Lego Out Loud! It's A New Certified Store!

So the Saturday that just past was probably one of the more exciting ones my husband has had the whole year.

Why you ask? Because LEGO has finally opened its first certified store in Singapore! Needless to say when we got an invite to the occasion, the husband said yes immediately. Even when I pointed out that we had to arrive before 9am. And guess what, for the first time in, hmm, as long as I can remember, I woke up on Saturday morning and found my husband already awake, and cheerful too! That's the power of LEGO!

We managed to rock up nice and early to the LEGO store at level 3 of Suntec City, Tower 3 (#03-364/365) for a piece of the action. Upon arriving, the kids immediately made a beeline for the LEGO play area. Ok, maybe someone was more interested in the cupcakes.

Then again, who needs to build when you've got Daddy, right?

We were welcomed to the event by Mr George Papasolomontos, the managing director of Bricks World as well as Ms Dan Luo, the managing director of LEGO Singapore. We were then issued a very special challenge by Ms Luo: to build a duck from a packet of 6 LEGO bricks of our own design. We did, and when we held them up for comparison, I started smiling because so many of the ducks were different, yet ducks they still were, each a creation of a different imagination. That is the beauty of LEGO, isn't it? There isn't a right or wrong answer, just a different solutions to the same problem, and it's fun too. 

Her Excellency, Berit Basse, Ambassador of Denmark to Singapore arrived and conducted the official ribbon cutting ceremony. And with that, Singapore's first LEGO certified store is open! 

If you're wondering what a LEGO certified store is and how it's different from the LEGO stores we already have around the island, here's what it is (and isn't):

• The LEGO certified store is NOT owned by the LEGO group or LEGO SIngapore. This Singapore store is managed and operated by Bricks World.
• The LEGO certified store is however designed by the LEGO Group and adheres to all the store fit-out and experience guidelines laid down by the LEGO Group. This includes furniture and fixtures specially designed by the LEGO Group.
• What is most significant about having a LEGO certified store is its unique features, namely:
• The Pick-A-Brick Wall, a section where you can buy loose LEGO elements by the cup from clear plastic canisters -- a LEGO fan's dream! In Singapore, the small cup is $19.90 and the big cup $34.90.
• Access to exclusive LEGO sets, which will be made available here in Singapore (from January 2015), at the same time they are released in the US and Europe.
  (Obviously these two features are the most important to my husband!)
• Fully assembled LEGO sets around the circumference of the store to inspire children and LEGO fans
• An interactive play area -- "The Living Room" -- to give children a hands-on experience with LEGO bricks.

After the ceremony, we were invited in to have first pick at the Pick-A-Brick wall, to the delight of the kids. We also oohed and ahhed around, and got first sight of the highly exclusive LEGO Brand Retail Store (#3300003) set, which is not for sale, but is given away at new store openings to a limited number of customers. Here in Singapore, it was the first 50 customers. It was for this and the special offer of 50 sets of the LEGO DC Comics Batman ™: Akham Asylum Breakout for $199.90 (U.P. $299.90) that LEGO fans had been queuing for! When we arrived at 9am, there was already a looong line! I wonder what time they came! The husband was a bit regretful that he was not able to make any purchases but I guess it was only fair to those who had been waiting patiently.

 

Something tells me we're going to be spending a lot more time at Suntec City from now on!

Bonding With Your Child With Lego

Like most working parents, my husband doesn't get a lot of time with the children during the week. Because of his long and intense working hours, he often arrives home late, after the kids and I are done with dinner. The kids would clamour for his attention and after a hard day's work, I know that oftentimes there is nothing he would like to do better than to simply crash into bed. There are days when he would do exactly that, but more often than not, he lifts his spirits to spend some time bonding with the kids.

Bonding is something which you think would come naturally, but in reality takes time and effort. The benefits however are very real, with studies showing that a strong parent-child bond in the early years is key to a child's emotional development. Children secure in their attachment to their caregivers show a stronger ability to manage stress, form healthier relationships, get better grades in school and have a higher self-esteem. In other words, building a bond with your child has a positive impact on his or her ability to live a well-balanced and fulfilling life.

