Safari Lagoon, Desa Water Park, Cameron, Bukit Tinggi Berjaya Hills
It is the year end and I wanted to bring the children to have some final fun before they start another year of school. Since Xmas was on Thursday, taking Friday leave would make it a long break, perfect for a getaway. However, the checkpoints jam would be horrendous and leaving on Xmas day would be unthinkable. Checking all the traffic cams on onemotoring, it was indeed bumper to bumper. Another problem was that my car was due for servicing and my regular workshop in Molek would be close on Xmas day. After work on the eve, I drove around Yishun to find a servicing place. Luckily there was one that was still open and I did a servicing for around $120. In JB, I would have been able to do that for half the amount.
Reached KL
So I was all set for a long trip again. We woke up early on Xmas and embarked on the journey. The checkpoint was rather clear at 5.45 and we were soon in JB heading for NSH. I had read up on the net for the potential places and decided to head for Safari Lagoon somewhere in the vicinity of KL.
Safari Lagun
Theme Park meant to be at the rooftop
This is a theme park? Where everyone?
Inside all empty
Hmm, how come closed?
We finally reached the place and I was dumbfounded to find an oldish looking shopping mall that looked badly in need of a paintwork. The Safari Lagoon theme park was there alright on the roof, but it looked like it was not operating anymore, and in it's place, a seafood restaurant. Even the shopping mall was quite empty and dark with most of the shops closed. We thought it was closed for the holiday and walked around and to ask security guard about the lagoon. He said it was closed. We thought it was just closed for the day, when he continued and said it was closed for 2.5 years. Wahaha. No wonder I couldn't find any more info and photos on the net except for a generic picture.
Desa Water Park
Next destination
It was a great disappointment for the children having drove 300+km to reach here. However, I had another backup location, and plotted my GPS to head for Desa Water Park, which was quite near by. Driving there, the road led to a condo area, and turned into a big open industrial park area. From the Distance, Desa Water Park looked promising and we soon parked and headed for the entrance.
Promising it was alright, but darn crowded. The children were now very excited and couldn't wait to run into the water. On a regular day, this would have indeed be quite a fun place. Today, it was just a complete riot. But it added to the atmosphere of fun although you would have to fight for space to get wet.
Kind of Disney-like, don't you think?
This Tortoise can Surf
Decent umbrella fountain, unlike the one at Gunung Lambak
Lazy river
I will catch a fish this size, one day
Wave Pool
What's next?
They just got spat out by the tube
This is fun!
Waterfall!
Many ways to use the figure 8 float
Cooling down for those in the Q
Drama. Someone got stuck here
Finally our turn
This boy looks Yummy!
The children went about trying all the attractions, and we waited for the big one that was called the "thunderbolt" to start operating at 2pm. It started on the dot, and the people that rushed to Q for it was a mega long queue. The children were slow and joined the Q at the tail-end. That made them wait for about an hour before they got on the ride. After that, it was enough and I asked them to change and be on our way.
While the children were playing, I was figuring out where to head next. From my GPS, Cameron was rather near (about 170+ km) away. Yew had told me that he was heading there this Xmas. I tried calling him, but he had apparently turned off his phone. My only worry was about accomodation. Anyway, taking the chance, we shot for it.
Going mountain climbing
Lots of such mountain features here (Ipoh)
Going via the long but easy route
Simpang Pulai
caught in this !@#$ jam! (1500metres above sea level)
Brr..so cold!
Food time!
Steam boat! Perfect for hungry tourist
Food from heaven
We just missed staying here!
Brinchang nite market
From the GPS, it projected that we would arrived at 7.30pm. Just nice for dinner. I travelled up the mountain via the Simpang Pulai road that was supposedly a better drive. But when we neared Brinchang, we got caught in a terrible "checkpoint" like jam. From my GPS, I was about only 2.5 km from Tanah Rata after covering all the distances. But this 2.5km took me 1 hour to arrive in Brinchang. Everyone by this time was famished and looking for food as first priority. Unlucky us was to realize that the last room in the motel next to the restuarant was just snapped up moments ago.
After dinner, we hunted around for accomodation. But it was impossible and every establishment was entirely fully booked from the very cheap ones to the expensive ones. We finally found a room but the charge was RM350, way too high for a one night stay. I finally gave up around 12am and decided to head down the mountain to look for accomodation elsewhere. By this time, I was tired from a whole day of driving, and it was a gruelsome task to navigate the thousands of snakey turns to go down the Cameron-Tapah route. I finally arrived at the foot around 1.30am and was thinking to just sleep in the car. But it was hot and uncomfortable.
Good nite!
