Top 10 ( mostly free) Things to do In Kuala Lumpur with Kids

We ended up staying 6 days longer in Malaysia than we had planned. (Read why HERE), so we found many great thing to do in Kuala Lumpur with the kids.  Here are our top 10 favorite things to do.

1. Petrosains

When checking out other blogs and asking for suggestions on what to do in Kuala Lumpur, everyone suggests Petrosains, the hands ob science center.  The center is focused on the science of petroleum industry. It does focus on other areas of science too, but the main focus is everyday use of petroleum. The science center is located in KLCC Suria shopping center (the mall by the Petronas Towers.)  The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday 9:30- 5:30.  It costs RM 15.00 for adults, RM 10.00 for youth 13-17 years, RM 5.00 for children 3-12 years, and 2 & under is FREE.  

My boys loved walking around on the model of the oil rig.  They were so excited because they had just found out that their aunt was going to be working on an oil rig in the United States and they were getting to see what it would really be like living on a rig.  We had a great time at the museum and spent a few hours there.  One tip: Eat before you go to the museum.  There is a small snack bar, but it is way at the end of the museum.

2. KLCC Suria

This is the mall that is connected to the Petronas Towers.  I think we made a visit to this mall every single day that we were in KL.  There is a lot to do there.  We ate dinner at Chilis one night and had a window seat.  We were able to watch the light & fountain show from the window.  The boys loved this!  Make sure to ask for a window seat if you are at Chilis at dusk!

We checked out a movie while we were there.  The movies are MUCH cheaper than in the States.

We went to the Petronas Art Gallery, free art museum, that is located on the floor of the mall.

We stopped at Kinokuniya Book store a couple times and sat around and read.  I really miss good book stores and this one was amazing.

We ate at the great food court a few times.

Really, this mall has tons of things to do at it.  I usually hate malls, but I really liked this one.

3. Central Market

The Central Market has been open for over 100 years.  It is also called The Centre for Malaysian Culture, Heritage, Arts & Crafts.  This is the best place to shop for souvenirs to take home.  This market is great because it is indoors and air conditioned, so if it is too hot or raining, this is a great place to go for a bit.  There are places to eat and tons of great shops to look at.  Make sure to find a great batik to take home.  We found batik place mats that we loved.  My boys liked dressing up at the Chinatown shop!

4. National Mosque

We have been to Wats, Temples, Synagogues, and Churches, but we have never been to a Mosque. One thing that is great about living in another country (or even in a big city in the States) is being able to do our own world religion courses with the boys.  I was a little nervous about visiting, as I always am when I visit a new place of worship, because I did not want to do anything to offend anyone.  Some religions you are not supposed to touch the opposite sex or you need to remove your shoes or wear certain clothing and I wasn't sure what to expect.

 As soon as we made our way to the line to go into the mosque my nerves were calmed.  Everyone was so kind and helpful.  Women do need to be covered and will be given a robe with a headscarf. Men should be dressed in pants and children can get away with a little more.  My boys had shorts and t-shirts on.  We learned a lot about the Muslim religion from the guides that were there and met some wonderful people.  Our trip to the mosque was a highlight of our trip.  My boys loved it.  Greyson could not get over how beautiful the mosque was.

Just remember to be respectful.  You are a guest.  This is not just a site to see in the city, but also a place of worship.  We watched a few very large tour groups try to pose in the praying position to get a picture.  It was rude and made me uncomfortable to watch.  Make sure to check out the website for visiting hours. The mosque is closed during prayer times.

5. Planetarium

We stopped at the National Planetarium or called the Planetarium Negara for an afternoon visit.  The place it not really all that big.  We probably spent about 1 1/2 hours there.  We learned about life on the International Space Station.  They had a model of it and the boys were able to see how the astronauts sleep and even use the toilet. (Of course, a favorite of the boys and made lots of giggles.) They tried on gloves and tried to preform tasks like the astronauts have to do.  They had a model of a space shuttle that you could sit in.  It was very informative.  They also have a few shows during the day in the planetarium.  We watched one The Voyager Show.   The movie was geared more for middle school students and up, but my boys all enjoyed it.  The cost for the Planetarium is free but if you want to view the movie it is 12.00 RM ($3.70) for adults and 8.00 RM ($2.50) for children 2-12.

6. Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens are located on the same grounds as the Planetarium and also very close to the National Mosque.  The gardens are huge. You can hop on a tram to get to and from each section if you cannot walk the whole thing.  We only explored a small section of the gardens.  The gardens are very well cared for.  They do have a small enclosure with animals in it.  They have a deer sanctuary and  houses for some rodent type animals.  We walked over to the massive Brazil Nut Tree and had a little picnic under the tree.  We only spent about an hour there, mostly because we were melting from the heat, but it was a lovely place to visit.

