Amusement parks do not only cater to families, they also make for an awesome venue for a date with one's significant other. I was lucky to have experienced it both ways! Opened in 2010, Universal Studios Singapore is the first and only Universal Studios theme park in Southeast Asia and is a must visit when in SG. Located on Sentosa Island, a massive resort playground just south of mainland Singapore, USS covers almost 20 hectares; small by Universal theme park standards but packed with all the crowd favorites. It is also part of the larger Resorts World Sentosa complex, which includes a casino, SEA Aquarium, and several luxury hotels. A note from the writer: this is a pre-pandemic tale with additional post-pandemic photos. Here's a pic of us back in 2019.

After the culture and history of Shanghai , we were treated to a few days of shopping, eating and galavanting in Hong Kong .  Truthfully, I did not know what to expect from HK as the last time I was here, I was about 12 and I was with my folks. We were given two days to wander around this city of lights, sounds and cars driving in the wrong side of the road (or so my Brit buddies disagree) and while some went to Disneyland and that huge Buddha place, and others went shopping in the stores not found in the Philippines (HMV, H&M etc.), I decided to indulge in two of my favorite past times: exploring a city alone AND toy window shopping . Hong Kong opened my eyes to a whole different level of toy window shopping.  The toy scene is absolutely CRAZY.   (Think a whole building dedicated to small stores specializing in specific toy sets: LEGO, Transformers, GI JOE, Marvel, DC, Anime etc.)  This was ten times the awesomeness of Shoppesville and Virra Mall combine...