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When my boyfriend and I travel, we are big proponents for taking things chill and not over-planning. This is because 1) we are both very lazy and 2) we know that we will inevitably stray significantly from the plan even if we do come up with one, because, refer to reason 1.
Rather than blocking out times for specific activities and bookings, we prefer to sleep in until 1pm, hop on random buses that end up taking us halfway across Hong Kong toward Shenzhen before we even realise it, and people-watch while eating whatever local food catches our eye. (This may or may not be how one of our actual trips went.)
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we will be able to travel anytime soon, given Covid-19.
So, when a five-star hotel in Tanjong Pagar, Oakwood Premier AMTD Singapore, kindly offered to host us for a staycation, we decided to try something different.
Instead of our usual lazy vacation, we tried to have the most kiasu staycation possible.
If you're anything like us, here are some tips to make sure you maximise your own staycation experience.
Tip #1: Get chauffeured if you can
Our staycation began with a bang, as we discovered that we could arrange to be picked up by the hotel's transport service, which is available at a discounted rate till Sep. 30.
It turned out to be a Jaguar, a luxury car.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Which came with super cool massage seats!
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Tip #2: Make use of the complimentary everything
The ride in the Jaguar came with complimentary bottled water. We weren't particularly thirsty, but in the spirit of making the most out of things, we made sure to take those with us — you can never have too many bottles of water, after all.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Tip #3: Arrive on time
Thanks to the transport service, we had no trouble locating the hotel, which is located at OUE Downtown.
We also made it in time for check-in at 2pm, after doing the requisite SafeEntry check-in and filling in a health declaration form.
Oakwood has also been awarded the SG Clean certification by the Singapore Tourism Board.
The hotel's Covid-19 measures were quite thorough — we even had our room keys given to us in some high-tech disinfecting box.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Tip #4: Orientate yourself to the room
It's very important to do a cursory check around your hotel room so that you know what facilities are available.
We took a quick look around and were very excited by the fact that there was a comfy living room area, a bedroom with a great view of Tanjong Pagar Terminal and the Singapore Strait, and a fully-equipped kitchen, which we made a note to utilise before the end of our stay.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Tip #5: Timetabling
In order to maximise your staycation experience, you need to try everything that the hotel has to offer. A timetable would be rather helpful for those, like us, who tend to lose track of time.
We wanted to plan our day immediately, but it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks — we may have chilled for a couple of hours just enjoying the view and lazing around the room.
I rationalised it by the fact that taking in the view could be considered maximising our time there.
I mean, look at that view!
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Once we finally got around to planning for the day, the first thing we needed to do was decide when we wanted to use the gym and pool.
Because of safe distancing measures, we needed to pre-book time slots to use the shared amenities. At any one time, a maximum of three and five people were allowed in the gym and the pool respectively.
We booked the gym for 6pm later that evening. We had wanted to book the pool for that evening around 7pm, in order to watch the sunset, but unfortunately for us, other more kiasu guests had beat us to it.
So instead, we booked the pool for the next morning at 8am, knowing full well this would be the ultimate test of whether we were turning over a new leaf for this staycation, or if we would blatantly ignore our alarms when they rang far too early.
Tip #6: Try something new
Sometimes you need to try new things in order to maximise your staycation experience.
For us, this new thing came in the form of the hotel room's Nespresso coffee machine, which came with complimentary Nespresso capsules. You see, both of us don't drink coffee but knew that we had to try some in order to make the most out of our staycation.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
As it was both of our first times using a Nespresso machine, we experienced some slight complications, with the capsule falling to the bottom of the machine instead of being lodged in place...
Oops... Photo by Jane Zhang.
...but we eventually figured it out.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
While I'm glad we made sure to take advantage of the opportunity to try something new, I have to admit that I am still not a fan of coffee.
After the coffee, and changing into the most comfortable bathrobe I have ever worn in my life, I then got started on some work I needed to finish, making use of the desk in the room.
Me working hard in a definitely-not posed photo. Photo by Jane Zhang.
The view made doing work a bit less painful.
Tip #7: Maximise amenities
A little past 6pm (once again, hard to teach old dogs new tricks), we headed down to the gym.
For the record, I have never once been to the gym at any hotels I've stayed at before. They are not a priority for me, nor do I enjoy being in them.
We went anyway, because the boyfriend wanted to, and also because this is a five-star hotel gym, and I guess I couldn't consider myself kiasu if I ignored the free amenities.
The gym had a decent amount of equipment — treadmills, ellipticals, a stationary bike, some weight machine I don't know the name of and didn't use, dumbbells.
I was grateful for the safe distancing measures Oakwood has in place, which limit the gym to three guests at a time, as that meant that there was only one other person using the gym at the same time as us.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
I put on some Netflix to distract myself from the pain while I ran on the treadmill, and after what felt like 15 to 20 minutes, was ready to stop and take a pause.
I was very annoyed to see that it had only been seven minutes, but that didn't keep me from stopping.
I switched to the elliptical but got tired and bored after about four minutes, and then hopped on one of the stationary bikes for a short spin.
I did not last very long on these machines. Photo by Jane Zhang.
After that, I gave myself a pat on the back for trying three different machines, and promptly sat down to continue watching Netflix for a "quick rest". That ended up lasting the rest of our hour-long slot.
Tip #8: Treat yourself
To make up for the pain we put ourselves through, we decided to treat ourselves to room service for dinner. I ordered a steak, while my boyfriend ordered a burger.
After washing up, our food arrived. And it was just as glorious as I imagined it'd be, rolling up on a little cart to our door!
Photo by Jane Zhang.
