The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps
“How is it to travel around France with children?” I asked a friend who had lived in France. “Paris is not really a kid-friendly city. It’s hard to push a stroller around because there are many steps and squeezy small restaurants,” she advised. I was …
Paris was okay, my friend said, I like (insert another European country) better. Other lukewarm responses came from family and friends who had visited Paris. We heard things about the French people too, especially their attitude towards the Chinese race. According to a friend who …
Family and friends generously dish out tips on being safe in Paris, such as how to spot suspicious characters, or how to guard our belongings against pickpockets. Over the years, I have also heard a fair share of horror stories about Europe.
So before a trip to France, it’s always good to read up and be aware of the tactics of pickpocketers and scammers. Read on for some good tips or jump to the section you prefer:
As the Chinese saying goes, 知己知彼 百战不殆 (translated as “Know yourself and your enemy, and you will win every war.”). Here are some articles for you to understand the tactics of the “enemies”: pilotplans.com/blog/is-paris-safe, fr.usembassy.gov, www.tripsavvy.com, bonjourparis.com.
I’ve summarised some of the travel tips from the articles. Though the list below is not comprehensive, it will help to make your trip to France safer and more enjoyable.
If you have unfortunately become a victim of crime,
I was always looking behind my back. “Stay close to me”, I kept telling Grace. The many warnings and safety tips about Paris had made me hyper-vigilant. In contrast, we were more relaxed when we went to Belgium previously with two-year-old Grace. We were nonchalant about the city being famous for pickpockets, but thank God nothing happened to us. Perhaps ignorance is bliss because this time I was on such high alert that Grace picked up my fear. She felt Paris was a dangerous place filled with many bad guys. Oops, my bad.
My takeaway, be cautious, but don’t be too focused on the “enemies” that you take the joy out of your holiday. Enjoy the beauty of the city and not the potential ugliness of it.
“Hello, miss”, I turned to the voice and jolted. A face was at a palm’s length distance from mine. The man was of a medium build, with ruffled hair and rugged clothes. We were surrounded by train passengers making their way to the platform, yet I felt unsafe. A red alert flashed in my mind, “So fast?! We just arrived in Paris and– what does he want?” Alone with my two girls, I was attempting to carry a small rolling suitcase up the stairs and follow my husband who was lugging up our heavy luggage.
“Do you need help with the luggage?” he asked and I heaved a slight relief inside of me. I thought he had wanted something from me. I had mistaken a kind man for wanting to help. Then again, in hindsight, I was not sure if it was genuine help, or if it was a distraction attempt to pickpocket. I hate to doubt but it’s hard not to with all that I’ve heard about Paris.
Another time, I was standing alone with the girls on the streets. We were waiting for my hubby. “Excuse me,” a couple who looked like tourists approached us for directions. “Yes? I am not sure where it is, sorry,” I replied and turned to walk away with my girls.
I took being able to blend in like a local as a compliment and was basking in joy when suddenly it dawned on me. That could have been a distraction and an attempt to pickpocket. I suspected even though there was no one else besides us and the couple. Now you see, I became highly suspicious of strangers in Paris talking to me.
On another occasion, I was alone with Grace and the sky had turned dark. We went ahead of hubby and Joy because we had wanted to take photos with the Centre Pompidou lighted up in red. Taking it from different angles, we somehow ended up in a shadowy corner of a tree. It was not a deserted corner, but one beside a pavement of pedestrians and with shops lining the side. An unkempt man walked towards us, staggering occasionally, muttering something. I couldn’t hear and didn’t want to know. I grabbed Grace’s hands and whisked us away from him.
The above three incidents happened when I was alone with my children, but nothing really quite happen to my hubby in Paris. So if you are a lady (with or without children), be cautious!
Somehow it’s amazing to see characters mentioned in stories and warnings coming to life in our travels. They are real. We were approached by people to do surveys. Ignore them, someone had cautioned me, or tell them you don’t know how to speak English. We saw them near major attractions such as Arc de Triomphe.
Be careful of the Gypsy mother and her children. This warning flashed in my mind when we crossed paths with this exact combination in Strasbourg (France). A woman was sitting at the side of the road and two young children squatted in front of her and blocked our view on what was on the floor — were they counting money in a bowl, or playing with something else?
We were walking toward them and wanted to see what they were doing. We got close enough and right before we could glance at what was on the floor, the two children jumped and ran away from the lady right before us. It caught us by surprise, and all of us stopped in our tracks. Naturally, we would watch on with curiosity and let our guards. My children were especially curious and easily distracted too.