Of course, benefits aside, the reason why we choose to bond with our children is because we love them. We spend time with them because we want them to know that they matter to us. We do things with them because we think they would enjoy it. This is why we play board games, read, indulge in various sports, enjoy romps in the park, and play with Lego.

Yes, Lego. Because here's the thing. We play with the kids because it's just plain fun for us too. Nothing puts the smile on the faces of my husband and children than being able to bring out a new set, especially one that has been stashed away for them to open at just the right moment for some hours of fun.
I've thought about why Lego has such ageless appeal and I've come to the conclusion that it is the combination of the following factors:

1. It really is child's play. Adult or child, just about anyone can stack two bricks together -- no training or extra tools required. With such a low entry level of skill needed, it is easy to get into the process of building and creation. Don't like what you built? It is just as easy to take it apart and start again.

2. You are limited only by your imagination. I think most of us have had the experience of building with Lego, then after that, taking what we built apart and rebuilding other models, be they spaceships, cars, castles, or combinations of things that defied description. The husband told me that when he was little, there were days when he would grab a fistful or two of Lego, then sit down and challenge himself to use all the pieces he had grabbed to make something interesting. Naturally he ended up with fire engines with wings, houses with wheels, castles with space antennae, and the list went on. You can really build just about anything you want, as long as you have enough bricks.

3. They just keep coming up with really cool lines. While the generic blocks will always play an integral part in the Lego experience, the fact is that from Star Wars, to Super Heroes to Harry Potter to the latest princess series for girls, it is just fascinating to see familiar scenes translated and miniaturised in Lego. My husband himself had his childhood interest in Lego rekindled as an adult by the Lego Star Wars series and he still can't help but marvel at the detailed re-creations of the iconic scenes, characters and machinery.

As for my son, he's been caught up with the Legends of Chima and was recently ecstatic to get his hands on one of the newest products in the Chima line -- Laval's Fire Lion.

"I'm going to build this all by myself", he said excitedly. I had my doubts. After all, the set is intended for children between the ages of 8-14 and looked pretty complicated. And besides, did he really think that his Papa was going to let him get away with playing with new Lego all by himself?

But he was so eager to open the set, I found it hard to say no. So I ended sitting down to start work on the set with him… and fighting him to put it together. (Hah!) No, seriously, I helped where necessary, which honestly, got a little tricky at times! There are those who query the value of building Lego following instructions, but I think there is something to gain from that as well. Perseverance, for one. It took us two to three sittings in total to put Laval's Fire Lion together, including a couple of occasions where we had to go back and re-work bits that didn't seem quite right. This process also trained our eye for detail, as well as taught us to hunt down the parts, distinguish right and left, and to see how everything fits together. Let's also not forget the exercise of our fine motor skills in putting it all together!

Which bring me to my last point about why Lego is so popular:

4. It is just a great toy. Most of the fun is in the building, but even after you've finished building a set in accordance with the instructions, there is still more you can do with it. We found Laval's Fire Lion in particular very playable. It rolls, has articulated joints, and has a cool grabbing function as its arms move to open and extend. It also has a pack over one arm that shoots missiles, much to Noey's delight. We've tried to use its arms to pick stuff up, with some success. We've also dismantled parts of it to take a look at how the joints work. It was a good lesson in mechanics. Of course, the best part was that it is something we can do together -- the building, dismantling, re-building and just having fun. It is the shared experience that, as always, makes the playing extra special.

* This post was first published on Yahoo Parenting on 4 Aug 2014. Read the original article here.

Papa The Volunteer

Term 3 is Project Term over at the kids' kindy.

And of all the topics, what topic should Noey's class choose for their project after brainstorming with their teacher but LEGO! Mei's class chose Duplo. What are the odds of that huh! 

This is all right up my husband's alley of course, so when they asked for parent volunteers, I felt he was obliged to volunteer and contribute to his children's learning, and he gamely agreed to do.

That's how my husband ended up going to school to kindy to talk about his favourite topic.

