Legoland Japan Day 1

We decided to splurge a bit more on this trip and went to book a night with Legoland Japan hotel which will gives us 2 days pass into the park and Nagoya Sea life for 2 adults and 2 children. Price on website for Friday entry (off peak) is JPY 4,800 for adults and JPY 3,500 for child. A peak ticket for Saturday would cost JPY 6,400 fot adult and JPY 4,100 for child which works out to be JPY 37,600 so essentially the room is around SGD 200++ which is quite reasonable and besides it comes with breakfast which is what Mr Love likes. 

                                                          We were surprised how empty it is on a Friday and there was literally no queue at all at every ride.

The day was pretty hot and sunny though and we had to go back to the hotel to drop our coats because it got too hot and we got tired of holding and walking around with it.

                                                                                                            Big ass dinosaur at the entrance

1st ride we took is the carousel. For some reason, Dinos still love taking this ride even though they are 7. I thought they might outgrow this ride by this age but i was wrong haha. And they loved choosing the character to ride on too.

                                                                                                                          BD on a motor bike

                                                                                                         SD on a tiger, I presumed

There are quite a lot of Lego installations around the park and Dinos wanted to take photo with each and every one of them.

 A very big ass one

This is quite a intersting one, at least to me cause there's music coming out of it and we are not able to figure out where it came from.

There's a Ninjago show here which I thought Dinos would be happy to watch . But when they learnt that it will be in Japanese, tey didn't want to go for the show already. Tried explaining to them that we can just watch the moves and figures but they still don't want. Oh well.

BD saw this ride in Adventure area and made a beeline for it. It's the only ride that we need queue, cause each ride can take 10 pax only and only 1 side of the ride is in operation. 

It's called the S.Q.U.I.D Surfer where a  boat will have 2 pax standing on it while it go around in circles. There are water sprays located at the perimeter of this ride and other park goers can spray water at the riders. You will confirm get wet for this ride even no 1 sprays from outside because while spinning ,water will get into the boat too.

Dinos enjoyed it so much that we took a 2nd time.

It was pretty sunny by the time we exit the ride and Mr Love suggest to go back to the hotel to deposit our coats instead of carrying them around.

We passed by Miniland and spent quite some time admiring the mini figurines but didn't take any photos cause I thought we will get a chance to come back later or tomorrow but we didn't as was too caught up with the other rides. 

The displays here are all the major Japan landmarks unlike the Malaysian version which features world famous buildings.

Upon re-entry to the park, we decided to go on Observation tower to see the whole park. We were pretty amazed to realise the park is so big and there are quite a few other areas that we have not explored. I was still quite skeptical on how are we going to spend 2 days here but right now , I think a 2 days ticket is really necessary. 

We also want a picture with this muscial fountain.

Dinos always like to go on this kind of spinning rides but I really cannot take this kind of rides. So usually Papa has to take them solo on this kind of ride. 

I always stand outside the  ride to help take photos of them on the ride. 

Next ride we went to is the Cat Cloud Busters. We were all given gloves to wear and is seated 2 by 2. We  were to pull ourseleves up by a rope to race to the top. I sat with SD and he was quite afraid of the height. So I usually pulled up to half way and then lowered down so as not to scare him.

We then went to this submarine adventure which we dunno what is inside but I'm curious to check it out.

It turns out to be an interesting ride.

We get to ride in a submaine capsule to explore the underwater.

A capsule is able to take in 8 pax I think  but since there is not much of a crowd,  we had a capsule to ourselves.

There are marine fishes and also some Lego installations on the ocean floor and Dinos were excited to be taking a "submarine".

There's also a mini aquarium after disembarking from the ride and Dinos spent sometime admiring the small fishes.

Dinos went up this ride - Bettle Bounced by themselves while we stood outside and watch.

Height was  5m above ground and thankfully Dinos were not too afraid and enjoyed the ride alot.

We then went to Lost Kingdom adventure where we took a ride through the ancient ruins with a laser gun in hand to earn points through shooting the villans.

The ride was very fun but  we did not managed to take any photos as it was very dark inside. 

There's a playpit outside the ride and Dinos got memerised by it and started playing happily.

There's  also a playground named Pharaoh's Revenge and Dinos again spent sometime playing there again.

By the time we moved  out from here, it's already 4pm and while we walked around to see what else to play, we realised quite alot of rides are closed for the day. It's then we realised the park is closing soon and not  the stated time of 6pm.

Since we are getting worn out from not sleeping well from the flight, we decided to go check in and then go in search of dinner at Nagoya Station.

Japan Spring Trip2023

It's been years since I updated this space and since Dinos are sleeping on their own now, I have more time to myself to pen down my thoughts.

