Monthly Archives: August 2010
An Update for September’s After Hours
[Updated 13 September 2010]
Time flies and we’re almost at the brink of September. If you haven’t heard by now, like the past few months, after Universal Studios Singapore closes at 7pm, we’ve got Hollywood After Hours.
Every Friday and Saturday from 7pm to 10pm for S$5, you can shop and dine in the various outlets, visit the Walk-of-Fame, and soak in the Hollywood vibes. Present your After Hours admission stub at Hollywood China Bistro, KT’s Grill, Palio, Fiesta, OSIA and Starz Restaurant for an additional 15% off the total bill.
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| Have you caught Lake Hollywood Spectacular? |
In addition, we’ve heard your requests for an earlier timing for our pyrotechnics show. Thanks in part to our supportive fans on our Facebook Fan Page, Lake Hollywood Spectacular is now scheduled to begin at 9:30pm on After Hours nights.
Points to note:
From the month of September, Movie Nights are no longer available.
USS operating hours for the 15, 16, 17, 20 & 21 September is 9am to 6pm.
After Hours is unavailable on 17 September.
Power Lunch (Part 1)
This series is prepared by our very own foodie lady, Tania H. Her last post was in December last year, and now she’s back with suggestions about where you can go for special occasions.. And some insider tips too.
Power Lunch [pou-er luhnch] noun — Important lunchtime business meeting: a meeting over lunch that gives somebody the opportunity to cultivate an important contact or discuss high-level business matters. (Source)
If you’re looking for a venue that allows you to talk shop but not intimidate, and at the same time to enjoy some fine cuisine, we’ve got some places in mind for your next business sign-off. In a two-part blogpost, we will introduce some restaurants in Resorts World Sentosa that you can consider for your next business meet up. Who knows, you might just sign THE deal over a bottle of fine wine.
Feng Shui Inn — authentic Cantonese cuisine at its best.
The setting: Each of the four private dining room seats 10-12 guests, and a mahjong table is available upon request.
How to impress: Order premium Chinese wines and teas to accompany the freshest Maine lobster or Aomori abalone. It will be an exquisite meal your guests will never forget.
What’s special: Chef Li Kwok Kwong’s versatility in the culinary art is always being put to the test when guests make special requests, but he always arrives on the mark.
Personally there are two dishes I’d recommend:
The ’live’ crayfish stir-fried Hong Kong style (“避风塘”炒虾婆). It is a tricky dish to master due to the combination of spices and seasonings.
The geo-duck clam prepared sashimi-style. While majority of Chinese restaurants serve the geo-duck clam fried, Chef Li chooses to serve his sashimi-style. Taste-wise, because of the natural sweetness and crunchy texture of the geo-duck clam, I find it quite addictive.
The setting 
ine in the exclusive Grange Room which accommodates up to 14 guests. With a relaxed, casual and intimate dining atmosphere, your guests will be instantly at ease.
How to impress: Choose from a series of Penfolds Grange wines, housed in the Grange Room, to partner the cuisine
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| The Grange Room |
What’s special: You’ll find an innovative ala carte menu combining Asian influences and Western culinary techniques. Set lunches are reasonably priced, starting from $28++ and offers a 2-course and 3-course meal. You will not be picking bones by ordering the broiled cod with lovely ratte potato and light-as-air shiromiso espuma.
Another personal favourite of mine is this hot Valrhona chocolate soup. Whatever the outcome of your business negotiation, this dessert is sure to deliver.
The setting: Book one of the two private dining rooms for absolute discretion and dine at your own comfort. Seating up to 10 guests per room, Palio’s interior, with shades of burnt orange, sky blue and black-white marble floor tiles boats of an eclectic design style and exudes a friendly feel.
How to impress: Pick the room just next to the wine cellar and have access to an extensive range of Old World and New World wines.
What’s special: Serving up rustic Tuscan cuisine in hearty portions, Palio’s $28++ 3-course set lunch is an ideal choice for a lunch pow-wow. For a taste of authentic Tuscan cuisine, the Tagliatelle pasta with slow-braised rabbit comes recommended – and after that, tuck into Palio’s signature Tiramisu for sweet success.
Just like Chris D’s review not long ago, my favourite from Palio is the rigatoni topped with crispy parma ham and fresh cherry tomatoes.
For reservations, please call +65-6577-8899. For the full dining listing at Resorts World Sentosa, please visit www.rwsentosa.com.
Enjoy lunchtime parking rates from 12pm to 2pm on Mondays to Thursdays (excluding PH) at S$1 for the first hour and S$2 thereafter.
