So it must have been that Daddy and Mummy wanted to escape the harsh wintery cold in Korea from last month that they planned for a beach vacation in the tropics soon after!
Actually it appears Daddy, Grandpa and Gugu-J had it organized back in Oct so we have a little CNY get-together this year – a far cry from last year when borders were still shut, reunion dinner setup was 5-max per table, masks-on during Lo-Hei (how very odd and un-CNY-like!).
Well, no such problem now!
We get organized for an early pick up in the morning and JieJie and I hit the sack early the night before so we would all be bright eyed and bushy tailed.
#throwback to 2018 – our last trip to Bali.
No prizes for guessing where we’d be staying, we head back to the all-too-familiar Hilton Bali Nusa Dua, Benoa. Daddy and Mummy apparently had been to Bali few times (on one occasion whilst Gugu-J was here!) and prefer the Hilton over Marriot and Melia (all within the same Nusa Dua enclave). What better reason also since Grandpa-J is an ardent Hilton loyalist.
We arrive at Denpasar airport late morning and get picked up by the Hilton driver.
He spoke to Grandpa, Gugu and Daddy about some important (G20 back in Sep2022?) meeting recently in Bali when he drove some important people in his van (not in their ‘designated’ car codenamed ‘The B****’ flown in AF1/AF2 since that would have been way too obvious!). Daddy was apparently in the same seat as Mr. Joe (last name we won’t divulge!) We were obviously coaxed to take a pix!
Familiar surroundings…
Sprawling grounds and breath-taking backdrop amidst the Indian Ocean.
Buggy ride to the Nusa Dua lounge while waiting for the room to be ready.
Hanging out
Our originally booked Family King Deluxe which we camped out at for the first night.
We were subsequently upgraded to the Villas. Daddy says they must’ve been really kind (and hugely generous) since both rooms were accorded upgrades to the Villas, 5011 and 5012 both adjacent to each other (maybe thanks to Grandpa’s HH Diamond!).
There are even 2 outdoor showers! Like who would actually use one?
Buggy rides are cool but nothing beats the awesomeness of powering your own buggy!
On day 2, we drove to Ubud to see the Rice Fields [Disclaimer: Rental car and obviously not the buggy].
Tegallalang Rice Terrace.
More pix…
Lunching mid-way at Ubud Swing restaurant before our almost 2 hour drive back to Nusa Dua.
While distance wise it was only some 40km away, the travel time was due to the narrow trunk roads cutting through different small segments of town (some were mainly making and selling rattan-ware/furniture, some glassware while others were peddling fruits/vegetables.
There’s still time to hit the beach before dinner.
CNY Reunion Dinner…
Playing pool after dinner – check out the original expert and her moves.
Early morning CNY Day CRABBING (originally planned for but dampened by the early morning downpour)…
We did head out eventually and (guess what?) rescued 2 fishes!
We did have a 2nd attempt at it the next morning, but unfortunately found nothing more than some nice(r) seashells. Thanks Gugu for being a sport and getting us up before 7!
CNY morning breakkie, thereafter more pool!
And remember the fishes at the lobby? Hello again!
CNY bai nian!
In the afternoon Yeh Yeh, Mah Mah, Gugu and Mummy head to the Mandara Spa while Daddy chaperone’s us… I think we had the better end of the stick, WOOO! BTW Daddy tries to coax us to go to the Jungle Kids Club! meh…
Jie Jie wanted to take this funny elephant looking water spout/tap…
While walking back to our villa, we spot an all too familiar face, oh hello! But look there’s an army of them! And they all look the same! Yikes! Beware the monkey troops have taken over!
Soon it was our final night (we call in dinner) and packed up for an early morning check out..
Rise and shine! Guess who’s the last to crawl out of bed?
Bags lined up for collection while we have breakkie at the Nusa Dua Lounge and waiting for our airport transfer.
Bags lined up for pickup!
See ya Bali, until the next round, Terima Kasih for yet another great trip, special shout out to Eka, Pak Bagus, Pak Kevin, Pak Ougy and Astuti for great service at Bali Hilton!
1st travel right out of COVID, and we head to K-Land!
(Daddy promised to writeup on our Cruise to Nowhere which he still hasnt! We were on the Royal Caribbean this time last year as a form of escape being the only place we could pack our overnighter and clear immigration while borders remained shut… yes, he’s been procrastinating but will hopefully get to it soon before our Bali 2023 trip over CNY!)
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Back in July Daddy and Grandpa and were contemplating between Korea and Japan (which only announced full resumption of travel circa Oct) so it became fairly straightforward that it was back to Pororo Land once again!
