New Tab for Music and Guitar

After some consideration, I have decided to create another blog, which is specially for sharing my love of music and my insane passion for guitars [and maybe other instruments in the future too!] Something like a new blog, on an old blog. Technically, it is a different blog, but I linked them together and made it look the same [as I lack ideas and I am STILL bad at HTML, CSS codes, XML and all these stuff. I will be moving some of the older music/guitar related posts there, as well as uploading my first guitar video and guitar tabs there. Please do check it out and continue to show your support and encouragement! Many thanks!

10 Stupid Things People do on Social Media

Originally posted on 10 Apr 2011, but worth a revisit because these people still exist. 
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I was trying to share this wonderful page on Yahoo News but seems like they have some broken or invalid linkage, so I thought I might as well just share it with you guys here on my blog too, together with some of my own comments in italics. For the actual article, kindly click here to be redirected. [This link works.] For some additional fun, it is also interesting to find those who did not enjoy the article and got sour. It is highly believed they are guilty of all 10 points. Try to spot that loser who really needs a life.

10 Stupid Things People do on Social Media

By Fazilah Abdul Gaffa for Yahoo! Singapore

1.People who think their every movement should be announced.
We know you're bored whilst sitting on the toilet. But maybe, instead of tweeting about your bowel movements today, as you always do, maybe you should read about what's happening in the world on Yahoo! News for a change. Likewise, we don't need to know how much milk your "hardworking breasts" lactated for your newborn. True story!

My comments: True Story indeed. I might know exactly who. I will write more about this girl at the bottom of this article.

2. People who change their relationship statuses every other week.
Make up your mind - are you single? Are you in a relationship? Is it complicated? It's not too hard

My comments: Just how would that reflect of someone? Whores? Desperate youths trying to get laid? Extremely immature.

3. People who are in a relationship with their BFF
You might think its so kawaii to be in a relationship with your girlfriend, because you are best friend forever- its NOT! Grow up.

My comments: My girlfriend has one such friend who tags to her like a lesbian. I'm neither jealous nor worried, just sharing how irritated my girlfriend is of her.

4. Setup Facebook accounts for your 2-year-old kid, or worse, your dog!
We'd like to see the day your dog gets trained to log on to his own Facebook account.

My comments: I have many friends who do that, I wouldn't but I think its still acceptable; But not for your pets. You may love them like family,  take photos of them and upload on her own page, just don't represent your pets. Instead, teach them to create their own account if you can.

5. Woe is me statuses.
You know those people - ‘my life sucks because my daddy doesn't want to get me a yacht for my birthday' or ‘this is the worse day of my life because my husband cancelled on dinner because he had to work to support my extravagant lifestyle.' Suck it up and stop.

My comments: I absolutely hate this too. Yeah, you have the right to lament in public but only in you are really in deep shit, not over every little minor issue. Girls, we already know you are some bloody spoilt brat looking only to marry money in future. Boys, we already know you are a softie. If you are not a true man, at least act like one. If you are one of those who always goes, FML, FMLTTM or FMLTTM X2, go screw yourself. ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐

6. Adding People You Don't Know
We're not sure what it is - to up your ‘friends' numbers or to seem like you're friends with the cool kids. When you add somebody, a pop up screen comes on telling you that you should "only send this request if you know him or her personally." How do people miss this disclaimer?

My comments: Some don't have a choice, but most others just want to look more popular, or seem cooler.

7. Write on a Facebook Wall instead of communicating privately
The driving force behind the success of Facebook is...vanity. People love the idea that others are watching what they're doing. But seriously! We don't need to know what names you call your boyfriend and what you're planning to do to him tonight.

My comments: Plain dumb. There is a PM option, doh!

8. Tagging drunken pictures of your friends
Yes, it's funny. But chances are, his boss and his mother are also on Facebook. You don't want to go out for a big one on a weeknight, have to call in sick for work the day after only to have your boss tell you that he's already seen photos of you sh*tfaced crawling in the gutter on Facebook. If you don't want that to happen to you, don't do it to your friends.

My comments: Inevitable sometimes, however, there are people who over-share and abuse the tagging feature. It may be disgusting how some people post and tag you in a photo where you look like crap, but just as long as they look pretty enough. Gotten worse in recent times, where self -centered girls will photoshop their own face to deceptive perfection while you still look like you just came from hell. Can't blame them though, not everyone is smart.

