(photograph © Kiwidutch)
We have arrived in Singapore and checked into our hotel the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa on the island of Sentosa.
Usually we do cheap accommodation because after all, ”a bed for the night is a bed for the night” and in the morning you pack your bag and go out and do stuff, or move on to the next location but this is the one and only time where we have various reasons for wanting to break our usual frugal habits.
First is that although we love Singapore, many of the city hotels have small swimming pools perched on rooftops… fine for a quick dip but play area for small kids can be either limited or non existent.
These pools also are usually geared towards adult swimmers so we can expect the regular rectangular ensemble with shallow end / deep end and a few deck chairs.
Finding space for extended kid pool playing has eluded us so the Rasa Sentosa first of all offers a massive amount of kid space by comprision.
Space in Singapore is comparable to “space” in The Netherlands, both countires have limited land area and high population density so finding a hotel room with two double beds, or a double or two singles is neigh on impossible.
What’s expected is that you book two adjoining rooms, but that’s not cheap either and in our case it comes with an added problem: we have travelled with our kids since they were three months old, without exception, getting them to sleep in a strange room alone has been our biggest “fail”.
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
Even if we get them tucked in for the night, the daughter who would easy snore on even if a plane crash landed into our street at home suddenly becomes the kid going pitter patter into our room, crying to be near us… not just once but several times a night.
Little Mr. appears to have inherited the same radar and is as bad, they usually do not syncronise these nocturnal visits, but leave to you to wearily begin the nodding off process before their sibling starts the ritual parent sleep interruption process.
Clearly we need to wait until they are a little older before we can have success in this area.
Until they are older, what we really want is a hotel family room where you can have two double beds, Himself and I in one and the kids in the other…
…but it’s standard in small European (and Singaporean) hotel rooms to have only the possibility of a double and a single in the same room and often there is actually no physical space for a sofa bed that pulls out into a double.
It’s also not hotel policy: they want you to book adjoining rooms instead.
Our stays in Singapore started out as 8 hour stopovers at the airport, but for the last six years we have had a wonderful Singaporian friend with who we love spending time and so our stopover wish list has grown and with it, the length of time needed to do everything we want to do.
Often we don’t even go sightseeing, we just get a bottle of wine and some nibbles, return to our room after enjoying a meal somewhere together and lounge around on one the beds until late, catching up with all the things that have been happening and planning future trips together whilst the kids snore softly in the foldout bed next to us.
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
The Rasa is one of the few places we could find that offers us a family room where we can get a double bed and a double sofa bed in one room… so this is our second wish granted.
Thirdly, after a 14 hour flight anf a seven hour time difference our kids are often wide awake in the wee hours.
Seriously awake in the serious wee hours… bright and chipper from 1.45 a.m. onwards and wanting to play and shout and be loud. Little Mr processes a “loud voice” that seems to be the speciality of small boys…
…even his attempt at a whisper could wake the neighbours three doors down.
The Rasa has something that seriously few other hotels in Singapore has to offer: a beach about 1.7 minutes walk away on the other side of the pools.
Himself has been known to be on the beach building sandcastles at three or four in the morning with Little Mr, since both share a similar penchant for mega early rising…
Kiwi Daughter and I are both night owls and are usually the late risers in the family.
Whilst both Himself and I abhor rampant commercialism, anything “branded” and living to excess, we do figure that if you work and save very hard for these trips, then for a few days every few years we should maybe leave the slumming behind and indulge ourselves just a little.
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
We don’t have ipads, x-boxes, MP3 players or Playstations, we don’t gamble (unless you count one lottery ticket per month) We don’t smoke at all, or drink or eat out much at all (except when we travel) Nor do we have expensive tastes in clothes, shoes, accessories or household goods.
We try to give more than we take when it comes to our dealings with people, the community, and the planet.
We also save hard and budget all year round, have zero debt except mortgage so maybe a little indulgence isn’t too bad every few years.
Five star hotels are not usually our kind of thing, but here in Singapore, after 14 hours in the air and facing another 10 hours flying ahead of us, this kind of relaxation is an excellent way to combat jetlag too.
It’s still very early in the morning when I took these photos and the dawn light is not the best… but we have a great room with a shower and a bath, a patio that leads directly out to the pool area and space for one large double bed and one smaller pull-out double too.
Perfect!
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
