The swimming pool in Shangri-La Sentosa consisted of a few portions. The first it the normal swimming area for people to have their regular swim. That being said, it is also not a perfectly rectangular pool, but rather slightly curved to allow people to have some extra space for ball games too. The second area contains a small playground for kids to have some water fun, and the third area is the jacuzzi. Jacuzzi have an age limit, probably due to the stronger force of the water.
There is also Asian cuisine such as rice and noodles for people who are not into western food. I tried the prata, which was decent. Curry chicken is really nice and a must try!
I remembered a lot of tables ordered the western breakfast platter. That looks and taste delicious, especially the tomato. =P I like the scrambled eggs too, but it was a bit too creamy and not recommended to eat in big servings. It is possible to order just individual scrambled eggs too, via the kids menu. (10 points to Jeff for figuring that out!)
A nice feature of Shangri-La Sentosa is that it is near the sea, and thus has a section of the seaside reserved for its guests. A 2-hour slot allows a guest to suntan at the beach chairs, do beach volleyball, kayak, etc. We took the first hour to do kayak around the shores and rocks (there are some line and seaweed boundaries). There were some super small land areas in the waters, but we were probably not allowed to go up there.
Since the swimming pool and right beside the sea sports area, we booked a slot for a day swim too. Jacuzzi time again, with some laps in the regular pool. :)
Swimming Pool (Day)
Tree by the sea
At a quiet corner behind the swimming pool, there is a small cooling area beside the tree. That area is probably for events, but it was not in used when we checked out that place. A really beautiful sight, with a gigantic tree sheltering the things under it.
1415h: Chill afternoon
We went back to the hotel for a short hour rest, before heading out to RWS for a Macdonald snack. (PH is always hungry XP)
Macdonald meal
It was a really light meal as we were saving up stomach space to have a nice dinner at Trapizza before going to USS in the evening. However, the rain suddenly got extremely heavy and led to a few falling trees in the beach area. >< Without any pokemon with the HM01 cut technique, Trapizza seems impossible as we cannot access the area. :(
Super heavy rain. Scene is still clear and beautiful though!
Eating ramen at RWS as an alternative
1730h: USS night
Since it is end Sep, USS is having a halloween theme, and it may be nice to see some decorations. The sad thing is that due to COVID, Halloween Horror Nights was a super scaled down event with almost no interactions, and the tightened measures to 2 pax per group made things worse~
But still, the theme park has spooky lights and background music to set the atmosphere right~ Each ticket cost $49 and includes a free snack. Some rides were still open (e.g. 3D transformer, Madagascar boat, etc.) at night, along with some special performances for Halloween too.
What's Halloween without pumpkins?
A somewhat "cool" pose with the Transformer glasses
Spooky fog
Sesame Street photo-taking session
Scream Alley with spooky BGM
The free snack attached to the ticket could be redeemed at the pizza store in USS, and it turns out to be some delicious pizza chicken wings and ice lemon tea. Ah well.
Though there isn't much to do at USS, it really relieves some happy memories in the past. :) Sigh~
Is it recommended to visit USS (Halloween) if there are COVID measures enforced to scale down activities? I would say no, unless you have never been to USS and would like to see how the place is like. ><
2100h: Escape Room in a box
After a rather fun-filled day, our final activity was to try out the "Escape Room in a box" game. Borrowed this from one of my colleague, and the objective is to crack some code with the materials present in the box.
Box materials and instructions
A supposedly horror setting (just like the physical ones) definitely does not exist for a box setting as the lights were bright and we even had some music playing. The games were all puzzles and I felt had not much relation to the horror theme / story. Did not manage to finish the game though, as we had exceed the time limit and some physical items were really difficult to handle. ><
We packed up the items at 11pm and rested. I watched a few squid game episodes before sleeping at 1am. It has been a fun Day 2! :D
Day 3
Final morning for the staycation before checking out at 1pm. Everyone seems to be in a slightly emo mood even though it's a Saturday. Fun times do pass quickly huh~
One last breakfast at Silver Shell Cafe~ Tried some dishes which I did not have the previous day.
Fort Siloso is located in a foresty area, with some underground bunkers and shelters that shows even more history about the place. The place definitely has been maintained properly, as there were modern lights that give visitors a pleasant visiting experience. It also seems like a good place for a morning jog too. XD Will visit this place properly in the future, seems like an interesting place for exploration!
Had a final bath in the bathtub before checking out, then collecting back the $200 deposit. Before heading home, PH suggested having Trapizza since the weather is clear and he is slightly hungry. Trapizza is a ~10 minutes walk from the hotel, and features both regular indoor or sandy outdoor dining experience. For this visit, we did not make any booking~
Trapizza outdoor seating
Trapizza meal
A standard Hawaiian pizza, along with some fries to go along. Wood burning pizzas are generally nicer eh? =P The fries are crispy and delicious. An interesting thing is that ketchup has to be requested, and it would be given in lovely mini glass jars instead of a standard saucer. Very cute, taste good too!
