Singapore Fling (3rd and final part)

We decided to check out the island of Sentosa, which kinda hangs off the bottom end of Singapore, attached only by a long bridge. Thinking it was just a nice, relaxing, beachy sort of place, we were surprised when the friendly waiter at a little breakfast cafe told us about the many attractions of Sentosa. With an Underwater World, Dolphin Lagoon, Luge Ride, cable cars, a Merlion (whatever the hell that is...), 3 golf courses, a butterfly enclosure, and some kind of magical musical fountain to name a few, Sentosa was sounding more like an amusement park than just some island!

After a short journey on the MRT (underground train) and a bus ride over the bridge, we were ready to sample the many delights, starting with Underwater World. Quite an amazing collection of creatures, including turtles, sharks, sting rays, jelly fish and all the usual suspects. One feature we especially liked was the "touching pool", where as the name suggests you could actually reach right in and touch the different types of fish. This included a shark! A pretty small bamboo shark which I'm sure was entirely harmless, but it was a shark nonetheless. From there we headed off to see the dolphin show which was pretty impressive. The dolphins were a rare pink kind and did all the usual flips and tricks (pretty standard if you've been to Sea World, but this was John's first ever dolphin show so he was quite excited!)

It was quite a hot day so we headed off for a swim at one of the beaches, and happened upon a spot that claimed it was the southern-most point on the Asian continent, for whatever that's worth. So of course we took a photo or two, then hit the not-nearly-cold-enough water for a bit. Afterwards John got very excited (again!) about the prospect of a luge ride - kind of a combination of toboggan and go-cart, you took the cable car up a hill then hammered down a windy road back to the bottom. Lots of fun!

We had a yummy Tandoori dinner at one of the Indian restaurants by the beach, then headed across the island to check out this magical musical fountain thing the guy had recommended. By now it was dark, and unfortunately just as the show was starting we were pelted with very large drops of tropical rain. It was a real shame as it was quite an impressive display, with co-ordinated water, lights and laser effects. We huddled with the rest of the crowd under nearby trees which sort of detracted from the experience just a little bit, then we quickly headed back to the bus to escape the downpour. At least it cooled us down a bit!

The next day was our last in Singapore, so we took it easy with a nice stroll around the gorgeous botanical gardens, which were just down the road from our hotel. The Orchid gardens were beautiful, well worth the extra admission price. And we couldn't leave without making a trip to Raffles Hotel for the obligatory Singapore Sling and peanuts in the Long Bar. A fitting end to our mini-break, now it was time for the real adventure to begin...