Shangri-La Garden Wing Staycation With Baby Ong

We utilized one of our SRV and booked a staycation back in March. To be honest, it was quite a good deal and we were looking forward to our first staycation with Baby Ong in June when she will be ~6 months old. Unfortunately, we were slightly disappointed with the whole experience for a couple of reasons - poorly managed booking/reservation of facilities and Phase 2 HA dining restriction (no fault of theirs). Anyway, after deducting SRV and other Traveloka promo, the total damage was just $178.80 for a 1-night stay at Shangri-La Garden Wing Deluxe Room including breakfast and lunch at The Line. 

To put things into context, a buffet lunch at The Line typically cost $68++ to $98++ per pax depending on the day of the week. The plan was to have lunch (Thursday) before checking in and breakfast the next day (Friday) and the reservation was confirmed back in March shortly after the booking above was made. However, a few days before the staycation, one of the staff called and told us that The Line is only opened for lunch from Friday to Sunday now (I'm guessing it is due to Phase 2 HA) and we will have to change our reservation. With no other option, we changed it to Friday reluctantly because who in the right mind would want to eat 2 buffets on the same day, one after the other? 

During check-in, we asked if it was possible to issue a voucher for The Line instead of having it on the same day as our breakfast and was rejected. That's fine/understandable but what was disappointing was we were only given instructions on facilities reservation/booking during check-in and when we tried to do it, almost everything was fully booked already. The initial plan was to bring Baby Ong to Buds and Splash Zone but there was only 1 slot available for Buds at 6pm and no slot available for Splash Zone until the next day 12pm. Immediately, CZM went back to the counter and asked if we can do late checkout the next day as that was the only slot available for Splash Zone. The staff said they were fully booked and will not be able to provide late checkout but was somehow able to help us book a slot for Splash Zone at 6pm -.- Next, we tried to book our breakfast slot for the next day and guess what? The only slot available was 6:30am -.- Compared to our previous staycation at Andaz as well as other reviews I have read, the hotel would typically provide the instructions to book the facilities before the stay and let the guests plan beforehand instead of shocking them after checking-in.

CZM and Baby Ong at the other table

Anyway, we reached around 2pm to see if we could check-in earlier but unfortunately not. So we went to The Rose Veranda for high tea and it was really good! Much better than what we had in Andaz and the portion was huge too.

The high tea menu

The Rose Veranda Signature Sandwiches

My main - Parmesan Crusted Chicken

CZM had the Braised Short Ribs and with one hand carrying Baby Ong, there was no opportunity to take any photo.

A single serving of 3-Tiered Desserts

There should be 2 of every item you see above but the waitress had already split it by half and CZM had her own tiered desserts too. The damage was around $90 including GST and service charge.

We went back to our room and look at how happy and excited Baby Ong was as though she knew we are on staycation and she can have lots of fun! We put her to sleep shortly before heading out for more adventure. In the end, we decided to head to Buds instead of Splash Zone as it was late and we were worried it might be too cold for her. First money saving tip - remember to bring socks for everyone! We had to buy 3 socks at $5 each on the spot and I was scolded by CZM because we already have so many socks which I bought from Shopee for just 10 cents. Anyway, there are different sections within Buds and most were not suitable for her. You can refer to this article for more information.

We put her in the ball pit and she was distracted by the other/older kids. When one of them ran over, we could tell she got afraid and we carried her out.

While exploring the other areas, we saw this treasure chest and wanted to plant her inside to take some photos. I am sure you can tell from her face, it didn't go as plan. lol. We concluded that she might be frightened by the older kids so we went to the toddler zone. We wanted to put her on the swing but for whatever reason, it was removed :( 

We had the whole toddler zone briefly to ourselves and could tell she was having more fun/feeling less stress/afraid.

Baby Ong crawling towards the ball pit. I hit a few balls away because I thought she was going to put them into her mouth. We left the place after 20-30 minutes and went back to the room to settle her (bathe, feed and sleep). Another money saving tip - don't bring a 6 month old baby to Buds. To be honest, we felt that Baby Ong was still too young to enjoy them.

