Sentosa Island

Sentosa Island is our playground for locals as well as tourists who flock to the newly-opened Resorts World - Universal Studios for the kids and the Casino for the adults and ample entertainment for those in between. Apart for these paid entertainment and enticement to gamble, Sentosa island has much to offer those who love nature and those who want to have a sun-soaked outing on the beaches. We cannot boast about white-sand beaches that were formed naturally but we do have nice sandy beaches on Sentosa island thanks to the fact that beauty can be created with investment money and great ideas as to how people can have a good time on a tiny island linked by road, a monorail and a cable-car to our main island.

I parked my car at Vivocity for about 5 hours from 8am to 1pm and it cost me only $6. The monorail ride into Sentosa Island was $6 for two persons for return trips and unlimited travel between stations on the island. We alighted at Beach Station here.

We walked from the train station towards Siloso Beach. The scene that first greeted us was this. Eight in the morning was a beautiful time to arrive at Sentosa because we were way ahead of the crowds and at a time when the weather was wavering between rain and shine.

Nature was everywhere despite the resort hotels and other forms of entertainment provided by the Wave House and the Luge.

Remnant from World War 2 - a pillbox where soldiers fired their machine-guns.

Siloso Beach, waiting for the picnikers.

Buy a ticket to sail over Siloso Beach at a great height flying-fox style.

We went in search of Nature Trails.

This trail ran alongside the old, defunct monorail structure.

At the end of the trail we were greeted by this stone lion that was once many storeys high above the Thye Hong Biscuit Factory. The building's long gone and the lion now has a new home and role.

We walked along this bridge to a Nature Discovery Centre and from there to where the Skytower and the Merlion is.

A lovely breakfast at The Coffee Bean cafe at the Sky Tower.

The Images of Singapore gives the visitor a feel of what Singapore is about in a nutshell.
A view of the Resorts World.

Our gigantic Merlion seemingly furious at the intrusion of cranes around it.

The path that led us to the Merlion Walk and ultimately back where we started at the Beach Station.

The start of the Merlion Walk where the creatures of the sea materialised in the form of mosaic sculptures similar to the work of Spanish artist Antoni Gaudi.

End of the Merlion Walk and looking at the Beach Monorail Station.

From the Beach station we boarded a free tram that took us to Palawan Beach.

Palawan Beach was full of activity with school children from a particular school behaving as children should - playing with water guns and running about the beach with teachers keeping a watchful eye on them.

Hey, this structure is one of a pair at the end of the rope bridge linking Palawan Beach to the "Southernmost tip of the Asian Continent"

From the top of the Balinese inspired structures - simply relaxing!

A posh hotel on one side...

...and ships on the other.

How often do you get to see the top of the Octopus tree?

Back at Siloso Beach and at the Beach station, you could get a glimpse of the set of the musical "Song of the Sea".

From the window of the monorail train that took us back to Vivocity.

Vivocity from a very different approach.

The cost of 5 hours of enjoyment for two persons was SGD34 dollars inclusive of the Coffee Bean breakfast and lunch at Vivocity Food Court. At $17 a piece, that was a fantastic outing on an island where we could have been over a hundred dollars poorer if we had visited the attractions and probably thousands poorer if we had gone into the Casino. Well, Sentosa has its charm for people like us who enjoy nature and a simple life. It also has great entertainment for tourists looking for more exciting actvities.

SENTOSA - Where the fun is!