Adventure Begins part 11 : Day 5-6 ( Sentosa Island, IKEA, and finally back to India!)

After the previous day Pool Party and Over eating, it was a day to start lazily. But we were to head to Sentosa Island, and that meant to wake up in time and leave by 9. Since we were staying at Harbour Front itself, Sentosa was merely a Bus stop away.

There are three ways to Reach Sentosa, One is on MRT. The MRT runs from Vivo City ( Harbour Front) to Sentosa. So where you are staying in Singapore Take MRT to Harbour Front, and Get down at Harbour Front Station. Harbour front station itself is connected to Vivo City Mall. Ask any one, or read sign boards and you will not miss. Second or expensive way is to take cable car from Mount Faber to Sentosa Island. Its an experience in itself costing Sng $ 35 each person. Third way is to Take bus from Harbour front Bus stop, ( Which is not even 1 min distance from Harbour front MRT station).The Shuttle Buses are specially for dropping to Sentosa Island and are free of charge.They drop you at the gate of Casino.

Sentosa Island itself consists of various Amusement and adventure Parks. Most famous of them is Universal Studio.The studio consists of Amusement Park on themes of the Movies done by studios such as Shrek, Madagascar, Transformers, Sesame Street, Jurassic Park. Whole day there are shows in various areas ( you can get the schedule at the gate itself, follow the timings).  Since Vikas had told us that universal studio itself will consume your whole day, so we purchased tickets for it only and did not go to other adventure which are primarily water parks ( with Diving under water) and Lugo Ride.

If you are going, I would suggest you to take following basic etiquette:

1. Try to take minimum items with you. Leave camera at home and take your Purse or Mobile in a Belt Pouch, so that you can hang it around your body while doing roller coasters. Carrying extra things like camera will mean unnecessary bothering for you, or the people with you ( if you are in a group).With advanced technologies, you can click photographs with your mobiles.
2. There are certain rides where you can not/ should not take your kids, so be prepared for doing rides alone, in case you are carrying a Kid as parents, so that you can enjoy the rides as well as keep the kid looked after. 
3. We were afraid that we may get wet in the Rapids Ride at Jurassic Park, so it was suggested to carry change over. But unless you are very fussy, there is no need of change over, as the weather is quite hot there, so within no time, clothes dry up. Any extra carrying will call for a hiring of locker, which again  COSTS. 
4. The shows not to miss are : 
1. Lights camera Action by Steven Spielberg, 
2. Shrek 4D, 
3. Transformer Ride (Preferably you should not take kid below 5 with you), 
   

   Photo op outside Sci Fi city, waiting for The transformer ride to begin

1. The Revenge of Mummy Ride ( Kids below certain height not allowed, also its a tough jerky ride as some part is done in absolute darkness),
   

    

2.  Battlestar Galactica has two roller coasters, Human and Cyclone.The day we went it was closed for maintenance. On Blogs I had read its a tough Roller Coaster, but it doesn’t seem so, as we had done tougher in Thorpe Park ( London) so go ahead and enjoy. One of smaller one is canopy flyer, short and sweet just in case you want to get your first experience before trying the harder ones.
3.  Street Shows like Cruisers, Monstor Rock or Street Fellas are must watch
   

   Using the opportunity while waiting for the cruisers to come.

4. With Rockfallas!

5. There are some rides specially for kids at Sesame Street, Kind Julian’s Merry Go round at Madagascar and Crate Adventures at Madagascar.
6. In Hollywood walk of fame, the characters of Hollywood movies keep coming out, and you can get your pics clicked with them. 

