Saturday, March 19, 2011

Couples Retreat Bintan- Part 1

It was pretty amazing that despite the fact that the island of Bintan, Indonesia is a very short ferry ride away from Singapore, Dave and I had managed to live in Singapore for a full year with out ever going there! We talked about it more than a few times, but when push came to shove and it was time to make reservations, we would get lazy and spend the weekend on the couch instead. So it was with much enthusiasm (because someone else did the planning!) that we joined our friends for a weekend of golf and suntanning, and finally made it to Bintan!
Early morning ferry ride.
Being very Singaporean and getting in line to get off the boat- pushing and shoving encouraged. 
 
Thanks for charging $25 to get in to your country Indonesia. Especially because this was my 3rd Visa on arrival in 2 weeks! 
Ever wonder what happens to all your balls you lose in the jungle/water- well on Bintan they collect them and sell them at the Ferry Terminal! 
Beautiful view from the hotel lobby! 
Excited to be at the resort. I think that Lilly Pulitzer beach bag really suits him =) 

One of the funny quirks of Indonesia is that despite the fact that it is less than an hour's ride from Singapore, it happens to be a time zone behind- so we left at 8 and got in at 8! Which left plenty of time to catch some breakfast before the boys headed out to the course and the girls went in search of sun and massages....
He loves mornings, can't you tell? 

Thus starts the "Bloody Mary Incident".... 

its always a bit risk to ask for a even remotely complicated drink in South East Asia. In recent history Dave ordered a dry martini and was displeased to get some very strange sweet concoction and M. tried to order a long-island iced tea a few weeks ago and despite multiple re-do's, they just never got it quite right, so I was more than a little nervous when M. and D. above ordered bloody mary's for breakfast. I mean, really, its not a complicated drink: tomato juice, vodka.. but I knew they couldn't get the seasonings right. 
But what we didn't expect was it to come out a tomato juice smoothie! 

This face pretty much sums it all up...

or this one... ick. 

Anyone for a ice blended tomato juice? No? 
The hotel, to their credit, was nice enough about it, and replaced the frozen mess with a frosty beer instead. 

One thing that got overlooked in the booking of the hotel was making sure there was a pool! Leave it to the boys, who were singularly focused on golf, to pick a resort with a lovely lovely golf course... and not much else! But we girls were creative, and thanks to the excellent problem solving skills of J., we headed off to a neighboring resort for some much enjoyed time at the pool, followed by a good ol' 20 dollar massage! 
Really cannot beat an afternoon of girl talk and cocktails by the pool! 


More next post.....

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