Sentosa - Island of many attractions and sandy beaches

Sentosa means peaceful in Malay. The calm, peaceful and tranquil island on the southern part of mainland Singapore. Mainland Singapore is an island too. The original name of Sentosa Island, Pulau Blakang Mati, is definitely far from peaceful. 'Mati' means 'to die or dead'. 'Blakang' or 'belakang' means to be behind or at the back. So literally, Sentosa Island was formerly the island of death at the back or to die from behind.

It is thought the original spooky name of Sentosa Island was due to the malaria outbreak that happened on the island in the mid-1800s that almost wiped out the inhabitants of the island. Certainly not a name you want to attract hordes of visitors into. Some visitors called it expensive island thinking it is a man-made island with theme parks, hotels and casinos packed in. They even charged to see the historical old fort, which used to be free.

There are many things to do and see at Sentosa Island. Look beyond the tacky frontage of the island consisting of many theme parks such as Universal Studio (USS), SEA Aquarium and Adventure Watercove, all very much dependent on tourists due to its not-so-cheap entrance tickets, and the many drab looking but expensive hotels, some hotels with hard-sounding name like Crockfords, and you will find some treasures without needing entry tickets especially as you get closer to the beaches.

Siloso Beach with tall palm trees

The beaches and the simple monorail rides weaving in-between trees were once the main attractions on the island. And the musical water fountain, which has since been replaced several times to something different and you have to pay to watch it.

By the way, the equivalent water theme park to Adventure Watercove is Wild Wild Wet at Pasir Ris and it costs about half. Especially great for those living in the eastern part of Singapore.

Obviously, everyone wants to enjoy USS once in a while, at least we do not have to spend airfares to go to Orlando Florida to enjoy it. Or to see sharks at Sea Aquarium. Resorts World Sentosa sometimes organise promotions for their theme parks so look out for it.

Universal Studio Singapore

You may want to pay a visit to Barack Obama, the ex-president of USA, actor Jacky Chan, famous football icons Christiano Ronaldo and Fandi Ahmad, actors Hugh Jackman of X-Men and James Bond 007's Craig Daniel or the boy band One Direction at Madame Tussauds, the Wax Museum.

How times changed. Forget about heading to Sentosa Cove, home to multi-million dollars homes with a marina for the hardly used expensive yachts. Though you can certainly admire from far. And do avoid the casinos too. Unless you can keep your hands within your pockets. Though it is free entry for foreign visitors. You will sometimes see hordes of tourists' buses from Malaysia bringing day trippers from Johor trying their hard-earned money to win something at the casino. I find that sad :(.

Ronaldo and Fandi Ahmad

Some find the giant mythical creature we called merlion near Imbiah station kind of tacky too. But the combination of a lion's head and body of fish which symbolise the current (Singapore) and previous (Temasek or sea-town) names of the city-sate, is the iconic symbol of Singapore. Singa means lion. So, I will accept that with a grin. An update: the merlion will be gone soon unfortunately. So is the festive walk. More development and changes on the island.

The beaches of Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong Beach are not really in the league of Phuket or Tioman as you can see the big cargo ships in the background, Singapore being in a busy maritime route and holds the second busiest port tag in the world. At least we do not have to bring our passport to enjoy the imported white sandy beaches and the free-range peacocks and chickens wandering around.

You may even spot a monkey or two if you venture long enough. And a couple of snakes, albino pythons, in baskets, at Beach Station and near Sky Tower (it's no longer operating). You can hold the snake to take photos, at a small fee. Do watch out for the stingy jelly fish if you plan to swim or take a dip at Siloso beach.

View of ships and cable cars from Mt. Imbiah

All transportation within the island is free. You can just hop on and hop off the colourful beach trams and enjoy the free ride all the way to Tanjong Beach. Or if you are lazy, you can just take a round of joyride without getting down. It's hot and humid here. Or if it rains sitting in free trams or buses may be the best option to while the time away. There is a mini zoo, an aviary near Palawan beach.

