Sentosa

Sentosa is a small island just to the south of Singapore (itself an island just to the south of Malaysia) which, having been fortified during the War, was sold off to be developed as a tourist attraction. As a result it is now mostly artificial and covered with attractions such as Universal Studios, museums, beaches, adrenaline rides and casinos. It is also where many Singaporeans and tourists go to relax at the weekend, so I thought I would check it out!

After lunch with Ching, I went down to the harbour front and crossed to Sentosa via the boardwalk. As you can see, it was noon, so quite hot!

I also found another Merlion here on Sentosa. Poor thing was just as limbless as the one by Marina Bay, though! Apparently it is one of only 5 'officially-sanctioned' Merlions around Singapore, though I don't feel inclined to find them all...

 

My first stop was the cable car museum, which was ignored in most of the literature. But it appealed to my engineering interest and I was never asked for an entrance fee - so why not?! There were some interesting exhibits, including an example of each type of car that the cable has hauled. Also an interesting exhibit on the 'cable car disaster of 1983' when an oil rig derrick hit the cable and two cabins plunged into the sea, killing 7 people. Eek!

Then I wandered south towards the bay and found some sand sculptures.

Also another kind of Singapore Flying experience - iFly Singapore, one of those indoor skydiving experiences, that I will definitely do someday when I have a bit more cash! I was quite amazed to see the huge void underneath the tunnel which the air rushes out of. There must be some serious fan working underneath there.

Finally, after some annoyance with poor signage, I eventually made it to the beach on the south side of the island. The water was a little bit clearer than East Coast Park but I was still not tempted to go for a dip!

However, do you see here an island connected to Sentosa by a rope suspension bridge? This is, apparently, the Southern Most Point of Continental Asia.

Despite it being an island, connected to another island, connected to another island, connected to a peninsula. Maybe it should be more accurately titled 'The Southern Most Point of Continental Asia Which You Can Walk, Cycle or Segway To Without Getting Seriously Wet'.

But the view was nice. So I sat, and I read my book, and shook the ants off my feet, and enjoyed a short relax. Then headed back to the Hostel again.

Ching and I met up for dinner again - this time a local place recommended to us by Nic.

I went for a drink in the evening was with on the riverside with Marianne again (who had spent her day exploring some other parts of Singapore) and also Gaz (English doctor), who had accompanied her to the Night Zoo after I said that I didn't fancy visiting a second time!