WOOO! Today was gooddddd! A revelation indeed. Though I lost my handphone, it was worth it. The experience is beyond description. But I shall try.

It all started when Leon Khee asked me on wednesday whether I could make it on Friday for a trip to Universal Studios Singapore because he had spare tickets. I had work on Friday, so I was torn.

Make money, or have a good time? I was starting work on Thursday and it wouldn't be very nice if I just told them I couldn't work on Friday. After all, it was a 4 day stint.

But Universal Studios?! Leon Khee said that it was worth $60 and the tickets were sold out for the first 2 weeks. This wasn't an opportunity to be missed! So I bit the bullet, and come Thursday, I told the supervisor I couldn't work on Friday. YJ kindly volunteered to take my place.

And I must say - one of the best decisions of my life.

I stayed at my sister's house on Thursday after hapkido training. Learned the scissors leg takedown. After watching it on youtube I thought it would be a cinch doing it.

It wasn't - to execute it you have to jump. Something like a dropkick. Both your legs have to be off the ground and around the person's body and legs. So that leaves your head and body hanging in the air unsupported. Which means you could potentially face plant into the ground if you don't do it right.

And I actually did. Faceplant I mean. Luckily it was on the foam pads. But then that was on the instructor who was resisting the takedown. But it's a poor excuse.

I digress.

So anyway I stayed at my sister's house, woke up at 7.20 in the morning, even thought I set the alarm for 7.50. It seemed my body knew that there was a good day ahead. I borrowed my sister's camera. I checked and the battery bar on the LCD display was all white - I took it to be full. Fool


The party consisted of Leon Khee, SL, Chiam, Wah Kiat and me. Our target was 10 times of each ride.

Had breakfast at Seah Im food centre. Not much of a breakfast. 3 fishballs and 1 iced milo. I asked Chiam what he had for breakfast.

He answered,

"Cereal"
"Cereal with milk?"
"Ya with milk."

What a brave man.

We took the bus from Vivocity - RWS 8 to the themepark. I had my camera on at this time, and the battery bar was flashing after a few photos. I dismissed it as some technical error. It'd fix itself, I hoped.

We stand at the threshold of the casino. We ask some woman to help us take a photo, because the security guard is not allowed to. Or so he claims. She does so, and proceeds to make the floor the subject. The security guard walks pass just before she takes the photo. What an idiot

We go up to the entrance of Universal Studios, take a few more photos, then we head in. Let the good times roll!

The weather was perfect. Not too sunny and no dark clouds in the distance. I was enjoying my decision.

After entering, there were stacks of studio guides/maps waiting to be taken. As usual, SL took a stack and jokingly handed it to me. I obliged, putting the whole stack into my bag. I had a feeling we'd need them later.

We walked down "Hollywood", and there was a photo opportunity with Frankenstein. Who could resist? I pulled a Lester and touched his chest before the photo. It felt human. Dang!

We took a few pictures at the fountain in front of the Hollywood area.

So we wandered along to our first ride - King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round. A carousel. Whoopee weeeee! I have to admit, I can't remember the names of the rides we did, except for the exhilarating ones. I'm referring to the studio guide. Which I still have quite a few copies of.

We saw it in action. It was as exciting as could be expected from a carousel. But we remembered our target, and took the ride. I called dibs on the old woman, I didn't want to be riding on no darn beast!

The ride was uneventful, but at the start of the ride while trying to snap pictures of SL and Chiam on their steeds I realised the camera was really out of battery. Shit! I wasn't pleased at all, as SL was saying his camera was running out of battery as well. As Leon Khee put it before we entered - Pics or it didn't happen. At least that was the gist of it.

We spied a roller coaster after getting off the carousel. Turned out it was "Enchanted Airways", which according to the brochure is a junior roller coaster. The signs around the roller coaster were pretty hilarious. Check out the facebook photos.

There was a sign near the roller coaster that read: "Days without crash" below which was one of those number flip charts. It was set to 1. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

We waited a few minutes for the ride. The ride lasted 30 seconds or less. Weak, but it would serve as a warm-up.