You can watch lory feeding at 2pm and animal performances at 5pm. Maybe it is not necessary to head to Jurong Bird Park. Though Jurong Bird Park is indeed a great place to see the penguins, the snowy owls and the rare blue macaw. At Sentosa you will be able to spot the native oriental-pied hornbills which is making a great comeback all over Singapore. And turtles have been spotted laying eggs on the beach! There are some nature trails on the island if you are into it.

Palawan Beach

By the way, if you do head to the Jurong Bird Park, maybe you should bring along your passport because it is quite close to the Tuas Checkpoint. Take a Causeway Link Bus from Boon Lay Bus Interchange and soon you will be in Johor. The bus fare to Johor is $4. Locals love going to Johor to eat and shop, thanks to the exchange rate.

The good news is in several years Jurong Bird Park will be shifted to Mandai area closer to the Zoo, Night Safari and River Safari. Four parks in one place. Going to the animal parks will set you back quite a tidy sum though. But there are promotions now and then. The zoo at Mandai is worth visiting, as it rated among the top five in the world. Don't we all love to see animals. Locals can take advantage of the annual membership like Friends of the Zoo if they intend to visit the zoo regularly. Enough of digressing.

Complimentary tram ride around the beaches

To enter Sentosa for free, it used to cost a dollar, go via the boardwalk instead of using Sentosa express rail which costs $4. Wonder why they charge a dollar in the first place. Walking only takes ten minutes to reach Sentosa from the mainland via Vivocity at Harbourfront and you get to enjoy the scenery and the docking cruise ships as well. The ten minutes cable car ride will set you back by more than $30 but that is a novelty for those who fancy it and not afraid of height.

Once you are in Sentosa all transportation is free such as bus shuttles, Sentosa express and the trams. There are the motorised sedgeways but that will cost you. There are many expensive paid attractions like indoor skydiving and the luge, but you can easily spend half a day at Sentosa without spending money. Even Fort Siloso will set you back by $12. It used to be free.

Mini Zoo near Siloso Beach

Why would Sentosa charge $12 to see the last fortress? However, if you are into war history you will find machine gun posts and pillbox built along the southern beaches of Sentosa, originally built by the British as part of the overall beach defense plan of Singapore during the second world war. An update: it is now free again. Yay.

The pill boxes can be easily missed as they are dwarfed by the modern and bigger attractions. And at Mount Imbiah you can see the remnants of the southern defense post and battery, which is next to the current Megazip Adventure. It is free and worth a climb up the hill (it is not a mountain) to see the former breech loading pits and battery steps. Climb up the concrete tower and you can see a nice view of the southern coasts with cable cars passing by.

Cable car at Imbiah Station

Fort Siloso is the only preserved coastal fortification in Singapore. It is also the oldest military structure on Sentosa Island. At Fort Siloso you can learn how the British defended the coastal area. Located at the entrance to Keppel Harbour, Blakang Mati was recognised for its strategic importance long before 1800s. The British realised that they need to protect Singapore's harbour that is bursting with trade and coal stocks from sea invaders or pirates. Several forts and batteries were built including Fort Siloso. The fort was restored and officially opened to the public in 1975.

At Fort Siloso there are replica guns or guns brought in from other locations along its Gun Trail. There are underground tunnels B and C Complex and the battery command post with life-like displays. The Battery Command Post was used to direct coastal defense guns and this post has a clear view of the horizon including the oil installation on Pulau Bukom and the western sea lanes into Singapore harbour. The guns on display include the 120MM Naval Dual-Purpose Guns and the 7-Inch RML Gun, also known as a "Bottle Gun' because of its shape. Tunnel C complex displays re-enactment of the soldiers of the Singapore Volunteer Artillery Corps working in the magazine. The tunnel was built in 1890.

Fort Siloso

There is also a reenactment of surrender chamber at Fort Siloso, at Sentosa Island. It captures the drama in the Ford Factory Boardroom at Bukit Timah on the fateful day of 15th February 1942. The seats displayed there were the original seats used during the surrender ceremony. You can learn more about Singapore's darkest at Changi Museum.

