LEGOLAND Malaysia

LEGOLAND opened its first theme park in Asia in the state of Johor last month. Nic was excited when she learned that we were going on Saturday.

We left home early at about 6.15am and traffic was light. Getting there was easy as road signs were well-placed. We arrived and parking lot was just maybe 20% filled. Sad thing is the car park is pathetic. They cut corners (and cost) by just tarring the roads and leaving the actual parking bays in gravel. It was a blazing hot day and we still had another 300 meters to walk to the entrance. The Medini mall with shopping and F & B shops is located just outside the park's entrance.

By now Nic was ecstatic to know that we were minutes from entering the park. There was a sizeable crowd qeueing for tickets but we already had ours and after taking a few snapshots at the entrance we headed in.

As the park was still less than two months old, the trees were too young to provide us with any relief from the scorching sun. Did I mention Nic can really scream? Well see or listen for yourself. Yep, she's the only kid screaming. The kid you hear crying was beside me. Crying cos he was too short to qualify and had to endure watching his brother (second from left) on the ride.

After a few more rides (Lost Kingdom of Adventure, Rescue Academy) the heat had taken its toll on us. After ninety minutes we left to check into Tune Hotel (no frills budget joint) in Danga Bay about 20km away. We had lunch and rested a bit before heading back to the park.

We reached the park around 3pm and the weather had by now turned quite the opposite. It was cool with light raindrops falling but all this soon changed into a heavy shower. We managed to enjoy the Miniworld and Remote Control Boat game before we were forced to seek shelter in The Big Shop - Legoland's own souvenir/gift shop.

All in it was good we started early or else the rain would have made this trip a total washout. It is the Southwest monsoon for the west coast states in peninsular Malaysia so I guess that's why Legoland gave out complimentary tickets. Entrance fees (One Day tickets) are RM140 (ages 12-59) and RM110 (ages 3-11) but Malaysian citizens do get a rebate of RM30. Also you get a 25% discount if you booked online. There is also an Annual Pass which grants you access on all days of regular park operation including weekends, public and school holidays at LEGOLAND Malaysia for a full 12 months. Go to LEGOLAND Malaysia's site for more info.

We checked out of the hotel the next day and headed to Johor Bahru city in search of lunch. We didn't have a clue as to where to go and stumbled into an old restaurant named SEKEE. At the entrance a lady with a bandana as headdress was busy preparing food. The shop served just one dish, Kway Teow Soup (flat rice noodles soup) - good stuff too. It came with sliced pork meat, liver and kidney - something I have not tasted in a while. For a review on this please go to JohorKaki's blog

Time to hit the road for home. It rained most of the way so we decided to stop in Muar town in search of otak-otak (Susan loves it) - this town is synonymous with the dish. There were many stalls selling the famous finger food on Jalan Haji Abu - aptly named Glutton's Square. We walked into Yong Kee Restaurant and the place was buzzing at 3.30pm