Sentosa stopover

Sentosa Island is Singapore’s purpose-built mecca for tourists. Since the 1970s, the Singaporean Government has progressively transformed the once heavily militarised island into a tropical playground filled with artificial white-sand beaches, golf courses, amusement parks, cafes and holiday resorts. Garry and I decided to base ourselves on Sentosa during our brief homeward-bound stopover. Three years ago, we explored Singapore while travelling to Europe for business. However, aside from a brief excursion to Singapore Oceanarium, a giant aquarium on Sentosa, we largely gave the island a miss.

I first visited Sentosa in November 1990. Back then, access to the island was only possible by ferry or by a cable car system that started at Mount Faber. Like so much of Singapore, it offered clean and perfectly manicured public spaces, along with a series of rather tame, uninspiring attractions. It’s somewhat ironic that I recall the cable car ride across Keppel Harbour but little else from my backpacker day trip.

These days, in addition to the cable car, a monorail and a causeway link Sentosa to the rest of Singapore, making it easier to access. We cashed in some Amex loyalty points and treated ourselves to a poolside room at the Barracks Hotel. After our memorable experience in Krabi, we quite liked the idea of pool access directly from our room. Our room rate included breakfast and a canapé cocktail hour every afternoon. Pampered is the word that comes to mind.

Our flight from Heathrow landed shortly after 5:00pm. As a result, we rocked up to the hotel shortly after 6:00pm and were immediately invited for canapes by the pool while the staff prepared our room. Who says no to a free cocktail? After settling in, we decided to explore the Sentosa nightlife along the Straits coastline. We walked there via the Sentosa Sensoryscape, a series of domed gardens connected by a walkway to the coast. Everything was decorated for the Chinese New Year. This is the Year of the Horse.

We quickly discovered that almost every restaurant and café kitchen stops serving food after 8:00pm. As a result, we ended up dining at the only thing still open, a local KFC knock-off. Our luck didn’t improve much the following day. We decided to spend the day at Universal Studios, a short walk from our hotel. The theme park opened in 2011 as part of a massive redevelopment of the island’s central zone.

It proved to be a colossal waste of time and money. The shortest queue time for most rides was at least an hour, with up to two hours for the most popular options. Half the rides were also closed. We decided to do our best and make the most of it. We started with the Transformers Experience. After queuing for an hour, it broke down as we approached the boarding zone. We eventually abandoned the ride and moved on to our next queue.

We stumbled across a 15-minute wait time for a roller coaster that had been 90 minutes earlier in the day. After standing in line for 15 minutes, a staff member announced that the wait time was now two hours. Apparently, the 15-minute wait posted at the entrance was a system malfunction.

We decided to go for lunch at a faux New York pizza diner. While waiting to be served, the cash register system crashed, leaving me standing at the counter for ten minutes while it rebooted. We finished our food and decided to give Universal Studios a miss.

We did salvage something from the day by buying tickets for the Wings of Symphony fireworks and light show held in an open-air, purpose-built stadium on the seafront. It was relaxing to sit in the warm evening breeze and down a cold beer while watching the pyrotechnics do their thing.

Dinner was at another fast-food restaurant because, once again, we forgot to plan ahead for Singapore's early dining hours. This time it really was KFC. 

Garry decided to spend Sunday, our final day, chilling out by the pool. I decided to explore Sentosa’s military history. On the island’s northern tip is Fort Siloso, a decommissioned coastal artillery battery. It consists of 12 such batteries, which made up "Fortress Singapore" at the start of World War II and saw action during the Battle of Singapore. The fort is now a military museum open to the public.

To get to the fort, I caught the cross-island cable car. This network traces the island's hilly spine, offering spectacular views of the coast, Sentosa’s artificial beaches and the Singapore skyline. Upon reaching the terminating station at Siloso Point, I made my way down to the beach for a quick look at resort life Singapore style before heading for the fort via an aerial canopy walkway.

The fort itself was an excellent attraction. A series of exhibits in its repurposed buildings told the story of the island’s early history, its redevelopment as a military base, the Battle of Singapore and life under occupation. I learned plenty about Singapore’s history and the colonial British hubris that ultimately made it a sitting duck for Japanese invasion.  The only downside to my excursion was the heat. It was unbelievably humid outdoors. Thank goodness Singaporean authorities had the forethought to install air conditioning throughout the fort.

Our hotel offered a late afternoon checkout. This gave us just enough time for one final adventure before heading to the airport. We couldn’t leave Singapore without feasting on some “traditional” Black Pepper Mud Crab. We grabbed a late lunch at the Sentosa Resorts complex, consisting of 900 grams of deliciously decadent seafood. However, we passed on the 1.8kg Alaskan King Crab offered to us for half price. Then, when we returned to the hotel to collect our luggage, we were offered a final farewell cocktail. Nice!