Sentosa Island is an island just off the coast of Singapore that is dedicated to fun fun fun! So much so that it bills itself as the State of Fun, which dredged up an old joke for us from a time when I was involved in a minor road accident on the border of California and Nevada. I was asked what state I was in by the insurance company on the phone.
I answered, "A state of panic!"
I haven't been allowed to forget that - ever! Anyways, a State of Fun is much preferable to a State of Panic!
Easily accessible by public transport, a monorail takes you right there, Sentosa Island hosts Universal Studios (which isn't our thing), a golf course (also not our thing), beaches, marinas, three main stations with various activities and gardens and an aquarium - now that's our thing!
When we purchased our ticket for the mono-rail we got a deal ticket that allowed us to choose three activities.
We began with lunch at the beach - which you don't need a ticket for!
This was the view from our lunch table. Nice to look at, the sea here is very busy with shipping lanes a little further out, and I personally did not fancy swimming here, but there were one or two brave hearts in what must be deliciously warm water.
With lunch eaten, we decided to try our hands at a Segway Tour. We've seen these in many places, including San Francisco, and quite fancied it but felt like we'd look a bit stupid (especially on a busy street in San Francisco) but on virtually traffic-free Sentosa, in a climate where merely walking was exhausting, it seemed like now or never.
Our tour took us a whooping 500m up the road and back again! To be fair, I was done then anyways. It's not exactly rocket science, nor taxing and kind of got boring after a short distance! Here I am modelling both my new trousers and the segway...
Our favorite - the aquarium! Cheaper than scuba diving and a lot dryer and safer (though I do miss my scuba days) we were able to chill out in nice air conditioning and just soak in the serenity!
Who doesn't love looking at sharks?
This busy reef took me back to my days on the Great Barrier Reef - I could almost hear the parrot fish crunch the coral.
We introduced our friend's children to Dora.
This guy made my mouth water.
Cute - I think he's kissing the glass.
This unicorn fish looked sad, though I did love her eye makeup.
I could have sat there all day.
The jellyfish were mesmerizing.
The octopus, fascinating when you consider just how intelligent these creatures are reported to be.
A Lion fish has extremely poisonous spiny barbs along its back. It can be fatal to stand on these beautifully flamboyant fish.
After the aquarium we chose the butterfly house as our third activity to round off the afternoon. Beautiful to look at, there was little information on these species but we had fun photographing them.
Here's a butterfly coming out of its pupa.
These beautiful birds were hanging around too - it's like a pigeon that's been to the hairdressers and had a makeover!
These guys weren't impressed!
I suppose it takes all sorts!
Byddi Lee