Preliminary findings on Battlestar Galactica
Dear fans, a lot of you have been inquiring about the status of the Battlestar Galactica Ride (BSG). We have also indicated that if there were any news or updates about the ride that we would let you know. We thank all of you for your patience in waiting for news on the attraction. RWS has just gotten preliminary investigation results and here it is:
Preliminary Findings on Battlestar Galactica Roller Coaster
SINGAPORE – 20 August 2010 – Preliminary findings on Universal Studios Singapore’s Battlestar Galactica (BSG) ride were presented to the Public Entertainments Licensing Unit (PELU) today, detailing investigative testing progress so far, as well as potential solutions to correct defects that were found on the ride during its daily safety-check run cycles on 25 March 2010.
On 18 March 2010, Universal Studios Singapore opened in a standard industry ‘soft-open status’, which means that the rides, shows and other operational aspects of the park are subject to being modified and improved as needed, in order to accommodate actual guest operating conditions and improve the overall experience of the park’s visitors.
As standard procedure, all rides at Universal Studios Singapore undergo mandatory daily safety checks during the period when the park is closed to the public. On 25 March 2010, during its morning test cycle, BSG experienced a component failure of a ride seat post support that resulted in the detachment of a seat assembly. No one was on the ride and no one was injured. The ride was immediately shut down for investigative inspection and testing. The closing of the ride was also immediately reported to PELU.
BSG has been closed to the public since 25 March 2010 and has undergone extensive inspection, testing and review by its manufacturer, Vekoma Rides – one of the world’s oldest and largest roller coaster manufacturers – as well as external third-party ride experts, Resorts World Sentosa engineers and Universal Parks & Resorts theme park ride experts.
After months of cycling the ride with load-test and strain measurement equipment, Vekoma Rides has concluded that higher than anticipated stress and vibration levels caused fatigue cracks to develop in a welded component on the ride’s seat-post support. Vekoma Rides and Universal Studios Singapore have agreed that a new machined seat-post component will replace the original welded component (eliminating the weld entirely) and that additional strength-reinforcement parts will also be added.
BSG consists of two individual roller coasters running on parallel ‘cross-twisted’ tracks with the ‘Human’ coaster designed as a seated ride car and the ‘Cylon’ coaster, a suspended ride car. While the fault was found only on the ‘Human’ coaster, extensive inspection and testing of the ‘Cylon’ coaster indicated that additional machined and strength-reinforcement parts will also be added for maximum safety. It is not uncommon for theme parks to conduct some re-engineering on new rides to address mechanical issues that may not have been completely anticipated by the original computer-generated designs for the ride.
The re-opening of BSG will be a lengthy process that will begin only after a final engineering solution has been manufactured and installed. Such a solution will have to be validated by an extensive ride cycle testing and inspection, which commences in September, followed by a re-certification by the appropriate local agencies. Only then will Universal Studios Singapore be able to reopen BSG for the enjoyment of guests.
Employee and guest safety is our top priority and will not be compromised. At this time, any dates as to when BSG will reopen would be purely speculative.
Universal Studios Singapore is dedicated, along with the Vekoma Rides project team and the team of RWS, Universal Parks & Resorts and external experts assisting the Vekoma Rides project team, to seeing BSG through to a successful conclusion that has guest and employee safety as its highest priority.
Universal Studios Singapore regrets the inconvenience to its guests that the lengthy BSG closure has caused and seeks their continued patience and understanding as this situation is resolved.
It’s time for Fight Club
It’s the time of the month again! For Resorts World Sentosa Martial Combat, of course.
This month’s fight nights are on 18 & 19 August, and we’ve got a very special promotion: National Day 45% Discount Special.
Additionally, for August’s Martial Combat, we’ve got familiar faces – some winners from previous Martial Combat fights.
Chris and Anna checked out Palio
Chris D, who is working on upcoming projects for Resorts World Sentosa, will be guest blogging about his dining experiences at the resort.
Chris D’s enjoyment of traveling is second only to the love affair with food and luckily for him, his job has allowed him to combine those two passions. Everything from six star, fine dining experiences in Europe and pork lau lau cooked in an underground oven in Tahiti to fried scorpions in China and catfish in the US; he has rarely met a food that he didn’t like.
“I’m forever in search of ‘THE meal’; the one that combines impeccable service, a unique ambiance and that ever-so elusive perfect combination of ingredients, cooking technique and at least a pinch of culinary passion. Be it back street food cart or Michelin rated restaurant, until then, I’ll continue to enjoy the journey.”
