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Sanya


Sunday, June 29, 2008



Our week in Sanya was lovely. So lovely it took me the same amount of time to get over my post holiday blues.

The island itself is laidback and very reminiscent of Singapore in the 70s while the city centre is bustling with shops, commerce and traffic.

The resorts were a different matter. Stepping into them was like stepping into another world. You'd be forgiven to think you were in Langkawi or Phuket or any one of the beautiful island resorts in the Phillipines. They were designed to pamper and spoil.

There were the usual international hotel chains suspects but we picked the Crowne Plaza Hotel as it was self-contained and had great facilities. This was important to us as we wanted a lazy holiday and would hardly be venturing out beyond the hotel's private beach. After some consideration, we opted for a deluxe room with a small private pool which links up to the main lagoon pool.

The room given was very spacious which left us pleasantly surprised. I had the presence of mind to snap pics of it before Sonny-boy thrashed it. The hotel website has a better photo but you get the general idea.




This is our little private enclave, complete with deck chairs and jacuzzi cum pool. Check out the lush landscape! It was amazing swimming among all that greenery. Not pictured is the balcony just at the room entrance. It was furnished with a divan-like couch, huge cushions and another single seater chair with a rustic and simple wooden table. It gave a good view of the pool area and I spent most of my time there crocheting - one eye on the hook and the other on Sonny-boy.





Just beyond the bridge (in the pic above), is the submerged pool bar. We spent a fair amount of time there too - swimming and relaxing can be so tiring, don't you know? It was hilarious, the three of us swimming up to the bar, plonking our super soaker guns on the counter and ordering mango martinis, coconut juice and mango ices. The waitress was very patient and never said anything about us flooding her bar counter surface. For me, sitting in the pool, sipping at my coconut juice, that was the spirit of the holiday. After finishing my drink, the waitress would offer to cut open my empty coconut so I could eat the flesh as well. I was more than happy, it's been ages since I had fresh coconut meat.

And where would a beach holiday be if a boy couldn't build his sandcastle? Here is our budding architect slapping on the final touches after Dad, the project manager, did most of the manual work. Mum was imitating a beached whale on one of the deck chairs. She only budged to ooh and ahh at the completed castle and take photos. And when it was time for refreshments at the beach bar, of course.


This is the beach. If it looks empty, that's because it really is. It's low season during the summer which was great for us because we and a smattering of other guests pretty much had the resort, its adjoining shopping mall and restaurants and beach all to ourselves. And with no harried staff, they were more than attentive and friendly.


As for the food, it still makes me weep to think about it. Dim Sum, Thai, Brazilian, Japanese, Cantonese, Szechuan, Italian.....

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The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 9:44 pm

4 calories
Comments:
Oh that looks BEAUTIFUL.
 
It sounds like you all really had a ball! And the room looks very cosy. I wouldn't want to go home too.
 
Francine: It was! I really love the beach resorts in Asia and had no idea how much I missed them. While living in Singapore, we would make frequent trips around the region. How are you on your end? For some reason I can't seem to access your blog.

Rachel: The room was super and yes, I was clinging to the doorpost with my fingernails when it was time to check out. :P
 
The resort looks really nice. Did you even leave the hotel at all ? And that's one awesome sandcastle....
 
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