3H in Johor

Ever since that Heidi found out that Hannah had been to Hello Kitty Town and Legoland about 5 years ago, she has been pestering us to take her too. So this year we finally decided that we would make the trip, since Helene too is now already 4 years old. I was looking for suitable dates as we didn't want to go during the school holidays. It would just be too crowded and kids wouldn't be able to enjoy themselves. So I found a long weekend (26 May to 29 May) where the kids would only have to take one day off school as 29 May was a public holiday - Wesak Day. Incidentally, it was also during this year's fasting month, so we were expecting lesser people.

Once we decided on the dates, we found out that Air Asia had very reasonable prices - around RM170.00 return per person. Air Asia is the only airline which has direct return flights from Penang to JB. Timing was also good, as we left Penang early in the morning at 7.00 am which meant we didn't waste that day for travelling. The return flight timing was also good, at 3.45 pm.

After we checked out the dates and flights, we decided to ask our friends to join us, as kids will always have more fun with their friends rather than their parents! We haven't had a trip together since Hong Kong which was almost 2 years ago, so we thought that this would be a perfect opportunity for us to get together again.

So once all the logistics were sorted out, all the kids were very excited waiting for the day to arrive, especially Heidi! I jokingly told her that because of her, 16 people were going to Legoland! Yes 16 people, 7 adults and 9 kids in total!

Although we had to wake up crazy early on 26 May (which was also Hannah's real birthday!), for once there was no grumbling and requests for "5 more minutes". All were showered and changed in record time.

Excited kids arriving at Senai International Airport:

And excited adults too!

We took a Grab to our first hotel Somerset Puteri Harbour Iskandar Puteri which was about a half hour drive away. This was within walking distance to Sanrio Hello Kitty Town. Only our room was ready as it was only around 9.30 am, so the others dropped their luggage in our room. I booked a 1 bedroom premier apartment which was about 1000 square feet for only RM337 per night after taxes, and the room also came with breakfast for all of us. It was a duplex type apartment and was very nice and new.

The bedroom and one bathroom were upstairs, while the living, dining, kitchen and another bathroom were downstairs.

So after dropping our luggage, we decided that we should eat something before heading for the theme park, or else the kids would not eat anything. There were many restaurants along the way (the area is called Puteri Harbour) but only Kenny Rogers was open at that hour of the morning.

The kids were getting impatient so we had to finish up quickly and the next stop is - Sanrio Hello Kitty Town!