It was time to say goodbye to Penang for this trip. We were up at 06:30, had a shower and finished packing the last odds and ends. Then we headed downstairs and left our luggage at reception. We were outside the restaurant a few minutes before this was due to open. We were the first people to be seated. Breakfast was far from a leisure affair that day. We both had some coffee and pink guava juice. Graham had fruit, yoghurt, pastries, and fried egg on toast. I got some chicken congee, the crispy crepes that I had enjoyed so much during our stay, some tinned longans as well as a slice of pandan cake and some kaya toast. They also had the peanut butter ice cream that day. I had a scoop of that for good measure.
We were done by 07:30, retrieved our luggage and checked out. The front desk called a taxi for us. When we had asked the concierge the day before what time we needed to leave to comfortably make our flight, she recommended around 08:00. We were ahead of this even with a 10-minute wait for the taxi. It was a Saturday morning, and the roads were really quiet. Even with our driver taking a wrong turn at some point, it took us about 30 minutes to get to the airport. My heart sunk when I saw some of lines at the airport. However, the check in for Singapore Airlines was very quiet and we were checked in about 5 minutes later. I had a quick look at a couple of shops as I still had not managed to get a gift for my male colleagues, but there was nothing that I liked. The line for security looked impressive, but was moving steadily and 15 minutes later, we were not only through security, but also through immigration. We headed towards our gate. I left Graham there with our hand luggage and explored the shops near our gate. I managed to find some nice magnets. On my travel, I found a Starbucks and they had something that caught my eye, Asian Dolce Latte. I went back to Graham to ask if he fancied this. He was up for this. I got us both an iced Asian Dolce Latte. The sauce that is used for this is inspired by condensed milk and the coffee was delicious. Once we had finished our coffees, we took turns going to the bathroom. Soon after we were both back, boarding started. This was pretty smooth affair.
I could not believe my eyes when I boarded the plane. Above every third or fourth window, there was a Christmas wreath. I had never encountered a plane that was decorated for Christmas before. I took a quick photo and then we settled into our seats. We had another smooth flight. We were offered another pizza slice. Graham had his, but I passed. I did have some mango juice though. I started reading, but we had a beautiful clear day and for the majority of the flight, I looked out of the window. I know it is hard to judge an airline by a short haul flight, but we were pretty impressed with Singapore Airlines based on the two short flights we had experienced with them. I hope they will be just as impressive when we fly all the way from Manchester to Singapore with them later this year.
Our plane was parked at the far end of the terminal. We had a bit of a walk to the e-gates. It did not even register with me that I was not prompted to use my passport. I entered, looked at the camera, and the gate opened. It was only when Graham was told that he did not need his passport that I realised what was happening. It will be interesting to see if we will need our passports in November or if the e-gates still remember us.
Things really went like clockwork that day. As we entered the baggage hall, I saw my suitcase coming round. Graham’s suitcase was not far behind. Nobody was interested in us at the customs check point and soon we were back landside. This time round we knew where we needed to go to get a Grab. I also knew better than to rely on GPS and manually entered our pickup location. We only had a short wait. This time round, we were heading to Sentosa. It took us around the same time that it had taken us to go to the city. Once we approached the entrance plaza for Sentosa, our driver asked me for our hotel confirmation. I was not prepared for this, and it took me a little while to locate this. I will know this for this year and will have it downloaded and in my holiday files. Still, I had managed to locate this by the time we came up to security and we were waved through. I realised very quickly that there is a lot more to Sentosa than I had given it credit for based on our half day visit in 2019. At that time, we had stuck to Resort World, which was truly horrible. I had managed to get a really good deal at an eco-resort at Siloso Beach, which is why we ended up at Sentosa. I am so glad that we did.
When we approached the Siloso Beach Resort, it felt like we were in the middle of the jungle. This resort is nothing if not quirky and this definitely adds to its charm. The reception is around the back of the property. As the resort is built against a hill, it is on the 8th floor. We checked in. Our room was ready and was also on the 8th floor. The main accommodation building was linked to the reception by a wooden bridge. We headed to our room. This was very simple and the polar opposite to the Eastern and Oriental. However, the bed was comfortable and a decent size. It had everything we needed. We also had an interesting tree right outside our window and a partial ocean view. We figured that this would do nicely for a couple of nights.