We used to bring Donald and Piglet out and take nice photos but with a baby now, these will be the kind of photos going forward. lol. 

Since we will not be visiting the Splash Zone, we let her swim/play in the tub before bathing her. The initial plan was to have dinner at either Shang Palace or NAMI but we decided to just order room service due to the dining restrictions.

Dining together in the room with Baby Ong sleeping on the bed

Simple food but it is the company that counts. The next morning, CZM woke up at 6:30 am but since Baby Ong was still sleeping, she went to have breakfast first. Baby Ong woke up around 7:30 am and I waited for CZM to return before heading down for breakfast. The staff flipped through several papers but could not find my reservation. Then I explained to her it was at 6:30 am and that we were taking turns to have breakfast as the baby was still sleeping, she let me in without much hassle. 

Ordering of the food can be done through the phone except for the drinks. The selections felt quite limited. Off my head, there were laska, nasi lemak, and roti prata too.

That was all I had for breakfast, did not want to eat too full as there will be a second round of buffet for lunch shortly. Both CZM and I were not impressed and felt that the breakfast we had in Andaz was better. CZM wanted to point out specifically that the waffle she ordered was not crispy. lol.

We played with Baby Ong in the room, brought her out to walk around the area and put her to sleep again. Before we knew it, it was almost time to checkout. Our lunch reservation was at 12:30 pm so we called the reception and asked if we could have a slightly late checkout at 12:30 pm after all it is easier to manage a baby in the room but was rejected again. Oh well.

So we checkout at 12 pm and went to The Line and sat there for 30 minutes before they are open/start serving.

That was all I had. Did not order too much because we were not very hungry.

Lunch was definitely much better than breakfast and there were a lot more options too. One thing I didn't like was the lack of ability to customize the selection e.g. the Sashimi Set would always come with tuna and octopus when all I want is salmon. It was also extremely challenging to eat with a baby when one of my hands was constantly pressing/preventing her from biting the baby chair. Needless to say, I did not really eat/finish those crabs.

When we reached home, Baby Ong was so tired that she took a 3-4 hours long nap in her yao lan/baby hammocks. We still have another $100 SRV, should we do another tiring staycation? lol. Any recommendation for things to do with a 10-12 month old baby?

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app has made their sign-up bonus even more attractive (one free Apple share + one free Nio share with 5 trades + other benefits) and it has been extended to 2nd August 2021! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

Andaz Residence King Bed Suite Staycation

Yay, Donald and Piglet got to "travel" again this year! We still have a couple of RTW articles still in draft. Shall update and post them one day.

Anyway, we booked a staycation at Andaz Singapore as a celebration for CZM's birthday/wedding anniversary. There were so many options initially but by the time we finally decided to settle for one (CZM didn't want to waste the money but a staycation is the next best alternative right now), the best/better deals were already gone (e.g. Raffles Hotel Singapore – The Suite Life staycation (2 nights for $795+) and Andaz Studio Suite at an even lower rate than what we got ($245 nett with Amex promotion)). 

We wanted to book the Andaz Studio King Bed Suite ($370 nett) but it was already fully booked and we ended up paying an additional $20 more for the Andaz Residence King Bed Suite ($390 nett) which is of the same size (76 sq m/818 sq ft) but different layout. Fortunately, there was an Amex credit card promotion which allowed us to pay just $315 nett!

We received an email about 5 days before our stay providing more information including a link to book the swimming pool through their FB chatbot, Andy as shown above. Each booking is about an hour from 8am to 9pm and one can make multiple bookings (we book one in the evening 6-7pm and another one from 11am-12pm the next day). 

During our stay, the pool was never full (15 pax) and the staff was quite flexible in managing the access to the pool. We were not able to get a late check-out and went to the pool at 10am without any booking. The staff let us in after performing safe entry and informed us that we will have to leave once the majority of the guests with reservation arrived which was pretty reasonable.

The default/usual check-in time is 3pm. We tried our luck by calling Andaz in the morning (10am) to ask for early check-in on the basis that we would like to have it because CZM is pregnant and we would like to avoid the general crowd and longer waiting time. To be honest, we would have done it even if CZM wasn't pregnant. lol. Unfortunately, they could not confirm and we were told that they would call us once the option is available.

