Trips+and+Surprises

“Hurry, Hurry” my little sister called, “we are going to be late!”
 * Universal Studios Singapore, By Lily Bates **

Olivia was crazy when it came to amusement parks. She loved all of it, the food, the rides, she even loved the walking between rides.

“Olivia, don’t go any further, we are here!” my mom said in almost a shout so little Olivia could hear her.

“Mom!” I said in a panic, “if we are here, why is no one else here? It’s nine o’clock now, what time does the park open?”

We went to the ladies at the ticket booth and they said that the park opened at nine-thirty not nine o’clock. All we could do now was wait in line, or….. go to that giant candy store across the square……!!!

Candilicious! It was amazing! I was in complete shock as there where lollipops the size of me, no joke. My brother was in shock, he looked like he had died and gone to heaven, well at least, that is what his face told us. Ten minutes in the store and we decided to leave. I had a feeling the next twenty minutes would be the longest of my life.

We were at the front of the line and it did not take long before it began to grow. We were playing with Po, from Disney’s Kung-fu Panda movie, when out of the blue a woman that worked at Universal Studios came up to us. “Excuse me,” she said with an excited tone, “you have been selected to open the park. Follow me and I will show you what you need to do.”

Just minutes later we were in the management room. People were busy and running all around the room. We were lead into a small room just off of the main office. The room was light blue with Disney characters, medals and plates hung all over the walls. “I need to go check on a couple things, I will be back with you shortly,” she informed us.

We had been alone for about 10 minutes when she came back, her gold name tag reflecting the light in the room. “Okay, so here is the microphone - you are going to pass the microphone around until everyone has said their name. After that you will all say three, two, one, and the boy will snap the clap board together, just after you say one.”

//Here we go, I thought to myself.//

It took me sometime to adjust my eyes to the brightness of the sun, but when I did I realized just how many people I was about to tell my name to. The crowd fell silent when they saw us, I was quite nervous but at the same time I was excited. We were officially the first family at Universal Studios.

** Stuck on a Snow Mountain, By Ta ** It was cold and it was starting to get dark. I didn't know how long I’d been there. Probably like an hour or so, I thought, struggling to survive. My skis were stuck in the ice and I couldn't get up. I tried everything but it didn't work. It looked like I had no hope of escape.

It all started out when I was enjoying my summer vacation with my family. We went to Japan for skiing and it was my first time skiing so my parents hired a teacher. The ski place was a big white snowy mountain and people were having fun, happily screaming and laughing. I was a little bit nervous when I looked at the mountain. I didn’t expect the place to be this big and tall in fact I expected it to be like a short steep hill, not a mountain. I was at the bottom looking up into the mountain, the mountain was higher and taller than I’ve seen. I couldn’t even see the top, which was covered in white mist and fog.

My first ski lesson started out pretty good. At first the teacher let us walk in small circles using skis, without the ski poles yet. Then after that, the teacher let us walk in small circles again, this time with ski poles. After about 5 minutes of training I got bored so I asked the teacher, “Can I try skiing down the mountain?”

The teacher had a serious expression on his face. “Sure, maybe we can try,” he said.

Both my teacher and I sat on the ski lift. After we arrived at the top I suddenly felt scared; the mountain was pretty high when looking from above. When I was down there looking up it didn’t seem that high. The teacher started walking down off the lift, “Come,” he said as I walked forward.

Then we started skiing down. The teacher was skiing in front of me and he was skiing backwards! He was holding my hand, teaching me how glide down and do the brakes. Finally we reached the bottom. //That was pretty fast! I thought//.

We went up the hill again and again. We kept on practicing skiing until it was 2:00 PM. The teacher dismissed us and we said goodbye. I made my way to the up the mountain because I wanted to try skiing on my own. I reached the top, started skiing down and then I started feeling scared again. I was going very fast and when I tried to brake I couldn't stop. I tripped on something and then fell, back first. Then my skis stopped.

I tried bending my knees but It hurt a bit and I just couldn't stand up. I tried everything that I could but it didn't work. I even tried using the ski poles to push myself up but I had no strength. I looked up at the sky and tears started rolling down my face a bit because I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to die there alone.

But then I heard a voice, a voice of hope. “Hey Ta, long time no see,” it was my skiing teacher. He was skiing with his girlfriend. He helped me up to my feet then said goodbye and then skied down the mountain.

I watched him disappear, and then start skiing down the mountain. I almost fell again but I kept myself balanced. Finally I reached the bottom and I saw that my brother and my dad were waiting for me.

I will never go up there again, I thought. Or maybe, if there’s time.....