Kai! This is Mommy Margaux, a citizen of KidZania, for a day that is!

Dream come through! When I was still pregnant, they were just starting to build KidZania Manila. I was so excited for this because I really want to bring my Coco there when he is old enough. I’m also excited to go inside it because I’ve always wanted to play in something like it. I was like, “where were these kinds of play place when we were kids?“. Coco was around 2 years and 3 months when it opened, and we were one of those privileged to enter the vicinity before its opening. Coco was lucky enough to do some tasks and was given a salary even if he wasn’t yet really allowed.

I went with my best friend, Aimee and her family. We were around the KZM entrance, by 6:30PM, fell in line to have our ticket validated, got our RFID bracelets, a BPI Check worth 50 kidzos, map, booklets and a bar of KitKat.

Our first stop was the Bank of the Philippine Islands. We have to en cash our checks first for us to have our Kidzos.

We were so overwhelmed as we were wondering around. We stopped by the Oishi Creative Hub. The Zupervisor welcomed us to KidZania and invited us to check out the hub. We were divided into two groups. The Zupervisor oriented us on the mechanics on how to launch a product. Then we were tasked to create a brand new snack for Oishi, complete with packaging based from the target market – Vita and Urbano (KidZania characters)’s personality. So, for my team, we have Vita, a nature-lover, so we chose to create a veggie-flavored chips, also to encourage kids to eat veggies. It is spinach and cheese flavored, in the shape of a leaf that looks like a heart and is color yellow with green dots. Our packaging is drawn below AND since we are environment friendly, it is made of paper.


Then, we wanted to work at the fire station but a training was already on going and there was no Zupervisor around, so we moved to St. Luke’s Medical Center. I fell in line at the baby care section (there’s also emergency and operating room). We were taught how to care for a newborn, put lotion, massage and change their diapers. Boy, I remembered my infant Coco while I was doing this.



While Aimee, Ina and I were at the hospital, the others went farming and to LBC as well.

Finally, a group again, we went to the C.S.I (Crime Scene Investigation of the KidZania Police). The Zupervisor oriented us and delegated our task – which was to patrol the city and make sure that it is safe, peaceful and everything is in order. So, we went to different establishments in the city and checked out if everything was in order. On our last stop, we were told that the hotel was in fire, so we all ran to the fire station to report the fire and while the firemen were preparing to leave, we are then tasked to keep everyone away from the path where the fire truck will be passing by. When we reached the burning hotel, we placed our traffic cones and made a human barricade, keeping everyone away from entering the premises of the burning hotel. At this point, the firemen were doing their best to put out the fire. After they have successfully put out the fire, everyone applauded and we congratulated each other. By this time, all eyes were on us, videos and pictures were everywhere. I believe it was only our batch that this happened last night, it was the most memorable time of the night. Adrenaline rush at its finest. If someone has pictures and videos of us, let us know how to keep in touch with you!



The last establishment that we went to was the Supreme Court. This time, the Zupervisor oriented us on what we have to do then we had to draw lots on the roles that we were playing. I got to be the prosecution witness. We role played a scene in the court and I felt I was in an “Ipaglaban Mo” episode. Haha!


We walked around after, we wanted to do more but it was almost closing time, some establishments, especially the ones that we liked were not accepting “workers” anymore or the lines was still too long and we might not be able to do anything in the end.


Before leaving, we had our pictures printed at Php250 each for a 8R photo. There’s also a website where you can download the picture that you paid for to be printed.



Some thoughts:

We were only able to do 4 jobs. I think it is the average for a 4-hour session in a regular KZ session for kids. Waiting time maybe fo 25 minutes or more. A session can also last for 20 to 40 minutes. Sayang nga, we were too overwhelmed that we weren’t able to have a game plan on how will we going to maximize our time inside.

It was a little bit hard to talk with one another, as well as hear what a Zupervisor was telling us, especially those establishments near the town square, because there’s a DJ playing. I love the music though, can’t not reminisce my tween-teen years with it.

Although there was food everywhere, we weren’t able to eat because really, you won’t feel any hunger when you’re inside.

We paid Php1,100 (which is Php200 more for a Friday of the kid rate). I think it was worth it for me. BUT SUPER BITIN the time given, 4 hours! Sana one whole day na lang! Anyway, it’s the experience that we are after, if there’s another Big Kids Night, for sure, we will be back!

Note to self: do my dream jobs – 1) cabin crew, 2) Inquirer Journalist 3) Mcdonald’s crew

Also, I realized all the jobs that I want to do, I wasn’t able to do. But I was able to innovate a product, which is my forte as an entrepreneur. Ang dami ko pa daw kasi gusto, eh in the end, yun at yun pa din ako! haha!

Thank you KidZania Manila! The big kids definitely had the best time in your city! One more time please! But I can’t wait for Coco to experience this as well, 5 more months!