Singapura, The Lion City: Sentosa Island Adventure

Thank you for coming over. Glad to share with you another day of adventure in Singapore --- the Lion City. Today, we are scheduled to visit Sentosa Island. That means exploring Resorts World, enjoying a cable car ride and going around the Universal Studios. 

Resorts World

Relaxing by the fountain

Taking turns posing at the fountain with Merlion at the background

Meet my family

Ana Cristina (Tin) - our younger daughter; Billy - my husband and me 

Me with my two daughters - Ayana Grace (Yan) - our elder daughter and Tin;
hubby and me

Getting closer and closer to the big Merlion

A few more steps to the Merlion...

 Meeting the Merlion at Sentosa

But before the most awaited meeting, photo ops first

The kids with baby Merlion

Oh, there you are, Merlion! Half lion and half fish, as the legend tells. Now I know---the story of the lion (singa) and city (pura) from the folklore of Prince Sang Nila Utama; and the fish tail symbolizing the ancient fishing village of Temasek (sea). Truly, you are Singapore's iconic figure!

This giant Merlion statue in Sentosa is one of the five famous Merlion figures in Singapore. The other two Merlions are located at the Merlion Park which I will show you later in this post. Of course, we, just like the other tourists, wouldn't miss seeing that. The last two Merlions are said to be located at Mt. Faber and the Tourism Court.

This huge Merlion is believed to stand guarding the prosperity of Singapore. The legend tells of Merlion's yearly visit to Sentosa Island looking after its well-being. Click HERE to read more on how the magical powers of Merlion overpowered the threat of the storm to preserve the place. Since then, this legendary figure has been known to watch over the "ever changing skyline of the Central Business District area and harbour, as well as the country's economic growth through the numerous financial crises". 

Waaahhhh!!!! What travestry is this!? Who cut Merlion's face?! 😢😭

I loved looking at the different colors of the express train. 

  The adventure wouldn't have been complete without a train ride...

... and a family selfie on board.

At Imbiah Look Out

The cable car experience. 

I'm all smilies. Why not? This was my first ever cable car ride.

Hubby enjoying the view or posing for the cam? Chos!

Oh, wow, look at that! A trail of cable cars approaching!

Now, the Universal Studios. Yahoo!

Universal Studios Singapore (USS) consists of several theme zones. We didn't have the luxury of time to visit the whole of USS. We had to be content at just passing through some areas yet lingered a little bit on zones where all the four of us were interested most. 

The Hollywood

As we walked along, we passed by a replica of the Hollywood Boulevard. We stopped to watch the waitresses dance at Mel's Dinettes.

See that? My husband taking a good catch of the dancing waitresses! 

Pangs of hunger slowly set in and couldn't be ignored anymore so we headed towards  Mel's Drive-in, a classic 1950s American diner. 

This is where we quickly grabbed sandwiches, french fries and drinks.

We had to make it quick and fast! Aside from the fact that there were a lot of tourists on queue, look what it says over there...

Besides, there were still a lot to explore. 

We chanced upon this acrobatic dance performance of the Best Street Dancers - Rockafellas Streetboys at the Palace World Premiere. 

The Hollywood Walk of Fame

We let our hands pose at Audrey Hepburn's star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I wonder if our two daughters had any idea who Audrey Hepburn was!? 😀 Oh, this is just one of the thousands of stars embedded along the sidewalks and these stars are said to be made of terrazzo and brass, special materials used for flooring and wall treatment.

Now, look at this beauty! The world's famous, Marilyn Monroe! How could anybody ever miss this beautiful face!

Well, there's a story behind these poses with Marilyn Monroe. Funny because the photo op should have been done with Ms. Monroe in the middle. 😀😁😂 See, she was strategizing our position such that she would be in the middle.

But look, I deliberately positioned myself on the other side, away from her so that Billy would be the one in the middle. Nice plot I thought of eh? And guess what, she was really smart and fast to catch what I had in mind!!! 

Take a closer look at the photo above. She was actually asking us, "Oh, so you would like it to look like we're fighting over one man!" And I readily said, "YES!" because that was exactly the idea I wanted. 

Well, my husband never even thought that I could imagine such script in an instant. Google for images of Marilyn Monroe in Universal Studios and you will see her always at the center. She's the star of the show, remember!

Now, isn't this cute? I so love this photo!

Hmmm... am I supposed to get jealous seeing this?
Wait, why didn't I get to have a pose with her?

New York

Walking along the New York Zone, we reached the New York Public Library where Ana Cristina (Tin) requested me to take this shot of her. Nice pose? The Lion Queen. Peace, Tin! ✌

Tin in front of The New York Public Library

The Sci-Fi City

In this zone, one finds space-age technologies and the ultimate futuristic conveniences. All of us readily agreed to take the Transformers Ride. No regrets! The dark ride allowed us to span across levels of 3D-HD video imagery.  I had fears of getting dizzy at certain points throughout the ride so I cheated by keeping my eyes half-closed (or half-open?). The 4D effects in the form of water spray, wind, etc. have so enhanced the ride making it a seeming real experience! I almost thought I would fall down the cliff! Thanks to Optimus Prime who once again proved to be the hero! He arrived to the rescue at the most opportune time!