As prep for the trip, Mummy lets us binge watch Crash Landing on You (CLOY) and Attorney Woo… tsk tsk tsk.
Headed to the airport for our red eye flight into Seoul, arrive in to a Incheon close to 7am the next morning.
Lounging in the lounge while Mummy the seamstress mends “someone’s” pants – de ja vu of a previous trip we had to sit put at the aiport while daddy had to literally run off to Changi City Point to buy some new boots (since we had some old pairs ‘crocodile-mouth’ after having not worn them for some time)!
Jie Jie and I were hardly asleep for the entire duration of our flight save for the 40 winks we stole in between our dose of movies and game (Biobot some old school 2D Mario Style arcade game) – Daddy says we were at it again the entire flight back…
Domestic Flight from Gimpo (Kimpo domestic terminal) to Jeju.
Welcome to Jeju!
Daddy slurping up his Abalone seafood soup while we kids got our special He Bao Dan (sunny side up egg).
Tangerine farm! Last we were here it wasn’t snowing.
Not only was it not snowing last we were here, we even brought Mummy Koa along! This time she stayed home to guard the other stuffed Koalas.
Blast from the past (from 2014!) when the tangerines looked and definitely felt much bigger!
Then and now. 5 oranges per person but I think Daddy easily ate 15 before scouring for 5 to chuck into his basket!
ATV ride! Our first since the last we were here Daddy says the only thing we could ride was strapped to our storo (baby stoller!).
Here’s a pix of Jie Jie in her yellow helmet then and Didi lounging while waiting for the boys to finish their ride (Daddy and Yeh Yeh)!
At the pier in Jeju…
Catch another flight out from Jeju to Busan thereafter traveled by road to Daegu.
At the Inter-Burgo Hotel Daegu when we encounter the first snowfall in the trip when it starts snowing right after breakfast!
Busan Gamcheon Culture Vilage.
New soft toys!
Us mucking around in the snow.
Be careful Daddy says, ‘don’t eat the yellow snow!’…
Temperature was a biting -15 degrees C on average (real feel was closer to a frigid -20 when the winds came a blowing)…
Temperatures in Dec this time round seemed way colder then expected since the coldest months would typically be around Jan/Feb. In fact, Jeju airport was closed for 24hours with flights in/out cancelled due to heavy snowfall just 2 days after we left!
Onward to YongPyong (Pyongchang) where we revisited Dragon Valley Ski Resort, the original site of our 1st snowman, Snowy. And now behold the amazing, bigger better and colder yet Frosty.
Then and now…
Went up the cable car to the sky observatory,
Us skiing. Mummy skipping the skiing this round though still ranting about her last (mis)adventure heading up the slopes in the ski lift…
Lotte World.
Daddy says this is our 5th year back, unfortunately we didn’t get to go to the main entrance which we took the customary photo still in previous years but this is a close second.
Since we only had like 4 hours here today we managed to do only 2.5 rides (Wild Valley 4D ride which made Daddy green in the face (yeah he almost puked but was just trying to pull the usual strong-man ‘Dad persona he usually does. To his credit though we didn’t know it was going to be a 4D rickety rock-and-jerk-a-lot kinda ride until 5 min before we started (despite being in queue almost an hour!). Next ride was a ride out shoot out ride (Wild Dragon shooting Jo seems to recall,very similar to the Legoland car ride) except this was shooting dragons. FYI Mummy turned out the winner for this round. 2.5 rides since we were essentially in queue for bumper cars until we decided to give up and head back for the parade at 8. Not before trying out hands at the local claw machines which unfortunately yielded no prizes for us this night…
Adults lug heaps of shopping – ginseng, Oddbot soundalike Odbo and healthy liver.
Literally buying up a segment in the shop…
Playing game at hotel lobby past midnight. We absolutely love this hotel with the cute fella in the lobby (we reckon its the Novotel Ambassador Yongsan)…
And still playing game throughout the entire duration of our flight home.
Incheon airport Line Friends vs. Pink Fong.
Sorry din get to take the same shot with Line Friends (whom Daddy says is still there when he was here couple of weeks back, and yes lucky him stayed at Lotte World Hotel) since we’re on Asiana today and in a gate farther away from him).
Headed back on our return flight. Full 6 hour of no sleep! Every Daddy’s nightmare (not on the flight but when they start getting cranky at home!)…
Play play play from daylight to sundown (literally till landing in Singapore – check out the view from the window!) – the only time our masks come off and we’re off the screen are during meal times!
