The Art of The Brick Expo and Oreo Pop Up restaurant experience

Last weekend I went to the Art of the Brick expo by Nathan Sawaya at The Zone in Rosebank, and also paid a little visit to the Oreo Pop Up shop there afterwards.
I thought it would be fun to write about the experience for those of you thinking of going, so I took a bunch of photos and tried to remember everything to relay in detail ;)
Brice and I had seen the Art of the Brick expo when it was in Cape Town, but we heard some people complaining about how it wasn't worth it, so we didn't buy tickets. When we saw it had come to Rosebank, we might as well go check it out since we love LEGO so much (everything is awesome!). We went with my good friend Namhee and her husband Wesley, our usual partners in crime.
Tickets for the expo are R140 for adults, R95 for kids, R99 for scholars/pensioners and R395 for a family of four. The exhibition was much larger than I expected, and was really impressive to see how much time and effort had gone into making each sculpture, not to mention the creative mind to come up with the concept!
There were different sections with different themes, but I have to say that my favourite was most probably the famous artworks in LEGO. Here are a couple of photos of what I liked best:

The Art of The Brick Expo - The Zone, Rosebank

I really enjoyed the expo, but I think that if you are neither a fan of LEGO nor art, that this would be a bit boring for you. The displays are not interactive and there are "Don't Touch" stickers on each display, so if you have young kids who find it difficult to keep their hands to themselves then you need to be on high alert! *Just a note: we were not touching the sculpture in the last photo - it just looks that way!* It was fairly busy when we went with all sorts of people from different age groups, so I think it is a good day out for most people, unless you are looking for something interactive, in which case rather stay at home! At the end of the expo is a "play area" with LEGO pieces to get the kids (or adults!) to use their imagination and create, so I though that was a nice touch.
And then, as you leave the expo, you will see the Oreo Pop Up restaurant right next door! I love Oreos, so I had to go have a little peek. They have a "sushi bar" style counter where you can order your Oreo creation, and then there is a photo spot with props to take some Oreo photos, and there is also a place where you can make your own Oreo characters.
First thing I noticed was a creepy mannequin with an Oreo head running in slow motion. Not sure what that was all about but it did freak me out a little!

We took a seat at the conveyer belt bar and decided on what we wanted to try. We ended up ordering the Rocking Oreo White Chocolate Cheesecake and the Oreo Choc Shortbread Sandwich with Magnum Ice Cream. The cheesecake was amazing - sweet and soft and chocolately and more-ish! I didn't try the ice cream sandwich, but apparently is was good, but nothing too amazing or different. Was basically Oreos and ice cream. 

Next we moved off to the photo area to grab some pics. Fun thing was that if you took a photo and shared it on Twitter or Instagram with #PlayWithOreo, then you could print it out for free! We took some photos in the big wire car (and I was sure we were going to break it!) and with the big Oreo on a stick and got them printed.

We didn't create an Oreo character (the boys were itching to find a shop that sold LEGO!) so we made our way to the exit to pay up and go. There was some awesome Oreo merchandise up for offer, and I really wanted the Oreo meg with a space to keep cookies, but my credit card had been used enough for the day, and in any case I knew we were most probably going to end up buying some LEGO to build ;)
The day out was really fun, we had a great time at both the expo and the restaurant, so if you are looking for something to do in Joburg, this is a great way to kill two birds with one stone! Plus if you find the expo ignites your inner child to want to create, then there is a toy store at Rosebank with a big range of LEGO (Lilliputs).