20 posts tagged “travel”
I realised I forgot to write more about the Bintan trip.. Anyway here goes.
We chosen the Mayang Sari resort for some quiet couple time. Sure enough, there wasn't much kids scooting about. The resort has 50 chalets (kinda like the East Coast UDMC Chalets) with sea view or garden view. We had a garden view chalet, but it's just a minute walk to the beach. The beach was nice... but short of spectacular. The nicest beach I have been to was at Le Coco beach resort, Mauritius. What Mayang Sari offers, other than the beach, are a beach bar and a small restaurant, there isn't much else on the resort grounds. Good if you want some tranquility.
The waves are very strong during the monsoon season, so that's why I didn't go into the waters. We stayed at the chalet or we took the internal shuttle bus to the Nirwana resort to swim at the pool. I love the pool. The shuttle bus arrives at every 30mins to various locations within the chains of resort (and not to town), but I have to say, Indonesian timing is rather flexible. So if the bus is late, the staff is happy to buggy you to the destination points.
Food is a bit of problem, I think. Since we didn't visit the town, all we have was the food at the resort and the food don't come cheap! From about $20++ to $50 per pax! So it may be better either pack some sandwiches or head out to the town to eat. It's not free fare to go to the town, and the bus fare at S$6 per head is rather exorbitant. Renting a buggy cost S$25 per hour. Cup noodles cost S$4 per tub! Then again, why would I want to have cup noodle on a holiday?! Everything cost money within the resort.
The service is good. Nothing much to complain about. :P
Would I go again? Probably and the 3 of us will stay at Nirwana resort for its convenience.
We will be heading to Bintan this Friday till 31st Dec. After much contemplation for a holiday destination, coz I can't travel far. Then due to a late start in holiday planning when everyone seems to be flying around the same time that we would be... we had finally settled for Bintan. Frankly, at that time when we made the booking, I almost gave up, coz we couldn't decide on a place! Bah, just going anyway would be fine with me lah! But our final choice, Bintan's not bad too, coz we have never been there, and we just want somewhere for a RnR time.
I don't think I have enough time to pack! Going for facial, more shopping and an appointment with the gynae tomorrow. Oh tomorrow is also hubb's last day with the slave driving company! Then on Thursday, more and more shoppings again... Early morning on Friday, we have to make our way to the ferry terminal. Plus I need to squeeze in some time to prep the house (hubb's bro is going to "house sit" by throwing a party at our place). Hmmmm... a whirlwind of madness before leaving for somewhere to rest and relax... Such irony!
Oh, I hope to meet up with Toni, Irene and Christina!!! SMS or email me, girls!
Hubb has 10 days of break at end of this year before he starts his new job. We have been racking our brains for holiday ideas... but to no avail! He joked that he always don't have leave for a holiday in this present job, and now that he has some leave, we don't know where to go?!
We would really love to visit Japan, except that there's not returning tickets and even though the tickets are expensive! Year end holidays are crazy! Then also the glaring fact that I will be at my 6mth by then... and I don't fancy any long flights. I never would have thought planning for holidays is a pain to me! So these are the places we have considered....
1) Hong Kong/Macau
2) Hua Hin, Thailand (but how could we stay in a resort for 10 days?)
3) Penang/Langkawi
4) Bali (bird flu???)
Could ya all, the kind souls give me some suggestions? Ideas??? :)
I fell for a lie today. I was off the ferry and was walking towards Wat Pho when this man approached me. He said he is a local Chinese and is waiting for his wife to finish her marketing. Though later he mentioned his son and daughter nare doing the marketing.
He sounded like he is so helpful, asked me about my stay here and that Wat Pho is closed till 2pm which was a good time away from mid noon. I was cautious coz guide books blatantly pointed out not to believe anyone who said the temple is closed. I thought it meant closed for the whole day. He asked me for my map and started to write on other places to visit in the meanwhile. Though I wanted to leave and said I could walk on my own, he kept on talking and wouldn't let me leave. He then said he is able to get local price for the Tuk tuks for me and escorted me to one. He even mentioned that I shouldn't speak at all, in case the driver would charge me tourist price. But he did ask me some questions and told the driver in English that I am his friend. He is quite slick in doing this and I fell for it! :\
I did get to the temple "recommended" by the cheater in one piece. TG. Why? If you have heard of kidnapping story in Bangkok. Though the temple is beautiful, I covered the small temple within a short while. I had the luck of meeting the architect of the temple who was there to inspect the condition of the fixtures and we had a nice chat. He showed me how to get to Wat Pho and told me not to believe anyone who said the temple is closed. On my way there, I met another guy who said the temple is closed till 2:30pm! Good grief!
By now I was sure that I had been duped and didn't have much heart to enjoy the sights within Wat Pho. :\ I was also fed up that the entry price of the temple had raised to 50 Baht. All these left a bad taste of Bangkok. That's it man... the image of Bangkok in my mind is going down the drain.
