Bintan Shores

Picking seashells....

~ one of my favourite series taken by wj.

Sabbatical Trip

we have just returned back from our Bintan trip.

will post more photos soon!

Bintan 3Days2Nights Itinerary

BINTAN HERE WE COME!!

Day 01 / 04 July 2008 / Friday (PASAR OLEH OLEH > SHOPPING > SPA > PAARTEE!!)
0545: Rise and shine (SHIT. Raining cats and dogs)
0610: Leave house (Thank god, Rain stopped and fortunately, getting a cab in the early morning was pretty easy too!)
0650: Arrive at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (Cab fare $18 from town)
0655: Ritey, we “check-in” , got our ferry ticket boarding pass. Had Breakfast at Kiliney Kopitiam but THEY DUN HAVE SETS!!!!! Have to buy toast, coffee and eggs separately! :P
Ferry departure: 0810 (SIN Time) approx. 60mins
0830: Arrival@Bintan (Bintan is 1 hour behind SG Time) Bought some stuff from the Ferry Terminal. At the “POLO” shop, the regular polo tees were going for 1-for-1! So cheap!
0910: Land transfer to Mayang Sari Beach Resort.

it’s the orange coach and 3rd stop is Mayang Sari!
1000: Check in.
We managed to get an early check-in! Yippee yeah yeah.
Wash up, put luggage down.
Decided to have our spa at Mayang Sari cos we didn’t want too much hassle. Book our spa for that evening itself.
1030: Shuttlebus to Pasar Oleh Oleh.
Pay bus tickets there. $12 per adult. Unlimited rides.
1100: Lunch: CAN TRY THE OFF THE BEATEN TRACK OPTION.
Yah yah I know still morning but actually it’s 12nn in Singapore. SO I AM HUNGRY plus I woke up blardee early too. Wj didn’t want to do the “cheapo” option so we ate at Café Helo Helo.
All one dish meals were at S$3.50 each. Affordable.

For HIM: Beehoon Goreng (good size portion, not too oily.)
For HER: Fish Porridge. (Not bad, bland but healthy)

1130: Walk around Pasar Oleh Oleh, bought Keropok for our colleagues.
Belinjo (3 packets for S$5) - yumyum
Satay fish sticks (S$1 per pack)
1200: Cross over to Kampoeng Lagoi.
Very new. Nicely landscaped. There’s a spa there. Would have tried it if we hadn’t booked ours at Mayang Sari. Bought some more souvenirs at the Handicrafts shops. They have really nice wood cravings of animals, Buddha, tiles etc etc. Bought some more polos at the POLO store. 50% off storewide. Real cheap.
1315: Shuttlebus to Factory Outlet store.
(I bought a "MISS 60" T-shirt; some old navy PJ shorts) total: S$18!!!
1500: Shuttlebus to back to our resort. Swing on hammock, listen to sea waves, eat our Belinjo. Enjoy life.
Dinner at Oleh Oleh
1730: Internal Shuttlebus (green) to Kelong Restaurant for dinner
Watch sunset.
Ate: Half Crispy Chicken, (S) size Crayfish stirred fry with butter, Sambal Kangkong, Tonic Water + a pot of chinese Tea
Total: $60 (inclusive of 10% govt tax, 10% service charge)
1930: Back to hotel to rest. Change for spa.
2000: Spa at Kedaton Spa
2200: Walk over to La Luna Beach.
Friday theme party: Dress in white. 1-for-1 cocktail; 20% off for all spirits and cocktails.

For HIM: Champagne cocktail

For HER: Long Island Tea

2230: LIVE band.
2300: Walk back to resort. zzz

Day02 / 05 July 2008/ Saturday (SNORKELING>SUNTAN>PICK SEASHELLS)
0700: Rise and shine!
0730: Breakfast is provided.
1000: Change into swimwear. Remember to bring waterproof camera and bread. Fishies love bread.
Snorkeling @Nirwana Beach Club. S$15 for adult/ 1.5hrs, inclusive of equipment
1300: Lunch Took shuttlebus to Nirwana Resort Hotel. Lunch at “Coffeehouse”

For HIM: Nasi Remas $15++
For HER: Vegetable Delight $10++

1500: Walk back to Resort. There's a nicely landscaped pedestrian path that is lined with caged animals. (Deers, parrots, cockatoos, vultures, eagles, green lizards....) Apparently these caged animals were the ones that smugglers were trying to ship out of the country but got caught by the law!
1600: Dip and splash in the seas! Long shower. Watch telly and eat cup noodles for dinner.
1930: Caught “LOTR” The Return of the King!
0000: Time to sleep!


