It is a wonderful feeling to wake in the morning and know that you have a full, exciting day ahead of you. Waking up in the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort and Spa, we felt a million miles from home, even though it was less than a half hour drive away. The wall of green cozying the property was just one of many things that was to make this staycation special.

Sleep in a dark, quiet room on a super comfortable bed made a great start for Day 2. Dinner the night before at The Cliff restaurant with Cynthia and Ross was invigorating. Cynthia does PR for Accor and we’ve known each other for over a decade, so the conversation never lagged. It is moments such as dinner with night pressing in against the edges and a variety of excellent dishes turning our table into a colourful melange of cuisine offering a melody of tastes that had originated in different corners of the world that makes travel scintillate. Forget that we were on a staycation, just a stone’s throw from home because we did.

And on Day 2 – evening – we would once again dine at The Cliff and though we didn’t have Cynthia and Ross’s company we did have three excellent dishes that I will tell you about later.

Usually travel writers only comment on showers when they are bad, but I feel compelled to compliment the Sofitel shower. It had coverage with a full-bodied stream that was soothing as it washed away the night. And this wasn’t the rainshower, which is also an option. I can imagine a bearded little man standing under his invention, going  “…no no, this isn’t quite right”… and then coming back with a new design until he shouts eureka!, or some equivalent. There was as much thought put into that nozzle as there was into the bathroom. When you visit the Sofitel pay attention to all the design details.

Breakfast was at Kwee Zeen, and here is where adjustments for Covid-19 kick in. There are many of us who would stay at a hotel just for the buffet breakfast. Currently they are not allowed. All those stations you visualize in your dreams – not there. Missed them, but I didn’t. Sofitel Sentosa has set menus to satisfy every taste. I didn’t see anyone slamming down their napkin and walking out. In fact, my fellow dinners seemed very happy – perhaps the children most so.

I had the American Breakfast, though I would’ve preferred the Canadian Breakfast, (there would be Maple Syrup and pancakes) but that wasn’t offered, and Farah choose the Indian Breakfast.  With the lattes, with the fresh juice, with the muesli or yogurt, the fresh fruit, it was more than enough to compliment the eggs, the bacon, the sausages, the hash browns, the basket of bread and buns and croissant and pastries. Sounds like a lot. It was.

On our way out there was a basket of cookies with a note "Please Free to Take me With You.' We helped ourselves to cookies that turned out to be excellent. We had a few minutes in our room before it was time for our Spa Session at 11:00pm. We left our room at 10:30 as we took a buggy from the Lobby that weaved us around the buildings, down the hill, over paths smooth and rough, narrow and wide, to the separate building of So/Sofitel.

Like everything at Sofitel Sentosa, the Spa is spacious. The lobby is a lobby with seating areas over there, a table here, displays of products, and of course pleasant young ladies offering healthy drinks and forms to fill in.

For me, the keys to a good massage are the pressure, too hard and I feel like I’m being tortured, too light and there is little benefit. When I’m in the zone I drift in and out of thoughts and by the end of the time I’m in, or almost in, dreamland. Reluctant to to be finished.

When we were waiting for our message to begin Elsa Yue was there guiding a film team around the resort. I asked her what treatment she was taking. She laughed, “The one I want, begins in the morning,” she reached way up, “and goes on all day,” her hand slid down showing the length her indulgence was willing to go. When my session was finished, I was in complete agreement. As was Farah. Farah is a very particular person and she was delighted with her experience. For me, sometimes, a walk over by a small elephant will do the trick, but today we had masters of the craft.

We had an hour before lunch, so it was back to the room to work some more and then at 1:30 we scanned the codes as we re-entered The Cliff with our views out to the Strait. We are pretty good at indulging ourselves – and we don’t always take the ‘healthy’ option. However. I think burgers and pizza (meat lovers pizza) are healthy options. Following on Cynthia’s example from the night before, we shared the burger and pizza.

Between our room and the restaurants, we enjoyed walking about the resort. There are peacocks strutting about, looking into things. One outside our room sounded like a mewling cat, no, mewling isn’t the right word, I had to google that, yowling, a cat in distress of its own making. There are statues and antique decorative items tucked into the nooks and cranies and on display in foyers and open spaces. I particularly like the ancient copper coffee making machine. It would be a great gift for Farah who likes her coffee. If it doesn’t work now, she’d find a way to make it spill hot delicious aromatic brew.

Back in the cool of our room I finished off the pressing work and laydown to take a nap. I realized it was 5:00pm and dinner was set for 6:30. “If we are going for a walk, we have to do it now.” I got up moments after I thought I was going to enjoy a snooze.

We didn’t know which was the quickest way to the beach, but fortunately we ran into Glenn, a senior member of the Sofitel team. He said hello and asked us where we were going. “Not this way,” he responded as we were making our way out the front. “There is a path near The Cliff. Let me show you.”

We introduced ourselves as he lead us to the walkway. It went down in front of The Cliff – where I took a picture of the restaurant, and then stairs going down some distance to the path along the waterfront. As we exited on to the path there was a sign-map that showed us the way to go.

With rainforest to our left and a paved road to our right we took the short walk to Tanjong Beach. We walked around in the sand. There were people sunbathing and doing water sports and walking about as you do. We didn’t stay long – dinner reservations pressing in on us – and humidity drenching us. When we got back to the Cliff it was already 6:15 and we needed to change and clean up. Apologies to the excellent wait staff as we arrived at just before 7:00 and checking our reservations they were actually for 6:00pm.

Our table hadn’t been given away and, despite the walk, we weren’t feeling very hungry. I knew a glass of wine is good for the digestion but that wasn’t the only reason I asked for one.

Unlike last night, we only ordered three dishes. Summer Panzanella with Stone Fruit served with homemade fresh cheese, seasonal stone fruit, heirloom tomatoes, sweet herbs and torn fried croutons. This was joined by Grilled Ocean Trout served with beluga lentil "caviar"  soft herbs,  cool cucumber an

d buttermilk gazpacho. The stack of green is Trophic Al Pesto. Basil pesto, fried potato, and parmesan. Everyone a winner. Like last night, a friendly Australian shiraz from 2019, Outback Jack, graciously lubricated the passage to the stomach.

It was a dinner that offered enjoyment and ambience with lightening flashing somewhere in the far west, with wait staff, like all their co-workers, providing excellent service. It was the perfect way to end Day 2 except for the succulent sleep in seductive sheets that Farah wishes to buy.

While there is a great number of new protocols during our stay at the Sofitel Sentosa they really didn't impact the enjoyment of our stay. There is the wearing of masks - several times we had to return to the room to retrieve them, and there is the constant scanning of QR codes, but really, they were momentary and the rest of our time was enjoyable. It is the staff that is really impacted. There is more work for them and they are required to pay attention to details they didn't have to before. The staff at Sofitel were up to the task.

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