I thoroughly enjoyed my first USS visit with husby in 2011. However, there were some things I couldn't get to try out due to time constraint and the unpredictable rain. For example, I did not get to take the Jurassic Park bum boat ride as it was under renovations and had to miss the Cylon Battlestar Galacticca because of the rain!
So I decided to initiate a trip but this time round, with the whole family and a close family of an aunt's. We have been postponing this family outing for ages ... the two of us are forever busy on weekends, school holidays means USS will be totally packed, some of us are not available on weekdays (even during the school hols) ...blah blah blah ..... when suddenly, yours truly had a bright idea!
CNY eve was on Saturday. Most of the people would be doing last minute preparations to celebrate the next day and going for reunion dinners that same evening so that seemed to be a good day to soak up the atmosphere without jostling with the crowd! Clever of me, wasn't it? Haha....
So there we were ....the nephew and pretty cousin were just equally excited although I am sure they didn't really know what to expect.
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| Taken outside Candylicious store. I am always fascinated by the huge replicas of the jelly beans and M&Ms. |
From our first visit, I noticed it was tough trying to get a decent photo taken in front of the huge Universal globe. But it was rather easy that day .... I attribute that to the much smaller crowd of people that day.
I have wondered before if USS is gonna stay the way it is forever, without any changes. But already, when we were there, we saw that there would be another new attraction coming our way soon. What a way to tempt us to go again!
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| SESAME STREET Spaghetti Space. I wonder what this this all about - it is opening in March. In addition, a few of the stores have also undergone minor changes since our last visit. |
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| I've always loved watching this pair - forever in their own world, holding hands, talking non-stop. Who would have guessed they are auntie & nephew ? :P |
As we entered the New York city site, there was a bit of a commotion. Apparently , there was going to be a short dance presentation cum interaction session with a few characters from Sesame Street. We, of course, wasted no time in getting the 'best' seats in front so that we could get up front and personal with the beloved characters.
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| They were pretty entertaining and my nephew was highly amused by their antics and sing-a-long session. |
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| Elmo giving grandpa a high-five! |
Because we explored the New York City first, we missed out on quite a few life-size characters along the way. I really wanted to show nephew the cute penguins that I 'met' the previous time but our paths didn't cross :(
But we got Shrek!
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| Family photo with my two adopted kids for the day. Haha! They are such a joy to be with! |
When we were here in 2011, the Rapids Adventure ride was under renovation. So this time round, we wasted no time in taking the ride. Each boat could accomodate 10 people so all of us (minus sis, hubby and an aunt) were in one boat. My mum kept insisting on wearing her raincoat and was forever adjusting it for fear of getting wet. We were all laughing at her , especially me! I kept teasing her ... I mean, what's the point of taking the ride if you don't wanna get wet, right ?
But guess what happened? The ride is such that the bumboat will twist and turn as if it is on rapids.... you'll never know when you will get wet. At one point towards the end, one person in the boat will get SOAKED! And you have no freaking idea who that lucky chap will be because of the indefinite turns.
And yes, yours truly was the one who got 'lucky'!
I was super soaking wet after the ride that husby was worried I would catch a cold (yeah, my body is sensitive like that...) till we saw a Drying Pod right outside the exit point. It's just like a huge toilet cubicle, in bright orange no less, whereby you just stand in there and you'll be dry in a jiffy! So yours truly skipped her way there, forgetting that this is Singapore, where everything costs money.
It was FIVE freaking dollars for something that will last for about a minute or two!
I decided to dry myself the natural way, and I did get dry pretty fast as we continued our adventure in the sun.
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| I didn't manage to get a picture with the Egyptian Hunks previously so Yeah! |
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| These Arabian wings are to die for ! I ate four of that for lunch - just like that ! (Oasis Spice Cafe) |
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| Nephew concussed for an hour or two. The parents didn't bring his stroller so they rented this for $10. Cheap, I would say, although the little boy was obviously too big for the stroller. |
We queued up for the Transformers' ride since it indicated only 30 minutes of waiting time ( as compared to the original 75 mins ). But in the end, we wasted 45 mins waiting , only to be told that they had technical difficulties and had no idea when that would be solved. Sheesh... super wasted my time1
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| I got a bit irritated here. There were verbal instructions given - as if we are the real transformers - as to what to do or how to behave once we are on the ride. But they had to interchange the instructions with one in Mandarin,every now and then. Like, seriously???? There are many foreign visitors to USS and you guys choose to do it only in Mandarin? How about the Japanese, Malaysians, Indians, Arabs, Spanish? Why not just stick to English - the universal language? Sheesh...... so much for all those hullabaloo in the recent episode of the train stations' names. |
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| No one is too old for the magical Carousel ride...... |
It was nice to see that there is a musollah / surau for the Muslims to do their prayers. Now, there really isn't any excuse not to come to USS (nor is there any excuse not to pray amidst all the excitement!). No more worries about finding a place to pray as this space is clean and comfortable enough , albeit a tad small. But that's ok , cannot be demanding :)
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| This is somewhere between the Mummy ride and the Battlestar Galaticca. |
When I went with husby previously, we took the Human (Red) roller coaster on the Battlestar. I have to admit I felt a little dizzy. We took it again that day and again, I felt slightly dizzy after coming down. But my willpower was very strong. I had vowed to myself earlier that I would try out the blue one (Cylon).
And I did! OMG - it was the best ride EVER!!!
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| I cannot find words to describe the post-ride feeling - super exhilarating, that's for sure! |
We stayed on all the way till the end and managed to catch the beautiful fireworks (the previous visit, I was already resting in bed in Festive Hotel !).
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| A final family photo - tired, hungry but definitely happy! |
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