A Visit To The Universal Studio Singapore

I finally went to the Universal Studio!!! Initially it was Dewi's desire to go. I think I was more Singaporeanized about the whole thing. After hearing stories that it's small, not worth the money etc, I thought it wasn't an amazing place. But then I thought, I didn't go anywhere for a holiday this year, so why not. In the end I kinda "pushed" Dewi to go and our excitement kinda made 8 of her colleagues who were coming here with her to tag along as well. Apparently and amazingly, the tickets cost cheaper if you buy it in Indonesia. The ticket price for weekdays is S$66 in Singapore. Dewi booked it at S$63 from a tour agency in Jakarta. It's actually pretty strange because I tried to book it here and the web said it was sold out. So I suspect that they're giving some quota for tour agencies. I did find a tour agency in Singapore that allows us to book the tickets from them but I didn't proceed with it. I can't explain though why it is cheaper in Indonsia. Maybe Indonesian do really have lots of money to spend and maybe Singapore do banking on us to help their economy :P Anyways, the ticket came with two S$5 voucher, one for a meal and one to be used in the gift shop. I thought it's a really good deal. I love the vouchers :D

Dewi and her colleagues landed yesterday and after their lunch, they headed straight to Universal Studio. I was actually planning to be there by 1.30 latest but with this and that, we only entered the compound at 2. If you're wondering if it's enough time to explore the whole place, my answer is yes! The Universal Studio Singapore is like Singapore itself. It's tiny but it makes it easy to go from one place to another. Some people may not feel it's worth the money but considering I had only half a day to explore the theme park, I found it to be rather convenient. If you're wondering if there weren't many people in the park, there were actually quite a lot of people. Yeah it wasn't as full as Disneyland Hongkong but waiting time in the Universal Studio still took pretty long. I think the longest we waited for a ride was 1 hour or so. By the way, the last time I entered Sentosa was 2 years ago when Dewi came to Singapore. She was saying that somehow she ended up with me when she visited a theme park outside Indonesia (my Disneyland trip was also with her). Well, this might be the last time, seeing that she's getting married next year. She already asked me to book the second half of next year for her wedding. Anyway I'm digressing.

So Dewi came with 8 of her colleagues and my selfishness reared its ugly self :P I kinda got frustrated that we had to wait around. In the end they decided to just split from us (Me and Dewi). I have to add that I almost thought the Universal Studio trip wasn't going to come true simply because Dewi had her colleagues to think of. In her words, she had "the people's needs" to think of. That sentence doesn't come out so nice in English :( So I thought she's gonna bail on me, but she tried her best to accomodate me which makes me think that she's really the true friend (teman sejati) :P I guess she really knows me. The wrath of Eka can be pretty scary and so she really just let me drag her around :P I had quite a culture shock meeting her colleagues which was ridonkculous because I'm an Indonesian. For example, her colleague called me "Mbak" which is basically a nice way to show respect to me, but I was just stunned. Decorum is an integral part of Indonesian culture. Like for Dewi and her colleagues, she rarely called any of them with their name. There would be Mr or Madame for the older seniors and for the ones with similar age, I guess they use "Mbak" or "Mas". So anyway her colleagues left us and I felt kinda bad because I don't think they enjoyed the park much. They decided to leave early. I don't think they played much of the rides :( I hope they don't feel it was a waste of time and money. I had a list of things that I wanted to do and I had to say that I think I only missed out 2 but that's okay because I think more or less they would be the same like the things in HongKong Disneyland. So here are the things that we went into:

- Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg --> I thought it was pretty cool seeing how a scene would be filmed inside a sound stage. I think the study of special effects is really interesting.

- Accelator --> Reading about it, I actually didn't want to go but in the end I went in and it was actually very very tame :P

- Revenge of the Mummy --> I knew this would be like the Space Mountain ride in Disneyland which I was really scared about but for some reason I thought I should do it, simply because I will never ever have the nerve to do Battlestar Galactica: Human vs. Cylon. Again my stubborness dragged everyone in (well there were some who stayed behind and didn't take the ride). It was scary and seriously for me and roller coaster, I cannot scream in them! I always get scared that something would go wrong, that my heart would stopped or I get injured or something, so I would always and always hold on to dear life. By that I mean, I was holding on to whatever safety gear I had on and I would be so focus on that, that I couldn't scream at the same time! Dewi said that I should actually scream to make sure my heart is beating and my lung is open. That would stop us from being dead. I need to google on this. Anyway the good thing about this for me (which is a let down for others) is that the ride is pretty short. That's kinda the thing about many of the rides in here, they're pretty short. Kinda perfect for a chicken like me, but for those people who like the thrill, they will get disappointed. When we were kinda slowing down, I thought it was a pause before something worse happened but it was really the end and we were like "Praise the Lord!" but I know some people would have wished it was a pause for something more :P Anyway, I actually looked pretty good in the picture that they normally take of the people during the ride, but of course I didn't buy the picture :P

