Woke up to blue sky this morning – contrary to our first two mornings here – but with one BIG difference! We’d been thinking that the weather had been so pleasant, albeit wet/rainy, and were hoping for some clearer weather. Well…this is a good lesson in not always getting what you wish for, that’s for sure! It is now typical Singapore summer weather – HOT and STEAMY, and the basic reason that Robert declined the opportunity to accompany us on this trip! Whew! It is really something outside, that’s for sure. Makes me think that the Singapore Art Museum looks like a good thing to do tomorrow…but whatever.
Today’s itinerary started with Sentosa Island and formerly (before China) the world’s largest aquarium … Now let me only say that the last time R and I visited Sentosa, it was an island … well, it still is, actually, but to say it has changed is definitely an understatement. First of all, part of the island has now been subsumed by “ResortWorld” – and (in my not-so-humble opinion) this is NOT necessarily a good thing! We Grabbed over to the Aquarium, and found ourselves in a HUGE underground parking lot with five lanes across being dropped off at a Casino, of all places! Into the Casino and up the elevator, to emerge somewhere between Universal Studios Singapore, Harry Potter World, Water World and the Aquarium. It was totally overwhelming!
Made our way to the Aquarium Guest Services and got our tickets, and then entered the queue. To say that there were a lot of families with small children is, again, an understatement. The noise was deafening! Debby and I managed, though, to get through the crowd and eventually leave it behind as we worked our way through the exhibits. I know there are a lot of photos of fish, but again, like the orchids, there were so many interesting colors and shapes – just really fun to see them! I was surprised that we didn’t see more large fish/sharks/whales/porpoises, but we definitely saw a multitude of smaller fish and they really outdid anything I’ve ever seen when it came to the jellies! So much fun!
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| Emerging on to ResortWorld... |
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| Deb in front of the Aquarium |
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| Love the jellies! |
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| And these were SO tiny! |
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| And SO many colors!! |
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| Manta rays! |
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| We called these "convict" fish, although that's not their real name! |
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| Do NOT like eels... |
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| Shark on the bottom... |
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| Looking up from the basement of the Casino to the Hotel at ResortWorld... |
After the Aquarium, we thought we would head to Fort Siloso, the former British fort on the island, where the guns were permanently mounted facing out to sea – while the Japanese came down the Malay peninsula to invade the island from behind, and I believe no shots were ever fired. Turns out, it would have been 28 minutes to walk – and in that weather, we decided discretion was the better part of valor, and called for another Grab! Come to find out, you can’t get there from here … or, we had to literally leave the underground garage at ResortWorld and go over the bridge back to the mainland, and turn around and come back over the same bridge but take the Sentosa Island exit rather than ResortWorld exit … complicated, you say?? Me too!! But – on the positive side, at least we were out of the parking garage!!
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| Deb on the first cablecar! |
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| Beautiful (and peaceful!) Sentosa beach! |
Got to Fort Siloso, at the other end of the island, and decided to enjoy a couple Coke Zero’s on the patio overlooking a park and the beach. Lovely, cool spot and it was very refreshing! Walked over to Fort Siloso, and discovered that first you had the entry walkway, to several other walkways, and folks, to be honest, it was just too hot … so, we decided to head back into town… but take a totally different route!
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| Hundreds of boats in the harbor waiting to off-load |
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| Great cablecar system! |
Turns out, there is a wonderful cablecar system that runs along the beach from Fort Siloso to a mid-point on the island. At that point, you change cablecars and take one heading to Mt. Faber. We had the first cablecar to ourselves, and it was terrific! Lots of wonderful breezes, beautiful view of the ocean, the ships in the harbor and a stunning tropical beach. Debby was concerned because she isn’t a fan of heights, but she absolutely LOVED it, and did brilliantly with the ride!
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| Looking down over hotel and other things at ResortWorld |
Got off at the midway point and walked over to the second cablecar. There, we were required to share the car with another couple – cute youngsters, he from Poland and she from Latvia, who had been transferred to Singapore three weeks ago, and were just becoming familiar with it! So nice! Got off at the Harbour Center, and made our way to the Grab Pick-up point, which was actually in front of Harry’s Bar … and as it was about 1 pm by then, decided to get some lunch at Harry’s!
Ordered large bottles of sparkling water along with an order of chicken satay (with peanut sauce) and an order of truffle fries to share. Excellent – I also got to watch Australia play rugby against Argentina on TV, which was fun. As Debby reminded me – unfortunately a bit late, I forgot to photograph the food! Oh well! I definitely need to do better there!
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| Lunch at Harry's! |
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| Couldn't resist -- this poster was in the ladies room! |
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Some things, you just can't make up!
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As a footnote, it's against the law NOT to flush the toilet in Singapore!
Grabbed back to the Hotel after that, and Deb now down for a nap. I’ve got Australian Rules Football on TV as I write, and hopefully will be able to get a nap too! So will close now, as we try and figure out what we’re doing for dinner!
Love to all!
m
xxx
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