The price is just slightly more expensive than outside pizzas (perhaps because the outlet is in Sentosa?), but definitely worth a try! Operating hours differ between days though, thus it is better to check out the timings and make a reservation before heading down.
And with that ends the entire Staycation trip! >< Has been a really fun 3D2N experience, and recommended for peeps who want to have a staycation at non-regular hotels. If you want something that feels more luxurious, it would be better to remain in the town area. Otherwise, I think this hotel is great for people who want to enjoy more outdoor activities uh~
Thanks PH for the great getaway! :D
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19th Oct: A&W (WL)
Purposely wrote this section because it was a really rare outing with just WL alone, and he was the one who initiated the meal. WL took leave for the week and had meals with each of the F4 peeps. Mine was scheduled on a random Tuesday at Canberra A&W. It's been a long time since I ate A&W (the last time was probably as a child), so it's quite a nice place to go to. :)
We met at Woodlands and proceeded to Canberra by MRT. Since only 2-pax dining was allowed and it was only about 6+pm, the place wasn't crowded.
Buzzer and receipt - Nice.
Our meal
Was quite surprised when WL ordered 2 pieces of fried chicken, as I thought he wasn't a big fan of fried food. Turns out he does order a 2-pc chicken meal at a lot of fast food places except KFC. =P
The fish burger was quite nice. The curly fries tasted normal.
1845hrs: We went to NTUC to buy deodorant (for gym) and cat food (for the cat). I forgot if WL got suggest buying dog food for it instead. After that, we went to see the evening sky for a short while.
1925hrs: As I wanted to have the waffles, we went back to A&W once again. Just bought one waffles with ice-cream for sharing. The vanilla ice-cream really has multiple uses in A&W, they conveniently scoop some for root beers, and then scoop similarly for the waffles. I decided to order the butter & syrup waffles plus an additional scoop of ice-cream for 60 cents.
As a mathematical exercise, could I have saved more $ by ordering differently? Hmm.
While savouring the waffles, WL decided to share an interesting book about how rainbows can only see through after storms no one can success easily relationships that was written by one of his colleague's friend, and he found it an interesting read.
Don't think I really paid much attention to the book at that point of time, but now when I read the description at the end of the book, perhaps there was some meaning to it...
[But idk man, if one person decides to snap the rubber band and is fixed onto it, what is the point of the other person in trying to prevent the rubber band from breaking? In the end it doesnt even matter right?]
2130h: We went for a night walk to Sembawang station. Just talked about random stuff like maple, gym, skillsets and work. It was a nice night chat, definitely relieved some memories. :)
And with that, concludes a really nice and short outing with WL alone (and probably the last too)~ ^^
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17th Dec: Carnivore (F4)
Went to watch Spiderman in the daytime, and F4 dinner chosen by PH was scheduled in the night, a nice early christmas celebration. :D
1700h: As I still had spare time and we were meeting PH at 7pm, I went over to WL's house for a chill session first. It was definitely chill as it was raining quite heavily when I was on the bus, but the rain stopped as soon as I alighted. How cool was that! XD
Originally intended to write some sections of my report (because the deadline was near), but we ended up chatting about maple and WL's programming learning experience. He started learning Python a few weeks ago, and seems to be progressing really well. [He is a really smart learner, still baffles me why he chose Arts. Could have done so much better elsewhere.]
WL has a PB cushion! So cute!!! <3
Amazing code to sum up numbers and indicating the parity
1840hrs: Set off to PH's void deck. And yup we were late. >< No wonder WL always late for Sunday gym lunch [smh]. Quite a bit of jam as there were a lot of cars in Town (near xmas), and there was a wedding that evening too. Thankfully we found a parking lot at the basement of the facility.
Carnivore is located inside CHIJMES near City Hall, and serves a variety of Brazilian(?) style cooked meat to diners. Buffet style for the main, sides and desserts. However one has to top up for ala carte drinks, including mineral water.
The meat selection includes chicken, beef, pork, mutton cooked in many different ways. They also had sausages and the day's speciality to offer diners. Every 10 minutes or so, a chef-waiter pair will turn up and serve the dish should the diners wish to sample. Interesting and convenient. :)
There were also side dishes (a lot of vegetables) which were kind of decent. Those could be ordered from an order chit and passed to the waiters. We did not try a lot of those. Desserts had a similar concept too.
Some of the random meat we ordered. Pork (?) tastes decent.
Grilled tomato with mozzarella cheese. <3
Meat with grilled pineapples
After all the meat that came, we were really happy when the pineapples were offered as a dish. I think they took it out of the side dish menu, for otherwise everyone would be requesting that in mass quantities. The pineapples were sweet, doesnt sting your mouth, and definitely washes down the lingering meat taste. ^^
Things are not that happening for the meat though. For some reason we were struggling to find out what we had actually eaten, and more often guesses between different F4 peeps were not consistent. It boils down to perspective: What is pork to somebody could be mutton to another person. I think some of the meat was fine, but the sausages have some spices which I did not like much. ><
Cheese bread
And this is a reason why the waitress on duty that night was simply awesome. She highly recommended us to try that dish, and mentioned that it was not on the sides menu because it was extremely popular in the past. In the end we got a plate full of them. This is a must try dish!
