This auntie blogs too

Ahh… here I am, blogging in the midst of my relaxing holiday.  If you don’t know where I am from the picture above, hey, where have you been?  It’s time you visited Sentosa!

We wanted a relaxing holiday, which hyperactive Little Guy could also enjoy.  I did consider some nearby Indonesian island resorts but eventually settled on Sentosa, as being familiar with the place does cut down a lot of stress seeking places to go, and things to do.

We’ll be here for two-and-a-half days – too many days, many people had quipped – nothing to do at Sentosa, it’s expensive, boring, blah, blah, blah.  But hey, we are enjoying ourselves!  We don’t want to have many things to do, we want to relax!  (So relaxing that Big and Little Guy are having their afternoon siesta right now!). 

And where we’re staying – The Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort, Little Guy is happy to be able to frolick on the beach and then run to the pool (after a poolside shower, of course).  This guy is very happy with the holiday so far, just playing with sand and water.  The hotel has several pools and many kids enjoy the slides at the kids’ pools right by the beach.  The hotel also gave us a room with a king-sized bed, as we had requested, and the condition of the room is nice and clean and not run-down, as I had read in some reviews.  I read some bad reviews on the internet but decided to trust the Shangri-La brand anyway, and I’m glad I did!  The breakfast buffet had a good spread too, but too bad I’m the type who eats little, and Little Guy is happy with just waffles and pancakes.  Big Guy had no complaints, except for the ‘hard’ chapati.

We went to visit some of the attractions yesterday – we are determined to experience as many of them as possible, since we had always avoided them, as they were deemed expensive.  Previous visits to Sentosa were mostly spent at the beach.  But this time, we are going the whole hog as we want it to be a REAL holiday.  Besides, with the economic downturn, the entrance fees for many of the attractions (and hotel rates, too) have been reduced.  That said, we are  still going to give The Underwater World and Dolphin Lagoon a miss, as we had visited them twice last year.

First stop was the Sentosa 4D Magix attraction.  The 4D movie currently running now is Pirates.  Unfortunately, we are giving this attraction the thumbs-down.  For $18 per adult, it was not worth it.  We had expected better effects than what we had gone through there. 

Next to this was the Sentosa CineBlast attraction.  This is much like the 4D Magix except that this was much more exciting – we sat in ‘cabins’ and had to have safety belts on.  Then off we went on the Extreme Log Ride.  It was great fun and we wished it lasted longer!  All of us gave this the thumbs-up!  We had to miss the Desperados attraction at the same venue,  as Little Guy did not meet the 110cm height requirement.  But it looked like great fun too!  Grow tall quickly, little one!

I’m now waiting for the guys to finish their siesta, then we’ll be off to do the Luge and Skyride.  We will end the day with Songs of the Sea – hope that’ll be good!

So who says you can’t take a holiday in our tiny home country?  And why do you need lots of things to do on a holiday? 

I love holidays where I can take afternoon naps, with no worries about having to meet tour group mates at this place and that time, and all that rush.

Yawn!  I think I’m going to join the guys on the comfy king-sized bed now!

Siesta time!

Lately, there has been a squabble of sorts concerning the death of dialects in Singapore.  It also drew a letter from someone in the Minister Mentor’s office.  This letter included the very strong word, stupid.  Now, this is a word that I have barred Little Guy from using (at least, for now, at this young age).  But I thought that the letter to The Straits Times Forum page need not have to be so emotional and rude.  Here is the stupid (I meant it literally too!)quote:

It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin.

Now, I think this is an over-reaction.  We don’t need people to be learning dialects in schools or other institutions.  What is the harm of screening some movies, drama serials or advertisements in dialect?  It adds to the diversity of our culture.  And dialects have a place here and have to be kept alive.  What better ways than through the media?

I’ve come across kids (and I’m sure you have too) – who ask what that auntie or uncle is saying, why do they sound so strange, etc, etc, and these kids actually laugh at what they hear (but do not understand).  This is a shame, because dialects are not funny and they have to do with these kids’ ancestries.

We need to create awareness and not lose sight of our ancestry, and our dialects are a big part of this.

Would the Minister Mentor and his people be happy if we become effectively bilingual in languages that do not belong to us, and in the process, lose our own languages?

So I say, let’s go out there now, order our food in Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and whatever dialects we have.  Banter with your kids and friends in dialect – learn different dialects from each other too!

Celebrate our dialects, before we lose them!

See this cinnamon bun?  Saw the likeness of Mother Teresa? 

Our late pope, too, makes an unconventional appearance – a fiery one, no less…

Read about these and other pictures at The Telegraph.