Singapore ... 2010 (Day 2 - Part 4)

Continuing from the previous post ...

We left U.Studios and got back to Conrad. We immediately showered ... eager to wash away the day's grime from ourselves.

After relaxing for a bit, we decided to head over to Suntec Mall (5 minutes walk away from the hotel) for some grub. We were kinda undecided on what to have for dinner simply because we were famished and everything we saw looked so darn delicious. :p

We toured the place for a bit ... browsed through Food Republic, Fish & Co, Bali Thai, Ichiban Boshi, MOF, Pepper Lunch just to name a few. We then chanced upon the famous Fountain of Wealth.


We saw throngs of people queuing up to circle the fountain and dip their hands into its waters in the hope of bringing home some luck. We didn't bother though and headed back in for our food hunt.

In the end, we settled for Crystal Jade Kitchen as I was having a mad craving for some authentic Chinese fare.


There was quite a queue building up for a table but we soon got one albeit being seated on the walkway of the mall. These are what we ordered ...


Sour and spicy sze chuan soup


Salt & pepper fried tofu


Spinach in superior broth


Roasted and BBQ-ed pork


Yong chow fried rice

Dinner was splendid as we polished off everything on the table. Seated next to the window facing the Fountain of Wealth, we were also treated to the fountain's nightly laser show. Nothing to shout about if you ask me and it couldn't really hold a candle next to The Dubai Fountain.

After dinner, we strolled the mall and Wifey shopped a bit before we called it a night and retired back to the hotel. With dinner partially digested, we enjoyed our anniversary cake compliments of the good people at Equinox and soon slumbered. *ZZZzzz*

Very early next morning, well ... 5:00a.m. to be exact, we checked out and got into a cab to Changi Int. The taxi driver was like none of the usual ones I'm used to see back home. In his mid 20s at most, he was very trendily attired (long sleeved stipred shirt paired with jeans), I could have easily mistaken him coming home from a club or something.

We got our boarding passes and had breakfast at some kopitiam @ the airport's foodcourt.


I had two of these ... :p

At 6:45 a.m., our flight took off for home ... marking the end of a wonderful trip to a tiny island down south. Singapore enriched Wifey and I with such a pleasant holiday that we vowed to return soon for more. :)

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 2 - Part 3)

Continuing from the previous post ...


With our stomachs growling loud enough for others to run to the nearest earthquake shelter, we scavenged for food. Luckily Friar Tuck's Tavern was nearby and we popped in for some delicious chicken and beef filled pita bread, crinkled potato fries and soda. We only needed to top up a couple of SGDs since we have the food voucher we could utilize.


As our mouths work on the food, our feet get their much deserved rest. :p

After such a hearty meal, we soldiered on and met a couple of 'lost' animals. Why if it isn't the cast of MADAGASCAR!!!


They were dancing all right! *I like to move it move it!* It was such a joy to see these adorable characters shakin' it to the beat especially with my favourite King Julian being there too.


This bloggger's face was plastered with the widest grin throughout the entire performance. What's even better, we met the stars of Madagascar and had our photo taken with them ... haha.


See how big their smiles were posing with us ... *lol*

From Africa ... we shipped ourselves to Waterworld. Taken from then motion picture of the same title starring Kevin Costner, we had to queue up for quite a bit since they only had 3 shows per day.


Notice how the crowd were all trying to squeeze themselves into the tiny shaded area ...

Once the floodgates opened, we marched in and took our seats in one of the three available zones.


The seating zone closest to the set is known as the Soak Zone, meaning people sitting there run the risk of getting COMPLETELY SOAKED and U.Studios wasn't joking when they warned about it. We chose to sit in the Splash Zone where we may get a li'll bit wet from all the action later. Lastly, the Dry Zone (reserved for the boring crowd :p) is where the audience will stay as dry as when they came in.


The set of Waterworld ...

Soon, two of the cast members appeared and they were 'armed'!!! ... with WATER GUNS. They nonchalantly loaded up their guns and started spraying the crowd with water and it was most entertaining as we see certain people being caught off guard *SPLASH*. At one point in time, both me and wifey became casualties too. :p The more you try to evade, the more fun you made it for those two hoodlums and they take no prisoners. Even senior citizens weren't spared as we saw a lady way into her 60s being 'shot' at as she took her seat in the Soak Zone. I highly suspect that she wasn't even aware of the relevance of the zones and she glowered menacingly as water dripped from her drenched blouse. From water guns, the fellas soon started taking pails full of water and simply pouring it on the audiences. They amused the crowd wonderfully and even got people from the audience to participate ...


