Elusive Travels

 Getting There

On Saturday early Morning my  sister and I headed off to Harbor Front in order to  get  some transportation down to Sentosa.  A man made island, which at one time had a a rather macabre past is now a very popular tourist destination in Singapore.  There are several transportation options one can take to visit Sentosa, cable car costs around $26 per person, you can walk across, takes about 15-20 mins for $1 and finally you can purchase a monorail ticket from Vivo City.  We both opted for the monorail. It took around 5-6 minutes before we were at Sentosa.

For more information about the monorail and prices checkout this link:

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/en/getting-around/sentosa-express/

Universal Studios Singapore

The first place we decided to visit was Universal Studios Singapore, tickets cost around $72 person, whilst expensive it was totally worth it.  Film and television aficionados would feel very much at home here, from the "Far Far Away" to "Lost World" to "Madagascar" they had it all here, shops, cafes' restaurants etc all named after your favorite films.

The major attractions at Universal Studios was the all new Battlestar Galactica Accelerator roller coaster, this was a heart pumping, ride with twists and turns, climbs and descents that had me and my sister roar with excitement. The next attraction and probably the best of all was the "Water world" show. Based on the film of the same name, you had a wonderful cast of actors perform a show that was truly spellbinding to watch. Explosions, gun fire,  action you name it, it was all there.  Some of the audience members were pulled in on the action too, much to the amusement of the others, It is a must see show for anyone who goes to Universal Studios Singapore.  Last but not least was a taster of what film directors called the "Sound stage!" A  room where a lot of special effects in movies are created. Complete with an introduction by Steven Spielberg (not in person but on video) we witnessed  a hurricane come to life, complete with rain, fire, violent shaking of the room and a building being torn apart like paper right in front of us was truly and incredible experience. We had spent almost half the day here now and enjoyed every minute of it , but now it was time to enjoy some of the other attractions Sentosa had to offer.




http://www.rwsentosa.com/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore

Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom

Located near the Imbiah Lookout, the butterfly park is home to a small fraction, around 100-200 of the 30,000 recorded species,  where  one can see some of the most beautiful butterflies in the world. With their vivid colours and beautiful patterns they are truly a work of art that leaves one breathless at the beauty of the natural world, You could spend a whole day just observing these beautiful insects and it would not be a waste of time. It seems so cruel that nature would give life to such beauty only to end it within days.



Further into the butterfly park, on route to creepy crawly land is a small aviary, where you can find a small amount of feathered beauties, macaws and parrots to name a few, whilst not the main attraction they certainly are not to be missed.  In fact you have no choice but to see them as you head towards the wonderful world of bugs.



At the bug world you get to see a side of nature while not beautiful still leaves you in awe, three horned Rhinoceros Beatles that look menacing and all the more glad that the are the size they are! Tarantulas, forest scorpions, the bizarre leaf insect to name a few were all here to see.


We had seen both the beautiful and bizarre world of insects now it was time to head on a couple of stops on the "Blue Line" bus to the underwater marine world.


Underwater Marine World & Dolphin Show.

With 70% of the earth's surface being water, it should come as no surprise then that some of the most exotic life forms to exist in nature are to be found here, it is a world we rarely get to see, but thanks to places such as this, once again one can bear witness to the many wonders of our world. While not as large as the London Aquarium the marine world at sentosa still boasts a fair amount of marine life, from colorful fish, to "OMG I shat in my pants" huge  japanese spider  crabs with a leg span reaching 3.2m  to the downright weird looking, there is certainly a lot to see here.  The marine tunnel where  fish fly over your head over a glass ceiling is incredible, sometimes you can see them come close to the glass and stay there watching us, almost as if though were were the one being observed rather than the other way around.

Giant Japanese Spider Crab

Leaf Sea Dragon

At the exit to the marine world is a small gift shop where one can buy memorabilia ranging from keyrings, to cups, books, calendars and more.

The  Dolphin show which was the final part of your journey  is another spectacular treat at Sentosa' marine world,  lasting around 15-20 minutes, one witnesses the intelligence, grace, speed and agility of these wonderful marine mammals, words cannot really put into perspective the awesomeness of this show.





 

Final Thoughts,

I had a great time here, especially having spent it with my sister, whom I had not seen in several months. There is fun to be had for all here, whether you are a kid or an adult its truly a place worth visiting.

Fine Dining at Hide Yamamoto

 My sister had flown in from London yesterday afteroon and later in the evening , we decided to go for dinner.  After scouring the internet  for some time,  I found this Restaurant called Hide Yamamoto. I called to make a reservation and a couple of hours later we were there. 

The restaurant is located on the second floor of the Marina Bay sands, whilst it does not boast any viewings of the surrounding city scape, the decor more than makes up for it. It is divided into four sections aptly named after their different types of cuisine, Sushi, Robata, Tepanyaki and Ramem. We had booked a table at the Robata section.  Within seconds of giving our names, we were shown to our tables by a polite waiter, which is always a welcome when visiting any restaurant, be it fine or casual dining. 


We scoured the menu, for a good 10-15 minutes, spoiled  for choice, until we decided on the following:
2 bowls of steamed Japanese rice, chicken with lemon grass and red chili and King Crab legs with a sauce who's name I cannot remember and last but not least a flask of sake.  The service here was simply excellent, for the sake we were given a selection of crystal cups to choose from, and the food was served on very decorative plates and presented to us like a work of art. Those of you reading this are probably thinking "Yeah that's nice , but did it taste  good? Well to put it simply, it was delicious! Add to that the service, the relaxing atmosphere and you truly have a winner.  Highly recommended!

