Today I had the displeasure of visiting Sunway Lagoon, a supposedly awesome water park about 30 minutes out of KL. I'd gone on the recommendation of a member at my gym who was here around Christmas. Clearly it was much better then, as I was bitterly disappointed today.
The mission to get there should have been off-putting enough. I had to take the monorail, then a train, then a bus. I am however familiar with the transport arrangements as I've been to Sunway twice before. It's a long ride and a bit boring. There is however a good supermarket thingy at Kelana Jaya station where I purchased a "1 Malaysia" badge and was going to purchase an umbrella, but decided to do that on the way back - and forgot.
I'd purchased tickets online for Sunway Lagoon and the first hurdle was redeeming them. Major mission completed, the next step was to add credit to a flimsy wristband so that I could purchase food, drink, locker rental and souvenirs inside the park. The park is cashless, which is awesome, but they don't put your wristband on tight enough. I spent the whole visit paranoid that I'd lose it and not be able to get back into my locker (you scan the barcode at the locker kiosk to get into your locker) and then I'd be stuck there forever. LOL.
Finding the locker rental was a major mission all of its own. I was directed down three stories via escalators to lockers by the water park - I later found out when leaving the park that there were lockers by the entrance. When I got there, no signage was present to tell you what to do. The staff were surly and unhelpful, the queues too long and the lockers bloody expensive.
I got changed and headed for the pools, looking forward to dipping my hives-covered legs in some chlorinated water, as for me, this totally nukes the itching. Signs everywhere directed parents to actually mind their kids but there were few parents in sight and bucket loads of free-range children everywhere, dive-bombing unsuspecting adults trying to enjoy the overpriced day of "fun" we'd paid for (i.e. me). The wave pool was closed. The "fun" activities like the zip line, etc, were way overpriced and half the free rides were closed for maintenance. The pool at the "beach" area was only calf-deep and it seemed like the only thing to do was eat!
Food was abundant but way overpriced and incredibly unhealthy. I had play lunch at Marrybrown before deciding to check out the rest of the park. I wasn't too bothered with the rides in the amusement park area as most of them were closed for maintenance, so I went and visited the animals. The bird aviary was blah, the reptiles were blah (apart from a red iguana) and the poor big black cat looked incredibly stressed out. It may have been a panther; I can't tell you for sure as there were no signs!
I wandered up the hill, took a few random photos, had an ice cream, wandered back down the three stories of escalators, bought a waterproof phone/camera pouch, got changed and got the hell out. I'm in no hurry to come back - the park was more expensive than the awesome one on Sentosa in Singapore and The Lost World of Tambun. Hopefully the water park at Legoland will be better, when I go back to JB again next year.
Next stop was Sunway Pyramid mall, which you have to traipse through to get to the Lagoon in the first place. I had a coffee and some cake thing, to cool my frayed nerves after spending ten minutes fighting with the lockers outside the Lagoon. I wanted to stash my wet gear while I looked for a new pair of sandals, but no matter which RM5 note I stuck in the machine, it spat it straight back out again. Grrrr!
I had lunch in the mall for about half the price of the Lagoon. I bought a notebook and pen set, some t-shirts for $3 AUD, a couple of roll up travel vacuum clothing bags at Daiso Japan and a book. I then decided to head for the AF Club at Puchong. I caught a bus to Subang Jaya and figured I'd just jump a cab to Puchong, but the weather had other ideas. I ended up having to shelter in a mall for over an hour due to a massive thunderstorm. I couldn't find any sandals and was running out of patience. I went to the next mall and same thing - no sandals.
It wasn't a lack of sandal thing, it was a suitability thing. I can't wear sandals, jandals/thongs or anything else that has a bit that goes between your toes. My toes just don't like it, so I kept leaving stores empty-handed. I also wasn't prepared to pay more than I would in Melbourne, so I left and headed out to the street. The traffic was hell, Obama is in town and his bloody motorcade keeps jamming up the already over-congested roads, so I decided to head for Mid Valley Megamall.
I'd just hit the Subang Jaya train station when Stormageddon hit - KL's answer to a tropical monsoonal horiztonal thunderstorm. I was stuck under a metal awning (oh what fun!) with the lightning just a few hundred metres away. Fortunately the train rocked up quickly and as the lines have changed or something, I had to go all the way to KL Sentral and change lines to go to Mid Valley.
By this stage it was nearing dinnertime, so after dinner of some chicken thing at some place on the basement level, a fruitless search for sandals and more time spent being stalked by shop assistants, it was time to head for Berjaya Times Square (BTS) Mall. I caught the train back to KL Sentral, hopped on the Monorail to Imbi and then hit BTS. I was delighted to find my sunglass lady is still here and I stocked up on sunglasses for myself and a friend for $3 AUD per pair. After two hours of wandering aimlessly, I finally found a pair of sandals! They are a bit bling-bling but are very comfy.
After a coffee and a naughty donut, it was very late and my feet hurt, my bags were heavy and I was over it. I jumped in an executive taxi with a meter (a rare treat for me) - who actually used his meter - (a rare treat for all visitors to KL!) and arrived back at the hotel just in time to dodge the English git from last night. Phew.
I've spent the last hour repacking my bags as I'm flying home tomorrow night, so I am now pretty compliant with my luggage. I know I have a spare 2kg in my suitcase if I do see something I like tomorrow, like scarves for the little girl of a member at my gym - she has leukaemia and is mortified about being bald.
No comments:
Post a Comment