Mommy Post : Kids-friendly Places in Klang Valley

Places we went to in Klang Valley after the lockdown was lifted:

Note : Most of the places we went to are outdoor, we also opted for weekday and at the earliest time possible (right when it is opened) to avoid the crowds. Usually people start coming in around noon (11am+).

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1. KL Bird Park ★★★★

• Ticket : RM 35 (adult, Mykad) , RM 15 (children + senior, Mykad) , below 3 is free
• Opening Hours : 9 am - 6 pm, open daily

Extra notes :

• Wear light & airy clothes, it is hot, some places are shaded, some are open under the sun
• Drink water, there is also several little cafes/shops inside.
• The place is huge, we spent almost 3 hours inside the park

You can see the clip starting from 8:30 - KL Bird Park Outing from this video. During this time, it was our first proper outing and we didn't make any dedicated video for it :

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2. Farm in the City, Seri Kembangan ★★★★

• Ticket : RM 39 (adult, Mykad) , RM 32 (children + senior, Mykad) , below 90 cm is free
• Opening Hours : 10 am - 6 pm, closed every Tuesday (except on public & school holiday)

Extra notes :

• Wear light & airy clothes, it is hot but mostly shaded. 
• Drink water, there is also an indoor cafe in the farm to rest.
• You can have direct interactions with the animals so wash your hands frequently, there are a lot of sinks in the farm.
• You can buy foods for the animal/birds/fishes 
• We spent 2 hours at the farm.

So far, this is the best farm/zoo experience that we had. It is not too big and not too small, it is hot but mostly shaded, there were a lot of direct interaction (we were in the huge cages with the animals), it is near our home, it feels very interactive and personal. 

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3. KL Tower Mini Zoo & Blue Coral Aquarium ★★★

• Ticket Zoo : RM 45 (adult, Mykad) , RM 35 (children + senior, Mykad) , below 3 is free
• Ticket Aquarium : RM 15 (adult)
• Opening Hours : 10 am - 9 pm,  Monday - Sunday

Extra notes :

• At the zoo, wear light & airy clothes, it is hot.
• Blue Coral Aquarium is a small aquarium, it is a bit depressing and dark, indoor but no aircond. 
• Prepare yourself for the toy shop in the middle of the zoo
• Love the entrance, direct interaction indoor petting zoo, that was fun

We didn't really like it. It was hot and Sofi didn't cooperate much. There was a shop in the middle of the zoo and you know how kids react to toy shop - it was her biggest distraction and she started to throw tantrum because she wanted something. Usually toy shops are the last stop before we go out and it should be, with that exact reason. 

Well, it wasn't a good experience for us.

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4. Aquaria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur ★★★

• Ticket : RM 52 (adult, Mykad) , RM 42 (children + senior, Mykad)
• Opening Hours : 10 am - 7 pm, closed every Tuesday (except on public & school holiday)

This was one of the place that we went with 'many people', even though we went on weekdays at 10 am and after the school holiday ended. We couldn't avoid the crowd, so most of the time, we walked fast and didn't enjoy as much as all the other places that we went to before. But Sofi enjoyed the experience so far, there were a lot of sharks and huge fishes and it was her first big-tunnel aquarium experience. 

Unfortunately we only spent around 40 minutes inside.

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5. Kidzoona ★★★★

• Ticket : RM 14 - RM 18 (kids, weekday) , RM 22 (kids, weekend & holiday)
• Opening Hours : 10 am - 7 pm, closed every Tuesday (except on public & school holiday)

Extra notes :

• Need to bring your own socks, or buy at the entrance
• Fill in a form before entering
• Guardian can enter for free
• Maximum 3 hours per entry

We went to the IOI Putrajaya one, right after it is opened at 10 am. The place was empty, no kids except for Sofi. It was her first time so she explored the place first. The place was clean & very organized, all toys were arranged neatly, we even put them back nicely after play. I looooooved it and Sofi seems to enjoyed it too. We spent around 1.5 hours in there, oh, there is a massage chair inside as well, so I had the chance to get a short 10 mins massage when Sofi was playing. 

