Bintan getaway!

There's nothing like a good o'le break away from Singapore. And the Indonesian islands of Bintan and Batam are quite ideal being just slightly more than an hour away from Singapore. 

The best part? All transactions within the resort area of Bintan and Batam are in Singapore dollars, so there's no need to worry about having to pay in Indonesian Rupiahs. I got even luckier because Audrey had manage to snag a free night's stay at Nirwana Beach club!  

We took the last ferry out of Singapore and when we finally arrived the sun had long set. 

We were however very courteously greeted with welcome drinks by a waiter who also doubled up as the lone receptionist.

I particularly like this shot because Audrey looks like she is signing a very huge and important contract.

There is not a lot one can do after 8pm on Bintan, especially at Nirwana Beach club, a distance away from the rest of the larger, grander hotels so we took a stroll by the beach. 

The next morning however, things got a lot better. We started the day with a walk by the beach, followed by a rather lacklustre but still satisfying buffet breakfast. 

Then of course, we hit the infinity pool for a long time just waiting for staff to report to Nirwana's beach club's activities centre! 

When our Indonesian friends finally arrived, we rented a 2 person-Kayak and tried desperately to keep afloat. Following which, our Indonesian friends taught us newbies how to Snorkel. It turned out to be a lot of fun once I got the hang of how to breath normally underwater. 

Our Indonesian friend decided to traumatize us by catching "nemo". And would not release him until Audrey begged him to! 

Hungry for some real food after an afternoon's adventure, we decided to take the hotel's shuttle to Pasar Oleh Oleh! As it turned out, there was nothing much to Oleh Oleh about. The miniature town was stocked with several sad shops selling rather dated cheongsams and deep fried Indonesian snacks.  

The saving grace fortunately, was the food! 

Our restaurant of choice was "Hello Hello Restaurant". Audrey went for some rice with gravvy while I went straight for the Ayam Penyet (smashed chicken rice) - when in Indonesia must have Indonesian food right?  

Although the chicken was a little scrawny, it was tasty and went so well with the chilli. 

We also shared a huge plate of calamari. 

This was quite sedap as well! 

And then it was back on the ferry to Singapore! 

I'll certainly be back but next time I'll check into somewhere a little more upmarket, preferably one that offers a good spa and massage!