Universal Studios Singapore

I was finally able to visit Universal Studios Singapore on Oliver and Analyn's second day here. The park is usually open from 10am to 7pm but on the day we visited, it's closing an hour early because of some event.

For that reason, I wanted to head there early but as you know, we all took our sweet time getting ready. We left the house at 10am, had breakfast at KFC, realized that I left the camera at home so we had to head back then it started to rain quite hard. We decided to take a cab but it took forever, I think we were waiting 30 minutes before we finally decided to just take the train.

It was not too crowded when we got there, my general impression is Enchanted Kingdom with a heftier budget. I think the general feeling of it being like EK is brought by the fact it's a bit small. The different "lands" just about had two to three attractions. Even then, there were still a few attractions that we missed and we only got to watch one show out of a handful.

It was good that we've been there once after hours so we zoomed by Hollywood Blvd. (You can visit Hollywood Blvd to dine in or check out the shops for a minimal fee when the entire park is already closed, thus after hours). It has a lot of souvenir shops which can take time if it's your first time there.

We posed for a few shots at Madagascar and quickly left since there wasn't much to see. A Crate Adventure, a river ride is still closed. 

Next up is Far Far Away, we had fun at Enchanted Airways, a roller coaster ride and the Shrek 4-D Adventure. There is also a minor introduction before the actual Shrek 4-D show which I also found nice but was a bit long. The staff in charge of hosting the pre-show was a bit difficult to understand and their crowd control personnel can also be a bit more hospitable. I heard them shouting to some guests at one point. 

By this time, we were already a bit hungry but the Waterworld show was up next and has specific timings so we just had a quick Churros snack and proceeded to "The Lost World" where the show is taking place. It was quite exciting, we got a bit wet since we decided to sit just behind the splash zone. We didn't really mind being that we're already a bit damp because of the rain. People were walking around with plastic coats but we didn't know where to get those. 

There were also a couple of rides at that zone, the Canopy Flyer, which I didn't expect to be a bit fast. I readied my camera to take a picture of the view from up above only to be surprised that I zoomed by the sights fast. 

The other ride, Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure, had quite a long queue. We decided to skip the queue by giving up sitting together. We queued in the single passengers lane and acted as fillers to rafts that lack one passenger.

We then headed to "Ancient Egypt", there were also two attractions but we skipped the first one, Treasure Hunters since it had a 30-minute waiting time. The other one, "Revenge of the Mummy" is the best attraction for me. We had so much fun, we immediately queued back after the first ride. 

The next zone, Sci-Fi City, has the Battlestar Galactica but it's still closed. So we headed to the last zone, New York. 

And here's my 30 Rock Tribute. 

There's one attraction there, Lights! Camera! Action! which was very interesting. You are taken to a soundstage that becomes the setting for a major hurricane in New York. 

On our way out, we chanced upon Frankenstein. 

One Year Ago

Exactly one year ago, Oliver and I were stranded in Boracay. When we got to the pier to take a boat that is supposed to take us to Caticlan, we were told that all trips have been cancelled.

The pier was crowded and overflowing with tourists. There was no place to stay except for a lone bahay kubo which also served as the outpost of the local officials there. It was drizzling so we tried to squeeze in. We were all told that we should all head back to the island but nobody wanted to leave. All of us were hopeful that the coast guard who prohibited all trips would change his mind, it was after all just drizzling.

After hours of waiting, we were told that there were a couple of boats that were allowed to take passengers out of the island. All of us headed out and started forming multiple queues. One lane for each boat waiting by the shore. It was a gamble as we really didn't know which boats were headed out. By this time, the rain started to get stronger. We all started to get drenched, our bags, my laptop but we couldn't care less. We were by the beach with our knees submerged in the water but we all stood our ground. We then got lucky when the boat in front of us revved it's motor. I prayed for our safety and thanked God that we would be able to finally head out. With a minor incident because a large group of Filipino family cut in line, we made it to Caticlan. 

The bus that was supposed to take us to Kalibo since our flights were routed there left 5 minutes before we got there. The locals wanted to take advantage of a couple of Koreans and were asking them to take a shuttle with us. In times of crisis, it still surprises me how some people can be so selfish. I refused and kindly requested the people at the PAL office to call the driver of the shuttle to pick us back up. They refused telling us that the bus was already full. By this time, my temper is already getting the best of me. We were all wet and feeling cold. Again, I stood my ground. Finally, they relented. We were able to get on board the bus, it was half-full. 

When we got to the airport, it was crowded and full but there were no announcements of any flight cancellation. Oliver and I bought something to eat and started to wait. It was about 3pm. After hours and hours of waiting, the plane finally arrived at 9pm. You can just imagine the relief on everyone's faces. 

Here I am feeling oh so happy...and then the waiting happened again. We started to get worried since it's been 30 minutes and the plane hasn't taken off yet. Oliver went to the cockpit and found out that the the people working at the airport already closed the watch tower and left. We were then later asked to deplane. We had no choice but to spend the night there. 

