'Storming' Universal Studio Singapore!

Ring!!!! My alarm buzzed at 7.50am & I jumped out of bed. I'm finally going to visit the Universal Studio at Resorts World this morning! Never tot that I will be going so soon but unnie Clara is nice enuf to let me join in her bro's co's family day ^_^  Juz when i reached Resorts World at 9am, the stormy clouds gave way to a drizzle, then turned into a thunderstorm! We kept hoping the rain will stop soon...

Wif clara's dad & bro, we went into Universal Studio & hung around the hollywood street while her bro went to fetch some brollies... Meanwhile, i took out my cam & started doing shots for them... Only this area is sheltered & the USS staff were nice enuf to lend some umbrellas, but not enuf to share among the ppl.  Hence, each round they led only a small group to the function room. When Clara & me started walking out in the storm, my shoes was 'flooded' in seconds! The 'reward' for walking to the function room was a scumptious breakfast waiting for us! The various types of sandwiches, croissants & danish were really tasty!

Welcome to Far Far Away

After breakfast, we were glad the thunderstorm had reduced to a drizzle & saw the Far Far Away Castle nearby... Saw a Q for the Shrek 4-D show, in fact we juz blur blur joined the Q, haha! Wow! How i like the inside ambience, wif incandescent lights & 'fire-torches' lining the walls! The doors opened; each of us picked up a 3-D specs & walked into a 'dungeon'... This is the holding area where we watched a story intro by the animated 3 Little Pigs & the Magic Mirror... our mission was to rescue Princess Fiona! As we proceeded into the theatre, the 4-D show was really exciting! You can feel ur chairs shaking, water sprayed right into ur face, cold air blowing on ur neck & the most yucky was spiders creeping at ur feets ~ which made us screamed!

Kawaii!

When done wif the Shrek 4-D show, we had fun doing photo-shoots outside the castle... there's alot of visitors crowding around, so it's pretty hard to take pics. But this is definately my fav photo-spot! My poor cam 仔kana the most water today... had to photograph in the rain since this is a rare opportunity! Next, we walked to 'The Lost World', one of the theme areas here. There were a few rides inside Jurassic Park, but we opt out the adrenaline rushing ones, saw rides wif ur feets dangling in the skies, or get yourself wet in the water-rides... So so....clara suggested we go for the kiddy ride on the Dino-Soarin ~ flying Pteranodon, haha! I chose this purple Pteranodon & off we flew in the skies for a few minutes, quite fun actually!

We simply luv the castle!

Moving on, we arrived at 'Ancient Egypt' & many visitors were scrambling to get a shoot of the gigantic warriors mummies guarding the gates. Then, clara walked thru' the area & we discovered a nice photography point... I quickly gathered her family & helped them snap a shot wif the fountain & full view of the castle as backdrop! Suddenly, the storm returned!!! Argg... that's really dampening & luckily there's a sheltered area wif seats for us to wait-out the storm! Her bro & I had wanted go for 1 more show or ride, but clara had no more mood....so we walked thru' 'Sci-Fi City' to 'New York' street area.

Looks Yummy!

Melman the crazy giraffe: "Oh! Dun Shoot Me, I'm camera-shy..."

Over here, I like how the street was decked out & provided more shooting opportunities along the short stretch...Then, we headed to 'Madagascar' for a ride on the carousel! As we route back to Hollywood street, we saw mascots finally making appearance! Woody Woodpecker! We quickly joined the Q to take a snapshot wif Woody... Then, I saw Kungfu Panda! Ah! One of my fav & i dragged Clara to take pic too! We were lucky to be the last in the Q as Panda need to take a rest soon... keke! This rounded up our trip at Universal Studio & after lunch at RamenPlay, I bidded goodbye to them.  Lastly, strolled 1 round at RWS for more shoots bef heading home. It's really a memorable day, esp wif the STORM! Thank you unnie clara ^o^

Pic wif Woody Woodpecker

Maybe we should take up some Kungfu lessons wif Panda too?

"La La La, Merry Christmas Folks!"

A Peep into Universal Studio @ Resorts World。。。

I was excited that Universal Studio is offering $2 evening tickets starting today (every fri & sat only)! I dated Ruby to explore it tog & this seems like a brilliant idea for my photography jaunt :) We boarded the RWS bus no.8 outside VivoCity at 6pm, it costs $2 for the to & fro shuttle. Upon stepping into the exterior of the Resort Worlds Casino area, we lost our way as we were unsure how to get up to the 2nd level, haha! Surprised to see the BreadTalk group roaring gd biz, wif a bakery, ToastBox & RamenPlay at the main lobby.  After Ruby got directions from one of the staff, we discovered that should get up the escalator upon entering, haha! Silly us!