We went down to Bugis Junction for lunch and received a call around 1:30pm informing us that the room is ready. We walked over to the hotel, checked-in smoothly at level 1, and was assigned a room at level 28. From there, we had to first take a lift to level 25 before switching to another lift for hotel guests.

We were very excited because this was the nicest hotel room we will be staying at. We usually looked for cheap accommodation (3 stars hotel or Airbnb preferably less than $100 a night) when travelling overseas although we flew in First/Business Class.

Our room - 2814 (4D anyone?)

The room is huge and simply gorgeous! When we opened the door, the curtains automatically open up to let the natural light in which was pretty cool. 

The living room with freebies/souvenirs 

The same living from another angle

The king-size bed and the TV that was never switched on

CZM on the rocking chair with the gorgeous pool view/scenary

Bathroom with rain shower and bathtub

Double sink vanities in the bathroom

There is also a walk-in wardrobe between the bedroom and the bathroom which didn't look too fanciful, hence no photo. Other things worth mentioning:

Complimentary minibar with snacks

"Stolen from Andaz" slippers - To steal or not to steal. lol

Dyson hairdryer

Once we were done exploring the room and taking photos/videos, we headed down to Alley on 25 (at level 25) for high tea. There is an ongoing 1 for 1 promotion at $48++  using HSBC credit card and do remember to make a reservation! We did not make one and it was full, waited for about 15-20 mins before the staff gave us a seat.

Just for show/photo

You can look at the high tea menu here. There are a total of 10 items - a mixture of savory and sweet pastries in 5 tingkat + free flow beverages. Shortly after we finished the high tea, CZM's parents and brother arrived. Yes, you are allowed to have visitors in the day (2 registered guests + 3 visitors in your room during your stay. Visitors would be required to leave the room by 10PM). We showed them the Suite, the facilities, and went to Bugis to shop/walk walk. 

Guess where we went for dinner? Alley on 25! There was a 25% off as part of the staycation deal so we treated our family to a nice meal. You can find the dinner menu here.

Pizza Salmon - 28++

Linguine Gamberetti - $25++

Braised Lamb Shank - $35++

The Pizza Salmon was pretty normal, could not really taste the caviar as it was covered by the salmon. Our favorite pizza is still the Garlic Snowing Pizza from Mad for Garlic. The Braised Lamb Shank was not as good as what we had in New Zealand Pedro's House Of Lamb and the serving is slightly small for the price. Can't comment on the Linguine Gamberetti as I did not get to try it. 

After dinner, we went back to our room and everyone was trying to capture the night view of the city. lol. At one point in time, we even switched off all the lights in the room. They left before 10 pm and paid just $3.75 per entry (on weekends) for the parking at the DUO Tower.

Guess where we went for breakfast? Alley on 25! You can find the menu here. 

Egg Benedict, Guacamole Toast and Omelette with sides

Auntie's Laksa

Kaya Toast Set

Steamed Dim Sum

Vanilla Waffles

Egg Benedict and Guacamole Toast are probably our favorites. Auntie's Laksa isn't too bad but Queensway laksa is better. Will recommend skipping the Steamed Dim Sum and Kaya Toast Set (Yakun kaya toast is the best). Generally, we loved their breakfast menu (maybe because it was free and buffet-style). 

After breakfast, we tried to ask for a late check-out but was rejected. The usual check-out time is 12pm which wasn't ideal because our pool booking was from 11am to 12pm. So we went down to the pool at 10am without a booking and fortunately, was allowed to swim as mentioned above.

This is our first time doing a staycation and honestly, the experience was not too bad. It was pretty relaxing and there is no need to do any household chores! Having said that, I am pretty sure we will not be spending money on a staycation if we were allowed to travel. Oh well, part of the new normal.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

RTW to Peru - Sacred Valley

In my previous post (RTW to Peru - Cusco), I blogged about our first day in Peru and so much has happened since then. I guessed we were lucky to be able to travel before the COVID situation became so serious.