If you are interested in finding out more here are some links:

http://www.marinabaysands.com/Restaurants/Hide_Yamamoto.aspx
http://www.hideyamamoto.com/official/
 




View From Marina Sands Rooftop

After dinner, we opted to check out the Rooftop, from afar one can see the Marina Bay sands most prominent feature stick out like a sore thumb. That of its Boat shaped rooftop, or rather a roof that is shaped like a boat.  We paid $20 SGD each at the basement of Tower 3 which I thought was a rip off, and took the lift up to the 57th Floor. Upon entering the floor, you are greeted with a sign that says Marina Bay Sands and a little photo studio area for tourists who wish to pay top dollar to have a photo taken.  We walked out onto the rooftop and what we saw was just simply amazing, all of Marina Bays many sky scrapers, their  colorful lights reflecting in the water, the ships at harbor front, the Singapore Eye (It's not called that, but as I have found no official name, I am christening it so) all visible in a magnificently breathtaking  panoramic view.  It was a beautiful experience, but one that is only worth a single visit.

You can check out their official site for more info:

http://www.marinabaysands.com/SandsSkypark/Sands_Sky_Park.aspx

 Held annually in Singapore,  the Chingay parade's origins can be traced back to around a hundred years ago where it began as  celebration by the Chinese in honor of their deities and the procession of Guanyin ( Chinese Goddess or Mercy) and a float decorating competition in Penang.

Singapore's foray into Chingay  was first held  as a result of a ban on firecrackers, so as not to dampen the mood for the Chinese new year, the people's association and National Pugilistic Association of Singapore organised a street parade.  Over the years it began to attract the Malay and Indian cultures of Singapore becoming what is perhaps one of the worlds most dazzling spectacles of colour, sound, and energy.  It has grown in number every year and this year saw some 8000 performers from dozens of cultures take to the streets.

A loud bang, the familiar sound of firecrackers and rumbles, lots of them! These rumbles were the sound of Harleys, a dozen or so of them each with a bunny girl sat behind leather clad motorcyclists and a collection of classic automobiles marked the start of Chingay 2011.  What followed next was a parade of Stilt walkers,  Storm troopers! Yes, that's right! and dancers from  Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Germany, Mexico and Japan. Each culture bought their own unique display of rhythm and dance to the parade, wowing the crowd from every corner of the street. The buzz was amazing, my camera was going into overdrive at this point.  The highlight of the parade however was the parade's first and as a matter of fact the world's first display of an 88 meter long aerial dragon that was bought in from China,  it was a truly a magnificent piece of art to bear witness to, the whole crowd was just in awe at the sheer size of it.

The parade lasted  for approximately two hours before ending with the parade's first traveling dance competition in which a thousand or more performers took to the street each one giving it there best in the hopes of winning the competition.

Last night I witnessed  one of the worlds most colourful  spectacles and I would gladly bare witness to this event again.

Harleys & Bunnies

Rolls Royce & Beauty Queen

She waves to her adoring fans

Classic Mercedes with two sweethearts

Isn't she cute?

Storm Troopers are the new Police force in Singapore

A fire breathing dragon, sadly they didn't blow flames when nearing the crowd for safety.

A Chinese girl performs a flower dance.

A very flexible ballerina

Dance troupe from Sri Lanka

Acrobatic Taiwanese Cheerleaders.

Skirt twirling

Viva Mexico

Performers from the street dance competition

The 88m long draong

The head of the beast

it is the morning of December 22nd, we have just had our breakfast at the Victoria chalets and we are now on the road to sigiriya a 2.5 hour journey from our current destination.

 Sigiriya, one of eight UNESCO world heritage sites was the capital of Sri Lanka during the 5th century AD rule under King Kashyapa, it's main attraction is the Sigiriya rock, which is a 500m high magma plug from an extinct volcano, Sigiriya means' Lion's Throat, which is a fitting name when  history cites that the rock once contained a massive carving of Lion through which the palace  at the top would be entered via the Lion's throat, all that survives today unfortunately are the Lion's paws.

The rock aside, the rest of Sigirya itself is truly astounding, the ruins of the water gardens, the design and plans make you realise that the ancient Sri Lankan's were engineering marvels, especially when it came to irrigation technology, the ancient technology that pumped water from the ground 500m up still functions even today!

OK now back to the trip, where was I? Oh yes, we  arrived in Sigirya and it was raining, "oh crap" we all thought, but soon the rain started to cease, we inquired with one of the tour operators whether it was safe to climb in the rain and they said it was OK, so after collecting our stuff and several umbrellas we began our ascend.


Near the top of the rock, one marvels at the beautiful frescoes, rock paintings of beautiful damsels, who are supposed to be King Kashyapas concubines, some suggest they represent deities. Then there is the ruins of the Lion entrance, only the paws survive, but one look at it and you wonder in awe! One can only imagine the sheer size it must have been before falling victim to natural disaster.

Once you reach the top, you are greeted with views that are truly astonishing, look down and you see the layout of the ancient ruins, the water gardens, the intricate details is all there to see, one also learns the reason the king chose to have the palace atop this rock! It gives you a bird's eye view of the entire plains, no enemy could approach unnoticed.  It is like something out of a fantasy flick, one finds it hard to believe places like this exist.

After taking about a few hundred photos, we began our descend, soon we were back on the road heading back to the chalets. We were all pretty tired but I am certain Sigiriya had left a lasting impression especially for those who had seen it for the first time. for me it was my eighth time, would I go again? Absolutely.

The Sigiriya Lion Rock

Sigiriya Fresco

The remains of the Lion.