Howell

Disclaimer: This is a late post

Last March when Covid 19 was still like foggy distant phenomenon (cases were still few in Oman & social distancing was still an alien vocabulary), we drove to Muscat to Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa to celebrate Howell’s 4th birthday.

Howell has always been a water-baby. He has celebrated most of his birthdays with a fun day swimming in pools: Wild Wild Wet for his 2nd birthday & Adventure Cove on this 3rd birthday (both in Singapore). To keep up with the tradition, we decided to avail the Day Pass: A Day in Paradise at Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa where Howell & his siblings can enjoy a day at the pool & beach.

The drive to the Shangri-la Resort can be a bit of challenge. It is located near the beach along the gulf of Oman, 16 km from Al Alam Palace, the Omani French Museum and the 16th-century Fort Al Jalali. The steep drive up to the resort would allow you to see the breathtaking view of the 500 metres seaside oasis nestled in the majestic Al Hajar mountains.

Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa is spread across 2 distinct wings that are connected in their Arabian spirit of hospitality: Al Waha, “The Oasis” and Al Bandar, “The Town.” While Al Waha is ideal for families, Al Bandar is the heart of the resort, catering to business and leisure travelers. There are wonderful amenities available in the resort from watersports to a lazy river and kids club, a classy spa and diverse dining options. They have 460 rooms and suites in 2 distinct wings, 15 restaurants & bars, 6 swimming pools, a variety of watersports and a lazy river attraction.

Weeks prior to our trip, we were hoping to get reservations for the Day Pass via online. But unfortunately, they don’t allow reservations online or through phone. You have to purchase the passes on the day of visit. When we arrived at Shangrila, we asked the hotel personnel where to get the day pass. We were instructed to head to the Chi Spa to get our passes.

The Day Pass costs 25 OMR per adult and 15 OMR per child below 5 years old. The Day in Paradise package includes a lunch buffet at Al Tanoor Restaurant and free use of the amenities, the pools & beach. You get to have a 20% discount ar Chi, The Spa too. You can enjoy the pass from 9 AM to 6 PM.

Once we arrived at the beach, we were given a huge beach towel to cover the lounge chairs found near the beach & pools, more towels & a cooler for our water. The place wasn’t crowded and the resort’s ambiance was perfect for a day of relaxation. We took in the beautiful panorama of the place. It was a feast to the senses. It, indeed, is a paradise to be visited in Muscat. The beach was picturesque with its blue-green waters and light golden soft sands. There were play areas for the kids. We saw big jenga puzzles, a huge toddler-size chess figures for people to play with, a small ship for photo op and a water park for the kids.

We explored for a bit. We decided to take our lunch first before heading to the pool. The Al Tanoor restaurant is located in the opposite end of the resort. It was bit of a walk before we reach the restaurant. There were several other restaurants and bars in the area. Al Tanoor Restaurant has an al fresco and indoor setting. We choose to sit in the covered al-fresco tables for some sunlight & fresh air. The restaurant offers a numerous variety of fresh salad, freshly baked roti, lots of Indian curries & dishes, a bit of Middle-Eastern cuisine, sumptuous seafood & meat, and decadent little sweet desserts. There wasn’t any Western or Chinese / SouthEast Asian options in the buffet station, though. We sang our happy birthday song for our birthday boy and gave him his present which he is so excited to open. In spite the lack of variety of different cuisine, my husband was full from our lunch buffet & I was happy with my salads. The kids didn’t eat much of the food because it was too spicy, though they were happy to get a couple of sweets for desserts.

After lunch, the kids were so eager to change into their swimming trunks and headed to the pool. There were several pools in the area. There is a smaller shallow pool for the little kids which Zeke happily waded and there is a bigger pool with slides for the bigger kids. They also have a Lazy River which is similar to the lazy river we tried in Wild Wild Wet & Adventure Cove. The Lazy River in Shangrila is inspired by the centuries-old jajaj system which bring fresh water to remote Omani villages. It spans a half kilometres between Al Bandar and Al Waha Hotels. They have free inflatable floats for people to use. We had a relaxing time floating around the lazy river, and then the 2 bigger kids enjoyed the pool slide with thier daddy. Later, they all swam at the smaller pool for the rest of the day and made friends with some Caucasian kids of their same age in the pools.

After hours of frolic in the pool, we changed into our dry clothes. We were famished from our pool activity so we ordered some burgers, fries and ice cream at the poolside bar. The food was delivered to us while we enjoyed our food overlooking the beach. There were camels brought out by staff for people take photos with.

We had a great time in our Day in Paradise and it was wonderful fun birthday for Howell. We were glad we were able to experience it before the lockdown. We will definitely visit again once this pandemic will soon be over. For now, the kids’ birthdays will be celebrated at home with, of course, their cake of choice, ice cream and their favourite food. We are lucky our kids are more than happy as long as they have their cake & ice cream for their birthday celebration.

Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa, Sultanate of Oman

PO Box 644, Muscat 100, Oman

Tel no. (968) 2477 6666

Update: In line with the government directives, Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa and Shangri-La Al Husn Resort & Spa, will temporarily cease operations until further notice.

