On the hunt for Batman in MinNature Malaysia

Me and my mum had been to MinNature Malaysia before, so we were both excited and eager to visit again when they opened in a new location. The place is not very impressive on the outside but once you’re inside, you’re in a whole new world. A mini-world!

We were greeted by the friendly staff as they helped with purchasing our tickets. The staff told us that the theme was ‘Malaysian Cultural Heritage’. This was great, as it meant that me and my mum could dive into Malaysia’s culture in ways we had never before! And if you’re not so knowledgeable about Malaysia’s culture (that’s ok, neither am I), the labels on the displays will help describe the scene. The brochure also helps to inform you about each section, so this can be helpful if the labels aren’t clear for you. 

Taste of Malaysia: delicious!

At the beginning of our MinNature adventure, we first looked at ‘Taste of Malaysia’. All these foods and hawker stalls belong to Malaysia. We saw plenty of things that would be instantly recognisable to anyone who’s lived here for a while. There are fruit stalls, a traditional Chinese feast and many other tiny food displays. Participating in the sort of education theme, you will be able to learn the origins of these delicious foods and also what makes them so tasty. The models were fun to admire and even the smallest details such as slippers, newspapers and even rocks could be seen clearly. I could even read the texts on the signs and newspapers! 

Gorgeous dioramas

The great thing is that you can take as long as you like, as long as you leave before closing time, so we made sure to soak in all the texts. Once we were done, we proceeded to the ‘Minis in the Glass Wall’. These are little dioramas of kampungs, streets, rainforests and our famous limestone caves! The labels described the scenes and where some of the places are. And there are even little challenges written on the labels, asking you to find a specific number of things in the dioramas. Don’t think it’s easy, because in fact it is extremely hard!

The Heritage Section was the biggest, and the most interesting one of the displays. There are many buildings to explore with delightful surprises. There are also little mechanisms for some specific figures or sections, which was really fun to watch, and it made the dioramas much more lively.

Cool light shows

Some of the buildings have a light show, which is a really nice touch. There is even an app which you can download to scan some of the QR codes for the Heritage Section. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for us, because it was only available for Android devices, but the app looked very fun when demonstrated by one of the staff members. The light show and the app were actually made by college students, which was pretty cool to find out. Be on the lookout for the clock, which indicates when the next light show will take place. The clock can be pretty hard to find on the buildings, but there are announcements as well to inform you when a light show is about to start, so don’t worry.

Light shows and mechanisms aside, the dioramas are really detailed. The buildings are very impressive and are masterpieces on their own. The building variety was nice which made exploring more enjoyable. Be sure to bend down and peek through some doorways to find some cool things!

Batman, where are you?

There were little hunts for us to do. We were asked to find unique figures without any clue of which diorama they are in. I wouldn’t recommend taking it too serious, unless you are good at hunts, because you may spend a lot of time just looking for a few of the figures. The unique figures were from famous movies and cartoons. This made looking around even more interesting than it was already, whether you’re looking for Sulley from Monsters Inc walking on the street or for Batman battling Superman on the rooftops. The hunt was frustrating, as they were very hard to find and without any clue where they are, it makes the job much, much harder! However, it is not compulsory to do, so obviously it is an optional activity.

The whole place in general was very well made and it was no surprise to learn that the craftsmen and craftswomen who made these models enjoyed their jobs. I do believe, that the previous MinNature was much more interesting. However, this place is a pretty close second. MinNature Malaysia is really fun, a delightful experience, and it was also nice to put the pandemic at the back of our heads for a few hours. So once this MCO is over, and if you’re fine to go out with your family or friends, be certain to check out MinNature Malaysia! 

In the meantime, if you’re looking for some ideas to entertain the kids at home, have a look at our article here.

You can find MinNature Malaysia in Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. For more info, please have a look at their FB page here.

This article was written by Caleb. The 11-year-old son of MakanMama was so eager to write about his trip to MinNature Malaysia, that he couldn’t wait to share his experience. Great job, Caleb!