Tag Archives: Sentosa

8th Anniversary Dinner at Ocean Restaurant

We celebrated our 8th anniversary last Tuesday with dinner at Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora. Adrian didn’t tell me where he was taking me for dinner so it was a pleasant surprise! I guess he knows me very well; I really enjoyed being able to sit in front of the giant tank for dinner.

The food at Ocean Restaurant is very good, but not spectacular. The portions are also quite small for the prices. I suppose people go mainly for the view and the experience! The service is very decent though. When Adrian was making reservations, they asked if it was for a special occasion and served us a celebratory slice of cake after we were done with our food. The servers were attentive and made sure we were comfortable.

On the whole, it was a great way to celebrate our 8th anniversary. Looking forward to many, many more years of love and laughter!

love the view!

love the view!

us

us

some appetiser thingy

some appetiser thingy

duck liver for me

duck liver for me

Alaskan king crab salad for Adrian

Alaskan king crab salad for Adrian

big-headed fish

big-headed fish

baby lamb loin

baby lamb loin

Kurobuta pork belly and octopus

Kurobuta pork belly and octopus

friendly ray

friendly ray

little cake for our anniversary

little cake for our anniversary

attempting a selfie

attempting a selfie

March Holidays: Butterfly Park

One final post on our Sentosa getaway during the March holidays. When I was a kid, I visited Butterfly Park on Sentosa and I remember being quite impressed, especially when a butterfly walked across my hand. Anya has been wanting to visit a butterfly enclosure for some time now because she saw some kids interacting with butterflies on one of the episodes of Hi-5.

Sadly, our visit to Butterfly Park was quite disappointing and not worth the ticket price. There were butterflies fluttering by but the interactive element was completely missing. There were no staff around to tell us how we should go about encouraging the butterflies to come near us. The only people working there were trying to get us to pay for photos with some birds.

Butterfly Park

Butterfly Park

hot day

hot day

possibly the highlight of our visit

possibly the highlight of our visit

climbing up to realise there was nothing inside

climbing up to realise there was nothing inside

butterflies mating

butterflies mating

one more butterfly

one more butterfly

It was incredibly hot and Anya quickly got irritable because she couldn’t see the butterflies very well. Her mood improved slightly in the air-conditioned section of the Insect Kingdom Museum in the Butterfly Park. But even that is in serious need of an update. Some of the exhibits were dusty and had dead insects in the midst of live ones.

I think a visit to the butterfly garden in the Departure Transit Lounge at Changi Airport Terminal 3 or the one at HortPark (currently closed for maintenance) would be a better use of time!

taking refuge in the insect museum

taking refuge in the insect museum

leaf insect

leaf insect

stick insect

stick insect

March Holidays: Port of Lost Wonder

We hadn’t been to POLW in ages so we made our way there on the second day of our Sentosa getaway. The kids had a lot of fun because Adam’s at the age where he loves to dig in the sand and play with water.

It was a beautiful clear day, great for playing in the wet playground. We also had a nice shady spot under the trees to chill and have our lunch. The kids played like crazy then went back to the hotel for a long nap.

getting the sand toys in order

getting the sand toys in order

digging

digging

photo with mummy

photo with mummy

spraying water

spraying water

beautiful clear day

beautiful clear day

splashing his sister with water

splashing his sister with water

stepping on a spray of water

stepping on a spray of water

sliding down with Daddy

sliding down with Daddy

good times

good times

daddy makes a comfy seat

daddy makes a comfy seat

lunch

lunch

iced tea thief

iced tea thief

March Holidays: S.E.A. Aquarium

We visited S.E.A. Aquarium last Wednesday with Selena and her boys. I thought the aquarium was absolutely fascinating and the kids loved it too. The pictures below don’t do it justice but I guess it’s something you have to see for yourself to fully appreciate.

There was so much to see and we were there for a few hours. It was rather crowded when we were there, but not uncomfortably so. Since it was the March holidays, there were some activities for kids and that was Anya’s favourite bit. I would say the aquarium is worth the ticket price (we got a discount with our NTUC card) and also worth visiting more than once!

good view

good view

fascinated kids

fascinated kids

the kids loved the bit with the see-through floor

the kids loved the bit with the see-through floor

Ellery & Adam

Ellery & Adam

hello fishies!

hello fishies!