I think Daddies don't get the opportunity to get involved in the classroom as often as Mummies do, so I know it was pretty special to Noey to have Papa there to share. He was tremendously happy to see us and I thought it was very cute when his teacher got the class to greet the husband as "Uncle D" that at the end of the chorus of greetings, Noey quietly added "I'll call you Papa, ok?". He then happily participated in the session and his Papa and I were both glad to see that he behaved well, raising his hand when he wanted to speak and taking his turn.

When I went to pick the kids up after school, Noey broke into a huge smile when he saw he and told me "I loved Papa's show and tell!" That was, I told my husband, the best validation ever. If I needed an incentive to volunteer to help out more often, well there it was. It was a reminder that we are partners in our children's learning journeys and every part that we can play makes a difference to them. We might teach them content, but more than that, when we make time to be present, we tell them that "you are important to me". (Which reminds me, I'd better check with Mei's teacher to see if she needs us to help out anywhere!)

I'm looking forward to seeing what Noey and his class come up with for their project at the end of term. I'm sure Papa would be proud!

 

Linking up with:

 

The Lego Movie: Simply Awesome!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me, as evidenced by the slow updates here. I had a couple of work-related opportunities come my way, which I was very grateful for and which I hope to share about soon. Add to that my very last-minute preparations for Nomi's upcoming birthday, I haven't had much time recently. Or sleep.

But one thing we did squeeze out some time to do was to catch The Lego Movie. We just had to, right? And it was, in one word: AWESOME! 

The storyline follows the really ordinary super-average and anonymous Lego construction worker Emmett. He's a very by-the-book kind of a fellow who loves to follow the instructions. (There are instructions for everything to life here, by the way. A dig at the sometimes complicated instructions that come with Lego sets, no doubt.) One day, and completely by accident, Emmett finds a mysterious block, which is not of the Lego world. His discovery of this "piece of resistance" identifies him as "The Special", the One who would save the Lego universe from the clothes of the evil Lord Business. Or is he? What follows is a madcap adventure with a lesson or two in creativity for adults and children alike.

There are many movies that can be enjoyed by adults and kids. This is one of those fortunate few that successfully reached out to both audiences. The kids loved the Lego of course, but adults would find the script, with its many spoofs and pop culture references funny and entertaining. I also loved the stop-motion-like film technique (which I thought was very appropriate) and how everything in the Lego world is constructed out of Lego -- think Lego puddles, Lego fire and the like. And then there's the third act, which I thought tied the whole story and the creativity message of Lego together very well. Helps that I can relate to it very well, having a very big boy in my house who is a huge Lego fan!  

It was a lot of fun. Go watch if you haven't! Now to stop "Everything is Awesome" from playing continuously in my head...

Things We Make With Lego: Spectacles!

The last day of Term 3 is typically a celebration for Teachers' Day the next day, and this year, Noey's kindy decided that the theme for the day would be "Through the Looking Glass". The instructions: come in quirky spectacles and party clothes that can happen only in your dreams.

As usual I had forgotten about this, only to realise early in the week that we needed to put something together for Thursday. I was sighing to the husband about needing to get out materials to construct an interesting pair of spectacles for Noey, when he suggested that we make something out of "plastic construction toys" instead. (His words, not mine.) It took me a while to register that he was referring to Lego. 

"Are you sure you can make that? Wouldn't it break apart? He's got to wear them, you know?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yes, I'm sure I can do it," was his reply.

Well, guess what, he certainly did!

Super cute Lego specs, with the minifigs added by Noey himself.

I've really got to hand it to my husband -- he's a whizz with Lego!

As for Noey's outfit, since they asked for party clothes that only exist in dreams, I decided to make Noey's dream come true by letting him go to school in his pyjamas. This boy loves his PJs and has on several occasions asked me if he could go to school in his pyjamas when I am nagging him to change in the morning. I figured this was as good a day as any to fulfil that request, and boy, was he thrilled.

This was how we sent him off in the morning in the end.

All spec-ed out and in his beloved Star Wars PJs. The tagline on it says "A Rebel Never Sleeps". Sometimes I think I'm asking for it when Noey refuses to sleep!

Not too bad for a last minute job, I must say! 

I'm sure he was the only one who turned up in pyjamas but he didn't care. "They are soooo comfortable!" he said with a satisfied sigh. I was happy that he was happy.

