Singapore Cable Car

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Singapore is the ride in the cable car. The system links the main island to the resort island of Sentosa, spanning over Keppel Harbour. It is reputed to be the first cable car system to span a harbour [1].

The ride starts at the Imba Lookout point in Sentosa Island, and goes all the way to the main island, to the top of Mount Faber, a 105-meter high hill. The ride terminates at the Jewel Box, a swanky restaurant at the top of the hill. 

A roundtrip costs $SG 26, and it comes with a free muffin and coffee at the Jewel Box. Tickets can be purchased at the ticket booths around Sentosa. 


pics, from top: on to Mount Faber, the gondolas, passing over a cruise ship 

Singapore Changi Airport

Singapore Changi Airport is one of the most modern airports that I have been to. Changi, the world's 18th busiest airport by passenger traffic, was first constructed in 1975. Serving 96 airlines flying to 200 destinations around the world, it handled 42 million passengers in 2010.

Changi has three main terminals, plus one dedicated to low-cost carriers, and another for "commercially important persons." Terminal 3 is the largest and the most modern looking.

Terminals 1,2 and 3 are connected via the Skytrain, a free light rail system. The a line of the Singapore MRT also terminates at the Terminal 3 station. The Budget Terminal can be accessed thru free shuttle buses plying between it and the other terminals.

Philippine carriers that fly to Changi include Philippine Airlines (disembarks at Terminal 2), Cebu Pacific, AirPhilippines, and SEAir (all at Budget Terminal). Budget carrier Tiger Airways, the one I took, also flies direct from Manila (NAIA 1 terminal) to Singapore.

pics, from top: Terminal 3 transit area; the airport as seen from my taxiing plane; the Skytrain

Empire State of Mind

Alicia Key's song summed it up pretty well.

pics, from top: a yellow cab rushing through Broadway; New York Public Library at night; gigantic billboards stood as testament to unbridled consumerism; the theaters of Broadway