First Getaway After 12 years

Three days ago Ed and I celebrated our 15^th 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 16^th 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!