Yilan, Lucky Art Tourist Factory 蜡藝彩繪館

front of the building

ticket counter/waiting area

1st station- coloring

2nd station-make your own markers

Location: google map

Pros: an unique experience, relatively cheap,

Cons: everyone needs a ticket, regardless of whether you want to do the activities or not. crowded on weekends.

Ticket: $200/person ($100 can be used toward gift purchases)

Duration: 1~2hrs

My boys (5,7,8) all enjoyed the activities here. There are 4 craft stations included with your ticket: 1. coloring 2. making your own markers. 3 & 4. make your own crayons (one you can pick your own mold from a selection of letters/numbers and the other is a taiwan shaped crayon). They do get crowded on weekends of course, but luckily they do crowd control so you are not fighting your way through crowds as you do each activity (still a bit crowded, but could be worse). We went on a Saturday morning, and we only had to wait for 5 mins or so until our number (you get a number after you purchase your tickets) was called. I would suggest your child to be at least 4 years old to fully enjoy this place.

Taipei, Fun In Enterprise 方尹文創

ball pit

lego building space

a giant net

Location: it's inside Songshan Station, 3F. MRT green line to Songshan Station.

Pros: it's not too crowded, many food options inside the building. clean, bathroom nearby. 

Cons: nothing!

Price: $399 (1kid+1adult)

          $299 (kid only)

(unlimited play during the week, 2 hrs on weekends)

It's got everything! all of my boys (4, 6, 8) all had a blast here. We first had lunch right next door at the "Fun Relax Restaurant" (average, service is a tad slow, but its convenient if you want to sit here and have coffee while your kids play next door), and then came here to play. This whole floor is part of "Fun In Enterprise," and it also has other arts and crafts you can pay to do.

Hsinchu, McDonald's with a playground! 麥當勞

Location: google map location

Parking: right across the street

Pros: a playground in McDonald's, in Taiwan!!!

Cons: it's a fairly busy McDonald's

Ever since we drove past it some time last year, my boys had been begging me to take them here (I know right? *eyeroll). I had been reluctant because 1) I have a McDonalds 5 mins away from our house and this one is at least 15 mins away, and 2) I could not figure out where I can park for this one!! Anyway, one day I just decided to drive us there and figure it out when we get there, and what do you know! There IS a parking lot right across the street! Nothing special to say about this, it's a playground in McDonald's. probably a bit cleaner than your average Mcd playground in the states. ;)

Taichung, Dough 動手玩金典店

work space

Menu

refrigerated ingredients

dry ingredients

Location: Jin Diang Mall google map location (金典綠園道)

Pros: baking without the mess at your home!

Cons: takes min. one hour

This is a cute concept, and I can see why it works here in Asia - not everyone has an oven at home here! So if you do not have an oven at home and you want the baking experience with your kiddos, I'd definitely recommend this place. Generally you have to make a reservation, and the cost depends on what item you choose from the menu (from the cheapest madeleines for $260 to cakes over $600). There is plenty of work space, and even on a weekend afternoon it wasn't super crowded. You will get an iPad that has the recipe and a video clip for you to follow. You basically do everything on your own - from measuring the ingredients to washing the mixing bowls. When you're done, they will give you a nice little box/plastic bag to put in your cake/cookies. 

Hsinchu, Kidsburgh - Dorothy's Home 騎士堡- 桃樂絲的家

Location: The building next to Big City/SOGO (2F)  google map location

** can be tricky to find. If you park at Big City, you would have to go across the skybridge on the 3rd floor of SOGO, and take the elevator to get to the 2nd floor to the entrance.

Pros: clean, many employees around to supervise/help
Cons: smaller than the Taipei Kidsburgh. one-time tickets are pricy.

First off, let's talk about the ticket price. An one-time ticket for ages 1 and up is a whopping NT$750, and NT$150 for each accompanying parent!! (If your child is under 3, one parent may enter for free) I would definitely recommend buying the package, you can look at the prices here. There are many different options, so make sure you do the math! :)

Anyways, we went on a Saturday morning at 11am (when it opens), and surprisingly it was not crowded at all!! My plan was to stay for an hour, eat lunch, and then come back to play some more (we had until 2:30pm to come back), but they were having so much fun that we ended up leaving at around 1pm to eat lunch!

Below is the list of different areas in the facility:

Toddler Area (a smaller ball pit, some puzzles and games on the wall)
Pretend Play area (lots of girls were there, my boys did not go in AT ALL)
Room with a doll house and a play kitchen (toddler friendly)
Train table
Fishing area
Car riding room
Cannon foam ball area (my boys spent 90% the time there)
Huge ball pit with slides (connected to cannon ball area)
Blue giant foam blocks area
Balloon area

Malaysia, Angry Bird Activity Park

Opened in 2014, this Angry Bird Activity Park is located in the city of Johor Bahru (same city as Legoland Malaysia). It is located in a shopping mall called KOMTAR JBCC, which supposedly is the best mall there (more on this later). We were staying at the Legoland hotel, and the cab ride from Legoland to KOMTAR JBCC was about 30 minutes and costs 50 Ringgits. 

