Costa Sands Resort ~ quick getaway from the busy mundane city life

1 Pasir Ris,

Downtown East

Singapore

That is Balong and I to the entrance of Costa Sands Resort, am supposed to have a full shot of the place but Balong interrupted me with the doughnut (ahahaha!)

Two days before we leave the beautiful country of Singapore, our friend Llowel who lived in Tampines invited us to have some fun at Costa Sands Resort. I did ask BFF Lemwuel if he wants to join us but he extend his excuse as he has an afternoon duty till midnight in the ward, thus we didn’t persuade him then. Just the three of us ended up being together (Balong, Llowel and myself), and we decided to meet before 4:oopm. Since we have nothing to do as we already visited most of the tourist spot here in Singapore, we informed Llowel to pick us up in Tampines MRT Station (EW 2). From our hotel near Kallang MRT Station (EW 10), we traveled less than 30 minutes and we arrived a bit early as we agreed. 

Just on our way out from Pasir Ris MRt Station.

While waiting for Llowel, we roam around the place first. Thanks God because Llowel let Balong borrowed one of his phone including the sim card during our stay here. We texted him that when he arrived in Tampines, he just give us a call then. We waited not any longer as after 20 minutes of waiting Llowel arrived and invited us to his apartment and took our siesta in there. What’s good is that most of the tenants in the flat are Filipinos so we enjoyed it bigtime communicating with them. It feels like we were in Philippines being here in Singapore. We stayed only for an hour and leave immediately as it is getting late.

The huge signage signaling that you are already in Downtown East!

There are so many ways to locate the Downtown East, you can take the train to Pasir Ris MRT Station or you can take the bus number 12, 17, 89 and 358. I don’t know how many buses do pass in here but those are the bus numbers I’ve seen along the area. If you want to take the car then better ask someone else as we haven’t tried it though (ahahaha! ~ sorry!). 

One of the many directions i found in the area.

But anyway, for us to reach the resort fast and easy, we took the MRT to Pasir Ris Station (EW1) from Tampines (EW2). Please don’t get confused with Pasir Panjang Station as this is located way far from here. At first, I thought both station are near to each other just to find out that they both have separate directions (ahahaha!). Llowel said that in the morning usually there is a free shuttle bus service from Pasir Ris MRT Station to Costa Sands Resorts which is available at 8:45am.

To keep fit and healthy, why not try renting a bicycle? I don't know how much per hour but it's effective to lose weight though.

There is a 7/11 store but there were lots of customer lining up, we then change the plan and visited the nearby White Sands Shopping Centre just a few walks away from the station. We bought some doughnuts as we haven’t brought any ‘chichiria’s with us.  The resort is not too far from the train station, it took us only less than 10 minutes of walking and voila we reach our destination. You’ll not get lost as many direction signage can be found in here.

Stairs to the swimming area.

One of the thing that interest me most wherever we go roaming around Singapore, lots and lots of ‘reminders’ can be found in each corner! ‘No bicycling, no pets allowed, no swimming, no etc etc etc’, no wonder for the past 7 days of staying here I haven’t seen anyone violating the rules. It’s a great ordinance though, as it makes the whole country in order. Please note that once you break the law  and caught like spitting or throwing cigarette butts then expect yourself to be in the hot seat because they imposed extensive amount of penalty for you to learn the hard way (BIGTIME! ~ ahahaha!) So better follow the rules than sorry, you know (ahahaha!).

Rules and Regulation to follow once you use the pool.

We arrived at Downtown East around 6:oopm and we didn’t waste any more time. First thing we did is roam around and makes me wonder because it is really huge! It’s like the same size as Clark Quay (ahahaha!). There are lots of shopping and dining outlets too that surrounds the place. The difference is, it is more like a family friendly environment unlike Clarke Quay which is much more on the hyper, nighlife mood.

View of the whole swimming pool.

Balong and Llowel can't take it anymore, they jump to the water right away.

