TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

I visit my family in Asia every year and last year (2015) we decided to meet in Singapore where my sister lives. Then as part of the holiday agenda, my parents and I went to Bangkok, Thailand for a little side trip. On my last weekend in Asia, the family escaped to Bintan Island, Indonesia for a long weekend getaway, away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city. Bintan is just an hour ferry ride from Tanah Merah terminal in Singapore. Bintan Island is divided into 2 communities: 1) Bintan Resorts and 2) Rest of the island. You can read my previous entry here, an introduction to the island: Welcome to Bintan Island - An Overview In Bintan, we stayed inside the resort community at the Bintan Lagoon Resort for 3 days and 2 nights. We booked 2 rooms where one is facing the beach. After checking in to our rooms we hightailed to the beach area to have lunch at Nelayan Grill . This restaurant is really nice, they have an outdoor seating and bar right on the beach. It was a ver...

Because my sister could not join my parents and I in Bangkok because of work, we arranged a long weekend trip together as a family to nearby Bintan Island. My brother is also not with us as he had other stuff to do and remained in the Philippines. Bintan is part of the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. For many Singaporeans, it is their playground for a quick beach weekend getaway when they have had enough of man-made Sentosa Island. It takes just 50 minutes with the catamaran from Tanah Merah ferry terminal. General Overview of Bintan Island Bintan Island I realised is actually an island with 2 totally different worlds. So different from each other that the contrast somewhat shocked me a bit. The island has 2 communities and these are: 1. BINTAN RESORTS - This is a protected international community of hotels, beach resorts and nature mangroves. The place is leased by the government to a Singaporean-Indonesian investment company that manages (and resells) the whole estate. ...

We arrived in Bintan Island just before 12 noon but the immigration and the transfer took some time so we were at the resort a bit later than expected. So this was a rather late welcome lunch. A very pretty lunch spread. I love this entrance. It is like Japanese contemporary design. We were quite glad to have chosen the Nelayan Grill (formerly Rice) at the Bintan Lagoon Resort for our lunch venue. The place is gorgeous. Dining by the sea. We initially sat outside on the terrace, but my mom, who, like most Asians hate the sun, reprimanded us for sitting outside. 'It is hot outside!' she quipped. You know, Asian people love airconditioning. I have a term for this -- recycled air. I only like airconditioning in the hotel room or at home, but surely not when you are dining by the sea. Anyway, SisterJ, Myrhh and moi raised our white flags and we moved inside to enjoy some of this recycled airconditioning. We all did not want to eat a huge meal. Perhaps the big ba...