Day 03/ 06 July 2008 / Sunday (GOING BACK HOME)
0700: Rise and Shine
0730: Breakfast; Double check land transfer timing.
1000: Pack, Do last minute checks. Check out
1030: Wait for land transfer back to Ferry Terminal
Ferry departure: 1135 (Bintan Time)

Goodbye Bintan. Hello Singapore.

Goodbyes and Hellos

goodbye Bintan and Hello Singapore.

goodbye holiday and Hello work.

life is short and so it my holiday.

Bintan MORNING

Good morning Bintan!!!
Sun rays that shine to my buttocks like the chinese saying goes :
太阳都嗮到屁骨上!

it was so sunny that i had to wake up! and when i saw the clock, i almost couldn't believe the time. It was only 6.45am!
When i'm working, waking up at 8am is so early! And i still wanna go back to sleep. And now that i'm on a holiday, my body just wakes up so freaking early!

*holler* What's the matter with me

Lucky thing the breakfast buffet starts pretty early too at 7am. So i shook mr goh until he cannot groan anymore and pretend to be asleep. Forced him to wash up, changed and walk with me to have our breakfast! hehehe....am i evil or what.

hahah if i can't fall back to sleep. He also cannot!



that's grouchy mr goh surveying the breakfast spread. And giving me the "eye" when i was snapping photos of him waiting for his eggs being done.

Happy me taking my plate of sausages and eggs.

Did i mention that i was wearing my smacking new "yachting" theme anchor print tee and heart-shaped print green shorts!!! *smug*

That's my breakfast that morning! Egg omelette with 2 sausages and cucumbers for greens. For energy, i opted for a bowl of congee topped with spring onions, anchovies, a teeny wee bit of salted egg and chai-boh. *happy smiles*

3rd photo on the far right is mr goh's breakfast. He's having egg omelette as well, piece of toasted baguette with ham on the sides and a cuppa fresh orange juice.

i'm having my regular dose of coffee that morning as usual. Besides the usual spread of breakfast served, there's also cereals, nasi lemak, some oriental dishes like fried rice and beehoon with grilled potatoes; salad, pancakes, tarts and pastries; scones and crossiant; 3 kinds of fruits: pineapple, watermelon and oranges. Not really a wide variety but i guess for 2 days of breakfast. I can live with it. hahah...am i picky or what? *sniggle*

After breakfast, we strolled the meandering path back to our chalet and ahren is already waiting for us with his underwater camera!!!

IT"S TIME FOR SNORKELING!

SNORKELING BINTAN

hey-O!

haha finally developed my Snorkeling photos!!! and FINALLY scanned them too! (actually i secretly scanned them after work using the office scanner!!! Long story lah the scanner at home) Eeeee-HA!

abit blurry some of the photos but hey hey underwater wor! and somemore we used manual camera hor not digital okay....dun play play. hehe..oh wells, anyway it's a first we managed to take photos after so many snorkeling trips together....so sit back and enjoy...although not many to begin with. *TEH*

After Snorkeling!

here's more photos on our chalet! and i have taken interior shots!

There's a dressing room; little day-bed beside the tv; mr goh on the bed; the wash basin with the vanity shelf filled with our toiletries! The bath-tub which i didn't expect! So regret not bringing my bubble bath!!!! argh! and finally of cos the pantry area with the complimentary coffee and tea.

yup..that's us watching the sea waves, sipping our hot tea. i hope we'll grow old this way. opps. caught on camera while i was having tea! hahah see my "disgruntled" look.

okay this picture is so much better cos im ready for a picture take! heehee...and so is ahren on the balustrade...can u see the hammock just outside our chalet? it's so relaxing HERE!!!!!

