The Titanic Obsession

Yes, it is in fact true. We went back to the ArtScience Museum to bring Jakjak to the Titanic exhibition. We did this right after watching Wicked, but in his mind, it was the Titanic that he was thinking about. In fact, when he saw the white lotus shaped building, he immediately started shouting "Titanic! Titanic!".

Ever since the first time we went to see it, Jakjak has been obsessed with the ship. We thought that the second time he saw it, he would finally be content and it would die out. I guess not. He sees pieces of the Titanic in everyday things. Even the small things like how a hallway looks and how a seat or a lamp looks like the one on the Titanic. All his toys now have to be broken in half to simulate the separation of the Titanic's bow from it's stern.

We have almost completed a project together which is a paper mache model of the Titanic. Initially, it was going to be a static model, but now it is one where the funnels break off from the ship. Thankfully, what we built seems to be strong enough to take the abuse. All that's left is to put in little details and then it sets sail.

He also has a copy of National Geographic's Titanic centennial edition. He has watched every Titanic related show on History channel and Nat Geo. He even watched, and finished, the James Cameron movie of Titanic (which runs slightly above 2 hours!). Every now and then he mentions the ship, the artifacts he saw, the stories he has heard, the video clips that he has seen. This, I believe, is obsession.

UPDATE: The Titanic paper mache we have been building is completed halfway except for the four funnels, which, apparently always gets "misplaced". We now also have a 3D puzzle version of the Titanic which we recently got from BHG.

*Jakjak himself took this picture complete with backdrop. :)

Adventure Day At Universal Studios Singapore | 2012

Just like when Enchanted Kingdom opened in the Philippines all those years ago, we weren't that excited when Universal Studios Singapore opened in October 2009. It was not because we were not interested nor were we too eager to go there. It's just that feeling of "it's right there in my backyard, so what's the rush", right?

Well, the time finally came that we had time and expenses to spare to go to Universal Studios Singapore. And we went with cousins and family, which made the trip more fun for everyone.

When you have a child, there are some priorities that you need to consider when going to theme parks. On this instance, you realize that not all rides are kid friendly. Flashback to a few years back, Jakjak barely reached the minimum height for the rides at Escape theme park in Pasir Ris. It wasn't a pretty sight seeing him sad and disappointed. So this time, I had hoped that he would be able to ride most of the attractions at Universal (and thankfully, he is! and most rides will allow smaller children to ride with an adult companion).


First stop then, Madagascar. It was a water raft ride where you go on board a raft and watch Madagascar come to life with Alex, Gloria, Marty, Melman and the penguins. Entertaining, but definitely kidstuff. 

Transformers, The Ride was up next. We expected the queue to be long, and it is but it was acceptable. Plus the kids did get to push buttons and hit switches while waiting in line so it wasn't at all that boring. Action packed 4D awesomeness. We all enjoyed it. Jakjak and Andrae (his cousin) enjoyed it so much that they had another go at it (and they also figured out that there were 3D glasses for children).

A dizzying Accelerator ride with the kids and Revenge of the Mummy coaster for the adults later and most of us were already pretty stumped. The heat does that to you, I guess.

We soon arrived at Jurassic Park where a flying Pteranadon ride called Dino-soarin' gave the youngest of our pack their first ride (we brought along 1yo twins!). Fun, but again, kidstuff, even by Jakjak's standards. It was the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure that took the heat off our bodies though. Literally. As the warning sign at the ride entrance says "you will get wet, possibly soaked". They weren't kidding. Ponchos were available to buy, but we were there to get wet, and we did. The combination of action, suspense, darkness and getting wet was all good. The best ride for us thus far (yes, even better than Transformers). I am no theme park expert, but these rides are real and beat altered reality (3D and 4D) rides by a margin.

The drying pod didn't do us any good, so we lined up for the next ride that we thought might do the trick, the Canopy Flyer. It wasn't really a roller coaster, but you sit on a canopy, feet dangling over air and it wasn't really slow. Not at all. Fun and tame for adults, but exciting enough for kids at 122cm (and above). That was the last ride for the day though. The park closed it's doors as it was getting dark. Seven o'clock was the final call.

We ended the day taking more pictures. With lunch, snacks and ice cream thrown in between. That, and lots of liquid and fans. A little bit of shopping (we did get vouchers with our tickets after all), a good hearty dinner and it was lights out (if only we lived a tad bit nearer). It's interesting to note that you can have tons of fun with your kids here, although it doesn't come cheap. You can consider multiple trips with an annual pass, which is not cheap outright. However, if you take 3 or more trips and don't mind the queue, then it is well worth the price it is offered at.