Bintan (Indonesia)

A few weekends ago about 15 of my closest friends and I went on a weekend getaway to Bintan for one of my friend's birthdays.  It was something we were all looking forward to for a while, and it was my first trip out of Singapore.  I realized, while waiting in line for my visa, that this makes for the 6th country that I have ever visited!  I was very excited that I can now count the number of countries I've been to on TWO hands!!!

View from the beach!!

Anyway I was very excited, and after a little hiccup in the immigration line (because I filled out my paperwork with purple pen which did not amuse the governmental people) We were all on our way to the beach resort on the other side of the island.  We all bought some alcohol at the duty free on the way over, but since it is legal to drink beer in a taxi we decided to stop for some road beers before continuing our journey.  After we arrived at the resort we got a "welcome drink" which was a fresh coconut with the top cut off and a straw in it!  It was so delicious, especially after we added a "little" bit of rum to the coconut.  After our welcome drinks we decided that we should go and check out the beach before we called it a night.  When we got to the beach there was timber ready for a fire, so of course we started one.  After getting a cigarette lighter from one of our european friends the fire started up at no time.  At no point during the process of starting the fire did we once think that maybe a fire on the beach very near the equator, so we all sat far enough away as to not get any heat from the fire while we finished our drinks.

The morning was filled with beach time and sea shell collection, frisbee and wading/swimming in the sea.  For breakfast we had fresh coconut crepes with bananas and coffee.... it was delicious!

Paddy, Chris and John playing some frisbee (before it broke in 2 pieces!)

Me, full and ready for a nap after breakfast!

After lunch we played some more by the beach, swam in the ocean, napped in the hammocks before the fire ants attacked, and played some beach volleyball!

Then at dinner time we all had a BBQ at the beach front along with the duty free we bought on our way over!

Most of us at dinner (I'm taking the picture, and a couple of the girls were still showering up after their spa day!)

We then had a huge bon fire on the beach which gave off sooo much heat we couldn't get anywhere near it!

Thats us, all the way up by the shelter, trying to stay cool!

Fire from the view of the crowd, facing the ocean.

Some people brought their own hammocks to sit in which was great because they weren't filled with fire ants like the others.

Picture from above of us (Patrick, me, Morgan, and Steph) in a hammock!

This is what I get for asking for a picture!

Then someone had a the great idea to hang out in the rafters of the beach hut, and were there for the rest of the night!

A picture of Chris, Kim, and John from the hammock in the previous picture.

Patrick, John and Kim just hanging out!

A very happy Kim and John with Hunter (the birthday boy) hanging in the background!

Overall it was a wonderful time, and hopefully we will be back again soon!

And of course there is a foot photo!