2.3.12 - First visit to Kidzania Kuala Lumpur

We visited Kidzania Kuala Lumpur during its opening week. There was a promotion for a group visit - buy 1 ticket at RM35, free 1 adult ticket. I bought 2 tickets and got 2 adult tickets free. It was a Friday and the whole place was dominated by 3 homeschooling groups. There weren't as much crowd as the weekends. Now, having been to Kidzania Jakarta, our first experience at Kidzania Kuala Lumpur was a tad disappointing.    

The boys with their huge tags. It's larger than a watch. 

At the entry point, each child received a cheque for 50 kidzos which they could exchange for cash at the  CIMB Bank. 

The boys with their cash

Now, they had to go to work, to earn kidzos, which they could use to buy things. We headed straight for the Fire Department. They kids attended a super long briefing (more than 30 minutes) and later put on their firefighter uniform and cap. I didn't like it that the Kidzania photographer kept stepping in front of me (several times), as I was about to take pictures of my boys. I gave up taking pictures and let them take it. It was to be sold to me later on for a hefty sum of RM20 per piece or RM50 for 3 pieces. Then they were taught to do some stretching exercises (Err, what's the purpose of that?).

Just as I thought they were going to go onto the fire truck, the kids were asked to sit down and were taught how to use a  can fire extinguisher instead. 

How disappointed we were when the kids didn't get up to go onto the fire truck. When I asked why, the zupervisor said that not every batch got to go on the fire truck -- only when there's an emergency call. In Kidzania Jakarta, each batch of children had the opportunity to get on the fire truck and put out the fire.  

After that, we went to the AirAsia pilot training centre. Another disappointment - they didn't give the kids any uniform, because they claimed they had insufficient (only 3 pieces). And they didn't allow parents to step in to take photos. 

Over in Kidzania Jakarta, parents were told to wait downstairs but we could see what was happening on the video screen downstairs. Then after the kids were wearing their uniform and cap, the zupervisors would call the parents to go up upstairs to take pictures of their children in the "cockpit". Over in KL, they have many dedicated photographers stationed at various establishments to take their pictures, and sell it back to us.

See the pilot's uniform and cap used in Kidzania Jakarta? It's really smart looking. Why can't they have this uniform in KL?  

After that, thinking that S would be allowed drive a car, we went to the car area, only to be told that he didn't reach the minimum height. He had obtained a driving licence in Kidzania Jakarta and even drove a car there, so he was tremendously disappointed that he couldn't drive over here. The car was much bigger and the pedal was too far to reach it seems. So he had to be contented with being a petrol pump attendant.  

Filling in petrol

Next, the boys went to the car workshop to learn about car maintenance. 

My camera battery ran out and I had to use my phone camera to snap pictures, and it came out blurry. 

Working as construction workers - making a brick wall

Window cleaners

Painting a wall with real paint

Becoming a photo editor. They liked this a lot. They had their picture taken and went to edit it and got to bring back a photo of themselves. 

Working as Unifi technicians. 

As Poslaju delivery boys

Attending an art school. They had to pay 5 kidzos. 

They spent another 10 kidzos each to make a bracelet from beads. I was surprised that they wanted to do this. They chose their own bead colours and designs and were pretty good at beading it.  

S went to work as a surgeon. I couldn't enter and had to watch from afar. He told me later that he removed some organs from the sick man as they had black patches. Then they put it back together again.   

After visiting Kidzania Jakarta, I was a little disappointed with our experience in Kidzania Kuala Lumpur. However, it is only their first week and there are still things to be ironed out. In addition, I was also disappointed that many outlets such as the Oreo biscuit factory, the bottling plant, Dell notebook factory, Vitagen factory, and several others weren't open yet. Furthermore, the 'roads' in the city were smaller, thus there were no taxis or buses plying the road, unlike in Kidzania Jakarta, thus, it didn't seem to be that exciting.