Sentosa Weekend Getaway

My Wife and 3 of our friends went to Sentosa last Feb. 24 (Sunday) of 2008. We agreed to meet in Harbourfront at about 12pm. One of our friends already went to Sentosa a couple of times before so i did not bother planning. Since it was Sunday my Wife and I went to Novena Church at about 9am. The mass started at about 8:30am. We're late again. Nothing new there. We decided to eat breakfast in McDonalds along Orchard Road after the mass. I didn't know that they also serve pancakes like in the Philippines. Seats are located outside since it was a Cafe style and ambience. The morning is nice. Until we found out that pigeons flock on that site rummaging the floors and empty tables for leftovers. I'm not a pigeon or bird hater or something but if you see pigeons or any bird for that matter flapping their wings beside and on top of you i'm sure you will be bothered too. It's a good thing that they don't just jump on top of occupied tables. We finished at about 10:30am. While we were walking towards the MRT station we saw the poster of the movie "L Changed the World". We thought since our meeting time is 12noon why don't we watch this movie first. Having watched the first two movies of Death Note with my Wife way back we decided to go ahead (even though we're short on the budget already). We didn't expect that the movie was relatively long (approx. more than 2 hours) so we called our friend that we might be late. After the movie we huried to Orchard MRT so that we can get off to Dhoby Ghaut station to the purple line. We met at B2 of Vivo City Kopitiam to eat our lunch. At about 2pm we're off to the Ticket Counter of the Cable Car. There are direction signage pointing to the ticket counter so i was easy to find. I say this because my friend forgot the way which is understandable. Two-way cable car ride costs S$12.00/person. Regular cable car can accomodate 6 person at a time. They have special cable car with glass floor which, of course, is more expensive. They also have packages for lunch in cable car. There are different packages offered. If you want to check them out just visit their website. At first we thought the line was long because when we arrived the line was already outside the door. It's a good thing that it moved fast so we were able to buy tickets in no time. We took our pictures inside the ticket counter and while we are waiting to be boarded. While waiting i tried to crack a joke. I said

Hey, there has been no accident happended in the cable car yet, right?

as they lookup to the cables attached to the carriage which literally will be holding our lives. My friend told us stories of their experiences in the cable car were one of their friends are wriggling the carriage while it's moving. She told me her friend said

Don't do that! This is not a joke anymore!

. The ride was great although some of the views below are construction sites. The panoramic view was great! We took our pictures inside the carriage and the surrounding view. Ride lasted for about 10 minutes. I kinda' wish the ride lasted for a little more. The drop-off point is the visitor center. Here you can shop for souvenirs although there are other souvenir shops inside Sentosa. We just followed our friend since she was the one familiar with the place. Along the way we saw some people gathering at the sides. THen we saw a family taking their picture with a boa (sawa in tagalog but not sure with exact specie but i'm pretty sure it was huge). Flowers all around relaxed my eyes. We stopped at a building with "Images of Singapore" sign on top of it. In front of it was a garden of flowers and a statue of a mouse-wizard reading a book (sorry i don't know the name). There are telescopes which you can use provided you insert S$1.00 to it to take a closer look at the view. A word of advice though. When you plan to go to Sentosa make sure you were the proper clothes. Just a couple of minutes of walk made me sweat. So if possible where cotton shirts, shorts and bring face towels and water bottle. You'll thank me for it specially once you arrive in the beach. We also took our picture in the Carlsberg tower. Picture this: Place a circular ring in a long stick. Move the ring up and down the stick. Basically that's what the tower look like. You will get in fromt he ground the the ring will rotate while coming up the tower. We haven't tried that one because of budget restrictions. Maybe some other time. I read that you can see Malaysia on top of the tower. We encountered also a Merlion statue as big as the one in Esplanade. We saw some people on top of it so it's like Statue of Liberty where you can go to the top of the crown (although i've heard it's not aloud anymore because of 9-11). I won't go to the details of the walk. We bought tickets for Songs of the Sea for S$6.00/person. Later on our friends bought tickets for the Luge and Skyride. Its S$9.00/person which includes 1 skyride and 1 luge that is if you bought it after 7pm. See their website for other packages. There are rental bikes also. They have adult bikes, kidde bikes and tandem bikes (2 person in one bike with two pair of pedals). The only beach we saw is Siloso Beach. For me the beach is great. White sand, lifeguard post, a resort, beach volleyball nets and coconut (or maybe palm) trees. I wished we brought a mat. We rested under the shade of the tree. The problem is there are a lot of ants. My Wife was so tired i think she fell asleep for a couple of seconds in my lap. The heat and wrong clothes took toll on us. I said to myself "Next time we will come prepared so that we can take a dip at the beach and relax." The beach was so enticing. Some families brought their dogs and made them swim too. We stayed until 5:30pm then we decided to buy some drinks in 7-11 near the Train station inside Sentosa. For those who don't know there are 3 ways in getting to Sentosa. By cable car, train and bus. You can bring any food and drinks in Sentosa to save money. We waited until 7pm then me and my Wife got in the queue for the Songs of the Sea while our friends went to the Luge. The show starts at about 7:40pm but there's already a long queue. We saved them seats. My advice is choose seats at the front (2nd to 3rd row) and middle to get the best view in my opinion. If you have a camcorder you must bring it if your planning on watching the Songs of the Sea. At first i thought it will be boring since the title seems kidde stuff but twhen the show started i was impressed. The shows plot is these group of teenagers trying to wake up the princess by singing. They summoned different creatures in their village until the princess finally awaken. The actors lip sync the songs which is necessary since it was an open air performance. The show highlights the combination of choreographed water and laser displays and image water projections. Bursts of fire are part of the show too. Everybody can feel the heat generated every time fire burst. Images projected in the water fountains have 3D effects that they almost look like holograms. You haven't been to Sentosa until you saw the Songs of the Sea. For me it's a must-see attraction. It ran for about 30 minutes (if i'm not mistaken). Sentosa is like a setting in fairy tales in the morning and specially in the evening. Lights are colorful and has that romantic feel. We had our dinner in Vivo City Kopitiam again. After that we went our separate ways. It's quite an experience but very tiring. Next time i'll be more prepared. I'd like to relax at the beach and maybe this time try out the Luge. For pictures see the following links below.

Sentosa Website
www.sentosa.com.sg/

Pictures
http://jelmarven.multiply.com