reliving childhood at the global fun carnival

my last "carnival" visit was perhaps my trip to hong kong disneyland. but that theme park had very few rides, and i was mostly amused by the characters that i had to chase around to have my photo taken with them. i'm a big fan of amusement park rides, because i'm willing to try anything just for the heck of it.

that's why when my friend jo asked me if i wanted to join them at the global fun carnival, i just couldn't resist. i decided to drag along three other girl friends, to make the evening even more fun. true to our crazy form, we were already screaming in the car when we saw the ranger ride--we imagined how our stomachs would be turning when we try it out.

we were lucky to get discounted entrance fees, for it was the first day of the carnival. we only paid P210 each for a ride-all-you-can band. food inside the carnival were simple treats such as hotdogs and fishballs, which cost P25 to P35 pesos.

aside from the rides, game booths were also scattered all over the park. you get a stuffed toy if you manage to win a game. you can opt to knock out three dice from a round platform with a soft, pillow-like "ball," or knock out six tiny milk bottles from the platform. there are other games that you can choose from, and each can earn you a furry stuffed animal to take home. we tried our luck, but managed to come home with zero animals, much to my friend des's dismay.

our favorite ride is most definitely the roller coaster, which, to our surprise, had to be pushed by the carnival attendants to get started. the ride was hilarious, with the coaster speed changing at different points on the track. it will just lurch forward for no reason, then speed up and send you careening down to the drop. it wasn't scary nor extremely exciting at all, but we just found the inconsistent speeds and the pushing of the attendants rather funny. we left the ride with aching stomachs from too much laughing.

other rides we tried were the swing, much like the flying fiesta of enchanted kingdom; the ranger; a ride that i actually enjoyed, even though i was really uncomfortable hanging upside down up there; the bumper cars, which is always a lot of fun; and the carousel, which actually gave me and des extreme dizzy fits.

the cherry on top of our carnival sundae was the flipper. it features eight round disks with seats mounted on top of a bigger disk (discworld and the great a'tuin comes to mind). when the ride starts, the small disk spins you back and forth, rocking your innards and your head, while the bigger disk rotates and tilts the smaller disks up. that's why it came as no surprise that i was ready to hurl after the ride. the right was such a trip, sure, but i wished i didn't eat those fishballs right before i dared to try the flipper out.

still, though, even with that, i would recommend the carnival to anyone who wants a simple, fun night with friends. what better way to enjoy each other's company than by bullying each other to try the different rides around the carnival? no matter how old you are, these rides never get old.

more photos of my carnival adventure here.

details:
global fun carnival
outside sm mall of asia
website: http://www.globalfuncarnival.com

opening hours:
monday to friday: 4pm onwards;
saturday, sunday, and holidays: 1pm onwards.

admission fees:
entrance only: P100
ride-all-you-can, mondays to thursdays: P250
ride-all-you-can, saturdays, sundays, holidays, and whole month of december: P300