- Chris D.
My friend Anna had been asking me to show her around Resorts World for a while, so I invited her to join me for lunch at Italian Restaurant Palio yesterday. I had heard about the great set lunch options they had, so thought this would be a good excuse for me to try them for myself.
It was Anna’s first time driving into the resort and coming from the CBD, she commented on how surprisingly convenient coming to Resorts World was. I met up with her at the entrance to the resort and we took the short walk to the restaurant.
Upon reaching the restaurant, we had to wait for a couple of minutes for the host to escort us to our table. The restaurant is an open-kitchen concept, bright and spacious and the decoration is very modern, yet interestingly eclectic.
While the service between entering the restaurant and getting to the seats could be improved, once seated at our comfortable table overlooking the open kitchen, the service was efficient yet friendly. I love good bread and the fresh loaf served with oil and balsamic was a great way to start the meal.
Our appetisers arrived within minutes of ordering. The creamy mushroom and truffle soup was everything you could hope for; rich and hearty with bits of mushroom that gave it nice texture. The rucola salad with poached scallops was okay, but the scallops could have been a bit more flavourful.
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| Rucola Salad tossed with Lemon dressing served with poached Scallops and Orange wedges |
Being a fan of anything-parsnip, I really struggled with whether to order the snapper with parsnip puree or the rigatoni in tomato sauce.
The rigatoni won and I wasn’t the least bit disappointed. The pasta was a perfect al dente, the sauce was very smooth and the cherry tomatoes added a bit of variety to the dish. The strips of crispy parma ham proved to be a nice addition and were very tasty, but my one request would be for the chef to be a bit more generous with the parma.
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| Rigatoni in Tomato Sauce served with Crispy Parma Ham and Fresh Cherry Tomatoes |
Luckily for me, Anna ordered the snapper and I didn’t hesitate to try the parsnip puree. Parsnips hold a certain place in my heart; as a kid, it was one of the few vegetables that my mom didn’t have to heavily bribe me to eat. While I had never tried it pureed, the flavour complimented the perfectly cooked white fish and was quite an interesting change from boring mashed potatoes that have become all-to-standard at many other restaurants.
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| Grilled Red Snapper served with Parsnip Purée in Spicy Tomato Sauce |
And as the saying goes; save the best for last. Gelato all around. Anna opted for the tiramisu gelato and seemed quite impressed. I’m not a fan of tiramisu to begin with, so I couldn’t give a fair opinion of it. I had the chocolate gelato and being a self-proclaimed chocolate snob, I’m not that easy to please when it comes to chocolate. I found their version divine! Not too sugary-sweet but just right.
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| Tiramisu and Chocolate gelato |
My only regret was that we didn’t bring Anna’s kids as it would have given us an excuse to order the pizza which I would have loved to try. From the nice, doughy crust to the generous toppings, I’m pretty sure it would have found favour at our table.
In a city spoiled for choice for quality lunch at a reasonable price, Palio succeeded in spoiling us further. Whether looking for a quick business lunch or a relaxed family dining experience, Palio seems like the perfect solution. The great variety of quality food is sure to please any palate and the convenience to the CBD and special lunch time parking rates make the fast business lunch not only pleasing to the discerning palate, but also easy on the wallet.
Palio is located at Resorts World Sentosa. Enjoy lunchtime parking rates from 12pm to 2pm on Mondays to Thursdays (excluding PH) at S$1 for the first hour and S$2 thereafter.
The Sun set down late last Saturday…..
Fluorescent light sticks. Enthusiastic sing-alongs. Jumping, screaming fans. If you guessed a concert, you wouldn’t be far off. But unlike other concerts, there’s a slight catch – this one happened in Universal Studios Singapore.
Sundown Festival 2010 returned with roaring success this year, bringing the freshest and coolest music and entertainment acts from South Korea and Japan onto the Streets of New York in Universal Studios Singapore. Enthusiasts were treated to one big Asian fashion and music extravaganza.
RWS wishes Singapore… Happy Birthday!
We rounded up our team members from various parts of the resort to sing a song for Singapore’s 45th birthday. Check out our “homegrown choir” and the NG scenes as well 
Don’t forget to join us at Resorts World Sentosa and celebrate this special occasion with us. We’ve got a whole line-up of National Day festivities going on.
Hint: We’ve got prizes for the “Best Dressed Family”, so come dressed in the national colours (red and white) with your loved ones!
