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Published: November 25th 2008
After 2 months of not seeing each other, I flew into Singapore on Thursday night and was very happy to see Brett waiting for me at the airport! My flight arrived around 10pm local time and it was amazing how hot and humid it still was, although Brett said it was actually on e fo the cooler nights! Can't believe they have been building a skatepark in this heat, no wonder they are going a bit nuts (to say the least!). And funny that I went from sharing a kind sized bed with Di a week ago while her husband slept on the floor, and now Brett and I are sharing a single bed that is on the floor. And a really short single bed at that! Well we did put the box spring beside it to make it bigger, but that side isn't that comfy...
First thing Friday morning, Brett's boss Simon was taking us, his family and the 3 other concrete guys to Bintan Island in Indonesia as a thank-you to the guys for the all of their hard work. We boarded the ferry at 8:30 am for the hour and half journey to Bintan. It was quite
the process going through immigration, and we weren't quite sure Bucky was going to make it... but we finally all got through and were loaded into a 10 passenger van and were on our way dodging the wild scooters and drivers on the streets. We thought the drivers were crazy in Mexico, I don't know... this definately gives them a run for their money! They would have sometimes 5 people loaded onto one scooter, no helmets, some sitting side saddle, some probably only 2 or 3 years old and weaving in and out of traffic like crazy! It was quite the sight and we were all cracking up the whole ride to where we were staying, as well as covering our eyes!
We arrived at Nostalgia Yasin Bungalows where we were staying the next 4 days and it was amazing. It seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere with all of these little bungalows over the water, a cool little beach bar and an island out front that you could walk to. It was perfect. And the bungalows are only $20 Australian a night! The food at the resort was amazing, we didn't have one thing that
was bad, and it too was so cheap. Chicken Satay would be $3, Nasi Goreng or noodle dishes were $2, you could get any kind of freshly squeezed juice for $2, and beer was $1.50. So after these guys having been in Singapore the last 2 months with the crazy prices there, this was very welcome and taken full advantage of! Think we had the staff restocking the fridge with Bintangs, the local beer, and probably wore the blender out with all the fresh juices that were being made. The staff were so friendly and it became the hangout for the staff at night as they seemed to watch the antics of the skatepark crew who have been locked up for 2 months it seemed like! All of the locals were very friendly as well, especially the little kids, who loved to say "hello" or "good morning" in their cute little english. I even had one little guy who was probably about 7 years old say hi to me then ask me if Brett was my Hubby? I said "yes" then he said "ok, cool". It was hilarious. We didn't once get asked for money or to buy anything from
anyone, so was quite different from what we were used to in areas of Mexico. Not sure if the rest of Indonesia is like that. After having this little taste of the area, we will definately have to find out! Think there are only another 169,999 more islands to explore!
We spent 4 days there not doing a whole lot, which was exactly what was needed for everyone before they have the last few days of the park to finish up. It definately was a great long weekend and really nice of Simon to take us all there. Think everyone was a bit reluctant to get back on the boat on Monday afternoon, but hopefully only a few more days and then Brett and I will be heading to Thailand until just before Christmas when it's back down under.
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On the ferry from Singapore to Bintan, Indonesia.