Good thing, a warning of such an incident came to mind and I, firmly or rather fiercely, shouted at my children in Mandarin to move on and keep walking. My shout scared my children and the other two children. I did that on purpose to throw any pickpockets off guard with my unexpected response. The timing of the children running away felt so calculated. So I rather look like a crazy mother and be safe than sorry.
A police officer patrolling the platform of Châtelet station came to us and said, “Excuse me, tourists? Keep your belongings in your pocket, there are many pickpockets in this station.” Ironic though, shouldn’t I then not put them in my pockets? We walked away and I thought of how much we stood out as tourists that a police officer had to approach us.
A day later, I was back at the same station (Châtelet) by myself. I alighted the train with the crowd and noticed this group of tall guys standing in the middle of the platform and blocking the way. I walked past them and climbed the stairs behind this elderly man with his cabin luggage. Another man caught up with him and walked near like they knew each other, father and son perhaps. The son looked like he wanted to talk to his father, but soon he turned around and signalled “nothing” to someone far behind him. He continued his way and walk ahead of the elderly man.
Did I just witness a pickpocketing attempt? Did I see his hand near the elderly man’s pocket? Did it go in? Was he signalling to that group of tall guys at the bottom of the stairs? Then I remembered that this was the station that the police officer warned us about. Good thing I was cautious and had my hands in my coat’s pocket, holding on to my handphone.
Although there were brushes with suspicious characters, thank God we didn’t lose anything or were hurt in any way during our trip to France, especially in the extremely crowded Christmas market at Strasbourg. Phew!
Looking for more tips on travel, home, and baby? Subscribe to my mailing list and be sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube! If you like what you read here, keep it going with a small support too. :)
Disclaimer: JoogoStyle and Christina accept no liability (whether in tort or contract or otherwise) for any loss or damage arising from any use, misuse, inaccuracy or omission of the information or other contents published on this website.
“What’s your favourite food in Paris?” I asked the family. My husband and I voted Falafelat L’As du Fallafel unanimously. The runner-up for me is the burger we had at Alfred (Chessy Val D’Europe), it’s good, but we can find such quality in Singapore too. …
A year after my Review of Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa (Family Staycation), here’s the post on the yummy food we ate during our staycation. I forgot to follow up until a friend’s request, so here goes! Hope it gives you some ideas on …
Last year, we went to Changi CSC for a foodie staycation. Few months later, we needed another break, an escape from our daily grind. So off we went to Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa (“Rasa Sentosa”) from 12 – 14 April 2021 (Mon-Wed) for another staycation. The SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (“Vouchers”) gave us an added incentive to book a staycation this time. Speaking of which, please use the Vouchers before they expire in December 2021.
Head over to my previous articles for inspiration to use the Vouchers in Sentosa, or for tips to save even more with the Vouchers. For example, go through Shopback to redeem your Vouchers on Klook or Trip.com, and get more cashback! Earn S$5 cashback when you sign up using this referral link and spend S$20: app.shopback.com/WJbbfDF4zeb.
So will I recommend Rasa Sentosa for a staycation? Let’s find out!
Changi is quite a distance from the usual city bustle, but we decided to go South this time to the State of Fun, SENTOSA! Another island, another feel. I chose Sentosa because I wanted the children to dip their toes in the sea and the sand. Feel the sea breeze in their faces and bask in the glory of vitamin D.
Instead of exploring the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) area, where we had been an umpteenth times and a staycation once, we decided to go for a beach staycation. But if you are going to RWS, remember to use your Vouchers for Universals Studios, S.E.A. Aquarium, Madame Tussauds, and Adventure Cove Waterpark (re-opens on 12 May 2021).
I never knew Sentosa is so big, or at least big enough to have so many hotels! I came up with a quick snapshot of the hotel situation in Sentosa, “Hotels in Sentosa Singapore – Which One to Stay in?“. In the post, youwill find a list of hotels in Sentosa, along with a short summary of each hotel. Take a look and have a better idea which hotel suits you the best!
Of all the hotels near the beaches of Sentosa, we chose Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa because it is famous for being family friendly. Moreover, it is the only beachfront resort in Singapore, that is having direct access to a beach.
If you plan to explore Sentosa without a car, Rasa Sentosa is not a good base as it is at the westernmost of Sentosa, quite far away from most things. However, if you plan on driving around, then the hotel’s location is not much of a concern. If it helps, there’s a shuttle bus to bring you to and fro between the hotel and harbourfront MRT.