Not knowing how difficult or expensive it is to book a driver for a day, we pre-booked a driver for a day through Official Cusco Taxi prior to our RTW departure at USD 85. Unfortunately, we realized Uber is super accessible here and there are an abundance of tour agencies at Cusco downtown which offers a full-day tour to the Sacred Valley (Ollantaytambo, Pisac) at a significantly lower price (approximately 30 SOL per pax ~ 9 USD per pax). Damn.

Pisac Ruins Entrance 

But anyway, we started off with our driver driving us to a ticketing place located near Pisac to purchase the Cusco tourist tickets to Ollantaytambo and Pisac ruins for 70 SOL per pax ~ 20 USD per pax. He then drove us to Pisac ruins which is located high above the valley floor, approximately 1 hr from Cusco.

Somewhere in the ruins

We don't exactly what was the history behind it as we didn't hire any guide and there weren't many signs in English to explain the significance behind the artifacts. Suggest readers to read up (e.g. Exploring the History Behind the Pisac Ruins) prior to going there if you are feeling KPO like us. Lol. Anyways, it was a large compound and took us approximately 1 hour to complete the place.

Pisac Market

Next up, we headed to the Pisac market which is a vibrant place selling the local products like the typical Peru cloth, Llama figurines, and some pottery. We liked the place as the items are generally cheaper than other touristy places. To put things in perspective, we bought a magnet there which costs 4 SOL. An identical magnet sold at Machu Picchu costs 10 SOL. I also liked a drawing there which costs 450 SOL but decided not to buy it first. Unfortunately, a similar drawing of that size costs much more in other places e.g. 950 SOL at Machu Picchu.

Somewhere in the market

We spoke to one of the locals subsequently who told us that it will be recommended to visit the Pisac market every Tue, Thu, and Sun as there will be a bazaar going on, which means more to see at a cheaper price. 

Ollantaytambo Ruins with Llamas

We then proceeded on to Ollantaytambo ruins which again, we don't know what is the significance as we did not pay for a local guide. For anyone interested in hiring one, you can easily find them inside the ruins itself. We basically only know that it serves as an administrative center and a stronghold/fortress for the Inca. For more information, you can read up here -  The Only Peru Guide - Ollantaytambo Ruins. I almost died at climbing the Inca stairs and needed to rest every few steps, probably due to the high altitude. KPO, on the other hand, definitely looks like he has adapted well to the climate.

The view from the top of the ruins

Temple of the Sun

We did not manage to finish covering everything in 2 hours as the compound is way too big. After that, we headed to some housefly-ridden restaurant at Ollantaytambo to have a small bite as I was feeling too bloated from the altitude before heading back. If you are wondering why that place, every other food place there looks infested with flies. Turns out there is actually not much difference.

Although it sounded like a short trip only, the entire trip out from Cusco to Pisac and Ollantaytambo took us about 8 hours, attributed to the small lanes and slow traffic. 

We will be heading to Machu Picchu next (and with a guide this time round yay). Stay tuned!

You might be interested in these articles too:
- Our KrisFlyer Star Alliance Round The World (RTW) Trip Planning/Booking
- RTW to Mexico - Chichen Itza
- RTW to Mexico - Coba Ruins
- RTW to Mexico - Isla Mujeres
- RTW to Mexico - Tulum
- RTW to Peru - Cusco
- RTW to Peru - Sacred Valley

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

RTW to Peru - Cusco

In my previous post (RTW to Mexico - Tulum), I mentioned about our Mexico adventure. Today, we are heading to a place with one of the highest altitudes in the world - Cusco, Peru. In fact, the Cusco airport stands at nearly 3,300m and is said to be the top 20 highest airports in the world. To put things in perspective, the peak of Mount Everest has an altitude of 8,848m and Cusco is already more than a third of that.  Singapore has an altitude of 15m *facepalm*

To prevent altitude sickness from kicking in, we obtained a doctor's prescription and went to a pharmacy for altitude medicine prior to our trip. The pharmacist advised that altitude sickness usually kick in at 2,500 - 2,800m altitude. Hence, people going to places higher than that should start consuming the medicine 24 - 48hrs in advance prior to touching down. The side effect is diuretic, meaning it will cause you to want to pee more often. Oh well, still better than the symptoms of altitude sickness.

