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Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Our Underwater Experience

Everyone has gone out for lunch. Since I’m on my fasting marathon (12 more days to go!!), I’ve decided to take a breather and update my blog. I promised all of you a recount of our family trip to Aquaria KLCC, so here it is.

We had heard about the exhibition from some office mates and had decided to take the girls since they loved animals and we figured they would get a kick out of seeing live sharks up close. Watching them on Discovery Channel just doesn’t do much justice to these magnificent creatures.

So we headed out to KLCC around 4pm. The whole exhibition was indoors, supposedly in an air-con environment so we weren’t worried about the girls getting too hot. We debated about whether to park inside or out, coz inside the parking rate is hourly (and we had planned to spend quite some time there) but parking outside, we would have to make quite a walk to the exhibition hall. Finally we decided to park indoors and pray that the rate wouldn’t be too extravagant.

After going up the escalator and going through the tunnel to the hall, the first thing we noticed was this looooooooonnnnggg line of people queuing up to buy tickets. Great!! Fortunately the girls were in relatively good moods and there were other kids lining up with us, so the whole 35 minute process of getting the tickets wasn’t too painful. Tickets were RM20 for adults and RM10 for children, but I think these were special pricings until end of August. Luckily, both Dania and Dina got in free.

However, once we got in, it was a whole different story. For one thing, the place was dark. The only illuminated areas were the glass panes were the animals were showcased. I kept running people’s feet over with the stroller which caused me to keep saying “I’m sorry. Forgive me. Excuse me.” like a mad parrot.

Secondly, the people who managed this exhibition must have really underestimated the number of people who would visit. You’d think lining up for 35 minutes to buy tickets was bad. Try lining up and being ushered like herds of cows, trying to catch a glimpse of the fish and other animals they were showing. It was madness!! And extremely frustrating, especially for my daughters coz they couldn’t see anything. A picture of the crowd is below, just to give you an idea.

Arghhh!! Cannot see anything.



Why there are Tarantulas is beyond me


Managed to push through and take picture with this fish


If that wasn’t bad enough, the underwater tunnel (where you can see all the sharks swimming overhead) had no air-conditioning!! People were made to stand on this conveyor belt and watch the sharks and other fishes swim about in sweltering heat. The entire trip must have taken not more than 15 minutes but it felt like the longest 15 minutes ever. Some pictures of the sharks (who were totally cool, by the way) and hubby with Dania looking hot and bothered.
Cool shark #1


Cool shark #2


Cool shark #3


Hubby trying to be cool..but actually rather pissed

We were already kind of tired and rather hungry by that time so we just strolled along with the rest of the herd to the end of the hall. I managed to take some pictures of the seahorses and ribbon eels. We zipped through the souvenir shop (I was kind of mad about having to pay RM40 for the entire experience, I wasn’t about to give these people a single cent more) and made it out of the hall alive. After prayers, we had dinner at KFC then decided to call it a day. Parking charges cost us another RM7. Good grief!!

Many friends have been asking my opinion on the Aquaria and whether they should take their kids and families there. For RM32 for adults and RM16 for children, (I’ve heard those are the new pricings) there are better and much cheaper places for you to do some family bonding. However if you desire the feeling of having a shark swim over your head, then go to the KLCC Aquaria. But if your intentions are to educate the kids on fishes and other types of aquatic life, you’re better off watching the Discovery Channel or taking them to the local fish market.

15 comments:

sitynuress said...

wanted to take indah to see the fish on the same day we went to times square.. tapi sebab lama sgt naik train and dah kepenatan so tak jadik ... nasib baik tak pegi kalau tak mesti meraung indah :P

best place to teach kids on fish:
fish market
sebab leh SEE, TOUCH and SMELL the fish ehehheeh

Along said...

Sity29: Ah...if going on w weekend, then I advice not to take ur daughter. Sebab amat sesak and hot. If going weekdays, maybe it would be better.

Meowmeow: Well, that's just my POV. But seriously, that would be my 1st and last visit to teh Aquaria. If you've been to overseas' Aquarium, this one doesn't stand up. Sad to say, but true.

Anonymous said...

emm...we are going tomorrow, thought let the kids experience a bit lor, see how it th clowd on weekday.

Anonymous said...

rm28 for adults with mykad after the promo periods.

Along said...

Maria: Let us know how it goes. Maybe weekdays, it's not so bad.

Joe: Betul ke? Orait ah tu, rather than RM38 per adult. Tobat tak pi. You taking ur kids there?

Leena Salleh said...

Along

Thanks for the review. Had a tought of taking my kids over tu Aquaria but DH warned about the crowd which we decided not to. Guess, the Langkawi Underwater World would hold a much better ranking than Aquaria....in all aspects he he he
~Leena

Anonymous said...

possibley going.. but specifically avoiding the first few weeks, maybe months.. semua tengah kpc, crowded.. looking for the right time.

nadya.s said...

.....takpernak.rain check la cenggituh..tengok discovery channel la, kalo nak tgk jaws. setakat ikan kerapu,tenggiri dan ikan merah tuh.. nak tgk kt giant jer la...hehehe,itu je ikan yg kenal :P

Anonymous said...

so u and nadya are from the same company ek!

Along said...

Lena: Ur welcome. Yeah, I would guess the Langkawi Underwater World is much better. Don't waste ur money. Go to the Sunway Petting Zoo instead. It's a blast.. (review coming soon).

Joe: Yeah, I would suggest going after all the hype has died down.

Nadya: Itulah. The same opinions here.

Anonymous: Errr...errr..errr

Ayah said...

Tried twice nak bawak bebudak ke Aquaria but was turned off by the very very long queue... terkira-kira jugak berapa lama agaknya menunggu... 35 minit ye? Ala boringnya... ok la next weekend pi langkawi aja la gamaknya...

Anonymous said...

Along ...marina here. I went last monday after work around 7pm. There were no q's, in fact just walked upto the desk and got the tickets. This is now the revised fee and it makes a difference. There were still lots of couples and families, all locals so the price must be be too off putting for them.

Luckily, there was enough space to stroll and look at everything upclose and not feel rushed. The tunnel was great and we went through 3 times, to keep looking at the fish. A weekend or a holiday would really not be a good idea but we did have a great time. A real ooh and ahh place.

Anonymous said...

Diana and I went there along with our kids on a weekday. In fact we got there just as it opened. No Qs, hardly any people around (a couple of Middle East families). The first half was extremely boring but it really picked up when we got to the freshwater and oceanic exhibits. All in all it's justified IF you can take your time to stroll around and really take in the sights.

Along said...

Ayah: I'm planning a trip to Langkawi end of this year. I guess I'll take the kids to the Underwater World and compare my experience there to that of KLCC Aquaria.

Marina: Again, I guess the time and day makes all the difference.

Jayen: Giant!! Ala, tukar spelling nama lak. Yalah...glad you guys had a great time there. Like I said, everyone's experience would be different, depending on when they went and all.

小虫 said...

wowo...tat should be ur nice journey..
gona thx to ur blog telling the exp there...
this gona help for my research...hehe dont need to go and visit it can imagine howz it it now...anyway thx again!