We just came back from Japan for the March holidays and I think i will like to record down our trip.

We booked our air tickets from SQ back in Oct 2022 and paid around 3.6K for 4 of us which makes it quite reasonable as ANA or JAL would cost around 4K.

The plan is to fly into Nagoya where we will visit Legoland Japan and depart from Osaka. 

We booked a night stay with Legoland Hotel which comes with 2 days of park tickets for 2A,2C and paid SGD 600 for it.

Osaka's accomodation was booked via Airbnb where i tried to find 1 near Shinsaibashi and has washing machine as we did not have enough warm clothings. Found 1 which is 1 stop away and 4min walking distance to the metro station and we paid SGD600 for 5 nights. Very worth the money if you asked me and on some nights we walked back from Shinsaibashi and it only took us 15min walking in the cool night weather.

                                                                            Dinos being helpful with our luggage and slow down our process by 2x

After clearing immigrations, we went walked around and Dinos declared that they are hungry and prompted us to go up to 2nd level foodcourt to see what is on available.

                                                                                 Asked for cheese kaya toast which I only managed to get Kaya toast.

                                                                                                This Dino is equally happy to eat Kaya toast

                                                                                                         And the parents had dim sum too.

I made them pack some small toys in their bags to entertain themselves during waiting time. It came in useful quite often during our trip.

                                           Very excited to be boarding. The last we flew is in 2019 to TPE but they do not have much recollections of it anymore.

                                                                                             BD gets to sit with me on this leg of our flight

                                                                                                                        And SD with Papa

                                                                                                              Our breakfast in the air at 6am

We were due to land at 8.30 am Japan time and was awaken 2 hours before landing for breakfast service. Dinos slept for 3hours and woke up just in time for breakfast. Thankfully I have asked my mummy to fetch them home for a nap so that they get some rest before flying. As for the parents, we really survived on 3hours sleep and chiong the whole day with them. 

Clearing Japanese immigration is a breeze if you had filled up your details via Visit Japan web and gotten the neccesary QR quote. I registered for all of us under 1 email and screen shot the relevant QR code and send to Mr Love since he is taking 1 Dino to clear immigrations. I also uploaded our vaccination certificate and got a blue screen (instead of red) in the fast track page. This is an essential step because we were asked to show the page before we were let through to the immigration. Children are not required to submit though. I tried but couldn't upload the certificates.  There are quite a handful of staff on ground to assist the arrival passengers but few spoke English. 

                                                                                                                             Trains schedule

I asked the tourist information counter at arrival hall of Nagoya station for the purchase of their IC card (EZ link card equivalent) and initially I wanted to get the Tokai card which is issued by the Central JR company but was instead directed to buy the Manaca card which is issued by Meitetsu (Nagoya train operator).

I repeatedly confirmed with the staff that this card can be used in Osaka and they confirmed the same. And because we are travelling with children, we can submit our passports and buy child's card which is entitled to the same child's fare for the residents. They will verify the passports and print their name on the card. Child's fare is half of adults so it's worth the hassel to get it done. And besides, these cards are valid for 10yrs. We also noticed that when scanning the child's IC card at gantry, there will be a bird chipping sound to alert the station staff that concession cards are being used.

Took me nearly an hour to settle all the stuff before we proceed to wait for our train. We were scheduled to take the limited express train to Nagoya station at 10.07am and adults fare is 890Yen/pax.

                                                                                          3 hrs sleep face. We wondered how to get thru the day.

Upon reaching Nagoya after 30min of ride, we walked quite a long distance to transfer to the local line Aonami which is bound for Kinjo Futo where Legoland is located, the ride to Kinjofuto is another 25min.

                                                                                                               1st look of Legoland hotel

It's another 10min walk from Kinjofuto station to Legoland. The plan was to check in, redeem our park tickets, deposit our luggage, go for lunch and then enter the park.

                                                                                                                                 So happy 

Dive straight into this Lego bricks pool the minute we enter the hotel. I was able to settle our check in peacefully while Mr Love watch over them and also took them to the restrooms. Staff here can speak simple English and gave me a simple rundown of the amenities available and also helped us to book our breakfast slot because the booking webpage is all in Japanese. 

We walked around and decided to give this Japanese curry shop a try. It was much later then we realised it's a franchise since we saw it in Kyoto too. Have to order through a kiosk and make payment with cards before a receipt is generated for the staff to collect and prepare the food. I was amazed to see them going cashless since my last impression of Japan when I visited 18yrs ago is that they only accept cash.

Dinos ordered the same. Kid's meal that comes with a burger patty. There's sausage, egg that can be top up but I think they might not be able to finish. The rice portion is also smaller at 100g and it seems that the curry served is also a milder version as compared to adults.

