family wanderlust: Bintan Dec 2007

Day 1 of our 4D3N trip to Bintan. We were early at the Tanah Merah ferry terminal so the kids were running around while we waited for boarding time.

Ira still in a very good mood in the morning upon boarding the ferry.

The ride was a bit choppy and he got motion sickness. He was a bit traumatized by the event. He didn't want to ride the ferry again. But of course, that was just then. Kids forget so easily.

Upon arrival at the Bintan Ferry Terminal, we breezed through immigration.

While waiting for our transportation to the hotel, the kids wandered around the terminal.

we headed to the factory outlet for a while.

Although they did have some good clothes, most are for smaller kids so we weren't able to buy anything.

Our hotel transfer service arrived then we were on our way to Nirwana Resort Hotel, about 30minutes or so.

We were welcomed by musical performers and some local drinks (which had a really strong taste). After that, I went to the reception area for check in. Unfortunately, we were quite early. Check in was at 12noon.

We decided to walk around the resort grounds and have lunch. We tried the poolside cafe so we have a good view of the hotel pool as well as the beach.

deciding what food to order.

We ended up having fried rice for the kids and fried kway teow for us.

It was a bit drizzling. The kids were playing with water droplets from the roof of the hotel restaurant.

After lunch, I headed back to the reception to take our room keys. The boys were still in the exploring mode. There was an area with a big chess set and snakes and ladders board near the hotels main restaurant.

playing giant chess

do we have our room keys now???

trying to carry the Queen chess piece

gotten tired of heavy chess pieces. This one looks more fun! (and not heavy)

Finally I got our room keys and we headed to our Garden Room located on the far end of the hotel, near the beach. We walked all the way from the reception to the end of the building. Then we realized it would have been better if we had passed through the swimming pool because our room was overlooking the pool.

our hotel room

After settling our stuff, we rested for a while since it was still drizzling. After the rain, we changed to our swim wears and headed to the beach for a walk.

the beach just in front of the hotel, a short walk from our hotel room

a view of the hotel from the beach.

Our room is the 2nd or 3rd window from the right.

playing with a small puddle of water

quite contented in this small "pool" of water

beginning to explore the rocky area

we brought along some water toys

We didn't stay for long in the beach. The boys were excited to go to the pool. We walked back to the hotel compound and let the kids play in the children's pool first.