A Day At The Universal Studios, Singapore plus Halloween Horror Night Preview

Universal Studios Singapore - 新加坡环球影城(USS) is a theme park located within Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa Island. The park had its soft opening period from 18 March to 26 October 2011 and it's official Grand Opening was held earlier this year on 28 May 2011. For your information USS park contain 7 themed zones such as:- Hollywood, New York, Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt, The Lost World, Far Far Away and Madagascar all based on Universal movie hits and etc.

Since this week the lower primary are having a 4 day school break before the end year school exam I decided to bring my boy to USS as a study-break. He has being wanting to explore more and excited about those rides ever since our 1st visit last year during the After-Hour night visit(read more HERE).

HOLLYWOOD

When you first step beyond the entrance of the USS, greeting you will be the grant "Hollywood" street framed by dynamic architecture, palm trees and the famous Walk of FameTM that makes you will feel as thought you have landed in the center of the entertainment universe. If you wish to grab hold of some souvenir before heading back, remember to drop by the "Universal Studios Store" along this street for some themed collectibles, toys and apparel.

You can use any MasterCard to purchase your admission tickets in order to enjoy 20% off One-Day tickets any day of the week when you book online or purchase on-site(After discount our weekday ticket rate: Adult: S$52.80, Kid: S$38.40)! On top of that you will also receive a S$10 retail voucher and etc. Promotion ends at 18 November 2011, more detail, HERE.

MADAGASCAR

Our 1st stop is at Madagascar: A Crate Adventure where we get to board an indoor river boat ride with Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria, the four heroes from blockbuster movie Madagascar. Very fun and relaxing boat ride which suits kid even for the age of 3 - 4 years old with accompany adult(s).

After the boat ride you can catch up with the Madagascar Boogie just outside Penguins Mercantile at specify showtimes such as:- 11.30am, 1.30pm, 3.30pm and 5.30pm.

At the same street in the Madagascar zone,  King Julien and the Lemurs are throwing a party for their favorite freaks from New York: Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe at the all time family Carousel - King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round. This is sure a catch for kids and adults of all ages where you can either ride and spins round and round with those cartoon characters.

FAR FAR AWAY

Movie stars, talking donkeys.…the land of Far Far Away showcases lifestyles of the rich and fairy taled whereby you will attracted by this unique castle which is the landmark of USS too. Here you can to enjoy Shred 4-D Adventure where you can see, hear and FEEL the action right from your seat such as water, hairy spiders, wind and etc. My boy and I have great fun and excitement watching this short movie.

Other than the delicious homemade recipe with 7-spice chicken at Goldilocks Restaurants (we had kiddy meal - criss-cross fries, dino nuggets and regular size drink S$9.50 serve in a cute portable lunchbox) you can also pop over to Fairy Godmother's Juice Bar to get some unique concoction of clourful elixirs at the juice bar. 

THE LOST WORLD

After lunch we move on to the next destination at "The Lost World" where we hurried ourselves to the 1.00pm showtime(showtimes: check the daily schedule for actual timing) at Water World. This is a must watch live entertaining show where we can witness a tidal wave of death-defying stunts, along with thrills and spills from real explosions of fire and water based on the blockbuster film, "Waterworld". But beware sitting at the center area or first few rows at the sides as you might get wet due to the splashing of water during the show.

Currently the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure is NOT available as it is undergoing enhancement works from 10 August 2011 early 2012. So with 1 attraction down we are left with Canopy Flyer, Dino-Soarin and Amber Rock Climb. My boy loves to ride on the Canopy Flyer whereby he is not afraid of height and turns but this ride leaving mummy with wobbly feet and butterfly stomach.

Dino-Soarin can be fun too as it attracted a lot of adults in all ages whereby you ride on the back of flying dinosaurs called Pteranodons, soaring up into the sky or plunging down into the shadows.

ANCIENT EGYPT

In order to skip the long queue over at Canopy Flyer at The Lost World, we thought of heading towards the Ancient Egypt Zone and take a look before popping by to join the queue. There are total of two rides focusing Revenge of the Mummy as the main attraction and Treasure Hunters on the other hand which is more child friendly ride for the family. The Revenge of the Mummy ride is a psychological thrill ride where the roller coaster travel through a pitch black building leaving you clueless as to where you are going and what is going to happen ahead.

After asking around and seeing the some photos taken at the photo booth from the rides, we decided to give this ride a pass and head on to the "Treasure Hunters" which is a relax jeep ride which is more suitable for us. Furthermore, each young kid will be presented with a Treasure Hunters License Certifies as souvenir too.

SCI-FI CITY

With a choice of either Human or Cylon at this Sci-Fi City riders on both coasters will experience unbelievable thrills as they race towards each other and nearly collide! Zooming at speeds of 82.8 km/h, the Human Viper Mark II is a seated coaster that propels riders up to 14 storeys into the air whereas they Cylon raiders is a suspended roller coaster that will turn your world upside down as it runs through a vertical loop, corkscrew and cobra roll. Imagine with all the turns and loops....this is definitely not my cup of tea. But are you brave enough to take the challenge!!!

Giving out on the roller coasters, my boy and I decided to test our intergalactic stamina while being madly spinning on the whirling twirling attraction known as Accelerator. These individual similar "merry-go-round" ride is so fun and thrilling leaving us screaming in excitement through out the ride.   

