Sentosa and Vivocity
Today I went to allegedly the southern most point of Continental Asia. There is a sign and it is labelled as such on google maps but this claim makes absolutely no sense to me as Palawan island, off Sentosa island, off Singapore island is North of the southernmost point of Sentosa island. Very confusing, I spent an hour trying to figure this out. I failed.
Sentosa is a theme park island joined onto the south of Singapore by a causeway, monorail and gondola. Universal studios is there as well as a lot of other things.
There are also 3 different beaches the public can access, as well as a lot of private ones and a secretive gated community and golf course.
Today was much much hotter than yesterday, so after I finished walking around Sentosa, I fled into the air conditioning of the giant Vivocity mall, and walked around until the sweat dried before enjoying a frozen lunch.
Before heading to Sentosa I did a lap of Bugis, where the Buddhists are busy preparing for the upcoming Buddha's birthday shopping extravaganza.
Also the South Indian temples were making a lot of noise, with a lot of dodgy looking guys hanging around.
The causeway / boardwalk across to Sentosa has moving walkways, long since abandoned.
Cruise ships, and the gondolas, you will see this view again later with better clouds.
Arriving by foot on Sentosa was underwhelming, a giant construction zone, with diversions everywhere.
It seems to me the goal was to funnel everyone to Universal studios.
The price to get in for the basic ticket starts at $80, but to do anything, you need a PLETHORA of other 'passes' that start from $100, depending on demand, so it is basically at least $180 to get in. And yet despite that, grown adults were jumping up and down on the spot screaming with excitement as the hype guy is introducing a couple of Malaysian slaves brought in this morning in a cage on the back of a truck (look it up) so they can stand all day in the heat in a rubber minion suit.
Eventually I found a way to get bypass the entrance to Universal studios, but everywhere you turn on Sentosa is 'ticket info'.
Madam Tussauds has exactly zero customers. I doubt the Vin Diesel out the front is really made of wax because surely it would melt.
The term 'Mount' is thrown around haphazardly in Singapore.
Look at all the ships!
Adventure world also has, zero customers.
From the top of Mount Imbiah, you can see the old gun battery. I could take out 50 oil tankers, no problem.
There are some decent short trails around Mount Imbiah, with zero other people.
Now it was beach time. No people!
You can go bungy jumping if you enjoy dumb ways to die. They can't even spell bungee correctly, how could I trust them to weigh me, write that down correctly, measure the rubber cable length correctly, strap me in correctly etc etc, get that wrong at any step of the way and your head goes 12 foot into concrete. I saw no one jump.
There are a lot of shops and small malls around, the building on the right is one of those indoor skydiving things where you hope the net over the giant fan does not rip.
OMG I found the missing Malaysian airlines jet. Now I know that everyone takes a photo and says that, and for that reason, I am very surprised this exists as a Malaysian airlines jet and not some made up airline.
The food trucks had zero customers.
The 2nd beach and floaty adventure world had... zero customers.
This is taken from the viewing platform on allegedly the southern most point of continental Asia. You can see a couple of other people on the rope bridge.
Where the hell is everyone? Too hot for the beach?
OK, the third and last beach.
I walked a strange way to get back to the causeway, and was genuinely concerned I was going to hit a dead end as I walked past a freeway onramp and toll booth.
However, there was then a tunnel and a temporary diversion around all the construction work.
The trip back over the causeway was thundery. Nice clouds.
Vivocity is an enormous mall. I spent a lot of time here before a late night flight once, killing time in the air conditioning.
And so to further cool down, acai bowl. It was good, and much cheaper than in Australia.
Orchard Road for Hong Kong food
Somehow I managed to get over 40,000 steps per day for each of the last 2 days, in the heat in Singapore. I think this would be a pretty rare thing to do, so there is photographic evidence below.
Because I had already walked very far today, this evening I just walked further up Orchard road and back. There is a lot to see, mostly far under ground or occasionally in a tube above ground.
I saw a lot of places to eat, all of them with a lot of people lined up, or with a lot of reserved tables with umbrellas left on them. A lot of things you need to do to order food and find a seat when you are alone are far easier in Japan than Singapore. Also it is hard to photograph your own watch on your wrist.
SECURITY ENFORCER ...securing effectively through ENFORCEMENT
Autonomous killbots are out to kill you in Singapore.
I thought I had better take an actual photo of me in Singapore, looking my best.
Now it was time for the tube viewing gallery. I thought it might be a gallery full of tubes, but no, it is a tube to look out of.
The view through the glass tube to the outside world was somewhat distorted.
A lot of the time in Singapore you can get a good contrast of the old and the new.
This is Ion Orchard, one of the flashier looking megamalls.
There are a lot of weird buildings with no guts. The goal of architects seems to be to waste as much space as possible with hollowed out useless bits covered in rotting plants and pink lights.
Here is my dinner, Hong Kong style bbq pork and wonton noodle combo. $7, quite nice.
The walk back was full of buskers, mildly annoying as they block the whole walking area.
Harvey Norman exists in Singapore, to minimize taxes. Which is amusing if you know the histrionics their billionaire owner goes on about in Australia. They also exist in Ireland. That's is all the evidence anyone needs.
And finally... the proof of 40k steps photo. I ended up taking my watch off to get a clear shot. I don't know how all those guys in the Rolex ads manage to get such clear shots of the watches on their own wrists!
Botanic gardens and gardens by the bay
Last day to do anything in Singapore, so I went to 2 boring gardens and did not pay any of the entry fees to any of the attractions. Perfect.
First up was the Botanic Gardens. This is partially world heritage listed, with clear delineations between the parts that are listed, and those that are not, via a huge number of signs. I would have loved to have been on the committee that wandered around and yelled STOP! Beyond this point, no heritage value.