Sofi at Kidzoona, IOI City Mall Putrajaya :

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6. IKEA ★★★★

• No tickets needed
• Sofi explored and tried out the kids' room setup
• We ended the playful exploration with soy ice-cream & frozen yogurt

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7. Jungle Gym, Bangsar Mall ★★★★

• Ticket (toddler) : RM 25 (weekday) , RM 35 (weekend & holiday)
• Ticket (kids) : RM 48 (weekday) , RM 66 (weekend & holiday)
• Ticket (adult) : RM 10
• Opening Hours : 10 am - 7 pm, closed every Tuesday (except on public & school holiday)

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Other places we haven't visited together with Sofi :

• Pusat Sains Negara
• Zoo Negara
• Butterfly Park
• Kidzania
• Petrosains
• KL Forest Eco Park

Little Story 243 - The Pixie Cut

Photo by Giorgio Trovato, Unsplash

I am 35 and I pixie-cut my hair last month.

I think it would me my first, it's my first time that the hair stylist ever used a hair clipper on my head. I still touch my hair behind my neck because it feels odd, new, alien. My hair is so short, and I'm still surprised when I look at the mirror (it's been 2 weeks). 

It is so easy to wash my hair now, less shampoo and less maintenance. I don't have to comb my hair (well, I hardly do because my hair is naturally so straight and thin, I don't really need a comb before). This is so liberating. The short hair. The last time I cut my hair was during the first lockdown, it was shoulder length and done at home.

When the hair stylist asked me for a sample photo, I showed her Zoe Kravitz's short hair. I said I needed a less maintenance hair, very-short, pixie, and I don't want to have to use products for a hair volume, but I needed my bangs to almost reach my eye-brow because I do still feel insecure about the wide forehead style. 

But eventually I look more like Elliot Page than Zoe Kravitz, Af been jokingly calling me Elliot or whether I'm in a boy band. But I now have hair volume, something I've never had before because my my hair type and I appreciate the chance to see a hair volume on my head even though it does look like a boy's hair. 

Ohh, and I also got hair wash and hair treatment (the firsts to everything). 45 minutes of blissful silence and I read The Inheritance Games the whole way. 

It is still new and odd. 

Sometimes Sofi come to me and touch the hair behind the neck, "short hair" she said. 

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The hair salon to go : D Aura Spa Salon Muslimah, Putra Walk, Seri Kembangan

Books - Halfway through 2022

Photo by Cristina Gottardi, Unsplash

It's July now, more than half of 2022 already.

I still read and listen to books, almost religiously lately. 

The book slump is over. 

By now I've finished 53 books.

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My current read :

• physical book : just finished The Silent Patient by Alex Michealides
• audio book : Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
• ebook on kindle : Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown

My favorite ones this year :

• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - I haven't enjoyed YA fiction for so long. This book is written in short chapter, so it was easy to keep on reading just to finish a chapter, nothing worth remembering, just pure entertainment. 
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - Beautiful prose, simple innocent love story.
• I'll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein - Relatable mommy story, this book make me feel seen and connected and not alone. 
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - Just a 700 pages of beautiful & painful stories of these 4 boys throughout their life.
• Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman - Beautiful prose and a nice fiction to enjoy for the day, I think I finished it in a day or two. 
• The Unseen Body by Jonathan Reisman - Nice anecdotes during his medical years, I love reading about medical-related experience. No medical jargon, easy to read for normal people like me. 
• How to Make Disease Disappear by Dr Rangan Chatterjee - I love nutrition, I love his easy to follow guide in life, I followed his podcast on Youtube afterwards and enjoyed his free content there.
• The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by VE Schwab - Same as Magic Lessons, it has a lot of beautiful prose and enjoyable fiction of the day. This book made me think for several days. 
• Any non-fiction books by Ann Patchett - I read them all. 

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I love it.

I love the entertainment, I love finding good stories, I love reading beautiful prose, I love discovering great authors, I love anecdotes, I love the written words. I wish I can get access to any books that I want, I wish books are cheaper, I wish I can borrow and exchange books more than I've been doing now. 

This year I read a lot of fiction, essays, parenting and health related books. 

Moving forward, I want to borrow more books to read and possibly read more classics. I think I need more reader friends to exchange/borrow books. Anyone ?