Birthday Staycation 2018 : Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong

Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong was added to my stay-cation's list after I saw the pictures posted by a friend who stayed with them a few years ago. The hotel is designed with Peranakan's theme. I was totally in love with its bathtub and sink area with those lovely lighting on the bathroom mirror.

I booked the King Bed Premier View Room with Bath which includes free wifi, free breakfast for two and free parking. My package also allows a child below 12 years old who is sharing existing bedding to stay without any additional cost. Total rate was about SGD360.00 per night I think.

I actually missed out the hotel's main entrance (which is just behind their signage) and walked straight to Katong Square. Note that the Hotel's complimentary car parking is shared with Katong Square.

HISK lobby interior's was so simple and beautiful especially the wall near lift zone. Those tiles reminded me of a blanket which was sewn by my Great Grandmother with lots of tiny different fabrics. I later found out that there is a name for it which is 百家被 aka Hundred Wishes Quilt.

Finally time to check out our room! What greeted us was a tea table with carrom board at the top. Playing with the carrom brought back our nostalgic childhood memories.

Hubby liked the round bathtub and we thought to get one for our new flat. I had specifically requested for the mirror with lighting as well. I'm starting to feel a big hole burning in our pockets the more we looked at our hotel room's design. We had a best bathtub view overlooking the whole of Katong.

Our room's minibar was pretty cool but most of the items were chargeable of course like the alcoholic, soft drinks and snacks.

The one and only thing that needed to be improved on would be to have a luggage stand and a long table where we could put our stuffs on. Or else we need to leave everything on the floor.

 

We went to explore the popular eateries nearby. Our hotel was centrally located around Katong / Joo Chiat's district. My colleague recommended Birds of Paradise and Ampang Niang Tou Fu. If you were into Nyonya's kuehs, Glory Catering and Kim Choo Kueh Chang are the ones to go for.

Ice-cream at Birds of Paradise was yummylicious but the cone did not even last for five minutes and actually became soggy. Both Ethan and my hands' were all sticky as we tried to save the melting ice-creams from leaking. One of our worst experiences for takeaway ice-creams. I suggest that you all get the cup instead.

Up next was Ampang Niang Tou Fu where it was usually crowded and we were lucky to get a table. The shop made you transported to Malaysia. You don't get to choose any ingredients since the yong tau fu came in a set per head. No noodles or bee hoon as the shop only served with rice. The crispy beancurd skin was superb!

I guess no one could leave Kim Choo Kueh Chang empty handed when there were tons of different rice dumplings and mouth-watering kuehs. Hubby's favourite is Kueh Dadar and mine is Ondeh-ondeh. All the kuehs were freshly prepared daily and must be consumed within the same day. Part of my ondeh-ondeh turned a little bit sour and I had to throw them away.

 

When I was calling the room service, I was greeted by my name which kind of surprised me. The lady also wished me a Happy Birthday and I felt so warmth. I don't usually get this when I ordered room service at other hotels. HISK's staffs were friendly and smiling all the time. Excellent customer service and I'm sure there would be numerous return guests. 

 
There was a letter left by our room's doorstep and the room service staff happened to pick it up and passed to me. It seemed that HISK had prepared a little Birthday cake for me so I tried to call the host. However, our room's phone was not working well and had this ear piercing tone no matter which buttons I pressed. While I was thinking what to do next, our doorbell rang and in came two maintenance staffs to repair the phone. I was truly amazed by the swift response to an issue within minutes.

After which I called up room service line and told them about the letter. I was certainly touched with the handwritten card from Hotel's host, Yvonne. Even when Ritz-Carlton Singapore sent me the card, it was computer generated one. I have a soft spot for handwritten cards. Yes, and I still send Christmas and Chinese New Year's greeting cards by hand to all my relatives and close friends. *smiles*

The sunset view of Katong to end our day.

Our breakfast at Baba Chews and I had read reviews online that they served extremely delicious Peranakan's cuisines. They had the a-la-carte menus of local delights, Western all day breakfasts and a mini buffet bar of breads, salads, fruits and yoghurt.

 
We did not swim at the rooftop pool as Ethan was down with flu and cough. Sigh pie.

Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong
86 East Coast Road Singapore 428788 | +65 6723 7001
https://www.ihg.com/hotelindigo/hotels/us/en/singapore/sinki/hoteldetail

Kidzania Singapore - Where Adults Get to Play too!

Kidzania is the best role-playing theme park ever. You certainly need at least two to three full days to be able to complete all of the available jobs here. The queue for each play pretend role is unbelievably long especially for the fireman, pilot and pizza ones. We managed to try out eight different tasks in a day and will definitely be back to finish the rest of them.

We were greeted by huge crowds even before starting our day. Loved the airport check-in feel as if we were really travelling overseas. Hubz mentioned that Kidzania's interior looked like Genting Highlands shopping mall. Lol..

For first timer, you will need to open up a bank account. The money your child earned from each job will be credited into the account via card or paid using KidZos notes. These notes could be deposited at an ATM machine similar to our real world's version.

I could almost guaranteed that every child's first job was a cash officer with the bank. You just turned round the corner, and tata you reached the Bank and Vault. Ethan's first job of the day was to protect the CitiZens' monies ensuring that they reached their destinations.

Ethan depositing his KidZos at an atm kiosk.

Second job was candy making time at Sticky. It felt like being at Spurbox and the only difference was parents are not allowed to accompany their children.

We took a break for lunch before queuing up for the next job which was fire fighter. The most anticipating job ever as the queue was never ending.

Ethan was still eating while waiting for his turn to be a real fireman.

Finally, a slight briefing before boarding the fire engine and Ethan was on his way to put out fire. It was so exciting chasing after him and now I know why this role had the longest queue.

As the convenience store had no queue, we went to sign up immediately. Ethan was assigned as a store assistant where he got to arrange products given to him in a basket. He looked pretty attentive when the instructor brought him around explaining on the job required.

Up next was a police officer where Ethan had to work hand in hand with the fire fighters. Policemen are responsible to protect civilians from danger.

Ethan then continued with a courier service job delivering letters and parcels to the designated recipients.

I guess Ethan enjoyed giving those glass walls a good washing. Look at his serious face while cleaning the glass. He started with some practice round first before beginning on the actual task.

The last job of the day and we made it to the final queue. Ethan kind of baked his own pizza from scratch by decorating the ingredients. The Hawaiian pizza tasted yummylicious!

After all the work, the children could spend their hard earned monies on toys at Department Store. From here, they will know that in order to buy their favourite items which are more expensive, they need to take on even more jobs. 

Till next time, KidZania! Goodbye!

KidZania Singapore
Pahlawan Kidz City, 31 Beach View, #01-01/02 Singapore 098008
+65 6653 6888 | http://kidzania.com.sg | share@kidzania.com.sg
For operating hours, check out the link here.