7. Chinatown

Our first attempt to visit Chinatown left me a little confused.  There were no stalls set up, just huge tables and a stage.  I just couldn't figure out where all the stalls and vendors were.  It turned out that Chinatown had been closed for the night due to a huge reunion!  I figured we must have visited the only night of the year when it was closed.  I didn't think we would have time to make it back, but we were able to sneak a quick visit in later in the week.  This is a great place to buy shoes, clothes, purses, watches, etc., but not souvenirs or art work. Go back to the Central Market if you want those. It was a fun place to see, and we left before it go too busy.

8. Playground 

The first night we were in Kuala Lumpur we headed over to see the Petronas Towers.  This was what the boys had been most looking forward to seeing.  Right outside of the towers is a massive playground.  It honestly went on forever.  The boys kept finding new sections to play at.  There is also a free splash pad/fountain to play in.  We decided against the water since Britton had a cut and injection marks on his arms.  I wasn't sure how clean the water was, but it looked like great fun. We went around sunset, which was a great time because it was much cooler out.  The park is not shaded, so it gets very hot during the day.  The boys loved playing at the playground.  We miss going to playgrounds in Thailand.

9. Fountains

Once it gets dark, head back over to KLCC Suria to watch the light/fountain show.  We had a lot of fun watching the fountains.  They were beautiful!

10. Gallery

I love getting a little history of a country when we are on a trip and a great place to learn about Kuala Lumpur is the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery.  The first part of the building goes over this history of the city. This building is also home to ARCH, which is a model making company.  You can watch the builders make the wooden models and also see the largest model of the entire city of Kuala Lumpur. They also have a beautiful gift shop.  The gallery is free.

We had an amazing week in Kuala Lumpur.  We saw way more than we had planned and had to scrap a few ideas due to Britton being injured.  Hoping next time we visit we will make it to the Batu Caves and the Firefly tours.  We all loved this city and hope to go back again!

Emergency in Malaysia

We had just finished our second long day at Legoland.  We were back at the hostel around 8:30 pm and getting showered and packing up to fly to Kuala Lumpur the next morning.  I was in the bathroom when I heard screaming and my oldest ran in to tell me that my 4 year old had just fallen off the bed. The hostel we were staying at was our first experience with a hostel.  It was just a very basic room with a bunk bed. Britton went up on the top bed, which was about 6 feet off the ground, to see what his old brothers were doing.  He misjudged where the ladder was and ended up falling head first onto the cement floor.

Now, I am a mom of 3 boys and it takes a lot to get me worried.  The boys are always falling, get bumps & bruises, and crying then hopping back up to play. When I walked in the room, I was worried.  Britton had a massive bump on his head and a bloody nose.  He was not nauseous or unconscious, but after crying as hard as he was and spending all day out in the heat at Legoland, he was getting very tired and we were trying our best to keep him awake.

The staff at the hostel first drove us to an after hours clinic.  The doctor at the clinic did an assessment on him and did not feel that his brain was bleeding, but wanted us to get to the nearby hospital.  We raced to Columbia Asia Hospital where we were taken to the emergency room.  The emergency doctor agreed that she did not think Britton's brain was bleeding, but he needed to have an MRI.  The MRI showed that Britton had a skull fracture and they wanted to admit him for the night.

We ended up spending the night at the hosptial.  The pediatrician wanted Britton to start on very strong antibiotics that could only be administered by injection.  The reason was to keep him from contracting meningitis.  He needed to get this medicine every 24 hours for the next 7 days.  He also was not able to fly for the next 7 days.  This meant we lost our flight to Kuala Lumpur and would also be losing our flights back to Bangkok two days later.

We stayed in Johor Bahru for two extra nights, for the doctor to keep an eye on Britton. We ended up changing hotels to a much nicer and more comfortable place.  Amazingly, Britton never once complained about pain or having a headache.  The staff at Columbia Asia released us with all the antibiotics and the x-rays, so we could drive to Kuala Lumur and stay there for the next week.  There really isn't that much to do in Johor Bahru and we wanted to get to the city.

We found a driver to drive us to Kuala Lumpur.  I sent a message to a blogger that lived in Malaysia and asked her for some suggestions on hospitals to take Britton to.  She suggested Prince Court Medical Centre.  The minute I stepped inside that hospital, I was at ease.  The entire staff was amazing with Britton.  By the end of the week they knew us by name.  The doctors we spoke to were on top of everything, calling specialists to make sure Britton was given the very best care.  Every morning, we would head over to the hospital for Britton to be injected and then be off on our adventure for the day.

So, what did I learn through this experience?

• Make sure you have all you emergency numbers and insurance cards with you. 
• Do not be afraid to call or email others in the country you're in to ask for help. 
• Doctors in other countries may do things differently than your home country, but they did go to school to be a doctor, so they do know what they are doing.
• Don't be afraid to ask for a second opinion if needed.  
• Ask as many questions as you need to until you understand what is going on.  The language barrier can be a problem sometimes. 
• Don't be afraid to switch hospitals if you find one your are more comfortable with. 
• Plans may not go as you wanted them to, but it doesn't have to make it a bad experience. 
• I also learned that I have grown a lot after living abroad and did not have a nervous breakdown during this like I probably would have before we moved 3 year ago.  

