Long weekend stay at PARKROYAL Penang Resort
It was the National Day long weekend and we decided to spend it overseas.
PARKROYAL Penang Resort offers stunning views of the Straits of Malacca.
We have decided to spend it at Parkroyal Penang Resort, as we have heard from our friends that it is a nice place to stay with direct access to the beach. The hotel is under the Pan Pacific Group, which is part of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) Discovery. Parkroyal Hotels, Parkroyal Collection and Pan Pacific Hotels are included in GHA Discovery programme. I am a member and I am entitled to member rates of up to 10% off room rates, and 25% off selected dining options in the hotel, late check-out, complimentary daily breakfast, earn 7% more in Discovery$ (D$) that we can use to offset on our next hotel stay.
Parkroyal Penang Resort is located at the Northern part of Penang Island in the town of Batu Ferringhi. Traveling from the airport to the hotel took us about 1 hr 20mins as it is further away than Georgetown. We took Grab and the journey cost RM86 for a distance of about 38km, which was about S$26.
At check-in, we were ushered to the Javana Lounge. It is a relaxing and breezy lobby lounge with high ceilings. We were served with non-alcoholic welcome drinks and local snacks. Check in staff began explained to us details of our stay at the resort. With our GHA Discovery status, we were able to enjoy 25% off dining and St. Gregory spa but in-room dining is not included.
Javana Lounge, PARKROYAL Penang Resort
They have two pools - a 1.5m deep pool and a wading pool, and another pool behind the first pool that has two water slides. Interestingly, water in the pools is heated to room temperature, which is not very common but highly appreciated as we would need to worry about our little one feeling cold in the water. They also have Amazonia Splash, which is a mini waterpark with streams and buckets of water to splash on your face or body. The park is located behind the water slides and the entrance is located in between the rear of the Gustoso and the blue water slide (shown in the photo below).
One of the two swimming pools in the resort. This one has two water slides for both adults and kids.
They have two restaurants - Gustoso and Cinnamon Asian kitchen, which is the restaurant to go for our complimentary breakfast. There are two bars with one that is situated inside the Javana Lounge called the Passion garden and an outdoor beach bar called the Sunset bar. Facilities wise, they have the usuals like the gym and a business centre.
Daily breakfast is served at the Cinnamon Asian Kitchen. (Photo from TripAdvisor).
One thing that makes Parkroyal Penang Resort special is it is very family friendly. It has an in-house kids playzone called the Amazonia Kids’ Club. It also has curated activities throughout the week - each day will have a different activity such as, drawing and origami workshops. Majority of the activities are complimentary. There have indoor and outdoor playgrounds, and playstations and Nintendo switch. There are dedicated staff manning the club, who doubles up as instructors for the various workshops. So parents can drop off their children at the club and do their own thing. We brought our little one there and even though he was too young to play most of the activities, he still had fun moving blocks with another older kid and trying to run/crawl after another kid in the indoor playground - all while being accompanied by us.
Entrance to Amazonia Kids Club (photo from booking.com).
For the room, I booked the Deluxe room with a King bed option. It is 33sqm which was enough space for the three of us and a baby cot. You can also request for baby bathtub and a steam bottle steriliser. There is a mini fridge in the room and an ice and cold water dispenser machine located near the lift lobby area on the same level. The room also has a balcony, which offers breathtaking views of the beach and the Straits of Malacca. We were able to see a beautiful sunset with shades of purple and pink.
Deluxe room with King bed, actually its two extra big twin beds combined into one.
A decent size bathroom with a separate shower and toilet sections.
The deluxe room has a balcony facing the sea.
There are many food options nearby the hotel and one of it is the Long Beach cafe, a foodcourt with stalls selling Chinese, Western, Muslim and Indian cuisines. It can be spotted by the big neon sign called Ferringhi Station. There is also an apom stall, called the Apom Balik Station that situated just a short walk from the entrance of the hotel. Apom is a crispy pancake with fillings inside. It offers over 32 varieties of flavour and their popular flavours are with the Nutella options. Both places are open in the evenings.
