Last day @ Bintan

This will be an extremely long post, cos I'm trying to end of all entries of the Bintan trip.

If you know me well enough, you should kknow that I wouldn't sleep well in a strange place on the very 1st few days. As usual, I was the 1st to be up and out of bed. While waiting for my room-mates to wash up, I went for a stroll around the resort.

Notice that the 1st few pics are a bit hazy or foggy? That's bcos of the camera lens, having stayed in an air-con room through the whole night.


at the swimming pool, it has that seamless effect that it is joined to the sea.


here's another pic


the pool bar, right in the middle of the pool


look how the coconut trees can merge with its surrounding


the recreational staff have just started to bring out the beach chairs


it's the sun!


it's only 7am (Indo time), thus the quiet beach

Time to head back to the room and get my pals for Breakfast! Under the Summer Treat promotions, our package comes with complimentary breakfast buffet at "The Coffee Shop"



Our plans for today was to head off to do some shopping at Pasar Oleh Oleh before heading back to SG. After breakfast, we went to the front desk to do more research on this market. The staff actually suggests 2 other markets instead of Pasar Oleh Oleh, but these were about half to an hr drive away. As mentioned by him, these are bigger markets, which means there will be bigger damage to us...Haha.

It's a pity, cos due to time constraints, we could only go for Pasar Oleh Oleh. There will be a shuttle bus service from the resort to Pasar Oleh Oleh and back. We decided to take the earliest bus out @ 10.35am so that we can shop til we drop. It would cost us SG$6 each for unlimited rides.


...the shuttle bus schedule

Upon reaching Pasar Oleh Oleh, we were rather disappointed. We had actually intended to spend more than 2 hrs there before going back to the resort. But guess what, we managed to cover the whole place within half an hr! It's really small. I can cover all shops in 3 pics below.


the 1st few shops


and here's a couple more shops


the most modern shop I can find in this market...

Disappointment! Since it was still early we then decided to catch the 12noon bus and make a trip to the ferry terminal. Of cos to shop! There was a factory outlet just beside the terminal. That's our target!


The Real Bandung Factory Outlet

Eh, also no much things to shop! Haiz, it's a wasted trip! Bintan is just not a shopping place. Now u guys should know why I got nothing to buy back for you liao right. Well back to the resort to grab lunch. Lunch was at the same place we had breakfast, cos it hot outside and we have already check-out of our rooms. Nowhere we can shower and hence the choice was definitely an air-con place.


Fried Kuay Teow


something similiar to our nasi lemak


and my all time fav - Spaghetti bolognaise

And below a couple more pics of the resort before we catch the shuttle bus for the terminal.


a view of the resort



Bye Bintan and welcome back to Singapore! I will definitely be making another holiday trip to Bintan - for the Sun!

Laze around

It was back to the resort after the spa treatment. As expected, we were the last to check-in and hence our room was situated right at the far end. Check out our rooms below, basically I feel that the rooms are rather similiar to that of the chalets in Singapore, except that the bathroom has its own bath tub.


...room 3227, time for 4D? =)


only 2 beds, the additional 1 is on its way.


the dressing area


the bathroom


the walkway

It's dizzling outside now, so nothing much we can do except to laze around in the room, did some catching up and also browse through all the brochures to decide on a dinning place.

In the end, we decided to dine at the Kelong Restaurant, shuttle bus service is provided from the resort to the restaurant. At the restaurant, the range of seafood they offered were quite limited. I had initially expected that they will include stingray in their menu, but nope (disappointed). We decided to have ala-carte dishes to go with white rice instead of set meals.

Like the western restaurant, they also have an item named "Soup of the day", on that day itself, the soup of the day was clear chicken soup.


Soup of the day - clear chicken soup, with chinese tea


Stired fried clayfish with black pepper sauce


Steamed prawn with minced garlic


Stired fried beef with black pepper sauce


...and of cos with the classic veg, Sambal kangkong.

After dinner, all 3 of us were so full that we were rubbing our stomach. Haha...it was back to the resort for some drinking sessions. Cheers!

Spa treatment!

Our spa appointment was with Kedaton Tropical Spa (used to be named Asamara Tropical Spa, this is the name that is still reflected on their website). We requested for a twin-sharing package , which entitles us for a complimentary upgrade to garden pavilion and a single package spa for the 3 of us. In the end, we were all upgraded to the garden pavilion for our treatment.