I headed out of the airport to queue for the shuttle that was supposed to take us to the hotels. Since it was already late, they were only able to get hold of 2 shuttles so the passengers had to all wait. When I was already in front of the line, the Filipino family cut in line again by talking to the guard there. By this time, Oliver blew up. The spokesperson of the family told us that they rented out their own shuttle so the passengers all retreated. When the shuttle left, we found out that it wasn't true. Hay. 

The hotel they holed us in was dingy and dirty but we're just glad that we were able to finally rest our weary bodies. We woke up early the next day, headed to the airport and was able to take the flight back without any more incidents.

At that time, I was feeling frustrated and I couldn't believe what was happening. What I didn't  know is that most people had it worst. When I got back to Manila and saw the news, I don't know why but I immediately felt guilty. Compared to what happened to most, we were still lucky cause we were dry at the airport. There were toilets available, a canteen was there in case we got hungry. Compared to what happened to most, we didn't have it bad.

I wasn't able to help out since I had to fly back to Singapore for work but I'm glad that Oliver and the rest of my team then at Sykes did. I saw that while some would take advantage of one's misfortunes, there were more who willingly help out. 

Lots of TV

I was supposed to watch SRT's Blackbird today, quite excited about it. I got my tickets a month back but I was feeling sick so I decided to just stay home the whole day and rest and catch up on my downloads.

I watched returning favorites and a few new series. I was able to watch Glee, Modern Family, Hawaii Five - 0 some time within the week which leaves me with a handful more. 

Cougar Town - I watched the premiere episode twice, Jennifer Aniston guest stars. Similar to Modern Family, I love each and every cast member. They have the ability to make you laugh without really trying to hard. 

30 Rock - Now, on their 5th season and definitely still one of my favorites. I don't know why but I'm just beginning to feel sad for Liz. With Matt Damon as her partner, we all know he won't really stay long so it's another heartbreak for her. 

The Event - I was kind of hesitant to watch this first because I was afraid it might be another Lost. I did like the pilot episode, I just hope it doesn't take them too long to reveal what the event is. Another thing I liked about it is that fact that I feel like I'm watching 24, the font that they used to show the time is very 24 plus the people surrounding the black president also appeared as villains on the said series. 

Smallville - I've stopped watching the series long before Lois Lane even joined the show but being that it's already their final season and they received such positive responses when their trailer was premiered at the Comic-Con, I wanted to see what the fuss is all about. I was a bit lost but I think I'll be able to catch up. The episode was quite packed which leaves me with high hopes for the rest of remaining episodes. 

UnderCovers - Before watching the episode, I was thinking Mr. and Mrs. Smith but this one is different. Quite fun and exciting. I'll definitely be following the series. 

Chase - I'm seeing Kari Matchett in Chase's lead star, Kelli Giddish which automatically made me want to tune in. I loved it, another very exciting series. 

Bleep My Dad Says - I had such high hopes for this series but this turned out to be not so funny after all. The guy playing William Shatner's son is just not funny. He along with the actress playing the aunt is trying too hard, it's making me cringe. I don't think I'll still be watching the next episodes.

Outsourced - I'm still not sure about this one. There were some funny moments but the brand of comedy plays with stereotypes which is not at all very clever. 

What about you? What new series are you liking?

Singapore with Good Friends

Our friends, Oliver and Analyn came by to visit again. They arrived late Wednesday night so there was really nothing to do after picking them up at the airport but head home and sleep. We had quite a late start the following day.

We waited for Em-J and Analyn, Em-J went to SingTel early to try getting his hands on an iPhone 4 while Analyn was coming over from her brother's where she spent the night.

After having their separate interviews, Oliver told us that he wanted to avoid all places hot which didn't leave us with a lot of options. We decided to just head to the cinema and watch a movie.

For lunch, I took them to, in my opinion, the best Food Republic in Singapore, the one in 313. (The one in Vivo City would've been on top of my list if only it wasn't always crowded). Most people prefer the one in Wisma Atria but I actually hate it there. It's too cramped and dark. I like this particular one because it's spacious and clean. It doesn't feel as if you're eating at a food court.

Oliver wanted some fried rice but I really don't know where to get one at the food court except for the economic rice that I love. 

He proceeded to order for all of us while I headed to get my all time favorite shrimp rice rolls and some custard at Fortunate for our appetizer and dessert. 

After the late lunch, we headed to Cathay to get tickets for Devil. We then visited Rockstar, a store I also love. They have items that are unique. It is very spacious and most important of all, the sales staff let you be. 

We then proceeded to the cinema lobby while waiting for the movie to start. 

After the movie, we proceeded to Funan to get both their netbooks. We then had dinner at Hand Burger. We all ordered the original burger since it was all our first time there. I liked the buns the most. The burger was also good but the side dishes could sure use a bit more flavor. 

It was a day well spent, lots of good food with good friends.