Apom Balik Station located just a few steps outside the hotel. (Photo from Foodcrush.com.my)
Ferringhi Station, a hawker centre located off the Main Street of Batu Ferringhi.
We also travelled out of Batu Ferringhi to Georgetown, where we visited this lunch place called Makan Pagi. They serve a muslim and chinese halal options. We ordered the chicken satay, toast topped with half-boiled egg, char kway teow and wanton mee. We particular like the satay and the toast. It is also located in the same area as the famous chendol stall in Penang. Our little one likes dogs and we managed to find a dog cafe called Hunt & Hound. Besides it is a dog cafe, it also has a collection of reptiles that are kept inside secured cages, thankfully.
Makan Pagi is quite a popular eating place in Georgetown, Penang.
The menu taken in Aug-2024.
Roti Bakar Telur Goyang - the best dish we tried (red plate).
A dog cafe located in Georgetown.
Overall, my family enjoyed our stay at the resort and it is one of most relaxing experience for us, as we spent a lot of time in the resort. I would recommend to families and couples who are looking for a relaxing time to come stay at PARKROYAL Penang Resort.
Searching for a preschool
Little boy in the family has just turned nine months and in another nine months time, he will be eligible to join a playgroup at a preschool.
Searching for a preschool is no easy task. Shortlisting preschools that is nearest to your home, the curriculum the school offers, the teachers’ profile, the teacher to preschooler ratio, the environment and not forgetting the cost and financial schemes available.
First, if you are like me who have no idea which preschool to send my little boy to, you would need some help to find the nearest ones from your home. Luckily, there is now a centralised portal that parents can use to search for a preschool. It is called the LifeSG app.
Besides using it to search for a preschool, it is also use to register a newborn. For Singaporean men who are a reservist or still serving NS, it is also where we can find the NS HOME and NS Excellence Award credits - these are monies awarded for meeting the performance during in-camp training (ICT) - additional perks for us to spend money.
Screenshot of Your benefit section in the LifeSG app.
Going back to the topic, just above the Services section, you can see ‘Search for a preschool’. Once you have tapped on it, the app will bring you to the page below,
Preschool search is found just above the Services section in the LifeSG app.
There are two options to search - by location or centre name. This is also where you need to select the preschool level. In this case, I will need to select playgroup.
Screenshot from the LifeSG app.
It gives you the option to search either by postal code or by centre name. Let’s assume we search by postal code. Since I am looking for playgroup, I chose that to narrow my search for preschools that have vacancies for this level. The screenshot below shows you a list of preschools that are within 2 km from my chosen postal code - it’s much like searching for a primary school.
A list of preschools will be shown.
Screenshot from the LifeSG app.
You will probably be like me and feel a little overwhelmed with so many choices of preschool (in my case there are 55 preschools!). But don’t panic, if your priority is to find a preschool that is near your home, then I would suggest using the map tab to narrow down your search. Alternatively, go to the filters tab and adjust the search radius. There are also other filter options available such as, vacancy availability, fee range and service type (half-day or full-day).
Using the filter option helps you to narrow down your search further. (Screenshot from JB)
Let say you have shortlisted a few preschools (bookmarking them helps), and one of it is the Little Footprints Preschool Group located at 255 Serangoon Central Drive, tap on View details and it will bring you to another page with the preschool’s contact information. Here is something I find it is a little inconvenient, it does not give you the option to submit an application or at least submit an interest to the preschool. Instead, it will request you to contact the centre directly and check the availability. It is worthwhile to note here is, the search function did not offer the option to select the month and year you would like to enroll your child to a preschool. Even though it says it has availability for playgroups, it does not mean it is available in your preferred month of enrollment. Hence, you will have to email the preschool individually or go to their respective websites to check further.
Contact the preschool to enquire about availability for the month you would like to enrol your child.
Screenshot from the LifeSG app.
Second, after you have chosen a preschool, you can find out the estimated cost under the Fees section. At first, it will tell you the range of fees the preschool charges per month before GST and any financial schemes.
