Silk Scarves and Sunny Sentosa!

Sultan Mosque on Arab Street
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Day 2: Free Time!

So my room slept in until noon today...i'm blaming it on the jet lag.  We were supposed to meet my professor at noon for Curry on Arab street so we jumped out of bed and headed off.  Arab street is primarily Muslim part of Singapore; it's full of restaurants and street vendors selling beautiful scarves and cheap souvenirs.  We ate some delicious chicken and curry and rice and then stayed around for a while shopping the vendor booths.

Did i mention I'm terrified of heights?

The Sentosa Merlion
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That night we went to Sentosa Island--a disneyland like resort island in Singapore.  To get there, we took a Cable Car that stretches across the bay; it was quite terrifying actually because you are floating in a class cabin 90 meters in the air over the ocean and a jungle.  Did i mention I'm terrified of heights?  But still definitely worth it for the beautiful views of the city and shipping ports.  We landed in Sentosa finally, and were began to plan our day...

First stop was the Merlion walk; the Merlion is a huge statue of a half lion/half fish that is one of the official emblems of Singapore.  It comes from a legend of Lion spotted by the man who 'discovered' Singapore in 11 ad; the fish represents the humble beginnings of Singapore as a fishing village.  The Sentosa merlion in 37 meters tall and surrounded by a gaud-inspired walkway full of lush greenery and beautiful mosaic scupltures.  You can actually walk up the Merlion if you wish to the observation deck in it's mouth, but we passed in the interest of time.  We hopped on tram that took us to Palawami Beach, which also just happens to be the Southermost point of Continental Asia.  We walked across a scary swinging bridge to arrive at the sign and took pictures.  The beach area was beautiful!  and you couuld see huge cruise liners and other ships in the distance from the beach...After a quick stop at the Bora Bora beach bar for refreshing mojito, we split up and half went to go wander around and the other half (including myself) went Lugeing!

The southernmost point of Asia!
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A Luge is basically a giant skateboard with handlebars that you sit on and ride down a hil.  And to get up the hill you take an (equally terrifying as the cable car) ski-lift type ride to the top of the hill.  It was dark by this time, and we had a breathaking view of the city skyline from across the bay.  The luge itself was interesting as well--not terribly fast or anything, but worth $7 we spent.

Our final destination of the night was the Sounds of the Sea light and lazer show.  This was an experience...A disney style sing-a-long  about a man who is trying to rescue a princess from an enchanment with the sound of his singing.  Along the way he wakes up a fire god, the spirit of light, and the lady of the water.  He revives their powers and is eventually able to wake up the princes with (of course ) the help of all his friends.  The production itself, although slightly childish, was fascinating; they used fountains and water sprays to project lazer pictures of the fish guiding the man along the way.  And when the fire god came on stage, they played great music and shot up flames from the "village". haha.  Again worth $5 it cost...

REALLY excited for the cool luge helmets!
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By this time it was late, and we were exhausted, so we set off to once again take a terrifying journey across the sky (is it just me or is there a recurring theme is this day) back to Singapore City.  We stopped at McDonalds (obviously) where I was able to enjoy a "Mega Prosperity Burger"--basically a spicy curry flavored big minus minus ketchup and plus soy sauce.  It was...interesting.  I think i'll stick with the big mac.