So we head back to Mandarin Oriental on 18th Mar 2022 for Mummy’s belated birthday weekend (we first visited on 26th Dec 2020). We kinda liked MO and enjoyed the food at Melt Cafe so that was it. We were by this time FOMO (Friends of Mandarin Oriental!) so they were kind enough to accord us an early checkin. Daddy says not really due to being FOMO but prolly cos global travel had yet resumed in full force so local establishments were still promoting the local staycation options! Anyway we rock up round about noon but were informed our room was not yet ready. bummer!
Lobby looking rather Oriental… But amazing architecture (very similar to Ritz Carlton!).
Anyway they allocate us a temporary holding room 1524 until our room was ready. We get comfy and check and nooks and crannies. Room though mare seemed tired, worn and dated… The MO juice was yummy though!
Didn’t seem too long after when we get a call informing us our room was ready and someone would meet us there with our bags and key cards.
This was to be a Premier Room with additional roolaway bed and add on of 2 breakfast for us kids.
The view from our room facing Suntec and the Marina Square rooftop tennis courts!
Ooh and welcome amenities + (smallish) cake for the birthday girl!
Once done exploring the room guess what, assessment books come up from hiding and it’s prep work time again – aka time behind bars!
After sometime we get the green light to have some chillax time. Remember these were days is SMM (safe management measures and only vaccinated individuals were allowed to use the pool), that also based in the reserved time slot – each guest could book on a first-come-first served basis an hour per day use of the pool. Since we got in really easily this time we get slot from 5-6pm and head down on time.
We head to the adjacent Marina Square for dinner. Ooh look what do we have here but Pororo Park! Looking very similar to the original park in Seoul.
Some nice balloon sculptures.
And wait, Poli! Checkout Daddy squeezing himself into the kiddy ride. What a big kid, Lol.
Disclaimer: Daddy’s been kind of on our backs (does buggin’ count!) for some time now, wanting us to get back on track on bloggin’ our cruise trip from back in (Nov?) 2021! Truth is, Didi and I have written in part our drafts but Daddy seemed to have misplaced it! So bummer, its been > 2 years so suffice to say it would be quite challenging now having to write retrospectively…
Nonetheless here we go…
Its smack in the middle of COVID and borders have been shut circa 18months.
Most folks are now up to speed and onto their 2nd jabs yet still no signs of borders reopening.
Still amidst that comes a glimmer of hope for cross-border travel!
Royal Caribbean along with another liner announce a cruise-to-nowhere, or what Daddy says, the closest to getting on an airplane – complete with passport/immigration control.
Passports in hand (good thing we checked our passport which at that point in time was already growing mouldy though still valid!), so here we come!
Pre voyage day we had to prebook activities and dining options, and not forgetting select the check-in slot which ran hourly. We think apart from the cabin classes (first and suites), it was fastest fingers first (i.e. you’d need to log in to the RC app couple of weeks prior to departure to select your choice slot – obviously the earlier the better given most popular activities get fully booked early.
Recall we’re still knee-deep in COVID mode so passengers were advised to arrive an hour earlier prior to their (designated), or selected check-in slots for pre-departure ART tests.
Oh hello, Royal Caribbean, what a mighty grand lady of the seas, here we come!
Daddy reminiscing his sea-faring days on the other grand ol’ dame, now supposedly converted to a hotel!
We opted for self-park (flat circa $50 payable on exit via self-pay ticket, else you risk paying in excess of an astronomical $500! see below), thinking hey we might be nice and early – no crowds! Until we found out we had to find our way to the concourse “bag drop off area” + check-in, which was by which time overflowing with passengers…
There was a system where you would drop off your bags, wave goodbye until you see them onboard (we find out they would be tagged and delivered directly to our cabins).
Once bag-free we take the elevator up (for 3rd/4th floor, and make a bee line and wait in queue to get ART swabs shoved up our nostrils. Once done, wait at the holding area for about 45-60mins and wait for your COVID negative results to be sent via MOH SMS.
One done we could proceed to the boarding gate (so airport-like!) and clear immigration.
Daddy did have some issues getting through immigration but glad that he eventually did!
Phew.
Ahoy mate! We head for the gangway and make our merry way onboard!
There was a reminder on the pitfalls and woes of problematic gambling. Actually the ship was big enough to explore without even stumbling onto the casino (Daddy says its somewhere near the adults-only pool/Solarium so that’s obviously off-bounds for the kiddos) – this seemed to be the differentiating factor between Royal Caribbean and the other cruise operator we were initially contemplating between – the latter touted as a floating casino with peripheral activities rather than a family entertainment cruise with a casino as one of the entertainment options!
