On board the flight to the US, with a doting hubby by my side, I watched the clouds slowly pass by. Life seemed exciting, harmonious, perfect. At 25, with a different kind of innocence, I stared at those beautiful cloud-beds, young and old clouds.
My husband had planned a short stopover at Singapore. We landed in Singapore and took a visitor’s visa. But first things first. What about the growling tummy? So rushed to the nearest Komala Vilas hotel and had a sumptuous meal served on plantain leaves. The typical south Indian meal. Singapore is like our Singara Chennai, just a million times better.
I was really taken by the extremely clean roads, the transport service and I even spotted a clean-shaven Tamil guy sporting vibhuthi. Hey, I really did not miss home.
We had just a single day visitor’s pass, so we planned to take a trip to the famous Sentosa Islands in the evening after a brief visit to the Underwater World. Asia's largest tropical oceanarium, Underwater World, has an 80-metre submerged acrylic tunnel called the 'travellator' which allows you to view over 2,500 marine creatures from 250 species in stunning proximity.
Seen such places in movies before, but to stand in that very place, with sea life swirling above you… it was life in its pristine beauty. You could touch them through the screens, and see them whizzing past you as they felt your vibrations. I felt like I was born again. Giant octopuses, wild sharks, eels all moved at great speed.
Asian Village is a theme park that integrates the many facets of Asia into one entertaining and educational setting. Three independent villages of distinct architecture are set around a serene lakefront, representing East Asia, South Asia and South-East Asia. It is very interesting to watch the history of Singapore told through life-like, colourful statues. One can also take a winch ride in this place.
The next stop was the island of Sentosa. Once you are on the island all the transport services are free of cost. The highlight of the evening was a brilliant laser show. Having never seen one before, it seemed all the more spectacular to me. There were entertaining performances by animals and birds, again an eye-opener as I had seen only some good performances in our local circus shows.
It was a day well spent, and one more place visited because it was well-planned.
Join us next week as we finally land in USA. Bye…
Kanakadhara Subramanian
Manikanaka@yahoo.com
