Kidszania - The Fun & The Not-So-Fun!

Kidszania definitely provides an experience of its own. Kids get to explore and try out different occupations, the very basic of what a job entails. It also allows them up close experience of doing something that earns $. Most importantly, succinctly summarised by my No.2 - "I am at "work" whole day and only earn so much?". Value of hard work!

The number of choices of jobs can be overwhelming. The queues daunting and the different requirements of some jobs - confusing! Though I must say, Kidszania does a good job of emulating a real virtual city for kids - "adulting" for a day does teach them that its not all roses in the land of adults!

Fun comes in many forms here :) Most kids have lots of fun going for their ambition. Be it being policeman, fireman, surgeon, journalist, CSI investigator, basketball player etc, they all have longer than long queues. Pilots, cabin crews etc have double queues which speaks a lot for their popularity! Parents are mostly left at the door, trying their best to get a decent shot of their kids while they "work". However, some jobs do welcome parents! If your kid is going for pilot or cabin crew, you will be welcome to join in as "passengers" and if they are going for their basketball tryouts, you get to be their adoring fans cheering them on!

Next on the list of popularity will be jobs where the kids get to eat! Want a piece of chicken? Go work at KFC. Craving for pizza, there's always Pizza Hut where u learn how to make a small pizza! Want some desserts? Go to the ice-cream making factory for some Paddle Pops! Need a more fulfilling meal? There's Soup Spoon where u get a soup of your choice and a croissant that u make yourself! Want some candy? There is the candy making store for you to try making your own. Be forewarned though, it's yet another double queue system!

My kids did not get to try the popular ones apart for one or two. The queues are really as long as the Great Wall of China and since I do plan to bring them back, I really do not want to waste time on queuing. One of the more popular ones that they did try was being Paramedics. They got to doctor a real "patient" (a child that volunteers to be patient) and ride in an ambulance! This job warranted a 40mins wait and we were entertained by firemen putting out a fire at a burning building nearby with the police maintaining order :) The firemen gets to ride in a fire engine as well! Oh! And they will receive a "Hospital Staff ID Pass" at the end of it. Every time u complete a job at a related industry, you will get a stamp :)

They also tried being a health researcher at the Health Institute on Level 2. This is sponsored by Lifebuoy and after learning how to make the liquid soap, they each get to bring back a sample bottle of it! I thought it was very generous of Lifebuoy!

Another popular one that they tried was the Milk Innovation Lab where they go through the steps of making the milk powder that they drank when they were young. This warranted a 1.5hrs queue where I settled their lunch with a slice of pizza while in the queue. They will also be given a sample pack of milk powder and a $5 discount voucher at the end of the session.

Oh! This reminds me! At the start of the session, they will give each kid a hair cover. Please do not throw these away! When your kids go for other food making jobs and it requires the hair cover, having an existing one earns them an extra dollar! Good way of reminding the kids (and parents) to reduce, reuse and recycle! PS. Owl not included :)

This was also where we experienced the 1st unpleasant encounter :(

When we first reach the queue for the Milk Innovation Lab, I quickly counted and confirmed that my kids will be able to go in for the next session. It was a session with a maximum of 6 participants and there were already 4 kids in queue. My kids happily queued and my poor legs were taking a much needed break when my No.1 signalled for me to go over. She whispered that a boy suddenly appeared and joined in the queue with his sisters who were originally in the queue. This effectively means that my kids will not get to go in together unless they wait for another session. It had been stated very clearly that all kids need to be present for all the queues and the parents who were nearby just completely ignored that. There wasn't much that we can do as no colored bracelets were given and there was no proof. I voiced my concern to the person in charge when they came out to ready the kids for the next session and thankfully colored bracelets were given for the next round. Seeing how annoyed my kids were, I decided to let them have a quick lunch while in queue.

After that first experience, I was more aware of how some parents simply flouted the rules with no concern for what they are teaching their own kids! My most common mantra to my kids is not to do unto others what you do not want yourself. Its common manners and simple logic yet, its much easier said than done. Many a times, its a case of monkey see, monkey do. Like it or not, our kids learn from us. There had been countless times that I heard my own commonly used phrases used by my kids when playing or interacting with others!

Then again, at Soup Spoon, we had the unfortunate "luck" to experience yet again this way of "queuing". This was a job that allows 10 pax per session. Seeing that the queue was only 3 in front, my kids were overjoyed as it was something that they had wanted to try. While waiting, a group of 5 kids suddenly appeared and join in to the 3 kids in front. It turned out they were from the same group. It was pure luck that my kids could still join in as it was just at 10 pax!  

