Day 120: Riding the Movies

This post is terribly, terribly late... Everything in here happened on May 9, but I was forgetful... But as promised, I went to Universal Studios Singapore. At first I was a bit worried I'd get rained out because the morning and early afternoon was gray and drizzly. I ate ramen for lunch at the mall by Sentosa Boardwalk (it had too much miso for my taste, but it was good. It's gonna be hard going back to the instant stuff). When I finished, the rain had stopped. The sun even came out by midafternoon!

I went on most of the rides in the park. The big Battlestar Galactica roller coaster was closed, but I wouldn't have gone on it anyways. The rides are actually kind of cool; they're kind of like watching condensed movies, but in ride form. The Transformers ride had us riding inside of an Autobot while wearing 3D glasses. The car moved and jerked around much like a real car as movie images played in front of us. Of course, I screamed a lot.

I also rode on this park's version of the Disneyland teacups, watched some Shrek shows, saw the Sesame Street gang, and more. There was one attraction that simulated a New York City boat house in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane, and it was hosted by a digital Steven Spielberg, no less. Why? It was to show the magic of movie sound stages. I also got to go on a Jurassic Park river ride (gosh, that movie terrified me as a kid), and I got to cut the line because I was a single rider! I ended up getting wet, but they do warn you about that ahead of time.

After that, I mustered up my courage and went to the Revenge of the Mummy roller coaster. I do not do well on fast roller coasters, so I ended up debating on whether to ride it or not. But eventually, I got on and hoped I wouldn't regret my decision.

It starts off slow enough with a little intro and all, but I dreaded the moment when things would pick up. It came before I knew it. We zoomed backward, forward, and all around. And it was completely dark, too. I screamed my lungs out the whole time. When we finally got off, I was shaking a little. But it was worth it, because some high-speed camera took a picture of us at one point. I thought the photo was really funny, because you can see me screaming bloody murder in the back while everyone else looks like they're having a good time. So I bought the photo as a souvenir. Here it is; although since I had to take a picture of the photo with my video camera the quality is kinda grainy.

That's me in the top-left corner. I may look really happy, but trust me, I'm just screaming to keep my insides in place.

Aside from the photo, I got a souvenir T-shirt! That'll be something fun to bring home. The last thing I did in the park was watch the Monster Rock show. A bunch of classic Hollywood monsters got together to sing a bunch of rock'n'roll songs. To be honest, I don't think most of the songs they did qualify as rock'n'roll, but it was still fun to watch.

Speaking of which, I had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. My burger probably had a full day's worth of calories, but it was yummy. I also had this iced tea which was I was told was a mix of ice lemon tea and orange juice, I think. It was good, although it had a funny aftertaste. Yes, I've grown a taste for iced tea. It kind of happens when tea is all around you (though I'm not big on hot tea).

Note: For some reason, I can't put the first video in the series on here, even though I uploaded it to Youtube. I did see that the video was blocked in some countries because of the music that inevitably ended up recorded, but I don't see why that should prevent it from being posted here. I'll put the other two up, and I hope it won't look too awkward.

Day 118: Exams Done!

Geez, has it really been that long since my last post? I couldn't help it; I was busy studying for exams. Well, they're finally all over with. They were brutal, even though I studied hard... I was told there's a big curve for exams, though, and it seems I'm on a pass/fail thing since this is study abroad.

I had my last exam yesterday, but I spent the afternoon cleaning my room in preparation for leaving. Gosh, I can't believe my semester is over. It felt like it went by so quickly, and yet it also seems like a long time. Today, I had lunch with Amy (my student buddy) and she helped vacuum my Space Bags since she won't be here when I check out on Saturday. She's going to Malaysia for a church thing. I had to withdraw a bunch of money so I can hire a taxi to the airport, where I plan to stay the night since my flight is at 6 AM Sunday.

Anyways, I spent the afternoon in Bugis, where I did some shopping around for souvenirs. I bought a Singapore T-shirt to take home. They ran awfully large; I usually wear a medium but I had to buy a small. I was tempted to buy the "Someone I Know Went to Singapore and All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt" shirt, but they only ran in smalls, and I didn't want to buy an incorrect size for someone since I can't return it.

For dinner, I had probably the best beef noodle soup I've tried here. The beef and the noodles were tender and tasty, the meatballs were fantastic, and the broth was some of best I've ever had. The stall said something about the broth being made from beef bones and herbs and being left to simmer for four or five hours. Well, I think it paid off. And I normally don't like meatballs, but for some reason I can't get enough of the meatballs I've had here. I think it's the texture; they're firm and not crumbly like Western meatballs.

For dessert, I found a place that was selling chocolate lava cakes and ice cream. It was so yummy! Well worth the money, if I say so myself.

Tomorrow, I think I'll take one final trip to Sentosa Island. I think it's high time I went to Universal Studios Singapore. I still have almost 90 minutes left on the 16 GB memory card I bought for the camera, and I'd like to use it up before I go home.