Surprises in Sentosa

> The popular resort across the causeway offers visitors plenty of attractions for the whole family

IF YOU’RE thinking of a short weekend getaway with your loved ones, but want to avoid tiresome long flights and tedious itinerary planning, head over to Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) in sunny Singapore.

Whether you’re planning to spend your getaway with the family, or with a group of close friends, there’s always something for everyone.

RWS is a 49-hectare mega-resort containing a myriad of funfilled offerings. Costing SG$7 billion (RM21 billion) to build, RWS boasts a total of six on-site hotels, over 60 food and beverage outlets, and various key attractions such as Universal Studios theme park, S.E.A. Aquarium, and Dolphin Island.

Accommodation In a recent media junket down to Singapore, I had the pleasure of staying in Hard Rock Hotel Singapore ( top, right).

Newly refurbished, the sixyear-old hotel is the ideal place for fans of the famed musicthemed chain hotel across the globe.

Equipped with 364 rooms, including Deluxe Rooms, Deluxe Suites, and the Rock Star Suite, each of them are vibrantly designed with an edgy rock-androll flair.

For more options, RWS guests can also choose between Crockfords Tower, Hotel Michael, Festive Hotel, Equarius Hotel or Beach Villas for their stay.

Dining When it comes to dining, you’ll be spoilt for choice. RWS offers guests an extensive list of F&B outlets, from fancy Michelinstarred cuisine to familiar street hawker fare, to suit the diverse palates of foodies.

According to the inaugural Michelin Guide Singapore 2016, RWS boasts the most number of Michelin stars in a single destination.

Four celebrity chef restaurants made it into this prestigious dining guide, including the reputable French gourmet highend restaurants Joël Robuchon Restaurant (three stars), and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon (two stars), as well as Osia Steak and Seafood Grill (one star), and

Forest (one star).

Curate

Although Curate ( left) isn’t a Michelin-starred restaurant, you’d never guess it, since it’s Asia’s first restaurant dedicated to showcasing the Michelin star experience.

This year, the restaurant has partnered with the Michelin Guide Singapore and prominent wine critic Robert Parker of The Wine Advocate to organise the quarterly Art at Curate dining series, featuring esteemed chefs of Michelinstarred restaurants from all around the world.

I arrived during the third quarterly series, and managed to savour several signatures prepared by chef Esben Holmboe Bang of three-Michelin-starred Maaemo in Norway. The five-course meal included succulent fresh Norwegian oysters ( left) from Bømlo doused in a savoury mussel and dill sauce; naturally sweet grilled Trondheim scallops with winter apple vinaigrette and celeriac cream; luscious umamitasting Langoustine with seaweed powder; a perfectly flaky skate with slices of white asparagus and caviar; and melt-in-the-mouth brown butter ice cream molasses.

Dinner was paired with wines such as Domaine de Fieuzal Blanc 2012, Petit Haut Lafitte Blanc 2014, and Tardieu-Laurent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale 2004.

Visitors can look forward to the fourth and last series of Art at Curate from Nov 4 to 11, featuring chef Ramón Freixan from

Madrid, Spain.

Fratelli If you’re looking for something comforting, you’ll find it in Fratelli. Newly opened this year, the restaurant is an allday-dining pizzeria and a dinner-service-only trattoria which serves Lombard-inspired cuisine. Heading the restaurant are chef brothers Enrico and Roberto Cerea, whose family runs Da Vittotio, a three Michelin-starred restaurant in Lombardy, Italy.

Unlike conventional pizzerias, the dough here is made out of Japanese flour and baked in a wood-fired oven first before the toppings get spread ( left). This way, the pizza base remains crispy even after the sauces are smeared onto it.

You can also indulge in the various Lombard dishes served, such as the risotto alla milanese with citrusscented Dutch-milkfed veal shank; merluzzo in giallo featuring a panseared Atlantic cod fillet in a resplendent bed of tomato coulis and potato foam; as well as the classic tiramisu with a modern look.

S.E.A. Aquarium Apart from being home to Southeast Asia’s first and only Universal Studios theme park, visitors will also be able to find S.E.A. Aquarium ( above), one of the largest aquariums in the world as well as the region’s only aquatic park integrated with marine life.

Discover over 100,000 marine animals from across 800 species as you walk through the aquarium, or simply sit in front of a 36-metre-long and 8.3-metrehigh viewing panel to watch the tranquillity of the marine life.

Dolphin Island Get up close and spend the day swimming with one of the friendliest creatures of the sea. With over 20 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins and an experienced team to provide high quality care, Dolphin Island ( bottom, left) offers guests a chance to interact with dolphins while learning about them at the same time in various ways.