It was a most hectic, satisfying and yet tiring weekend as my wife and I (and the liabilities known as kids) celebrated our wedding anniversary at Resort World Sentosa (RWS), including a day out at Universal Studios Singapore (USS) and a night stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was a pretty expensive but most worthwhile affair.
While queuing up for a ride at USS, my son told me why when he was much younger, he had this perverse fear of entering rides that involved 'scary' tunnels. He said that he used to see people on the rides going into the tunnels and then when they reappeared, the rides came out empty. He thought that something bad had happened to those people. He thought they had died and had been whisked away somewhere! No wonder we had to drag him screaming into those rides in the past. Revelations! Now, he's the one who want to go for those rides, and I'm the one being dragged screaming into them. *giddy spells*
Cheesy Lesson: It's the same fear when most people think about investment, that it's so high risk they do not dare to get into it. It's simply the fear of the unknown and the lack of financial education.
The Waterworld show was the same act we had seen before at other Universal Studios. The pre-show 'entertainment' served its purpose well in rousing the crowd. Consistent with the theme of waterworld, water was a-plenty. Kids just love to get wet, so they were all game for the front row seats which were guaranteed to be wet affairs. Following the show at noon, you could imagine where the big flow out crowd would head to - lunch! And so, the restaurant just outside the show venue was full and overflowing. We took a longer walk to the next zone and came to another restaurant where there was still substantial capacity. I'm sure if we were to walk further, the restaurants would be even emptier.
Cheesy Lesson: When money flows out from one market, it just goes to another. As the US market sinks with its monetary policies that investors find unattractive, the money flows to another market. Like the number of people in the park, and at the show, the nett numbers remain the same. Demand has to be satisfied. And if one were prepared to look hard enough, there will be something somewhere to satisfy the demand. Look further afield.
On the way, we walked past "Revenge of the Mummy", the sign at the front said "05 min queue". We had lunch at a restaurant serving Middle-eastern and Indian food. So it was wraps, humus and such. Done with lunch, we backtracked past the "Revenge of the Mummy" ride but decided to skip it for later. The sign said "30 min queue". We figured it would be a bit too much to take this ride immediately after lunch. Probably there would be a family of merlions had we done that. We queued up for a tamer ride to let lunch 'settle down'. It was a lengthy queue though. I think the ride was called "Treasure Hunter". But we didn't find any treasure. Following that, we finally proceeded to "Revenge of the Mummy". Strangely, there was no apparent queue. As we walked closer, we found the reason why: "Ride temporarily closed due to a technical problem." Duh.
Cheesy Lesson A: When the price is low, nobody goes. When the price goes up, everybody wants. But by then, it may be the wrong time to do so. It may already be a dead beat.
Cheesy Lesson B: If you missed an investment opportunity (like a wonderful IPO), there will be a sense of regret, or missed opportunities. But, move on. There is no point standing around waiting for it, the ride has moved on.
We checked in to Hard Rock Hotel and took turns to shower. With 4 persons, that took awhile. In the midst of this, there was a knock on the door. Wo and behold, we were served a chocolate cake, compliments of the hotel, in view that it was our wedding anniversary. Impressed we were. The cake was exquisite! Yum.
Cheesy Lesson: It's good to invest in a good stock (hotel). And it feels good to get a bit of surprise along the way, like a good dividend payout (free cake).
Dinner was a lovely affair at Starz Restaurant, which was located within Hard Rock Hotel as well. So it was convenient. The seats were comfortable, the service attentive and friendly, the food was ... just ok lah. I probably wouldn't pay that kind of price for a buffet dinner for this kind of spread. There are probably better choices elsewhere. But, what the heck, the location, the occasion, satisfaction.
Cheesy Lesson: The jury's out on this one. If a stock looks good, seems good, but the price is high, is it worth a buy? I'm not sure. If it is indeed a 'good' stock, it could well be. On the other hand, if it turns out to be a dud, it's all downhill.
Discarding the Casino, since I derive no joy from paying $100 for entry and so didn't bother, RWS and USS provide enough for a worthwhile vacation weekend. Joy.
As to who moved the cheese, go ask my son. He's busy moving the cheese in "Mousehunt". Gen Y.
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