It was a really exciting moment, given that I have never ordered room service, or even dared look at room service menus before.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
The meal, which we enjoyed while watching an episode of Indian Matchmaking on Netflix, was absolutely delicious. We were both very, very full and content.
Then, the next exciting part of our evening arrived: the Oakwood Mobile Bar, which brings the bar experience to the room with free-flow cocktails and canapés.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Now, neither my boyfriend nor I drink very much. But, I mean, since we had the opportunity to do so, why not try every single cocktail on the menu?
And so we did.
Not pictured: a number of other drinks we ordered. Photo by Jane Zhang.
We were both excited to try the Singapore Sling, but we found it to be a bit too sweet for our taste.
Our favourite drink was the Champion's Cocktail — made of Absolut blue vodka, ginger ale, lime, and mint leaves — but the real winners of the night were the canapés.
Yes, we had just finished dinner, but that didn't stop us from devouring the snacks.
This was probably the part of our stay at Oakwood that we maximised best, as we also really tried to make full use of our time with the bartender, asking him (very noob) questions about the drinks, and trying out as many as we wanted.
Our bartender was very friendly and helpful, answering our questions skilfully and telling us a bit about himself and his background as we chatted and tried the drinks.
Even my boyfriend, who really doesn't enjoy drinking and is usually quite frugal, agreed that the experience was well worth S$55 per person.
Here's the price list, which helpfully listed the a la carte prices that made us feel very pleased to have maximised the value of the mobile bar:
Photo by Jane Zhang.
We both made sure to drink lots of (complimentary) water, since our alcohol tolerance is quite low, and we did not want to be hungover for our 8am swim the next morning.
We spent the rest of the night chilling and enjoying the view from the 22nd floor, looking down at the quiet CBD streets.
So peaceful. Photo by Jane Zhang.
My boyfriend fell asleep by a little after midnight, but I was wide awake until 3:30am — guess that Nespresso worked too well.
Tip #9: Be flexible
The next morning — surprise, surprise — we did not succeed at waking up at 8am. We finally crawled out of bed around 8:30am, hyping ourselves up for the pool and reminding ourselves that the goal was ~maximise the experience~.
However, the weather was not on our side. Right as we were ready to go down, it started raining.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
We took it as a sign that early mornings are just not meant for us, and rescheduled our pool timing for 12pm instead. In the meantime, we decided to be flexible with our schedule and headed for breakfast instead.
We could choose to either have breakfast in the restaurant downstairs or to get it takeaway, and we could choose between American breakfast or local breakfast.
We both opted for the American option (we're both big fans of bacon) and tabao-ed breakfast back to our room, where my boyfriend joyously set up an NBA game on the flat screen TV to watch while we ate.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Breakfast consisted of an assortment of foods: hash brown, scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans, pastries, salad, and fruits. I was still pretty full from dinner and canapés the night before, so I didn't quite finish breakfast, but I definitely appreciated the variety, and the fruits especially.
After I got sick of watching basketball, I went to the bedroom to relax. I used to think that a serviced apartment with multiple rooms is too big for a couple on vacation but if there's one thing this staycation taught me, it's that it's never too big.
Swimming and lunch
Unfortunately, my relaxing was cut short by the fact that noon arrived and we needed to go enjoy the pool. While it felt like a chore to pull myself out of bed, I reminded myself yet again that the goal was to be kiasu.
Would a kiasu trip planner simply pass up a chance to go for a dip at a five-star hotel? No. So I couldn't either.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
In the end, I was very glad we went. The pool was peaceful and serene, and I also had the chance to gloat at my boyfriend's lack of swimming ability and (try to) teach him a bit.
Tip #10: Make use of all the room facilities
With check-out just around the corner, we made sure to fully exploit the facilities in the room which we hadn't yet used: the washing machine and the kitchen.
Complimentary laundry detergent, plus not having to do a load when we got home? Perfect.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
The final part of our staycation was utilising the kitchen.
Neither of us are big cooks, but we knew we needed to try out a recipe for croque monsieur (don't ask me how to pronounce that).
Photo by Jane Zhang.
Photo by Jane Zhang.
While we experienced some confusion at points, I am proud to announce that we successfully completed the recipe, and it was delicious (*chef's kiss*).
So unhealthy, but so delicious. Photo by Jane Zhang.
We managed to finish cooking just in time for checkout, with the help of some strategic thinking: as the minutes ticked by and we got closer and closer to our checkout time, we took turns packing our things while the other person cooked.
And of course, I made sure to do my usual hotel tradition of packing all of the free toiletries with me to add to my giant stash at home. I guess I do have some kiasu-ness to me.
We wolfed down the final product in less than 10 minutes, before grabbing our bags and running out the door with five minutes to spare.
Bidding farewell to the room. Photo by Jane Zhang.
And with that, our five-star hotel experience came to a close.
As we rode home in the Jaguar, we reflected on the experience. Well, actually, my boyfriend told me to be quiet so he could fully enjoy the seat massage, so I reflected on the experience.
Overall, it was a 10 out of 10 experience at Oakwood.
My boyfriend calls it a 10 out of two experience, because it was a five-star hotel, and he thinks he's very clever.
Final kiasu tip: Sometimes, don't be so kiasu
While it did get stressful at points constantly trying to make sure we were "maximising" the experience, it's great that we had that kiasu push, which made us do things we wouldn't normally have done, or might have decided to forgo, such as going to the gym, utilising the kitchen, and even trying coffee.
At the same time, our laid-back nature balanced out the stress of trying to maximise.
After all, being kiasu and maximising our time would have meant nothing if we just ran from one activity to another without actually enjoying these experiences.
Top photos by Jane Zhang. Special thanks to Oakwood Premier AMTD Singapore.