“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.

The Lord of Fire created havoc with flame bursting into the air. Didn’t catch why he did that while my eye was fixed at the viewfinder of my camera. =S

The flames leaping up to 20m!

Fascinating lasers and water jets!

The centrepiece of the show is the row of stilt houses (Kelong structure) that recalls the memory of the old kampong (Malay village) lifestyle in Singapore.

Mesmerizing display of water jets and light effects.

The 69 water jets can reach as high as 40m!

The Dazzling display of brilliant lasers, special computing imaging, water jets and flame bursts culminated with dramatic pyrotechnics.

The image of the princess was showing up again, and this time, with a smiling face as she was finally awaken by the Songs of the Sea.

Sometimes I wish I would just enjoy any show without having my camera with me, so that I would not watch the show through the LCD display screen or the tiny viewfinder. @_@ Nonetheless, this nightly extravaganza is worth the entry fee and a great fitting end to an exciting day on Sentosa.

Still not enough? Watch Songs of the Sea videos from Borneo Falcon!

An exciting development is going on in Sentosa. You will see a family-oriented Integrated Resort with a casino and a Universal Studios theme park in two years’ time (expected completion).

Read posts on Sentosa (Part 1/4) | Merlion @Sentosa (Part 2/4) | Sentosa Beaches (Part 3/4)

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! Continue Reading

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.  Continue Reading

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 Continue Reading

Restoran Zim Sum is a very big non-aircon dim sum restaurant. It was already filled up with customers when we reached there at 9plus in the morning. We had to wait for seats. (@Penang-Malaysia)

Dim Sum is a undoubtedly popular for breakfast in Malaysia. The dishes are usually wheeled around on a trolley by servers. At this dim sum restaurant, we can pick and choose our favourite dim sum dishes at the counter.

I want this… I want that!

Dim sum dishes stack on top of one another. You pick and choose the dishes and return to your seat. The cashier will come to your table, count the plates and charge you accordingly.

A wide variety of dim sum dishes that are cooked by many methods such as deep frying or steaming. The Continue Reading

It is not your regular air-con supermarket with broad range of items displayed neatly on the shelves. You can buy fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and live seafood from different vendors in this wet market which I think is called Ban-San market in Penang (Malaysia).

Continue Reading

Added another UNESCO World Heritage site into my list of travelled places. Georgetown, the historic capital of Penang island, is listed by UNESCO in 2008 for its unique architectural and cultural townscape.

The City Hall colony building in white. It was a stormy day with huge waves hitting the wall. Fyi, the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami hit Penang in 2004.

The City Hall and the Old Town Hall are well-preserved British colonial buildings since 1903. It was drizzling, a bad weather for us to take any photo. Look at the puddles of water on the field.

Queen Victoria Clock Tower was presented to Penang by a local millionaire in 1897.

This semi-spherical sculpture is located next to the Clock Tower.

Kapitan Keling Mosque was built in the early 19th century and is the most prominent historic mosque in Continue Reading