9. Children on Facebook
Facebook bans 20,000 kids from their site everyday, and we're glad this is done. Parents need to be more diligent with policing their children on social media, and they should be educated on social media etiquette in school. Sexual predators are nothing to joke about.

No comments

10. Animal Farms and Fish Tanks
I have a job, I don't want to feed virtual sheeps. You need to get off your computer and get a life.

My comments: It's just fun entertainment, as long as you don't get addicted and get all over-zealous spamming all your friends.

Continued from Point number 1:
I have my own true story too, but for all you know, the original author may be referring to the same person. She wrote on Twitter, something like she woke up & found out that her breasts produced so much milk that she wet her whole bed. Whilst some may find it kinky, others may find it inappropriate to post. You don't have to let everyone know how much milk you leaked ok? Raw and unrefined human breast milk kind of smells bad, and to think she wet her bed that much, she must have been waking up smelling like a pig, I mean sow.

I'm not sure about other countries, but amongst the younger generation of Singapore, it seems to have become common for them to all try all sorts of shameless ways to get attention and be popular. There's a saying "Don't wash your dirty linen in public", however, they can really do anything to get noticed, even if its a bad thing they are known for. Well, she got her fair share of attention, or rather the dumb bitch and her lactating tits. I can just tell you, if you follow her on twitter, she's always talking about how proud she is of her breasts.

She also recently made fun of small chested girls on twitter that they had to wear push up bras. Ironically, before she got pregnant, she was one of those girls who took photographs of themselves wearing tight bras or squeezing her arms together to push their boobs up and together, forcing an illusion of a deep cleavage. Once again to show off her current boob size, she posted that she found out that she had always been wearing bras 2-3 sizes smaller. She got really cocky and much more irritating after her pregnancy when her boobs grew significantly. I wonder if she knew her boobs would shrink back significantly too well after her some time. Good luck wearing tight push up bras again.

Depsite being so full of herself and her boobs, She seems to have problems with her husband anwyay, and I can exactly understand how her husband feels; this woman probably shared her boobs with everyone who has internet access.If I had to marry someone with feels no need for privacy for her own breasts, I’d rather marry a Playboy model; at least she’s hotter. Anyway, it was a shotgun marriage, I wouldn't be surprised of a divorce anytime soon.

Having said so much, she really doesn't have that much of big boobs as she proclaims. Trust me, I'm a boob-enthusiast too.

Birthday Trip 2011: Bintan [Day 2 & 3: Review]

Original post HERE: 
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Onwards to Day 2 of our Bintan Trip, where we had buffet style breakfast, take a stroll along the beautiful beach and every other little thing. The breakfast as mentioned, is served between 6am to 10:30am at Kopi-O, the resident lobby cafe.

aA photo of us to begin the day. Actually we woke up late and you notice that Roseate actually didn't have time to do her makeup too. Hehe. And our breakfast kind of become brunch.

Off to Kopi-O for our meals anyway. Traditionally, it always seems that when breakfast is included in the package, it's always buffet styled, which both of us love. There's always a variety of food to choose from and we could eat to our heart's content. In fact, we would literally fill our tummies up as much as we could to the verge of puking so we would feel sick of food for the rest of the day until it is really neecessary for our next meal. Talk about a hearty breakfast, Haha!

Pancakes with Maple syrup.

Fried Bee Hoon [rice vermicelli]  tastes, pretty decent but I would prefer what we easily find back in Singapore. The Potato wedges are crap, total waste of time and stomach space. It is difficult to imagine that anyone can screw up on potatoes. The sliced ham is pretty disappointing as it was dry and the texture was weird. In this plate, I enjoyed the cheese most. Well, it's just cheese, but I love cheese and it went well with some other stuff like toast.

Indonesian Style Nasi Lemak. Unlike SIngaporean style Nasi Lemak whereby the rice is cooked in coconut milk, this Nasi Lemak seems to get its flavor from grated coconut stir fried together with the rice. The texture is interesting as you can chew on the bits of coconut, however it is a little too dry. The Ayam Goreng or fried chicken, is a let down for me, as it tasted so normal and was fried for way too long till the meat is tough and difficult to chew on. The only thing I enjoyed was the sambal chilli, which is rich and flavorful, yet not unbearably spicy. It is however, hidden from the camera, behind the rice. In all, I would prefer having the famous Golden Shoe Nasi Lemak with the big juicy fried chicken drumstick.

