Lego, Angelina, Thomas and lazy beach days...Family fun in Johor, Malaysia.

We had grabbed super cheap flights to Singapore, for a two week holiday - the main purpose of the trip was to take the kids to LEGOLAND in Malaysia. After a few days in Singapore, we wanted to keep costs down so booked 3 nights at the Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa in Johor. The package included entry tickets and transfers to LEGOLAND, plus entry into Hello Kitty Town and Little Big Club. Breakfasts and 2 children's dinners nightly were also included.

Johor is under huge development and is fast becoming a destination in itself. There are the theme parks, major brand shopping outlet (so cheap that buses from Singapore arrive daily) and much, much more.

The Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa is, as the name suggests, on the beach. The rooms are big and spacious - they've just been renovated, from what I can tell. The cost of 2 rooms for three nights was the same as one night in Singapore, so to laze by the pool on a budget, this resort is perfect.

The pool is large and has a slide and some different areas so the kids can have fun but you can also do laps. The beach is lovely - it's a huge 22kms of beach, I believe. The location is really picturesque. The beach bar is great, and the food at the beach bar also great. It's a great spot to lounge in the landscaped gardens and escape the heat.

The resort offers a lot of activities - including paintball (my kids are now asking if we can stay at other resorts that include paintball). There are arcade games and a playroom for younger children  (which my 4 year old adored). There is an aviary with Asian birds.  Other activities available include T-shirt painting, archery, badminton, beach volley ball, table tennis, mah-jong. There are bikes and a gym too. There was even quad bike riding available! (Some activities were at an extra cost). Or for little folk, there is an outdoor playground.

There are 2 restaurants - the teppenyaki (which is fun) and the normal a la carte - to be honest, the food is a little hit & miss - some dishes are great, and some average, but it's a bit hard to tell which will be which. The thai beef was good, the rendang not great. Loved the Malay fritters at breakfast and the cuttlefish in Teppen. That said, it was all very cheap, compared to Singapore. There are a number of resorts along the beach, so if you are staying for more than a weekend, and carless, take a walk down the beach and see what else is there. You will exhaust the menu's quite quickly, so you do need some other options.

It appears they are renovating the spa (we were off season) so that looks like it will be lovely when done, judging by the huge ornately carved wooden door that was being installed while we were there. None the less, the massages we had were good and around A$60 for an hour. They have midweek specials to look out for too.

The staff were very helpful, and friendly and it is a very family friendly resort. It is a long way from LEGOLAND, so if you are going without a car, consider staying at some of the hotels opening near the theme parks, then head out to Desaru for some pool and beach chill time. The resort offers plenty of tours, all very reasonably priced for the $A, so you can do some interesting sight seeing from here as a base.

LEGOLAND is LEGOLAND the world over, and the Malaysian one is no different so I won't dwell too long on it. It's great, and ideal for the 5 - 10 year olds, ride wise, though older kids will still have fun. Due to the distance, my 4 year old and I left after lunch to visit Hello Kitty Town and Little Big Club for 3 hours, rather than make the trip back again the next day, as planned. Hello Kitty Town is hilarious, and perfect for girls, of any age. You paint your nails, decorate biscuits, dress up and do a photo shoot, there's a puzzle maze and the tea cup ride, among other things.

Little Big Club is a ride and play centre based on TV characters - Pingu arcade games, Bob the Builder slides, Angelina Ballerina's Dance studio, Thomas the Tank Engine rides. I've read some unkind and frankly misleading reviews of this place implying there isn't much there, and unfortunately I didn't allow as much time as I should have for this one as a result. We easily could have spent three more hours at Little Big Club to do all the rides and play longer in each section. If you have a child under 7, this place is fantastic. It's also manageable, supervision wise, which for parents of adventurous littlies, is a much appreciated bonus. It's the one thing I would do differently if I could do this trip over, as my daughter loved it, and it was a shame not to have time to do all the rides and to rush through onto the next section.

We had a great time in Johor and the resort is in a really pretty location on the beach, only an hour out of Singapore, driving through the sustainable Palm Oil plantations. It's a great place for a family to chill, at a nice price. So next time you see discount airfares, think outside the box, you'll be surprised where it may take you!

Practicalities:
We paid $1600 for 5 return airfares to Singapore on Scoot.
Our three nights in 2 rooms, with meals for 5, transfers to LEGOLAND, entry to the 3 theme parks (for 5 people), 3 hour long massages, paintball target practice for 4, wifi, many arcade games, and drinks came to $1100.

Getting there:
We used Optimus Wheel Resources to take us from Changi Airport to the resort in Johor and then again from the resort in Malaysia back to Marina Bay Sands. The van (we're 5, remember) had seatbelts for everyone and the driver was helpful explaining what we needed to take up through the customs check points (sometimes bags, sometimes not) and where to meet us as we came out.
They are very reasonably priced. Contact Mr Zakaria Bin Seikh Said on +6019 7080 641 or zssaid@yahoo.com. They do both one way and return transfers around the peninsula.

You can, of course, use a bus or ferry and other transport, but the distances are greater than I realised (think Sydney to Newcastle.)

LEGOLAND: http://www.legoland.com.my/
HelloKitty Town: http://www.hellokittymalaysia.com/shop/
Little Big Club: http://www.playtime.com.my/little-big-club

Pulai Beach Resort & Spa http://pulaidesaru.com/

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