Singapore: Day Trip to Sentosa and Maximized Universal Studios Trip

I did not include ride to the Singapore Cable Car in the costing (see post) that I made because according to reviews, the price for the ride was expensive if it were to be based on the actual length of the trip, and I had already tried Hongkong's Ngong Ping 360 so I was not much thrilled about the cable car. Since we were on a tight budget, I included in the itinerary that we would go to Sentosa via the cheapest way - the relatively new Sentosa Boardwalk wherein you would walk from VivoCity for 2 minutes to get to Sentosa for the price of 1SGD. However, it never failed to linger in my mind that Boots hadn't ridden a cable car ever so I actually had a spare budget for it, just in case.

I was not mistaken and while travelling to Sentosa, that was the first question he asked me, "Are we going to ride the cable car?". Never wanting to disappoint him, we bought 2 cable car round trip tickets. After all, the smile on his face was priceless.

Boots with his remarkable "cable car smile"

We reached Sentosa via the Imbiah Lookout, walked around and took photos before actually heading to the first item in our itinerary, Universal Studios Singapore. I was planning to walk all the way but when we reached the Ranger Station Bus Stop, and due to the heat and his suggestion, we rode the Yellow Line Bus (you can ride buses going around Sentosa for free, by the way).

Welcome to Sentosa! (painted on the wall upon exit from the cable car)

The Tiger Sky Tower at Imbiah Lookout - our first sight of Sentosa upon alighting the cable car.

Decoration at Sentosa - it's the love month of February, after all.

Sentosa's version of Merlion

Vendo Machine at Ranger Station Bus Stop (took photo because of boredom from waiting for the bus; take a close look and find the Jack and Jill Potato Chips and Oishi Bread Pan being sold)

The tram stop is at Resorts World's basement parking, and we had to go up and walk to get to Universal Studios. We reached our destination at around 11:00 am, and upon reaching the destination, took photos, of course.

Spelunking? - at the man-made cave from the basement parking going to Universal Studios Singapore

while walking towards Universal Studios Singapore's entrance

Finally got to our first goal for the day

welcomed by Winnie Woodpecker

Boots and his lion - one of the many photos we had before going on our first ride

And then we went on with the rides, starting with the newly-opened Transformers: the Ride. It was a bonus that we did not encounter queues for all rides except for the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure. It was given that we were there on a workday (Wednesday) but I had been to Hongkong Disneyland and Ocean Park on workdays too, and the queues were very long, so this was a delightful surprise for me.

We were fortunate that Transformers: the Ride was already open by the time we went to Singapore because Transformers had a special meaning in our lives. The ride opened just last November 19, 2011 and is the newest attraction in the park as of this writing. We bought our photo print-out with Optimus Prime.

a scanned version of our souvenir - quite pricey but it's worth it 

with my Bumblebee

We rode both the dueling roller coasters of Battlestar: Galactica, starting with the more challenging blue track (Cylon) and trying the red track next (Human). Cylon featured loops, loops, and more loops (total of 5 loops), with your feet hanging while Human did not have any loops (a traditional roller coaster style) but nevertheless challenging with its plunges and twists. In riding these, we had to avail of their locker service for our stuff. The use of the locker is free for 30 minutes, but you have to pay a certain amount after, depending on the length of usage.

After that, we rode Revenge of the Mummy, an indoor roller coaster with realistic special effects that I was scared to take a look on. Each car could accommodate 8 people but this was another delight: because of the lack of queues, we were able to have the whole car to ourselves, and even the crew who assisted us in getting out of the car couldn't help but remark. 

Before having lunch, we decided to try Treasure Hunters. It is also found in the Ancient Egypt portion of the park. It was a vintage car ride, a slow ride and there were Egypt-inspired decorations all over, but there was nothing special about it.

And then at around 1:00pm, we had our lunch at the Discovery Food Court located in the Lost World zone. We ordered a single meal for both of us because I am not used to eating after adrenaline-pumping moments (we didn't like the rice, too, so it was okay).

our roasted-chicken lunch set; wasn't able to eat much because of adrenaline rush from the rides specially Battlestar Galactica

Settled for this dessert (part of the meal), though I don't know what this is. 

After lunch, we proceeded with the second half of our Universal Studios Singapore exploration. Took some photos then we rode the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure and this was the first (and only) time that we had to queue, and we also had to pay the locker because according to the indicator (yes, they have an indicator on how long the waiting time is) the queue is for 30 minutes. There had been warnings all around that "You will get wet, you might get soaked" but we ignored it. We should have believed it because unlike Enchanted Kingdom's Rio Grande wherein there's a chance that you won't get wet, here you would actually have to go through a part wherein water falls equally on all passengers of the raft (like going into a waterfall). But I loved this ride, especially the part where we faced a dead-end before the exit.

photo opportunity at the Ancient Egypt zone, no matter how hot it was 

Good thing I always have my umbrella with me! The scorching heat is quite obvious. 

queue at the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure

We then rode Shrek 4-D Adventure where the highlight was Donkey's saliva (I guess), and then proceeded to Donkey Live, which was sort of a comedy bar show with the Chinese girl as host and Donkey answers the audience' questions. We rode the Enchanted Airways, a junior steel roller coaster, because we can. All of these are found in the Far, Far Away section of the park.