It being Teachers' Day, we also prepped a few simple gifts for his teachers, principal and the school administrator. Hersey's kisses and, borrowing an idea from my friend MissusTay, GV gift cards for them to kick back and take a well-deserved break at the movies. I wanted to make something but just ran out of time. Nonetheless, I hope his teachers appreciate the gesture.

As for me, I have just been really tired and disorganised lately, and I hope I'll be able find some time to get the engines running properly again. But not this week though, since I'll have both kids on my hands the whole time. Then again, I'm also looking forward to a whole week long with my two, doing what we love best -- going out and exploring. And maybe enjoy some Lego time too.

 

To A Wonderful Daddie

When DD and I first got together years ago, I didn't realise how well he would take to being a Dad.

When we did talk about kids, he always told me: "I only want one, a girl." Not naturally baby people, neither of us were very comfortable with kids and DD confessed to being lost as to what to do with them.

All that changed after we had one, then now two kids. (DD has revised the number of kids that he would like to have significantly upwards, by the way. So much for his only one girl pronouncement!)

From the get-go, DD was a very involved father, carrying, playing, feeding and reading to the kids, day after day. And teaching and scolding too, for in our home, Papa is the disciplinarian. The "if you don't do XX, I'm going to tell Papa" line actually works rather well!

During our recent London trip, he was the one fretting over the kids meals while I took a relaxed approach towards what they were eating or really, not eating. He was the one who suggested that we go eat Chinese food when he felt Meips was not eating well and needed her rice, he was the one who worried about their reduced veggie intake and who insisted that we buy fruit to make up for it, and he was the one painstakingly feeding Meips her sandwich, tiny bite by tiny bite, as long as she finished it. Since we've come back he's been the one commenting on how light they are and wanting to put as much weight back on them as quickly as possible. 

Feeding both kids his order of Chicken Milanese just yesterday, because they loved it. The two ended up finishing up almost the whole dish, and DD was left to eat the pizza that Noey had ordered instead.

The kids really enjoyed spending so much time with Papa. By the middle of the trip, Meips had christened him Daddie, and it was "I want Daddie to feed me!" and "I want Daddie to carry me!" everyday. And he was mostly happy to oblige.

This year, Father's Day feels like it came a bit too quickly. All of us have just (finally!) recovered from jet lag and are only starting to get back in our normal routine. We didn't get to do very much for Papa, though Noey and I did a coffee run and came back with a Cinnamon Ice Blended for him, and I made a Jelly Hearts Cheesecake for him that DD is very pleased about.

When reflecting on his Father's Day, DD commented that he "got to fix Noey's remote control car twice." "I guess that's that sort of thing fathers do," he said.

You right, my dear, but you do that and so much more, for the kids. You're their playmate, their camel, their foil between them and Mummy's wrath, their teacher, their role model and their guide. Thank you for being the best Daddy! We love you lots.

Papa gets Meips' Star of approval.

And in honour of my Lego-loving husband, here's a Lego Star Wars Happy Father's Day message for all you Dads. I hope you had a great day!

Noey the Builder at the Lego Duplo Kids' Event

We recently received an invite to attend the Lego Duplo Kids' Event. You already know that we must have accepted the invitation, right? With delight. After all, if there's anything this family loves, it's Lego.

Noey was really excited when I told him we'd be going to play with some Duplo, and in an indoor playground to boot. While he fiddles around with Lego quite a bit every day, he is most creative when it comes to building with his Duplo. There's just something about the size and shape of it that makes it perfect for little hands. Guess this comes from them being made specially for kids from 1½ to 5 years of age. These Lego folks really know their stuff huh!

The event was held at Hokey Pokey at Suntec City and since it is a play gym that we've never been to, we were both pretty excited. Still, the boy only had eyes for his favourite bricks.

"Where's the Lego?" he asked immediately when we arrived.

Not so fast, boy. 

First, there were pictures to be taken by the photo wall.

Do I look cool or what?
(Wait, don't answer that.)

And some messing around to be had on the play equipment.

Slip sliding away!

But after they had their fill with the toys, the kids were rounded up and the Duplo bricks were brought out to play!

