Singapore S.E.A. Aquarium

Richard had a few things to do, so we took the bus to Sentosa and found our way to the Aquarium. I'm very fond of aquariums.  I think it's because my star sign is Cancer - the crab.  I'm a water sign although I'm not a strong swimmer and consequently don't participate in messing around in the sea, in the pool or other water-based activities, sailing, rowing, and the like.

Singapore Aquarium certainly has the WOW factor - each corridor leads you through the complex through bigger and bigger tanks, and when you think you've seen the biggest and the best, it gets bigger and better still.

I could have spent much of the day there, but the children wanted to see and do other things, and their attention span isn't targeted at fish.  Here are just a few of the photos we took.  Stupendous!

shipwreck

an impression of the size of the shipwreck

shark tank

Simon in the shark tunnel

this was absolutely impossible to capture on camera - IMMENSE, jaw-droppingly amazing and huge with so much to see it's impossible to express adequately.

could have spent hours watching them watching the fish

scuba man and manta ray

leaving the shipwreck from the other side

Hard Rock Cafe, Singapore

Singapore is such a small place there it seems you're never far away from the sea/port/industry

fancy boat

Singapore's mascot - the sea-mermaid-lion

We headed back to Richard's and that evening we went to the Night Safari.  Photos of that next time.
Kat

Singapore Sentosa Bay

Singapore was something of a shock to the system: physically, in the constant temperature in the low 30s C, comfort was found in the air-conditioning of the car and whichever building we were heading to, and also culturally.  It was tight-laced, with lots of rules and regulations, but because of this it worked incredibly well, in a consumer paradise sort of way.  My heart felt more at home in Vietnam, but now we were R's guests, and he wanted to show us around.

First stop on the tour was Sentosa Bay - a huge amusement facility/park, with indoor and outdoor attractions and a foot-searingly hot sandy beach.  The beach felt a little incongruous and man-made, with huge palm trees shading the food-outlets, and a view across the lagoon to the container shipping lanes.

R took us to the iFly - Singapore's indoor skydiving place, which is not something I'd ever considered doing, and under normal circumstances would have avoided like the plague.  I'm not known for stretching my comfort zone, and as I also suffer from vertigo the idea of sky-diving is not something that appeals to me.  However, when presented with the opportunity to try one of the largest wind tunnels in the world, and putting myself under pressure by not wanting to 'wimp-out' in front of the children (what impression would that give them?), I found myself saying, yes, let's get a family ticket.

The experience on the whole was positive, it was well run, with a thorough induction and 20 minute training talk and video before the time came for us to put on our iFly overalls, goggles and helmets, sign the disclaimer paperwork, promise not to take photos (oops, I gave R my camera....) and then we were next.

In the training session

Not certain I'd ever done that position on my front before

I'm only smiling because I don't know what's coming

This is a look of sheer panic on my face, as I don't know what I dislike the most, the noise, the breathlessness or the disorientation of being in a wind tunnel

Dad has 3 goes

Phoebe had 3 goes

Tom had 3 goes

All I can say is... I did it, and I don't want to do it again.  I had one go and let my second ride go to Simon as I really didn't enjoy it.  Predictable I know, but there you are.

We then went to the beach - which as I said before had very hot, quite coarse sand, clear water, and a disconcerting view of container shipping on the horizon.

After the beach Tom got an airbrush tattoo, which he hoped would last longer than the one he got in Vietnam...

Then R took us to the Luge - a concrete track down the hill for kart racing with your group.  Having had too much fun in the iFly, I decided to give this a miss, and took photos of them as they arrived at the bottom of the run.

After all this fun, we retired to R's home which is situated in a gated community with an inviting swimming pool in which to cool down at the end of the day...

Now, this part of Singapore I could get used to...

More about our Singapore experience next time.
Kat.

So long Vietnam, hello Singapore!

The next morning we'd packed and checked out, and got to Hanoi Airport well in time for our flight to Singapore.

Hanoi airport

We'd become used to the more comfortable climate of the north of Vietnam, and had travelled to the airport in a temperature of around 19C.  So we were unprepared for the shock of the temperature in the 30Cs when we landed in Singapore that afternoon.  R had to explain to me that Singapore is only 1 degree north of the equator.  I'd always imagined it to be closer to the Tropic of Cancer, so again my poor geography was demonstrated in bucket loads.

Once we'd arrived at R & J's house, we were shown our room, and then R suggested we head into Singapore town to see the sights.   Either my camera didn't like the new temperature or I'd not got the setting right for night time shots, but these are the best few of the 20+ shots I took that evening...

Ah.  Bright lights, big city!

Each night there's a water show - fountains and special effects including lasers and music.

Looking across the bay to the Colonial side of town - note the Singapore mascot, the water lion with the jet of water from his mouth.

Keeping it short tonight, been a busy day in realtime, and I'm getting over a stinky cold, so need to catch up on my beauty sleep!  

Night y'all.  Kat