Snap, just like that our antipodean adventure had drawn to a close, and we found ourselves once again in the tropical south-east Asian paradise of Singapore for a few days on our way home. I can’t believe it was nearly three months ago we were here, having escaped the dreariness of a British January. It seems like only yesterday. It’s a little sad really, how quickly our grand tour is evaporating into thin air. But I guess you can’t think about it in those terms. What else is life but an opportunity to create beautiful memories through experience, and we’re having a pretty good go at stuffing those memory banks this year.
Anyway, Singapore round two, and this time we were staying on the island resort of Sentosa. This former British military base, and subsequent Japanese prisoner of war camp, is now a popular resort filled with theme parks, experiences and beaches. We stayed in the urban centre of Singapore at the start of our trip, but I think we figured we might want a few days of R&R on the way home, and Sentosa is the perfect place for relaxation. After checking in, we grabbed some hearty, local grub in the hotel restaurant and took advantage of the hotel’s amazing and extensive pool complex before enjoying a good nights sleep. I loved our last few weeks in the van, but it sure was nice sleeping in a plump, queen size bed again!
The next day, after a return to the delights of an included buffet breakfast, we headed to Palawan beach to experience “The Southernmost Point Of Continental Asia”. The reason I’ve used the quote marks around that title is that I don’t think, at least geographically speaking, that it actually isn’t (quite) the southernmost point. But it has somehow earned itself this title, and it’s pretty cool nonetheless. You cross to a tiny islet via an enormous rope bridge, and at the top of the pair of interlinked wooden viewing towers you get a great view of the Strait of Singapore, dotted with hundreds of cargo ships traversing these busy equatorial waters.
We spent a few hours swimming and enjoying the imported white sands of the man made beach, before a brief tropical downpour drove us back to our hotel. For dinner, we hopped on the brilliant (and free) Sentosa Express monorail and headed to the enormous food hall in the vast VivoCity Mall. Food in New Zealand was great, but expensive. It was great to get back to Asia where you’re surrounded by delicious food at every turn, and you get change out of a fiver!
Just time after dinner to spend an hour in one of the local arcades. I’d like to tell you it was for the kids benefit, but in all honesty I love a good arcade. There’s something appealing about the frenetic, neon atmosphere that draws me in. For the kids it’s all about winning those tickets to exchange for some tacky piece of rubbish at the gift shop. Hopefully we’re not nurturing some future instinctual gambling habits!
The next day was pretty full on. You can’t visit Sentosa without learning a bit about the military history. So we jumped on the awesome cable car, which whisked us up over the rainforests to Siloso Point. Accessed via the amazing treetop Skywalk, Fort Siloso is a decommissioned coastal battery which saw action defending Singapore from the invading Japanese forces in the Battle of Singapore in 1942. Unfortunately, after an intense week of conflict, Singapore fell, resulting in the largest British surrender in its military history and the ensuing Japanese occupation and imprisonment of an estimated 100,000 people.
Fort Siloso is an extremely well preserved reminder of this harrowing portion of Singapore’s history. You are free to wander its grounds, marvelling at the collection of guns and preserved buildings with their lifelike dioramas. Nothing like a bit of stark historical reality to make you really appreciate how good we have it!
We wandered back via the rainforest paths underneath the skywalk to marvel at the population of lizards and insects (much to Kate’s delight!), and made our way to Headrock VR. The kids had been desperate to try VR, and we lucked out by being the only ones in the building for an uninterrupted 60 minutes of virtual fun.
The cable car system here is pretty extensive, and we used it to cross the Keppel harbour to the mainland and visit Mount Faber. As we soared 60 metres above the water on a gondola system built half a century ago, I couldn’t help googling its safety record. I probably shouldn’t have done that, just like you should never try to self diagnose yourself by googling your symptoms when you’re unwell, and then end up convincing yourself you’ve somehow contracted a deadly tropical disease in suburban England. It turned out that there had indeed been a horrendous accident on this cable car many years ago when an oil rig being towed underneath the gondola snagged the line causing several cars to plummet into the water below. Lesson learned. Leave the googling alone, at least until we’re back on firm ground. And anyway, lightning never strikes twice, right?
Mount Faber is a slight misnomer I feel. Not so much a mountain, more of a viewpoint with some pretty decent panoramic views of Sentosa and the CBD. There was also a chance for the kids to annoy the diners by making some noise ringing the Polish Bells of Happiness. Apparently this is an old maritime tradition to bring good fortune.
We didn’t stay on Mount Faber for long. For our final night in Singapore, we headed back into the centre of town to check out a few malls. We wanted to pick up a few souvenirs, and some gifts for the kids’ friends, and Bam was desperate to have her nails done one last time before heading back to the UK. So, while Bam was pampered in the nail bar, Kate indulged herself with a 45 minute foot massage, and us boys entertained ourselves in true bloke style by hanging out on the bench outside. Hunter will make some lucky girl a good husband one day with retail patience like that!
The day had come to finally return to the UK. Our flight wasn’t until the evening though, so we figured we would really take advantage of our late checkout and spend the entire day relaxing by the pool. What better way to bid farewell to the second part of our trip than by sipping a cold beer (or four) in the swim-up bar, while the kids sucked down a mocktail or two. When our fingers had well and truly wrinkled, and we had all grown weary of non-stop poolside fun, we made our way to Food Republic for one last meal in our favourite food court before catching a cab to the airport.
Singapore, you were awesome once again. Nobody was looking forward to swapping this 32 degree tropical heat for the impending dreary drizzle of Dorset (least of all Kate), but the time had come. I can scarcely believe that’s another three months done. Only one last trip to go now on our family gap year. But first, England, and three weeks of catching up with family and friends.
Stay tuned for the start of part three….