The Western Platter. Beef sausages usually give me the idea that is is not as tender and tasty then chicken weiners. I was totally wrong. The Beef sausages were tender and lovely, so I helped myself. The chicken weiners on the other hand were tough to chew and tasted anything but chicken sausages. Weird chicken. The bcaon, is obviously not pork as Bintan is part of the Indonesian country, which serves Halal food. In other words, strictly no pork. The bacon is probably turkey bacon which is another disappointment, tough to chew, not crispy and so on. I know it is not easy to make the perfect bacon, but personally, I think bacon that is not pork is always next to crap. Next, the toast is pretty much just toast. I had it with butter and cheese and sausages. The scrambled eggs is another total epic fail. It is way overcooked, not soft nor fluffy, all stuck together in one big piece and it's severly watering up in the serving pan that it is actually swimming in its own excretions. It is cold and tasteless but I had to cram it down my throat as I didn't wish to waste any food. It is undisputely the worst food item in the whole Kopi-O.

This omelette on the other hand is probably the best thing served in the whole Kopi-O. Mainly because it is cooked by a chef right in front of your eyes upon your order. You can choose your fillings from diced tomatoes, onions, ham, mushrooms and grated cheese, or all of the above! I requested for cheese to be sprinkled on mine and also added a generous serving of ketchup to complete it. Trust me, if you eat there make sure you get more of this dish. On a strong contrast to the other food, It is served warm and it makes you feel really good when it slides down your throat.

Just when you though you are done, there's dessert, pastries and other sweet treats. We didn't have time to ge the other stuff and take pictures as it was already past 10:30am and we aren't supposed to "help ourselves" anymore.

Anyway for yor information, Kopi-O serves lunch and dinner as well, all as a buffet, Breakfast is S$24, Lunch is S$32 and dinner is $39, if I remember all of the prices correctly. Although the price is a little steep for food that is really mediorce, it is still cheaper and better then getting ripped of at the other restaurants and still be able to stuff your face till you barf it out.

Back to Main Lobby to chill out and rest our loaded stomach.

Back into our room. Roseate puts on her makeup and I'm just stuck on the bed watching TV and too lazy to move after the super filling brunch.

Then we walked around the check out anything interesting. This keychain craftsman shows off his dexterous work out of plain bamboo pieces.

The craftsman's display of art works. Some of them looks odd, but his skills are really good and he's only trying to eke a living. Defitnitely better than those guys at pasar malam's.

The Keychain craftsman uses a weird thick pen like tool to char the surface of the bamboo pieces to create images. If you ask me, it looks like a modified iron, stripped of its plate and chasis, only retaining the heating element and using other materials and rounds and rounds of masking tape to wrap around it as insulation. No, it is not a soldering iron or soldering pen, Look closely.

You may have the man custom make one for you at S$5. Of course, Roseate and I decided to get ourselves a little momento.

Flip them over and Ta da! Our names!

We got other little souvenirs too!

Cute little slipper...

We then went to the beach to have a walk since it was so near to our balcony. My camera doesn't have panoramic capabilities [or maybe i didn't know if it does] so I took several pictures as follows all from left angle slowly moving towards the right.

Although it doesn't really look bad, but trust me, it is actually very hot. The scorching sand underneath our feet would give you blisters so please do not be tempted to take off your footwear.

A pitch for Beach Volleyball!

Some little shelters if you find yourself burning to a crisp and sun loungers for those who want to get the super dark, brown bronzy look.

More Sun loungers for the tanners. On the rightmost is the deck of the beach bar, attached to the 3degrees Signature Restaruant. Although the beach doesn't face the east, it is no doubt a very lovely place to chill out when the sun sets and you can have a sip of champagne, savour a glass of  wine or "turbo" on some ice cold beer with your loved one. Remember to keep this on your itinerary.

The two of us at the beach!

As the clouds move over to block out intense sun rays and make it more bearable, the crowd comes in to play on the beach.

The beautiful sky and beach invites more crowd.

The direct view from the Beach Bar. Looks like they are starting a weekend party for the night.

As for the both of us, we are going back to our room for our special dinner.

Ok, I know my expression is a little dramatic, but the jar cap was really stuck big time. The contents were hot when I sealed the jar so when it cooled down, it locked the cap even harder. Eventually, I only managed to get it open by immersing the cap upside down in some boiling water.

