Hatta Desert : Sand, Wind & Camels

on our way to muscat, oman sometime early march, (together with my in-laws who were here for their dubai holiday) we passed by hatta desert – beautiful bronze sand everywhere. it was an amazing sight. now my kids are very used to the desert sand already, but what happened that day was an unforgettable moment for them, and me!

 

my boys – khaleef, kahfi & kazim – brothers forever in the sands of time.

 

writing on the sand. it won’t last a minute, but the memory will last a lifetime! (corny sangat mak! haha)

 

the unforgettable moment was when, out of the blue, a group of camels strolled our way, eating plants while their at it. what a wondrous sight! it was wonderful to watch.

 

wild camels out to get lunch. so adorable!

 

kazim playing in the sand; while the family of camels taking a stroll in the background. and since you’re looking, oh those sand dunes!

 

thank you, camels for sharing your family moments with us!

 

here is my sis-in-law tina with her dubai nephews

 

mr. khairul with his aunt maklang, while his mom looks on at the back.

 

dubai-hatta road lies in the background – a favorite fast lane for bikers of UAE, a common playground for mr. khairul and his biker buds. what a beautiful sight of bronze sandy desert as you chase the wind on two wheels!

 

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enjoy the clip below; my boys, the sand and our unexpected guests. the background music is lagu ol skool ‘midnight at the oasis’ by maria muldaur.

 

Rope-Walking & Swing on Trees @ ESCAPE Teluk Bahang, Penang

if you ever need a place filled with trees you can swing from, tight rope where you tread from trees to trees, buildings to climb, tower to jump from, dark rabbit hole to explore – ESCAPE to adventureland teluk bahang in penang.

and yes, you can be 4 or 34 years old and doing this. it’s like all the things you reminisce about doing when you were a kid – you can realize it here at ESCAPE adventureland teluk bahang, penang.

there is something similar to this in dubai, at the mall near oasis center I think – but it’s INSIDE a mall. at ESCAPE adventureland teluk bahang, you get to do it surrounded by trees and clear blue sky.

 

 

so we went last syawal, while back in malaysia. it’s surprising that penang boy mr. khairul didn’t know about this place until now. we were greeted with this pretty resort-like entrance and its signature grass-roof building. beyond it, we could see tall towers with tight rope and obstacles – and people treading carefully on them!

quite a sight. khaleef was excited just like his king-scout dad. me, not so much. haha.

 

we can see people doing balancing act on the ‘monkey business’ where people walk through various obstacle course from pole to pole – with three levels of height!

 

haha. good one!

 

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huge park - with so many monkeying around to do! you can see from the map how big the whole park is – even when you’re NOT climbing up or jumping down, you’d still sweat and burn fat as you walk around the whole park, enjoying the greeneries, fresh air and sight of people screaming haha. this is better than legoland!

 

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this is the ‘gecko tower’ – a wall-climbing made more interesting because instead of the usual colorful protruding rocks for people to hold on to as they climb, this one is built like a normal apartment. the trick is to use the bars on windows, the net, or the wooden planks on the wall, to propel you to climb further up. totally cool and creative way to spice things up.

 

there’s khaleef in action! he can climb so fast! a natural! you notice that there is a clock right on top to time your climb, making it more challenging.

 

“we survived!” khaleef and his aunty ya (my youngest sis-in-law sofia) after a successful climb! you can see that they’re wearing safety harness and proper hard hat. after they climb together, khaleef took another turn with bapak pulak! sofia said it’s much, much harder than it looks!

 

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this is the ONE thing that can appeal to younger kids – the ‘tots trail’ where kids have fun climbing, crawling, balancing in this fun obstacle course. there’s a net, a circular tube to crawl into, a line of rubber tires – plus many other fun obstacles. big kids can try this one too, but for the younger kids like 5 yrs below like kazim, this is probably the ONLY thing that they can enjoy in this park. the rest of the activities are designed for older kids and adults.

 

it’s TOTALLY fun even looking at them from below as they squeezed and treaded along the many different obstacle courses; pretending to be a soldier or a superhero escaping from villains.

