Family Fun in Malaysia

September 2012 nang una kong nalaman sa isang kapwa mommy sa school ng anak ko na magbubukas na ang Hello Kitty Town sa Malaysia. Mula noon ay nagsimula na akong mag-reseach tungkol dito. Medyo at a loss ako nuong simula dahil wala pang masyadong tourist information at travellers’ reviews tungkol sa lugar na ito. Sa aking pagre-research, nalaman ko ring malapit lang ito sa Legoland. Kapwa sila nasa Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Para sa isang metikulosang byaherang gaya ko, tuwing may oras ay nagse-surf ako sa internet tungkol sa mga lugar na ito, at kung paano ang pinaka-convenient na pagpunta. Naghanap ako ng sagot sa mga tanong ko, tulad ng mas maigi bang via Singapore muna kami papunta sa Johor Bahru, o dapat via Kuala Lumpur ang kunin naming flight. Sa tulong ng aking yahoogroup, at mga sites tulad ng tripadvisor.com, unti-unting nagliliwanag ang mga plano. Sa madali’t sabi, naging interesting ang pag-usad ng aking research. Tinawagan ko na rin ang aking suking travel agency, ang Scorpio Travel and Tours sa Megaplaza sa Ortigas at nagpagawa ng quotation. Matapos ang email and phone correspondence namin ni Lyn ng nasabing travel agency, at matapos makuha ang opinion ng aking asawang si Romy, nagpa-book na ako at inanunsyo na sa aking 5 year old na chikiting na mamamasyal kami sa Malaysia. Dahil higit siyang nag-eenjoy sa mga previous travels naming pamilya kada taon, sobra siyang natuwa nang malamang aalis kaming muli. Day 1: We took the first flight ng Philippine Airlines papuntang Singapore. Pinili kong via Singapore ang rutang kukunin dahil mas mabilis ang byahe papuntang Johor Bahru mula dito. We arrived at the Changi Airport at half past nine. Travelling to Johor Bahru, Malaysia from Singapore was a breeze. Dalawang immigration o checkpoints ang dadaanan upang magpatatak ng passports. Wala pang alas-onse ng umaga ay nasa hotel na kami sa Malaysia. Dahil oras ng tanghalian, kailangan naming lumabas upang mag-lunch at magpapalit ng Malaysian Ringgit. Mabait naman ang staff sa hotel at itinawag kami ng taxi kahit wala pa kaming pambayad… I specified to her that the cab driver need to bring us first to a money changer para may maibayad kami sa taxi. One Malaysian Ringgit (RM) is equal to P13.00 and a few centavos. Dahil na rin sa limitadong choices sa napuntahan naming lugar, nag-order na lang kami ng Chicken Rice, Fresh Buko at Siopao. Maraming hainanese-style chicken stalls dito. At sa affordable na halaga ay mabubusog ka naman. Dahil free day ang unang araw, naisip naming pumunta na sa Hello Kitty Town. Ito ang information that I intentionally withheld from my daughter. My husband and I saw to it that we don’t mention anything about this place to Aliya until we’re already about to go. Kaya naman nang malaman niyang doon ang punta namin ng araw na iyon, she was super delighted! Ni hindi nga niya alam that there’s such a place… ang kilala lang niya ay Disneyland at Universal Studios, at ang sinabi lang naming papasyalan namin sa Malaysia ay ang Legoland. Kaya’t the thought of going to a place named Hello Kitty Town, hindi siya mapakali sa sobrang tuwa! Sa mga nakakaraang byahe namin abroad, laging may private coach transfer sa package na ina-avail namin going to and from the theme parks. But I realized that maybe this time, we can be more adventurous kung magko-commute lang kami. Malaking halaga rin ang natipid namin sa travel agency nang pinatanggal ko ang private coach inclusion. Subalit nang nag-aabang na kami ng cab pagkatapos naming mag-lunch papunta sa Hello Kitty Town, nakaramdam ako ng kaba… paano kung hindi kami magkaintindihan ng cab driver? Paano kung maligaw kami? Paano kung hindi mabuting driver ang mapili namin? May dumaang isang red cab sa harap namin. Sabi ko sa asawa ko, “Nakakatakot ang mukha. Wag ‘yan.” Pero ang isa pang dumaang taxi ay occupied na. We waited a little more, pero wala nang ibang dumadaang cabs. In short, napilitan kaming kunin ang cab na nakaparada a few meters away from us… yes, yung may “nakakatakot na mukha.” The whole trip, I was so nervous… paano