Rocking off at Hard Rock Pool

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I haven't been drafting photo-story blog post about my god daughter Charmaine since her passing last October. I thought I would get all soppy and emotional writing about her especially since I haven't been crying for months.

Last night instead of getting teary-eyed, I was smiling and laughing quite a lot to myself looking at all the photos and especially the videos from this outing.

Sentosa has become Charmaine's favourite place as in her little 6-year-old mind, it is synonymous to her favourite roller coaster at Universal Studios and the simulated beach pool at Hard Rock Hotel.

To reward her for being so courageous, enduring surgeries after surgeries, needle poking and many unpleasant procedures due to her cancer, Cyn mommy and I would bring her out to soak up some cheery outdoor air whenever she was not running a temperature and when her counts were good.

Last June, a friend kindly granted Charmaine's wish of staying at Sentosa. It was to reward her for bravely facing a life-threatening surgery in May.

Cyn and the kids' second day's stay at Festive Hotel coincided with my off day and hence we brought the kids to the pool at Hard Rock Hotel.

Our personal friend who is a photographer came along and took many memorable snapshots and videos of the day. I wished I could share the videos here but they are far too long and I'm a noob at editing videos.

Let us move on to the photo-story, shall we? =)

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When I was on my way to the hotel, it was actually raining! Not long after I reached however, the rain clouds cleared up and the kids let out whoops of cheers.

The kids were all prepared to head for the pool as the weather was brilliant. 



This was what we could see from the balcony at Festive Hotel. At the bottom right of the collage, you could see how the toiletries were named in such a creative fashion.



Unlike the first time we were there, cyn mommy remembered to bring their pails this time round. Alas, we had no spade and shovels so we improvised by using the plastic spoons from our takeaway lunch.

The girls were happily building "sandcastles" and sand mountains with a moat while Jase went about looking for "eggs" in the sand. All of a sudden, we felt splashes of water. Jase was splashing water at us from a distance with the most cheeky grin on his face.



The mommies retaliated.

We got up and battled with him separately while the other stayed with Charmaine.




I hadn't intended to get my hair wet but on one occasion, Jase crept up stealthily behind me and poured the water directly onto my head!



Cyn mommy's hair wasn't spared too. Only little Char was spared as her kor kor was so considerate towards her always and didn't once try to splash water at her.



By that time, Char had lost her ability to walk as the cancer had spread to her knees and thighs. She moved around by sliding her little buttocks around the pool.



We had lots of fun learning about water and air pressure while trying to make the pails "fart" with big bubbles.





Charmaine started putting her pail on her head and she looked so cute. All of us followed suit and look how silly we looked!





I love this series of brotherly-sisterly love. Our photographer friend whispered to Charmaine to splash water on kor kor since he was so cheeky. The two mommies helped of course! We wanted to get back at him for splashing at us a while back.



So sweet!


Soon Charmaine was getting cold and we had to call it a day at the pool.

After being all snugly wrapped in her towel, Charmaine posed with her signature Asian peace symbol.



Char char with her beloved gong gong. Cyn has one of the best father ever! He often shows his fatherly love in the most traditional way -- not through words but through actions.



We headed back to our room while thinking of what to have for dinner.



The previous day, one the kids' favourite aunty brought them out to the Underwater World where they bought an egg with a toy turtle inside. They had to soak the egg in water and wait for the turtle to hatch. Char char was so excited to see that her egg had cracked.



After our refreshing shower, cyn and I ordered room service while the kids had Chinese takeaway. The kids are inherently Chinese in every way and have Chinese blood running through their veins. While most kids clamour after western food and fast food, Jase and Charmaine love their Chinese food.

Check out the tomato ketchup that came in a cute little bottle.



The kids were really impatient and wanted to see the turtle emerging from the shell there and then. Cyn started peeling the shell away and asked Charmaine to hold the turtle. She was freaked out by its slimy texture and nearly cried. This girl! So brave when facing needles and scalpels but got scared by a silly toy turtle.



When I wasn't clad in bikini or bathrobe, my outfit of the day looked like this.



Cyn told me to dress for the occasion. We were either going to MegaZip Adventure Park or the pool depending on the Charmaine's mobilty and that explained the combination of ripped tank top with army shorts and bikini underneath.

The man behind the scene -- Charles. Thank you for capturing these wonderful memories! He looks like a radical rebel or like a gangster (that's in his own words) but the kids love him a lot.



It's always great fun hanging out with the kids. Even though Char is no longer around, I've got a cache of snapshots, videos and memories to remind me of all our happy times together.