Blogs from Sentosa Island, Singapore, Asia - page 5

We took an early morning flight from Manila to Singapore, and by early I mean a 6 am flight. That meant we are up and ready to go by 3 am. All 6 of us. Plus the 2 kids. And so that makes 8. Good thing we breezed through Singapore immigration, arriving at our hotel just before lunch. After checking in and freshening up a bit, the Zombies were ready. Soon after, we found ourselves at the gates of Universal Studios Singapore. We did the "mandatory" visit of the famous theme park for the kids, or so we thought. Nothing beats being there WITH THE KIDS. Who cares if some of us got only 4 hours of sleep? Or none at all? I was smarter than most ..... got the kids sleeping by 8pm and joined ... read more

Just spent two days in Singapore on route to Australia. First impressions after the variety in Thailand were that the place is quite bland. All the residential tower blocks are identical apart from their number. The grass everywhere is perfectly landscaped and an inch long. Singapore feels very safe, efficient and businesslike. First stop was the indoor snow centre, -6C and (almost) real snow. As I slid down the slope on an old inner tube, I guess I got a taste of the weather the UK is currently having. Took the cable car to Sentosa Island, a theme park. Had a Singapore sling in raffles and a ride along the waterfront in a silent electric boat. I was up at 5am to catch the plane to Oz and noted as I walked past the quay some ... read more

After flying out of Vietnam we landed in Singapore and made our way to Sentosa Island. We are staying at the Festive Hotel which is a part of the 'Resorts World' complex. Basically there are 4 hotels, a casino, a theatre, lots of eating establishments and high end shops all in the one place. When I was here about 16 years ago there was none of it. Basically there was the giant Merlion, an old building dedicated to the history of Singapore and a pretty lamme luge. Now it is completly different and is a tourist mecca. It is not yet complete and there is still alot of building going on. The main idea of staying here is to relax and go to Universal Studios. We settled in on Sunday and took the kids to the ... read more

I love Singapore. In fact, it's dangerously close to knocking New York from the top of my list of Favourite Cities. Yesterday we took an open top bus tour, which is usually one of my favourite things to do in any city I visit. Although this was a recorded rather than live tour guide it was still good, interesting and a good way to get to know the different areas. It was split into two parts, the city and the heritage tour. As we'd gone for dinner in Little India the night before that was familiar, but it was good to see China town and the business district as well as the many, many shopping malls. I was interested to learn that 90% of residents are above the poverty line, although 85% of 'natives' live in ... read more

Sentosa Island Traffic is getting busy as the day is advancing. We enter Sentosa Island in our navigation system and start driving towards the southern tip of the main island. We also choose the route that includes some highway driving.While other city planners discuss and design how many parks to build in their cities, Singapore’s city planners design and build working and living spaces in the Garden. This is how Singapore got its Garden city status. The highways around the city are lined on both sides with trees with far reaching branches that create continues canopy. The natural canopy protects the people on the road from the scorching heat during the hottest and humid days. When we arrive at Sentosa Island we are surprised by the massive development effort just as we enter the gateway. Large ... read more