Singapore : Day 1 - Time Machine

One fine day, my friend mentioned that she would like to go for a trip outside Malaysia. I said to her - Let's go Singapore! It's the nearest, and we can spend the weekend there. That was our conversation in January 2011. I bought the plane ticket to Singapore for April 2011.

April 2011 came. This time, I know, the trip is not going to be very budget. Because one thing, for sure, we are going to spend the whole Saturday in Universal Studios! :-)

On the flight to Singapore, we passed the Tebrau Straits. And saw little lights, and I realised they were boats.

I googled for cheap places to stay. So, this is the cheapest I could find, but unfortunately, with very bad service from the landlady. 98SG Hostel which is located 100metres away from Aljunied MRT Station. It is in Geylang area, but I didn't notice anything geylang-ish.

Here is our dormitory. SGD15 per night per bed. Bad air-conditioning service. The air-cond was switched off through the night because apparently, the "breaker" tripped and to switch it back, the next door room needs to be wakened up. When we knocked on the caretaker's door, she was rude and scolded us for waking her up. It's not like we wanted to. We couldn't sleep properly.

Caretaker said - Your air-cond will turn off again at night. Open the door. You can't sleep. Don't wake me up anymore.

True enough, the air-cond switched off again. It was so hot and stuffy. Also, I found out the air-cond in the caretaker's room were not affected!

Thankfully, Singapore don't have mosquitoes.

The toilets are clean.

Free breakfast is served from 7-10am everyday. Breakfast consists of bread (toast them if you wish), jam (peanut butter, butter, strawberry) and drinks (tea, coffee, Milo).

On our 2nd day, a Filipino traveller stayed in our room, and asked what did they served for breakfast. I told the above, and traveller asked if there was rice? I guess Filipinos eat rice for breakfast.

Washing machine and dryer.

A sole computer at each floor. There were 2 floors only.

The place from outside. We were walking downstairs, as we were on the 2nd floor. The place stinks.

Off we go to Universal Studios. We took the bus from Harbourfront Station to Resort World Sentosa which costs SGD2 per ride. The ride back is free.

After 15 minutes in the bus, we reached the parking lot of Resort World. Took the escalator to Universal Studios. Looks like stairways to heaven.

The first stuffed costume we saw was Kungfu Panda!

Universal Studios has 6 different backgrounds. The first is Hollywood!

The quartet singers that were oh-so-good-looking. They sang with so much enthusiasm and never stopped smiling. You just smile with them as they sang along.

Hat shop where everyone tried the hats!

First attraction we stepped into : Lights Camera Action! A place that show how the camera effects made a film real.

The films at display started from 1933.

While waiting for the doors to open, we looked at the map, and saw what a long way more to go. It was still early. So no worries!

A lady was in front to explain that Steven Spielberg will explain about camera effects.

Here comes Steven Spielberg.

Showcasing some movies done by Steven Spielberg.

We were ushered into a room where a hurricane was going to be created.

Furniture were falling off. Fire started to lit. I could feel the heat.

Then, a huge ship comes out. Then, it was the end.

Everything went back to place soon after.

When we came out, we saw a crowd waiting in line to snap a photo with someone.

Ooo.. Marilyn Monroe! We took a photo with her, and I thought she seemed more masculine.

Next place : Sci-Fi City

The roller coaster we took. We took the red roller coaster. It wasn't scary. But I lost my rubber band in the ride. The blue roller coaster went upside down 5 times, but we didn't go on that ride.

Next : Egypt

This is a roller coaster ride which was not scary at all because it was all dark inside. But it was cool with mummies popping out during the ride.

We wanted to try this but we were told this was for kids. What a lie because we saw adults going on this ride after that! Anyway, this is just a slow ride around.

Next : Jurassic Park!

We had our lunch in Jurassic Park.

Our lunch : Chicken Rice with pudding for dessert. That was the cheapest we could find.

After lunch, we took the Canopy Flyer. A ride around Jurassic Park, where you can see the view from the top. Note the difference of the entrance : Entrance and Express. Express tickets cost slightly higher than Entrance. Well, Express Tickets are worth buying during public holidays so you don't have to wait too long.

Then, I saw quite a weird combination of fashion - skirt, sports shoes and many many bangles. Tourists from India.

Canopy Flyer! Not scary at all!

Since it looks kind of tame, I thought I could snap a photo around Jurassic Park from the top, but the thing was moving fast, and before I know it, I was back at where I started in less than 2 minutes.

Next : Far Far Away Land.

This is the 3D show of Shrek. Held in a theatre, showing how Shrek saved Princess Fiona from that bad prince.

Then, my friend spotted Shrek and Princess Fiona and she got excited. Quickly, we ran after them.

Last place : Madagascar!

We went inside to watch the musical show. It was awesome! Monsters dancing and singing. And oh-so-good-looking despite them dressed as monsters. There were Frankenstein, Beast, Dracula, Cat Woman, Bride, Mummy Woman, and a youth.

Walked another round around Universal Studios, and we were back at Far Far Away Land, and waited to watch Donkey 4D show.

Donkey was going to sing us a song!

Donkey sang to us. And Donkey actually spoke to the guests. Wondered how did it happen.

We took a kiddy ride.

These were sold everywhere in each eating outlet in Universal Studios. The potion bottle costs SGD15.80.

Yes, Universal Studios is worth my SGD72 ticket. This is a weekend price. It is cheaper during the weekday. Next day, we wondered a bit around Singapore town.