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Journey to the Underwater World

You don’t need to dive deep into the sea to come close with these captivating giant sea creatures. They are all gliding graciously around you, and yes, above you too!

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Step on the 83 m long moving travelator and let it brings you through the voyage at the bottom of the sea teeming with exotic ocean dwellers. It’s truly amazing to see majestic eagle rays that seems to be soaring above us, shoals of tuna fish shimmering in the water, camouflaged moray eels hiding among striking coral reefs, and the vivacious dugong flaunting in front of cameras.

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It’s not as big as the grouper on your dining table; it’s XXXL size! Call it the Giant Grouper, gigantic enough to fit you in, though there is no confirmed reports of fatal attacks on humans. In fact, years ago when I was snorkeling near the shore in Redang island- Malaysia, a huge grouper suddenly came face to face with me. It had a very big mouth and apparently, did not have very kissable lips but left an indelible mark in my memory as I got a fright! Being me as the intruder to its habitat in the underwater world.

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RELAXING with a school of sharks lurking around us. How often do you hear that?

small-sharks

Greet Mr Ray at the ray pools. He is very friendly and will surface above the water to shake hand with you. Very often, he likes to splash water on his visitors too, while seeking all the attention from everyone.

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The kids are quite afraid of Mr Ray, after all, he is bigger than them!

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Not satisfied with just observing the little fascinating fishes through the glass? Submerge your hands and try to feel them. However, the fishes aren’t silly enough to swim to your wiggling fingers… not until you have a bait in your hand? I don’t know if we can do that at the Underwater World.

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This alien look-alike eight-legged sea creature with a large wrinkled head is none other than the Giant Pacific Octopus, and its appearance resembles that of a…

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Predator Alien.

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A fierce-looking Moray Eel with conspicuous white dots on its round body. Look at its very sharp teeth!

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Angelic jelly fish dancing with their long elegant tentacles that never seem to entangle themselves.

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More mesmerizing  jellyfish, this kind is smaller, yet it’s still intriguing to watch them moving around gently.

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Look at these Japanese Giant Spider Crabs. They dwell deep in the Pacific Ocean floor surrounding Japan. The inverted one on top had been holding onto the rock with its long claws.

japanese-giant-spider-crab

Have you ever downloaded aquarium screensaver with colourful fish swimming across your computer screen? This surely look like one! I thought I wanted to capture the vibrancy of marine life in this aquarium and create a wallpaper out of it but MISSION FAILED.

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An albino lion fish, isn’t it?

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The Coconut Crab can camouflage itself so well that it looks like a heap of dried leaves. Surprised to know that these nocturnal species are also called the robber crabs as they are rumoured to steal shiny items like pots from houses and tents. Quite amused to imagine them wearing the pots on their head! After all, the coconut crab come from the same family as the hermit crab.

coconut-crab

This is the first time I visited the Underwater World on Sentosa island. Reason: I’m quite prudent in spending on local attraction and thought S$22+ for an adult ticket was too costly. I guess I need not emphasize again that it proves me wrong after exploring this awe-inspiring tropical oceanarium. It’s world class!

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Admission fees to the Singapore Underwater World on Sentosa island:
S$22.90 / Adult, S$14.60 / Child (Aged 3 – 12 years old), including admission to Dolphin Lagoon.
Opening hours: 9am – 9pm daily (Last admission at 8.30pm).
Venue: Siloso Point, Sentosa.

There are many highlights on Sentosa, like the Palawan beach, Siloso beachSongs of the Sea, and Merlion Walk.

If you love aquatic animals, you may be interested to read posts on The Largest Aquarium in Southeast Asia and Qianhu Fish Farm in Singapore.

Songs of the Sea, Sentosa (Part 4/4)

“Songs of the Sea” is a multi-sensory extravaganza with dramatic effects of lasers, lights, fire bursts, water jets, captivating music, pyrotechnics and a live cast. It’s the world’s only permanent show set in the sea. An entry fee is S$8 and the amphitheatre is located at Siloso Beach.

The show commenced with some happy youngsters dancing and singing English, Chinese, Malay and Indian folk songs of the four main races in Singapore.