The kids were put through two sets of challenges. The first was to build their dream house. 

"I'm going to build a SUPER BIG house!" Noey proclaimed as he scrambled to gather his blocks.

Building a long long wall.

Developing a rather large compound.

  It was a pretty sizeable structure that he ended up with in the end but I think he ran out of steam.

With le Château de Noah in the background. Love all the colourful structures!

We moved on to the next challenge where the kids were asked to build their favourite animal. For this, he was in his element. What did he build? Why, dinosaurs of course! He was even dressed the part.

"Diplodocus," he said, when asked what he was building. "They are herbivores."

He ended up with a Papa and Mama Diplodocus (a variety of long-necked dinosaurs), and a baby Pterosaur (a winged, flying dinosaur). 

And would you believe it, his dinosaur family won first prize in the 4-5 year-old category! For that, he won a box of Duplo bricks which totally made his day. And his Lego-loving Daddy's day too. He couldn't wait to get home to open it!

Noey and his prize! That's about as thrilled as I can get him to look with his forced smile.

And once he did, it was back to building.

With the new blocks, the tower can go even higher!

Just another day in this family.

 

* This post was sponsored by Lego. Thanks Nuffnang and Lego for the invitation to the Lego Duplo Kids' Event!

In a Galaxy Far Far Away...

One fell asleep clutching his self-constructed A-wing, and the other with her "Storm-per-per" beside her.

This is my Lego Star Wars family!  

Homemade Snow Globes!

I wanted to give Noey's lovely teachers something to thank them for their work over the past year, and I wanted it to be something that Noey could help to make. Given that it is the end of year, with Christmas approaching, this is what we came up with:

Homemade snow globes! Created out of old jar jars and made possible by the generous contribution of Lego Santa/Gnome by our in-house Lego supplier (aka Papa).

Noey had been asking to make a snow globe after seeing it done on, erm, Special Agent Oso on TV a few months back and I figured this was as good an opportunity to make them as we would have. It wasn't exactly a 3-step process, but it was fairly easy.

What you need:

• A clean, empty, transparent glass jar with a lid that can be screwed on tightly
• Some decorative figurines or ornaments
• Hot glue
• Silver glitter
• Water
• Enamel paint (optional)
• Decorative ribbon (optional)

How to make your own snow globe:

1. Grab your glass jar and make sure it's clean and clear. If you need to get labels off it, a good method is just to soak the jar in soapy water overnight. The labels should come right off the next day, and if they don't, a good scrub with a scrubbing sponge should do the trick.

2. Paint the lid of the jar with some enamel paint if you want it a different colour. I had some leftover silver paint and was very happy to have the opportunity to use it. 

3. Position your figurines/ornaments on the inside of the lid and glue them down with hot glue. (I've been told that super glue is a good alternative if you don't own a glue gun.) Leave aside to dry.

4. Pour some glitter into the glass jar.

5. Fill the jar almost to the brim with water.

6. Screw on the lid of the jar tightly, taking care to lower the glued on items carefully into the water.

7. Turn the bottle around upside down and shake! Your snow globe is done! We tied a decorative ribbon on it near the top just for fun.

(After finishing the project, I popped in an extra red bauble that I left unglued to float up to the top of the snow globe and take up some of the extra dead space, so feel free to play around with it.)

If you're wondering, yes, the bottle on the left contains a gift card. I was trying out an idea which I came across on Pinterest with gift cards packaged in snow globes. Such a lovely way to dress up a boring gift card, I thought. But DD was very doubtful about leaving a gift card in water, so I decided not to go ahead in the end and just gave the teachers the snow globes and gift cards separately.

Together with a simple thank you card we made with some of my Christmas scrapping paper which Noey picked out, it made a pretty cute gift. His teachers thought they were adorable. And I was glad that he could make something for them himself as a thank you gift, after all that they have done for him this whole year. 

Noey was so happy to make these snow globes, I think we'll be making a couple more of our own for the house, just for fun.

An Afternoon at Legoland

On the day that Noey turned 4, we made an impromptu spur-of-the-moment visit to Legoland. We wanted to do something fun together as a family, and it was the obvious choice.

