A Revisit to Universal Studios Singapore!

The last time we were in Universal Studios Singapore, Aiden was just over a year old. You can read the last blogpost here. (I took a visit down memory lane with Aiden by showing him the entry. He laughed his head off when I pointed out that he was crying in nearly every picture we took!)

Anyway, the trip to USS was merely an extension of my business trip to Johor. As mentioned in my previous post, I was asked to standby in the JB/Singapore area during the Christmas holidays hence the decision to bring the family over. We got a good deal online for the USS tickets; two adult tickets at $66 each which included a free coupon of $10 for food, $5 for souvenir and car park coupon worth $28. Of course we added on one child ticket for Aiden (Ian was free) and the total came to $186 (~RM588). Oh, a neighbour and her family joined us too... Aiden was so happy that he could go on 'adult' rides with Kakak Deena instead of merely riding with his lil' brother.

The ride into Singapore was not too bad, considering it was Christmas Eve. We tricked Aiden into believing that the Singapore immigration would have to 'interview' him before allowing him into the country. So we practiced a few lines such as "Why do you want to enter Singapore?" in which he answered with all the honest enthusiasm he could muster... "To have fun!!!!" Hubby and I broke into peals of laughter in the car. We even caught him practicing saying "Universal Studios Singapore" again and again to prepare for the 'interview'. *chuckles* Aaaahhh we are such naughty parents!

Universal Studios Singapore looked exactly the same as my last visit there, although they did splurge on the Christmas decorations this time around. We didn't bother going in early, our game plan was to just take our time and go on the more popular rides later in the evening when the queue time usually goes down significantly. Since USS is quite small, we tawaf the whole area at least 4 times in the hunt for rides with short queue lines. So make sure you wear good comfortable shoes!

Hollywood main street.

The Christmas tree at the end of the street.

We took a candid photo with Vin Diesel.

The first ride we went on was "Lights, Camera, Action" (hosted by Steven Spielberg). Needless to say, both Aiden and Ian walked out bawling in tears. They were super scared of the 'tornado' - it was that convincing! It all went downhill right after that because Aiden and Ian got super nervous whenever the ride included walking or riding into a dark area. For instance, Ian started panicking when we went into the Shrek 4D Adventure and Madagascar: A Crate Adventure. But at least he didn't cry. But for shows that were exceptionally loud, he would keep it all in until the end (such as the live Water World show) and once it ended, he started crying. *chuckles*

Just before the Lights, Camera, Action show. Honest laughter here. Little did he know about what he was going to experience after that!

Madagascar: A Crate Adventure.

Nervous faces on the two boys.

Honestly, USS isn't the best place to bring kids below 4. Exactly like Aiden 5 years ago, Ian didn't even crack a smile throughout our time there. Everything was either too loud or too scary for him. We tried our level best to make him happy with the (limited) kiddy rides available. We went on the Canopy Flyer (queue was super long, by the time we got in he was already exasperated), Magic Potion Spin (he got so tired of waiting for everyone to get on the ferris wheel that he demanded to be let out), and last but not least... this one takes the cake.... Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase (he didn't make the minimum height mark)!!!

Canopy Flyer... Aiden recognized the Jurassic Park theme song too!

Magic Potion Spin... they took such a long time loading people into each individual Ferris Wheel that by the time we got to the top, Ian started exclaiming "Apeeee, apeeee!!" (which meant "Open, open!!").

While we all went on the Spaghetti Space Chaser, the bapak bapak took responsibility of taking care of Ian (who didn't make the height mark). Dah macam gay couple pulak posing macamnie. *grin*

Posing with Elmo. Ian was deliriously happy to see his favourite character come to live. He kept exclaiming, "Mo! Mo!" *so cute*

Unlike Aiden at that age who screamed at anything huge and furry, Ian wasn't scared at all. He even gave Bert and Ernie a kiss on their cheeks!

Buttttt... the one thing that Ian did enjoy above all, was the Sesame Street Saves Christmas show. I believe this show was especially made for the Christmas season. Four shows daily, it was held inside a huge auditorium right opposite Mel's Drive In diner.  

Sesame Street Saves Christmas - last show for the day, hence the long queue. Don't be late; we were just a few minutes late for the third show and they were already turning people away as the auditorium was full.

Booster seats are also available outside the entrance, so Ian sat like a king that night.

The Sesame Street gang.

Check out Aiden's cheeky pose.

Anyway, here are the rest of the photos that we managed to take during our day here:

Fast asleep while waiting for the Daddies who went on the Battlestar Galactica.

Trying out the Minions merchandise at the store.

Snow at the Hollywood main street!

Monkey see, monkey do. Ian saw his Abang Aiden posing like that, and he tried to replicate the same! In his own Ian style, of course!

