Expat Escapades



Passing ships on the ferry

 I'm still coming to grips with the fact that it is already the 6th of December! It's been a month since we arrived in Singapore and I am astounded at how 'at home' we are feeling and how 'normal' life feels here. This is a good thing of course, especially considering the various "wobbles" experienced in the first week....I'm proud to say that the Grootes' are owning this 'S-E-A' experience and enjoying every moment!

Deck hand on the ferry

As I mentioned, we managed to book a night away this past weekend at a beach resort on Bintan Island which is technically Indonesia. What a treat! It is close enough that you don't have to fly and can travel by ferry which in itself was a novelty and much welcome change to the chaos experienced between OR Tambo and King Shaka for a weekend get away....

HUGE statue outside the fery terminal

Infinity pool at Nirwana

As luck would have it, we only got to bed on Friday night after 2am post dinner and a meander in and around the Arab Quarter with some of Nick's colleagues. Dinner for 5 cost us $27!! Unbelievable! And it was delicious and more food than we could eat. Thankfully I had pre-booked a taxi for a 7.30am pickup on Saturday morning otherwise I don't think we would have made it...I'm NOT a morning person. We boarded the ferry at about 8.50 and departed just after 9am leaving rainy Singapore behind us. It was quite something to see all those ships up close as they are massive loaded with designer goods and electronics I'm sure! Makes you realise just what a consumer culture this place really has.





Nirwana beach

We arrived in Bintan, thankfully to less gloomy looking skies, and made our way into the terminal to go through immigration and customs. We were stopped by a very smiley immigration official who asked whether we were here just for the weekend which we politely answered that we were, after which he directed us beyond the queue and round the back of the immigration counter and proceeded to 'fast track' our visa acquisition and present our passports back to us with many smiles and a note that he had just helped us jump the queue! We looked at each other and smiled! For a moment Africa didn't feel so far away and Nick slipped the guy a $50 for our $18 each visas.

"Purple-speedoed-viper"

We were ushered onto a shuttle and zooted off to Nirwana Gardens Resort which was about a 10 minute drive from the airport. To our delight, Bintan is an hour behind Singapore so we effectively gained an hour and were checked in and on the beach by 11am! The Indonesian style hotel was fabulous - very laid back but with every amenity you needed. The infinity pool was our haven for the afternoon and Nick made the school-boy error of falling asleep on his lounger, which was in the shade when he nodded off but not so shady when he woke up. Needless to say that my 'lobster' husband falls into the 'red' category since Saturday and finally accepted my hydra-mist offered earlier in the week. The afternoon was not without it's entertainment - we saw what we think was a leather-backed turtle (we think she was French) frolicking in the shallow waves on the beach. We also saw a 'purple-speedoed viper' with a rather large abdomen but a tan that would rival one of the Kardashian sisters any day of the week! His daughter was very sweet though and took a shine to Nick (she was only 2, don't worry). Perhaps the most entertaining items were the impromptu fashion shoots that, if lucky, you could spot at various times throughout the day. We had a particularly lovely Japanese model in the shade tent next to us being photographed by her manager/boyfriend/photographer for about an hour or so, striking various poses using the recliner and the pool steps as props. I nearly went and asked if I could get her signature but Nick said he didn't think it was a good idea.....VERY entertaining.

Freshly roasted 'lobsters'

The "cat-dog" that followed us home

After baking ourselves for a couple of hours we decided to have a nap and then walk the beach and watch the sunrise. Unfortunately the sunburn was worse post our nap so Nick strode down the beach shirtless, enhancing the natural beauty of the Indonesian coastline. The sky was beautiful as it had just stopped raining and the air cool enough for me to put a long sleeved t-shirt on. About 1km down the beach we heard this incessant 'meowing' and we started looking around for where it was coming from. It was a bit dark by then but eventually this teeny-tiny little kitten hopped down from on top of a log and ran straight at us, desperately rubbing itself up against our legs and meowing, meowing and meowing! Poor little thing looked starved and we were careful not to pick it up for fear of dodgy diseases. But it just would not leave us alone. We started to walk back down the beach towards the resort and this little thing just ran behind us, desperately trying to get close to us and rub itself on our legs. As you can imagine, I was pretty desperate for this poor little thing and was adamant that we should ask the resort for some food for it. Nick managed to calm me down and we carried on walking home but it just followed us further and further down the beach. Eventually, on the outskirts of the resort it caught a whiff of something and darted off and that was the last we saw of it! Nick sighed a big sigh of relief at not having to go and explain to the reception staff that we had found a stray kitten on the beach and could they please rescue the cat otherwise his wife was going to adopt it herself.

