So 2 weeks ago, a bunch of us head over to Bintan Island in Indonesia. The gang included: Bernice, Phil, Steve, Akhil, Andrew and myself :). We take the MRT down, and then a bus to get to the ferry terminal, and then a ferry to Bintan. The ferry ride was nauseating, but I managed to fall asleep, or else things could have gotten unpleasant. :P
Akhil and Andrew had already arrived the night before and had sent us a taxi to take us to our "resort" on the beach. There were so many taxi's haggling us to go with them. I believe they also charge a very high rate. It was quite a long drive, and at times dangerous, but perhaps that's how they drive in Indonesia.
I was scared when our driver tried to pass the truck in front of us, by going in to the oncoming traffic lane, and a big truck was heading straight towards us!
Upon arriving at the beach, we split up into 2 rooms, a 2 bedroom room by the water, and a 4 bed room by the shore. I wouldnt feel safe if it were just bernice and I in a room, it definitely felt a lot safer with the guys.
The beach was nice, but there wasn't too much to do, so it was relaxing just spending time lying on the hammock and chilling. Played a bit of volleyball, and I haven't done that in a while! We also met a bunch other NUS exchange students who happened to be staying at the same place.
Dinner was really great, we had chicken curry. It was interesting, we have to order our food about an hour or so before, that way they can go to the market and buy the ingredients and cook it. talk about service! :) not to mention it was delicious! super yummie.
The next day, we hired a driver and car (it is difficult to get around without a car, the area is very rural) and take a little tour of some of the touristy parts of the island. We went to the fishing marketplace, which was mostly on posts elevated about muddy areas.
Some homes just sold foods, and some trinkets at their front doors. Although the houses were very simply built, when I looked in the front doors, they all seemed to be very neat and tidy.
We went to visit a temple, and a small waterfall. The waterfall was very small, but nice, I didn't think it was anything too special. When we got to the entrance way, there was a table there, and this lady just went to sit at the table and collected money for us going into to look at the waterfall. I am not even sure if they owned the place, but they just collected money from it.
It was a 2km hike to the top of the waterfall, but we couldn't make it in our flip flops. Some of my friends went the following weekend, and they went to the top, but they said there was nothing to see at the top. all they got from the 2 hr hike was a bunch of mosquitoes bites!
They said they thought there would be a big waterfall at the top, but there was nothing really to see. the waterfall view was better at the bottom.
I must say that the food in Indonesia was not as good as what we had in Malaysia, and definitely not as safe. There were only
hawker stands where we were, and the food had really been sitting out all day at the warm temperature, so I don't think its very safe to eat.
We didn't really have a choice -- besides starving. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or really sick...
Indonesia was definitely an experience. i'll always remember the houses there, all built on posts in the muddy lands, even though the outside is simple and poor, the inside of the houses (the front doors were open) were always clean and tidy. the people seemed to be happy doing what they were doing, and relaxed. the owner of our resort, used a type writer and a coloured peice of paper to make a business card for us. its hard to imagine that just an hour and a half ferry ride away, is Singapore. Indonesia seems to be a completely different world.
O yea... this part was disturbing! Andrew told me that when he informed our guide that he had more friends coming, the guide asked if there were any women coming, because he said that had a place that they might be interested in going.
See, I thought that he meant, if women were coming they wouldn't go since it might be too tiring or dangerous. However, what he meant was that he was going to take them to prostitutes! I was quite shocked when I found that out.
On our way back to catch the ferry to take us back to Singapore, we passed by what was downtown of the little island. I wasn't sure what to say, when one of the locals trying to get money from us, told us that a certain street was like their equivalent of
Orchard Rd.
Orchard rd is this fancy shopping street in Singapore, and its very clean and fancy, like much of Singapore, so it was quite a shock when this person compared this old, run down street to Orchard.
Indonesia was a good experience, and I am glad i went. I am sure the mosquitoes really liked us as well, since we were bitten alive during our sleep. I will always remember its spicy food. I was so glad to not eat curry when we came back! :) I still like curry, but the same tasting curry for an entire weekend, as very high spice levels, is a bit too much for me!
