27 Sep 2014 - First swimming lesson for my little ones

Jerlene and Javier started their swimming lesson today.  Jerlene had been looking forward to this day since one month back.  As for Javier, he's quite unwilling to attend swimming class initially.  However, after seeing our neighbour's girl also joining the class, he decided to give it a go.  The first lesson is simply some basic kicking and getting used to the water.

There are different exercises such as Starfish and Mermaid.  Jerlene had been doing pretty well considering this is the first lesson.  Javier on the other hand still need to build up on his courage to overcome the fear of being in an adult pool without a float.  孩子们，加油！

21 Sep 2014 - Bricks Restaurant, Puteri Harbour and Dragon's Apprentice Ride

Breakfast was included for our stay at Legoland Hotel.  From some forum, we heard that usually after 8:30am, one may need to queue for a table.  So in order to beat the crowd, we went to Bricks Restaurant at around 8am.  Once again, there are many Lego models all over the restaurant.  The breakfast spread was pretty normal but at least there were waffles, pancakes and soft boiled eggs that the kids like.

After breakfast, we went straight to Legoland.  As annual pass holders, we were able to enter the park half an hour before the normal crowd.  We left the park at about 10:45am in order to check out of the hotel by 11am.  Instead of re-entering Legoland, we decided to drive to Puteri Harbour where we had our lunch at a Japanese restaurant.

We returned to Legoland after lunch as "demanded" by the kids.  As it's not very crowded on a Sunday (which is a working day in JB), the kids got to take their favourite rides over and over again.

All this while, Jerlene dare not take the roller coaster ride.  With her cousin around, she decided to give it a try.  First she requested me to accompany her.  And after we did one round, she seemed to have overcome the fear and said she can do it by herself.  From then on, there was no stopping and she took the rides continuously for close to 20 times.

It was a great weekend at Legoland and everyone enjoyed it.

20 Sep 2014 - Legoland New Exhibit: Lego Star Wars Miniland

As there was still about 2 hours time before Legoland closes, we decided to let the kids had some fun in the park.  They first took a lesson in the Driving School.  All the while, Javier had been "driving" at the Junior Driving School.  This is his first time driving on proper roads.

It started to drizzle after a while so we decided to go somewhere indoor.  There is a new exhibit in Legoland, LEGO Star Wars MiniLand, which is indoor.

This indoor, air-conditioned experience showcases over 2,000 well-known LEGO Star Wars models and iconic scenes from all six episodes and the Star Wars™: The Clone Wars animated series.  There are quite a number of interactive models that kept the kids busy.

Some of the scenes and models are really quite impressive.

We left when the park was just about to close.  We then went to Old Town Cafe at Medini Mall for dinner.

20 Sep 2014 - Legoland Hotel

We have been to Legoland many times over the past two years but today will be our first time spending a night at Legoland Hotel.  We were there to check in at about 2pm but was told that our room will only be ready at around 4pm.  For the kids, spending 2 hours at the hotel lobby was not an issue as there are Lego blocks everywhere to keep them busy.

The entire hotel is nicely decorated with three main themes, namely Kingdom, Adventure and Pirates.  A mini castle and pirate ship are just some of the few structures you can see around the hotels.

There are also a couple a pictures completely made up of Lego blocks.  Pretty cool.

Behind the reception is a wall full of Lego figurines.  There is a bicycle moving in front of the wall whereby its wheels are actually magnifying glass.

We finally got our keys to our rooms.  First we went to my sis premium pirate themed room.  The entire room is decorated with skulls, pirate ships, treasure chests etc.

Once the kids stepped into the room, they went wild, especially when they found a piece of paper that contains clues to unlock a treasure chest.  They spent about half an hour before they managed to find the correct number combination to unlock the chest.  There were some goodies in the chest which the kids can bring home.

We then proceed to our standard adventure themed room which is a level up.  The hotel lift itself is quite interesting.  Once we entered the lift, it felt like we were in a disco.

Once again, our adventure themed room was decorated with pyramids, bugs and all sorts of wild creatures.  Actually there is no difference in terms of room layout between a standard and a premium room.  The only difference is that premium room has a little bit more decoration such as wall paper and Lego figurines.  We all do not think it's worth to pay the extra for a premium room.

One good thing about Legoland Hotel room is that the kids have their own area with a double deck beds.  There is a sliding door that can separate the kid's area from the main room.  Best thing is the kid's area has its own TV, so there is no need to "fight" for TV programs, which we normally faced in other hotel.

Overall we were quite satisfied with the hotel room.  By the way, as a Legoland annual pass member, we are entitled to a 25% discount for the hotel room.

20 Sep 2014 - Classical Dance Studio Parent's Day 2014

Today is the parent's day for Jerlene's ballet dance studio and we were invited to sit through the lesson.  Below is a compilation of various exercises that they do in the class.

Before the class ended, the teacher made an announcement to the class.  Based on the earlier BBO (British Ballet Organization) examination performance, Jerlene had been selected by the examiner to receive the Junior Merit Award.

Jerlene, you have made us PROUD!  Keep up the good work!

14 Sep 2014 - New swim wear for Jerlene

Jerlene got her new swim suit, cap and goggles in preparation for her coming swimming lessons.  Time to practise some strokes before the lesson.  Cheers!

13 Sep 2014 - 表姐 or 姑姑?

We had a little gathering at my sis place to celebrate my niece's birthday.  There is a huge age gap between my niece and her cousins as can be seen in the pictures below.  My niece had grown so tall that she is now taller than my sis.  And because of her height, Jerlene actually gets pretty confused in differentiating who is her cousin (表姐) and who is her aunt (姑姑).  Not sure if this is a good news for my sis or bad news for my niece......lol......  Anyway, they do look more like sisters rather than mother and daughter.  :-)

8 Sep 2014 - Mid-Autumn Festival

It's Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) today.  Instead of carrying lanterns with candles (nowadays lanterns are mostly operated by batteries), we decided have some fun on our roof terrace playing with sparkling sticks.  Kids enjoyed it!  祝大家中秋节快乐！

6 Sep 2014 - Javier's first swim in adult pool

As both Jerlene and Javier are going to have their swimming lesson in a few week's time, they started practising their basic strokes in the adult pool.  Jerlene has been swimming with her arm float in adult pool since few weeks back but this is Javier's first time.  Although he knows that he will not sink with the arm float, he still had the fear.  Everytime we tried to lead him to the middle of the pool, he will try to turn back and swim to the edge.  But at least he's willing to try now and should be ready for the lessons.

3 Sep 2014 - Craze about fireman pole

Jerlene has been trying to conquer her fear of sliding down from a fireman pole for the past few months.  Whenever she saw one in the playground, she would want to try but require my assistance.  And now that she has mastered the technique, she can't stop doing it.......

1 Sep 2014 - Baby teeth and adult teeth co-exist

Javier's bottom front teeth have been shaky for past few weeks but refused to fall off.  It seems like his adult teeth cannot stand it in the gum anymore and force their way out.  Now both the baby and adult teeth co-exist.  Hopefully the baby teeth will drop soon so that the adult teeth can grow properly.