4 sept 2010 (day 1):
Our flight to Singapore was at 00:20 hrs and the 5 hr odd flight landed at Changi airport at about 8 am Singapore time. After the immigration formalities we proceeded to Chinatown, a place ivan and me had previously marked for our stay in Singapore. An airport staff advised us on buying the Tourist Pass which allows for innumerable travel across the MRT network and the buses within Singapore (excluding sentosa) and the pass held us in good stead, as, in the days to come we used the pass to the point of abuse ;-)
We checked in at Service World Backpackers Hostel and headed out to explore right after. Firstly we headed to the Merlion’s Park. Something that surprised me was when we asked people around for directions to the Merlion Park, most of them seemed clueless (or was it us). Nevertheless, the Merlion is certainly promoted more in tourism than it is known. When we reached the Merlion, we took as many snapshots of it as possible for our image bank (Sanjay @ ddw, for one, would be more than delighted about it). Then we proceeded to Boat Quay (pronounce boat key) for some beers and music. Some beers down, we headed to our hostel and downed a coupla Jim Beam shots before we hit the sack.
5 sept 2010 (day 2):
We slept like logs and when I woke up, the room was dark and cool. I tossed and turned, waiting for the sun to come up before I finally got up and the moment I opened the door, bright lights hit me in the eye and the realization dawned that it was already 10 am. Since we had already lost a couple of hours, we got up to speed and headed for Sentosa.
Sentosa islands must be on the itinerary for anyone visiting Singapore. Of all the various offerings on the islands, we headed to the Universal Studios and we decided to check out the others after that. Universal Studios holds you in awe from the moment you set foot in it. There are different sections with various themes in within which one is greeted with shops selling memorabilia while there are LIVE ACTS happening all around the respective theme. The excitement around is contagious and you become a part of the celebrations. We started off with a joyride in the Jurassic Park where or raft cruised into the river and T-Rex and family pop out from behind trees and foliage. The highlight of the ride was when our raft began to rise and a huge Dino appeared right in front of us and roared at us in the face and the raft suddenly dropped into a rapid and got us drenched. The ‘Far Far Away’ Shrek 4D movie is a must watch. The best joyride was ‘The Mummy’. This one took us at high speeds through an abyss of darkness, flinging us around every now and then. Phew!
By the time we stepped out of Universal Studios, it was 7pm and we decided to come back to Sentosa for the underwater world the next day. We joined our neighbors at the hostel , a Phillipino and 2 Australians, with Jim Beam and our evening progressed to late night.
6 sept 2010 (day 3):
Once bitten, twice shy; we set an alarm to wake us. We had set our itinerary to visit the zoo and thereafter the underwaterworld at sentosa. We travelled the MRT to Ang Mo Kio for the zoo. The Singapore zoo is an amazing for the various animals it houses. The wild cats section is quite fascinating and more so because the beasts are not caged. To view some creatures, we had to step into an enclosure and I wondered which was the beast among us. To greet the Cheetahs, there wasn’t even an enclosure. Though it was bounded with a low fence, I still do not cease to marvel at what stops a cheetah, with a determined will to kill, from scaling the low fence and running amok. Ivan had a field day capturing not just the big beasts but even caterpillars and the indescript likes that weren’t meant for intentional display.
We reached the Underwater world at Sentosa right in time for the dolphin show. Dolphins are childlike and fun loving; they respond well to humans and are easily cajoled by applause to put up a great show. It’s a great sight to watch them perform in sync. The aquarium was also spell-binding with big fishes moving all about us. The bright and colorful ones are a spectacular sight and it delighted me no ends.
Little India in Singapore was not at all on our list since the purpose of our trip was to experience other cultures and it was for the same reason that we had chosen to stay in China Town. However two days of Chinese food had us craving for Indian food and there we were headed for Little India for some good biryanis and beer among fellow countrymen.
Next day early morn was our flight to Vietnam and was I excited…
Check out the pics here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=221072&id=686198445&fbid=444007748445
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