Long Weekend at Bintan

With a long weekend coming, from Good Friday onwards, we decided to get away from the city buzz of Singapore. 3 days of break probably meant that a short trip nearby would fit the bill perfectly. The destination would be Bintan. The resort? Blue Lagoon. The room cost $232 per night and a ferry ticket to and fro cost $65. From our understanding the room rates were considered pricey as rooms booked much earlier would probably be in the $100++ region.




Day 1

We headed to Pasar Oleh Oleh for some good massage and local food. The single way taxi fare costed $22 and it took around 15 - 20 minutes. Once we reached the place, we were spoilt for choices which massage parlour to go to. The guides at Pasar Oleh Oleh each tried to persuade to each of the massage parlour. The interesting thing is, each massage parlour is paired up with a restaurant. Usually the massage parlour you opt for will provide you transport back to the resort.

Lunch was settled there. 3 of us ordered Ayam Penyet while 1 ordered Bryani. Honestly, we weren't used to paying $12 for a meal of rice and drumstick that was probably only slightly bigger than the bbq chicken wings you see in hawker centres in Singapore! It tasted not bad but not worth your money. Bryani wise I guess it was ok (we didn't sample it). I guess if given a choice I would have to say Singapore's Ayam Penyet was definitely a more decent meal overall.




After lunch, we walked around Pasar Oleh Oleh before heading for the massage session. The place was filled with shops selling wooden handicrafts. There were also some provision shops for you to stock up.

After a while we went for one of the massage parlour and it costs around $55 per person.
What it includes
1. 1 hr body scrub
2. 1/2 sauna (in this small cubicle)
3. 1 hr massage

The massage was good, so was the scrub. Money well spent!

Dinner was at place recommended by a friend. Haha its called 'Cafe Helo Helo' (nvm the spelling). Mee goreng and cha kway teow each cost $3.5. We also ordered chicken wings, bbq prawns and cuttlefish as well as satay. All in all plus the drinks it costed $43 bucks (same as lunch!) A more generous spread vs lunch (ok... a very generous spread of carbon too ....) Chicken wings, mee goreng and cha kway teow was good, the rest not worth the mention!




After dinner we headed back the resort. We went to the beach and stoned for a while, enjoying the breeze and the lovely moonlight. The sand was really fine and the beach was really clean. Day 1 was wrapped up.






Day 2

Shirley and I woke up early to have breakfast. Breakfast was ok, with omelette 'stealing the limelight'. Well, you pick your mix of button mushrooms, union, cheese and bacon and on the spot they would fry the omelette for you. After breakfast, we took a stroll by the beach. The waters pretty clear (as compared to Singapore) and occassionally you would spot fishes swimming near to the shores. And to our pleasant surprise, we caught 2 hermit crabs by the shore! I caught 1 first, Shirley wanted part of the fun so she combed and very quickly caught 1 too! Well.. honestly the 2 crabs were not too lucky, cos they were the only ones we managed to find!!



We really enjoyed the sea sports that followed after that. We kayak for and hour - $18 where Shirley was happily feeling the waves splashing against her. Really felt like 'natural jacuzzi'. We would align our kayak perpendicular to incoming waves and the 'jacuzzi' would follow shortly. It was fun. Next thing was the banana boat. $18 per person. Damn.. later did I realize very much of the fun from banana boat was supposed to come from the boat capsizing!! The ride was really bumpy, suddenly the speed boat in front slowed down and SPED UP, MAKING A TURN! That's it - all of us in the waters. My eyes closed to a fine line, feeling really silly in the pathetic state when I could hear the laughter of Shirley behind.. What a contrast! Later, the boat capsized.. AGAIN! OMG why would anyone pay $18 to get himself capsized!!!! Ok.. I gotta admit it was fun still haha

For the rest of the day, it was raining, and we just slacked in our room till dinner. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant (and it ain't as bad as what Shirley's friends said!) A bit pricey - how much was it again? Let me try to recall..

Night was simple but fun. We played mahjong. It costed $10 for renting a mahjong set for 3 hours. Day 2 ended.

Day 3

Haha. 1 word - Mahjong! We had a heavy breakfast and played mahjong till the time was right to take the resort bus that fetched us to the ferry terminal. A short but fun trip, long enough for us to start missing our beds in Singapore though...