Before you head to Sentosa fill up your stomachs at Harbourfront or Vivocity food-courts and bring at least a bottle of water. As things including meals are not cheap in Sentosa. But if you do need something, there is Malaysian Food Street food-court next to USS. But take note the food-court close on Wednesdays. Strange indeed. There is world's favourite fast-food chain McDonalds at basement one of Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and near Beach Station at the southern beaches. There is also Texas Chicken at the basement of RWS. There is Marybrown next to McDonalds near Beach Station. [An update: due to the pandemic some of the food outlets may have ceased operation. Some attractions may also have ceased operation].

Bridge to Southernmost Point of Continental Asia

Beach Station is the last Sentosa Express stop, which as the name implies is near the beach. And there is KFC near the gigantic merlion or Imbiah stop, the stop before Beach Station. And for those with sweet tooth there is Krispy Kreme somewhere opposite the USS. Yay. Hey, we need to take a break or two and to enjoy a bit of air-conditioning.

Other than the beaches and trams which are free, there is also an arid garden with cactus. I am sure some of us, including me, are guilty of going to some hot desert in faraway land to take photos with cactus when there is cactus in Singapore. And the islet near Palawan beach boasts as the southernmost point of continental Asia! Well, Singapore is very near to the equator, just three degrees north. One other thing that is free in Sentosa is the Pokémon.

For Pokémon hunters, you can go Pokémon hunting in Sentosa. Sentosa is known to contain some rare Pokémon. Though I think there are way too many poke-stops in Sentosa especially along the Southern Beaches. They even put a poke-stop at a washroom. How gross.

Cactus at Arid Garden

If you are into nature, check out Sentosa Nature Trail. The secondary tropical rainforests trail follows partly the former monorail. If you walk the whole length of Imbiah trail up to Mount Imbiah (near Megazip) you can see remnants of the former Mount Imbiah Battery, the defense post which is built in the 1880s. At Mount Imbiah tower you can see a nice view of the southern islands, the cable-cars passing by and of course the many ships passing.

The Sentosa nature trails are actually full of heritage trees. There are a few nature trails at Sentosa. You can see tall emergent and native Pulai (Alstonia angustiloba) tree and Tempinis tree, where Tampines town got its name from. You may also spot a waterfall or two.

Other than the Imbiah trail and the little-known Nepenthes Trail (opposite Imbiah Hill Road), there is also the Siloso trail which is parallel to the Coastal trail where you will find heritage trees. Along the coastal trail you will find some totem poles. These Siloso and Coastal Trails are quite a gem, hidden from the main crowd.

Sentosa's Nature Trail near Imbiah

Sentosa did well trying to preserve some of the nature trails, but with so many attractions and the beaches, the trails are somewhat missed by the crowd. There is even a nature gallery there but somewhat hidden behind some attractions. Even turtles know Sentosa Island is a good place to lay eggs. Would be interesting to see turtles lay eggs right here in Singapore.

Not that far from Sentosa is Mount Faber and the Southern Ridges. At Mount Faber you can see a nice sea view of the southern islands and there is also a little merlion statue there, one of the five official merlion statues dotting around the island. The huge, gigantic merlion at Sentosa will soon be gone to make way for further development on the island.

Tanjong Beach

One of the ways to get to Mount Faber and the Southern Ridges is by going through exit D at Harbourfront MRT station Then walk up the Marang trail. This trail will require people who are reasonably fit. The trail is not difficult but requires a bit of uphill trekking up the hill. There was a plan to build a funicular to link Marang up to Mount Faber, but it never too off. Would be kind of fun to ride in a funicular, which is sort of inclined tramway.

It will take about 20 minutes to get to Mount Faber from Harbourfront station. It will take another 40 minutes to walk along the Henderson waves and the scenic tree-top walk to Hort Park at the Southern Ridges. The Henderson waves is mostly flat.

Cable car ride video from Harbourfront to Sentosa