Apart from running through malls in Singapore, we filled our days with visiting some new hotspots on the island.

One of the most exciting attractions to open in Singapore lately is definitely Universal Studios. We were there for about four hours and didn’t even get to tour even half the venue.

We visited the ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’ attraction, a movie studio which places you in the heart of a hurricane in New York City, with an introduction to action movies by the king of the genre, Steven Spielberg.

The terrifying-looking Battlestar Galactica ride

Another great attraction is the Shrek theatre – where a 4D movie skit takes you on a bumpy (literally) ride, being sputtered on by Donkey’s sneeze and have objects jump up at you while you’re seated.

Check out the rides at ‘The Lost World’, ‘Far Far Away’, ‘Ancient Egypt’ and ‘Sci-Fi City’ – there’s an awesome-looking ride there called the Battlestar Galactica (which we didn’t get to go on, it was closed for maintenance).

Yeah, I felt all geeked out

There’s heaps more to do there, and I suggest heading in really early because the waiting period for the rides can stretch to up to 2 hours! I kid you not!

If you’re into high-end shopping, Singapore is definitely one of the best places to go, and soon there’ll be another mall on the island housing some of the world’s biggest designer labels – the Marina Bay Sands.

An impressive casino is located in the heart of the building, formed by three hotel columns, with a ship-shaped pool and terrace topping it off. We were informed that a crystal pavillion housing a massive Louis Vuitton store will be ready soon.

Crystal Pavilion (artist's impression- its not finished yet)

For theatre-goers, look forward to the Lotus-shaped amphitheatre which is under construction at the moment, but will reportedly show The Lion King as it’s resident play in the future.

Lastly, a non-touristy spin on the trip came in the form of ‘Scape’, a youth hangout right smack in the middle of Orchard Road.

In this five-storey centre, youths of all ages (as young as 10, as old as… 50?) can use recording studios, halls, basketball courts , an amphitheatre and many open spaces around the building for just about anything they want.

The outside area of 'Scape'.

The space hadn’t even been officially launched yet the day we visited but several basketball courts were already in use, and a fencing tournament was being held upstairs in one of the halls.

When the building is complete, there will be several youth-themed restaurants with affordable prices available, as well as boutiques, hobby stores and even two arcades.