Betshopboy.net

During the recent school’s term break, we played local tourist for a day and brought the children to the newly opened facility of Resorts World Sentosa – S.E.A Aquarium. Touted as the world’s largest aquarium, it is another must-visit destination added into the itinerary of local tours.

Let’s journey into the different zones and experience the wonders of our blue planet at S.E.A Aquarium.

This exhibit is a display of a shipwreck habitat showcasing a monumental shipwreck with a splintered hull that nature’s resilience has transformed into a thriving marine sanctuary.

Both children and adults were fascinated by these glow-in-the-dark sea creatures, they are in fact jelly fish.

The ocean dome offers visitors a panoramic 180 degrees vista of the open ocean habitat. The photo does not do justice to the panoramic view visitors were treated to.

And then came the highlight we have been looking forward to – the open ocean gallery. It offers the planet’s largest window to the ocean. One has to be there in person to experience the awesomeness of it all!

The open ocean is home to gentle giants of the seas, including the leopard shark, goliath groupers, Napoleon wrasses, and a squadron of giant manta rays wowing visitors with their effortless gliding in the oceanarium.

Showcasing the majestic predators of the ocean, visitors walked through a glass tunnel and was able to observe various shark species, including endangered species.

This concludes the photo-walk of my journey through the world’s great oceans. It was a great educational trip, both for the children and myself.

The good runners at RunSociety had published an infographic of Singapore’s running scene in 2012.

Here are some local races which I ran in 2012, which correspond to the popular event location depicted in the infographic:

Earth Day Run 350 at The Float

Sundown Marathon at Nicholl Highway

Adidas King of The Road at Gardens By The Bay

SAFRA Singapore Bay Run 2012 at The Esplanade Bridge

Passion Run 2012 at East Coast Park

Infographic: Running Scene in Singapore 2012 brought to you by RunSociety.

After having a wet and wild time at Splash Jungle waterpark, we decided to do something that doesn’t involve getting wet and at the same time educational and fun for the children, we decided to visit Phuket FantaSea. It is a unique cultural theme park that promises to be the ultimate in night-time entertainment on the holiday resort island of Phuket. The result is a stunning 140-acre theme park packed with a multitude of activities and entertainment.

Arrival

Food and Fun at Phuket Fantasea

The Golden Kinnaree Buffet Restaurant is a perfect example of the park’s grand scale. It is a 4,000 seat theme restaurant offering a grand buffet of Thai and International cuisines. It was indeed a special experience to be dining in one of the world’s grandest restaurant!

After a sumptuous meal at the grand restaurant, it was time to hit the carnival village for some games and mini exploration of the park

The carnival village is an enchanting street of shops selling souvenirs, craft demonstrations, game stalls and entertainment center. Everything in this village is big, bright, ornate, and made to impress!

Park visitors can enjoy the spectacular view of the Palace Court whilst riding atop the elephants!

The Palace of the Elephants, a custom-designed 3000-seat theatre made to look like a majestic, centuries-old palace is even more impressive.

All too soon, it was time for the main show, “Fantasy of a Kingdom”. It is a unique theatrical spectacle blending Thai ancient culture with the wonder of cutting edge technology and special effect. Of course photography and video-recording devices are strictly prohibited inside the theatre. Hence, there was no more photo op once we enter the theatre.

Phuket FantaSea bills itself as “the ultimate cultural theme park”, and it’s tough to come up with a better description. Fantasy of a Kingdom, this show is perfectly mixed with High technology of lights, colors,and sound, the people, the animals and Thai culture, it’s great for all ages.

On the second day of our Phuket vacation, we headed back in the direction of the airport to Splash Jungle Waterpark. The location of this waterpark is rather out of the way, especially for those staying in Patong and beyond, but it is a wet and wild experience that is worth the journey.

Touted as “Phuket’s wettest wildest waterpark”, the park has thrilling rides such as the Boomerango and Superbowl as well as a six-level wave pool and an aqua-play pool for the children.

Besides the two big thrill rides Boomerango and Superbowl, it has 3 other slides of a lower thrill level which are suited to younger children that meet its safety height limit of 122cm.

Kids have their own pool called ‘Aqua Play’ with plenty of small sliders, waterfalls and water games. Every once in a while, a monster water bucket located at the very top of the kids playground will empty its content in a gigantic splash.

If the exhilarating slides are not for you then there are other milder options around for your enjoyment. Snaking around the sprawling park is a 335 meters lazy river, hop onto the freely available single or double and meander your way

Upon entry, each adult gets a wristband with a key attached, you are able to open and lock your assigned locker unlimited number of times. The park operates on a cashless system, the number on the wristband act as your “wallet”, and you pay for your expenditure in the park upon checking out at the end of the day.

It is such a joy to travel with children and you knew they have enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The Splash Jungle waterpark offers wholesome fun for the whole family, whether you are after a relaxing day in the water or an adrenalin rush, Splash Jungle has it all!

School’s out and the December school holiday’s in! It was time for our annual family vacation and we packed our summer wear and beach gears and headed to Phuket, Thailand’s largest tropical island. We chose to stay near Patong Beach, an area very popular with tourists.

We landed at Phuket International Airport on the sunny morning of 19th Dec and took a 50-min car ride to Patong. Thankfully, the famed Bangkok traffic jam was nowhere to be seen on the road of Phuket.

It’s not that I’m not a beach person, but I spent all of 15 mins on Patong beach before making a quick exit! It is not exactly white sandy beach, and everywhere we turned, we were hounded by touts out to make a quick buck touting their beach chairs, jet skis, banana boat rides and para-sailing. It was all par for the course for those traders veying for the tourist dollars, but a real turned-off for me.

The Hotel
We were glad to have booked our 3-night stay at the newly opened Novotel Vintage Park Resort hotel. It is a family-oriented hotel with a large swimming pool, a restaurant, a spa, a gym, a convenience store, and a small business centre.

When we are not out local shopping or doing some activities, we spent a lot of time in the pool having tons of fun! Having a good pool at the hotel is a sure-fire way to keep the children occupied and entertained when traveling with children, so that the adults can actually take a vacation, and not there to look after the children!