Select the answers to the three fields and it will estimate the actual cost of childcare.
Screenshot from LifeSG app.
After I selected the responses for the three fields, it will tell you the cost per month before GST and any financial schemes. In my case, sending my little boy to the Little Footprints would cost an estimated $720 per month for a full-day care option. Depending on which preschools you have chosen, the estimated cost could be different.
Third, you will need to check if you can qualify for any financial schemes, which could help lower down the cost of preschool. Tap on the Learn more about your eligible subsidy. In general, there are two types of subsidy - Basic and Additional. The quantum of subsidy depends on mummy’s working status and gross monthly household income.
Assuming mummy is working and works at least 56 hours a month, her child is enrolled in an ECDA (Early Childhood Development Agency)-licensed infant/child care centre in Singapore, and the total monthly household income is $12,000 and below, she will qualify for both basic and additional subsidies. The basic subsidy will be $300 for working mummies ($150 for non-working mummies) and for additional subsidies, it is differentiated by eight income brackets - infant care and child care have different amounts of subsidies. There is also another subsidy called Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS).
Back to the scenario at the beginning of previous paragraph, besides the $300 basic subsidy, assuming the gross monthly household income is $9500. She will also qualify for $130 Additional subsidy. Thus, the preschool fees net off the subsidies will come down to $290 per month before GST AND any other administrative fees that the individual preschool will charge. In addition, there is a calculator that you can use to estimate the cost of preschool. I highly recommend to use it as it auto populates the eligible subsidies and give you the net fees for preschool.
Fourth, all child care centre operators has to be licensed by Early Childhood Development Agency(ECDA). Some of the operators come under one of the two types of ECDA-licensed centres - Anchor Operator Scheme (AOS) and Partner Operator Scheme (POS). The emphasis here is some as not all licensed operators come under the two schemes.
AOS operators are guided by the above.
Preschools under AOS provide good quality and affordable early childhood care and education, especially for children from lower income or disadvantaged backgrounds. Besides providing quality childcare and continuous development of early childhood professionals, there are fee caps for the different categories of services. Currently, there are five operators under the AOS.
There are five child care operators under the AOS scheme.
Preschools under POS aims to improve accessibility, affordability, and quality of childcare and infant care services. Similar to AOS, centres appointed under POS have fee caps of $720 for full day child care and $1,290 for full day infant care before GST and subsidies. Besides fee caps, appointed centres follows a set of requirements through the Singapore Pre-school Accreditation Framework (SPARK), as well as continuous development of early childhood leaders and educators. The list of appointed centres under POS can be found here. It is important to note that not all branches of the same operator are appointed under the POS scheme. Thus, always remember to check first if that is one of your considerations when deciding the preschool to send your little one.
Finally, what I have covered here are the general stuff about searching for a preschool and finding out the fees. Knowing these two things are just the beginning of the whole preschool journey for both parents and the little one. The next steps are to schedule a visit to the preschool (usually they would contact you by phone or email if there is a spot available for your desired start month), which will allow you to see and feel the environment, talk to the teachers to find out more about the teacher to preschoolers ratio, their passion and the curriculum.
Am I getting a better deal if I use Shopback to book a hotel room? (Part 2)
In my previous blog post, I was reviewing booking hotels via online booking agents such as, Agoda on Shopback that would allow me to get cashback and attractive hotel rates at the same time. Then, I concluded booking on Agoda directly offers a better deal than linking it through Shopback. On the other hand, booking.com offers a better deal with Shopback, as the price does not change before and after the activating cashback function of the app. Expedia has the most expensive rates with or without Shopback.
This week, I noticed Shopback has upsized cashback for booking.com and Expedia but normal cashback rate for Agoda. So first, I visited the booking.com app on my phone to check out the rate without the Shopback tracking activated. I used Vista LIC Hotel, Best Western Premiere located in Long Island, New York, USA, as an example. Before Shopback tracking, the price for one king bedroom non-smoking that comes with free cancellation and no upfront payment at the time of booking is $441 per night. After I activated Shopback, the price remained the same. Similarly, I did the same thing on Expedia. Both returned the same price at $513 per night. Do note that to earn cashback, one has to book within the Shopback app environment. In the case of Agoda, I encountered the same phenomenon, where the price increased after Shopback has been activated.
