We (to be precise, it was I… the family travel planner) toyed with the idea of doing a road trip all the way to Cameron Highlands. Some friends told us, “it’s doable! We have done it!” Some people said,”*Siao ah! So far!!!” Then we “downgraded” to Malacca. Another set of objections, “What’s 宝贝 going to do for the entire 4 hours?! Waste her life away in the car??!!”
Ok ok, fine! Elsie booked a room at One Degree Fifteen at Sentosa, why don’t we do the same?! My very efficient cousin got us the last room available for the weekend in a jiffy. So One Degree Fifteen it shall be!
We were supposed to pack the night before, but I got home really late and was too tired to pack. Just pack the next day then! Our “walking alarm clock” promptly woke us up at 645am and announced that she’s late for school!! “No school today, sweetie! We are going on a staycation!”
The packing went very smoothly. I have heard tales from my friends on packing for holidays. They would put the stuff in, and when they turned around, their toddler would “help” them unpack…. Really hilarious. Mine only tried to pack herself into the suitcase…
Getting all strapped up in the right place – the child’s car seat, and not the suitcase… All packed and set to go!
Managed to get everything done and met Elsie at her place’s *hawker center for breakfast. It’s a Good Friday morning and the place was PACKED!!! Why’s everyone up so early on a public holiday!!??
By the time we were done, the whole entourage reached Palawan Beach at 1030am. Yay!! Time for sand play!! We found a nice spot and unpacked the stuff. People were crowding around the central area and we couldn’t understand why. Why squeeze with crowd?! Hey! We are on holiday! But we soon discovered why….
We barely got started when darkness loomed….
We could literally see the angry clouds roll over like a huge wave and we were suddenly pelted by huge drops of rain. We bundled everything up and herded all the children to the makeshift shelter. Before long, it started leaking!! Then we understood why everyone was crowding in the central area.
1. There was shelter from the sun.
2. There was shelter from the rain.
Ahhh…! Ok we are noobs… We learn from mistakes! But first, we needed to bring ourselves to a dry place. We were on a leaking island. Duh… We carried the children, pulled the playmat over our heads and ran to the “koufu” nearby. Everyone was packed in koufu as it’s the only dry place that’s not leaking. Hey *STB, you need to fix your shelters! Argh!
Finally the rain eased a little but was still not “walkable” without an umbrella. So we decided to send one person out to buy an umbrella and drive one of the cars over to the bus stop which was linked by a “sheltered” walkway to where we were. We waited and waited at the bus stop…
“Do you notice that there are no private cars on the road? Just the Sentosa trams and buses?” Elsie remarked.
Uh-oh… I had a bad feeling about it. Sure enough, there were barriers preventing private cars from entering the roads… Change of plans! We hopped onto the tram which brought us to the Beach Carpark. It dawned upon us that we were supposed to park at the Beach Carpark and then take the tram to the different parts of the beach! AHH!! Stupid noobs we were!!
It was a relief when One Degree Fifteen called us to inform us that the rooms were ready! Finally a silver lining in the dark clouds, literall
We practically spent the whole morning running around, in and out of the rain… I was tired even before the vacation really started! Sigh…!
*Siao ah = Are you mad?!
hawker center = a place where all the good food congregates :p
STB = Singapore Tourism Board