One score and seven years ago, my parents brought forth onto this Earth a new life, conceived in honeymoon bliss, dedicated to the proposition that one should never underestimate the fertility of a Wong woman.
I grace *curtsy* this planet at approximately 4pm Petaling Jaya time, screaming, kicking and totally rocking the botak look.
27 years later, an organised whim lands me on the metropolis of Singapore, sweating buckets and lugging a backpack through the intriguing streets of Geylang. But the toil quickly ends when we locate our cozy Airbnb layover lair, tuck into an “exotic” looking apartment.
A nap is in order, but play no hindrance to dinner plans.
chijmes
Because Mr. Google recommended it and every birthday girl needs a drink, we hop onto a Uber for Chijmes.
In a nutshell, love the place, love the ambience, love the buzz, love the lights.
In particular, love the concourse with the lush carpet grass and bean bags strewn around for tipsy drinkers or stargazing couples.
But loitering on oversized batu serembans will have to wait, because if the intense churning in my stomach is any indication, dinner beckons.
Of the many restaurants available, we picked Prive, because a crowd equals scrumptious nosh, right? Or perhaps we fell prey to the sheep effect.
Either way, we score a table. The first one offered was round with the diameter of two regular pizzas. After making it clear that that won’t work, the manager led us to a more reasonably sized rectangular table, so kudos to their service.
The ambience is pretty. Warm white (marry a guy from a lighting business family and learn terms like that) light bulbs hang around like vines, emitting the perfect amount of shine for an ideal culinary experience.
We waste no time ordering…
… And blow less time shovelling food down our throats.
I would comment on the quality of food, but my ravenous state at the moment disqualifies me as a reliable food critic.
Universal studio singapore
There is a formula to The Perfect Theme Park Experience (T.P.T.P.E).
Limited crowd + Good Weather = T.P.T.P.E
Despite being a weekday, there was a notable crowd. Perhaps, we have the school holiday to thank for that. Fortunately, waits were consistently 20 minutes or less, so yippee-yay-yay!
However, Singapore is always synonym with a chance of rain. Yet, the sun shone like the ball of fire it is as we stepped past the giant rotating globe, under the freshly displayed Christmas decorations and into the park.
In fact, we managed to squeeze in a heathy helping of thrill rides and “family-friendly” ones before black clouds taunt us overhead followed by the promised bout of pouring tropical rain.
Speaking of thrill rides, here’s a quote to chew on:
The standard of a theme park lies in the quality of its thrill rides. ~ Chow Ping, self-proclaimed theme park expert
Therefore, bear with me as I dissect the lone thrill ride(s) of Universal Studio Singapore.
Battlestar Galactica: HUMAN vs. CYCLON is a two part roller coaster. Based on TV series Battlestar Galactica, choose if you want your feet tugged safely within the vehicle (human), or dangle with a chance of amputation (cyclone).
Obviously, we rode both. And here’s the expert’s (me) verdict:
Note: Score is rated from a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being atrocious; 10- orgasm-worthy.
Human
First impression: 7
G force sensation: 5
Turns: 8
Duration of ride: 4
Pee in pants factor: 5.5
Average score: 5.9
Cyclon
First impression: 8
G force sensation: 6
Turns: 5
Duration of ride: 4
Pee in pants factor: 6.5
Average score: 5.9
One second thought, allow me to modify the aforementioned formula.
Limited crowd + Good Weather + Great Company = T.P.T.P.E
And the company was awesome.