Bintan Island Trip (22~23 June, 2013)

Doh. Looking back at the last post. Man. It was in April. It is surely so so so the very long time I have not really sit down and write rubbish. Ya, basically all rubbish. So I have decided to write something tonight before I go to bed. Kinda jet lag though. Plus, I have just come back from Penang 2 hours ago. Haven't really slept well for the past two night. Like I said, jet lag. Hope tonight I can really sleep in.

I am going to update you all the another Island I have visited last month, June after the Batam Island and Bali Island. The third island is in Indonesia too. It is Bintan Island. I felt accomplish after stepped got to Bintan Island. Why so. Perhaps a little bit of history or story before I continue with the Bintan Island's story.

There are two Indonesia islands very nearby to Singapore. They are also two of Singaporeans favorite islands. Correct me if I am wrong with that statement. Usually there are nothing much to do in Singapore. Thus, Singaporean would love to visit either Batam Island or Bintan Island for their short escape from the busy city.

And ever since I came Singapore. I behave like a Singaporean. I am so kiasu and desperate to visit, not one but BOTH of them! I told myself that when I grew up one day... I have to step my foot there. Finally I have grown up (still skinny) and I "conquered" the two islands! -the end-

I know. I know. I have written to much rubbish as introduction. Let's save some readings and... pictures time. Oh ya. Clarify a bit here. I brought my camera but I wasn't too serious in taking picture. So... don't expect much pictures though. Of course, they are not as beautiful as well. My skill max sucks though.

Number 1. I bet nobody likes this. The haze! Doh. It was hazy that day.



I could not remember which moron told me something like this, "Richard. I've checked the wind-blow forecast. The wind is not blowing to Bintan Island side. So we can have haze free time in Bintan Island. Bla...". Wind-blow forecast?!. What kind of forecast was that?! He/she can save the saliva and don't blow-water (吹水) at me.



We were on the ferry towards Bintan Island. And it was as if we were in the heavy mist. The surrounding was totally blur out. The smell was super unbearable. And I left my N95 mask in the car. No choice. Got to deal with the haze for two hours! That's right. The journey from Singapore to Bintan takes two hours.



So. Who are the kaki-s? From left to right: Lee Fuan, me, Betty and Vincent. I won't be talking much about Lee Fuan and Vincent because I have known them for quite some times already. I have known Lee Fuan for likely 2 years and Vincent since primary school. You never hear me wrong. Yes, primary school.

I'd like to talk a little bit about Betty. She is friend to Lee Fuan. I never know her before and the day we went to Bintan was the very first day I know her. So a new friend added to my friend list. Ain't that cool. I like making new friends around. However we are friends for two days. After the trip we have never catch up yet. Lol.



By 6:00am and I woke up. I was the driver for this trip until the ferry port which is at Tanah Merah. I have to drive from the far west to the far east. And in between I picked Vincent, Lee Fuan and Betty. That's how I drove in the map above. Please ignore that as I was sleep-driving that time. It was early though. Yawn.



Lee Fuan was so kind and lovely enough that she packed us coffee and fried mee-hoon for breakfast. No idea though where she bought the coffee. It was pretty interesting to drink coffee from the condensed milk can. Ok. I remembered I told a joke while having the coffee and Betty burst in laughter and threw out her coffee towards Lee Fuan. Oops.



We actually gained an hour in Bintan which is good. And we arrived Bintan by afternoon. Immigration custom is under renovation. The condition was really bad. Worse still, it was super hot inside the immigration custom. There was no air conditioning.

Overall, to me the whole city is pretty much undeveloped. I can say it could be worse than Sarikei. Or perhaps at Mukah's level or worse. I don't know. You can judge by yourself one day when you're here.



And of course. Do not get me wrong. I am not trying to say that the town is not worth of the visit. Every town or city has its own uniqueness. It is depending on how a person actually views it from his/her perspective. Just as how the quote goes... "do not judge a book by its cover".

Nothing and no one is perfect though. 



And here goes our first stop. Er.. according to our tour guide. That (the above) is a departmental stall. Well. To me it is more like a shop lots. I can't see any "character" that I can really tell it is a shopping complex. Who cares, anyway. My stomach was hungry by then. It was afternoon when we arrived. I need food, lunch!



Do not worry about food. There are Chinese cafe around. Indonesian-Chinese cafe, to be exact. I ordered myself two bowls of wantan-noodle from the stall above. It taste so Divine! The texture of the noodles and wantan is just like Sibu kampua.





Obviously the taste varied from the Sibu kampua. However it is still better than West Malaysia or Singapore wantan-noodle. I ate two bowls. You can tell how Divinely-delivious it was.





There are other typical Chinese food choices around such as bao or fried kueh-tiao. I was rather full after two bowls of wantan-noodle. Thus. Didn't make it to try other food. My stomach capacity is small. I am skinny wad. What do you expect, huh.

