Our Own Movie World

I went to Universal Studios yesterday, as a friend had corporate tickets. It was the second time (third time actually if counting the night visit once) I was there, and there have been several changes.

First, the Broadway street has been altered a little to cater to the Sesame Street characters. Second, the Transformers ride is now functioning, so there is a yellow car on display. Other than that, there are no other changes to the place.

Entrance of Universal Studios

Once we entered Universal Studios, we were in New York's Broadway, and a Hollywood sign above the entrance. After passing by the whole Broadway, we went to the first ride - Madagascar, but did not go in. Instead, we went straight on to Far Far Away.

 Hollywood sign above the entrance

 

 New York Broadway

 

 Recognise this? Shrek's house, or rather, Shrek's dungeon.

 

 Princess Fiona's castle which I love, although I love the Cinderella castle in Walt Disney better.

 

 

After coming out from Far Far Away, we decided to go to Waterworld to see how the good and evil tribes battle for the knowledge and ground of dry land, with the help of the mariner. The details can be found here. Since Waterworld is next to Jurassic Park, we decided to go to Jurassic Park next to take the Canopy Ride. On the way, we saw a dinosaur, and several ones too.

It was a long queue for the Canopy Ride. Apparently there is a queue for all the rides, so we had to wait around half an hour to forty-five minutes to get the ride. On the wall of the Jurassic Park Canopy Ride, we saw an insect embedded in a rock.

 

After finishing the Canopy Ride, I was famished so we went to the food court which is next to Jurassic Park for lunch. 

 

 This dinosaur is in front of the entrance to the food court

 

Interior of the food court

 

Since it was lunch time, the food court was very crowded. I had to queue and wait for another half an hour before I could get my food. And the food was expensive, a rice set with meat and vegetables and a drink cost me S$11.50! Absolute daylight robbery! Furthermore, the food was not that fantastic in the first place, just a normal tasting dish. What to do, since this place is a tourist attraction, hence everything is pricey?

 

After eating, we decided to take the new Transformers Simulation Ride. That is my favourite of all! The simulation ride makes us enter into the battle of the Autobots and Decepticons, and real effects were being simulated. I thoroughly enjoyed that and would really love to take that again!

 

 Bumblebee car

 

 

After the Transformers Simulation Ride, we decided to try out the Mummy Underground Rollercoaster. For me, I have been on the rollercoaster twice, and my friends wanted to try it out to prepare them for the Battlestar Galactica Rollercoaster later on. When we reached the Mummy Rollercoaster, we had to put our things in a locker before entering as we were not allowed to bring anything inside.

 

 

After the exciting Mummy Underground Rollercoaster ride, my friends wanted to try the Battlestar Galatica Rollercoaster. Unfortunately, at that point in time, the rollercoaster was closed for a while due to thunder. So we decided to wander around Broadway and take the slow Madagascar Boat Ride.

 

Along the way, we passed by a subway, brownstones, a police car, even Sesame Street themed shops, and Oscar statuettes!

 

 Me want Cookie too!

 

 

After the slow Madagascar boat ride, my friend enquired if the Battlestar Galactica was up again, and it was! So they went on the ride. First they tried the red rollercoaster, then tried the more challenging blue rollercoaster. Me? I did not have the guts, so I just sat around waiting for them. :-P

 

After their rides, I had to go so bade them farewell while they continued with the other rides. But actually we have already gone on the best the theme park has to offer. On my way back, I happened to see the Sesame Street show outside City Hall, and took a few pictures of my favourite characters!

 

 Big Bird and Elmo

 

 Cookie Monster and Grover (I can never remember the pink girl's name)

 

 Ernie and Bert

 

 Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover

 

The girl with the forgotten name

 

And thus concludes my day trip to Universal Studios!





A Surprise Invitation!

A long time ago, back during my teaching days, I tutored this girl for two years, and she went on to score straight As and entered the best girl's school here. Her mother was so grateful to me that she would still contact me occasionally to ask about books and recommendations. I have been keeping in touch with the mother on and off, but I have totally lost touch with the girl.

 

Actually I do not think I did much. The girl herself is smart and hardworking, hence by the time I started tutoring her, she was already making very good progress. In fact, she asked for a tutor because her grades dropped from ninety plus to eighty plus! Where can you get students like that nowadays? Those I taught refused to even learn even when they were failing! So I do not think I actually did a lot for her.

 

In any case, around three years back, I asked the mother about the daughter. The mum said she would be going to Australia to do Medicine. I have always known this girl is smart and hardworking, so I know she will definitely have a great future ahead. Unfortunately, I could not contact the girl before she left.

 

A year back, the mother added me on Facebook, and through her, I found the girl. She still remembers me! Yesterday, the mother sent me an invitation, asking me to go to her house for Lunar New Year. This came as a big surprise because we have not met up for a long time, ever since I stopped tutoring the girl. She said precisely because we have not met for a long time, hence we should meet up and catch up. The girl herself would be leaving back to her studies soon after the new year, so she asked me to go over and visit.

 

Now, that is one nice family! This invitation really came as a surprise, and I was delighted at the same time. Which is why I say sometimes God sent the best people into my life without me knowing. Now I am really looking forward to meeting up with them after so long!