Desserts --- Fruits, cream puff, cakes
Omg this is definitely a favourite section for PH and me. :D The fruits taste fresh and sweet, while the cakes are rich in taste. The cream puffs are great too~ A really nice ending to a meal. :) Please leave room for fruits and dessert!
My favourite dishes excluding desserts
My recommendations: Cheese bread, the tomatoes, pineapples, desserts~ Those are really beautiful dishes to order should you visit Carnivore with your family or friends.
If at this point you are confused or giving a wtf expression after reading the previous sentence, yeah I get it. The non-meat dishes are indeed nicer than the meat dishes, at least in my opinion. >< But still, it's good to have such a unique experience once in your lifetime~
After the dinner, we walked only for a short while before heading home. It was raining slightly, the mood was great, and everyone kinda enjoyed the dinner. It was indeed a lovely Friday evening~ ^^
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31st Dec: Rainy NY Eve (PH)
The last day of NY eve started off with working [on my off day ><] by reviewing some reports~ But after seeing a really unappreciative message, aiya fk it, screw work and enjoy the day instead. :D
1230h: Met PH at HTNS Khatib. Had Saizeria for lunch, and then went to gym at the 2pm slot. PH seems to like the gym. :) Rather peaceful on a holiday eve afternoon, maybe everyone preparing to go party.
Guardian's bridge in the gym
For 3 months in the gym, this slide doesn't look high at all. It is only until I went up, then I realise actually the slide is quite steep. >< Think I was stuck there for a few minutes before deciding to come down, a good experience to have before 2021 ends. =P
2030h: For NY eve, PH suggested going to the town area to watch a light show. It was still raining at night, but that didn't stop us from the exploration. We went to GBTB and Marina Barrage as our first stop, and damn its crowded! I guess a lot of people gathered to meet and countdown to the new year. :)
People gathering at Marina Barrage
Rainy GBTB at night
2130h: Before the actual night walk, we stopped by the SBTB hawker center to have a quick drink and some snacks we bought from JE / home. Quite a number of things were sold out already, leaving seafood as the remaining option. We got watermelon juice in amazingly small cups for $3 each. Taste is nice and not diluted though. :)
Watermelon juice and brought snacks
2150h: The night walk and hunt for the lightshow begins~ It's a slightly cooling walk (though humid), raining slightly. Night view was really beautiful though, and among all these scenery appreciation there are a lot of families and teenagers zooming around on skateboards and bicycles. It's a really lively sight~
View of the flyer
MBS interior
Crowd outside MBS entrance
We passed by and entered MBS for some air-con too. MBS was really crowded, and a flood of people entered the mall when the rain got heavier. It's like the virus doesn't exist on NY eve. XD
And the very natural question came into our minds. Where was the light show? It turns out that there was a small lightshow display on the exterior of Fullerton Hotel, and an even bigger one projected on the MBS towers. Unfortunately we were inside MBS and thus unable to watch the show. Aiya nvm luh, got air-con also good. XD
Exercise to readers: What could be in the white rooms?
2315h: We walked back to GBTB and Marina Barrage after the rain got smaller. Much quieter than the MBS crowd, making the walk smoother and more enjoyable. ^^ Along the way, we got a cup of orange juice and chilled at a shelter for awhile.
Orange juice vending machine
Shadow pic: Jeff and PH
2359h: The roads at GBTB were quiet, and people had gathered at various shelters / buildings for the countdown. Although there wasn't any fireworks, the countdown mood was definitely there.
Our exact spot at midnight. Can hear faraway peeps shouting Happy New Year~ XD
Thinking about how 2021 passed, it is important to remind ourselves that although work is hectic and we are pushed to chase deadlines and finish tasks that may or may not make sense, we still need time for ourselves. We may not have a luxury of time to complete a lot of things we want to do ourselves, but at the very least we should get some rest and peace of mind to go on physically and mentally. :) So hopefully 2022 will be a better year, we can judge things better, make improvements to life~ Be healthier as a whole~
And for PH, hopefully you are attached to someone you like and do 2023 countdown with her. =P
Why the heck we chose such an ulu road to be at 12am is still a mystery. Maybe we got lost or something and ended up there. XD
0025h: Before heading back home, we went to have a 2022 first celebratory event: Go Kallang Mac and have a quick snack.
Drive through at Kallang Mac
The restaurant was crowded, but fortunately we found some seats. I had green tea and a vanilla cone while PH had a McChicken. The rain got heavier after midnight, but that definitely didn't dampen the mood for many people~ It's not everyday you get to countdown to a new year yeah? :)
0115h: After a fun filled night, it's time to head back home. I think I was half asleep on the ride back home, because I remembered PH talking to me and I was just replying random things. ><
It was definitely a memorable night though~ Thanks PH for willing to spend time on NY eve~ On this note, here is a happy 2022 to everyone, and also the end of this writing section!
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And yes, this also concludes the selection of F4 outings for the year 2021. I swear this selection took quite a lot of time to write, but it was fun to relieve some beautiful memories. ^.^v
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