July 2009
We stayed at a lovely beach resort on the Island of Sentosa which is a small Island off the south of Singapore. Sentosa means peace and tranquility in Malay, which is a good description of the island and I’d have to say, it has made for one of the most pleasurable Singapore stays I have had! Not only were we on a beach front resort with a wonderful pool, we had free bus transportation around the little island, with buses running every 10 minutes or so to different parts of Sentosa or across the causeway Singapore. The Singapore link bus conveniently drops you off in Singapore at a lovely waterfront shopping mall called Vivo City.
Veiw from our room
Sentosa is a wonderful option for an easy Singapore holiday. It has a lazy beach feel…which differs greatly from the frenzied city buzz of Singapore’s main island. Fintan surprised me with this special trip for July 4th…and I have to say after staying here for a few weeks, I feel rejuvenated and completely relaxed.
I have had walks along the beach, lazy days by the pool, many cold beers and ice teas (my new favorite being iced unsweetened black tea with a splash of skim milk), workouts in the gym, and glorious spa treatments! I have been stretched, my pores deep cleansed, exfoliated to perfection, buffed to a shine, covered in decomposed plants (a black mud), wrapped in plastic, heated to a high temperature, washed sparkly clean, massaged from head to toe with essential oils until soft and glowing, given a facial and continually misted with orange blossom water. With starters of ginger warm tea, a middle course of lukewarm water, and finishers of warm peppermint tea…to help along the relaxation, the detoxification and the re-energization of my mind, body and soul! My conclusion is that it worked!!
During one of our nightly beach walks we found the best ramen noodle restaurant, in my personal opinion, in all of Singapore on this little Island of Sentosa. It is a tiny shop in the very back of the Koufu food court…and they make one mean bowl of wanton ramen!! The best part, is they home make all their noodles fresh…this makes it super tasty. They start with a simple clear broth base; add in some homemade ramen noodles, pork wontons and some bok choy and last top with some fresh green onion. We also added a scoop of chili and a scoop of soy sauce to the broth for a little extra “kick”. Super simple and super tasty…I am going to try and recreate it at home…minus the pork wantons (I will have to find a suitable healthier option). We had many a lunch in this cheap and cheerful spot on the beach.
Another favorite spot on the island for us was the beach front restaurant Coasties. With tables and lounge chairs all along the beach in the sand, it is a delightful night spot. We enjoyed dinner of wood fired pizza and Cesar chicken salad and followed up by Mexican Negra Modelo beer at the Sand Bar (a bar on the beach that is also owned by Coasties). Service isn’t the best there, but they make up for that with atmosphere…who cares if you have to ask 3 times for Tabasco sauce when you are eating by candle light, on a beach, with sand under your feet, and waves crashing the shore behind you…and not to mention the food is great!
Happy 4th of July!
For our 4th of July celebration we headed to a place on the northern side of Singapore, where we met some friends of ours, Craig, Diane, and their 2 kids, at the American Association of Singapore’s 4th of July Celebration. This was a surprisingly big gig where about 5,000 people turned out to celebrate our national day! We ate American style, foot long hot dogs and cheese burgers and had pitchers of beer and margaritas…all while listening to live bands on a big stage playing the likes of Lynard Skynard and other great Southern Rock bands. The fireworks were also surprisingly quite good!! It all felt like I was back in America really! The weather held out also…so no rain on my parade!! We also got out photos taken with President Obama, First Lady Michelle and, of course, Hanna Montana! Thanks to Fintan, this 4th of July was very festive and special! We had a great time…and I am looking forward to another 4th of July overseas! ;)
Happy 4th!
Fireworks!
Movies
We went to watch a couple movies here in Singapore. First being Duplicity with Julia Roberts…and that was just okay. It was a bit hard to follow with the time jumps and all…not the worst movie I have seen, but by far, not the best! The second was Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3D. And this movie was great!! Super cute and super funny! There is something very special about watching a 3D cartoon on the big screen and eating popcorn with the one you love, while wearing googly 3D glasses!
Eco Go-Cart RideWe took this ride late one evening after dinner…and it was surprisingly fun and even more surprisingly romantic! It’s a must…but I think it was best at the time we did it…cooler at night and much less people. It is a crazy mad house during the day in the hot sun…we were alone on the track at night, with the fairy lights lit up and the sound of the jungle.
Tower View
We also went up the Tiger Tower (last year it was the Carlsberg tower, wonder what it will be next!) And the view was beautiful. We were even lucky enough to catch the fire display from the Songs of the Sea show while at the top! Spectacular! This was such a surprise of good fun for me! The view was much better than I thought it would be and I would definitely recommend this as something to do at night.
This trip to Singapore and Sentosa was a lot of fun…full of surprises and relaxation. I have to say, SE Asia is really growing on me!
Now I am ready to head back to KL and enjoy some home cooked meals!
