23.6.11: Kidzania Jakarta - Part 1

Early in the morning, we took a cab from the hotel to Pacific Place, the mall that Kidzania was located in.Aston Rasuna's management had selected White Horse Premium Cab to service their hotel customers. For return trip to the hotel, we were told by friends to only take Bluebird cabs for our safety.  Despite its name, White Horse Premium Cab were black in colour and started at 7500 rupiah whereas the Bluebird cab started at 6000 rupiah.

It was 8.15 am when we arrived at Pacific Place.  It was a large mall.  We had our bags scanned and checked at the entrance of the mall. Many adults and children were there already, making their way up to the 6th floor, where Kidzania was located. It was quite an interesting sight to see many people in the lift, at 8.15 am when the rest of the stores weren't opened yet. 

Kidzania is an interesting place and popular with the school children here. The kids get to role play and learn, all in one place. There's more than 100 types of activities to participate in here

We were greeted by the Air Asia fuselage. We bought our tickets in what looked like AirAsia check-in counters. Admission ticket: 155,000 rupiah (equivalent to RM55) per person.

Each of us, adults and children were affixed with a thick rubber tag on our wrists. It was a special device which could be sync to their computer system, to record activities completed. Each time the children completed an activity, they had to show their tag and the facilitator would touch a special instrument which looked like a pen to the round metal object on their wristband.  

Our tickets looked like an AirAsia boarding pass. Admission fee was 155,000 rupiah (equivalent to RM55) per person. Children 4 years old and above were charged the adult price. It was the school holiday season when we went there, hence, it was packed. Althought, my 3 year old was eligible for the cheaper rate, I was asked to pay the normal rate so that he can participate in more activities. 2 - 3 year olds are charged a cheaper rate but there's limited activities for them. Most of the activities start from 4 years onwards, and some from 7 years

The rates are cheaper during a non-school holiday. We were only allowed 5 hours there (9 am - 2 pm) as it was the school holidays and they split it into 2 sessions (morning from 9 am - 2 pm and afternoon session from 3 pm - 8 pm). Even if people come in later, they had had to leave by 2 pm. Normal hours are from 9 am - 4 pm. The best time to go is on a week day during a school day, as there would be less queue. We had to wait quite long for each activity as there were many children queing up, hence, less opportunity to try out other activities. 

We had to queue up until the door opened at 9 am. We were allowed in at 8.45 am. By then, there was already a large group waiting.

When we received the tickets, the boys were given a cheque each, which they had to cash out at the bank. They had to queue up and walk into the bank on their own. Adults are not allowed to enter.

This is what they got from the bank. Kidzania currency called Kidzos.

The first activity that the boys went for was being an AirAsia Pilot. The boys we brought upstairs in a small group, where they changed into pilot costumes.

Working as a pilot. Earned 5 kidzos (Kidzania currency).

After that, they went to the Kidzania Fire Department to work as firefighters. This is a popular activity. There was a long queue waiting there and my boys had to stand and wait 40 minutes there, for 2 groups to complete their activity first.

Attending a briefing at the fire station

The firefighters boarded the fire engine, which drove them to a building which was on fire.

They sprayed the building with real water. After that, they fire engine brought them back to the fire station. 

After completing that activity, they boys decided to sit a taxi. They had to call the taxi first to book it.

Left: Calling a taxi.     Right: Waiting for the taxi.

The taxi arrived after a few minutes of waiting and they boarded the taxi

After that, they went to work as construction workers. They were given a hard hat, vest and gloves and were briefed how to build a wall. 3 older girls were in the same group with my boys. It was interesting to see how the five of them worked together to build the wall. It was the boys' first introduction to teamwork. 

The completed wall, which was much taller than the boys and here the older kids took over.

We headed to the hospital to do medical check-up for the boys, in order to apply for a driving licence. E did not pass his height test (had to be above 100 cm) and thus, had to leave the hospital.

Making the driving licence - He was given a plastic card with his name and picture printed on it. Impressive! 

Entering the car wash

Filling in petrol. How interesting!

After that, we went to Level 2. There were various types of factories there: Tea factory, coffee factory, wafer factory, noodle factory, bottling water factory, etc. S chose to go to the chocolate factory. E fell asleep on the bench.

Left: Watching a video on how chocolate is made from cocoa seeds. 

Bottom right: Showing the children a cocoa seed.

Filling a jug with chocolate

Pouring chocolate into the mould. It was then kept in the refrigerator to harden it. 

When the chocolates have hardened,  the kids were given a piece each to be put inside a small plastic packet.

Sealing the packet. The chocolate was delicious! Too bad, it was just one piece.

After that activity, S decided to take a tour of the city while waiting for E to wake up from his nap. The tour costs 5 kidzos. 

Bottom left: A young girl 'working' as a tour guide aboard the tour bus.