Playtime!

[Foreword: This post wasn't intended to coincide with the launch of the new McDonald's Hello Kitty plushies. I'm not a loco Sanrio fan okay. This is just me catching up on my overdue holiday post...]

Got a little caught up with home stuff and the press trip to Taiwan (see my previous post), that I never got around to updating on our vacay to Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park or Playtime, for short.

That Hello Kitty cat was actually the reason why we headed to Malaysia for our impromptu holiday in February. Her, and Barney. We were inundated by commercials during the Dec hols last year (and now too, since the Jun hols are fast approaching #ohhelpmegod). Bielet used to drop everything and run to the TV just to dance her special 'Hello Kitty Land' / 'Barney Land' moves (same jig). Still does, actually, but the moves have become less, um, violent.

The theme park is an indoor one, and the characters are spread out across three floors. There's Hello Kitty and her friends on Sanrio Hello Kitty Town (1st floor), Thomas and Friends at the top deck (3rd floor) and everyone else - Barney, Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina and Pingu - smack in the middle (2nd floor). You can choose to purchase tickets for Sanrio Hello Kitty Town or Little Big Club (yes, meaning everything else), or discounted entry on a combo ticket. Buying your passes online are slightly cheaper too. [Ps. the aircon is pretty cold so try to dress the kiddos in thicker t-shirts and long pants. I only packed for Legoland, a short 10mins drive away, so the girls wore thin shirts and shorts, and their sweaters were left in the car. Sigh.]

We got there after lunch at Lat's Place and were just in time for Barney's performance on stage. Check the show and meet-and-greet session timings when you're there to maximise your time. 

The weekday schedule when we were there

(By the way, Lat's Place is a themed restaurant based on the kampung boy comics and is under the same management as the theme park guys. It serves pretty decent though pricey local fare, and is just a couple of shops away from the theme park.)

Jiejie was asleep in the most tak glam pose so I'm not gonna post any of her pictures ;))

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To cut a long story short, here's what you can expect:

{Little Big Club}

1. Miniature island of Sodor

If you're in luck, you might get a photo op with The Fat Controller (whom Bielet calls 'The island of Sodor' - really long back story - I told her that yes, he might be a little large but it's plain rude to call him an entire land mass). We spotted him around Knapsford Station, which was a quick ride twice around a dark tunnel, but also intersected with a totally cool looking playground. Bielet was a little scared that it was loud and dim, but she did enjoy climbing up and down with her Papa.

There are other toddler-friendly rides hosted by Bertie the Bus, Harold the Helicopter but the fun looking bumper trains are only for older children (height restrictions).

There's a rest area leading up to the playground entrance & overloading the play area. Hooray.

If your child is really into Thomas the Train, he would really love coming here. In fact, of all the other LBC characters' spaces, this was the largest, with an entire floor devoted to its family (like Sanrio). The rest just have a small play space.

2. Ballet classes with Angelina Ballerina

Frankly, I didn't even know this character until we were there. An oversized rat in a tutu and ballet pumps is a rather odd idea, if you ask me.

But anyway, so happens, we were at her studio when classes were about to commence. The girls got to don cutesy tutus, floral headbands and carry a twirly baton. Too cute! Bielet put on the pretty little things but decided she didn't want to join after all. Then when we went out, she changed her mind so we went back in.

I wasn't expecting her to participate since the music was loud and she was the second smallest kid there. But she really enjoyed dancing along and was the most enthusiastic participant! She followed the instructions to a tee (a bit out of sync but exactly as the teacher asked). If you want a wee chuckle, ask me to show you her videos when we meet. Bielet was absolutely adorable! And guess what? Of all the photos with the characters, she smiled the brightest with Angelina Ballerina. Rat in pink and frills works - who knew?

3. School with Barney

Bielet was soooooooooooo excited to meet Barney that we practically camped here until he came. (I had asked one of the staff what time his meet-and-greet sesh was.) His area is modelled like a school and has a small playground (couple of slides). 

Entertaining the littlest one who just woke up!

Bielet was getting bored watching Barney videos in the 'school' so I got her to slide around with me. But when the Barney character came, she bolted and left me alone -____- She got her photo and hug with the dinosaur, then got Bieny to take a photo with them too, AND still wanted to be in everyone else's picture with Barney. !!!!!!!

Other than that, his playspace was quite boring (sorry).

4. Building with Bob

More like, getting trashed by Bob. See, this child-friendly space is very adult-unfriendly and having to squeeze in after Bielet resulted in me getting all bruised and battered. Landed on my bum too harshly thrice, my thighs got buah-ed by the slides while coming down, the other obstacles were really tight, you get the drift.

Snapped by Bielet! Not a bad effort ;))

Papa attempting to amuse Bieny

But the little one was so happy just tearing around the place. There is a mass of soft blocks for kids to build structures too, so it's quite an entertaining (and energy-expending) corner. Excellent thing was: zero crowd (as I mentioned in my Legoland post) because it was a weekday. Swell.

5. Pingu's Arcade

None of us were interested in this but there are some arcade-esque machines in the penguin's space. I didn't know they had these rad games in the Arctic.

{Sanrio Hello Kitty Town}

Kids get to decorate their cookies with chocolate sauce and strawberry jam AND eat the treat after,

create Hello Kitty coasters (Papa did this while I entertained the kids. Good job. It is quite tricky actually, because our fingers are all short and fat.),

Undoubtedly the most girly space ZX will ever work in. Btw, if you notice his Kitty on the left, the nose is extraordinarily large - and the staff politely asked that he reduce it. No pirated Hello Kitties here okay.

dress up as a Sanrio character for photos,

The final picture

During the shoot. Bielet said "I look funny" and removed her glove at the end. Lol.

colour and press their own badges,

Something tells me Bielet is getting tired of posing for photos........

walk around the cat's house (did you know her sister is called Mimmy?!),

Even the tub is kitty-shaped ~ that's like bathing in an outline of your own head. Very curious.

and do an escape room to free Hello Kitty and her man Dear Daniel.

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This really is a child's attraction and you can see why, right? Bielet was engaged from start to finish (although the music from the Hello Kitty parade was really defeatening, so she clung like a koala to Papa) but Bieny is still too small to play on the rides (though she could go on the Knapsford Station train ride). 

There are small eating spots for families to take a break and refuel, as well as toilets (and diaper changing facilities) on every floor. With each character meet-and-greet, there's always a photographer snapping away and you can choose to either view and purchase your photos at that floor's exit or see all your pictures at the ground floor's retail space.

The food stop at Sodor

Our snack at the kitty level cafe

Personally, I enjoyed Legoland a whole lot more but seeing Bielet have a ball of fun here was truly the icing on the cake of a wonderful family holiday. People might say holidays with kids are a waste of money but it really is living for that very moment. She might not remember this vacay when she grows up (I know Bieny won't), but during those short few hours, she laughed played smiled bounced danced twirled climbed ran as happy as a lark. That's good enough for me :))

Better shot of us by Bielet (and yes! Bieny fell asleep again!)