imagine having a tank like that at home

imagine having a tank like that at home

at the Discovery Touch Pool

at the Discovery Touch Pool

saying hi to Patrick

saying hi to Patrick

little blue fishes

little blue fishes

reading about dolphins

reading about dolphins

making friends with a crab

making friends with a crab

I find jellyfish fascinating and scary at the same time

I find jellyfish fascinating and scary at the same time

more jellyfish

more jellyfish

largest window to the ocean

largest window to the ocean

swimming endlessly in a circle

swimming endlessly in a circle

Anya and the fish

Anya and the fish

using a peg to 'eat' like a fish

using a peg to ‘eat’ like a fish

now with pliers

now with pliers

pretending to be a butterfly fish

pretending to be a butterfly fish

building up a 'coral reef'

building up a ‘coral reef’

picking trash out of the sea

picking trash out of the sea

cue music from Jaws

cue music from Jaws

trying to catch a shark

trying to catch a shark

outside

outside

an attempt to have all four kids in one picture

an attempt to have all four kids in one picture

March Holidays: Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa

We went to Sentosa during the March holidays and stayed at Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa. I really love the colonial facade of the building and the way it is done up inside with many upcycled old pieces and warm wood accents.

Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa is very conveniently located. It’s a stone’s throw away from Imbiah Station and it’s so central that we walked almost everywhere. Would definitely stay there again the next time we have a Sentosa getaway!

Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa

Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa

checking in

checking in

two seconds after entering our room

two seconds after entering our room

the kids had a splashing good time in the deep tub

the kids had a splashing good time in the deep tub

waiting for ice-cream

waiting for ice-cream

lots of woody pieces and greenery

lots of woody pieces and greenery

love the organic asymmetrical door handle

love the organic asymmetrical door handle

see-through pool

see-through pool

not a very successful family picture

not a very successful family picture

family in a fishtank

family in a fishtank

waiting to check out

waiting to check out

Anya’s 4th Birthday: RWS Adventure Cove Waterpark

We took Anya to Adventure Cove Waterpark at RWS after her birthday celebration in school. We were very blessed to have brilliant weather that day! We got there at the opening time of 10am and headed straight for Seahorse Hideaway to get ourselves a nice cabana.

one of the first few in line

one of the first few in line

cabana comfort

cabana comfort

chilling like a boss

chilling like a boss

It was a good thing I’d read Ling Siew’s post beforehand because the cabanas at Seahorse Hideaway are really near the shower and locker area. The wading pool is great for the little ones and the kid-friendly attractions are all nearby. I liked the all-day rental lockers ($10) because I could get my camera out for a few quick shots then throw it back into the locker before running off for more water fun.

ready to play

ready to play

Bluwater Bay (with photobombing lifeguard)

Bluwater Bay (with photobombing lifeguard)

Several rides and attractions required a minimum height of 107cm and Anya is a bit shorter than that but we still had lots to do. I enjoyed floating around in the Bluwater Bay wave pool. I found the waves very relaxing but Anya didn’t want to go near the waves at all. She was crazy about the Big Bucket Treehouse and would have stayed there forever if we didn’t drag her away. It’s similar to the wet playgrounds at the zoo and Port of Lost Wonder except that the ropes and pipes made me feel like I was on the set of Waterworld.

Big Bucket Treehouse

Big Bucket Treehouse

off to play

off to play

caught in the net

caught in the net

wheee!

wheee!

coming down another slide

coming down another slide

rinsing off

rinsing off

We got some food from The Bay Restaurant and sat at the tables near the Rainbow Reef for lunch. The food’s decent but not cheap. Anya had the kid’s fish and chips which came with a lunchbox, juice and dessert. The butter chicken rice was pretty good.

I’m not fond of snorkeling because I think live fish are a bit scary but I decided to give the Rainbow Reef a shot so that Anya could see me from the outside. You have to rinse off before entering and there are some simple instructions given at the start. It was pretty interesting and a good experience for those who have not snorkeled before.

what's for lunch?

what’s for lunch?

butter chicken

butter chicken

lunch

lunch

snorkeling in the Rainbow Reef

snorkeling in the Rainbow Reef

Another attraction that Anya really liked was the Adventure River. You basically get into a big float and drift down the river. There was a bit where we were floating under a tunnel with marine creatures swimming above us and that was pretty cool. I thought this floating around was a little bit too relaxing for my liking and spent most of my time trying to swim after Anya and ‘attack’ her.

floating down the Adventure River

floating down the Adventure River

Hi!

Hi!

Adventure Cove Waterpark is a fun place and it feels very safe with lifeguards everywhere and life jackets provided for all shapes and sizes. We had a good time but will probably stick to the other wet playgrounds for now, at least until Anya is tall enough for the other rides and attractions and Adam old enough to join in and have fun as well!

Sentosa Balloonaza

We went to catch Sentosa Balloonanza at Merlion Plaza last Saturday after our time at POLW. Really liked the balloon parade of stilt walkers in colourful balloon costumes of flowers and insects! The Samba Masala percussion band from SMU was also very entertaining.

Adrian and Anya in the hot air balloon

he made a Donald Duck balloon sculpture with moving eyeballs!!

a costume made out of balloons

Anya liked this pink butterfly

my favourite sunflower

Samba Masala