

Today we had passes to go to Universal Studios. I expected us to get done with the place around 3PM - post which we decided we would go to the city side and catch the Escher display at the museum near Marina Bay Sands (we had set our eyes on it when we had gone there on Sunday). I did some research online and found out that it is best if you go early to U.Studios so that you avoid the queues that form for the rides. So we started for the place around 9:45 and made our entry at 10. You enter the place onto Hollywood :) There is a Minion store (I decided to stop there while exiting to buy stuff), there are places to eat and other fancy stuff to do. On the left side at the end of the street is Madagascar !!! As soon as you take the turn you can see the ship in which the 4 of them left the zoo. And there is a boat ride that takes you along a journey of theirs where they are doing some nonsense - was pretty cool :) There were some more "locations" that they had in the area and I ensured that we saw everything :)

After Madagascar, we entered Far Far Away and went for a 4D ride with Shrek, Gingerbread Man, that good-looking-evil-prince-dude and a few more. Was pretty neat - got the feeling of legs being grabbed, spit being sprayed on our faced, fireflies buzzing right next to our noses and what not - all this while Shrek and Donkey go on a quest to save Fiona! We then went on a small roller coaster called Puss in Boots - was pretty exciting :D
After this the route takes you to The Lost World (I was super excited about this place).

Dinosaurs everywhere!!! The most thrilling ride over there was one called Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure.


The basic theme is that we are visiting the park when there is a flood and raptors are loose !!! We were warned beforehand that everyone on the boat will get wet or very wet - so we dumped out stuff in lockers that they provide outside the ride (10 dollars per hour). If you go as a couple the chances of you getting your ride faster are higher as they look for groups of 1 or 2 to fill up a boat. The ride is super exciting, and there is one point when a T-rex is about to eat you up and you plunge down a waterfall!! As luck would have it, myself and Sudhir were the ones who got completely drenched :D All in all a super fun ride :) Sudhir had pre-decided to go for rock climbing that's there in this zone, and he did just that :)


After the Lost World, we went to Ancient Egypt. I have always loved Egyptian stuff since I was a kid, and this was paradise for me :) Took pics next to every single statue of Ra, Imhotep, Iris, Tutankhamen etc ... *lost far away look* Anyhoo, we went on this ride called the Revenge of the Mummy - a roller coaster in pitch blackness :D Basically Imhotep wants our souls and is chasing us in the ride, and there is a point where we actually go backwards at full speed !! Sudhir kept screaming "Take me Imhotep, take my soul" :D At the end of the ride, when we saw the pic that was taken, Sudhir was the only one with a huge grin on his face, while everyone else was screaming :D


After this we went to Sci-Fi city and went for the Best.Ride.Ever. Wow, the Transformers ride is insane. You wear the 3D head gear and are in a van of sorts that moves in all 3 axes in a 20 metre track - but it seems as though you have travelled kilometres because of the 3D graphics and movements !! The ride's concept is that you are signing up with Optimus Prime to fight Megatron and you are going through the city helping defeat the evil guys. There is a part in the ride where a huge metallic cat stomps on your vehicle, and you move with so much intensity

you feel as though you were actually hit by that thing ! After the ride, I was unable to walk straight due to vertigo :D We went for the ride again, stood in the queue all over again :P This time, we watched the ride without the goggles on all the time and realised that the effects are because the whole wall is a massive dome and there are screens where the video is playing - hence no matter where you turn your head, you are in the middle of all the action. This ride is totally worth your time in Universal Studios. Definite must-go, no matter how long the queue.
After this, we entered New York, saw some street performances and did a bit of shopping at the Minion store :)



We got done with this place around 2:30PM, post which we took the train to Marina Bay Sands to visit the museum and see the Escher exhibit. Escher was this dude who made all those infinite paintings/drawings. The
infinite staircase is his brain-child. The exhibit begins with how he began his works and what all influenced him and his works through the years. There is one section where you can try to build an image using shapes and their mirror images. Above that there is this long painting that transforms from a chess board to another chess board, while changing shapes to birds, houses, skies etc in the middle. While I was trying to view this and act all classy, I decided to lean on the wall to get a good view. I did not realise that the damn wall was slanting - and I landed on the floor with a loud crash and has several people stop mid-tracks and turn around to see who disturbed to delicate sanctum-sanctorum level silence of the place. I lifted myself off the floor with what little dignity I had left in me, while Sudhir was rolling on the floor laughing his ass off.
We finished the gallery (did not hurry up, mind you - in spite of the embarrassment I caused myself), and then decided to go to the mall once again to kill some time. We were famished and decided to eat Snickers that we were carrying with us (as food at stalls in Sentosa are freakishly expensive). We got done and then in the mall I wanted to have something to drink, and Sudhir reached for his wallet only to realise that IT WAS MISSING !!!! We ran outside thinking that it might have fallen while we were eating, but we did not find it there. I thought we should check at the Museum - just in case it fell off there (Even though Sudhir was quite sure there was no chance of that). In the reception, the guy took our details and then told us that someone had indeed found a wallet - which contained Sudhir's ID card (hence name and ownership of the wallet was verified); and that we could go collect it from the concierge counter in Marina Bay Sands. Luckily I was carrying our passports around with us and we used that as proof to collect his wallet. All his cards and money were intact in the wallet !!! Wow, we were so damn impressed with the honesty in this country :D
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Sudhir is super relieved after getting his wallet |
After collecting our stuff, we walked around the place. We passed by the "Affordable shops" I was secretly happy that I had shopped at Bath & Body Works the last time we were there as the sale was no longer present :P


We then realised that we have some time on our hands and that we could finish China Town as well. So, we were off to China Town. I needed to buy some quilting equipment for my mom, and as per Google, China Town had a shop which sold the stuff I needed (quilt cutter and quilt board). We found the shop and let me tell you, it is paradise for people who love to stitch and embroidery. Threads, beads, knives, scissors, sequins, boards, cloth rolls - everything under one roof. I got the 2 items my mom wanted and also got her chalks (which are used to mark cloths for cutting) and the bill was 20 dollars - which i thought was reasonable (amazon.in had similar prices, but the reviews weren't good - hence I was buying it from here).
We walked along the streets of China Town, picked up souvenirs here and there and then had dinner. The reason I write about dinner is because Sudhir had biryani :D

All in all a good day - we weren't too exhausted, and the break we were getting from all the walking at the start of the trip was helping our sore feet. We gave up on wearing our Vibrams as we realised that they are not for whole day wear for walking - you end up landing on your heels due to which they hurt more. So floaters / chappals it was and our feet felt much better. Either ways, our Vibrams were wet after the Jurassic park ride and we had washed them with soap to get rid of the smell from constant wearing for 5 days :-|
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