The hotel is up on a hill and so to travel out of the hotel on foot, we had to walk down a slope and up again when we return. Head to the bus stop at the foot of the hill and travel around Sentosa by the Sentosa buses.
Otherwise, walk a bit further down to Siloso beach and hop on to the beach tram and head towards one of the beach bistros or more affordable options at Beach Station. For one of the lunches, we went to Quayside Isle, but we had to either take the bus or tram to the Beach Station where we can find Sentosa Bus B to bring us there.
But no worries, you can find quite a bit of food found around the Beach Station, also the interchange of Sentosa transportation — Sentosa Express, beach tram and Sentosa buses. We took the tram to the Beach Station so many times that we’re familiar with the stretch of Siloso beach by now, heh.
We booked the room through Klook, one night with SRV, one night with the Klook S$50 voucher. Now they have changed the options to 2 nights. Otherwise, you can get 5% off your booking when you book here at Klook without SRV.
Upon the reservations officer’s advice through emails, we upgraded the room before we checked in. This room is supposedly most suitable for 2 adults and 2 children below 12 years old because of the double sofa bed in the room. Having a “complimentary” sofa bed in the room is best for us because EX usually sleeps in her own room, so sharing the king bed could be challenging for us.
Before you arrive, you will get an email where you can request for any extra services or a room upgrade.
“The hotel is especially crowded for a Monday,” I commented to the housekeeper setting up the sofa bed in the room. The check in queue was super long at 3:00PM (the check-in time) and he took a long time to come set up our room.
Thank goodness I booked a 3:00PM slot at the hotel’s indoor playground, mini toots club. So while the daddy was busy queuing up to check in, the sisters went to play and be entertained. You can try to reach earlier than 3:00PM to beat the check in queue though.
“It is crowded like this on all days, because people can’t travel lah,” the housekeeper replied. He went on to mention how he hasn’t been back home in Johor to see his three young kids for almost a year now. The youngest is 3 years old. Hearing him made me feel thankful that I can spend time with my children, even though it can be hair pulling most days.
When we finally got our room, EX quickly got changed for the pool while I waited for the housekeeper to bring the cot and set up the sofa bed. I pat myself on the back for booking 2-hour of pool time at 3:00PM too, because after a short while at mini toots club, it got boring for the almost 4-year old EX. Toots club seems more suitable for her but age limits kept her out. Earlier on when EX saw the pool near Toots club, she immediately went, “I want to go to the pool. I want to go everyday!” At least she got about 45 minutes in the pool on her first day.
When we got to our room, the cot was nowhere seen, the sofa bed was still a sofa. I expected them to be set up before we arrived. Moreover, it seems like the receptionist saw our request only when we checked in and said she would arrange. Erm, what’s the point of us requesting beforehand? The receptionist also asked if we wanted to set up the cot because with sofa bed in the room, it could get squeezy. Erm, the reservations officer we were liaising with in the email didn’t mention this?
The saving grace was that the husband was impressed by the receptionist’s service, saying she’s the best receptionist he has ever encountered. No wonder she’s the service manager.
Anyway, I was quite frustrated because I planned to have JBL nap once we got our room, and the delayed check in didn’t help. So after waiting fruitlessly for about 15 minutes, I called the housekeeping to come ASAP with the cot. Almost half hour later the housekeper came with the cot, and then was rushing off somewhere. Good thing I caught him before he stepped out, “Is someone else coming to set up the sofa bed?”
“You requested?” He asked.
“Yes,” I said calmly, but yelled with frustration in my heart. Yes! Seems like the online team is not communicating with the housekeeping, but the receptionist. On hindsight, the online team suggested sofa bed room for my family, and I assumed they will naturally set up the sofa bed. I should have been more explicit with my requests (and timeline).
He asked me to give him a while, but I said I needed to put JBL to bed now.
“Okay, please give me five minutes,” he said and came back ten to fifteen minutes later to turn the sofa into a double bed, and lined it nicely with the beddings.
I finally put the overtired JBL to nap and was feeling quite appalled by the end of it all.
On a good note, the media team prepared a pleasant surprise for us, a fruit plate and a basket of food. At least in my waiting and frustration, I could munch on them. The team knew we were coming, but just so you know, this post is not sponsored in part or in full, and all opinions are entirely my own and genuine. In any case, I saw a Klook review where the hotel prepared a birthday cake and greetings on the bed because one of the guests was celebrating birthday. So do mention to the reservations team if you are having a celebration, you never know!