ba naman ay napakalayo pala ng Hello Kitty Town sa hotel namin! Ni hindi nagsasalita ang driver at ni hindi namin alam kung tama ba itong tinatahak naming ruta. May mga nadadaanan kaming paunti-unting bahayan, mangilan-ngilang rows of stores, may dinaaanan pa kaming pagkahaba-haba-habang highway! I remember, sabi ng isa sa mga reviews na nabasa ko, wala daw talagang public transportation na dumadaan sa Hello Kitty Town. Kinabahan ako kung paano kami babalik sa hotel at the end of the day. Pero nang sa wakas ay nakakita na ako ng mga road signs na alam kong nabasa ko na sa aking pagre-research for the trip, mas nakahinga na ako ng maluwag… slight. To cut the long story, or should I say, the long cab drive short, nakarating din kami sa wakas a Puteri Harbour, kung saan naroon ang Hello Kitty Town. Umabot ng RM26.50 ang taxi meter namin. Nagbakasakali kami ng asawa ko at nag-request sa driver na balikan kami at 6PM. He nodded his head while drinking from his mineral water bottle, though at that point, we weren’t even sure if that meant yes. Hello Kitty Town, Little Big Club One thing nice about this place is that it’s indoors. Sa humid weather sa Malaysia, gugustuhin mo talagang magbabad sa isang mall na malakas ang airconditioning. As expected, punung-puno ng Hello Kitty stuff ang buong lugar. The ground floor houses the souvenir shop and the café. Sa first floor or sa upper ground ang Hello Kitty. Pagpasok pa lang namin, saktong may photo op na sina Hello Kitty at Dear Daniel. Dahil weekday ito, kaunti lang ang tao. Hindi tulad sa Disneyland na mauubos ang oras mo sa pila para makapagpa-picture kina Mickey at Minnie Mouse, we only waited less than a minute for our turn. The iconic Hello Kitty House is awesome. Parang bumalik ako sa pagkabata nang pumasok kami dito. Everything inside the house is Hello Kitty. Her dining table is something I’d want for my own home. The kitchen is to die for, the huge bath is so relaxing! Pero pinaka-paborito ko ay ang bedroom. Overload of cuteness talaga, pati ang closet niya! It was an advantage that we were there without the usual weekend crowd dahil nalibot namin ang Hello Kitty House nang hindi nagmamadali, at walang traffic sa picture taking sa bawat room. Pagkalabas sa Hello Kitty house, matatapuan ang Wishful Studio. Dito ay maaring mag-manicure ang little girls (much to my Aliya’s excitement), mag-paint ng Hello Kitty shaped cookies that you can eat after, mag-design ng bracelet that’s yours as a souvenir, mag-dress up in Sanrio costumes and magpa-picture. Ang highlight ng aming bisita dito ay ang Happy Carnival Parade. Maganda ang music at costumes ng mga dancers, pero overwhelming makita ang Sanrio characters! Uulitin ko, bumalik talaga ako sa pagkabata! Nakakatuwang makita nang live sina My Melody, yun nga lang ay wala sina Kiki at Lala ng Little Twin Stars. Sobra kong saya nang kunin nila palapit sa Purrrfect Stage ang mga kids, at makatabi’t makasayaw ni Aliya si My Melody. Sa sobrang saya niya, nahiya siyang ngumiti! Maliit lamang ang Hello Kitty Town, kaya’t my oras pa kaming umakyat sa second floor kung saan naroon ang Little Big Club. Ibang klase ang feeling na mapunta sa mga lugar na napapanood lang namin sa DVD… dahil nandito ang igloo ni Pingu, ang ballet studio ni Angelina Ballerina, ang workshop ni Bob the Builder, ang bahay at play yard ni Barney. Sa studio ni Angelina Ballerina, may mga pink tutus and mouse ears na maaring isuot for picture taking purposes. Sa third floor naman ay matatagpuan ang Thomas and Friends. May mga rides na bagay sa kids 3 yrs old to around 9 yrs old. Talagang nag-enjoy si Aliya dito. Isa pa, sinasanay din kasi namin siyang maging matapang sa mga rides and these basic rides are a good place to start. We bought a few stuff sa souvenir shop and waited, hoped and fervently prayed na sana, balikan kami nung driver na nasakyan namin kanina, kahit malayo ito at posibleng wala siyang pasahero papunta dito. Pero hala, we were outside before six and he wasn’t’ there yet. Medyo kinakabahan na kami dahil kung hindi siya babalik, iisang blue cab na lang ang