The Staycation

One of the things I liked about travelling was the hotels. I loved lazing around in a nice hotel ambience after exploring a foreign city all day long. But if I did the same thing in the city I was living, which was the basic idea of staycation, it felt really weird. It was like, "err, I know my house is not very far from here and I can go home any time I want, so why do I do this again?"

With that thought in mind, I doubted that I would even try it out if it was up to me. The first staycation I had was based on an indirect request from my daughter. Back in 2016, she was crazy about bunk beds, so instead of buying her one, we checked in to D'Resort in Pasir Ris. Nice place, but apart from the facilities in the vicinity, the hotel was pretty isolated. 

The staycation.

The next time I had a staycation again was three years later in 2019. It was a wedding anniversary and I certainly didn't mind the idea of staying at Hard Rock Hotel in Sentosa. Hard Rock was like a rock and roll shrine, so I was receptive to the idea. And indeed the idea was good. Sentosa was a tourist spot, so it did feel like we were having a holiday. On top of that, the swimming pool was easily the best.

Then came COVID-19 not long after that. Staycation had been a thing prior to that, but it was now a norm and probably the closest thing to a vacation at the height of COVID-19. It suddenly felt like the only option, so we went for a night at the Parkroyal Hotel behind Hong Lim Park. I remember my wife loving the design so much (it was green and eco-friendly) and the high ceiling was definitely a plus point. Chinatown Point was just next to it, so food options were abundance. 

Linda and Audrey at Parkroyal.

Then a year after that, 2021, still pretty much a life in the time of corona. Since my idea of travelling didn't include PCR, we opted for staycation again. It sounded like an idea, especially now that SingapoRediscover vouchers we had were about to expire, haha. So we booked a room at Four Seasons Hotel. Since we still got some balance and my daughter was curious about Hotel Mono, we booked that one, too.

Hotel Mono was in Chinatown. It was not literally as monotone as the name suggested because some walls in the room were painted with pink color, haha. My daughter and I went there just for the fun of it and we visited the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, too. Few days later, we checked in to Four Seasons in Orchard. Not a new hotel, but was still very grand and well maintained. Among all the rooms we booked for staycation, this one had the most luxurious feel and the only one with a bathtub.

With Linda at Hotel Mono.

After experiencing it before and during COVID-19, I'd say that for a leisure activity, staycation was not immediately enjoyable. I mean, Singapore isn't really big, so regardless where I stayed, be it in Sentosa or Orchard, I couldn't help feeling that I know the places quite well and my house was just nearby. 

I found it hard to reconcile the thought sometimes. In fact, it was so odd that I actually had to attune to the right mindset by pretending I was a tourist exploring an area that I usually passed by rather frequently in real life. I just had to look for a new angle! Then and only then it made more sense. But in the time when travelling wasn't possible, staycation was indeed better than nothing. It was still a nice family time after all.

Linda, Mum and Audrey at Four Seasons.

Staycation 

Salah satu hal yang saya sukai saat liburan adalah tinggal di hotel. Saya suka bersantai menikmati suasana hotel setelah seharian berjalan-jalan di kota asing. Akan tetapi jika saya melakukan hal yang sama di kota tempat saya berdomisili (dan ini pada dasarnya merupakan konsep dari staycation) rasanya sungguh janggal. Yang timbul justru perasaan seperti, "eh, saya tahu rumah saya tidak jauh dari sini dan saya bisa pulang kapan pun saya mau, jadi kenapa saya menginap di sini, ya?"

Dengan pemikiran seperti ini di benak saya, saya ragu kalau saya akan memiliki inisiatif untuk staycation. Pertama kalinya saya mencoba staycation itu karena permintaan tidak langsung dari putri saya. Di tahun 2016, dia tergila-gila dengan tempat tidur dua tingkat, jadi daripada saya beli, saya dan keluarga akhirnya menginap di D'Resort di Pasir Ris. Tempatnya bagus, tapi agak terpencil dan yang bisa dinikmati hanyalah fasilitas di sekitar hotel.

Hotel-hotel tempat staycation.

Tiga tahun kemudian, saya mencoba staycation lagi. Waktu itu saya dan istri merayakan ulang tahun pernikahan dan saya tidak keberatan untuk menginap di Hard Rock Hotel di Pulau Sentosa. Hard Rock ini bagaikan tempat diabadikannya rock and roll, jadi saya sangat setuju. Sentosa juga merupakan kawasan turis, jadi rasanya seperti sedang berlibur. Selain itu, kolam renangnya yang berpasir boleh dikatakan paling mantap sampai sejauh ini. 

Setelah itu dunia dilanda COVID-19. Staycation yang sebelumnya sudah merupakan hal yang unik dan memiliki daya tarik kini menjadi sesuatu yang paling menyerupai liburan di tengah hebohnya  COVID-19. Tiba-tiba saja staycation menjadi satu-satunya pilihan, jadi saya sekeluarga menginap di Parkroyal Hotel yang berlokasi di belakang Hong Lim Park. Saya ingat bahwa istri saya menyukai tata ruang hotel yang hijau dan ramah lingkungan. Langit-langitnya yang tingi pun menjadi nilai tambah. Chinatown Point berada di sebelah hotel, jadi banyak pilihan makanan. 

Linda dan Audrey di Parkroyal.

Setahun kemudian corona masih tetap merajalela. Karena saya tidak ingin menjalani liburan yang wajib PCR, kami kembali memilih untuk staycation lagi. Ini ide bagus, terutama karena kupon subsidi SingapoRediscover hampir habis masa berlakunya, haha. Saya lantas memesan kamar di Four Seasons Hotel. Karena masih ada sisa dan putri saya tertarik dengan Hotel Mono, saya pun pesan kamar yang ini juga. 

Hotel Mono berada di daerah Chinatown. Warnanya tidaklah monoton karena ada warna merah muda di dinding, haha. Yang menginap di sana hanya saya dan putri sulung saya dan kami sempat mengunjungi Kuil Buddha Tooth Relic selama berada di sana. Beberapa hari kemudian, kami check-in ke Four Seasons di Orchard. Ini bukanlah hotel baru, tapi masih terasa berkelas dan terawat. Dari semua kamar yang saya pesan selama staycation, yang satu ini terasa paling mewah dan satu-satunya kamar yang memiliki bak mandi. 

Bersama Linda di Hotel Mono.

Setelah mencoba staycation sebelum dan selama COVID-19, saya pribadi merasa bahwa aktivitas ini bukanlah sesuatu yang bisa saya nikmati secara langsung. Maksud saya, Singapura bukanlah negara yang luas, jadi di mana pun saya tinggal, baik itu di Orchard maupun Sentosa, saya tanpa sadar selalu merasa bahwa saya tahu tempat ini dan rumah saya tidaklah jauh.

Pemikiran di atas sungguh terasa janggal, sampai-sampai saya harus meyakinkan diri saya sendiri bahwa saya ini turis di kawasan yang sebenarnya sering saya lewati. Singkat kata, saya harus memiliki sudut pandang yang baru dan tepat untuk menikmatinya. Setelah itu barulah terasa lebih masuk akal. Kendati begitu, di masa ketika liburan ke luar negeri sulit untuk diwujudkan, masih lebih baik staycation daripada tidak ke mana-mana. Yang penting tetap ada liburan keluarga.