Next, we headed to the Shrek 4-D adventure. Before entry to the chamber, there was a yalam staff briefing us on the rules. No taping, no video recording.Of course, all in the theme of Shrek. Her english sucked. She was explaining the term flogging, for the entrance to the 4D chamber was supposed to be dungeon of sorts. I don't know what she said beforehand, but she kept saying "Videotaping is a flogging! Photography with flash is a flogging!" What the hell?

I realised after a while that the figures inside the crates suspended above were the 3 little pigs - non-kosher, as Wenpu would put it. At first I was thinking they were all pinocchios, and I was wondering why there were 4 pinocchios. Then I realised they were pork.

The 4D show was ok, not bad, but the 3D effect seemed pretty weak at times. I wonder whether it was my lazy eye or it was just lousy. The models also seemed to lack detail, or maybe I'm just being picky.

After we came out, we saw the ferris wheel. It was a joke. Indoor with one side facing the wall, and probably a grand total of 3 stories high. We obviously had no intention of sitting it, but Leon Khee was admamant, reminding us of our target. Fortunately we were more adamant, and the queue and the slowness of the ride let us convince Leon Khee it would be a waste of time.

We moved on to The Lost World next. Dinosaurs!!!! We queued up for the Canopy Flyer - it took around 5 minutes or more. For a ride that was like 30 seconds. The staff was very slow in launching the ride. SL was pointing out an old man who had the back of his shirt soaked with shirt.

"It's only half of the day of the first day, and he's already sweating so much. Imagine when it's more crowded, he'll die."
-on the inefficencies and lack of speed of the staff at Canopy Flyer.

I was suggesting to SL that they should utilise the chair lift system. The ride just keeps going with no stoppage. It'd be much faster, and more exciting as you'll have a set amount of time to get on or die trying.

Our next ride was Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure. It was, as to be expected, going to get us wet. Luckily I had studio guides. Plenty of them.

The floating device we were seated in was slightly wet. I used one for my back and one for my seat.

Some dinosaur squirted water on me as well. Sad to say, it was a well planted ambush, and even with a spare studio guide up as a shield, I did not manage to block it.

I had read about the ride on Life, the writer was recalling his experience on the rides. He mentioned that whoever sits on the side facing the plunge would get the most wet. Throughout the ride, I was wondering which plunge we was referring to, and there were many false alarms. But when the plunge came, so did clarity. The moment where you chide yourself for being so stupid as to mistake the other parts of the ride as the moment you were about to face.

Then water, lots of it.

Fortunately, not on me. Hahahahahahahaha.

The cursing and swearing that ensues. Why me? The question that never fails to be asked. The reactions of Leon Khee and Wah Kiat were hilarious.

Why not? Better you than me. The reply that hangs in the subconscious of the onlookers, but only finds its expression in laughter. Hahahahahaha

To be honest, I was a victim too. My bag fell into the canal between the seats, and got soaked. But, better my bag than me! Of course some water splashing onto my pants couldn't be avoided as well.

But this was comparatively mild. Wah Kiat said his underwear was soaked.

It was 15 minutes to 12 by the time we were done laughing, and as decided earlier we decided to grab a bite then head for the waterworld show. We went into the foodcourt, but the queue was long and we wouldn't be able to make it in time if we ate there, so we grabbed a bite at Fossil Fuels instead. Which is a fancy name for a hotdog shack.

Now the Coney Island hot dog was $3.80, while the normal plain hot dog was $5.80. This led us all to wondering what exactly the Coney Island hot dog was. We found out soon enough. Fried batter on a sausage. Which wasn't what we expected. Though we didn't expect the sausage to be cold either. But it was.

We had our sausages, then headed to the Water World show.

It was disappointing. Couldn't really make out what the actors were saying, in part due to their accents and partly due to the poor sound system. Of course, nobody comes to a show in Universal Studios to hear the fabulous dialogue, the action is where it's at. The pyrotechnics were plentiful, but the timing left a lot to be desired. Or maybe my standards are just too high.