Oh, it's you, you're real!

Ancient Egypt

Statues of Ancient Egypt

"Hey, what's that you're holding? It must be heavy!"

Grrrrr.... 

Ngiiiiii!

Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, her husband the Pharaoh and me

Unlike the pose with Marilyn Monroe, the story behind this pose with Egyptian Queen Nefertiti and Pharaoh, her husband, was not funny. I was hoping I would succeed at getting another plot done for this photo op, but I was wrong. My attempt at staying between the two of them holding each of their arms was a total failure. Instead, they followed me with that fierce look causing me to turn round and round as a way of escape from a possible attack. You see me smiling, but you should have heard my chest thud in fear as both Pharaoh and Nefertiti showered that ferocious look upon me. I thought they would eat me raw! I was awaken from that seeming nightmare when I heard the voice of my daughters telling me to face the camera to get the shot done. Oh, well, see that face? Who would have thought I was signalling distress then? Great show, don't you think? 

Posing with the cast of The Mummy, with Brendan James Fraser look-alike.

The Lost World: The Jurassic Park 

Yan and Tin joined the fun at the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure's final splashdown while hubby and I explored the other places and took time to rest.

Far, Far Away

We watched Donkey Live, an interactive live show, featuring digital puppetry with Donkey entertaining and engaging the audience in conversation inside the theater. Hmmm... I liked this show the least. 

Ayana Grace and Ana Cristina with the four zoo animals (Alex, Gloria, Marty and Melman) who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and crashed on the island of Madagascar in a DreamWorks animation hit.

Oooopppssss... sorry, I cut their faces 😭😰😱😬

It's give and take with Kung Fu Panda

Yan and Billy giving Kung Fu Panda their big hugs. 

Now, it's our turn, Kung Fu Panda, come on, give Tin and me your hug! Isn't that sweet?
So soft and cuddly!

 Back to the Hollywood Street, one will get a chance to meet the monster Frankenstein. 

It's been 4 years, yes, but I have to confess, I could still vividly remember how I enjoyed watching Frankenstein's irresistible antics with Tin while posing for these photos. Deep inside, I thought, "What's he doing with my child?" He never did those poses for a number of female tourists on queue before us!!!! He was actually in a hurry to pose with the next girl. (Googling on images of Frankenstein in Universal Studios show photo ops of him strangulating people or frightening them away creating 'scenes'.) And now, look how he took time posing with my daughter! Mind you, the queue of tourists waiting for their turn has slowly become longer. Mixed reactions from a mother whose daughter caught the attention of one drama figure like the monstrous Frankenstein!

Here they are--- the same poses featured in my blog post for Tin's birthday last July. Click FrankensTin to read on.

Frankenstein: "'Tis is she, the love of my life---
my next victim."

Frankenstein: "Go ahead, kill me, kill me!"

Frankenstein: "Hey, mom, can I take your daughter's hand?"

And now, this is one of our favorite family photos taken with these live puppets.

Time to move on now. The day is about to end. What's next in our itinerary? The Supertrees Grove at Gardens by the Bay! Wow, look at all these supertrees all lined up by the park! What a grandiose view these trees make! Surreal experience? Indeed, it was! An amazing strategy of transforming the city into a garden. Simply beautiful! It's a pity that we were not able to view the place at daytime to appreciate the cool ambiance of its greens and flora.

Now they're green.

I so loved the changing hues that I gazed at the trees long enough to catch the different colors. 

Then they become blue.

Now what color is this?

 (Thank God, I didn't have a stiff neck the following day!) 

 Photo on far right showing a supertree with the glittering Marina Bay Sands at the background

Beautiful!

I didn't realize then that there were gardens by the east and south, and a central garden, too! We were at the largest part, the Bay South Garden. But just looking at all these photos will tell you how we couldn't seem to get a full dose of the garden's beauty. 

The night wouldn't have been complete without this pose with the supertrees behind me.

We missed how these trees come alive at night with its rich display of lights and sounds. The canopies of the trees provide shade during the day. But there was no more time for us to visit the place the following day. Sad to say, the next day was our last day 😢😭

From the Gardens, we took a taxi that brought us to Orchard Road. There we walked leisurely at first, trying to feel more of the city. Then we decided to call it a day but we couldn't find the nearest taxi bay, so we walked and walked and walked until our legs could no longer carry us. No more photos taken at Orchard Road as all our cameras were then exhausted. It was a great relief when we finally found a taxi. We were dead tired when we reached Perak Hotel. Goodnight, everyone! Click HERE to read on our adventure at the Merlion Park. It's our last day in Singapore tomorrow. See you there!

If you missed Day 1, you can click HERE.