Spent two days on Sentosa Island that was developed strictly as a recreational island. There are beaches, golf courses, an underwater world, historical sites, a Luge ride and many other things to do. The island was well planned as is everything in Singapore. The only way to get there is to take a cable car from Singapore. It’s not far away, basically, there is only a river between Sentosa and Singapore. The cable car was gives a spectacular view of Singapore and seems to be a ride in and of itself.
I was told Sentosa is now in the process of building a casino, which I’m sure will top any casino in Las Vegas. My first official ride, besides the cable car, was kind of cheesy and it took me to Fort Siloso, or what the locals refer to as ‘the island of no return’. As legend as it, an entire population was wiped out by malaria, and only a few survivors escaped to Singapore.
Sentosa and Singapore were originally populated by Indonesian immigrants and in World War 2, when the Japanese invaded Malaysia and Singapore, Singapore surrendered. Singapore was under Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1945 and was a very sad time. The Japanese created many work camps and all the people living there were treated very poorly. In 1945 a rebel group was planning a huge attack, but then the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, which made the Japanese surrendered, and Singapore was once again returned to the British. Singapore remained a British colony until the 70′s, and Singapore negotiated a treaty to become an independent nation. There are still lots of cannons and the Surrender Chambers, where the Japanese Occupation paperwork was signed resides at Fort Siloso.
There wasn’t much time to do much else on Sentosa, so I booked a room at one of the Singapore Sentosa hotels for the night. I’m hoping tomorrow morning to ride on the Luge and watch a 3-D movie. I should check out the beaches too, but it looks like the weather might turn, so I just stick with all the inside attractions, like the Underwater world. Sentosa, from what I can tell, seems to be a very fun and intriguing place.
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