Instead of spending our weekend in a tropical rainforest, we ended up being in the concrete jungles. Yup, the plan for a retreat at Jerangkang Waterfall in Pahang falls short due to the ailment of the organizer’s mother, also our friend. To Spark, we wish for your mother speedy recovery.

As we have very much anticipated about going ‘somewhere’, it was hard for us to accept that the trip was cancelled at the eleventh hour.  I don’t know how Singapore comes to mind; perhaps it is the closest foreign country we could go to spend our weekend which I hadn’t been for the past 25 years. Being there, it would be ridiculous not to visit the Universal Studio Singapore (USS) which has been the talk of the town – so we quickly made our last minute booking, a bit pricey for us Malaysian.

Entering Johor Bahru (JB) city center via the North South Expressway (PLUS). KL to JB requires about 4 hours driving with the speed maintain at 110km/h.

JB town.

Singapore from afar.

Most of decent and budget hotels in JB are fully booked – the shortcoming of arriving very late without any preparation. Nevertheless, we manage to secure ourselves a modest accommodation for half of our budget. Cool.

The hotel is within walking distance from Tune Hotel JB in Danga Bay. There is a shuttle service company (SEE HERE) located at the Tune Hotel ground floor, where we get our return tickets to USS that cost us RM25 per adult and RM10 per child. The ticket could also be booked via Tune Hotel website when you do the room booking.

Tired and all, we return back to the hotel, refresh ourselves then drive back to the nearby Angsana Mall for a quick dinner and change the currency before receding to our room for rest.

Next Day.

We wake up early to catch the first shuttle service to USS. The bus make 2 return trips per day (leaving JB via the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link highway at 7.00am and later at 10.00am, picking up the passengers at USS at 7.30pm.  The last bus leaves USS at 10.30pm).

The coach that will take us to USS.

Ahnaf and DH inside the bus.

We stop at Tanjung Kupang CIQ (Custom and Immigration Quarantine) and Tuas CIQ to get our passport checked before continuing our journey to Sentosa Island, ETA 9.00am.

Crossing over.

Tebrau Straits in the morning.

The buoys caught my attention.

30 minutes later. Universal Studio Singapore, here we come!

Us having fun inside USS. Let the pictures talk!

Oscars for sale.

Walk of Fame.

Far Far Away Kingdom.

While queing for the Shrek 4d movie, I can’t help myself from admiring the chandelier .

Battlestar Galactica death defying roller coasters  –  woohoo!!

The colossal  entrance to the Revenge of the Mummy resembles the real ancient egyptian tomb. They ‘feel’ so real!

Amun Ra warriors. Thank god he shaves!

The day is superhot, a lofty thirst-quencher like this one drain in no time.

The Waterworld Set.

While waiting for the Waterworld show to start, we are entertained by some boisterous stuntmen who keep splashing water towards the audience. Be ready to get soaked!

Waterworld during intense moment. Waterworld show rocks!!! Even Ahnaf who was not keen earlier (as he’s tired and misses his milk) is speechless.

The Steven Spielberg’s Light, Camera,  Action! is super duper awesome (the thought of changing career to being actress suddenly crosses me…haha ada bakat ke???. Imagine working in that kind of nerve thrilling set everyday..kewl dude! That is the last show of the day for us as the time is already passes 7pm. I wish that we could stay longer, but with Ahnaf constant whining and the bus that will take us back to JB will arrive anytime soon, we have to let go.

Exiting the USS, we stumbled into this ‘sweet’ and colorful candy tree.

>>End of Day 1.