Grand Kampar Hotel (Sounded ex)
Grand Entrance
View from the Hotel room
Breakfast
We were here for Xmas
Consulting my GPS, there was a hotel nearby in Tapah. I drove there but it was closed and didn't look decent anyway. Tapah at this time was a dead town. Next on my GPS was a place that sounded expensive at Kampar with the name of Grand Kampar Hotel, about 20km away. I took the chance, and drove there. To my surprise, it turn out quite alright and wasn't even expensive. Room rate was RM146, very reasonable for such a standard. Building was new, and the rooms were clean and nice. Even had a bath tub and a fridge. I took a room and soon we were resting our tired feets in a very comfortable place. By that time, it was already 3.30am before I drifted into dream land.
Tapah. We were here in Dec 04
Rest stop on the way to Genting Highlands
Shopping at the rest stop
We had a good night rest and woke up for a complimentary breakfast at the lobby. Food was so so but acceptable. Thank goodness for finding this place, otherwise we all would have been very uncomfortable by now. We took a nice shower and set off from it around 11am. My next destination was to head for Berjaya Hills, particulary the Colmar Tropicale.
Bukit Tinggi road
Destination in sight
D was grumbling about going to Genting as she missed it very much as the last time we were there, she was too short to take most of the rides. We were inded very near and actually past by the cable car station. But the weather wasn't good (drizzling a little) and I wanted to try out bukit Tinggi (Berjaya Hills). From my GPS, we came to a fork from that point where we were just about another 10 Km away. But I made a costly mistake and turned into a wrong exit. One thing about driving in KL; all the roads were too darn close and a wrong turn would mean a very long loop around. The road lead out to the expressway, and I could only U-turn around 10 Km away and had to pay toll of RM5 twice! That wasted our time and money but I eventually got back on the road up to Tinggi.
We arrived at the Colmar Tropicale at around 3pm. We did lunch there which was terribly expensive. Our chicken dinner costed us RM76. The place itself was rather small. Just a half hour, and you would have covered everything. It was quite a nice place, but really nothing to do. There were other places of interest like the rabbit farm and Japanese Garden. But as it was raining, I decided to give it a miss and drive down before it got dark.
Carpark underneath the Castle behind
Nice "Europe" feel fountain
The scene was not too bad
In front of the draw bridge
Quite authentic French feel to this
I needed this after the long drive!
RM76 chicken dinner
So boring here that feeding swans was a highlight
Back to Sg Besi Toll via heavy KL traffic
We left the place around 4pm and headed for Besi toll making our way back. But the route from the GPS leading the toll was badly congested one and not a very pleasant drive. From Besi toll, I wanted to reach some where nearer JB for a rest before making the rest of the journey. I plotted for Batu Pahat, to have dinner at the BP Mall again. We arrived at about 9pm, and was lucky to catch the Money Changer at the Mall to change more money for our dinner, which by this time was running out.
From there, after a short shopping we headed back for Singapore via Tuas 2nd Link. The traffic was clear all the way, and we arrived home at about 1am concluding our marathon 1370 km driving trip.
Reached KL
So I was all set for a long trip again. We woke up early on Xmas and embarked on the journey. The checkpoint was rather clear at 5.45 and we were soon in JB heading for NSH. I had read up on the net for the potential places and decided to head for Safari Lagoon somewhere in the vicinity of KL.
Safari Lagun
Theme Park meant to be at the rooftop
This is a theme park? Where everyone?
Inside all empty
Hmm, how come closed?
We finally reached the place and I was dumbfounded to find an oldish looking shopping mall that looked badly in need of a paintwork. The Safari Lagoon theme park was there alright on the roof, but it looked like it was not operating anymore, and in it's place, a seafood restaurant. Even the shopping mall was quite empty and dark with most of the shops closed. We thought it was closed for the holiday and walked around and to ask security guard about the lagoon. He said it was closed. We thought it was just closed for the day, when he continued and said it was closed for 2.5 years. Wahaha. No wonder I couldn't find any more info and photos on the net except for a generic picture.
Desa Water Park
Next destination
It was a great disappointment for the children having drove 300+km to reach here. However, I had another backup location, and plotted my GPS to head for Desa Water Park, which was quite near by. Driving there, the road led to a condo area, and turned into a big open industrial park area. From the Distance, Desa Water Park looked promising and we soon parked and headed for the entrance.
Promising it was alright, but darn crowded. The children were now very excited and couldn't wait to run into the water. On a regular day, this would have indeed be quite a fun place. Today, it was just a complete riot. But it added to the atmosphere of fun although you would have to fight for space to get wet.
Kind of Disney-like, don't you think?
This Tortoise can Surf
Decent umbrella fountain, unlike the one at Gunung Lambak
Lazy river
I will catch a fish this size, one day
Wave Pool
What's next?
They just got spat out by the tube
This is fun!
Waterfall!
Many ways to use the figure 8 float
Cooling down for those in the Q
Drama. Someone got stuck here
Finally our turn
This boy looks Yummy!
