We spent 4 nights in Malaysia and slept in 3 different hotels. The main attraction was Legoland and our return flight to Manila was in KL. So we traveled from Singapore to Legoland, then spent half day in Melaka, and ended up in KL for the new year Eve.
Transport:
From Singapore to Legoland we booked a private car (100 Singapore dollars plus 30 extra because of holiday season door-to-door) as we heard that taking bus takes much longer to pass immigration. With the kids we opted for convenience. Overall it was 2.5 hrs transfer time. From Legoland to Melaka we took bus (booked online and redeem actual tickets in the bus station for 20 Malaysia ringgit each). The bus ride was 3 hrs and super comfortable. From Malacca to KL bus ride was 2 hrs for 15 ringgit each. From bus station to hotels and within Legoland, Melaka and KL, we used grab as it’s substantially cheaper than taxi. Most of rides costed around 10 ringgit.
Stay:
In Legoland we stayed at airbnb, a managed homestay near Ramada hotel. We had a two bedroom apartments 1km walking distance to Legoland. The apartment was ok but didn’t have wifi so I wouldn’t recommend.
In Melaka we stayed at Swiss-Garden hotel. It is one of few big hotels in the city and near the river. Room was clean and beds were comfortable. Walking by the river to the old town was nice.
In KL we stayed at Oasis Suites Kuala Lumpur, a one-bed suites with kitchenette and walking closet. Very central location, good amenities.
Day 1: arriving Legoland. We went to Midini mall area (which is also entrance to Legoland) for dinner and some breakfast supplies. The area is quite deserted, only attraction was Legoland and few fast food stores for food and a supermarket.
Day 2: Legoland
As we entered Legoland, we quickly felt it was worth the visit as everything was nicely made using Lego including Santa Clauss
Sofia had fun taking the driving school
Lizzy had fun with the boating
water splash
a castle with a fun ride
pony ride
mini tower drop
fire rescue in Lego city
Overall it was a good visit for small kids. I would say Sofia (7 years old) was almost too old for it as most of the rides are not exciting enough for her. This legoland must be one of the oldest theme park in Asia, its wear and tear can be showed. I DO NOT recommend to plan a trip just for this.
Day 3: arrived Melaka around 1pm. After leaving luggage at the hotel we went to the old town. It was my second time here so I knew the main attraction was this main street with many local snacks
we tried durian puff
a very bitter tea that is cooling for the hot day in Malaysia
a speciality of Malaysia, a rice flour cake filled with red sugar and coconut
another glutinous rice ball filled with red sugar
and the main attraction for the kids was the themed tricycle. Not surprisingly they chose Hello Kitty.
it was a 15 min ride around the old town with very loud music
as we got off, the girls asked for another ride the next day 🙂
Then we took the 45 min boat ride by the river to finish our visit
walking back to the hotel we found this flower passage, perfect selfie spot
Day 4: our last stop in KL. We didn’t have much planned as there are nothing particular special in KL for kids and were were rather tired to just walk around. The kids check out the hotel pool by the rooftop
then we walked to the KLCC park playground area. It is a very large playground complex area with a public pool. the girls loved trying different equipments. We had to leave early because it was really humid, hot, and mosquito everywhere.
some KLCC mall AC and ice cream was desperately needed
and that concluded our Malaysia visit.
Malaysia is cheap, relatively clean, liveable, and with many malls. Very similar to other big cities in Asia.