Universal Studios Singapore(USS)
I figured out that the time was ripe for me to go Universal Studios Singapore. Every Singaporean needs to go there at least once to experience our very own world class attraction.
And so I went with Huixiang, jinjin and weibin. Initially it was really hard for us because not all the friends like wild rides and much more, the pricing of the entry tickets are not welcoming. We couldn't be going in a small group because it won't be fun but luckily everyone of us who went, made it possible.
We meet up really early in the morning, like 8:30am so that we won't be missing out a single bit of the play time. We had our heavy breakfast early so that we will not be having a full stomach by the time we had our first hardcore rides.
To our disappointment(when we reached the inside), we can see from far that the cyclone(BLUE) and human(RED) tracks has no rides on it. We bluff ourselves that maybe the rides will be up in a few hours time.
Major disappointment was that(upper). BUT the second disappointment is the weather. I think it was 40 degree celsius under the hot sun. But luckily it wasn't raining or else half of the attractions would be wasted.
Super Hot!Sometimes I kind of pity the tourists from other countries that come to USS because that day was frightening hot. Almost every rides required queueing up and I can see their face changing from happy to bored. Not only that, they just keep wiping off their drizzling sweat.
HollywoodWe started off at the entrance, Hollywood. It's kind of similar to New york that I sometimes mistaken it with Hollywood. I like the setting because it looks like the 1960s classic streets taken out from the movies. Along these streets, it has characters like Frankenstein and Charlie Chaplin coming to life that are open for photo taking.
Something good about it is that you can pass your own camera to them and they will take really good photos for you, FOC. The queue are rather fast because they will take and go. However, these mascots or fake Frankenstein also need their lunch break, so they will stop the line and come back later.
Madagascar We made a left turn from Hollywood to Madagascar. It's like walking to a brand new world, jungle-like. However, A Crate Adventure, which is their main attraction is under 'coming soon' which made this spot a boring one. The other one is for kids which is kind of like merry-go-round but with Madagascar's characters.
Nothing much here. We quickly moved on to next spot after seeing Shrek and pretty princess Fiona.
Far Far AwayWe quickly rushed for photo taking and the line seemed longer than usual. I finally realised why. The people requested for single instead of group photos. We quickly pretend that we don't know each other so that we can have less prevailing photos.
In Far Far Away, we also went for the Shrek 4-D adventure which is a must try. Be warned that you need to listen to instruction that lasts longer than the real show itself. Recently, it is very popular to have long instructions before any 4D rides. The 4D ride in Sentosa also adapted this approach.
It shows shrek trying to save princess fiona yet again. (why is princess fiona so weak? always get caught) Everything is in 3D but the 4th D comes with moving seats and water sprinkled onto the face. Under the seat also has a string that sprang into action to make people think that there are tarantulas coming your way!
We also tried the Enchanted Airways by queueing 30 minutes while the real junior roller coaster ride is about 50 seconds.
The Lost WorldDino-soarin' is for kids but we try it nevertheless. You have to hold on to the white button in order for the dinosaur to fly up. If you let go, it goes down down down!
Canopy Flyer is the longest waiting time ride that we took. We need to wait 40 minutes and the ride is again 40 seconds? According to the girls, who sat facing the front, it was thrilling and exciting but for us, the boys, felt nothing at all. NOT EVEN WIND! So opt for the front seats if you can.
I later bought a Jurassic theme bag at the dino-store which I think is a very cool bag. I used the $5 retail voucher at here which means my entrance ticket is reduced by $5 as it is included at the $66 entrance ticket.
Ancient EgyptMy favourite spot. I always wanted to go Egypt on a tour if I had the chance but couldn't. Now I can at USS because it is greatly decorated with Egyptian stuff down to every single detail. I love the gigantic statues and the walls curved with drawings that are all so real.
Revenge of the Mummy: The best indoor roller coaster ride can be found here because it is fully air-conditioned. Before you take the ride, you need to travel along a maze that has many artifacts. We love this ride so much that we took it 3 times.
The ride is inside the pillars of anubisNot only that, the shop also sells many gold like Egyptian stuff but at a costly price. We also took photo with the Egyptian guard.
Sci-Fi CityThis place should be packed with the most people because the Battlestar Galactica Cyclone and human are located here. This is the real reason for any roller coaster fans out there to pay so much for the tickets but it's down for maintenance :( COME BACK FAST!