We headed out to figure out the lay of the land. Siloso Beach Resort is the only eco resort on Sentosa. It has been there since 2006. They do provide a free eco tour most mornings, but we did not get the chance to attend this. It is high up the list for this year. There are however plenty of displays dotted around the around the resort that highlight some of the key features. There are some really cool design elements. A lot of the buildings are built on stilts to avoid digging and disturbing the roots of the trees that were on the property. Indeed, the design of the resort ensured that the trees were not disturbed. The pool looks gorgeous, but it was built in this shape to fit around the trees. The design incorporates trees into the some of the rooms, with many growing right in the middle of the rooms. The pool uses a sophisticated water treatment system with sophisticated filtration as well as a salt ionization process. The swimming pool is also used as a cooling tower for the chiller (the only system of the kind in Asia). The resort uses a total heat exchange system, which means that heat generated from the cooling system is captured and used for the entire resort hot water production. So, the hot shower in the rooms, the hot tub by the pool and also the lovely temperature of the pool are all a byproduct of the air conditioning. The resort also features the longest rooftop garden in Singapore. This is a beautiful space, and this will feature later in the trip report. The rooftop garden provides a significant energy saving. It also produces some of the herbs and vegetables for the café on the ground floor. The rooftop garden is fully sustainable. Food and vegetable scraps are taken to the wormery near the pool where the resident earth worms turn them into fertilizer for the rooftop garden. All those incentives are pretty cool, and I would feel inclined to support this resort just based on its green credential, but there was another thing that really attracted me to this resort. Siloso Beach Resort actively recruits staff with special needs. According to their website, about 15 % of their workforce has special needs. This figure seemed very low. Most of the staff in the café as well as some of the grounds and housekeeping staff had special needs. I thought this is a fantastic incentive.
We had a quick look on how to access the pool area and then we headed downstairs to the ground floor. The café and the laundry room were located there. The exit to the street was just past the café. Opposite the hotel was a stop for the complementary beach shuttle. There was also access to the local beach. Graham could not resist checking out the water. He said it was bathtub warm. The issue was that the sun was right overhead and it was very hot. I was not tempted. Graham did not stay in the water for long. We figured that if we wanted to swim in the sea, we would need to do so first thing in the morning. However, we never got round to this. Something else that pique my interest, but that I never got around to do something about was Scentopia. Scentopia is an interactive perfume museum with all kinds of displays. You can also create your own signature scent there for a fee. This is something that is right up my street. I may have to check this out later this year.
We then headed back to the hotel. Graham checked out the pool, but I decided to stay in the shade. I found a hanging chair in the shade. I did not quite get getting into the chair right on the first attempt and ended up on the floor. I did win this battle on the second attempt though. I just chilled out. Once Graham had enough watery fun, we headed back to the room. While Graham had a shower, I checked out what eating options were nearby. I came across the Ola Beach Club, which was not far. I showed Graham the menu and he was up for this. This turned out different from what I had expected. I thought that this was a proper restaurant, but it consisted of tables, chairs, and umbrellas on the beach. The website mentioned dining to the rhythm of the waves. The reality was somewhat different as the rhythm of the waves was completely obliterated by loud music. We did our best to tune this out. This should have served as a warning though.
As soon as we were seated, we were given a menu, but then it took a little while for somebody to take our order. Graham had a Mango Tango smoothie, which consisted of mango, passion fruit, and yoghurt. I had a Pan Pan Melo mocktail, which consisted of mango, honeydew melon, pandan, and vanilla ice cream. We both agreed that I had made the better choice as my drink was something special. Graham had been graving a burger and had the Cheesy Beef Burger with Bacon, which consisted of beef patty, cheese, bacon, egg, gherkin, tomato, lettuce, mustard mayo, brioche bun, fries, and salad. I was very happy when I spotted loco moco on the menu, which is something I developed a taste for on Oahu. Their version consisted of a Wagyu patty, Kombu rice, tempura egg, fries, and salad. This was delicious and hit the spot. Graham liked his burger, too.
We had been asked to pay when we had ordered. This meant that once we had finished our meal, we were free to go without having to wait for anyone. We headed back to the hotel. It felt like there was a thunderstorm brewing and we headed straight back to our room. Graham put the TV on, but there was nothing of interest. I opted to read my book. After a while, we got ready for bed. We could hear music from one of the beach clubs. I left the air-conditioning on to mask at least some of the noise. Eventually we both fell asleep despite the noise. When I wake up as I needed to go to the bathroom shortly after midnight, the music had stopped and Graham was fast asleep. I went back to sleep and slept through the rest of the night.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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