NEW YORK

At about 4pm we are already hungry from our earlier lunch-break over at Goldilocks Restaurant mentioned above. So we decided to stop by the recommended Loui's NY Pizza Parlor to have a quick bite. As it was very pretty late in the afternoon there aren't much choices left on the shelf. Here we grab the "1 Slice Pizza Set" which comes with 1 slice of your desire pizza(i choose Tandoori), 1 dessert(either Panna cotta or Cheesecake) together with a cup of regular size soft drink at S$13.80.

As you can see the slice of pizza was quite big which is about the serving of 2 normal slices of pizza that we used to have. I love the thin and crusty base with topped with tender and flavorsome tandoori chicken, green chilli and well-blend seasonings. Worth trying this set especially with a cup of yummy Panna Cotta as dessert before heading to our show over at the opposite street at "Lights, Camera, Action!" where we get to witness the stage setting with awesome sound effect on a major hurricane hitting New York City. 

After a fun-filled day at the theme park, here is the crumbled map with marking on all the attractions that we have survive through. Friendly speaking other than the "roller coasters" I guess most of the attractions are still very family oriental where most of the family members can participate with.

HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS

This October if you are looking for some terrified event for your Halloween Night, do consider joining this 1st Halloween Horror Nights in Universal Studios Singapore, Resort World Sentosa(Date: 21 - 23, 27-30 October 2011, Time: 8.00pm - 12 Midnight). These are some of the scenes from few of the 6 scare-zones that you will encountered during the event.

The highlights of this event are such as haunted Peranakan house to face the Vengeance of the Matriarch, Mutated zombies roam for blood in a Post-Apocalyptic Rage, Mad Scientist stalks unsuspecting victims in The Void and etc... More details of the event and ticketing information can be found HERE. Enjoy and have a fright night.

More photos of the USS trip can be found at HERE at Cuisine Paradise facebook page.

{Halloween Special} Jack O' Lantern, Black Cat Pumpkin Soup, Eyeballs Fettuccine And Death By Chocolate

Halloween is the celebration typically held on 31st October each year where this date marked the end of the summer and beginning of the cold winter which was often a time of death. As usually this year you could also join in some Halloween event at some of the tourist attraction such as Universality Studios Singapore, Halloween Horror Nights(here), Sentosa Spooktacular (here), FrightFest@Singapore Flyer (here) and etc.

This is the second year (read last year post, here) I cooked Halloween theme dishes despite that we don't actually celebrate this festival. Same as last year I have cooked a creamy pumpkin soup but with fusion of Asian and Western ingredients. And for this year we have a set Dinner Menu that comes with salad, soup, pasta and dessert with Halloween theme decorated.

{Giveaway plus Review} Easy Thai Cooking by Robert Danhi

Last month while lasing with Bee's Easy Chinese Recipes cookbook giveaway with Tuttle Publishing, Margaret from the team suggest if I would like to review Chef Robert Danhi's cookbook on Easy Thai Cooking. (more information at www.chefdanhi.com). I was thrilled and immediately accepted the offer because my family (especially my mum) love Thai cuisines.

In this post I would be sharing 3 dishes (with a complimentary recipes) which I have tried a few days back from Chef Robert's Easy Thai Cooking cookbook. With the step-by-step photos and sample recipes you can easily follow the preparation on these delicious dishes shown below.

{Quick Version} French Apple Tart

I have some extra Green Apples left in the fridge after making the "Pork Schnitzel And Apple Salad" so after gathering a few related ingredients from the pantry I decided to make this quick and simple French Apple Tart for afternoon tea snack. And in order to shorten the preparation time I decided to use our favourite frozen puff pastry(i always keep a pack in the freezer) as we love that buttery flaky base.

Most of the French Apple Tart use two different layers of fillings such as cooked apple cubes top with apple slices. But since this is a quick version I have omitted the cooking process and replaced it by layers sliced apple.

FRENCH APPLE TART

(serves: 4-6 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients: 
1 Sheet frozen Butter Puff Pastry, partially thawed
Knot of Butter, to grease
1/4 Cup Ground Almond Meal
2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Egg White, lightly beaten
2 Granny Smith Apples, halved, cored, thinly sliced
1/2 Tablespoon Brown Sugar, optional
2 Tablespoons Apricot Jam/Marmalade

Method:-

1. Preheat oven to 220 Degree Celsius. Lightly grease a baking tray with butter and place pastry sheet onto greased tray.

2. Using the tip of a sharp knife, score pastry by only cutting half way through, 2cm from edge.

3. Combine almond meal, sugar, cinnamon and egg white together. Spread over pastry within the inner border.

4. Top with apples, overlapping slightly, sprinkle some brown sugar evenly on the apples and bake in preheated oven for about 18 - 20 minutes or until apples are tender and pastry is golden.

5. Mix jam with 2 tablespoon boiling water in a small bowl until spreadable. Brush over cooked tart, cut into pieces and serve. (you can serve it plain with pair with vanilla ice-cream or custard)

The end result was great and addicting as you can have different layers of texture range from moist fragrant apple, cinnamon and flake spread on top of those flaky buttery base. This is definitely a quick and easy tea snack with a cup of decent tea with a couples of friends.

To make your tart look more attractive with that shinning outlook you can also glazed it with some apricot preserves that is dilute with hot water and in a way it also enhance the apples with a moist texture too.