Days 8-10: Bintan
So, on Monday morning we leave the house early to get a bus to the MRT station, then on the train to Tanah Merah station, then taxi to the ferry terminal. Had to wait around for a bit after going through imigration type stuff. Then onto the catamaran for around a 45min journey to the Indonesian island of Bintan. So that's 4 different modes of public transport in one day!! Not too shabby :p
Anyhoo, we got to the island, then on another bus to the actual Angsana resort. Checked in, chucked our stuff in the room and had lunch, then went down to the pool. Nice swimming pool, with jacuzzi area etc. Very nice considering it was really rather sunny and hot. Lazed around in the pool for a while, then went for a bit of a walk down the beach. That took up the afternoon, and then went back to the room, showered and headed down to one of the restaraunts for dinner. Food was very good, and very reasonably priced :D. Always good. Went for a late(ish :p) night swim after dinner, then pretty much went to bed.
The second day started off with buffet breakfast, nice nice :D. Went down to the beach and went snorkeling. Went swimming around looking for fish, but didn't see any for ages. Then went nearer the rocks, and found the coral and all the fish :p. Which is when Karen decided to say that she thought someone had said something about near the rocks :p. Typical awkward girl ;p. Had lunch after snorkeling, and then back down to the beach to go for a banana-boat ride! If you don't know, that's when you sit on a long inflatable which is towed behind a speed-boat. Was really good fun, even if the people in the boat were evil and constantly trying to capsize us :p. I kept my balance and stayed on no matter what they tried, but Karen decided to kamikaze off the inflatable at one point and just let go on a corner. Silly girl :p. Really enjoyed it :). Then we went back up to the pool for a while and lazed arounf some more. That evening we went to the next-door sister resort, Bunyun Tree, for dinner. Was really good, but definitely a posher resort :p. Wanna stay there next time ;p. That was pretty much the end of the day.
On Wednesday we had to check out by 2pm. Karen wanted to go snorkeling again, so after breakfast we headed down to the beach again and snorkeled straight out to the coral and spent an hour or so looking at lots of fish :). There was one point where we were right in the middle of a shoal of fish, with them going all around us. Was fantastic experience :D. We were just getting out when we heard really loud screaming from further down the beach, and turned to see a girl being pretty much carried out of the water. Turns out that she had been stung by a jellyfish. Saw her later that day and she had large red welts down her legs. Not nice :(. So after that we went back to the room and packed our stuff away, and went to check out and have lunch. After lunch we got back on the bus and said goodbye to the resort. Went back to the ferry terminal and came back to Singapore. Got a taxi back to Karen's place, and got back pretty much in time for dinner. After dinner we went to the pasar malam (lit. night market) at Jurong Point. Huuuge amounts of food, fruits and (possibly dodgy) goods for sale :p. Was very interesting to see. Reckon my sister could probably lose herself in there for hours :p.
And that's pretty much what's been going on for these past few days.
Anyhoo, we got to the island, then on another bus to the actual Angsana resort. Checked in, chucked our stuff in the room and had lunch, then went down to the pool. Nice swimming pool, with jacuzzi area etc. Very nice considering it was really rather sunny and hot. Lazed around in the pool for a while, then went for a bit of a walk down the beach. That took up the afternoon, and then went back to the room, showered and headed down to one of the restaraunts for dinner. Food was very good, and very reasonably priced :D. Always good. Went for a late(ish :p) night swim after dinner, then pretty much went to bed.
The second day started off with buffet breakfast, nice nice :D. Went down to the beach and went snorkeling. Went swimming around looking for fish, but didn't see any for ages. Then went nearer the rocks, and found the coral and all the fish :p. Which is when Karen decided to say that she thought someone had said something about near the rocks :p. Typical awkward girl ;p. Had lunch after snorkeling, and then back down to the beach to go for a banana-boat ride! If you don't know, that's when you sit on a long inflatable which is towed behind a speed-boat. Was really good fun, even if the people in the boat were evil and constantly trying to capsize us :p. I kept my balance and stayed on no matter what they tried, but Karen decided to kamikaze off the inflatable at one point and just let go on a corner. Silly girl :p. Really enjoyed it :). Then we went back up to the pool for a while and lazed arounf some more. That evening we went to the next-door sister resort, Bunyun Tree, for dinner. Was really good, but definitely a posher resort :p. Wanna stay there next time ;p. That was pretty much the end of the day.
On Wednesday we had to check out by 2pm. Karen wanted to go snorkeling again, so after breakfast we headed down to the beach again and snorkeled straight out to the coral and spent an hour or so looking at lots of fish :). There was one point where we were right in the middle of a shoal of fish, with them going all around us. Was fantastic experience :D. We were just getting out when we heard really loud screaming from further down the beach, and turned to see a girl being pretty much carried out of the water. Turns out that she had been stung by a jellyfish. Saw her later that day and she had large red welts down her legs. Not nice :(. So after that we went back to the room and packed our stuff away, and went to check out and have lunch. After lunch we got back on the bus and said goodbye to the resort. Went back to the ferry terminal and came back to Singapore. Got a taxi back to Karen's place, and got back pretty much in time for dinner. After dinner we went to the pasar malam (lit. night market) at Jurong Point. Huuuge amounts of food, fruits and (possibly dodgy) goods for sale :p. Was very interesting to see. Reckon my sister could probably lose herself in there for hours :p.
And that's pretty much what's been going on for these past few days.