...at the entrance of Kedaton Tropical spa

Upon entering, I can feel myself suddenly feeling very peaceful and at ease. Totally relax! I guessed the environment has played a huge factor on this. Very quickly, we were asked to fill in a short form, and I really mean short. On the form, we also have to declare that we are not pregnant. Haha of cos not! And we were then ushered to the waiting area to wait for our spa therapist. Of cos I won't stay idle, I started snapping away on my camera again.


...the sound of flowing water, makes 1 feel totally relaxed


...feel like dozing off on this "day bed"


...another waitng area

At the waiting area, morning glory are planted in such a way that they dangled from the celling. The colors of the flowers look so different from that we used to see in Singapore. Over there, their colors are of a lighter shade of purple and also the flowers look nicer. Is my eyes playing a trick on me? Or was it because, I'm totally relax, so things appear nicer and prettier to me? Haha, to me this species of morning glory seems like a hybrid between morning glory and orchid.


morning_glory

Finally, our spa therapist were ready. We were again ushered down the corridor to the garden pavilion. There were a couple of garden pavilion, I think about 3 to 4. Oh yes, the treatment we took was Tropical Java Lulur - A Javanese bath ritual that begins with a tumeric scrub follwed by a creamy yogurt rub to soften the skin. An invigorating full body traditional massage is then performed and ends with a pampering flower filled bath.


Melati - the name of the garden pavilion, wonder what it means.


...the spa area for scrub, rub & body massage

Half-way, through the treatment, it started drizzling. Imagine, lying there enjoying the scrub, yogurt rub all under the muscial effect of the rain...After which, it was followed by a flower filled bath.


...flower filled bath, no flowers of cos, this is taken after the treatment.


and finally a quick shower, to end of everything.

After the shower, then the 3 of us realise that none of us bother to bring a comb along. And we ended up having to "comb" our hair with our fingers. At the same time, We were again being ushered back to the waiting area.


...see the lemongrass there, duno what's the drink but it taste like lemongrass in all.


...the 3 of us, after the spa.

Time to head out to the reception. This has definitely burned a hole in my pocket. The entire spa treatment cost about s$168 (inclusive of GST and service charge). Yes you heard me right! GST and service charge. Most of the transaction carried out at Bintan is in Sing dollars (S$).

Bintan! Here I come...

Just got back from the short 2D1N holiday at Bintan yesterday, together with 2 other girlfriends. We met at Tanah Merah MRT and took bus no. 35 to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. Blur me, I kept thinking that our ferry was 1130, but instead it was at 1105. According to the terms & conditions, we have to check in 1 hr before that, and we only reached there at 1035. Luckily, we were not denied entry and still in time for the ferry.

1105 - finally it was time to board the ferry. There was still quite a distance from the gate to the boarding area. This is the ferry we're taking.


...Indera Bupala

Indonesia is 1 hr behind Singapore. Our journey is about 55 mins, and we should be reaching there by 1130. Luckily, the weather was fine and the journey was smooth and pleasant. I tried taking photos of the terminal when the ferry was approaching but its all not clear due to the glass panels. Nevertheless, upon reaching Bintan, we were ferried to the resort directly - Nirwana Resort Hotel.


entrance of the resort...


...the driveway into the resort

While waiting for the queue to clear at the front desk, here's a pic of the lobby.



Finally, the queue was gone. It was only 1200, I tried to check-in though the official check-in time was stated as 1500. Disappointment, room still not ready for check-in. The 3 of us decided to deposit our bags with the "bell-boys" and go for our lunch before touring around the resort.

We decided to dine outdoor at the Poolside Restaurant. As the name suggested, its by the pool side. They offers Seafood barbeque and à la carte fusion cuisine with about 130 seats.


At first, we were seated near the kitchen...


...then we decided to move to 1 of the available pavilion


...while waiting for our food, I decided to take a few shoots. It's so sunny that I can barely open my eyes.

Finally, our food came! Yes, we're all very hungry, cause all of us skipped breakfast before our trip and its almost 1pm already. I had pepperoni beef pizza.


From top left: Fried noodles, spaghetti bolognaise & pepperoni beef pizza

Finished lunch and it was still early for us to check-in, we went for a stroll around the resort. Me in an attempt to burn off as much of the lunch I had earlier, so that I have more room for the seafood dinner at dinner. Haha.

A few snapshoots below around the resort.




...at the beach



We then decided to go back and check out the status of our room and also at the same time, check for the available spa slot. On the way back, we saw these.


...gigantic snake & ladder set


...a chess set

Room is not ready yet, but we have an available slot for our spa treatment. Hurray! Off we go, for the spa!