Sentosa's Siloso Beach

Siloso is Sentosa Singapore's stretch of white beach promoted us the country's "hippest" beach.

I do not agree with it being called the "hippest" beach though as it seemed to offer too few activities and it was too short of a beach for me.

Growing up in a tropical paradise that is the Philippines and having been to fantastic beaches like Boracay and Palawan's, I was not at all ecstatic to seeing Siloso. Normally, any beach would beckon to the sun and the sand lover in me but seeing Siloso did not make me want to swim in its waters.

Oh well. Methinks that in a spatially challenged country that is Singapore, it is still a blessing to see a beach.

Sentosa's Songs of the Sea

The first attraction that we went to when we were in Sentosa Singapore was the Songs of the Sea. Unfortunately, this show is only available during the night. It features a live cast and dramatic pyrotechnic effects, water jets, lasers, computer imaging, music and flame bursts.

Still, I had a great time meeting Oscar. Isn't he cute?

Despite the show being shown only at night, an Oscar and Co. souvenir shop was open.

The merchandise being sold there was so expensive though that even when I fell in love with an Oscar shirt, I decided to just not buy it. Hurrah for the rational me stopping the compulsive me from buying anything I want. Ha ha! :P

Sentosa's Palawan Beach

Just a little trivia here before I start my detailed blog about the activities I tried in Sentosa Singapore.

Do you know that Sentosa has a beach called Palawan?

I just find it interesting because here in the Philippines, we do have an island province called Palawan. It is actually a very famous tourist destination as it boasts of some of the country's best and pristine beaches like the ones found in its capital Puerto Princesa and in other islands like Coron and El Nido. The Philippines' Palawan is actually one of my favorite destinations. To view my blog posts about it, click HERE.

Finally, we're in Sentosa Singapore!

Thirty minutes after leaving Suntec City, we finally arrived in our destination - Sentosa Singapore, which is one of the said country's premier tourist destinations.

Upon arrival, we were met with these flags.

We then toured the entire park on board its color-coded buses that I found interesting because of their chairs that are opposite each other.

Just a simple tip here. If you are going to take any bus in Sentosa, be very careful as each color-coded bus has a specific route. Riding the wrong bus will thus take you to the wrong destination.

These are the various walkways of Sentosa taken while we were roaming in the island either on the bus or on foot.

As we went around Sentosa, we were also able to pass by and see some of its attractions that include Songs of the Sea, Siloso Beach, a replica of the Merlion, Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom, Imbiah Lookout, Images of Singapore, Merlion Walk, and Sentosa 4D Magix and Cine Blast.

Of course I did not content myself with just seeing these attractions as experiencing them was the reason we went there in the first place. So watch out for my future posts that will detail the fun I had in Sentosa Singapore!

I Want to Ride a Cable Car

These pictures were taken when I was onboard the bus that would take us to Sentosa Singapore. While taking these pictures, I thought to myself that whatever happened, I would ride one when I get to Sentosa.

Watch out for my later post that would detail my cable car ride experience.

Singapore Under Construction

These pictures were taken while I was onboard the bus that would take us to Sentosa.

Did you know that the entire Singapore is actually smaller than the greater Metro Manila area? One of my clients who is a Filipina and has been working in Singapore for years told me that Singapore is too small one can actually travel from both its endpoints (north and south) in just a day. Hmm. No wonder almost all buildings in these countries are the high-rise type just so they can maximize space.

Our ride to Sentosa

Earlier, I blogged about getting fascinated with Hippotours buses. Turned out that the bus that would take us to Sentosa was equally fascinating.

It was not as fancy as the Hippotours buses that we saw as it did not have a roof deck but its being on multi-lingual system was pretty interesting.

Cool.

Singapore's Hippotours Buses

When we got our free tickets to Sentosa Singapore from the event's organizers, we were told that the pick-up point would be at Suntec City. We were a little early though so we spent some time roaming inside the mall.

A quarter before the expected time of departure, which was at 2:00 PM, Jid and I waited outside Suntec City. These Hippotours buses parked a few meters from us caught my attention.

The design was eye-catching, don't you think? And I was thinking it would be fun to go around the streets of Singapore on their view deck provided that it's not too sunny.

We got free tickets to Sentosa Singapore!

One of the best parts of our Singapore trip was getting free tickets to Sentosa Singapore compliments of the organizer of the event that we attended. Jid and I were particularly ecstatic since we set apart some personal money for the said tour and to get it for free was such a pleasant surprise. A rare treat indeed. Whoever said there is no such thing as free lunch these days was gravely mistaken. He he!

As the trip would not start until 2:00 PM, after our lunch in one of Suntec City's food court, we headed back to Carlton Singapore to freshen up and change into comfortable, tour-appropriate clothes as prior to that, we wore strictly business attire for the registration.

Below is a picture of my Sentosa kit, which includes a map, brochures, entrance tickets and a wristband.

Whee! I am so excited! Till my next blogs, which will focus on us getting to Sentosa and the fun and adventure we had there.

Deep Fried Dory Fillet with Rice

After we were done with our registration at Suntec City, Jid and I decided to have lunch in one of its food court. I was not able to note the restaurant name though because the food attendant was rude. When she saw that I was about to take pictures, she motioned her right hand sideways while saying, "No pictures, no pictures!" Still, I got a picture of their menu. Ha!

My lunch consisted of rice and deep fried Dory fillet. I chose it as it was listed as "recommended" in their menu but I was disappointed when I sampled it. The fish was tough and so was the breading.  The sweet and sour sauce was also more sour than sweet.

In any case, it's still enough to fill a grumbling stomach.

Suntec Singapore

Our third day in Singapore was spent partly on client meetings and on registering at the Suntec Singapore for the convention that we were to attend.

Suntec whose official name is Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Center was established in 1995 and has one of Asia's largest column-free space in the form of a multi-purpose convention hall. It has hosted some of the world's biggest events like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Bank Congress, The World Economic Forum's East Asia Economic Summit and the International Food Festival.

Suntec City is so big it has its own mall and a wide array of restaurants.

It is also home to some multinational corporations and prominent local companies.

And yes, the highest elevator that I have seen so far is at Suntec.

The most interesting thing about Suntec Singapore for me is its Fountain of Wealth. It is made of bronze, with a circular ring supported by four slanted columns. The circular ring top is visible at ground level.

This fountain was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998 as the largest fountain in the world. It is said that the five tower blocks represent the fingers and thumb of a left hand emerging from the ground, with the fountain forming the palm of the hand. Flowing water was used since water symbolizes life and wealth in Chinese culture and its inward motion signifies water coming in and the retention of wealth for Suntec City.

At night, the fountain looks lovely as it has interesting lighting effects.

For more information Suntec City, check out its official website or click HERE for a Wikipedia entry about it.