The young man in white was singing by the sea when he was stunned by the vision of a beautiful sleeping girl, a princess… Zzzz …

The right one is a friendly buck teeth lion fish. Soon the young man learnt that the princess was under the spell of an enchanted village. Read More »

Sentosa Beaches (Part 3/4)

Sentosa has three beaches, namely Siloso Beach, Palawan Beach and Tanjong Beach. We did not travel any further to Tanjong Beach for we passed Dolphin Lagoon. I’ve already covered Palawan Beach in my previous post.
Plenty of beach activities for the fun lovers. We just strolled along Siloso Beach, at the same time, taking photos with a heavy Canon DSLR that I had been carrying throughout the whole trip. =S

This pic with a row of colourful flags is now my current desktop wallpaper. ^^

Embracing the sea breeze under the blue sky on a slanted coconut tree. I want to drink coconut water! Read More »

Merlion = Fish + Lion (Sentosa Part 2/4)

When you visit Sentosa, you will see this gigantic fierce-looking creature with a lion head and a fish body. You need not run, ‘cos it’s just a 12-storey high statue but is the tallest in Singapore. This imaginary creature is famously known as the Merlion, the emblem of Singapore Tourism Board. Visitors can take the lift up to the 12th floor of the Merlion statue to view the city.

The Merlion statue at the Merlion Park in Singapore mainland has a “softer” look than the fierce-looking one in Sentosa. =P Many do hope that what comes out of the Merlion’s mouth is free flow of beer. You know, when the locals say, someone “merlion”, it could mean someone vomits or his saliva got onto your face. XD

The lion head of this creature represents Singapore’s original name, Singapura, which means “lion city” in Malay. The fish body recalls the ancient name of Temasek, which means “sea town” in Javanese. Back to Sentosa…. At the Merlion souvenir shop, these cute little Merlion plush toys have at least made an effort to soften the image of the fierce-looking Merlion statue. This is the first time I see Merlion has tongue! LOL!! One for S$16.90. (US$1 = S$1.51)

Cute toys. I don’t recall seeing this kind of plush toys selling in the mainland. Hmm, now their face look like a bear and their body resembles that of a sea lion to me. LOL!!!

Baby Merlions with thick and messy manes. Suddenly, they look like little white mice. XD

Now these are young, handsome and sporty lions. One even has a Nemo on its lap.  Read More »

Sentosa island, Singapore (Part 1/4)

Sentosa island is not a theme park and is no where near Disneyland; but most tourists visit this key tourist spot of Singapore. One even told me you have not seen Singapore if you have not been to Sentosa!! Ok ok! Sentosa is a relaxing place to go to, but be prepared to pay entrance fees for most of the major tourist attractions. =P

Recently my buddy gave me free tickets to see this island again. So I went with her. Sounds cheapo right? That’s right! LOL! Perhaps because it’s not the first time I went Sentosa…

Anyway, after looking at our photos from Sentosa, who knows? You may want to see Sentosa yourself too!

How to go Sentosa?

We took Sentosa Express monorail at VivoCity shopping mall on the mainland. Fyi, the nearest MRT to VivoCity is HarbourFront MRT Station. The monorail ride only takes around 4 mins.

You can also reach the island via a short causeway from Singapore mainland. If you drive, park at Cable Car Station Car Park or Beach Car Park. If you take a taxi, drop off at Taxi Drop off point just before the Cable Car Bus Stop.

Photo taken from the monorail while crossing to Sentosa. Look at the gigantic Christmas tree at VivoCity. You know Christmas is around the corner!

If you want to enjoy the view from a higher ground, board the cable car at Mount Faber / HarbourFront Centre to Sentosa. Do you also see cable cars in the picture above?

Sentosa means peace and transquility in Malay. It only has an area of 5km². Do you know that it was named Pulau Blakang Mati, which means “Island (‘Pulau’) of Death (‘Mati’) from Behind (‘Blakang’)”?  So as to speak, it was called the island of the dead. One account claims that it was due to an outbreak of disease that almost wiped out the settlers of the island. Anyway, now the island is “growing” due to land reclamation. =D

It’s easy to tour around the island by Sentosa Bus, Sentosa Express and Beach Trams. We headed to Palawan Beach and crossed a suspension bridge to an islet which is the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia. Sounds exciting right? I still don’t know why it’s called that way. Isn’t that point located in Indonesia? Please enlighten me!

Now we are looking from the observation deck on the islet, the Southernmost Point of Continent Asia! Still wondering why it’s the Southermost point of Asia…

Located at the Imbiah Lookout zone, the Tiger Sky Tower was previously called The Calsberg Sky Tower. Both Read More »