Sentosa Island

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We spent Wednesday and Thursday on an Island that has been developed strictly as a recreational island called Sentosa. There are golf courses, beaches, Underwater world, Luge ride, historical sites, etc. Very planned as everything is in Singapore. We took the cable car to Sentosa Island from Singapore. It is very close, it just has the river betwen it. It was fun to ride over the tops of the canopy trees with their big leaves. They are building a casino on the island as well, which is bound to be over the top. We started off with a cheesy ride, and made our way out to Fort Siloso. Are you ready for more Singapore history? Sentosa Island was used as a military base by the British for many years. It was originally called Pulau Blakang Mati, which is something like "the island of death" or "the island of no return"... the legend (though probably true) is that the entire population was wiped out by malaria, and all the survivors escaped to Singapore. Singapore and Sentosa were probably originally populated by Indonesian immigrants. In WW2, Japan invaded Malaysia and Singapore, and Singapore surrendered in 1942. The Japanese Occupation of Singapore was from 1942-1945, and is a very sad time in Singapore history. There were many work camps, and many of the people that lived there, particularly the Chinese, were treated very poorly. The rebel groups of Singapore were planning a huge attack in Sept 1945, but when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in Aug 1945, the Japanese surrendered, and Singapore was returned to the British. From 1945- 1960s/70s it remained a british colony, but the Singaporeans negotiated a treaty I think in the 1960's or 1970's to become an independent nation. They still have lots of cannons and the Surrender Chambers, where the Japanese Occupation paperwork was signed. This all occured at Fort Siloso.

We did some other stuff at Sentosa Wednesday which was not as interesting - some cheesy 3-D movie, luge ride... there are lots of ways to part with your money on Sentosa, but it is no Disneyland. The beaches, though contrived, are very pretty, although it storms every afternoon, so you have to make sure to stay out of the rain unless you want your towel to get drenched.

I am going to publish this and expand on Day 2 at Sentosa later, since I have lots of pictures and I want to tell you about my THAILAND adventures!!! More very soon!

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Photos

Butterfly world
Flowers and butterflies everywhere. So pretty!

More butterflies
It is hard to focus on them!! But you get the idea of the pretty colors

more butterflies
It is even harder catching them in the act!!!!!

lizard
He was crawling around at the butterfly world. He is HUGE!!!

Surrender Chambers
This is where the British signed the surrender papers to Singapore before the Japanese Occupation. It is such a beautiful view for such a horrible time.

Sentosa Island flowers
They have all sorts of flowers all over the island for CNY

flowers
ok I actually put the flowers in this picture

Comments

[Jenn's MOM]

beautiful
Hi Jenn, What wonderful butterflies. I would love to go there. When the parrot was sitting on your arm, didn't his claws hurt? Parrots can be really large, and maybe heavy after a while. Oh to wear shorts! Seattle is cold and damp. Thanks, MOM

[Jenns Globetrotting Adventures]

Butterflies
Hi Mom! I didn't hold the parrot very long, and he didn't poke me with his claws. His skin is kind of rough. Thinking of you lots, you would like it here. So much cool history.