Soon the show began and what a show it was!



Taken directly from the storyline of the movie, we were awed as non stop action grasped our attention with a death grip. The professional stunt actors fought their way through a series of fires and explosions. From two storey dives to a cast member actually catching fire, it was spectacular. I reckon the photos below make a better storyteller than this blogger ...








While exiting Waterworld, we met an ol' friend ... Frankie.


After such a thrilling performance, we took a break to calm our pounding hearts. In one of em' cafes, we shared a lovely cupcake and a cuppa coffee.


We also cheekily fooled around in their souveneir shop for a bit before using our retail vouchers to purchase little tokens of U.Studios to take home with us.





As we strolled along Hollywood Boulevard, we met a couple of celebrities who were most obliged to have their photos taken with us. So here are a couple of shots of Wifey and I looking all star-strucked ...


The sexy Betty Boop


The original diva ... Ms.Monroe


And the comical Mr.Chaplin of course

On our way out, we were further entertained by a retro singing American group. Surfs up dude!


So there you go, the detailed account of our adventure in Universal Studios, Singapore and both of us concurred that it was actually better than Disneyland, Hong Kong. We left the park feeling very exhausted but immensely satisfied. We promised to return for more ... perhaps when the entire place is operating at 100%. Can't wait!!!

Would you like to go too??? :D

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 2 - Part 2)

Continuing from the previous post ...

At the Sci-Fi Arena ... we went for a ride on the spinning 'flying saucers' a.k.a. the teacups at any other amusement park. Despite twirling at a relatively high rpm, we risked Snappy being flung out and managed to camwhore a bit. Haha.


And posed a bit with the 'out-of-this-world' characters.


Too bad the twin-tracked roller coaster wasn't in operation yet. Apparently it was running on the opening day and was since shut down due to safety reasons. Hmmm ...


From a galaxy far far away, we ventured on till we landed ourselves in ancient Egypt ... the Land of the Mummy.


Statues of Anubis, guardians of the underworld menacingly guarded the entrance.


We had no choice but to make humble offerings or risk offending the ancient deities.


The guards of the pyramids towered high above us and Wifey was genuienly frightened as this one sneaked cheekily behind her. *Haha*


Wanted to ask Cleopatra for her number but Wifey was there :p

We then queued up for an indoor Mummy-themed roller coaster ride. The queue path itself was pretty impressive with loads of props that'll make you feel as if we're tunneling through a pyramid or something. Once belted securely in our coaster capsule, we were threatened by The Mummy himself and he swore to enslave our souls for all eternity. Before we had a chance to escape, we began zooming into oblivion ... total darkness ... we couldn't see what was ahead ... we were thrusted up, then rocketted down, forwards and even backwards ... all at neck breaking speed. Luckily, just before we were doomed to spend our lives in the underworld, we found the Book of Life and heroicly escaped the evil cluthces of The Mummy. :p


Not wanting to chance another encounter with The Mummy, we scurried to Far Far Away and I must say that this if my favourite part of U.Studios since I'm a HUGE fan of the green ogre. :D We did skip the Jurrasic Park area since they only offer kiddy rides in there. *Blehhh*


We managed to pose with a few of the lovable characters from the Shrek franchise *Yay* ...



Next attraction we went for was the Shrek 4D Adventure. Seated in a theater-like hall, we were transported into Far Far Away and the story was about the dwarfy Lord Farquaad (who happens to be dead by the way) whose mean spirited ghost is trying to kill Princess Fiona so that both their spirits can be together forever. So it's up to Shrek, Donkey and Dragon to save the day.


Now we're used to all things being in 3D lately, so U.Studios added the extra 'Dimension' by giving the audiences a chance to literally experience the on-goings in the show. The chairs we sat on 'move' in accordance to the characters on screen i.e. Motion Master style. We were provided 3D glasses for the visual effects and if the scene is windy, you feel the breeze for real, if spiders are crawling on the screen, your legs get tickled and if Shrek is racing down a river on a log, your face gets splashed with water. You get the idea no? It was a refreshing experience indeed and not to mention tonnes of fun :D

We also went for the 'Live' Donkey Show staring ... well, Donkey of course. We were greeted by Raoul, Donkey's sidekick who also doubled as the show's MC. Now Raoul told us that Donkey's a big superstar now ... with having his own show and all that jazz. Plus, to make it more fun, we are to participate with the adorable grey ass to boogey. Haha.