Cute! I'm gonna buy you someday, Puss...

the Three Little Pigs as "hung" in the pre-show for Shrek 4D Adventure

The Chinese host at Donkey Live, forgot her name intentionally.

Far, Far Away...

In our counterclockwise route, the last portion of the park that we reached was Madagascar. Consequently, Madagascar: A Crate Adventure was the last ride that we tried. It was a water boat ride but this time we did not get wet (no one will get wet). It was a slow ride and as you go along, various characters and scenes of Madagascar were highlighted.

Alex! (one of the displays in Madagascar: A Crate Adventure) 

Hey, I'm Marty!

We were able to cover all of Universal Studios Singapore by 4:00 pm, whereas in my itinerary, I anticipated us to finish by 6:00 pm (expecting queues). Something memorable happened before we left the park. I was busy positioning myself to shoot Boots' photo when he pointed at something beside me. I was unaware that Winnie Woodpecker was approaching me and asking for a photo of us together (what an attention-deficient mascot). This might be the first and last time that a mascot approached me to have a photo of us taken and I felt so honored and puzzled at the same time.

I took this photo of Boots before exiting the park, unmindful of the attention-deficient mascot beside me. 

Only became aware of the attention-deficient mascot after Boots told me, and then he took this photo of us. 

After our fun day at Universal Studios Singapore, we went to the beach side, to the Southern Most Point of Continental Asia where the entrance is free and where there was a hanging bridge (I love suspension bridges!). It was again another delight because there were only a few people there and we had a "reserved" feel when we went up to their timber viewing deck.

The Southern Most Point of Continental Asia

I love suspension bridges!

endless view of South China Sea from one of the twin timber viewing decks - there wasn't anyone else here when we arrived.

Because there were only two of us in this trip, we had to find ways to take a photo of us together.

the beach tram on Sentosa

We had lots of time left before the last item on our Sentosa itinerary which is Songs of the Sea at 7:40 pm (Lake of Dreams was included in my itinerary but we weren't able to catch it because we had to rush to Night Safari due to the delayed train). We just walked around, grabbed something to eat, sit somewhere near the location for Songs of the Sea and waited for admission time.

Songs of the Sea was a great way to end our day at Sentosa. It was a spectacular lights and sound show and stage performance, combined (and with fireworks, too). Of course we selected a seat near the VIP section.

the set of Songs of the Sea

seated (near) the VIP section

a sneak peek of the spectacular lights in Songs of the Sea 

Then we rushed back to the tram station and cable car. We had to catch Night Safari, even if it's just the 45-minute tram ride. Our tickets shouldn't be wasted.

Boots and his remarkable "cable car smile" - what a great way to end a day at Sentosa. 

Expenses and Operating Hours for Sentosa:

Cable Car
round trip ticket cost: S$26 (S$24 if one-way)
operating hours: 8:45 am-10:00 pm daily

Universal Studios Singapore
ticket cost: S$68
operating hours: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm daily

Photo print-out: S$10
Lunch: ~S$20 for 2 pax (S$10.50 for the roasted chicken rice meal + ~S$4/pax water)
Locker: S$4 (1 hour rental)

The Southern Most Point of Continental Asia: FREE
operating hours: 24/7

Snack: ~S$15 for 2 pax (hotdog buns, water, softdrinks)

Songs of the Sea
ticket: S$10/pax (S$15/pax for premium seats)
show hours: 7:40 pm and 8:40 pm daily, additional 9:40 pm show on weekends

You might be interested on my other posts about our Singapore/Kuala Lumpur Trip:

Kuala Lumpur: Exploring Batu Caves in an Hour

Kuala Lumpur: Getting to Petronas Twin Towers from Batu Caves

Kuala Lumpur: Magnum Love at First Sight and Food Hoarding at KFC

Singapore: Night Safari Tickets Successfully Used

Singapore: Our Singapore Flyer Experience

Singapore: G-Max Reverse Bungy - A Dream Come True

Singapore: GX-5 Extreme Swing at Clarke Quay (2nd Half of the Extreme Adrenaline Super Combo)

Singapore: The Long Journey to Merlion Park (via Esplanade Park)

Singapore: Fragrance Hotel Ruby Review

Singapore/Kuala Lumpur: How to Maximize a 3-Day Trip on a P 20,000 Budget

Singapore/Kuala Lumpur: Our 3-Day Itinerary (An Amazing Race Practice?)