Me mimicking the photograph poses we saw

We ate at a Japanese restaurant on the beach called RIN which was delightful! I drank an entire pot of green tea over the duration of our meal because they just kept on refilling my cup. We both had miso marinated salmon which was delicious and with a table almost on the beach, who would complain?

The breakfast buffet was less enjoyable. Nick quickly found the 'fried egg' stand and made his way back to the table with his breakfast. I discovered the 'half boiled egg' stand and asked the chef behind the stand whether 'half boiled' meant that it was cooked. He insisted that it did so I took one only to crack it open and find that it was completely raw. I went back to him and asked whether he could put one of his 'half boiled' eggs back into the pot of boiling water behind him so that I could have it 'hard boiled'. On returning to my seat, I cracked the second egg and found it to be completely raw again! At that point I must be honest I lost my sense of humour completely and Nick proceeded to openly laugh at me because we had just spent the morning discussing how this whole experience has lead us to be more tolerant of other people and their different cultures etc. I had a complete melt down, ate a bowl of fruit and left the restaurant.

Chillaxing during the thuderstorm

Tea for two

Due to Nick's 3rd degree burns on his chest we decided against a day lounging by the pool and headed to the 'Activities Desk'. We had spotted a mangrove tour that we quite fancied and thought that a ride down the river under the shade of the trees might be a better option for us to basking in the sun. Unfortunately the mangrove tour was a full day trip and we needed to be on our ferry back to Singapore by 4.30pm. So, in true 'Nick and Nicky' style we hired electronic bicycles and decided to explore the resort! What fun! We looked like complete morons with our helmets on and various items of clothing draped around us as sun protection but we had an absolute blast. The resort turned out to be massive, with 5 different accommodation sites and various restaurants and activity centres dotted around. We discovered the elephant sanctuary and were introduced to 2 Asian Ellie's called Emma and Pina who were polite enough to sit down and let us have our photo taken with them. They were beautiful!



Us with Emma and Pina



We also discovered the Calypso Bar which sits in the middle of the sea on stilts and must be an incredible spot to watch the sun set! We zooted around all over the island and decided that we have to get ourselves one of those bikes - they are the bomb! It's a normal bicycle with an battery powered motor, so basically, it's somewhere in between a bike and a scooter. Such fun!

Nick on his e-bike

After our 2 hour 'e-bike' expedition we had a nice cool swim, enjoyed some lunch at the resort and had a snooze in a hammock on the beach! Blissful!

When we arrived back in Singapore the rain was beating down which made catching the bus an interesting experience but we made it home, threw together some dinner and enjoyed "The Smurfs" in HD on our couch in our little apartment!

Calypso bar

What a great weekend. It's such a treat to have spots like that literally on your doorstep. I'm sure that won't be the last time we go to Bintan, in fact, I'm seriously considering booking a night or two for Brig and I between Christmas and new year. We'll see.

The other exciting news is that we are off to Bangkok this weekend. Nick has to attend some business development training on Saturday, Sunday and Monday so we decided that it makes sense for me to go with. Thankfully we are able to fly on Friday and Nick will take the day off which means we'll have "one night in Bangkok" together before he has to start work :) We are staying at the Shangri La Hotel which looks AMAZING!! Very excited! I went to the library today and hired a whole lot of travel guides for Bangkok so hopefully I'll be able to get around on my own and see the sights.

We are having dinner tonight with Ant and Shane and have our quiz evening on Thursday. I've discovered a world of markets, food stalls and shops just around the corner from us that I never knew were there! I also managed to locate the post office so don't be surprised if you received a post card from me soon :)

I'm having such fun and really enjoying life here but I do miss you all terribly. I know that everyone is gearing up for Christmas at home and it would be awesome to be catching up with you all around a braai. But there will be lots of that when we are home in June. For now, it's dim sum, anti-perspirent and travel books for me :)

Lots of love to you all.

xx