Storing Choya's Food & Her Awesome Meals

The most important consideration of this staycation is the storage of Choya's food. Once I ascertained that our suite held a working fridge, and the hotel kindly confirmed that it goes down to 5°C, it was a go. I could drive home to pick up more food, but I didn't want to. It's a staycation for Choya, so it is rather dumb to go home to get her food. 

My Yeti cooler bag is amazing. Paired with a PackIt freezer pouch, both would keep my frozen packs solidly iced for six hours. So whatever in it could go into the fridge the next day. So all I truly needed, was a small fridge that is colder than the mini-bar. We couldn't really do staycations because I couldn't figure out the food-fridge issue. I was this close to buying a mini-fridge and bringing it to the hotel.

I was delighted to see a full-sized working fridge AND FREEZER in the suite. OMG Nobody mentioned anything about the freezer to me in all my queries to the hotel. What the. They I was super pleased. We're in business. All her packs would be frozen solid, and thawed out daily as needed. It was perfect. I understand that this Veranda Suite is the only suite in Amara Sanctuary that holds a fridge and a freezer. 

This staycation is for Choya. Amara Sanctuary on Sentosa is my top choice for its true pet-friendliness and awesome resort vibe. Every staff treated Choya royally. She was seen, and acknowledged, and her needs thought of. I was considering Sofitel too, but for the lack of a fridge, but they kindly offered the use of their kitchen freezers, especially if my foods are vacuum-sealed in packs, and when we would have opted for their suites. 

If this is for Choya, then I will tell you that Capella and Raffles Sentosa aren't the most pet-friendly. They want my money, but they don't really want my dog. Capella is especially double-faced. As recently as last month, they said no to dogs being with us at the al fresco tables of their bar or breakfast venue, citing it 'a public place'; a complete about-turn from the early days post-Covid-lockdowns. They said no to pulling a fridge into the room, and they told me that it's not a guaranteed thing for the staff to help me with the dog's frozen food and to deliver it to the room whenever I want it, especially not during 'peak' meal periods.  

Since this suite has a living room with a kitchenette, it came with a deep sink, an induction hob, cutlery, utensils, pots and pans. They provided a BioHome dishwashing liquid, but I didn't bother. I bought my own, and also washing gloves. Teeheheheh. I giggled at the drinking water tap too. By the time I was done unpacking Choya's food things, this entire set-up didn't even look temporary. 

Choya had her first dinner in fairly easily. She was happy to have her familiar foods and her own bowl. She had her two beds (yes I brought them), and toys. So she knew we would be staying the night. She just didn't know how many nights. Ahahaha.

All floof staycations at Amara Sanctuary Sentosa would have to be booked under the 'Pampered Paws' package. Of course they charged you extra for the floofs' cleaning and such. That's fair. I didn't need to pay any extras unless Choya destroyed the room. We just had an incidentals pre-charge on the credit card, which we used to off-set all our in-room dining bills. 

The 'Pampered Paws' package came with a dog bed (of which Choya and I didn't care for), and a pet amenities box provided by Kohepets. But when nobody asked about the breed and weight of my Choya, or even her food intolerances, that obviously the items in this box wouldn't be all appropriate. I wanted the pee pad and wet wipes, took the roll of poop bags, and decided to take the small pack of Taki Pet's wagyu beef. That was all. I left the toys and the other packs of treats. 

Floofs have breakfast catered daily from the pet menu curated by Wholesome Paws. We could choose between The Bark Breakfast (an English breakfast of sorts), The Ohayo Breakfast (Japanese style with lovely slices of fish and a dashi) or The Pawsh Breakfast (sorta American). I had them rotate the menu for Choya, but to skip the Pawsh since she doesn't bother with broccoli, and we had more than enough broccoli from the previous days; and her raw base is venison. And salmon is a no-no. 

We requested for Choya's breakfast to be delivered in-room rather than to have her eat with us at breakfast at the Sanctuary Tearoom. You know she doesn't bother to eat outdoors. So she got a tiny portion (not a full portion, because bloat) of brekkies in the room first before following us out to breakfast and to play till noon. A lovely Jing Tong Jie-Jie from Sanctuary Tearoom heated up her foods and brought it up daily and punctually at 8am. Choya knew that doorbell meant it was her food being delivered. She did a daily dance for Jing Tong Jie-Jie. Too cute. 

At 7.5kg and with her sensitive stomach, I wouldn't fall into the trap of allowing Choya to have the whole bowl for breakfast. That's suicidal for me! These lovely breakfast plates from Wholesome Paws were her toppers. I wouldn't abandon her raw base. What I did was to portion out her daily foods, pack them into boxes to split them over three meals a day for Choya. The Smol Girl was super happy with her meals. She really liked the tomato frittata so much that we called her Choya-Frittata for a few days. Teheehhee. She ate so well.