Roseate missed my cooking very much, especially my pasta, so I made some pasta sauce from home and brought it over. Lucky that this jar and the bottle of red wine managed to pass through the customs. Anyway, the sauce is tomato based sauce mixed with white cream sauce, with minced beef and portobello mushrooms sautéed in garlic butter. Yum yum!

Next I emptied the sauce into a clean ziplock bag and immersed it into the wash basin flooded with hot water.

While the sauce is taking a hot water bath, I was getting pasta ready. Hereby, it is simply plain fettucine pasta pre-cooked, drained and stored in clear plastic wrap, into a food container.

Now, the bowls from last night's cup noodles comes in really useful here. Empty the pre-cooked pasta into the bowls and fill with hot water for a couple of minutes to rejuvenate the texture and softness of the pasta.

Lastly, drain the water from the pasta.

The pasta sauce should be ready by now, nice and warm. Simply pour the sauce in generously onto your pasta and enjoy! Bon Appetit! [I know it doesn't look good in the photo, but it is the taste that matters]

I nearly forgot to mention that you could call the room service for ice cubes. Very thankfully, this service is not chargeable! Wow! something that's finally free in this island. It comes looking like this.

Although it doesn't look like much, this thermal ice tumbler disguised as a wooden ware, can keep the ice for hours. We did request for another one near the end of the night when we ordered for supper and it actually kept one third of the ice overnight till the next morning!

After our dinner, we hung out by the balcony. Here's Roseate sipping on a glass of ice cold coke. Ahhhhh! Before we knew it, the sun has set and the sky is filled with darkenss. We simply snuggled up on the day-bed after that and watched movies on Roseate's netbook, while she sips on red wine and I settle for some beer.

Until it was getting late, and our 2nd day was coming to an end, Roseate got hungry again and convinced me to order via room service as most places out there has already closed. Please take note that the last order for room service is 11:30pm.

The food was delivered to us some 30 minutes later. Fortunately, the food is still nice and hot.

Roseate ordered Fish & Chips which came with a portion of coleslaw. The battered fish is not the usual tender, white fish that melts in your mouth but some kind of other fish with a firmer flesh that you can feel when you chew. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all. I don't know why, but as I savour the fish meat, it seems to speak to me that it is a Yellowtail. Strange.

Mine's a half spring chicken, served with chips and seasoned greens. As usual, the chicken here are always overcooked and dry. I spent a long time chewing on the breast meat as though I was chewing gum. Good thing is the food is still nice and warm, so I did fairly enjoy my heavy supper.

However, it is best to avoid room service if possible as these 2 courses costed S$45 or S$47, I can't recall exactly. I simply paid S$50 and told the staff to keep the change as his tips.

The second day of our trip hence comes to an end. We were thinking, the good times always passes so fast. Before I knew it, Roseate already fell asleep. The supper must have sedated her. Zzzz...

Good Morning!

Rise and shine. Oh dear, it's already the third day and we will be departing from this paradise shortly. No time to waste, we went for our buffet breakfast at Kopi-O again. Haha! Like the morning of the second day, the food are pretty much the same, with some slightly variance. But still all the same, we filled out tummies to the max without hesistation till we almost couldn't walk.

Back at the room after breakfast, we made some coffee, as usual, those that I brought from home. We slacked our time away, watching TV and packing our bags with a heavy heart.

Roseate, all dolled up!

Before checking out, we took a few more photos to commerate our birthday and our trip to his beautiful but expensive island. Haha!

We had to check out at 12 noon, however, our ferry timing is only like 3pm or something, so we hung around the main lobby and enjoyed the last views of this place.

That is Roseate's bag of course. Goodbye Bintan! We will surely be back again someday though!

Birthday Trip 2011: Bintan [Day 1: Review]

Original post HERE: 
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The long awaited time has come for me to post the photos of our Bintan trip, as well as a quick review. Feel free to trust my review as this is my first time to Bintan and what I write is purely a first impression. And most importantly, I'm not some popular blogger who was sponsored for the entire trip, lodging and food, have some special VIP treatment and would be naturally obliged to say the good things. I am just a nobody who payed for the entire trip myself.

