Lots of photos in this post! We stayed three days and two nights at Resorts World Sentosa (from Sunday to Tuesday) and this is a photographic rundown of what we got up to. Richard took some arty-farty shots on his phone, be sure to check out his Tumblr for those (if he gets around to uploading them...!).
Ready? Let's start!
We stayed at the Festive Hotel, which was good for us because there were three choices of beds for us. At home, we have sort of settled into a system where one parent will sleep with one child so at the hotel on the first night, I slept with Rachel in the queen-sized bed while Richard and Ryan slept on the sofa bed. They started out in the bunk bed above the wardrobe, but Ryan wasn't comfortable there (I think it was a little warm up there). The next night, Richard and I swapped places.
We checked in at around 4 pm, after Ryan's Shichida class. We had tickets to go to Adventure Cove Waterpark, but Ryan fell asleep so we just hung out in the hotel room till dinnertime and played with this little babydoll.
Babydoll didn't get to enjoy the bunk bed but she had her own fun.
Dinner was at Quayside Isle with the most wonderful company - Terri and Vincent who were in town for work and pleasure. We spent a relaxing few hours catching up over tapas and paella. Actually, we'd already met up for dinner the night before at House at Dempsey, but you can never get enough of good company.
Terri remembered my birthday! She commemorated the occasion with an expensive (!) present and this card.
The next day, Monday, was my birthday and the first thing that greeted me was my birthday present from Richard, which was a large diamond *huge grin*. It was too large to wear for an active day out so we packed it back in its box and left it in the safe *still grinning*. Thank you dear! Love you lots! *muack muack*
After lunch we headed out to Universal Studios theme park. This is the first time that any of us have been to the theme park. This is the obligatory photo.
The main attraction for us was, of course, the Sesame Street section. Ryan went on the Spaghetti Chasers ride three times.
Ryan got a shot with Oscar the Grouch! I think this is the last one - with all the photos we took of him at Sesame Place in Pennsylvania and at all their shows in Singapore, he has a photo with each of the top monsters now!
We managed to catch two of the street shows put up by the characters.
There were other characters roaming the streets too. Woody and Winnie Woodpecker, Betty Boop, Marilyn Monroe, Beetlejuice, etc.
This was taken over at Sci-Fi City.
And yes, I went on the Battlestar Galactica! It was my birthday after all - I had to do something! I didn't realise that there was a Human section and a Cylon section. I just walked into the entrance nearest to us at the time and it turned out to be the Human section (the less scary one). It was, as the locals say, "Shiok!" and it was over too soon. I decided to go back and do the Cylon later but I was too late - the weather turned a little foreboding and they shut the ride down for safety reasons. Next time!
We explored other parts of the theme park as well, including the Madagascar and the Shrek attractions. We left about 6 pm, had a quick dinner at the Malaysian Food Street (the wantan mee there is very good!) and headed back to the hotel. Ryan sang me Happy Birthday (in English and Mandarin), we blew out the candle on a (very) small cake and went to bed. It was a very happy day.
On Tuesday, after checkout, we hopped over to Din Tai Fung for brunch. After that, we went to the Maritime Experiential Museum and S.E.A. Aquarium.
The Maritime Experiential Museum was the appetiser, I guess. For us, the highlight there was the show at the Typhoon Theatre. It is a 4D show where we "board" the ship and experience sailing through stormy weather, and finally capsizing and sinking into the sea. When the lights come on, we find ourselves in the depths of the ocean, up close with the shipwreck and marine life.
The staff at the show were very concerned when they saw our littles and we were asked twice whether the littles would be all right with strobe lights and sudden loud noises. We were asked to sit on the bench right at the back, furthest away from the heart of the noise. We had nothing to worry about - when the typhoon rolled in, with the rain coming down with thunder blasting and lightning flashing, babydoll stood up on the bench (in my arms), threw both her arms up and yelled right back, fury against fury. The more the storm toiled and troubled, the more thrilled she became and the harder she shouted. She gave it all she got! What a sight to behold - and I mean babydoll, not the show!
After the show, we emerged near the exit of the S.E.A. Aquarium and we had to go back up to the entrance. Snapped some photos of the shark tank which is in that area.
Ok, this is the entrance to the S.E.A. Aquarium. Babydoll fell asleep at this point, no doubt completely spent after her exertions at the Typhoon Theatre. As it was a weekday, the crowd was quite light and we were very comfortable - nothing like our experience at the Grand Aquarium in Ocean Park, Hong Kong on a weekend last year.
Anyway, lots to see and we had a good, relaxing time.
This is the "open sea" tank. The amount of water it holds is equivalent to seven Olympic-sized swimming pools. Pretty impressive, although I wish it was more colourful. There were several rays inside and it was cool to see them glide past.
This old man swam over to say hello to the littles. Or perhaps he wanted to see if my children could be eaten. Apparently, he is over 220 pounds.
After we exited, we went for a quick bite and then headed home. It was another good day, and the end of a very good staycation. When's the next one, my dear hubs?