The boys were terribly excited. "Wow, is it MY birthday?" asked my lego-loving husband. 

We had a quick lunch before we set off. Unbelievably, it only took us 45 mins to travel from the Botanic Gardens in Singapore to Legoland Malaysia. Yes, including clearing immigration through the Tuas checkpoint! The kids barely had time for a proper nap in the car. We put it down to it being a weekday afternoon, but it is also because Legoland is only 10 mins away from the checkpoint. Just follow the signs to Nusajaya from the checkpoint, and Legoland will pop up on the signages soon enough.

We've arrived!

Noey was super excited when we arrived and DD also danced a little jig of joy. Haha. We made it through the gates as quickly as we could, and couldn't wait to explore the colourful town that stretched before our eyes. We wandered to the right of the entrance and found ourselves in the first land: Lego City. Cars, Boats, Trains galore!

Noey made a beeline for the Driving School. He didn't make the age requirement of the Driving School proper (6 to 13 years), but he qualified for Junior Driving School (3 to 5 years). Here, the kids get to climb into a child-sized Lego car which they can drive on their own by stepping on a pedal, just like a typical electric toy car. They can then drive and steer themselves around a circuit. Noey had a ball of a time! 

Trying some dangerous overtaking move.

Really really enjoying this! (Can you tell?)

Naomi, who didn't make either the age or height requirements, had to be content with sitting in the display unit outside.

Hey, so how do you make this thing move again

Sadly, the Boating School was not operational on the day of our visit, because it would have been a ride that Nomi would have been able to take accompanied. Not wanting her to feel left out, we headed for the train station to catch the Legoland Express.

"Express" is quite a misnomer. This is a calm train ride that chugs around the park and is appropriate for everyone. This was the only ride we really had to queue for the whole day because we just missed the previous train. But on the plus side, it did mean that we got to sit up front.

"Train, Mama! Train!" was her refrain.

The ride gave us a glimpse of the different lands in the park, in particular Miniland. We adults got excited about that and made a note not to miss it later. The kids enjoyed waving to folks on the paths as the train trundled by, and they were mostly good natured enough to wave back.

After hopping off the train, we went to the Rescue Academy. My MIL originally joined DD and Noey in the queue for this, but after listening to the instructions, she decided against it and asked me to take her place instead. Not knowing what it was about, I joined the two boys on this ride, only to realise that it was a lot of work! Here, you race against other families to put out a fire in a building. The tiring part is that you have to pump a lever to get your vehicle to move forward towards the building. It takes quite a bit of pumping to get the vehicle moving! Noey merrily sat at the driver's seat in front and left his poor parents to do all the work. Once you reach the building, you then get out of the vehicle and pump a fire hydrant to shoot water into the windows of the building. Task completed, you then get back into the vehicle and PUMP your way back to the start line. Whew! DD and I were a bit breathless after that!

Noey can't wait for the picture taking to be over so he can go on the next ride!

It was off the Lego City Airport next. With planes that go round and round which you can bring up and down with a lever, this is a sure winner with the children. I was quite disappointed that Nomi again had to sit this one out as she JUST didn't make the height restriction, being a wee bit shy of 80cm tall. Thankfully she was content waving to us as we went by.

Off we go!
Lego City Airport has a height restriction of 80cm when accompanied by an adult.

We skipped the Land of Adventure as Noey wasn't very keen to try any of the rides. He did love a ball playground there, which had many compressed air canons. You pressed a button and the foam balls would shoot out. He spent quite a bit of time there before we pried him away. Nomi? She preferred sitting on a camel instead.

She didn't want to get off!

We went to the land of Imagination next, and this one was the best one for tiny tots.

Nomi's favourite play place: Duplo Playtown! Literally a large covered playground with slides and other play structures, a mini train ride and lots of Duplo bricks (of course), it's a toddler's wonderland.

Cutest ambulance driver around.

Noey bemused at being inside the mouth of the lion.

Duplo bricks and more bricks!

Alas, Nomi was AGAIN too short to take the Duplo Express. The minimum height was 80cm here too (which seems to be the lowest they went) so Noey went on his own. He even had the whole train to himself because there were no other children in line! 

Noey on board the Duplo Express all by himself. 

