"We are going to Bintan; I have already reserved tickets for it..."
I was surprised but really excited when dearie first told me about the details that he had reserved tickets for our Bintan Trip. Initially we had planned for a relaxing getaway but failed (I could still remember how fucking expensive and hectic trip it had been - well I will post a backdated post on it later when I have time..), and how upset we were with our busy lives... Therefore, when we tried to research and plan our Bintan getaway, we gave up initially because the short trip seemed to be kind of expensive and unreasonable if we are going to save up for our upcoming Taiwan trip...
It was really a pleasant surprise for dearie to actually decide to continue our initial plans to Bintan despite some other ideas of going to Langkawi, Redang Islands etc etc... Dearie's colleague recommended HolidaysBagus and we eventually chose the Nirwana Resorts - since they catered all sorts of sea sports and other activities... Even the night before our actual departure, Dearie was actually nice enough to wait for me to pack my belongings and picked me up from home before setting off to stay over at his house overnight since it was nearer to the ferry terminal!
On the actual day of the trip itself, Dearie's dad offered to drive us to Singapore Cruise Center (located at Tanah Merah). We reached around noon; to check in our stuff and collect our tickets. We were quite early then - around 2 hours ahead of our departure time...
We loitered abit around SCC (Singapore Cruise Center) and even filled up our visitor's cards (to Bintan) before we proceeded to check in... The weather wasn't quite friendly to us and it even a heavy downpour started even before we boarded our ferry... Since we were really early - approximately 1/2 an hour early before we could even board the ferry, we camwhored a little while waiting for the ferry to even arrive at the jetty... It was really a different experience from the usual air trips, and we both were really enthusiastic despite the storm dampening our spirits...
Unlike the usual boarding passes for flights, I feel that the ferry boarding passes are damn cute!!
And the fucking part which dampened our spirits even further was that.....
OUR TRIP GOT DELAYED!!!
Even after we had boarded the ferry, due to some unforeseen immigration details, our ferry got delayed for almost 45 minutes! Whadafuck right?! The sea was really choppy due to the heavy downpour and the ferry was swaying from side to side (erk... the thought of it now make me seasick! bleah!) No doubt that it rained heavily, we chose the window seats.. (pss..pss...I got to know from dearie that it was his first time boarding a ferry...) so I let him have the priority of the "window seat"!! (claps claps...) Yesss... as all might have predicted, to calm my seasickness,
we camwhored camwhored and camwhored!!
Stormy Seas...
Ferry ride to Bintan took approximately 1 hour to reach from Singapore... No doubt that it was pouring so heavily when we set off, Poseidon finally calmed down a little and the churned storm cooled down to a light drizzle (with quite big raindrops =.="). Nevertheless, we were really happy to have reached our destination, and to all who have worries of wasting too much of precious time, Bintan is actually 1 hour backward of Singapore - for example if Singapore is 4:00pm, Bintan would have been 3:00pm then...
Upon exiting the arrival gates, there will be "tour guides" from various resorts awaiting for guests' arrival... And you will be lead to the various resorts' buses which will drive you to your designated hotels/resorts. Alternatively, a choice of hitching a private taxi will also be available...
We boarded the Nirwana Resorts coach, expected of "continually-wasted time", we waited for other passengers to board - for the coach to fill up before it departs to our destination... We were quite surprised by how much crowd there was then...
The usual culture for the arrived guests was that the resorts' entertainers would perform a short musical/dance to welcome the guests followed by a glass of refreshment.. Haiz, I did not manage to grab any pictures of that because dearie and I were actually the last persons to get off the coach and the performance ended abruptly after we actually reached the hotel lobby... =(
Honestly the check-in session was also quite dissatisfying due to the super long queue and slow attendance...
*ROARZ!*
It was crap but upon arriving at our room's comfort,
it manged to ease away our frustrations a little.
We had chosen a deluxe room (garden faced) since all the sea-view rooms have been occupied left with suites... nevertheless, the view was comforting, and I felt that the room was not so bad...
It was still drizzling though and we took a little rest while watching "Red Cliff" on their provided channels... The movie was airing halfway through and after the movie ended, we went down for a little stroll despite the "quite big" drizzle...
