Singapore Sling Shot - Andrew Grant [14]
Sentosa island is shaped vaguely like a pizza slice. The wide end is basically to the east, the pointy end to the west. Fort Siloso is at the pointy end. There are golf courses and resorts and all sorts of things happening at the thick end. In the middle we have the bridge and the core of Singapore’s playpen. As the island narrows, the protected beaches on the seaward side become features. There are hotels scattered about, especially along the beachfront. A big resort complex labelled the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort is at the narrow neck of the island. It sits on one side, the aquarium complex on the other. Beyond the aquarium and resort there is Fort Siloso.
I don’t know the history of the fort other than that when the Japanese invaded Singapore, they cleverly didn’t come in by sea and face the guns of the fort. They snuck in the back door, and unfortunately for everyone in Singapore, the fort’s guns were all pointing the wrong way!
So the Japs took the island and Fort Siloso became an infamous prisoner-of-war camp. In the years since the war, the place has become a war museum, and that was where we were heading. I silently promised to read up on it one day but today was not that day.
Before we headed on to the fort, I decided we’d take a ride up in the Sky Tower. The map I had was just a simple schematic. I wanted to see the reality and the tower, at some hundred plus metres high, had to be the perfect vantage point. Carlsberg, one of my favourite beers, had naming rights.
I bought tickets for the both of us and we were ushered into a circular observation cabin. We settled on the bench seat that runs right around the inside wall of the cabin and we were away. As the tower rose, it rotated and Singapore and Sentosa were laid out below us. I used the camera and shot a 360-degree panoramic when we hit the top. The map of the island, I decided, was actually reasonably accurate. I could see that behind the resort there was quite a sizeable patch of jungle that pushes back along the seaward face of Siloso Point. The fort itself occupies the crest of the ridge and runs back down the harbourside.
After the short ride, we ignored the other attractions on the terrace. Simone took the lead and guided me across the terrace and down along a pathway into the trees. “The Dragon Trail,” she explained. “When they were younger the kids used to love this,” she said as we walked down through the dappled green tunnel. There were pieces of sculpture scattered around, skeletal bits of a prehistoric monster. “Imagination is a wonderful thing,” she added. “They used to come up with all sorts of things, stories and games based on what they saw or imagined in here. The innocence of children is so refreshing,” she added rather wistfully.
“Innocence is wasted on the young,” I replied cynically, well aware I’d just mangled a cliché or whatever. Simone turned to look at me.
“That’s rather a cruel thing to say.”
“I guess it is. Being innocent did shit for me when I was a kid. I’d love a big dose of it now.”
“Now you just sound bitter.”
“Sorry. Let’s go back to being Mavis and Ed out of—where the hell are we from again?”
“Perth!”
“That’ll do, cobber,” I said in my best attempt at an Australian accent. “So what’s a nice sheila like you doing in a shithole like this?”
Simone started chuckling. It was a nice sound. I forced myself to lighten up. Thinking about my childhood gets me down sometimes. Oh hell, let’s be honest: it gets me down every time.
We emerged from the jungle trail onto a roadway. There was a beach ahead of us. A long, wide expanse of white sand and palms stretched away in both directions. Siloso Beach the island map labelled it. An electric tram loaded with people honked us out of the way and slid past. There were people all over the sands, family groups, youngsters and huddled young lovers. Some were playing ball games, some picnicking under the palms. In the sheltered waters between the shore and the very artificial