naka-parada sa vicinity. I prayed to God that if our cab driver will indeed go back for us, let him come before another passenger gets this one and only remaining blue cab. By 6:10, we saw one red cab arriving… tiningnan ko agad ang plate number… siya nga! Binalikan nga niya kami! At ni hindi niya binaba ang metro, ni hindi niya kami kinontrata! Sobra talaga naming tuwa at pasalamat kami nang pasalamat sa kanya. Nagsimula lang ang metro nang makasakay na kami! Nagpahatid kami sa hotel and my husband had this brilliant idea to ask if he can pick us up again tomorrow for our Legoland Tour. Aba, pumayag nga at binigay pa ang pangalan at cellphone number niya! Sobra kaming convinced na provision talaga itong si Mr Rahmat ni God! Day 2: The next day, lolo Rahmat (as we dearly call him), was there at the hotel entrance to pick us up. Sabi ko talaga sa husband ko, blessing talaga itong taong ito. Ni hindi namin akalaing magkakaroon kami ng instant personal driver in a foreign land as this… plus point pa na hindi niya kami kinokontrata, hindi kami sinisingil on top of iyong presyong nasa metro at hindi humihingi ng tip! Legoland We got to Legoland at 10:30, around 20 minutes after leaving the hotel. Now this is another dream come true. Just a few months ago I was browsing the net for pictures and reviews about this themepark, and being here finally is wonderful. We came prepared for the hot weather – extra shirts, towels, umbrellas, sneakers, drinking water, wet wipes, fans. The rides were fun and talagang pambata. Hindi scary at all. Again, dahil we were here on a Friday, there wasn’t any crowd. Pinakamatagal na naming pagpila para sa aming turn sa rides is 5 minutes. Paborito ni Aliya ang Wave Racers, dahil added fun sa ride is that fact that we get wet. She also loved the Beetle Bounce. As Aliya put it while trying to stop laughing, “Parang kinikiliti ang tummy ko!” There are also rides na pwedeng mag-isa lang ang bata tulad ng sa Royal Joust at Junior Driving School. May nagtataasan at complicated na roller coaster rides din tulad ng Project X, but we opted not to try it. I guess pinakamalaking area ang occupied ng Miniland. Mga miniature models ng different parts of Asia na puro gawa sa Lego! Dito makikita ang Petronas Tower ng Kuala Lumpur, ang Merlion ng Singapore, ang Wat Arun ng Thailand, ang Taj Mahal sa India, Hoi An ng Vietnam, Angkor Wat ng Cambodia, at ang Bolinao Pangasinan ng Pilipinas. It’s amazing looking at all these works of art. Nakakamanghang isipin na may mga Lego artists na matyagang kinopya ang tunay na itsura ng mga lugar na ito at ginawan ng mini versions all made of Lego! Dahil sa init ng panahon at laki ng lugar, the big lunch we had was well-deserved. The watermelon fruit cup that came with the combo meal was delicious. All the staff were also very friendly and accommodating. Because we still had time, though we hadn’t tried all the rides yet and entered all the attractions particularly the 4d shows, Aliya wanted to go back for the Wave Racers. All in all, she rode it 4 times. The Legoland experience won’t be enough without buying a few souvenirs. Dahil there’s a bit of walking from Legoland through Mall of Medini para makarating sa loading/unloading area, I was praying the whole time habang ako ay naglalakad na sana, babalik nga si Mr. Rahmat. Though part of me was confident he’d be there. Indeed, he was already there, happily chatting with the other drivers! Again, we profusely thanked him and gave him a tip for being an unexpected blessing. He brought us to City Square Mall. We again thanked him and said we’re happy to have met him. As he drove away, teary-eyed talaga ako habang palayo na ang minamaneho niyang cab. We prayed for him habang palayo na siya, including his family, his job and his health. Actually, up to now I still say short prayers for him. In a nutshell, our Malaysia trip was fun-filled and exciting. Aliya’s smile and laughter were priceless, the bonding we had as a family was precious. The memories linger long after we’ve travelled back to Singapore, and back to the Philippines two days after. ***