Singapore Day 2 (part 1)

Day 2 started even later than day 1 – it took quite a bit of puzzled watch reading before my brain took in that it really was 11:15! I almost never set an alarm since I'm almost always awake early, but I guess the combination of a very hectic couple of weeks and the 8-hour time shift has left me very drained. It's nice to get the sleep, but a pity to “waste” so much of the day. I'm determined to make it to breakfast tomorrow as I'll have to leave for the airport before it starts on Wednesday!

Well, after the late start, I set off for Sentosa – an island off the south shore of the main island. Before I came, a friend described Sentosa as “tacky”, and “tacky” most of it certainly was.

There are a few ways to get to the island – a regular bus, a monorail and a cable car. I took the monorail over, intending to get the (very impressive looking) cable car back:

The monorail was unbelievably crowded and, actually, is just like any other train when you're inside. On the way over to the island and then across to the south shore, it became apparent that the whole island is just one big resort. There are roller-coasters and casinos and “beach” bars galore. I put “beach” into quotes because almost all of them are made from imported sand. The shipping lanes pass about 200m off shore, so it must be a weird place to have a beach holiday – you could practically hold a conversation with the sailors on huge bulk carriers and container ships.

My destination was Fort Sentosa at the western end of the island. The fort was built by the British military to defend the western approach to Singapore harbour and was added to over the years until it was all but impregnable. A pity, then, that when the invasion came, it wasn't from the sea, but overland. There is a popular myth that the guns at Sentosa were never fired in anger because of this, but actually the guns were turned round and did help somewhat in the defence against the Japanese.

Fort Sentosa is splendid. It's everything that Fort Canning could be but isn't. There are lots of very polite, helpful and knowledgeable staff ready to point you in the right direction. The walls are covered in exhibits detailing what the rooms might have been used for and, more generally, the progress of the war and what life was like under the occupation.



It was also at Fort Sentosa that the surrender documents were signed. Both the surrender of the British in 1942 and, 3½ years later, that of the Japanese were signed here. There are very interesting presentations of both occasions. At the Japanese surrender, there were representative of all the victorious countries (including the Dutch), with the documents actually being signed by Lord Mountbatten:


One thing about Singapore that has struck me. It is a hot, humid place and yet not once have I been bothered by insects. They just don't seem to have mosquitoes here or, if they do, I certainly haven't noticed them. They do, though, have snakes, and here is some good advice provided by the good folk of Sentosa:


More to come at some future date.