(Not So) Wordless Thursday

We went to Universal Studios yesterday. Actually it was the second time we went there and since it was the first time for my youngest sister-in-law and her husband to visit, plus there is a new ride which was opened on 3 December - Transformers: The Ride in 3D Battle, so off we go!

I didn't take many pictures yesterday, since most of the attractions I had already taken during my first visit (click here for Part 1 and 2) but I did take a few pictures while queueing for the Transformers ride. The queue was horrible; we waited for almost 2 hours but well, it was well worth it. We decided to go for another round, which was their last ride coming to 9pm.

Couldn't resist buying this water bottle (and don't even ask about the price!).

We also took a ride at the Battlestar Galactica: Human vs. Cylon. There are two coasters which you can choose from: Human (red) or Cylon (blue). We didn't get to ride on these roller coasters the first time we visited since it wasn't ready then. And after riding on both coasters yesterday, I have to say the cylon was the most thrilling as it is a suspended coaster that runs through a vertical loop, corkscrew and cobra roll. The human coaster ride is more of a seated coaster that propels riders 14 storeys into the air.

Needless to say, I enjoyed the trip but I was dead tired when I woke up this morning for work. I felt like a zombie . . . but fortunately my superior is on leave this week so at least I am able to breathe . . . a little? Ah!

A Trip to Universal Studios, Singapore (Part 2)

Part 1 Recap

Don't you hate it when the time seems to pass by you quickly everytime you are having a wonderful time? We didn't notice lunchtime has rolled by until our stomachs rumble in protest. So we had our meals at a restaurant called Goldilocks where all of us had vegetarian burgers (I didn't take any picture of our meals because we were all too hungry!).

Since Goldilocks is located within Far Far Away, we decided to visit Shrek and his friends after our lunch.

Our first stop at Far Far Away is Donkey Live; it's a special interactive live show whereby the audience will interact and sing along with Donkey in an intimate theatre setting. I have no idea how this was done, but I have to say it was all pretty amazing! Again, I didn't take any picture of this as I was afraid of interrupting the show.)

Follow up next is Shrek 4-D Adventure. It is a fairy tale adventure where we got to see Shrek and Donkey saving Princess Fiona and I have to say we enjoyed this experience immensely! Not only do we get to see the effects (with OgreVision glasses), but we get to feel the actions right from our seats too! (e.g. there was a scene about Donkey sneezing and we felt droplets of water onto our face. I think the most memorable experience was when we felt some spiders brushing against our legs, eek!)

We also rode on a family roller coaster named Enchanted Airways (which featured the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf, Gingy, and Pinocchio etc) but we didn't take any picture of it. *sigh*

Far Far Away

Our next destination - WaterWorld at The Lost World, is a live water show where the performers performing some dangerous stunts along with the thrill of real explosions of fire and water. The audience is free to choose their seating (there is a wet or dry zone indicated alongside the benches so if you don't mind being splashed with water, the front seats are highly recommended.)

Jurrasic Park! This is another place I loved besides The Revenge of the Mummy (yes, I'm still thinking of that thrilling high speed ride!).



And speaking of high speed ride, Rapids Adventure is another thrilling ride one shouldn't miss! We bought disposable raincoats just for this ride because we had witnessed several people getting soaked when they got out from their ride. We sat on a circular raft (opposite us were two couples who didn't prepare anything so we must have looked very silly to them with our raincoats on!) where it moved along with the waves so there was a lot of bumping throughout the journey as we watched robotic dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures roaring at us as we bypassed them. And of course the most thrilling experience was where the raft was dropped at a certain height and needless to say, this is the part where we got drenched but thanks to the raincoats, we were totally spared from that experience!)

But that is not all in The Lost World, we also stopped by Canopy Flyer and Dino-Soarin' where we enjoyed a bird's eye view of Jurassic Park on the seats of a flying Pteranodon and a ride on the back of flying dinosaurs going up and down, and around respectively.

