inspiredkids

16.1.2012 - Lego creations

The boys made these creations out of lego and named them.

Train station

Mighty police rescuer

Supersonic roadfighter

Tow hanger crane

81 F1 racer

Mighty siren fighter

It transformed into this robot

Supersonic car wash ranger

Same car wash with a vehicle there

Petrol pump

Garage

Kingfighter city

The following robots were made by E. He created these transforming robots by himself.

Roley Robot

Supersonic siren robot. It also had a backpack.

From another angle

15.1.12 - Lost World of Tambun

After packing up our belongings in the drizzling rain, we drove to Tambun for a visit to the Lost World and an overnight stay at the Lost World Hotel, Tambun, Perak. I had bought this package from Groupon at RM360 (valued at RM618), for a 2D1N Stay for 2 adults & 2 children + Hot Springs & Spa + Theme Park + Breakfast.

The Lost World hotel with its backdrop shrouded in mist.

Statues of cats at the entrance

The entrance of Lost World of Tambun. There's a separate counter for hotel guests.

Entrance fees.

We had to pay RM10 as deposit for a wristband each which is refunded when we return it.

After entering, we had our bags checked for food and water (Strictly no food and water allowed). After that, a group of 3 people wearing the Lost World "uniform" told us that they wanted to take our photo. "Snap photo free" they said. We didn't believe and asked again, and they all nodded their heads. "Free" they said. So, we allowed them to take our photo. After that, I immediately went to the counter to claim my photo, and the woman there said I had to pay a fee. I think it was around RM30 per photo. How unscrupulous, trying to deceive customers like this! Snapping the photo is free, but if you want the photo, you have to pay for it. I told them to delete my photo from their digital camera and the man with the camera made a sulky face and pressed a button to delete it. This experience gave us a bad impression of the place, and just as we were entering the theme park too!

We visited the Petting Zoo first.

The macaw bird kissed E's face (actually, it licked his face). It's tongue is black.

Raccoons

This was the only animal they petted. Some of the animals like the hedgehogs and hamsters were asleep, and it would be cruel to pet them. Some of the enclosures had nothing in it.

The boys can read the map quite well and can spot where we were on the map

The swans swam with each other and made a heart shape - I never knew that swans did this in real life. I've only seen such pictures in drawings.

We were early and didn't get to sit on the tram as it started operating at 12 pm

There was no one manning this carousel, so the boys didn't get to sit this.

We had lunch at the Wave Restaurant. After that, we went to the water park. The boys enjoyed the waterpark the most. Now, that I know that they enjoy this, I can bring them to more waterpark in the future. In fact, E was no longer afraid of the water. Now he is comfortable and enjoys himself in the water.

We only went to the small water slide and not the large one.

At night, we visited the Hot Springs. Actually, it is also available in the daytime, but there is a different charge if you come in at night.

Upon reflection, I felt that this package from Groupon at RM360 was a tad pricey, as we didn't managed to explore everything in the theme park (some weren't operating) and also the boys got tired. Hence, we went to check-in into the Lost World hotel instead. It would be of more value if the kids were bigger and could explore more things there.

14.1.12 - Camping in Gopeng

After finishing my work, we left for Gopeng around 2 pm+ for a camping trip with some friends. We reached there around 5 pm. We initially wanted to camp beside Gua Tempurung, but there wasn't any shelter there (it was an open area, and thus quite hot). The group settled for camping in another spot after Gua Tempurung. To get there, we had to drive right in front of Gua Tempurung and take a small path that leads into the kampung area. It belongs to a family who's living there and they set up the area as a camping ground. It's located just next to Earth Camp, which we stayed overnight at last year.

The boys took turns to pump the air bed.

Our camping spot

Shortcut - we just reheated the fried rice which we had cooked back home

Having their dinner

After dinner, the kids put up a presentation. They even had a 'curtain' which could be pulled to open or close.

Brushing their teeth

At night, the boys took so long to fall asleep as it was hot inside the tent (luckily I had brought a battery operated hand fan which I had bought from Daiso. Even though it was small, it still gave us some air circulation inside the stuffy tent. The boys insisted that I read them books in the dark tent, with my torchlight. Finally, they fell asleep, after more than an hour.

Before dawn, at around 5 am, it started to rain. I reached out and touch the sides of tent. Our tent was leaking!! It continued drizzling the next morning. We packed up in the rain, as it didn't seem to abate. I saw something orange moving in one o the tent's folds, as we started to fold the tent. It was a good thing I saw it, as it turned out to be an orange coloured large centipede which had many legs and wriggled very fast. It was the largest I have ever seen.

I plan to get a better quality 6-person tent, that is waterproof, with 2 window / doors, so that it is more spacious and there is more air flow. I am still looking around. There doesn't seem to be much choices or many outlets selling it here. If you have any recommendations, do share.

12.1.12 - Visit to Gardenia Bread Factory

We went on a field trip to Gardenia Bread Factory which was located at Jalan Pelabur 23/1 in Shah Alam. The whole visit took 1.5 hours.

At the entrance of Gardenia

Briefing by a Gardenia staff

We started with a briefing by a Gardenia staff. After that, we were shown a video clip about Gardenia. Then, we were brought in to see the factory. No photography was allowed. We watched from a viewing place from another floor. It was quite an experience being able to see those large machines and loaves of bread arranged neatly. I felt that the machine noise was quite loud and wondered how the workers bear with it, day in and day out.