Thankfully, my sweet little guy was back to his normal self by the time left Malaysia 6 days later than we planned.  But, he was healthy and happy and that is all that mattered.  

Legoland Malaysia

This past June we surprised the boys with a trip to Legoland in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.  We told the boys were going two days before we left and they were so excited!  I was glad we decided to tell them right before we left and not months before when we booked the trip, because I would have been asked every few hours when we were leaving. We decided to stay at our first (and last. More on that in the next post!) hostel right outside of Legoland.  The hotel at Legoland looks amazing, but it was a bit out of our price range.  We have had friends that have stayed there though, and they said it was awesome.  Maybe if we ever go back.

 Meeting Emmett

Meeting Wyldstyle

We decided on the two day combo pass, which is actually a great deal at MYR225 for adults ($70) and MYR185 for kids ($57).  I bought my tickets online and it worked great. As soon as we got to the park, we planned out our day.  We spent the morning at the park riding rides, checking out the amazing Mini land, and my oldest even took two different Lego robotics classes! Sign up for the classes early because they do fill up fast.  We are used to feeling like we are living on the sun in Bangkok, but Johor Bahru was a whole new level of HOT! So we were very thankful that Legoland Malaysia has an awesome water park attached to it.

You get to visit the water park with your two day pass, so after lunch we headed to the water park to cool off. The park has a great wave pool, lazy river with floating Legos, big slides for the older kids, a water playground for younger kids and a great toddler section.  We could have spent both of our days just at the water park.  The boys loved it so much.

Then, in the late afternoon, we dried off and headed back to the main park for more roller coasters and rides. There is also a great section where the kids can build and race their own Lego cars.  We spent at least an hour in that building.  This is what we did both days and we were able to see everything and ride everything that we wanted to.  The park has quite a few places to eat and snack bars around both parks.  The first morning ate breakfast at the cafe, but the second morning we ate at the pancake house that was in the Mall of Medini , right outside of Legoland.  The shopping center also has places to eat and convenience stores if you don't want to eat at the park.  For lunch/dinner we ate at Burger Junction and The Market Restaurant.

Our two days at the park were so much fun and we made so many great memories.  The park was very organized and very clean.  Three months after our trip, the boys are still talking about it and hoping that we will get to go back again in the future.

Crossing Borders: Singapore to Malaysia

When I planned our trip to Legoland Malaysia, I noticed many people would fly into Singapore and then cross over into Malaysia.  I figured we might as well hang out in a new country for a few hours before heading on over to Malaysia.  I guess I should have done a little more research on how this process actually takes place. I was under the impression that a taxi could take us over the border, but that is not the case. Most taxis cannot take you over.  If you want to do that, you will have to go to a special  taxi location somewhere else in Singapore.  We opted to head over from Singapore's airport.

Now, I know there must be an easier way.  I have since heard there is a bus from Legoland that will take you into Malaysia from Singapore.  I wish I would have known that ahead of time.  We found a taxi driver to take us to Woodlands, Singapore's immigration station.  I was getting a little nervous because our taxi driver kept saying he was not able to help us, but that we should not run into any trouble.

Once at Woodlands, I noticed we were the ONLY people with luggage.  This was not a tourist route, this was a local border crossing for people who work in one country and live in another.  It took about 10-15 minutes to walk through the immigration station in Singapore.  Once through, you will come to a bus station. None of the buses are really labeled and there are no signs in English, so we were not really sure what to do next.  We did finally find someone and they said we could hop on any bus and that would take us to immigration in Malaysia.  There are free buses to take or if you want to pay a very small fee (4 Ringgit/$1.26 for the whole family), you can hop on the "nicer, less crowed buses". We did take the nicer bus, but were still standing in the aisle with all our luggage. On our way to Malaysia, I just started laughing at how far we have come since leaving the States.  I would have been a nervous wreck in this situation before, but now I just hop on a bus with my family and hope it takes us to the right place!

This is what we did:
SMRT public (non-express) buses similarly provide non-express services between Johor Bahru and Singapore. Bus 950 departs from Woodlands bus interchange, which is one level below and opposite the Woodlands MRT station at the Woodlands transport interchange. The bus terminates at Kotaraya II terminal in Johor Bahru. More info HERE

Thankfully, the bus did drop us off at immigration in Malaysia and then we had to have our passports stamped in Malaysia.  Once in Malaysia, head to a taxi stand to get where you need to go.  Beware of people saying they will take you to your hotel.  These are not legit taxi drivers and while many of them may be wonderful people, get in a metered taxi all the time.

Really, the whole process wasn't that bad, it was just that we had no idea what we were doing at every stop. There were no signs telling you where to go next.  When in doubt, ask for help (or just follow the crowd) everyone is trying to get out of the immigration station anyway,  You can also hop on the metro right at immigration.

So, that was our experience heading into Malaysia.  Malaysians are very helpful and will be willing to point you in the right direction if you are unsure of where to go.  I also don't really have photos of this process because there were "No Camera" signs up.

Up next: Legoland Malaysia!