The above three pictures capture the feelings of strolling along the sidewalks in New York. Oh, I loved the setting! Tucked along a corner was a building where we witnessed a Category 5 major hurricane hitting New York City in a studio. Named Lights, Camera, Action, this is a place where we were introduced the incredible effects and the magic of filmmaking. It was indeed an eye-opening experience for all of us.

Well, have you ever watched a live rock musical performed by some infamous Universal Classic Monsters (such as Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy etc... just to name a few)? Monster Rock reminds me of a Broadway musical as I watched those monsters sing and dance (rock-n-roll style) using state-of-the-art digital projectors, sound systems and so forth. I was glad we had chosen some good seats for this performance, which was just nice being in the middle row so we had a great view of the overall setting.

I think I had covered most of the attractions but then again, there might be some things which I might have missed due to time constraint (and not to mention I didn't take some pictures for some places).

Finally, I want to share this picture with you all of what we saw at an MRT Station on our way home.

A Trip to Universal Studios, Singapore (Part 1)

My apologies for this long overdue post as work and reading has got in the way but I will not bore you with those details. So without further ado, here's my account of what we had seen at Universal Studios, Singapore.

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May 26th marked as a special day for us because it was our first trip to Universal Studios. Way before its opening in March, it has received lots of hype locally as this is the second Universal Studios Theme Park to open in Asia.

Before the trip, we had bought our tickets online the day before so as to avoid the queue and all the hassle. We took a bus from outside Vivo City (nearest MRT Station: HarbourFront) where it took us to Resorts World Sentosa. The other option is to take a monorail but we figured taking a bus is more convenient and not to mention cheaper (a dollar less to be exact).

As we arrived a little early, we managed to capture a shot of Po from Kung Fu Panda and Woody Woodpecker before the opening hour (Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to take a picture with them once the staff opened the gates to let us in, but we did take a picture with Frankenstein. Well, he wasn't as scary as what we have imagined him to be, or perhaps he didn't want to frighten our 6-year-old daughter, hehe).

Below picture featured the main attraction of the theme park called "Battlestar Galactica" (a dueling roller coaster), located in Sci-Fi City (there are various names for different themes but I will come to those later).

Sci-Fi City

There are two gates for "Battlestar Galactica": Human (in red) and Cylon (in blue). I couldn't comment of this attraction due to the closure, but I was quite thrilled to be able to pose a picture with a Cylon (see above) which I think was pretty cool.

Since we couldn't take the above ride, we hopped on to Accelerator whereby the ride was very similiar to those spinning cups and saucers ride. We decided one ride was enough as our daughter wasn't keen for a second round (in which she claimed the ride made her a little giddy.)

Follow up next was Revenge of the Mummy at Ancient Egypt. Below picture featured the main entrance for the high speed roller coaster ride. Because our daughter didn't meet the height requirement, my husband and I took turn to take the ride and I have to confess I was intimidated by the speed initially but once I was at it, the experience was totally amazing! Besides the thrill of riding in darkness, what added to the intensity and excitement was the images of robotic mummies and their sound effects which might send goosebumps to the weak-hearted ones. (My husband went for a second ride for this one, which I admit it was fun but ...)

For those who would prefer a family-oriented ride than a high speed ride, I would suggest Treasure Hunters where the guests could take a slow ride on a vintage desert jeep as it take them to abandoned Egyptian excavation site (we didn't take a picture of this, all thanks to the Mummy ride as we were still recovering from the excitement, ha.)

An overview of Battlestar Galactica and Ancient Egypt

The weather was exceptionally hot that day so it was a perfect setting for the characters from Madagascar as they danced to the music and mingle with the audience. There's also a carousel (King Julien’s Beach Party-Go-Round) but our daughter wasn't interested in it, thus we didn't stop by and play. It was unfortunate that Madagascar: A Crate Adventure wasn't completed but I understood from the official website that there would be state-of-the-art animated figures, digital projection, and slow-action effects etc so I might consider visiting again once all the rides are ready. (*waving at Jennifer T.* Maybe during your next visit here!)

Madagascar: A Crate Adventure

Well, I have a few more things to share, but I think I will leave that for another post.