But it was still 7PM. So I looked for some more things to do. One look at the hotel card near my bedlight gave me a good one: the hotel’s outdoor pool and sauna. Truth be told, I rarely used any of the “facilities” of the non-Singapore hotels I’ve been to before. I excluded SG because I’ve stayed at Marina Bay Sands twice and I always took a dip in their rooftop infinity pool. This time, I have a spare hour to kill. Time for a dip.
So I changed to an easy-change attire, wore my bathrobe, and went down to the 8th floor where the pool was. Thank heavens I remembered to pack swimwear. Free towels were provided so I did not need to use the one in my room.
I was fully alone in the pool area. I thought that was strange until I saw the flying insects attracted to the overhead lighting, and their dead brethen floating on top. As I observed the pool was probably one of those auto-pumps, I solved my issue by making lots of outward waves so the dead critters get pushed to the very end of the pool, opposite of where I observed the water was replenishing at. A few waves and soon the pool was clear. I enjoyed at least 30 minutes of solo time before two families came in for their dip.
I also used the sauna to try it out. But unfortunately it was subpar. I loved the sauna rooms at ACE Water Spa back home in the Philippines, so this one at the hotel was not to my liking. It was arid hot, not humid hot. Maybe the sauna machine lacked water? Meh. I took a shower and went back up to my hotel room. Figuring out how to kill more time by 9PM.
My flight out of Thailand was at 7AM the next morning, and it was my regular bedtime at 11PM. I was determined not to go napping. I have a great fear of missing the flight, or any scheduled event, on account of me oversleeping.
It all began when I missed a fun run I signed up for back in 2011. I had a former coworker that introduced me to organized running events. I got hooked after two 5K runs, and eventually I got into 10-12K runs. But most of these runs started early morning, some as early as 3AM for the 42K runs, for many of the runs used public roads and the morning was the most lenient time of day they could get permits for. And many of them do it on a weekend. I signed up for one of those runs sponsored by a local dairy company, for a 10K fun run on a Saturday in BGC in 2011. But the Friday before that, I had to stay a bit late. So I got home late as well. I thought I’d get a quick nap before heading out, but I overslept and by the time I woke up, it was 6AM. I missed the event.
After that, whenever I have a planned event or committment that’s going to be on early morning, I’d rather make an effort just to stay awake instead. Last Feb 9, I did only have a few hours before the tour. I really really debated myself on whether to sleep (or nap) for three hours or not, but my body needed the sleep that badly. I did put on a number of alarms on my phone to at least get me up early though.
Ok, wrote a lot there.
My airport private transfer was to come by 3AM. I had 6 hours. I could sleep, but the stakes were costlier. I mean, in Feb 9 and 10, I could’ve lost out on the tours if I overslept, but the only penalty was that I waste less than 80SGD, and I still could’ve salvaged the day with malls or other sights. Not this one. If I overslept by a good margin, I’d have to buy another ticket back to SG and that will cost me hundreds. And I’d likely lose window seating. And pay extra for the check-in luggage option again. Shit will hit the fan if I overslept. So no, I’d rather catch shuteye safely aboard the plane.
So I spent a few hours watching Netflix (the cellular data was good for one anime season), repacking my bags, watching more TV, using the hotel gym, looking out the poolside area to see the nightlife from a distance, cleaning and wiping my shoes clean of any dirt, and again lounging in front of the TV. And yes, drank a bottle of iced Americano.
By 2PM, I was showered and prepped. All my bags are packed and ready to go. Time to start heading back to Singapore.
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
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