From the comparisons above, Expedia is generally more expensive among the online booking agents. On the other hand, booking.com remains the best site/app cause it offers one of the cheapest rates with cashback. However, one should not rule out Agoda. Besides Agodacash as a form of rebate for booking a hotel stay with them, it now provides cash rebates. In the example below, I booked a room at Swissotel Stamford at a recent weekend, which I will do a review in the next blog post. I noticed Agoda will give me a cashback reward 60days after I have completed my stay. My room cost $848 and the offer, which would be about 6% cashback. Even though on Shopback does offer upsized deals of up to 10% on certain days, it is still more worth it to book direct with Agoda.
There you go, a better deal may come from booking directly on the online booking agents rather than on Shopback. Sometimes, it always good to do a comparison with or without Shopback activated.
Do I get a better deal if I use ShopBack to book a hotel room?
I am going on an overseas trip and I was looking for hotels on popular hotel booking apps like Agoda, Booking.com and Expedia. After looking at the prices on these apps, I decided to turn on the Shopback app on my phone, hoping that I could snuff out a better deal with cashback on the same hotel booking apps.
Screenshot of the main page of the ShopBack app.
How does Shopback gives you rebates for making a hotel booking? First, you need to open the Shopback app on your phone or go to the Shopback website on your laptop. Find the hotel booking link in the app or website to activate the tracking. In order to ensure Shopback knows you have made a genuine booking, one has to stay within the link to complete the booking.
Usually, it would take two days or more for Shopback to send you an email to notify you that the cashback has been tracked successfully. Do note that you will not get the cashback immediately but a number of days after you stayed at the hotel. For example, Shopback credits the cashback 100 days after you have stayed at the hotel - one way for them to reward for genuine stay.
I noticed something interesting when I saw the price before and after I activated Shopback. Take for example, this hotel in New York is advertising on Agoda their 1 king bed - Non smoking for $435 a night. It comes with free cancellation up until the day before the stay and do not need to pay anything from now until three days before the stay. After I activated Shopback, which was having an upsized 6.5% cashback for Agoda at the time of writing this blog, the price of the same room type has increased by $75! Even if you take into account the 6.5% cashback you can get after the stay, it’s only a $33 discount.
However, doing the same thing on Booking.com before and after Shopback activation, which has a basic 5% cashback, for the room with similar cancellation policy like Agoda costs the same at $373 a night. In this case, it seems you get a better deal if you use Shopback when making a hotel booking on Booking.com.
For Expedia, Shopback needs you to use the website only to qualify for cashback. Similar to Booking.com, the price for the hotel’s 1 king bed - non smoking costs the same but more expensive at $511 a night. They also offer an option to pay directly to the hotel. But be mindful of the credit card you planned to use to pay for the booking. Some cards like UOB Krisflyer card only give three times bonus miles (provided you have spent $800 on air tickets from any Singapore Airlines group in a card membership year) on online transactions on these hotel booking apps/websites. Hence, card payments at the hotel does not count as an online transaction. Pairing with an Amaze card could count as an online transaction but will not qualify for the bonus miles. So please check your card’s terms and condition before deciding the mode of payment.
In addition, the difference here is, there is an upsized cashback for Agoda but not for Booking.com and Expedia at the time of writing this blog. Typically, the percentage of hotel booking cashback on Shopback range between 5 and 5.5%. I will follow-up with another blog to show if the price changes whenever there is an upsized cashback on Shopback for Booking.com and Expedia.
What could we see from the comparison above? Agoda does offer the most competitive price for booking a hotel room without using the Shopback cashback option. On the other hand, Expedia offers the most expensive option. With the Shopback cashback option, Booking.com offers the most rewarding and competitive rates. The conclusion for now is, you may not get a better deal using the Shopback option, possibly with an upsized cashback running on the app. It is always best to compare the price, in this case before and after activating the Shopback cashback, cause you never know if the best deal happens to be the one without the cashback. Do note I also see the prices are generally better on the apps than on the websites.