 

too bad I didn’t catch him on video, but kahfi was SO FAST! surprisingly so agile and fast-moving! their aunty ya sofia was gaining, while big bro khaleef had to slow down many times to help motivate the skeptical kazim. kazim had trouble trusting the ropes and nets, so a few times I had to stand right underneath them to ease kazim into walking pass it.

 

* * *

 

you can even have picnic here after working up a sweat in those fun activities. take a break and continue playing! speaking of taking a break, there are many stalls here selling food and drinks – no worries.

 

 

want to have money on you but not sure where to keep the coins and ringgit without them falling off as you swing from tree to tree? the park provide you with a CARD – just load the card with cash and then simply swipe whenever you buy stuff. so around the ESCAPE park you only need to carry that one card.

 

believe me, you need a whole lot of big mineral water bottles and tons of ice-cream after spending a day at the park!

 

* * *

 

this is another dare-devil 'activity' called 'atan's leap' which is similar to bungee jumping. mr. khairul has done the actual bungee jumping while studying in the states so this was no biggie. what surprises me was that his little sister sofia tried that one too! that’s HER in the picture jumping off ‘atan’s leap’! I could never do it – bravo sofia!

 

* * *

 

later on khaleef and his dad and aunt tried the 'flying lemur', and 'tarzan's rope' – similar to flying fox.

 

that’s my youngest sis-in-law swinging! look how far she is from the ground that you can’t even see it!

 

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finally, khaleef and his bapak went for ‘monkey business’. mr. khairul said he should’ve done this earlier because this activity took a lot of time to complete. better get THIS over and done with first thing when you come here, ok! there are 3 levels – 3rd level is the highest! "suitable for monkeys of all ages," on their website haha.

 

kahfi relaxing underneath all the obstacle courses. we can see them doing the ‘monkey business’ from below.

 

khaleef, I must say – is a natural. he’s fast, he didn’t hesitate and he’s also so calm. he really enjoyed the whole experience. truly a product of a king’s scout mr. khairul. confirm tak dapat dari mak yg kaki bangku haha.

 

 

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throughout the park there were also chickens running around freely, giving it a nice kampung feel. here’s kahfi at the geese enclousure. they were so close to him that he could touch them!

 

while waiting for bapak, anong khaleef and aunty ya to finish their ‘monkey business’, kahfi and kazim tried the 'zoom bug' – a human-powered go-kart.

 

nampak fun gile but kazim had difficult time maneuvering. kahfi was fast though. he got onto that thing and rode off as if he’d done this a million times. the 'zoom bug' is right underneath the 'monkey business' so while the younger brothers were racing, they could see (and wave) their dad, bro and aunt treading precariously from the ropes above!

 

 

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many thanks to the insightful mr. khairul, our boys got to sweat and play at ESCAPE Adventureplay at teluk bahang, penang. they got to swing from trees to trees, climb it, jump from it, walk on tight rope, go into 'caves' and scale the highest tower – all surrounded by nature.

there are a many more activities than the ones I put here. visit their official website ESCAPE adventureland for more information.

it’s a fantastic place to do a lot of physical activities, work up a sweat and get some healthy fun family time. definitely great for friends in huge groups too!

 

haha.

 

one of the posters found in its gift shop. coolness.

 

leave your stress at the office, leave your worrries by the sink, stop the traffic jam, switch off your phones – ESCAPE adventureland, at teluk bahang, penang. we’re already thinking of making this an annual event for our boys!

Splash! @ Dreamland Aqua Park, Umm Al-Quwain (I Hate the Raft Ride!)

fun fact : this is my first trip to a water park. not a fan, not too keen, but excited for my boys.

yes, never been to sunway lagoon or lost world tambun (which is near abah’s house!) – I did try the triple looper roller coaster outside of sunway lagoon (yg dah tutup lepas org jatuh mati tu) and I have been inside to watch a gig with innuendo; but never went inside to the water park.

so there I was, experiencing my first water park at ‘dreamland aqua park’ at umm al-quwain together with my boys.

