We went to Bintan, Indonesia this past weekend. We stayed at the Nirwana Gardens.
We left on Friday afternoon, taking the 60 minute ferry ride over there. The sea was a bit rough, but nothing too bad. We went with our neighbours, Jane, Serge, Sofya (Martin's girlfriend) and Zach. Basil and Eva, the family assistants also came along.
We then arrived in Bintan, and were greeted by an immigration official, who asked how many were in our party. We said "5" (as Jane was seperated from us), he said come with me, took our passports and brought us to the front of the line. Before we knew it, he had taken off with our passports and told us it would be S$20 for the visas (it is normally S$18). It all happened so fast. We watched him the entire time, and we ended up getting our visas and skipping the entire line. But while it was happening, we were kicking ourselves. We normally are more savvy that this, we didn't expect the immigration officer to "hustle us". But it all ended okay. And we ended up waiting anyways, as we had to wait for Jane.
We then took the bus to the hotel. It is a big complex, quite nice, and we were excited to go to the beach. So we all got changed and headed out. We decided not to put Martin in, at that point, as there was a bit of a breeze. Oliver played happily on the beach with his truck. Whenever I tried to convince him to come into the water he said "I'm busy working. I can't right now." So I left him alone. The water was nice and warm, not clear as The Bahamas, but seemed pretty churned up. There was some seaweed and rocks, but nothing too bad.
Then walking around on the beach, I noticed that my feet had some black stuff on them. And so did Oliver. It didn't easily wash off in the water, if you rubbed it, it left a greasy feeling in your hand, plus left your hand dirty. We started getting grossed out, so we headed back to the pools. Joe was taking to the towel guy and then all of a sudden, someone started spraying Oliver. With gasoline! It was to get off the TAR that was on us from the ocean. Apparently, with the North Wind Monsoon, it brings in TAR from the container ships. If we weren't grossed out before, we were then. We scrubbed, and then I ran inside to shower up. We were so happy we didn't take Martin in and that Oliver wasn't interested in the water. I at least didn't dunk my head in, but Joe, Sofya and Zach were full out swimming.
So after that experience (which will last a lifetime - give a hoot, don't pollute!) we went for dinner. Put the kids to bed, had Basil and Eva babysit and went down to the bar for a drink. Serge came in on the 8:00 ferry, so we met up with him then.
The next day, we did some more swimming (at the pool of course!) and went into "town" which really was just a little shopping centre that was built for the tourists. It was a pretty relaxing day. That night, we ate at the BBQ buffet and had some drinks and adult conversation after the kids were in bed. And Martin slept the entire night through! First time ever!!
Today, we took a walk around the grounds, and went and saw their "zoo". They have a huge snake (the biggest snake I've ever seen) and some small crocodiles and birds that the government seized from smugglers. Oliver and Joe did some more swimming and then after lunch we caught the ferry for home.
Oliver had excellent behaviour the entire trip. I don't even think he had one meltdown the entire time (or none that were memorable). He used the toilet pretty consistently the entire time, only using diapers occasionally, but would ask to use the toilet before he had to go (as opposed to telling afterwards). Martin, was his usual charming self.
Bintan felt like Cable Beach in The Bahamas, and if the water had been better, we'd go back, as it is so accessible from Singapore. But we don't consider that we have been to Indonesia, even though my passport might say so.
We left on Friday afternoon, taking the 60 minute ferry ride over there. The sea was a bit rough, but nothing too bad. We went with our neighbours, Jane, Serge, Sofya (Martin's girlfriend) and Zach. Basil and Eva, the family assistants also came along.
We then arrived in Bintan, and were greeted by an immigration official, who asked how many were in our party. We said "5" (as Jane was seperated from us), he said come with me, took our passports and brought us to the front of the line. Before we knew it, he had taken off with our passports and told us it would be S$20 for the visas (it is normally S$18). It all happened so fast. We watched him the entire time, and we ended up getting our visas and skipping the entire line. But while it was happening, we were kicking ourselves. We normally are more savvy that this, we didn't expect the immigration officer to "hustle us". But it all ended okay. And we ended up waiting anyways, as we had to wait for Jane.
We then took the bus to the hotel. It is a big complex, quite nice, and we were excited to go to the beach. So we all got changed and headed out. We decided not to put Martin in, at that point, as there was a bit of a breeze. Oliver played happily on the beach with his truck. Whenever I tried to convince him to come into the water he said "I'm busy working. I can't right now." So I left him alone. The water was nice and warm, not clear as The Bahamas, but seemed pretty churned up. There was some seaweed and rocks, but nothing too bad.
Then walking around on the beach, I noticed that my feet had some black stuff on them. And so did Oliver. It didn't easily wash off in the water, if you rubbed it, it left a greasy feeling in your hand, plus left your hand dirty. We started getting grossed out, so we headed back to the pools. Joe was taking to the towel guy and then all of a sudden, someone started spraying Oliver. With gasoline! It was to get off the TAR that was on us from the ocean. Apparently, with the North Wind Monsoon, it brings in TAR from the container ships. If we weren't grossed out before, we were then. We scrubbed, and then I ran inside to shower up. We were so happy we didn't take Martin in and that Oliver wasn't interested in the water. I at least didn't dunk my head in, but Joe, Sofya and Zach were full out swimming.
So after that experience (which will last a lifetime - give a hoot, don't pollute!) we went for dinner. Put the kids to bed, had Basil and Eva babysit and went down to the bar for a drink. Serge came in on the 8:00 ferry, so we met up with him then.
The next day, we did some more swimming (at the pool of course!) and went into "town" which really was just a little shopping centre that was built for the tourists. It was a pretty relaxing day. That night, we ate at the BBQ buffet and had some drinks and adult conversation after the kids were in bed. And Martin slept the entire night through! First time ever!!
Today, we took a walk around the grounds, and went and saw their "zoo". They have a huge snake (the biggest snake I've ever seen) and some small crocodiles and birds that the government seized from smugglers. Oliver and Joe did some more swimming and then after lunch we caught the ferry for home.
Oliver had excellent behaviour the entire trip. I don't even think he had one meltdown the entire time (or none that were memorable). He used the toilet pretty consistently the entire time, only using diapers occasionally, but would ask to use the toilet before he had to go (as opposed to telling afterwards). Martin, was his usual charming self.
Bintan felt like Cable Beach in The Bahamas, and if the water had been better, we'd go back, as it is so accessible from Singapore. But we don't consider that we have been to Indonesia, even though my passport might say so.
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