It wasn't long before the star of the main event strutted on stage. It's actually an animation of Donkey, Capt. Hook and some headless dude but get this ... Donkey actually interacts live with the audiences. Raoul picks out people from the crowd and they'll chat, sing and dance with Donkey. HOW.COOL.IS.THAT! The kids simply love it and we enjoyed ourselves immensely with all of Donkey's jokes and cheeky banter in Singlish no less.


From there, we headed on for a kiddy roller coaster ride of sorts on Enchanted Airways. With no 'delays' to the flight, we soon took off on a enjoyable ride with lots of whooshing and whizzing around.


Feeling exhausted from all the excitement *phew*, we decided to take a break for lunch. To be continued ...


If only all ogres were this beautiful ...

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 2 - Part 1)

Continuing from previous post ...

Note : I'll let the photos do most of the 'talking' in this post. Enjoy ...

We woke up with much excitement on Day 2 because ... *drumroll* today we're going to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!! *WOOT*. So after a good night's slumber (the bed and its lush pillows were heavenly by the way), we bounced outta bed, washed up and headed down to have breakfast by the pool. Stuffing ourselves silly with cereal, congee, bacon, sausages, fruits, juices etc., we hopped into a cab and told the driver to hurry us to Universal Studios. The journey took slightly less than 20 minutes and I guess the absence of the rush hour traffic helped. It was a Sunday ma :)

We were dropped off just outside Resort World's Casino entrance and we walked around the area for a bit. Though it was still rather early in the morning, the place was already filled with loads of visitors and more were steadily trickling in. It was like a carnival there with all the restaurants and performances in conjuntion with the World Cup at the concourse area. The Waka Waka fever's here!



We took the escalator up and it led to the intersection between U.Studios and Sentosa. I was overcomed by a sense of nostalgia when I saw Sentosa's Merlion as it was about 18-19 years ago that I last went there with my family and now ... the place looks entirely different ... in a good way of course.


As we headed towards then entrance of U.Studios, we noticed every single one of their ticketing booths were closed with a notice that ALL tickets for the day have been sold out. Good thing we secured ours online a couple of weeks back or there would be major dissapointment.


Of course, like everyone else, we Kodak-ed in front of the iconic Universal globe


We noticed how U.Studios hired quite a number of local retirees and I personally applaud them on this effort. Regardless of age, the staff there were well trained and provided service with a warm smile.


They took our printed tickets, scanned it and pleasantly ushered us into the Customer Service building where we redeemed our SGD5 meal voucher and SDG5 retail vouchers each to be used inside the themepark. *Yay*

Our U.Studios adventure officially begins now and right smack in front was a booth filled with 'Maps to the Stars' ... our guide map for the entire park.


There was also a massive crimson popcorn truck and it filled the air with a delightful sweet aroma. *Yum yum*


We continued walking no less than 2 minutes before a very familiar character swaggered its feathery self towards us. It's non other than one my of my childhood favourite cartoon character, Woody Woodpecker. I can imitate its laugh to almost perfection yo! :p So we queued up and happily had our photo taken with him. Every character you meet in the park is flanked by U.Studios staff and they will be most obliged to help you take a photo or two.


Guided by the map, we continued to explore the different sections of the park and stopped by every now and then to capture special moments on camera.



We also saw Poh from Kungfu Panda but unfortunately the line was too long and we didn't bother to waste anymore time in the queue.

We came to our first attraction and the usherer hurried us in as Steven Spielberg is about to start his show and this big-shot Tinstletown director doesn't like to be kept waiting. So with much haste, we went into his famous Sound Studio ...


Once inside, we were greeted by Steve himself ... on a screen that is and he took a couple of minutes to explain the 'magic' behind the scenes we see in so many of his movies. It was the stuff of wonders and we were then led into a studio to experience the absolute thrill of 'LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! for ourselves.

The story was about a hurricane hitting a city causing the ensuring flood, the chaotic explosions, the boathouse (which we were suppose to be in) crumbling down etc. We were utterly mesmerised for the following 10 minutes as it strictly felt as if we were really caught in that frenzied scenario. I kid you not! The blend of crazy lighting and sound effects, coupled with the fantastic props and mechanics ... I simply can't describe the exhiliaration ... one simply must enjoy it him/herself to truly appreciate it for what it is.


The inside of the Sound Studio ... no photos or videos allowed once the show starts :p

With our hearts still beating rapidly, we gleefully carried on with our exploration. Below are more photos for your pleasure viewing and the rest shall be continued in the next entry ... :)


Officer Adrian reporting for duty!


Muscle men bebeh! :p


Beauty and the beast


The Sci-Fi Arena


As you can see, construction works are still ongoing at the park


Is it Halloween already???


She has her eyes on you O_O

P.S. More photos on my FB ...