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Been there 3 times so far. 1st time in 2000, 2nd and 3rd time in 2008 and 2009. 2008 was definitely special. My first birthday celebration out of Singapore..though not in any spectacular location, it was truly memorable as it marked the start of our relationship! Weee... ;)
Ok, the purpose of this entry is not to make all of you sick with my lovestory. So how was Bintan..after 10 years? Not much different except for Mana - Mana Resort which has now turned into a super-cheap ghost-town! I remembered staying there on my first trip to Bintan with my cousins and aunt. It set us back by S$200 per person for 3D2N in 1998..now, it only cost like S$30 - 50 per night! Gone were the days of tanned Bintan Beach Boys (who knows they even exist!) who stopped by to say sweet things while you have your lunch! Puuiikk!
For both my comeback trips to Bintan, we stayed at our favourite hotel, Mayang Sari Beach Resort. For hotel alone, we paid around $220 per pax for 3D2N. The hotel is a great getaway from all the high-rise modern city hotels. Nice rustic feeling, great for getting away from the maddening citylife back in Singapore. A plus of this hotel is that the room is super-spacious! A gi-normous comfy, bouncy bed, nice seaview right infront of our doorstep and a veranda to chill out while reading magazines or having a cuppa of coffee, definitely makes an ideal stay at the resort!
Love the bed!
Veranda - perfect zone to laze!
No hotel is so perfect of course..so the downside of this hotel is..this eerie corner of the room - where the wardrobe and the washroom is. I can't explain but it just gave you the creeps..for both times I was there, it definitely spooked me just by looking at it! Maybe you decide..
Bath tub, hot shower, toiletries, towel, TV, room service, hair dryer..all is in place. They also provide fragrance joss sticks, though I find it a little scary with all these joss sticks around. One big major complaint? Their minimart! A packet of crackers cost you about $5! Wah! The only thing that was cheap from the minimart? The cigarettes! Half the price of Singapore. But five times more compared to buying them from village shops outside the hotel!
Now let's move on to their food! Nothing special, really. I had some lemak chicken gravy, along with marinated fish fillets. Nothing fanciful about it. They have a beach bar, but it's "dead". We realised we were the only guests that actually went there for a drink throughout our stay. Ahakz! Being plain lazy, we had most of our meals there except for our grandest seafood dinner at a kelong restaurant (affliated to Nirwana Gardens), can't remember the exact name! Well, we burst our budget for this, almost $200 for 2 pax? Wow! There wasn't even any lobster or crab! Just tiger prawns, fish (pretty huge, i must say!), my favourite kangkong and tom yam. Food is yummy, just way too pricey! Some locals actually recommended us to go to their local kelongs..well, werent sure abt it at first but after footing the bill, think we should have heed their advice instead!
Now let's move on to their food! Nothing special, really. I had some lemak chicken gravy, along with marinated fish fillets. Nothing fanciful about it. They have a beach bar, but it's "dead". We realised we were the only guests that actually went there for a drink throughout our stay. Ahakz! Being plain lazy, we had most of our meals there except for our grandest seafood dinner at a kelong restaurant (affliated to Nirwana Gardens), can't remember the exact name! Well, we burst our budget for this, almost $200 for 2 pax? Wow! There wasn't even any lobster or crab! Just tiger prawns, fish (pretty huge, i must say!), my favourite kangkong and tom yam. Food is yummy, just way too pricey! Some locals actually recommended us to go to their local kelongs..well, werent sure abt it at first but after footing the bill, think we should have heed their advice instead!
Next question, what can you do at Bintan? Bintan is a small village, only a fraction of it is being commercialised for tourism. Which also means there is not that many space for recreation or leisure activities. Most activities are confined to the beach or the hotel. For example, Nirwana Gardens Hotel has most of their activities contained within their vicinity like a retarded shooting game (no one manned the area), temporary tattoo(i got a picture of a geisha, it looked damn awful!), seasports (really pathetic, no thrills at all..but we tried kayak nonetheless). And yup, seems like Nirwana Gardens control most of the tourism market in Bintan. The hotel we are staying in, and the Water Sports Centre which we went to, belong to them.
My life worth that much only? Siao!
We also went to the infamous tourist trap, Pasar Oleh Oleh. Everything that you need is there, touristy souvenirs, beach dresses, snacks, handicrafts, handmade jewelleries, massage and beauty parlours..but not much of a choice because again the people of Bintan love 'packing" everything together within one place. Oh you need to pay for the entrance fee too, if I am not mistaken, it cost about $3? Or was it $6? Sadly, it's not even worth the entrance fee. Won't even bother to drop by the next time. Heh...
While he was doing his ear-candling, guess what i saw in the room? A big fat RAT! I literally jumped!
How many of us have actually seen fireflies? Real one? Well, we did! Yay! We signed up for this Night Firefly Mangrove Tour, cost only about $15 per pax. Our guide is a very young guy, thought he was inexperienced but you won't be disappointed! He can speak so many languages, I am so amazed! He just picked up the language from the tourists, no proper lessons or whatever! :) Throughout the tour, we were brought to several mangrove areas where fireflies like to gather, we not only see them but we get to catch them too! But of course, you can't bring it back. Be nice to mother nature, and release them soonafter. :)
On the boat that brought us to see the fireflies!
So that sums up our holiday trips to Bintan. Great place for short getaway, just one to laze around and go brainless for 3 days! Not sure if we are going back to Mayang Sari Resort since we've been there twice.. Thought of exploring other hotel..but guess I'll have to wait..till they have one more rustic kampong-feel resort on the island!
