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!