......seashells we collected that morning. we are planning to frame them in good time...when time comes, and when a good frame comes along.

After snorkeling, lying on the bed watching telly was simply Guuuu--aaah (read G.O.O.D).

it was those simple things that you do in your mundane routines after work which u never got to really appreciate its true value.

i mean sometimes i couldn't bear sitting there infront of the telly for an hour without moving a budge! Because i would be so tempted to do other more important things in my life like mopping the floor, clearing the dustbin, boil water to make a cuppa tea etc etc. I get so distracted infront of a tv even mr goh ask me why i cannot "sit down and don't move".

Finally a chance, after those flapping-abouts in flippers, behavior akin to a penguin in the bintan waters. wj said he didn't enjoy the flipper ride at all. he felt that it was cumbersome but i thought it was so enjoyable!!! first time i can swim so effortlessly!!!!

I was even joking to him that maybe i can take up scuba diving!!! yeah baby!

I was so tired that i just laid on the bed without moving and watched HBO till 1pm. That was then i decided that i had enough of the bed and off we went to Nirwana Resort - sister branch resort in Nirwana Gardens for lunch!

Here are some of the photos....

More pictures of Nirwana Resort.

1. Lobby area 2. Stairs going down to the beach area 3. Stair 2 4. Nirwana Hotel

this would have been us if they weren't there first to inspect the menu of the "Coffeeshop"

Another beach club in the making. Still under construction. In no time, the beach will have yet another clubbing beach party area.

1. Rooms of Nirwana Resorts 2. Bendy Coconut tree 3. Kerosene lamp 4. Waterspout frog statue

swimming pool of Nirwana Resorts with Blue-White- Beach umbrellas.

Bintan Day 02

So here we are at the "Coffeeshop".

For lunch, i had strawberry milkshake while wj had his tonice water as usual. I think the strawberry milkshake was quite genuine! hahah u must be thinking what i meant by this. Well, it didn't have this ice-cream thickness about it but it was more like a juice shake. Cos as time pass by, the fibre starts to settle and u can see 2 different layers of water, juice and fibre. And best of all, after drinking it, it didn't feel too heavy and i could continue eating my lunch.

And while waiting for our food to arrive, they served us some breadsticks. i guess we were quite hungry so we ate like 3 quarters of it. i didnt like it but i was really hungry. AND the bread was cold. It wasn't hot or even warmed up!

we waited really long for our food to arrive. really long. My vegetarian delight came in a huge serving so I really can't complain for it's priceyness. Wj enjoyed his Nasi Rames alot i could tell. It had his usual favourites of fried chicken wing, beef rendang, achar and a bowl of fish curry. He finished all his rice.

The Coffeeshop

Food: so-so

Price: Pricey

Service: Lousy

Ambience: is indonesian music as background count as a part of ambience? cos from where i sit, there's no seaview. Poolview yes. I think i rather return to Mayang Sari. opps i forgot to mention there was a fly sitting beside me too.

we didn't have the patience to wait for the shuttlebus to come pick us up at every 1 hour interval so we decided to walk back. On the way back, there was this meandering path and to our surprise it was quite a pleasant walk back! it was like entering a mini zoo! we saw deers, vultures, eagles, lizards (big ones), crocodiles, cockatoos, parrots etc etc. By the time we finished that short walk, we had reached Nirwana Beach Club which was beside Mayang Sari.

And so we deviated from the walking path and went onto the beach....and wrote our names.

Just for fun....

At the Nirwana Beach Club is where you will find all kinds of seasport activity! this was also the place where we rented our snorkeling equipments! People also come here to jet-ski, canoe, kayak, sailing, banana boat etc etc...they have a whole list of activities to do. All you need is your fun spirit and of cos MOOLAH.

me. me. me.

Oh yes, if you aren't into seasports, there's always beach volleyball! net is all in place for a game!

instant noodles for dinner.

we ate too much for the past 2 days....it's time to wind things down alittle.