While Nomi was happily occupied in Duplo Playtown, Noey and I also went to try the Kids Power Tower. Sitting in pairs, you pull on a rope while brings the chair up to the top of the tower. You can also let go at any point and whoosh safely (and not too quickly) to the bottom.

After we managed to extract Nomi from Duplo Playtown, we went to check out Build & Test, which was a family favourite! Admittedly, the biggest plus point for me was the AIR-CONDITIONING. It was a relief from the swelteringly hot weather outside. At Build & Test, you pick up 2 sets of wheels at the counter, then use the Lego bricks provided to build yourself the ULTIMATE RACING MACHINE. You then get to test it in a race against your friends!

Noey built the quickest car he could, joining the two sets of wheels to a long strip, then added a spoiler to his car, since he is of the view that "all fast cars have spoilers". I half-heartedly threw together some blocks and made a clunker of the car. "Your car is so ugly, Mummy," Noey said disapprovingly.

Left: Noey working on his car; Right:  My ugly tank

But DD, oh he took it seriously! He sat down and patiently searched for appropriate parts and designed himself a nice, rather aerodynamic vehicle that he was pretty proud of.

Our family's lego fanatic, working on his masterpiece.

And when it came time for the race, it was a no-brainer who the winner was! (Yes, DD won, and we have videos to prove it!)

Aside from the car race, there was another section of Build & Test which was more popular with Nomi. In this section, you are given Duplo bricks and tasked to build a stable structure that you can test on base plates which shake to simulate an earthquake. Build well or your building will topple!

The testing station.

I'm not sure Nomi understood the concept. She was however, quite happy building her "Bot-Bot", and we were having fun watching her expressions!

Little Miss Drama working on her creation.

We regretfully left the cool comfort of Build & Test after a while to take a spin in the Observation Tower. From 50m up, you can get a good view of the park and the surrounding area. Mainly just an opportunity for Nomi to get some action.

Getting ready to go on a spin!

By the time we were done with this, it was fast approaching park closing time. We squeezed in a couple of rides at Lego Kingdoms: Royal Joust, a cute horse ride for Noey...

Only for kids -- no parents allowed!

And Merlin's Challenge, a high-speed carousel ride, which surprised all of us with it's speed. It wasn't as kiddy as we expected it to be!

We also spent sometime browsing Miniland, which was filled with replicas of famous structures in Asia. We had a good time identifying those we have visited before, and the kids were quite tickled by the reproductions of famous places in Singapore which they were able to recognise.

Can't quite believe the structures were built with Lego bricks! DD was rather inspired.

Clockwise from top left: The Singapore Flyer, Singapore's Boat Quay, Cambodia's Angkor Wat, India's Taj Mahal.

We couldn't leave the park without my husband at least taking a look at the biggest Lego store in Asia, and that was our last stop, even as the security guards went round telling everyone that the park was closed. There's certainly lots for the Lego enthusiast, but the prices weren't cheap, so we left empty handed. This time.

Before I end off, I've got to show you something that nursing Mums and Mums with young kids would love: The Baby Care Room. Located in the land of Imagination, it is a huge space, with toilets and baby changing facilities, a big sitting area with Duplo blocks for kids, two cubicles for breastfeeding, and armchairs and baby bouncers too!

The sitting area, with a play area for the kids.

Arm chairs and baby bouncers. These were facing two cubicles for feeding, which I didn't photograph.

We had a fabulous time! We didn't get to visit Lego Kingdoms in detail or Lego Technic at all, but I guess there's always next time! 

Some tips for families with young kids:

1. Bring hats for the whole family. And don't forget the sunblock! It's VERY HOT in the park.

2. If you have young children, Imagination is the most ideal land, followed by Lego City. Head right from the entrance to get to Lego City.

3. If your child is below 80cm, there aren't too many rides he can take, though he can certainly have fun in the playgrounds they have scattered around. If he's over 90cm, there are actually a good number of options when riding accompanied by an adult. Above 110cm, your child can pretty much take any ride when accompanied, and above 120cm, he can go it alone.

That's it from me! If you have been to Legoland Malaysia, drop me a note and let me know which were your favourite activities!