Thursday, October 12, 2006
It has been a goooood week. On wednesday, I got an unexpected afternoon off from camp after having run some errands for my CSM. Called up Ah Ben and Ah Gen, and they said they were heading down to Sentosa.
Now mention Sentosa to most Singaporeans, and I think you'd get a blank stare. I mean, what is there to do on the darn island of tranquility?
It's a sad story really of Pulau Belakang Mati (Former name of the island which means Death from Behind... kinky). As a kid, Sentosa used to be da bomb! I mean no shit, maybe the whole expectations thing comes into play here again, but my mum just had to mention sentosa to me, and I would be wooo hooo hooo hoo! I LURP YOU MUMMY!
That's sentosa ... and me ... back in the day.
I'd only been there three months ago with Tiam, on his first visit to Singapore, but we hadn't bothered going to the beach. Instead, I took him to all the attractions. Underwater World, Luge, 4D Magix. For me ... it was OK, but still a little pricey. I've got high standards, and when I'm thinking theme park, I think six flags superman ride (Not that I have the balls to go on that).
In any case, with an afternoon free, and an invitation from Ben, I set off without any expectations whatsoever.
The first sign of change, came in the form of the carpark. Carparks in Sentosa used to be such a hassle. Far away from the points of interest, and little more than dirt-tracks, I hated having to get my car washed after. Not any more. Check out the new beach carpark! It's humongous, and spanking new.
Now the beach is huge and there are three of them, Tanjung, Palawan, and Siloso. So I had no idea where to find ben. Beach patrol to the rescue baby!
Tua kee is a part time lifeguard at Sentosa, so he got one of his mates to give me a lift on the beach patrol-mobile.
The beach patrol "hut" wasn't quite the attap roofed structure I had in mind. It's actually a rather nice little out building by the beach, with comfy sofas and friendly smiles all round ... and a training aid, which would do alot better if it was female I suspect ...
After the initial fascination with the training aid subsided, it was off for the best cheese burger in the island. In case, you havn't noticed, we're all about the food. And Ben, was dying to let me try what he felt was the best cheeseburger money can buy in Singapore.
Hard rock cafe? Hardly! Try food court. Yet another new development on the beach. Food used to be crap and expensive on Sentosa. I mean, I remember having some economy rice at the food court at underwater world, and thinking, camp food tastes better than this shit, and I had to pay for it.
This ... is the new foodcourt.
And there's gen, grayson, and ben arguing over exactly HOW MANY burgers we should eat ...
Well here it is! At least half eaten, sorry, after all that suspense, I couldnt wait any longer, so I bit into mine first! This is actually Gen's half burger, which she took pains to cut into half as I messily navigated a way through mine.
And the verdict is .... 5 chopsticks baby! With Ben's staff privileges, the cheese burger cost a mere 4 bucks, and truth be told I would have paid three times that amount. The cheese was glorious, the patty fullsome, and tasty, and the bun had just the right crunch to it. Five chopsticks! Well done auntie donna!
Ben promised me a good show after lunch. Mr Hasslehoff (A fake and discreet name has been used to mask his identity), also a parttime lifeguard at sentosa, was due to take his lifeguard proficiency test, which involves sprinting 200m to some potted plants and back, swimming out 200m to a mark and back and sprinting the same distance again.
Apparently Mr H, is a right old prat. A self proclaimed "hunk", he "charms" women off their feet, with his 24 pack, and his exploits as a lifeguard, having executed all of this year's 130 rescues single handedly. The lifeguard contingent loves him so much, all of them made it a point to come back on their off day to watch him. I felt truly privileged. Ladies and gentlemen, Singapore's very own Mr David Hassleohoff (CUE Baywatch Theme Song, "Cause I'm always ready, I won't let you out of my sigghhht!"). Notice that great pains have been taken to ensure his anonymity, he is too charming for public eyes. WHAT A SEXY BEAST!!! GROWWWLLLLL!!!
And .... we're off to a running start!!!
We waited, and waited and waited. So you're going to have to wait another blog entry to see at least ...
