has taught me in the Active Slim Program, I am able to return to my weight quickly. I really benefited lots from this educational program. It helps me to be self-sustained in eating healthily, and even planning healthy meals for the family. I am glad that from now on, I have this blog post to show whoever wants to slim down the healthy way.

Thank you, Halley Medical Aesthetic, for the wonderful slimming journey and the chance to gain back my confidence in carrying myself!

Join me on my CoolSculpting Journey with the below posts!
1) Achieving Slimmer Thighs With CoolSculpting at Halley Medical Aesthetics
2) My CoolSculpting Journey – What to Expect on Day of Treatment at Halley Medical Aesthetics
3) Active Slim Program – Losing Weight by Nutritional Counseling at Halley Medical Aesthetics
4) My CoolSculpting Results of My Thighs

More information:
If you are interested in the Active Slim programme, please click here.
Price of Active Slim Programme – $800
Price of a box of Optifast of 7 sachets – $18.50

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The Sound of Music Musical in Singapore

The Hills Are Alive, With The Sound of Music…. what a genius piece of work from Richard Rogers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (lyrics) which captures the hearts of young and old for decades! In fact, all the songs are amazingly touching! Remember Do-Re-Me, Edelweiss, Sixteen Going On Seventeen, So Long- Farewell? Now, to introduce your kids to Musicals, perhaps SOUND OF MUSIC is a good first step because the songs are catchy, cheerful and the 7 children of the von Trapp family are so endearing!

The Hills Are Alive, With The Sound of Music…. what a genius piece of work from Richard Rogers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (lyrics) which captures the hearts of young and old for decades! In fact, all the songs are amazingly touching! Remember Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss, Sixteen Going On Seventeen, So Long- Farewell? Now, to introduce your kids to Musicals, perhaps THE SOUND OF MUSIC is a good first step because the songs are catchy, cheerful and the 7 children of the von Trapp family are so endearing!

We watched the movie some months ago and I must say it helps a lot with the understanding of the musical for the kids. The movie is a much longer version (about 3 hours) compared to the musical which played for 2.5 hours including intermission. Rest assured the kids will not get restless because every scene holds onto the attention of the audience as they anticipate the next familiar song to sing along.

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?

If you do not already know the story of the von Trapp family and Maria, the main character, as the governess, I shall briefly introduce here (extraction from wiki and official press release):

The story is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, a true story with altered details for the musical and movie. Maria takes a job as governess to a large family while she decides whether to become a nun. She falls in love with the 7 children, and eventually their widowed father, Captain von Trapp. He is ordered to accept a commission in the German navy, but he opposes the Nazis. He and Maria decide on a plan to flee Austria with the children as tensions rise before the outbreak of World War II.

With its unforgettable score, THE SOUND OF MUSIC touches the hearts of all ages and contains some of the most memorable songs ever performed on the musical theatre stage including My Favourite Things, Do-Re- Mi, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, Edelweiss, The Lonely Goatherd, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, and of course the glorious title song The Sound of Music.

The original 1959 Broadway production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and was

Rogers and Hammerstein’s biggest success. The 1965 movie starring Julie Andrews as Maria won five Oscars, including Best Picture, and remains one of the most popular movies of all time.

SINGAPORE YOUNG ACTORS AND ACTRESSES

It is interesting to know that 6 out of 7 von Trapp children are young actors and actresses from Singapore, with 3 children to alternate each character. These 18 children come from all corners of Singapore and will perform in rotation throughout the season as the small and cute Gretl, the brothers Friedrich and Kurt, as well as their sisters Marta, Brigitta, and Louisa.

We enjoyed the beautiful stage props which my kids were in awe at the automatic appearance of the tables and chairs which stopped in precise locations. The voices of Maria, the nuns, the children, Captain von Trapp are powerful and an enjoyment to close your eyes for a moment to let the notes sink into your eardrums. While I was watching, I love to pay attention to the standing positions of the actors and actresses. I pointed out to the older kids on the details of the stage performance, including the synchronised steps, looks, speeches with precised timing. It is often with such attention to details that make a performance beautiful and flowing.

We totally love the musical and encourage to let your kids watch the movie before heading to the musical. It is a good start for appreciation of the performing arts for the whole family with such a timeless classic musical.

Sound of Music is currently showing at Mastercards Theatres at Marina Bay Sands till 3 December 2017. It will be a good holiday family activity to look forward to.

More information as follows:

When: 7 November to 3 December

Performance Times: Tues – Fri 730pm; Sat 2pm & 730pm; Sun 1pm & 6pm

Ticket Price: From $65 (Excludes the booking fee of SGD$4 per ticket)

Bookings:

INTERNET: www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing or www.sistic.com.sg

PHONE: +65 6688 8826

IN PERSON AT:

Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1

Lobby).