Anyway, we started taking the medicine the night before our flight to Peru. As there is no direct flight (Star Alliance) from Merida to Cusco, we had to layover at Houston first, then Lima. Lima is probably one of the more cui airports. When we touched down there at 10pm, it took almost two hours to clear the customs as there were simply too many people and too few counters. Once we crossed the customs, we see many tourists sleeping/sitting on the floors as the chairs were all occupied. Fortunately, KPO had priority pass so we managed to visit the lounge there to catch on some sleep before our next flight to Cusco at 5am. Oh yes, we also visited a sim card booth from Claro there which quoted us USD 59 for one week worth of unlimited data. And there wasn't any other plan available apart from that. Siao. So we decided to look for a sim card only when we reached Cusco.

It was a rather short flight and we touched down at Cusco at approximately 7am. As we stepped out of the plane, both of us were mentally prepared for the altitude sickness to kick in immediately such as experiencing throbbing headache. To our surprise, nothing happened! We had pre-ordered a taxi (emailed Felipe from Cusco Taxi) to fetch us from the airport to our hotel for US$8. The taxi was punctual and in fact, waited for us for some time as we needed to sort out some administrative stuff inside the airport first. 

We booked our accommodation at Hilton Garden Inn Cusco and were really glad we got that as most of the buildings appear to be pretty rundown. KPO managed to do the (BRG) best rate guarantee trick and managed to get it at a really good price of SGD 84 per night. And because we stayed for 4 nights, he can become a Gold Member through the Hilton Honors Visa Fast Track to Gold promotion (no longer available).

The moment we stepped into the hotel, we were offered coca tea by the staff, which we understand is the local way of overcoming altitude sickness. The taste is rather unique but not bad. I like it. Unfortunately, I don't think we're allowed to bring back to Singapore as it is only legal in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. This is because coca leaves contain alkaloids which are used to produce cocaine and can result in a positive drug test for cocaine >.<

Once we were done checking in, we decided to explore the town centre, which is located close to the hotel. We ate at this restaurant - Limo which serves Peru-Jap fusion cuisine with a view of the Plaza de Armas. It was by far the best food we have eaten on this trip! We ordered the chef recommended Trucha Yakimono which is basically fried salmon steak drizzled with their local sauce. The taste is very unique and almost felt like there's coca leaf taste in it too. We also ordered the local Peruvian sashimi Tiradito, Chizu Maki and ended off with their chocolate cake dessert. They are all fabulous. 

Inside the restaurant

Trucha Yakimono - grilled trout covered with some sauce

Japanese Tiradito - salmon and tuna with crispy fish skin 

Chizu Maki - crunchy prawn, avocado, flamed cream cheese and some sauce

Peruvian Cacao - Chocolate and coffee dessert

We also visited the Plaza De Armas, Cusco Cathedral and Qorikancha museum. All of them located in downtown and within walking distance. In fact, we managed to cover all of them by about 3pm and returned back to the hotel rather early to catch up on some sleep. 

Plaza De Armas

Cusco Cathedral

Qorikancha

Since we went back to the hotel pretty early, we decided to head to the restaurant to claim our welcome drinks which is a choice of either their local cocktail - Pisco Sour or lemonade.

It somehow became a proper meal/dinner when the waiter started recommending more local food such as chicharron (fried/crispy pork), alpaca meat (low/no cholesterol) and baked guinea pig. The food KPO wants to eat is almost as risky as his investment style and we ended up ordering alpaca meat.

I did not really like it due to its unique flavor (similar yet somewhat different from mutton) and the thought of how cute they are. KPO finds them alright but not fascinating, definitely not ordering it again...

Will be visiting Sacred Valley, Pisac market and Ollantaytambo ruins tomorrow. Update you guys soon!

Our Google Timeline

You might be interested in these articles too:
- Our KrisFlyer Star Alliance Round The World (RTW) Trip Planning/Booking
- RTW to Mexico - Chichen Itza
- RTW to Mexico - Coba Ruins
- RTW to Mexico - Isla Mujeres
- RTW to Mexico - Tulum
- RTW to Peru - Cusco

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)