We finally let the kids pick our vacation destination. They settled on Legoland in Johor Bahru, and I added a night in Singapore to round out the last weekend of Spring Break. A short flight and taxi ride later, we soon arrived at the Legoland Hotel, which resembled a giant stack of Lego bricks. Greeted at the entrance by a life-size roaring dragon, inside held more surprises: a large castle and a ship for the kids to explore, as well as thousands of bricks just waiting for inspiration.
Dragging our kids reluctantly away, we hopped on a disco elevator (really!) to explore our Kingdom themed room. (Other themes were Adventure and Pirate.) Adam and I were the king and queen, and our prince and princesses shared a separate area with bunk beds and a trundle. They worked together to follow clues around the room in order to gain access to the treasure box (with Lego gifts inside). I'm not sure a hotel could be any more fun; we all stayed up late playing!
All day Friday we played at the theme park: riding rides, getting soaked on some, and marveling at the Lego models everywhere. I had planned our visit during the week and not during public school holidays so there were no crowds!
My favorite area was Miniland, where large models were constructed of popular Asian landmarks. It was fun to "revisit" some that we've actually seen in our travels.
We also enjoyed sharing dinner with some friends that were also staying at the hotel. Unfortunately, I picked up a stomach bug on check-out day. Despite my discomfort, we made our way via taxi to Kota Raya Terminal 2, where we hired a special taxi allowed to take us across the border into Singapore.
After checking into Novotel Clarke Quay, I recovered enough to wander around (slowly), and we made our way via MRT to the Gardens by the Bay. The massive park grounds adjacent to Marina Bay Sands display an astounding array of plants and flowers. Our kids especially enjoyed the Children's Garden, complete with a treehouse, play equipment, and a large sprinkler pad with spinning, spraying flowers. A loudspeaker was playing "What a Wonderful World". It is, isn't it?!
Next, we explored the Cloud Dome, cooled enough to mimic the climate and vegetation of the highlands. The five-story waterfall and sky walkway were quite impressive!
At night, the Super Tree Grove is illuminated with lights and glows beautifully. We stayed past sunset to catch them in all their splendor, then headed to Iguana Cafe for enchiladas and margaritas. =)
On Sunday we visited S.E.A. Aquarium, the world's largest aquarium. We marveled at the amazing variety of marine life, and the kids enjoyed the touch tank best. I most enjoyed the manta rays and found it calming to watch them "fly" gracefully through the water. We even took a few (stuffed ones) home!
After lunch at the world-famous soup dumpling restaurant Din Tai Fung, it was time to return home. Our quick and easy weekend getaway did not disappoint!
