We are KidZanians! (Part 2)

(Daddy says Kai! again)

I guess if you have read my previous post about KidZania, you would have a pretty good idea what KidZania KL has to offer by now. 

But therein begs an important question - where does all these leave toddlers who are 3 years and below of age? Or more specifically, what can Ale do in KidZania while her 2 older brothers put in those gruelling hours of work?

As it turned out, there were lots of things to keep her occupied.

There is an exclusive section in KidZania called 'Urbano's House', where only kids below 3 years of age can enter. And the interesting part is that it is actually one giant indoor playground made to resemble the interior of a house.

And so Ale started off by playing with the toys in the Kitchen...

When she grew bored with those, she moved on to the Living Room.

There was jumping action waiting to be discovered in the Bedroom, where an inflatable bed beckoned.

But the most fun part of the house has got to be the toilet, where one can go have a dip in the soft balls bathtub!

Nursing mummies would be glad to know that there is also a Baby Care Centre for private nursing and diaper-changing.

I didn't get a chance to see the House for myself, as the wifey was the one accompanying Ale while I was tagging along with the boys. And the next tag-along had me reach a construction site, as the boys wanted to experience life as a Contractor.

15 minutes and 8 kidZos later, the boys wanted to try driving a car at the circuit. But since they were not of the minimum height requirement yet, they chose to be Petrol Pump Attendants instead.

Well actually, it was because the queue for that was one of the shortest. And it wasn't easy work either.

The boys had to learn to greet the drivers as they pulled up to the petrol pump, unscrew the petrol cover, fill petrol til it hits $1, screw back the cover and say 'Thanks!' to the departing driver.

At least the boys enjoyed it!

After that, the boys decided to go on their separate career paths again and off went Ayd to a dance school where he had to learn a dance routine under 10 minutes.

And once he had mastered that, he together with other kids, had to perform the dance LIVE in front of all the visitors at KidZania.

For one, Ayd simply loves dancing. Coupled with the fact that he thrives on performing in front of an audience, there was little doubt that he thoroughly enjoyed THIS job.

As for Ash, he opted for something more geeky.

In the Notebook Factory, his task was to design notebook covers and assemble notebook components.

As the 3pm hour loomed, the boys decided to go for a final job posting together - this time as a Telecommunications Engineer.

Their job scope? To go around various parts of the KidZania city to replace fiber optic cables.

I don't know if they really understood what they were being asked to do, but I sure know that they looked pretty cute in those engineer uniforms. Haha.

And since our session was almost up, it was time to head to the Bank to deposit their earnings!

Yup, it is every bit like a real-life bank - complete with tellers, note-counting machines and yes, even snaking queues! Parents are barred from stepping into the bank, so kids are made to be responsible for their own money over the counter.

Kids are given a starting 50 kidZos cheque every time he/she visits KidZania so at least the child doesn't start off penniless.

And just like an actual bank, kids will also be able to open their very own savings account and bank their hard-earned kidZos in. What's even cooler was the boys even got their own ATM cards, which they can use to withdraw from the 2 ATM machines in KidZania.

Suddenly, they have grown up so much.

We then headed down to the Departmental Store to let the boys decide what they would like to buy with their kidZos. And it was here that they got a shock when they saw the price tags on most of the items.

The average prices of the items sold in the Departmental Store was about 300-500 kidZos while the entire fortune that Ash & Ayd had amassed was only 110 kidZos EACH. So yes, totally way out of budget.

In a way, I was glad that the stuff at Departmental Store were priced so steeply. It had made the boys realise the true value of money, and that money doesn't fall out of the sky or is spat out of machines just because we ask them to. They had grown to appreciate the fact that they had to put in hours of work before they can receive the payout and this, I felt, was the greatest lesson that I would want them to take away from KidZania.

But in case you are wondering if the boys would ever get too spend their kidZos, the answer is yes. There is a smaller shop diagonally opposite the Departmental Store where everything is priced at 50 kidZos.

No wonder the place was packed to the brim with kids. Even kids can't resist a good bargain.

In the end, Ash spent 100 kidZos on 2 light wands, of which he gave one to his dear sister. Ayd wanted to do so too, but since his older brother was gifting one to Ale, he grabbed a pencil with his leftover money and said he would share it with Ash too.

And this act of sharing, was what really made the 5-hour session at KidZania truly memorable.

Thanks, once again to KidZania for inviting us down. My kids had a blast!

My final thoughts about KidZania? I really like the concept and was pleasantly pleased with how professionally the entire place was run. My only bugbear was the long queues at some of the job centres and that quite a fair bit of time has to be spent on waiting. But the staff at the various establishments, or 'Zupervisors' as they are known, were utterly enthusiastic and helpful. And they helped to make the sessions interesting for the kids, whether they are 4 or 14 years of age.

So I guess we would be back again soon then. Because quite frankly, the boys didn't have enough time to try out as many jobs as they would like!

Head on to our Cheekiemonkies Facebook page album for more KidZania photos HERE.

Useful Information

Location: 
Curve NX (18 Jalan PJU 7/5, Mutiara Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya) Click HERE to view MAP.

Operating Hours:
Mondays to Fridays - 10am to 5pm
Saturdays, Sundays, Malaysian Public & School Holidays - 10am to 3pm (1st Session) & 4pm to 9pm (2nd Session)

Pricing:
Baby (0-1 years): FREE | Toddler (2-3 years): RM 35.00
Kid (4-17 years & Malaysian): RM 55.00 | Kid ( 4-17 years & International): RM 75.00
Adult (18 - 59 years & Malaysian): RM 35.00 | Adult (18-59 years & International): RM 50.00
Senior (above 60 years): RM 30.00
CLICK HERE to buy tickets online.

For more information, please visit http://www.kidzania.com.my/ or http://www.facebook.com/KidZaniaKualaLumpur.