For more information please log onto – www.MarinaBaySands.com

Disclaimer: We were invited to the musical for the purpose of this review. Thank you Base Entertainment Asia and Sliding Doors Entertainment for the kind invitation. It was certainly 2 thumbs-up for this wonderful musical. I am sure the story will leave a good lasting impression on the kids 🙂

Ending October 2017 with …

It has been a quick 9 months since the start of our preparation and now it is awaiting the fruits of labour. Ask me what my thoughts are. I would say having no expectation on the results is keeping our family cool and calm about the whole PSLE thing. In fact, I have totally no idea what Missy will fare. I am only happy that she has done her best and improves by a great leap in her academic understanding. So, what’s next will be carefully choosing a school that is suitable for her. A school that will leave good memories to grow and learn happily.

It has been a while since I updated what was going on with us. PSLE of course, what else ya? So very happy that PSLE is finally over!! YEAH!!!

On Post-PSLE…

Choosing a Secondary School at this point is hard as we have no idea on what cut-off point to filter. So, focusing on niche CCA, interest, location, subjects and even Mission statement seem to be the practical thing to do for now.

Life after PSLE has been a relax one for Missy and me. So relax that I hardly focus on Master 10’s revision. I am happy that he was quite independent in his revision while I was away for business trip for 2 weeks. It will be good to leave the responsibility of revision in his own hands with minimal help from me. I am looking forward to see how his solo efforts will work out. It will be an insight into how attentive he is in class. You’ll bet that I will be similarly cool about Master 10’s academic and certainly continue our NO TUITION route. If it works out for Missy, it will work out for every of our children 🙂

Someone new in my company had asked me how did I do it with my insistence on the NO TUITION route since almost everyone around us are sending their kids to tuition. So, I answered her with the below:

No Expectations on marks (even if exam results are in the 50s range)

Believe in raising HAPPY kids

These 2 mottos will guide me through raising our kids happily and having laughters and smiles in our house 🙂

On Away from Kids…

This is my 2nd business trip this year and longest so far. It is still hard for me to leave the kids with their unhappy faces and cries. It made me weep secretly too. I am that emotional. I made it a point to leave after the PSLE Science paper even if it meant to travel solo to a country I have never been to which otherwise I would have company. We celebrated with me waiting outside school and bringing Missy to Mac Donald’s for breakfast. After that, we went home to bake her favourite New York Cheesecake. We went for a Teppanyaki lunch together with the Dad and Master 10 before a Mummy-Daughter shopping trip. We went back home for dinner, cut the Cheesecake before I leave for the 2-week travel. Missy still had her last Higher Chinese paper the next day. I need not have to worry about her needing my help in that. She is probably better than me in answering complicated Comprehension questions. Furthermore, it is not such a core subject and I am just glad that it did not need to compete for attention.

We are left with 1 last paper HCL tomorrow but our celebrations start today! Hurray!! PSLE is … quite OVER! Haha! First thing Missy asked to celebrate is to bake her favourite cheesecake. I am stoked by their love for my cheesecake ❤ We are going for a special lunch too and ending with a short shopping trip! Missy decided that she had studied enough for HCL paper and I think she is gonna hoard the TV tonight. As long as she is confident, I let her decide: revise or not 🙂 I don’t know what results she is gonna get. But I am already rewarding her for her terrific attitude and hard work put in for the past 9 months. You deserve your celebrations my dear! Come what may, we know you have done your best and let’s look forward to the next stage of growing up, forging friendships and learning fun! 🍦🍸🎈🎊 #kidsrsimple #kidsrsimplepsle #notuition #laidbackmum #psle #psleisover #sgmum

A post shared by Kids R Simple (@kidsrsimple) on Oct 2, 2017 at 10:02pm PDT

I guess the difference between a Mum’s biz travel and a Dad’s biz travel is that the Mum is expected to face-call daily no matter if she is attending to business halfway or shopping at outlets. I enjoy seeing their happy faces or even crying faces in the background. I felt closer to home and felt at ease knowing that they were fine at home. Still, boys and girls behave differently. My girl was all excited to talk to me while my elder son was cool about it and showed no expression. Maybe it was better for him not to see my face so as to freeze whatever mixed emotions he had. The youngest one was still a bit confused about the number of nights he had to sleep before I was home. Very sweet of them to send night kisses and voice recordings to me. The longer I stayed overseas, the longing for home got stronger. I guess 2 biz trips in a year is enough for me.

Another difference is that Mum will have to plan everything in advance before her trip to ensure things run smoothly at home. That includes writing out a time-table on what time each kid comes back from school, what events happen at what dates, planning on marketing allowance, piano fees, bills to pay in advance, to planning playdates and informing other parents to contact the spouse for special events pick-up and arrangement. Whoa! These are things that the Dad will not know or pay attention to details. I need to ensure minimal disruption to compensate for my absence. Things still need to run at clockwork at home.