Oh p.s. pro tip was to get on the ship’s WIFI (which was possible as soon as you get quayside waiting for the ART work completed) as early as you could to book out dining and activity slots.
By the time we get onboard, we were greeted with our cabin keycards, and we make a dash for our cabin which was located in the forward section of the ship (we had to walk around orientation of the main deck en route…).
Final dash to #148 – a family balcony deluxe (sorry guys no fancy suites with fancy dining options – Daddy thought there were more than enough standard dining options anyways without the need therefore for further topups!).
Pretty snug. Nice and cozy 3-nighter for the rest of our cruise.
We make our way for an early dinner (the RC is still alongside the Cruise Terminal and scheduled to depart only around 8pm.
We wave goodbye to the mainland and soak in a beautiful Singapore night skyline…
Have a stroll around the mighty huge ship while eventually finding our way to what would have been touted the most popular activity onboard – ‘ Bumper Cars!’ in the entertainment hub – with Playstations, pool, ping pong tables, foos ball and housed the Hot Dog stand!
We come back to our cabin with a turn-down service! Haven’t seen this in a while for sure!
The morning after Day#1!
The next couple of days were just a flurry of eat, play, watch, eat, watch play and Repeat.
A couple of noteworthy activities include, but not in cascading order of fun:
1. Movie Screening (Tom and Jerry!)
Tom & Jerry screening at the cinemaTom & Jerry screening at the cinema
2. Northstar – paid tour up the observation deck/crane (Didi was a little sick at this point!)
NorthstarNorthstarNorthstarNorthstarNorthstarView from Northstar
3. iFLY by RipCord (checkout our separate post on this!)
4. Scavenger Hunt – some pix from this (and oh, by the way, we met our classmate Wei Zhe!)
5. Towel Making
Looks like an elephant!Wait, is that a dinosaur?!
6. Origami Folding & Pop-up Card Making…
Pop-up Card MakingOur Pop-up Cards!
7. Bumper Cars (we hear the arena could intermittently be converted to a laser tag arena though we didn’t see this during the duration of our cruise).
8. Foosball and XBox mania!
9. Adventure Ocean Kids Club? *meh*
10. Table tennis, and of course more eating!
Other random pix – cool elevator, and more dining (WindJammer is by far our favorite and more popular as an all-day family dining option)…
On the final night Daddy and Mummy let us stay up later –
After dinner we head to the pool, couldn’t miss night swimming on a cruise (not many were there guess they had other stuff they wanted done before the cruise was over!)
Later in the evening we find out there was a Magic Show – Busters? He was quite a class act – juggling, balancing + juggling, and even had a sidekick Donkey who literally made an ass of him!?
The final morning we get up mighty early – apparently there were staggered check-out slots depending on cabin numbers (yeah right, more like cabin classes)… so we had an early breakkie and watch as our cruise ship glides back into the cruise terminal.
The whopping $514 parking fee had it not been for the park and sail coupon…
Daddy rounds us up and says we’re going to a picnic in a couple of weeks – how very unlike him at all. Fancy him sitting on a grass patch…
Anyway invites are soon in order, albeit a little late given the 2 weeks’ prior notice compared with the > 1 month’s notification year ago.
One for the record – last year’s Amex Plat Af’Fair via Virtway Events Portal.
Throwback to Daddy running around his avatar silly – ultimately finding his calligraphy, bouquet of flowers and Comic Strip!
This time round it would be in a hybrid form – physical Picnic Plush event (takeaway so you can partake of the food and picnic at wherever you please), followed by an evening livestream concert again for you to enjoy from the comforts of home or wherever you would be from 730pm on).
Guess what, Jason Mraz the man gave the JTwins a shoutout! No kidding…
So prep to the party started 2 weeks out with folks getting an EDM mailer soliciting an option of either:
Full event (Picnic Plush + Livestream Concert), or
Livestream Concert only
Knowing Daddy – he goes all out for Option#1 with further info on selection of meal option* + drive through timing for collection at the designated venue, post which a notification that a car decal would sent within the next couple of days leading up to the event.
We ended up going with Picnic Delights by (hi again) Masons!
*Picnic Delights/Classics by Masons, Specialties by Hopscotch or Signature by Halia for a Halal option.
Good job to the team for putting together and curating a list of picnic spots to enjoy the Great Outdoors in collaboration with Tatler! [Click below for the Top 10 Picnic Spots]
Saturday comes, and we make our way to Masons @ 8 Lock Road and although the dark clouds loomed, we were greeted by some sunshine from the team.
