Weekend @ the beach...Shangri-la's Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa

... spent the whole Saturday morning out, first by the beach and the later part under the big shady trees by the pool.

Went for a walk, actually it was more of chasing my lil girl on her horse! And yes! My gym sessions have paid dividend. I could actually keep up without panting like crazy! Twas a nice morning, beach was almost deserted saved for a few people here and there.

I spent the rest of the morning lounging by the poolside with my Touch while my girl played in the water. She can swim quite well now and these days dare venture to the deep end, with supervision, of course. 8) Finished another book! Midway through the morning, met another fellow kampung mate by the pool, my adopted kampung that is.

My girl on the horse. Surprisingly not much fear, this gal of mine! 8) She even managed a small gallop on the former racing horse. Other Half was not there when I put her on the horse... he might have had some reservations. 8) I gave up chasing them the second time around. 2 years ago, she rode a pony. This time the pony has grown into a real horse! 8)

Rasa Sayang Resort is not too bad... nice pool area with big trees over it. One can swim there the whole day and not feel the sun beating down. Resort living, no wonder it's popular.

One kinda gets shielded from what goes on around the world. It's easy to forget that the day before had been dubbed Ash Friday... European skies cleared of planes because of the volcanic ash spewed from Iceland. Or that the second wave of H1N1 is probably making its rounds, despite vehement denials from the DG of Health.... I just got my flu jab. The languages at the pool were garbled... many different tongues! Kids of many nationalities... kinda interesting!

I saw a couple walking by; the male was clad in bermuda shorts and short sleeve cotton T-shirt. His companion was dressed in a chador... kinda reminded me of the 2 books I read recently, Sold and The Veiled Kingdom. In this weather, the chador is suffocating! You can see her blue jeans peeking from under the chador/abaya/hijab. Apparently in Arab Saudi that might give reason enough for the muttawa (religious police) to flail one. The woman had to bear with the humidity while her male companion made adaptations as per weather.... They seemed to be a couple in love... But maybe that's enough for her....

Anyway this is one of the few hotels that we've been which actually provides free complimentary highspeed broadband in their rooms. Wi-fi is accessible everywhere. But then again, at the rates they charge, I guess it's already factored in! And oh ya! There was a complimentary fruit basket when we checked in. It's been so long since I experienced that, the last time being years ago at E & O. Back then, their fruit basket came with Belgium chocolates!

It's a nice enough weekend... but Daughter left her swimsuit behind. She cried torrents upon discovery. So we called the hotel. We'll be getting it back. 8) Nice weekend, great place, good service... 8)