Staycation 2020 – Part 2 @ Sentosa

Continued from the last post!

The other full day we had for our four day staycation was in Sentosa island, because, well, where else would Singaporean families bring their kids to during holidays. We’d initially planned for three activities: another visit to S.E.A. Aquarium, Skyline Luge, and Nestopia. We finally managed to do the first two but had to cancel the third as there was a heavy downpour over the island in the mid-afternoon. Oh well; we’d have to try to do Nestopia again soon before our daughter gets too old for it!

S.E.A. Aquarium

Our first visit to the Aquarium was more than 7 years ago when H was a little lass of four years ago. Admission to the Aquarium was complimentary as my workplace had organized its annual family day outing at the park. Our return visit in 2020 was with Peter this time, and coincidentally, also largely paid for by someone else – the Singapore Government in fact, thanks to the SingapoRediscovery Vouchers.

The pictures I took during the 2013 visit were using the E-M1 and Olympus 45mm f1.8. This visit, the Sony A73 and Tamron 24-75mm f2.8 did the duties. A selection of pictures!

Skyline Luge

Well, the best way I can think of describing this adventure activity is: 3 minutes of adrenaline – especially if you ease up the brakes altogether and go down like a speed demon – followed by 30 minutes of queuing in close quarters on busy days. Rinse and repeat for as many rides as you paid for. Basically, you start at the top of a small hill – there’s parking nearby for families who’re driving in – pay for as many rides as you want (rides get progressively cheaper if you sign up for more), get your helmets, queue up to get into your rides, get a short introductory briefing if this is your first time, and down you go. At the end of the track, you’ll join another queue to take the chairlift back up to the top of the hill, then re-queue for your next ride if you’ve paid for more.

The kids really enjoyed this one, though Peter had some problems controlling his Luge cart given his fairly small build. He would had been just a little too big to be in the pair vehicle with one of us though, so we finally decided to send him along in his own cart.

I had more mixed feelings about the whole thing: and specifically because of the queuing. 3 minutes of fun and another 30 minutes of queuing was just too much for me. Granted though that the afternoon we visit saw fairly big crowds. We paid for three rides, but by the time we’d finished the second ride, I had enough and opted out of the third even though the kids and missus rejoined the queues for their last ride. And right about then, all this was made moot because the rainclouds hit Sentosa island.

Getting our headgear.
Photography during the ride isn’t permitted for safety reasons (the track has several cameras mounted that automatically take pictures of riders as they go down, and you can pay $$$ for print or digital photos). P had to readjust his seating, so we stopped at the side quickly for him to do so, and I did a quick snap while at it too.