We planned this night out for a while. I tried to prepare my wife and 13 year old son about the experience. We were concerned that my boy, who has very mild autism (Asperger) won't be able to handle it and even rescheduled once. But...he came around and said he was excited about it! So I pre-paid for the the three adult dinners (you get a 10% discount if you pre-pay!) We told the restaurant that my son has a fear (phobia!) of bananas, so they confirmed that bananas will NOT be on the menu.
When the day finally arrived the three of us dressed up (my son's idea as he said we should put on fancy clothes and for him to use his bowler hat). We drove to KL and parked at the complimentary valet parking spot in a building nearby (remember to validate the ticket in the restaurant! We didnt and had to pay RM10). (There is no street parking on this road near the DITD).
Once at the place (which is upstairs) we were seated in comfortable chairs and served our welcome drinks. The fun started as the waiter asked us to guess the ingredients of the mocktail. We got three out of the four juices right :).
We were then given a pair of blindfolds and took turns to try and solve a wooden puzzle, which was another way of warming us up to the experience we were about to have.
After that game was done they checked again if we had any allergies, reconfirmed the no banana instruction and brought us to the door which would bring us to the dining room. We met our waiter/helper, the awesome AK who asked me to put both my hands on his shoulders, Danish's hands on my shoulders and mummy's hands on Danish's shoulder. Then he opened the door and led us in single file.
A friend who had been there before warned me that it would be truly and utterly pitch black dark, but nothing could prepare us for the experience of walking into the abyss. It was so dark that we could not discern the edges of the room, not the ceiling, not the floor. We could be walking into the worlds largest cave for all we knew. It took a few minutes of slow shuffling to get to our table from the door.
AK took my hand and brought me to my chair and asked me to sit. However I could hear my wife softly say "I cant do this" over and over again, which became louder and more urgent. AK calmly said, dont worry, asked Danish and I to remain in our seats and walked my wife back out into the light.
After AK came back i asked for us to be reunited so Danish and I made the shuffle back outside, and we had a discussion with Mummy. She really felt that she wouldn't be able to face the darkness again in the next few minutes, so she told Danish and I to go ahead and experience it without her. Reluctantly we agreed.
Back in the dark Danish and I had the most fantastical experience ever, Without his devices (all phone, watches and any light emitting items have to be locked in a locker before entering) Danish became a chatty, engaging young man. He sat across from me and talked about everything from his fashion choices, school and his fear of bananas. But mostly about the food being served.
AK was so friendly, comforting and efficient. In total he served us a four course meal consisting of four appetisers, 2 soups, 3 entrees and FIVE deserts! Everything was served in plates of bowls in a tray which had the corresponding shape of the food container built into it (hence the wooden puzzle game outside!).
We carefully made our way through all this glorious food. I have to say each and every dish was DELICIOUS, and Danish agrees! In fact this boy who never eats ANY fruit and VERY LITTLE veggies, CLEANED UP all his food (excepts for a liitle bit of the last desert (dark choc pudding which he jokingly said was :Too dark, too dark!). He had grilled vegetables, fruit confit, salad with various fruit in it and lots of other stuff that I could never imagine him having. He even finished the cold beetroot, orange and zucchini (with a touch of ginger) soup!! (We wrongly guessed that the warm soup was mushroom, when in fact it was tomato soup with seafood and croutons).
In the meantime, the manager was kind enough to allow my wife to have a nice dinner at a sister establishment next door. She was given the exact amount of credits as the ticket price we had paid for her, so she ended up having a BIG dinner by herself.
All in all, the experience I had with my son was worth MUCH MORE than the price of entry. My son had proven to himself that he can face his fears, and eat anything (except bananas still). And he and I could have a wonderful 1 and a half hour conversation filled with laughter and insights and meaningful sharing. I LOVED EVERY MOMENT OF IT!More