Posing in front of the Shrek castle.

After we took this picture, Fiona offered her cheek to Ian. Ian kissed her. Then we playfully asked Ian to kiss Shrek. And he did!!! *giggles*

Last but not least, confession time. I'm a huge scaredy cat. I hate roller coasters. Aiden definitely takes after me - he hates roller coasters too. But this time around, with a lot of encouragement from Kakak Deena and his love for Transformers, Aiden finally mustered up the courage to try the Transformers: The Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle. Me? I kena jaga Ian! *alasan* Afterwards, the gang reported that Aiden nearly chickened out halfway at the queue but he didn't have any way out (I had left by then). Finally he got on the ride, and although he cried a little, he actually enjoyed the ride! As soon as he saw me, he went on and on about how the bad guy did this and how the good guy did that. He even told me to give it a try! Feeling challenged, I finally agreed to go on the ride. If Aiden can do it, I should be able to do it too kan???

Momentous occasion - lining up to ride on my first USS roller coaster!

It was close to 9pm when we finally got into queue. I think we were the final few who wanted to go on the ride as most of the crowd had already moved to the Main Street to watch the fireworks. Well guess what? Similar to Hubby's experience the last time we were there, just a few minutes before closing time, the ride 'conveniently' malfunctioned! But this time, I think it was probably a genuine malfunction because the staff actually offered to escort the remaining people in line to any available roller coaster ride of their choice. But me, being a true scaredy cat, declined and walked out to watch the fireworks.

I had mixed feelings that night - sad that I didn't get to go on the ride but also relieved at the same time. Oh well, I guess a third visit to USS is required then!

Final photo for the night.

Aiden's Orientation Day

First time in school uniform!

Huge milestone for Aiden last week - he attended his orientation day at Big Boy school! 

We slept late the night prior to the big day. Not because we were busy ironing his clothes or anything like that. But because we were busy cramming for his written Malay diagnostic exam! Let me give you an example of what he wrote that night: *shakes head in dismay*

*giggles*

Despite the late night, he still woke up early come the actual day. Not much fuss showering too; must be the adrenaline plus excitement of seeing his new school for the first time. He looked so matured in his school uniform! *sigh* Why does he have to grow up so fast? *double sigh*

We arrived in front of the school just a few minutes before the stipulated time. It was unplanned, but Danya arrived at the same time too! So of course, we took shots of the kids in the school compound first before registering. *excited mummies*

Kindy mates, and now school mates! Aiden looking so comfortable in his school uniform, hands in pocket and all.

After registering, we had to put them in line according to their assigned classes. Since Danya and Aiden registered on the same day, they were placed in the same class. There were two lines though, one for the girls and one for the boys. As Aiden and I were walking towards the end of the line, suddenly he pointed out to someone and exclaimed, "Hisham!!! Mummy, Hisham is in the same class as me!" Aaahhh this is turning into a Real Kids reunion after all!

An R2-D2 amongst the sea of Frozen and pink princess backpacks.

He kept touching his collar... I suspect because he is not used to having to wear a tie all the time.

Waving in excitement, walking to class.

After watching the kids walk to class for their exams, the parents slowly trickled into the school hall for the introductory briefing.

Excited parents!

After the briefing, we were allowed to meet his class teacher. While Hubby settled the registration fees and stuff like that, I went to pick up Aiden from where he was taking his exam. As expected, the Real Kids gang was playing noisily at the back of the class. Memang reunion nampaknya nie! Aiden even told me that at the start of the exam, the teacher had to ask Aiden and Hisham to change seats because they were making too much noise!

Haven't seen that scary green card for a longggggg time.

After that, we walked to the canteen for a well deserved brunch. A dear neighbour recommended that we try the roti canai. She was right, the dhal that came with the roti canai was very tasty. Aiden on the other hand, had mee goreng... And even asked for a second plate!

We tried teaching Aiden to buy food, counting coins and waiting for change, but it didn't really work out so I guess I'll just give him packed food at least for the first few weeks until he gets the hang of handling money.

Sedap sangat mee goreng kat sekolah nie eh, Aiden?

One more day until his actual first day at school. Can't wait! Wish us luck!

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping that 2016 will be a great year for all of us.

So how did you celebrate New Year's Eve? For the past few years, we've been keeping it low key, staying home and watching the fireworks from the television. (Sad, I know!) However, this year Hubby decided to relive our more adventurous years by taking us out.