For 3 days and 2 nights, we stayed at Bintan Lagoon Resort. We took a package from Five Star Tours that covered the 2 way ferry tickets, transit from the terminal to the resort and lodging, including daily buffet style breakfast. It cost us S$575 for 2 pax; quite reasonable I would say.

On board the ferry, following a mere 60 minute ride to the island of Bintan.

Here's me at the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in Full-Battle-Order. My harvesack weighs a freakin' 17.9kg, with about 70% of food and drink inside!

Taking a shot of the beautiful sky whilst almost reaching Bintan.

Alighting the ferry and greeted by a colorful sign.

Over here, be wary of pick-pockets and even corrupt officials. Some of the locals here are somewhat poor and may see tourists as potential targets to earn a quick buck and direct you to the counter where you pay for a visa. I have even heard stories of peddlers forcing you to buy a visa at $40, whether you require one or not. When you inspect your "merchandise", you will realize that it only costs $25. Obiviously the other $15 went into his own pocket. Maybe it doesn't happen anymore, but it is better to be safe. Moreover, if you are getting a package, the tour company will advise if a visa is needed or should be included in the package. If so, ignore everything and simply head to the counter to have your passport stamped. If you have a tour guide, follow your guide closely.

Upon entry to the arrival, we took a this photo but was warned by an official that photo taking in this hall wasn't allowed. Locals working here do not speak or understand English, so brush up on your Melayu or Indonesian. Thankfully, everything is still pretty straight-forward and signs are available in English. So open your eyes and read carefully.

After having our passports stamped and collecting our baggage, there are some friendly staff from the Bintan Lagoon Resort near the exit, holding signs and asking you about your destination. If it's correct, hop on the shuttle bus!

Caution: There are even friendlier taxi drivers waiting near the exit. Avoid them at all cost as I understand they charge S$20 or so for a simply 15 - 20 minute trip. Or maybe even more for further destinations.

Some random lush greenerey adorned alongside the road to Bintan Lagoon Resort.

A beautiful "lake"... puddle, pool... whatever...

One of Bintan's golf courses.

Just another golf course / beautiful sight.

Once we alighted the bus, we were greeted by a traditional Indonesian dancers along with a hotel staff offering a cool but very diluted drink. Iced lemon tea, if I'm not wrong. However, I would rather have water if I knew. Regrettably, both Roseate June and I were so excited, we forgot to take photos of the main lobby.

Instead, here's a photo of the main lobby I got from Bintan Lagoon Resort Website.

Important tip: Who wants a room with a lousy view, right? There are the West and East Wings, both with normal Deluxe Rooms and Deluxe Sea-Facing Rooms. It is important to request for a Deluxe Sea-facing room, at the East Wing. Sea-Facing costs slightly more but well worth it. There is no difference in costs chosing the East Wing, but it changes your experience totally, unless you like looking out the window or balcony and see dense jungles of trees, trees and more trees. If you are lucky, you might see the swimming pool. Remember: Deluxe Sea-facing room, East Wing.

Apart from the room allocation, I have also heard stories that quite a few people experienced the hotel staff charging an extra S$30 when you want to check in before the actual check in timing. They will explain that the rooms aren't ready yet and the S$30 charge will magically make the room ready. When I got there, it actually did happen to a bunch of PRC girls and they were obviously unhappy and begun complaining, arguing with the hotel staff in English worse than the Indonesian's spoke.

On the other hand, I managed to check in right away without any additional charges, in fact I even got my Sea-Facing East Wing Room. And oh boy, I tell you, the view is absolutely awesome!

Breath-taking view from the balcony, overlooking the horizons of the South China sea.

If you wish to try their massage but do not wish to exhaust your budget [as everything here is charged by Singapore dollars], you may consider this economic, al fresco version.

This is how close we are to the beach. What more can we ask for?

Slowly moving into the room, this is how the balcony looks like, complete with rattan chairs and table.

The view is spectacular, but we couldn't resist taking photos of ourselves.

Resort style King Sized Bed with a modern chic. It's a little crinkled as Roseate couldn't resist jumping onto it.

A traditional day-bed  just beside, great for cozying or slacking on. Once again, Roseate couldn't resist, leaving her mark behind. Seriously it is like king sized too, and quite comfy. I even feel asleep on it. However, I am curious if they could change the sheets for this. Imagine if there were love stains on it.... but I didn't care as it looked decently clean.

