You can read all about Kampong Glam and Marina Bay in Part 1 here.

Day 2 had arrived and we made our way through the city towards VivoCity – Singapore’s largest mall.

But we did not have any shopping on our minds. Level 3 contains something very unique – the Sentosa Express – a monorail that provides access to Sentosa Island.

Separated from the mainland by the Keppel Harbour, Sentosa has an interesting past. Once home to native Malays it was converted into an island fortress by the British in the 1880s when they built four forts to protect the harbour, their fleet and the massive coal stockpile. Those forts and their guns would prove useless in repelling the Japanese forces in WW2 when they captured the city from the north. Following the surrender in 1942 of Allied Forces a good number of them were interned in a Prisoner of War Camp set up on the island. It returned to be used as a British base until the 1970s when a decision was made to turn it into a tourism destination.

A rich history but not the reason for our visit – we would instead be spending a day on that island at Universal Studios theme park.

Universal Studios

Our first stop was to Sesame Street where Cillian got to ride on the Spaghetti Space Chase ride and meet the Cookie Monster, Oscar and Count van Count. As it was October everything was Halloween themed!

After that we made our way over to Far Far Away and the land of Shrek. Cillian enjoyed the Donkey Live show as he got to ask a question and be part of the show. He also bought a small Shrek teddy from the gift shop there.

The rest of the park was a bit older for Cillian, in terms of rides he could go on so we walked back around to the Sesame Street area, via some cool looking Transformers and Egyptian backgrounds from the Mummy.

The Madagascar section was closed to be re-built as a Minion section so we didn’t do a full full day at the park but we did get to meet some Minions on the way out.

All the Rice

After spending the day at Sentosa we decided to go back and relax, have a swim and a cool down before venturing out for dinner. We headed to the Outram District and the heart of Singapore’s Chinatown to see the lanterns and eat some yummy food.

It’s local name is ‘Niu Che Shu’ which roughly translates as Bullock Cart Water – a nod to the 19th Century when water had to be brought in by bullock carts as there was no piping system in place. Ironically it is here and not in the Indian Quarter that Singapore’s largest Hindu Temple can be found – the Sri Mariamman Temple, built in 1827 on the South Bridge Road. In fact if you walk along South Bridge Road you will encounter this Hindu Temple, a mosque (Jamae Mosque), the Buddhist Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and the Taoist Thian Hock Keng Temple – four houses of worship for four religions. A testament to the harmony that exists today in the Lion City.

But we were not hear for spiritual enlightenment – only the fulfilment of our tummies and this was the spot. A vibrant cheap eats culture awaited us with world class food for budget prices. We found what we were looking for on Pagoda Street. Afterwards we met someone dressed as a green frog so Cillian stopped to get a photo with them.

Fun fact – the world’s cheapest Michelin starred street food can be found here at Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle – $3 SGD a plate!

Breakfast before Botanics

We decided to break our fast on our last morning over in Rochor, Little India and Karen had eyes only for some dosa and thali. The empty streets at that time in the morning provide quite the contrast to the hustle and bustle inside the restaurant but the food was delicious.

The next day we went back over to the Bay and explored the Gardens by the Bay – which we accessed via the roof of the mall in front of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. There is a terraced garden with a bridge that takes you directly into the gardens and the iconic SuperTrees – 18 tree-like structures that are up to 50 meters tall.

Movie fans will recognise these from the films Crazy Rich Asians and Hitman:Agent 47.

Built on reclaimed land, these gardens were designed to turn Singapore from a “Garden City” into a “City in a Garden” integrating the urban and natural worlds seamlessly. We think they succeeded in that as it was fantastic and we spent an afternoon exploring the statues, flowers, plants and sections of the gardens.

There was an exhibit in the middle of the gardens – Love the Last March by Gillie and Marc – a 192m sculpture made of 64 different animals. It’s purpose is to raise awareness that we are in the middle of the sixth mass extinction event of the planet and thanks to Man’s greed many of these animals will soon be gone.

And that was Singapore.