Tour guide continued bringing us to the next destination after my meal. Oh ya. We got that Bintan tour package from online. You know. Those Deal or Groupon or etc... websites. It wasn't that expensive though. Cheap thing doesn't gives good quality. So. Don't expect much from the tour. Alright.

Where's next.



Doh... department store again. At least this time round was a rather proper department store. It is a two storey departmental store. All the clothing are at the ground floor. And all those u-chi-ba-la-zha shops at first level. We were told to shop for one hour.

One hour! I was like... what can I buy or doing there. Le sigh. Nobody actually bought anything when we return to the bus for official lunch. My wantan-noodle was for breakfast actually.

Lunch was even worse!



Indonesia is well known for its local food, Ayam Penyet. In other word, chicken rice in Indonesian styled. I was quite excited to know that Ayam Penyet lunch is part of the tour itinerary. I missed to try Ayam Penyet last time in Batam. So I try to miss out this time round in Bintan.

And the more I actually expected. The more disappointed I actually get. What turned out to be is a piece of normal fried chicken. Some more it was so harden as if the chicken is over-two-nights. And a piece of cabbage leave and... what was that green leaves thingy and a slice of cucumber. And, and, and.. two pieces of toufu. Lee Fuan, Betty, Vincent and I were like... W..T..F. A max disappointment with the Ayam Penyet. Better still call it Ayam Pengsan-aku.

Some more that restaurant is a franchise restaurant. Franchise with that quality? Come on... That must be a joke. Alright. We just had to deal with it.



The last sightseeing of the day, the Chinese temple. That sure can consider a huge temple. It has a large field in front of the temple itself. And I believe the monks are doing dragon fruits plantation there at the field. The greenish, greenish tree plant that you can see in the field are actually dragon fruits according to the tour guide.

That sounds pretty interesting. Why dragon fruits? Hmm...







That is all about for our Bintan tour. And we are heading to our beach resort. That's the key point now, beach resort. People visit Bintan for its beach escape. And not for the tour in the town or expecting cheap skate Ayam Penyet instead. It is the beach.

It was our first time. So we thought may as well visit the town one go. Conclusion now. No more Bintan town next time. Straight head to the beach resort if I am visiting for the second time.

Beach resort usually built far from the town and it took us about 1.5 hours to reach the destination. The beach resort that we are staying is Bintan Cabana Beach Resort. The resort is quite isolated. There's basically nothing outside of the resort. No night life. No girls to see. No shopping mall. No cafe shops. No nothing. It is just the sea and you, you and the sea. That is it.



I only realized that I didn't take enough pictures to blog this round. No picture for the room. Should you want to know more about the resort. You can click on the link or google Bintan Cabana Beach Resort. Usually first thing I most concern after checked in a hotel room is the toilet. If the toilet is clean then.. that's a good room. If the toilet fails me, game is over.



Not too bad for the toilet. That is a pass to me. So I had a night at Bintan Cabana Beach Resort. Like I said above. Basically nothing much you can do there. It is purely an isolated place for you to get away from the city and just fully relax away under the coconut tree enjoying the sea breeze or perhaps with a bottle of cold beer in the palm. More pictures below..















The only thing I like about the beach is that the sea water is so crystal clean and clear. I was amazed with how clean and clear the sea water is. So clear to an extend that I could see fishes swimming in the sea. Of course small fishes. I have skin allergy. Usually I would be suffering from reddish-itchy-patches on my skin if the sea water is dirty enough. Surprisingly. It wasn't severe when I swim in that sea. I didn't feel the itchiness at all as well.







See. I didn't bluff. I captured the above using my cheap skate Blackberry's camera. Low pixels some more. Still you can see my feet soaking in the sea water! Now count my toes. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. CORRECT! .. That's how clear and clean the sea water is.

Allow me to share a tip with you all. If you're looking for sea thrilling activities. There is free shuttle bus picking you up at Cabana Beach Resort to Argo Beach Resort. I did a reading in the official website. To my low IQ understanding level. I think Argo Beach Resort and Cabana Beach Resort are run by the same boss. No wonder there's free shuttle bus. Do approach the receptionist to check the available schedule for the shuttle bus.



We went and paid $40 for six water sports. I can't remember the name of all the six. I can remember Banana Boat only. Because I am Minions' fan. So I remember the "banana". Bello. Bello. Banana.. SO. I believe that is all about my two days and a night in Bintan. The beach obviously was the best part. Anything before the beach was bored.

I was pretty exhausted after all the six water sports. Guess. I have grown slightly older. :)



Bintan Island. Finally. I'd be most probably coming back here again for the beach. At time it is good to stay away from Singapore for over the weekends in Bintan. Alright. That is all about it. Well. I have been to Koh Samui (Thailand) - didn't blog about that, Batam Island, Bali Island and Bintan Island this year. Where is the next island to be... The United Kingdom (Island).

Cheers.