Mine was double patty and adult's rice portion at 300g. It was very filling though but I loved the curry so much that I finished the rice with it.

                                                                                                      Mr Love's 1 is with fried chicken as usual 

I forgot the exact amount but the total came up to be below SGD 30 which is quite reasonable since we were pretty prepared for the high costs in Japan. 

We are ready to hit Legoland after lunch and Dinos cannot wait to enter the park already.

5 months in child care

So we placed  the Dinos into childcare  at the beginning of the year hoping to let them be exposed to social activity and also to be more independent. Afterall, grannies will always treat them like babies and wait on them hand and foot.

The initial phase was tough since they were not used going to CC for long hours but we have little choices since we worked long hours too and Popo is not able to handle both at 1 time and therefore not able to bring them back earlier.

They cried so much during dropoff that I also cried.  Its more of mum's guilt I think. Knowing that I need leave them there for 11 hours and that they don't have the luxury and comfort of home. But hey, that's why we chose to send them there in the 1st place!

After they started to settle in then we were hit by a series of virus. Flu, stomach flu etc. If 1 of them is down, the next 1 will follow suit soon. Lucky ( or unlucky) is that we usually have 1 sick kid at 1 time thus allowing us to go work while my mum is activated to help look after unless it requires a trip to PD where I would have to be present for the communication.

The down side is virus had a prolonged stay in our family. Many a times, my mum or me will end up catching it towards the end since we are main caregiver during day and night respectively.  I find it the hardest since am holding a full time day job but also need care for the sick Dinos during night time. Most dreaded would be fever where I  literally had no sleep when it spikes at night and I desperately try to sponge it down and kept waking up to take their temperature.

How I managed to stay sane and alive, I really dunno. But I thank god for my mother's help, Mr Love's support, my brother's weekly visits, my bffs and colleagues' patience to listening to my bitching when things got tough. I also tried to hypnotize myself thatt this is only a phase and we will get over it soon though sometimes I desperately want to know how soon. Haha. 

However, going to CC has its pro too. Dinos actually became more independent from attending CC and also picked up alot of words and improved tremendously in conversing. They would come home and sing nursery rhymes, talk about things they did or see etc. They can also follow simple instructions well now.

Though all these could have been achieved even though they stayed at home but I think going CC hasten the process of learning.  I also like the fact that they get to interact with other kids and gain social skills. This is something staying at home would not be able to provide and since they are twins, they showed little or no interest in other kids. 

We went for a parents teachers meeting session last week and was glad to hear they did mingle around and teachers actually split them into different groups. 

I'm also grateful that Dinos met a great team of teachers to kick start their school life. In fact BD was super clingy to his chinese teacher and he actually sticks to her closely in school initially and only start to warm out to other teachers recently. From  conversations with friends, I realised how lucky we were to have such teachers since they are the ones dealing with our kids during their time in CC and is essential we have a responsible and caring team.

This also goes to show that we can actually not placed our children in those branded CC since mine were placed in the most affordable ones in market and we were  quite pleased with the school.  That said, I usually have no other expectations other than keeping my Dinos safe.

Dear Ah Ma 2018

Dear Ah Ma,

How are you getting on with Ah Gong, Da Jiu and Xiao Bao? I hope everyone is getting well. It had been a busy year with your 3 great grandsons growing up.

For the 1st time in many years after your passing, I dream of you and you carried Lucas in my dream. I would like to think that you are trying to tell me that you saw him when I brought him back to offer you prayers. I would bring Louis back once he recovered fully from the recent flu. Do let me know which Dino you find more cute haha.

Ah Liang's son is also growing up well and good. He's already learning to walk and talk and would often come home to visit mummy.

The way mummy indulges in her grandsons reminded me a lot of you spoiling us when we were young. Many times, I was reminded of the great time we had while staying with you during holidays and how you always got our back. Now that I am a mother, I finally also realised how exasperating it is to deal with a doting grandmother haha.

Our family photo 2018

There are also some good news coming from the aunties and uncles family. Nin Nin had graduated and will be starting her specialist course soon. You will be so proud that there is a doctor in our family. Ah Di has also graduated and will be soon starting work and Serena is now pursuing her studies in London. And Ah Yun is pregnant with her 1st child. Please help to watch over these cousins and let everything in their way be smooth.

After so many years of your passing, I realised I didn't really got over you. Every little things in life reminds me of you. I hope that mummy will have this special bonding/effect on my sons next time too:)

Be well and happy Ah Ma. Please watch over Mummy and Papa and blessed them with good health and happiness. Please help me to take good care of XB.

Till the next update Ah Ma.

Missing you lots,

Your eldest Grand daughter, Ah Le.