Day 2 Singapore Trip April 6-9, 2012

Our second day was intended for outdoor activities. First, we went to Singapore Botanic Garden and National Orchid Garden. We tried to take the bus, following instruction from www.gothere.sg, but apparently the driver did not stop in every single bus stop. The next thing we know, we got lost. Finally, we took a cab. It is unquestionably a beautiful place; looks a lot like Kebun Raya Bogor, but much cleaner and much better maintained. Many people brought along their dogs for a walk. It was a beauty, indeed. People sitting on the green grass while their dog fetch frisbees. It's a sight that as if appears from a movie fragment; nothing like I’ve seen in Jakarta. Colorful orchids, red, green, yellow, you name it. Pure gorgeousness.

Afterwards, we went to IKEA at Alexandra Road. We had lunch first. I ordered Swedish meatballs, while the girls had Salmon Gravad, and two plates of chicken wings to be shared. IKEA was nice, but to my least expectation, it doesn’t make much difference with Informa back home. Ayu bought a white wrinkled blanket, while I came out empty-handed; except for IKEA’s famous yummy vanilla ice-cream that costs only 50 cents.

The following destination was Universal Studios. Vivo City first, then the train to Sentosa Island. It was cramped with people of all sizes and colors. However, USS was such a humongous place that everyone still had more than enough space to walk around. First photo spot: what else, than the Universal Studios gigantic globe. Second was the Monster Rock theatrical performance. Frankenstein, Vampire, Mummy, and friends entertained the audience with their singing and dancing.

Then, we headed to the Madagascar site, where penguins, Alex the lion, Gloria the hippo and King Julien the ring-tailed lemur  danced to “You’ve Got to Move it, Move it…” Afterwards, we lined up for picture taking with each of the characters.

Next, we had a go on the Far Far Away castle, where we caught a sneeze out of Donkey in his 4D movie with everyone’s favorite ogre friend, Shrek, on their mission to rescue Fiona—who’s captured by the ghost of Frederick. It was heaps of fun, sitting on that simulator seat, getting wet and chills down our spines with hi-tech special effects.

Transformers 4D ride, The Mummy, Water World and Jurassic Park came following after, with loads of picture-taking along the way. I went on the The Mummy Ride by myself, ‘cause Ayu and Dora didn’t want to ride on rollercoasters. It was so much fun! It was dark and I was so mummyfied I wanted to do it all over again…too bad we didn't have much of time. When I walked out from the ride, it was raining cats and dogs…and my friends were nowhere to be found...plus, the rollercoaster ride didn’t allow us to bring a bag/purse to avoid any loss during the ride—so, of course, I asked Ayu & Dora to keep my bag secured with them. Imagine, no phone, penniless, passport-less. So, I told the USS person…described Ayu & Dora’s appearance, and he told me “The security camera caught them in the Mummy’s souvenir shop (the ride’s exit is through the souvenir shop). If you can’t find them, come here again.” And my oh my, was I relieved to see Dora! She was right across the souvenir shop, asking to the photo-ticket lady if I was ever seen there. We hugged each other like we haven’t seen each other for 5 years!

Since it was still drizzling, we bought ourselves a plastic raincoat that costs SGD 3. Based on the flyer we’ve got, the next show would be the Water World. We had to wait for 45 minutes, but it was worth it! The show was spectacular, with gunshots and explosion effects that seems so real, as if we’re watching a live action movie. The seating rows were divided in two sections for audiences’ convenience: green (where people can feel the water splashing) and orange (people who don’t want to get wet, well, stay dry). Preliminary to the show, the actors literally threw buckets of water to the audience in the green section and asked us to make some noise for warming up. They performed wholeheartedly and it’s hard to notice that it’s all an act. Two thumbs up!

We went to Jurassic Park afterwards. It's like rafting, but situated as if we’re in the Jurassic Park,where dinosaurs had the system broken and everything were in alarm-mode. The journey ended with the sight of an opened T-Rex mouth on top of our heads, ready to make us his feast. But finally, a gate opened in front and we’re finally released.

To wrap up our rides experience, we went to the Transformers ride for the second time. This time, there was no line and it was much more fun with water splash and warm temperature with red smoke when the screen showed a fragment where there was a fire explosion.

I did a little shopping for USS T-shirt for my nephews and was very intigued by the sight of so many cute stuffs. Apparently, they were having a promotion, 2 t-shirts for a free children’s skirt. Ah, a treat for Syifa, another niece of mine :)

We were starving...and out of the blue, Ayu decided to give us a treat at Hard Rock Café; great food and a live stage performance too! A 10 year old Singaporean Ryan performed on stage, killing us with “Sweet Child of Mine”. Thanks, Yu...a super rockin’ night indeed to end the fun day!