A Ride in a Cable-car
A ride in a cable-car is one of the exciting and enjoyable experiences a child can have. In Switzerland, which is the home of the cable-car, it is used mostly to take tourists up the slope of a mountain, to a restaurant from which one can have a bird-eye view of the surrounding country, or to a top of a ski-run, from which, in winter, skiers glide down the snow covered the slope on skis. In Singapore, however, the cable-car takes one from the summit of a hill on the main island to a low hill on Sentosa, a resort island just off the southern coast.
The cable-car is really a carriage which hangs from a strong steel cable suspended in the air. It moves along the cable with other cars on pulleys, the wheels of which are turned by electric motors. The cars are painted in eye-catching colours and spaced at regular intervals. Each car can seat up six persons. After the passengers have entered a car, they are locked in from outside by an attendant, they have no control over the movement of the car.
Before long, the passengers get a breath-taking view through the glass windows of the modern city, the bustling harbour, and the several islands off the coast. The car is suspended to a high in the air that slips on the sea look like small boats, and boats like toys. On a clear day, both the sky above and the sea below look beautifully blue.
In contrast to the fast-moving traffic on the ground, the cars in the air move in a leisurely manner, allowing passengers more than enough time to take in the scenery during the brief trip to the island of Sentosa. After a few hours on Sentosa, it will be time again to take a cable-car back to Mount Faber. The return journey is no less exciting than the outward trip.