Nearing the end of the day, there wasn't much time left as most jobs started on their last session for the day. One of the wanted job by my kids were to be a driver. However, there were many steps to it as they will need to first get an eye-check, attend driving school before they can "drive" a car! Seeing that most last sessions had commenced, I decided to let them go be an optician and also to get their eyes checked at the same time. Being an optician was interesting as they get to use an actual eye-checking machine and they could see what an optician see! At the end of the session they receive a card certifying that their eyes were checked. This eye-check will be valid for one year :)

One will see that most "upmarket" jobs like pilots, surgeons etc are extremely popular. A mom commented, while our kids queued outside the 7-11 store, that such jobs are popular as these are jobs parents want their kids to aspire to be. No one wants their kids to be store assistant at 7-11 or be a petrol kiosk assistant hence the much shorter queue. While I have to agree that this view is probably not incorrect, I have to defer on my personal stand.

At the start of the day, I told my kids that they should try out for jobs that were interesting and jobs that they do not get to experience easily. These are jobs like being credit officers where they distribute "cash" to other establishments by walking around pushing a vault. Another job which I wanted them to try was the one as a petrol kiosk attendant. They had always seen them hard at work when Daddy stops to top up gas. I wanted them to know that its not as easy to be one and to be aware of how each and every job contribute to society as a whole, no matter how "upmarket" or how "common" society views them. Just like the garbage collectors. If we do not have them, can you imagine how smelly and dirty our living areas will be?

All in all, Kidszania was an interesting experience. It was rather amusing to see how kids react when they get "paid", how important the "economy" of each job is when they realised they may have to part with their "hard earned" money! It is completely exhausting as well, practically walking around the whole day with little opportunity to sit and rest. There were seats around but with just as many , if not more parents, grandparents or helpers who will sit on that seat throughout the day, helping to take care of belongings while the kids run around, I spent 90% of my day on my feet! So the next time u need a workout, Kidszania can be a good choice as long as you walk around with your kids and not put up your legs at the Parents Lounge on Level 2 :)

Surviving Kidszania - The Essentials (a 2 part series)

My No.1 and No.2 were excited beyond words when we got tickets to Kidszania. Yes, it is exam period now for No.1 but we decided to let her have a breather during the recent 1 week school holidays before she faces the MAJOR exam. Kidszania being the newest attraction in town was definitely on their list of MUST-GO!

I was advised by a friend to get my adult tickets online as one could get a discount when I use MayBank credit card to pay. Alas! I realised when trying to do so that ALL adult tickets MUST be accompanied by at least one child ticket! As we already have the tickets for the kiddos, I was rather disappointed that I could not get the discounted rate. To me, having to pay $35 to go in seemed quite a rip-off as we adults definitely are NOT going to do any role play :(

Anyways, no worries on that as I discovered that I still get a 10% when I buy a ticket at the counter using a MayBank credit card. The tickets were designed to look like air tickets, a refreshing change. Best of all, you get to keep it as a memory keepsake. All the better for my scrapbooking!

Now, let's talk about the QUEUE before we actually step into Kidszania. It opens at 10am. We ignorantly thought that we could buy me a ticket and breeze in. What greeted us when we arrived were SNAKES of people in QUEUE just to get in! And we were early, at 9.50am! Moral of the story? Arrive at least 30mins before the stated opening hours to join in the snaking queue especially if you are going during the school holidays or weekends! We spent at least 30mins in the queue to be tagged, buy (my) ticket and finally to step into Kidszania.

Before we reach the counter, we were "tagged". All of us are given a watch-like tag to be worn at the wrist. It can be quite tight so do ask for adjustment if needed. This tag will be with you the entire duration of your Kidszania journey! At the counter, besides your tickets, you will be given the city map and a leaflet asking you to be a citizen of Kidszania. Be forewarned though, they only give you ONE map. Yes, one SINGLE map. Need more? Download and print them from here before you go. 

Note -  there are TWO pages of the city map, one for each level.

Some other general information:
1) Kidszania is a "city" with no re-entry. Unlike most theme parks like Universal Studios etc, you could get a hand stamp at exit to re-enter without charge on the same day. Not so for Kidszania. Its a one time enter and exit. If you want to re-enter again on the same day, it means the cost of another ticket!