We left the house at about 9pm. There was a long queue of cars heading into The Curve parking, but just our luck, Hubby found a spot by the road side where we could squeeze our car in. There was a policeman patrolling the area and I was nervous he would tell us off for the 'illegal' parking, but upon chatting with him we found out that all the parking lots have been closed down as they were absolutely full, and all traffic were being diverted out of the area. The sidewalks were the only places left to park! By the time we walked into The Curve, it was well past 930pm. I was worried that none of the restaurants would accept anymore orders for dinner but it turned out that nearly all restaurants on The Street stayed open way past midnight. We decided to have Thai and while waiting for our food, Ian decided to check out the flea market just across our restaurants. He pau-ed yours truly with a toy (of course!) and played with it quietly throughout dinner. After that, we walked out of the mall and took a stroll along the main road.

The main road (between The Curve and IKEA) was closed to traffic, so everyone was able to roam around freely. There were people everywhere, standing on the road, sitting on the sidewalk, leaning against the mall walls etc. There was even a live concert going on at the end of the road, but with a stroller in tow we decided against checking it out. Instead we bought light wands and a horn for the kids so they could join in the New Year's Eve fun.

Happy New Year!!!

Boys... those are not light sabers!!!

Cheeky boy knows how to blow the horn!

A few minutes before midnight, we walked towards the main road for a better view of the fireworks. The fireworks display was amazing! A full ten minutes! I took a video of it, lenguh jugak lah tangan pegang camera.

The kids really enjoyed themselves that night. It wasn't Aiden's first countdown experience, but it was certainly the first that he will remember long term. He kept articulating about how the new year will make him seven years old and even asked when his birthday will be.

Thanks to our illegal parking, we got out of the area pretty quickly. Kesian the folks who parked in the underground parking - there was a massive traffic jam even at the cashier counter. The drive home was also uneventful, with the kids falling asleep in the car. Thank god we had the good sense to dress the kids in pajamas! 

So that was how we spent our New Year's Eve. I was expecting for an unpleasant experience - no parking, unspeakable crowds, horrendous traffic, but the night proved me wrong. Kalau macam nie, we can do this every year, lah kan Hubby? *grin*

Labeling School Supplies

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Aiden had his orientation day at Big Boy school yesterday. I'll save that for a separate special blogpost, but in a nutshell, he was asked to line up according to the class assigned to him, his teacher took him and his classmates up to the classroom where they underwent a written diagnostic test while the parents attended a briefing session at the school hall.

It was during the briefing that I found out how particular the school was about labeling items. I thought it was sufficient to just label his basic belongings. But it turned out that even their school shoes and school bag had to be properly labelled. Which is a good thing since it minimizes issues with mixed up shoes or lost bags. And of course, since I was labeling everything in sight, I decided to label all his stationery too. Every pencil. Every marker. Every glue stick. Did I mention the colour pencils and water bottle too?

So when Swiss-made StickerKid approached Lizzieasamummy to sponsor a trial pack set of personalized name labels for Aiden's school supplies, I immediately said yes! 

StickerKid's name labels not only help to identify children's clothes, shoes and other belongings. But they are also water resistant and made to withstand washing machines and microwaves during a period of 10 years! Other than just customizing the stickers with the child's name, their very interactive website also allows the child to further personalize the stickers by selecting between a variety of colors, font, logo and shapes. 

Aiden had a hard time choosing his favourite logo (in was a tie between a red superhero or an orange dragon), but in the end he made up his mind and just a few days later, the pack of stickers arrived at our doorstep:

SMALL STICKERS (46 x 6mm)

These stickers are perfect for labeling small stationary items and other equally cute belongings. Other than the text, you can also customize the background colour and font to your liking.

(You know how tedious it is to write their names on the gazillion work books they have? Well, you can use these stickers to label their books too!)

SHOE STICKERS (38 x 40mm)

No more ugly scrawls on your child's school shoes using a Sharpie. These shoe stickers are designed to fit inside shoes or in shoe soles, thanks to their unique shape - both round and square. You can fit 3 lines of text including your preferred background colour, font and even a logo! As you can see, Aiden chose the orange dragon, while I included my phone number (blurred in photo) and address.

(Not just for shoes, you can use the same sticker for other items too! I used one for Aiden's pencil box as this sticker is bigger and more visible, suitable for bigger items.)

CLOTHING LABELS (42 x 12mm)

These labels come in either black or white, and are so simple to use. Using a hot iron and a piece of baking paper, just iron the labels on the clothes and tadaaaaaa, it sticks! Laundry safe too, in both the washer and the dryer. These stickers can also be removed (say, you want to donate the clothes or use them as hand-me-downs). Simply reheat the labels and gently peel them off.

(I have yet to try ironing them on Aiden's school bag. Wish me luck!)

So Aiden is all set for Big Boy school, now that everything has been labeled accordingly. Looking forward to his first day at school, come Monday!

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Have fun labeling!