To name the restaurants we’ve seen only few remains in my head (ahahaha!) like the KFC, subway, Magic Wok, Fatfish Steamboat, Old Chang Kee, Mr. Chicken Rice and Just Acia. With regards to shopping outlets we’ve seen Azro, Giordano, Just Lola and Cotton on. If you’re a fitness buff then a visit to Heath Matters and Celebrity Fitness is a try.

Am trying hard to submerged myself like what Balong does but i really can't, i keep on floating!!!! (ahahahaha!)

Ahahahaha..... That's Balong on the left while the one doing the jumping jack under the water is me (ammmmp!)

After roaming around the vicinity we headed straight to Costa Sands Resorts which is located in the southern part of Downtown East.  Our main purpose here really is to have a plunge in their swimming pool and have no plans to rent a chalet. We supposed to stay here for the rest of our stay here in Singapore because Llowel recommended this place; however, I already paid the one week hotel accommodation in Fragrance and am not eager to cancel it as I don’t to go on the process of cancelling then taking the refund procedure (ahahaha!).

The see through bottom of the swimming pool.

The admission fee here is only SGD 2 per person. There are so many free amenities to enjoy, you can bring your marinated chicken and beef as you can use their barbecue pits, they have a hot water dispenser, a 50 meter swimming pool including a smaller pool for children and what I fond the most is the free wi-fi access (ahahaha!).

free wi-fi access!!! Well, mostly in Singapore has that anyway.

We enjoyed our stay here and spent more than an hour. What’s interesting there is part of the swimming pool having a see through wall.  Balong and I even requested Llowel to take a photo of us in one of the viewing panel as it is visible in the entrance. I am not a swimmer and it’s quite hard to submerge. I did try several times with the help of Balong to go deeper but nah! I keep on floating (ahahaha!).

Wanna dive? hmmmmm don't try or else the life guard will come to you and throw you away (ahahaha ~ joke!)

The ambiance is perfect for quick getaway just to have a ‘me-time’ or ‘family-time’ moment away from the busy city life. I love the surroundings as the open space swimming pool is located in the 1^st floor of the building. There is a stairs in the corner that will lead you to the swimming area and there is a lifeguard on guard as always.

There are no cottages but lined up of inclining chair can be found everywhere.

There are so many inclining chair that surrounds the place and lined potted palm trees as well. Diving is not allowed as the depth is only around 5 feet. I did jump once and I’ve seen from the ‘eyes’ of the lifeguard saying ‘hey, stop that!’ (ahahaha!).

Again!!! No running, no diving!!!! gets?

Just beside the swimming pool is the ‘Wild Wild Wet’, Singapore’s largest water park. Unfortunately, it is closed when we get there. We’ve seen lots of slides around and seems full of excitement in there. We’ve seen a much wider pool and river like features with lots of inflatable balloon (whew!!!!). I checked the cost per person, it says SGD19 around PHP600 or USD15 per adult and SGD 14 around PHP 450 or USD10 per child.

wanna have some doughnuts?

The place is good if you brought your family and friends along, but personally there are much more swimming options in Singapore than coming in here. It’s way too far from the city center but very much accessible by MRT. I prefer going to Sentosa especially to Siloso and Palawan Beach as they have variety to offer. This is just a personal point of view, but thanks to Llowel for bringing us in here.

That's me and Balong.. hayssssssssss missing you baby... mwaaaaaaaa

Will I recommend the place to my friends? Hmmmm I guess so; but, if you stay in Singapore only for few days I guess better give it a pass. There are much more tourist spot to enjoy closer to the city center than to go here. What am saying is just what I perceived as to compare to all the attractions that we visited. The Wild Wild Wet is interesting but we haven’t tried it ourselves but am sure the whole family will enjoy such as we’ve seen lots of thrilling slides to it.

potted palm trees can be found everywhere.

So that’s it, don’t get me wrong about my conclusion, point is we enjoyed A LOT during the whole time we stayed here.

Ahahahahaha on our way to the dressing room.

Have a great day and night everyone. Coming up next our dinner in ‘Just Acia’

Cheerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsss!!!!

 

Enan signing off.

 

SMILE :)

 

 

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