We’ve taken a looong hiatus from posting. We wished we hadn’t, but the adjustments we had to make over the past 6 months totally sapped us. Remember the 7-hour healthy sleep rule? Scrap that when Joel started primary school this January. We caught 5.5 hours of sleep on average, and we’d be fortunate if we could catch 6. Whenever there was a respite from the daily chores we’d find ourselves in energy-saving modes; our glazed sights gazing far but seeing nothing, our minds masked behind screensavers.
To veteran parents—we confess: we’ve underestimated the process of putting a kid through primary school. Share your secrets of maintaining one’s sanity if you have any.
To novice parents (like us)—good luck.
Anyway, we’ll save the details for later—maybe for another post. We want to break the hiatus with a more light-hearted post. And what’s a better start than to announce the good news that Amos GREW! Yes! Since our last post that little pixie has grown almost 5 centimetres! And it’s a big deal considering that his previous rate was like an inch in 10 years.
Apart from breaking the dry-spell, we spent our mid-year break at Sentosa over the past week, and the best thing that happened—well, apart from the historic summit—was that Amos became height-eligible for his very first ride at Universal Studios: the awesome Spaghetti Space Chaser! Yaaay!
And in the midst of it, he actually turned to Mummy with a thumbs-up, a dead-serious expression, and uttered, tersely but approvingly: ‘Fun.’
My first ride! Hi, Grover! Hi, Elmo! Look! I'm finally here!
This round we stayed an additional night, took things slow. Fortunately so because we have had to leave our excellent buffet dinners midway to put Amos on the toilet. Here, we discovered the hard truth: that with maturity and increased awareness comes new antics; in this case, him preferring to keep it all in because the toilet seat in the hotel room looked different from the one at home.
So we went on feeding him and his tummy went on collecting and compacting the stuff, until it had him squirming and tearing at the dinner table. Thus began our mad rushes back to our room, across the endless corridor, our slippers slapping the flooring so hard that guests might have thought that a fire was at hand. We got him to push, and pushed with him, literally, complete with sound effects, until sweat beaded our heads despite the air conditioning. Each time that nasty stuff took a peek outside Amos squeezed it right back in.
The ever-frustrating game of hide-and-seek lasted 40 minutes plus-minus, and because he was so stocked up with breakfast and lunch it had to happen during dinnertime. Twice.
Each time, when his bowels finally cleared with a resounding, victorious ‘plop’, we’d cheer like Singapore has won the World Cup. We’d have popped party poppers too if we had them.
A hard battle fought and won, we lumbered back to the restaurant, spent, ready for our dose of dessert. Our puckish Amos, now spared of his toileting turmoil, would flagrantly ask for cake and ice-cream. And no one around us would have a clue of what we’ve just been through.
Staying an additional night gave us time to hit the beach and visit places we usually didn’t, for instance, Fort Siloso. But we have to say—what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. It sated Joel’s sudden obsession in Singapore’s war history and immersed us in nostalgia, in a wartime atmosphere that felt surprisingly authentic. It wasn’t until then that we could truly appreciate the very commendable efforts that were put into restoring the fort and its maze of tunnels.
Motion-activated battle sounds augmented the fort’s atmosphere, and totally freaked the boys out, Amos especially. His face read of terror. He clung on to me like a koala, shrieked like a banshee and threatened to pierce my ear drums if I didn’t get him out of that haunted underground bunker or shut out the droning airplanes and whistling bombs.
What could I say? Sensory overload.
What history? Just get me outta here! Aaaahh!
So apart from Amos eagerly contributing to the harrowing sound effects, Fort Siloso afforded a very rich and rewarding experience overall. The Surrender Chambers exhibit was very well-kept and it featured an excellent automated guide using ambient lights and clear dramatic narration. Not forgetting to mention the wax figures and the intrigue they had on the kids. ‘What does a Japanese soldier look like?’ Joel would earnestly ask. ‘Or a British? Or an American?’ The answers were there—at the Surrender Chambers.
Worth a re-visit? You bet.
We’ve received quite a few amused comments about the timeliness of our Singapore Summit Staycation. Short of providing a live update on the event (which we apologise for failing to get close enough to Capella—not going to risk triggering nukes with 2 hyper boys), we are happy to report that disruptions were minimal. Well, except for a naval warship anchored offshore, police boat patrols and armed Apaches skimming the coastline, nothing much really happened.
A naval warship on the horizon. Feeling so protected.
What seemed to be a leisurely staycation with joyrides, disrupted dinners, poo-poo cheers, a history tour and a historical summit, a Nat-Geo moment spiced it all up with the (live) featurette of a monitor lizard swallowing a hapless bird. That dinosaur plucked it from a recycle bin where it was hiding, and what alerted us to it was its desperate chirping. We turned, just in time to see the lizard sliding out of the bin with the bird before attempting to swallow it in plain sight; feathered wings still outstretched and flapping from the corners of its jaws. They quickly disappeared. The chirping grew muffled, then died altogether. The lizard’s jaws yawned open, perhaps to burb, and out came a puff of wispy feathers (that’s right, it doesn’t just happen on cartoons. It’s real). Shortly after, a Caucasian family arrived and marvelled briefly at the reptilian predator before it vanished into the pond. They probably wouldn’t have if they’d seen what we saw. No one was there when it happened. We alone witnessed that.
Collectively we all sank into a brooding silence—in awe of that grisly performance. Amos, however, had been talking to a coin-operated joyride when it happened and was spared of the gore. Thankfully.
See the tufts on the floor? Those aren't dustballs, but whatever left of that poor bird.
Lastly, regarding the Singapore Summit, we were compelled to share about the elegant but under-publicised effort by the Sentosa administration to adorn, with lovely bouquets of flowers, the barrels of 60 artillery exhibits at Fort Siloso. Yes. Every. Single. Piece. Even the smallest ones.
The gesture is so evocative and simple that little needs to be said of it. Nevertheless, there was an explanation that accompanied each exhibit cluster. It said:
Peace Blossoms
All 60 guns at Fort Siloso, Sentosa, have been decorated with White Liliums, Pink and Champagne Eustomas, a variety of Gerberas and Olives in a symbolic gesture of peace in honour of the DPRK-USA Singapore Summit between the President of the United States of America, Donald J Trump and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Un on Sentosa from this week. Fort Siloso itself is steeped in war history, and is home to the remains of fortified military structures and tunnels that were used during World War II. These different flowers were chosen specifically for their representation as symbols of peace.
With that, we conclude our Singapore Summit Sentosa Staycation report and kudos to the Sentosa team for taking care of our treasured leisure island!
Photo credit (1st photo): Trip Advisor