Surprisingly no queue and the drive through collection was really quick and efficient – scanning of a pre-shared QR code, member verification and sighting of car decal was all it took and off we headed to the pitstop.
The pit crew help load the loot into the boot…
Only thing was none of the food seemed kid friendly from when the previewed the menu, and while Daddy had given us his word on Macker’s breakie for us kids – we had to make sure he made good his word.
So out we went towards Hort Park (literally across the road) and made another pitstop for drive thru at McDonalds PSA, and boy was that a bee line – 40mins from when we got to the start of the line to when we made off with our orders. By which time however it was pouring! Still to satisfy Daddy’s curiosity we stopped by Hort just to recce if there was some shelter for us to take refuge in with the picnic basket in tow but decided otherwise when da Boss(not us for sure, but lets not get into that for now!) vetoed we should head home in view of the rain!
Back home we offloaded the stuff – boy there were loads of stuff.
We gobbled down our usual staples of Fillet O’Fish and Cheeseburger and then watched the grown ups wolf down their lunch.
Good thing about events like these – there’s always games – recall good ol’ Jump, Jump Reindeer for Christmas last year!
This year it was Pacman reloaded and Snake (yikes) [rebranded as Baggin’ Sunshine] with more booze prices up for grabs.
I tell you Daddy was engrossed, and glued to his phone all afternoon but we came in only a measly top 16 at best – he was obviously grumbling away…
Nonetheless he did tell us we won something at the lucky draw (we think it was a sure-win spin though!).
Fast forward to the evening live stream at 7.30pm – given it was obviously way past our bedtime, Daddy did record snippets of it, especially the shoutout part (to the JTwins)!
So much for a picnic which we brought back home (we’ll get to Hort Park at some point hopefully in the not-so-distant-future to unwrap and use the picnic mat + board games provided!).
For now, here’s to Jason and the team for putting together a Great Outdoorsy event for the year, and Jason Mraz himself with I’m Yours!
Following on our series of what to do in the midst of COVID where we were exploring the to-dos in Singapore – Zoo, River Safari, iFLY, Forest Adventure and Sentosa(!) we head Eastward to an otherwise unfamiliar part of Singapore for us – Bedok Reservoir Park.
Forest Adventure has apparently been around for some time, and one of a few places with a kids’ (and adults) obstacle course, complete with a Zip Line (other than the Mega Bound, Climb and Zip in Sentosa, and I think a more recent (Hoobii Spot?) course right in the Zoo at Mandai (right next to the Ah Meng Memorial Garden if we recall correctly, having seen it on the tram ride back to the entrance from the Rainforest Kidz World).
The course is a bit of a walk from the carpark but not hard to spot!
We had pre-booked this the week before with raincover insurance (enabling rebooking of slots in the event of inclement weather!).
Given this was still COVID era, we had to don our masks and keep a (1m?) distance (social distancing!) away from each other. Soon we get kitted up and sit (rather stand) through a basic induction session which included safety do’s and don’ts and how to clip our safety carabiners strapped one end of our harnesses to the safety line on the other. After walking the plank on the safety course we were really to embark on the higher levels!
Jie Jie and I do really well on the different levels!
The brave Js conquering Level 2 and proceeding to the 3rd Level!
Note we are avid fans of Ultimate Beastmaster which we binge-watched with Daddy the couch potato during circuit breaker!
Completing the course via a zip line to the finish line!
Smack right in the midst of COVID and we’re exploring the to-dos in Singapore – Zoo, River Safari, Forest Adventure and Sentosa(!) when we chance upon iFly!
So, after a hearty lunch, Daddy signs us up for our solo flight!
So here we go.
Our boarding call for the 3pm departures.
We scan our way cool wrist bands and make our way to the pre-departure briefing hall, away from Daddy and Mommy.
Jo was really brave, and so was Jon.
JoannaJonathan
Jo and Jon
Jon Round#2
Super tired!
Our cool instructor Jordan was featured on Mothership a couple of days after.
So we finally made it to Capri by Frasers Changi for our 3D/2N redemption stay after having canned it twice in past months due to I-don’t-remember-what-phase-it-was-anymore when restrictions tightened back in May/Jun. While staycays were still allowed back then, it just made sense to raincheck it to later time given dining out was disallowed at that point.
[FYI they also have some house bikes by the racks in the foyer which you can use for free]
Still, a week prior to the date, Daddy wanted to move it a day later but we were told there was no availability on the tail end. So anyways we pack our bags and with the customary softies and besties in tow we head to our check in slot at 3pm* (yes 3 – its been some time since we actually made it to a 3pm check in since the past couple of stays we had done earlier check-ins).
