We decided to celebrate Brad’s second Father’s Day by going to Sentosa Island. It’s just off the southern tip of Singapore, and following a quick train ride from our apartment to Harbour Point, was accessible via taxi, monorail, cable car, or boardwalk. We opted for walking across the channel on the boardwalk (though the cable cars looked like fun, too!).
Crossing the boardwalk from Harbour Point to Sentosa Island.
The grand entrance to Sentosa. Looks a little like Hollywood, doesn't it? This is a resort island, with a casino, a Universal Studios, and plenty of bars. So in a way, it is a lot like Hollywood.
One of the candy trees outside Candylicious, the massive store whose motto should be, "So Long Atkins, Hello Diabetes." Guess who was completely enamored with these? Hint: She's about the size of an Oompa Loompa.
Behind and above the trees you'll see canopies to offer a little break from the sun and heat, a lot like the ones in Clark Quay. Very nice!
Dagny chomping on a lime. Already the little actress, she ate it down to the rind because every time she made a sour face, mommy and daddy would laugh.
I really have no words for this picture. Are any needed?
The Merlion near the center of the island. This guy is HUGE! (See the teeny tiny people at the bottom?) There is a staircase to the top and you can get your picture taken from inside his mouth, his teeth framing you with a view of Sentosa behind, which sounds like a cool Christmas card pic for another day—not today. Like I said, it was a laid back weekend, and climbing that many stairs (the Merlion is 37 meters tall) sounds like anything but relaxing.
The lion is a proud symbol of Singapore. Singapore actually means Lion City. So what's the story behind the Merlion? Well, all explanations I found reported a Malay prince spotted a lion while hunting on his first trip to Singapore (though zoologists say it was more likely a tiger, since there are no lions here). The prince decided the creature was a good omen and named the island Singapura... And there the story seemed to end.
"Okaaay... what about the fish tail?" I ask someone. They shrug and point to the ocean surrounding us. The prince arrived by boat. I'm trying to make the connection and fill in the holes, but all in all, I think their Merlion story could use a little work.
Brad and Dagny making their way along the rainforest walk around the Merlion. I feel like we are a continuous ad for REI here… Always wearing either SuperFeet or Chacos on our feet, synthetic North Face clothes, my ventilated Osprey pack with the critical water bottle holders, and Dagny’s BOB. Anyone having a baby, spring for the BOB… and spend the extra $100 for the rotating front wheel. Okay, slipping out of my green REI employee vest and continuing with the tour…
The walkway to the beach. A river of water trickles down through these cool mosaic art, um… thingys.
We walked to the other side of the island from the boardwalk, to where the beaches are. That sounds a lot more hardcore than it really was. The island isn’t terribly big. We immediately found a restaurant/bar, kicked off our shoes, and settled into the sand. Here is a picture of daddy leading the little nugget to the water. What you can’t see is that behind her, two Asians are also photographing her. “Did you see her eyes?” one calls to the other, completely in awe, as though she has three instead of two.
Yes, the girls serving us were wearing bikinis. It was obviously Father’s Day, not Mother’s Day…
I have no clue why the guy in the background is wearing a ski hat. Sure, it was cloudy, but it was still close to 90-degrees! Maybe dipping into the 80s is equivalent to a cold spell here.
After our break at the Bikini Bar, we continued our walk down the shore. It was a fun (and slightly unusual) mix of young adult debauchery and family togetherness, where a woman in a burka serves her children lunch beneath a loud speaker blaring Eminem. There’s a luge running down the “mountain” in the center of the island, a trapeze zone, and a wave pool. We headed to the wave pool, where we ran into this strange anime version of Jack Sparrow. Actually, he ran into us. Again, and again, and again. Dagny was very leery of him, and he just wouldn’t take “no” for an answer from her!
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there who would pose with a giant, buck toothed fish just to get a giggle out of their daughter.
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