Monday, November 9, 2009

Day trip to Awana and Genting

Woke up to a glorious morning today. Clear blue skies, fluffy white clouds, no haze, no threat of rain. It's the rainy season now, so it seemed like I had to take advantage of this beautiful weather. I wasnt keen on heading to the park for his usual exercise. (He still occasionally cant put himself back to sleep at nights, requiring me to carry him for a bit. He's 16kg now).

I got on to the internet to search for locations locally that would interest my son, be it parks or otherwise. We had been to the usual places - playgrounds at Lake Gardens, Titiwangsa, Taman Tun, Desa Parkcity are all too familiar to him. He's also been to the Butterfly Park, Bird Park, Hibiscus Garden at Lake Gardens. Other places weren't suitable because he's not old enough (Science Centre, PetroSains, Aquaria) or too smelly (he'll vomit at Deer Park and National Zoo!). I welcome suggestions from readers!

Awana Genting was shortlisted as a possiblity for a short family holiday. So I got on the internet again to find out if there's much that toddlers/preschoolers could do at Awana. Sadly there was hardly any info.

We decided the best was to just head on out to Awana after lunch to assess for ourselves! It was only a 45 minute trip to Awana, using the new DUKE highway. No traffic.

We didnt get to see any bedrooms but was informed by a friend that it's nice. Based on what we saw of the public areas of the hotel, it seemed like it could do with some renovations (but was still acceptable based on Malaysian standards). Strangely my son didnt seem to mind, unlike the time we brought him to a 4-star hotel in the East Coast, where he whined and wanted to leave. This time, he was very happily running zig-zag as though he had broken free from prison (perhaps it's because he was very bored at home this morning while I spent hours on the internet)!

Shame that Awana does not have a brochure of the layout of the resort or of places of interest nearby, the way they do for other hotels. They only had a large aerial shot with locations marked up, on the wall near reception (no sign postings or road demarkations). It was clear though that apart from the resort's swimming pool (which was under renovation) and playground, there really isnt much else for him at the resort. It's target clients were corporates (for teambuilding) and golfers.

We decided to take the cable car up to Genting as he's never been on one before. He enjoyed it. The clear weather stayed on and visibility was good. It was refreshing. He didnt show signs of vertigo, unlike my helper!

We took a bus ride from the cable car drop off point (Highlands Hotel) to First World, where the indoor attractions were. We wanted to know what rides if any would be suitable for him.

It was crowded, it being Sunday, but was bearable, probably because it's the low season and already 4.20pm by the time we arrived at First World. We searched for a suitable place to feed him his snack. By the time we all had our toilet stops, snacks and drinks, and orientated ourselves to the surroundings, it was 5.20pm.

He was very fascinated by the ferris wheel. I guess his fascination with any vehicle that has wheels, extends to the ferris wheel!

Luckily they had a "Pay per Ride" option instead of just the One Day Pass. It was a "long" wait (it's far worse during peak season) - queue to buy the ticket (RM 16 in total, for him and for me) from a counter at a different location, head on back to the queue for the ride, waited and waited for the line to move and the ride itself was just a fraction of the time compared to the time and effort to get onto it...but it was worth it. He was very happy! He was taking in all that was going on around him. Sensory overload for me! I've a bit of vestibular and auditory sensory disintegration.

Thank goodness that while we were waiting, my husband had gone on to scout for a suitable place for dinner. It was 7pm and I was hungry by the time we decided on the restaurant. It was unusual that he didnt want to eat his fried rice. It was tasty. He had some soup to go with it. He just didnt chew beyond the 3rd spoonful. I wonder if it was due to sensory overload or if he was still full (he snacked later than usual). I tend to note such things because he had (has?) feeding issues and mild sensory integration issues.

He didnt go hungry as we topped him up with 3 ounces of milk. Why, yes, we brought along his milk powder, water, milk bottle for mixing, spoons to feed him with, on top of his change of clothes, a sweater, a vest, diaper, wet wipes, plastic bags to dispose of dirty diaper, tissue, toy vehicles, handkerchiefs and bibs for feeding, hand sanitiser, water bottles for us adults...everything but the kitchen sink, all for a day trip! The load of the 2 very stuffed bags were shared between my helper, my sister and I.

Stepping out of First World to catch the bus to the cable car station, we were blanketed with heavy cold mist. Couldnt see beyond 12 feet! We also started off the cable car ride back down in thick mist, giving it a belated halloween-ish-haunted-mansion-ride feel to it...and not once did he say "ghost"! It was a treat for us to experience such cool weather - it hit a cold 20.6 celcius, by the time we headed home at 9.20pm.

And the outcome of our scouting mission? He said that he was "super duper happy" and would like to come back! So, we'll be making it a 2D/1N stay the next time! He was keen to try the monorail and train ride but we didnt have time. We think there are a few other similar rides that he'll like too and we might try the outdoor theme park. We'll likely stay at Genting itself, and not Awana - also for conveniece as he'll need his afternoon nap.

I'm very glad that he enjoyed himself - that made everyone else happy too. I was truly pleasantly surprised he wasn't scared of the bright lights, the loud music, the noise, the crowd, the rides. I was amazed that he wanted to go on a ride and acutally enjoyed the ride! It felt like he had grown up and was just like any other 'normal' kid. Such blessings!

Upon being buckled up in his car seat for the trip home, he fell asleep within 10 minutes. He was tired but happy. Sweet dreams honey (and dont wake up til it's morning)!

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