*Watch out here is that you’ll need to get in quick on the pool slots (there is a QR code to scan and invoke Lola the digital concierge chatbot to book out slots for the pool, gym and request additional amenities) – given the restrictions, only 1 family of 4 allowed at the pool each hour. We managed to get ours only at noon on the 2nd day, for which reason we had our checkout timing extended to 2pm.
Check-in was definitely by far not the quickest. The queue didn’t seem long at all when we strolled up, there were 2 checkin counters with a handful of folks waiting in line but we finally got our keycards only after the half hour mark (Jo with Daddy after her photo rounds).
Here are some pix of a more peaceful looking lobby which we took retroactively after checkin.
Daddy says its ok since Jo and I were busying ourselves taking photos of the lobby. There’s even a nifty games corner where you can rent games for free – just return them once you’re done.
The concierge was really nice to let us park right at the door to offload our bags and complete our checkin but requested we move it after settling into our rooms (which goodie-two-shoes Daddy obviously complied with).
The corner room we were assigned to was really huge, enough for us kids to run amok around (already at it before getting to the room itself!).
They had apparently also given us an upgrade to the next category vs. the lead in room (Studio Deluxe) which featured a bath tub. The room also came equipped with a little kitchenette, coffee machine and filtered tap water.
(Note: Soft toys are BYO only. They are not included with the stay!)
FYI there was also a laundrette + games room (Spin & Play they call win, kinda synonymous with Spin & Win?) with foosball table on every floor, so we were told. The foosball table and other games were removed though due to COVID but you could always take out a game or two from the games corner tucked around the lobby!
We head out soon after for a bite and found to Daddy’s delight Dim Sum Place at the adjacent mall (Changi City Point).
Note, we did not know there was a direct walkway-link from the basement of the hotel directly to the mail – you will need to walk through the basement carpark but it beats having to walk around the ground level and avoids the elements in the event of a downpour.
Note also, again which we found on hind side the next day that though the roller shutters come down after 9pm, you can still access the hotel lift lobby with your keycard via the door/panel on the left. Unbeknown to us at that point – seeing the access shuttered, we backtracked into the mall, lugging our shopping all the way around to L1, across the atrium, foyer and eventually and back in the lobby elevators to access our room!
This was after spending an evening at Changi Beach. Daddy surprised us for sure with our scooters in the car boot. It was our first time at Changi Beach. Mommy decided to sit by the bench when were explored.
We saw some planes fly overhead, scooted to the swings, and thereafter sat by the breakwater to watch the sunset.
Aww. What an awesome and delightful JTwin pic for the record.
Soon it was time to go grab dinner. We decided to head back closer to the hotel (Changi City Point) to do takeway and do a TV-dinner night at the hotel room. So we picked-up dinner, some drinks and Ice-Cream from the NTUC at CCP and made our way back to the hotel. That’s when (by which time it was past 9!) we realized the entrance to the hotel from the basement carpark was shuttered off.
Given this was a free stay without breakkie, the nice looking check-in staff tried to upsell Daddy breakkie which was apparently cheaper if purchased upfront during check in. We took up the offer for 1 of 2 breakfasts during our stay – what was initially planned for the first morning which we rainchecked to the second since we were so beat from the night before and no one was able to get up before brunch timing! No prizes for guessing what time that was! ZZZzzz…
Before lights out the night before:
Truth be told, there was really nothing much to shout out about on the breakfast apart from the nice art pieces which we found weeks later were from Ode to Art Studio at Raffles City.
After some usual no-miss JTwins prep time in the morning, we decided to head to one of the quaint cafes around Changi Village for lunch. Without skipping a heartbeat Daddy recommended The Coastal Settlement which apparently he and Mommy had gone to previously, obviously without us kids then – hmmph!
Tucked at the corner of Netheravon Road, somewhere along the road where Old Changi Hospital was located (yikes Mommy told us some spooky stories about it as we drove past!) was a really nice space – somewhat inconspicuous save for a retro-looking Peppa Pig-styled campervan sitting out front.
Daddy and Mommy says they’ve made some changes to the façade since they last visited – must’ve been years back. Surprisingly for a Monday they were fully booked with all seats inside taken. Without much of a choice, we sat alfresco-style and had a little frolick around the sprawling gardens which had some swings as well.
After studying the menu intently, we had a swinging good time while waiting for lunch.
Lunch was Pizza, Fish & Chips and what else but Nasi Lemak for the adults (either that or Daddy would’ve taken us back daily for Dim Sum!).