Hollywood Walk of Fame ( Panda) Its fun at Universal Studio. I bought a Shrek sipper for my Niece from there. In fact I saw some kids/teens carrying it, asked them where to buy it from, searched all over the universal studio shops, but all had finished. Finally a Lady carrying Coca Cola was having it last piece, just grabbed it.  It was almost 7 pm by the time we got free. There is a Dance of the Swans, light and sound show which takes place just out side Universal Studio ( just a little walk towards sea side). Its at 8.30 pm. We had heard of it, and wanted to see, but since the other couple were leaving tomorrow, and were to do packing, we left early.  For food, Picnic food is not allowed inside universal studio, so we were dependent on Studio food. But again we faced trouble as there was nothing for vegetarians. Only a Pizza shop had one plain Vegetarian Pizza. My Husband searched all over the place, and finally in  the Egyptian side he found the restaurant which was offering Veg as well as non veg platters. The Platter had Veg Biryani rice, Vegetable Jalfarezi ( Mixed Vegetable), Aloo Palak ( Potato spinach vegetable), Poppadom and Kheer. If you are a heavy eater it may not suffice, but for light eaters like us, it was sufficient. it was for Sng $ 16 each platter. The other option was to take Arhar Daal ( lentils) with 3 Roti ( its different from normal Roti though), I think was for Sng $ 7. It also had some excellent slushes, I had a Raspberry  one. The Food was yummy and so was the Slush.  It was a worthwhile day. As we came back, The other couple got busy with Luggage packing, me and Niti had our time to gossip. It was a long day.  Next day the other couple were to leave by 10 AM. And we had planned for IKEA. However the GST claim invoice for Mustafa center was pending so we left for there. From there we were to reach to IKEA directly while Niti also came along as she was to buy certain household things. We went to IKEA Alexandra Road.  IKEA At their Cafe ( You buy any drink( Pourable) for Sng $ 5, then refill in the glass is free) IKEA is worlds fastest growing home store and is from Sweden. It deals in Portable/ collapsible Home store items, from Furniture units to Lamp shades, all are foldable. We bought 5 Lamp shades, Some crockery, Some gifting items. It was worth every penny, and now the Ceiling Lamp shades are proudly being hanging in our Drawing Room! Do see their website if you need information!  Since it was time for Niti’s daughter to come back from School she left, and we continued our shopping there. Once done we left for Vivo City Mall for a quick bite and for last moment purchases ( Chocolates etc).  At Vivo city Mall : Note that the statue is made of Recycled Mobile Phones Again since it was Lunch time, we went for Mc Donalds. To our surprise no veg Options again. The best thing she did was charging for Mc Chicken without Patty and inserting Hashbrowns ( Kind of Potato Patty) instead and Charging for that. And since the Billing Girl was Indian, she understood our plight and helped us. We packed some for Niti  and Kids too. After we came back it was time to do return packing, and Boy we still were not over weight in Luggage ( 30 Kgs per person for check in baggage). But since we had connecting domestic flight in India where baggage allowance was 15 KG per person, we were comfortable with the fact that our overall weight was under control and it will only need some swapping at Delhi Airport from Check in baggage to Hand Baggage. For all the shoppers, again, pl travel light, as there are so many tempting things to buy there, you might regret not buying them due to excess luggage.  Next day it was time to bid adieu to Vikas and Niti for the wonderful hospitality. They made us feel at home in every possible manner.  Last MRT ride in Singapore We took MRT ( NE Line) from Harbour front to Outram Park. Changed to EW line to Changi Airport/ Pasir Ris. Got down at Tanah Merah and took train to Changi Airport ( theMRT comes just opposite where we got down in Tanah Merah).  While returning we discovered that Changi airport is very beautiful airport Full of Luxury Brands like Tiffany, Victoria Secrets, Miu Miu. Its also considered to be the best Airport in the World. Our Stop over was at KL Airport, where we stood in Line for having a Burger at Burger King, but to our dismay, it has no vegetarian option. The only option was of Cheese fingers, but the Billing Girl ( again an Indian) said its cooked in mixed oil ( Same oil is used for Frying Beef Patties) so we left. Finally had nice snacks and fruit salads. There are lot of options available, they even have counter of Famous Jalan Alor Hawker Center there, where you can even have Dosa ( A south Indian Dish) We reached Delhi at 9.25 PM ( Indian Time) and our next flight was 2.30 am.  Welcome back! And we reached Amritsar at 3.55 Am. Finally we were home!