A 32" LCD television hangs before the bed with access to all Singaporean channels like channel 5, 8 and Channel U. They even have PayTV content like National Geographic, Dicovery Channel, ESPN, HBO and Star World. [I'll include a picture of the TV guide next.] I did some checking on the connectivity of the TV as well, even though I didn't bring any cables along. Just beneath the front panel, there are 3 hole RCA connectors [for the red white yellow cables], a 15 pin VGA port for connecting your PC or laptop as well as a 5 holes for YPbPr Component video inputs [those 3 blue, green, red cables, or 5 blue, green, red, white, yellow cables]. Only thing is, I couldn't confirm is there's a HDMI port or not.

On the table, there is a little panel that you can flip up to find a power terminal and a RJ-45 ethernet cable. For a moment I though that only wireless was chargeable, and cabled internet is free. I was wrong. Anyway, just to share the rates for WIFI access: S$8.50 for an hour or S$20 for a whole day. There's also an option for a full week of access for a price I can't remember, as I wouldn't bear to stay there for too long and exhaust my bank account.

Here's the TV guide as promised.

Forgot to bring your bulky adaptors for your chargers or electronics? Fret not, they have 2 [or more] convenient universal power terminals in the whole room! Now you can rest your mind and bring whatever weird-headed electronic gadgets along!

Along comes a mini bar area where they have an electric kettle, cups and glasses for your drinks. Caution: do not touch those chocolates and snacks in the basket! They are all ridiculously priced! I don't remember if the coffee,tea, sugar and creamer sachets are chargeable, I guess not, but I'll rather consume the good quality real coffee and creamer, raw sugar and TWG tea that I brought along myself. You may look at the price-board together in the basket to say ""WTF!?"

Of course the hotel didn't provide these, I brought them myself. The Garrett's Caramel Crisp and Cheesecorn is undisputedly, our favorite.

They also have a mini-bar fridge, just under the... well...mini-bar area. It is already pre-loaded with cans of Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Schweppes Soda Water and Tonic Water and beer. As usual, it also comes with a very exorbitant price tag. Leave them alone I'd say. As you can see. I cleared the fridge and put in MY stuff; 6 cans of Coke, 6-pack of beer for me and a bottle of Red Wine for dear Roseate. On yes, it's not Mee Pok, I made some pasta from home I brought it over too. =D

These ornate designs are actually the door handles of the wadrobe. Now let's have look inside.

I always liked bath robes, but its a pity they look kind of ugly and not very comfortable. I would prefer the light, cotton or slik ones, which are kinkier. Haha!

Inside, there are drawers, a mini safe and... to my surprise, an iron with ironing board too! IF you aren't the spoilt brat kind or find it ridiculous to pay the hotel to have someone press your clothes for you, you may do it yourself.

They provide laundry bags and even a small can of pesticide if you wish to hang out at the balcony but fear the onslaught of mosquitoes and other bugs. It is the type which supposedly smells nice and not the type that you think would kill you too. I mean it would still kill you of course, however, it seems less effective against the bugs. Alternatively, they also provide insect repellant which you can apply on your skin.

Movinf forward, now for the overview of the bathroom. Yes, that's me and my hairy legs standing in the bathtub cramping my way into the corner trying to get the widest angle for my shot... but failed.

Hey! There's even a cute chick in the bathroom!

Alright, enough of fiddling in the room. It's time to head outdoors!

Roseate at her best; Self-Shooting!

This how our rooms look like from outside.

Another spectacular view.

Gazing upon the South China sea from a higher level.

Not every single thing is a prety sight though. This boiler room in a corner was a killjoy that keep me going WTF everytime I passed by.

The drain that dispels the waste from the boiler room. Thankfully these unsightly objects can be eaily forgiven & forgotten for what I saw next...

Welcome to tropical paradise! The side swimming pool is beautifully laced with well maintained flora and fauna all around.

The main swimming pool comes with a poolside bar that you can order drinks and snacks to complete the luxury. However, don't expect beautiful and sexy bikini clad girls.

Taking a shot of a gleaming Roseate while riding the elevator up to the main lobby to check out the shops and figure out where to settle our dinner.

