This is our 7th time visiting HHN, the second time after COVID and it’s also 5th time we went with express passes, we only went without those the first two times and by now we couldn’t stand queueing for 40-50min without it especially at this age. It is still a huge splurge as it’s just a few hours of fun for a few hundred bucks but P wouldn’t hear of us not getting one and it’s already a tradition and something we look forward to every year. The first time we got an express pass in 2017, we spent $360+ and this year its a steal at $250 for two as we decided to go without the rides (been taking those rides too many times anyway).
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| HHN 11th edition |
The first time we went was 2014 and I first blogged about it, then we went in 2016 with P’s friends and then 2017 (second blog), 2018, 2019, 2022 and this year. I took photos or gotten photos from P everytime we were there, thinking that I would do a blog after that but I didn’t really.
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| Kobe first time at Sentosa |
We drove using Get Go’s Tivoli last year and it was quite an experience as the car was really big and there were no dashcam in the car. We even lost our way when driving into Sentosa last year. This year we upgraded to our own ride and went with Kobe. I had dinner and then napped after reaching home from school, so we only got to USS after 9pm. We parked some distance away so it was quite a walk to USS, it was all quiet when we reached and we only saw a few people entering when we got to the entrance. After the first post-COVID HNN last year it was already very quiet and I thought we didn’t really need express pass as last year it was really quite empty when we went last year, unlike the hype of HNN pre-COVID.
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| The mandatory photo outside with the US signage |
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| This year they came up with these luminous HNN souvenir watches |
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| The streets leading in are quiet quiet |
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| Always an actor here for photos but we didn’t stop |
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| Our first haunted house |
Once getting inside, it was still quite quiet till we get nearer to the haunted houses area, the average age of the group there being 20 years younger than we are. This year there are more people than 2022 and the express passes are still quite worth it as the queues were at least 40 min long.
Our first haunted house depicted the scenes of the 18 levels of hell, I would say that nothing in those haunted houses really scared me anymore after the previous six times there, but it was still fun in a sense, like a tradition and ritual that we looking forward to yearly. We did miss those during the two years of COVID when all these events were non existing. This year, it was still the classics: the actors who tried to scare us by rushing out from nowhere, those looking fierce or scary or bloody, those hiding behind the moving windows and traps and unlikely statues who suddenly move and so on. There were no queue for those of us on express passes and the couple in front of us suddenly got scared about going in first and let us go through first instead. However, the screams and shouts of the young lady behind us was scarier than the actors, and it happened many times for the subsequent haunted houses too. I literally was glad to just walk in front fast and get away from those screaming youngsters behind me. This haunted house in particular had many sections so I guess the 40min wait for those with normal passes was still quite worth it and its a good warm up for those of us who visited this first.
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| Still felt good when we walked right to the front of these lines |
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| Some setups to depict futuristic scary scenes |
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| The actors here were like walking dead but not scary |
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| Looked like some virus had taken over the world |
The next haunted house was my favourite out of the 5 for this year’s edition. It’s from the Netflix thriller “all of us are dead’ and I didn’t watch it as I don’t like gore. However, I felt those who who watched would probably relate to it better, just like the ‘stranger things’ theme many years ago. The queue for this haunted house was also quite long due to the hype from Netflix. I had to eat my words when I first told P that HHN is no longer as hyped up as pre-COVID days and we probably didn’t need express passes. The queue for this haunted house was 50min and I don’t think I would enjoy queuing up as compared to just walking straight up to the front of the line.
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| Had to turn off these in the haunted houses |
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| Grimm’s Encounters was my least favourite |
We moved on to the third haunted house and there was a long queue, even for express pass holders we had to queue for about 10-15min, I was feeling hot and thirsty and couldn’t wait to get over with this. I think it was a scary version of the fairy tales but to me it was not worth the long queue as the whole tour was over quite fast.
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| Those superstitious Chinese might not like this |
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| This was not too bad |
The next haunted house that left an impression on me was the Rebirth of the Matriarch as the very first scene after we stepped in was a very real set from a Chinese funeral and wake at a Teochew home maybe. I bet some of the older Chinese or even those in my age group will say ‘Choy Choy’ when they see this scene and wouldn’t like it. Anyway, it was so real that it left an impression in me.
The Weeknd After Hours til Dawn was something about bars and nightclubs gore after all partying and stuff. As usual, all the houses had different zones with those plastic sheets covers before we enter the next area and it’s usually scary to lift those up as we wouldn’t know what will jump at us from behind those sheets. I lifted those up quickly and hung onto P’s arms the whole time. However, I realised walking in front had it advantages as the actors usually jump at people who are in the second or third group instead of the very first ones.
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| We went for the gimmicky set meal |
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| Looked like some rotten food with blood |
As I was a hot and thirsty, I was glad we went into the cafeteria to take a break and use up the vouchers that came with the express passes. The set meal was still expensive but at our age we are okay with spending some on theme park food and it cost $30+ to get this set with the special cup, matching with our bracelet and another souvenir to bring home. The burger with the double beef patty was very filling so we didnt finish all of it, however we left with our stomach filled.
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| Highlight of the night |
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| In the car |
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| Taking up space at home lolx |
The highlight of the night came after our supper. P was very keen in the carnival games and in my mind I was thinking he was going to waste money again, as we had tried this in Legoland Malaysia many years ago and he attempted many tries but didnt get the toy, instead paying RM50 in the end. However, I just kept my comments to myself and let him have all the fun he wanted. The game was $5 for one game and $10 for three, it was not that expensive to have some fun. We saw the teenagers who tried before him failing as the balls were quite bouncy. Surprisingly, he already got both balls in during his first try and was also successful in the second round.
It was already past midnight but we suddenly became so happy and excited after the game. The tiring part after that was all the photos he wanted to get with his two big fluffy furry balls, and I got tired taking thousands of photos for him. It was still a fun night overall and I’m sure we’ll be back for future editions of HHN.
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