There is also a pay to go in orchid garden within the garden, and many laughably expensive cafe's, I partook of neither. Partook is my new favourite word, replacing circuitous.
Following one garden, it was time to board the subway and head to gardens by the bay, where there are many many lines to buy tickets for things at even crazier prices. I greatly enjoyed partooking of none of those ticketing options, am I using partooking right?
The area is impressive, even if it is very touristy. Strangely it was full of every scout troop in Singapore all on some kind of jamboree.
Finally, after becoming concerned at the level of UV absorption I was experiencing, I headed into the underground Venice themed mall at the Casino, where no one goes in any of the shops, but the food court was busy.
The gates to enter. No fee to enter the standard garden. There are many gates and conveniently located subway stations.
There are a lot of lakes to walk around, it was hot in the sun. A lot of people were jogging, I was mildly surprised you are allowed to jog in the garden.
Water lilies, you will see more below.
A nice fake cave and waterfall you can can get behind.
I pushed past a lot of people filming themselves doing old people dancing on a live stream to take a clear photo of the grassed area. Maybe I am famous now?
There is a symphony stage surrounded by more lilies.
The cafes were full of people who were mainly British. I found it creepy to hear on 2 occasions, children who looked old enough to drive, refer to their mothers as 'mummy'.
The main disappointment of the day, I did not see any smooth-coated otters with pups.
Now for gardens by the bay, sign photo included for confirmation of location change.
More water lilies.
And more, tricky light.
Now for supertree grove. It is free to walk around, but costs a silly amount to walk along the walkway or go up a lift to the top of one of them.
There are 2 x indoor arboretum's, both with separate exorbitant entry fees, so enjoy a photo of glass.
See the yellow walkway? About $20 to walk along it.
Last one of the supertrees, they probably look interesting at night with lasers and smoke machines.
There are many food courts at gardens by the bay, this one is Jurassic Park themed, the food prices were pretty good.
Giant baby, with penis.
The train station is over by Marina Bay Sands, I have been up to the top previously on a work trip.
To get there, you can go below ground level to avoid the sun and through a tunnel.
And then you come up inside a mall with a river running through it. Yes there are gondolas to sit in (you can see one here), which might be just about the most pointless thing in recorded history.
On the floor here is an interactive digital art thing being controlled by the people standing on it and the kids sitting at the desks around it.
The mall is very large and opulent, but I think no one buys anything, it is for brands to compete with each other for clout.
The food court however, quite full. The problem with food courts at lunch time is all the stalls are selling dinner sized meals. I did not partake (wait... partook, partooking) and instead went into the subway station area for another cooling acai bowl.
Raffles and Suntec City
There are just too many malls, it does not make sense. Just one street over from where I wandered on a previous night with the supreme court mall, is not only the Raffles club but about 10 inter-joined malls around a discount shopping wishing fountain.
Tomorrow I will fly home, my flight is not until about 11am, so there is no rush, especially since Singapore airport just waves you through check in.. at a shopping mall.
Nothing much more to report, probably no updates tomorrow... final update will be Monday morning unless something cool happens with the flight.
As per numerous repeated requests, here is the Raffles Hotel.
Over the road from the Raffles Hotel, The um, Raffles Hotel... and mall.
The 1980's called, they want their city skyline back. The structure on the left is a theatre.
Next on my agenda, Suntec City, advertised as a convention centre, but really, it is a mall.
Apparently, not a joke. A bitcoin blockchain face recognition AI digital ID wallet and cube gleamer that uses your own personal orb to help you kiss the ring. The wikipedia article about them is a trainwreck, whatever it is, it is banned in many countries, and owned by among others, OpenAI's Sam Altman.
Inside the convention centre mall, an expo for Taiwan tourism.
Google told me about the wealth fountain. So I tried to go see it, and ended up jaywalking across many lanes of traffic to see... this. I was confused.
But then I noticed the underground malls everywhere, and a circular food court surrounds the below ground wealth fountain experience. You have to walk a lap and get your hand wet and make a wish, and you get exclusive shopping coupons. Compare this to the previous photo, where there is nothing to see from surface level - this is often the case in Singapore.
And finally, for my dinner I played a game of what have I not had yet? And by a process of elimination, Hainan chicken rice, which is a Singapore speciality, from Hainan.
There are currently 2 comments - click to add
jenny on 2025-04-26 said:
Lots of variety/diversity in this trip, so very interesting.
mummy on 2025-04-26 said:
partake, partaking, partook
Singapore to Melbourne on an Airbus A350
Time to end this.
Getting to the airport in Singapore and through customs, of course no problem.
The flight itself, sneeze and cough filled, full of Australian children (is it school holidays?), 6.5 hours, on time.
Getting out of Melbourne airport, at least half the kiosks were broken, and there was a guy in a suit yelling various apologies about unexpected difficulties. Every time I enter Australia the machines have unexpected difficulties.
The bus ride home, did not break down.
Now for three terribly boring photos to end it all.
Singapore departure gate area - you can check in anywhere! You do not go to a specific counter, if you are flying Singapore airlines, go to any counter.
I left my hotel in Singapore only 2.5 hours before my flight, arrived at the airport 2 hours before the flight, and was through customs etc, 1 hour and 55 minutes before my flight with no lines anywhere. So I still had a bit of time to wander around.
And the last of 968 pics (a bit below average), the cactus garden smoking area. Trip over.
The end for now
There are currently 2 comments - click to add
mother on 2025-04-25 said:
I want to see photos of Raffles.
adriana on 2025-04-25 said:
pretty beaches. Everyone must be at work/