Then you may ask how to deactivate the tracking if the better deal is without the Shopback cashback on the phone? Be patient and wait out for around two to three hours or try closing the Shopback app. If you cannot wait, you can access the websites directly instead.
CDC vouchers (June 2024)
It’s the time of the month, Singaporean households are now able to redeem the 2nd tranche of CDC vouchers in Jun-2024.
The 2nd tranche of CDC vouchers are now available to claim. (Image screenshot from www.cdc.gov.sg)
Before going into the details of how to redeem the CDC vouchers, let’s look at the background of why the government gives Singaporeans these vouchers.
The CDC vouchers were first launched in Jun-2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is to help lower-income families to defray expenses and supporting merchants and hawkers to tie over the challenging period. The CDC vouchers were later expanded to all Singaporean households to thank them for their cooperation during the pandemic, and to give a boost to the heartland merchants’ business recovery.
The latest tranche of $300 CDC vouchers with the amount divided evenly between local merchants and hawkers, and selected supermarkets, comes on top of the first tranche of $500 CDC vouchers that was given to Singaporean households in Jan-2024. These vouchers are part of the Assurance Package (enhanced in 2024) that the government announced at the Budget in 2023 and 2024. All in, each Singaporean households would have gotten $800 in CDC vouchers this year.
Tap on the CDC Vouchers 2024 (June) to claim the vouchers. Screenshot from go.gov.sg/cdcv.
How to redeem the CDC vouchers? First, head over to the CDC website: go.gov.sg/cdcv and tap on CDC Vouchers 2024 (June). If you have not claim the CDC Vouchers 2024 (January), you can do that on the same page too. In addition, eligible households are able to claim $300 climate vouchers. These are for purchasing environmentally friendly electrical equipment like fans, aircon and LED light bulbs. I will cover that in another blog.
This is the next page after tapping on the CDC voucher 2024 (June). Screenshot from go.gov.sg/cdcv.
Second, you will need to prepare to use your Singpass to log in. After confirming your personal details, it will ask for your mobile number. You will receive a link in a SMS to go and retrieve your CDC vouchers. The sender of the SMS will be Redeem SG if you claim your vouchers before 1-Jul. After 1-Jul, the sender of the SMS will be from gov.sg. This is part of the government efforts to combat spam and fraud messages claiming to be a legitimate sender. You could copy the entire message in the SMS and paste and share with the rest of the family in WhatsApp group chats. You will also be brought to a page with the link to get them. So it is very straightforward. Do remember to use all the vouchers before they expire after 31-Dec-2024.
You will receive a SMS from either Redeem SG (before 1st July) or gov.sg (from 1st-Jul). Screenshot from cdc.gov.sg/cdcv.
Third, as an added incentive, selected supermarket chains are offering return vouchers to shoppers, who use their supermarket CDC vouchers. Fairprice is issuing $4 voucher for every $50 spent, Giant is issuing $6 voucher for every $60 spent, and Cold Storage, CS Fresh and Jasons Deli are issuing $8 voucher for every $80 spent. The promotion is only until 30-June for Giant and Cold Storage, and 1-July for Fairprice. You will get return vouchers if you use the CDC vouchers to pay for the purchases. Do take note of the validity of these return vouchers, as different chains may have different expiry dates.
CDC voucher promotion at Fairprice. Screenshot from Fairprice.com.sg.
CDC voucher promotion at Giant. Screenshot from giant.sg.
CDC voucher promotion at Cold Storage. Screenshot from coldstorage.com.sg.
Lastly, all Singaporean households would have received $800 worth of CDC vouchers this year. CDC vouchers for supermarket chains would prove to be the most popular and used up first. As of 27-Jun-2024, more than 650,000 Singaporean households have already claimed the $300 CDC vouchers. Thus, remember to claim them soon.
Below is a video clip about the CDC voucher scheme and how to claim them.