View from Mount Faber
Singapore's Underwater World aquarium came highly recommended by a few of my former English students, so Joe and I checked it out a few weekends ago. Underwater World is on Sentosa Island. This location conveniently happened to give us a reason to combine our trip to the aquarium with another Singaporean experience - the cable car ride.
The cable car ride has three different boarding sites. The highest is on Mount Faber, which is actually more of a big hill rather than a mountain (although, I believe this is one of the tallest points in Singapore). The station on Mount Faber is called the Jewel Box and is surprisingly really nice. There are several upscale restaurants in the station and the bathrooms (yes, the bathrooms) are quite stunning. The view of lush greenery is a nice contrast to the concrete jungle.
And as I've mentioned before, Singapore LOVES Angry Birds, so all of the cable cars are decorated with this theme. We even got some Angry Birds masks to wear for the ride and some souvenir themed cups. It was all extremely cheesy, but extremely funny and cute.
The cable car ride has three different boarding sites. The highest is on Mount Faber, which is actually more of a big hill rather than a mountain (although, I believe this is one of the tallest points in Singapore). The station on Mount Faber is called the Jewel Box and is surprisingly really nice. There are several upscale restaurants in the station and the bathrooms (yes, the bathrooms) are quite stunning. The view of lush greenery is a nice contrast to the concrete jungle.
And as I've mentioned before, Singapore LOVES Angry Birds, so all of the cable cars are decorated with this theme. We even got some Angry Birds masks to wear for the ride and some souvenir themed cups. It was all extremely cheesy, but extremely funny and cute.
I had to include a photo of one of the bathrooms!
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Angry Birds!
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Angry Bird Ana
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Siloso Beach
From Mount Faber, the cable car ride to Sentosa takes roughly 15 minutes. It was fun to see Singapore from above. The cars made a quick pit stop at the mid-point station at Vivo City mall, and then went on to the final destination on Sentosa's Siloso beach.
From the station, we made the 20-minute trek to Underwater World. There are free buses on the island, but we decided to enjoy the view and walk. It is surprising how much nature there is on Sentosa compared to the rest of Singapore. Joe and I imagined that much of the greenery is native to the island, and that Singapore's jungles must have been beautiful at one point in time.
We finally made it to Underwater World and joined the crowds of families that were excited to see the marine life. I felt like a little kid as I "oohed" and "aahed" at everything we saw. As we entered the venue, Joe and I were immediately drawn to a petting tank filled with fish and sting rays. Joe was braver than me, and stuck his hand into the water. Joe started petting a fish, and we were amazed when it stopped swimming and held still for several minutes. It was almost as if the fish liked getting pet... like a dog! Joe said the fish was one of the softest things he's ever felt!
An employee then showed us how the sting rays eat by holding a piece of squid in the water. The sting ray came up to his hand and sucked on it... gross! You can see this in the video below.
From the station, we made the 20-minute trek to Underwater World. There are free buses on the island, but we decided to enjoy the view and walk. It is surprising how much nature there is on Sentosa compared to the rest of Singapore. Joe and I imagined that much of the greenery is native to the island, and that Singapore's jungles must have been beautiful at one point in time.
We finally made it to Underwater World and joined the crowds of families that were excited to see the marine life. I felt like a little kid as I "oohed" and "aahed" at everything we saw. As we entered the venue, Joe and I were immediately drawn to a petting tank filled with fish and sting rays. Joe was braver than me, and stuck his hand into the water. Joe started petting a fish, and we were amazed when it stopped swimming and held still for several minutes. It was almost as if the fish liked getting pet... like a dog! Joe said the fish was one of the softest things he's ever felt!
An employee then showed us how the sting rays eat by holding a piece of squid in the water. The sting ray came up to his hand and sucked on it... gross! You can see this in the video below.
The soft fish that Joe pet
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My favorite shrimp... looks like a flamenco dancer!
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A huge spider crab
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Pink dolphin
Another highlight of our visit was the pink dolphin and sea lion show. The sea lions were first to come out. They wowed the crowd with their tricks and dancing. They listened to their handlers' commands just like dogs! They were super cute. A member of the audience was chosen to lead one of them in a trick and then got to pet it. I was jealous!
Next, the pink dolphins came out and did some tricks. Pink dolphins are native to Southeast Asia. We learned that they are born grey but slowly lose this color as they get older. As this happens, they turn pink. I've posted some videos of the show below.
If you're ever in Singapore, I recommend a visit to Underwater World. It was a ton of fun!
Next, the pink dolphins came out and did some tricks. Pink dolphins are native to Southeast Asia. We learned that they are born grey but slowly lose this color as they get older. As this happens, they turn pink. I've posted some videos of the show below.
If you're ever in Singapore, I recommend a visit to Underwater World. It was a ton of fun!
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