3.3.12 - Second visit to Kidzania Kuala Lumpur

We had received 4 more free tickets (2 adults and 2 children) by participating in the Kidzania promotion (uploading a picture of the boys taken at their booth). Thus, we were back in Kidzania the very next day, as we were only allowed to utilise the free tickets during 3rd or 4th March. 

Ticket prices

We went in the afternoon session, from 4 pm - 9 pm. The weekend crowd was much larger than the day before. In Kidzania, one wouldn't know whether it was day or night, as we couldn't see 'outside'. Althought it was evening / night time, it still felt like daytime, as the activities were going on all the time. 


This time, the boys' first stop was the Police station. The previous day, they had wanted to join in, but were kept being told to wait and come back at a later time.  

The had to manage the crowd at the hotel which was on fire 

Holding the baton

Then, the boys went to perform at the Kidzania Clock Tower at exactly 5 pm. 

Here's the video. I like the Kidzania song - very upbeat and catchy tune. 

After that, the boys went to become Poslaju delivery boys again. At Poslaju, the Zupervisor asked the eldest boy (around 8 years old) whether he wanted to work in a group of 4 (together with my 2 boys). The boy didn’t know what he meant, and so the Zupervisor decided to get the 4 boys to share a task. These boys didn't know one another and were not made to introduce themselves. 

The boys were given a task to push a trolley and collect a parcel from the Fire Department, but when they went there, the Fire Department had no parcel (lack of coordination here). 

Then they went back to Poslaju and were instructed to go to Air Asia (upstairs) to send a parcel. However, upon delivering the parcel, the boys realized that the Zupervisor forgot to give them the marker pen. So they dashed downstairs to Poslaju to get the marker pen. Hubby and I were trying our best to keep up with the fast-running boys. In the middle, we got caught in the parade of the Kidzania mascots, and lost sight of the boys, who managed weave their way through the parade to Poslaju.

Then, they rushed upstairs again to get the signature and dashed downstairs back to Poslaju. This time, I noticed that a boy (around 6 y.o.) was missing. I didn’t know where he was. The Zupervisor scanned the 3 boys out, paid them and didn’t even ask them about the fourth boy. I think he couldn't have remembered, as there were too many kids coming and going. I asked my boys what happened to that other boy, and was told that he was still upstairs. I was relieved when I saw the boy come walking back by himself.

It was unnerving when I also lost sight of my kids in the crowd and got stuck in the middle of the slow parade instead. Fortunately, I knew where they were headed. I feel that the Poslaju Zupervisor should just get 2 kids to partner on a task, instead of 4 so the kids are accountable to look after each other.
After that, E decided that he would become a magician and learn some magic tricks. S didn't want to join him, so E bravely went in alone. For 30 minutes, he was inside learning a magic trick, then after that, they performed on stage in the Theatre.  

Video of E performing a magic trick. He was the first one up on stage. 

S went to the bank and withdrew kidzos from the ATM machine. It  really works!

The kids wanted to learn how to make a sardine sandwich, never mind that they are vegetarians. They said that they would give the sandwich to daddy. They paid 10 kidzos each, for the class. They brought back a small bag with a plastic heart shape bread cutter. 

Then, they became a photo editor again. 

For all their hard work, they redeemed the kidzos that they earned for these items: 

Magic colours (170 kidzos), Police patrol set (250 kidzos), police car (50 kidzos) and fire truck (50 kidzos). We also had extra kidzos from Jakarta which we exchange into Malaysian Kidzos. 

I felt that only the magic colours were worth it, the toy cars were fragile and some parts broke after a few days. Anyway, it was a good thing that they are allowed to redeem their kidzos for toys and such.  

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. 

1.3.12 - Making stop motion video

We joined in an animation (stop motion) video making workshop at Pusat Sains Negara. It was held at Innotech Room, Level 2. The children were taught how to make an animation movie. We were asked to bring along some stuff for the animation. My boys brought their toy cars. We used the programme Stop Motion Pro V.7 software that was installed in PSN's computer. 2 kids had to share a computer and work on a project together. A white box and a webcam was provided for each pair. The white box was for the children to put their items that they wanted filmed in, so that there is no unsuitable / distracting background.

Stop Motion Pro V.7 was very simple to use. During our first try, we didn't know where to place the webcam and it was left hanging on the top of the white box. Later, we found out that we could put it lying on the table so that the cars would be filmed from the side instead of the top. 

It didn't help that E kept moving the webcam, so, the pictures came out blur. 

We replayed our video. S kept laughing at the replay of the video. 

After we had completed our animation, we saved the video into a pen drive. 

29.2.12 - Books we read in February 2012

We read the following books borrowed from various libraries.

Playcentre Library

 

 

PJ Community Library

 

TTDI Community Library

29.2.12 - Non-newtonian fluid

I gave the boys corn flour and water and they made their own non-newtonian fluid which is a kind of gooey slime. Its flow properties differ from those of Newtonian fluids and it doesn't act like liquid or solid. 

They decided to be creative and added ice instead.