Though it was drizzling and the skies were grey, Bintan really have an awesome view!!
How I wished that Singapore do have that too!!
We strolled quite abit around the beaches and explored our way around the resorts... Our tummies rumbled quite badly since it was almost SG 5:30pm.. Their staffs and catered services were really nice.
Despite we were quite drenched, we could still dine in their cafes.
(just imagine we were back in Singapore then... erhem!)
a view from our table..
We ordered a cheesecake (I had thought that it was a tiramisu) but anyway, it was really creamy... Dearie ordered rice with sea-bass while I had crunchy lamb! Mmmmm... the sound of the dish's name made me drooled...
Here's a peek from their transparent kitchen and a glimpse of their chef..
dearie's rice with sea-bass..
a
We were busy taking down memorable pictures despite our empty stomachs!! And I did dearie the honor of taking his picture with my camera adjusted to a sunset mode..
and another of him wolfing down his rice!
and another of him wolfing down his rice!
=D
a close-up of dearie's sea-bass rice
Luckily for me, my crunchy lamb looked promising as in the short description of the menu...
Mmmm...
With a zest of peaches (dried), sprinkled with grounded peanuts, the roasted lamb spelled
~DELICIOUS!~
Added with boiled butter vegetables and mashed potatoes,
the sauce and everything was totally divine!
There was no strong smell of the lamb at all...
and I,
really really enjoyed it!!
As we made our way back to our room, we also noticed something which was very cute!
Life-sized chess and Spongebob snakes and ladders game! Apparently, there are timings whereby you can actually play the games itself... The chess really reminded me of Harry Potter whereby there was one movie where he actually played the life-size chess...
***
Life in Bintan is really relaxing; especially after the sun sets down... Literally it is soothing, calming and very breezy... Since we've got free bowling games, we decided to make our way to the Leisure Center and catch some bowling fun before we actually retire for the night...
On our way out to the Leisure Center (approximately 5-min walk from the hotel), we noticed that the view from the koi pond in front of the lobby was quite mesmerizing...
Too bad its such a waste since my camera's night mode sucks!
I supposed when you heard bowling, you might think that
eeeksss...
the alley must be something like the Queenstown Bowl in the olden days..very old and lousy...
Dearie aiming a shot for the pins...
and
"STRIKE"!!
and he even secretly took a picture of me... (=.=")
The best part of bowling in Bintan was ...
They even had a cocktail bar in their bowling alley!!
=)
All you need to do to enjoy was to order your favourite cocktail/mocktail
and there you go...
Last but not least,
we took a memorable picture before we left...
Luckily for me, my crunchy lamb looked promising as in the short description of the menu...
Mmmm...
With a zest of peaches (dried), sprinkled with grounded peanuts, the roasted lamb spelled
~DELICIOUS!~
Added with boiled butter vegetables and mashed potatoes,
the sauce and everything was totally divine!
There was no strong smell of the lamb at all...
and I,
really really enjoyed it!!
As we made our way back to our room, we also noticed something which was very cute!
Life-sized chess and Spongebob snakes and ladders game! Apparently, there are timings whereby you can actually play the games itself... The chess really reminded me of Harry Potter whereby there was one movie where he actually played the life-size chess...
***
Life in Bintan is really relaxing; especially after the sun sets down... Literally it is soothing, calming and very breezy... Since we've got free bowling games, we decided to make our way to the Leisure Center and catch some bowling fun before we actually retire for the night...
On our way out to the Leisure Center (approximately 5-min walk from the hotel), we noticed that the view from the koi pond in front of the lobby was quite mesmerizing...
Too bad its such a waste since my camera's night mode sucks!
I supposed when you heard bowling, you might think that
eeeksss...
the alley must be something like the Queenstown Bowl in the olden days..very old and lousy...
Dearie aiming a shot for the pins...
and
"STRIKE"!!
and he even secretly took a picture of me... (=.=")
The best part of bowling in Bintan was ...
They even had a cocktail bar in their bowling alley!!
=)
All you need to do to enjoy was to order your favourite cocktail/mocktail
and there you go...
Last but not least,
we took a memorable picture before we left...
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