2) 3G is available in Kidszania though the connection can be wonky at times. Still it was good enough for me to keep hubby updated on the kids "progress" :)

3) All activities have an "economy". The " - " in an economy means that your child will need to pay to do this activity while a " + " means that your child will earn kidZos$ after doing this activity. All amount mentioned in an activity will be kidZos$ and not actual money. Apart from buying food and making the paZZport, you will not be using any real money in this "city" :)

4) All activities have a maximum number of participants per session. Most children in queues will get a colored band to wear when they are in queue. For instance, if this activity only allow 6 children per session, 6 bands of the same color will be given to the first 6 kids in the queue. The next 6 kids will get a different colored band. This is to prevent queuing for others and parents are NOT allowed to queue for their kids. All kids need to be present in the queue. After receiving the colored band, the child must inform the assistant if he wants to leave the queue. and return the band unless going to the toilet.

5) Most activities take at least 20mins or 30mins to complete. A good time to rest your feet IF you can find a seat. Otherwise be prepared to stand, stand, and stand! To make good use of those 20mins? I source out next possible activity (reads - least number of people in queue!). I actually managed to get quite a workout by walking and standing most of the 10 hours that we were there! Yes, you read that correctly - TEN HOURS!

First Stop - Maybank (level one).

The kids will each receive a ATM Card ($30 kidZos in it) and $20 kidZos in cash. You need to activate the ATM Card before you can use it. Do this before you start any activity as you definitely do not want to spend 60mins in queue only to have your child be booted out as the ATM Card is not activated (= not useable). Once activated, you can also choose to "bank in" the given $20 kidZos cash into the ATM Card for ease of carrying. I asked my kids to do so in other to avoid missing cash. With $0, the given $50 is rather precious! 

Note - Your child will need to do this himself and parents are NOT allowed into the bank. There are Kidszania assistants on hand to help them.

Second Stop - PaZZport Office (level two)

This is to register your child as a citizen of Kidszania. This is completely optional. It will make you $18 (real money) poorer and your child will get a PaZZport and a pull-string bag. This PaZZport allows your child to save or earn $2 kidZos in all activities. Depending on the "economy" of each activity, your child will either earn kidZos$ or pay kidZos$. For example, if the "economy" of an activity states "- $10 kidZos" it means that the child needs to pay that amount. With a paZZport, the child then only pay $8 kidZos instead of $10 kidZos. Conversely, if the "economy" for an activity states "+$10 kidZos" then with this paZZport, your child will learn $12 kidZos instead.

Third Stop - University (level one)

While waiting for them to activate their ATM cards, I wandered around and chanced upon this "University". There are 3 "degrees" offered in this "University" namely "Business & Finance", "Mass Communications" and "Biochemistry & Engineering". Each degree has its stipulated timeslots for "lessons". After attending the said session, your child will receive a card corresponding to the "degree" that he had attended. This card allows your child to receive additional $2 kidZos over and above the extra earned with a paZZport. Which mean - a +$10 kidZos is now +$14 kidZos ($2 from paZZport and $2 from the "degree"). Then again, each degree has specific activities that earn the extra $2 kidZos. It will be printed on the card itself for easy reference. As my kiddos were keen on Biochemistry & Engineering, that was the one they attended first and foremost, earning them the card you see below.

Overall, the kiddos could only start on the activities proper after 60mins or so of queuing (to get in), activating the ATM Card and making the paZZport. I used these times to comb through the map and to check the activities that are a must-do. However, do prepare your kiddos that they may not be able to do all of what they want, especially the popular ones. You may be taken aback at how long the queue is and the antics parents get up to, so as to let their kids do the activities! More on this in my next post.

Some activities may have a double queue. This means that you queue once to get the queue card and then back a second time at 15mins prior to your allocated slot for the activity itself. These includes the Candy Shop, Pilot and Cabin Crew. Other popular ones like Firefighter, Paramedic, Surgeon, Radiologist, Police, CSI, Driver means queues as long as 120mins!

Always always check the information available at the start of the queue. It will tell you things like the "economy", the maximum number of participants per session, duration of the session etc. It will also tell you if any additional cards can be used like the University card etc. Also, best to do some activity to "earn" some kidZos$ first as $50 can only last you that long. Most paying activity costs $10 kidZos! Be forewarned though, not all queues start at the door. Some may be at the back of the building, some at the side. I generally take a pre-look while my kids queue at another activity.

Some other must-haves...
1) Water. Going from activity to activity can be tiring but the kids will be so high that they forget to drink. I always make sure that they take a mouthful of water while waiting in line.

2) Small Snacks. Most kids will be so excited to complete activities that they may not want to take time out to have some food. I brought along small snacks like cereal bars, M&M, individually packed biscuits etc. They devour these while queuing up. Best not to have anything oily or messy though. If you choose to get food inside, the prices can be scary. A slice of pizza cost $5 and above and the choices aren't a lot. A more wallet friendly place will be Soup Spoon whereby the prices are same as actual retail prices. That was where I settled my lunch as well :)

3) Small pouch or wallet. After the kids go through some activities, you may start to accumulate cards and kidZos$ cash. You will at least get the ATM card, the paZZport (if you register) and other cards such as the one from the University etc. Having a small pouch/wallet for each child makes holding all these easier than fumbling for them when needed.