The 2 things that struck me the most from the show. The l33t jetski skills, and the muscular female lead. The REALLY muscular female lead.

After the show ended we rushed to the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster - playtime was over. The clouds were ominous, we had a target to meet.

We took the cylon ride first. Before you take the ride you have to put your bags in a locker. The first 30 minutes for the locker was free.

We didn't think much about this system at first, but later when we had time to think about it we were wondering, what happens when your free 30 minutes are up? Consider that you are SUPPOSED to place your valuables inside, which include your money. So what would you pay the locker fee with? That is a question to ponder. A most cunning way to make money, leaving you either to beg for money, or beg the staff to open the locker. Which would probably only work if you promise to pay an astronomical fee.


Battlestar Galactica Cylon
For the first ride, I sat in the front row with Justin.

I was blown away. All the previous rides had only given me minor thrills at best.

But the Cylon... On the first ride I was scared. I was afraid the restraint would come off, sending me into the pillars or the ground. I kept imagining the consequences of either - not pretty. I considered the competencies of the people who built the ride - whether they had tested it well enough, whether my legs were going to smash into the ground, whether the carriage would derail. All groundless fears, but still they kept running in my head.

I hung on tight to the restraint, gripping for my life. The Gs were so strong i was mostly in a hunched position throughout the ride, abs contracted and leaning down. I wasn't the only one, Wah Kiat felt the same.

I think we were all quite astounded by the ride, all except SL. He really is a nutter. He seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed it without a single moment of fear or doubt. Either that or he hid it really well. He was extolling upon us the virtues of raising your hands while taking the ride. I have to admit his insanity rubbed off on me.

After all, what's the worst that could happen? He assured us there was nothing to fear. And I in turn repeatedly assured Leon Khee if he were to die his family would get a sizable payout from Universal Studios.

After the ride, we had to exit and make our way back to the entrance to get on the ride again. It was quite a long walk. We couldn't just get on again even though there was nobody on the ride. We were not pleased. Apparently if you have the Universe Express card you can do that.

Right after the ride, I realised my handphone was missing. Just before the ride started, while waiting on the seat, I had checked my left pocket for my phone. It had been there. But it wasn't any more. I hoped that I had probably left it in my bag in the locker, but I knew that probably wasn't the case. My adrenalin was still pumping though, so I put it off as a worry for later.

We headed to the Human ride.

Compared with the Cylon ride, the human one was mild. The only exciting part was right at the start, when you got lifted off the seat. Otherwise it was nothing mind blowing. By this time SL's words of advice had taken root - There was nothing to fear. So I raised my hands and had a good time.

After the Human ride we headed back to the Cylon. Nothing like conquering your fear. SL was shouting at Leon Khee to raise his arms. I took up the cries as well. But Leon Khee only half raised them, even after all the air in my lungs was spenting haranguing him to raise his arms. Pussy. But the effort was there. A few more and he'd man up.

As part of the training, we went for the Cylon twice. 3 down, 7 to go.

Then we decided to go try the indoor Mummy rollercoaster. A little variety never hurt. We took our bags from the locker. My handphone wasn't there. Dang! The clouds were getting slightly grey.

The "Revenge of the Mummy" roller coaster entrance consists of a huge maze, in semi-darkness with lamps alternating between dim and dimmer punctuating the darkness. It was scary? If you were alone I guess. But then it stretched on and on and on. Until we were left wondering whether we had stumbled into the wrong entrance and the maze was actually the main attraction.

After a long trek through the maze with us trying to cut through and getting lost in the process a few times, we finally managed to get to the ride. After the Cylon, we weren't expecting much, but the question we posed to the attendant garnered a reply that led to some optimism. The top speed of the "Revenge of the Mummy" was only a few miles less than the Cylon according to her.

Nice.

I sat at the front. The ride was good, offered something different from the Cylon. I asked SL whether he raised his hands. He said he didn't cause it was too dark to see if there were any obstacles. I didn't try either.
There were some parts where there was fire and you could feel the heat of the flames. I assume it is from the flames and not hot air from the same direction. If my assumption was right, imagine if the fire got out of control. It would suck to be stuck by the restraint and catch fire. Not fun at all. I probably think too much.