We also tried the tea cup spinning ride called 'Accelerator'. It looks really cool but it is no fun at all. It is very difficult to spin because the core is like stuck or something. Teacups should make us dizzy and able to let us spin until we die but we experience none of that.
New YorkThere's a really cool attraction by Steven Spielberg which makes you feel the fire burning, wind blowing and the sound effects of many things that you can only see in movies.
But there's even more things we can experience in USS, ships crashing into the building, kerosene leaking which leads to fire spreading on the surface of the water and boat falling from above splashing water at the front row audiences!
In New york, you can find many buildings and statues to take photos with.
Back at Hollywood again!After that, we found ourselves at Hollywood again. We watched a rock and roll musical in Pantages Hollywood Theater which contained monsters coming to life. One of the monster even mimic the Wondergirls's 'Nobody' and the other sings 'The moon represents my heart' in mandarin which he himself is a Caucasian.
We also went to The brown Derby to play with hats. We simply took loads of photos with the hats but never buying them.
We dine at Mel's Drive-In with each set costing at about $9 which includes a huge burger, fries and drink. We used the last dining coupon of $10 which finally deducts $10 off the entrance ticket of $66.
Hence, if you asked me whether is it expensive to go USS? I would say it's actually $51
$66 - entry ticket price
($10) - dining coupon to be used at USS
($5) - retail coupon to be used at USS
$51 - actual price
At the end, we went to Vivo's starbucks to chill out. That's how we complete our fantastic 4 day!
P/S: The post is not written in order as to when we were at USS.
Month of MayMonth of May is a significant month for me because it will be my last month of freedom before I enter army. I told myself that I need to do all the things that I haven't done in the last month and hopefully I can fulfill my wishes. Lots of birthdays in this month as well!!
Happy birthday Yuenky!
Celebrated Yuenky's 21st birthday @ seaview resort. She invited the whole bunch of us and even gave us a room! Theme for her birthday party is blue but apparently not many people abide the rule!
Lester is all out to 'kope' the 'Happy birthday' sign behind for his very own 21st birthday chalet. We also played many games whereby the losers had to eat or drink the forfeits which is leftover cakes, popiah and chivas(whiskey).
I guess I will definitely miss the cheapo days whereby we exchange formulas of reducing cost and ways to earn money!
----------------------------------------------A new hairstyle!I also cut my hair and requested for a 'X' on the side. (This is directly the next day after yk's birthday celebration)
People tend to become desperate and ought for changes when they are entering army? I don't know if this is true but I figured out that this hairstyle is only suitable for this period, the 'post-army' period. It's like, you won't cut this during your student days and neither your working life.
If you don't like it, you can simply erase it by cutting the hair botak. To make it even crazier, I had the other side with two lines while protecting the rights of adidas by not copying it with three straps.
----------------------------------------------Collection of diploma certificateMeet up with Andy, Shao Cheng, Zakia, William and Youngly so that we can go back school to collect certificates. Some of us didn't attend the graduation ceremony and it surprised most of the people that it is one of the most honourable time of 3 years of polytechnic life and yet you can give it a miss.
I guess I didn't care because the thought of buying a harry potter robe for $25 just for 1 day makes me feel giddy.
Anyway, we collect on the later date and it seems much more faster than collecting it on stage(got stage fright). We went for Iron man 2 after that and despite it being the second time watching it for me, there was a part after the credits where it shows a hammer. According to William peterus, it was THOR! and it means 'To be continued...'
This also means that we will watch the iron man 3 together as this group, ok?
Momento----------------------------------------------BestiesIn between, we had a few k box sessions, lan gaming, lunches, dinners, shopping for gifts and movies with the besties.
One of the most memorable moments was with my sis and Shawn at Jurong point. We had pizza hut and starbucks while taking turns to look after shawn. We also went for shopping and it's super shiok buying LOTS of things that you always want to get but never had a chance to.
Our favourite stuffed crust pizza after a day of shopping!----------------------------------------------Shi ying's 21st birthday party
Shiying invited us, the gang of secondary school mates and friends, to her birthday party and it was a time for gathering and catching up with friends. Had fun because the food was nice but the weather is extremely humid at night.
After the party, we went to west coast plaza for supper, billard and bowling. 7 of us need to squeeze in a 4 seater car and it was major discomfort!
----------------------------------------------4 in 1 birthday celebrationHad a eventful birthday celebration for Jinjin, Shuxian, Ruifang and Shiying(didn't come!)