4) At the end of the day, you can choose to keep the kidZos cash or bank into the ATM card. If you plan to bring your kids to other overseas Kidszaniz outlets, then you will need to cash out all the money in your account. KidZos$ are useable in all Kidszania outlets internationally but only in cash form. ATM is unique only to the Singapore outlet. I have asked my kids to bank in the cash to avoid it being lost.

5) Exit. The exit is through the "immigration" but you will probably be routed to pass through the Kidszania store before going to the exit. Items at the Kidszania store are bought using real actual money. We did not browse through the store as the kids were already exhausted and hungry! At the exit, you will be de-tagged before exiting.

My next post will focus on our experience going through the activities, the fun and of course the not-so-fun of our Kidszania experience! Stay tuned!

Speaking Dialects - Our Way Of Life

Encountered a rather amusing and yet a tad sad incident recently. Recently, I was in the queue for payment in FairPrice with my kiddos. The endlessly long and never-seem-to-move queue means a very restless toddler and a very impatient 9 year old. Thankfully my firstborn was blissfully unaffected as she is a people observer and loves to just people watch (and sometimes stone :P)

As the queue moves at a snail's pace, my toddler took to irritating his already irritated older sibling. My No.2 was suitably UNamused and before long, it had escalated into a shoving match (SIGH!). As I TRY to mediate and move along the queue at the same time, The usual phrases of "Stop that!", "Behave!", "Don't be naughty!" all came rolling naturally off my tongue. However, what seemed the norm to me, was apparent rather unusual as I finally caught on to it when an aunty ahead of me, turned, stared and then approached me. I was getting ready for a "talking-to" for not being able to "control" my kids etc etc. Her words, however, floored me!

"Do they really understand what you have said?" That innocent question stopped me in my (many) trains of thoughts. For a full 5 seconds, I did not understand her question. I am speaking human right? I do not speak alien so what kind of question is that?!?! Then it strike me - I was speaking in both Teochew and Hokkien! Both dialects are second nature to us, YES even to my kiddos!

Some background...

Both hubby and myself were brought up by our grandparents. This then made us effectively "tri-lingual" as we could speak in English, Chines and dialect effectively. We also communicate with each other in dialects at home when we have our own family. Naturally our kiddos then picked up the dialects as well though I must say that we do put in extra effort to make sure that they know their dialects. It is something important to both of us. We believe in preserving the language of our culture and this is one of the most basic of our way of communication.

As we grow older, it became quite glaringly obvious that many people of our generation do not know their own dialects. It may not be a subject that is examined in school but to both of us, it carries with it the core of our being a Chinese and being a Teochew or Hokkien. It is thus rather sad to know that as society "progresses" local dialects are deemed "less important" and therefore little effort is put into learning and preserving them. I have heard (many times) that why do we go to such trouble? Anyway it is not an academic subject and not much people know it anyway!

There are actually many amusing idioms in dialects. One of the more commonly used ones in my family will be "one bag of sesame seeds with none into the ear". Loosely translated it means having so many seeds but none were where it should be. It used to denote the many reminders etc without any actually "going into the ear" or listened to. This was frequently used by my mom (but of course) on my kiddos to remind them to do this or that :P

Another cute one will be "a three-ounce kitten trying to carry a four-ounce rat". This denotes one trying to carry something or someone heavier than himself. Normally used by my mom when my super petite No.2 is trying to carry her younger brother who is just a few kgs lesser than her!

One more? My mom used to say this whenever we do things the hard way when there is an easier path :P Ready? It goes "instead of scratching the itchy part, we scratched the painful part" It was such an apt description that it never fails to register with us the futility of what we are doing!

For this, I am very glad that both hubby and myself agreed on preserving this very important part of our culture. It may just be yet another language but it is OUR language. Why learn a foreign language that we may not use at all? Why deemed it "less important" just because it is not an academic subject? To each his own I guess. No matter, I am glad, very glad (and comforted) that my kiddos understand and can speak both Teochew and Hokkien. Yes, they may not speak it as fluently as hubby and myself but they do understand it and they can speak it relatively well.

This reminds me. There was a nursery rhyme in Teochew that my mom sings to us. It has a catchy tune and humorous lyrics. I MUST remember to record her singing it and to get the words down! 

So, do you speak your dialect? Fluently? Does your kids know them too?