On my way back to the pier, I deliberately walked behind where the first guy was standing/waiting. True enough, he is still there. The feeling of being cheated is lousy. The only good thing is that this lesson only cost me 10 Baht... not a lot of money, but still...
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BTW, I am sun burnt now for walking the whole day outdoors! It's starting to hurt! :O
I was back in Singapore over the weekend. The minute I was exposed to non-airconditioned air, I was enveloped by the heaviness of it all. During my last few days in Melbourne, I grumbled that it was mpossible and yet got colder and colder. Then I complained about the humidity and hot weather back home. *o* But home is still home, I adjusted after a day. I need to find some time to complete my Melbourne travelogue. I had a good time and enjoyed Melbourne tremendously. Really thanks to Annie who let me board with her and put up with me in bed. Heh. Private joke.
During the weekend, I accomplished a fair bit. I managed to tidy the house, unpacked (and packed again), watched Transformers, attended church and watched Jacky Cheung concert. I had almost forgotten about this concert when I was planning my Melbourne trip, coz we bought the ticket early this year. The concert gotta be the highlight of my enjoyable weekend. JC totally bowled me over and I was half dancing to his songs, in my seat! It got till the point where I leapt from my seat and did some jigglings. Hehe! I reckon I am a 25 year old trap in an older body! I love the musical section and him belting out his classic medleys. He sang till 11:50pm (Unprecedented!!!). I half wished that the concert would not end yet, while at the same time I was clearly aware that I had to wake up at 5am the following morning.
5am. To catch the earliest flight to Bangkok. Yes, I am in the city of Angels again. I know I was here exactly a month ago and will be here for some days. I know too that I sound like a jetsetting tai tai. ;) Over and out till I am back. Where shall I go next? Heh.
Elevator. Someone said you can tell the pace of the city from its elevators. This elevator is very, very slow. I wanted to move on faster but I realised that I have nothing to rush for. Long and steep.
My first solo day without Annie. Somehow my alarm clock which is my mobile was set to 9pm instead of 9am... so by the time I left the house, it was already noon. Winter days are shorted and sun sets around 5:30pm... Shops close early and there is not much to do during night time.
Annie and I tried to look for live band performances around Fitzroy and the city, but there wasn't any on a rainy Monday night!
From L to R: Power Street, Creepy house, Pond near Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Museum, Leaving the Museum
From L to R: Fossil 1 to 5
I cooked us dinner! Here is the recipe for a kimchi soup. I added whatever ingredients we have. It is a lovely dish for cold weather!
First view of St. Kilda, a popular suburb with locals and tourists. The Sunday market is a must-see and the sweets shop is a must-try. We spent a mere 2 hours in St. Kilda, as we have a long day ahead of us. We had to drive for around one hour to reach our destination.
Though on Friday night (Day 8) and together with Reny, we visited the Prince of Wales pub where one of the section, Girl bar had a special night going on... Seems like its a lesbian night. I had not been to night spots for a long time. But the music was fantastic and the place was smoke-free (big pkus point) and there were special peformances by 3 different pole dancers. Someone even try to get to know me! (Totally weird! Haha!)
From L to R: Sunday market, Artist at work, Coast view, Docking station
From L to R: Bad bed hair, Street scene, Sweet sweets, Bare trees
From L to R: Up Dandenong Ranges, Forest, View at Dandenong, Tree, Pie in the Sky, July Christmas
How would you like your piece of the Melbourne sky? In Melbourne City, often there is an initricate web of tram lines and when I look up, I see the sky beling sliced up neatly.
Melbourne has some good urban planning that made it easy to find one's way around.
We started the day with a hearty breakfast at Degraves street, where little cafes lined up along the dark street. As you can tell from the piccies below, we covered a lot of places. We didn't end the day till 12 hours from when we set off!
From L to R: General Post Office, Resting pinkhound, Annie & greyhound, A proud dog owner, Greyhounds
From L to R: Bratwurst, Shell the prawn, Seafood, Poultry Special
From L to R: Moulin Rouge, Foodcourt, Demonstration
From L to R: The sun is out, Billboard, Cornershop, Fitzroy dissected
From L to R: First view, Coffee and me, Side street, Fitzroy dusk
From L to R: Tree, View from South Bank, Pancake Parlour
I guess I better start my recount for this Melbourne trip, so that I will have less work when
I am back. It's been a week and another week to go! Wooo! I already have been to
places that weren't even in my plan, so this is really good.
I spent the first day in the city central. Took the city shuttle for a quick tour. Then Annie, her colleague and husband, we all had dinner at Hardware Lane and had sweets at Lygons street.
<--- I took a lot photos of such. Love the bare trees and the contrast against the grey sky. :)
