S.E.A Aquarium @ Resort Worlds Sentosa.

Hello hello hello~ finally had the chance to go to this awesome aquarium.

It was honestly very very big with many tanks and aquariums. I was very impressed by all the marine life! I think that if you come here... Take time to admire the beauty of the marine life and also read the displays.

Don't go on a rampage of taking photographs on your phone/super big DSLR till you forget to admire the actual beauty of the creatures. I saw so many people only looking at the creatures through the screen of their phones and cameras, then walking away without actually looking directly into the tank. What a waste :(

Anyway, there's a lot to see there, some pictures below!
I'm not going to spam photos, just enough to give you an idea :D

Look at all the pretty colours!

Some places you must explore are the big domes and hidden small crannies for you to crawl into and see some of the creatures closer. Just try to explore every single area of the aquarium and don't miss anything out! I didn't get to see the dolphins coz they were being fed at the far end of the pool or something. And there were no turtles and octopus haha.

Also people have some manners please! Take your picture and move on. Don't stand there hogging the whole display to yourself for a good 5 minutes. Also, don't stick your selfie stick past ppl who are at the front of the display. It's super rude. Like my dad take pictures halfway then got one selfie stick photobomb. Grrr! Wait for your turn la!

Date and Time
We braved the Sunday crowd because we has no other free day to come together but the crowd was manageable. Except for the touch pool which was obviously crowded and had a long snaking queue.

How to get there
This aquarium is pretty close to Universal Studios, all within the same area!
Take the Sentosa Express train from Vivocity (Habourfront MRT) and alight at waterfront station.
Alternatively, take 500m walk from Vivocity to RWS. Check out my previous blog post on how to go to Sentosa!

Price
I find the ticket slightly too pricey. $38 per head is kinda high for me.
Then again, the place was so big and there was so much to see that I guess it was worth it. I was quite tired after the whole thing coz actually have to walk really far one hor. It wasn't a short walk at all!

Actually, there is another underwater world located at another part of sentosa. In comparison, this aquarium definitely has much more to see, so I'm not sure how that underwater world is surviving. The last time I went there was 2012. There was less to see but still a good experience along with the dolphin lagoon show :)

I saw this on twitter by whales_org, and I felt quite sad actually.


As much as keeping wild animals in captivity is educational, and the S.E.A Aquarium was participating in shark week to encourage more people to not eat shark's fin, I also wonder how do we balance the fact that these animals are meant to be in the wild. It's like locking me in my room permanently for the rest of my life. I might turn insane :/

But with this random thought aside, I do recommended visiting this aquarium! 2 hours should be sufficient to explore the whole aquarium :D Just.. don't drive to RWS and park there ._.

A quick blog against.... "changing the terms and conditions without prior notice"

We all know that when we get certain cards or certain promotions and benefits there is always this clause that allows the company to change the terms and conditions whenever they feel like it without prior notice?

I'm well aware that under the law they are allowed to
But companies who actually do it are IMMEDIATELY not gonna be patronised by me ANYMORE.

And to the Resorts World Sentosa Invites Card, this blog post is for you.

Thank you for telling me earlier this year that weekend all day parking is $5.
And then when my family's car exited the gantry a month ago, the parking amounted to $20.

Le mum called the hotline and asked is there an error and if not what are the new fees like.
She then proceeded to ask if there was an email to state the difference in parking prices that she had missed.

Well Mr who answered the phone, thank you for very proudly saying to my mum that "in the terms of agreement we have mentioned that we reserve the right to change it without prior notice to the customer". So sassy please. You think that clause protects you from everything?

Yes I may not be able to claim anything under the law. But I dare say there is certainly no business sense and customer service sense. Could we not have been informed beforehand? I would have appreciated that a lot more. Clearly they could have balanced their legal right and their desire for good customer service BUT NO LOOK AT HOW THE SERVICE HOTLINE PERSON REPLIED TO MY MOTHER IT WAS RUDE AS MUCH AS IT WAS RIGHT.

with that said...

CUSTOMER LOST.
If anything and everything also can change without notice, then I think what's next is that the vouchers I am supposed to have are also gonna turn up to be invalid. Whee. I've no intention to use the card anymore btw.

