Universal Studios Singapore

Last Saturday was The Husband's firm's anniversary cum family day. To mark the date, staff and family members are invited to spend a day together at USS. Being an organisation where the staff are all in their twenties or early thirties, it was unsurprising that most of them were already familiar with the theme park. But for The Husband and myself; it was our very first trip. Our excuse reason being the last few years (when USS has been set up) had been spent being pregnant and raising babies. 

In any case, we aren't fans of thrill rides so we did not think we would want to go there specifically unless the opportunity presents itself. If I really have to choose any theme parks to go to, I will go for Disneyland any day! :P But! The trip exceeded both of our expectations and it is all mainly because of ..... Madagascar!

Yes, we both dig the movies and the toddler is at the phase where she is into animals (animated or real). She was excited to be able to point out most of the animals (lion, hippo, penguins, zebra and giraffe) and was especially enamoured with the penguins. It probably had to do with the fact that we happened to catch the Madagascar mascots at noon where they did a little dance and then had photo-taking with the visitors. The three penguins probably left her with the deepest impression with their shaking booties act. Since the trip, she has been constantly telling us, "Penguin dance!" and then proceeds to jiggle a bit.

We did, however, took pictures with Alex the lion and King Julien, the wacky lemur.

Other than Madagascar, we also lingered in Far far away land. We had some overpriced fast food grub in Goldilocks' and watched a 4D animation that got Anya burst out crying, but was otherwise thoroughly enjoyed by the adults. By then, it was way past Anya's usual nap time and she was visibly knackered. She asked to sit in her stroller and promptly fell asleep after eating some biscuits (what Goldilocks served up was not to her liking). Thereafter, we took a stroll and explored the rest of the 'worlds' and then, it was time to go home.

This was an entirely new experience to Anya and it was apparent as she was tentative towards anything and everything. Most of the times, she preferred to sit in her stroller or stick close to us while she took in this strange 'cartoony' environment gradually. She was also hesitant to try out the rides. While she was curious when she saw all those furry mascots, she was apprehensive about going near one and insisted to be carried whenever one comes too near. After we took pictures with Alex the lion, The Husband prompted her to high-five with Alex. Seeing that it went okay, he encouraged her to give him a goodbye hug. It appeared that she drew the line at high-fives as she burst out crying when she saw the lion opening out his arms for a hug. Heh... Oops..

All in all, there was some tears and a lot of cajoling involved, but I do think it was memorable (in good ways too) for her because she has been talking about random things about the trip. As for the adults, yeah, we too are still relishing in the land of Madagascar. In fact, we just went to buy the DVDs for Madagascar 1 and 2.