Singapore Sights: Part 2

On Monday, we hit Universal Studios. Since we're more of a Disney family (Can you tell?), we've never taken the kids to Universal Studios in the USA, so they had nothing to compare it to.

Requisite family photo at amusement park entrance

The rides were a 50/50 split between those for young kids and older patrons. Andrew had roller coaster duty while I took the younger two around. The Battlestar Galactica ride had dueling roller coasters, Human vs. Cyclon, with intertwining tracks. At Jurassic Park, I told Brad about the idea of cloning dinosaurs from DNA extracted from mosquitos frozen in amber. He asked, "Does anything bad happen?"

The Waterworld Stunt Extravaganza was a welcome chance to rest our feet and sit down.

Shrek's restroom facilities in Far Far Away were top-notch.

 Disney may have Cinderella's castle, but Universal has Lord Farquaad's Castle of Duloc.

As we left Universal Studios, we came across both a gigantic Hershey store and some tasty friends.

For dinner, we went to Jumbo Seafood with a view of the river for Singapore's signature dish, Chilli Crab. We didn't have reservations but promised the restaurant we would only be there 90 minutes, so they showed us a table and then draped gigantic bibs the size of aprons around our necks.

Tasty and messy

The chilli crab had a scrumptious tomato-based sauce flavored with chilli peppers. It was thick and savory with hints of sweetness, garlic, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Beaten eggs are added at the end of the cooking time to create the type of egg ribbons you see in egg drop soup. I ordered a side of deep-fried buns called Man-Tou to sop up the delicious gravy.

Afterwards, we strolled around a bit and looked across the river at Clarke Quay (pronounced "key") which is the nightclub/entertainment section of town.

When he was a youngster, I used to call him "Clarkie".

The hotel left a Monopoly board game with the new Electronic Banking in our room, and the kids were dying to play. Even though it was already getting late, we played for an hour because, after all, this is a vacation.

The next day, we flew back home to Penang. While waiting for our flight, we had lunch at Texas Chicken.

Does the sign remind you of another fried chicken chain?

Texas Chicken is owned by the same company, but I suppose it wanted a less religious name for their international market. How well Mosque Chicken would go over deep in the heart of Texas? It was comforting to have a little taste of home, especially biscuits with honey butter, before we headed back to Penang.