 Since Indonesia is just a ferry away and we wanted to obtain an Indonesian stamp, we included it in our itinerary. I've been to Indonesia 2 years ago with my family and Kuya Abe. We went to Batam, Indonesia and there's nothing to see there. So we opted to go to Bintan, which is famous for its beaches. It is a getaway for most of the Singaporeans because of its proximity and the beaches are nice, compared to Sentosa.
A few days before our trip there, we made an attempt to do an advance booking online for a day trip package at the Mana Mana Beach Club for 98 SGD each person. But the agent said that it was alrady full due to the holiday season. Anyway, we still persevered and decided to go for it anyway, hoping that we can still get a good deal when we get there.
Anyway, Mars, Rey, Rye and I agreed to meet at the Harborfront Center on April 30 at 9 AM. As usual, I was late for 30 minutes but Mars was worst because she arrived at 10 AM. Of course, Rey and Rye got annoyed with us being late hehehe. When we went to the Cruise Center in Harborfront Center, we found out that the ferries departing in that area goes to Batam only. All ferries bound for Bintan are found in Tanah Merah station, which is found on the other side of Singapore. So we all hurried up in order for us to catch the next train not to waste our time. (This was an opportunity for us to walk as fast as the Singaporeans do).
We arrived at the Tanah Merah station at 11:10 AM. The next trip available is a 2 PM so we had to wait for more than 2 hours before we board the ferry. The ferry round trip ticket costs around SGD 54.20. As usual, we entertained ourselves by taking lots of pictures and eating at the Kopitiam in the ferry, bwahahahaha! ;)
We boarded the ferry at 1:40 PM. The ferry ride took us almost an hour to get there. Bintan (Indonesian) time was an hour delayed compared to Singapore, so we arrived at around 2 PM there. Once we arrived, we booked our return trips on that same day (we took the last trip which leaves at 8:15 PM). At the Bintan ferry terminal, we looked for a good deal and found a taxi that would take us to Mana mana resort. The round trip cab service for the 4 of us costs 26 SGD.
We arrived at the Mana Mana beach club at around 3 PM. We paid 10 SGD so that we can use their facilities - shower room, changing rooms and use of towels. It was a fun-filled 4 hours as we spent it just laughing, picture taking, swimming and playing games (Rye, sana hindi sumakit ang likod mo nang dahil sa akin). We were the only ones who were noisy and I think the other tourists who were staying there found us to be amusing (what can we do? Filipinos loves to have fun right? So we're loud) doing all those jump shots. Just look at the pictures posted and you'll see what I mean ;-) The sand is not a white sand but it is very fine. The beach is not crowded and is very tranquil (we're the only noisy people there). But it's not as tranquil compared to Langkawi where there are only 2-3 people swimming in the beach.
 We found the food to be very expensive in the resort. Imagine, a 500 ml bottle of mineral water costs 3 SGD (almost 100 pesos!). Since we're all in a thrifty mode, we didn't eat there and decided to eat in Singapore instead. We just ate what we got - choco chips, chocolates, choco mallows and some nuts.We left Bintan at around 8:15 PM. All of us were tired from our misadventures. Unfortunately, Mars left her sandals in the ferry. By the way, notice that she wore a dress on her way back because she had a date (yihee!). We arrived in Singapore at around 11 PM. Mars went ahead with her date (*wink wink) while the rest of us ate dinner at McDonalds in Bedok station.It was already late when I got home so I took a cab. When I arrived at Marine Parade where Kuya Abe lives, Issa (my youngest niece) was still in a playful mode. I was very tired that night so I was able to fall asleep even though Issa was jumping and playing on the bed where I'm lying. Very exhausting but I had so much fun! =) |
