By the grace of God, we managed two short family vacations this year. Why two? The first was to celebrate my 50th birthday in July (1st – 4th). And the second was to celebrate the end of PSLE (Round #6!) and the MOE-mandated P4 exams (Round #3) on 9th – 10th October.
Two Celebrations
I never got around to blogging about my 50th birthday because I felt tired more than anything during that season and no, it was not because I was sad that I am now 50.
Unlike most, I actually revel in telling people I am 50. Weird, I know. But if you have read this blog long enough, you’ll know that I am well acquainted with being weird and a little off.
The thing is regardless of the fact that I revel at being 50, I cannot ignore the fact that my body is ageing and it is not as physically or mentally resilient as before. I now take a much longer time to recover from any activity. And so I had left for the break tired and returned from it as tired, if not more.
Club Med Bintan, Again
Since I did not want any grand birthday party to mark turning 50, Henson suggested taking a short break with the whole family at Club Med. Plus it was the last time we could go anywhere off-peak as a family this year. The two older children were starting school in August.
As I have written before, Club Med, Bintan is a familiar playground for the children and their wide range and availability of food almost 24/7 is always a winner for our big eaters.
Trapeze Tricks
In theory, I did nothing there. But like I said – I started the vacation tired and so, just sitting, watching and videoing the children try the trapeze tricks was tiring. Don’t laugh.
They all loved the challenge of doing as many new and different tricks up on the trapeze each time we return to Club Med. And they are really good and very determined to try everything they could try. This meant that we were mostly sitting around and waiting for them to go up and do their tricks every day.
So while I did not have to cook or clean during those four days there, I did not end up feeling refreshed.
However, it was nice to just get away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore as well as have a chance to spend time with all the family. It really gets harder and harder to spend time together as a family as the children grow up and fill up their own calendars.
What we really appreciate about Club Med Bintan is that the children are very familiar with it and so we are able to let them just roam around on their own and just tell them to report for meals at a certain time.
Birthday Song (and Dance)
And then I got an impromptu song and dance (haha!) item from the older three children in the hotel room.
They sang Ben Platt’s In Case You Don’t Live Forever and totally made me cry. I must be tired and emotional.
I tell you, it was the chorus that opened the floodgates.
In case you don’t live forever, let me tell you now
I love you more than you’ll ever wrap your head around
In case you don’t live forever, let me tell you the truth
I’m everything that I am because of you
I know, kinda morbid but it’s sweet too. And then they gave me a card with lots of sweet stuff in there. [Read the note on the envelope. It is hilarious!] It is nice to be appreciated even if it is just once a year.
Post PSLE and P4 Exam Celebration
Then once we were done with that short break, it was all systems go for PSLE and P4 exams prep. And then it was all over. Yay! No more thinking of exams for a while.
So far, we have managed to go away after every PSLE. Usually to nearby places like Genting Highlands (2010), and Club Med (2014, 2017) and twice by God’s grace to Australia (Perth in 2012 and Gold Coast in 2015).
This time around, circumstances were such that we could not go away as a family after PSLE.
As mentioned, the two older ones had started school at NUS in August, and Henson and the middle children were away for a ministry trip in Perth (#envious) during the PSLE period. We did contemplate bringing the two younger ones to join them in Perth after PSLE but in the end, we did not.
There were a few factors involved, including the fact that October is the start of the fly season over at Perth. If you have experienced the flies in Perth, you’d know why I preferred not to visit it then.
A Staycation
But we still wanted to celebrate the end of PSLE. So we decided to book a 3-day, 2-night staycation with D’Resort @ Downtown East and bring the two girls to enjoy Wild Wild Wet. It was a good decision.
Entry into Wild Wild Wet is FREE for D’Resort guests if one used the NTUC Plus! Silver card to book the rooms. This was a great blessing. So we went to the waterpark every day.
The rooms at D’Resort were nice, bright and clean. The last time we stayed here was back in 2004 or so. Back then, they were known as NTUC Chalets and the amenities and rooms were super basic.
When I booked the rooms, they were having a 40% staycation discount for selected rooms. Of course, meals are not included in the price. We just took the short and pleasant walk to the nearby Downtown East Mall for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Wild Wild Wet
It was our first time there and the girls had a blast going down the slides and rides over and over. Because it was off-peak season, there were barely any queues. We went on most of the rides once but the daredevil child went multiple times on the more thrilling ones like the Vortex, Free Fall, and especially Torpedo.
She was also the one who went on The Abyss at Perth’s Adventure World four times! And that was when she was 9. She was really sad that she could not go on the Royal Flush ride which had a minimum and maximum weight limit. She was 2kg too light.
All in all, It was great staycation at a great price. Highly recommended! Especially if you could get the free entry into Wild Wild Wet. But no, no rest from this staycation either. I got a nice tan, though.
Year-End Vacation
And that wrapped up our vacations for the year. We won’t be going anywhere for a while, except perhaps a trip to Malaysia for a church camp retreat in June.
Hope your year-end vacation, if you are taking one, is as fun and memory-making as ours had been.
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