Guess what, after that we made our way back to Bukit Timah for our Monday Writers @ Work class!
Yes Mommy says you don’t miss class even when you’re on vacation.
Some pix of the gym which we explored.
Day#2 we headed to out swim slot – and has a splashing good time with Daddy-O in the pool!
The experience started way before the scheduled stay. From exchanges between the Culturist the various activities were lined up prior to our stay. 24 hr prior to check in we received an email from the hotel according us of an early check in at 1030am which was great since the first activity we were going to was the Scavenger Hunt at 10am.
We rose bright and early and strolled up closer to 10.
Turning into The Knolls, Sentosa.
We take the elevator from the basement to Level 3 where the Lobby Lounge and Living Room are located.
The JTwins relax and sip on the Capella welcome drink while Daddy checks us in…
Hunt began fairly on time with the Culturist rolling out the treasure map rolled up nicely in a scroll.
After 6 questions and a mad rush around the sprawling grounds (Art Gallery, Grand Ballroom featuring Singapore’s 1st circular, pillarless ballroom with a famous ceiling glass tube centrepiece, multiple art installations and heritage flora throughout the vicinity, including the renown Johor fig!) we rendezvous’d back at the flag off point for our final clue which was to locate none other than the mascot, Paul the peacock (no not just any other peacock but a stuffed fluffy one snuck inconspicuously around the gardens by the front foyer. And very quickly post orders from our very competitive J Twin Mommy we split up, combed the area and soon enough found one tucked away at the bottom of the tree.
With the bird in hand (literally) we kids raced back to the porch and claimed the 1st prize, a box of Capella-baked choc-chip cookies (as consolidation for the runner-ups) and as if that weren’t sufficient a $50 dining voucher. A sweet victory. To which the kids quipped in unison. And of course we got to keep the (stuffed) blue birds.
“Best hotel ever!” quipped the JTwins. And even before seeing the room!
We wait out the next hour basking in the LivingRoom with all day snacks and drinks equipped with alfresco option on both side wings which doubles up as additional capacity.
The lounge dragon tells us there is the option to head to the beach and promptly issues us temp access card in case we didnt have our keycards on hand thereafter provides us directions to the private access to the beach. Note this is a private walkway access to the same publicly-accessible Palawan Beach. Access is by registration only which can be done online or in our case by the hotel-allocated wrist bands with slated timings. It was a little adventure trying to navigate our way thru the ‘secret garden’, past the famed 3-layered pool, and even having opportunity to spot Paul the peacock live in the feather!
Tier 1…
Tier 2…
And the 3rd which is more like a little private lap pool… we eventually spent most of our pool time at the 2nd which was more kid-friendly and had some inflatables, including our favourite Unicorn!
Peak-a-boo Paul the peacock…
Eventually we arrived at the secret gate and made our way down some flights of stairs!
We hung around only a bit trying to collect seashells, an activity which soon became apparent to us was almost non existent given the sheer magnitude of folks crowding around the shady spots like hugely scarce real estate.
Back to the room which was nicely situated on the 5th floor overlooking the south China Sea. This was an upgrade to the Sentosa Suite, from the lead in Premier Garden/Deluxe Ocean facing room (thanks to AMEX which Daddy kept quipping!). We were escorted to the room and given a nice 1st timers welcome orientation around the sprawling property (which we thankfully also got acquainted with thru our little scavenger hunt earlier in the morning).
Room was situated on the 5th Floor on the East Wing overlooking the oval.
Room was setup with a king bed with a separate living area.
Amenities were from the famed Aesop line up, equipped with 2 bathrooms and a nice tub by the window with a magnificent view of the sea.
Very well thought out amenities (care pack on Capella drawstring bag, separate beach kit with insect repellent to ward off those pesky sand flies and mozzies at dusk), and a fully stocked fridge bar which guest relations mentioned was complimentary (note the magic word) and could be restocked once per stay (not that we requested that anyway since there was already an abundance). Mommy was visibly excited by the Aesop amenities…
The room also has an accessible balcony with panoramic views – and electronically controlled curtains /blinds across full length windows. Perfect for a birds eye view of the canopy of the Pulai, Angsana and Johor fig trees, the fame 3 tiered pools and Palawan/Siloso beaches as well as the sea lined with vessels on layup at the anchorage.
There was also a long bench table across the bedroom which was a great setup for any Work from Home or in our case the customary Jtwins prep time…
Not to mention there was also the balcony literally with a bird’s eye view of the South China Sea.