May this post serve as a warning for you guys intending to drive into RWS, even with that invites card. Beware of the parking coz this clause will be flashing in your face should you choose to question the change in fees.

With that said, there are other companies which I have boycott for a really long time because of their unfair change of terms and conditions without any prior notice to me, leaving all the points I've accumulated before to become invalid and wasted.

There's more I wish I could say, but sadly we consumers have so little bargaining power in these kind of standard form contracts. So how? Too bad lor.

All thoughts are mine, all rants are mine, all opinions are on my side as an aggrieved customer, who feels like the company just wants to do whatever it wants and then wave this clause at you should it need to. Pfft. I'm just another person boosting the economy right? Another person at the mercy of marketing tactics and such clauses? Haiz.

Getting to HabourFront station/Sentosa via MRT

To be honest, majority of the mrt stations are easy to navigate... Except the monster station known as DHOBY GHAUT. Urgh

I'll update with pictures soon!
But for now if you're coming from orchard, take the red line to dhoby ghaut station.

After alighting, travel one floor up and look out for where everyone is heading towards. You should be able to see a travellator/ flat escalator.

Go to the end, and you would notice 5 escalators, some going up some going down.

Head down, and then head toward the north east line (purple line) on your right.

On your far left would be the circle line (yellow line) that also goes to HabourFront. 
DO NOT TAKE THAT LINE because that goes one whole round. DO NOT TAKE IT.

If all else fails, just ask a friendly looking Singaporean :3

Once you head down the escalator toward the purple line, you can then board the train toward HabourFront, which is just 4 stops away.

And yay! You've arrived.

Now go up one level and head toward exit E if you're going to VivoCity or Sentosa

You'll see many signages telling you where to go to take the sky train or walk through the broadwalk!


Here's a map of the area near the station in case you need it... You'll always find these useful maps at any of the MRT stations, so make use of it!

Now it's time to make your way up to ground level.

Go up these escalators next to candy empire

See? the blue signs are all so obvious

Once you head to the ground floor, look out for another blue sign that says SENTOSA BROADWALK

Sorry picture here isn't so clear.

If not, head up another 2 floors to the top floor and you would find the sentosa express.

Again, lots of signages for you

And here we are!

To get in, use your ez-link card or go and buy a ticket from these ticketing machines.
Cost of entry is $4 per ride, regardless of which station in sentosa you alight at. I'll explain more about this below.

I was given a ticket coz I was staying at one of the hotels, so I had 3 days of free train rides on the sentosa express! 

These are the train stations on the Sentosa Express!

Sentosa Station is the one you would board at Vivocity

Waterfront Station is where Resort World Sentosa, the Casino and Universal Studios are at

Imbiah Station is where the Merlion is

Beach station is where the... beach is yup..

This is how the long broad walk looks like from the sentosa express train (which I forgot to take a picture of ><)

Tip

In my opinion, $4 for a ride is NOT worth it unless you are with a lot of heavy baggage and stuff.

Look at the picture below and you'll notice that walking that 500 metre long bridge may be a much cheaper option than taking the sentosa express.

And did you know, once you enter sentosa, YOU CAN TAKE THE SENTOSA EXPRESS FOR FREE. This $4 is only an entrance fee.

Therefore, I'd much rather walk 10 minutes and enter free (or pay $1 on a weekday) and then go up the waterfront station and take the sentosa express to whatever other station I may want to go to (like beach station).

And when you want to return to mainland Singapore, IT IS FREE TOO.

Hence I would take the sentosa express from beach station all the way to Sentosa Station and I wouldn't have to pay a cent. Yay~

Alright here are some pictures I took at the beach :D

PICTURES ARE MINE DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION Beware of red ants near the grassy patches *ouch* they bite really hard
And please slather on sunscreen REGARDLESS of whether you really want that tan or not. The UV rays are bad for you. I put SPF 50 and still got darker O_O ok can

If you're looking for a cheap and good restaurant option at the end of the day, I recommend Astons, a western food restaurant where prices of a set meal ranges from $6.50 to $44.90 with 2 side dishes and affordable drinks.
Astons is located on the ground level at RWS, at the same level where the big USS globe is. It can be a bit hard to find, so do look at the location maps all around before finding it

That's all for now, hope this is helpful!
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