Universal Studios!!!

Went Universal Studios as a belated anniversary celebration. Brought Jovann there too, we had a lot of fun!!!

Jovann has been asking for roller coasters and castles. But he got even more excited when we told him there's dinosaurs. I think I was the most excited among them though!!!! Here we go!!!

We were aiming for the Jurassic Park/Lost World, which happens to be at the far end opposite the entrance, checked out the map and decided to start clockwise so that we can pass Far Far Away (the Shrek castle I promised Jovann) on the way.

Taking photos with Alex and gang.

First Ride! King Julien's Beach Party Go-Round. Jovann determinedly zoomed in on Alex the lion when the friendly carousel attendant asked him which character he wish to sit and embarked on a one-sided commentary on all the animals' name. There is a carriage where parents can sit with infants too young to sit on a ride on their own.

We walked past the Far Far Away's Junior Roller Coaster "Enchanted Airways" on the way to Jurassic Park, and I told Jovann we are going to sit that later. :). Jurassic Park, here we come!!!

Dino-Soaring, think it's Jovann's dream came true, sitting on a flying pterosaur. The ride felt kinda short though!

We were eyeing the Canopy Flyer, wondering if its suitable for Jovann. Imagine yourself sitting in the Jurassic Park sight-seeing vehicle, minus the vehicle frame, dashboard, windows. You are basically sitting on the car seats and flying through the air. From the ground, the speed looks ok, and when we checked with yet another friendly attendant, she told us "its a light hearted ride, meant for kids". So we are sold, in we go!

Jovann was all smiles when we got ready. He sat with Daddy on the rear-facing seats, which I think could have upped the thrill factor considerable. I sat on the seat facing them so I can take these pictures. :P

Up up upppp they go!!!

Daddy said Jovann told him he was scared, halfway through the ride. I wld be too if I am 3.5 yrs old flying through the air and around tight bends on car seats with nothing below me!

Far Far Away. The castle look fabulous, Jovann kept saying he wish to enter. We were told of the Donkey Live show a few doors way, supposedly starting in 10mins time. But I was intent on letting him try the roller coaster Enchanted Airways, so I gave it a miss. We waited for Daddy to catch up (he went gents) while Jovann got his height measured to ensure he's taller than the minimum height requirement of 92cm.

There we go! The ride system was rather well organised. The next batch of riders are always allocated gate numbers in front of which to wait. And once the vehicle is ready and the previous occupants have disembarkd, the gates would opened and the new riders would be guided very easily to the right row. Jovann was so eager to get on that he was pushing on the gate before it opened. And when the "dragon" roller coaster came back and the occupants got off, the gate opened and Jovann rushd onto the platform and wanted to climb into the seat immediately. I got him comfortable and Daddy took a photo from the platform.

What an exciting ride!!! So exciting that Jovann kept quiet throughout, and told me "Mommy I am scared" when it ended. Oh dear...I guess no more rollercoasters for this boy. I myself was screaming (coz thats what we are supposed to do right?) and laughing (to keep the tension down for Jovann's sake) throughout, thrilled.

Next, Shrek 4D. Should I spoil the surprise by explaining the reason behind the 4th D? Heeee.....well, to put it simply, when the donkey sneezed, be prepared to get splattered with mucus. When the ghosts turn up at the graveyard, don't be spooked by some little something brushing against your feet. Hahaa. It was unexpected, but interesting.

Queueing in the castle, finally Jovann got his wish granted to BE IN the castle.

Jovy in the nerdy 3D glasses.

When we came out of the Shrek 4D theatre, we went led straight into the Far Far Away Merchandise shop, where there was a mini Ferris Wheel called the Magic Potion Spin, in airconditioned comfort. It was the smallest Ferris Wheel I have ever seen, even comparing to the one at Downtown East. It has only 7-8 cabins, and we were the last to get on and first to disembark. It moved at a slow snail speed, and you peer down at the shoppers below when you look out of the wire mesh window.

Jovann browsing the stuff on sale when back on safe ground.

Back to Lost World/Jurassic Park. Jovann complained that these dinosaurs don't even move.

I left the father and son in the Discovery Food Court having lunch,


while I ran off to take the Revenge of the Mummy ride!!! Woo hoo! A roller coaster in the dark! Thrill x 2. No one to take photos for me though so thats the only pic I have of the ride, main entrance to the dark dark dungeons below. It was a long long long walk to the platform where the ride was waiting. I was the only one sitting in the 4th row. But I was screaming along as loudly as the rest heeee....

Some shopping, some popcorn, and a rented buggy...., and we arrived at New York Boulevard.

We saw this yellow cab, and Daddy suggested Jovann making some outrageous pose by holding onto the door handle for dear life and dangling off his left feet in mid air, weight supported only by the right hand on the handle. Surprisingly, Jovann gamely did that!!! But I was the nervous Mommy who worried about him falling down and tried to remain inconspicuous beside him supporting his weight heee.

