KL Exploration 2.0 : Petrosains, KLCC

Once we got to KLCC and strolled around looking for "entertainment" - this is our "budaya melepak" at its mildest! HAHA - we remembered Petrosains, the Petrosains that I had been meaning to go to for weeks! :)

Got to the highest floor (in the cramped elevator - where my camera-wielding hand snaked its way to the centre of the lift to get a self-shot of Leila and I, and the old man in front of me was so startled, HAHAHA) and ....... realised that it was a Saturday, and there were so many people there! And NOT just schoolchildren/kindergarteners - families, teenagers, old people, bored adults, university students ...... it truly is "suitable for all ages". :)

But it was full, so we had to get our tickets and wait for the 3.30pm time slot. And Petrosains closes at 6.30pm on Saturdays. :( But anyway! It actually costs RM12 for adults (ie. anyone aged 18 and above), but students are given a 20% discount - with evidence of a student card. I brought mine - but Leila "forgot" hers (even after I specifically told her the day before! haha) - but the dude behind the counter was really nice, and decided to give me both tickets at a discounted rate. :) The usual "bagi chance" niceness la. This is the beauty of Malaysia, after all. :D

Leila's feet were killing her - this can be blamed on the Batu Caves stairwell leading up to the Planetarium - so we looked for a place to sit. All available seats in Kinokuniya was blessedly full, so we went to a cafe next to Petrosains instead. :) I got the Mocha Crunch, which looked 5 stars out of 5 delicious, but only tasted 4 stars out of 5. But I give 6 out of 5 for service. :D

3.30pm arrived, so we went to Petrosains ... and golly, the queue was like one of those Disneyland queues! :/ If I had anything to complain about Petrosains, it would be the queueing. My worst-feared sign throughout the day would definitely have to be "20 minutes waiting time from this point"!

I mean, the Petrosains queue problem was solely because to enter the themepark, you have to take a ride in a little black ball that seats only 5 adults - and it moves at a GLACIAL PACE, honestly. By the end of the day, I literally wanted to climb out of the ball and start walking on the railway track. Anyway, because of the black ball, people can only enter Petrosains 5 at a time. Why not make the black ball (which is officially called "The Dark Ride" or "Perjalanan Sekilas Masa", which isn't even an accurate translation but that's what they call it) one of the attractions INSIDE Petrosains, like the helicopter simulation, earthquake bench, or hurricance simulation?

Anywayy, FORTUNATELY, young girls/women equipped with cameras and friends can never be bored - so we made the most of the situation:

And we also made faces played with the cutest baby in the world! :) He was really friendly too, although at first he looked rather alarmed at our odd behaviour, but I think he warmed up eventually. SO CUTE.

The "Dark Ride" was pretty cool - especially the twirling and tilting, and sometimes I even got the impression that it was going to tip over and we would fall out. Hahahaha! No photos were allowed, and the whole black ball was plastered with surveillance equipment to keep shutterbugs like me in line. :P

It was a slow but short ride, and we were in Petrosains! I felt like Harry Potter walking into Diagon Alley for the first time, there were just SO MANY THINGS to see and play with! Hahahah! The volunteers are also really helpful - I guess they must have been trained to work with children ;) - and one of them helped us take a photo. She didn't get a picture when the full wayang kulit was on the screen - the original picture was like a tiny eagle in the background only, which doesn't at all tell you what a "wayang kulit" is, if you don't know (Leila didn't know either) - so I've photoshopped in the scene from another photo I took. :) Sorry for the bad graphics though, but you get an idea now of the "Wayang Kulit", right? :D It's like a manipulation of light and shadows to make a film.

Below are some of the highlights of our time at Petrosains! :)

One of the most exhilarating parts of Petrosains was the chute. Oh my goodness, if you go there, you have to try this! OKOK I know this must be like "kacang putih" for those of you who go on rollercoasters, bungee-jumping, etc - but for people like me who do none of those things, this was already a huge thrill! We slip our legs into potato sacks, and propel ourselves down the chute.

I didn't MEAN to, but the screaming just escaped my lips when I found myself whoooooshing down and round!! HAHAHAHA it felt like a very, very long ride down - and when I finally emerged at the end, Leila was laughing and asking me why in the world I was screaming like that. But it was so funnyyy!! :)

Another popular attraction was the "Helicopter Ride". Petrosains was cool in that they tried to make it feel as real as possible, what with having to get your "boarding passes" and "check in", etc. Hahaha. But it was just like watching a movie with surround sound and gusts of wind, and a shaking, jolting room. And half of my seat-belt was missing! So Leila was like "Haha, you are going to die" - and I was frantically grappling for it, squealing at the volunteer that I can't find my seat-belt - and he tried to look for it, couldn't find it either - and just said, "Actually you don't wear also never mind" - so everyone in the helicopter took theirs off! HAHAHA.

Anyway - I survived. :)

One of the coolest attractions was definitely, hands-down the electricity conductor. I thought I'd feel something, anything - a buzz, a jolt - but I felt nothing, even though my body was working as a conductor from the "lightning bolts" to the fluorescent lamp - which I lit up, with a single touch! HAHAHAHA. I felt like one of the X-Men. I also asked if they have one of those things where you put both hands on it and your hair stands up, but Petrosains doesn't have it yet. :(

Another fun attraction was the Hurricane simulation. Leila and I got into a booth that resembled one of London's famous red telephone booths, and the volunteer closed the door behind us. It was totally see-through, so a gaggle of people were watching in amusement. Then the "hurricane" begun. Rising from 0kmph to nearly 200kmph, at first it was "oh, this is nothing" to "OH MY GAWD LOOK AT OUR HAIR!" and after a few minutes, we came out looking distinctly disshevelled, feeling very giddy, and laughing very hard. And a whole queue of people had formed to try it too, probably because of the noise we had made. Hahahah!

Leila liked the mirrors thing, it was supposed to be an illusion of some sort - like count your reflections or something. I didn't get it. Hahahaha. But I liked the photos. :D

Leila and I both adored this one! It's a body-heat thing, so the picture shows which parts are hotter and which parts cooler - white/red is obviously the hottest, blue/black the coldest. Leila and I were laughing so much at her glasses. You can click on the photo above to get a close-up and the information. :)

This was like Standard 4 Science class all over again! You know ... the bigger the beads, the faster the oil flows down ... And I like the "chicken pox" shot I took of Leila - I asked her to stand behind the display, and laughed, "Hey it looks like you have chicken pox HAHAHA" - and we laughed even harder when a couple of small children around us echoed, "Chicken pox ... chicken pox ... chicken pox ..."

Petrosains was making their effort in educating us about the importance of wearing a seat belt. :) I think everyone knows the dangers involved in taking that risk, but they just think nothing will ever happen to them. Tsk tsk. You know who you are! ;P

And the photo of me on the right - I was doing a rainbow hands thing. There were a lot of games in Petrosains that involved light. :) I think we played them all.

This wasn't much. The picture of me on the left was when we went into Petronas' employees "fake-quarters" at a pretend-oil bunker. They truly live the simple life, man. Hehe. And the picture of Leila is quite cool, with the big-ass racing car behind her. :D

Loook! We were Princess Jasmine for 30 seconds each, waiting for Aladdin to come flying up on his magic carpet! :D The clouds were so, so, SO beautiful.

I reckon I was a pretty good goalkeeper. :D More saves than goals whaat. This was so fun!! You can see me on the left and Leila on the right, keeping the balls away. :D Hahaha! Can audition for national football team already.

Petrosains was really an incredible experience - I highly recommend it! :)

*Note: Will post up entry for KL Exploration 1.0: Planetarium another time. :D