Sleeping in is a skill that Alex has forgotten lately. I don’t think they teach it at school. So we were up before sunrise.
But Malaysia wakes late and it was another few hours before we went out seeking breakfast. On our last trip to KL we discovered some great food along Jalan Imbi, so we took Mother-in-law and friend out to locate it.
Despite this being KL’s “Golden Triangle” with many expensive hotels and shopping centre the area we were walking through was rather rundown. But that’s where the best food is.
A detour saw us eating chee cheong fun and noodles at the Mei Sin kopitiam. My destination was the Wing Seng Heng kopitiam. We bought nasi lemak and various nasi campur side dishes of rendang and eggs from the cart out the front. So good!
Some pork buns, egg tarts and kuih completed breakfast. Almost. Directly behind the Parkroyal hotel is a long shed of mostly Muslim stalls and I always order roti canai and Milo ais from a stall near the end. Alex’s favourite Malaysian breakfast and mine too.
We farewelled M-i-L and friend then did what we needed to at the bank.
Our next destination was Legoland in Johor Bahru on the opposite side of the strait between Malaysia and Singapore. We had tickets for a late afternoon flight, but storms were predicted and after the previous day’s flights I was terrified at the thought of a bumpy turboprop ride.
Also, our park ticket gave us two days at the park, though we had only planned a single day. So we thought we might be able to squeeze in some extra time if we arrived earlier.
The few earlier flights were too expensive. Google said a three and a half hour drive, the concierge said four to five. We were quoted A$200 to hire a taxi, more to hire a car and B ruled out a coach due to motion sickness.
Full of regret for not booking something earlier, full of fear for the flight, we caught the long taxi ride down to KL’s old airport at Subang.
Now home to turboprop flights, the terminal has some decent local food options and a bookable flight simulator that looks quite cheap.
More roti and rice for lunch. Outside the wind bent the trees and thick clouds raced past. I was scared.
Too late, we forewent the umbrellas and walked out across the tarmac to the rear door of the Firefly ATR72.
After all that fuss the flight really wasn’t that bad. There were a few drops and bumps as we passed through the cloud, but also some good views of the Klang river and the Malaysian coast.
We were fed butterscotch muffins and apple juice and I was asked to fill out a survey on a little iPhone before we began our descent into Johor Bahru’s airport.
Another walk out to terminal, but no problems taking photos. Like many Malaysian airports taxis operate on a prepaid voucher system. It was a long drive past palm plantations out to the Legoland hotel.
Along the way a small convoy of a big brown Mercedes and a couple of Toyota 4WDs sped past us, all with the same number plate. Then, at the next toll booth a Rolls Royce with the same number plate waited briefly in front of us before rejoining the convoy. Malaysian royalty, but without police and flags, so probably not on official business.
It’s not cheap, but gosh the Legoland hotel is fun. From the Lego castle and brick pits in the lobby to the disco lifts and our pirate themed room this place has to bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Alex and I had a swim in a pool overlooking the park. There was no point going into the theme parks themselves as there was only an hour before closing when we arrived.
Inside the room is a sheet of clues to a code that opens a locked “treasure chest” of Lego gifts for a kid. Then Alex entered a colouring in competition judged by a pirate.
We had planned to go back into JB for dinner, but couldn’t resist the buffet spread at the hotel, especially the kids friendly dessert bar with its chocolate fountain. Fortunately, they had some great local food like otah-otah and noodles as well.
Afterwards Alex played dance games with other kids using the play area’s XBox. Then we all sat and did the relaxing ritual of brick building a wall. Lego really is for all ages.