 

 

why I enjoyed my first experience at a water park at ‘dreamland aqua park’:

1. the boys (including the biggest boy) went nuts swimming and splashing. I enjoyed watching them enjoying themselves. hihi.
2. the weather was perfect considering that the hot summer is already here in dubai. it was quite scorching even at 4pm, but was cool and windy towards late afternoon. a really nice day to be out
3. the lifeguards are very strict (read : garang!) when it comes to safety (watch your kids! must wear safety jacket! must use float!) which I really appreciate because it means they really put safety as top priority
4. toilets are clean, water is clean, the whole place is comfy and well-maintained
5. for a weekend, it was surprisingly NOT crowded! this was really a PLUS for me because crowded pool was my pet-peeve about water parks
6. oh, khaleef slid down a death-defying 20m-water slide TWICE that will make any mom’s heart skip a beat!
7. and i now officially HATE that darn family raft ride. other than that, FUN!

 

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once in, we stored our belongings in the clean locker room, and I changed my clothes at the clean and spacious changing room.

 

this is khaleef wearing the ‘dreamland aqua park’ life jacket. life jackets for kids are available at every ride and slide. just take one, put it on, enjoy the slide and then put back when you’re done with that particular slide. safety first!

 

‘lake ‘o’ wave’ – fun with waves

 

1. LAKE ‘O’ WAVES

first stop : 'lake o waves' – basically a huge swimming pool with simulated waves! weee~ quite dangerous for small kids for fear of them bobbing towards the deeper side of the pool, moved by the wave. so my boys and I just played at the edge – where the water is shallow, but we can still feel the wave.

it was really fun – experiencing the feel of a wave in a safe, confined space.

 

 

there are huge floats and tubes available

 

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2. TWISTING DRAGONS

next, mr. khairul tried the 'twisting dragons' – sliding down 40m of twisty turning slide that looks like a worm-dragon, and then you come out through its mouth! I can see it would be super fun to do with 3 other friends, go in together at the same time, and see who comes out first and to which side!

mr. khairul slid down with a banging splash!

you’d be hurried out by the lifeguards though, before the next person falls into the pool.

 

yeap, that’s my mr. khairul splashing down the pool!

 

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3. BLACK HOLE

next : the 'black hole' – mr. khairul carried this huge yellow float up the stairs, and then went sliding down this really LONG black tube on that rubber raft. all the boys wanted to try the slide, and since mommy is water-phobic (huhu) so mr. khairul had to climb the long stairs THREE times – first with khaleef, then kahfi and finally with kazim. a great work-out at the water park, honey! hihi.

 

uuUUUuuuu weeeEEEEeeee~ view from the top of the 'black hole'. picture taken from google

 

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4. KAMIKAZE

the 'kamikaze' – true to its name, is a death-defying fast and furious ride, plunging down in a split second! when we first arrived, mr. khairul tried the orange one; the longer, slightly wavy slide which gives you a few bumps on the way down. looks really dangerous to this water-phobic!

mr. khairul slid down so fast, and once he reached the pool he was still sliding towards us, stopping just a few cm before the edge of the pool! he said the trick is to pull your legs up as you land which will stop the sliding. (watch the clip below).

one of the men I saw sliding down so far out that his friends had to go into the pool and stop his leg from banging against the edge of the pool!

anyway, right before going back, khaleef (I’m still in shock!) faced his fears and actually tried the blue one, with bapak waiting inside the pool of course! yes, my 7 yr old khaleef! batt dah dead masa tu – so very frustrated takde record of that courageous slide! i could never do what he did! oh my khaleef!

 

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5. OBSTACLE COURSE

after the heart-pumping slides (watching them pun dah dup dap dup dap!) khaleef tried the more relaxing and fun 'obstacle course' made for kids – it's simply a huge float where you can climb, go over, go under bla bla bla till you reach the end.

the pool is deep, but there are ropes connecting the obstacle course float to the edge of the pool.

khaleef was pretending to be on the show 'survivor'. go khaleef go!

 

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6. DEAD SEA

we didn’t try this one, and it seemed to be closed, but it’s worth mentioning because of the interesting fact – it’s made to look like the 'dead sea' in jordan where you can never sink! it’s a high salinity pool where you can actually float, just like when you swim in the dead sea, jordan. mr. khairul has been to the real thing, so he was very curious about how this plays out!