This photo of hubby and me was taken by Jovann himself heee. Not bad!

Finally, Sci-Fi City. The place I was both anticipating eagerly (coz I wish to take the Battlestar Galactica Duelling Coasters) and yet dreading (coz I do not know if I have the guts to take the Battlestar Galactica Duelling Coasters!!).

Actually, after my Revenge of the Mummy ride, while they were still in the footcourt, I ran all the way to Sci Fi City and joined the moderately short queue for the Battlestar coaster (Human). But there was an annoucement saying there's slight technical delay due to some quick maintenance, with waiting time 10-15mins. I hang in the queue for 2 mins and decided to go back to foodcourt to get some chow first. So......some time later, here I am back again! I decided to pluck up my courage and go for it! Left Daddy and Jovann on the ground, while I made my way up up up to the coaster launch pad.

Since I cannot bring any loose items with me, the camera and hp gets left behind with the boys. I was in row 3, having refused the attendant's offer to sit in the first row, heeee. I sat beside a terrified lady whom looked as if she was dragged up there by her boyfriend. We smiled at each other before the ride started.

I didn't hear the exact words of the robotic annoucement, but a friend told me it goes along the lines of "Thank you for volunteering in this mission.......". I only heard "LAUNCH". Heee. By then, my heart was pitter pattering a top speed. When the coaster started on its upward climb, we saw the occupants of the Cylon Battlestar coaster on our left. Both groups check each other out, then all else was forgotten when both coasters put on a burst of speed and seemingly FLEW to the top of the slope and before I know it, the real ride has started. I was screaming and yelling in both fear and thrill. hehehee. Thumbs up!!! I still have not plucked up courage to take the Cylon version though!

No pics. But I probably look this terrified.

Check out the video I found on the net showing the test ride.

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Back on safe ground, Jovann asked if I was scared, and he gave me a hug.

The Accelerator....basically a high tech version of the twirling teacup ride we were familiar with as kids.

Next stop, Ancient Egypt. Jovann sat on the Treasure Hunters, which is basically a safari vehicle travelling snail slow around a track with the occupants supposedly looking for lost treasure amidst an abandoned excavation site. Jovann loved that ride as each vehicle has a steering wheel and the rider can make believe he's driving the vehicle! He simply loves it, and he was in all seriousness as he manueveured the wheel around bends, very cute to watch his focus and concentration. This is his favourite ride. He told me later that he wants to sit this "slow car" again next time,3 times, coz he's 3 yrs old. And the Dino Soaring 2 times.

The view while driving that vehicle.

After this, we went to watch Lights Camera Action in Hollywood. It was great, really cool camera stuff.

Time for Afternoon Tea. Went Celebrity Cafe. we had a very relaxing time there, being only the 3rd table occupied (The real crowd came in later, whew). ubby had a quiche, I had condensed milk thick toast, while Jovann had sausage roll. I also sterilised my pump there with the help of the friendly cafe manager, whom seemed to anticipate my needs with his first glance at my box containing the pump. Thats what I called good customer service. Impressed so far by Universal.

We arrived at Universal Studios at 9.30am in the morning, and left at 4.30pm. We have done ALL the rides except for the Crate Adventure which is not opened, The Jurassic Rapids Adventure which Jovann is too short for, we missed the show times for Donkey Live, Monster Rock and Waterworld. BUt we had fun! We will be back! heeee...

Rather impressed by Resorts World. It was well organised. Even the underground carpark that links the Casino and Universal Studios was well designed and looked welcoming. There is even a tram that brings you from one end of the car park to the other, to save you from a long long walk. How considerate!

Jazreel at 17 mths

- Next to me (who goes without saying is her number 1 favourite person), her GORGOR is her number 2 favourite person hehee. Whenever we tell Jovann that its time to bathe, she will toddle to take his towel for him. When gorgor say he want to pee pee, she will toddle over to the toilet and attempt to push open the door for him. When gorgor coughs and we ask him to drink some water, she will toddle to find his bottle and bring it to him. Then she will find hers and drink it, watching him while doing it. Heeee. Super funny. They like to lie down together on the playmat or the post office house.

- She will let him hug her in the morning, not struggling as much as if Daddy hugs her.

- She loves giving him spontaneous hugs out of nowhere, just grabbing him around the middle, turning her head and lean her ear on his tummy. Gorgor will hug her back of course.

- She was all along braver than her gorgor. She is not afraid of the parrot, and will push her way into the parrot’s room when Ah Gong opens the door, unlike Jovann who don’t dare to go near at all. She will asked to “da da” (hit) the parrot (just pretending, which sadly my dad encouraged), and imitated Ah Gong stretching the rubberband and aiming at it (before you go running to SPCA, please be informed that its just for pretend and the rubber band trick is used to move the parrot away so my mom can reach the seed bowl, the parrot is not hurt at all! When there’s thunder, she hardly flinched. She’s not afraid of the dark room and has played hide and seek with her gorgor hiding in corners for many times.