- Treasure Hunters --> This is where Dewi's colleagues left us. They didn't want to wait. We waited and yes it was quite a kiddy ride. So nothing much I can say about it :p

- Shrek 4-D Adventure --> I'm such a chicken that I didn't feel comfortable in this simply because there was one point when our seats were tilted that my feet were dangling. Yes, even the little kids are braver than me, I'll admit this :P

- Waterworld --> I thought this was pretty cool because the stunts were amazing inspite of it's being done in such a small pool. I have much respect for all the casts and also to whoever build the sets. It's just amazing that things don't get totally destroyed even though they're like on fire 3-4 times a day. I actually got wet here because one of the cast water-gunned our area :(

- Canopy Flyer --> This is a ride up high with our feet dangling. I thought it was gonna be a nice easy ride. The person even said, just open your eyes and enjoy the view. God damn it, it wasn't!!! It was pretty fast, there's a bit of a tilt to the ride and Dewi having the need to scream chose to screamed out my name instead of the usual aaaaahhh. I tried to scream but it's just hard for me. Luckily again for me, it was pretty short :P

- Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure --> We knew it would be like "Arung Jeram" in Jakarta's Dufan but as we went along, we thought there wasn't much of a challenge and we didn't actually get wet. That is until we went into a dark tunnel (I hated this darkness thingy) then there's a lift that brought our raft up and then we were unloaded and as we plunged, we got totally soaked :( I don't think the raincoats that some people used helped keep them dry. I think our investment in the locker was much better :)

That's about it. We stayed until the 9.30 Lake Hollywood Spectacular pyrotechnics show. It was pretty bizzare for me. There were announcement to tell people about it on the loudspeaker but when it began, there was no accouncement or introduction. No music, no nothing. It was basically just a fireworks show. I hope they're still working on it. I love fireworks but I think they can do better with it. Overall I am definitely a Disneyland person. I'm too much of a chicken for Universal Studio. Like if I go there again, there's only so little few that I would go for :P I'm glad that I went though. Another thing I can cross on my list. Here are some pictures. The castle is from Far Far Away (Shrek and Fiona's Castle).






More pictures here

It's pretty good to be meeting Dewi. The silly her was like speaking Indonesian when she wanted to ask something to people. Lucky for her, for some reason she encountered mostly malay or people who understood malay who could reply to her. That made me think that Singaporeans are actually pretty friendly. I did tell her that Singaporean Malay are friendlier than Singaporean Chinese. I don't really know if this is true or it's just because we are Indonesians. It's obviously easier for us to relate with the Malay simply because we kinda can speak to each other. This makes me wonder if Chinese from Taiwan or Hongkong for example would find Singaporean Chinese to be friendly.

On other news, I found out that Emilia is pregnant and Rista told me today that she is also pregnant. Dewi is getting married next year and I am sure my cousin, Marlisa, is following soon after. So this is it, this is really the point when I am really left behind. I want to be totally happy and excited for them but I have to admit that I get pretty scared being left alone. Oh well, repeat the line: what you don't have, you don't need it now. Anyway I should feel happy that apparently I look young :P Today a 22-year old said that I looked 21!!! I could't believe she thought I am younger than her :D Anyway, I am rather excited to see the babies which are coming. I hope they are cute and will always be nice to Auntie Eka. Darn, I hate having to be called auntie but that's what I am going to be to these kids. Let's see, which one sounds less painful, auntie or tante. Either way, I have to get used to it :P

This week's enlightenment thought is: hate grows faster than love. I am too tired to explain how this thought came about. It's nearing 6 months now. It's pretty fast and I am thankful that I've made it this far. Thanks really be to God. It's very very late now. I can't remember the last time I'm awake at this hour. Take care peeps. Have a great week ahead!

:) eKa @ 1:52:00 AM • 0 comments

I LOVE HARRY POTTER

I so want to talk about Potter right now but before I launch into that (which gonna be long), let me tell you about my day first. Skipped class today and went to Felis and David's wedding. Decided to go even though I had to go solo simply because it's for Felis. Even though we are not close anymore but we were close back in NUS days and it's just something that you have to do for friends who you respect and appreciate. I guess I find it important to be there on her wedding day. She was all smiles and I actually felt rather touched when I saw her walking down the aisle. Weddings make you emotional? It was just so touching for me to see her and she really looked so happy. I guess to see her in a wedding dress kinda brought a lot of emotion. It's perhaps a mixture of disbelief that this girl whom you know to be very casual can look pretty stunning and also she had the biggest smile in her face all the time during the wedding. I am so happy for her :)

