Staycations are awesome for a short relaxing getaway. I have been to a few staycations in town and we spent our free time going for movies. But this time, our staycation is at Village Hotel Changi, which is far away from the urban Singapore. Great! Because it gives us some time to be closer to nature and enjoy a leisurely stroll along the scenic Changi coastline.

We checked in to a lovely Superior Room which comes with a king-sized bed and standard amenities. Not very very big, but it is comfortable. There is a bathtub and free wifi!

Got balcony leh! Not bad, can see some trees and the sea!

There are five dining choices within the hotel which includes Saltwater Cafe, La Cantina, Chou Bei Japanese Restaurant, The Wine Company and Vau Wine Bar. Our lunch was at Saltwater Café located at the lobby. Headed by celebrity Chef William Soh, Saltwater Café offers a choice of indoor or alfresco dining, and provides diners with a wide variety of local and International cuisine in both its buffet and a la carte menus.

I got to know Chef William Soh when he presented his ultimate carrot cake will be cooked with scallops in the Ultimate Hawker Festival last year. So I am glad to be here to try their Daily Kampong Lunch Buffet with delectable local Singapore delicacies from a bygone era. We started our lunch with some salad and teh tarik! Their teh tarik is super shiok, you can pour the teh tarik into a tin, then start pulling your own tea into the cup! It’s quite fun!

Their satay was especially good, adequately spiced with a burnt sugary crisp. The sweetness, saltiness and spice flavours tot up the deliciousness of a good satay.The peanut sauce was acceptable, not too thick nor rich, I was hoping that they have a spoonful of pineapple in it. They did their grilling outdoors so don’t have to worry about having smoky hair!

DIY Rojak, unfortunately there is no youtiao. Perhaps it is the penang style lah.

Cook your own lor mee.

The chef does prata for you on the spot.

Roast meat which wasn’t outstanding.

Their laksa is really good! The gravy here is “lemak” – rich, and full of coconut milk. Noodles have a pleasant springiness and the fish cakes and shrimp are very fresh. They didn’t add cockles but I am totally fine without it.

Another must try is their fried kway teow. The noodles were soft and slightly dry. But it is deliciously savoury with lots of robust flavours from the hot wok, seasoning was spot-on but I was hoping that they add more dark sauce. But it definitely had the wow factor.

Popiah

Kueh Pie Tee

Some desserts for you? You can also try to be soya bean seller by pouring your own cup of soya bean or bandung!

After a heavy lunch, I also had some kachang puteh! This is so old school lah! I only remember seeing it outside cinemas!

We met with a super friendly restaurant manager who helped us during our meal. Not only us, he also goes around each table to talk to guests. You will see his face at the end of this blog post, but first let me show you how happy (and full) we were! The price of the buffet lunch is only $30 over dollars and it is cheaper during weekends!

Here’s the view outside the restaurant – a pool! I was wishing that I can dive down the pool or spend my quiet afternoon by the pool. But there are so many more things to do around this area so I have to give it a miss.

So what did we do after our lunch? Well, we went to feed the koi in the hotel! Koi are lively fishes that brings joy to people, perhaps because of its bright colours. We paid $2 nett for a packet of food for the koi and went to feed them at the Koi Pond on Level 6.

I went to Topshop to specially buy a set of clothes for staycation! And thank you Comb Head for giving me pretty hair!

I won’t get bored at this staycation because there is a COMPLIMENTARY one hour bicycle ride for hotel guests! We got the voucher from the hotel desk and walked to Changi Village to get our bikes.

I cannot swim but I can cycle! I love cycling because I can forget everything on your bike. I just have to focus on my legs, sing some songs while enjoying the afternoon breeze. The weather is perfect, we cycled to East Coast. If we had more time, I would like to take a boat ride to Pulau Ubin and see kampong life!

To reward myself after cycling, we have a bowl of red tea jelly at Mei Lin Yin Pin (#01-40 Changi Village Hawker Centre)

Our dinner was at The Garden Slug which was disappointing. We were ushered to a table with poor lighting, so bad that we had difficulty reading what’s on the menu. Spotted another group of customers leaving and requested to change table, the staff simply stood there while both of us just looked at the table being taken away by another customer. And the staff just walked away after that.

We ordered a basket of Wasuga Wings ($10.50 for 6pcs) and was told that they ran out of wings (it was 7.45pm). So I had Wasuga Chicken Drumlets instead. The dish came luke warm and tasted bland. Snow White ($17.90) is a big piece of Souffle Egg Omelette with mushroom fillings. Trufflesome Shrooms Pesto Pasta ($23.50) is the saving grace for our dinner there.

The bed was comfortale, it was great for the one night that we needed it for. We were up early the next day because we had a wedding lunch to attend. But we were looking forward for breakfast because of the friendly restaurant manager. Back at Saltwater Cafe again because the hotel stay comes with free breakfast! So we had some bread, dim sum and cold cuts to start off.

The roti prata station we saw the day before turned into an omelette station so we had an omelette.

Some nasi lemak and porridge to keep us warm.

And fruits to end off the meal.

Though this photo is slightly out of focus, but I really want to show you guys the friendly restaurant manager we met for both our meals at Saltwater Cafe. Among all my staycation, he is probably the one who gives me the deepest impression because of his excellent service. Thank you Village Hotel Changi!

Village Hotel Changi

Address: 1 Netheravon Road
Tel: +65 6379 7111
Website: click here
For reservations at Saltwater Cafe, please contact the restaurant at +65 6379 7018