February 28, 2013
by Faizah Zainal
well it is all about my very first entry/visit to Universal Studios Singapore (USS) at Resorts World Sentosa. it was yesterday! i have never been this excited to write an entry before. not even with the birth of my girls. sorry! if it wasn’t for my uncles’ and aunt’s offer, i wouldn’t have the chance to step a foot inside. reason being the expensive price we have to pay for a ticket. but i thought it was all worth it! the price, the rides and the time you spend there. *six thumbs up* (mine and the girls’)
yes, we brought Fateena along, though she spent most of the time either in the stroller or in my arms. she would have enjoyed it, i know, because i did! i was probably the only one here who had not been to USS. minus the kids. even my husband had gone there. sad, ain’t it? i take my hat off my uncle rahman. he enters USS like he enters the loo. every single day (so he said), he just went in and took the Transformers ride and off to work. if i had that annual pass, i would have done the same.
and so, with an army of 20 people (16 adults, 1 kid and 3 babies) we entered the world of fantasy. (since we went in during the weekdays, there wasn’t any crowd. waiting time for most rides was 5 to 15 minutes, the most.)
(if you counted the people here, there is one missing adult. he was taking this photo.)
right at the entrance, we were greeted by woody woodpecker and his female (sorry, i don’t know her name).
and baby laaiqah refused to let go of woody’s finger. woody had to practically stay bended over her for a good 5 minutes. sorry woody, she was obsessed with birds and ducks. i’m sure you didn’t mind.
the vintage cars…
meeting elmo and his pals from Sesame Street was the first thing we did.
they were not officially opened but we were lucky that there was a soft opening. we seized the opportunity, seeing that there wasn’t any line of people queuing. the ride inside was the cutest; with elmo as the captain of the space chase, flashing at the small screen of your seats. it was dark, of course, since we were in “space”. i couldn’t help but to keep thinking and worrying about Fateha. she wasn’t in the seat with me. i was sitting with my cousin, while she sat with her dad. she had this fear of loud sounds (similar to kids with autism) and would just have an outburst anywhere, anytime (and it’s the same reason why we DO NOT bring her to the movies). i was praying that with hubby around, she would be okay.
since i finished the ride first, i waited for them outside, still worrying. i couldn’t help it. any special needs mom would understand. when i saw her walking out from the ride, with hubby, the first thing i did was to ask if she was okay. and she was 60-40. 60 being scared and 40 enjoyed the ride, nonetheless. because there was ELMO! *phew*
and right outside, was a little dancing and singing performance by everyone’s favourite characters. personally, grover was my first choice. he sho cute! we stayed there watching them move for like 5 minutes and i thought of waiting for them to finish so i could grab a photo with them. but my uncle rahman pulled us all to…
the 3D Transformers ride. the ride that he took every day before scooting off to work. my heart went boop boop boop boop boop so fast that it could jump out of my chest. yes, i was such a scaredy cat. and that was not enough, my cousin khair had to scare me with all these “you’ll be splashed with water”, “it’s scary” blah blah blah. and my uncle said, “don’t worry. it’s a fun ride. and very relaxing.”
i took the challenge and went ahead. i ended up taking the ride twice. hahah! it wasn’t scary at all. it was fun, yes, fast and furious. not relaxing like what my uncle said. too many rides made him like that, i guess. immuned and fearless. the second time, we coaxed our faint-hearted aunt to take the ride. bad, aren’t we? lol. she did and she survived. with screams and tears, of course.
another cousin, sabby, couldn’t wait to take Battlestar Galactica. yea, that super crazy roller coaster.
being a real coward, i made a pass. it wasn’t for me. hubby did it the last time he went and he allowed me to try if i wanted to. of course, i didn’t. but sabby, oh dear me, she was just like uncle rahman. fearless! probably because she already tried the one in LA, which was the mother of this galactica. the only thing i could afford to do, in all bravery, was just to look at it from below. it was more than enough. just by looking at the type of seats they had, that famous roller coaster scene from the movie final destination was flashed in my screwed up mind. REALLY!
they had Human and Cyclone; one is seated and the other is suspended. even if i died and came back to life, there was no way i would do it. no.
but i was mystified by the mysterious ancient egypt. if pharaohs were still alive, with mastabas and sacred shrines still standing, i would visit them.
*transmission*… i remembered playing The Pharaohs on the computer years ago. building a kingdom as a queen of ancient egypt. built temples and shrines of Ra, Bast, Ptah, Anubis and Horus. housing the people of the kingdom, schools, paper factories and orchards by the Nile River. thanks to my brother for introducing that game.
weeks before the trip, cousin noretta had been persuading me to take the Mummy ride with her. reaching this side of USS made her even more anxious to drag me along to meet my fate. and rode in it i did. was it fun? yes! scary as hell, too. especially at the drop-off parts. i think there were two. the snapshot of us screaming was hilarious. we ran out to the sitting area where the rest gathered, to take some cash so we could buy the photograph. but uncle rahman shoved us back inside so that we would ride for the second time, with him and other cousins. i was still scared.
uncle rahman calling us to enter the Valley of the Kings
a Madagascan boat ride. tears trickled down Fateha’s cheeks when the boat was riding the harmless current of water and into the darkness. the moving characters really did scare her but i was happy to have my aunts and cousins who kept praising and encouraging her, ensuring her it was all fun. she put up a brave front towards the end and cried, “Wow…so happy!”
bought the two sisters loots from the Sesame Streets.
hubby brought Fateha into the shop and she chose Elmo bottle and school bag. whereas for the littler one, i parked her stroller outside and went in myself. she wouldn’t need the things there now. most were for bigger kids and older kids like me. but the Grover soft toy was uber cute!!! since he was my favourite, i got Fateena one. not fair, ain’t it?
and what a way to end our trip with…
Marilyn Monroe. it was uncle rahman’s wish to take a picture with her but we were the ones who were approached by the star herself. yea! i guess it was because she saw us carrying babies and she came straight up to us. i was especially exultant when she called Fateha a princess.
yes, she is my princess and will always be. throughout the whole trip, i was pleased with Fateha. she didn’t get very frightful and no sudden outburst from her. people may think it’s normal for kids to cry when they hear loud sounds etc. but not for her. her cries and screams can last for as long as you can imagine and her body will stiffen. during the Water World show, where there were pyrotechnics and explosions and stuff, Fateha hugged hubby’s arm. she got jolted numerous times when guns were shooting or mortar-like weapons went off. her eyes swelled with tears but no bursting! thank goodness.
to get her to pose in front of the raptor was a bad idea. she did scream, hahah, no tears but struggled like crazy. ok the motorised velociraptor was indeed scary but what about the chimp of Madagascar? harmless, right? not for Fateha. i had to coax her a couple of times.
but overall…
i think she did a great job. mommy’s so proud of you.
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