The reverend who gave the sermon was Indonesian. Luckily his sermon wasn't long. I kinda found the sermon to be interesting. He made reference to Obama's visit to Indonesia recently, I found it to be pretty funny. One thing struck me though. He said something like now there's no more I in the two of you, now you are a "we" and you should think and behave that way. I couldn't agree to that and I was thinking maybe, just maybe, this is the reason why I have noone yet. I still think very highly of being able to be an individual, being my own self. I don't know. I have no right answer on this. I guess I prefer Kahlil Gibran's view on marriage. I guess I would want that in my marriage. Will it lead to a succesful forever and ever kinda marriage? I don't know. If we to follow the verses that Felis and David chose for their wedding, we should put God first before ourselves and I suppose as it's always happened, God would then sort things out for us.

Anyway, Oshie in the end decided to go and we kinda planned to sit together but in the end I came later than him and I couldn't locate him and I decided to just sit on my own. Lo and behold when I sat, the girl next to me was Jane. I was telling Oshie that it's kinda weird to sit with Jane since we were never close but I was just so glad to have her around. She decided not to wait for the photo taking so then I found myself alone again. I decided to just go and sit with Copper while waiting. He's like becoming a lighthouse whom I can always locate on events like this :P I kinda admire him, he always seems comfortable about attending things like this alone. Well it's always easy for him to mingle around anyway. It was nice to meet my Indonesian friends from NUS but the snobbish me decided to just go off straight and I didn't stay for lunch. It was nice to see them but I still feel awkward about mingling with them. I am that silly and snobbish :(

So I decided to just head straight to Vivo. I was meeting La Gioia for lunch and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We spent a lot of money on food today. Lunch was at Serenity, the spanish restaurant. I seriously love this place. I think they serve really good food but the price always makes me dislike them enough to deter me from coming there often. Anyways, let's just talk about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I love the movie very much and it kinda make me wanna shout I LOVE HARRY POTTER VERY MUCH!!! :D I have to say though that I am not critical about the movie because I have forgotten many details of the story. There were moments when I wondered, did this really happen? Note to self, please read the book before the second part of the movie! So without all the complaint that I normally have comparing it with the book, I think this movie was nicely done. I love the story and I thought the cast were really good. I love LOVE Rupert Grint. I have loved him since the first movie and he's the reason why I love Ron Weasley so much. I thought he was as usual great. I think Emma Watson was also great; Hermione is just awesome! I'm never much of Daniel Radcliffe's fan so I'm not gonna say much about him. Well, I guess it's kinda nice to see Harry not so into himself, being "the one". He actually kinda put other being into his universe instead of himself. He tried to cheer Hermione up so that was kinda nice of him and when Dobby died he was also very nice to him.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a pretty sad book with so many people dying but somehow it didn't register to me when I watched the movie. Only when Hedwig died, George's had his ear cut off, and Dobby died, that I remembered how sad this book is. Oh I have to say something about the Weasley boys. Bill Weasley is kinda hot! As for the other Weasley, Ron, Fred, and George are not actually amazingly handsome but somehow they are pretty desirable. Who knows that a red haired boy can be so interesting :P As for the other cast. I always love Professor Snape. He appeared very little in this movie. I think I'll be really sad on his dying scene in part 2. I hope they do him good and give him proper scenes in part 2 of the movie. Somehow I love seeing every characters in this movie, maybe because it's the last movie. I even like seeing Kreacher! It's so good to see Draco and I felt sad seeing him pretty tortured. Helena Bonham Carter was of course manic as aunt Bellatrix. I notice that Professors McGonagall wasn't in the movie, it made me wonder where she is. Oh I can go on and on about the movie. It was really a good movie. It was sad when Hermione had to erase the memory of her parent, we finally see her parent! It was nice to see Ron and Hermione's interaction. They are really so right for each other. Harry and Hermione is just such a wrong pairing, even I got annoyed to see the vision of them kissing when Ron had to destroy the necklace horcrux. Ron and Hermione just have a certain chemistry about them and I love the two of them. I think Harry and Ginny couldn't even show as much chemistry as Ron and Hermione. I am going on and on again. I just love the movie and the book so much. I think I don't even mind watching it again :P Maybe I should go back to the tradition of watching a Potter movie twice :P

Okay it's pretty late guys. I'm very tired so I cannot trust my brain to give logical sentences right now even though I still have much things to say. Like how I get my S$1142.30 back. Who knows that it would find its way back to me. It took months but God is pretty awesome, He even gave me a little bit extra. I am just in awe. So I guess the moral of the story is to let go things which are lost and to believe that if it really belongs to you, it will find its way back to you. So for everything which is taken from me, maybe if it's really taken unfairly, God will somehow return it back to me. It was truly a lesson of patience and faith :) Well I hope you guys have a good week ahead :)

:) eKa @ 11:59:00 PM • 0 comments

Rough Week Happens?