One of the things Daddy’s a sucker for – our little thank you cards! 🙂
Once that was out of the way we headed back over to the Living Room.
Chilling over afternoon tea with (what else) but tea and butter scones and our usual favs AJ and OJ with less ice. AGAIN, SO MUCH to eat.
As there was still some time left before our Boba Making Session (Build Your Own Boba, BYOB), we headed back to our room and lo and behold were greeted with a surprise titbit platter (with muruku, bacon sandwich bites and More scones!). But the punchline was actually a birthday cake for Mummy and Sweet and Choc for Didi and I (customized and emblazoned with our own names in chocolate of course) – aww they actually remembered! How decadent! Did I mention they even had the ensemble decked out with a gift scented candle and fancy birthday card (yes nicer than the cheapo one daddy rewrote and regifted mummy from last year! Yay he thought we didn’t notice. (How sneaky!) though Daddy kept chiming about the relevance of the 2 oranges given its no longer Chinese New year. Anyway we could agree nonetheless the Capella folks were just so nice.
By 1 we were at Bob’s Bar getting seated for our BYOB session. Alas, that was the same Aunty (Jie Jie) who facilitated our Scavenger Hunt earlier in the morning who was now running the Boba session. She could really remember our names (plus points for that for sure!) and sat us down at one of the designated tables laid out with Boba and tea.
Next up was the Little Stars Cullinary Experience held at Chef’s Table, a little functional kitchenette + cosy dining setup across the alfresco terrace from Bob’s Bar. No drama on the mad rush akin to what we were probably spotted doing to clinch top spot in scavenger hunt and we were in good time so a short stroll across was now the order for the day. Guess who we would bump into again?
She offers us our chef’s hat (daddy says its called Toque Blanche in his rubbish French from Fancy Nancy!) and apron which Didi was initially hesitant to don but did after much cajoling and boy did he look like a cutesy pie.
I think Didi and I really enjoyed the session, that little maestro in the making…
Next up was Sustainable Art and Craft at the Sales Gallery, not the Art Gallery unbeknown to us!
Here’s where Mommy was really hands on – like in her own studio…
While walking there though we walk past the ballroom which was all setup for the afternoon movie matinee the next day (we were on the wait list for this screening of Jumanji 2 – The Next Level) which though didn’t come thru since everyone else ahead of us showed up on movie day, was still neat despite not having out own teepee since the nice chaperon still handed us hot popcorn and drinks, and to mention him apologising profusely for something he really wasn’t particularly responsible for. Note pix were taken the day before!
Back in our room chillaxing over our fav Disney+ after Art and Craft workshop (yes we dig this – way cooler than Netflix these days) when Ding Dong the bell rings. Daddy gets the door and after a couple of exchanges tell us it was a turn down service. Wow. Nothing short of a Wow there since despite Daddy turning down the turndown service he didn’t turn down rock candy and more waters (still water). Didi and I with our own tele despite watching the same Trolls movie!
Note customary Mummy Koa (Koala) and friends with their newly acquainted Capella natives Paul and Paul-ine the peacocks (or peahen?).
Breakfast at the Knolls was noting short of marvellous. Great service, servers attentive to details and definitely no cheapskate prefix on limitation(s) on order quantity.
We even noticed at one point a baby in the table adjacent to us crying inconsolably. Despite attempts by her parents to pacify her it seemed futile one of the female servers rushed over with what looked like 2 Paul-line the peacock(hen) plushies and as if it were magical the crying stop as abruptly as it started.
Cry or no cries we thoroughly enjoyed breakkie.
Only Downside was the breakfast with peacocks only happened with our plush given there was neither sight nor sound of our feathered friends (we were told they usually frolic around from 9-10ish) so perhaps today being Monday meant the cocks/hens sleeping in a bit more to beat the blues.
We did take a stroll around the lush gardens after that hefty meal…
Taking some pix around the Trump-Kim memorial plaque (Daddy says it was a really historic moment and this commemorates that meeting).
Lunch was ordered from Knolls which the server then carted over in a mobile food heater tucked beneath the push cart turned into table and plated nicely in non other than the Capella fashion (Daddy said they exceeded expectations again since he was expecting this either in a takeaway box or at best a food tray!).
On the way to the car after (extended) checkout we catch on a ride in a buggy and what do we spot? None other than a lonesome peacock probably looking for his gang. Well at least he was following the traffic direction!
All in stellar amenities, well thought out kids activities, marvellous surroundings and impeccable service makes Capella Singapore a win for fun-filled family staycation with the coveted JTwins’ seal of approval. We’ll be back!