The room has that old school luxury feel and decor — the 5-star hotel room with its full set of amenitites. Love the mini colgates. ;P The room interior is not spanking new, but it is well maintained. It’s been long since I stayed in a hotel room with a huge ass bath tub where I could fit in with the two kids. It was also a perfect tub for our bath bombs to explode.
There’s also a shower area for those who need a quick wash instead of a soak.
The king size bed was cushy for us to laze in and a cosy place for JBL to snuggle and relax in.
The balcony is my favourite place to sit out for the pool and sea view. Interestingly, once we opened the balcony door, the air conditioning in the room would go off. We didn’t close the door well on one occassion and kept wondering why our air conditioner stopped working. It’s a good initiative to go green and save the electricity though.
EX usually loves going out to explore, but she loves this room so much she didn’t want to head out for dinner, asking us to pack food back to eat or order room service. I was tempted to laze around and order room service too, but the price is way too high for my liking. I can’t see myself spending $20+ for an Asian fare I can easily buy from the hawker center.
The downside of this Deluxe Pool View Room is its location. This room type is only located from levels 3 to 5, where I get more of the pool view than the sea view, as the room name suggest. I reckoned the view to be more magnificent if we are on higher levels. Nevertheless, it’s still a good view from our balcony. So do book one of Rasa Sentosa’s balcony or terrace-rooms that overlooks Siloso Beach and enjoy the view.
Our room is located at level 5, the same level as the hotel’s main entrance and lobby. Hence, we didn’t need to scan our key card in the lift to get to our floor, but at a glass door that leads to our row of rooms. A good measure to prevent unauthorised access.
However!
From level 3 to 5, the rooms are also at the same level as other hotel facilities. With gym at our floor, guests from other levels can still access our glass door and reach our rooms. Since our children sleep early at around 8PM, I requested a quieter room where we could be further away from the gym and the glass door. I didn’t know that meant a long walk down the row of rooms, and we were still not at the end of the spectrum. No kidding, it’s really a long corridor. At least it’s quieter with less foot traffic.
By the way, the glass door is heavy and doesn’t swing easily. But that’s not the problem. It’s the fact that there are only steps and no slope for us to get to the glass door when we come from the outside! Think of stroller, luggage, and wheelchair?! It’s not only us, I saw another father carrying a stroller of a sleeping baby down the steps too.
Given how family friendly this hotel is, and how this type of room at this level is recommended for families with young children, I am surprised at this inaccessibility. This can be easily solved with a ramp. Oh, they do have a ramp, but it’s only for their staff, the bell boys, to push the luggage trolleys. When we check-out, we saw the staff door to this ramp closing and hurriedly opened it to use the ramp for our stroller and luggage. Much easier.
We had to prebook all the facilities in advance and timeslots were re limited. Moreover each room can only book each facility once per day. With a baby and toddler, pre-booking of time slots is not the most ideal for us. With the fluidity of our baby’s nap schedule, it’s hard for us to pin down an hour by hour schedule. We did our best to plan, and thankfully our schedule worked out fairly well with the bookings.
Book early to get the time slots you want!
Hubby wanted to book the gym after the children went to bed. But the earlier time slot (8:30PM) at night were fully booked on two nights. So he went for a later timeslot, expecting a crowd, only to find an empty gym.
The facilities catered to children is what make Rasa Sentosa popular with families.
As mentioned earlier, there are two indoor playgrounds catered to different age groups: mini toots club (aged 4 and below) and toots club (5-12 years old). Not an active child? There is also an Arts & Craft room for your child to do craft work. We didn’t have time to sit down for crafts and so requested for one of the craft kits they provide. It’s a DIY Colouring tote bag with markers. EX had fun with it in the hotel room while we were busy packing our luggage.
Nestopia at Siloso Beach is also managed by Rasa Sentosa. It is an outdoor playground with over 17 sections and obstacle courses for children. The ticket is priced at S$10. A saving tip, book with SRV child’s subsidies of S$10 and you get to go for for free! Book via Klook or sentosa.com.sg. It’s not as big as I thought and we saw a similar play structure when we went to the new eco playground of Botanic Gardens. But hey, it’s free, so why not?
Next, a hit with the children — swimming pools! We could never make it on time for our early time slot for the pool because our breakfast usually took longer than expected. Our pool time was cut short as a result. Thankfully, we had consecutive time slots for the pool and beach on the second morning. Once we were out of the pool, we made our way to the beach for more water play. The children’s pool was always sandy, so I assumed other people headed over to the pool to have more fun after their time on the beach.
I would highly recommend booking the beach and pool as consecutive slots. The pool and beach are side by side, and so with consecutive slots, you get to extend the kid’s water play time. Compared to two separate trips, there will be less wash up too.
