Hi everyone, today, 8 May 2015, marks the first anniversary
of Second Drop – The Attractions Blog. On this very day, one year ago, I shared
about my experience riding my first roller coaster. Since then, I have talked
about all things theme parks, from money saving tips to the latest attractions.
I think I also learnt a lot from this experience, not least of which I
understand the internet and search engines much better. To this, I really like
to thank each and every one of you, my readers, for your support and feedback.
Milestones
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| I had an amazing experience aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas, in January 2015. |
As of today, Second Drop – The Attractions Blog has 55
posts, with about 8,000 views per month. While most articles are written by me,
I really like to thank Ong Jia Min and Patricia Poo for contributing their
articles about Korea’s Everland and USS for Visually Challenged respectively.
In fact, Patricia’s post was featured in the Resorts World Sentosa Blog, RWScoop!
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| Visually challenged fan Patricia and me at the USS Halloween Horror Nights Media Preview |
In addition, I really got to interact (though, not always in
person) with many people. They include Robert Niles from Theme Park Insider and
Rick West from Theme Park Adventure, to whom I contributed articles and photos.
I also got to meet the Chinese blogger Bao Xiao from Luke and the Temple of Fun, and we certainly had many interesting conversations together. And there
are so many others that I can’t list them all.
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| Legoland Malaysia Water Park post is one of several featured by top theme park site Screamscape |
What I learnt
I must not forget, the original purpose why I started this
blog is to learn about the internet – Search Engine Optimisation, HTML Code,
Javascript and Social Media. Well, I cannot say I am an expert yet, but I
certainly learned more about the internet this year than my four years as a
media club member back in Secondary school. The worst experience, though, is overcoming
the referral spams that plague my blog for almost 3 months.
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| I also learnt about many hidden gems in Singapore's attractions, such as the Farms at Kranji Countryside and the Animal and Bird Encounters (featured here) |
Writing this blog also allowed me to practice my writing
skills, something my job (Singaporean males will know… Job…) does not permit.
While my vocabulary certain has not improved, I think blog writing helped me to
write in a clear and concise manner, something far more useful in life than the
pretentious, jargon riddled essays of A Levels General Paper.
What's Next?
For the 2015/2016 season, I hope to cover more actual theme
park experiences and reviews. As such, I have planned a couple of trips. One
will be to Malaysia to experience the new MAPS Theme Park in Perak and SunwayLagoon Nickelodeon Expansion. I am also going upside down for the first time on Supersonic Odyssey at Berjaya Times Square.
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| Nickelodeon's Lost Lagoon will feature 12 new attractions and I will be there when the expansion opens in the "middle of this year" |
The big trip (if finances allow) is to China in
December, where I will visit the all new Shanghai Disneyland, World Joyland at
Changzhou, Ocean Kingdom at Zhuhai and much more. The 23 roller coasters I will
be facing include some of the most intense in the world, such as Dinoconda, a
taller and faster version of X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I hope I don’t
chicken out of too many.
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| Dinoconda is a 4th Dimension Roller Coaster, which means the seats will flip backwards and forwards in addition to the already very intense track layout. |
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| In spite of its bad reputation, China is actually home to many world class roller coasters, such as this one: Mega-Lite at Happy Valley Shanghai, built by Intamin |
I might head aboard Royal Caribbean’s new Ovation of the
Seas in June next year, when it comes to Singapore. Other plans include working with the parks to offer
exclusive Second Drop Discounted Tickets and making a video guide for first
time roller coaster riders with team park media crews.
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| Quantum class cruise ship Ovation of the Seas will come to Singapore in June 2016 |
Thank you all!
Honestly, there is so much I want to share that there is no
way it can all fit on one blog post. In this year, I attended attraction
previews, faced rejection by other theme park bloggers and battled against
referral spam. 2014/2015 has been an exciting year, but I am sure 2015/2016
will be even more thrilling.
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| Madame Tussauds is one of several new attractions that opened in Singapore in 2014. |
In the meantime, if you or your friends have anything to
share about theme parks and attractions, be it your experience, tips,
attraction reviews or predictions, simply
message me via the Second Drop Facebook Page or email to deltaeliteenforcer@gmail.com.
Just make sure the content is not racist, sexist, vulgar or political. Once
again, I thank each and every one of you for your support.
Happy Screaming!