We had a super fun get-together at ibis hotel. We went for kbox and dinner at lau pat sat. Midnight went out to walk and chit chat. Then we sleep until morning.
Next day, me and my sis went to Sakura to have buffet. We kind of celebrated mother's day for our beloved grandma.
I love the month of may because it's full of events! There will be universal studios and meeting up with besties! Wow
Happy 20th birthday to Teresa!
Her real birthday falls on 17 April but because she is always busy, she allocates Thursday(15 april) for us to celebrate her birthday.
As usual, meeting up with Teresa always resulted in me being late. Yuenky is like the medusa from clash of the titan when her head is being chopped off. She is very angry about the lateness and threatened us that she will (turn us into stone with a gaze) go home immediately without waiting for us to come.
We had tian tian huo guo on a rainy day but luckily for us, the rain stopped when we started eating.
I was so hungry because I skipped breakfast and lunch knowing that we will have steamboat for dinner. Both of the girls chose the Tom yum soup base without asking me and lester, who later came over and request for a change of soup to Chicken instead. His reason for the change is that it is not delicious enough which gave the staff a SHOCK!
Since I am not a fan of Tom yum and Tom yum goong the movie, I decided that eating beef strips is the next most worth food item of the lot. I happily barbeque the beef and splattered butter all over the table.
Yuenky was busy with her golden mushrooms and Teresa was ignoring her hotdog and soon became 'chao tah'. Lester came and I think he ate very little. He said he is the chef and he used the chopped up garlic to cook chicken on the pathetic BBQ space. He then displayed his skill by scoping the foam off the soup surface.
This was the present we got for TeresaLast but not least, we went Haji lane to take pictures and got Teresa a small cake as well. Happy 20th birthday! Hope we will celebrate your 21st together as well!
P/s: Sherman went for karate chop and Marcus went to some IT company to work.
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Happy 21st birthday to Sherman! Didn't have the chance to do this post earlier because of my work. Now that I finally have the time, I will do it altogether.
Cake from BangawanSoloIt seems like everyone is so busy with their own stuff but we still managed to get together to hold a celebration. Even if the person is not there, the money must be there to contribute to the present. *hint hint*
Present and Cake is a must!I really like the mango cake which is coated with a thick layer of agar agar. But sadly, my agar dropped when I was talking to someone.
The present cost a bomb to us because I remembered during Sherman's birthday, we still haven't received our pay. It is one week before the end of month and wallets are rather dried up.
After eating cake, we rushed over to cineleisure to catch the movie, 'When in Rome'. A love + comedy which ends the day on a happy and relax mode.
Super love this picture but take note that it is Sherman's birthday and not Teresa's. Don't know why she stood in the middle. She wanna elbow Lester and scratch Sherman.
Happy 21st birthday to Monkey!
21st birthday is really a changing point for everyone of us. At least most of my friends say so. It must be one of the most memorable celebration being held to inform the world that you are turning 21.
To be honest, organizing mk's birthday is a tedious one because of his army schedule. Apart from that, we are also going crazy as we are all busy with our own things and meeting up to discuss became a threat to this event.
Deep down I know I can't be an event planner because I sucked at doing that. Neither am I good at gathering people or multi-tasking.
So anyway, this is a photo taken right at the end of the celebration. Love it!
People missing: Jeanette, Huimin and RuifangGirls power seems to be lacking but nevertheless, their presents reached the birthday boy. Besides, I am sure Meng kha will like all the presents that he received.
So it goes like this...
We meet up at Westmall to watch "How to train your dragon" in 3D.
4/5 starsIt has quite a touching storyline for me personally. Everything becomes touching when you reached 21 years old.
After the movie, we went to Mk's (birthday boy) old working place to dine. The staff there still remember Mk and celebrating there is a good idea because he will feel like he has returned 'home'.
Another good thing about dining there is that we can secretly buy cake to celebrate with. Also would like to thank the waitress for the daring act of smearing cake onto mk's face while the birthday boy was making wish. I bet he didn't wish for anything because he was busy getting revenge!
Happy birthday Meng Kha! Hope you like our presents!Some random facts:Because Mk couldn't make it on Saturday, which we accidentally ordered some food catering. We have no choice but to meet up without the birthday boy and finish up the food.
Jeanette, Huimin and Ruifang did not purposely absent themselves. We all thought we were supposed to meet up on Saturday but due to some unforseen circumstances, we had to change to Sunday instead. By then, they couldn't get their leave, hence CMI.