The children went about trying all the attractions, and we waited for the big one that was called the "thunderbolt" to start operating at 2pm. It started on the dot, and the people that rushed to Q for it was a mega long queue. The children were slow and joined the Q at the tail-end. That made them wait for about an hour before they got on the ride. After that, it was enough and I asked them to change and be on our way.
While the children were playing, I was figuring out where to head next. From my GPS, Cameron was rather near (about 170+ km) away. Yew had told me that he was heading there this Xmas. I tried calling him, but he had apparently turned off his phone. My only worry was about accomodation. Anyway, taking the chance, we shot for it.
Going mountain climbing
Lots of such mountain features here (Ipoh)
Going via the long but easy route
Simpang Pulai
caught in this !@#$ jam! (1500metres above sea level)
Brr..so cold!
Food time!
Steam boat! Perfect for hungry tourist
Food from heaven
We just missed staying here!
Brinchang nite market
From the GPS, it projected that we would arrived at 7.30pm. Just nice for dinner. I travelled up the mountain via the Simpang Pulai road that was supposedly a better drive. But when we neared Brinchang, we got caught in a terrible "checkpoint" like jam. From my GPS, I was about only 2.5 km from Tanah Rata after covering all the distances. But this 2.5km took me 1 hour to arrive in Brinchang. Everyone by this time was famished and looking for food as first priority. Unlucky us was to realize that the last room in the motel next to the restuarant was just snapped up moments ago.
After dinner, we hunted around for accomodation. But it was impossible and every establishment was entirely fully booked from the very cheap ones to the expensive ones. We finally found a room but the charge was RM350, way too high for a one night stay. I finally gave up around 12am and decided to head down the mountain to look for accomodation elsewhere. By this time, I was tired from a whole day of driving, and it was a gruelsome task to navigate the thousands of snakey turns to go down the Cameron-Tapah route. I finally arrived at the foot around 1.30am and was thinking to just sleep in the car. But it was hot and uncomfortable.
Good nite!
Grand Kampar Hotel (Sounded ex)
Grand Entrance
View from the Hotel room
Breakfast
We were here for Xmas
Consulting my GPS, there was a hotel nearby in Tapah. I drove there but it was closed and didn't look decent anyway. Tapah at this time was a dead town. Next on my GPS was a place that sounded expensive at Kampar with the name of Grand Kampar Hotel, about 20km away. I took the chance, and drove there. To my surprise, it turn out quite alright and wasn't even expensive. Room rate was RM146, very reasonable for such a standard. Building was new, and the rooms were clean and nice. Even had a bath tub and a fridge. I took a room and soon we were resting our tired feets in a very comfortable place. By that time, it was already 3.30am before I drifted into dream land.
Tapah. We were here in Dec 04
Rest stop on the way to Genting Highlands
Shopping at the rest stop
We had a good night rest and woke up for a complimentary breakfast at the lobby. Food was so so but acceptable. Thank goodness for finding this place, otherwise we all would have been very uncomfortable by now. We took a nice shower and set off from it around 11am. My next destination was to head for Berjaya Hills, particulary the Colmar Tropicale.
Bukit Tinggi road
Destination in sight
D was grumbling about going to Genting as she missed it very much as the last time we were there, she was too short to take most of the rides. We were inded very near and actually past by the cable car station. But the weather wasn't good (drizzling a little) and I wanted to try out bukit Tinggi (Berjaya Hills). From my GPS, we came to a fork from that point where we were just about another 10 Km away. But I made a costly mistake and turned into a wrong exit. One thing about driving in KL; all the roads were too darn close and a wrong turn would mean a very long loop around. The road lead out to the expressway, and I could only U-turn around 10 Km away and had to pay toll of RM5 twice! That wasted our time and money but I eventually got back on the road up to Tinggi.
We arrived at the Colmar Tropicale at around 3pm. We did lunch there which was terribly expensive. Our chicken dinner costed us RM76. The place itself was rather small. Just a half hour, and you would have covered everything. It was quite a nice place, but really nothing to do. There were other places of interest like the rabbit farm and Japanese Garden. But as it was raining, I decided to give it a miss and drive down before it got dark.
Carpark underneath the Castle behind
Nice "Europe" feel fountain
The scene was not too bad
In front of the draw bridge
Quite authentic French feel to this
I needed this after the long drive!
RM76 chicken dinner
So boring here that feeding swans was a highlight
Back to Sg Besi Toll via heavy KL traffic
We left the place around 4pm and headed for Besi toll making our way back. But the route from the GPS leading the toll was badly congested one and not a very pleasant drive. From Besi toll, I wanted to reach some where nearer JB for a rest before making the rest of the journey. I plotted for Batu Pahat, to have dinner at the BP Mall again. We arrived at about 9pm, and was lucky to catch the Money Changer at the Mall to change more money for our dinner, which by this time was running out.
From there, after a short shopping we headed back for Singapore via Tuas 2nd Link. The traffic was clear all the way, and we arrived home at about 1am concluding our marathon 1370 km driving trip.
Comments