Omar Cruise 22nd to 24th Dec 2006


We boarded the ship 'Omar' for a 3D2N cruise to nowhere. I was glad that they were able to give me two connecting cabins with potholes. We only paid $592 ($198 for the adults and $98 for children) for the trip - much cheaper than my Sentosa trip and the meals are included. They also gave $50 voucher per adult which you can use to play the jackpot. We won $75 but my sons used up $50 playing the arcade games.

There is not much entertainment onboard. My sons swam in the pool with my husband - the pool is deep and the waves are strong ('tsunamis" - that's what my sons called them) - but they had fun. We went to the star lounge for the kid's club activities on the second day. It was opened from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. We left at around 2.30 p.m. and I heard that drinks and snacks were served after we left! My kids played monopoly there and I must say that it has a great view - 270 degree sea view. Nobody seems to be watching the video 'over the hedge" and the children were playing their own games while the adults rest on the sofa.

My husband loved the deck - though I felt that the winds were a bit strong and worried that my sons will be blown off the deck!

The food were good - quite a choice for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper but I realised that it is not Halal. This means that we cannot have a class gathering onboard - unless there are no muslim involved.

Chris got sea sick and I had to bring him to the doctor when we reached Singapore - it cost me $42! 2 Days later - that is today - Ian felt sick - gastric flu and I brought him to see the doctor. It pains me to see them sick. Hopefully they get well soon as School reopens next week.

Sentosa 18 Dec to 20th Dec 2006

We wanted to stay in Sijori for 4D3N but had to cut short the trip to 3D2N as it rained almost throughout the 2 Days!
The service in Sijori wasn't as good as the hotel we stayed in in Batam. Imagine, the housekeeping sent the extra bed (which we had to pay $60++ for the 2 nights) and told us that we have to make the bed ourselves? The beds seems small and like what my sons said "squeezy". When I asked for extra pillows, the lady said we had to pay for it! When we were in Batam, extra pillows and towels came with no extra charges and we actually paid so much lesser for the hotel room. The only thing which my sons like about the hotel is that there is a pool and they had the whole pool to themselves - of course - who would want to swim in the rain other than them?

However, Sijori is conveniently located next to the Merlion and you can actually reach Imbiah via a flight of escalators. It was fun at Imbiah. My sons enjoyed the 4D show - they were laughing throughout the show. I don't quite enjoy water being splashed onto my face and having such a bumpy ride though. They fell in love with the luge rides. They wanted a second ride but it started drizzling again... We also went into the Butterfly park and had the pizza.

The most costly part of the trip is admission to the underwaterworld - it cost us around $70 and though it also includes entry to the dolphin lagoon, we didn't manage to visit it as it was raining non-stop! The food was equally expensive and I spent almost $50 on the food and drinks. Frankly speaking for the amount I had spent in Sentosa - I could have afford 3 trips to Batam with my family!

Quite disappointed by the rain - we will go to sentosa again next year when the sentosa express is ready. There are so many other places such as Palawan beach which we have yet to explore. Anyway it is quite convenient for us now via the NEL. I had already subscribed to the Sentosa Islander membership for the family so we are allowed unlimited admission.

Batam 14th and 15th Dec 2006














Went to Batam for a 2D1N trip and stayed at the Panaroma Hotel. The service was good and the rooms were pretty comfortable. If you do go to Batam, I will recommend Panaroma Hotel if you do not need a good swimming pool. The pool was small and deserted and looked quite dirty. I heard the one at Planet Holiday is much bigger and maybe I will try that in my next trip to Batam. Never order the room service - the food isn't nice and is at least 4 times more expensive. It is much more worth trying the food outside the hotel. We went to this stall near the hotel. I love the Goreng Pisang (banana) and Tahu Goreng with Ayam(chicken stuffing inside beancurd and then deep fried) - It only cost RP75,000 ($1.30) for a box for the Goreng Pisang and RP120,000 for the box of Tahu Goreng Ayam (around 5 pieces) - I thought the price was for one piece and was shocked that they gave me 2 boxes! The stall is near to the Hotel with a big banner Goreng Pisang Crispy. I will really miss that! There is another food stall next to it and we ordered the mee goreng which was simply delicious and remarkably cheap at RP6,000 ($1)! I ordered the mee goreng in the hotel and it cost me RP40,000 ($7)! - the same for the fruit juice ($7)!

We were quite disappointed with Megamall - though it is big - it offers almost the same products as Singapore. We took a cab to Holiday Plaza instead.

I bought alot of shirts and pants for my sons - 10 sets and one for myself and a pair of pants (POLO) for my husband. They also had fun in the rides and games in the mall. If you want to buy cheapstuff and DVD - go to Lucky Plaza and Centrepoint. My son took their meals at the MacDonald at Centrepoint and we went to the restaurant on the second floor. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but they served good Nasi Goreng (Fried rice) and Nasi Kuning (yellow rice). The otah is nice but a bit hard - the Otahs are served on every table and the restaurant will charge you only if you eat them.

My next trip - 4D3N stay in Sijori Sentosa - will update when I am back.

My son's drawing





Chris drew the 2 pictures using the software paint!



Ian drew this using the software paint!




Pasir Ris Park 4 Dec 2006






I must really recommend adobe kodak gallery - sign up now for free. Upload is fast and u can even edit the border etce - like the ones above. http://adobe.kodakgallery.com/Welcome.jsp

Look at my photo gallery for the pictures I took at Pasir Ris Park. http://adobe.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=16n5tjhb.dv87h6j&Uy=-ipxafh&Ux=1

Pasir Ris Park

Providing the map of Pasir Ris Park - do visit the place - lots of things to discover other than the pony riding I mentioned. Go on the broadwalk and discover the creatures of the mangrove swamp. Rent a bicycle - go to the beach or go fishing in the fisherman village. You can spend a whole day there.