First Impressions: Singapore (Day 3)

Off to Universal Studios Singapore in Sentosa! By the second day I was already so adept with the train system in Singapore that I could actually figure out our train route quicker than my sister who has lived and worked in Lah-lah-land for more than 4 years now. But because this is my first time to go to Sentosa, I let her take the lead.

It was fun riding the monorail to Sentosa and all, but upon arriving at the island, I was struck by the, uhm, smallness of it all. Yes, I was underwhelmed, especially when I saw the Universal globe spinning outside the park gate. “Gee, why does it look small?” I asked myself. It sure looked a lot bigger in other people’s pictures.

Okay, so it’s slightly bigger and technologically better than Enchanted Kingdom (which, by the way, is not bad at all), but I guess the imagined and anticipated is often better than the actual.

Still, an amusement park is an amusement park. And though we only had a few hours to spare, we were determined to enjoy our brief visit there. So we set our sights on the latest offering—Transformers the Ride!

Despite it being a Monday, the line was effing long. Outside the park staff were warning the crowd that the waiting time was one hour and twenty minutes; despite that, we got in line. It snaked this way and that; it was so winding, after a while I joked, “When we get to the end of the line, we’ll be at Orchard Road.” What puzzled me at first was why the line kept moving; I thought, like in the Rialto of EK, people would pile into a room, watch for 5-7 minutes, then file out. Apparently the ride is more like EK’s Log Jam—several cars going around in a loop.

I think it was the most enjoyable 5-7 minutes ever in my whole trip.

We went all around the park, but didn’t ride anymore because of the long lines. Both my sisters grabbed Ben & Jerry’s ice cream but I declined; not only did I still have a terrible cold, but really because I’m more of a Hagen Daas guy.

Last day in Singapore was spent in Terminal 2 of Changi Ariport. Man, that airport alone is worth the trip to Singapore! I love how it is a mini-world of its own. There are so many things one can do while waiting for your plane to depart, it’s possible for someone to miss one’s flight. Free wifi, open computer terminals, TV lounges, free phone charging, shops, gym, museum, and restaurants galore. My sister and I tried one of those free electronic foot massages (the one we tried is called the uSqueez) because we’ve been on our feet practically the whole day—man, after that, I felt that I could run back and forth the whole length of the airport and not complain. The next time I’m in Singapore, I can miss riding the huge Ferris wheel or the Jurassic Park water ride, but I will not miss a free foot massage at Changi Airport.

And so ended our brief trip. I know passengers are supposed to switch off their electronic devices during take off and landing, but I just had to videotape our last look at Singapore.

I shall return.