On family ties…

A friend of mine shared with me that the family will meet up at the grandparents house every Saturday. The cousins will be there too. Her daughter told me excitedly that she never misses the weekly gathering because it is so much fun to play, chat and catch up with the cousins. Another friend also shared with me that she will meet up with the siblings at the parents’ house even though each of them are married with kids. The only time any of them is absent will be because he or she is out for business trip. How lucky these families are!

While my family meets up with the grandparents and cousins frequently, we do not designate a weekly gathering. It is usually impromptu, or for celebrations. I really wish to plan out a fixed weekend to gather and bond. It may take some conscious coordination since almost all kids have weekend commitments to attend to. But I am sure we can work out something! It is never too late to start one.

On myself…

After PSLE is over, I am dreading what comes next. I will be helperless in November! It has been 3 years of quality time at home and now that I will be back to doing house chores, it will be challenging for me not to let a messy and dirty house affect my mood when I come home from work. That is the biggest challenge. I will certainly update on my blog on these challenges and how we are coping. Wish us luck!!!

So, I am ending October with a happy shout that… PSLE IS FINALLY OVER!!! Back to many relax evenings free of revision and more bonding time with the kids!!! YEAH!!!!

How did your October go?

Legoland Malaysia – 5th Brick-Versary + Water Theme Park Review

Do you know that Legoland Malaysia is celebrating 5th birthday this September? It means that it has been providing lots of fun opportunities for Singaporean families to enjoy a short getaway across the causeway for 5 years already! Time really flies! Each time we visit Legoland, we have a different experience mainly due to the fact that the kids grow up and progress to different kind of activities and also Legoland Malaysia adds new attractions now and then! So here we are again, to celebrate the 5th Brick-Versary and I hope you will enjoy as much as we did!

The line up of events of the 5th Brick-Versary starts from 21 Aug to 30 Sep. Here is the show guide:

Once you enter Legoland Malaysia Theme Park Entrance, you will be given a Brick-Versary Goodies Coupon to scratch and win for each admission ticket. You may get to win LEGO sets, annual passes, LEGO Minfigures. If you are really lucky, you may win the top prize which is an all-expense paid trip to Legoland Japan for the family. Do look out for the below activities too!

• Jumbo Minifigure Trade – Go on a Jumbo Minifigure Trading craze with 1,000 kinds of Minifigures and
challenge your kids to see who can collect the most Minifigures from the park’s Trading Hut
• Giant LEGO® Birthday Cake – Who can take the best iconic shot of themselves with a Giant LEGO®
Birthday cake made up of 150,000 LEGO® bricks?
• Fifth Brick-versary’s Edition DUPLO® Bricks – Are you a true blue LEGO® fan? Find out more about the
activities that lets you win one of the fan favourite limited edition DUPLO® bricks
• Brickdance by 12 LEGO® costume characters – Mums, dads, boys and girls, get ready for a dance
showdown. Battle it out with the adorable LEGO® costumers.

This is the first time we tried to cover 2 parks in one day and also the first time we visited the Water Park. We spent a good half of the day at Water Park first and head on over to the Theme Park in the late afternoon. It started off with a cool breezy day and we tried to cover all the Water Park attractions before the heavy dark clouds loomed over us and poured. We managed to cover almost all the attractions before the rain caught us in time for our late lunch.

BUILD-A-RAFT RIVER

The moment we got changed into our swim wear and put our belongings in the locker, which we paid MYR40 for a big locker, we were undecided which ride to hit for a start. In the end, we decided to do a rest and relax activity before getting our adrenaline high with the rides. Build-A-Raft River, here we come!

Legoland structure — There were many LEGO structures everywhere in the park as well as lifeguards who kept watch on the park goers.

You can build with huge colourful Duplo blocks while floating on the river!

JOKER SOAKER

No kids will miss out this interactive playground with a bucket of 300 gallons of water splashing down on them. There are slides suitable for the little ones and more challenging slides for the older kids and adults. Most little kids can stay here for hours. Our youngest did not want to leave until we encouraged him to join all of us at the rides.

RED RUSH (Minimum height 102cm)

Everything doubles the fun when you play with fun company. We were happy to have the company of the kids’ cousins to join us for the rides. We headed on to RED RUSH, which is suitable for 6 people to sit in a doughnut float. It was the first time my youngest sat on such a ride. We were happy that he had crossed the minimum height to take the ride. He was initially afraid, but seeing that his same age cousin would be accompanying him to take the ride, he put on a brave front so as not to lose out to a girl, LOL! In the end, it was so fun that we took the ride a few more times!

