Globe Trotting J's 2019 Trip Day 17: A Universal Conclusion
It took me a while but it finally hit me this morning. After Jake and I grabbed coffee again this morning a little after 8 AM at % Arabica, Jake finished up packing up his things and an hour later i was walking him down to the lobby to see him jump into a cab and take off for the airport to catch his flight home that takes him through Taipei to LAX. We said our goodbyes and he was off and thus started our last day of the trip.
For me it was going back to our room after he left that I realized the trip was finally coming to an end. But Jenn and I were not going to let our last day in Singapore get away from us. We packed up our stuff, got ready for the day, had to switch rooms because our room started having plumbing issues. We finished getting ready and a little after noon we dropped off our bags in the lobby, checked out, and grabbed a car to take us to Universal Studios Singapore.
The drive from our hotel to Universal Studios was only fifteen minutes and our driver dropped us right at the entrance. We snapped some photos and went to buy our tickets. When we got to the ticket booth we realized there were three options for tickets. The first was the standard ticket, then there was the express pass ticket, and then there was the unlimited express pass ticket. We went with the middle option which allowed one express ride on each of the rides in the park (rather then unlimited). A few minutes later we were in the stunning park and were on our way.
We hadn’t done any research ahead of time so we completely winged the experience. We somehow managed to land at the Battlestar Galactica rollercoaster first which had two different rollercoasters in one. We started with the more traditional style which was great but the highlight was ten minutes later when we walked on the version of the rollercoaster where your legs dangle and had five loops and corckscrews. It was a great ride.
Maybe doing both rides back to back wasn’t the best idea but we actually felt pretty good coming off so we went and grabbed a quick lunch. We found a small restaurant and I had a burger and Jenn had some fish and chips. It wasn’t great, but did the trick. From lunch we made our way next door to the Steven Spielberg experience where we got to walk into a sound stage and see a demonstration of a hurricane scene (something I think I saw in Orlando in 2000).
From there we made our way the the Jurassic Park section of the park. We used our pass and walked right on the ride and realized as we walked up that it was different from Hollywood, its actually a river rapids ride. We sat down and were off. The ride itself was great and as expected Jenn and I came off completely drenched. We left the ride and tried these “dryers” that did next to nothing.
Our next stop was off to the Mummy Ride which is quite different from the Hollywood version, or at least from what I remember from many years ago. It’s a fast ride and goes from some brief storytelling to a dark rollercoaster similar to Space Mountain. It was one of the most thrilling rides of the day, although for some reason the rides in the dark always make me a little more queasy.
We finished up our time at the park with Shrek 4D and the Madagascar ride and then made our way back to our hotel. We had such an incredible time at Universal and it was the perfect way to just let loose and enjoy our last day in what has become one of our new favorite destinations, Singapore. After we arrived back at our hotel we grabbed our bags, and grabbed another Taxi to take us back to the airport for the final time.
Unfortunately we arrived to the airport a little earlier then we wanted but luckily with our business class tickets there was an “early check-in” that let us go into a different room, sit down, and leisurely check in our bags and go through a separate security to go to the SATs Lounge. For the next three hours we lounged, grabbed some ramen at an Ippudo Express, and just relaxed as we waited for our flight. A little before 11PM we got the call that it was time to board so we made our way to the gate and boarded our first of two 11-hour flights, the first to Istanbul, and the second to home (JFK).
As of right now we’re on the second flight (Istanbul to JFK) and I can say that we’ve had a very relaxing trip home. We both slept for 80% of the first flight and will probably do at least half of that on this flight. I’ve been thinking on these flights how best to wrap up this trip, and I will just say this, I’m sitting in seat 3K and all I feel is grateful.