Other than the pool, there are slides and water features for the children. The water slides might be more suitable for children aged 5 and above or for those who are brave at heart. Adults are not allowed to accompany the children down the slides. EX tried a slide once by herself after much nudging. She didn’t slide down fast because of friction, yet she’s not interested to try again.
Rasa Sentosa also have the adults in mind. They have thoughtfully designated a section of the pool for adults only. Initially we mistook the section as closed, so be sure to look out for it. Hubby looked after the kids while I sneaked off for a quick swim without the cares of the world (aka children).
At Rasa Sentosa’s private beach, there are equipment provided for land and sea sport activities. Badminton, soccer and volleyball on land. Kayaks, stand up paddle boards and paddleboats on sea. While we were there, the people engaged in these water activities were more during the morning than the late afternoon timeslot. Equipments are available from 8:00am to 7:00pm.
Tip: Pack the beach toys for your children. ;)
I never quite appreciate beachfront resort until this staycation. After a dip in sea and sand, we could conveniently walk back to shower the children in the comforts of the hotel toilet.
I never saw my children and myself as beach people. So it was surprising that we enjoyed ourselves at the beach. Both of the sisters had fun playing with the sand! EX was happily swimming in the sea, laying mermaid style in the shallow waters, and collecting seaweeds floating in the waters. To think I tried so hard to coax her to take one step into the sea at East Coast Park (“ECP”). When asked, she explained that the waves at Sentosa were gentler than those at ECP.
For myself, I love reading on the beach, something I didn’t expect. I lounged by the beach on one of Rasa Sentosa’s sun beds and read a book. The best rest of this staycation was this 10-15 minutes of me reading. Coming close second, was me swimming alone.
The momentary escape into another world among the breeze and waves was peaceful.
Alfresco dining for breakfast is a popular choice. Glad we made that choice too and caught peacocks strutting past us. We saw a peacock trying to take some food and interact with the people at one table, glad it wasn’t us. But alas, it made a turn and walked back in our direction. Hubby took JBL out of her high chair. Smart move on his part because the peacock stopped by our table and stared at JBL before moving on.
We also saw peacocks strutting around the sunbeds in very close proximity! On the other hand, EX was running around with kids from other tables during breakfast to “follow” the peacock. They were so excited!
To prevent guests from mingling, we were to order the buffet items online. The servers will serve the food to you fairly fast. I like not having to stand up and walk around, but looking through an online menu doesn’t offer the same hotel breakfast buffet feel of picking the food by its look.
Nevertheless, the food was generally a thumbs up. One of the best breakfast buffet I ever had. There is food for everyone, including our 13 month old JBL. We gave JBL food like milk, yoghurt, fruits, and bread basket.
According to Rasa Sentosa, “Children of registered hotel guests under the age of 6 can enjoy buffet meals at no extra cost. For more than 2 children under the age of 6 or for children aged 6 to 11, a 50% discount will be given.”
Even though I have my complaints, I still think Rasa Sentosa is overall a great choice, and I have no regrets in choosing them. I would return for another family staycation if the price is right. I am not sure if I would pay higher than what we have paid for. I also don’t think this is my number one choice for a couple or girlfriends’ staycation. But definitely one of my top choices with children.
4 out of 5 stars.
Sounds good? Head over to book a room at Rasa Sentosa through Klook with SRV, or book without SRV.
Need any ideas on where to eat for your Sentosa staycation? In my subsequent post, I will share about the yummy food we ate during our staycation and a bit more of our experience/itinerary at Rasa Sentosa. ;)
Looking for more tips on travel, home, and baby? Subscribe to my mailing list and be sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube! If you like what you read here, keep it going with a small support too. :)
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Affiliate link means I’ll get a small commission if you make a purchase. There’s NO extra cost to you. I appreciate your support to maintain this website, so that I can share more tips with you. Thank you!
Disclaimer: JoogoStyle and Christina accepts no liability (whether in tort or contract or otherwise) for any loss or damage arising from any use, misuse, inaccuracy or omission of the information or other contents published on this website.
I was never a big fan of staycation. For a short stay at our home country, the hassle to pack for the whole family just doesn’t seem worth it. The expense seems unnecessary. We could simply use our home as a base to explore around. …
[Updated 3July 2021: Updated Sentosa’s latest promotion.] Clock is ticking. Time is running out for you to use your S$100 digital SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (“SRV”). Book early and avoid the last minute rush. You have until 31 December 2021 to use these vouchers. As of early …