When we came out it was raining, so we decided to go again. This time on the second row on the right side. Chiam was on my left. Went for the ride again, knew what was coming so it wasn't very special anymore. The memorable part came at the end of the ride. Chiam told me the kid on his left was crying. I took a look, and he really was, and his dad was consoling him. I chuckled loudly.

SL said I was evil. I don't think so. But somehow the sight of someone crying over a roller coaster ride just amused me greatly. There are far worthier things to cry over.

We were lamenting the failure of the father to teach his son properly as we walked out. Tsk!

It was still raining. Bloody rain. Leon Khee suggested we go have our lunch - since it was raining and the rides were closed. He mentioned the food court wasn't far, so we could make a dash for it. I didn't bother looking at the guide, so I didn't know whether what he said was true. But when he took off into the heavy rain, I knew it was a stupid idea. We were going to be drenched. But like lemmings, we followed. We certainly couldn't forsake him, could we?

And spent the next minute running to the foodcourt. In the heavy rain. Of course, my spare studio guides were out, providing some protection, but alas, the rain was mightier. I should have used more than 1-ply.

When we dashed into food court, the woman had the cheek to tell us the place was full house. What did she expect us to reply? After we'd come in drenched, we'll tell her, "Ok we'll go back out now into the rain to get soaked."

We camped around for a seat, a lot of people came in for the shelter and were sitting down not eating anything. Finally got a seat, then we spent the next 20 minutes queueing up for chicken rice. 20 minutes in which we were assessing the efficency of the staff, or lack thereof.

The tray the chicken rice plate was put on was not even cleared of rice bits. We were joking that they should have a sign "Days with no food poisoning" outside, and the count would probably remain at 1.

The chicken rice sucked. Bad. The chicken was dry and tasteless, the rice the same, and the soup tasted like water. There was achar as well. Which sucked. Did I mention the cucumbers? Which tasted as bitter as defeat? $7.80 for a plate of chicken rice, and I get this crap.

Anyway as the meal was awful we focused our attentions on more entertaining matters. For example, we were challenging each other to the Cylon ride right after lunch. Only SL and I dared to contemplate it and we told them no problem. They didn't quite believe us.

I didn't finish all my rice. SL finished all his rice AND the bowl of chicken soup, which I didn't touch. The rest of them insisted we would puke, or at least feel sick after. They mistook us for themselves.

About 20 minutes after lunch, we went for it. Just the 2 of us. We sat in the front row, in the centre.

I didn't feel queasy or anything. In fact, I quite enjoyed the ride. SL was ok as well.

Next up was the Accelerator. It was basically the spinning teacup ride. SL was saying before the ride he couldn't take the spinning, but we did it anyway. The individual spinning of the "cup" was determined by our turning of a wheel in the middle. We MENGED. At least we tried to. The video on facebook will provide further information. In the end it was only me and Leon Khee turning the wheel. The rest were dying. It was quite funny. I'm quite surprised myself that I didn't feel queasy. I usually don't have a strong stomach.

After the accelerator we rested; most of the party was dying.

Once the rest was over we headed over to the Cylon ride once more. 5 times was better than 4. At the end of the ride we bought a Cylon keychain each. We asked the shop keepers which of the key chains was the Cylon coat of arms. She didn't know. Joke.

We decided to end off with another Rapids Adventure. Leon Khee was saying he didn't believe that he would be so unlucky twice. He was. But this time SL also got hit. Me and Chiam were highfiving each other before the plunge. I escaped mostly unscathed. Leon Khee was cursing and swearing after the plunge cause he got wet, and failed to take notice of a small dinosaur who squirted water at him. I laughed till my stomach hurt.

I think a large part of the joy in the Rapids Adventure is derived from Schadenfreude. That other people got wet and you didn't. Still, it was all good!

On the way out I made a lost and found report for my grey phone. My poor phone...

Closing thoughts: The best rollercoasters make you confront your mortality, they make you realise that in a blink of an eye your existence could be be winked out.