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It's a really nice morning and I'm almost about to set off for school for another day of intensive studying lest my CTs crash and burn! Well on friday I left for Bintan (again, yes again) on a nice short holiday and I saw things really differently from how I saw them when I was there for the CCAL camp!
It was another one of my mom's random ideas not only to go to Bintan for a holiday, but go to Nirwana Resorts as well, which does happen to be next to Camp Able where all the CCALs camped out in, and so for a while there I didn't get the feeling that it was much of a holiday when I was walking around watching the same python, crocodile, parrots, eagles, in the mini-zoo. But well the resort itself was new, since we weren't allowed into it :D And since I couldn't get a chance to get near the resort during the camp, it was time to explore new ground!
So this is how the resort lobby looks like! Oh pleaseee I guess the teachers really had a good time staying over in the resort instead of in the campsite.
View of the garden which slowly extends out to the beach which we all walked along during the camp, many many times!
This was the swimming pool whom I thought looked very interesting when I looked at it from the beach. Turns out it's pretty cool. There's a pool bar in the middle of the swimming pool and people can just swim up and have a drink!
These two monkeys never stop jiggling and running around!
One of the many delightful breakfasts among the three days I was there. I feel like a complete blob of oil now because I have been feasting for three days straight with buffets and huge meals and whatnot, and sleeping more than ten hours per night, and having not gone to run for the past month. So therefore I WILL RUN TODAY!
This shot was taken in Tanjung Pinang, a little town about an hour's drive away from the resort, and it was quite cool - apparently it's like Singapore in the sixties! And everything there is sooo crazily cheap haha. Except for some shops though - this place has become accustomed to having Singaporeans around so they have tuned their prices to level that of Singapore's.
And I finally realized the myth that a million rupiahs is actually Singapore's few cents. It's no joke. One singapore dollar is equal to about 6000 rupiahs. 250,000 rupiahs is about singapore's $40. And yes, a million rupiahs isn't a few Singaporean cents, glad I finally knew that!
One of the many dingy and old shophouses along the streets of tanjung pinang - you don't really see this side of bintan if you've just been going around the hotels and resorts. Actually I don't really like bintan for the fact that they converted this area of Indonesia into a resort and hotel area for tourists, at the expense of local villagers here. They were driven away and only compensated with a measly sum of money. In exchange for that small sum of money, they lost their main source of income (usually fishing, for they were next to the sea) and they lost their homes, their environment, and had to start from scratch again. I feel bad going there with that thought!
HAHA BUGGY RIDES! Finally I get to sit in one after watching countless buggies drive past me during the CCAL camp. And it's really fun; we spent an hour driving around the resort area exploring all the familiar parts of the resort which I have come across at some point during the camp, especially those which I have covered during the nightwalk and totally didn't realize that it was those exact places. The dark does wonders to your perception of your environment.
CAMP ABLEEE. Oh man I miss this place.
A shot of the very familiar path, with a bit of the mini-zoo!
The sea sports centre! Where we rafted and rafted :D
The kelong restaurant to which we dragonboated but had to stand outside and eat rice packets instead of enjoying the food inside haha!
Plus the very first place we went to after we set foot in Bintan - the holding area. Apparently it's going to be converted into an entertainment centre with bowling, arcades and the usual stuff so well hmm I wonder where our holding area will be next, next year.
But well unfortunately mom found it too boring so we decided to return home prematurely. I spent the rest of my sunday at downtown east catching Kungfu Panda (which is a really awesomely hilarious movie and everyone should catch it to take a break from studying) and feasting away on food again.
Check out the carbonara - or rather, the really wonderful bowl holding it! At Teasire cafe in the new Ehub at downtown east. Plus the flowery lights hanging low from the ceiling.
Well things are getting into momentum and I hope I just make it in time for the exams and everything. Back to work after these few days of rest! :D
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