In search of the Merlion

The Merlion(鱼尾獅 a lion mermaid) is Singapore's landmark, a must see in my opinion. Our visit to Harbor Front led us close enough to see the towering Merlion statue in Sentosa. My parents insisted that that is the official statue; I was doubtful because it squirts in all the pictures I've seen. "It was moved from its original spot." My mom assured me.

The Merlion tower at Sentosa

After taking 2000 pictures, it dawned to me that that creature is just too large to be the one I've seen in pictures. My parents reassured me otherwise while I grew skeptical. I went through the map square by square and discovered a Merlion Park by Raffles Place subway station, and so we set off.

The exhausting hunt under the boiling sun paid off. We found not one but two Merlion statues. It was a joyous moment tainted by the question of which one is the official one though. My dad refused to believe that the one at Sentosa was just a replica, while leaning towards the possibility that the smaller at Merlion Park might be the original one. Another 2000 pictures taken each later, our debate was settled at Wikipedia.

Singapore's Merlion statue and the Singapore skyline