Sentosa - discovering Singapore's playground...

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the globe after another GREAT DAY in the Lion City. Today Team Taylor crossed off another to-do on the Singapore visitor's list - a visit to Sentosa.

Sitting 710 meters off Singapore's southern shore (and literally RIGHT OUTSIDE my office - the view I have every evening is sunset over Sentosa, which is quite cool), Sentosa is nicknamed "Asia's favorite playground." Whilst that's no doubt in some debate with folks who love places like Haikou or Macau, it really is a neat spot and DEFINITELY worth a visit.

We arrived about 2 PM STARVING. And in true Typhoon Taylor fashion, we did what Wife Muffin and Husband Bear do VERY well - EAT LIKE RABID BANSHEES. The venue of choice, you ask? Why, none other than the pride of Lisbon, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen. That's right, sports fans, we ROCKED the HARD ROCK CAFE, BABY!!!!! BRING ON THE GLUTTONY!!!!

We killed some burgers and wings (SO GUUUUUUUUUUUUUD...peppy cheekies), all whilst listening to the sounds of Korn, the Doors, Linkin Park, Whitesnake (you're my boy, Blue! You're my boy!), and even POISON! And YES - this is the part where I yell "KISSAGE!!!!!" Quality.

After a GREAT meal, we then rolled through Sentosa island, seeing all of the many "thrilling and exhilarating yet family friendly" activities the place had to offer.

The first one that popped into our line of sight was the Merlion tower. Now don't be tricked, my faithful readership, as this is not THE Merlion. Oh no, this is a 37 meter high reproduction, offering "stunning views of the island, the Pacific, and Singapore" - all of a nominal fee of $8, of course.

We passed on going up the Merlion, but we did go through the (FREE) Merlion walk, which reminded us very much of Park Guell in Barcelona - very neat, with lots of multi-colored tiles and a cute little stream running through it (no children allowed, however - or they will CANE YOU).


After that, we walked along the beach for a bit. This is really the only place IN Singapore where you can actually swim (you can in East Coast Parkway, but the water is, well, less than desirable). The odd part was that, despite the FOUR BILLION SHIPS DOCKED A QUARTER MILE OFF THE BEACH, the water was this beautiful cobal blue. Hmm....can someone say additional chemicals in the water? I mean, I'm not judging, just questioning how nature can maintain such a color when TEN TRILLION TONS OF WASTE AND DIESEL ARE BEING DUMPED INTO THE WATER DAILY RIGHT OFF THE COAST. But hey, what do I know...

After that, we rolled to another "highlight" of the island - "The Southernmost point in Continental Southeast Asia." Now this is probably where you ask the question: "How exactly can an ISLAND be the southernmost point on continental Southeast Asia?" I will go a step further and ask "How the hell can we even be talking about how ANY PART of the ISLAND of Singapore can hold this distinction?" The answer, my friends, lies in the Guinness Book of World Records.

You see, apparently Malaysia and Singapore currently have this pissing match going on where they are competing for which country can hold the most world records. And whilst i'm ALL for competition, some of it has gotten downright RIDICULOUS. Case in point - what records does Sentosa island host by itself?

1. The Southernmost point of Continental Southeast Asia (this is accomplished by stringing together a) the CAUSEWAY connecting Malaysia and Singapore, b) The BRIDGE connecting Singapore and Sentosa, and c) the 30 foot "suspension bridge" from Sentosa island to this little chip of shit in the middle of the water. I mean seriously? SERIOUSLY?)

2. The world's first permanent show situated completely water (it's seriously TEN FEET OFF THE BEACH - I mean COME ON - that's just flaunting the rules)

3. Asia's first 4-D attraction (this is accomplished by supplying a single smell during the ride - is smell really a Dimension? What exactly would Madeline L'Engle say about that? Well, at least I know what some Tennessee parents say about it - WITCHCRAFT! Sorry - couldn't help myself)

I'm sure there are others, but you get my point. All the same, I got this GREAT photo of me chillin' on the "southernmost point" - and YES, I did try to stand up on it twice and almost KILLED myself. For that matter, I almost fell twice just SITTING on that damn tree.

After checking out the view and enjoying the breeze, we then rolled to the other "must do" on the island - THE STREET LUGE, BABY!!!! This was actually a GREAT little activity, as $17 a person bought you 2 rides on the cable car and 2 rides down on the street luge (which actually moved pretty fast!). The view from the cable car was really cool, especially the second time when suddenly in the middle of a BLISTERINGLY SUNNY DAY it started POURING and gave us a rainbow off the right side. The storm was something out of the movies, and for 20 minutes it could have shattered asphalt (it didn't stop us from rolling down the luge again, but it DID keep us from trying the second, faster track. Oh well - haffa go back!). After that, however, it was again blistering sunshine. I was so proud of this photo - I honestly felt like Super Dave Osborne. Good times...

We wandered down the beach toward the eastern end of the island, where we checked out the Wavehouse. This place was CRAZY, as they had multiple flow-riders going (some for kids, others for the big boys), and one of them was putting out MAD CRAZY WAVES. Seriously, we must have watched these cats do tricks and fly all over the place for about 20 minutes ("I caught my first tube this morning...sir) before calling it a day and heading home.

We're now looking at booking travel and taking it easy, in for the night after another TERRIFIC day.

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and Jenny