Before coming here, we tried to limit our expectation for this place since most reviews I've read said it's not very big and you can finish the entire park in an hour or so. It is actually pretty fun - and if your kids are about the same age as mine (4,6,7) - they can easily spend the entire day here! (you CAN exit the park and come back)

The main drawback to this place is that there wasn't a lot of employees there to supervise/guide the children where help is certainly needed. As parents, you have to be vigilant because not every parent will be watching their kids (think: a mall playground on crack). At the "Space Drop Air Bag" area, basically your child would be jumping off of a platform onto an gigantic air bag with no instructions as to how to land, the proper way to jump, etc. If you want to try the go-kart, good luck trying to get onto one waiting in line - gotta get out there on the track and demand your turn. 

That being said, my boys still had a great time. We only stayed for a littler over an hour because it was late, but they could still keep going if we let them. Oh the mall - remember to bring your own toilet paper if you plan on using the restrooms there. and the restrooms are down right disgusting for a seemingly decent mall. And getting a cab to your next destination? It took us over 30 mins to figure out where to go for the taxi stand. But I think culturally it is just harder to get correction information from people in Asia. lol!

Website: Angry Birds Activity Park

Zhubei, Hsinchu County Library 新竹縣圖書館

It has a decent selection of children's books in English. My boys are avid readers, so this will probably last us a few months! To get a library card, you will need to bring your passport or ARC and fill out an application at front desk. It will take about 20 mins after submitting your application to get the actual library card. It is free!

We like to come here first for some books, and then head down the street to Zhubei Children's Park.

Location: Xianzheng 9th Rd #146. 竹北市縣政九路146號 (the front door is on Wenping Rd)

Parking: street parking on Wenping Rd 

Pros: FREE! AC! clean bathrooms!

Cons: don't read too fast, or you might run out of books to borrow fairly quickly!

Taipei, Brick Works Cafe @ Taipei Arena

It was no uninteresting that this was the only picture we took.

This review is for Brick Works Cafe located inside of Taipei Arena (小巨蛋). Let me just say - if you have legos at home, you can pass on this place. Unless you're a fan of dirty legos, overpriced food & drinks...trust me, you are better off going to Toysrus's lego section. I was very excited to try out this place since all of my boys are HUGE lego fans. I have quite a list of complaints:

1. Food is terrible - Yes, you can get a lego shaped waffle here. So what? That lasted about 10 seconds before my boys ate it all up. Yes they said, "LOOK! IT'S A LEGO GUY!" but that was about it. NT$180, gone. Lego jello? You will have more fun making it yourself at home. My boys complained more about how difficult it was to eat the jello than anything else.

2. Legos for play - There are plenty of legos by the wall that you can put in your lego bin and bring it back to your table to play for free. Besides the hygiene factor (you can't really expect these things to be germ free), the selection is really limited. If you are a lego mom you'd know what I mean. They have the primary colors plus black, gray, and white. No exciting shapes/colors. My 5 yr old could build with anything and he was bored.

3. Some Legos are not even Legos - This is the real problem for me. We are masters at identifying non-legos, or counterfeit legos since it's everywhere here in Taiwan. At the "make your own lego guy" station here, there were pieces that weren't branded Lego.


Brick Works Taipei
Minimum charge NT$80/person
Location: I can give you the address but you should not go there anyway.
Pros: It's decorated with legos.
Cons: bad food & boring legos.

Taipei, 跳跳蛙健兒中心 Leap Frog

This is an indoor playground located next to the Museum of Drinking Water in Taipei. Our last visit was back in January. This place was just opened November 2015, so it's relatively new. There is a ball pit, rock climbing wall, bounce house, a slide, bubble soccer thing, and basketball hoops. There are about 3-4 employees inside of the play area to supervise/help children if needed. There are tables and chairs outside around the play area for parents to sit and watch, but I recall there is a minimum charge for sitting at the table. Their food & drink menu was pretty scarce, so I would recommend going elsewhere for food. Overall my boys had a good time!!!

Location: 台北市中正區思源街1號 Siyuan Street #1, Taipei City
Hours: (by time slots)M-F: 10:30~13:30, 14:00~17:00. Weekends: 10:30~12:30, 13:00~15:00, 15:30~17:30
Price: NT$350/child + 1 Adult
Socks mandatory

Website: Leap Frog Child Fitness Center

Pros: Good for all ages (toddler-school age), clean
Cons: Food & drinks not recommended.

Taipei, 臺灣博物館 National Taiwan Museum

We first started off with a short walk in 228 Peace Park (will be another review), then to the main museum, and lastly the exhibition hall. The pictures above are actually from the Land Bank Exhibition Hall which is located right across from the museum. It was A HIT with the boys!! The main museum also had many interesting exhibits for both adults and children. On a hot summer day, if you have no where to go with the kids, this is definitely the place to come for a cool casual stroll.


Location: 台北市襄陽路2號 (二二八公園內) Xiangyang Rd, No. 2 (inside of 228 Peace Park)
Opening hours: Tue - Sun 9:30am to 5:00pm
Price: NT$30/adult, NT$15/kids age 6-12, kids 6 and under FREE
Website: National Taiwan Museum

Pros: inexpensive, educational, AC
Cons: nothing!