Singapore (3)

We spent four days on Sentosa Island. My aunt, uncle, and grandmother went too, and it was the first time in a long time that I vacationed with my extended family. When we were little, we used to go places all the time, with all my aunts, uncles and cousins. I also remember my grandmother always being there, when we went to Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands, even Japan. My Ah Ee and Uncle Liang Fatt had just returned the day before from Australia. Jet-lagged and travel-weary themselves, they came to spend time with us there, and I am so glad they did. It meant the world to me to have them there.






























Uninterrupted family time is a wonderful thing. Greyson got to know his great-grandmother, and loved hanging out with his great uncle and aunt. It was an incredible feeling having so many people around to watch your child. At any given moment he'd be gone with one of them, walking along the beach or off on an elevator escapade. The hotel we stayed at had a spectacular swimming pool with a 60 feet tall waterfall. We swam every day, and Greyson loved to watch his Gong Gong get a back massage under the waterfall. We booked a room for each of our families, and then a suite for my grandma, so we could hang out there whenever we weren't napping or asleep. It was so much fun sharing adjoining hotel rooms with my parents. Greyson was in heaven running back and forth from our room to theirs. I was glad that Roque was able to witness firsthand where my ferocious need for privacy stems from. His family would probably have enjoyed all squeezing into a suite and sleeping together there. My family has never been that way. Even when I was little, all my aunts and uncles always had their own rooms as families. The way I was raised, privacy was always viewed as a need, not an option.

Highlights of our time there include Greyson doing QiGong with his Zho Zho and Gong Gong, riding the Sentosa monorail, late nights in my grandma's room, and sitting with my aunt in the hotel corridor chatting till midnight. Greyson stills talks about our time in Sentosa; about the waterfall, the purple and green train (the monorail), the water fountains and the swimming pool. When Roque asked me what my favorite part of our trip home was, I said, "Sentosa". It represented the very reason why I went home: to be with family.