Time indeed flies so fast. My 2nd son has turned 1-year-old. Yes, Fynn is now 1! We wanted to travel to Kuala Lumpur for his birthday but I have work commitments. So we opted on a small birthday party at home on his birthday and extend his birthday celebration on a weekend by having a staycation at D’Resort and a fun time at Wild Wild Wet.

For his actual birthday, we made spaghetti, fajitas, and lumpia shanghai. We also got Ikea Meatballs bought by our housemate. Of course, we have to have a cake for him with a Cars Cartoon on it which we got at Bengawan Solo which my hubby ordered. I got a big 1 balloon for him which I bought and had inflated after my work.

I have invited my eldest son’s friends from upstairs unit, Fynn’s godmothers, and our family friend from the neighboring condominum who has a 10 months old baby.

It was a fun short intimate party for my baby boy. No program or games. Just the kids playing in the living room with my kids’ toys with a cartoon show on the background while being fed by their mommies or nannies. While the adults enjoyed the food that was prepared.

But the real celebration was on the weekend. We packed our overnight clothes and headed to Downtown East. Downtown East recently renovated their place and some parts are continually being fixed and built. There were new restaurants in the refurbished Downtown East. We chose to have our lunch at Herbs Bistro. It is a charming Western-Asian Fusion restaurant with a shabby chic decor. There also have wide variety of gelato flavors to offer.

We ordered Chicken Cutlet, Carbonara Pasta, Fries, Pancakes and Avocado Shake.

We also got a Chocolate Lave Cake with a gelato on the side for Fynn to blow his birthday candle. We informed the waitress about this and we didn’t know they would come over, singing “Happy Birthday” song to Fynn, just like his big brother Naj on his 1st birthday in Kuala Lumpur. Actually they have identical photos of their birthday celebration. Them in red polo shirt, reaching out to their cake while the waiters & waitress sang “Happy Birthday”.

We checked in at D’ Resort. It used to be Costa Sands. I stayed in Costa Sands when my family visited me here in Singapore. It was more of a chalets with lots of bbq grills. Now, it is more like a hotel with wonderful furnishings and if you prefer to reserve a bbq grill, they have a large lawn for bbq session as well.

A very nice friendly lady checked us in our room. We got the Rainforest Executive room. The room is spacious enough. The kids enjoyed stepping into the little tatami area near the transparent wall overlooking Wild Wild Wet. We also like the nooks outside the hallway near our room.

It was really hot out and we were so full from our lunch. We took a bit of nap before going to Wild Wild Wet.

Once you checked in D’Resort, you get 2 free Wild Wild Wet tickets. So yey! Our kids are too young so they can come in for free.

When we were all well-rested, we headed to Wild Wild Wet. There is a short cut from D’resort guests to go to Wild Wild Wet. The price for ticket entrance to the waterpark for adults at super peak hours is $30, peak hours is $26 and off-peak is $20. For kids 3 years old to 12 years old, it is $22 for super peak, $19 for peak hours and $14 for off-peak hours. But if you have NTUC card, you get to enjoy discount prices. They also offer family packages. Check out their website for more information.

Wild Wild Wet is a colorful wonderful waterpark for kids and kids-at-heart. Naj enjoyed all the slides while Fynn love the dancing sprinkling water near the entrance of Wild Wild Wet. I love the Shiok River and the Tsunami. In Shiok River, we get to ride in the floater and the water would take us around the perimeters of the park. It is definitely quite shiok. The Tsunami is like a swimming pool slash sea overlooking a pretty manmade falls. A bell will ring which signifies a tsunami will come and soon, a cool ripple in the body of water wil come and shake those who are wading and swimming. My hubby and I went up a long plight of stairs to ride the Torpedo. When I saw that you will be enclosed in a tubular container and dropped into a long tube standing up, I told my husband I am not going to do it. J end up doing it anyways, haha because his wife is a little chicken. He was asked to put both his arms on his chest, a laughing sound is heard and he was pushed down the tube so fast! Nope, I’ll never do that. We did the Water Works which is a fun high slide. That I know I can do. We liked it a lot. Naj loves the Professor’s Playground, Yippie, the Kids Zone and the Splash Play. We haven’t tried the Ular-lah, the Slide Up, the Royal Flush, the Jacuzzi, and Free Fall.

It was nice that there were free floaters and free life jackets for all ages. It is also great that there are so many food shops outside the waterpark for us to eat if we get hungry. We were so happy that the kids were having so much fun at Wild Wild Wet.

The kids were starting to get cold and the waterpark will soon closed, so we headed back to D’resorts. My hubby enjoyed a cup of coffee from the Dolce Gusto machine in our room before we walked to Downtown East to have dinner at Andes by Astons. We are such fans of Astons. After dinner, my hubby bought a couple of beers and chips from Cheers to bring back to our hotel.

We had a comfortable good night sleep at the Rainforest Executive room. We would probably try other theme rooms next time.

It was a perfect way to celebrate Fynn’s 1st birthday. We will definitely come back to D’resorts and Wild Wild Wet soon.

D’Resort @ Downtown East
1 Pasir Ris Close, S519599

6582 3322

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DAY PASS AT SHANGRI-LA BARR AL JISSAH RESORT & SPA

FYNN’S 1ST BIRTHDAY AT D’RESORT AND WILD WILD WET