School's Out!

We are into the second week of school holidays already. Normally school holidays would mean that my mother, sister and her brood would be up to KL to spend a few days with us. They came up at the beginning of the school holidays and went home already. They literally came as soon as school was out because they were up by Friday itself! LOL.

While my nephews and my daughter were waiting for their school bells to ring, I was playing the role of a SAHM (like real!) and Joseph got the privilege to do this...

He enjoyed it hysterically and got to paint in peace without squabbling with his sister.

Joseph's masterpiece.

One of the agenda during their trip was to bring them to Menara KL or KL Tower since my mother haven't been there before. Our ticket package was inclusive of the Observation Deck and the Animal Zone. Joseph entered for free and they have senior citizen privileges too. We went up to the Observation Deck first and made a few circles to observe KL city. Your are given a Walkman kind of thing together with earphones upon request if you want a guided tour around the observation deck. But it didn't come in handy and we returned it. Some were either faulty or too soft. I think it is more useful for foreign tourist and not local tourist like us.

Observation deck of KL Tower

One of the many views you can get from KL Tower

And of course the famous Petronas Twin Towers.

The viewer to see the view at a much larger point of view.

My nephews with their Angry Birds t-shirt. *roll my eyes* My beloved mum and me.

Some of the animals in the Animal Zone.

Most unique animal there was this two-headed tortoise. It was quite tiny actually. About the size of my palm.

That pic of my nephew Brandon with parrots actually costed us RM5 to take with our own camera. Everything requires money these days. We went to the Nature Park after that.

It is quite an awesome sight on top of the Observation Deck but I think once is enough just to have that experience. The visit to the Animal Zone was ok but don't expect it to be as big as a zoo. My mum freaked out as soon as she entered because one of the first few animals at the front were the pythons. So she didn't want to enter further thinking that it was all reptiles inside. We had to make our visit short and sweet. We went to the Nature Park after which was free. We came to this park before and I've blogged about it here.

The other place we went was Mid Valley Megamall where we managed to catch the Mickey Mouse Through The yEars creative tributes showcasing Mickey Mouse figurines imaginatively painted on by local artists and some of the participating outlets from Mid Valley Megamall.

This one is so adorable because it's like a miniature of F.O.S. outlet with decorated Mickey figurines.

One of the many large Mickey figurines.

As you can see I'm attracted to the Mickeys with bling blings!

 It was interesting to see how creative people can be with a Mickey figurine. The children enjoyed browsing through the exhibition. You can still catch it though. It seems it will be on till September.

Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve

Has anyone heard of Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve? I never knew a forest reserve existed right in the heart of KL city. I discovered it when I googled for a list of forest reserve in Malaysia. It is just beside KL Tower or Menara KL and I thought why not try to hike there especially since it looks quite easy for beginners and people with a preschooler and toddler like me. This is the our second hike. The first hike was at Gasing Hill Forest Reserve.

There are a few entrances to this forest. Since it was our first time, we entered through the entrance very close to KL Tower's entrance. The only bummer there is the parking fee which was quite pricey. But fret not for we found another entrance right opposite the Bukit Nanas Convent School which is not in the grounds of KL Tower. That way we can avoid the parking fee and enter the forest through that particular entrance.

The map of this forest reserve.

On the left is the entrance to the forest reserve nearest to KL Tower. This should be the main entrance. This entrance leads to a suspension bridge. (pic on the right)

The children enjoyed the suspension bridge.

Coming down from the suspension bridge, you will see this gazebo. It's a site for camping. You can see many tents in the background.

Tracks are easier with planks attached to make stairs probably to avoid erosion.

Clockwise from top left: Bukit Nanas Convent School opposite one of the entrance, haven't seen those kind of mushroom / fungus for a while, tall bamboos at the bamboo walk.

Joseph crossing a bridge. The children like to cross bridges.

A school doing their camping there. One of the activity provided at KL Tower is the pony ride. We didn't ride on the pony though.

The pony's stable. The pony cart ride will be free of charge if you purchase the ticket up to KL Tower. Our tummies were rumbling already so I just took some pictures and left.

Overall, it was quite a pleasant hike and it won't take so much of your time because it is not a large forest. It is suitable for young children and beginners. If you have spare time and interest, you can also go up KL Tower and enjoy their other array of activities but that you would have to purchase the ticket. The forest reserve is FOC. This time we were more prepared with water and snacks. The hiking trails were not muddy. So no drama throughout the hike. :) We will definitely hike some more!