Marina's Bloggariffic

Contrary to what Moby said about Bintan Lagoon Resort rooms facing the sea being haunted, Geri and I slept soundly with no disturbances and woke up refreshed. At 6 am, it was a beautiful morning, with the sun shining brightly.

Initially, we wanted to go cycling, but there were none available at that particular time, so we decided to go for a jog around the resort. It wasn’t an easy track for us as it went uphill and down. We went past the villas, the beach and back to the activity center. It was so tiring that I’m embarrassed that I feel so unfit.

After my ordeal, we washed up and got ready to go have breakfast at the resort cafe, Kopi-O where a beautiful buffet was ready. There were loads of lovely intercontinental food there. I enjoyed my breakfast so much that I forgot to take a picture of my plate.

As we ate, I looked outside the window. It was a nice view – seeing the greenery and water catchment outside of the window. But then I spotted a man sitting precariously at the edge of the pond. I remember that the the pond was rather steep and for some while, I felt alarmed.

Regardless, he looked very confident and comfortable with his stance and we left him to his own devices.

After our breakfast, all of us couldn’t wait to head to the beach to play. It was such a lovely morning. Immediately, we jumped on our buggies and headed off to the sea!

If the sea was lovely at night time, it was breathtaking in the day! It was a beautiful shade of bright blue and the soothing sound of the waves greeted us. We couldn’t help ourselves but to run around on the beach.

I kicked off my slippers and went around barefooted. The sands were soft. It was like walking on brown coloured flour.

Gorgeousness!

Below is a short video clip on the trip to the beach :

Il Mare at Bintan Lagoon from rinaz on Vimeo

We were so enamored by the beach that we started jumping around.

First it was me.

And then Geri joined in.

And then Jenjen!

We had such a riot on the beach. But we did not stay too long as the weather seemed too hot after a while. Thus, after our beach revelry, we headed to the Leisure Center where we played with ATVs!

Here is Jenjen on a Quad Bike

This was another first for me as I’ve never ridden on a quad bike before. Having been used to my scooter, the feeling of riding a quad bike was similar but slightly different compared to motorcycles as we could travel on bumpier roads. Impossible for regular motorcycles. We went through different terrains, some sandy areas, some jungly like.

I had so much fun running through the different areas! Even if I did crash into some vegetation, it was still awesome zooming around on the quad bike. I love the the feeling!

Here is a short video of our encounter with the Quad Bikes :

ATV Ride from rinaz on Vimeo

Our exciting ATV rides has made us work up an appetite and not before too long, we were treated to a lovely lunch at the Miyako Japanese Restaurant.

The restaurant was nicely decorated with clean, natural and green furnishings. For me, it invoked a sense of serenity being in the place.

And soon our foods arrived! I love Japanese food! Yummy!

I remember liking the grilled mackerel a lot. It was very flavorful and tasty. Not to mention the delicious Tuna Sashimi! A dab of shoyu and wasabi and I was slurping on pure happiness. I wished my tempura was less oily, but nevertheless, it was still nice to eat anyways.

And before we knew it, it was time to pack up and get ready to head for home. And reluctantly we said goodbye to our beautiful deluxe room, goodbye to the buggies and goodbye to the beautiful island of Bintan.

Snapped using my Innov8

Thank you so much Felicia, Sari and everyone for the warm hospitality. Geri and I really enjoyed our stay. The break was truly a step in paradise 🙂

Have you ever been to Bintan before? What do you think of it?

Link :

• Bintan Resort Lagoon – Day 1

Recently, I’ve been invited by Jennifer of Dunbar Jones to join the lovely Nadnut, Jenjen as well as Sassyjan for a trip to Bintan Resort Lagoon.

I was most excited. It was such a coincidence as just a few weeks back, I told mum that I needed a break. And then this invitation happened. What a fantastic way to just chill out!

As I was allowed to bring a partner with me, I called up Geri. And on the specified date, we headed to the Tanah Merah Ferry where we met the rest of the lovely blogger ladies as well as the coordinators Felicia and Jennifer who handed us our boarding passes.

I looked around the terminal area which reminded me a lot like the sentosa Mrt Terminal, Geri mentioned that the terminal has improved a lot since the last time that she was there.

While waiting for our ferry to arrive, I looked at my boarding pass and embarkation slip with interest as this was probably the second embarkation slip that I’ve ever used, the main one being the Malaysian one.

I smiled to myself. It was my very first time going to Indonesia! How exciting!

And not before too long, our ferry arrived. All of us scrambled madly to enter the ferry. Not before too long, we were already acting all silly.

We’re going to Bintan tomorrow! from rinaz on Vimeo

The group wanted to sit in the middle of the ferry as Jenjen was afraid of getting seasick.

But I wanted to look at the sea! So I plonked myself next to the window and stared outside. There is always something calming about looking at the waters swirling up and down.

And that was what I did for most of the journey. After about an hour or so, we arrived on Bintan Island! I looked up at the clock there indicating that we had to adjust our watches as their timezone with Singapore was an hour earlier.

