Sentosa

From Malaysia we traveled to Singapore for a conference Ken was attending. So while he had work to do, I got to play. 

Sentosa is a resort island just off the coast of Singapore. It is accessible by car, monorail and my personal favorite - cable car. On the island there are golf courses, beaches, hotels, water parks, rides, condos, attractions, nature walks and even a Universal Theme Park.

In December of 2012, a new aquarium was opened on Sentosa Island. It features the largest aquarium viewing window in the world. And as you can tell from this blog, I love aquariums. That was what drew me to Sentosa, but everything about it was memorable.

I arrived at the cable car terminus early in the morning. The views from the top were beautiful.

The ride started in this lush oasis and traveled down across the city and literally through a building.

Approaching the island you can see the wide array of activities and interesting places to explore.

That last shot of what looks like shacks is actually a reproduction of an old Singaporean fishing village and it is where the nightly fireworks are set off.

There was a small welcoming committee upon alighting from the cable car.

While on the cable car there was one building passing under that had a very unique roof. It looked like the bottom of a boat.

That should have been my first clue. A short while after arriving I found myself under that boat bottom on my way to see some amazing marine life.

Once inside I realized this was much more than an aquarium - it was an experience. The entry level is a museum that tells the story of Silk Route trading from early days. Individual exhibits feature the goods traded in each of the ports along the route. Later the aquariums also featured the marine life in each of these ports.

Then the ships were featured.

What followed was the most fascinating entry into and exhibit I have ever witnessed. The adventure starts on the Guangzhou wharf between 618 and 907 AD. A movie begins and sets up a story about a seaman tasked to deliver a wedding gift from the Emperor. 

From there another theatre/ship is entered and a 4-D movie recreates the voyage. A typhoon strikes and the ship sinks. Let's just say that at times I was holding my breath and expecting to drown. Upon exiting the theatre the first tank contains the wreck of the ship that just sunk.

It was a truly unique entrance.

What followed was an amazing underwater tour of Singapore and all of the ports along the Silk Route. For fear of being boring, I'll just post some of the best and most interesting specimens.

The eel and the shark were quite impressive as was the main viewing window which is the largest in the world.

After leaving the aquarium I spent some more time enjoying all Sentosa has to offer. Although with my limited amount of time I saw a minuscule segment of what was on offer. Among the many temptations I succumbed to the charms of a snake handler. He even let me join the act.

After that encounter it was time to head back to reality. I only hope I can someday get to spend more time visiting Sentosa.