Thank God For Friends!

I just finished a Christmas lunch party with my closest girlfriends from school, and their other halves of course. We have been doing this every year since 2009, and we would have gift exchanges to each other and each other's kids.

 

I really want to thank God for blessing my with great friends who have always been nice, generous and supportive, no matter what I do, and the decisions I made. Even though I have cried and whined and grumbled and flared up, they still stick by me, believed in me and listened to me. The saying is true - one does not need to have many friends, just a few who are true to you is enough. I have learnt this through experience, some may claim to be your friends, but they run away and start judging and ostracising the moment you get into trouble or they feel you let them down.

 

True friends do not judge nor ostracise nor run away when you get into trouble. They will stick with you through thick and thin and believe in you even if the whole world think otherwise. They will support and accept you even if they do not approve what you do. These are real friends, and not fair-weather friends.

 

Which is why I always look forward to meeting up with my girlfriends, because the close girlfriends I have are those that are really the epitome of true friends. Even though most have married and have kids, we still remain close and they will still have time for me and care about me. And for sure I will do the same if and ever I get married and have kids of my own too.

 

In this holiday season, the one thing I want to be grateful for besides my family, are my friends, who always place their unwavering faith in me and help me up when I am down. This is something God has really blessed me with beyond my dreams.

An (Overdue) Reunion ...

Today I had a long overdue reunion with my primary school classmates, many of whom I have not seen in, well, ever since we graduated. Most of them are married with kids of their own, and a couple of them brought their entire brood. There are at least two who have four kids, and one expecting her fourth. Very productive! Our government should be happy. :-P

 

It was a casual lunch potluck gathering. I provided fried noodles, roasted duck and drinks, and the rest brought local hawker fare, fried chicken wings, sushi and dessert. The kids and adults both ate hungrily, but there was still quite a lot of food leftover.

 

It was a good catching up session, but unfortunately, we did not manage to take any photos as I was busy entertaining, and the rest were busy running after and feeding their kids. I did not even manage to talk to some of them much, as most of them needed to leave early due to their young kids. Oh well... that is the sacrifice of parenthood I suppose.

 

It was indeed a lovely catching up session. How I wish more turned up, then the whole session would be much more fun! I am looking forward to doing this again next time, if there ever is another gathering!

Exploring Kuala Lumpur

Finally I am back from my long trip to Sarawak, where I dropped by Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days, and met up with fellow blogger Julie Lim. All thanks to her, I had a field day exploring the sights of Kuala Lumpur, especially the famous Petronas Twin Towers!

Going to Kuala Lumpur is a welcome change, as after having been stuck in the jungle, I could not wait to get back to civilisation! Unfortunately, the flight to Kuala Lumpur from Miri was late, and by the time I reached the domestic airport in Kuala Lumpur, it was two hours later than what was originally scheduled. To top it off, there was a massive jam from the airport all the way to KL Sentral, where the shuttle bus dropped me. I was supposed to check in at my accommodation around five, but by the time I arrived, it was close to eight.

I was supposed to meet the KL Choicers for dinner, but since I arrived late and was uncontactable by phone, they called my hotel and picked me up from KL Sentral where they treated me to a very delicious seafood dinner at Klang! I felt so welcomed and honoured!

The next day, I met up with Julie where we went for lunch at Pavilion Mall, then embarked on our walking tour of Kuala Lumpur. First she brought me to see the twin towers, then we went to Petaling Street, Central Market, birthplace of Kuala Lumpur, then past a small hill to St John's Cathedral where we attended mass, and finally ended up with dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

 The buildings surrounding the park in front of the twin towers

The park in front of the twin towers

 One twin tower ...

 

Two twin tower ...

 

 And the iconic twin towers!

 Old Railway Station of Kuala Lumpur

 I kind of like these grafitti! Very artistic!

 Petaling Street, the Chinatown

Actually Petaling Street reminds me of my own Chinatown. The layout is about the same, and there are also many stalls selling products for tourists. However, Petaling Street has a very soothing drink that tastes like water chestnut or longan called mata kuching. Directly opposite Petaling Street is a very famous coffee shop selling beef noodles and the biggest bun I have ever seen.

 Central Market

It was the first day of Ramadan, so there were people distributing packets of porridge to everyone in the late afternoon near Central Market. Unfortunately since I had to leave, I did not have the chance to taste the porridge.

 Old shophouses near Petaling Street

 This fountain is near the birthplace of Kuala Lumpur

 The layout of this stretch reminds me of our City Hall and Padang

For some reason the day I was there, the roads were cordoned off, hence there was hardly anybody around.

 The KL Tower

 St John's Cathedral where we attended mass

 Interior of St John's Cathedral

I had a great day meeting up with Julie and learning more about Kuala Lumpur. Despite our countries being next to each other, I have never actually been to Kuala Lumpur as most of the time, my parents would bring me to other places like Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Fraser's Hill, Malacca, even Penang, but never in Kuala Lumpur itself. 

So this was the first time I was actually in Kuala Lumpur, and it was really an unforgettable experience as I got to see quite a number of sights. Thanks to all these memories that made my trip so unforgettable!