SPLASH N SWIRL (Minimum height 107cm) and Brick Blaster (Minimum height 107cm)

These 2 rides are side by side. Splash and Swirl can allow 1 or 2 people to take the ride. It goes through a swirling and splashing a few rounds depending on how heavy you are before entering an exciting tunnel. I took it with my No.2 and we swirled 3 rounds before I wondered if we were going to swirl there forever and then we were brought into the entrance of the tunnel eventually. It was really fun and No.2 went again on his own.

Brick Blaster could take up to 3 people. It swings and sways in the tunnel. My hub took it with our youngest.

LEGO SLIDE RACERS (Minimum height 107cm)

To me, this must be the most exciting ride! You take a mat and slide into a tunnel which make several turns before exiting into a plunge down the steep slides. Not only that, we were able to race together in 5. The heaviest of all will emerge first. The only hard part is to climb up the many steps to take this ride but it is worth the effort!

Then it started to rain when we climbed up the steps for a 3rd time. The lifeguards and staff blew whistle to signal everyone to take shelter. It was also a cue for us to take a break. While the elder kids were having fun playing on some of the exciting rides, the younger ones were busy building their boats nearby! They could put their boats to the test and challenge each other on whose boat can travel faster.

LEGO WAVE POOL

When the rain got really big, everyone headed to the lunch area at Beach Grill in front of the LEGO Wave Pool. There was a free screening of Ninjago movie at the Wave Pool. All the kids were kept occupied by the movie while the adults ordered lunch. The rain soon stopped and the kids jumped into the Wave Pool.

After lunch, we bathed and wanted to go over to the Legoland Theme Park next door. Unfortunately, it started to really pour heavily and we were stranded at the entrance of Water Park. We bought a Poncho and the kids’ uncle braved the rain in the poncho to bring some umbrellas from our cars parked at Somerset Medini Apartment. That’s when the rain subsided and we made our way to the Theme Park with our umbrellas. I am pretty sure, to the kids, walking in the rain was one of the highlights of our visit that day.

LEGOLAND THEME PARK

We had 2 hours left to play at this Theme Park. So, we chose the most popular attractions. Due to the rain, most of the attractions had no queue and we were able to enjoy multiple rides in such a short time.

But before we started for the rides, we must take this photo for a memory keepsake in this special 5th Brick-Versary celebration!

LEGO NINJAGO THE RIDE

We started with LEGO Ninjago The Ride. This was our first time at this attraction. We were not too sure what we were in for. We just knew all of us could play including the youngest. For those of you who had tried this ride before, it is a battle of who is the best Ninja in throwing out fireballs, lightning strikes, shockwaves and ice. It is kinda interesting as each ride transports maximum of 4 people and we had to use our hands in parallel movements above the sensors in front of us to throw out elements to kill the Great Devourer. There was a score board in front of us. We were able to compare our scores at the end of the ride. Amazingly, all the younger kids could do better than the older kids and adults!

LOST KINGDOM ADVENTURE (Minimum height 80cm, 2yo)

This is a shooting hunt ride and it is suitable for families. Nothing too complicated. Just take out the gun, aim at the green lights and pull the trigger. It looks easy but not so when you need precision to take aim at the targets.

THE DRAGON APPRENTICE (Minimum height 100cm, 4yo) and THE DRAGON (Minimum height 100cm, 6yo)

This was also the first time No. 3 rode on a roller coaster. I was initially worried about whether he could take it. I really need not be. He loved it! This really made it easier for us to bring him to try out more adventurous rides in the future. Now, we just need to wait for him to grow up to meet the ride requirements to get on the challenging ones! I am happy that Legoland is designed with little ones in mind as The Dragon Apprentice is catered for them while The Dragon caters for the older kids and adults.

MINILAND

These Minilands and structures are simply amazingly built to life! Some have interactive buttons to spurt water and make sounds.

We ended our trip with our family photo at the same old spot at the beautiful Castle Stage. Look how we have changed and how the kids have grown up with each photo!

Before we left for dinner with the grandparents, we managed to catch the Awesome Parade for the 5th Brick-Versary celebrations.

We were very lucky that despite the rain, we were able to maximise our visit to the 2 parks. Legoland Malaysia, we will certainly be back! You have already become a memorable and favourite place for our family, especially when we have witnessed how Legoland Malaysia has been a part of our kids’ growing up years!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, LEGOLAND MALAYSIA! May you always be as AWESOME a place for all of us as ever!

More information:
Park Opening Hours –
Water Park – 10am to 6pm daily
Theme Park – 10am to 6pm (Mon – Thurs), 10am to 7pm (Fri – Sun)
Do check here for ride closure and maintenance schedule before you book your tickets over here.

Disclaimer: We were invited to celebrate Legoland 5th Brick-Versary. Thank you Legoland Malaysia and the organisers for the awesome fun we have together.