Woo! Saw the familiar sights of the Universal Studio's Globe upon getting up & excitingly snapped some shots....it was really crowded. Then we saw a short Q at the ticketing booths & i confirmed wif the gal that it's the correct Q for the $2 tixs!(tix sales start from 6.30pm) We got our tix really fast, but admission only starts from 7pm... so we still had abt 20mins to go! We utilised our time for more shoots while waiting.

Juz bef 7pm, we spotted long Qs leh! Omg! Kiasu-ly, we quickly joined one of the Qs... by now, i was already sweating big time due to the super humid weather! Alas, we joined the slowest Q lah & we juz couldn't wait to get in. Once we stepped in, there was a sense of happiness brewing inside me! Time suddenly seems to reverse back to being a kid... yeah! we r 2 big kids! Anyway, there's always a sense of 童心未泯 in me, keke! Ruby said this reminds her of Lotte World in Korea.... while i felt that it's like Movie World in Gold Coast! It's been 3yrs since our last trip to korea's theme parks! (how we miss the fun times!)

The huge Hollywood sign greeted us at the entrance & the whole street was magically lit up with neon lights, English lamp-posts & palm trees! Now, the air con certainly alleviates the heat we felt earlier! Took our time leisurely to snap almost each & every building....haha! Then, spotted tis cheery red Popcorn car....aww, cute! alot of kids swamped it for shots & had to wait for my turn!

We were amused by all the kawaii window displays of the merchandise too....then, both of us spotted The Dark Room ~ which sells photographic supplies. The shopfront is really creative, wif a big camera....Juz as i was focusing on taking a shot, Ruby screamed! Oops, I had stepped onto her & her slippers gave way! Waahaha! It's the ‘惹祸的拖鞋’ again! (re: Monga post). Sorry lah, buddy.... i tot u were on my left, din even realise u stood silently by my rite side (can't help giggling while typing this)! Luckily, i suddenly remember she still had her track shoes in her gym bag! That's a life-saving one! ^_^""

At the end of the Hollywood Boulevard street sits a brightly-lit spurting fountain...I'm glad that I was able to capture some nice shots done at slow shutter speed ~ freehand! Thou, we had tripod, we never used it at all....i gathered its faster, since the whole place was pretty crowded. But i saw a grp of avid photographers armed wif tripods and accessories, trying to shoot the fountain area too.

Next, we came across The Brown Derby & saw many ppl trying on different styles of party hats! I even asked Ruby "isit free, so many ppl trying on?'' It turned out to be really FOC! So we gladly joined in the fun lah! Ruby asked me grab the Jester's hat! Woohoo! That's really wat i eyed earlier lo!

Then, we took a turn into the alley for a few shots, suddenly heard loud gun-like noises! We quickly walked to the waterfront & caught sight of the magnificent fireworks! It was really fabulous & veri close-up! There were bursts of fireworks from the water & the skies! When merged tog, created falling stars! We stood in awe viewing the short fireworks display. It was really a nice surprise as I din except to have one in our veri own theme park!

When the crowd dispersed after the fireworks, we decided to snap pics of the castle! Another test of how stable your hands is & i suggested to Ruby to try the timer function... There's a few different colours, ranging from bright pink to purple & blue illuminating the castle. I managed to capture some nice shots, wif its reflective waters too!

We were both exhausted & hungry after all the shooting, but funny us, we still continued wif some more on our way to exit, haha! The theme park closes at 9pm & by the time we exit, it was close to 9pm lo! We had to decide between eating in RWS or back to Vivo. But we had yet to explore finish, so we decided to join the long Q at RamenPlay... Had a long wait for my Wafu Shoyu Ramen & Ruby's Tebasaki Ramen + side order of Ebi Mentai. I already waited from hungry to not-so-hungry :( Can sense that the staff at this outlet were not as well-train as 313@Somerset's,  cos when i requested for ice water, the waitress re-filled our glasses wif hot water!

After filling our tummies, I felt rejuvenated again! Yeah Yeah! Our ultimate target was to visit Hard Rock Hotel! I'm a HRC fan, but usually collects the pins & tees from overseas... As we were travelling up the escalators, we loved the digital images & changing neon lights overhead... We strolled into Festive Hotel's lobby & were greeted with alot of pop art images & colouful ceiling. It generated a whole warm ambience.... Then, we wondered how to get thru' to Hard Rock....we took the exterior path & i was surprised by the chic layout of Hard Rock's lobby! Granite flooring wif posh black sofas, we immediately launched ourselves onto the sofas! Woohoo! Both of us had the same sentiments ~ dun mind camping a nite here, no need room also can!

However, there's an end to all good things & we gotta leave by 11pm... It was really a fun & unforgettable nite at Universal Studio's Walk of Fame.... I will be BACK!

Dreamer's Photography Tips: Utilise a railing or improvise anything around you as support to stablise your shots (for long exposures).