Last month, we had a weekend staycation at Sentosa to celebrate my birthday. It was a good time to refresh, rejuvenate and to recharge ourselves, and to visit the places which we wanted to see; The Underwater World (which will cease operations on 26 Jun 2016), Trick Eye museum and Universal Studios at Resort World Sentosa.
Our staycation began with a long queue at the reception at Hotel Equarius. It was a complimentary stay, which I redeemed for my birthday. The check in hour was 3 pm, and we arrived on time, but only to find out that the room was not ready until 3.30 pm. It was a short wait compared to the longer queue at Hardrock Hotel, which was just a stone’s drive from Equarius. The school holidays could be one of the reasons why the check in time took longer than usual.
Long queue at Hotel Equarius
The suite at Equarius is spacious enough for a small family.
Hotel room at Equarius
Lounge at the room
Bathroom at Hotel Equarius
Happy in his baby cot
Yes, are you looking at me?
The staff at Hotel Equarius didn’t prepare the baby cot in the room despite our indication during the booking. When we arrived, we reminded them again but there was still no sign of it. We had to call them again before we left the room to go out. Daddy was rather surprised to see that the cot was metal bed; he’s worried baby may knock his head while he lost his balance. To top up his surprise, the cot did not come with a blanket! So we had to use one of the spare adult blanket to keep him warm.
Our first stop for the staycation was the now defunct Underwater World. It was a Sunday on the day of our visit, the queue was extremely long. It has been quite a number of years since our last visit, and we thought it would be a good opportunity to bring our baby here to have a look before it closed its doors for good.
Baby looking at the big fishes
On the conveyor belt
The attraction was too crowded on our day of visit. We didn’t have much time nor space to appreciate the underwater exhibits. It was with much sadness that these older attractions had to make way for the newer ones. Goodbye, Underwater World.
Our next stop was the Trick Eye museum at RWS. We didn’t had the time to visit it while it was newly set up, and my hub was telling me I would be entitled to free admission on my birthday. So we paid one adult admission fee for a family of three. Great deal.
Giant meets the dwarf
Together on the flying horse
In the face of danger, will you save me?
I see that head on the table
We had so much fun at Trick Eye. By then, baby was snoring in his baby stroller and we took turns or got a passerby to help us take photos at the 3D exhibits. There were fewer people here and it took less than one hour to finish our round. However, if they do not update their exhibits frequently, it is very likely that it will fall out of favour with the visitors in no time.
We had a good buffet dinner at Starz restaurant at Hardrock hotel and a restful night at Hotel Equarius.
The following morning, we brought baby for a swim.
I look good in my swimsuit
Safe in mummy’s hands
The empty pool on a Monday morning
The pool at Hotel Equarius is situated where the private villas are. It looks really relaxed to be swimming here… but there is no wadding pool for babies. I had to hold him in my arms all the way. He appeared a bit fretful for a while but soon got used to the idea. If you are looking for a child friendly swimming pool, you should hop over to Hardrock Hotel – the pool looks so much more fun there.
At the entrance of Universal Studios
Our last stop for the staycation was Universal Studios. We had been talking about it since it first opened its doors some years back and this was our very first visit. We had been to various theme parks, and each time, we took more photos than the heart thumping rides.
Along the streets at Universal Studios
At the theatre
And we sat in the theatre and took one kiddy ride at the Madagascar area.
And took some photos with the Sesame Street characters
At the bottom of the roller coaster
The average queue for a single ride is about 30-45 minutes. We didn’t queue up for those. Many of the kiddy rides had a minimum height requirement and my baby was rejected by a few rides.
Eating popcorn
We spent our time shopping and eating popcorn.
Just a warning to those who will be visiting Lights! Camera! Action! (By Stevens Spielberg) attraction at Universal Studios: don’t stand in the front stalls if you have a small baby. My boy was crying frantically when the thunderstorm was re-enacted at the scene. My husband got splashed by the murky waters from below. It was quite a frightening sight for us.
The staycation has been a fun holiday for all of us and we are looking for more family outings!
