The Bintan Weekend

Friday morning. 7am. We were supposed to leave the house to pick my sister and Ki up. (Ok, I'm going to refer my elder sister as Ki's mama in this post.) My younger sister (which I'll refer to as my sister) was still not ready. As usual.

So my dad got impatient, started banging stuff around. He's super obsessed with keeping to the schedule. And by that I mean being ready 5 min before whatever time was stated. No, he's not a military guy.

My mum's blood pressure shot up high and it made her kind of unwell. Me? I was just sick of it happening. Again. Every single damn trip.

But Ki got onto the car at Bukit Batok. And everything was ok for me again. He was still a little sleepy, but excited. This was the first trip in yearssssssssss that our family has taken together. now, with a little addition of Kiki.

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At the ferry terminal

We all had breakfast at the nicely-done-up-till-it-looks-like-new terminal.

We didn't have to wait long before the gates were open and we could go in.

Oh, on the way to the ferry we even caught sight of a really long fish! Sorry, missed the photo opportunity.

This is Ki's first overseas trip. He couldn't fully grasp the idea of a holiday so we had to explain it to him.

Doesn't he look so adorable with that red backpack?!
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Arrival in Bintan

Well, he survived the ferry trip really well. I didn't. I'm amazed I didn't throw up despite feeling so incredibly sick of the rocking boat.

Ki was quite restless and since the sun was shining so brightly, photo taking wasn't what he wanted. He was tired already.

It didn't help that we were waiting for my sister since she was taking her own sweet time at customs.
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The Resort Hotel
But hey, everything turned out fine when we got to the hotel. Of course Ki was oblivious to any cold fights going on and he effortlessly, unknowingly, glued us together like a family should be. Everyone just gave in to the cuteness of Ki.

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Pool time

We were early so we had to wait quite a while before we could get our rooms. So, we headed for the pool!

Nirwana Gardens has such a beautiful pool. Needless to say, since the whole trip was for Ki, our job was to make sure we took care of him. That meant staying with him in the baby pool for as long as he wanted. And pretty much wherever he wanted to go.

This shot was of him at the adult pool's jacuzzi area. Very comfy for adults. It was a little odd for him but Ki preferred it in the baby pool, so it wasn't long before he ran along back.

I spent a lot of time with him in the pool. It was exhausting.... but rewardingly fun!

A lot more photos lah, but don't need to put up all right? hahaha! Maybe if got requests then I will.... hahahaha! I'm gonna try my best to post whatever I can without my family members 'cos this is MY blog, and I shouldn't infringe on their personal space by posting THEM up. So, it's just ME ME ME!

After the swim, we had lunch. I wasn't very hungry but what the hey, just eat lah. haha! My sisters and me in the centre.... heehee! Ki and my parents on the table beside where this photo was shot. Not enough space lah.

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Room & Beach

We managed to check into our rooms after this meal (which was still before the "allowed" time). Not wanting to waste the day, we went out shortly after to the beach just downstairs. My dad took a nap at the room first so it's 3 sisters and a baby.

Ki's mama has got more pretty photos but maybe if she sends them over, then I'll post up. Else, make do with my lousy photo-taking lah.

We don't know where he learnt it from but at one point when we tried to snap a picture, he did the "v" sign and said "cheeeeese". This one was forcefully done. Heehee! Made him pose for me unwillingly. I was taking care of him alone at the beach 'cos both my sisters slept on the beach chairs. Blech.
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Back to the water

I fared better with him at the water. He liked the pool better anyway, so when my parents came down to join us, my mum and I brought him to the baby pool again.

You know how you get hungry after a swim? Yeah.... it happens to Ki too..


He ate one after another.... and another....

... before we finally distracted him by making him go to the playground behind.

The Playground

See how much fun he's having?

He liked this tunnel a lot.
And this is him trying to ask me to join him on the other end, telling me not to be scared and just cross over. The gaps were kinda wide. Definitely not the kind of thing that Singapore playgrounds will ever have. Poor new-generation kiddies.

