Life is not just black and white. It is also blue. It’s red. It’s green and yellow and orange. It’s just about every colour you can imagine. Life is Lego.
We two adults and two children are in awe as we arrive at Legoland in Malaysia’s southernmost state of Johor. Our hotel looks like it’s built of Lego. It has big blue turrets and over the entrance is a gigantic green dragon whose bottom has smashed through the roof.
The interior is even brighter. There is a large castle and pirate ship in the reception area and pits full of Lego where children are deliriously building whatever they want, no instructions required.
The hotel’s 249 rooms are all themed. We’re in an Adventure room overlooking Legoland. Life-size Lego monkeys, parrots, lizards and snakes watch us from the shelves and walls; while in the bathroom, a giant Lego tarantula hangs above the toilet and a scorpion above the sink.
But there are still a few hours before sunset, enough time for everyone to have some fun at the waterpark.
At the Build-A-Raft River, there are tubes to drift on as giant Lego clams squirt water at you. Lego bricks drift by and you can collect them and build your own raft. Our construction is more like flotsam than a raft but it does the job as Tom perches on top.
Moments later, I’m told it’s time to move on, not by one of the numerous life guards but by two children desperate to ride the Red Rush. This ride is a high and wide waterslide and you climb into a big circular raft to make your descent. It spins around enough to cause a few screams but not enough to stop the kids bolting back up to the top to do it again … and again.
To slow the pace after multiple Red Rush rides, we try out the make-a-boat. It takes me back to my own childhood, when I built Lego boats in the bath and sailed them on stormy seas made by swaying my legs back and forth.
When we’re finished, we run to the start of the obstacle course. My boat twists to one side and is rolled underwater by another boat and crushed, just like my dreams of victory. Matilda and Tom’s boat escapes the carnage and reaches the bottom first, a triumph for our little family from Australia.
A five-minute walk the next day takes us to Legoland and our first stop – the Legoland Driving School. After a presentation on the rules of the road and a briefing from an instructor, the kids make their way outside to the vehicles. The course replicates a real road environment complete with traffic lights, roundabouts and signs.
I have a photo of Tom driving his car that I will pass on to his driving instructor in about 10 years’ time. Despite the lessons, despite the briefing, despite the 1.8m-long bright, white arrow painted on the road, there is Tom, looking intently ahead, on the wrong side of the road.
Legoland has more than 70 rides and exhibitions. Throughout the day we are on rides, off rides and looking at amazing Lego creations, including the Lego re-creation of Asian landmarks in Miniland and scenes from the Star Wars movies.
What surprised me the most during our time in the land of Lego was meeting several Australian families who had driven across for a day trip from holidaying on Singapore. Johor is separated from Singapore by just a few mangroves and the narrow Straits of Johor. The two countries are connected by the causeway, which is used by both Malaysian and Singaporean travellers and workers.
One evening we travelled out of Johor Bahru to Sungai Lebam for a firefly cruise. Far from the dizzying sights and sounds of Legoland, we sat in near silence, the only sound being the gentle splashing in the mangroves by a crewman to awaken the illuminated insects.
What a contrast: Legoland has splendour and spectacle to send the senses reeling; on the cruise, Tom and Matilda held the fireflies in gentle, cupped hands, delighted just by sitting still and watching the flights of light around them.
The writer was a guest of Tourism Malaysia and Tourism Johor.
ESCAPE ROUTE
GETTING THERE
Legoland Malaysia is west of Johor Bahru, the capital city of Johor. Fly to Singapore and take a taxi across the causeway to Johor Bahru or fly to Kuala Lumpur and then catch a short flight down to Johor’s Senai International Airport. It is a one-hour drive from Singapore’s Changi International Airport and 20 minutes from Johor’s Senai Airport.
Many airlines fly from Australian capital cities to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, including Qantas, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air, AirAsia and Singapore Airlines. My family travelled to Singapore from Bali on Tiger Air.
STAYING THERE
At the Legoland Hotel, all deluxe and suite rooms can sleep up to eight people. All standard and premium rooms can sleep up to five people. An Adventure-themed premium room will cost about $203 and each room has its own treasure hunt, Lego bricks to build (and step on) and all guests have entry to the Legoland Theme Park and Legoland Water Park one hour before the gates open to the public. An adult one-day ticket combo includes entry to the theme park and water park and is RM180 ($A56). A child one-day ticket combo is RM144.
EATING THERE
The hotel’s buffet restaurant caters to all ages, tastes and styles while the theme parks have a variety of fast food restaurants and snack bars. Just make sure you save the burgers for after the roller coasters.
For some excellent traditional Malaysian cuisine, try the street stalls throughout Johor Bahru. One highlight is the slightly bizarre cendol, a traditional dessert made with green jelly noodles, ice and coconut milk with added extras on request such as beans and corn.
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