- However, recently, ever since she learnt how to tell us “scared scared” by patting her hand on her chest, she’s been doing it more often esp when there’s raised voices in the house, or there’s a loud sound. Now I can’t tell if she’s really scared or she just reveling in getting attention that way heeee.

- The Chinese words she can say includes “打打，座座，走走, 美美, ”. Some words she added recently are “bowl, open (its real funny watching her say this), shoe, pain. When asked “ wu ng ng boh (did you just poo poo)?” and she hasn’t, she will go “Boh!” with a very teochew accent. Hehehe. I love the way she close her eyes when we asked her to, screwing up her eyes and pouting her mouth at the same time hahahaa. And thanks to gorgor, now she likes to roar like a dinosaur when she's playing too.
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- As to why she learns the word "美美". Well, she's quite vain. If she's wearing something nice and I tell her its 美美, she will walk out of the room and point out her clothes to every one, and say 美美. And she loves to wear my lanyard, my necklace, at times looking like a christmas tree someone forgot to offload. Look at her accessorising.

Preening in front of an ELC vanity table.

- Probably due to her "vanity", we were much pleasantly surprised when she was quite unfazed by her first haircut back in Feb. When her gorgor had his first haircut around the same age, it was a totally, traumatically disastrous experience. He cried and wailed and screamed like he's being tortured. But Jaz? nope. Aside from the initial questioning look at the hair stylist at Junior League, she sat quietly on my lap playing with the candy milk jug. Wonderful!!!

- Once recently, I came home from work and when Jaz saw me, she excitedly ran towards me. Ah Ma was mumbling that she needs to find her keys (she said that in teochew), and Jaz immediately turned back towards the dining table where she remembered that my mom kept her key pouch, and she took it, then asked my mom to carry her. She then open the pouch and selected the RIGHT key for the metal gate. This is interesting because she knows that at OUR HOUSE, in AH MA’s pouch, the silver key is the correct one, but if its Daddy Or Mommy’s key, then she know that it should be the black key. So interesting!!! She then tried to help us open the door heheee.

- Meeting up with Lucas recently at our house for a playdate.

- She's actually deliberately cheekier and more defiant than Jovann at the same age. When we told Jovann to stop touching the dvd player, he will withdraw his hands immediately. But when we asked Jaz to stop touching the dvd player, she will pause with her hands there on the button, turn and look at you out of the corner of her eye, make sure you ARE looking at her. Once she ascertains that she has your undivided attention, she will give a cheeky grin (the firmer and fiercer your "NO", the wider she will grin), and give the button a deliberate press and sit back to watch the reason from the machine and the mommy. What the!!!

But of course, its not all roses and sweet nothings. These 2 fight too as all siblings does. Just 3 days ago on Sunday, they were fighting over toys, and Jaz grabbed Jov's hand and bite it!!! Needless to say, Jovann cried a bit.

Then tonight, Jaz took one of the toy golf iron and hit Jov on the head deliberately with it, without prior aggravation. Ouch! We asked her to say sorry or sayang gorgor, she shouted "Mai!" (teochew for don't want) repeately, emphatically shaking her head at the same time. So Daddy decided to apply the time out punishment on Jaz for the first time ever. He told her "Go into the room!", and she prompty turned and walked in the indicated direction, saying "Ok!" very nonchalantly. Then she paused and look back, seemingly for further instructions. And hubby said "Go to the room I said.". So she said "Ok!" again and turned and continued walking. Both me and hubby looked at each other helplessly, me burrowing my face on the playmat trying to hide my laugh. She's acting so "xiao sa" while being punished. Moments later, she realised she's being banished for real, and she broke down crying at the hallway into the bedroom. We asked her if she's ready to say sorry to gorgor, she nodded her head tearfully and walked over to hug him. Super funny lah!

- She seem to like babies, and appear quite gentle with them so far heee. Her sitting beside Rhynnise at Clarence's place.

- She can self feed with spoon or fork pretty well now. And by this I mean that her aiming has improved and she no longer looks like she's trying to paint her face... and she loves feeding herself, at times may ask for a bowl and spoon and demand that I put some porridge into her bowl so she can self feed.
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- She came into the puppetry theatre (Child Size Festival) with gorgor and myself for a while. I was wondering if she will be noisy or out of control. But she managed to entertain herself throughout that short duration, pushing and shoving the cushions into all sorts of positions on the floor, then plonking herself down on it to test the comfort. Fortunately the theatre wasn't totally full so she had some spare cushions to play with.

- Recently bought her the Hello Kitty shopping troller, can't resist. Super cute in pink and comes with lotsa fruits and bottles and sauces. Her favourite is without doubt the bottles with caps, as usual. Hehee.

Another Mommy and Daughter outfit! heheee. We are both into tights now. :P