We were all beat by the time we got back to the hotel. The kids were not keen to leave the hotel so Meimei and I went down to the mall basement to tabao dinner instead. The mall's basement is like Singapore Isetan's where they have stalls with different food.
We packed what we can find and fancy and stopped by the lounge for a few drinks before returning to lay out the feast. The kids were pretty happy with dinner.
Even before entering the Universal Studios Park, we were already at the merchandise store. The kids made a bee-line for the Harry Potter wands and picked out one each. I suppose its fitting since our focus today is to explore Harry Potter world.
Lunch was at the Three Broomsticks restaurant which is decorated like the food hall in the Harry Potter movies. It's all western fare to keep the immersion in the feast experience like in Harry Potter. After lunch we were back again at the Forbidden Journey ride again. There was a light drizzle but we braved the wet day to get into the queues again.
Next we went over to the Jurassic Park section. The kids have never watched Jurassic Park so it's like another theme area for them. As usual 萱萱 was gungho to try all the rollercoaster rides. There is a terrifying one zipping around the whole area called the Flying Dinosaur which I'll never get on.
Instead I got suckered into taking the Dinosaur Boat Ride. 萱萱 was beaming and blinking at me to join her on the ride and I couldn't say no hahaha. What better way to try and build bonds than doing scary stuff together right? I had borrowed 阳阳's wizard raincoat and thought that would keep me dry. I should have bought a raincoat like 萱萱. It turns out that there were many "holes" in the raincoat and I ended up all soaking wet waist down. Wet through my underwear and shoes.
Having tasted the thrill of the ride, 萱萱 wasn't done and wanted to go again. This time I declined and let her take it alone instead. I found a spot where I couldn't take a picture of the big drop to the water. Having seen many rides come down, I've finally figured out that people at the back rows get wetter vs the ones in front. We were in row 5 of 6 earlier and that's why I got so wet. In the video 萱萱 was in the middle of the 1st row. Can't really tell as she is so tiny in the seats.
On the way out we met up with Meizheng who was also here with her friend. What a small world isn't it.
We had originally planned to eat at the restaurants on our way out but I was totally wet. Plus given the wet weather and the kids were starting to whine due to tiredness, we decided it was best we took a taxi back to the hotel instead.
All in all a pretty fun 1st day at USJ aside from the weather. Hopefully the rain clears up tomorrow when we come back for the VIP experience.
How were we to know it will rain when we book the tickets. There was supposed to be a heat wave ... not a typhoon! Anyways we woke up to gloomy skies and rain. The weather forecast says it will rain the whole day. Oh shucks.
This is the most awesome lounge I've been in. It's well stocked and though limited, still a good selection of food. You can order omelettes made-to-order, have western selection of sausages and ham. There is a good selection of fruits like dragonfruit, melon, blueberries, pineapple, watermelon etc.
Best is that it's free! Hahaha I really cheap-ed it out this holiday. Well ... one can say we are saving to do more shopping!
First day is all about getting there. There was a red-eye flight to land in Osaka at 7am but with kiddos that's too much of a challenge. So we took a morning flight and landed in Kansai International at 4pm local time. I had arranged a transport but we breezed through customs and had to wait for close to an hour for the ride to arrive at 6pm. Then it was an hour's drive to the Osaka Marriott Miyako hotel.
The hotel gave us a small upgrade to a high floor on the 52nd floor with connecting room. It's the best we can hope for since I was exchanging points for free nights. 2 rooms for 7 nights all fully redeemed with points ... practically saved $5K+ on the accommodations alone. Super shiok!
By the time we got into the room though it was already about 7.20pm. Then we spend the next half hour exploring the 2 rooms and the space. It's a terrific way how they have the connecting doors at the entrance so there is still privacy between the room and light in one room would not get into another. Obviously this layout takes up more space which is why most hotels don't do this. But definitely something I would recommend.
Once we were done with the initial excitement we went down to hunt for dinner. The plan was to have the buffet at the hotel restaurant. Unfortunately we were late and they were taking last orders at 8.30pm. So we went down to the mall basement and had simple rice dons instead. The kids were very happy with the food. So it's true even simple places in Japan already serves good food.
No sightseeing on the first day and we had the kids go to bed early. The travelling is tiring for sure. Will consider the red-eye flight when they get older.
We just boarded the plane to Osaka when I receive a ClassDojo notification from 阳阳's teacher that he has a Koobits assignment due for tomorrow. Good thing there is now Wifi on-board the SIA flights so I whipped out my lappy and login to his Kilobits account and have him do it. Better to do it now on the plane than waste time while we are on holiday.
Obviously we were rolling out eyes that he didn't do this earlier. True last minute catch-up like 萱萱!
Again I was away for a week this month. Thankfully there doesn't look to be any more work travels for a few months. Maybe in late July for the start of the first test phases but we'll see.
Meimei had helped to make a to-go cup of coffee and the universe suffered a momentary blip.
阳阳 is loving the Chatek and asked to go downstairs to play. 萱萱 wasn't keen and would rather stay home ... whatever.
I brought 阳阳 down and showed him the basics of playing Chatek. Memories of my Chatek playing days came flooding back. I used to play it everyday at school. We would draw up a mini-court along the pathways beside the assembly hall and play 1v1 or 2v2 like badminton.
I love how he is attempting all these sports. It'll help 阳阳 build up his strength, agility and hand-eye coordination. Definitely coming down to play with him more often.
When I was travelling to Cincinnati back in 2016-17 I used to stay at the Hilton Homewood Suite. I like the bigger room with a kitchen and living area. I stayed at the Marriott West Chester the last few times and its a really dated and doesn't have proper outdoor area nor proper breakfast. So this time I changed to the Marriott equivalent of Homewood Suites. Pretty happy with the decision.
Void double chance and they are offering a new somewhat broken legendary on progressive chance. Obviously it's always a crap shoot when it comes to Raid but I had about 50 shards so I gave it a go. Pulled a dupe Lady Noelle to start and wasn't expecting anything more. Then luckily another legendary popped and it's Tekteon. Looking forward to building him out and see how he fares.
Always try to be the best! And I think the award goes to Meimei too, she makes my role so much easier.
Haiz ... what to do with this girl. I get so frustrated at her antics and attitude. But then she comes up with these to make me melt ....
The most powerful gift a kid can give his/her parents is HUGs! We love love love it.
I'm glad 萱萱 recognises her mistakes and will say sorry. But she still needs to improve on her reaction in the heat of the moment. Basically more Meimei less Pokpok and she'll be a winner.
At Children's Museum Singapore today for some kids fun. It's meant to be educational and teach children about the history of Singapore through kid's friendly exhibits and games. But the kids were more keen on playing the various interactive games. One of those which we spent a lot of time at was the pouring of the Teh Tarik game. Meimei and I both got into the challenge with the kids too.
