Pulau Bintan Favorites

Favorite thing: The Indonesian national flag is called "Sang Saka Merah Putih. "Merah Putih" simply means Red-White. The official name however is Sang Saka, that is "Lofty Bicolor". Red represents the human blood, standing for the corporeal or concrete, white represents the spiritual. Together they are a pair, like the life on earth: day and night; man and wife; creation and individual.

Favorite thing: All resorts belonging to the Bintan Resorts Group accept Singapore Dollars, so there is no need for you to exchange for Indonesian Rupiahs...unless you intend to exit the resort grounds and enter Indonesia proper.

Favorite thing: Save your $$$ for Phuket or Bali when it comes to eating out. Bintan's restaurants are too costly in all the resorts for what its worth. If you can form up to 8 members, find a Singaporean guy whose a Safra member to help book a villa for you. Problem is he may need to check in for you first. But if the villa costs just S$85/day it works out to just S$10 per person and that's dirt cheap.

Be prepared to lug along an icebox over the sea if you wish to cook decent meals. It's a lot cheaper to stock up first than to buy from the hotel later.

Fondest memory: If you are lucky as I was during my stay at the Banyan Biru villa at another nearby resort called Nirwana Garden, you could witness rows of crabs crawling into the sea as I did when I was having my early morning walk along the beach. Fascinating sight.

In another occasion at the said resort I saw a 2 m long monitor lizard lazily swimming across the lake right outside my window.

Favorite thing: Rest and relax at the resort - at the beach or in a Spa or a massage on the pavillion by the beach. There are also services for Aromatherapy or massage in the hotel. Spa service in your room is possible too if there's a "basin" for spa in your room or villa.

There are many hammocks within Nirwana Gardens near the beach free for you to relax on or have a swing. I did not find hammocks by the beach at Bintan Lagoon though.

Fondest memory: There are many hotels and resorts for you to choose from. This picture is taken from within Nirwana Gardens. Within the Nirwana Resort, there are 4 types of individual hotels for you to choose from - Rooms and suites at Nirwana Resort hotel, one bedroom chalet at Mayang Sari, two or three bedrooms villa at Banyu Biru, or the two or three bedrooms villa at Indra Maya with a private pool. No matter where you stay, you will certainly be able to enjoy the warm and unique Indonesian's hospitality.

The villas in Indra Maya comes with a 4 or 6 seater buggy, depending on the size of the villa. The 2 bedroom villa and suites will have a 4 seater buggy, and a 3 bedroom villa will have a 6 seater buggy. The Indra Maya villas, and the suites are very exclusive as guests staying at other hotels within Nirwana Gardens will not be allowed into the Indra Maya compound.

Favorite thing: Bintan Resorts is just 45 minutes by ferry from Singapore Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.

It cost me SGD36.20 for the return trip (weekday / off-peak). It would cost SGD45 for travels on weekends.

For more information about Bintan Resorts, visit http://www.bintan-resorts.com/

For information about the ferry, visit http://www.brf.com.sg/. You can also make booking online for the ferry! I was impressed. Simple to use. I love bookings online... very convenient.

Fondest memory: A place for relaxation and get away from the bustling, fast paced city life of Singapore. I found this secluded beach in front of the villa I stayed in at Indra Maya. The view of sunset is superb here...

Favorite thing: After dinner, we went straight back to our resort. The reason is that those restuarants charge too expensive for the wine and also their dessert suck.

Therefore we brought our own wine and dessert. After dinner, we sit at our verandah enjoying our wine and also eating our chocolate is another bliss thing to do. We got our wine in the DFS shop when departure from Sin, the wine is much cheaper and also you can choose your fav label.

Favorite thing: I brought along some cookies and tea to Bintan as i think they come in useful. We have a wonderful time sitting at the verandah slipping Earl Grey and eating cookies in the afternoon. Enjoying the sea view and breeze and is economical too.

One thing regarding Bintan Resort is that they dont have a mini mart or 7-11 that you can buy snacks at. So bring some wil be helpful especially when they charge everything in such a rediculous price.

Favorite thing: Bring your own drinkable water, as the resort selling the water at a very expensive price. A small 50ml of evian water cost S$3 !!!!

Therefore try to buy water from Singapore, if you come from Changi Airport, bring those bottled water from the supermart in the airport. And also Coke and beer. Stock them up too as they will be triple the price in Bintan.

I brought 4 bottles of 2litres of water, 1 bottle of 2 litres of coke. And i am grateful that i did, thanks to Natalia from VT who has advised me.