Mickey Mouse and the Mummy Part 2

Dear Mouse, Bear with me, mousey, if for the next few days, the blog will be a travel log. So we were inside the Universal. It was not yet 10 am, the official opening of the entertainment park. Three grouchy staff stopped the crowd from going past the "The Mummy ". The fat guy started to sing and the show has not even started yet. He was talking thru a megaphone but the sound coming out was all garbled that I could not understand a single word. I could not blame the non-English speaking tourists if they insisted on crossing the imaginary line despite the instruction. They retreated when the unsmiling lady staff motioned to them to back out. Mental note: a body language is more effective than a beatifully accented direction. The crowd became restless; almost ignoring the introduction of the guy-in-charge for the day. If I can read their minds...F...off...ooops...(erase). Studio Tour first. A few minutes after the crowd were allowed entry, the line for the trams was already several loops long. We took the second tram. It has been my experience that the riders in the first car or tram get the shock from the surprises along the "road". I warned my "tourist" to stay away from the side of the vehicle, if she does not want to get wet. The monitors located at both front sides of the tram came alive with the face of a lady who introduced herself as the guide. The road is lined with the billboards of movies produced since the inception of film making of the studio. The avenues were named after movie stars, directors, dead or alive, who became legends during their era. One such movie icon whose movie career span was more than five decades was James Stewart. I always confuse him with James Garner. He got one long avenue named after him. Spielberg has his own too. We rounded circles, turned in every corner to cover the several acres of the lower lot dotted with huge buildings that they call studios or movie sets for films that were familiar to movie goers or DVD renters. The plants are "portable". If your heart pounded real hard for anticipation of the sudden emergence of a dinosaur from the thick bushes/shrubs and small trees, the movie set was hardly a forest after moving some trees and foliage to a miniature Central Park in New York for a film recently shot in the studio. I remembered, I watched Jurassic Park along with kids. I did not watch it in the theatre. I do not go to the movie theatre. I cannot rewind and pause. I wait for the DVD . Back to JP, I was staying with some mahjong playing family friends who visited friends for a weekend session. They have to bring me along since it was a day off of their housekeeper. To get rid of the kids from the mahjong table, the man of the house put a DVD in the 52 inch combo TV ; threw some pillows on the floor and three big bowls of pop corn. He thought that it was enough to entertain 3 to six year olds, an adult (that's me) and a three month old baby. It was stereo sound amphitheatre effect. One can hear the rustles of the leaves, the heavy footsteps, the scary background music , the growls, the screams, the falling of some tiny gadgets that could have saved the victims...Every little scary sound drove the tots to my sides. Arghhhh, eveyone wanting my arms to shield them that I looked like a mother hen with the chicks under my wings. Cluck cluck.. I want to cover my eyes myself. The baby was surprisingly asleep with all those noises. The wonder of movie making...and it was just groups of plants put together. Wait, there is sound of a cry of a dino. It gave me goosebumps. My "tourist said" Ay katakot naman may lalabas ba ? We slowed down and as we got closer to a body of water. The guide directed us to take a look at a man (looks like a man) that was now you see him, now you don't as he surfaced in the water only to be pulled down under by some mysterious force. A stack of drums started to burn and as a big bubble appeared in the still water, I warned my " tourist" to ready with her camera so she can take a good shot of the Monster of the Seas, JAWS. She got startled that when we have the film developed, there was no JAWS but only a head of a JOE. At first, we cannot make out whose head it was and why we took his picture. My "tourist" exclaimed Jos koday. We have to cross a bridge...a bridge used in the filming of Incredible Hulk and other films that needed a collapsing bridge. One thing that I like with the Hulk is the warning that I adopted to warn my "enemies"....Do not make me angry, you won't like me when I am angry.... I did not warn my "tourist" that the bridge is going to collapse. I want to see my face in her the first time, I cross the bridge when the guide said...UH UH UH. My "tourist" exclaimed Ngeeee. This time, no more bridge but we got to cross the water. We need a rod to part the water. This was a miniature model of the parting of the SEA by Moses in Ten Commandments. My "tourist" said WOW. Still in the water...We stopped at an intersection of a dry rough road fringed with small houses replicating those in Mexican towns. Let there be rain...and the rain poured. Then came the noise of the rushing water. A flashflood. In the monitor, some movies that made use of its effects were being shown. In the movies, it had the deceiving look of a very big river with a strong current when it was just a tiny place in that theme park. My "tourist"said Whoaaa. Then the tram got inside one of the movie studios. It was dark. I remembered the scene. I asked my tourist to focus her camera on the right side.She did but she dunked when the big KIng KONG appeared amid the ruins of New York and growled at us . My "tourist "exclaimed ...Takot ako. Another studio but it looked more like a subway station. The car stopped. My tourist grabbed my arms as the place started to shake. An earthquake supposed to be the strongest at 8.3 . All the riders were shouting ahhhhhhh as the place started to break down and burn and the finale was the rushing water again. eeeeeeeeeeeek... They got all wet. My "tourist said.". Basa ako. The last one that I can remember was the studio of the The MUMMY. It was a new feature. I closed my eyes as we traversed the spinning cavernous walls expecting a mummy to pop up anytime. Then we saw the monitor being covered by BUGS. Those scary bugs that were poured to Imhotep by the avenging Egyptian priests. Then the riders started screaming....I wonder why? Oops let me splat this bug in my backpack. My "tourist" exclaimed Ay kadiri.. Thank you for the ride and enjoy the rest of the day said the guide as we waved to her to explore more of the Studios. Itutuloy, Abangan ang susunod na kabanata. The CAT