We stumbled around wondering where to go next. But not for too long, we were greeted by the staff carrying placards such as these.

We were then ushered to take a shuttle bus where a pretty lady introduced herself to us, “My name is Sari and I’ll be here to show you around the resort“.

Throughout the shuttle journey, I was marvelling to myself. “I’m in Indonesia!” and I stared at the greenery. It was not too long when we reached the resort.

I read about the welcoming dance in Malique’s blog. But nothing quite prepared me for this!

Welcome dance from rinaz on Vimeo

How very festive!

We were given a cool drink and a wonderfully fragrant towel to freshen up, which I thought was a very nice touch and were given our keys. Not before long, we headed to our separate rooms where all of us could not wait to explore.

Me and Jenjen had rooms on the same floor and while I passed her door, I noticed that Jenjen knocked on her door before opening. I was puzzled. Its not like there was anyone inside.

That was when Geri mentioned that it was a Chinese custom to knock on the door of a place you’ve never entered before as a form of salutation to the spirits. Interesting! That was something new to me.

In any-case, both Geri and I were extremely enamoured by our room. It’s gorgeous!

I love how the entire room was decorated. It was a fusion of modern, zen as well as earthy Indonesian together. Everything looked very inviting. We loved it so much that we could not help but stop gushing.

What was there not to like?

The beds were perfect.

The bathroom was perfect.

Even the view outside was just a vision of loveliness.

Here is our reaction video the first time we stepped in our room :

First reaction to Deluxe Room from rinaz on Vimeo

After we’ve put our luggage in the room, we then headed to the cafe, called ‘Kopi O’ for lunch. Such a lovely spread that they had there. I love buffets!

Lunch at Bintan Lagoon from rinaz on Vimeo

Later on, after our sumptuous lunch, we were given a tour around the resort to look at the other rooms that was available there.

One of the rooms that we went to was what the original rooms looked like before it was renovated. It looked similar to our deluxe room, apart from the lack of decorations and furnishings.

And then, like a piece de resistance, we were shown the suite. It was such an exclusive room. There was a walk in closet, a powder room. a four poster bed and a jacuzzi bath tub.

It was so luxurious.

I bet if I had had that room, I would never want to ever leave but reluctantly we left and we were in for another surprise! Our very own buggies to drive!

It was such a treat for me. Sure, it might not be a true car, regardless, I’ve never imagine that I would ever drive it.

Excitedly, I jumped in. Geri, having experienced in driving cars and buggies, guided me on how to manoeuvre. It wasn’t that difficult, apart from reversing. And with our buggies, we explored another part of the lagoon – their villas.

Their villas were quite lovely. The feel was different from our rooms, more rustic and private even. Sari told us that for all of the villas rented, has a buggy attached to it so that it’ll be easier for the occupants to move around the resort.

Here is a quick video overview of one of their villas.

Deluxe Villa from rinaz on Vimeo

I quite liked the villas, it looked clean and comfortable and homey and would get it if I were having a vacation in a large group.

After viewing the villa, we were given a few hours of free time. Geri and I decided to head back to our rooms to rest after our explorations.

Sitting in my bed, I looked out of the window and waited for the sun to set. As Bintan has an hour difference compared to Singapore, I was a little fuzzy at what time it would set. At 5 pm it was still rather bright, so I decided to watch a bit of telley. I was fascinated by Spongebob Squarepants speaking in Indonesian.

Indonesian Sponge Bob from rinaz on Vimeo

I dozed off for a bit and jolted up to find out that it was already dark at only 6 pm! Which was a waste as I wanted to catch the sunset.

To console ourselves, Geri and I decided to go to the beach anyway and frolicked in the sea before having dinner.

It was such a beautiful sight. The luminous, full moon that greeted the two of us. And there were just the two of us. There were no one else on the beach when we were there. It was as if, we had our own personal beach.

Full moon over the sea from rinaz on Vimeo

I love the sound of the waves crashing and the softness of the sand that it was comfortable enough for the both of us to jump around happily. Refreshed, it was time for dinner at the resort Nelayan Grill where Nadnut, Jenjen and Sassyjan were already changed and looking beautiful in their dresses.

Nelayan Grill was a lovely restaurant, decorated with tiki torches around. It was a quiet and romantic area, quite nice for couples.

While waiting for our main course, we were given gado-gado as an appetizer. I think that that was quite creative as usually the vegetables would be mixed up as a regular salad but here it was wrapped up.

Later on, after our appetizer, we looked quizzedly at our menu – ‘Surf and Turf’.

Which turned out to be an entire medley of grilled food consisting of seafood, meat and vegetables. It was a hearty meal. Nothing beats the taste of freshly caught seafood 🙂

After dinner, we said goodnight to each other and retired to our rooms, to be ready for tomorrow’s adventures.

Read part two where we experience the different activities in Bintan Lagoon 🙂

Whee!

Sidenote : Why don’t you try your luck before the 2nd November to win a resort break at Bintan Lagoon for yourself? 🙂