 

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7. AQUA PLAY

obviously, this was the boys' favorite spot – the 'aqua play' – a playground in a shallow pool. mandi sampai kecut. see, not crowded. nice!

kazim enjoyed this the most since the water is just knee-high. he can just walk around and not worried about falling down deep in the water. I can even sit on the side and just watch him wobbling in the water from afar. no worries!

 

 

one of the things the boys enjoyed the most is this huge bucket on top that gathers water and then-----

 

 

---SPLASH!!! every few minutes. kids or adults – all enjoyed standing below the splash. wonderful fun! 

 

 

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8. DREAM STREAM

yeap ‘dream stream’ is perfect alright – perfect for a nap in the water park! haha that was how SLOW it was haha. hop on a float and literally float dengan sangat lembabnya along a stream. really slow and pure relaxation, perfect for slowing down after a hectic ride and slide, or just spend some cosy time with your other half. also, if you want to get a tan. haha.

can be really boring though because after a few minutes I was already like, "bila nak abis ni" huhu.

 

 

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9. FAMILY RAFT RIDE

I absolutely HATE this one! argghhhh super scary ride for this water-phobic mom!!!

walk up the stairs. go left for scary-fun 'family raft ride', and go right to try the only-for-swimmers 'twister' ride.

 

 

basically there’s this huge raft which can fit about 5 people at any one time. you hold on to the ropes at the sides and then it goes super-scary-fast along this spacious tube.

HOLD ON TIGHT!!!! because it's super bumpy and i was so afraid that i might get thrown off the raft!!! I kept telling mr. khairul to hold on tight to kazim as I was so afraid he could get thrown off as well! I was closing my eyes, I was screaming even louder than my kids, and really was praying for my life, I kid you not! dead-scared!

 

ready to SCREAM! picture from google

 

but guess what - khaleef kahfi kazim went on THREE times with bapak. mak tunggu kat bawah after the 2nd ride. haha. chicken! khaleef enjoyed it so much that at one point during of the rides he went, he purposely let go of the rope and let himself be bumped left and ride! crazy!

to me it was like an evil rollercoaster without harness, on water! major suicide!

haha. my personal phobia aside, it really is a thrilling fun for the whole family to enjoy together at the same time (rather, SCREAMING at the same time) but it really is not for me – me who has fear of rollercoaster, fear of speed, fear of water!

 

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10. TWISTER

the last thing that we tried (or rather, mr. khairul tried and we watched) was the 'twister' – there was already a warning up on a board, ‘strictly for swimmers’. so mr. khairul je went and try. seriously this ride is like getting flushed down the toilet haha.

go up the stairs, slide down----

----and weeeeeEEeeee khairul went round this 'bowl' twice before came splashing down---

 

go down the slide, and around inside this bowl before coming splashing down the deep pool underneath. picture from google.

 

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the friendly lifeguards in yellow having a chat with my boys. like I mentioned earlier, the lifeguards here are extremely strict on safety, always on the alert and ready to blow their whistle at the slightest suspicion of danger. a really commendable point at a water park.

they’re no-fuss when it comes to safety and they’re very blunt at telling someone off when they see something done wrong (no floats or kids left unattended, or kids stand too close to a deep pool) which I really understand as there are no tolerance when it comes to safety in the water. good job!

but at the same time these lifeguards are very friendly with the visitors and especially kids.

 

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we had fun! (or rather, the boys and mr. khairul had super-fun while mak had enough *fun* on the family raft ride to ever ride on something like that ever again! haha)

staff and lifeguards are friendly with strict safety precautions, there are locker for our valuables, toilets and changing rooms are very comfy and clean. also, on the day we went the water park was not crowded at all – overall a memorable time, especially for the boys. we'll come again!

or wild wadi, yas island water park or atlantis next?

‘dreamland aqua park’ is in umm al-quwain and can be reached following the ras al-khaimah highway. please refer to mr. google for further directions. hihi.

visit the dreamland aqua park official site for entrance fee, and more information.