Right along the main lobby, there's this souvernir shop selling a variety of stuff ranging from T-shirts, and swimwear to... of course... souvenirs. There are also convenient stores selling snacks like chips, chocolate and ice cream. For the information of smokers, they also sell cigarettes which seems to be directly supplied from our DFS counter inside the Tanah Merah ferry terminal. It costs more here of course, like S$8 per pack. I would sugget simply buying from DFS after all at S$20 or 30 I can't remember exactly, for a carton of 10 packs. Share it amongst friends and consume what you can, and dispose the leftovers when going back to Singapore. It's still cheaper that way.

Yes, if you have noticed by now, the main currency in use here is Singapore dollars even though it is a part of Indonesia. Don't be surprised, things here are all pretty expensive. However, please take note that this only happens in the resort portion of Bintan. Bring along some Indonesian Rupiah if you intend to head outside of the resort. Anyway, there are also Polo boutiques here. Which really got me wondering if they are the authentic Polo Ralph Lauren. The prices are around the same range, however, they always seemed to be having some sale. Roseate's answer was that these are specially franchised, licensed by the label, but what they sell here are manufacturing defects, with all those inferior cutting and quality. Inevitably, I get the kind of feeling that these shops here are just tourist traps.

According to a brochure we picked up, there are like tonnes ofa activities and stuff you can do out here. However, we didn't seem to find that much really. In fact, the Sea Sports Center wasn't even open when we were there. Probably because it was a Thursday and there really isn't much of a crowd to be in operation for. The crowd came in only on Friday and really seemed much more lively when Saturday came, but still we don't see that much happening activities as it claims. I'm lazy to type everything, so I'm going to scan a copy of the page and upload just below here.

Notice the "Strees Basketball"? I know its a typo but I can't help to think it gets stressful shooting some hoops. [Click image to enlarge]

It seems there's something to do for everyone isn't it? True enough [if you can find them], but the catch is, everything comes with a price. And dealing with Singapore dollars, everything is expensive. Do remind yourself not to always be a sucker and fall into these tourist traps. Not convinced? I understand that you can rent a golf buggy as a form of transportation around the resort if you'd like. It's charged at S$20 by the hour.

If you are looking for a place to fill your tummies, there are actually quite a few places to eat too. However, Roseate and I found it mad to dine on restaurant food for every meal and burn our cash. I hate to say this again, but food here is really expensive. Fortunately, we have done our little research and make some preparations coming here. Hey don't call me a cheapskate; first I ain't mad, second, I don't have rich parents or come from a rich family, lastly and once again, I'm not sponsored for the trip.

If you must know where or what to eat, I got lazy again. Here's another scan of the brochure. [Click image to enlarge]

Personally, I only tried the food at Kopi-O, which is for breakfast. I'll cover that on Day 2. As for the other restaurants or cafe listed here, I only did a quick recon of the menu and prices or did more research online. Most of them are simply overkill. S$6-8 for a cold or hot drink, S$15 for a few wings or S$180 for a 5-set Japanese course. Moreover, some reviews I read, says the food is just very normal and is no way justifiable to pay the kind of price. In my opinion, there are a lot of really good food in Singapore for the price you are going to pay here.

By the way, the time over here is GMT+7, meaning it is slower than Singapore time by an hour. However, the sun sets at the same time in Singapore. Meaning, the 6pm sky here is already dark like 7pm in Singapore. Roseate and I went back to our "bunk" and we fed ourselves with the "rations" we brought along. After that, we decided to find a nice bar to hang around. Initially we wanted to head to the new beautiful Beach Bar at the 3Degress Signature Restaurant but it was so quiet there it looked like it was closed. It was a Thursday night after all. Instead, we headed to The Terrace, a bar situated at the main lobby with a beautiful and relaxing porch that overlooks the main swimming from above.

This is how the Terrace Porch looks like in daytime.

And this is how it looks like at night. Really not a bad place to hang and chill out at night, if not for the heat which still lingers after the sun has set. However, you may sit indoors where its air-conditioned, just beyond that glass door you see beyond.

A well deserved Ice cold beer to douse the heat. At only S$30 a jug, this is one of the only things I consider cheap around this resort.

Did I mention they actually have have Shisha at the Terrace bar? This double apple half syrup half tobacco water filtered smoke is S$12-15. Pretty reasonable price, until they run out of charcoal.

After a few drinks, some healthier-choice smoke and senseless chatter, we called it a night. Excited about the buffet breakfast at Kopi-O the next morning, we went back to the hotel room to freshen up and catch some sleep.

See you guys again for Day 2 of our trip to Bintan Lagonn Resort!