Nothing interesting happened recently.-End of entry-
No lah, was just kidding. But seriously, ever since I started work last week, I felt that my life is all about going home, sleep and awaiting new day.
I am not complaining about it because I knew a bunch of colleagues that know how to help one another just like a family. It is different from those past jobs that I worked for in terms of backstabbing and no-chit-chatting-during-work.
Work aside, I still find time with my friends.
Tuesday, 9 MarSpecially took off from work because I had been working the whole week and friends had been neglected. Not healthy. Also, Jh got a car and that means free rides to anywhere!
We played LAN and we kind of became fussy for what food to eat for dinner. We wanted something that we don't usually eat. People say that our minds think better when we are hungry and suddenly this great idea came out on the 32nd restaurants that we mentioned.
We went to Sunset way whereby they had BBQ, steamboat and Sashimi all in one! Yes, you heard that right!
Chicken and Seafood soup base
It's buffet, so take whatever you want.
Most important of all! Free flow SashimiSorry for overdoing the .GIF that might causes lag but I am really excited!
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I also went to see FIR at Chua Chu Kang, Lot 1. This can be my first time shaking hands and getting autographs from well known celebrities. To be exact, they do not have any pimples at close range and they are super friendly!
Will upload some photos of them when I get it from my friend!
My birthday cum resort worldWent to sentosa with cheapo lovelies. It's been long since we last meet up. I am glad they still remember my birthday and bothered to meet up and pass me present. The latter part is more important. Just joking!
Present is loveThey bought me a gift + ang pow of $10 because they say they don't know how to split the $10 among themselves. Thanks for the gift from Teresa, Yuenky, Sherman, Lester and Marcus! (I must note it down so that I will need to return the favour to them)
Next in line will be Teresa's turn!
So anyway, we took skytrain and as usual, lots of gossip were being shared. It seems like we will never run out of topic and they will never be a dull moment during our cheapo meet up.
On the skytrainWhile we were on the skytrain, we overlooked the resort world that is still currently in progress. The cheaply, chirpy us decided to go take a look ahead of others so as to not lose out.
The direction sign board is shaped like a flower and butterflyI think only the casino get a head start on others as they are opened way earlier than the universal studios. Since we are on the topic of casino, I heard that any other people, except Singaporean, need not pay $100 before they enter. I don't think it's fair although it raises Singapore's economy. Think of the possibilities that might happened.
OMG! Universal studios
Coming soon Opening soon
This is the best we can go, U-n-i-v-e-r-s...The thing keep rotating and nobody can ever take the full Universal logo.
On the Skyride! Lester, Teresa and Yuenky!I conclude that this is the best photo out of the lot because it takes into account what the target audience wants. The photo also achieve the right balance. It also captures everything within one shot.
Down with Luge! Me and Sherman!We came down the skyride with luge and we do this for 2 times consecutively. 2 times cost $16 and 1 time cost $11. Of course we take the 2 times!
Coming down with Luge was super cheapo. They keep breaking so that they can make their luge experiences more worthwhile. I am sure the people on the skyride saw this and report it to STOMP!
Power combinedAfter the skyride and luge, we went to the beach to do jumpshots. The banana boat person was kind enough to help us take photos. Amazingly, it only take 2 shots. We thought it will be 100 shots because there will always be a balck sheep
PERFECT! if only without the belongingsNext, we moved on to the most anticipated activity. For a moment, I hope it was the flying fox but only Teresa was keen on it. Hence, according to majority, we went to 4D Magix instead to experience the 4D ride.
Extreme Log ride, $18 per paxWhen we are purchasing the tickets from the ticket booth, the ticket seller easily guess that we are locals because of the traits we possessed. We were puzzled about whether to get the package or just a single ride. The ticket seller offered us to get the package deal because it's more worth it. In the end, we settled for single ride, despite his marketing skills, which is a blessing in disguise!
Preparing to start our 4D experienceBefore that, we actually went through a video session telling us what are the do's and don'ts. The video lasts about 15 minutes and the real ride only lasts 5 minutes! Super disappointed...
However, after the ride itself, I laughed until my jaws become numb. I just keep laughing, don't know why.
Shall end the post abruptly with a photo with Me and Teresa. She told me to credit her for the photos that were taken throughout the day. If I don't do this, means I not automatic. LOL
@ Vivo rooftopHope that the cheapo spirit never dies!
Happy birthday to me!Had a surprise stayover at chalet (costa sands) with my secondary school peeps + besties + family members. I didn't know anything until my mum broke the news to me on the 19th Feb, on my birthday morning.
