Singapore Diary Day 3 (S.E.A. Aquarium and Universal Studios Singapore)

Read about S.E.A. Aquarium, the 2^nd world’s largest aquarium and Universal Studios Singapore, a seven-themed-zoned park which is one of its kinds in South East Asia.

Using Singapore City Pass

This is our 3^rd day I Singapore but our first day to use our 3-Day Singapore City Pass (SCP). As mentioned in my previous blog, there is a free one way hotel pick up when you purchase any of SCP products. It is advisable to use this one way pick-up first day of your 3day City Pass as this will head you direct to their office at Singapore Flyer to get all your entrance tickets and have all your tours scheduled. By the way, this is the date you filled in the application form in purchasing SCP.

The bus picked up us at around 8:00am in the hotel lobby of Fragrance Hotel –Geylang. The bus toured around the city to pick up other tourist from different hotels and then headed straight to their office at Singapore Flyer. We disembark the bus and the driver escorted us to their office. We lined up to get all our tickets and had our tours scheduled. Here are our tickets and corresponding schedule:

Universal Studios Singapore – Day 1
S.E.A. Aquarium – Day 1
FunVee Night Adventure (Free!) – Day 2
DUKW Tour (Free!) – Day 3
Singapore Flyer – Day 3
FunVee Hop-On Hop-Off (Free!) – Day 3

Note that you only have to choose three ticket passes; the other tickets are FREE as indicated. Also, the schedule and the ticket passes are yours to decide. For a detailed discussion about Singapore City Pass, click this blog The Best of Singapore with Singapore City Pass. By the way be sure to bring your confirmation receipt with you.

How to get to S.E.A.Aquarium and Universal Studios Singapore (USS):

S.E.A. Aquarium and USS are both part of Resorts Worlds Sentosa which is situated in Southern Singapore. There are a couple of ways to get there; one of them is through cable car. In fact, this is available in SCP. However, we preferred to ride the bus instead. There is a FREE bus ride to and from USS from the Singapore Flyer when you purchased the SCP, hence we just availed it. So after we got our ticket passes, we were given stickers with USS indicated on it. We just stayed inside their office and waited for the bus to arrive.

Travelling with SCP is easy-peasy. All you have to do is wait for your ride and enjoy your point of destination. No need to worry about bus rides or commuting. SCP got everything you need.

Travel time from Singapore Flyer to USS is about an hour. The bus is so clean and cozy that we did not even notice the time. We disembarked the bus at USS basement parking. We went upstairs. The first thing we noticed was the iconic Universal Globe. We did not go straight to USS but instead, we went to S.E.A. Aquarium. When fronting the Universal Globe, just turn left. USS, TrickEye Museum and S.E.A. entrance are visible when you are standing in front of the Universal Globe. So no need to worry.

Bus to USS

S.E.A. Aquarium

The S.E.A Aquarium used to be the world’s largest aquarium but is now overtaken by Chime-Long Ocean Kingdom in China. The aquarium comprises of 10 zones with 49 habitats. The centerpiece of the Aquarium is the Open Ocean tank, the world’s largest viewing panel, which is intended to give visitors the feeling of being on the ocean floor.

Below are some of the photos we took at S.E.A. Aquarium. The place is just s simple as compared to that of Hong Kong Ocean Park. We were finished touring around the place for just an hour. We did not spend so much time here as we were just so excited for Universal Studios.

Universal Studios Singapore

Universal Studios Singapore is a theme park located within Resorts World Sentosa. There are a total of seven themed zones: Hollywood, New York, Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt, The Lost Worlds, Far Far Away, and Madagascar. Each zone features their own unique attractions, character appearances, dining and shopping areas.

Let me tour you around USS with these photos.

Entrance

You will be greeted with this giant globe when you enter USS. Make sure to have some selfie in this iconic globe.

Hollywood

This zone is the main entrance of the park which is framed by dynamic architecture, palm trees and the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. Its only attraction is a broadway-style theatre which is accompanied by several restaurants and a variety of flagship shops. Notice that the place is covered, hence no need to worry about the rain, feel the walk of fame. haha 😉

New York

This zone has a replica of the famous New York Public Library with two lion statues at its entrance. Unfortunately, during our visit there, there was a giant Christmas tree and a giant Christmas decors that block the famous New York stairs.

Also located here is the Lights! Camera! Action! a sound stage tailored with special effects to mimic a major hurricane about to hit New York City. Make sure not to get closed to the water as this may spill on your cameras, just what happened to mine.

Sci-Fi City

Sci-Fi City is an illusory metropolis of the future that comprises many contemporary expediencies of life. Situated here is the world’s tallest pair of dueling roller coasters, Battlestar Galactica: Human vs. Cylon, at a height of 42.7 meters. Unfortunately, during our visit this attraction was closed as the rain pours hard.

We tried another rides though, the Accelerator and the Transformers: the Ride. Accelerator is a whirling twirling ride that spins guests around. This is a nay for adults but a yay for kids. No wonder we were the only guest using the ride. Haha. In contrary is the Transformers: The Ride! This is adark ride which has giant wrap-around screens that sport photo-realistic 3D-HD video imagery at various points throughout the ride. It also has additional 4-D effects (water spray, wind, hot air, fog, etc.) that further enhance the ride experience. Overjoyed, we rode this ride TWICE! Hahaha. It’s worth the

Ancient Egypt

From the name itself, this features pillars and pyramids which are typical of Ancient Egypt. The only ride we had tried in this zone was the Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride. This is a high-speed dark ride that sports shrill turns and fast reverse sections, built within a complex that is partially lighted. In other terms, a dim roller coaster ride. This ride kept us wheezing until the end of the ride. Note that you cannot bring anything inside this ride including your bags. Anything inside your pocket is also requested to be kept in a locker. A locker cost SGD10.00. Hence, my friend and I decided to be each other’s locker. We took turns in riding the mummy and keeping each other’s things. Haha. Make sense?

The Lost World

The Lost World is divided into two sub areas: Jurassic Park and Waterworld. Unfortunately, the queue in this zone is very long that we just skipped to ride any of its attraction. Nonetheless, we just took photos within the vicinity.

Far Far Away

Far Far Away is inspired by the movie, Shrek. The zone consists of many recognizable locations from the film series, and the key acme of the zone is the 40-metre tall Far Far Away Castle.