There're also very few swings left in Singapore I think. I wonder which moron said it was dangerous. All things at the playground are dangerous. But if they're too dangerous for the kid, he/she would have been supervised by the parent. But nooooo. Overprotective parents, or should I say the ones who don't watch over them, would support the move for removal of all swings. Luckily, there was one that Ki could enjoy.

I love swings. So I just had to get a go at it too.

Told ya he loved the tunnel.


Rest and food
We went back to the room to rest and bathe. How refreshing! Ki was obviously very very very tired. He was still getting used to the fact that we'd be sleeping in the hotel room. He didn't understand why he didn't need to go back home - not that he minded at all.

Somehow, all our meals were taken at the main restaurant. It seemed like the only one we liked. Anyway, right outside they actually had an area of lizards. I don't understand it but hey, I wasn't complaining. I love looking at animals.

Before we started eating, Ki was fidgeting tooooo much. My mum brought him back to the room and as my mum told us later, he fell asleep almost instantly.

So we managed to eat in peace.

See the empty half? Those were filled with scallop - still stuck to their shell hor. All finish liao. I don't like shelled stuff so my sisters ate a whole load of mussels and scallop. I munched down on smoked salmon, and a lot of dessert. Too bad lah, didn't snap all the food. Else will make people hungry liao.

Saturday
For some strange reason, we all woke up awfully early. That included Ki.

While Ki was busy in the water, we 3 sisters had a cam-whore session. Something we hadn't done in a while.

Like I said, my blog, my photos.
My sister likes to play around with the modes of the camera - unlike boring ol' me.


New MSN photos, we told ourselves. Heehee!

Before heading back, we had a nice good lunch first. Ki was more interested in fooling around as usual.

Ki's mama suggested grabbing some of the bread from the lunch table and feeding them to the Joi at the lobby. Ki was thrilled.

Look at the scary Koi. They reminded me more of piranhas that hadn't eaten in days. They were jumping on top of each other for some meagre crumbs ok? In fact, all you had to do was hold your hand out and they'd start crowding.

Right after that, we all did some waiting (and napping) at the lobby. It wasn't long before the bus came and it was time to head back.


Back at the Ferry Terminal
My sister wanted ice-cream. Fine. I wanted it too. The only thing available was Haagen Daaz. Expensive stuff. But for Ki, my mum took out the money, and we got a cup for $5.20. A tiny cup ok?

See how messily he gobbled it down? Heehee! What's missing is how we all gobbled a bit of the small cup. It was gooooooood.

Here's a comparison of Ki and mama. Photostat out one.

And here's a final shot of Ki before we crammed onto the ferry back home.

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Back in Singapore

No more photos. The ferry stopped a little too long before letting us down, so I felt sick again. The winds were extremely strong. I wonder why Ki didn't feel sick, but it was a good thing. Rather the adults feel sick than the kid.

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It was a really wonderful trip. I enjoyed myself so much! Ah....

After we got home, surprisingly, both me and my sister found the energy to go out. We went out separately though. She landed up at Velvet Dragon, while I had a sushi buffet at Marina Square plus a techno/canto-pop clubbing night after. It was ... interesting. Wahahaha! Maybe didn't drink enough alcohol. Or I was recovering from the boat-lag. I'm still more the KTV kinda girl. Doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy myself still. Nice bunch of people. Really nice. :O)

The most amazing part is having some more energy on Sunday to go kayaking with the same bunch. My gosh. Ok lah, Dearie did most of the paddling, but I told him that I would make the effort to get a single kayak for myself next time - if got next time lah. Heehee!

Had a pretty good dinner at East Coast Park hawker before going back for MotoGP. Oh, and whoever said "V for Vendetta" wasn't a good movie? It's good lor. Luckily got Star Movies. Or was it HBO? Hmm.. Anyway, we enjoyed it.

Another fantastic weekend gone by. Is my life full again or what?! Hahahaha!