Of Desa Waterpark and koay teow

The family and I (together with Mak) went to Desa Waterpark yesterday (it was my wife’s birthday). In my view, Desa Waterpark is definitely the poor cousin of Sunway Lagoon, Bukit Merah Laketown Resort and the others where water parks are concerned. Not really well maintained and I guess the crowd is mostly seasonal i.e. during school holidays. It appears it has 11 rides/attractions, of which I saw only 1, the Thunderbolt (sounds really fancy doesn’t it? More on this later). We made our way there relatively early, knowing earlier on it opened at 10 am. We arrived at about 9.45 am, me with the complete confidence that we should be able to get our tickets and would be having a good time (for the kids) within 15 minutes or so.

To my aghast, on our arrival the parking lot was full. Full as in there were no parking bays left. Couldn’t believe it. I thought we were early (well, relatively early). To add to my dismay, the queue for tickets were really long. They had two counters, and both had queues which were like 70-80 metres long. I wouldn’t want to get into this rant about what they should do, you know stuff like open more counters or separate the lines with people who are paying cash or credit or anything like that. I don’t want this entry to turn into some complaint letter to Desa Waterpark. Anyway, as many of you would know, yesterday was an especially hot day in KL. Having to queue in the hot sun was not a good idea. To make matters worse, I was wearing a black Kappa t-shirt with a black track bottom. Didn’t know I had to stand in the hot sun for 45 minutes.

After I got my tickets (and sweating like nobody’s business), we made our way in. We got a good place to settle down. There were a lot of people. And I mean a lot. Which brings one thought to mind. If, as I said, Desa Waterpark is the poor cousin of the other parks, then KL folks are really short of interesting places to go (which applies to me as well). The thing is, I also think Desa Waterpark is quite an affordable place to go to. Tickets are priced at RM20 for adults and RM14 for children. And if you are less than 2.5 feet tall, you enter for free. Unlike Sunway Lagoon where you pay a lot more and it is dependent on the parks you frequent i.e. wet or dry. I guess the cost of living has really gone up.

Despite the amount of people, like I said, we got a good place. You know how kids love the water. Nureen Sabrina and Farah Batrisyia are no different. They wasted no time in getting in the water, looking rather cute in their bathing suits. Murni and I kept a close watch. I guess when you’re a parent, the joy is never apparent anymore as your focus is more to keeping your children safe. Sometimes kids get a little carried away when they’re having fun. So it’s up to us parents to keep tabs on them.

The thing I noticed was a kid (couldn’t be more than 13 or 14 years old) preparing air batu campur for customers frequenting one of the food stalls. I have great respect for people like that. It’s never easy to be working at such a tender age when other kids are having a good time during the school holidays. Having to prepare air batu campur like that, probably non stop for many hours. Hebat budak ni. This is the type of person who knows how it is to live the hard life and I honestly hope he becomes a good person for it. That said, I believe in giving my children a proper childhood and providing the best I can for them in all respects. Besides, that’s what a dad is for, kan? But I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to make it difficult for them if it’s for their own good.

Anyway, about Thunderbolt. Apparently that is “the” ride if you go to Desa Waterpark. It’s made up of a rather intricate series of twist and turns and you ride it on a buoy. People will start queuing probably half an hour before the ride starts (it’s open for fifteen minutes only, they say. Which is never the case as it’s usually much longer). It’s a spectacle all right. People seem to be having a great time. As for me, I’m never one for all these thrill rides. Never one to take any unnecessary risks. And I never ride the roller coasters whenever I go to theme parks as well. Whatever floats your boat, as people say.

We left at about 3 pm. The children were knackered but all in all they had a good time. And there was still a steady stream of people arriving. Desa Waterpark must’ve made a killing yesterday. Oh, and I hope they would then have the funds for more ticket counters.

On a side note, I tried to google for the correct spelling of “koay teow” (at least that’s how I think it should be spelled). Dewan Bahasa’s website didn’t help either. Try going to any stall or restaurant for that matter and look out for the spelling. Out of 10 stalls/restaurants, the spelling would be different in maybe 7 of them. Will find out and let you know.