It's a rough week this week. I'm down with flu. Still not totally cured but I am finally showing signs of getting better. I would be glad when this is over but I don't know if it will or how long it will take. I don't think I had enough time to rest and I think my drugs weren't strong enough. It was either that or the virus has become immune to the antibiotic I've been taking :(

I was told, "It happens Eka". Yes it does. I guess the week is rougher for me not because of the sickness alone but because of all the other things that do not go my way. That's not literally the correct way to explain it. Many things do come my way, they're just not things that I want to happen on me :( With so little energy in my body, I just want to just walk away from everything *sigh* Shit happens? Yeah, I know. A friend once even told me that shit makes flower grow. So there'll be rainbow in my sky again one day and if there isn't, there at least be a blue sky.

Was supposed to meet Ayu yesterday for dinner but in the end we couldn't make it. She needed time to spend with her family and I needed the rest. It's rather sad because I was looking forward to meet her boy, Gibran, and also because I haven't seen her since we left high school. We hope for another better time and hope it'll happen soon. The good news of this week is my best friend, Dewi, is coming to town for a short weekend trip in 2 weeks time. She'll be with her group of colleagues but I guess she'll squeeze some time to meet me. I'm so looking forward to it. I look forward meeting and talking with Indonesians friends who are nice to me. I do know some Indonesian people here, I even spend my days with Indonesians, but I just miss and need the people who get me and say there there Eka, you're cool and awesome, and there's nothing that you cannot do. I need these people to keep me sane :P Yes, I'm gonna admit it, I do have a narcissistic tendency. I think everyone does, however small.

On a cryptic note, yesterday a question was asked to someone. I don't think the person really answered the question which was asked. It wasn't a difficult question and not a particulary memorable one but my random brain brought it up this afternoon. The person who supposed to answer the question gave a very thoughtful answer, thoughtful as in it seemed that there's a lot thoughts going on into the answer. He gave reasons and all and I was thinking where's the creativity in the answer? The curiousity, the desire, the impulse, the thoughts of what if everything could be possible. That got me thinking if I am that inexperienced youngster hence I look at the world too simply or is it failure and heartache in life that can really change a person. I like to think it's the second reason. I've experienced many failures in life and I do feel that they've become such dark shadows that hover around and make you feel there's certain boundaries and limit in yout life, but you gotta shake it off right. You gotta bounce back. Though they're there, you just gotta try to see the light and push through and don't let it limit the wonderful you. My point is, I hope when I get older I will still be curious on things and be fascinated with what the world has to offer. I hope I will still always have a list of things I want to do in life and I hope I will still strive to do them all. I know when I die there'll be things on that list that I haven't done but most imperatively, I think at least I'll die with a smile reminiscing the good memories of the things that I have done.

:) eKa @ 8:03:00 PM • 0 comments

Mr Robert Downey Jr, I Love You

Watched Due Date today. The hype about this movie is that it's from the director of The Hangover. Well I didn't find it to be as hilarious and as crazy as The Hangover but I thought it was pretty entertaining. All I can say after watching the movie is what I wrote as the title of this post :P To say that Due Date is not as crazy as The Hangover is kinda a bit of an understatement. There were some crazy and overly dramatic moments, for example when their first car flew over a flyover highway. I also wondered if an air marshall would just easily shoot someone and seriously, you can get kick out of a plane just by uttering the word terrorist and bomb? It's rather silly, don't you think?

Something that I kinda like about this movie is how real the characters are. Yes, the characters played by Robert Downey Jr and (especially) Zach Galifianakis are perhaps pretty weird but the way they interacted with each other are mostly like how normal people (under their circumstances) would interact. Anyway, all of us have a certain weirdness about us too, right? :D They're not overly crazy or anything unless during the crazy moments they were into. They were rather civilized and even polite to each other. So the story revolved around how these 2 slightly strange people have to survive a crazy roadtrip together. I have to say that the thing that I like the most about the movie is Robert Downey Jr. He's just so cool. He's like Johnny Depp cool :D Well, if you're expecting The Hangover, it's not it, so you may get disappointed but it's still quite an entertaining movie :)

That's pretty much how I spent today. This week has been rather calm. So I kinda like it. Well it does help that it's a short week. I'm not looking forward much for next week but I have to be positive about it. I'm so looking forward for the next public holiday. I have nothing much else to update peeps. Life is same old same old. I am happy though for all the friends who have had dinner or lunch with me this week ;) I wish us all happiness :)

:) eKa @ 8:17:00 PM • 1 comments

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