Sentosa

At the beginning of the week we went to Sentosa which is a small island off the main island of Singapore. Toby was able to take a couple days off from work which made it our first vacation where it was just the three of us.

We arrived on Sunday and it was raining a little bit, but it didn't stop us from exploring. We started by going to an area called the Merlion Walk. It was an area with fountains and beautiful flowers which lead to a giant Merlion (the symbol of Singapore). If you wanted to you could go up inside the Merlion, but we decided against it.

After the walk we headed to the cable car (like a gondola) that connected Sentosa to the main island. We rode up over the water and Elyse had fun telling us that there were boats below us. We weren't so sure how she would do in the small space high above the ground, but she did well and seemed to have fun. Toby and I enjoyed it as well.

It started to rain and we headed to our hotel to check in so Elyse could take a nap. We stayed in the Siloso Beach Resort which was right on the beach and close to everything (although that's really not that hard to accomplish since Sentosa is small.) After Elyse woke up we headed to Underwater World which is the island's aquarium. They have a tunnel that you can travel through which has fish swimming all around you. Although the exhibits they had were neat, I was expecting a little more.

The aquarium was followed by a walk on the beach, well an attempt at the beach, remember Elyse hasn't liked sand in the past. Well, as we got to the beach we realized those feeling hadn't changed. Elyse DID NOT like the sand. I think she just doesn't like the texture. I had some socks that I put on her to see if that helped with the texture issue. I thought "Sure, she can be the weird kid with socks on at the beach." It didn't help. We carried her the rest of the way back to our hotel where we went swimming.

The next day I had originally thought we could spend the morning on the beach, but that idea was nixed so we went to Fort Siloso. We were able to tour the fort and gained insight into some of Singapore's history. It was interesting. The fort was followed by lunch where we got to witness local monkeys stealing tourists food. Needless to say we ate far from the monkeys.

It rained again, but as soon as it sort of stopped we headed to the dolphin show. It was on the other end of the beach, but we made most of the show. On the way back down the beach we crossed over a bridge to what is considered the most southern point on Continental Asia. We have now been to the the southern most point in the US (Key West, Pre-Elyse) and Continental Asia.

We then found some fountains that Elyse could play in and then tried the beach again. Elyse got into the water, but as soon as she was lowered into the water where her feet could touch the ground, she was done and we went back to the fountains.

Before dinner we caught an animal show where Elyse got to pet a snake. As the sun went down we went on the beach again. Elyse walked (in her sandals) on the sand for about 20 feet. I was so proud of her. This is a big deal. Earlier in the day some dogs walked by on the beach. Normally she would take off after them, which she started to, but then reached the sand line and came to an abrupt stop. I thought if dogs wouldn't get her on the sand nothing would.

After dark we saw the light show on the beach called the Song of the Sea. It was neat. There was animation, lights, singing, and fireballs. Elyse did very well especially since it was way passed her normal bedtime and that it was loud. Sometimes she doesn't like drums or loud noises. I did have to stand int he back for part of the show, but didn't miss much.

On Tuesday, we decided to try the beach one last time before we left. We brought all her toys and extra towels in case that's where she wanted to hang out. Well, she got in the water a little bit and sat on my lap in the sand, but I wouldn't say she was enjoying herself. We then decided to put her on the towels and placed her toys in the sand and that's where she stayed, leaning over the towel to play with her toys in the sand. She had fun and I guess that's what counts.

After the beach we changed and headed home. We did a lot in the couple of days we were on Sentosa and had a great family vacation. Thanks for reading my ramblings.