Mum: *out of nowhere*, how many days you all staying?
Me: ????
Mum: You don't know meh?
Me: Oh I know liao...
You see, I didn't purposely kill the surprise thingy that was being organized by the people but you will get suspicious when it's your birthday and such a sensitive question pops out from nowhere.
Clever me, I immediately figured out that it was a chalet or some sort of stayover thingy. When I continued to pursue my mum to tell me the details, she just say nothing. Later on, I was told to pack my bag as they knew I had already figured it out.
Actually I was more impressed with the way they organized it without me knowing it until my birthday. I could imagined the inbetweens where they called each other to confirm the booking of chalet and this usually takes 1 month advance.
And so, I followed them to buy things, transport BBQ stuff and fetching people to the chalet (all these are supposed to be surprise!)
Upon reaching there, we unload everything and proceed with the bbq stuff. Some of us are in charge of marinating the chicken wings while others are in charge of starting fire. Some of them just laze around but we do not allow lazy bums so they quickly help out in one way or another.
Fire started!Good job to those who start the fire. How can black coal start fire just like that? Must be a tedious job!
Marinated with BBQ sauce by Jeanette and Me!Hope no one got upset stomach after this because we, apparently did the marinating in the chalet's toilet basin. Never knew marinating can be such a tedious job considering the fact that there are instant marinated chicken wings out there in the market and why are we doing it the traditional way?
Anyway, alot of food was wasted because the ratio of 1 person is to eat about 8 chicken wings but the most eaten might be my sis with 3 chicken wings claiming champion. That relates a lot about the wastage.
Soon it was night time and jinjin don't allow me to enter the room. That got me suspicious as there are definitely something going on in the room. They are actually planning something very sinister to the birthday boy.
So this was what they planned (A good guide on how to sabotage a birthday boy)
Turn 21 rounds which represents 21 years oldAfter turning, you need to walk in a straight line between 2 cups or else there's a punishment involved. The 21 rounds must have been 25 rounds because they purposely miscount and such making me feel like being older and older. After that, I stood up being dizzy for like 20 seconds but it was walkable.
I knew I walked like as though there was a ruler on the ground and I didn't cross any lines but they just keep saying that I walk a bit crooked and they also said that I deserved the punishment.
So the punishment was...
Sour, Sweet, Bitter and Spicy. All in oneFor Sour, they used squeezed lemon juice and marshmallows for sweet which I think they were really sweet to me. For bitter, it is none other than bitter gourd and spicy was wasabi. All in all, I almost puke because my esophagus rejects the taste!
After that, they asked me to stand in the middle and they started throwing me water bombs. I quickly grabbed a few and chase some of them to share the wetness. I remembered blasting jeanette at her back!
It was still not over. They pretended that everything is over but they asked me to take out candle from a slice of cake. The cake was obviously no candle and how am I supposed to get anything out from it?
Look at Jh's hand! All ready to push me down! Still say you never 'hai' me!Without warning, Jeanette smashed the cake, that I am trying to look for the invisible candle from, into my face. They whole chain of chasing began and I started smearing bits from my own face and oiling people's faces.
In the end, Hx suffered injuries when I am chasing him and Jh, who never likes cheese, got smeared in the face and hair all over with cheese cake. He almost puke!
Thanks everyone for the awesome night! We even played blackjack and Jh got triple 7! Sleeping was a bit crampy because there were 10 of us staying over.
Next day...Had late breakfast, went arcade to take neoprints and cycling/skating/falling.
Not very pro with skates but was bored with cycling
The rest go for cycling!Time passes really fast and soon many of them need to go home. It was left with me, Ws and Hx having the whole room to relax! We reminded ourselves to wake up at 8am to book out early the next day. We had breakfast at whitesands and then MRT all the way home!
Overall, Thanks for the wonderful chalet stayover for my 21st birthday. I am sure the chalet costs a bomb for many of you. I certainly enjoyed myself for the chalet moments and it has been the best birthday ever!
P/SPeople involved at chalet: Jinjin, Jeanette, Qiuyin, Shiying, Huimin, Ruifang, Both Sisters, Mum, Ah peng, Timothy, Huixiang, Jinhong, Mengkha, Minghai and myself.
Also thanks those who texts me happy birthday at handphone and in Facebook as well. No matter is it belated or too early birthday wishes, I still regard it as a sign of appreciation! Thanks!
