Mummy vs. Battlerstar Galactica

We brought Angel back to Singapore when she was 18 months old.

It was her second visit back to our homeland and the one thing I love best about being back on the sunny island is that we could dress rather skimpily and there was no more need for winter overalls, mittens, socks, boots, beanies etc. I mean, Angel was soooooo used to the cold weather that she didn't even need a thin jacket to cover her bare arms and back when we went into air-conditioned malls. Believe it or not, she would even perspire in these places.

I was rather psyched up to go visit Universal Studios which only opened two months back. It was the second Universal Studios theme park to open in Asia (first being Japan) but the first in Southeast Asia. It seemed like the perfect choice for a fun-filled family outing, so how could we possibly miss it out?

Guess what? We even decided to bring both our parents along with us, since they would be unlikely to choose this as a leisure destination if not under our unyielding persuasion. Not to mention that the entrance tickets, priced at S$68 per adult, were not really an enticing factor.

Nonetheless, when the day arrived, we were all ready to explore the vast theme park and get set for a day of exhilaration, magic and thrills. It didn't matter that jw and I had been to the Universal Studios in Los Angeles on our honeymoon, I had my mum, dad and baby with me this time round and that made all the difference. See Angel? She was perspiring so much and the mini fan didn't seem to be quite effective.

Anyway, despite being a weekday, the theme park was still packed like sardines. Although this being a common phenomenon in Singapore, I wasn't very used to it after being away for so long and having stayed in a sparsely populated town like Karlskrona where I could always have a 10m radius of breathing space.

Not surprisingly, the queues for all the rides were horrendously long. We queued up for the Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg and that took 45 minutes, which was actually fine but when you had four elderly and one small baby, somehow every five minutes felt like a quarter of an hour, so yeah, do the maths.

You know, my mum had a resolution about coming to this theme park. A rather shocking one. Yes, she was going to challenge the Battlestar Galatica: Cylon, the toughest ride in the park!

Battlestar Galactica: Cylon is a suspended roller coaster and travels on an inverted blue track with legs free that performs intense maneuvers including several inversions in the form of a zero-g roll, a Cobra roll, corkscrews and vertical loops. The Cylon coaster also plunges into a 5-metre (16 ft) deep pit filled with artificial fog to give thrill seekers the sensation of a near miss with the ground. It also includes sudden turns close to buildings emphasizing the sensation of a near miss.

When I asked her what was her rationale behind it, she said it was because she wanted to test if her heart was still functioning and could take the thrill. Ok mummy, now I'm worried if this is how you test your heart. But as long as you say so, I'll go with your wishes.

So, my parents, jw and I queued up and waited for two hours just to get onto the Battlestar Galactica. I was pretty sure that all those teenagers and youngsters were eyeing my dad and mum and thinking: Fwah, this Uncle and Aunty, are you sure you can do it???

For a while, I was really fearful, not for myself but for them. Ok, just a little for myself. I mean, to be on an inverted roller coaster which goes upside down at least five times and twists and turns like nobody's business, there's a reason why the brochure had a warning sign and words of caution printed beside this particular ride.

But guess what? SHE DID IT!

I was so proud of my mummy not just for surviving the ride, but also for being able to walk properly after that, for not feeling overly giddy, for not puking, and better still, for being able to tuck into a Hainanese chicken rice lunch immediately after the ride. Kudos to you, mama! You've got it, a strong, powerful heart that still functions like a 30-year-old!

Well, she did say that she wasn't going to sit on it again, but once is really enough for some things in life, don't you think?

After lunch, we decided to purchase two Express Pass tickets for S$30 each that allows you to cut the long queues, feel smug about it and be treated a little like VIPs. The up side was that our queue time was dramatically reduced, but the down side was that only two of us could go for a ride at any time. Anyway, we took Angel on some of the more kiddy rides while we let our parents try the more stimulating ones.

When we entered the Ancient Egypt themed zone, we saw the Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride, where you board a mine car and go on an enclosed roller coaster ride. Guess who were the ones who took the ride? Who else but both our mums! Mummies on a mummy ride, perfect.

When they were queuing up for the ride,

Staff: Are you sure you can take it?
Jw's mum: Are we going to die?
Staff: Erm, no, but it can get quite scary and jerky.
My mum: Can't be as bad as the Battlestar Galactica, right?
Staff: Oh, you sat on that? Then this will be peanuts for you.

And what do you know, our mums so happen to sit in the very first row of the roller coaster, doubling the excitement. Let's just say their hearts almost jumped out after the ride, and my mum swore that it was scarier than Battlestar because this was pitch dark and she couldn't see the road ahead.

As for our dads, of course we wanted them to join in the fun, so we advised them to go on the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure, where you sit on a circular raft, go through river rapids, then plunge down from a height of 40 feet. Not sure if it was that good a recommendation after all because they were  soaked to the skin when they emerged.

They said that they were scoffing at the people sitting opposite them because they were all wet from the plunge, little did they know that they would be targeted and shot by two Dilophosaurus on the way back. Ooops.

In Far Far Away land, we also watched the Shrek 4-D adventure which in addition to the movie, also incorporates physical effects including movable seats, mist sprayers and lighting. Don't our parents look cute in the "OgreVision" 3-D goggles? Anyway, there was a staff who approached me time and again to urge me to move to a stationary seat since Angel was sitting on my lap and "couldn't take the physical effects". Even after I assured and re-assured him that it was ok. I mean, hello, you are talking about a baby who has sat on roller coasters, a dog sleigh and even dares to touch a python, this is going to be a piece of cake.

Indeed, Angel had a ball of time and couldn't stop laughing as we galloped away on Donkey and saved Princess Fiona.

Time flies and before we knew it, it was time to head home. Our final ride was for Angel, a carousel ride in the company of Madagascar characters.

Wait, what's this? My mum decided to join her since we had two Express Pass tickets. I doubt that was a first merry-go-round ride for her, but she looked happy on it that I wished I could capture that moment forever. I think everyone should be like my mum, to have a child in you no matter how old you grow and how many wrinkles you get.

So, that concluded our wonderful family outing to Universal Studios. There were some fond memories there that would live in my heart forever.

But Mummy, no more Battlestar Galactica for you, ok?