Three days ago Ed and I celebrated our 15th wedding
anniversary. How time flies. I can’t believe I have spent almost half my life
with him.
This year we did something we have not done in 12 years, since our first child was born and that is to take a short vacation alone without the children. It was a tough decision but we know the kids are older now and also well cared for by my parents. As much as we knew we would miss them, we went ahead with this short little trip.
On the morning of the 16th of April, Ed and I saw
both the kids off to school and then we made our way to the Harbour Front Ferry
Terminal.
Come to think of it, this short trip would actually be our
honeymoon since we never took or had one after we got married. OK….I lied….. we
did go to Memphis and such….
I was excited and also nervous. I was sure I would miss them.
The ferry ride was about an hour and from the terminal, the
hotel van picked us up and it was just a 10 minute ride to the hotel. Upon
arriving at the hotel, we were greeted by friendly staff at the Harris and
while checking in, we were offered a cold face towel and a lemon grass welcome
drink.
For the low price we had paid for this hotel stay, I was
already pretty much very impressed already. I dare say they are 100% better
than most 5 star hotels I had stayed at.
We finally checked in to our room. They were nice to upgrade
us to a higher floor with a balcony and a great view of the sea. The room was
even made extra special when they had rose petals on the bed and love swans
made out of face towels. Impressive.
What was the first thing the both of us did? We had a Skype
call with the kids then made our way down for lunch. We had to have the most
talked about brick oven pizza. It was good stuff.
After lunch, we walked about the hotel property and explored
then decided we’d head back to our room for a nap. You think it’s boring but it
was our vacation and we were allowed to do whatever the hell we wanted to! Ha.
A call to our room woke us up. It was from the hotel asking
us for our feedback. It seemed a little strange seeing that we had only just
checked in a few hours earlier….but I still gave them the highest compliments
coming from me.
Then a few minutes later, there was a knock at our room door
and it was the Harris staff asking my hubs if we wanted to buy some things…. and
I was thinking… “What the fuck? Is this hard selling as what they call it…”
While I was beginning to fume, another hotel staff walked in
to our room with a cake and they started singing “Happy Anniversary to you” in
the Happy Birthday tune. Ha. What a
surprise it was and again, this hotel had earned another point.
Hours in to the first day, we were enjoying the stay, but I was
missing the kids very much.
In the evening, Ed and I watched the sun set and had an
evening swim before dinner. Amazing how we miss out on these simple pleasures
of life that comes almost free but always over looked as we are always so busy
with our daily life.
The nice staff prepared a candle light dinner by the pool to
celebrate our 15 years together as husband and wife. Perfect way to end a
perfect day.
Moving on to day two of our ‘honeymoon’….
We woke up early and went down to the pool area. We had our
coffee and watched the sun rise. Again I have to say that such a simple thing
like this had filled my heart with so much warmth and pleasure. After this
vacation, we should continue to take some time to enjoy this with the kids
instead of moving so fast all the time.
We decided we would explore the surrounding areas of the
hotel. We walked out to have brunch at a nearby shop. The coffee was amazing
although a bit too sweet for my taste buds.
We explored around the area a bit more after bunch…mostly
because we wanted to find the famous monkeys of the island. We walked past a
group of Indonesians who I think were taxi drivers….I asked them in Malay if
they knew where we could find the monkeys. They were more impressed with the
fact that I could speak Malay. They showed us where the monkeys were.
Headed back to our
hotel room after and in desperation for real coffee, Ed brewed Dunkin Donuts
coffee in our hotel room with whatever we had (we brought the coffee grounds,
by the way). Not the best but better than nothing I suppose.
We had a shuttle bus pick up to take us to the Nagoya mall
in the afternoon and before we left the room, we left a little note and a tip
for the housekeeper. I thought it would be a nice to do it.
So we spent half a day at the Nagoya Hill mall. Wasn’t much
to see or do or buy… But we managed to get the kids and my parents something.
We decided to get a massage to kill time. It was a nice full body massage where
they actually hung on to ceiling posts so they can walk on your back! And the
last hour at the mall was spent getting my manicure done. I tried Gelish
manicure for the first time. I like how it looks but I am not sure how I am
going to have it removed or if I should just let it grow out. We shall see. Oh
did I mention we had lunch at the mall. A&W!!
We got back to our hotel room at about 5pm and took a short
nap before waking up to watch the sunset from our balcony. Then we headed down
to have dinner by the pool again. Damn I could get used to that.
Right after that, it was a night swim and margaritas by the
pool bar!! Didn’t I just say I could get used to that?
After the swim, we got hungry so we walked across the street
to our new found food haven and had supper. Ordered a feast and paid only SGD
$20.
Another great end to a great day. It was also our last night
there…. A little sad to leave but excited to see the kids. The next time we go
back to Harris, we will get the family room right beside the pool and the kids
will be with us. I am sure they will enjoy their stay here as much as we did.
Day three and it is finally time to head home to our babies.
We woke up early to watch the sun rise again and had an
early morning swim. Our last few hours to enjoy this short little vacation
alone.
We decided we would visit our favourite food stall outside
of the hotel before leaving Batam. Had breakfast there then visited the monkeys
one last time. We will definitely come back here and the next time will be with
the kiddos.
Got back to the hotel and had lunch…or should I say second
breakfast. I just had to have the oxtail soup again before I left the place.
Took another walk along the resort, enjoyed the view from
our hotel room balcony and another last swim before we checked out and headed
for the ferry terminal.
It was an enjoyable, relaxing and memorable vacation for
both Ed and I. The first vacation without the kids since having them. I have
missed the kiddos terribly but I think Ed and I really needed this and I thank
my parents for agreeing to take care of them.
The moment we got in to Singapore, I got a text from my son asking
when we will be back.
Needless to say, we spent the evening enjoying cuddles from
the kids!
